Abducted By Styles [IN RE-EDITING]

• E I G H T E E N •

I pull myself out of bed, trying to forget about the unpleasant dream. My eyes are heavy from the lack of sleep. On my desk, I find a steaming plate of poached eggs, grilled cherry tomatoes and polenta waiting to be dug into. Next to it, rests my usual cup of coffee.

There is a knock at my door and I expel exhaustedly. "Come in." Laura walks in, clutching a fancy pink dress and pearly bow.

"Her Royal Highness wants you dressed in this today. You have a special guest." Laura winks, and I wonder. "In fact, they're downstairs right now."

"Where's Harry?" I inquire. Harry is usually the one to greet me, so it's odd not seeing him first thing in the morning. I walk out to the doorway to see Harry not there.

"I don't know, maybe he's sick." Laura shrugs, smirking silently.

"What?" I raise my eyebrows, grabbing a clean towel from her basket. I shake my head frantically after remembering to ask an even more important question. "Who's the guest? And why do I have to wear this?"

"Surprise." Laura simply states, laying the frilly outfit down on my bed. God, I hate surprises, and I have a feeling this isn't a good one. I groan as I leave to the bathroom.

--------

After my shower, I unwilling throw on the stupid pink dress but chuck the bow under my bed. What am I, seven years old? Instead, I neatly pull my hair into a French braid. I quickly finish my breakfast and stumble down the stairs. When I reach the kitchen, I pop my head through the doorframe.

"Good morning, Niall." I greet him, my eyes taking in the gigantic platters of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, veal parmesan, angel food cake, berries and cream, and many other delicacies. Niall furious stirs something, which I assume is soup, and sprinkles a couple pinches of salt in.

"Didn't we just have breakfast?" I tease.

Niall chuckles."Well good morning to you, too." He says cheerfully, not looking up at me even once. When he finally glances up, his eyebrows crease in concern.

"Why do you look so tired?" I avoid his eye contact. "You have bags under your eyes." He points out, and I bring up my hand to feel the depth right above my cheekbones.

"Just a bad dream." I shrug lightly and the blurry scenes come back to haunt me. The dark room, the stabbing, the guy.

"Oh, well, do you want to talk about it?" Niall asks awkwardly and a small smile tugs at my lips. It was so typical of him to act as a therapist time to time. He cared about me, about my wellbeing. Not a day would pass by without him constantly asking if I was okay. 

"I'd rather not." I admit, deciding that a change of topic is the best way to go. "So what are the goodies for?"

Niall ladles the thick soup into a big bowl, singing joyfully, "Today's a big day at the castle! Well, to His and Her Royal Highness at least."

"What? How?" I question further, but Niall shoos me out of the kitchen pantry.

"Get out there before the Queen comes over to hunt you down." He pushes me as I'm deep in thought. Something in me wonders how long I was asleep for. It feels as though I missed out on something, something I deserve to know. What's so big about today?

At first, I plan to go to the dining hall, but make time to visit the piano room. I take a look at the shiny, black grand piano and make my way towards it. I run my fingers over the white keys, randomly testing it out. It sounds extraordinary.

"You look lovely today, Princess Caroline." A familiar posh voice says from behind me and I turn around, startled to see Liam standing there with a big smirk on his face. He is dressed in a crisp black suit and an off-white shirt underneath with not even a single wrinkle clinging onto it. My mother and father are standing alongside him with beaming faces.