Care for me (L. S.)

8

Friday the 18th of September | Eleanor

Eleanor felt horrible. Not only because of the constant nauseous feeling in her stomach: She really didn't want to go to the party alone.

Louis had already warned her in advance that he wasn't coming. Apparently Jay was out for a couple of days and the babysitter left at midnight so it was down to Louis again to watch over his sisters.

That meant she had to go to the party by herself.

She turned around and watched how the girl behind the glass did the exact same. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders in elegant curls, her lashes were thick and framed her brown eyes perfectly.

Before leaving the bathroom, she winked outlandishly, like she was a contestant on Love Island and the mirror was a camera.

Eleanor popped onto her bed. It wasn't made or anything: cushions were thrown on there in a hurry that morning and her blue duvet hung partly on the floor. She didn't even attempt to make her bed: Why would you tidy something every morning and then not look at it all day until you ruin it at night? It honestly made no sense to her!

That's why she promised herself never to waste time on making her bed.

The only times she did, was when Louis stayed over, so naturally, she hadn't made it in months.

Her mind wandered off to her boyfriend. His fluffy light brown hair and pretty eyes didn't make her feel the way they used to.

She turned her head to look at the photo on her nightstand. It was taken almost two years ago, now, on Louis' birthday. They had such a good time back then, as they were crazy in love and all they did was make out and partying till the morning.

Looking at the smiling couple in the picture, a feeling of nostalgia came over her as she thought back to that Christmas Eve, two years ago. It was the first time she met all of his family at his grandmother's house. All of Louis' sisters were there along with their mother and some aunts and uncles.

She remembered how happy they were at the exact moment the picture was taken. It was right after Louis had unpacked her gift. She had looked in an antique music shop for an original second hand guitar (a little bit bewildered, but still in reasonable shape) and had it signed by all of his friends and his sisters. Everyone he knew had put a little joke or note on there, making it extra personal.

Louis smiled brightly at her, having Eleanor on his lap and holding his guitar under his arm. They gazed into each other's eyes when the photo was taken, both with the same foolish smile on their lips.

When she thought of Louis, she always remembered him this way: smiley and cheeky, making up songs for her and kissing her until she was breathless.

She still saw glimpses of that Louis now. When he was pushing Daisy and Phoebe on the swings and how he taught them to off jump a moving one and land on their feet. When he closed up the bookstore at the end of the day, exhausted from carrying a million books, yet pleased with himself. She knew he was still there, hidden behind a few layers of worries and responsibilities. That's why she asked him to come along to Zayn's party: it would be good for him to let go. Even if it was for a little bit. But then James had called, claiming Jane hadn't showed up to work at all and he needed help with some delivery issues.

She swiped up, immediately looking into Harry's helpless face.

"Hi!"

"Harry!" She blinked a couple of times, not sure how to behave since they had never spoken on the phone before. "What are you... disturbing my precious peace for?"