~A/N~

Surprise update because JesUS CHRIST I HAVE NEVER SEEN PEOPLE HATE ON A CLIFFHANGER SO MUCH ok enjoy chapter 17 xxxx

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Louis' POV

"I'm telling you, it doesn't hu- ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!"

"You said it doesn't hurt," The doctor said monotonically. I sighed and looked around; a couple of policemen were talking to the bartender and the owner of the club, along with another few people. The guy whose nose I broke earlier this evening was nowhere to be seen, along with Lorena and Caitlyn. Devon was standing in front of me, obviously just waiting for the doctor to leave so he could have a father-son talk with me, again.

"You're lucky you didn't get your ribs broken," The doctor said as he finished his work, and I nodded in response. I could only imagine how it would feel to have a broken rib, when a punched one, like mine here, hurts like a bitch.

"Alright, we're all done here. Just be careful for the next few days." I nodded and the guy left, probably to look for blondie, while I stayed on the cot.

"You alright?" Devon asked as he approached me, and sat next to me.

"Yeah," I said through a sigh. Physically I wasn't that bad, though I was eating myself on the inside. Not only had I let my anger get the best of me, but I ruined Lorena's birthday. Instead of dancing and laughing, she had to be interrogated by the police. One thing I knew for sure, not only was she never going to be my girlfriend, or anything even remotely similar, but she will also never look at me again. And I wanted to set that motherfucker on fire because of it.

"Just let me talk to him..." I heard a female voice say, a few meters away from me and Devon I'd say. My heart rate immediately increased, which wasn't very good or safe in that moment, but I didn't care; I recognized the voice immediately and the fact that she wanted to talk to me almost gave me the ability to fly.

"Okay, but don't excite him a lot, he's very- hey!" I heard the doctor from before say, and his choice of words made me chuckle. Although I stopped immediately when a very angry looking Lorena appeared in front of me, with a panicked Caitlyn next to her.

"Lorena, lis-" Slap. Just like that, I was facing the side of the van. If I didn't know she had a good reason for it, I'd be yelling now.

"You. Idiot!" She shouted at me, and I had to swallow a lump that had started forming into my throat. I couldn't even look her in the eyes. I swear I'd start crying.

"Are you fucking mental?! You could have gotten seriously hurt!" Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence, and that made me look up at her. The sight only made my heart sink to my toes; Lorena had tears in her eyes that she was persistently trying to hide, but the small sobs escaping her lips weren't helping her.

"We're gonna leave..." Caitlyn pulled Devon off of the cot, though I barely even noticed them.

I leaned my head to the side as I watched Lorena, the view eating my soul.

"Lori..." I said quietly, a little desperate, trying to get her to look at me somehow. She rubbed her eyes for a few seconds and then finally looked at me, a disappointed look on her face. I usually wouldn't give two fucks if someone was looking at me like that, but everything was different with Lorena.

"Why did you have to do it, why did you have to push him?" She asked and I started shaking my head furiously, despite the slight dizziness I was feeling.

"No! He hit me first, I would never start a fight." Well. That last one might have been a lie.

"I'm sure he didn't just hit you out of habit! What did you do, Louis?" She asked, desperation audible in her voice.

I sighed before answering. "I... Called him a faggot."

Lorena was now staring at me wide-eyed. Great.

"Why would you do that? Do you not know how guys react to being called that?!" She exclaimed and I rolled my eyes.

"Well excuse me, I didn't know he's also a homophobic piece of shit!" I shouted and Lorena shook her head, massaging her temples.

"What..." She started, but paused for a few seconds until she was happy with her massage.

"What made you call him a-a faggot?" She asked, her arms crossed now.

I took a deep breath before answering her question. She was definitely going to find out about my feelings for her through this, and I had to prepare myself as much as I could.

"He... Said something." I shook my head, but Lorena obviously wasn't satisfied with my answer.

"Basically, it started when he said he'd take you home tonight." I shrugged, looking at my feet. I could feel Lorena's eyes on me, and her confusion as well.

"Take me home? What are you talking about?" She asked and I finally looked up at her.

"He said he'd take you home," I said firmly, looking her straight in the eyes. She seemed to understand what I was talking about, but still wasn't pleased with my explanation.

"And that bothered you because...?" She trailed off, waiting for me to finish, but I didn't. I just looked up and stared at her for a few seconds, praying to God that she would find the answer in my eyes. I heard girls could do that.

Sure enough, her facial expression changed after a few seconds, but I wasn't sure if she got the right answer, since she didn't look happy.

"Louis... You don't..." She trailed off when I gave her a nod, and closed my eyes. It all depends on her now. Whether I was going to get a chance with her or just go back to the dorm and drown myself; she was going to make the decision.

"Louis, I..." I looked at Lorena, and now she was the one closing her eyes. I waited for a few hours, well, seconds in reality, before she spoke again.

"You know what I told you on Thursday? I still stand behind that," She said quietly and I started shaking my head.

"But you said," I licked my lips before continuing. "You said, if I proved you wrong, you would... You know... Be... Friends with me again." It almost hurt to say the word friends. I don't want to be her goddamn friend, and she knew it damn well.

"And this was you proving me wrong?" Lorena asked through a bitter laugh. I looked down for a second before looking back up at her.

"None of this would have happened if it wasn't for that bloke." I shook my head at her, while she just stared at me.

"And tell me, what is the alternate version of this evening, huh? What would have happened if it wasn't for Max?" She asked, and I cringed at the word Max. Even his name was annoying.

"Sir?" Just as I was about to start talking, a policeman approached Lorena and I. Oh boy. This should be fun.

"We have the bartender and another few people at the bar as witnesses, and all of them claim you were trying to defend yourself, therefore... You won't be arrested." I nodded, kind of speechless. The guy nodded back, and also at Lorena, and left. We stood there, shocked for a few seconds, before she shook her head lightly.

"You were saying?" She clumsily said, obviously still taken aback.

I sighed before speaking. "Well... As you can see, I was supposed to be your date." I observed Lorena's face throughout my entire speech.

"And, if things went well, I'd ask you on another date, and then if I still didn't have you proven wrong, I'd take you out on another date."

She laughed, not bitterly or anything; just a genuine laugh. For the first time that night, I felt like I was going somewhere with this.

"So you're telling me, you'd take me on as many dates as needed, until you prove me wrong?" Lorena said and I closed my eyes for a split second, a little embarrassed by the way she made it sound. But soon I started nodding, a smile tugging at my lips.

"Are you being serious? Am I being Punk'd?" She turned around herself, as if expecting Ashton Kutcher to pop out of some of the bushes surrounding us.

"Hey!" I said, fake offended and she laughed again. "I am being serious." I looked down at my hands, actually offended a little. It was the first time I've confessed my feelings to a girl, hell, the first time I've had actual feelings for a girl.

And she thought I was joking.

"Hey," I heard Lorena say and I looked up at her, to see her staring at me, now with a more serious look on her face.

"I'm kidding," She reassured me, and I realized I'd been quiet long enough for her to think I was actually bothered. I nodded, my heart not slowing down for a moment; she still hadn't given me an answer.

"So..." I started, looking down at my lap again. "What do you say?" I made sure to be loud enough for her to hear me, because I couldn't look at her; if she says yes, I'll freak out, and if she says no, I'll still freak out. It's a lose-lose situation.

A few seconds passed before Lorena's fingers came into my sight, and went to under my chin so she'd lift my head up. I went to say something, but was cut off as she suddenly kissed me.

It took me a second to process what was going on, but as soon as I realized she was answering my question with a 'yes' by doing this, I pulled her closer to me and kissed her back, passionately enough to make her head spin, to make her see that I'm not fucking with her and that I'm serious about this. I knew I needed to work my ass off in order to prove her wrong, but if that meant that she'd be mine in the end, then so be it.

Lorena pulled away from me for a few seconds, but kept her forehead against mine as she tried to catch her breath. I didn't even realize how much we needed it until she showed me.

"Lori-"

"Yes." She cut me off and breathed out a laugh. I immediately knew what she was talking about and, as predicted, I freaked out. I grinned and went to kiss her again, but she stopped me.

"And... I hope you know that you'll have to work your ass off nevertheless," Lorena voiced my thoughts and I nodded firmly, before kissing her again. I hadn't even realized how much I missed kissing her until tonight. If I'd known that kiss in the cabin of the Ferris wheel last week would have been our last one, I wouldn't have stopped her.

"Hey! Did you even hear what I said? I told you not to bug him!" I heard the doctor say as he approached us and, as expected, Lorena immediately pulled away from me, blushing furiously. The sight made me laugh a little.

"Come on," I said and carefully stood up, trying not to cause myself even more pain, and kind of failing.

"Ah," I breathed out, my ribs obviously not fond of me moving.

"You okay? Can you walk?" Lorena asked, and carefully put her palm on my chest. Even though she was kind of causing me more pain by touching the painful spot, I didn't say anything.

"Yeah... Yeah." I smiled at her and took her hand, to lessen my pain being only one of the reasons for that.

"I'm good. Let's go," I said and entwined my fingers with hers as she smiled at me, and we began heading back to the dorms. I guess you could say this night didn't end that bad; Lorena still gave me a chance and wasn't angry. The only bad thing was that my ribs were still throbbing, but at least I wasn't arrested.

"So..." Lorena started after a few minutes, when we were already in the street.

"Where are you taking me for our first date?"

I smiled at the sound of that sentence. The fact that I was actually going to take her out soon was making me happy, after thinking about it for so long. I actually had everything planned out, and all I had to do now is wait.

"You're not gonna tell me where you're taking me on a date, are you?" Lorena asked after I said nothing for a few seconds, and I shook my head, smiling as I did. She sighed and stayed quiet for a minute, before speaking again.

"Are you at least going to tell me when we're going out?" I shook my head again and Lorena let out a whiney noise, making me laugh.

"I can, however, tell you something else," I said and she looked at me questioningly, as if everything around her had stopped.

"What's that?" She asked, almost breathlessly.

"I am never naming my son Max."

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~A/N~

THERE, NO CLIFFHANGER :D buuuut, you still have their date to look forward to!
Next update is on Saturday/Sunday and I'm not gonna give you any challenges because you've convinced me that you are the most amazing readers anyone could have, and for that I thank you more than you can imagine :D ily and keep voting and commenting :)