Gotta Be You.

Tanner sighed and continued applying the cover-up to her face, noticing that even with half the bottle, the bruise wasn’t going away. She was meeting up again with Eleanor today and there was no way in hell that she wasn’t going to notice it.

Giving up, Tanner jumped off the counter in her bathroom, walking back into her bedroom. She slipped on a pair of skinny jeans and a yellow sweater, accompanied by a pair of black converse. It wasn’t cold out but Tanner wasn’t in the mood to explain all the new scars and bruises to Eleanor. Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, Tanner pulled it out and began reading the text.

Hey, I’m not going to be ready in time to meet you at the mall because Louis took forever in the shower. Can we meet at my hotel instead?? Don’t worry, the boys are already gone. It’s the Ritz Carlton on 15th street. Floor 5, room 507. It should be open. Love you. (: x

Tanner shook her head and walked out of her apartment. She was hesitant about going to the hotel. What if one of the boys walked in? Shaking the thought from her head, Tanner continued walking to the hotel, not having enough money to take a cab. When she arrived, she took the elevator to the 5th floor and easily spotted room 507.

“El, I’m here.” Tanner called out. Eleanor popped her head out of the bathroom and smiled.

“I’ll be out in a second.” Tanner nodded, walking around the fancy hotel room. She ran her fingers over every corner, taking in the feel. Never in her life did she imagine she would ever be standing in a place like this. “Hey.” Eleanor grinned, walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. “Isn’t it a little hot out for a sweater?” She questioned. Tanner simply shrugged before plopping down on the couch. Eleanor made no thought of it and walked back into the bathroom so she could finish getting ready.

“By the way, El, I’m really sorry about last night. I forgot I had something else to do.” Tanner called out pulling her feet onto the couch. She was pulling at a random piece of thread when the door busted open, a frantic Louis running in after.

“El, have you seen my phone? I can’t find it anywhere.” He called, not even noticing the girl that was seated on the couch with a shocked face. “Oh, there it is.” He whispered, walking over to the couch and picking his phone up off the coffee table in front of it. He smiled before finally looking to the girl on the couch. Dropping the phone he just picked up, they stared at each, a look of disbelief on both of their faces. “Holy shit.” He said. Finally, Eleanor came out of the bath, looking between the two who seemed to be having a staring contest. “Tanner.” He whispered. He bent down and poked her arm, trying to figure out if he was just having a dream or not. “Okay, what the fuck is going on?” He said, turning to Eleanor.

“I can explain.” She said, walking towards the boy who couldn’t keep his eyes off of Tanner. Tanner was now standing and rushing to remove herself from the hotel room. “No, wait, Tanner.” Eleanor grabbed her arm and looked back to Louis, who had a look of pure anger on his face.

-----

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you knew where she was.” Louis yelled. Though they were in the hallway and Tanner was in the room, she could hear every word they were saying perfectly.

“For the third time, Lou, I ran into her yesterday. It was the first time in a year since she left. I promise you, I had no idea she lived in New York.” Tanner could tell that Eleanor was becoming agitated.

“Harry’s been a mess for the past year and here you are, hiding her from all of us. You could've fixed this, you could've fixed Harry.” Louis snapped. Tanner covered her face with her hands and began to cry. She felt so guilty. Never had Louis ever raised his voice like that to anyone, especially Eleanor. And then there was Harry, who was a mess, according to Louis. Blocking out their voices, Tanner wiped her nose before standing and walking over to the door, yanking it open.

“She didn’t know, Lou.” She spat, looking between the arguing pair. “She didn’t know where I was. We just happened to run into each other at Starbucks yesterday. So stop blaming her when you know it’s my fault.” Tanner let the tears run down her face before pushing past them. “I’m sorry, El. I have to go.”