When I'm In His Arms

Chapter 10 :)

"So are you going to explain to me what we're doing this afternoon?"

The sun beat down on my skin as I rode the bike beside Louis.

He smiled, causing a dimple to form on his rosy cheek. "Something fun."

"Like?"

He lifted one hand from the bike and put a finger to his lips. "Shhh. That would ruin the surprise."

I was a little out of practice for riding a bike, so we went pretty slow. By the time we reached the mall, my stomach growled with hunger and I was panting. Louis on the otherhand, was barely working up a sweat. After we stopped to lock our bikes, we set off to the main entrance.

"Can you at least tell me how long this will take?"

Louis smirked. "Bored already?"

I shook my head. I felt bad that I wasn't in a very happy-go-lucky mood, but I was trying hard not to upset Louis. I think he really meant well. "I was just wondering about dinner."

He heaved a sigh. "Again, that's also a surprise."

After that I gave up on asking questions.

Inside, voices echoed from every direction, but it wasn't too crowded for a weekend at all. The scent of soft pretzels wafted into my nose, and my stomach made the sound of a dying whale. Hopefully we would be eating soon, or I would be bound to pass out.

Louis' fingertips brushed against mine. "Come on," he said as he grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards a toy store. Action figures were set up in a creative display in the front window. They ran over sideways cans of silly string, readied themselves as they jumped off plastic drums, and attacked each other in rainbow seas of buttons and Legos. As we entered the shop, I saw one wall was covered in posters of animated dogs and cartoons on nickelodeon. It was a kid's paradise. But why was Louis bringing me here?

"Isn't this a kid's store..?"

Louis laughed and grabbed my shoulders from behind. "Yes. But just look at all of this stuff. Half of the kids in this world don't even know what you can do with thism Take the silly string for example. It's cool how it can shoot out foam, but their parents left out one key bit of information."

I scrunched my eyebrows. "And what would that be?"

He brought his head up next to mine and whispered in my ear, "it's not illegal in public."

He walked in front of me towards the silly string and picked up an emerald can. "What color?" Louis shouted from across the store. He received a couple anxious glances from some nearby parents, shopping.

I said, "purple!"

He gave me a thumbs up and picked three more containers; two purple and another green. With his free hand, he waved me over and as I strode over to the counter beside him, I wondered what he had planned for the evening.

After the second grumpy cashier of the day bagged the silly string and sent us away, Louis stopped in the middle of the hall. Still, I had no idea what he was going to do. "Uh, Louis?"

"Yea, Saby?"

"What are we doing with four cans of silly string?"

He grinned and I got an uneasy feeling that I wasn't going to like this.

"Well," he began, handing me the two purple cans and casually popping off the top of a green one. "You're about to see."

With lightening speed, he aimed the nozzle of the silly string at me and pressed down. Green string shot out and flung itself at my chest. I made a surprised squeeking sound in my throat. The gooey substance hardened but stayed on my skin. Louis looked at me, the smile on his face growing wider, revealing flawless white teeth that sparkled like a million jewels. All day I had been telling myself not to get too attached to any of the boys. I lived in New York. In AMERICA. And they lived in Britain, across the ocean. How stupid would I look when they were gone and I'd never see them again?

I made my lip quiver and Louis' smile fell. "Sabrina..."

I popped the top off of the can, pressed down on the nozzle and watched in unquenchable pleasure as purple string shot out and landed in his perfect hair. I was smiling and laughed at Louis' surprised expression. The purple string drooped down over his eyes and he smiled again. "It's on," he said, and as he took a step towards me, his silly string poised at my face, I turned and ran.

I could feel the silly string hitting my back. I spun around and shot more of the chunky purple substance at him. He shielded his face with a hand and without looking, sprayed the string from my stomach to my knees, some landing at the feet of an old couple sitting at a bench. They gave us a look of pure disapproval, but that didn't stop Louis or I. We just stood there in the middle of the hallway laughing, ducking, and leaping.

With string covering just about every inch of my body, I started to run again, blindly shooting the string behind me. I suddenly ducked into a mattress store, only to find Louis right behind me. I flung around and pushed him onto the closest bed. He flopped down and stared at the ceiling. The bottom of his shirt lifted over his stomach to reveal perfectly carved muscle. My heart flipped in my chest. I collapsed beside him and stretched out on my back.

He turned his head and made eye contact with me. Our noses were inches apart and my mind filled with temptation. But I held back. Maybe I would regret it, but it would be a lot less painful to just let him go. I no longer wanted to though. I took in all of his perfect features. His slender nose, his eyes that twinkled with mischief, and his rosy cheeks. I just wish I knew what he really meant to me... and what I meant to him.

He set his hand on my cheek, moving his face slowly towards mine. I wanted to kiss him more than anything, and he seemed to be taking ages to press his lips to mine.

But before I knew it, and before he closed the distance, he shot out a long line of eerily green string and started to dash away. It tangled in my hair and I sat up, dazed, shaking my head. After leaping off of the bed, I collided with him and he wrapped his arms around me. I sprayed the string on his back and pulled away giggling.

I noticed the mirror on the wall before he did and gasped when I saw my appearance. I turned Louis around so he could see himself and he melted to the ground in laughter. "Nice one, Callaway."

I raised an eyebrow and said through my hysterical laughter, "back at you, Tomlinson."

He stood up and brushed some string off of his forehead into a garbage bin with the back of his left hand. "How does Italian food sound?"

I nodded. "Great."

He flicked his head down another hallway. "Let's go!"