Camera Shy (Louis Tomlinson) Book 5

Chapter 12

Lauren’s POV

“No!” I scream reaching for the computer as Hunter muscles me away. I had to delete the YouTube account. Then everything would go back to normal. I’d managed to delete the twitter before Hunter realized what I was doing and snatched it away.

“No I have to delete it! I want everything to go back to normal.” I was panicking now. My throat felt like it was closing and my hands were shaking. Fans were pulling up pictures from forever ago. They were researching me like they’d researched Hunter. Finding all my friends, finding my school, finding out everything about me.

“Lauren. Calm down.” he begs, pinning me to his chest as I struggle to get back to the computer “Please”

“Hunter” I choke, tears pricking my eyes. “Make them stop”

“I wish I could,” he says softly as I stop fighting him, breaking down in his arms, the tears finally overflowing. 

“What am I going to do?” I hiccup half an hour later when the tears had subsided.

“What else is there to do? We’re going home. I’ll get you a red-eye tonight. No one would expect that, the airport will be empty. I’ll follow in a few days. There’s some things I need to sort out here first.” I nod my head and he releases me to head upstairs to pack my bag while he books the ticket. When I come down with my bag and look for my computer, Hunter shakes his head.

“You’re leaving that here. I don’t trust you with internet right now. You’re not deleting the YouTube account.” I frown at his logic. I could always just use Mom’s at home. “I’m telling Dad to hide theirs also,” he says, reading my mind. We’re able to get out of the house virtually unnoticed thanks to the gated community and we drive the half hour to the airport.

“Thanks” I say as he wraps me in a hug outside the security.

“I’m really sorry about this. I didn’t realize this would happen.” He apologizes and I nod my head against his chest. “I’ll see you in a few days” he adds, releasing me. I nod my head, taking the ticket he hands me. “Love you nerd,” he says and I force a laugh.

“Love you too dork” I reply before going through security. On my way home.

Louis’ POV

Everyone knew. Nobody officially acknowledged it, but all the indirect tweets, the deleted account, and a blurry shot of Hunter taking a tear-stained girl to the airport at midnight said the whole story. My guilt only grew as the tabloid stories appeared. It distracted me the last few days of our tour. I kept seeing the panicked expression on her face in the airport picture. The paparazzi hadn’t been able to get a comment from her or her brother, but according to ‘close sources’ none of her college friends knew anything. I knew this could just be rumors, since a lot of close sources are just made up, but it seemed plausible.  If she’d gone through all that trouble to stay out of the limelight, who’s to say she wouldn’t keep her family a secret also?

“You alright Boobear?” Harry asks concerned as we head back to our dressing room after finishing the last concert of our tour. “You almost missed your start 3 times tonight.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m just distracted,” I tell him, running a hand through my hair.

“Is it about Lauren?” Harry asks and I nod my head.

“I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried tweeting, but her brother doesn’t respond and she still hasn’t put hers back up.”

“Maybe you should try an in person apology. Try to fix this somehow.” He shrugs. I nod my head, mulling over his words.

“Any idea where they live?” I ask.

“Give me 10 minutes” Harry says, pulling out his phone and quickly beginning to text someone. Sure enough, as I’m packing up my bags back at the hotel, Harry strolls into my room a satisfied grin on his face.

“Got it,” he crows, dangling his phone in front of my face.

“How’d you manage that?” I ask, knowing he wanted to brag about how he’d gotten whatever information he had.

“Niall called Bieber who called Taylor. Hunter opened for her when he started his career and they’ve kept in touch.”

“Couldn’t just call Taylor yourself?” I tease knowing how poorly that relationship had ended.

“Shut it” he says a trace of annoyance in his voice. “You want the information or not?”

“Yes” I say grabbing for the phone. He pulls it back tauntingly.

“Don’t you have something you want to say?” he teases.

“I’ll tell Niall thanks next time I see him” I retort, reaching for the phone again. He just laughs, holding it out of my reach.

“Fine. Thank you Harry, you sexy beast,” I say to him and he tosses me the phone with a grin. I scroll through it, finding the right text.

“He’s got a flat in LA. Apparently he’s headed home the day after tomorrow. That’s where Lauren is. You should see if you could go with.” Harry says as I read the text. I nod, reading the address of his flat in LA before forwarding the text to myself so I’d have the information.

“So I’m taking you’re not heading home with us then?” Harry asks with a grin. I look up at him with a laugh before shaking my head and resuming my packing. “What about El?” This causes me to pause. Crap, I’d forgotten all about her. I needed to call her. Harry notices my expression and gives a small nod before leaving, knowing what I was going to do. I pick up my phone and dial the familiar number, pressing the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” I hear her say after a few rings.

“Hey babe, you alright?” I ask.

“Yea, I’m fine. What’s up?”

“There’s been a change of plans. I’m not going to be coming home tomorrow” I tell her, pinning the phone between my shoulder and my ear so I could pack as I talked.

“What do you mean you’re not coming home?” she asks, her tone instantly turning hostile. “Louis it’s my birthday in four days. You promised you’d be home for it”

“I know I did.” I sigh. “But there’s something I gotta do”

“This is about that girl isn’t it?” she snaps. “You’ve been obsessed with her for months now Louis. You need to get over this. Things happen to people you boys are connected with, everyone knows that, and you need to accept it and move on.”

“I’ve got to do this El. I’m sorry.” I tell her firmly.

“Louis, I can’t take this anymore. If you’re not home for my birthday, that’s it. We’re done.” She says, leaving me in shock as I hear the dial tone.