eighteen ∣ one direction

chapter seven

"You said that it the age difference? That made your family react that way?"

"I guess..." She mumbled from her spot curled up into Zayn. 

Louis mumbled under his breath after that. Something Ophelia couldn't hear.

"Hm? What'd you say?"

"Maybe.. maybe they're right." Her heart stopped. She sat up abruptly staring at Louis, who was still looking at the starry sky, in shock. "Maybe the age difference is too much. I'm almost thirty, the others aren't that far behind. You haven't hit twenty yet."

"What? How could you say that?!" They were all sitting up now, but not making eye contact with her. 'Had they already discussed this with each other? Do they agree with Louis?'

"It's not like it isn't true," Zayn muttered. 'What?!' She spun around, glaring at Zayn. 

"And you all agree? You think I'm too young?" Ophelia questioned, tears starting to well up in her eyes again.

"You're only 18, love. All we want is for you to experience life for yourself... without us pulling you down." As Harry spoke, Ophelia started to get angry. 

"You aren't!" She insisted. 'How could they think that they're anything but good for me?'

"We will. The second the public finds out about you your life will never be the same. You're too young for that..."

'Little did they fucking know...', Ophelia thought, glaring at each of them. She was already in the spotlight. She didn't need some stupid god-complex soulmates who would sacrifice their relationships for 'the greater good'. She needed stability, soulmates who would understand her workload and soulmates she could rely on. She couldn't say all of that though. It was way too personal, and the dream curse wouldn't allow it. 

"Harry was only sixteen-"

"And I wish every day that I had someone who prevented me... told me to wait a few years. The media is not friendly, love. They chew you up and spit you out."

"We just promised you that we would never hurt you, Darling. We just want to protect you from our life. It's a lot for anyone. You deserve more than that... than us," Liam said. 

"You're hurting me now!" Ophelia argued. She couldn't believe the nerve they had! They can't just say something like that and expect her to forget about it. "And don't say I don't know anything about the media! About 'your world' that you are so desperately trying to protect me from! I know more than enough, trust me... You-You know nothing about me! You don't know anything about my life!"

"Princess-" Louis reached out to try and comfort her, but she took a huge step back, flinching away from his hands. 

"Don't call me that, Louis!" Louis winced at the anger in her voice. He should have just not opened his big mouth, then everything would be fine... "I have waited my entire life for my soulmates. I have loved you assholes since I was 10!" She gestured wildly and all of them. "I have loved my soulmates - the people I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with -  since I knew what the marks meant. I was literally made for you! I can handle it!"

"I've no doubt you can. But we don't want you to just 'handle' our lives and all of our baggage. We want you to thrive!"

"And we've been trying to get to know you the best we can! It's not our fault you have walls built sky high. And the dream curse isn't exactly helping..." Zayn argued. 

Ophelia shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "How do you know I won't?" Ophelia was pretty sure she could take their lives. She was doing just fine under the spotlight by herself, even if she was faceless. Her sisters both could. She understood the ins and outs of having a 'famous' soulmate. She could do it, but only if they let her.

"What?" Harry asked. 

"How do you know I won't thrive? As Zayn pointed out, I haven't opened up to you. You have no idea what my life is like. What makes you say that I'm not already- already..."

"Already what? Famous? The second we had our first dream we had our teams do as big of a search as possible for you. You want to know why Harry took so long to send that tweet out?," Liam jabbed a hand out, pointing to Harry, as he spoke angrily. "We did a nation-wide search for every single O.E.R. out there that has a social media page. There are none! And there are certainly no famous O.E.R.'s out there." Ophelia just scoffed at that. Of course they wouldn't have found anything. She was faceless and went by 'Nova' online. 

"Look... we just want to protect you, sweetheart... You deserve the world," Niall said, putting his hands up in a surrendering type motion. 

"That's what everyone is saying, but no one is taking into account my feelings! I don't need protecting! I just need people who support me," through tear filled eyes, Ophelia saw each of her soulmates' defeated look. She took a deep breath and continued. "Whenever we find each other, we obviously don't go public right away. I want to build a strong foundation first. Know each other outside the dream. I-I've been a fan of yours since I was ten. I know the media, and I know the fans. It will be crazy, yeah, but at least we'll have each other... right?"

"Of course, angel," Niall stated, desperate to amend the argument.

"You- none of you can leave me!" Ophelia pleaded, hugging herself in an attempt to calm down. She couldn't be left alone. She-

"We would never leave you, darling. We just want you happy and healthy." Liam stated, taking a small step towards her, desperate to have her in his arms again. 

Unsure, Ophelia took a step back. "Promise me."

"We promise," the boys said in sync. As soon as they did, Ophelia moved into their arms. Louis held her tight to his chest and said, "I'm so sorry, princess. I didn't mean it in the way you took it. All we want is your happiness..."

"I'm sorry for overreacting. I just- I know if any of you left me I wouldn't be able to..."

"Shh... Don't talk like that. We'll be okay, love." Harry whispered in her hair and kissed her forehead. 

She sure hoped so...

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Hope you all enjoyed! Love you! xx