Second Chance - Chapter 4

UNRESOLVED ISSUES

HOLLY...

When Zayn said my name, Louis actually stiffened and his beautiful and mesmerizing, sea blue eyes snapped to my face. A murderous frown replaced the smirk. He stood there motionless while staring at me intensely. I could sense the anger in him growing when he realised that it was me. The furious look on his face made me want to disappear into thin air.

I knew I deserved all the rage directed at me, I knew I was wrong, and I also knew that he was wounded badly by my action. I felt wretched for hurting him but I believed I had good reasons for leaving. His intense stare was starting to make me feel REALLY nervous. If he thought that he could get away with it, he would definitely kill me for being there, for disrupting his life, and for stirring past memories. In spite of my apprehension, I managed to keep my cool throughout the encounter.

When Harry, Liam and Louis left for their shopping expedition, Zayn and I caught up with the news. I managed to avoid answering painful questions and luckily, Zayn let the matter go. When the lads came back, they brought back some KFC and that was lunch. We chatted and caught up with the news and reminisced about the good old times. All of us, with the exception of one irate Louis Tomlinson, had a great time.

Liam and Niall were sitting on the chairs. Niall was still eating lunch. Harry and Louis were sitting on a bed: Louis, legs crossed, had his back against the headboard and Harry, at the foot of the bed with his elbows on his knees, looking a bit troubled. Zayn and I were on the other bed. Zayn was propped up by pillows. The back of my head was against Zayn’s chest and he had his arm around my throat in a loose chokehold.

Liam asked me why I was in New York, so I explained that I was a published writer and I was promoting my new book, Making Amends. The signing of the book would be in two days. Making Amends was about making and fixing mistakes that were made, about forgiveness, about leaving what hurts behind and trying to move on and living again. It was a story of being human.

Through my explanation, I was staring at Louis, willing him to understand what I was trying to say without actually saying it. When he became aware that I was looking fixedly at him, he looked away, ignoring me pointedly. I sighed. I knew that he was dying inside to say something sassy. However, he couldn’t because he didn’t want anyone to know about us. I could imagine his effort in biting his tongue to keep himself from saying something that would reveal our story. I chuckled to myself, amused.

“I don’t believe in all that crap!” he said out of the blue.

“You don’t believe in giving others a second chance?” I asked him bluntly.

“Whatever for? So they can hurt you again?” He shook his head angrily. “Never!” Uhuh.. this is getting personal. He put the glass he was holding with a loud thump, stood up and practically stomped out of the room.

“Well, what has got his knickers in a twist?” Niall was perplexed with the way Louis was acting towards me. The blond Irish lad finally rose from his bed close to noon. He woke up hungry and quickly demolished whatever Zayn and I had left from breakfast. The boy sure could eat!

I let out a forced laugh. “Don’t mind him. We just have some unresolved issues.”

“I’ll go and talk to him.” Harry offered and started to rise from the bed he was sitting on. The sweetheart! No wonder girls kept falling for him. Not only he was absolutely gorgeous, he was one of the kindest people I had ever met.

“It’s okay, Harry. I'll go. It’s between me and him.” I replied and shook my head slowly. I pushed Zayn’s arm away, freeing myself from his hold. I sat up and got off the bed.

“Umm... sorry for interrupting BUT I’m dying of curiosity here about the ‘between’ thing.” Liam said.

I grinned, truly amused. “Not today, folks. That story is reserved for some other day.”

“Oh c'mon. Don't keep us hanging...” Liam said pointedly.

"There's not much to tell.." I was trying to evade explaining the whole messy affair to the boys.

Zayn stood up, walked to the table full of leftovers, took some chips or fries, whatever you like to call it, and stuffed it into his mouth.  

"Leave her alone, Liam." He said with a mouthful of chips while putting his hand on Liam's shoulder. Liam shrugged to indicate that he conceded.

"I'll get it out of her later and then I'll report to you guys." Zayn said this deadpan.

My only response before walking out to go after Louis was to throw a fat, fluffy, white pillow at Zayn's head which he dodged easily. He smiled victoriously as he managed to annoy me. Did I say I wanted a brother? I changed my mind!

I stepped out of the room and started to run, but stopped abruptly when I saw the target of my quest. Louis was waiting for the lift.

"Louis." I said hesitantly. "Can we talk?"

He was quiet for what I felt like forever. "About what?" He finally said. He did not even looked at me.

"About what happened...." I was nervous. My palms were getting sweaty. I wiped them down the sides of my pants.

He shrugged nonchalantly and put both his hands in his pockets. "Nothing happened, Holly."

Nothing happened. That hurt. THAT. REALLY. HURT. We were so much in love before. I knew that he was angry and he was trying to act like our love never happened. I understood that he was hurt and I knew what he was trying to do, but it still hurt that he did not acknowledge what had happened between us.

"Louis, please." I pleaded. "I know you're angry. I am so sorry that I hurt you. But please, let me explain."

"I don't need any explanation! I'm not angry and I'm not hurt." He tried to deny it but the fury in his voice betrayed his true feelings. "Leave me alone, Holly. Just go back from where you came from and never come back!"

The lift opened as if on cue. No one was inside and Louis stepped in. He jabbed at the button angrily.

"Louis, please listen..." I was down to begging him but I was not ashamed. He ignored me and the door closed softly.

I know that this was not going to be easy. Getting him to even talk to me was proving to be a huge challenge. If he was angry at me for suddenly leaving without telling him, he was going to be totally livid when he heard the reason for it.

"I am sorry, Louis. I am so sorry for hurting you." I whispered to myself. All I could say was I had to do what I did.