“Hey, baby. Oh, hey El.” Harry’s accent curled around his words. I smiled at the sight of him immediately. Eleanor had come over to Harry’s place to stay with me, and we decided on face timing him. “Wait here, okay? I’m gonna get Louis to come on here as well."

I laughed. “Wait here,” I said to Eleanor. “Like we’re going anywhere."

I held the phone at arms length and both the boys appeared in the shot. “Hey, you!” Eleanor squealed, excited to see her loved one. We were lost in mindless conversation, with visits on the camera from all the other boys. Lou came along and stood behind Harry.

“Hey Annie! How are you love. Don’t worry, I’m looking after him.” She grinned into the camera and ruffled Harry’s hair. He swatted her away and she walked off, laughing.
“I miss you.” He said, sighing deeply and earning cheers and jibes from the boys in the background. Eleanor smiled at me and took it as her cue to make herself busy in the other room.
“I miss you too, babe. It’s only been a week.”
“How long have you been at mine? Hang on - is that my jumper?”
I looked down. “Oops, oh, yeah.” I giggled and he smiled.
“You look good in my clothes, babe.” he said, moving so he was lying on his back.
“Bet she looks even better without any on!” I heard Niall shout from the background. The camera went black, I heard a faint “ow!” and Harry returned.
“Sorry about that, babe.” He laughed. Niall cursed in pain. “Well baby I’m afraid I’m gonna have to go. We’re going to do an interview now.”
I sighed deeply. “Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Love you.” He said, waving.
I laughed. “Love you too.” The connection ended.

I felt like someone had placed rocks in my stomach. Of course, I loved talking to Harry. But my heart was heavy every time I saw his face on my little phone screen. That’s all I had of him, at the moment. Pixels on a screen.

Eleanor re-entered the room and passed me another cup of tea. We flicked through the television and put a film on.

“How was that, then?” She asked, nodding at my phone.
“Hard.” I swallowed.
“It does get easier, it does.” She reflected momentarily. “It was awful in the beginning, but it’s much better now. We just get on with it, you have to."

I paused and thought about her relationship with Louis. It had been ages since they first got together. I hoped Harry and I could last like that.

“Can’t believe we’ve lived so close to each other, have so many mutual friends but had never met before!” I said, changing the subject.
“I know! It’s weird. We could have met well before the boys introduced us.” Eleanor set her cup down. “You should come to my friends party on Saturday. She’s hiring out some club for her twenty-first.”
“Sophie Taylor?” I asked, quizzically.
“Yeah, you know her?”
“Yeah. She went to school with me.” I smiled. “That sounds like fun. And it’ll take my mind off of things."

Eleanor nodded and leaned on my shoulder, pulling a blanket over her legs. We watched the movie, although my mind wandered constantly, as I let texts from Harry interrupt my viewing hundreds of times.

Harry
simon called me today. i know it’s not really a big deal, but we spoke about us.. I’m going to start confirming it, in interviews. if thats okay with you love .xx

My heart skipped with excitement and nerves. I knew the media attention would get even worse when Harry and I finally came out as a couple. But at the same time, I couldn’t wipe the grin off of my face. I quickly text him back.

nothing would make me happier. i’m going to try and get some sleep now. night harry xxx

Briefly, I looked down, and carefully nudged El until she woke up from her slumber. I accommodated her in one of Harry’s spare rooms, feeling like I owned the place. When I shut the door behind me and stood, alone, in Harry’s room, I felt the loneliness flood back into me.

I walked over to his wardrobe, and pulled out a t-shirt from the pile. Once I had changed into it I found myself looking at Harry’s belongings, pictures I had never seen, smelling his aftershave. I had never of dreamed that I could so easily have fallen for Harry, because in the beginning, I never saw it happening. I loved Harry, and he was great to me, but that was it for me. My life was with Will. Not anymore, Harry had completely taken over my world. I had never been treated so well, with such care.

I slipped into bed on my normal side, burying my head in the pillow and trying to relish what was left of his smell. I wished profusely that I could have him here, his hair tickling me when I slept, even to have him push me out of the bed and steal the covers like he did every night.

---

“You’re being far too over-protective.” I sighed into the telephone, Eleanor looking at me with a crooked expression. I had given Harry a call on the afternoon of the club party, just to chat generally about our days, and had stupidly dropped in the fact that I would be going out partying with El.
“I don’t want you going out where I can’t watch you.” Harry retorted, sternly. “I trust you, it’s other people I don’t trust.”
“I need a life as well!” I said, indignantly. I could tell Eleanor felt awkward, quietly rinsing out our coffee mugs in Harry’s kitchen sink.
“Your life is with me now, so why don’t you try and respect what I say?”
“You don’t want respect, Harry. You want obedience. I’m not a possession.”
Harry sighed on the other end, and I could tell he was probably chewing his bottom lip in thought. “I just worry about you, I’m sorry. I just wish I could be there, just incase.”

Eleanor looked back over at me, and I shook my head, fed up.

“I shouldn’t have to feel like I need permission.” I said, finally.
“I get it, Annie. I’m sorry. I’m over-reacting.” He paused. “I trust you. Just please take care.”
I gave a weak smile, nodding slowly. “I intend to. Stop worrying. I’m almost twenty years old!"

Our conversation improved from then on, and when I hung up I felt a wave of relief. Seconds later, that feeling was replaced with the same heaviness in my chest. One week, two days. I missed him like he had been gone for months.

“We have a party to get ready for.” Eleanor smiled, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Annie. He’s just protective. He wants to protect you from every little thing.”
“Is Louis like that?” I asked, not removing my gaze off of the counter in front of me.
She shifted awkwardly. “Well, no. But we’ve been together two years! You’ve been together two weeks. It comes with time. Plus Harry hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing - he’s just trying to get it right. Don’t forget, he’s never had a serious relationship. Give him time."

I nodded, smiling at her.

“Well, lets get going. I think a McDonalds drive thru is in order, before we start getting ready.”
“You read my mind,” Eleanor said, picking up her car keys. “Come on. I’ll drive."

Notes

filllerrr sorry!