A Royal Pain

Chapter six

Harry is shitting his pants.

Well, not literally of course, but he's nervous as hell.

Louis and Harry have just walked into the studio together, a separate section of the castle where all interviews and such are held, and as they did so, Louis finally let go of his hand, since there was no need to keep a hold of it anymore.

The only problem, however, was that this caused Harry's hands and whole body to tremble like crazy, the green-eyed boy somehow still having gained some comfort from Louis' touch, beating all the odds.

Louis didn't notice Harry's nerves and was focusing his attention on the staff organizing the interview and talking to his parents, who were giving him pointers. Harry has never felt so out of place, in a room full of people he barely knows, and with the cameras surrounding him once again and it makes him shake, even more, his breathing now getting ragged as well.

Sure, he knows that it will probably be better this time, but Harry has also changed a lot from the boy in his bedroom reading a book. Now, he's more fidgety and feels more judged than ever before, even though he was always slightly nervous and looked at weirdly.

It was just different now. Harry has after all entered a whole new world that is totally out of his comfort zone. It has been merely one day since his life has taken a turn as well, so maybe it was just all-natural that he experiences these events the way he does.

To give his shaky legs some rest, even though the shaky movements in his limbs aren't caused by tiredness, he takes a seat on the couch. He needs to sit down a little and focus on his breathing.

He then feels Louis sit down next to him and shoot him a genuinely worried expression. It has to be a shift in world history that has to be recorded in books because Harry has never seen the Prince this way.

"Are you alright?" Louis whispers, his eyes shooting from left to right as he looks at Harry's face, his lowered eyebrows highlighting his concern.

Harry just decides to be honest and shakes his head, because what will be the use if he lies? He needs all the help he can get to make it through this interview so even if he has to receive this aid from his royal highness, something is better than nothing.

Louis frowns even more and waves a little bit at the cameras and not soon after, the lenses disappear out of the room, giving Harry some time to breathe. Louis seems to be relieved that Harry's slowly getting his regular breathing back, which was before really unrhythmic that it could become dangerous. Luckily, Louis noticed and it was fixed on time.

"They're gone, Harry." He smiles softly and pulls the younger lad into a hug, making Harry let out a surprised gasp. What is the prince doing hugging him again? Aren't they supposed to hate each other?

Louis seems to take Harry's lack of movement the wrong way and pulls away with a blush covering his cheeks and his eyes are glued to the ground, not ready to face the humiliation just yet.

Luckily, the Prince doesn't have to undergo this shame and Harry pulls Louis back into a hug again, burying his head into Louis' neck and breathing in the comforting scent. It's a mix of male cologne and cinnamon, reminding Harry of home and the comfort that Christmas mornings used to bring him. He instantly feels calmer and melts into Louis' embrace.

They stay like that for a little while, until Louis really has to pull away with an apologetic expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Harry, but we have to do this. We're already delaying the broadcast a little, and that's fine, but we have to give the citizens something, you get that right?"

Harry nods his head absently, slowly coming back to the real world again instead of the pillow of warmth that was covering his mind just before.

"I'll be at your side the whole time, alright?" Louis continues, his blue eyes gazing deeply into Harry's green ones. "Don't worry too much. It will be nothing like last time, I promise."