“What?” I exclaimed. Eleanor’s question had caught me off guard and I’m pretty sure my expression conveyed that.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable or step out of line,” Eleanor said, a slightly worried look on her face. “I mean, I just noticed how well you two get on. Louis told me that you guys hang out quite a bit and that Harry treats you very well.”
I looked at her, processing her words. Is that what everybody else thought of Harry and me, that we were a thing? I mean, Harry did treat me well and we did hang out, but I didn’t think anybody else really noticed. I kind of just thought Harry and I were in our own world most of the time when we were together because to be honest, he held my attention and it was like it was just the two of us. When we were together, there were no screaming fans, no absent dads, just Harry and me.
“Uh, Lydia? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.”
I snapped out of my thoughts and focused on Eleanor.
“No, uh, no, that’s fine. You just caught me off guard a bit. Uh, Harry and I are just really good friends. He’s my best friend and has been so welcoming since my mom and I arrived.”
Eleanor nodded and looked relieved that I wasn’t upset at her.
“I mean, he is very attractive and a great guy. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a little crush on him. But please don’t tell him!” I said quickly, realizing what had just come out of my mouth. Eleanor just chuckled a little bit and smiled sweetly.
“It’ll be our little secret,” she replied and I smiled at her. Louis has a great girlfriend and was lucky to have a girl like her in his life.
“Plus, I’m pretty sure I’m too average for someone like him. He’s dated models, celebrities, all those women you see in magazines. I’m nothing like them. I don’t think I’d have much to offer him in that sense,” I said, shrugging a bit. Those words hurt a bit coming out of my mouth but I tried to repress that feeling because I knew they were true.
“Lydia, are you kidding?! Harry would be lucky to have you in his life in that way and you are so much more than average. You’ve got to give yourself some credit. I mean, I’ve only met you today but I can already tell you’re a sweetheart and Harry cares about you. I can tell.”
Her words warmed my heart the way Harry’s hand warms my skin. It was nice hearing somebody besides my mom say those types of things to me. I wasn’t used to it and I didn’t know how to react to them. So I just smiled at her and thanked her shyly.
“El, babe! Lydia! C’mon, you guys are slacking!” Louis shouted at us. We laughed a bit as Eleanor rolled her eyes at her boyfriend who was just standing there with Harry and Niall. Harry’s eyes caught mine and I couldn’t help but smile a bit at him. He looked down a second before meeting my eyes again, a small smile on his face. Eleanor and I just ended up walking around a bit so that Louis would get off our backs.
“Eleanor, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Go for it.”
“Is it hard to date somebody who’s in the limelight? I feel like it’d be really hard and that you’d have to be really strong to go through that.”
She nodded in understanding. “Sometimes it’s a little difficult and it’s tough when we’re away from each other for a long period of time. But I love him and he treats me incredibly well, so I feel like I really don’t have a whole lot to complain about,” she said. I couldn’t help but just smile up at her at those words. I longed to have that feeling about someone and for one day, somebody to hopefully feel that way about me.
