BILLS, BOOZE & BETRAYAL | LARRY AU

CHAPTER 15

BILLS, BOOZE & BETRAYAL | CHAPTER 15

"Isn't that Mark's boy?"

"The one that was all over the tabloids?"

"Who even knew he was gay?"

"He looks it, doesn't he?"

I clench my eyes shut so as to not react to the whispers I can hear so distinctly as I try to talk civilly with the people who don't seem to judge me for the things I did – or at least to my face – and Eleanor walks away to greet some other friends of hers.

I don't blame her, who'd want to stick with the boy who made front page with his actions? I think to myself as I walk up to the bar and sit down on one of the stools, my head hung low between my shoulders so that no one can see me and my eyes closed so that I can't see anyone.

It doesn't matter anyway, the only man I want to see doesn't seem to be here tonight. I don't blame either, what with all he must have had to endure because of me. I down the whiskey in my hand so that I can pay attention to the burn in my throat rather than the burn in my heart. I repeat the action, and I'm about to do it again when I hear an unfamiliar voice behind me, halting me in my actions.

"Downing whiskey by the second," she notices. "Who broke your heart?"

I turn to her with an amused smile on my face – because it's kind of her to assume that, considering what's going on – and look up to find familiar green eyes looking at me. Sitting just about 2 stools away from me is Gemma, Harry's sister.

"I, umm, I –"

"– Well," she says with a sense of recognition in her voice and I internally brace myself for what's to come. "I see that'd be my little brother."

"No, ma'am, that'd be my own doing." I correct her as I down another glass of whiskey and she smiles, seemingly unaffected by my presence.

"Well, it's a good thing you recognize that, then, and please call me Gemma. I'm barely a few years older than you are, don't make me feel like one of those women standing in the corner and gossiping about you."

"Really? There is no other thing they can discuss right now?"

"Considering that it's only been a week since everything went down? I doubt that." Gemma says, making me laugh for the first time in a week, which strikes another thought in my mind.

"Umm, shouldn't you be mad at me? You are Harry's sister."

"Why should I be mad? You were at fault in the situation, I won't deny it. But that's between you and him. It's nobody's business but yours and it's just a sad co-incidence that you two happen to be children of very wealthy public figures. You're young, you're allowed mistakes, Louis."

"It certainly doesn't feel like it."

"Yes, well, that can be the case sometimes, but you have to remember that. You'll see. They're all angry at you right now, but you'll be old news when next week some poor girl of yet another socialite dares to go out and have fun with her friends in a short skirt or some lonely boy decides to explore his sexuality. That's just the way it is."

"How can you be so casual about that?"

"Do we have another choice?" Gemma says, effectively halting conversation because I can't think of anything I can say to that. It's the one downside of wealth, isn't it? You simply have no choice sometimes. "Are you really sorry?"

"More so than about anything else I've ever done."

"Then you should talk to him. He's heartbroken, you know. That's why I'm here. He needed me throughout the week, but he needed you more. He really likes you, Louis. He needs nothing more than a sincere apology and an explanation."