NEVERLAND ✧ Louis Partridge

15 | Stupid Reasons

Y/N
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"I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING," is what Louis said to me as soon as I stepped foot in the camp.

After finding out my horrible fate last night, I was too sick to my stomach to go see Louis in the morning.

I just holed myself up in my room, holding back panicked tears as I let the ocean rock the boat back and forth until I felt like throwing up. I didn't want to be here anymore. I wanted to go home, wake up, and pretend that this was all a dream.

But Hook found me and threw me on a boat to the island, telling me to suck it up and get the job done.

"If it's a secret, I don't want to hear it," I sighed, keeping my distance from the boy, "you shouldn't trust me with those."

He shouldn't trust me at all, but how was he to know?

The Lost Boys had scrambled off as soon as I walked in, and Millie rolled her eyes and floated into the forest. It was just me, my dagger, and the boy I was supposed to kill.

"It's not a secret," Louis laughed, scratching the back of his neck nervously, "well, it was, but I'm telling you now."

I clasped my hands behind my back, flinching as I felt the cool tip of my blade. With every second that went by, I knew my task was drawing near. Closer, and closer, and closer, and closer, until I didn't have any room left to breathe.

The boy took a step closer to me, biting his lip nervously.

"Are you ready to hear it?" He questioned, rocking back and forth, "my secret?"

I blinked, "I thought you said it wasn't a secret."

"It's half-and-half depending on how you take it."

"Then just tell me what it is."

He inhaled a huge breath of hair, his shiny, brown eyes dilating as he looked at me. As I stared back, I slowly felt myself forgetting what I came here for—I may have completely forgotten—but his eyes... it's hard to believe I'm the subject he finds interesting enough to stare at.

I almost want to reach out and—

"I like you," Louis said quickly, stepping towards me again, "a lot."

Did he part his hair a different way today? Apart from his usual messy style, it looks so much wavier than usual, and maybe he'd let me run my hands through curls if I asked politely...

Wait.

Did he just say he liked me?

"I'm sorry, what?" I repeated, almost choking on my words.

Louis had somehow gotten much closer to me, leaning his nose closer to mine as he processed my question through his head.

"I like you," he restated, blushing furiously, "is that okay?"

Normally, I was a well composed individual who always thought about my answer before I said it. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the words just rolled off my tongue and out of my mouth before I could even think things through.

"It's very much okay," I nodded, "because I like you too."

"That's excellent news," Louis beamed, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile.

"I suppose it is."

"And I suppose there was something we forgot yesterday."

"Forgot?"

All he had to do was cock a brow for me to remember that moment at Skulls Rock. The one where one of us should have made the first move, but chickened out.

Tilting his head, he pursed his lips in question, clearly implying something obvious. If this was his way of asking permission, the answer was yes. A definite yes.

"You're an idiot," I teased, placing my hand on his cheek.

"I know."

And so he kissed me.

In a way that almost made me have to pinch myself to check if I was dreaming or still alive. What kind of magic was he using on me?

Sliding his hand around my waist, he pulled me closer to him gently, smiling into the kiss. He seemed so happy, and so was I. A moment of pure bliss, where the both of us were rocking back and forth like a ship on the ocean.

Like a...ship.

On the ocean.

Like a pirate ship.

"Dammit," I exclaimed, pushing Louis off of me, "I'm sorry, but I can't do this."

I stumbled away from him, my hand covering my lips in anxiousness. I can't believe I let myself forget.

How could I forget?

"What?" Louis said, flustered, "why not?"

"Because I can't be with you, Louis," I explained, waving my hands around wildly, "it just can't happen!"

"But why? He said, "answer my question, and I promise I'll understand."

I knew he wasn't going to understand.

He already had shadows of guilt looming over his face, and I swear I saw his jaw clench in frustration. He wasn't mad at me, he was clearly blaming himself for why I said this wouldn't work out.

"What did I do?" he mumbled softly, "please tell me."

"You didn't do anything, Louis."

"Then why can't it happen?" The boy urged, "you said you liked me back, and you kissed me back, and now there's this? Are you scared? Because if you're scared, I promise I'll do everything I can to make you feel safe, because I'm freaking in love with you."

I paused, my blood coming to a still.

He was in love?

"It's too soon," I said, shaking my head in confusion, "you can't love me."

"And why the hell can't I?" He exclaimed, breaking into a sweat, "time means nothing when it comes to this, because I know for a fact that what I'm feeling is real, [y/n]."

"It's just that—"

"I've been stuck on this island for years, pretending that being called a Lost Boy didn't feel like a slap in the face."

"Louis..."

"And then your mom wanted me to take you here for two weeks, because you needed a break, and I didn't plan on falling in love with you," he said, spilling everything out, "but then you waltzed in, with your perfect fighting skills, and your snarky comments, and I didn't feel like a lost boy anymore, because I found you."

"Louis, please, I can't—"

"And I don't want you to feel like loving me back is an obligation, becuase if you don't like me, I understand," he said, "but if you're throwing me away for a stupid reason, at least tell me."

He was boiling over in a melting pot of emotions.

But he needed to know the truth, because even though someone could fall in love within a second, I didn't believe it happened with me.

It couldn't happen with me.

"I can't love you back," I lied, pulling out my dagger, "because I'm supposed to kill you."
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Fun fact
A psychologist from New York discovered that it can take only 4 minutes to fall in love...fascinating, huh?