A Piece of His Heart / larry uni AU

chapter seventeen

"There, look. Good as new!"

Louis rubs a watery cloth into the purple splotch.

"Oh Daisy, you look great."

He rubs a little harder.

"No big deal. Look!"

Light purple water runs down Louis' hands.

"You can barely even see it! It's fine."

That's enough. Louis stands up, tucking the purple stained rag into Félicité's hand with a small nod. Is it as good as new? No. But is it as good as it's going to get? Yes.

Besides, the huddle of comforting one-liners and pretty party dresses is sure to keep Daisy's reddened eyes from releasing any more tears. She's got half the wedding party and her twin rubbing her back and trying to wish away her flushed face. She'll be fine.

"Thanks." Félicité whispers quickly, a small smile dancing on her ruby lips.

Louis nods again, "Sure." and breaks from the huddle.

He locks eyes with Harry instantly, where the boy's leaning against the island. He's keeping his distance, deep concern clear on his features as he peers over Louis' shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," Harry says when Louis approaches him, but really, Louis was just getting his suit jacket from the island, "She asked for juice and I figured it would be okay. I had no idea about the cups with the special lids."

Louis waves off the boy's anxious air. "It's fine. Don't worry," Louis grabs at the cheap black fabric beside the boy's hip, "It's as good as new."

Harry's so caught up in watching Phoebe fan Daisy's face with a wedding invitation that he doesn't notice the contempt in Louis' tone. He merely presses his index finger against his lips in worry. Louis feels like he's on fire.

"I know, but it's just—"

"It's fine."

"No, but—"

"It's honestly the last thing I care about right now."

There's a pause.

Louis can see the boy's head slowly turn toward him in his peripheral, but Louis would be mad to give him any sort of eye contact. Instead, Louis hauls the jacket over his shoulders, and brushes the hair out of his eyes.

Harry is still staring when Louis claps his hands and spins on his heels, "All right! Who's ready for a wedding?" and like Louis' just flicked a switch, Daisy jumps up from her chair, grabbing Phoebe's hand and their shared basket of flowers. They begin to jump up and down in place, giggling like mad, as Félicité and Charlotte attempt to shush them.

Louis begins walking toward the staircase. Harry's mouth opens and closes behind him.

"Lou?"

Louis doesn't turn around.

☆

"Knock, knock." Louis whispers as he slowly pushes open the wooden door of Linda's room.

"Oh, Lin... you look so lovely."

"I hope Mark thinks so too."

Louis watches Linda laugh with the woman to her right, eyeing her reflection in the stand up mirror in front of her. The woman sidesteps behind her, tugging at the bow of her dress' corset as a final touch, before instructing Linda to give her a twirl.

Linda laughs as she gracefully spins about, the stark white of her lacy gown picking up only the brightest rays of sunlight. She is dazzling, with her hair all tousled up in sweeping curls, her neck adorned with only the finest of her jewelry, and her lips the perfect shade of pink. As she spins a final time, Louis' heart begins to beat faster and faster—so much so, he wouldn't be surprised if it were to give him away.