Bella's POV

I look at Emily wishing I could get inside that head of her's. What is she playing at? What does she want from Louis? Besides the obvious of course, I just wish she would leave him alone.

"I just want to say sorry to you.." Emily says and I don't bother saying anything. I know she's going to carry on talking. "The way I treated you was disgusting." She adds and I shake my head.

"You don't have to apologise." I say and she looks at me puzzled as she tilts her head to the side. "But you do have to stay away." I add and Emily sighs as goes to speak but I prevent her from saying anything as I know I have so much more to say to her.
"What you went through was horrible, I do not wish for anyone to be caught up in such disturbing circumstances. But that doesn't mean Louis is your saviour, he's a nice guy who has a heart of gold and I know he really did like you." I say and I have to stop as my own words make me feel so crap.

"Bella I'm not-" I put my hand up and she stops, I sigh as I let my hand fall back down to my side.

"Just do the right thing, you've made a huge step with reporting Max. I hope you don't mind that I know." I pause and she shakes her head. "So please just stick to the right path and don't let anything side track you." I add and I look away.

"I can see why Louis has fallen for you." She says and I slowly look up at her, she smiles. "You're sweet and loyal to him. I could never make him as happy as you would." She adds and I suddenly feel really awkward, I never expected to be having a conversation like this with her.

"I'm not so sure." I mumble and I quickly change the subject as I go back to my main worry. "Everything has changed since he met you, you've had a big impact on his life and it's not necessarily a good thing." I add and her smiles suddenly fades.

"I know," She sighs as she clears her throat, "I need you to understand that I fell for Louis and I wanted to be with him." Emily says and I don't know where to look. How am I supposed to feel about hearing her feelings towards Louis?
"I don't have that choice anymore, I wish I did but I don't." She adds and I slowly look at her.

"Is this over? Will Max leave him alone now if he's released?" I ask as I'm unsure to what will happen to Max. You often hear these thugs getting away with everything and I hope that's not the case with Max.

"It's over as far as I'm concerned. Max should pay for everything he has done. There's stories about his crimes that haven't yet been heard, but hopefully they'll be revealed. He needs to face his crimes" Emily says and for once I agree with her.

Whenever Max is mentioned I get a nervous feeling in the bottom of my stomach, especially even more now she's said he's got other crimes. I don't want to think what they could possibly be.

"Bella.." Louis says and I quickly turn to face him, he looks at me then to Emily. A rise of panic shows on his face.

"I was just saying goodbye." Emily says as she looks at Louis, I look at the way she gazes at him, she's full of love it's easily written on her face.

"Right.." Louis says as he runs a hand through his hair, I look at him as he looks at Emily. He looks sad and full of sympathy, he definitely still has a soft spot for her and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this.

"Take care." Emily says and she gets into her car. I look at her as she pulls away and then back to Louis.

"You coming in?" He asks and part of me wants to say no, but I know I need to have this chat with him. I'm not convinced he's over Emily so that instantly prevents me from showing my feelings towards him, my guard is up.

"Thanks." I say as I walk through the door and he follows me in. I spot Harry in the living room and I feel a little more comfortable knowing he's still here. Thank god Emily and Louis weren't here alone. My mind would have probably gone crazy with thoughts.

"Drink?" Louis asks casually and I shake my head. I know he's trying to act normal around me but I know the kiss with Harry bothered him, there's so much to clear up.

"We need to talk.." I suggest and Louis nods as he looks away. "I know you may not want to talk about what's happened but I think we should." I add and he looks back up at me.

"I agree, there's lots of questions that I need answered because I'm so confused." He says and he nods in the direction of his bedroom. I follow him as I start to mentally think about what I'm going to say.

He holds the door open for me so I take a seat on the bed. As he closes the door he looks at me and sits on his bean bag on the floor. Do I start first? Or should I wait for him to start? This is so awkward.

"So last night." Louis sighs and those words make my heart race. "I need to know if you like Harry because no matter how much denies it, I just can't get that kiss out of my head" He says as he starts to play with a loose piece of thread from the bottom of his shirt.

"Of course I like Harry, I love him to pieces." I start and I nearly just leave it there, but it's about time I'm honest with Louis and I open his eyes a little.
"Sometimes I confuse myself because he's so sweet and I know he's such a good person. But it's not enough. He doesn't like me in that way and I know deep down that I don't want him. I'd be with him for all the wrong reasons." I say and I sigh as I continue,
"The kiss was a stupid mistake and I was just so angry at you for kissing Emily." I pause as I try to think cleverly for my next choice of words.

"How am I supposed to feel about that? You like Harry, I can understand why even though it's hard to hear, but I don't know why you wanted to make me jealous?" Louis snaps and I look at him as his eyes burn into mine.

"I was just trying to prove a point to myself, I thought maybe you weren't the one I should he longing for. Maybe Harry was the one that I should have focused my attention on. " I answer and Louis sighs as he looks away from me. "But I know Harry's never going to be anything more than a friend, partly because he'd never allow it and because I wouldn't want that. I've been confused and I've sorted my head out, today has made me realise as I've looked back on my mistakes. I know that I don't want Harry, I know I've always wanted you." I add, that's as much as I'll give him. I can't go deep, I promised to protect myself.

"Okay so you know how you feel you've cleared your head. But did this seriously happen because of a mistaken kiss with Emily?" He asks frustratedly and I avoid looking at him.

"No, it's much more than that Louis. Emily was always first. No matter what, she seemed to always have you when she wanted you. I guess I was fed up of believing that you and I could possibly have a chance after you told me you liked me. But then Emily would show up again and I'd feel so stupid" I answer and Louis sits up as we look at each other.

"Don't be silly Bella, you know that I've been trying to do the right thing. I walked away from her, I don't want her." He says and I look away from him. "I only saw her because of what happened between them, she needed my help to report what Max did to me." He adds and I nod as I know that.

"That's not what I was saying, she has a hold over you and I don't think I'll ever be as good or enough for you." I say and Louis sighs as he stands up.

"I could say that I'm not as good as Harry.. " Louis says as he walks away from me and looks out of the window, I turn to look at him.

"Harry has nothing to do with this." I snap and he looks back at me. "You know he's not to blame for my actions." I add and Louis frowns.

"You brought him into this, you kissed him and now my head is all over the place. I don't know how to feel about you." His words hurt and I don't I know what to do. "I mean I still like you." He groans in frustrations and turns away from me mumbling to himself.

"So one kiss makes you unsure how you feel about me? Doesn't that prove that you must not like me that much?" I ask and it breaks my heart to be saying this.

"How could I be with you when I know you kissed Harry? Would I have to worry about you being around him?" He asks and I stand up and I face him. I think my heart has just fell and split into two.

"Don't Louis, don't make me out to be that sort of girl. I may not be Emily, I may not drive you insane and make you lust after me but I have some self respect. I know what I want and how I feel and I know I would be loyal to you." I snap and I'm so tempted to walk out on him but I have enough respect for him to stay. "You know you could trust me so don't say that." I add and he looks at me and sighs.

"I'm sorry, I just hate the image of you with someone else, whether it's Harry or just some guy. I can't deal with how much it gets to me, you're so much better than you think and really out of my league. Emily is nothing compared to you." His words feel as I they belong in a different conversation. "I hate being angry at you." He sighs.

"I'm not sure where this is going to go, we've cleared a few things up bit I think we've come too far to try and resolve anything more than friends" I can't believe I am saying this, I've waited so long to be with him and now I'm throwing it all away.

"Why are you saying that?" Louis asks as he walks over to me and sits down. "We can't just give up Bella." He adds.

"Maybe for now we should give up, things like this should flow together naturally. If we try to have a good outcome this soon, I fear it will be forced and that's the last thing we want." I say and I try my best to stop the tears from an early arrival.

"Please don't, we're allowed to confront each other. It's good that we got everything out in the open so we can start fresh, trust me Bella I can't lose you." Louis begs and I can hear his voice cracking. One minute we are feisty and trying to express our feelings and the next I'm putting a hold on to this forced make up. I sigh as I stand up and I turn to him.

"You never had me to lose." I feel the lump in my throat as I say this, I quickly open his door and shut it behind me. The tears starting flow easily so I head to the front door.

"Bella.." Harry asks confused as I rush past him and I leave the flat. I step outside and I lean on the wall as I break down in my tears. It wasn't supposed to end up like this.

Notes

Here's update number two :)
I hope you all like it!

what do you think about Bella's sudden change of heart? Can you blame her? Is she right to just want things to flow together naturally? Perhaps all of this is a little too forced as Louis hasn't really had a chance to breathe after Emily. I think it would do Louis some good to have time to himself.
But I'd rather hear what you think.

Thank you you to my new voters :) I appreciate it so much!
And I love all you that are reading and supporting this story... You're a lovely bunch xx