A/N: Trigger warning - this chapter references to some feelings and symptoms relating to bereavement.
8th July 2015 (very early morning)
They're all mingling and chatting around their booth when a sample of MC Hammer's Can't Touch This drops in the middle of a high tempo mix, blaring through the speakers. Goofing around, Eloise does the dance - pretty flawlessly, despite her high heels.
She laughs as Rosie and Liam fail to master it; her instructions evidently too much after all the shots they've been throwing back.
Wildly impressed, Lottie and Lou squeal and accuse her of holding out on them. They drag her and the other girls straight to the dance floor of the VIP section.
>
A while later, Mer drops into Ben's lap, complaining she can't keep up and is getting too old for this shit.
She leans over to Harry. "What on earth are you doing over here, Styles? Your girl's on fine form! I haven't seen her let loose on a dance floor in ages. Completely oblivious to all the the attention she's getting in that dress, mind", she rolls her eyes fondly.
Ben just grunts in response before Harry shoots out of his seat, a few of the other boys trailing in his wake.
>
"...To the bang bang boogie say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie the beat". Eloise is laughing and dancing, rapping along to a sample of Rapper's Delight with Adele when she feels familiar big hands wrap around her from behind.
His hips nestle closely behind hers, following her lead as she moves flawlessly to the reverberating beat. Pulling her hair over one shoulder, he leans over the other to rap along lowly in her ear.
She laughs with glee and leans back against his chest as the song finishes and Harry's whispers turn lewd, explaining in graphic detail what he plans to do to her when they're alone. The tequila has most definitely hit him and she loves it.
It takes her foggy brain a beat to notice that the boys and girls have subtly boxed them into the corner of the dance floor, providing some privacy. Smirking mischievously, she shimmies around him so that she's pressed to the corner with his back to the crowd. She steps even closer and gives him a handsy, non-verbal sneak preview of what she intends to do to him later.
They're pulled from their dirty dancing when Adele leans in to shout over the thumping bass that they're going outside for a smoke.
"Need some air?", he asks. Cupping the nape of her neck, he twists her long hair loosely around his fist. She delights at the air hitting her flushed skin.
"God, yes", she nods, and grabs his hand quickly as Adele pulls hers, tugging them towards the doors to the terrace.
"I need to check on Louis", he says quietly in her ear, squeezing her shoulder as he leaves her with Adele, Rosie, Liam and a bunch of the others.
Louis had been noticeably off and relatively quiet for most of the night, spending most of it just talking with Lottie, Will or Paul. It's nearing 1am and the last time Harry had seen him, he'd been knocking back a string of shots hard.
Spotting him smoking in the corner, Harry takes a deep breath before heading over, dragging Niall with him for moral support.
>
It turns out Louis is antsy because Will gave him the heads up earlier that People magazine have caught wind of his baby news. They're due to publish an exposé next week and their publicists can't stop it. He's feeling conflicted, worried how everyone will react.
Harry looks over from their stilted chat at hearing Adele chanting Eloise's name loudly, proffering her cigarette whilst Rosie claps excitedly. Liam, Lottie and Lou all lean in eagerly.
He hadn't taken her for the type to submit to peer pressure easily, so is surprised to see her take a long drag.
He watches on curiously as she holds the smoke in her throat, hands fanning as her eyes start watering before she coughs it all out.
There's a moment of anticipation until a pitch perfect rendition of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart cuts through the quietened crowd around her. "Turn around / Every now and then I get a little bit lonely / and you're never coming round...". Husky, raspy and gravelly, it would seem unthinkable that it's coming from Eloise, but he's seen her in action before.
He brings his fingers to his mouth and lets out a shrill whistle then claps wildly for her as she turns around to him, laughing.
'Gotcha!', he mouthes, cleverly.
'Touché', she sasses back with a smile and knowing tilt of her head.
"You've hit the jackpot there, lad. Don't fuck it up", Louis says glumly.
"Don't intend to", Harry reassures with a determined shake of his head. He claps Louis' shoulder and stands up to head over to her.
Fuck. The sound of her raspy, ravaged voice has him getting hard again in an instant.
>
Eloise and Mer dance goofily in the middle of the quietening terrace, whilst Harry, Paul, Ben and Niall sit in a booth beside them, looking on as they chat.
His years in the spotlight have given Harry a finely honed sixth sense for people watching or filming him, and he's aware of a table of guys on the other side of the terrace casting glances and looking over. One in particular catches his eye. A sandy haired guy who looks neither at him nor Niall, but between Eloise and Ben, curiously.
He's distracted from his conversation with Paul when when he notices the guy approaching tentatively.
"Eloise?", he calls in an accent almost identical to Ben's.
She whirls around to face him and stills. "...Mikey? Oh, wow, hi", surprise written across her face.
Stepping hesitantly closer, he gives her a tentative half hug.
"And Ben, right?", he looks down across their table.
Ben just nods, lifting his beer bottle in greeting. Harry catches him cut his eyes quickly to his, widening them and inclining his head slightly towards them as if to say 'on guard'.
Ben watches keenly, not looking away, even as Mer walks to stand behind him and whisper questioningly in his ear.
Taking his cue from him, Harry watches Eloise and this guy closely, following their stilted conversation.
"Umm, so what are you doing in LA?", Eloise asks this Mikey.
"I'm just here for a stag do. We went to Vegas", he gestures vaguely to the table of lads he'd come from. "God, I can't believe I've bumped into you. You've certainly changed... Must have been the funeral when I last saw you?".
Eloise visibly stiffens, cutting her eyes sharply to Ben and then Harry before landing back on Mikey. "Erm, yeah. Well, it's been a while", she says after a little cough to clear her still raspy throat.
"Six years and two months", he replies flatly.
"Yeah", she replies quietly, playing nervously with her hair before dejectedly dropping down into the booth to sit next to Harry. She gestures for Mikey to take the seat opposite, next to Niall.
The rest of the table have quietened from their previously drunken chatter. They can't help but feel a little sobered, quietly following this odd conversation.
"God, look at you... You're definitely not the broken little twiglet you were back then, are you!", he says unexpectedly.
She's taken aback and stares at him agape before swallowing thickly, and realising he must be pretty drunk. Feeling disconcerted, it's like she's sobered up instantly, but there's still a lag as she tries to make sense of his sudden changes in direction.
"Fuck, sorry", he realises he's overstepped and holds a hand up in apology. "I just cant help but wonder if she'd be like you...", he says, searching her face intently. "You were always so alike. She used to pretend she was triplets with you and Ollie".
"Yeah", Eloise smiles fondly. "I miss her too", she reaches over to squeeze his arm in sympathy. "Every day", she adds quietly. "Sorry. I'm a bit drunk", she mumbles, shaking her head.
Harry surreptitiously rubs a hand on her lower back. He doesn't know who she's referring to, but senses she needs the comfort.
Mikey laughs ruefully. "Yeah, me too". He clears his throat. "Anyway, what've you been up to? Last I heard, you were raising merry hell at Stowe...", he asks jovially, eyebrow raised in question.
"Ha!", she chuckles awkwardly. "Erm, I didn't stay there long. I, umm, just finished at Cambridge. I used to bump into your friend George's brother, Tom. Do you still see-?" she rambles on.
"God, you've really landed on your feet, haven't you?", he cuts her off abruptly.
The others around the table shuffle and cast glances in acknowledgement of the uncomfortable dynamic.
Eloise stiffens again, sitting on her hands nervously.
"Cambridge... Looking like this", he sweeps a hand up and down her. "Hanging out with celebs...", he gestures around them. "What are you doing in LA?", he presses.
"Just... Figuring things out", she says slowly, vaguely.
The extended silence and awkward clearing of throats around the table is broken as Rosie, unaware, drums on the table as she dances past at the head of a ridiculous noisy conga line. Adele, Lou, Lottie, and Liam follow past in formation.
"You coming back in to dance?", Liam slurs over his shoulder.
Before anyone can respond, Mikey whirls back around to face Eloise. "You still dance?", he demands. "Ballet?", he implores.
"No", she fires back, flatly. "Not since-".
"Well, that's something, I suppose...", he grits out quietly. After a pause he cuts his eyes back to hers and sneers, "Wouldn't be quite fair for you to have everything, now would it?".
She physically bristles.
"Mike-", Ben cuts in sternly, in warning.
He raises his hands at him. "I'm just saying-".
"Well don't", Ben snaps back, his tone leaving nothing to the imagination.
Eloise grips Harry's thigh under the table. He wraps his hand over hers and squeezes it reassuringly.
"Oh, it's alright for you, mate", he scoffs. "You've still got your sister".
"Okay, enough, please", Ben raises his voice. "Losing Sophie almost broke her, Mike. She's worked so hard for everything she's achieved in spite of that. You can't resent her for it", Ben defends her.
Her gut is shouting at her to remove herself from the situation, but she feels oddly frozen. Instead her hand tightens on Harry's thigh as her eyes dart around, as if plotting an escape.
Paul and Niall look worried, throwing concerned looks at Harry, who himself is looking from Mike to Ben, desperate for answers.
"How can I not?", Mike implores at Ben before rounding on Eloise, accusingly. "She skipped off to New York with you and never came home", his voice breaks.
Eloise physically recoils, and Harry cuts in firmly. "Hey, now-".
But Mikey talks over him, voice raising as he fires questions at Eloise, desperately. "Why didn't you do more? Why couldn't you stop it? She was always in awe of you and trying to compete with you, you know? It was awful for her-".
This time she cuts him off, suddenly furious. "Of course I know that! And I hate it", she seethes lowly. "You don't have to tell me... I was fucking there, as you point out... I lived it. Every damn day for two years", her voice shakes with emotion. "They took what we loved and made us hate it", she scoffs.
"We were too young and it was too much... They realised it wasn't the be all and end all for me, but they goaded her; told her she could be perfect if she just tried harder. I was ready to come home after the first semester but she refused and I couldn't leave her. So I stayed. For her... And it broke me to watch her shut down, emotionally and then physically... Your mum, my mum; they wouldn't listen. It wasn't until Dad came and saw and pulled us straight out... But it was too late. When she didn't get better... That last time I saw her at the hospice-", she chokes out, running out of steam.
She gasps a shaky breath before continuing, steeling herself. "I am so sorry for your loss, Mike", she looks at him imploringly. "But don't you dare say I wasn't there for her, when I was the only one that was. She was like a sister to me too, and I wish things could have been different. I wish I could just hear her voice again...". Tears pool in her eyes.
Harry, as shocked as the others in the thick silence, can't do much more than pull her gently towards his side in support.
Mike stares back at her, ashen faced at her outpouring of emotion, before stuttering at her, "I'm sorry, Eloise. I didn't...". Swallowing thickly, he reaches for his phone and taps away before sliding it to her.
Harry can just about make out a video clip loaded up. Two young blonde girls in tutus smiling broadly at the camera. Eloise gasps as she hits play with shaking fingers.
Her tears finally spill as she presses play again and holds the speaker to her ear. Her face crumples and she tosses the phone back at him and sucks in ragged, shaky breaths as she lets out a sob.
There's another beat of silence before Mike whispers "Sorry, I'm sorry" repeatedly.
Harry says "Oh, El-" at the same time, and it's as if she remembers the small audience and recoils, grappling to pull herself hastily out of the booth.
>
At Ben's nod, Harry flies after her, just catching her as she stumbles blindly through her tears. He pulls her into him and she crumples, sobbing into his shoulder.
He leads her to a quiet corner and pulls her on to his lap, cooing hushed words of reassurance in her ear, as he soothes a hand up to her heaving shoulders and back down.
Behind them, Ben cuts off Mike's drunken shameful apologies as a friend tries to pull him up and away.
"Look, I'm so sorry that you lost your sister. But that doesn't give you the right to attack mine. That wasn't fair. They were only fifteen... Fuck, I'll never forget the state of her when she got home... She had to build herself back up, and it was agonising to watch, but I'm so proud of her. She's the strongest person I know, so don't you dare try to tear her back down", he levels at him flatly.
Ben turns, dismissing him. Nudging Niall to get out the booth, he asks Paul to get a car round the back for them, then Niall to fetch her stuff from inside.
He and Mer approach Eloise cautiously, her shoulders still heaving and face buried firmly in Harry's broad shoulder. Crouching down in front of them, Ben runs a hand down her arm and Mer rubs her knee soothingly.
>
Harry stands against the stone wall of the back alley, waiting for the car with Eloise leaning heavily into his chest.
Her sobbing has subsided but tears still leak from her eyes and her breathing is shaky as she whispers "I'm sorry, I'm okay" over and over.
"Shhhh", he coos softly into her hair. "You're okay. I've got you", as his hands run soothingly over her bare back.
"Shit, your shirt", she winces apologetically as she leans back a little.
He hushes her again and lifts his hands to her cheeks to swipe his thumbs under her smudged eyes, before wiping them against his jeans and repeating the motion. He grimaces and she chuckles a soft sob.
They jump as the door flies open and hits the wall with a bang. Rosie and Adele dash out worriedly, rushing over to her, fussing. "I'm okay, I'm sorry" she repeats, staying put in his arms, looking at them with her head resting against his broad shoulder.
When headlights turn into the alley, Harry reaches for her blazer from Adele and drapes it over her shoulders.
She hugs them both goodbye with a shaky sigh and promises to call in the morning.
"Sorry", she calls again as Harry guides her to slip into the blacked out Mercedes.
He slides in after her and sidles close for her to bury her face in his neck again.
She lets out a deep sigh. "God. Hearing her voice again...", she whispers on a shaky exhale.
"We don't have to talk about it", he offers, resuming the raking motion of his hand on her back as the car pulls forward.
>
They quickly arrive back at his house and he's gentle getting her inside.
"I'm okay, H", she insists, calmer now. "Honestly, that was just... A lot. Sorry if it ruined your night".
He scoffs and reaches a hand to steady her as she staggers a bit pulling off her heels before flexing her aching feet into the rug.
She puts a hand to her head and winces, feeling a bit drunk again. "Got any bread? Should probably try and soak up some of that tequila".
He nods in agreement, steering her into the kitchen and lifting her on to a bar stool, chuckling as she finds her balance before he sets about making them tea and toast.
Mission accomplished, he leads her into the living room with their feast.
>
Sated and slouching into each other on the big grey sofa, she thumbs over the mess of dark eye make-up she smeared on his pale blue silk shirt. Horrifyingly expensive, no doubt.
"Let me try and soak it", she suggests.
"I don't care about the shirt", he says pointedly, batting her hand away and cupping her cheek softly, eyes meeting hers intently.
She sighs and nestles into the crook of his arm, fingers playing absently with the tails of his shirt. "Can I tell you about it tomorrow?", she asks quietly.
"Only if you want to... And only when you're ready", he says softly, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple.
Seeing the clock on the TV unit glow 2.35am, he heaves them up from the sofa to usher her upstairs.
He can't help but smile at seeing her bags in his room; her things in amongst his.
>
Turning to him in the dimly lit ensuite, eyes undoubtedly a bit red and puffy, she's otherwise fresh-faced as she pops a hip against the sink as she watches him.
Already just in his boxers, he eyes her back with a questioningly raised eyebrow whilst rinsing his mouth under the tap.
"Think you mentioned earlier you were looking forward to getting me out of this dress?", she says slowly, tugging at the hem.
"El-", he says carefully.
"Please, Harry. You promised. Quite graphically, if I recall... Just, please-", she pushes quietly, desperate for a sense of normality to start to feel back on an even keel.
He nods. He gets it.
He steps close and rakes her hair forward over one shoulder, peering over the other to find the zip at the nape of her neck. The fingers of his other hand dance down her spine, delighting in the skin revealed by the opening zipper.
He peels the dress down over her hips and steps back as it pools at her feet to reveal her in just a barely there thong.
Their eyes lock and something passes between them.
He swallows audibly before swooping in with a tender kiss, then walks her backwards and lowers her to his bed.
It's soft and slow and sensual and intense. Different, but in a good way; a great way. Something shifts in their connection.
Afterwards, they drift quickly off to sleep, still wrapped tightly around each other and feeling very much connected.
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