Prince Not-So-Charming And His Tipsy Princess (l.s)

Chapter 22

Idk if anyone's reading but I'll just keep publishing, anyway..

To forget all about Eraser's troubles, the members of the One Direction groupchat decided that they were going to go to Coldstone and get murdered by sugar. This was obviously a bad idea, seeing as Zayn was slightly lactose intolerant, Liam hated how unhealthy and sugar-filled their dessert was, both Harry and Niall would definitely be on sugar highs within minutes and lastly, Louis was busy trying not to think of the teenager that had stopped them on their way to the mall earlier.

Apparently, there was a picture up already of both of them kissing at the spot Louis met up with Eleanor, garnering a lot of traction. It had only been some minutes since they left, the smaller of the two was completely stunned that people were now looking at his back on the internet, although his face couldn't be seen from that angle. Harry noticed Louis' discomfort and said he wasn't the one in the picture but that didn't deter the person, who slyly asked why he had on the same shirt. Neither of them had an answer to that.

Harry opted to take a picture with them so he could get back to his day and after gushing about how brave he was for standing up to the Royal Family and being independent, they were once again left alone. He glanced at Louis but he gave him a shrug and smile, throwing an arm over his shoulder and pulling him closer when Harry frowned. Harry caught on that he was faking it but the closeness made his mind go fuzzy and he decided they could discuss it later, excited about having a fun day with his closest friends.

It made Louis smile, how easy it was to use Harry's attention span to his advantage. Now, he could think in peace without anyone worrying about him. It was all in all very weird to be noticed by a stranger but he tried to focus on how this would all blow over, soon. Seeing Harry giggling and jumpy would certainly take his mind off things, he thought as he lowered his head and gazed at his fingers once they were in Liam's car.

Louis wasn't shy or socially anxious, he could stand his ground when it came to dealing with people but as a man who had lived rather reclusively for a good chunk of his life, he hated that his anonymity could be swiped away so fast thanks to the net. It had him fidgety and irritated, although he was determined to bottle it up so he didn't ruin everyone's fun.

Luckily, Harry and Niall were having a very serious and in-depth conversation about the flavours they had tried and sharing their opinions on each so he remained unnoticed in the back with them. Right until Liam suddenly swerved, parking the car off the road and looked right at a confused Louis through the rearview mirror.

"Li...?"

"What? Sorry. I can't drive, right now. I'll be okay but can someone just... Take over?" He was out of luck, there.

Louis hadn't bothered to get a driver's licence when he finally got out of juvenile detention because he didn't go out much and didn't need it, Harry had drivers most of his life so he had never even considered it, Niall was more than content using his bicycle to get people their deliveries and move around and lastly, Zayn and his ADHD had failed the driving test twice before he just gave up on trying, not really interested in learning anyway. So they all looked at each other at a loss, except Zayn who was staring at Liam, biting his lip when he heard one shuddering breath, then another.

"Leeyum, snap out of it. Please snap out of it... Breathe for me, yeah? You're hyperventilating a little... What's wrong?"

"Can't. Can't. This is my fault. I kept thinking of where I recognised her voice. Eleanor's. She came to the club weeks ago, looking for you in a fake blonde wig. She knew my name, she knew yours and it slipped right over my head. God, I've been an idiot, all this wouldn't have happened if I just paid attention and now you're... You're..."