“Oi,” Louis greets me with the usual hug and beckons me inside. “I just need to tidy up - as you can see.”

He gestures animatedly to his bed head hair and wrinkled t-shirt.

“Alright,” I smile. Something about Louis just brightens up my spirit immediately. His overall sincerity and personality make their happy way through my head.

I walk along the perimeter of the room, trailing my hand along the numerous books. The Sound of Music catches my eye and I can’t help but start softly singing My Favourite Things.

I guess my singing gradually got louder than I thought it did because Louis suddenly interrupts.

“I didn’t know you could sing like that,” he stands aghast. His hair is less messy and looks fantastic. I mean really fantastic.

“Well,” I slightly blush. “You never asked.”

“Your voice is beautiful,” he smiles and I blush even more.

I turn my back to him to hide my blush and pull out The Sound of Music.

“I love this book,” I hold it up awkwardly. “My favourite song from the movie is My Favourite Things. The ending is so… happy, but not your typical happy ending. It gives so much hope.”

“True, true,” he agrees and goes to sit cross legged on his bed. He pats the mattress space in front of him.

I hesitate at first, but find myself sitting cross legged in front of him as well.

“Why is that song your favourite?” he asks with earnest eyes.

“My little brother asked me to sing that to him every night when I tucked him in bed,” I answer quietly. “The whole meaning of the song is to focus on the good when bad things happen. I guess it was a comfort to both of us to lay down our heads in sleep feeling safe.”

He doesn’t say anything for a bit. Just nods and maintains a thoughtful expression.

“I have an idea,” he suddenly speaks up. “The management was discussing benefits for the girls. They said that you all could send money back to your families. The catch is that you have to actually earn the money by getting a job in Annapola. But you could be a cabaret singer! Those girls get paid very well and with a voice like that, you could easily earn it.”

“Great, another way to demoralize myself as a female figure,” I roll my eyes.

“Well, it’s either that or being a stripper. I’m sure you could work it, but it’d be a shame to waste that lovely voice of yours,” he gives me a smile that makes my face feel warm.

I clear my throat.

“Then I guess cabaret singer I am,” I say. God, way to go with your freaking Yoda talk, Robin.

“Alright then,” he laughs. “I’ll tell the management and they’ll find a place for you by tomorrow probably.”

“Thank you so much,” I grin. “You’ve done so much for me; I don’t know how to begin to repay you.”

“No problem,” he shakes his head. “You don’t need to repay me.”

A few seconds of silence.

“So how’s your arm?” he gently rolls up the sleeve of my cardigan. He traces his fingers along the pattern, over and over.

“It’s okay,” I reply softly, mesmerized by his touch. “Better than it was before.”

“That’s good,” he smiles and looks up at me without pulling away his hand. “Did the other girls use the cream?”

“Yeah,” I say. “They were a bit hesitant at first since, you know, you’re one of the guys. But they eventually trusted my word.” I decide to leave out the part about them debating my feelings for him.

“Good, good,” he looks at me dead in the eyes. “They can trust me.”

It takes me a few seconds to realize that I have been mindlessly playing with his fingers the entire conversation.

“Oh, um,” I stutter and pull my hands away abruptly.

“What? I don’t mind,” he grins cheekily.

“Well, I…” I giggle nervously which causes him to bite his lip.

“You don’t like people touching you?” he smiles mischievously.

His hands start reaching towards my stomach.

“No, don’t Lou –” I start to protest, but start laughing due to his tickling me.

“What? Is something wrong?” he asks in mock innocence.

“Stoppp,” my laughter consumes my throat and I can barely breathe.

It takes everything in me to break away and lunge at him to tickle him back.

“No!” he protests and tries fighting me off.

He wins over my upper body strength and pokes me in the stomach so that I fall backward and curl up into the cushions. I squeal and take a pillow to whack him as he starts his tickle attack once again. In the flurry of things he somehow ends up on top of me. We both breathe heavily just looking at each other. I notice his eyes looking at my lips.

The sound of the door opening startles both of us and we untangle ourselves from each other frantically. In the fray I roll off the bed and fall with a light thud on the floor. Louis motions for me to stay down. I obey as I hear the devil himself walk in.

“Hey, mate! You ready for that interview?” I hear Harry’s voice in an unbelievably happy tone.

“Yeah,” Louis sounds so caught off guard that I mentally smack him. “I just need to get ready first. I’ll be out in 5 minutes.”

“Alright,” I hear Harry’s footsteps shuffle away, but stop before they reach the door. “Was there someone else in here?”

The air is tense.

“Naw, ‘course not,” Louis laughs. “Now go, go; I need to finish dressing.”

“Alright, Lou,” Harry finally shuts the door behind him.

I pop up from behind the bed.

“Well that was amazingly subtle,” I comment.

“Oh shut up,” Louis grins. “You’d better be off though. Can’t take any more risks of the other lads coming in.”

“Okay,” I make my way to the door, but he stops me before I can open it.

“Robin,” he rubs the nape of his neck and looks at the floor for a second. He looks up. “I just…”

I look up at him with wide eyes.

“Um,” he mumbles as he locks his eyes on mine. “Be safe.”

I reach up and lightly kiss his cheek. We exchange smiles and I exit the room, gently closing the door behind me.

A giddy feeling rises up in my chest and starts to bubble out of my growing smile.

“So Louis, huh?” a deep voice stops me dead in my tracks. I turn around to see Harry leaning against the wall. My smile quickly drops. “The little bird found a hiding place?”

“He’s my friend,” I glare and ignore his allusion to my bird-ish name.

“From what I heard, it sounds like you’re a bit more than friends,” he puts air quotes around “friends”.

“What does it matter to you?” I ask coldly.

He shrugs.

“He makes you feel safe, doesn’t he?” Harry puts his hand on the door knob. “Nothing can keep you safe from me. I can promise you that.”

“If you do anything to hurt him –” I start.

“Hurt him?” Harry displays a bit of shock. “He’s my best mate.”

“Your best mate,” I can barely find my voice. Louis is best mates with that monster?

“That’s right,” Harry grins darkly. “At the end of it all, who do you think he trusts the most?”

My hands ball up into fists as he enters Louis’ room. As I walk away I hear them both laughing through the walls.

Notes

Hello, gems! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I really wanted to put in a cute scene for Robin and Louis. :3 Hope you are all enjoying the story. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts; I love hearing from y'all to know that someone is out there reading my story. :P Thank you for reading and hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and start of Hanukkah.
~christi ellie