Baby Steps [l.t]

Four

(Melanie's POV)

After waking up William and making him a bowl of Lucky Charms, I decided to call Dan. I dialed his number, and sure enough, he picked up after the first ring.

"Hello," He said, once again sounded exhausted.

"Sorry, I really need to stop waking you up," I said.

He laughed in response, "No, no. It's all good."

"Good, cause I was thinking that you, me, and William could go to brunch this morning, because I need to apologize for last night."

"There's no need to apologize, but I do need to eat, so sign me up."

"I'm paying, though," I said, and before he could protest, "Okay see you at eleven!"

-

Eleven came, and me and William were seated at the Thomas Cubbit Pub, waiting for our guest.

"William, you know we don't play with our water, right?" I asked, wearily watching him put the butter into the glass.

"Sorry mum," He said.

"That's okay, just think about it next time," I laughed.

William looked up at me, sadly, but his eyes brightened quickly upon landing on Dan. "Hey little man," Dan laughed, patting his head.

"Hey big man," William giggled, holding his arms open for a hug. Dan reciprocated the action, William filling up his arms.

"Hey pretty lady," Dan said, putting William on the ground.

"Hey handsome devil," I said, feeling his lips press against mine, briefly.

"Eww," William groaned, causing me and Dan to pull apart, again. I laughed, causing Dan to laugh, causing William to laugh.

We were all in a fit of giggles when a waitress came up, immediately becoming too fond of Dan. "What can I get you, sweetie?" She asked him.

"Yeah, what do you want, sweetheart?" I asked Dan, grabbing his hand. The waitress immediately sent me a glare.

"Um, just a water," He said, stroking my thumb. The waitress calmed down at his action, becoming slightly nicer to me.

"And you?" She asked me.

"I'll have a coke, please," I said.

"And you," She said, turning to William.

"I'll have a lemonade, please," He said, copying my wording. He looked at me as I nodded my head in approval. He giggled in delight.

"Could we also get some calamari?" Connor asked.

"That'll be right out," She said, closing her booklet. She sashayed away, tucking the pen behind her ear. I groaned and rolled my eyes. Dan laughed and brought my hand to his lips, kissing it softly.

A few minutes later, the calamari was halfway gone, William wanted a second lemonade, and a commotion had started up down the street. Photographers and reporters were shouting questions at someone, who looked a lot like...

Oh no.

I looked at Dan, who looked at me. The panic was clear in both of our eyes. We both looked over to where William was sitting, only to find it empty.

Oh fuck no.

(Louis' POV)

"Louis!" I heard Eleanor's voice yell through the airport. Here we go.

"Eleanor!" I yelled, wrapping her in my arms. Her lips touch mine in a most delicate way. The flashes blinded us, capturing every angle of our intimate moment. We pulled apart and I set her down.

Hand in hand, we walked out and told the driver to take my things home. We decided to walk around a little bit. Make everything about our relationship public, because that's the only place it lived.

We piled in a cab, and asked it to drop us off at Hyde Park. We spent 30 minutes walking around, Management had left an "anonymous" tip, so our shadows were constantly filled with paps.

We eventually moved on to strips of small businesses, when they started asking questions.

Suddenly, a little boy who looked a lot like me ran up, two familiar faces right on his heels.

"Daddy!"
_____________________________________________________________________________