Harry: Meeting people had never been your strongest point. You got very nervous as soon as someone you didn’t know even said a simple ‘hi’ to you. You were always worried someone wouldn’t like you, as you were very insecure about your personality. You thought of yourself as annoying, whiny and uninteresting. You didn’t think you were smart either, which is why you preferred not to talk to anyone when it wasn’t necessary, afraid you wouldn’t understand something. Harry had been your boyfriend for about six months now and he didn’t know about this. He never had had to meet you when you had developed this insecurity, and neither he had seen this when you had to meet his family. This was simply because you had known Harry and his family since you were still young. Anne and your mother were high school best friends and had stayed friends, even when they had children and got jobs. And now he said it was time for you to meet his friends. Harry’s friend Niall was throwing a party tonight, and Harry thought it was the perfect occasion to “show you off”. When he had first asked you if you wanted to come, about two weeks ago, you had said yes, not wanting to let Harry down. But today was the day and you had already told Harry a thousand things to get out of it. It had started with a “my feet hurt, I cannot come tonight”, up to a “Harry, I honestly think I just got the flue so you go, while I stay at home”. Unfortunately, he saw through you better than anyone. So he sat on the bed where you laid in, to make your “flue” look real, and sighed. ‘I know you’re not ill,’ he said. ‘Tell me what’s wrong.’
You were unable to lie to him when he was looking at you in the way he was now. Disappointed. Sad. Confused.
'I can't go to the party.' You answered, unable to face him.
'Okay. You have to tell me what's going on.'
'I.. I'm not good at meeting people. I'm insecure about my personality. I'm afraid I'll come off as dumb or annoying or I don't know what.' You fiddled with your hands.
'That's ridiculous. You have an amazing personality. What makes you think anyone would think you're any of those things?'
You shrugged. ‘I’m just someone who wants to be liked…’
'My friends are going to love you. I promise I'll be with you the whole night. And I know you don't just get rid of some insecurity like this, but you can try? If you don't like it we'll go back home.'
'You promise?'
'I promise.' He smiled and took your hands in his. 'I love you.'
'I love you, too.'
Liam: 'Today's the big day, eh?' Liam said as he came into the kitchen and kissed your head.
'Mhm..' You replied, going over your notes once again. Job interviews were something you didn't enjoy so much.
'Did you make me breakfast too?' He asked after he had watched you for a bit, frowning as he had never seen you like this. You were happy around him most of the time, never stressed, always positive. But you weren't when it came to job interviews. After a long time of studying, 4 years to be exact, you had found a company you really wanted to work for. And they were still looking for someone who had your specifications. The only problem was that the company was so big that more people would want to apply for the position.
'Yeah..' You slid over your plate, not hungry at all. He sat down at the other side of the table, kept rereading everything you had ever learned. Went over business interview do's and don't's. And then Liam pulled them away from you.
'Why are you so nervous? You're gonna do great!'
'I really want the job,' you said, pouting a bit. 'But there are probably gonna be people who are so much better than I am…'
'Why would you think that! You're amazing!'
'Those people might think differently about that! Maybe they want someone who is more serious or older or I don't know!'
'You shouldn't think that way. You're gonna rock them. You're amazing. Don't think things like that, insecurities get you nowhere. Besides, you know your stuff and you most definitely are serious in any work you do.'
'You think? Thank you, Liam. I'm sorry, I'm just really nervous… I really want the job.'
'I know sweetie,' he smiled and stroked your knuckles with his thumb. 'But you'll be fine…' You nodded and stood up.
'Does this outfit make me look fat?' You asked and he laughed.
'Solved insecurity number one, here comes insecurity number two!'
Louis: You weren’t like most people. You most definitely weren’t. Most people loved tanning and swimming and walking around in shorts and bikini’s and going to the beach and play volleyball, they loved summer. But you didn’t. You were a winter type of girl because you could wear hoodies and skinny jeans, to cover up your body. Louis and you had met in autumn, had gotten together in winter, this was the first summer you two would be spending together. And you were insecure. He had a lot of plans, and they all involved you showing more skin than you wanted to. He had somehow figured out that something was up, probably because you had refused to come to the pool with him and kept wearing skinny jeans. Long skinny jeans. So as you two sat on the terrace of his garden, sipping from a cold drink while the sun was almost about to set, he thought it was time to finally say something about it. ‘Talk to me,’ he said, out of nowhere.
'I've been talking to you all the time?' You answered, not understanding what he was going on about.
'I'm sorry if this is rude but… You have to tell me why you won't wear anything less than skinny jeans.. The upper part is okay, I mean you wear shirts and tops, so I don't assume that you're hurting yourself… But if something is up…' he sighed. 'I'm your boyfriend… I want to help you with whatever you're struggling with.'
You were quiet. Couldn’t look at him.
'I d-don't hurt myself…' You finally blurted out.
'I didn't say you were.'
'You're used to Eleanor Calder,' you explained after a long, painful silence. 'I mean, look at her. She has beautiful legs.. An amazing body.. I'm more like a pig. Or elephant. My thighs are the size of like, Russia.'
He looked at you amazingly shocked. ‘Why would you say that?! That’s stupid! That’s ridiculous!’
'It's true though.'
'No! Baby, you're so beautiful…'
'You will think different about that as soon as you see my thighs. Or my calves. Or my stomach,' you were pretty sure he could hear the sadness in your voice.
'I don't ever, ever, never ever ever, want you to think that. How can you do that to me? How can you think I wouldn't love you simply because you're slightly bigger, while that is probably not even true?'
You shrugged. ‘Because you can get someone better and because you deserve someone better?’
'Nonsense! That's utter crap! You're the best I ever had, I'm fucking in love with you and you're perfect… I wish you could see yourself the way I see you…' His voice was weak. He was feeling terrible and you knew it. You took his hand.
'I'm sorry… I didn't mean to upset you…'
'I'm gonna make damn sure that you know how beautiful you are, even if that means I'll have to tell you for the rest of your life,' he squeezed your hand softly. 'You're beautiful, no matter what anyone says.'
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