Hey, Princess (Louis Tomlinson Fan Fiction)

Chapter 19

The plain white walls follow me ever time I turn a corner or walk straight. There is no way to avoid them, no matter where I go. Nurses and doctors are moving around the hallways in their scrubs, worrying about the patients. Tanner loops his arm through mine as we turn the corner to the hallway where my mom's room is located. He decided to occupy me today to visit my mom.

Tanner pushes open the slightly cracked open door, pulling me into my mom's hospital room. Mom's head turns in our direction when we stroll in. The frown that was sketched on her face quickly changes to a big grin.

"Tanner James!" Mom shouts at my best friend who instantly becomes a deer in the highlights, knowing he must be in trouble if my mom said his middle name. I'd hate to be him right now.

"Yes, ma'am?" Tanner asks like a scared little boy who got caught by someone for sticking his hand in the cookie jar.

"Where have you been?" Mom narrows her brown irises at him. "I haven't seen you in ages."

Tanner blows out a breathe of hot air at the small smile on her face. "I've been working on the wedding. It's a lot of work. Nikki keeps getting stressed because she hasn't picked her bridesmaids yet."

"When's the date again?" Mom asks, her eyes watching us move across the room to sit down in the two available chairs.

Tanner leans forward, resting his forearms on his legs. "A few months. We may have to take a few weeks off to catch up on things."

I pull my legs on the chair with me, silently analyzing my mom while she chats with Tanner. The colour in her cheeks have made a quick return. It appears that she has more energy than the last time I saw her. Maybe she is getting better.

"Don't think you are off the hook, Aria." Mom breaks my concentration by waving a magazine in the air. "Why have I not met your boyfriend?" She stops moving the magazine.

On the front page of a celebrity magazine is a picture of Louis and I hugging with our faces inches apart at the airport. I lunge forward, snatching the magazine from her hands. Louis's hands are cupping my face as we both stare into each other's eyes. This was when he tried to kiss me. It's been a week since they left, and I've heard from him a few times. He skyped me two days ago saying he was super busy with a few interviews before they were able to officially go home.

"Busted." Tanner sings, smirking at me.

I flip the magazine open, searching for the full article. When did anyone even take a picture of us? I didn't even see any paparazzi or fans for that matter. I finally find the page, and stare at it in shock. There are about ten pictures of Louis and I together at the airports along with one picture of me dressed up as Wendy at Disney. Next to me in the picture, Louis is fully dressed as Peter and smiling at me. The caption under this reads "Many fans always thought that Louis Tomlinson looked similar to Peter Pan. Now it seems like Peter Pan has finally realised he loves Wendy."

"You know, I always thought I would hear from you about your first boyfriend, not a magazine with creepy stalker pictures." Mom muses, grabbing another magazine from her bedside table. How many does she have? "When I said I wanted you to fall in love, I didn't realise you would go after a boy band member especially when everyone knows who they are. When can I meet your boyfriend?"

I tear my gaze away from the article. "He's not my boyfriend. At least, not yet or maybe ever." I mumble the last part.

"And, why not?" Mom snaps at me. "It's obvious by the way you two are looking at each other." She holds up the article, tapping on one of the pictures. "I want to meet this lovely boy."

"You can't." I stare at the picture of Louis and I hugging at the airport. My face is buried in his shoulder as I hugged him for one last time. His muscles in his arms are very noticeably from him hugging me so tightly against him. "He's gone."