Chapter 22

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"Hm," Louis mumbled as he flipped through sheets. "Interesting."

"What is?" Niall asked as he swipes through his phone.

It's been a few days since his arrival from Bora Bora with Ella. Their last day, they spent it doing every activity they could. Sailing, feeding turtles, hiking, riding on jet skis, eating a shit ton, and other things. They didn't sleep until 3 a.m. Probably because they were tipsy on champagne that they bought at a store, Ella hiccuped the entire night until she passed out on Niall.

But, now it's back to work and planning.

Ella's birthday is this weekend, 3 days away. And Niall has been planning on something for her. But he hasn't made a decision.

"Oh nothing important," Louis says, biting his lip. "Just stupid stuff."

"Oh." Niall says and returns to Twitter.

He's been more active on his social media. Posting photos of random stuff and tweets that don't make sense. Well, they do. To one person.

Ella also has been more active but not as much as him. He spends every free minute on there.

"Niall," Louis coughs. "I wanted to compliment you on an amazing PR stunt with Ella at Bora Bora. The media went crazy for it. They saw the photos and fire turned up!"

"Thanks, we tried." He lies. Which, technically they did. Sometimes. Ha?

"So, I was wondering," louis begins. "How things are going?"

"Pretty great. Everything is a lot better. She's awesome as usual."

"Ah," Louis hums. "It's been almost 8 months since you two started this."

"Really?!" Niall raises an eyebrow. "That quick?!"

"So, how are you feeling? Since it started? Feel better about your image?"

"Well," Niall sits up in his chair. "I feel better about my image. I feel like I don't have to watch my back every time I set foot outside."

Louis nods. "Yeah. So, have you thought about when you two will end it?"

"End it?"

Fuck.

"Yeah, I mean...it was temporary." Louis crosses his arms. "It always was."

"Right," Niall replies. "I...haven't had much thought."

Shit. He can't tell Louis. Not now. They just turned official.

Louis plays with a pen on his desk. "That's up to you two. Have a talk, a good talk, and come back to me. So that way we can think of what to say as a statement."

Niall feels uncomfortable. He knows he shouldn't be hiding his relationship with Ella. But Louis will tear his head apart. He did say it was always temporarily. Dammit.

"Will do," he says quietly and stands up. "Anything else we need to discuss?"

"Nah. So remember, next Friday is Katy's release party in LA for the single. And then Monday you'll fly back, take 2 days off, and promote here in Europe." Louis says while typing on his laptop. "Then after two weeks on promo, you will have one week off then off to Australia."

"Yeah, got it." Niall pulls his SnapBack around. "See you."

"See ya. Tell Ella I said hi." Louis calls out as Niall leaves.

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When he arrives at his house, it's empty. Ella still has two hours left in her shift.

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