~A/N~

Ok so this is the longest chapter I've written, I got a bit carried away! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D

*******

"Did you see that? I think she moved."

"Yeah, she's waking up."

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, before opening them. I saw two women, dressed in white, sitting on chairs next to me.

"Morning, honey, how are you feeling?" I blinked at the brunette as I sat up in my bed, and took in my surroundings. I was at a hospital? "What am I doing here?" I asked, my voice hoarse, and my head spinning a little.

"You've had a medium allergic reaction," The other brunette said and I had to process her answer for a second, and remember what had happened the night before. I closed my eyes as images of Louis and that ice cream parlour invaded my mind. Oh boy... That was some date.

"Oh my God," I said through a sigh and rubbed my face. He took me out and ordered peanut butter ice cream at that shop. For a moment I felt angry, but then I remembered I'd never even told him about my allergy.

"Are you feeling well now? Are you nauseous, hungry, anything?" I shook my head frantically at the thought of hospital food. Even if I were starving; never, in a million years. "No, no, I'm fine. I'm fine." I blinked another few times, to clear up my vision, and noticed the two nurses smiling at me.

"Well, okay then. Um..." One of them said as they both stood up. "You have a visitor. It's a boy, he's been here all morning. Do you think you can handle talking to people right now?" I nodded before she even finished her sentence. "Yeah, I can," I said as I yawned and sat up straighter, kind of anxious to see Louis after our ruined date last night. The nurses left and I could hear voices from outside the room.

"Is she okay? Am I safe to go in there?" I heard his voice and couldn't help but giggle. He was trying to be funny, yet I could hear the concern in his voice all the way from outside the room. A few seconds later, a stuffed bear peeked at me from the door.

"Hi!" Louis said in a high pitched voice, taking the bear's arm to wave at me. I just had to laugh; he was unbelievable. "Hi," I said groggily, and Louis slowly walked into the room, holding the bear over his face the entire time.

"I'm so sorry, please don't kill me." His voice was muffled by the back of the toy's head, and I just chuckled.

"I'm not going to kill you. I'm unable to do it," I joked and Louis finally revealed his face, as he put the stuffed animal next to me. He took that as an opportunity to lean further down and hug me. "I'm really sorry," Was all he said as we stayed like that for an entire minute maybe. I wrapped my arms around his torso as tightly as I could, while he rubbed my back and planted a couple of kisses on my shoulder.

"Don't be. I'm feeling fine." It wasn't the first time someone had accidentally tried to kill me with peanuts, and I had a tendency not to get angry about it if doesn't turn out to be that bad. I know, I was too nice. I just couldn't help myself.

"The nurses said they might release you by tonight," Louis said as he pulled away, and sat on a chair. Only he brought it closer to the bed so he could hold my hand.

"That's great," I said through a sigh, playing with the duvet. There was a long silence as we both tried to find some sort of a distraction, and it was killing me to the point where I had to squeeze my eyes shut so no tears would form.

"Look," Louis started a few minutes later, and finally looked up at me.

"I know you're angry with me and probably hate me, I mean, I got you fucking hospitalized." He shook his head, looking like he was having a hard time believing that what he had just said was true. "But I didn't want to hurt you, I'd never do such a thing. I just..." He trailed off.

"I didn't know," He said after half a minute, and I sighed, a little frustrated.

"You didn't know because we never talk about these things!" I looked him straight in the eyes, and I could see he was a little stunned and confused. "We don't know anything about each other. We either make out or talk about fucking school, but never... Talk. And I mean really talk." I looked down at the duvet again, kind of embarrassed for coming off as a little bitchy. But I had to say it; we knew each other so poorly, it had gotten to the point where he could have killed me.

I was surprised when Louis took my hands in his, and held them tighter than before. I slowly looked up at him, to see him looking back at me with a sincere and serious look in his eyes.

"My name, is Louis William Tomlinson." It took me a second to process his words, but as soon as I realized where he was going with that, I started laughing. He did not just say that.

"No, love," Louis said, with a smile as well. "You're right. We never talk, and we should. So let's talk. I'll go first." He sat up in his chair and cleared his throat.

"Okay, go on," I said with a grin. This should be fun.

"Um..." Louis stared into space for a second, before looking back at me. "I was born on December 24th, 1991, and-"

"Wait," I cut him off. "You're... You're younger than me?"

Louis closed his eyes, obviously a little frustrated because of the fact. "Yeah, I... I'm still getting used to it." I laughed at his answer, and he cleared his throat again.

"And, I'm from Doncaster. Um... My parents are divorced." The smile on my face disappeared at that last part. He was talking serious now.

"They separated when I was two, and my mum married another guy soon after, and they got divorced last year as well." He sighed, tracing random lines on the back of my hand, not looking me in the eyes at all. "He adopted me when they got married though. My actual last name was Austin." I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows at him. I never assumed he's had such a past.

"Do you know your dad?" I asked quietly, and for the first time, Louis looked up at me.

"Yeah, he, um, I see him every once in a while. He has a daughter, Georgia." He smiled as he said her name. Aw.

"So you have a half-sister?" I asked, with a small smile as well.

"Uh, yeah. Well, five of them, actually," He said casually, and I couldn't help myself, I had to gape at him. Louis laughed at my facial expression.

"Five?" I asked, not believing what he had just told me. Louis nodded as he looked at our hands again. "Yeah, my mum gave birth to four of them." The thought of giving birth to a freaking basketball team was giving me goose bumps.

"And all girls?" He nodded. "What are their names?"

Louis sighed before speaking again. "Well, Charlotte is the oldest one. We call her Lottie." He stopped again and tried to hide a smile at the mention of his sister's name. The sight was making me melt a little. "Then there's Félicité, I know, weird name," He said through another smile.

"I think it's a nice name," I said, smiling as well. Louis looked up at me, and he was grinning.

"Anyway, we call her Fizzy. I know, weird nickname as well." I chuckled at his comment, and waited for him to continue. He was another person when he talked about himself and his family, and I kind of preferred that side of him. "And the twins, Daisy and Phoebe. The youngest ones." He licked his lips as he paused. "I used to pick them up from school while I was in sixth form."

I laughed at the random information he'd given me, but stopped when I noticed the nostalgic and kind of sad look in his eyes. "Do you miss them?" I asked quietly, afraid I might have pushed a button.

"I haven't seen them since August last year. It's the second time I'd missed their birthdays," Louis said after a shorter silence, looking me straight in the eyes. I didn't know what to say; I hadn't prepared myself for this Louis.

"I miss them. Every day." He gave me a sad smile, and I leaned my head to the side; I was even more speechless than before. What do you say to a guy after he tells you something like that?

"I'm sure they miss you too," I said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his hand, and noticed him smile from the corner of my eye.

"Are you trying to make me feel better, or are you trying to make me cry?" I laughed at the thought of Louis crying. As possible as it might have been for him to actually start doing that in that very moment, it was still ridiculous.

"What about your parents, your mum and step-dad?" I asked after another short silence.

"Um..." Louis trailed off, and shrugged. "My mum's a nurse, and I don't know what the hell Mark's doing right now," He said, narrowing his eyes at my hands. "How do you girls keep your nails like this? Like seriously, how do you live with it?" He asked almost too quickly for me to understand.

"Louis," I said through a laugh, kind of whiney, and he knew I wanted him to continue talking.

"Right, right." He smiled, and after studying my fingers for another few seconds, he sighed. "Well... I don't really know what else to tell you about my family, so..." Louis trailed off and took a deep breath.

"I love salads, my favourite band is The Fray, I named my first car Cheryl, and speaking of cars, I got hit by one a few years ago, and later that night, I tried setting it on fire. And that's also the story of how I got arrested." Louis nodded at the end, while I watched him with my mouth hung open.

"Relax, I didn't go to jail. I was out within an hour," He explained, though I didn't stop gaping at him. I don't even know why that surprised me so much, it really shouldn't have.

"How old were you?" I couldn't help myself, I had to ask.

"Seventeen." He nodded, a smile tugging at his lips. I guess he likes that period of his life. "So," Louis started after a few seconds, still playing with my hands. "Is there anything you'd like to know?"

"Actually, yes," I said as I sat up, a little anxious to hear the answer to a question that I'd been dying to ask him for a long while.

"Shoot." He smiled at me and I cleared my throat.

"When was the first time you had a girlfriend? An actual girlfriend?" I added as I saw him open his mouth quickly, although he closed it when I said the last part. He looked down and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Um... I-I..." He stuttered, obviously taken aback by my question. I didn't regret asking him though; I needed to know if he's ever had a real relationship. "Well, I've been-"

"I know you've been with twenty thousand women, Louis," I cut him off, smirking, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Wow. Thanks," He said sarcastically, and I rolled my eyes. He didn't really choose a good time to be sassy with me.

"You know what I mean." I decided to ignore his comment, and waited for him to answer my question. He shifted in his seat, taking a few seconds before speaking. "I-I've never really..." He trailed off, obviously uncomfortable while talking about that, and I couldn't help but giggle at his actions.

"Had a girlfriend?" I finished his sentence for him, and Louis slowly closed his eyes, his cheeks developing a light pink color; he was blushing. Actually blushing.

"Does it count if-"

"Nothing under three days counts," I cut him off again, and Louis pressed his lips so they were forming a straight line, and nodded a few times. When he didn't say anything after, I shook my head in disbelief.

"You've never been with a girl for longer than... Under 72 hours?" I asked, astonished, even though I shouldn't have been, really. It's just that he was a 21 year old guy who's never been in a relationship; isn't that a little worrying?

"Do you count?" He asked back, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't left kind of speechless. Again.

"No, I'm not your girlfriend." I shook my head, smiling, and Louis smiled back at me, but yet again, it was a sad smile. There was a silence during which his smile disappeared, but not the sad look on his face as well. This was obviously less entertaining than I thought it would be.

"So... No?" I questioned quietly, and Louis licked his lips before shaking his head. I nodded, and looked at what he was observing; our hands.

"Just so you know," Louis said as he sat up a little, and for some reason, it seemed like he was a little bit, say, more cheerful than a minute ago.

"I do plan on making you count. Not right now, but whenever you're ready, don't hesitate to let me know." He looked up at me with a genuine smile, and I just blinked at him a couple of times, my lips parted a little; I was not expecting that. The though of being Louis' girlfriend, honestly, never crossed my mind. Until then, of course. But before that, I never thought of him as more than the guy I sneak around with. I was almost tempted to ask him was he ready now, though I didn't say anything. Frankly, I was scared of the answer he might give me.

"Is that all?" Louis asked, and I blinked at him again, a bit lost in my own thoughts.

"Do you have any allergies?" I asked before I could stop myself; I felt the need to make our conversation a bit more entertaining.

Louis laughed. "No, love. I guess you won't be able to get your revenge," He said through a grin, and I playfully clicked my fingers.

"Damn!" I whispered loudly, and he laughed again, the sight making me smile. I don't know, I just loved seeing him happy. Genuinely happy. It made me happy as well.

"Anything else?" He asked after a minute, kissing the back of my hand a few times. I smiled at the gesture; a month ago Louis was nothing but a tool to me, and I still couldn't completely wrap my mind around the fact that this was real, and that he was serious.

I stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, trying to think of anything, but in the end I shook my head. "I'll think of something," I said with a smile, and Louis nodded, also smiling.

"Okay then. Your turn." He grinned at me and I shifted in my bed, the thought of me talking about myself making me a bit awkward.

"Well..." I held the word out, not knowing where to start. I'd never complained about my life, but I didn't really have many interesting things to tell him. "You know my name," I pointed out, but Louis started shaking his head.

"Nuh-uh, I didn't do it like that!" He protested, and it made me chuckle. He was indeed taking this seriously.

"Alright, alright... My name is Lorena," I said awkwardly, and looked around the room, thinking about what else to say.

"Your full name, love." I looked at Louis, to see him smiling at me encouragingly, and I sighed.

"Lorena Grace Cloe," I said slowly, trying to suppress a smile as he grinned at me. "I like it," He said nodding, and I laughed with my eyebrows furrowed; what, my name? He liked my name?

"You like my name?" I voiced my thoughts, and Louis nodded at me like it was the most obvious and normal thing in the world.

"Well yeah. It's kind of ironic too, someone as clumsy as you, having Grace as their middle name," He said, the smile on his face never disappearing for a second. I, on the other hand, was pretty sure that my cheeks became a shade pinker; not enough for him to notice, thankfully.

"Anyways," I licked my lips before continuing. "I was born on May 25th, 1991." I looked at Louis, to see him massaging his temples at the information, and I laughed. "Why does it bother you so much, anyway?" I grinned at him.

"I'm just not used to being with a girl who's older than me," Louis explained as he shrugged, and I smirked at him. "But Louis, you're not with me." I shook my head while he smiled at his hands, and then looked up at me, the look in his eyes almost intense enough to put me in a fucking coma.

"You're tempting me, love," He said quietly and I gulped, knowing what he'd meant; if I pushed his buttons for a bit longer, I might have a boyfriend by the time I get out of the hospital. Don't worry, it's no big deal at all.

"Go on," He said just as quietly, and I had to look away from him, scared I'd give in and continue tempting him.

"Um, I'm from Torpoint, and, uh... My parents aren't divorced." I pressed my lips together before speaking again. "I have two sisters, Valerie and Vivienne. Val is 29, and Vivie is 31." Louis raised his eyebrows at the information.

"You're the baby of the family? Aw." I laughed at his comment. "I'm actually the mistake of the family," I said through a bitter smile, and Louis stared at me for a couple of seconds.

"What do you mean?" He said, serious on a whole new level.

"I mean," I started, but had to squeeze my eyes for a second before continuing. It wasn't something I really loved talking about. "Vivienne was 8 when our mum found out she's pregnant with me, and when I was, I don't know, 16 I think... She told me she heard our parents talking about mum having an abortion." I paused again, subconsciously clutching Louis' hand tightly. It wasn't until he squeezed mine back that I'd noticed what I was doing.

"But they decided she wouldn't do it," Louis said, and when I looked at him, he had a small, encouraging smile playing on his lips. I smiled too, yet it was another bitter smile.

"Well, yeah, but they did give me up for adoption..." There's the shock on his face again. "The only reason my last name is still Cloe is because the other couple gave up. Isn't it funny?" I asked through a grin, shaking my head. "I didn't even know how to hold a spoon, and everyone was already giving up on me." I furrowed my eyebrows, determined not to let my emotions get the best of me. Unfortunately, I couldn't control the couple of tears that fell from my eyes, despite everything.

"I'm sorry, I just..." I shook my head and tried to pull my hands away from Louis' so I could hide my face, but he didn't let me. Instead he gripped them tighter, stood up and leaned forward, surprising me as he kissed me, out of the blue. Being in the depressed and vulnerable state that I was in, I kissed him back desperately, feeling like I wouldn't be able to handle another person giving up on me, no matter who it was.

Louis finally freed my hands, and I used them to pull him closer to me, close enough that he had to grip the headboard behind me, so he wouldn't fall on top of me.

We kissed for a good few minutes, completely unaware of the world around us. I felt like that was exactly what I needed; with my hypocritical, 'loving' parents and only one sister that actually cared about me, I needed someone to let me know I wasn't an absolute failure.

"Lori..." Louis breathed out after those blissful couple of minutes, looking me in the eyes as he cupped my cheek. Our faces were barely an inch apart, though neither of us moved the entire time. "Not everyone is like your parents. You have Caitlyn, um, Naomi, uh, what's her name, Leah?"

I giggled as he talked about my friends. "It's Mia."

"Right, Mia. Then you've got Hannah, and Faith, and... Your sisters." He nodded at the last part, and I decided not to tell him about Valerie being on our parents' side.

"You've also got me," Louis said with a smile, but soon it disappeared, the situation being a bit too serious for even a tiny one. "You've got me," He repeated, this time the words holding more meaning than people would think. So much meaning it made me breathless. "And I'm not going anywhere." He shook his head at me and I closed my eyes, afraid I'd start crying again. It was all too intense for me.

"Look at me," Louis breathed out, brushing his thumb against my cheek. I gulped and slowly opened my eyes, looking down at first, but then meeting his eyes again.

"I'm not going to give up on you. Ever. Lorena, I..." He trailed off, closing his eyes as his breathing became considerably heavier. I couldn't form any words; I was frozen on a whole new level. What? What was he going to say?!

"Louis?" I managed to say quietly, trying to get him to somehow open his eyes. "What? You what?" I asked urgently, a bit impatient even. Louis gulped before blinking once, looking me straight in the eyes for a few seconds, and then finally answered my question.

His answer made me regret my decision to ask anything. So much. So fucking much.

*******

~A/N~

Ahh! What do you think he told her?
Please vote and comment, and I'll try to update earlier! I love you :D