“You what?” Eloise screams in disbelief, causing her to receive a few odd stares from other people walking around Central Park. “I can’t believe you! Louis’ coming in in two days and you got a date with a girl?”
“I told you Louis wasn’t my soulmate, Ellie. I think Jo might be.” He smiles slightly before continuing to talk. “I actually felt something.”
“You felt something when you talked to Louis, so don’t give me that crap, Harry. I know you did.”
“The only thing I felt was his suitcase on my foot,” Harry says angrily. “I am not gay, Eloise, so stop acting like I am.”
“You know what? I came on this trip with you to find your ‘soulmate’, not for you to deny that he is your soulmate when you’ve found him. So if you want any more help finding this person, don’t come to me. I’ll be too busy picking up the pieces of Louis’ broken heart when he gets here and sees you with some stingy chick, you asshole.” And with that said, Eloise leaves Harry alone, standing in the middle of Central Park with an open mouth.
He probably could’ve caught up to her, but he doesn’t even try. Apparently they’re fighting now, and Harry doesn’t think that catching up to her will help matters much. Harry’s never been in argument with Eloise before, so he doesn’t really know what to do.
Jo and Harry had met that morning when Harry went out to buy some bagels for breakfast. She had her brown hair pulled back in a bun with a stretchy headband on to keep back the lose strands. She seemed as if she just rolled out of bed because she was wearing yoga pants, an old T-shirt, and looked half asleep.
The two started talking while they waited in line to order and the rest, as Harry would say, is history.
Eloise, on the other hand, would say that Harry is an exact model of denial at its finest. All she really wants now is to go home rather than watch him force back his feelings and crush Louis for the rest of their trip.
Harry doesn’t get what the big deal is. Shouldn’t Eloise be overjoyed that he found his perfect match? Didn’t they all know that Louis and him would never have gotten together? Didn’t Louis know that too? Why would his heart be broken?
There is just something about Jo. She just has this alluring aroma and attitude that draws Harry to her. She is so beautiful. More beautiful than anything he has ever seen.
He wonders how he could possibly think Louis was beautiful back then, especially after seeing Jo. No one compares to Jo. Not Eloise, with her long and silky red hair, slender body, and grey eyes. Not Kat, with her wavy blonde hair, dark green eyes, and freckles.
Jo is the most beautiful. Harry feels as if she has cast a spell on him. Every time Louis pops up in Harry’s mind, the thought is shoved to the side by another of Jo.
He hasn’t texted Louis all day. He’s read each and every one of Louis’ message, but hasn’t replied. And Louis is worried; worried that Harry hates him, worried that he did something wrong, and for Pete’s sake, could he just say something? Anything?
Harry trudges around the park, hands stuffed deep into his jeans pockets, shoulders hunched to block out the cold, and feet kicking at the leaves that litter the sidewalk. It feels so aberrant to not have Eloise at his side, so odd. They’ve been glued to each other’s hip for nearly a decade and for her to not be there has left Harry in a sense of cluelessness.
His phone begins to ring in his pocket. He doesn’t check the caller idea, or maybe he does, but he can’t remember who it said is calling. He just picks up, grunts out a ‘hello’, and waits for a voice to break through the other side.
“You need to meet me at the entrance to the park and give me the room key to the hotel,” Eloise says in a huff, and Harry can tell that she is still furious with him. “I left my key in the room.”
“Whatever,” Harry replies, just as coldly, though he has no reason to be mad. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” And he hangs up, just like that. And if he thought Eloise was mad before, she is fuming now because that was downright rude of him.
He walks briskly to wear Eloise is waiting for him and reaches in his back pocket for the key. He hands it to her without a word and walks right past her, down the street, resulting in a glare from his friend.
“You know,” she yells after him, “your ship name with Jo would be Ho, and if that doesn’t give you some clue as to how awful this is going to be, I don’t know what will! A ship called Ho won’t get far!”
“Tell it to someone who cares,” Harry calls back, and he regrets saying it for a minute when he sees the hurt look on her face because, yeah, Eloise is being a pain right now. But she did come on this trip of her own free will just to help him.
‘She also just insulted your date,’ he reminds himself and snaps out of it, his face setting into a deep scowl once again.
He stops in a small coffee house and orders a hot chocolate to numb the coldness residing in his body. When he takes a small, tentative sip, he can feel the warmth travel through him, like when you drink ice water and you can feel it running down your throat and through your chest.
The hot liquid heats up his fingers as he continues to wander around the city, staring up at all the tall buildings and taking pictures from time to time.
‘This would be a lot more fun if Eloise were here,’ he thinks. ‘Or Lou- Jo. Or if Jo were here.’
And he thinks that maybe he’ll simply take Jo on a little stroll for their date.
Which is what he had planned the night before to do with Louis when he got there.
Which is what it seems like Eloise will be doing with Louis instead. Because Harry will be far more interested in hanging out with Jo while he’s still got time with her than with Louis.
And maybe Eloise should have thought about warning Louis, so she could ease the heartbreak that was bound to come, but that never crosses her mind. All she can think of is her anger towards Harry and all Harry can think about is his anger towards Eloise.
The last person on either of their minds right now is the person they really should be worrying about: Louis.
A/N: So there's that. I hope you liked this chapter, and please don't hate me too much ahaha.
I have to go back to school tomorrow and exams are next week, so I hope you'll understand if I don't update quite as often.
Dedication goes to @SweetNiam :) Thanks for reading, love xx
-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...
