Bonded

Chapter Thirty Three

Louis watched from where he sat on the bed as Lottie removed the rest of his nail polish. “You really don’t have to,” he told her. “I’m here to help you get ready.”

“We are getting ready,” Lottie argued, as she covered his first nail in neon green. “Having our nails match is important.”

“What about the decorations?” 

“Don't worry about them,” she replied in an overly happy voice. “The party planner already called some more people over and they’re going to set everything up for us.”

Louis stared at the smile Lottie had plastered to her face. It didn’t alter in the slightest as she finished one hand and moved on to the other, delicately holding each of his fingers as she applied the colour. 

“Sorry,” he whispered. 

She finished the last finger before giving his palm a gentle squeeze. “Don’t be sorry,” she told him as she started on the second coat.  

Louis shook his head. “It's your day, it’s supposed to be about you.” 

“My birthday was days ago,” she pointed out, “and the party hasn’t even started yet.”  

“But I - ” Louis closed his mouth and looked down at perfectly manicured hands.  

Lottie shook a bottle of black nail polish as she looked at her friend. “He didn’t abandon you.”

“I know,” Louis muttered, embarrassed. He quickly turned his head away so Lottie couldn’t see his face. “I know he didn't run away from me. I know…”

Lottie opened the black bottle, scraped the brush off and placed it down on some paper towels. She then reached for a toothpick, which she dipped into the polish instead.  

“...It’s just …” Louis fumbled as he tried to find the words.

Lottie took the dipped toothpick and started to make little black hearts on Louis’s nails. 

“... Why didn’t he call me?” Louis finally asked.

Lottie dipped the toothpick in the polish again. “He probably just fled without thinking. Edward said things got a bit physical.”

“But we could have helped him.” Louis argued, a desperation in his eyes. “He didn’t even send me a message or anything.”

“Maybe he had to run out of the house and left his phone at home by accident,” Lottie comforted, as she reached for his other hand. “He might have intended to call you after he was somewhere safe but realized too late that he couldn’t.” 

Louis sighed as he slowly nodded. There was a truth to Lottie's words that he couldn’t deny but it didn’t do much to make him feel better.  

“There,” Lottie said as she finished. “Now we’re matchy.” She held her hands next to Louis’s so he could see the matching heart shapes on each of their nails.   

“You should have painted my nails the same colour as yours,” he said with a light chuckle. “Neons don’t really go with pastels.” 

“It’s the shapes that match dummy,” Lottie griped as she playfully swatted his arm. 

Louis smiled and lifted his hands taking an earnest look. “You did a really good job.”

“It’s easier working on someone else's nails,” she admitted. “Just don’t let anyone look too closely.”

Louis studied each little heart as Lottie put everything away. It was obvious that she put a lot of effort into the design. The only thing that could have made this even better would have been to match three ways with Harry as well.