everyone’s gotta start somewhere, right? i’m thinking that getting back into journaling will motivate me to get kick started on everything else. we’ll see, suppose i’ve still got eleven months left to conquer it all. what about you? have you decided on any resolutions or have we all collectively decided to not do that this year and i never got the memo?

exactly! that’s the spirit. you can do anything you set your mind to, and all of that other inspirational stuff. i think if you see benefits from something like journaling, you’ll probably continue to do it without even having to think about it, so that’ll be a good thing. my big resolution is the same as it is every year...try not to overthink ever damn thing and just enjoy the moments life has to offer.

louis was pretty thankful that there didn’t seem to be any of his fans around – normally he couldn’t be in a place for long without being spotted, and he didn’t want that to tarnish the night he was having with danielle. not that she wasn’t aware of his fans’ behavior, she’d had to put up with it more than once when they were together. but he wanted tonight to be a chill night between them, wanted to see where this could go – and didn’t want anyone fucking it up by coming up and being rude to her, just because she was with him again. plus he could be himself with danielle being the only one around that knew him, he didn’t have to wear the mask he normally had in place around fans. which was rather refreshing, honestly. she’d always made things easier when she was around though – so it was something louis wasn’t surprised by.

letting out a laugh at her words, lou gives her a little smirk as he shakes his head a little. “you did promise you wouldn’t let me break any more bones. could you imagine how much of a shit i’d be with two bloody broken arms? you’d have to come home with me and be my nurse, yeah?” his smirk growing a little wider after saying that, his tone teasing. “and to right with that, he nearly pushed me out the door when i was dropping him off. like it was embarrassing to be seen with his old man – but i know he’ll have loads of fun with her at least. and hey now, i can be the fun one. though you’re not wrong, he did get all his smarts from me, and his good looks if i’m honest,” he joked. lou kept his eyes on dani as she looked at the eiffel tower in front of them, then just smiled at her words before giving her a little nod in agreement. “you’re right about that, and i know for sure nothing will beat our view once we’re up there,” he replied and tangled their fingers together when she grabbed his good hand. lou allowed himself to be pulled toward the elevator, thankful the wait wasn’t long and they were able to get right on. he didn’t let go of her hand either, just leaned against the wall and watched them go up for a moment before his eyes landed on dani’s again. “thanks again, in case i haven’t said that enough, for coming with me tonight. i’m glad it’s you i’m bringing the new year in with, yeah?”

in all honesty, the actress had done a quick scan of the environment as she approached to judge the scene and the crowd. it was a relief to not hear any of the familiar shrilling screeches of fan girls. not that any being around would have changed her mind about attending, the brunette would have just had to prepare the sweet smile that would remain plastered on her face in their company. it was nice not to have to worry about it though, and that now her smile could just be the genuine one that found its way onto her face whenever Louis was around. 

louis had been happy when he’d heard a lot of his mates were heading to paris for the new years celebration – because he knew had he stuck around with his family, he’d just feel like a giant third wheel. all his siblings were in happy relationships, and that’d have likely made him feel a bit miserable. not to mention this was the first new year he’d been single in a long time – and while he was happy to be away from she who not be named, he’d been doing a lot of thinking of how lonely the new year celebration was going to be. which had been one of the many plus sides he’d thought of when he invited dani, even if it ended up being a night between two friends, at least he wasn’t alone and he was in the company of someone that often put a smile on his face.

only really wanting to spend time with dani tonight was a lot of the reason why he decided to ignore the larger celebration – he didn’t want to have to fight for her attention. maybe that was selfish of him, but he didn’t see that as a bad thing of wanting all her attention. at least for tonight. well, that and his bum arm, because he could imagine with it being so busy – he’d risk getting his arm jarred more than once. this was a whole lot better, there were only a few hundred people here, whereas there were thousands at the other celebration. when dani arrived, louis’s eyes were instantly drawn to her and what she was wearing. she looked beautiful – but lou couldn’t think of a single time where she didn’t look beautiful, so he wasn’t surprised. he just smiles at her words, however, and does his best to not look smug when she tells him that he looks nice. “a lot calmer here, yeah? and thank you, love, though you look very beautiful yourself,” he replies easily, before letting out a little laugh at her next words. “well, my mate’s sister is watching his kid, so she said she’d have no problem watching freddie as well. figured he’d rather be around other kids, than a geezer like me, yeah? though he was sad he was missing out on seeing you.” his tone was just a little bit teasing, and then he nods his head toward the elevator that could take them up the eiffel tower. “you want to stay down here, or you want to go up and watch the fireworks from the top, love?”

danielle had done a lot of things and traveled to a lot of places, but doing new years in paris was a first for her, one that she was looking forward to. as cliche as it might seem, maybe it would bring  good year ahead. still she was trying not to overthink it too much, she had a habit of being one to plan and look too far ahead and sometimes things didn’t always work out the way she hoped, so instead she was just going to take things moment by moment, and so far that seemed to be working out in her favor. 

it’s almost sickening, how many talented artists there really is. people can come up with these masterpieces just like that and i can’t even draw anything that resembles what i’m aiming for. have to give kudos to whoever made and shipped the painting. shame there was no signature on the canvas, so it’s a real mystery. ahh, that’s so good. if you kept all of them, you’d end up with lots and lots and suddenly, your house would be overflowing with stuffed animals. 

im always very impressed by people who artistic, its hardly fair that it seems some of them can hog all of the talent! no signature or anything? they didn’t even want any of the credit, what an enigma. and that would be weird as hell. i feel like theres probably an episode of my strange addiction like that!

louis: i meant to send you a text earlier but the holidays got a little crazy with freds and the rest of my family. but i'm glad you came to london, it was good spending time with you again.

louis: i can't remember if you told me if you were going to chicago to visit your family or not, getting a year older as made my memory turn to shit. but if you did i hope you ended up having fun, love.

louis: also was reaching out to see if you were going to paris for new years? i was bringing the lad, but his mum wants him for a couple weeks since she didn't get him for christmas. so i'll be going solo if you'd like to meet up for a couple of the events?

dani: the holidays always tend to make things feel a bit hectic. im glad i did too, i had a good time. it was nice catching up, we should do that more often

dani: and happy belated birthday - im such an asshole for not saying that sooner but im going to cop out and blame it on the jet lag. yeah i had a nice time with the fam. how was everything with your gang?

Please tell me that you made pancakes, because you should have and I hope you enjoyed them. Alright alright, I can see it and I dig it. As long as no one kills my vibe during Christmas week then I’m basically buddy the elf.

i sure did! blueberry pancakes so that i could pretend they’re healthy and them i smothered them with whipped cream. i hope that no one killed your christmas vibe. how did everything go?

my house is behind gates and a long driveway, so i had to buzz the post man in as he was carrying this giant painting. i don’t think i have the nerve to put it in the foyer but it’s currently found a home in my walk-in closet, where it shall remain until i figure out what else to do with it. stuffed animals can be a cute gesture, unless there’s like lots of them. do you ever donate them? i tend to get a ton for premieres and things, so i always have my people collect them and send them to whatever kids hospital is in town. 

i mean, the idea of someone actually doing a painting is pretty amazing. probably because im not artistic at all, i’m always completely in awe of people who can. not sure why you had to be in the nude but i mean, that does count as artistic i think. i wonder how long that person had the painting just waiting to figure out how to get it to you. the postage was probably expensive as hell too. i always donate them, a stuffed animal is sweet because its the thought that counts but its sort of odd getting them from total strangers especially if theres no real attachment. and id rather someone who could actually get some use out of them to have them. 

As someone that’s been a fan since I was little can confirm that they take things very seriously, and the fans go hard if you do something they don’t like. I don’t want to do anything to upset the fans, which might sound silly to some! I know that a lot of people think I’m going to be good because they couldn’t see me as a bad guy. This admittedly makes me laugh because I could be in my villain era no problem! I imagine you had to have some contracts when it came to the goings on of The Originals right? Because I know they were always trying to catch people off guard with their storylines!

the fandoms of the world do NOT play. it doesn’t matter what they’re a fan of, but if theyre in,  theyre all in and they go hard. theyll find a way to praise any character that you play, so you really can’t go wrong. its always fun to surprise people if thats in the cards. who doesn’t love a good plot twist, right? yeah it was mostly just having to keep quiet in interviews while reporters tried to get spoilers, so it wasn’t too intense. i did start running out of ways to say ‘i can’t answer that’ though.

louis will admit that the nerves hit him a little harder when he finally sees dani again – part of him not believing it’s been six years since they’d last seen each other. he’d spent a lot of time thinking about her though in those six years, spent a lot of time regretting the choices he’d made – especially since the feelings that had been there, hadn’t gone away. it’s why he’d not been shy about making some of the songs he had for his new album, even though he knew it wouldn’t take much to realize they were about her. which only made him feel slightly vulnerable at seeing her again right now, but he’d not let that scare him away.

letting out a soft laugh, louis nods his head a little to her words. “yeah it’s crazy – freds is going to be seven in january, and it’s like where the fuck has the time gone, yeah?” lou looked away from dani for a moment to order himself a pint, only for his cheeks to go a little red at her question about his arm. once he settles himself in his seat, he shrugs his good shoulder before letting out a soft sigh. “you know how i can get, yeah? got a little pissed on stage – thought i could hop around like an idiot and not get injured. and i was wrong in thinking that since i took a bit of a tumble and landed wrong. the lads had a big laugh at me until they realized i was hurt.”

the entire environment that she found herself in at the present moment made her realize that while so much time had passed, it also sort of felt like none had passed at all. it was a strange thing to try to wrap her head around, but she would work on that part later. no use in overthinking right now, it would be better to be in the moment. spending time with him was comforting in a way, that hadn’t changed. that was one of her biggest fears in making the trip, having them ending up feeling like strangers. shes relieved to see that isn’t the case.