Mate

"What could be worse than this!" 

David whispered, low enough not to let Henry hear anything; but he had forgotten that even though he was whispering, Henry was standing close enough to hear whatever was uttered by him. And even though it was not very clear, he was sure that Henry had heard him, who promptly asked;

"What did you just say? Can you repeat it please, I couldn't hear it properly."

David silently thanked his stars before he opened his mouth and spoke, "Nothing, now spill, what's going on?" 

"Louis is searching for Nora, so is Romera -"

"Dammit! Nevermind, let's go. I will handle them-"

As Henry started explaining the situation from his end, he got interrupted by David, who was determined to distract himself from the reality he currently was in. To escape from this situation, he was ready to deal with the other reality, whose complete state was still hidden from him. 

After he had started speaking over Henry's words, he tried to interject and tell David what he had originally come there to talk about, but his newly- insane best friend had already changed the trajectory of the conversation by reminding both of them that they shouldn't be bothered about her, because she was with Robin.

"But -" 

"Nora is in safe hands, Henry! We don't have to panic about her, and don't forget that she is not a friend, she never was and she never will -"

"David! Can you listen to me? Because I was not saying anything about Nora, or her safety. Sometimes, you get in the zone where you rarely, if ever, let me complete my statement. I was saying that Ryan is also in search of Nora, and he is portraying himself as a well- wisher! Like he had gotten the practice canceled today, by saying that everyone will enjoy a buffet on his behalf, in celebration of the heir of Moon pack joining the school! That too, when Louis had already distributed free meat and stuff."

"Now what in the world is going on in his mind -"

"I don't know yet, but it is probably a rumour that is being propagated, that he likes the Alpha of Moon pack-"

"What do you mean by he likes the Alpha of the Moon pack… does he like Nora !? Bullsh*t! The identity of our mates hasn't even been revealed to us yet, then how can he -"

"That is what he is saying, that he had a gut feeling that Nora is his mate."

"Seriously?! It's crap! Total crap! How can he say this publicly, when Nora is underage still -"

"He hasn't said anything publicly as of yet, but his followers are. So that if any finger is pointed towards him, he can easily slip out of the mess by saying he hasn't uttered a single word so far, and he can't really shut everyone's mouths, either."

"Anyway! You said there is some bad news , I don't find any of these headlines you have delivered, bad. Yes they are indeed frustrating because of the drama, but nothing can be classified as 'bad' -"

Without waiting for David to complete his round of critique about the news that he had brought, Henry began to speak without any further formalities.

"Actually, the bad news is that Nora is not going to live in the Royal wing, or in the dorms, either. Louis' and Nora's fathers have made the senate believe that the Princess is too delicate to stay in the hostel, so she should stay at her home -"

"I knew it, I knew it already!! The Princess, and the story of her delicate hands! Or anything related to her cushy upbringing, I really don't care! All I care about is the throne that is mine, and the one I am gonna sit on. I am telling you, I won't let the Moon pack play their dirty politics once again, we have already tolerated many of their tactics, by not seeing the second heir yet! I won't let my competitor slip away from my eyes so easily. And for that, I am ready to do anything that is required!"

David spoke, turning to Henry, flashing a smirk to him, while tying up his previous rant in a neat little bow and adding ;

"Let's go back!" 

______________

"I …I… haven't informed them yet, I myself had arrived here after Henry called me to tell me. Otherwise, I was waiting in the boutique for her to come and select the dresses for the respective functions… today, she was going to select her wedding gown with David.

She had already given me the instructions about what she wants and what she doesn't in advance, so I was just making sure that everything was according to her wish. Because if I hadn't prepared everything before her arrival, and that too,  exactly in line with her instructions, we all know how the drama queen would have pulled a whole new level of the 'nobody- loves- me' act in front of me, which I really can't afford. And that's when I heard the news about - about…"

Louis choked once again and little droplets of salty ocular fluids started rolling down his cheeks; up till now, he had been lying to himself that nothing had happened, because nothing could happen to his best friend. But now, when he was standing in front of Robin, who was asking about the details of how and when everything had happened - from the start to now, and he didn't even know how it was going to finish, he just could not lie anymore. Not to him, not to anyone else, and most importantly, not to himself!

Now, he could not keep himself away from the bad news, which was not only something he had heard on the call, but it was something he was experiencing in real time while looking at her from the glass window.

And as the thoughts started up their traffic in his head, his heart started aching as the memories started to drag him into the pastel coloured lanes of the past of their teenage years.

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