~Malia~
The rest of the school day was spent with Louis following behind me like a lost puppy. I never let him get close enough to get beside me in the hallway and every innuendo and come on was ignored to the fullest extent.
I was so used to him being there making comments about how he was glad that I was walking in front of him so that he could see my behind up close and personal that I forgot that everyone at the lunch table probably didn't know what was happening or what to make of what he was doing in the first place with me. Lord knows I had no clue.
"Umm, hey Malia..." Lizzy trailed off as we approached the tables that were separated only by a thin inch of air. I still had no idea why they needed to be separate in the first place when all of the other tables in the cafeteria seemed to all be pushed together anyways, but I wasn't about to say anything.
"Hey," I responded to her, sitting down at the same spot I had sat in the day before, only Louis made a shooing motion to the girl who was to my left, I couldn't really remember her name. Maybe it was Rainer? Rayna?
"Ray-ray, come sit by me," Lizzy said, motioning to the empty seat beside her on the opposite side of the table. She looked at her gratefully with wide brown eyes and scurried over to her long time friend, and I blushed as they all stared me down with something akin to curiosity and jealousy all rolled into one.
"Babe, why are you sitting all the way over there?" a girl at the other table asked Louis, and he visibly flinched at her use of the word 'babe'.
"I just feel like sitting next to our new friend today, is that such a crime?"
She tensed up at the harshness of his tone, he was practically spitting the words out at her. Even I almost felt bad for the girl.
"No, not a crime at all..." she trailed off, slightly bowing her head in submission. I noticed that no one in his immediate friend circle called him, 'Your Highness', or 'Your Majesty' or anything like that like everyone else that he didn't normally associate with did, but if they did, I would have imagined her using it at that time.
It seemed like she was so put off by how he had talked to her, like she was his shiny toy until something else came along and captured his attention. I just hoped that the person that would keep his attention wouldn't be me for long, I had far too many problems in my life to add to the ever growing list.
I didn't want to even think about what would happen to me if Robert found me, or his gang that apparently helped break him out of a high security prison.
It was so easy to dismiss it and think that he wouldn't dare try to come overseas just for me, but when I thought even harder about it, my brain just wanted to turn to mush.
I rubbed my hands over my sleepy eyes and tried to focus on the unappetizing food my family had made for me that day. It was a nice gesture but with everything happening I didn't want to eat anything.
"What's wrong?" Louis asked me and I didn't realize how long I'd been in my thoughts, the whole table staring at me.
"Nothing, just not feeling that well. I've had a bug that's been following me around all day..." I trailed off, smiling sweetly at Louis who looked almost impressed by what I said, not the reaction I was looking for.
The rest of the table either gasped or laughed out loud, lots of mixed reactions there but I didn't really mind them.
"Whatever. Hey did you guys hear about that gang that's been tearing up half of London?!" I heard one of the more upper class girls on the other table exclaim. "It just started with graffiti everywhere and a few shootings and stabbings and now they're actively shooting up banks after robbing them and I heard they're behind that bomb that went off at the train station, too!"
"Yeah, they're from America, they realized the real opportunities were over here and not in that cesspool of a country."
There was a loud kick from under the table by Lizzy and the boy who'd made the remark, Henry, cursed under his breath. I had been so caught up in the Louis drama that I hadn't noticed Henry had been sitting at the table all along, his brooding stare fixed on me the entire time.
"Don't even worry about it Lizzy. Just because I was raised there didn't mean I had the best experience there. Quite the opposite really..." I trailed off, my words becoming raspy by the knot in my throat that formed at the mention of the gang.
"When you become King, will you eradicate those pests, Louis?" I think the girl named Jessica asked him that one, her big brown eyes batting at him with her long black eyelashes.
Louis visibly tensed beside me and a cold glare became etched onto his perfectly tanned skin. I wanted to smooth the wrinkles of anger out with my fingers. Make him smile at me or smirk or anything other than the evil look he directed towards that girl. It reminded me of Robert's glare, and that was something I could have gone the rest of my life without ever seeing or thinking about ever again. I wondered why the mere mention of him being King had such an adverse reaction on him.
But, then again, I was sure he wondered why the name Robert had such a bad reaction from me or why I flinched when someone walked towards me. Seemed to me like we both had our secrets.
"If I was King right now you'd be eating lunch with the commoners."
And then he pulled his bag up from underneath him and stood up, holding his hand out to me in a gentlemanly manner.
"Malia, would you please escort me outside?"
I wanted to say no. I really did. But when I saw the slightly wounded look that flashed in his cerulean eyes for a second underneath that cold, rough exterior, I saw the human that was hurting inside of him. I knew that look, hell, I felt it every single day.
So I grabbed his hand, leaving behind my neglected lunch and gathered my things, avoiding a very pointed eyebrow in my direction from Lizzy that told me that I would be telling her absolutely everything when we saw each other again.
And for the twentieth time that day I asked myself, what did Louis want with me?!
***
"Aahhh, don't you just love fresh air and sunshine during lunch break?" He asked me and I looked over to him and cracked one side of my mouth up in a lopsided smile.
I really could have stared at him all day, lounging on top of the picnic table like he was staring out at his kingdom before him. His dark brown hair shone in the sun, bringing out the lighter highlights in his hair that I didn't know he had.
The way the light hit his blue eyes made me want to literally worship at his alter. There was a funny feeling in my chest that arose anytime I looked at him, it was like I physically couldn't look away or I would throw up. I didn't know if he could tell how enraptured I was by him in that moment, but to anyone else walking by it had to be as plain as day that I was attracted to the man in front of me.
Who wouldn't be?
I couldn't let myself develop feelings for him, though. That was where I drew the line. Having feelings for someone turned into spending more time with them, and with Louis, spending time with him meant paparazzi and nosy reporters, which in turn led to Robert finding me and then I would be right where I never wanted to be.
And then there was the fact that he was a self entitled, arrogant, spoiled prince who probably never had to work a day in his life and got everything handed to him on a silver platter his entire life, not to mention he was probably the biggest womanizer the U.K. had ever seen.
No, I wouldn't go there. I refused.
But when his head turned towards mine as he asked me a question, I could barely formulate a single response, my mouth opening and closing trying to think of something to say.
"Sure, I guess. Especially if you're used to it being rainy and cloudy all of the time," I finally said, hoping that my voice didn't sound as breathy as I thought it did.
"Mmm, that's actually a common misconception about England. It most definitely rains quite a bit but not as much as Americans make it out to be," he responded and that was the end of that conversation.
I was about to grow tired of the expanding silence between us until he sat straight up on the picnic table and slid down into the spot right beside me, throwing an arm lazily around my shoulders.
It was extremely ironic, especially considering the fact that just one day earlier I was daydreaming about that exact arm around my shoulders but in that moment, it felt like a death sentence.
People on the quad were staring, whispering. I thought I even saw one girl take out her cell phone and snap a picture. I figured that with a womanizer such as Louis, the students would be immune to seeing him with a different girl all the time, so I wondered why it was so different with what he was doing with me.
"What are you doing?" I asked him, carefully plucking his arm off of me, attempting to ignore how smooth his skin was, his arms uncovered by his short sleeved t shirt.
I tried to ignore the electric sparks zipping all across my body just at the thought of touching him once more, and I tried so hard to ignore the butterflies that were turning into giraffes in my stomach, hell, it was an entire zoo in my gut.
"I can't put my arm around my favorite girl?"
"Alright, what's your angle? Your 'favorite girl'? You met me yesterday and hated me at first sight. Are you sure you're not just trying to get in my pants or something?"
Loud guffaws escaped his perfectly sculpted mouth and my stare was dumbfounded at him.
"What's so funny?" I asked him, arms crossed in front of my chest and my lips pursed in what I was sure probably looked like a pout that a three year old might have been sporting at that exact same time, crying over having their favorite toy stolen from them.
"Honestly, if I wanted to 'get in your pants' as you so eloquently put it, I most likely would have by now."
I raised one eyebrow at him in curiosity.
"Is that so?" the mockingly posed question fell from my mouth.
"Precisely. And do you want to know what else?" he quizzed me, leaning forward so that I could see the golden flecks in his eyes.
His voice was decadent, like the smooth dark chocolate I'd had the night before, the sweet and bitter taste reminiscent of the conversation we were having in that very moment.
My nerve endings were alight with something I couldn't quite describe, but the way his words tumbled over me in velvety mystique, I couldn't help myself. I fell right into his trap.
"What?" I asked him, almost dazedly.
"You would have done so willingly."
I blinked, flutters slowing, brain function finally returning.
I cleared my throat.
"Well, do you want to know something, Mr. 'I can have whoever I want, when I want'"?
His eyes crinkled around the edges, mirth dripping from his expression.
"And what might that be, Princess?"
He reached over and grabbed my hand in his, bringing the back of it to his lips. I tried not to shiver, I really tried, but damn if that didn't feel absolutely amazing. He seemed to know his effect on me, too, the smirk painted on his mouth was dripping with a sexual innuendo just begging to come out.
"You can't have me."
His eyes scrunched up in confusion, probably wondering why all his panty dropping words and charms hadn't worked on me, but I simply stood up and grabbed my things, walking away from the playboy that would eventually ruin me in the end.
***
Author's Note:
Hello my lovely readers! I really hope you guys enjoyed this latest chapter!
Let me know what you guys think!
How do you think Malia will handle Louis' constant flirting?
Do you think she will eventually come around and trust him to protect her, or are her guards up too high for her to even try?
What do you think will happen next?
What do you WANT to happen next?
Let me know what you all think in your comments, they mean so much to me!
-Kristen :)