Unexpected crush (l.s.)

6

Eleanor stared at her best friend as if he'd grown a third head and declared that chocolate ice cream wasn't the best cure for almost everything.

"You're telling me that you ran from your crush because of what happened years ago?" She yelled and Louis flinched a bit. Eleanor could be really scary if she wanted to and at that point, she was almost more terrifying as having to get your own appointment at the doctor.

"Maybe?" Louis twisted his fingers in his lap and kept his gaze locked on the little green spot of nail polish on the floor.

"You are an idiot!" Eleanor screamed in frustration and Louis couldn't find it in him to disagree. He knew that -if he had stayed- Harry and he could've been friends, but of course the boy had chosen to run and with that he'd thrown away his chances.

"I know," he sighed, "But, I panicked! What if it turned out like with you? I know Zayn and I changed over the years, but the pressure to be perfect and to only talk to people that were supposedly better than the rest... I don't want to get myself involved in those crowds, El! Zayn and I quit all of it... Well, I did. The partying, the alcohol and... the drugs."

"I never said you should go back to those hypocrites, Lou," Eleanor wrapped her arms around Louis' waist and snuggled closer to him, "Just talk to that Styles boy. Get to know him. Maybe he isn't that bad?"

"He isn't," Louis rolled his eyes and smiled fondly, "He's like a newborn Bambi. He trips over his own feet and he even apologized to a dog when he almost tumbled over it! He held the door open for one of the freshmen and he was blushing and apologizing when the girl hyperventilated in front of him."

"She-- the girl did what? Why? Was she okay?"

"You are totally missing the point of Harry being the perfect human being, but the lucky girl was flipping when she saw the embodiment of a god."

"Look out Lou, your fond is showing. I swear, you're a real fanboy."

Louis chuckled, "Of course I am!"

It was something about being back in his old town that made the boy want to scream, dance or puke. He didn't know which feeling was stronger yet, but being with someone that knew him, the real him, made him relax. Of course, Zayn will always be his best mate and if Louis ever needed something he could ring Zayn and the Bradford boy would break the speed limit to get to him and Louis was thankful for that, he really was but... It was just so- so different. Like, Zayn knew why Louis begged his mum to move (and the angel even followed him because he wanted to be there for his friend) and he knew why Louis acted like he did, but he wasn't there. And Eleanor? She was right besides him at that point.

[flashback]

Louis had never felt so disgusted and sick as he did at that point. He heard screams and he had fully intended to stop whatever was going on until he saw it and, well, Louis just froze. His friends. The people he surrounded himself with... Those guys were... We're beating up a very familiar brunette. The blue eyed boy could hear fragments of what they were saying and he cringed with each and every word.

For how long did his friends do this?

How many times was Eleanor beaten until she could barely walk?

Why was this happening?

It... It was all his fault. He knew it. He started to threaten the girl, he began to bully her so she would succumb, he... He made it seem like it was acceptable for others to do that and it made Louis sick.

Eleanor's brown eyes met his and he caught the silent plea in it, begging him to make it stop, and Louis' limbs began to move again. He wasn't running away -like he intended when he first saw the scene-. He was walking towards them, fist clenched and jaw clenched. His anger was bubbling up and he knew he would lose quite a lot of 'friends' in only a matter of minutes.

"Get away from her," he grunted when he finally reached the group and five heads turned his way.

"Louis!" Aiden looked at him with a broad smile, "Want to join?"

The brown eyed boy didn't expect Louis' fist to collide with his face and he stumbled backwards, hitting the wall with his back and sliding down.

"Get. Away. From. Her," Louis bit and the four other boys backed away quickly, leaving Eleanor with fear in her eyes and bruises all over her body.

"Are you going to join them too? Go ahead, I'm already used to it," She narrowed her eyes and spat on his shoes, "You're no better than them. I see why you're friends."

Instead of kicking her or throwing a punch like everyone expected him too, he scooped her up and started walking towards the nurse. Louis didn't say anything. He had no words that could possibly be enough to apologize to the girl in his arms. It was his fault after all...

[end flashback]

"Lewis, you're dreaming again," Eleanor poked the boy's cheek and Louis quirky an eyebrow.

"Don't touch me, you peasant."

"Ah, of course, a humble servant like me shouldn't touch the queen," Eleanor smirked, "But I bet Harry can touch wherever he wants , right?"

Louis mouth dropped open, "Eleanor Calder! How in the world could you say that? Im innocent, don't taint my white soul with your vile words!"

"As if, remember when you called me around midnight after you went to a bar? I had to listen to a very detailed report of you su--"

Eleanor got interrupted by a pillow being thrown at her and she laughed while Louis' face flushed red. It was exactly moments like these that Louis wished he could be absorbed into the ground and escape the situation and embarrassment.

****

Louis and Eleanor were laying on the latter's bed in the dark. They just had dinner and Mrs. and Mr. Calder had questioned him about his school life and even his love life. Louis had escaped by telling them stories of his family and dinner passed peacefully.

"Lou, you know that you don't have to punish yourself for what happened, right? I know that Aiden and you were friends, but it wasn't your fault. You didn't know."

Louis shrugged, "I'm okay with being in the background. I just wish I noticed it sooner."

"They aren't all like him, Lou."

"I know, but--"

"No buts!" Eleanor sat up and placed her hands on Louis's cheeks, "I want you to be happy, Louis. You're going to man up and go after that Harry Styles when you return home and you will ask him for his number! You can't be an old man surrounded by cats because you were too caught up in the past!"

"I like dogs more than cats, El, you know--"

"You are an absolute idiot, Louis Tomlinson, but I love you endlessly."

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Don't worry, Eleanor and Louis are 1000% just friends.
I'm probably gonna do one or two more flashbacks, but the story is going to move a bit more after those (that's what I think right now at least,I have no idea how my brain will work tomorrow)

I hope it was an okay chapter? It's a bit slow... Or..? I'm not sure about the speed of the story (man, I don't know a lot of things now that I think of it)

Thanks for reading!💜