he found the colors to paint her where the world had left her grey
"Closing your eyes and letting go won't kill you," he whispered to her, the soft pad of his thumb gently caressing her cheek.
"I'm afraid of it, Harry," she muttered, swallowing the...
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Ellie never expected to find Dr. Styles on her walk home. She didn't really want to find anyone. She wanted to make it home as quickly as she could before she froze to death. She didn't want to be driven home by her pretentious ass professor who would almost definitely hold it against her, but she didn't really have another option.
He shocked her when he offered up his jacket. Styles didn't exactly seem like the generous type. Not that he seemed like Ebeneezer Scrooge, he just didn't really seem to be the kind of guy to take a girl he didn't really know home. Regardless, he gave her his jacket. She was thankful for the warmth it gave her, but still a little pissed off. If she'd just bought the new car she was thinking of purchasing, this wouldn't even be happening. And yet, here she was, in his car, listening to his music, thinking about how much money this repair would be.
He smelled really nice. Maybe it was just the jacket. It smelled like pine and men's cologne. She didn't know anyone who wore cologne except for her boss, but that was because she knew he could afford it. Her dad didn't even wear cologne. A few times throughout the car ride, she'd bring her hands up to blow hot air onto them. She pretended like it was to keep herself warm, but it was more to smell the sleeves of the jacket than anything. The left sleeve smelled faintly of cigarettes. The right sleeve didn't.
"You can drop me here," Ellie said abruptly, glancing out at the sidewalk. She knew that it was another five blocks to the sorority house, but she didn't need to embarrass herself any more than she already had. He didn't need to know that she fulfilled the stereotype of blonde college students. She wanted to keep it to herself.
"Eloise, please, we're not anywhere near any student housing," he said with a slight chuckle, looking around as he kept driving.
"Dr. Styles, I can walk from here. I'll be fine," she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"If anything happens to you it's my responsibility, Eloise. Now tell me where you live, please."
His words shocked the both of them. Why was he being so kind to her? She thought that maybe he just didn't want to take responsibility for some girl getting hurt when he was supposed to take her home. He thought that he really didn't want Eloise Watson to get hurt. It was his responsibility, after all. If the university found out that he'd dropped her off and something had happened to her, he'd be ruined. He'd never work again.
"Fine," she mumbled, biting down on her bottom lip and glancing out the window. "Keep going, then. Take a left on Johnson."
He nodded and continued driving. He was really trying his hardest not to look over to her. He wouldn't want to get distracted while driving, of course, but he also wouldn't want his student to think he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He just wanted to study her, for some reason. Eloise Watson seemed to be a complicated girl who believed she was simple. Eloise Watson seemed to be a girl who was closed off to just about everyone. He let himself wonder if she opened up to anyone at all.
It wasn't like she didn't know that she shouldn't have been staring at him. It was the only thought running through her head, actually. You shouldn't be doing this. You shouldn't be here. The tag on the back of the jacket was scratching at her neck. She wanted so desperately to get out of the small confines of the car, to take a deep breath. A breath that didn't smell like cologne and pine and cigarettes. Does he smoke? What does he look like with his lips wrapped around a cigarette?
"Right there," she said quietly as they finally approached the gate of the house.
The first thing that ran through Harry's head when he saw the enormous house was that her parents must be senators. The second thing that went through his head was that her parents must be senators because this house was a sorority.
A sorority. Eloise Watson was in a sorority. Eloise Watson, the girl who has never once smiled or laughed or said anything near polite in his presence, is in a sorority. The large letters on the sign of the Pi Beta Phi chapter were shining brightly, welcoming Harry to the large abode. He was shocked.
"This is where you live?" he asked, almost choking out the words. He didn't know why he had to ask, but he did. He just couldn't believe that Eloise Watson lived in a sorority. A screaming, cheering, matching-outfits-wearing sorority.
"Yeah, I know," Ellie mumbled and unbuckled her seatbelt. "I know that it's ridiculous, okay? I'm not unaware of it. And it just perpetuates the stereotype for young, blonde, white women."
"I just," he started, but shook his head. "I never would've guessed. You don't seem like that kind of girl."
"You shouldn't make any assumptions about me or the kind of girl I am, Dr. Styles," she muttered curtly, exiting the vehicle quickly.
He didn't bother to call out to her. He didn't bother trying catch her before she got to the house. He didn't bother stopping her to ask for his jacket back. There was no point, really, because she wouldn't have turned around anyway. She wasn't like that. She wasn't that kind of girl.
a/n: hi I know kind of a short chapter but I really like whats coming up lol byeeeee
