For the Road

9

Louis's just finished the North American leg of the tour. He can't be more excited to be home and in an actual bed. It was a seven-hour flight from Toronto (his last tour stop) to Doncaster. It's well past midnight when Louis gets home and the only thing he wants to do is sleep.

He's already found his way upstairs and to his bedroom. He's thankful his mother lets him stay at the family house between tour legs. He has three weeks off before he has to go back and start the European leg of the tour. His Mum wants to take advantage of their time together while they have it, which is why they never cleaned out Louis's old room.

Louis falls on the bed and sighs loudly. It's nice being here instead of being on the bus. Don't get him wrong, Louis loves going on tour and loves spending time with his best friends, but after a while it gets tiresome and he's already done two tours, this being his third. He feels bad about complaining, but he's worried if this keeps up any longer he'd run out of energy.

"Hey, Babe." Louis turns and sees his girlfriend standing at the door of the room. His eyes graze over her. Her brown hair hangs longer than Louis remembers, and the ends have been colored a lighter shade of brown. Eleanor's brown eyes are big and very doe-like.

"Hey, El," Louis sighs. He sits up and looks at her. She closes his bedroom door and turns the lights off, leaving only the glow of his lamp to light the room. She pulls off her over-shirt and joins him in his bed.

"How was tour?" He's so over talking about the tour. He doesn't want to hear, think, or see anything about it for the next three weeks.

"Fine."

"Well, I'm glad you're back. I missed you a lot, you know. Seven weeks is too long to go without seeing your handsome face," She giggles. She reaches up and touches the side of Louis's face, causing him to turn towards her. Eleanor glances over his face before kissing him lightly. "Why don't we catch up a little bit? I've been missing you," She whispers. Eleanor traces her hand down his stomach. Her hand slips under his shirt, but before she can go to remove it, Louis grabs her hand and pulls it away.

"I love you, El, and I missed you a lot, but I'm really tired. I haven't had a proper sleep in ages. Besides, we'll have plenty of time for that later," Louis promises, kissing her on the side of her face. He notices her slight pout, but he shrugs it off.

"Can we cuddle at least? I just want to be near you." Louis feels bad, he really does. He hates disappointing Eleanor, but he wants desperately to be alone. He doesn't want to keep up a conversation or be near anyone. He wants privacy.

"Look, I'm not trying to be a dickhead, but I really want some alone time, yeah? I've been stuck on a bus with three other guys for seven weeks. The only place I can get some privacy is the toilet and that's if someone doesn't walk in on you," Louis explains. Eleanor stays still for a Moment, but then slowly gets up.

"Fine, okay. I'll just go home and come back tomorrow morning. I... uh love you," Eleanor sighs quietly. Louis's stomach clenches as he sees Eleanor pick up her forgotten shirt and pull it back over her head.

"Love you too, Eleanor, see you tomorrow." She nods and heads out of his room, keeping a small crack of the door still open. Louis sighs loudly and pulls a hand through his hair.

He doesn't want to feel bad, but he does. Eleanor's been there for him since day one and he really does love her. He always feels bad leaving her for so long because of the band, but there isn't anything he can do about it. He has thought about breaking up with her just so he doesn't have to break her heart so many times. Louis has never had the guts to actually do it, though.

"Why's Eleanor leaving? I figured you'd want her to stay the night." Louis looks up and sees his Mum standing at the door. She walks over to his bed and sits on the end of it, rubbing Louis's leg.

"I just... I've been around people for so long, the last thing I want to do is be with anyone. I just want to sleep and feel rested. I don't mean to make her feel bad, but she kept wanting to cuddle or talk or... other things. I don't know, Mum, I'm just tired," Louis explains. She gives him a small smile.

"Louis, we've all missed you. It's hard for Eleanor, because she has to go weeks on end without seeing you. Sure, you Skype, but video chatting isn't as real as being with someone. She just wants to be with you, and I'm sure tomorrow she'll be fine. Now, I know you're sick of hearing this, but tell me how the other guys are doing. How's Zayn? You haven't talked about him at all since you've been here, and you normally never shut up about him."

"We got into a pretty big fight. Remember that party you went to about three weeks ago? I told Zayn that Lottie followed that guy, and he got really pissed. He went off on me about how I'm probably gay and started calling me a fag and stuff. We haven't really talked since," Louis explains. Jay's furrows her eyebrows and brings her son into a hug.

"Well, on Wednesday, we're having Anne come over with her son and husband. They offered to cook a meal for us to help get our minds off the wedding. Now, I'm asking you to try and be friendly towards their son, okay? He was so sweet at the party and hasn't posted about us anywhere. I'm sure he's really lovely, so give him a chance," She says. Louis rolls his eyes.

"Fine, but if anything about Zayn, or his theories comes up, I'm leaving."

"That's fair enough. Thank you, Louis. I'll get out of your hair now. Get some sleep, okay? I love you."

"Love you too."

~_~_~

Hey guys!! So dinner party with the Deakins/Styles soon???? Who's excited (besides Harry) ! In two chapter we will have Larry meet for the first time! I want to thank you guys for being so patient through all of this. I know this hasn't been the most exciting story so far, but I promise it'll get more interesting soon! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! ~B