The Ring {L.S}

Chapter 9: Tomlinson #28

Louis woke up the next day still on cloud nine with the red ring box on his nightstand. The day before was something out of this world. He really loved Harry, and as far as he knew, Harry loved him back. The way he spoke about the ring left Louis up in the air about where he is with Michael, but his promise ring was enough to know that Harry will always be in his life no matter what. He spent the rest of last night writing beautiful poetry about Harry that he would one day share with him.

He had plans with Niall and Zayn this morning to go to the beach, and he wanted to tell them all about his day yesterday. Harry asked him to keep their day on the low and not mention the ring until he knows exactly what he's doing with his life, it hurt, but Louis understood not wanting to rock the boat any more than he already had. It felt a bit like he was in the shadows, like he was the second choice. He knew Harry didn't mean it like that, so he pushed those thoughts into the back of his mind and continued on with his daily thoughts.

He jumped out of bed and began to pack a bag for the beach. He slipped on his baby blue trunks with a white stripe down the side that hung right above his knee, and a white tank top. He wore black sandals and had his rose gold oakleys atop his head waiting for his friends to meet them at his house. They were taking Niall's jeep because Niall thought it was more suitable to drive with the doors off to the beach. Louis packed his bag with his clothes to change into, his sunglasses case, a few snacks and his ring. Zayn mentioned he would pack a cooler full of drinks so Louis didn't have to worry about that.

When he walked down the stairs into the kitchen he was greeted by his mom and his twin sisters who were cooking breakfast together.

"How was the day with Harry, Lou? You didn't even say hi when you got in last night."

His sisters looked at each other and one of them piped up, "we were worried about you, hope you're feeling better." Louis smiled understanding just how impactful his mood over the past week had been to everyone. He would have to apologize to everyone at the restaurant when he went in for his night shift tonight.

"Doing okay! Hanging with him after work tonight, scrabble in the kitchen if that's okay with you?" He looked up at his mom who smiled back and nodded her head. It was like everyone knew what was happening in his life but no one actually knew. He was confused about Harry, Michael was confused about Harry, and Harry was confused about both of them. Only Michael didn't know about Louis being confused about Harry or Harry being confused about Louis, which made this whole thing ten times harder.

"Does he ever beat you, Lou? You know, like at Scrabble?" the other twin chirped into the conversation. Niall beeped his Jeep horn outside in the midst of his conversation with his family. He grabbed his bag off of the breakfast bar and looked back at his wide-eyed sister waiting for his answer and shook his head, "no, not yet anyway," and a cheeky smile grew across his face. Just as he ran toward the front door he heard his mom whisper to the girls, "he's in love, leave him alone," and they all giggled to each other. Louis felt a tingle in his belly and walked out the door to greet his friends.

"Tommo!" Niall yelled from the driver's seat. "We're going to Second beach, the one's around here are going to be packed, okay?" Louis nodded along, jumped into the passenger seat by grabbing the bars on the open roofed Jeep and threw his bag in the backseat next to Zayn who smiled at him widely. It was rare for the boys to be up before nine in the morning when they didn't have to work, but they were so excited for a beach day that it didn't matter how early it was. Louis pulled out his phone to text Harry to tell him to have a good day, but it seems like Harry already beat him to it.

8:37 "Hey Lou, hope you have a good day. Can't wait to see you tonight. I've been studying the Scrabble dictionary so watch your back! x"

Louis smiled into his phone and reached for the finger he wore his ring on all day yesterday. It was interesting that something so small made him so happy. He texted back,