Louis kept his promise.

Every night, he called me to let me know how the day went and what he did. I had to get used to the fact that his end of the day was nearly the beginning of mine, so I had to arrange my sleep schedule around that. But aside from that, I would just smile and listen to him ramble on and on about how his author showed him how to write in different perspectives or how much better his descriptives had gotten. I loved hearing how happy he was, and was glad that he was learning new things.

One day in particular, he called me earlier than usual. It was my nighttime, probably his afternoon time. I picked up, wondering why he called so early.

"Hello?"

"Hey Em! Guess what?"

"What?"

"I've been given the ok to publish one of my books!"

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah! The original writing I sent him is the one that's being sent out. He really liked it, and after I've been here and I've adjusted the things he critiqued me on, he did another read through, except this time it was the complete book, and he said it was awesome! I don't know when it will be out, but I thought I'd let you know!" he exclaimed.

"I'm so happy for you, Lou! I'll definitely have to buy a copy."

"Good! Oh, but you need to look for it under the name 'Edward Lancaster'. I wanted to write under a pen name, and somehow came up with that."

"Alright. Well what's it called?"

"That's the other thing. I haven't actually thought of a title yet."

"Really? You didn't name it before you wrote it?"

"No, I like to write it out, then evaluate a good name. But I can't seem to find a fitting title."

"Well what's it about?"

"I can't tell you! It needs to be a surprise."

"I really can't help you, then."

"I know. But it's ok. I'll just slap something on the cover so it can get published quicker."

"Sounds good."

"Well, I have another call coming in. I'll still call you later tonight! Talk to you soon."

"Ok. Love you, Lou. Bye."

"Love you too!"

We'd grown accustomed to saying "I love you", whether it was me and him or us including Liam. We were a very tight-knit bunch, and weren't afraid to show it. My grandma would hear us, and tease us of being together. One time she said it loudly, and Louis happened to be on speaker-phone, but we all laughed in spite of the awkward tension that I noticed.

We continued in this manner for months, but it wasn't unbearable, as Louis never once forgot to call me. It was usually me falling asleep or accidentally keeping my phone on silent when he called. He always understood, though. We found it easier that Liam and I both hang out around the time Louis called (around 3 a.m.) so that we could all talk together, like old times. Occasionally we would talk about whether or not we were interested in someone, but Louis denied any female relationships. I already knew that Liam wasn't really concerned about the matter and I just knew that it would happen when the time came.

We had grown so used to being Louis' international friend, that when he finally came home, it was quite odd to see him and feel him and smell him. He started letting scruff grow out on his chin and jawline, but he made it look nice. It wasn't long before we were the same happy group we used to be, who hung out with my grandma every weekend (unless we were kicked out).

It wasn't until a month or two after he came back that I realized his book still wasn't on shelves.

"Where is your book, Lou? I mean, I haven't been checking up all the bookstores, but you would've bought a copy and got excited over it by now."

"They actually emailed me recently. They said it would be out for sale within the next week."

And they weren't lying.

Within 5 days, the book was in the front row of every bookstore along with the rest of the "latest arrivals". I bought the first copy I found, immediately recognizing the same.

"This better be your book, because if there's another Edward Lancaster, he better be worth the 10 pounds I paid for his hardcover." I said when he picked up his phone.

"Depends, what's it called?"

"Can't Help You, Then."

"Yeah, this is the one. Why did you pick that?"

"Eh, I don't know. It just kind of came to me."

"Oh. Alright then. I hate to say that I probably won't get to read it soon. My job has got me booked for the next thrree years and I'm getting about four hours of sleep a night. I'll start it tonight though, ok?"

"Hey, no rush. You bought it and plan to read it, so that's support enough. You'll be hearing much more from me, anyways!"

"Alright Edward. I'm gonna let you go, I want to start this already!"

When we hung up, I opened up to the dedication. I smiled when it mentioned the unnamed "group" of people that helped him along his way to being a writer. My smile grew when it ended with a special thanks to "one girl who knows exactly who she is". Of course, it could be anyone, but you never really know.

The first page was great, but that was all I could really tell you at that point, because within minutes, I had fallen asleep.