Second Chance - Chapter 5

I LOVE YOU

HOLLY...

The Lotus was packed to the rafters. The blaring music in the night club made it very hard to hear what Liam was saying. After several unsuccessful attempts to convey his message, he resorted to sign language to indicate that he was going to the toilet. I nodded my head to show him I understood.

Zayn was nowhere to be seen. The last time I saw him was when he was dancing – or rather his version of dancing – with a couple of blondes. The music was not as deafening as before.  I was looking around for him when a beefy arm sneaked around my waist from behind. The arm was attached to a well-built man. He touched his thin lips at the back of my neck and pressed himself up against my back, nudging his hips into my backside. Gosh! I was horrified! I turned swiftly around and I encountered a brick wall of a chest.

“Uh, excuse me. Please, let go of me.” I said stiffly. I am not used to being manhandled by a stranger. I tried prying his arm off my waist but it was useless. My puny strength was on match to his.

“Now, why wud I wanna do dat, beautiful?” There was a slight slur in his speech. The guy was obviously drunk.

“Because I don’t know you!” I put my hands on his chest, trying to push him away as hard as I could. Unfortunately, he had both his arms around me now and one of his hands was squeezing my bum.

“Stop it!” I was getting angry. “Let me go!”

“Aw, c’mon, baby. Loosen up. Let’s have some fun.” He was leering at me.

“Let. Me. Go.” I gritted out. He tried to kiss me. Luckily, I managed to turn away and his lips landed in my ears.

He just laughed. “C’mon babe. You know you like this.”

“No, I don’t. And I don’t find this kind of behaviour a turn on.” I thought of slapping him but he was too near. All I could do was pushed away his face. Then, I thought of kneeing him where it would hurt.

“Mate, the girl said 'No'.” Someone tapped the drunk on his shoulder.

“Hey, mind your own business.” He turned around angrily and in the process let go of me. “Go and find your own girl.”

“Sorry. Can’t exactly do that ‘cause the girl’s with me. So, that made it my business.” Louis shrugged casually. He went around the man towards me, grabbed me by the waist and kissed me hard on the mouth!

I gasped in surprise. Louis kissed me! The feel of his soft lips on mine, even though only briefly, was electrifying and exciting and it left my lips tingling. The feel of his warm hard body pressed to my side was enough to make me feel out of breath. 

Louis, now officially my gorgeous knight in shining armour, looked pointedly at the man. I was worried that both of them were going to have a bit of a tussle there. The drunk, at first felt like challenging Louis's claim on me but afterwards decided against it when Liam, out of the blue, materialised at our side.

"What's going on here?" Liam inquired.

The inebriated guy probably was not too drunk for he wisely decided to back off. He may be able to take on Louis but Liam is bigger and more muscular. He was leaving when, we saw Zayn pushing through the crowd with a fierce frown on his face.

"Are you okay, babe?" He said worriedly. “I’m sorry. I saw what happened. I tried to get her as soon as I can. There were just too many people."

"I'm fine, Zayn." I assured him.

"What happened, Holly?" Liam asked.

"Nothing, really. It's just a guy trying to pick me up. I said 'No' but he wouldn’t listen." I explained. 

"Hmm..that's interesting." Liam was not referring to my explanation however. He gave Zayn a wide grin and they exchanged looks, before both of them turned their scrutinising gazes towards Louis and me.  Zayn was frowning slightly.

At first, I was a bit puzzled with the look they were giving me. No, not ‘me’. Us…the look they were giving us. Only then I became conscious that Louis still had his arm around my waist, my hand was on his chest and my side was glued to his front! 

I pushed Louis away lightly and he dropped his arm abruptly. I announced, “I think I have enough for tonight, I’m going back to the hotel.”

“Look, Holly. Why don’t you stay with us? Your hotel is quite a distance from here. Ours is nearer. You can stay in my room... Louis can go and room with Niall.”

“It’s okay, Zayn. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” I protested.

“No, I insist, babe.” He argued. “I’m not going to let you go alone. Either you go to our hotel on your own or I’ll tie you up and take you there. Take your pick.” The stubborn look on Zayn’s face was the look that I knew very well. He was not going to let the matter go until I agreed to his suggestion.

“All right. Fine! But you are not my keeper!” I huffed in exasperation. Sometimes Zayn can be a little too overprotective! “I thought we agreed that no more barbarian tactics when we turned twelve.”

“Okay, that’s settled then. I’ll go and call Ron.” He grinned widely and didn’t even deem it worthy to respond to my grumbling. Ron was one of the security crew assigned to the boys that night.

“Zayn, why don’t you guys stay? I’m going back to the hotel anyway. I’ll go with Holly.” Louis volunteered. 

“Okay. I thought you said you couldn’t come.” Zayn inquired.

“There was a change of plan.” Louis shrugged.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay, mate? You have just arrived. I can take Holly to the hotel.” Zayn declared.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Suddenly, I feel exhausted.” Louis assured Zayn who were still wearing that slight frown on his face.

“Okay. If you’re sure, bro. I’ll see you later, Holly.” Zayn gave me a fond smile and kissed my cheek and said which almost sounded like a warning to my ear, “Take a good care of her, Louis.”

“Don’t worry, mate.” Louis assured him again. “I promise I won’t lose her. She’ll arrive at the hotel intact. Not a strand of hair out of place.”

“Why would her hair be out of place?” Liam said quizzically, obviously teasing. I don’t know what was running through the boys’ minds but the image of Louis running his fingers through my hair while thoroughly ravishing my lips brought a blush to my face. I was thankful that the club was dark.

“The wind, Liam. The wind. I won’t open the window.” Louis clarified. Good comeback, Louis.

Zayn gave him a grateful smile and two thumbs up. 

“I’m going off now.” Louis declared. He put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and started walking away.

“I’ll talk to you when I get back, princess.” That statement and Zayn’s tone of voice warned me that I am going to get the ‘big brother talk’ from him later. I couldn't imagine what he wanted to talk to me about. I responded by giving him the ‘ok’ sign.

I ran lightly to catch up with Louis, who was already at the exit. What was he doing here anyway? Wasn’t he supposed to be out with his girlfriend? Liam invited him to go with us to the club earlier but he declined saying that his precious girlfriend, Vicky, was coming to see him. I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my heart when I heard that. 

The ride to the hotel was short and without incident. I tried making small talk a few times but each time Louis kept quiet and ignored me. In the end, I fell silent.

When we arrived at the hotel, Louis walked me up to the room silently, with security people trailing a respectful distance behind us.

When we entered the room, I blurted, “Can we talk, Louis?”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Holly.” His voice was emotionless. It was like we were talking about the weather. He was taking out a white tee and a maroon and white, chequered pyjama bottom from the cupboard and threw them at my direction. “That’s for you to change into.”

Still the ever thoughtful Louis. Taking care of everyone, making sure everyone is safe. This is one side of Louis that not many people got to see. This is another reason in my long list of ‘The Reasons Why I Love Louis Tomlinson.’

I nodded my thanks. “Nothing? What about us?”

“Us? Was there ever ‘us’, Holly?” He scoffed. He took another change of clothes for himself.

“Louis!” It hurt. I reached for the clothes and held them close to my heart, as if they could soothe the pain I felt. 

“If there was ever ‘us’, Holly, you wouldn’t have left. You wouldn’t have just disappeared like you did. No ‘goodbye’.  No ‘I have to go’. Not. Even. A. Word.” The derisive scorn was clear in his voice. “There was never ‘us’. I was just a game for you.”

Finally, some emotion from him, even though it was anger. At least, it was something, I guess.

He took a calming breath and said softly, “You shouldn’t have come here, Holly.”

“I did love you, Louis. I really did.” I whispered wanly. How could I not love this wonderful man? Just look at him. Not only he was beautiful to look at, he was also kind, caring and loving. I knew that he was angry at me. He probably hated me but he still looked after me and still acted thoughtfully by giving me something to change into. 

He looked at me for the longest time without blinking even once. I could never guess what went through his head. He shrugged. 

“Whatever.” He dismissed my monumental declaration of love, picked up his change of clothes and left.

Whatever? Whatever! I told him I loved him and all he said was ‘Whatever’?

Well! WHATEVER!