Short Kings Anthem

Part 14

"You really hate flying don't you?" Chris couldn't help but look in awe at Lauren as she downed the last of her espresso martini.

"It's just taking off I don't like, as soon as I'm up in the air I'm fine," Lauren explained as she took a deep breath.

"Another? It's not like we have a drive to the hotel," Chris offered.

"Ahh go on then," Lauren winked adding a when on holiday remark. For their trip the pair were starting off in Porto where they were spending three nights, then taking the train to Lisbon with three nights there and then with six nights in Vale do Garrao to finish with them driving there.

"This is gorgeous," Lauren whispered in wonder as she looked towards the sunset in front of her. They had learned Porto had great sunsets and that was very true. They were currently sitting in a park, cuddled on a blanket with a bottle of champagne and some deserts they had picked up from a bakery earlier that day.

"It is. Wanna know something else that's gorgeous?" Chris asked handing Lauren a glass of champagne with a wink.

"Go on." She smirked knowing the answer but wanting to hear it anyway.

"Well she's roughly five two, perfectly proportioned, beautiful curly auburn hair, hazel eyes, the smallest little ears which I hope any kids inherit because mine, well the less said about those the better." Lauren giggled a little at Chris's last sentence.

"I'm willing to bet they weren't that bad,"

"Next time you come to Jersey I will show you photos, just horrific."

"As long as those dimples were still there then I'm happy." The pair look at each other and smile, planting a quick kiss on each other.

There was a lot of walking, bus tours, trams, and in the Algarve a lot of relaxing and going to the beach. Chris has tried to teach Lauren how to play golf but it wasn't her game and she grew ever frustrated with it. Chris stayed calm, tried to guide her the best he could but they ultimately decided at the end that golf was something Chris would enjoy with others while Lauren focused on one of her hobbies like making an outfit.

"You ready?" Chris asked Lauren when they were at Faro airport waiting for their plane home.

"Go for it." The couple had decided to go public in a way. They weren't going to make a big deal out of it but they were simply going to post some holiday photos. They knew they were really lucky to not get ratted out at this point and rather than tempt fate even more they were just going to be honest and reveal all.

Chris had five photos he posted, the first was of him posing on the beach, the second was of a view of Lisbon from a viewing platform, the third was of Lauren smiling at him on a boat, forth was of him in a Portugal shirt and the last was of him and Lauren in Porto watching the sunset. The caption read "Beautiful trip with a beautiful person" the Portuguese flag and a love heart.

When the pair landed back home Chris's phone was awash with notifications.

Georgeclarkeey about bloody time!
ArthurTV Congrats again guys, you both look so happy.

Stephen_tries punching mate, punching!

Wroetoshaw King and queen of the hobbits

User3872 NO WAY OMG

User 2927 I knew it!!!

User_9275 Stephen and Harry's comments I can't!!! XD

Lauren's discord server also lit up at the news.

WibblyWobbly: Well it's confirmed!

Fizzglug Am I the only person who thinks they seem really cute together? I don't get all the hoo ha about it.
HarryI'mGoingTo KillYou I agree, I think it's just because people loved Tom and Shannon so much they find it hard picturing them with other people.

TametheLionsmane: Just a thought and please don't hate me for it but what if this was the reason for the breakups...

Redlipswidehips I don't think so, Chris and Shannon have said multiple times it was amicable.

WibblyWobbly: Plus with how sad Lauren seemed to be after the break up. She's been much happier the last couple of months so I reckon they got together then.

Mindlessviolence: How cute would it be if they do proper videos together? I know we had the triathlon ones but that doesn't count because they were with Theo and not all public. Like one of him trying to teach her how to play football how cute would that be. Or her trying to put make up on him!

Wibblywobbly: Need this!!! Yes!!!

The next day Lauren posts photos of her and Chris at each of the three weddings they went to with the caption Love Wedding Season. A lot of their mutual friends and a couple of Lauren's friends comment variations of you next sending some fans into a frenzy.

"I genuinely didn't think people would care this much, especially after the leak failed. It's overwhelmingly positive though" Lauren said placing her phone down on the kitchen counter.

"Nice to know I've got the approval of your fans," Chris replied looking carefully at the onion he was dicing for dinner.

"And friends, it's just family..." Lauren tailed off a little. Chris put the knife down giving Lauren his full attention as he smiled softly.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No I'm ready. How much do you know?" Lauren started to play with her hair so Chris could immediately tell she was nervous.

"That your parents are no longer around but you have an older brother and three absolutely terrifying nephews who could probably beat me up in an instant," Lauren couldn't help but laugh at Chris's honesty. She was a teenager when her father passed away, it's where her bad relationship with food had started. Her school councillor told her at the time it was down to control. Then in lockdown her mother passed away following a stroke, again it was a catalyst for her anorexia being triggered. She had an elder brother who was eighteen years her senior, because of that her nephews were only five, seven and ten years younger than herself. The middle one Connir was a professional rugby player, despite only being twenty he was already in the big leagues making a name for himself. People were always shocked when they found out the two were related, let alone small five foot two Lauren was the aunt of the six foot four muscular Connor. The other brother's weren't that much small either, Chris could always play off his height by talking about football but he didn't know the first thing about rugby.

"They'll go easy on you if I ask them to, they're big softies who'll do anything for me," after speaking Lauren let out a small sneeze.

"Bless you."

"Thank you. Need a hand with anything?"

"No I'm good. Did we ever specify what size garden would be acceptable? I had a ping for someone today but not sure if the garden was too small." Chris had set alerts on his phone for houses. Lauren's heart thumped when he had told her, she thought it was adorable he cared so much about it.

"Just enough room for a dog to be able to run around in," Lauren replied. The pair had this conversation already, Lauren was incredibly keen on a dog and allergic to cats, Chris wasn't against dogs so it wasn't an issue.

"What kind of dog are we talking? A great dane or a chihuahua because they have very different needs." Chris asked.

"My ideal would be a border collie or lab but they're so much work maybe when I'm older and retired. I've been going down the corgi rabbit hole. I've done all my research and they do like exercise so good for walks and runs then chill out time later on."

"Sounds like you have it all figured out."

"If only that's how life worked!" Lauren then gave another couple of coughs.

"You okay? Hope you're not coming down with something." Asked Chris as he walked over to Lauren and placed a hand on her forehead. The red head shrugged it off gently and walked to the fridge.

"I'm okay, just need some water."