summer love / lewis redman

day 11

"I don't want to go back to the real world." Vikk admitted as they sat around the suite, holding their bowls of cereal and fruit and room-service pancakes. Simon was shoving his sausages off his plate and onto JJ's, his mouth full of banana, as he nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

"London's going to be a right disappointment after all this sun." Harry agreed, looking longingly at the window to their right. His cheeks were tinted a bit red at this point, no matter how much sunscreen he seemed to have put on.

"Tell me about it." Tobi grumbled, digging sadly into his pancakes.

"I don't want to go back." Lewis repeated Vikk's words, sinking lower in the couch and resting his head on the back. His breakfast sat abandoned in his lap, and he just wanted to curl up and go back to bed.

"Is it Luciana?" Josh asked gently, taking a swig of his orange juice and awaiting a response from his friend.

Lewis closed his eyes, and just nodded his head where it rested on the couch. Simon reached over and gave him a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder. "You could always come back and visit her." He suggested optimistically.

"This is hardly the worst place to have to come back to." Harry pointed out, looking once more towards the window. His sun addiction was going to send him into withdrawal when they returned at this rate.

"I don't want to have to come back to some foreign country to visit some girl." Lewis groaned, running his hands through his hair and sitting up. "I want what all of you get! Freya, and Katie, and Talia, and they're all right there, in London, with you. I don't want a girl in Ibiza, I want a girl with me."

There was a silent pause after his outburst, and then Ethan set his empty plate on the counter and crossed his legs, his arms folding over his chest as he prepared to talk some sense into his friend. "There are thousands of girls in London."

"Yeah, but none of them are her." Lewis contradicted foully.

"So you'd rather turn down the opportunity to find the perfect girl for you that may be back in London somewhere, for the waitress you met on a lads' holiday in Spain?" Ethan asked, his tone lifting as he threw the loaded question at his friend. The rest of the boys seemed to be watching the words get swatted back and forth like some sort of tennis match.

"Why should I be trying to meet somebody else when I've already found her?" Lewis asked, looking over at Ethan. His words weren't as defensive as before, now he was just feeling dejected and genuine.

"If she's who you want to be with, as much as you say you do, then there's no doubt that you'll make it work." Ethan advised. "If she isn't as special as she feels right now, then when you get back to London, you're not going to make that effort. But if she is that girl, then you're going to work your ass off to make it happen." Ethan's finger moved animatedly through the air.

"And if she's the right one, she's going to give it her all too." Josh encouraged. "Doesn't mean it'll be easy, but it means it'll feel worth it."

Lewis stayed quiet, his thoughts racing around like horses on a track. "I'm scared," He finally said quietly. Simon moved closer, throwing an arm around Lewis' shoulders. "I'm just scared that this is all going to break apart and I will just be back to the start in England."

JJ sighed, leaning his elbows on his knees. "I was torn up when Seana and I broke up. But that doesn't dictate my life. It'll fucking suck if it doesn't work out, but it doesn't mean the world stops turning, mate." 

Vikk looked rather astonished at the sensitivity of JJ's words, but just nodded reassuringly at the sentiment. "And you've got to give her the chance. If you get too worked up about it not working now, then it's less likely to go right." He added warmly.

Lewis nodded back, his eyes searching the hotel room as he tried to soften his pounding mind. He sucked in a huge breath and released it slowly, trying to push the weight out of his chest. "You're right, all of you are. Life'll be fine."

"Hell yeah it will!" Harry threw a fist in the air.

"And if you ever need a shoulder to lean on, I think Simon and I have some good ones." Tobi added, slapping a hand down on Lewis' shoulder as Simon laughed, hugging him to his side gently before dropping his arm.

"You're both idiots." Lewis laughed, shaking Simon and Tobi off but giving them both grateful smiles.

"You love us!" Ethan shouted, laughing loudly and throwing a cushion at Lewis, which he caught and promptly threw back forcefully. "Can be stop being so serious and go get wasted on the beach or something? If I go home and I don't have a third degree sunburn then I think I'll have wasted the whole trip."