The Rusty Old Minivan

Chapter 30

"You've ignored me all night," Chace said as he, Lottie, the kids and Harry all filed into Tabatha's hallway at 1 AM. "Lottie. Lottie. You've ignored me all night. Lottie."

She sighed, toeing off her shoes. She couldn't deal with this. Not right now. "I'm going to bed, Chace."

He followed her fast up the stairs. "Was it because of the dress-thing?" he panted after her, "was it because I didn't compliment your dress enough?"

She scoffed. If he really thought that little of her, that she'd be pissed for an entire evening over a compliment, or lack there of, then he was probably right, but he could still go screw himself. She hadn't ignored him all evening. She hadn't even thought of him, for once. For one fucking evening of one fucking day, it hadn't been all about Chace. It'd been about Niall. About family. About herself.

If he couldn't wrap his selfish head around that then she couldn't waste her time helping him do so. "Fuck off," she muttered, "I'm sleeping in the other bedroom tonight."

"Lottie, don't be a child."

She stopped in her tracks. "Pardon me?" she hissed, spinning around so fast she nearly knocked her nose against his. "'Don't be a child', did you say?"

He took a step backwards, frowning. "Why are you acting up all of a sudden? I told you you looked fine and then you started moaning that fine wasn't enough. Then you ignore me all evening and pretty much only talk to Niall like I'm just thin air to you, and now- now you're yelling at me," he said, "over a fucking dress."

"It's not about the fucking dress," she yelled, "and i can yell all I want. And you," she waited until everyone else was up the stairs too, within earshot, " you can spank your own arse tonight because I'm sleeping in the other room. Goodnight."

She left him there, face flushed red, hands balled into fists, vibrating at his sides. She smiled to herself as she heard Fizzy's voice mutter, "like a good spanking, do we, Chacey?" and Phoebe add on, "do you get on all fours when she does it?" and Fizzy bark a laugh and add a last, "hey, no need to look so flustered, subbie, it's all good. Here, take my belt, it's long enough to give yourself a good whipping."

*

"Think Chace brought this bottle," Niall said, joining Louis on the balcony where he was sitting alone, legs danling out through the fencing.

The evening had been overwhelming to say the least and once it came to an end, Niall had offered that Louis stayed the night and hushed everyone else out quickly. To say Louis was grateful would be quite the understatement. It was so quiet out here, in the dark of the night. So peaceful.

"Chace's bottle, did you say?" Louis muttered, grabbing the bottle of out of Niall's hand. He unscrewed and sniffed it, just to check that it wasn't dodgy. "Little fucker might've spiked it with poison, be careful."

Niall gave a low cackle and grabbed the bottle, downing a big unapologetic swig right from the mouth of it. "Taste's like piss," he said, wiping his mouth off with the back of his sleeve, "but drink some, it does the trick anyway."

Louis took a swig of the piss, then set the bottle down between them and rested back on his elbows with a long sigh. "Still can't believe you, mate."

"You know what I can't believe?" Niall said, looking out into nothing through the ridges in the fence. "That I hurried off to London, thinking that was where I'd find something to show for myself, and within weeks I realized I didn't have fuck-all if I didn't have my family."

"Aw," Louis cooed lazily, "that's sweet. I'll write that on your tombstone once your London-fuckers come to kill you."

Niall laughed. "Ey, don't worry. I'm not in any trouble." He twisted his head to glance at Louis. "You aren't either anymore, are you? Harry was catching me up on shit and how you've figured it out, but I got the sense from him that things still weren't entirely okay."