Chapter Text
“Times are changing. We need to start recognizing, as a country, that being gay does not define who one is; it is not wrong. That is why, I am proud to announce the engagement of my son, Prince Louis William Tomlinson, to Prince Harry Edward Styles. I hope that these two will serve as a role model to our whole country, our world. I hope that this country will welcome them with open arms and wish them the best throughout their engagement and the rest of their happily married lives. Thank you.”
The Queen steps down from the podium and exits the stage. An uproar slowly takes form; questions are being asked after her, camera flashes going off, video cameras zooming in on the exiting queen. However, the Queen was leaving no room for a backlash, this needed to happen.
“Marriage, Mother?” Louis shouts exasperatedly. “When I agreed to help you with this campaign, I didn’t realize I signed up to be married! Now Mother, I have backed you up on a lot of things without questioning you, but this is taking things a little too far. Did you ever think I would want to marry someone of my own choosing? Love and all of that? How dare you put me in an arranged marriage.” Louis begins angrily pacing the room, occasionally throwing pointed glances at his mother.
“Louis, you are being over dramat-,” the Queen begins.
“Over dramatic?” Louis asks. “Over dramatic?” his voice raises ever so slightly. “I’m sorry mother. I never realised I wouldn’t be able to choose who I marry until now. Sure, this is no big deal to you, but to me it kind of is. Imagine, having to learn you are getting married by watching the television! No, no, you’re right, I’m being way too overdramatic. I’ll just see you at my wedding then. Speaking of, when is that? Funny, I don’t even know when my own wedding is taking place. So tell me, please Mother, when will the happiest day of my life be?”
“Will you please just listen to me?” When Louis doesn’t say anything in return the queen continues. “Now, when you promised to help with this campaign, I figured you were on board fully. Now, I can see that I am wrong. You can back out right now if you’d like, but please before you do, think of how many people’s lives you will change. Now, we will take this slowly. I have set up a small get together tomorrow with him and his mother. I would like you to attend. Just meet him, you never know, Lou, he may even be the one.”
“The one? I haven’t even met him,” Louis fires back.
“You will tomorrow. Just do this Louis, just meet him, and then decide if you would not like to go through with this. I had an arranged marriage myself and you can see how well it worked out for me, you never know, this may be just what you need. Help you out of this funk you seem to have gotten yourself into lately. Anyway, from then on it’s rather painless, honestly. You’ll go out on public dates – just a few to start off with – and then you will start doing bigger things: look for houses together, search for wedding rings, do charity events together. This will continue for seven months, at that point, you will get married. The fourteenth of June is the date. But Louis, if, at any point, you don’t want to go through with this, you can back out. It is okay. I understand if you don’t want to marry someone random. Just try this out for me, please?”
Okay, yes, Louis is a mama’s boy, has been since he was a kid, but that doesn’t mean he will do whatever his mom tells him. “Yeah, alright, that sounds reasonable mom.” And okay, maybe it does mean just that, don’t judge him. “But what about him mother? He should have a say too.”
“As he will, Lou. His mother has probably already given him this speech. This can just help benefit you though. You will have someone by your side, at all times, knowing what you are going through,” the Queen says. The Queen walks over and pulls him into a hug. “Thank you for doing this Lou, it means a lot to me.”
Louis just wraps his arms around his mother and hugs her tightly. He quickly says goodnight after that and heads up the stairs to get ready for bed. After all, he could be meeting his potential husband, he needs to get a good night’s beauty sleep in. That thought alone, made him more nervous than he has ever be in his life. Needless to say, his sleep is very fitful, so maybe he should work on that whole beauty sleep thing in the future.
The next day, Louis wakes up with a stomach full of butterflies and bags under his eyes. He looks to his left to see clothes laid out for him on a chair. He hates suits. He rubs his eyes and pushes the blankets down to his feet. Slowly, he swings his legs off the side of the bed and stands up. He begins walking over to the chair before deciding to take a shower first instead. He walks over to his ensuite bathroom and strips his clothing. He turns the water to a warm temperature and steps in hoping the warm water will help to calm him.
A half hour later, he steps out of the shower, a little bit calmer than before. That is, until he sees the suit laid out for him and then he’s back to his bundle of nerves. He takes a couple of deep breaths and changes into the suit. He walks in front of his mirror to make sure he is looking his best. He fixes his black pants that folded up a little on his left leg, and tucks in his light blue shirt after buttoning it up. Finally, he throws his jacket on and tucks in a handkerchief that matches his shirt. He snorts lightly at the tie that is laid on the chair. His mother still tries so hard for him to wear one, but they all know he won’t.
He walks out of his room and downstairs. Having slept in a little bit longer than he probably should have, he makes it just in time for lunch. The chefs having just placed the food on the table. He sits down in his chair at the table and begins picking at his food while reading the newspaper that was sitting on the table.
“Good morning Louis,” his mother greets him. She sits down at the head of the table as a worker comes out with fresh tea. She lays a napkin on her lap before taking a sip. She smiles over at Louis, waiting for a response.
“Morning Mother,” Louis says. “Sleep well, I hope?” Louis questions.
“Wonderful, thank you for asking. Yourself?”
“Let’s just say, not as well as you. I was just a little bit nervous to say the least. Can’t wait to meet the lucky guy,” Louis says sarcastically. “When are they supposed to get here?”
“They are set to arrive at four o’ clock tonight. Therefore, we can have an hour for cocktails or so, before dinner is served. It should be a great night. Get to know each other and all of that,” the Queen smiles to herself.
“Just what a first date should be, meeting the parents during cocktail hour,” Louis laughs lightly. “How romantic!” Louis dramatizes. “Oh swoon.” Louis presses the back of his hand to his forehead and pretends to faint. He lands in ball on the floor next to his chair. His mother just rolls her eyes at his antics. Eventually, Louis gets back up and finishes his lunch. “I’m going to be in the music room if you need me. No worries, I’ll be out by four.”
Louis walks upstairs to the music room. He plays around for a couple hours until he is called down about ten minutes before Harry and his parents are set to arrive. At that point, he goes to the nearest rest room and fixes his look to perfection and heads downstairs. He waits for a couple more minutes with his mother before the buzzard rings, signaling that someone is trying to get in through the front gate. The Queen rings them through and before he knows it, there is a knock on the front door. A servant lets them through and into the room where Louis and his parents are waiting. Everyone stands up to greet each other. Sooner rather than later, Louis is looking into the eyes of his fiancé. As Harry walks over to Louis he ends up tripping on his long feet.
“Oops,” Harry says smoothly.
“Hi,” is Louis’ only reply, putting on a small smile.