Larry Stylinson - Buried

Chapter Nine - Larry Stylinson - Buried

  In the end it was the simplest thing that broke Eleanor. She was sitting next to Louis on the couch as he and Harry were mid-discussion and she watched fondly as the older boy ruffled Harry’s curls.

            “No,” Louis said with a playful grin, “I think you should do it.”

            Harry looked as though he was about to argue but he quickly turned his head as Niall came rushing into the room, “LADS! We’re number one!”

            Eleanor sat up abruptly as an overwhelming wave of happiness flooded through her. In excitement she turned to face her boyfriend as his eyes widened in ecstatic shock and she leaned forward expecting for him to turn to her. Instead with a sinking feeling in her stomach she watched as he flung his arms around Harry rocking back and forth in the hug as they both cried out victoriously. Something within her shattered as she realized with an ice-cold certainty what she had for so long fought to overlook – she was never going to be his number one. By the time Louis released the younger boy and spun around to happily kiss her cheek she had managed to compose herself and she faked a convincing smile as she congratulated them.

If he had been looking properly he would have noticed that the light didn’t quite reach her eyes; but he wasn’t. And Eleanor knew he wasn’t because instead his eyes searched for the green ones of his best friend. They always did; no matter if he was happy or sad, if he wanted comfort or to someone to laugh with, Louis always looked to Harry. Uneasily she sat as her stomach lurched painfully and she struggled to place the emotion. Suddenly she realized she was jealous. She was jealous because she was never going to be who he looked for first.

                                                            —————

            When Louis opened the door to their hotel room his eyes fell instantly on his girlfriend. Eleanor looked up with widened eyes and the bag she had been dragging across the room fell from her hand. Looking flustered she managed to choke out a small, “Hi.”

            “El? What’s going on?” Louis asked softly as his eyes trailed from her guilty face to the fully packed suitcase.

            “I’m going home,” she whispered sadly and she moved her long brown hair back over her shoulder as she lifted her bag from the floor.

            Louis stood still and the door closing behind him sounded impossibly loud as he surveyed her in confusion, “Why?”

            “I’m sorry Lou,” she whispered moving forward and avoiding his eyes. He reached his hands out more in a defenseless plea for her to explain than to actually stop her from leaving.

            “I don’t understand…did I do something?”

Her lips puckered as she stared down at the floor and he could see small beads of tears gathering in the rims of her eyes, “You didn’t even look at me.”

“When?” he cried moving forward and putting his hands on her arms. She was forced to look up at him.

Her voice wavered unevenly, “You never look at me like that.”

Louis didn’t understand, “El what are you talking about?”

Suddenly her voice was sharp. She knew how ridiculous this sounded, to pick such a small incident as the cause of her departure. But she didn’t know how to communicate why she felt she needed to go, “You looked at Harry instead of me.”

“What does Harry have to do with this?”

“Everything!” she screamed abruptly her tone rising drastically and she threw her hands up in a surrendering gesture, “He has everything to do with this.”