The Argument

Ed's POV

After about 5 minutes of random strangers congratulating me on my performance, I finally made my way back to Louise.

"So?" I smiled at her. I had just confessed my love to her through song.

"What?" She seemed in a daze. All the colour had drained from her face.

"The song?" I refreshed her memory. "You like it?"

"Uh, yeah." She didn't sound so convincing. Did that mean she didn't love me? Did I go over the top? Put too much pressure on her? Is that the only reason she mouthed 'I love you' back? Did she not mean it?

"Lou, are you okay?" I asked her, concern etched in my voice. The noise of the cafe still filled my ears.

"Um, it's really loud in here." She admitted.

"Oh, do you want to go?"

"Please." She nodded.

"Alright." I left the correct amount of money on the table and we made our way outside.

It was surprisingly hot outside however I noticed Louise shivering. Her eyes looked a little watery and her face was pale.

"Do you have a cold or something?" I asked her.

"What? No, I'm fine." She shook it off.

"Who was that on the phone?" I decided to ask her.

When my performance ended and people began to surround me, I noticed that Louise was on the phone.

"What? No one." She lied.

"Yeah there was. I saw you."

"Oh, erm..." She thought for a second. "It was just Lottie. She wanted to know how we were."

"Did she now?" I was definitely not convinced. Why was she lying to me?

"Mhmm." She nodded and I decided to let it slide.

For now.

We hailed a taxi and drove back to Jamal's apartment complex barely speaking to each other. This isn't exactly how I expected her to be after I just told her I loved her. I thought she'd be happy. Did I not make her happy..?

We went up the lift in silence and as soon as we got into the apartment, Louise ran straight to her room. What was up with her? Seriously. I thought she loved me too...

"You okay, Ed?" Jamal walked up from behind me.

"No, actually. I'm not." I frowned.

"Tell uncle Jamal all about it." He sat down on the sofa and patted the space next to him. After contemplating confiding in him for a few seconds, I gave in and sat down. "What's up?"

"It's Louise..."

"Trouble in paradise, ey?" He mocked.

"Yeah actually." I told him.

"What's wrong?" His voice was a mix of humour embedded with concern.

"I told her I loved her. Through song and everything and then she just gives me the cold shoulder for the rest of the day." I explained with a frown. "Like, was I too full on?"

"Here's an idea Edward, why don't you ask her?" He advised. "She might be unsure of her feelings right now and that's fine. It's normal. She just doesn't want to hurt your feelings. Just speak to her."

"And say what?"

"I dunno... "Did I go over the top?" or "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." I dunno." Jamal shrugged.

"But what if she says she doesn't love me?" The thought saddened me.

"Then that's how she feels. But, if she really likes you like I can tell she does, she will learn to love you, in time. If not, then I guess it wasn't meant to be." He told me.

"Okay." I sighed. "I'm going in. Wish me luck."

"You don't need it bro." He smiled.

Wiping my sweaty palms on my trousers, I made my way to our bedroom. I was about to walk in when I heard faint whimpers. She was crying.

"Lou?" I whispered while gently tapping on the door. "Are...are you okay?"

I heard fumbling around on the other side of the room and decided to open the door.

I felt like dying.

"Louise!" I yelled as I saw the blood trailing down her arms. She had sliced her wrist. Deeply.

I ran towards where she was crying on the bed, water bubbling at my eyes. I had to be strong.

"Lou? What... How...Why..." I couldn't speak. She had only been on her own a few minutes.

"I'm such a fuck up." She cried.

"No you're not." I shook my head. "What... what's going on? What happened?"

Surely me telling her that I was in love with her didn't spark this. There had to be more to this.

"Nothing." She sighed. "I'm being pathetic."

She stood up and walked over to the joining bathroom which connected to our room.

I stood up and walked towards her, worry flushing my face.

"Here, sit down." I motioned to the stool in the bathroom. She did as I said and I retrieved the first aid kit from the nearby cupboard then sat down on the still opposite.

"Thanks." Louise croaked.

I wiped all the blood off her arm and sterilized the cuts. There were about 8 or 9 deep slashes that trailed up her delicate arm. I thought it was best to give them air rather than bandage them up or place plasters over them. Luckily all the blood had finally stopped dripping out.

"Does it hurt?" I spoke quietly and she nodded her head. "Why, Lou?" My voice was hardly audiable.

"You...you said that... you said that you loved me." She confessed.

My heart stopped. That's why she hurt herself. Because I lead her to it. I never knew love was such a powerful word.

"You...you did this," I motioned to her arms. "Because of me?"

I couldn't help myself. Tears began to fail from my eyes and drop onto my lap.

"No...that's not what I meant." She shook her head.

"Yeah it was. I screwed things up, didn't I?" Then a thought struck me. "Does....does that mean that you don't love me?"

She remained silent.

"Oh God." I buried my face in my hands. I was such an idiot. "But... I don't understand. Why hurt yourself because of that?"

"I..." She chewed on the bottom of her lip. "I don't have to answer your questions!" She suddenly snapped.

"What?"

"Why do I have to answer to you? You're not my fucking dad!" She out bursts.

"What the heck? What's wrong with you?"

"I don't love you, Ed. Okay? And I never will." She harshly spoke. It felt like someone had ripped out my heart and shredded it.

"W-what are you saying?" My voice shook with fear.

"I can't do this, Ed. I'm... I'm breaking up with you."

"Woah now, what the actual fuck?" I was ready to get pissed off now. "What on earth brought this on?"

"You! You brought this on. Just....I can't be dealing with this anymore. I can't." Louise's words pricked my heart.

"So you're just going to leave me because I said that I love you?" She was possessed!

"No, I just... the attraction isn't there anymore. I'll sleep in the other spare room until we leave. After that well, I never want to see you again."

"Louise you're being totally insane! You're over reacting big time." I told her. What was happening? My world seemed to be crumbling down.

"It's for the best. You'll thank me one day." Tears streamed down her face and she wiped them back with force.

"You don't want this, you know you don't." I tried to reason with her.

"Yes. I do."

Then a thought struck to mind. She was on the phone after I told her I loved her. AFTER she mouthed the words 'I love you' back.

"The phone. Who was on the phone?" My voice was calm.

"Will you shut up about the damn phone?" She hissed.

"I've mentioned it twice! Who was it?" I questioned.

"Lottie. I told you!" She yelled.

"Why are you lying?" I demanded.

"I'm not!" She denied.

"Well all I know is you were fine until that phone call."

"Just drop it, Ed! I'm breaking up with you. End of." And with that she stormed out of the room.

In a moment of rage I punched the wall creating a small hole.

"Fuck!" I muttered as I studied my bruised fist.

My vision went blurry as my eyes were clouded by tears. My knees gave way and I dropped to the ground. This couldn't be happening right now. I didn't even care if crying was un-manly. I was in love with the girl who just told me she never wanted to see me again. And why? Because I told her I loved her.

There was something much bigger in this. It had something to do with her phone call. She wouldn't just cut herself for no reason. It's so out of the blue. Unless she had a history of cutting...

I felt arms wrap around me and lift me up off of the ground. My eyes met with Jamal. He must have heard everything.

"Forget about her man." He told me. "You don't need her."

"What am I going to do man?" I sobbed. "She's the love of my life."

"Just forget about her."

"How can I? She's my everything." I confessed. "I need her back."

"Then fight for her. Found out what's brought this all on." He advised.

I paced out of the room and towards the spare bedroom. This wasn't over. I pushed the door open ready for round 2. I scanned the room. There was no sign of Louise. My eyes landed on a note on top of the bed. It looked as if it had been written in a hurry.

"Need time to think. Don't know when I'll be back."

I noticed a drop of blood on the paper and began to worry.