ILTHY | l.p.

7 | louie the guitar hero

CHAPTER SEVEN
❛ 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲,
𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵. 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀, 𝗲𝘆𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘆𝗲 '𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆'𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵. ❜
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[ y/n ]

Last night, Louis lost. It was a close call, but Millie managed to scream out, "Uno!" before Louis could, and after he got his card, all came out in a whole blur.

Because I won.

I won a fucking uno game over Louis Partridge.

It's such a blur.

"He's not coming. This is all madness, really," Lisa restlessly says, having been anxiously walking back and forth on the auditorium stage. "I mean, Louis Partridge? That actor? Why would he even waste his time with a bunch of high school kids?"

Exactly my point.

"He's coming, Lisa," Millie assures her. "He's my brother; I know him."

I twirl the drumstick between my fingers, my right leg bouncing up and down. I watch as Felix looks down at his watch and sighs. He looks exhausted and, understandably, on the brink of losing hope. And instantly, I started to lose mine too. Maybe this is too crazy. Maybe I am too crazy to believe Louis would actually cancel a flight to Paris at the last minute to help a bunch of teenagers with a talent show. A fantasy too good to be true.

"I'm leaving," Felix announces, visibly giving up. He ran his fingers into his hair and turned to us. "I've still got things to do, then wait for an actor who clearly isn't going to show up. I'm really sorry, girls, but this week has been hard for all of us. I've tried to think of the best; I really did, but maybe we should start accepting the truth instead. We're never going to impress Richard Lohart."

"No. You'll do more than that."

We all froze, then turned to the voice. From afar, in one of those seats, sat a figure of a man way too familiar. A shadow I memorized all these years. Louis leaned forward, moving away from the darkness with a small smirk etched on his pinkish lips. "Felix, isn't it? Imagine. Girls chasing you, screaming your name, and lining up for all your performances just so they can experience being close to you."

"Excuse me?" Felix stammered, cheeks tinting pink.

"All I'm saying is," Louis stood up and thrust his hand inside the pockets of his hoodie, his hair a bit messy. "Before you give up, think of why you've come here in the first place."

"Louis!" Millie cheered happily, sprinting down the alleyway to run towards her brother. "I knew you'd come!" Louis wrapped an arm around Millie's waist to support her weight when she crashed against him, but his eyes weren't on her or on Felix's anymore.

His brown eyes were on mine. Staring. It was as if he were reading my soul and could see through me.

My heart dropped.

"I promised. Of course I'll keep it," he says nonchalantly, squeezing Millie by her waist, then continues to walk up the stage to approach the rest of us. Louis always succeeded in making me speechless, but never in this way. Never in a way that when he walks, the earth slows down. Never in a way that his eyes had me frozen in time.

"Holy shit." Lisa cursed and scoffed in disbelief, still having a hard time believing how he's here. On stage. With us.

"So, how does this work? Do you guys have a guitar I could use, or should I bring mine?" Louis asks casually, as if it were normal that he was here. And the worst part was that he was still looking directly at me.