shorts || h.s.

8 days after

Every day starts the same for Eleanor and Louis, but they do it for the safety of themselves, and more importantly, Connor. They wake up before Connor so that she can see them at the table like a regular married couple, never changing the cereal that they eat (Frosted Flakes for Eleanor, Cheerios for Louis). Then, there's usually a little panic attack from someone, and soon after that, they usually wind down and Connor takes a nap while Eleanor and Louis go out for lunch. They rush back, Starbucks clutched in their hands, making sure to be on the couch right in time for Connor to wake up. Connor then demands she feels dirty, usually from a nightmare, and Eleanor helps bathe her since she freezes when she undresses. Louis cooks dinner, Eleanor dresses Connor, and they eat together. Then, they usually watch a stupid movie together before bed.

That day, after a week of the incident, while watching Dumb and Dumber, Connor picked her head up from Eleanor's lap, causing El to slip her hand out of Louis'. (Eleanor and Louis cannot really show affection without causing tears to well up in Connor's eyes.) Connor rubbed her eyes and then slowly opened her mouth.

"Eleanor," she sung. Everything that came out of Connor's mouth these days was more like a robot than a human being, but when Connor whispered Eleanor's name, it was like music to their ears.

"Yes, darling?" Eleanor smiled, hoping the cheery tone would continue into the tone of the conversation.

"Can you get my parents on the phone, please?" She asked. At this point, Louis and Eleanor had both felt the chills race down their spine, for they both had already spoken to Connor's parents. They both knew there was a reason Connor was staying with them instead of her parents.

"Erm, are you sure?" Eleanor croaked.

"Yes, I miss my mother," she spoke, monotonously. The vibe Eleanor was so carelessly giving off scared Connor back into her shell.

"Well, okay," Eleanor nodded, climbing off the couch, slowly pulling her fingers out of Louis' grasp. Louis watched her glide over to the phone on the kitchen table and retrieve it. Eleanor shakily dialed the number, after getting it out of her contacts, stalling time.

"Is it ringing?" Connor asked, her eyes brightening.

"Yes," Eleanor answered, her eyes becoming glassy. She handed the phone to Connor with Louis' encouragement, and immediately scrambled into the warmth of her lover.

After three rings, the click of the line came and Connor's mouth twitched.

"Hello?" Her mother snapped. Connor jumped back and then regained her happiness.

"Mom!" Connor exclaimed. Eleanor whimpered.

"Connor?" Her mom asked, not believing her ears.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm on Eleanor's phone," she alerted her mom of the situation.

"Well, hi, baby," she cheered.

"Hi, Momma!" Connor chirped.

"What's up?" Her mom asked, taking a heavy breath.

"I was just wondering when you are coming to take me home." She asked, fiddling with her sleeve.

"Why do you wanna come home?" Her mom wondered aloud.

"Well, I'm not living with him anymore," Connor choked out, skipping over his name to avoid any breakdowns. It was weird, but the sound of her mother's voice calmed her and helped soothe her so she could explain the situation.

"Did you guys break up?" Her mom asked.

"Yes," she gasped.

"Aw, I was sure you guys were gonna last!" This made Connor start to shake. "What happened?" Her mom asked the impending question.

Now, due to the loudness of the volume on Eleanor's phone, she could clearly hear each word Connor's mother spoke. Since Eleanor had already spoken to Connor's mother about the current situation, it angered her that Connor's mother was continuing to ask the victim herself of the event.

Eleanor stood up, snatched the phone out of Connor's hand, and walked out onto the balcony. Immediately, the color drained back out of Connor's face and she slumped into the couch, not even recalling she was just on the phone. Louis kept a careful eye on Connor and a careful ear on Eleanor.

Eleanor shut the sliding door behind her and put the phone up to her ear. "Mrs. Hollick, why do you so rudely insist on bringing back those godawful memories for Connor?" She yelled. Connor's mother gasped, but Eleanor kept going. "You very well know what happened to Connor, so why do you want to continue to ask? You know it will hurt her! Your own daughter! I wish you could've seen how happy she was to speak to you today; maybe you could've reevaluated your decisions!" Eleanor screeched.

"Excuse me, but I would like my daughter back on the phone, Mrs. Tomlinson," she spoke firmly.

"No, I know what you are going to do, and I'm not letting that happen," Eleanor shook her head.

"Eleanor, I've considered my actions, and I just want to hear the story from my daughter. I realize I was wrong to blame it on her, but I'd like to start over with her. Please put her back on the line," her mother demanded.

Eleanor huffed back inside, not realizing the lie laced in the old woman's tone. She handed the phone back to a fragile Connor and notified her that her mother would like to speak to her.

"Now, Connor, you were telling me what happened with Harry?" Her mother rudely asked.

"This isn't the time, Momma," Connor whimpered, frightened by the abrupt continuation of the conversation.

"Did he rape you, Connor?" Connor's mother bit. Eleanor was shaking so badly, tears soaking her face (and Louis' shirt), that she couldn't even stop the woman this time. Beside, the question was already out, and Connor was already a blubbering mess.

"Connor!" Her mother shouted over the line, ignoring the helpless girl on the other line. Louis was absolutely frozen, and Eleanor couldn't hear over her sobbing.

"Yes, Momma!" She answered, her voice cracking.

"Well, why did you let him do that?" Her mother asked, a disappointed tone shining through.

That's when Louis finally came to his senses and picked up the phone that Connor had recently dropped and threw it at the wall, shattering it to pieces. That scared Connor and Eleanor even more into tears. Louis also punched the button on the television to shut up the annoying laughter. He sunk down into the chair and cried into his hands.

Louis cried for numerous reasons. He cried because Eleanor was crying. He cried because Connor was crying. He cried because he scared the girls. He cried because Connor's mother was a bitch. He cried because he didn't stop that impending phone call. He cried because Connor's mom blamed her own daughter. He cried because he knew his best friend was locked up in a holding cell just down the road because he had made such a careless, drunken mistake. A mistake that was changing everyone.

Speaking of the devil, he was also crying. He was crying because he had approximately 38 hours until his trial. But he wasn't crying just because he knew he was in deep shit.

Earlier that day, five hours ago to be exact, Harry had heard that Connor hadn't pressed charges against him. He knew it wasn't because Connor didn't want to, because he knew she did. No, it was because she was too unstable to come to do the paperwork to press charges against against him. And she was the only one who could do it, which absolutely killed him since he knew he deserved to be locked away forever, no matter how quickly he wanted to escape and get to her.

So, that very moment that Harry began his episode of tears, the police were making a phone call to Louis' phone. They were having to demand Connor appear at the trial so she could press charges, and Harry knew she couldn't do that. There was such an abundance of things that couldn't happen but needed to happen. Which is exactly why Harry was crying, because he had basically ruined everything he ever wanted, and ever had, for such a stupid thing. And he still loved her so much, but hated himself so much more.