Only The Brave ⟨⟨ʟᴏᴜɪs ᴛᴏᴍʟɪɴsᴏɴ⟩⟩

⟨⟨ ᴀʟɪᴠᴇ ⟩⟩

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ
Alive

Louis coughed out a laugh as they tripped through the door of the coffee shop onto the bleak pavement outside. Elora's cheeks were a faint pink as she hid her grin behind her hand before they looked at each other. He gestured to either side of them, asking her where they were heading. With a shrug, the stunning girl moved left, flowing the traffic created by the pedestrians. 
"Ah, following the trend, I see," he remarked with a smirk and she shook her head in response.
"Are you a park person?" she questioned with a tentative look and he shrugged in response, "Well, there's this botanical garden that I love, and I was wondering if you wanted to talk a walk around there?" she offered, cautious of his likely dislike for boring gardens.
"You know what? Sure, I never really take the time to appreciate nature," he responded with a grin and she sent him a pleased smile in return.

They continued walking for a few more moments, their heads turned to the ground and their shoulders hunched to ward off the cold. Her shoulder purse slapped against her leg with each step that she took and Louis was mesmerised by the rhythm it created before he finally broke the silence.
"Alright, favourite colour?"
"Platinum," she promptly revealed and he backtracked for a second, "Yours?"
"Hold up - did you say platinum?" he questioned and she nodded with a cheeky grin, her eyes clearly showing that she knew it was an unusual answer. With a shake of his head, he added, "Okay, mine is dark red but now you need to explain how platinum is your answer."
She chuckled smugly and raised an eyebrow as she looked at him, "Are you going to explain your answer?"
He laughed as he shook his head while she responded with an expression that said: 'well there's your answer'.

They chuckled together for the next few steps before she spoke up first, "Favourite artist?"
He took a moment to think before speaking carefully, "I grew up listening to Oasis so that would be a strong contender but I've got to say this band One Direction is also pretty cool."
She laughed at his teasing, a bright smile spreading across her face before he asked who hers was and she had to nod in contemplation.
"I've got to say: Da Vinci - something about all the nudity," she joked and he laughed so loudly she feared people would begin to worry about him, but that didn't stop her from joining him. 
They continued to walk down the sidewalk, trying to weave through the people and hide their giggles so that attention wouldn't be drawn to the celebrity having a casual stroll with a stranger he met that day. 

"Okay, okay," he breathed with a calm smile, "Favourite animal?"
This lead to another bout of silence that lasted so long Louis began worrying that maybe he didn't hear her response, but turning his head to his new companion allowed him to see an expression of deep thought filling her features. He let out a small chuckle as he realised how much effort she was putting into answering him.
"I am a sucker for panda bears," she admitted with a cute smile, prompting him to laugh as her face softened with the thought of them, "I actually made my best friend back home promise to buy me a baby panda when he became rich and famous."
Louis stared at her in awe, reminding her that they were, in fact, a highly protected animal - to which she argued that he would buy her a mini sanctuary. Their lengthy discussion regarding the maintenance that came with owning a wild animal continued until they appeared at the entrance of the botanical garden.
"It shouldn't need a partner! My love and affection should be more than enough for it," she reasoned with complete certainty even though her laughter bubbled through her words. 

One of the women working at the entrance watched with wide eyes as the pair confidently walked past into the greenery, not paying any heed to the stranger that had clearly recognised the male. Their conversation tapered off slightly as they followed the loose stone pathway that winded through the selection of flora. The silence sat peacefully around them as their eyes examined the deep green leaves of trees that they didn't recognise, briefly glancing at the signs and realising that it made no difference anyway. In their serenity, Louis was able to realise how calm Elora made their entire experience. He didn't feel the need to watch out for fans or paparazzi; he was fully allowed to stare at his surroundings with a beautiful stranger who didn't press him to talk. She remained quiet and he could relax into the serenity she radiated, realising just how desperately he needed the peace. 

After a few more moments in silence, Louis heard light chuckles escaping Elora, causing him to turn his head in her direction with a confused look in his eyes. 
"Sorry," she mumbled slightly, "I just realised again how unreal this experience is."
With a questioning eyebrow raise, he waited for her to expand as he examined the calm expression on her face. She exhaled after a moment before shrugging and continuing, "I was just thinking about how tomorrow I'm going to wake up and remember this like it's a dream. I'll look back on this day and how we spent it mainly in silence... but I don't think I'll regret that."
Her revelation made Louis pause for a moment and contemplate how he felt about her words. With a faint shock, he realised that he didn't like the idea of leaving his time with her solely in the past. They continued on down the path with Louis still stuck in his thoughts, wondering if it was truly so absurd that he wanted to spend more time with the girl beside him.

In front of them rose an old building, constructed with light stones and a cream colour to the walls.  Louis suddenly felt inspired to capture his time with her and pulled out his phone before looking at Elora with a tentative smile.
"Could I take a picture of you?" he asked unsurely, worried that the odd request would make her uncomfortable. She tilted her head towards him, her bright eyes expressing her shock before she smiled slightly and nodded, moving to stand in front of him. Her insecurity came to light under his intense stare and she shuffled a bit, looking to the ground with her hands in her pockets as the building behind her highlighted the classic beauty of her features. 
"I promise I'm not using this for identity theft," he remarked in the hope to ease her awkwardness, feeling a spike of pride in himself as he succeeded when she let out a laugh. Her face rested into a gentle smile, the golden wires of her glasses glinting in the sun to magnify the warmth of her eyes as she raised her head slightly and he took the picture. 

Noticing that he was placing his phone back into his pocket, Elora moved back to her position nearer to him and swiftly grabbed the smooth metal of her phone from her purse. 
"I get one too," she announced with a cheeky grin and Louis couldn't help but roll his eyes with a smile before pulling a face as she took a picture of him. She smiled sweetly when she looked down at her screen, appreciating the way that the sunlight highlighted the hues of his eyes and made his face shine with the joy of his laughter. 
"Well, now I have to get your number so that you can get this picture," Louis stated nonchalantly before Elora took in what he had done and began laughing loudly. She quickly covered her mouth to muffle the echoing sound as she continued to shake her head before she calmed down and grinned at him. Not saying anything to respond specifically, she accepted his cell and promptly added her contact details.

After that brief interaction, the two of them continued on their walk through the garden with the new aim to pronounce the scientific names of the organisms. Their laughter was carried on the gentle breeze as they pointed out the funny colloquial names for some of the plants on their journey. The sky began to grow slightly darker but the pair decided to ignore it in their bliss, clinging to the time that they had left.
"You're a bit too good at this," Louis commented at one point when she tried out the pronunciation of the name for one of the herbs.
"You'd be surprised how often I've done this," she responded with a laugh as they continued on, Louis looking at her with the expectation that she would expand, "I used to go to botanical gardens with my family and friends a lot back home. There were some really beautiful ones and I liked to look through them, making fun of the weird labels they'd decided to pick for certain trees and stuff." 
Louis hummed as he listened to the brief glimpse of her life that was revealed to him, wondering what it would be like to live in that way again. He couldn't remember the last time he was able to loiter around in public places just to revel in the beauty of nature. He had convinced himself that it was because he didn't enjoy it, but looking at what he was feeling at that moment he began to notice some untruth in his conceptions.