It's You [H.S.]

9.6 | All yours

>

A while later, rounding the corner from the stairs, Eloise pads into the kitchen in her bare feet.

It's Mitch's jaw dropping that alerts the others and they all quickly spin around to look, mouths falling agape.

With her head cast down, juggling her heels and rifling through a little black boxy clutch bag, she's in a golden Gucci one shoulder bodice of draped and ruffled silk, with black high-waisted knickers under a black semi sheer fine tulle skirt.

"Lolly, seriously, have you forgotten the rest of your skirt upstairs?", Crispin, her dad, asks from his perch against the fridge, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Ha! We can all totally see your granny pants, Lol!", Lucas sniggers.

"Oh, shut it... You look ace, like a proper star", Ollie grins.

"Wow, wow, wow! Is this the one Lambert had biked over yesterday?", Harry asks, taking her hand to twirl her around. She nods. "So beautiful... My gold dust woman!", he says wistfully, pulling her close to drop a kiss to her temple.

From the marble island, littered with bottles and cans, Lou waggles the open bottle of champagne at her.

"Go on then, just to take the edge off", she grins, perching on a bar stool and crossing her long legs to strap on her black patent YSL Tribute platform sandals.

To avoid towering over everyone, and knowing she'll be on her feet until the early hours, she'd gone for the version with slightly less of a skyscraper heel. They're actually genuinely pretty comfortable; if a little slippy. Testing them out on the tiled kitchen floor, she thinks twice and bends to take them off again.

"Let me...", her mum, Elin, offers with an outstretched hand, proceeding to score the soles with a kitchen knife.

"I haven't seen you two mess up a new pair of shoes like that for a while", Crispin grins, alluding to ballet days of old. "Although, I dare say they're a bit more pricey", he adds with a wince.

As they all prepare to leave, Eloise realises she'll need a coat for later to ward off the damp cold of an autumnal London evening. Harry jogs upstairs and returns with a black cashmere Crombie of his, draping it neatly over her shoulders.

The pair of them get into a sleek black Mercedes saloon. Gemma, Lou, Jeff, Mitch and Sarah pile into the matching Mercedes van. And Ollie follows, driving Lucas and their parents in his Range Rover.

With Harry sat alongside her - quietly humming She's a Rainbow, rubbing his thumb over the back of their joined hands in his lap - she doesn't feel that usual flood of nerves.

They part with a quick kiss before she swaps cars outside the Langham Hotel. "You've got this, baby! I'll see you there", he grins.

>

Having then FaceTimed him briefly, just for old time's sake and to say thank you, Eloise steps out of the car, on to the red carpet at Leicester Square, to rapturous applause.

The press mostly rehash similar interview questions to those in LA, with just a few variations on that general theme.

"Are you guys performing tonight?", one interviewer asks.

"No, sorry! We've all been spread out for a few months now and only met back up a couple of days ago. We'd be so out of practice and wouldn't want to disappoint Stevie anyway!".

One asks if she has any plans to release her own music, especially given she has so many friends in the industry.

"I'm not sure how much of a voice I have left after Daisy, to be honest", she laughs. "But, no, definitely not! And I'm not nearly talented enough or brave enough for that anyway. The thought of writing about my feelings and belting them out every night is terrifying to me".