Two Floors Apart (Louis Tomlinson AU)

I » An Invitation

I.   O N E   //   A N   I N V I T A T I O N

d e c e m b e r   2 0 1 2

ring... ring... ring...

            Pyper shifted uncomfortably on her bed as she held her phone between her shoulder and cheek. She was entirely prepared to go away with her family and spend her second college vacation with them, since her first was spent cramming for exams. She was ready to tell them all about her courses, her new friend, Lydia, the comfiness of living alone...and Louis, she was definitely ready to tell her family about their amazing first meeting over bread. She waited patiently with the phone on her ear, panicking about what specifically should be packed. The call ended by saying the number did not have a voice mail so she tried the neighbour's phone instead. She picked up quickly. "Hello?"

            "Hi, Mary?" Pyper smiled at the familiarity of her voice. "It's Pyper. How are you?"

            "Oh Pyper, hello dear!" Her voice raised several pitches through happiness. With old age came loss of hearing; Mary was no exception. "I'm doing quite well, actually. I've been worse." A laugh. "How are you? How's Doncaster treating you?"

            "That's good to hear. Doncaster's amazing," she said honestly. When she was younger, Mary used to babysit her after school when her parents were at work or out of the house at the same time. "I've met so many amazing people, especially one in particular. He lives two floors above me in the same building."

            "He? So this is a boy you're speaking of? Oh, you must tell me all about him! Dear, you really do need to come back to Nottingham sometime. I've missed talking to you."

            "I've missed you too, Mary." Pyper felt tears prickling the backs of her eyes. She really did miss speaking to her; Mary knew more than her parents did about her personal life. It was a bit sad, when she thought about it. She repositioned herself on the edge of her bed by her suitcase and played with the hem of her sweatpants. "That's what I wanted to call you about, actually. I was thinking of coming up by train. College let out for the break yesterday."

            "Oh no..." The tone of the old woman's voice was sympathetic. It made Pyper sit up straighter, more alert to the phone call than she was earlier. "Did they not tell you?"

            "Tell me what? What am I missing?" Pyper felt her voice rise in a panic, afraid of what might have happened to her parents, maybe even her grandparents. She didn't want to be notified of a family death over the phone. "Mary, what happened?"

            "They left to go on vacation to California to stay the entire Christmas break. Their plane left yesterday morning."

            The alert position Pyper had been in was gone instantly. Her shoulders slumped over and her eyes widened in disbelief at what the old woman had said. She struggled to keep her grip on the phone. "They...They what?"

            "I could have sworn they told you." It was evident Mary felt bad about having to be the one to tell her; Pyper didn't blame her. "I'm sorry I don't have anything else to tell you. If you want, though, I can tell you which hotel they're staying in..."

            "It's fine, Mary." Pyper sighed. "I guess I won't be coming up like I wanted to. I'll come visit you after I finish my exams, though, okay?"

            "I'm terribly sorry, dear. But yes, please do! I want to hear all about—about—" Mary paused. "Did you even tell me what the young lad's name is?"

            "No, but it's Louis." Pyper found herself involuntarily smiling. "Yeah, Louis Tomlinson. I'll tell you about everything when I do come up, and I'll call to warn you."

            "Louis Tomlinson? Oh, he sounds lovely! I can't wait to hear all about him—and when you come up I'll pull out the air mattress for you, yeah? Alright, dear, I should let you go now. I feel like I've kept you longer than you wanted to stay on the phone!" She let out a deep laugh which made Pyper smile on her end. "I'll talk to you soon, Pyper. Good luck on your exams."

            "Thanks, Mary. I'll do my best." Once they said goodbye she put the phone down in front of her and stared at the blank screen. She wasn't too sure how long she stayed on her bed, blanked out, when she heard her front door open. The only person who ever walked into her flat openly was Louis, so she wasn't afraid of anyone breaking in.

            "Pipe? You here?" A loud clatter came from the kitchen. "I went grocery shopping and got some of your favourite cookies!"

            She couldn't bring herself to respond to him. Footsteps echoed through the flat until they reached her room. "Pipe?"

            "They left me," she said as she looked away from the phone and up to meet Louis' eyes. Before he was able to ask who she was talking about she said, "My parents. I wanted to surprise them by going back to Nottingham for New Year's."

            "I remember you told me about that." Louis' eyebrows furrowed as he walked into her bedroom and sat on the end of her bed. He turned himself slightly so that he'd be facing her. "What happened with them?"

            "What happened is that they're currently in California!" Pyper's melancholy demeanour disappeared; Louis was taken aback by the loudness of her voice. "I know that they didn't have a clue about my bloody plan to surprise them, obviously, but they didn't even notify their fucking daughter of it?"

            Pyper wasn't upset anymore. No, she was furious. Whenever she felt like that she would almost instantly switch from sadness to anger, and Louis was one of the only people to experience it. Over a year later and he was still unable to prepare himself for her outbursts. 

            "Hey, hey... It'll be alright." His voice came out quieter and calmer than he felt, but he was thankful for it. He brought his own legs up and sat cross-legged in front of Pyper, leaning forwards and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He had done it countless times before—as far as he knows, it was one of the only things that could calm her down. "You can talk to them when they're back and get mad then. It's only the twenty-sixth." 

            There was a short pause in their conversation where the only sound was Pyper's angry, heavy breathing. "Where are the cookies you bought?"

            The coincidence that he'd bought the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies was another helpful factor to help her calm down. Louis had a small smile on his face when he pulled away and walked out of her room, taking the cookie box out of the grocery bag. He saw Pyper slowly following behind him. "Pipe, I have a question for you."

            She ripped the package open like it was a single sheet of pape. She took four cookies into one hand and brought a fifth to her mouth, savouring the one cookie before she said anything. "What is it?"

            "My friends are coming over to my flat on New Year's. Since you're staying here, how about making the best of it and joining us?" 

            "Who else is gonna be there, other than Lydia and Stan?"

            "Oh, Stan can't make it," Louis commented, "but it'll be you, me, Lydia, Liam, and Zayn." 

            "Who're the last two?" 

            "They're both a year younger. Liam's on my footy team and Zayn's in my screenwriting course. He's an English major."  

            Pyper didn't even have to think. Not only did she need something to get her mind off her horrible parents, but she loved the friends she had already; why not add another two to the group? "Yeah, I'll come."  

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            so first off there's a giant dedication to cuddlemelouis because (1) she's amazing as a person, (2) she's amazing at writing, and (3) i was given 11/10 by her review book and i just feel super flattered ok

          also, there will be chapters without bolded timeframes. that means that the event takes place either consecutive to the last or is within the same month. 

            — linn