Camera Shy (Louis Tomlinson) Book 5

Chapter 16

Louis' POV

The next day was eerily quiet when I woke up. Where was everyone?

"Hello?" I call out.

"Upstairs" I hear Lauren shout. I quickly climb the stairs, pausing when I realize I don't know which room is hers. A door opens and Lauren pops her head out a second to let me know which room. I walk in, looking around.

"Wow" I say, seeing her room. "This isn't what I expected your room to look like" I explain, when she glances over.

"What were you expecting?" she asks. I shrug slightly. I didn't know what I'd expected, not this surely, yet it seemed to fit her perfectly.

"So where is everyone?" I ask.

"Dad's working, Mom went to the store, and Hunter went fishing with the boys" she says, pausing in front of her mirror to pull her hair up into a ponytail.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" I ask. She looks at me, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Would you really have wanted to go fishing?" she asks. I shake my head after a moment, a grin coming to my face.

"That's why" she says, sitting on her bed and grabbing a pair of boots, pulling them on.

"So what are you doing then?" I ask.

"I was going to take Ghost out for a ride" she says, walking out of her room and down to the kitchen.

"Oh" I say, not quiet sure what else to say. She pauses looking in the fridge to look at me.

"Do you want to come?" she asks. My eyes widen slightly in surprise.

"Sure" I blurt out.

"Grab me the backpack," she says, pointing into the living room. I walk into the living room, spotting a bag strewn on the back of the chair. I grab it, turning to see Lauren walking towards me with a few water bottles in her arms. I open the bag and she dumps them in before taking the bag. "C'mon" she says, slinging the bag over her shoulder. I follow her out to the barn and she walks into a side room. When she emerges, she's holding a saddle in her arms. "Here" she says, dropping the saddle into my arms. I'm surprised by how heavy it is before she disappears back into the room, coming out again with another one. She was carrying it easily for it being as heavy as it was. I hold onto the saddle as she walks into one of the stalls and gets some horse ready. When the first horse is done, she leads him out of the stall and I trade her the saddle for the reins.

"Hey Horsey" I say nervously as I look up at the beast.

"Her name is Belle, she's a sweetie" Lauren calls out of the stall. A couple minutes later, she leads her horse out and I follow her outside.

"Do you need help getting up?" she asks.

"No I got it," I tell her, lifting my foot up to the stirrup and trying to haul myself up. Easier said than done. After a few minutes of struggle, I'm finally situated in the saddle and I turn to see Lauren biting back a smile. She easily lifts herself into the saddle, glancing back at me before kicking her horse forward. I barely have time to grab hold of the saddle horn as my horse leaps after hers. To say it was uncomfortable would be an understatement. Each step caused me to bump against the saddle and it hurt to say the least. I grit my teeth through the pain, trying to copy her position, figuring it'd be more comfortable. After a couple minutes, her horse slows to a walk and I breath a sigh of relief as mine falls into step beside her, the walk much less painful.

"I'm impressed," she says with a grin. "I didn't think you'd stay on," I laugh, nodding my head.

"I wasn't so sure I would either," I admit. We make idle chitchat for a bit as the horses walk. She tells me how it was growing up here and about her life at school. In exchange, I tell her what it had been like growing up in Doncaster with all my sisters. We stop to let the horses have a break after a while and after we're off, she releases them to wander the field. She tosses me a water bottle before sitting down in the long grass. I take a seat beside her, taking a drink.