Thick

Chapter 9

Blaire's POV:

"Hello, my name's Blaire. Welcome to Merrel's Pancake Shoppe, how may I help you?" I asked the girl.

She was tall, and I swear I saw her in a magazine last month.

Margaret? Mallory? Macy?

She looked at me for a second before breaking out in a smile. "Yes! Um, do you have menus? I'm kinda new here," she gave a breezy laugh.

Margot? Maddy?

"Yeah, here. You can come up when you're ready to order," I handed her the menu.

I watched as she retreated to a table towards the back, near the stereo.

She seemed fairly smart, unlike some other models. Of course, not to say that all blondes are dumb, not at all, but sometimes they forget about their schooling and are taught to only focus on their looks.

Losing my train of thought when I realized her pumps had landed in front of the counter, I stood up.

"Can I have just the original, please? With a medium black coffee?" She asked, setting the worn menu with the others.

I nodded. "That's £8.76, with tax."

To my surprise, she lifted the cash out of her bag, as most people pay with their plastic.

I opened the box, exchanging her £10 for the rest. "£1.24 is your change, can I have a name?"

"Madison."

Oh. Right.

Madison.

**************

Louis' POV:

"I know that!" I screamed.

"Then why do you keep asking?!" Harry screamed back.

"Because I love you, dammit!"

"Don't give me that bullshit. You know that won't work on me," he replied, his voice suddenly low.

And he was right. It wouldn't work on him, because that was what his family used to say to him. Every time they went through his things, every time they took him to the hospital, every time they asked him personal questions, their excuse was always "because I love you". It wasn't right of me to say it, but I'm mad.

"How am I supposed to fight when they've taken away my hands, Harry? How can I scream when they only let me use my voice for singing? How is it possible to fly away when you're wings are broken?" I asked, my voice cracking on the last word.

"Love can make its own way, doll," he said, pulling me into a hug.

I used to never get breakdowns, up until last year. They used to happen months apart, but they've become more frequent.

Sobbing into his chest, I made a muffled reply.

"Harry, I need help."

*************

(A/N: I'm putting my account on private so you're going to have to follow me to read this or any of my other books. Just saying. Hint hint follow me.)

Madison's POV:

I watched as Blaire's face changed slightly when I told her my name.

That means that Niall told her about me. Was it good or bad? What does she think of me?

She's actually really pretty, I recognized her from a magazine that specialized on her and Harry's date. I flipped through it, but she's prettier in person.

I had gotten a short call from management that briefly explained that a new girl was going to be Harry's beard, as the fans call it. I didn't have time to protest, they ended the call, but I definitely do not approve of the situation.

"Madison," I heard an American voice at the front of the shoppe.

Taking my pancakes, I decided to chat a bit with Blaire. "So, I hear you're dating Harry Styles. That must be fun."

"So," she mocked me. "I hear you're dating Niall Horan. That must be fun."

"Sassy, ok."

She sighed. "If you must know, I hate it. He doesn't deserve this, neither of them do. But I guess I'm glad that I'm doing it instead of some slutty attention whore. I put up a fight, but they blackmailed me."

Blackmail? I never got blackmailed.

I dropped the subject, furrowing my eyebrows.

"This is the infamous pancake shoppe then? Where you met Niall?"

She laughed. "Yup. He was stuck in here for almost fucking five hours, it was awful."

I laughed, noticing that she swears almost worse than Niall does.

Digging into my pancakes, I asked "do you normally have this few customers? It's almost empty in here."

(AGAIN. I WILL BE MAKING IT PRIVATE FOR A WHILE SO THAT YOU CAN ONLY READ THIS STORY IF YOU FOLLOW ME)

She nodded. "Even with all the Paps and attention, business has pretty much stayed the same. It's alright though, I like it better when it's quieter. Let's me use the radio."

I nodded.

*************

Even after I finished my pancakes, I still stuck around to chat with Blaire.

She was actually pretty cool, considering she worked with a bunch of old ladies.

"He did not," Blaire gasped, her eyes widening.

"He did too, third time," I held up 3 fingers.

"Oh man, now I feel awful, he missed your date last night!" She exclaimed, covering her mouth.

I gave her a confused look. "Why does him missing our date make you feel awful? That makes no sense, unless..." My eyes widened in realization.

/I slept over a friend's house./

The pieces clicking, my jaw dropped.

"You were the friend. He-he slept over your house!"

She nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, but we didn't do anything. Just watched movies until 3 am, so I told him he could sleep on the couch. That's it."

I shouldn't have believed her.