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Mistletoe Deadline

Eight|Fairytale of New York


8 December 2018
8 days left in Operation Mistletoe

"Riley, Riley! Riles," Courtney's voice was insistent as she tried to wake me up.

"What?" I muttered burrowing deeper into the blankets on my bed and hoping that she was going to go away.

"It's already 10, and I'm going down to the cafe, you're coming with me."

It took me a second to process her words before I sat straight up in bed startling Courtney enough that she slipped off the bed.

"Are you okay?" I asked peering over the edge.

"Just peachy," She answered through a round of giggles, "Now what did you remember?"

"I might have something at 11:30," I admitted sheepishly helping Courtney back onto my bed.

"Hmmmm....." Courtney hummed questioningly with a smirk on her face.

"I have a thing," I stated hitting her with my spare pillow to stop her eyebrows wagging at me.

"With who?" came her reply as she dodged the pillow and propped her chin on her hands. "Harry?"

I didn't want the reminder. Harry and I hadn't talked more than three words since the incident in the woods the night before. I think after we came back everyone knew what was going on but thankfully no one had bothered us about it. I knew that it was driving Courtney nuts not knowing what had happened but it was going to stay that way because I really didn't want to talk about it.

"No Louis," I admitted biting my lip and hoping that Courtney wasn't going to freak out.

"Louis," Courtney repeated questioningly like it hadn't processed through her brain yet, "you're going out with Louis?"

"Yeah, he got back into town last night, so we're meeting for lunch today."

"But what about Harry?" came Courtney's reply that I really hadn't been expecting.

Three days ago she hadn't known him and hadn't been able to stand the idea of him since she thought that Louis and I were the perfect couple. And now that I was actually going out with Louis she all of a sudden thought that Harry was perfect.

"Harry and I had a fight," I admitted in a tone that told her that she wasn't getting any more details, "and besides he's not exactly the kind of guy that I would bring home to dad."

"And Louis is?" Courtney stated all of a sudden perking up slightly.

"Maybe?" I said with a shrug, "I have to ask someone soon anyways, or Heather is going to kill me."

It was like someone had lit a switch in Heather's eyes and before she could say anything, she was dragging me excitedly out of bed.

"Well if you're going to convince Louis that he needs to be your fake boyfriend then you're going to have to look killer."

Dragging me towards the bathroom and pushing me inside Courtney gave me orders to clean up since 'I still smelled like bonfire' while she picked out the perfect date outfit. With a shake of my head at her insistence, I showered and got ready before heading out in my towel to find Courtney still standing in front of my closet.

"I told you we needed to go shopping," She stated giving me a look before gesturing towards the bed, "That's all I could come up with."

A plaid flannel with a black down vest, a denim shirt, tights, and fur boots, that's what Courtney picked out for me. With not enough time to complain if I was going to get to the coffee shop on time, I slipped it on and with a promise to tell her all of the details I headed out the door. The coffee shop was a twenty-minute walk from campus and instead of driving I wanted the time to clear my head. I knew that Louis was my best chance. That I needed to get Harry out of my mind but something about Courtney's insistence and the fact that I might have jumped the gun the night before had his disgruntled face still in the back of my mind. Apparently, the turmoil in my mind set the walking pace, and I made it to the restaurant five minutes early which left me standing awkwardly in the doorway when Louis arrived.

"I'm sorry am I late?" Louis asked with a smile pulling off his gloves as he entered the foyer.

"Not at all you're right on time," I answered with a smile of my own,

"Good because campus traffic was absolutely insane I think all the students are kind of desperate to get home."

"We kind of are," I admitted as the hostess sat us at a little window table, "how was your trip?"

"Amazing!" Louis exclaimed his face lighting up, "The whole city was lit up for Christmas, and there were so many people and things to see. And I managed to make a lot of connections so I think I might be able to get a place in a firm sooner than I thought."

"That sounds....nice," I offered not really sure what to think of the idea of Louis leaving the company.

"It really is," Louis said with a grin, and for the next ten minutes, he showed me pictures of the sites and things he got to do over the week. He was relaxed and comfortable to talk to, and we got so wrapped up we didn't notice when the waiter came to get our orders.

"I'll just have a Reuben with fries," I said offering the waiter a sheepish smile as I frantically scanned the menu.

"That sounds good, I'll have the same," Louis said self assuredly handing the waiter back our menus, "thank you."

With the waiter gone Louis gave me a soft smile leaning back in his seat.

"Sorry I might have talked too much there and probably bored you to death."

"No not at all," I offered with a smile, "you're easy to talk to."

The two of us fell into easy conversation trading remarks and stories from our lives. I learned that Louis grew up on the outskirts of Hartford, was a former yale student and wanted a boxer named captain as soon as he could afford one. He was open, honest and everything I should have been looking for. He paid the bill for both of us before I could protest and since both of us were looking for an excuse for this not to end suggest a walk along the river.

"So Riley, what are you doing for Christmas?"

The question came several blocks into our walk as we watched the people pass and all of the Christmas decorations in the windows.

"My family has a shared cabin up in the Appalachians. We go there for skiing and the holidays every year." I admitted.

"That sounds nice and relaxing," Louis stated as his fingers brushed mine.

I knew that this was my chance to ask him but part of me was hesitant and terrified. How was I supposed to ask someone to be my fake boyfriend for a holiday? So instead of answering I just made some kind of non-commital noise.

"That bad?" Louis asked with a grin.

"Well, not usually but my parents are kind of expecting me to bring someone home this year though." I started unsure how to continue.

Louis shook his head a bit before looking at me.

"So you have a dashing boyfriend to bring home for Christmas, and you're out with me?" He asked making me even more nervous.

"Well not exactly," I trailed off not sure how to ask this. "I mean my parents think that I do but I mean I was kind of cornered when they asked, so I kind of had to make something up."

"Sounds like you ended up in a sticky situation," Louis said with a laugh. "You're just going to have to find prince charming I guess."

The words were out of my mouth before I was even able to process what I was saying but instantly stopped Louis in his tracks. "Would you want to be prince charming?"

I could see the wheels turning in his head and to try and avoid the horrible backlash of being rejected I tried to back peddle stuttering the whole time that I was doing it.

"I mean you don't have to... I don't know what I was thinking. I mean you probably already have Christmas plans and just forget it it's a foolish question anyways."

My rambling was cut short when Louis put his hands firmly on my shoulder leading us up to the rail of the river walk. His eyes were calm and collected, but I could tell that his mannerisms were slightly uncomfortable.

"Riley, Riley, it's fine." He stated in a blatant attempt to get me to breathe.

Once I was calm Louis let out a deep breath before leaning his elbows against the top of the rail and taking a look around at the semi-frozen river.

"I mean I'm flattered you asked." He started before looking at me, "Unfortunately my parents are going to be expecting me too. I try to get out of it every year, but dad gets mad if I miss the company holiday party."

"Oh," my voice was soft as I answered unable to meet his eyes. Of course, he couldn't come it was stupid to assume that he didn't have any plans.

"Hey," Louis said putting a finger under my chin and raising my gaze up to his, "I'll make a deal with you."

I just gave a nod unsure where he was going with this.

"I'll go with you." I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding, "If, and this is a big if, you can't find someone else to go with you."

I just stared at his wide eyes unsure how to respond, so I just gave him a nod and a soft smile, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, I know enough the pressures of family over the holidays. But you have to make sure that you at least try to find someone else to go okay?"

With another nod, I felt the smile on my face turn genuine. On impulse, I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around Louis. I apparently had caught him by surprise as he took a second to react before gently wrapping his arms around me.

"Thank you," I whispered into his shoulder, "you're a great friend."

Pulling back Louis had a twinkle in his eye as he reached over and brushed a stray piece of hair that had gotten dislodged from under my beanie, "Wow, you really know how to friendzone a guy."

I opened my mouth to protest but realised in that instant that I really couldn't. Being with Louis was comfortable, a little too comfortable. It wasn't Louis' calm demeanour and aqua blue eyes that had my heart racing. Feeling my cheeks blush I ducked away from Louis' mischevious stare.

"Oh, who is he?" Louis exclaimed with a laugh.

"Oh so now you're assuming it's a he," I stated with a laugh trying to regain at least some of my composure. "You are so 1950s."

"Riley Brooks, you never told me you swung that way," Louis exclaimed though I could see that he didn't believe me.

It was a rather unsuccessful attempt to regain my composure as under Louis' false scrutinising gaze I just felt myself dissolve into a pile of giggles. Not the cute girly kind of giggles that I always aspired, but the bent over barely able to breathe kind.

Shaking his head and chucking along with me Louis and I managed to regain our composure enough for us to continue along the river walk at a kind of relaxed pace. It was at that moment that I realised that I liked Louis and I like this, us as friends.

Notes

So Riley asked Louis? ;)

Let me know what y'all think. :)

Comments

You should definitely continue writing this story!!

I would love to read what you have! I don’t mind if Christmas is over lol I love Christmas! I was wondering what happened to you, but figured the holidays always get a little crazy! Xx

@YouLoveWhoYouLove

So I double updated :) And there's another double update tomorrow because I'm so behind :)

And I adore all those Christmas songs