Greedy |L.T|

Chapter Thirty-Four

Madison

Louis' fingertips anxiously drummed against the steering wheel while his eyes behind his aviators stared ahead at the stoplight. His posture was stiff and tense. I haven't seen him this nervous since the meeting with Looney Laurent. He's been mostly silent, only the sounds of the engine and vehicles racing by filling the space.

"You okay over there?" I reached my hand out to his arm and he flinched away.

"Huh?" He blinked rapidly, almost like he was trying to regain focus. "Oh, yeah. I'm alright." He turned his head to flash me a smile, but it wasn't reassuring. He tried to loosen his body up, stretching his neck and relaxing in his seat. I could tell he knew I was staring at him when he repeated himself. "I'm alright, Madison."

"I didn't realize this would be such a stressful event for you," I said.

"Well," he began and sighed, "I'm meeting your parents. I'd be a little worried if I wasn't nervous. Wouldn't you?" He finally turned his head to make direct eye contact with me, but I could only see myself in the reflection of his glasses. "Sure, I've spoken on the phone with your mum, but this is so much more nerving."

The traffic light flashed green before we were turning onto a familiar road.

"Well, I know that." My hands fidgeted with my phone in my lap. "If it makes you feel any better, they don't know we're coming..."

"WHAT!?" The car suddenly swerved on the road with the following sounds of honking.

"Louis!" I screamed out of fear of going off the road, my hand absentmindedly reaching up to grip the safety handle.

"God damn it, Madison!" He quickly steered off to the side of the road, threw the gear into park, turned on the four-way flashers, and ripped his aviators off his face before facing me with a mix of anger and more worry in his eyes. "Are you out of your mind!?"

"What do you mean?"

"Madison, you didn't tell them we were coming!?"

"I thought it would be a great surprise!" I desperately tried to defend myself, but the more words that exited my mouth the more angrier he seemed to get. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would have bothered you!"

He threw his hands up into the air and let them drop heavy on the steering wheel to make a 'thump'. "Damn it, Madison!" He aggressively flipped the visor back up that kept the sun from his eyes earlier.

"I really don't think it's that big of deal, they'll love you no matter—"

"Enough!"

I pursed my lips shut and stared at him with wide eyes. There is no way we're actually going to go through this again.

He propped his elbow on the window and just rested his head in his hand. The disappointment was written all over his face and it made my inner-child curl in on itself.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

He sighed and closed his eyes. "My intentions were to leave them with a first good impression, but instead you're going to show up on their doorstep with me."

"I don't understand why you're so freaked out about it. It's a surprise. A good one! They're not going to hate you," I said.

He shook his head before sitting back up to drive. "That's not the point, Madison." He turned the four-way flashers off and shifted the gear into drive. "A future recommendation: inform them next time." Then he gripped the gear and shifted it back into drive and pulled back out onto the road. The sun was back in his eyes again, so he put his glasses back on.