It's You [H.S.]

6.2 | Back to you

"Oh, it looks so gorgeous!", Eloise gasps, grinning at Ben and Mer. "I'm really sorry I wasn't here for the hard graft, but what can I help with today?".

She doesn't even get to sit down next to Harry to dig into her breakfast, before Mer has a hand in the crook of her arm, leading her away. With her sister, Maddie, in her other, she drags them towards the living room.

"Let's start right now! No time like the present...", she sasses over their yelps and groans. "Bye boys!".

>

Mer eyes Eloise with a frown as the seamstress finishes pinning where she needs to adjust her gown.

It's a gorgeous strapless, dove grey maxi, embellished with intricate pewter beading. But a little baggier than it was before.

"Bet Harry's pissy about this...", Mer says cautiously, tugging at her slightly loose nude strapless bra.

Eloise looks down with a grimace, pulling the front of her unzipped dress back up. "Yeah, not massively thrilled".

"How much have you lost?", Mer says lowly, worriedly.

"Don't fret", she tries to reassure her.

"You know we all do, Lol. We always will... Just be careful, okay?".

"Always", she promises earnestly.

"I need to collect a little something from the lingerie boutique after our manicures. You can try a smaller bra then".

>

As the boys file noisily towards the hallway, past the open door to the living room, Ollie jokingly hollers for Ben to look away.

Lucas takes matters into his own hands. With a battle cry, he tears across the room at a crouch.

Eloise lets out a startled yelp as his broad beefy shoulder slams into her slim waist and careens them into the sofa. He knocks the wind right out of her.

There's a scrape of the sofa leg skidding on the wooden floor under their weight.

Then, after the unmistakable sound of an agonising tell-tale tear, a collective beat of stunned silence.

But, after Eloise's shocked gasp, there's uproar.

As she thumps his back and tries to shove him off her, Ben and Ollie exasperatedly growl Lucas' name.

Harry dashes closer, worried she must be injured after that impact.

But it's a low and simmering "Lulu..." from Mer that cuts through most effectively and has him stepping cautiously back, looking sheepish, hands held up in apology.

Eloise scrambles to her feet, staring down in dismay as she hastily pulls the torn halves of the new thigh-high split in her dress together with one hand whilst tugging the top up over her chest in an attempt to preserve her modesty in front of her brothers.

"You idiot!", she seethes at him. "I'm not fucking marrying him!", sweeping her arm to gesture to Mer's dress, still safely hidden hanging in its bag in the corner.

After his sullen, mumbled "Sorry", there's another awkward silence until Mer starts laughing. Borderline hysterically, but still.

Harry steps up to Eloise. "Shit, are you okay, baby? That was quite a fucking tackle", he cuts his narrowed eyes to the back of Lucas' head. He reminds him of James sometimes; his dogged pursuit of laughs and playing the clown can, on occasion, go a step way too far.

Ben smacks Lucas over the head as Ollie ushers him swiftly out the door and down the hallway.

"Oh God! Shit, sorry about him... What are we going to do?", Eloise asks desperately, eyes darting cautiously between Mer and the still silent, gaping seamstress.