Chapter 19

Henri walked back to the year one dorm with Louis and Dio because the other three decided to walk Errol back, although he staunchly disagreed at first.

On their way out of the dining room, they had seen Seton. Errol's elusive roommate had been seated at a rowdy table of loudly talking second years and didn't even notice Errol walking past him.

He was glared at viciously by the three monsters and Errol had to urge them forward for them to keep moving. Convincing them to let him return alone to his dorm room after that was impossible so Henri was left with the two new friends he made, or should he say one, Dio hadn't spoken a single word the entire time.

He glanced at Dio as they entered the year one dorm foyer, there was a bandage on his jaw as well. It made Henri wonder if he got into fights a lot or if he was just really clumsy.

"My dorm is on the third floor so we might have to go our separate ways soon," Henri said sheepishly when they started up the stairs.

"What a lovely coincidence, I also stay on the third floor." Louis smiled goodnaturedly. "Actually, Dio and I share a room but I had to request a switch, my roommate was kind enough to switch with him."

Henri didn't care about the technicalities, he was just relieved that Louis stayed on the same floor as he did.

They turned out to have their dorms just a hallway apart. "Can I come to visit you tomorrow?" Louis asked gently when they got to his dorm room.

Henri was about to agree when he realized that Louis couldn't possibly know his room, he hadn't even known that he was the Prince. "I'll come to yours instead, I um…" He glanced down, mortified about what he was about to say. "I don't know my room's number."

And it was true, it was something that Henri didn't think important to learn because he had no interest in handing it out to anyone else. Anyone else but Louis but now he couldn't because he didn't even learn it in the first place.

"I hope I'm not intruding by coming over." He rambled, wondering why his lips kept producing words.

"You're not, Henri. I offered first, remember?" He calmly reassured him. "You're welcome to come over anytime, your Highness."

Henri had been about to continue the journey to his room when Louis' last words froze him in place, "You knew that I was the Prince? Was that why you sat at our table?"

This pulled laughter from the tawny-haired Alpha, it was a calming sound, much like everything else about him. "I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't know, I only found out on our trip back when we kept getting stares and whispered gossip. I'm a little surprised that you didn't notice them, Henri."

For some reason, the teasing way Louis said his name made Henri's face feel hot. Was he coming down with a fever? "I suppose I wasn't paying attention." He mumbled. "I'll leave for my dorm room now, have a good night, Louis."

"You too, your Highness." Louis waved him off.

"Stop that." He shot back without heat, walking off in the midst of Louis' laughter.

Henri placed his hands on his face as he briskly walked off, wondering what it was about Louis that made him openly enjoy his company, it was a bit unnerving.

-*-

Louis watched till Henri walked out of sight before turning around to enter his dorm room. He had heard about the Prince of Reinhold attending the academy but he hadn't been expecting to run into him at dinner, much more make an acquaintance of him. Meeting Prince Henri had been a rather peculiar experience.

He opened his dorm room to find Dio looming over him, his hair still over his eyes. "Di…"

Louis couldn't get out Dio's name because he was roughly pulled in and then pushed back against the door that Dio slammed shut. "What's gotten into you today?" He asked calmly, although Dio was right in his personal space and he was pinned up against the door.

"Lou." Dio finally spoke after a full minute of tense silence, his voice was raspy and harsh like he didn't use it often. "I can't find my other sock." He grumbled, pointing down at his feet, one was bare.

"Firstly, back off so I can help you find it." He patiently said.

Dio didn't move for another minute like he was contemplating, then he finally stepped back, nervously scratching his wrist.

Louis calmly stilled his hand as he walked past him. "Did you check the drawers?" He asked soothingly, checking the drawers as he spoke. "Found it!" He pulled it out and tossed it at Dio who caught it effortlessly.

"Your hair is a bit messy, let me brush it for you." Louis offered, taking out an engraved silver comb.

He took off his waistcoat and got comfortable on the edge of his bed, waiting patiently for Dio to come over.

Dio took his time walking across the room, now with both socks on but Louis was long used to it, he just calmly waited for his tall friend to trudge over. Dio curled up bonelessly on the ground so that Louis could get to his hair.

Dio didn't talk much even around Louis but he only spoke to Louis, no one else. It had always been that way so Louis had to stick around him because he was the only one that could handle him.

Louis was gentle with his wild hair, combing out the tangled locks. "You should have let my parents bring you." He mentioned without judgment, finger-combing Dio's hair.

"Don't want to cause trouble for, Lou." Dio rasped again and then went silent.

Louis sighed, knowing that there was nothing he could do about what had already happened. He was just relieved that he would get to keep an eye on Dio every hour of the day here at the academy. Talking about that…

"Why did you disappear earlier?" Louis asked, his calm voice shaking a bit.

"Don't want to cause trouble for…" Dio started to repeat.

"You're not! You… are not causing trouble for me, Dio." Louis forced himself to speak calmly. "I'm more troubled when you disappear without telling me where you're going." He explained.

Louis had gone to the bathroom for a few minutes then came out to find Dio just gone. It was confusing because Dio was always attached to him at the hip so where could he have gone?

Louis had done a lot of searching before finding Dio on the second floor being ganged up on by a bunch of seniors. He had managed to dissolve the issue but not without a lot of bruised egos because although the odds had been three to one, all three of them had bloody noses.

Apparently, all three had been walking around peacefully when Dio bumped into them and refused to apologize. It was a little harsh of them to react in that manner and Louis let the know that. He gave them the apology that they were so desperately after but he could see in their eyes that they were out for Dio and would find a way to come back for him again.

It was something Louis encountered often, Dio seemed to bring out people's dark sides without lifting a finger. It didn't help that he wasn't like other people and didn't speak.