It's You [H.S.]

5.2 | You without me

20th March 2016

Eloise cranes her neck up with a start. Having had her head buried in Harry's pillow, as she sucks a deep breath, her senses flood with the smell of his cologne and shampoo and him.

Bending an arm up to rest on her elbow, she rubs a hand over her face and lets out a deep yawn.

She's not sure when she finally fell asleep, but she fell hard.

Frowning at registering an unfamiliar noise from downstairs, she stills to try to work out what it is.

In a moment of realisation, her face falls before she leaps from the bed in a tangle of limbs, stumbling to the ensuite bathroom, only vaguely registering the early dawn light seeping through the blurred windows.

After hastily brushing her teeth, she pulls on his lilac dressing gown. Grabbing her phone off the nightstand, she hurries out the bedroom door and down the stairs.

>

Rounding the corner into the kitchen, Eloise stops scrolling through the notifications jamming her phone and pauses to take in the scene in front of her.

Anne, looking tired and dishevelled, stands boiling the kettle, staring distractedly through the window into the garden.

The lawyer and publicist, both dressed disarmingly casually, hover around the dining room table.

Jeff stands with one hand tugging his hair and the other hovering over Harry's shoulder.

He's leaning over the table, arms straight and head bowed. In grey sweatpants and a thin white t-shirt, she can see the tense hunch to his rounded shoulders.

"What are you talking about? This changes everything. They've got her name and already tracked this down... Fuck", he spits out.

She's never heard that tone to his voice before, and can't help but think that the rain pelting against the patio doors matches his dark mood.

Feeling shaken, she takes a deep breath and tentatively steps forward through the kitchen and into the dining room.

Anne clocks her in her peripheral vision as she passes. Eloise can't quite make out her expression and is too intent on Harry to take the time to figure it out.

"What changes what?", she asks hesitantly, stepping through the doorway as she pockets her phone.

The mood in the room only gets tenser as they all look up at her, grim faced.

When Harry just hangs his head down and lets out a deep breath, her step falters. Whatever this is has to be bad. Shit.

Squaring her shoulders, she steps next to him, not quite touching, and casts her eyes over the dining room table and the freshly printed photos covering its surface.

As her eyes scan them briefly, too quickly to take in all the detail, she tries to cut the tension. "Well, there can't be anything too steamy, from your mum's account, right?". How bad can it be?

Harry's scoff is interrupted by the publicist cutting in. "Is there anything steamy we should be worried about? Anywhere?", she asks, flatly, as the lawyer looks on, staring intently between her and Harry.

"No! We're not stupid", Harry snaps, affronted, but still not looking at Eloise. Or his mum.

As the awkward silence descends, she looks at the photos more closely. She can't help but smile at what she sees.

There are lots of him without her.

God, he's so handsome.

There are some cute ones of the pair of them.