Breathe in, Breathe Out

As Isabella walked the few miles it was to Eleanor’s house, she sighed to herself. She was so mad at her brother sometimes, at all of the boys really for being so protective and sometimes overbearing. She was just as old as them and she could definitely make her own decisions. She was the one who had had a career longer than any of the others after all. She was the one that supported herself and Louis first and now he was treated just like a child. She was happy for Louis, Harry, Liam, and Zayn, but she needed them to back off. She wanted to be her own person, not just Louis’ little sister.

All of this rushed through her mind at once. She wasn’t sure how to actually feel. She pulled out her phone and dialed Jake’s number. At the very least, she was going to get a date out of this whole mess. She hoped that being with Jake would help take care of her lingering feeling for Harry. In the deep recesses of her mind, she knew it wouldn’t, but she would try whatever she needed too in order to get him of her brain.

“Isabella?”

“Hey Jake,” she could feel her face meeting into a smile. She hadn’t known him for very long, they had only run into each other at their favorite Starbucks a few weeks back and had mostly texted since then, but she already thought he was something special.

“Hey,” she heard him inhale deeply, “what did your brother say?”

"He said he was totally cool with it!" She couldn’t believe how easily that lie came. She hadn’t exactly mentioned that her brother was Louis. Nor had she told him her last name, she just picked a normal generic one. She figured she would tell him if and when the time was right. For now, it wasn’t.

"Great. I’m already super stoked. When did you want to go out?"

"Since tomorrow is Friday, why not then?"

"Sounds good. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know? Dinner, maybe? Movies?" Isabella didn’t really know how to respond. She had never really been on a date before because she herself was always busy with something. Whatever her and Harry had, they couldn’t be considered dates at all. They were merely stolen moments.
She turned a corner and saw a few paparazzi hanging around. They stopped and stared at her for a few moments as though deciding if she was worth their time right now. She tried to back away slowly but they had already made up their minds. The shutters on their cameras started clicking like mad, “hold on a moment, okay?”

She put her phone into her pocket and dashed down the street as though she was being chased by killers. She saw Eleanor’s house coming up and ran up the steps and didn’t even bother ringing. She let herself in and slammed the door shut behind her and locked it tight.

“Isabella? What happened?”

“Nothing…just ugh…saw a rabid dog,” she laughed lamely, “any back to plans.”

"Just dinner and a movie? That sounds kinda boring," Jake said in a slightly condescending tone. Isabella furrowed her brow, that plan had sounded okay to her.

"Okay...boring it is. What did you have in mind?" She slipped off her shoes and walked into the living room where Eleanor was on her computer. She waved a quick hello to her.

"Let's go clubbing? It'll be lots of fun. There’s the one called Twice," he suggested and she could picture Louis’ disapproving look in her mind. Clubbing had never really had something that appealed to her, but she knew it would annoy the boys so she agreed. What’s life without a little danger?

"Perfect. I'll meet you there,"

“Don’t you want me to pick you up?”

“No, it’s fine. I’d take too long to get ready if I knew you’d come to my house and I could make you wait,” she awkwardly laughed. She didn’t want him to see her house either. He could figure out who she was in a heartbeat.

“Okay then…I’ll see you there at 11, yeah?”

“Yup…I’ll be there.”

--

"Hey El,” Isabella looked at the girl giving her a big smirk.

"Are your brother and Harry giving you a hard time again?” Although they had not known for very long, Eleanor was already a close friend of Isabella’s and could sense her every emotion.

"Of course," Isabella sighed and shrugged her shoulders, “Louis refuses to believe that I am an adult and can make my own decisions. To him I’m just little Izzy.”

“I’m sorry Iz! I could talk to him if you wanted….”

“No! It would only make things worse…trust me,” she sighed and noticed her phone ringing, “thanks though El. And look who’s calling.”

“Harry?”

“None other,” she said and excused herself.

--

"Isabella.”

“What Harry?”

“ Why'd you get so mad?" Isabella could hear some sadness in his voice. She knew that he didn’t like seeing her upset, but at the same time they didn’t have to try and control her life.

"Harry, please not now,” she sighed at him

"Please be careful," he said quietly.

"I will. Don't worry about me,"

"I’ll always be here for you, Izzy. You know I am," he promised. She wished he could realize how much those words meant to her, and hoped they meant the same to him. The worry in his voice made her heart crack a little more.

"Bye Harry," She said softly and ended the call. She pulled open the back door and walked out into the slight rain that had now proceeded to fall. Sometimes it felt like the weather reflected her every emotion. Lately everything had made her so emotional. She knew she needed some space and some breathing room. Isabella just wanted to be herself and to be accepted.

“Hey El?” She called back into the house as she closed the door behind her.

“What’s up?”

“Did you want to go to the mall with me? I’m feeling like a bit of a change,”

“I guess so. Let’s just not do something stupid, yeah?”

--

“What exactly are you planning on doing?

"Lifestyle change, I suppose," it was vague enough to cover what Isabella actually wanted to do, but still honest.

"Are you sure about this?" Eleanor had uncertain look on her face. She knew somehow this wouldn’t end well.

“Yeah,” she pulled Eleanor into the hair salon she had stopped, “it’s going to be alright!”

"What can we do for you miss?" The man behind the counter questioned her. He looked at the two girls for a few moments and tried to pick out where he knew them from.

"I want a hair change," Isabella smiled as she looks at her light brown locks in the mirror, “black and straight as can be.”

"Are you sure?" He asked shocked.

"Yes,"

--

A few hours later Isabella and Eleanor left the mall, the former looking almost unrecognizable. Gone were the curly light brown locks, replaced instead by stick straight black ones. She carried bags upon bags of new things like clothes, shoes, and bags, while Eleanor walked behind with nothing. Something about the whole day just hadn’t struck her right.
The girls walked to Eleanor’s house, hoping to just spend a quiet girls’ night together.
Little did they know, their plans were soon to be ruined.

--

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" Louis’s jaw dropped as he gave his little sister the up and down glance, “what happened to you!?”

“Really Louis? You just couldn’t leave it alone? I just wanted to get away and have a bit of change,”

"What’s been up with you lately, Izzy? You’re not the same anymore,”

“Everyone needs to grow up at some point, Louis,”

"What's the matter with you?" Louis was

"Nothing is the matter Lou! I'm just…” she paused so she could think clearly about her words, “I just want to be able to be an adult on my own and not just be your little sister. I love you to death and you know that, but I don’t want to be in your shadow forever. “

“Isabella-“

“Bye Lou,” she said softly as he opened the door and beckoned for him to leave. He gave her one last look and walked back home, his mind going a million miles an hour.

--

“What did I do wrong?” Lou sighed as he aimlessly looked through the fridge for about the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

"Maybe…maybe she’s got a point, Lou. Just let her be for a little bit. She can make her own decisions,” Harry didn’t want to totally agree with either sibling. He loved them both very much, but he knew where his real loyalties should lie.

"Haz! She’s going to make a big mistake… I just don't know what I'm going to do!" He shouted.

"Let her be. She'll come around," Harry insisted.

"I hope so. But until she does, she's on a tight rope. I'm asking you to help me watch out for her," Louis said quietly said, placing his hands on Harry’s shoulders.

"Don't worry, I will," he replied.

Harry went upstairs to his room and pulled out his phone. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of everything that had happened throughout the day.

“Hey Liam,” he said quietly when “Daddy Direction” answered.

“Hey Haz,” he noticed that Liam was breathing heavily.

"Sorry, mate. Was I interrupting?” Harry chuckled slightly.

"No, no. Just beating Zayn and Niall at Wii tennis," he could hear Zayn and Niall calling Liam a liar in the background.

"Have you seen Izzy at all today?"

"No. Haven’t heard from her today. Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. Louis’ freaking out though, thinks something is wrong with her. I've been enlisted to help look out for her,"

"Damn! Overboard much?"

"Just a bit,"

"Hope everything works out, mate," Liam had always suspected that Harry had feeling for Isabella, and to him this confirmed it. He wanted them to be happy but he knew that would never make Louis happy if they were together. Harry was in a definite pickle.

"Me too. Me too," Harry sighed and hung up the phone.

What to do, what to do….