“You know what he should do,” Niall says, stuffing a handful of Cheetos into his mouth. “He should knock on Louis’ door and when he opens it, Harry should look him dead in the eyes and start singing a love song or some shit.”
“I don’t think that’s going to work, Niall,” Kat chuckles.
Eloise, Niall, and Kat are walking back from the bakery, discussing ways to get their number one ship back together. So far they only have crappy ideas, and about ninety nine percent of them have come from Niall.
“What if we rented this bunny-“
“Can you even rent bunnies?” Eloise laughs.
“I mean, maybe."
We are not renting a bunny, Niall.” Kat rolls her eyes and bumps Eloise with her elbow. “Maybe we should kick Niall off of the team.”
His eyes go wide, his mouth parting slightly. “What? No! You need me. You can’t do that. I’m an essential part of the team!”
The two girls burst out into a fit of giggles, Kat throwing her arm over Eloise’s shoulder and Eloise leaning closer to her.
Eloise pretends to wipe tears from her eyes as they near the hotel. “We’re not actually going to kick you out.”
“Good.” He tosses a Cheeto into the air, throwing his head back to catch it in his open mouth. Instead, it hits him square in the eye, like it did last week. He’s found that everything he throws into the air never actually meets its target. He gets hit in the eye each time.
“You’re such a dork!” Kat giggles.
The three enter the lobby and head towards the elevator when Niall suddenly stops, making a strange hissing noise.
“What the heck?” The girls follow his gaze until they see what has lead their friend to act this way.
There, in the corner of the lobby, is Jo making out with someone. Someone who most certainly is not Harry. She’s sitting on his lap, tugging on his hair as he messes with the hem of her shirt.
“Shit,” Kat mutters.
“Guess she can cross ‘Public Sex’ off of her bucket list,” Eloise says, anger laced in her voice. “Though I’m sure she already has.”
Niall quickly snaps a picture, not realizing his flash is on. The couple pull apart, both breathing heavily. Jo blinks at them in surprise.
“Oh shit, shit, shit, shit,” he says under his breath. He raises his voice a little. “I just, uh, was wondering if you were filming an amateur porno is all, and I was taking a picture to show my friend later and ask his opinion and-“
“Niall, shut up.” Kat drags him by the collar of his shirt into the elevator.
“Next time, don’t hook up with someone while dating my best friend,” Eloise growls, making sure to introduce Jo to her favorite finger before the doors slide shut.
+++
They don’t know how to tell Harry. He’s blabbing on happily about some dog he saw while on a jog earlier, and they don’t know what to do. They can’t crush him like this, have him lose two people that he cared immensely for. But if they decide not to tell him, Jo will keep playing him, and they know that she’s going to show up soon.
“It was so cute and its fur was, like, dip dyed blue and yellow or something. And, like, the yellow part kinda looked like pee, but also like butter, so it could’ve been a popcorn dog. I wonder if his name was popcorn. I’d name my dog popcorn, if I had one-“
Eloise clears her throat, scooting closer to him. Kat and Niall exchange a knowing look, placing their microwavable meals down for a minute.
“Harry, we need to tell you something,” she whispers, placing a soothing hand on his leg.
“Uh, okay,” he replies warily.
“We saw Jo today,” Kat says. “In the lobby.”
His eyebrows furrow. “Why didn’t she come up then?”
Niall hands over his phone. It’s open to the picture he took that afternoon, and it’s obvious who it is of. “This is why.”
He spends a few minutes in silence, just staring at the photo. “Is that..?” he starts, looking up at them. They nod slowly, sadly.
“I’m so sorry,” Eloise says.
“No, you aren’t,” he says, surprisingly calm. “You never liked her.” Harry gently places the phone on the table, stands, and slips on his jacket.
“Where are you going?”
He pauses at the door, looking in her direction but not directly at her. “Out.”
And out he goes.
And he doesn’t come back that night.
A/N: Think the Ho ship as finally sunk?
Only three more days until Harry and Eloise go home. Predictions for Ho, Larry, or even Keloise?
Dedicated to @DjAngelwolf. Thanks for reading and for all the great comments!
-c8

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Soulmate Search // larry
Fanfiction"Sometimes you have to go to extreme measures for love and if I have to search the world for mine, don't think that I won't do it." Ever since Harry was small he's been dreaming about his future, or more specifically, his spouse. He has always wonde...