Camera Shy (Louis Tomlinson) Book 5

Chapter 30

Louis' POV

"Are you sure about this?" she calls out from the bathroom where she'd locked herself in an hour ago. "Cuz, you know, I'd be fine just staying home and watching movies or something," she adds and I can hear the hope in her voice.

"You'll be fine. I promise. It'll be fun" I call back in, glancing at my watch. We were supposed to have left 15 minutes ago to meet Harry and Cara before going to the Mulberry Party for Fashion's Night Out. When I'd told Harry about how I wanted Lauren to get used to being seen, still having felt bad about all that I've thrown her into, he talked with Cara and got us invited to the party. It seemed like a good transition spot to me. It would be a huge party with lots of photographers, but we wouldn't be the center of attention. The models and designers would. The door unlocks and she emerges with a frown, tugging down the end of the dress.

"How did you even know what size I was?" she asks, but I barely hear her as I take in what she's wearing. My eyes slowly skim down the gold. She looked fantastic.

"Louis" she says, snapping her fingers in front of my eyes to try and get my attention.

"What?" I ask, trying to focus on what she was saying instead of what she looked like.

"How did you know my size? This is practically fitted, definitely not department store"

"Oh um..." I say, trying to fight through the fog. "Emily" I say, shaking my head and closing my eyes in order to regain that focus. "Emily ordered it for me" She smirks, shaking her head slightly.

"Figures." She takes a deep breath letting her eyes close for a second before opening them and concentrating on me. She reaches up, straightening my tie and lapel before patting lightly on my chest. "C'mon, lets go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave."

"Aww come on. They'll have chocolate and champagne" I say with a grin, watching her perk up at the mention of chocolate. "Plus, they give out free stuff" I add. She laughs, nodding her head.

"I do like free stuff" she agrees. We get to Harry's where we meet up with him and Cara. Lauren is unusually quiet when meeting Cara, which surprises me. The two of them had similar personalities and I'd assumed they'd get along great. Harry shoots me a quizzical expression and I just shrug, not knowing what to tell him, before he grabs Cara's hand and heading out to the limo. Had to get there in style after all. I offer Lauren a hand, but her hands fold over her chest and her head looks down as she walks out to the car. I put hand on her back as she gets into the car, huddling into the corner and looking out the window. I would have thought it was because of where we were going, but she had seemed fine on the way to Harry's so now I was just plain confused. When we get there, Harry and Cara stop to take pictures, while Lauren, keeping her head down, and I head straight in. I glance to the side as the bouncer lets us in, seeing the large line full of regular people hoping to get in. This was definitely the party of the night it seemed. The place was packed and as I look around, I realize I recognize almost everyone I see. I grab two flutes of champagne from a server, handing one to Lauren, before placing a hand on her lower back and urging her forward, away from the window outside.

"You alright?" I ask leaning down so I could whisper it into her ear. She gives me a nod, but seems distracted. Something's off, but I can't tell what. An hour later, she's still acting really quiet. I'd expected her to be quiet as we entered. She'd said she didn't want to hide, but I figured she'd still have problems with being so public. But I'd expected her to return to her old self once inside. Poking fun at me for being at a fashion event or for licking the chocolate off my fingers. Harry and Cara had stayed with us for a while, but eventually disappeared to mingle with other people.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the absolute most, how much do you want to get out of here?" I ask. She looks up at me, surprise in her eyes. "How much?" I ask.