On the Run, Your Highness

Fitting In

Louis opens the door of the tiny apartment we got. He looks around before gesturing for me to come in. When I step inside he slowly closes the door, almost like if he closes it too fast it will burst into flames.

After he locks the door, he turns to me, "It's a good thing the queen was able to Venmo me some money. I definitely don't make enough to get real estate in New York City."

At the mention of my mother, it only takes a moment for me to burst into tears.

I turn to Louis, still sobbing. I grab him by his shoulders and cling onto him for comfort. Being this close to him makes me realize that he's a lot more firm than I thought. I can tell he has muscles underneath the giant hoodie he now has over his royal uniform.

He pats my upper back awkwardly, "Um, Your Highness, I'm not really allowed to touch you like this."

I cry out softly, "I'm giving you permission."

"Oh okay..."Is all he says before he wraps his arms around my waist, making the hug warmer.

"Your Highness?" Louis' voice awakens me from my nap on the cheap bed in the small room that is now my bedroom. "We have to go out."

"What are you talking about?" I groan tiredly.

He explains, "Well the only clothes we have are the ones that were in the car's emergency trunk. And they don't fit. And we need food. And we need to get you some sort of disguise."

My eyes open in shock. I shake my head, "I am not cutting my curls!"

I follow Louis around the mall, silently. He gave me his hoodie so it would cover me more. And now he just has a thin white tank top. The hood covers my face when I look down, so now I'm walking through a mall, holding onto this knight's forearm so I don't get lost.

Louis pulls me into one store. I look up and glance around. It's an accessory store.

He leads me to a wall in the back of the store. He grabs a pair of thick glasses and sits them on my nose. He hums and grabs a black beanie. He puts it over my wild curls and he smiles.

I glance in the small mirror next to me. I whine, "Can't I get it in blue?"

"No, Your Highness. It's best to stay away from our country's colors." Louis explains.

He reaches out and grabs another beanie, but it's grey. He takes mine off and grabs the glasses. He grabs a light colored fedora too. He pulls my hood back up and leads me to the cashier.

Once we're out of that store, Louis leads me to a clothes store. He gives me an up and down look before pulling me to a specific section in the store.
A section with bright clothes and floral clothes and patterned clothes...

"No." I state, pulling my arm away from his hand.

He turns to me with a questioning look. Then he glances at the clothes again, realizations hitting him. "Oh," He starts, "Your Highness, we have to get you clothes. And we can't let you dress in what you usually would. So no solid dark colors, no light blue or gold, no formal casual wear."

I cross my arms and pout, "But I don't wanna!"

He shakes his head, "I'm sorry, but you must trust me."

I huff out a breath of defeat and follow him to the clothes.

Louis makes me get two floral shirts, a pink one and a green one. He gets me polka dot shirts, one in each color of the rainbow. He gets me striped shirts and plaid shirts.

Then we move on to pants...

Louis makes me get skinny jeans in only the lighter shades. They look so tight that I might get stuck if I put them on.

He also got me some shorts and sweatpants just for comfort as he said. I've never worn sweatpants. And I've never worn shorts the length of these. They're so short. Mother would never let me wear these. Gosh, she'd never let me see someone in these.

"Uh Louis?" I pull on his hand to get his attention. He looks over to me, "I'm hungry."

He glances around, taking in the overcrowded mall. He mutters, "Okay, let's head back."

I follow Louis out of the mall and to the small car he had bought with the money Mother had transferred. He drove us back to the apartment and carried all the bags for me.

I got dressed into something less recognizable and step into the kitchen. Louis stands with his back to me, also dressed in different clothes. He got causal clothes since no one knows him.

"Ready?" He asks, turning around. His eyes look me up and down and his lips quirk up slightly. He catches himself staring and clears his throat, "Uh yeah, you don't even look like a prince now."

He opens the front door and lets me through. I keep my head down to cover my pink cheeks from him.

Outside the apartment, across the street, is a small diner. Louis opens the door, doing a quick glance over the small room before letting me in.

"Hi, welcome to Zee and Ni's." A young man with dyed blond hair says with a grin. He leads us to a table and hands us menus. "I'm Niall and I'm your waiter today."

Louis gives him a questioning look. He asks, "Zee and Ni's?" Niall nods, "And your name is Niall? And you're a waiter?"

Niall nods again. He gives an explanation with a smile, "Yeah I'm Niall. As in the Ni in the name. We're just a little short staffed today."

He glances to me, eyes lingering. I look down at the menu and Louis quickly distracts Niall. "So, just get us both cheeseburgers and we'll both take a coke."

I look at Louis as Niall writes that down. I raise an eyebrow, "What's a cheeseburger?"

Louis laughs loudly and obnoxiously and awkwardly, encouraging Niall to join in. I give them both confused looks until Louis says, "Oh silly boy. He's had cheeseburgers before! Such a prankster!"

Niall nods and laughs a little more before going back to give our order to the cook.

"No seriously. What's a cheeseburger?"

"Louis?" He looks up from the glass of coke, whatever that is. "Those guys are staring at us."

He immediately follows my gaze to see our waiter, Niall, and another man with black hair. They both notice us watching them and immediately hurry back into the kitchen.

Louis is about to stand up but I grab his hand. He looks back at me, "What if they're from Cheshire?"

I shake my head and I'm about to reason with him when Niall and the other man walk up to our table.

Niall says sheepishly, "Sorry for staring. It's just," He looks to me, "You look so familiar."

Louis tenses and says, "And who are you?" He points to the man by Niall's side.

The man says, "I'm Zayn. Me and Niall own this place."

Louis nods, inspecting them both carefully. I smile at them, "I'm Harry," We shake hands, knowing Louis was watching our hands like they're snakes. Zayn and Niall look at Louis expectantly. I cut in before he says anything stupid, "And this is Louis, my boyfriend."

Louis gives me a confused look. But Zayn starts talking, "It's nice to meet you both. Feel free to come around anytime. We don't get much business."

I nod and watch them leave back to the kitchen.

"Boyfriend?" Louis asks. "The king would not be pleased about this."

I roll my eyes, "Whatever. He ordered you to keep me safe so that might include lying. So just tell people you're my boyfriend so it won't be weird that we're always together."

Louis blinks, finally shrugging his agreement. "Okay, fine then."