shorts || h.s.

2 days before

Connor was on her way to a lunch. A lunch with someone who wasn't Harry, nor one of Connor's friends, nor one of Harry's friends. This lunch was arranged to be with Eleanor Calder.

She came to the entrance of the nice little cafe. She was about to open the door when a familiar flash of brown wavy hair caught her eye. She stopped and turned to enter the outside eating area where Eleanor was sitting.

Connor slipped her bag off from around her shoulder and leaned down to Eleanor's view.

"Eleanor, right?" Connor asked, just making sure, even though she was pretty sure she knew what Eleanor Calder looked like.

Eleanor giggled and replied with a yes. She gestured for Connor to sit.

Connor took a seat. She didn't open the menu, instead, she folded her hands in her lap and engaged in a conversation with Eleanor.

"Thank you for meeting me here, I really appreciate it," Connor said.

"Oh, of course!" Eleanor smiled.

"Well, I just wanted to, ya know, clear a lot of things up before the party."

"No, oh, yeah, of course, go for it!"

"Well, Harry is stuck on this idea, that you hate him, or something. Do you have any idea what that's about?" Connor asks, giving Eleanor the benefit of the doubt.

"Oh, well," Eleanor says, leaning back into her chair. Connor can't help but notice she looks suddenly uncomfortable. "I can't seem to think of any reason why he w-would say . . . that," she says uneasily.

"He told me you thought he was stealing Louis from you?" Connor asked.

Eleanor didn't say anything.

"Eleanor . . ." Connor started carefully. "Did you buy into those rumors?"

"No! I didn't!" Eleanor protested.

Connor raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, well not the ones about Louis at least. I mean, I had been friends with Harry for so long and then the rumors about him being bisexual made me upset. I knew they weren't true, but when you have someone as great as Louis Tomlinson, you'll believe and do anything to never let him go. I was convinced Harry acted the way he did because he loved Louis, in the romantic sense. But after the band's breakup, it was easy to see I was wrong. Louis and Harry were strictly friends, brothers even. I'm so sorry, Connor. That's why we all want to come to this party. We all have things to apologize to him for. We've all done him wrong. He doesn't deserve any of what we've given him. We miss him so much."

Connor is taken back by her confession at first, but soon tears well up in her eyes. She finally sees how very important it is to have this party.

"Well," Connor says and wipes her eyes. "Let's eat shall we?" She asks, picking up the menu. Eleanor smiles.

~
Connor silently shut the door behind her. It was around ten at night, Eleanor and she went shopping after lunch.

Out of nowhere, Harry appears. His hand slammed against the door above Connor's head and she jumped. His beautiful laugh rang through the entire flat as Connor slapped him on the chest.

"Not funny, Harry," she said, walking into the bedroom. He followed behind her.

"That was hilarious. You were so scared," he laughed.

She set the bags down in her closet, and let out a mocking laugh.

"But seriously," Harry said, setting his fingertips on her hips. "Where were you?"

Connor froze up, and her eyes grew wide.

"I–I was just . . . with . . . my sister," she stuttered.

"Oh yeah?" He asked, and kissed her nose.

"Yeah. We went to lunch, and then went shopping for a bit," she said.

"Is this the same sister that you were talking to on the phone this week?" Harry smirked.

"I haven't talked to my sister this—" Connor stopped.

"Ah," Harry laughed.

"Fuck!" She said, and plopped down on the bed.

"You were doing good, I'll give you that. But c'mon, just tell me," Harry said, laying down beside her.

"I was with Eleanor," she said, tangling her fingers in his hair.

"Eleanor?" Harry shot up. Connor nodded. "Why the fuck were you with her? What did you talk about? What lies did she tell you? Oh, my God, I'm going to kill her, and you! You went and—"

"Harry!" Connor yelled, pushing at his chest. He fell from his knees, back onto the bed. "She did absolutely nothing bad! She told me everyone missed you, and," she paused and forced eye contact with him. "She owned up to being wrong about you. She told me she was so invested in Louis that she couldn't even block out the rumors that were said about you. She thought you were going to take Louis away from her," she soothed.

"What?" Harry whispered.

"They miss you so much Harry. So much. Everything is just one huge understanding," she said.

"She didn't say anything bad? At all?"

"Not one thing. Why?"

"I don't want her to fool you into anything that would make you leave me. I love you so much, and I couldn't stand to lose you," Harry confessed.

"I love you, too, Harry."

They laid down and Harry reached around Connor's waist, pulling her into his chest.

"I love you, too," she said again.