she's Not afraid

You Don't Listen Hard Enough

The next few days brought change to the household. For one thing, they were all living in the same place again for the first time in months. With Eleanor coming home and needed to stay in bed, Louis thought it best to have her in the main house again, instead of the small cottage that they used. Zayn and Emily were barely using the pool house, because that would mean spending time with just each other and neither of them wanted that, because once alone the tension would set in between them. And, Sofia wasn’t a top priority, not because they weren’t worried, but because she genuinely seemed to be doing better. She had settled in, and laughed more. She didn’t fight training, and no longer seemed to act like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. She still hadn’t told Harry though, and that was starting to get to her.

Liam had put on a full search party trying to look for the people who had shot at them, but so far they had come up with nothing. That made everything more dangerous, because whomever shot clearly knew who they were, but they didn’t know them. It made Liam feel safer knowing that every one was in one house, he felt like it made them less vulnerable. But he wasn’t going to rest until he figured out who had targeted them and what they wanted, which meant that no one else was going to rest either.

Harry Styles sat on the sofa, as Eleanor lay next to him, with Louis sitting across with them in a chair. He was avoiding her glare as he filled her in with what had been going on at home the last few days, and she and the baby were recovering in the hospital.

“You what?!” Eleanor snapped at him, Harry looking at Louis to avoid her glare.

“I officially called off the engagement,” Harry said, still avoiding looking at her as her eyes got narrower.

“And why would you do an idiot thing like that?” Eleanor hissed at him, “She basically announced that she was your fiancé in the hospital, why would you take that away from her?”

“I’m not taking anything away from her,” Harry said, looking over at Eleanor, “I’m taking the pressure off. We’re trying to fix our relationship, and the pressure of being engaged wasn’t helping. We were both feeling the pressure, and it wasn’t fair. We are barely acting like a couple, let alone two people that are supposed to get married. It was a mutual decision. She thought it was for the best too.”

“Harry, what else is she supposed to say when you said that you wanted to call off the engagement?” Eleanor snapped, “I can’t believe you would do that, you two are supposed to be with each other! I don’t understand why you both don’t seem to understand that!”

“I told you she wouldn’t take it well,” Louis said, as he looked pointedly at Harry.

“I know were supposed to be together,” Harry explained, as he ignored Louis, “Which is why I’m giving us a clean slate. There’s less pressure this way. We were supposed to be married in 3 weeks El, and every time we looked at each other, I know that’s what we were both thinking. Now with the engagement off the table, we can just let this naturally fix itself, we don’t have to force something back together quickly. Believe me, it’s for the best.”

“Whatever,” Eleanor hissed, rolling her eyes, “How are you two anyway? Are you actually fixing anything?”

“I think so,” Harry said, as his eyes furrowed in thought, and he leaned back on the couch, “It’s like when I first moved in here, honestly. There’s a tension between us and it’s awkward but electric. But were talking and laughing again, I feel like I have my friend back. But it’s like we don’t remember how to touch each other yet, but I’m sure we will. I still get the feeling that she’s keeping something from me, that’s not helping anyone. But, I just want to give her time. I don’t want to spook her. Not when she’s doing so well. She hasn’t taken anything in 5 days.”