Back by Midnight ♔ Larry/Cinderella au

♔ 1

 “Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.” -Hans Christian Andersen

Once upon a time – for that is how all stories should begin – there was a widower who had a wonderful son. He had decided to marry again and bring him a new mother, but his new wife, who went by the name of Anastasia Barlow, was proud and evil. She did not love her step-son and only cared for her two lazy sons. Their step-brother waited on them, hand and foot, from dawn to dusk. He cooked, washed, sewed, scrubbed the stairs, and lit the fires.

This young boy’s name is Louis Tomlinson.

Louis would be lying if he said he didn’t hate his step-brothers. They were plain nasty towards him, and just bloody annoying with their “Dear brother, mind fetching me a glass of water?” or “Oh, Louis, my trousers are ripped. Stich them at once!” But even they were somewhat tolerable compared to his step-mother. She was a complete witch, and showed no love or affection towards Louis.

Anastasia Barlow had fiery red hair with a temper to match, and unfortunately, her anger was always directed towards Louis. She saw her sons supreme to Louis, and didn’t let them lay a finger on any of the housework. She forced her step-son to do all the hard labour, and gave him no reward or recognition for his work.

Louis would have lost his mind if it weren’t for his books. He loved books, specifically his romance novels and fairytales. A romantic and daydreamer Louis was. He truly believed that everyone deserved a happily ever after; and he thought, who deserved it more than him?

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Once upon a time, there was a lonely prince named Harold. Harold had two younger siblings, a sister and a brother, and his lovely mother, Queen Anne. Harold was a queer lad, for he preferred riding out in the woods alone rather than going into town and flirting with the pretty maidens. When asked as to what he did for the long hours in the forest, he simple replied with “I thought.”

Harold was turning 25 in a few months, and on his birthday, he would become King of England and its territories. But before he could receive his crown, he would have to wed a respectable young man. He had met many men, all very handsome and very peppy, but one still had yet to catch his eye. He had danced with at least 73 potential-husbands in the past month, and he had still not found anyone.

The young prince was quite content with being a bachelor, but his mother, and her acquaintances, frowned upon him. They all said, “Harold’s turning 25, if he gets any older, no young man would be willing to marry him.” Harry paid no attention to the Queen’s friends and just shrugged them all off.

Harry would have lost his mind if he never had the chance to go to the woods. Every day, after afternoon tea, he would take his horse and ride out to the forest. He would lie under the willow trees while his horse drank from the stream nearby and had a rest. Harry would think about life, he would think about his duties and responsibilities, but most of all, he would think about his future spouse. He didn’t believe he would ever find someone to marry, after all, true love only exists in the stories his sister read. Right?

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Eeeh, here's chapter 1, I hope it met up to all your expectations. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up by Monday? *fingers crossed*