the traveller // louis tomlinson

chapter twenty-eight // through the grapevine.

Mia's POV

I'm thankful that I don't have time to mope around in the morning, letting my mind wander and start to freak me out again. For once I'm glad our alarms didn't go off, so we're all scrambling to get dressed and get inside our venue within five minutes.

I'm so busy scrubbing last night's smeared makeup and struggling to contain my hair that I don't allow myself to even think about Louis. Of course I know this is only going to last until I get inside that venue and I'm forced to work with him all day.

I throw on a grey crewneck sweater with a pair of army camouflage jeans and my black boots. Using one of Harry's bandanas, I throw my hair into a messy bun and wrap it around my head to keep the curls from escaping.

"Come on, guys!" Tyler shouts, causing me to nearly sprint out of the bathroom.

Of course I don't watch where I'm running and of course I run directly into Louis as he's half naked. We meet eye contact for a millimeter of a second before I'm full-out sprinting away from him. I'm sure I looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

As I hop off of the bus, everyone glues their eyes to me. Zayn gives me a small, pathetic smile before looking back to the ground. He still looks like hell. His hair sticks up in every direction and his eyes have major bags under them. I resist the urge to wrap him in another big hug.

Niall and Harry both give me peculiar looks, being unusually silent. That only means one thing; Louis told them what happened. My cheeks flare up to a deep red beneath their gazes. Wanting to avoid the subject as long as possible, I rush towards the backdoor of the venue, entering with the sound guys carrying our things.

Today is going to be one long day...

* * * *

I manage to avoid everyone the entire day, all the way through the sound check. Lou had asked for my help several times but I always managed to mutter some stupid excuse and run away. She'd know something was up the minute she looked into my eyes.

The hardest part of it all - as expected - was avoiding Louis. I would catch glimpses of him on stage or in a conversation with Harry and my stomach would drop. As hard as I tried not to, I can't stop thinking about our kiss. If I try really hard, I can still perfectly imagine how his lips felt against mine.

But every time my mind wanders to Louis' soft lips and his warm embrace, Shiloh's face would barge into my memory as a painful reminder.

Unable to find anything else to do, I panic. With all this time to kill, I'm going to end up sending myself into a nervous breakdown. I haven't sat down since I woke up this morning. The thing I need to avoid the most is my own mind and that's damn near impossible.

Feeling on the brink of bursting into sobs, I search for the only person that has any idea of what I'm going through: Zayn.

He's been unusually quiet the whole day. As I was racing around backstage earlier, I heard him breaking the news to the boys. I had to run away before I started crying again. He's still so broken over it. You never would imagine Zayn being the sensitive type, but he certainly was one of the most gentle people I've ever met.

Feeling bad for avoiding him all day as well, I venture around backstage. The whole place is unusually quiet, though it has been all day. Everyone can tell something's off and I just pray they have no idea why.

Muttering a few nervous swear words under my breath, I knock on the boys' dressing room.

"Come in!" A voice - luckily - not belonging to Louis.