The Chauffeur || Thomas Sangster AU COMPLETED

xxxiii.

"Katy! Follow me" I was suddenly grabbed by Liam, he dragged me to the east wing without even giving me a glance. Lunch had just ended and I had long separated from my group of friends; everybody was excited since it was a Friday. Liam had to make this quick or I was going to be late for class. He stopped in front of the girl's room and motioned me to enter. I frowned at him confused but then I heard gagging and spitting. What the hell?

I stepped into the tiled room and eyed the cubicles, only one was shut and that was where the gagging noise came from. The first thing that came to mind with a girl puking in school was that she was pregnant but I hated assuming things about people. What did Liam want me to do exactly?

"You learn something new about your friends everyday" was all that he said before he ran away. The gagging noise stopped and I froze, suddenly scared that the unknown girl heard someone inside. I didn't want to make her feel embarrassed with someone inside the girl's room while she had been puking her guts out. I wanted to save her the humiliation so I made a split decision to step out and hid behind the post so she wouldn't see me but I could see her. Whoever it was, Liam thought it was important for me to find about it. My eyes widened when I saw Mandy step out of the cubicle and frowned in confusion, my assumptions racing inside my head. Was Mandy pregnant? If she was, who was the father? Was it Thomas? She looked at herself in the mirror and glared at her reflection.

"You're not thin enough. You're not pretty enough. Why couldn't you be as perfect as Katy?" she muttered darkly to herself and realization hit me like a ton of bricks. The fact that Mandy had bulimia and I hadn't noticed made me feel like a horrible friend. I recalled all those times when Mandy would leave earlier than the rest of us, she had told us she was hanging out with the journalism club. How long had she been doing this? How did Liam find out about this? Who else knew? Questions piled up on each other inside my head, the temptation to step out of my hiding spot and confront her persisted but I stood my ground and watched her wipe her streaked mascara and eyeliner off of her face. She had been crying too, my heart clenched at the restraint of not being able to comfort my friend. I didn't spare a thought of Mandy having her own insecurities, she was always happy and smiling and laughing- like me. She had been pretending, like me. But she thought I was perfect, she degraded herself compared to me. Why would she do that? I closed my eyes and sighed, I wanted to make Mandy happy. And that was through Thomas, I had to let go of Thomas; that was the best solution I saw so they had time for each other and I wouldn't be in the way.

I brought out my phone slowly, not liking the decision I had made. I didn't want Thomas to leave; but I couldn't exactly let my best friend suffer and be cheated on because I didn't want him to leave. Who was going to drive me home though? What was I going to tell gran and Thomas when they asked why? I couldn't exactly tell them about Mandy, no. I would keep that a secret. I could tell them that I wanted to be independent before I started Uni!

'Tommy, could you give me driving lessons later?'

I bit my lip as I sent it. I just needed to act happier so he wouldn't be suspicious. Or I could just ask Thomas? I shook my head and discarded the idea immediately, I didn't want to hurt Thomas' feelings by letting go of him for Mandy. No. He couldn't find out about it.

'Tommy? Hahaha sure love. I'll pick you up earlier then' he responded and I sighed. The first step of firing him and I was scared. I really didn't want for him to leave...

*
Thomas drove us to the middle of nowhere, for the past several minutes we were in a continuous, winding road with no buildings, houses or even trees. Everything was clear as far as I could see, I've never even been here before. He pulled on the brakes and got out of the car excitedly and I did too- or at least I acted like it. Stop being so dramatic Katy. I hopped into the drivers seat and my eyes widened in realization- I was actually going to drive. I was such a bloody idiot. I asked for driving lessons and I didn't even let it sink in that I was actually going to drive. Again, I was an idiot.

My hands were gripped the steering wheel tightly and my heart was pounding. It was too late to back out when Thomas got in he passengers seat and clicked on his seat belt. I just realized how nervous I was, I could possibly crash the car.

"Katy, I think you're choking the wheel" he joked, reaching his arm out and removing my hand from the wheel. My heart skipped a beat when his hand took a hold of mine but I ignored it. "Just relax" he said in a deep, calming voice. He placed my hands again on the wheel and wrapped his hand around mine so I gripped the wheel properly. My grip was looser with his hands guiding me, well actually- I was just too distracted with his touch to notice I was starting to relax. This was such a stupid idea. As if his hands on mine earlier wasn't enough to make my heart race, he decided to reach up to my face and tuck a loose stand of hair behind my ear; his hand slightly touching my face. Damn it, Katy. Focus.

He started telling which part of the car was which, what part I had to start first and soon, he was asking me to drive. I stared at the road, my grip on the wheel subconsciously tightening as I became more nervous. Suddenly everything he taught me went blank and I panicked.

"Relax, love" he said calmly, putting his hand over mine and I gulped. I did as he said and shifted gear, pressing on the pedal and started driving. When I actually felt the car move, I got scared and stomped on the breaks. Luckily our seat belts were clicked on. I hit myself in the head. I was terrified to even try.

"Nope. We are going to die if I continue- God, I'm so bloody stupid" I rambled, panicking.

"Katy, you were doing fine. Just relax, bab- I mean, uh, you're not stupid" he stammered suddenly. My breathe hitched, I knew what he was going to say and I was thankful he didn't continue or I would have had heart problems. For several hours, Thomas continued to reassure me and teach me; he was patient and careful with his words the whole time and I silently thanked him.

"Okay. Okay, I think I got it..." I took a deep breathe and took hold of the steering wheel. I stepped on the pedal and I continued driving at a slow speed; it was better than my multiple abrupt brakes whenever I started to drive. Multiple scenarios played in my head and I got nervous again.

"So uh- how was school?" He asked out of nowhere. I assumed it was his way of distracting me and relaxing me.

"I-I, uh, it was alright" the memory of seeing Mandy inside the toilets made me frown. Suck it up, this is for Mandy and everyone you care about.

"If it was alright, then why are you frowning?" He asked and I glanced at him before I turned back to the road. This was hard.

"I found out one of my best friends was hiding something from me" I admitted vaguely. I saw him tense a bit and I frowned but continued nonetheless. "I'm so disappointed in myself for not noticing anything about it" I muttered, more to myself than to him.

"Who is it?" He asked, even his voice was tense. Did he know about Mandy too? Did he do something about Mandy? I thought it over and decided he needed to know about her as his boyfriend.

"It's Mandy" I huffed, he visibly relaxed before he sat back up and turned to me. How much was I going to tell him? What if he already knew? Wait- it wasn't my position to tell him. It wasn't my secret to spill, I wasn't his girlfriend and if my subconscious secretly seeked his approval, she isn't getting any. "On second thought-"

"I broke up with her this morning" he interrupted me. My eyes widened and I floored on the brakes. Both of our bodies were restrained by the seat belts when we were nearly thrown to the front; but instead of apologizing, I turned to him shocked.

"W-Why'd you do that?" I asked, my voice was barely a whisper. He blinked and shook his head, a worried expression on his face. Was that why she was puking? Was it because she thought Thomas liked me more than her? Was that why she was crying? Because Thomas broke up with her? Oh no. "Why did you do that?" I rose my voice. He sat there in stunned silence as if still comprehending my anger. I groaned in frustration and swung the door open before stepping out.

Mandy really loved Thomas if she cried that hard when they broke up, deep inside- I knew I was just praying that I wasn't the reason for it because I don't think I could handle the guilt of it.