Secrets

“When is their plane supposed to come in?” I question, throwing my head back against the chair and suppressing the groan that was dying to escape from the bottom of my throat.

“Fifteen minutes ago,” Louis sighs as he checks the time on the front of his phone. “God, what’s taking so long?!”

“Guys,” Liam butts in, “relax. It’s okay. They’ll get here.”

I roll my eyes. “But I want them to get here soon. Because I don’t want to spend my day sitting in an airport.”

“Same,” Louis seconds. “And, Liam, aren’t you excited to see Danielle? You haven’t seen her in a few weeks.”

“Of course I’m excited,” Liam defends, narrowing his eyes slightly. “I want to see Danielle just as much as you want to see Eleanor. But I’m just saying that getting all worked up about it isn’t going to help anyone.”

Louis sighs, agreeing with Liam without admitting defeat verbally.

Just then, the flight’s number gets called over the intercom, and Liam immediately hops to his feet.

We burst out laughing. “And who’s the overly-anxious one now?” Louis brags with a smug smile.

“Shut up,” Liam snaps, but he doesn’t tear his eye away from the gate to glare at us.

A couple minutes later, Eleanor and Danielle step into the airport, their purses slung over their shoulders. Their faces are bright with laughter, and they look flawless, even though they’ve just been on a plane for an ungodly amount of time.

Louis and Liam don’t hesitate before running over to them and enveloping them in a hug. Liam goes straight to twirling Danielle around in the air before planting a lingering kiss on her mouth, while Louis keeps it more professional and just squeezes Eleanor so tightly that I’m afraid she might burst and whispers into her ear.

Finally, they break apart and remember my existence. “Nice to see you, Harry,” Eleanor smiles. She and I go way back.

“You, too,” I grin back. “And hi, Danielle.”

She giggles as Liam pulls her tighter against his side, his arm gripped around her waist. “Hey,” she greets as she pushed Liam away playfully.

“So, Harry,” Eleanor starts with a cheeky smile, “Louis tells me that you've got yourself a girlfriend. Is that true?”

I don’t get bashful often, but for some reason, when people bring up Molly, I can’t help but get a little sheepish. “It is,” I finally tell her. “Her name’s Molly.”

“Like your cat?” Eleanor remembers, laughing. “How ironic.”

“It is a little bit, yeah,” I allow. “But she’s dying to meet you two.”

“I can’t wait to meet her either,” Danielle smirks. “We can tell her about all your awkward stages and embarrassing moments…It’s going to be great.”

“Nooo,” I whine without discretion. “That’s not nice.”

“We never said we were nice,” Eleanor voices simply, shrugging. “So you’re just going to have to deal.”

I pout, but the couples are no longer paying attention to me, instead walking ahead, holding hands, talking in soft tones so no one could hear but each other. Before Molly, it would have bothered me that I was being ignored, but now I understand. When someone’s away from the person he or she loves most in the world, it’s painful, and being together feels like the most perfect thing in the world.

Soon enough, we are back on our floor of the hotel. I do the honors of knocking on Molly’s door, knowing that she’ll be more comfortable if she faces me first, as opposed to either of the two beautiful girls behind me.

“Hi,” Molly greets with a large smile. “What’s up?”

“I’ve got some people here to meet you,” I explain before stepping out of the way, letting Danielle and Eleanor step forward.

The girls all introduce themselves to each other, and soon enough, they’re talking and laughing like they’ve been friends their whole lives.

“I have an idea,” Danielle announces. “Let’s all have dinner tonight. The three of us.”

“The three of you?” Liam butts in, and I know what’s on his mind. Snickering, I elbow him in the side.

“Yeah,” Eleanor agrees. “We can hang out with you guys later tonight. But we want to get to know Molly better.”

“And embarrass Harry,” Danielle clarifies.

I groan, but none of the girls hear me, since they disappear into Molly’s room and shut the door behind them.

“She’s teasing me,” Liam sighs, his eyes and expression sad.

“Welcome to the wonderful world of females,” I laugh, smacking him hard on the back.