in the hills • zayn malik

six- panic

“Is that El’s car?” Liam asked, noticing the out of place car.

“Yeah, it is.” Louis said, frowning.

“Why would she be here?” Liam said, throwing his phone from hand to hand, seeming perturbed.

“Let’s go find out.” He replied, and they went up to Niall’s apartment, not knowing what to expect.

After ringing the doorbell a couple of times, Niall came to the door, looking as tired as Louis felt, with bags under his eyes and his posture limp. “Hey, Lou, Liam.”

“Why’s El here, Niall?” Louis asked immediately. “Is she alright, is something wrong?”

“Eleanor’s fine, don’t worry.” Niall said, giving them a tight smile.

Louis pushed past Niall, wanting to see for himself. He stumbled into the living room, and saw Eleanor standing by the window, the morning sun shining gloriously on her. She turned around and when her brown eyes met his own, every worry seemed to disappear for a moment.

He walked towards her, and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his lips to her hair. With Eleanor here in his arms, he could forget what was going on around him, and at that moment that was all he wanted.

“How are you?” She whispered, looking up at him with concerned eyes.

Louis smiled and kissed her softly on the lips. “Right now, I’m fine.”

“Perrie? What are you doing here?” Liam asked, sounding shocked.

In Louis’ moment of panic, he hadn’t seen the blonde sitting in the corner, and it took Louis a couple of moments to even recognise her.

Her usually perfectly styled blonde hair hung dead straight and unwashed, there was not a single spot of makeup on her face, and she was wearing a dark oversized jacket over a grey t-shirt, that looked suspiciously like Zayn’s.

Eleanor’s face was twisted into a scowl, and she didn’t look at Perrie. Instead she snuggled into Louis’ shirt, but he could feel the anger radiating off of her, and he knew something serious was going on.

Perrie saw Eleanor’s gesture, and her lips started to tremble. Louis could only look at the two of them, unsure what the hell was going on. El and Perrie had always been close, and since Eleanor was one of Perrie’s bridesmaids, they had spent heaps of time together.

Niall and Liam had sat down on the couch, and he realised that Harry wasn’t there.

“Niall, where’s Harry?” Louis asked, shifting his gaze towards the blonde haired boy.

“I dunno, knowing him he’s probably just about to-”

The doorbell rung, and Niall managed to chuckle, shaking his head. There was a tense silence in the room, and Liam was staring at the black screen of his phone, as if he were hoping that Zayn would call him and tell him that all was good.

Louis took Eleanor’s hand, and led her towards the couch, sitting next to Liam. Perrie was staring at something in her hands, and there were tears streaming down her cheeks. If Zayn hadn’t left, they would’ve been married; they would’ve been on their way to Thailand by now.

Harry came in, looking dishevelled. “Sorry, my car was being a pain.”

“It’s alright, Harry, take a seat.” Louis said, and Harry gave him a small smile, sitting down on the floor near Liam.

Louis looked at Eleanor, and found that the glare was still on her face. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she looked at him, her features softening in his gaze. She sighed and pursed her lips, shaking her head.