Last Girl Standing

She was pretty. Soft, doe brown eyes and tame wavy brown hair and a kind smile. All Haley could do was stare in wonder at Eleanor. It was either that or smack Louis upside the head and demand why the hell he ever let that go.

"Hello Haley." The petite girl grinned. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Properly, that is."

Haley's face started to burn. If this wasn't torture, Haley didn't know what else counted.

Nevertheless, she put on her game face.

"Same. I'm sorry I rushed out like that." She stuck out her hand, only to be enfolded by tiny arms. Louis shrugged with a small smile.

'She's a hugger,' he mouthed.

Haley smiled nervously.

He shouldn't have kept making all those innuendoes yesterday about their sex life in front of Eleanor anyway.

Eleanor thankfully kept the conversation going and light as the girls waited for their newest challenge to start.

Haley looked around, just to see how all the other girls were doing with the boys' exes. The blond next to Niall -Colette or Colleen, she wasn't sure- was yawning rather obnoxiously, and October's eyes were narrowed into slits.

"Am I boring you or something?" Haley managed to make out.

"So what if you are? Not like you could do anything about it."

Haley mentally gave October her approval to slap the bitch.

Danielle looked like she was still sizing Jenna up even after meeting the blond the previous day, and Natalie was lingering way too close to Zayn for Abelia's comfort.

Haley sighed, guessing it could have been a lot worse.

Just then, Tanisha walked out onto the lawn wearing her signature smile.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen!"

The group responded enthusiastically, or, as much as they could.

Tanisha just chuckled. Haley wondered if secretly she was a sadist.

"Alright all you lovely contestants, today we have a little surprise for you all!"

Haley groaned, wondering cynically if the producers were going to bring in the new boys of One Direction's exes, if there were any.

But suddenly, Kassandra stepped up from behind her, holding some sheets of paper. Haley gulped.

"I'm not going to be hosting this contest for you all today," Tanisha continued. "Your lovely Kassandra is!"

Somehow, Haley was standing next to Sadie, and felt the girl physically tense beside her. Haley narrowed her eyes, making sure Harry wasn't noticing. She didn't personally agree with Sadie's choice to side with Jenna.

"You all will be divided up into five teams," Kassandra announced. Haley winced at the monotony in her voice as she glanced off the first sheet of paper. Like she was told to do this. "Team Liam, Team Niall, Team Louis, Team Zayn and Team Harry. Newlyweds and exes will correspond with their respective boy. There will be twelve questions per team, each set pertaining to the specific boy on that team. The first girl to get three answers wrong eliminates her team. And so on, until there is one team left who will be declared winner. And this is where the exes come in. You can't take your sweet time thinking through what your boy's favorite food is. If your boy's respective ex answers first, that counts as a strike as well. But exes, keep in mind, give them a bit of time to think."

Kassandra ended her explanation, licking her lips.

"Is everyone ready?" Tanisha asked.

Everyone agreed, and the first round of questions started with Liam.

"Jenna, Danielle, what strange quirk does Liam have in the shower?"

When Jenna shook her head in defeat, Danielle announced that it was he liked to sing, and the most random songs at that.

Haley knew she was going to strike out first at that moment.

And it didn't take long for her strikes to pile up either.

"Team Louis, what food can't Louis eat?"

"Uh." Haley knew that was it as she looked down at her feet.

"Bread," Eleanor answered quickly.

Haley frowned to herself as Tanisha told her and Louis to step back as she got her third consecutive strike in a row. Her cheeks were burning with humiliation as everyone looked at them.

"Questions will only get harder, boys and girls!" Tanisha announced and motioned for Kassandra to keep reading off the questions.

"I don't even know why they're doing this type of game," Eleanor whispered into Haley's ear. "Most of these questions, they're just things you pick up after being with the person for a while. I don't blame you at all."

Jenna struck out after, not knowing Liam's apparent fear of spoons. Haley just sighed, taking Eleanor's point to heart. How were the girls expected to know the trivial stuff?

Sadie went down third, her last strike not knowing Harry's favorite sex position.

The battle between October and Abelia was fierce, Niall's girlfriend having only one strike while Zayn's had two. Haley was sure Niall and October were going to sweep another challenge clean, they were a powerhouse, but when October got her second strike, it was all up in the air. Haley even found herself waiting with a bated breath.

"October, what does Niall look for in a partner?"

October shook her head and the blond- Colleen or Colette- snorted.

"Metal and ink, obviously."

"Shut up," October growled, clenching her fists.

"Make me," the blond sneered.

"Shut the bloody hell up, Colleen," Niall said angrily. "Or else I'll do it for ya. You don' know anythin' about me at all! I look for personality, something you don' have a shred of."

Haley blinked, and just like that, Tanisha was closing up the challenge.

"Niall, since you answered your own question, your team forfeits the challenge. That means, Team Zayn, you're the winners!"

Everyone cheered like they were supposed to, even if it was very forced on some levels as Zayn kissed Abelia full on the lips..

"Well then," Eleanor said unsurely. "That was..."

"Someone else needed to win anyway," Haley said. "Niall and October have been crushing everyone else so far."

Suddenly, Eleanor had Haley's hand in her own and was dragging her back to the girls' mansion.

"El!" Louis called after them. "What are you doing with my-?!"

"Girl time, Lou! Stay out of this!"

Maybe this was the part where Eleanor told Haley how much she hated her guts. Haley could feel it coming.

"I really like you," Eleanor finally said after they found some privacy.

Haley did a double take. "Excuse me?"

"You'll be good for him," the other English brunette whispered with a small, endearing smile. "I can see that already."

Haley frowned, doubt settling in.

"Maybe."

"No, seriously. Don't rely on what those silly challenges tell you. They're proper bullshit. You can't let the little things get to you."

&&

Haley sat on the beach, wiggling her bare toes in the cooling sand as she watched the sun set.

It had been a long day.

She took in a deep breath, mentally calculating how much longer she was going to last on the Games, how much longer she'd ultimately have with Louis. There was only one more elimination until the real games between the couples started, and that's when everyone would really haul ass to the finish. Haley wasn't sure she had the motivation to keep going like the other girls did. Not after today.

She was never a good distance runner anyway.

"Haley?"

She wasn't surprised to turn around and see Louis walking through the sand towards her.

"Hey."

He plopped himself down right next to her.

"Hey."

"I reckoned I might find you here."

"Yeah, I just- needed a little down time away from it all."

Louis laughed. "You seem to need that quite a lot."

Haley smiled. "I might just lose it if I don't get it. How the hell I've managed to last this long- Shit, if I knew."

"Yeah, you definitely weren't a smart choice for the producers."

Haley's mouth dropped and she elbowed Louis in the ribs, earning a small cry.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Louis shrugged playfully. "I'm glad you got in though."

Haley looked away towards the water, blushing. "My sister got me in. I'm sure you would have found another girl to bide your time with."

Louis sighed. "Are we really doing this again?"

"What? It's true."

"To be honest, maybe. Probably."

"Just say yes." Haley rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Yes. But still, if I had to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn't trade you for any other girl in the world."

What about Eleanor? Haley restrained herself from asking. She even wondered where they went wrong. Was Louis always friendly with other girls? Or was that just a by-product of the end of their relationship?

Haley didn't want to step where she didn't belong.

"Same here," she found herself blurting out.

Louis turned to stare, a huge grin spreading across his face. "What was that?"

Haley immediately tensed and huffed. "What was what?"

Louis shook his head and laughed. "Of course, you're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Haley asked defensively.

"Getting defensive."

There was a small silence.

"But do you really mean it?" Louis asked, almost hopefully. "I mean, would you do whatever you did to piss your sister off again if it were your only way to get on this show?"

"And I still knew it would lead me to you?"

Louis nodded. "Mhm."

"I don't know," Haley answered truthfully. "Maybe."

Louis waited for the probably, but it never came.

"Was it really that bad?" He whispered.

Haley bit her lip. "I'm sure she hates me now."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Haley wanted to ask him why he kept asking when he knew she would never tell him in the first place, but the memory came rushing back and spilled out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Shea and I had a competitive relationship, ever since we were little. We were always trying to outdo each other, and somehow, it became trying to prank each other. I was a little late for April-fool's this year, and Shea had gotten me really good. I wanted to one-up her so I decided to booby-trap her house while she was at work. Chase- he's her boyfriend, or was, I don't know what happened after. He was also my friend too. It was stupid, I knew he had been cheating on her for a good while up to that point. I just didn't want to break it to her myself. I didn't think she'd believe me. Anyway, he wanted to get in on it and I didn't think anything of it. Because I'm such an expert in relationships and the opposite sex.

"I don't even know how it happened. He just kissed me, wanted to take it further. I told him to stop. I told him Shea would get there any minute. I still hadn't finished rigging the trap, but I just wanted to get out of there. But Shea got home then, just my luck, and flipped. Then she shipped my ass off to here."

Haley sighed, and didn't say anything else for the longest time, trying not to notice how Louis' blue eyes were staring at her intently.

"Haley, that was in no way your fault," Louis began. "Bloody hell, what he did could be considered-"

"I know!" Haley cut him off quickly, not wanting to think about what would have happened if Shea hadn't come home when she did. "I know. But I just- I should've told her he wasn't good for her anymore. God, I was the one who introduced them."

"Haley, you couldn't have known-"

"I should have."

"Haley, look at me." Louis grabbed her face, forcing her eyes to meet his. "No. You couldn't have. This wasn't your fault. And some things- somethings happen so others can fall into place."

"Oh god," Haley grumbled.

"What?"

"You're getting all mushy on me. I hate that."

Louis grinned. "You don't like much of anything I do, do you? Except that thing with my tongue-"

"Louis!" Haley's face reddened instantly. "Shut up! God, if Eleanor doesn't think I'm a slut with all the shit you were hinting to, it'll be a miracle."

Louis' smile dropped a bit. "She thinks you're wonderful. She's rooting for us all the way."

"Louis, you can't be serious, we're not going to win this thing."

"What? Why not?"

Haley narrowed her eyes at him. "I bombed against her this challenge, Lou. I got us dead last, again," she said bitterly.

Louis sighed. "El and I were together for more than two years. We've only known each other for a summer and we haven't exactly got the time to open up properly and get to know each other."

"The others seemed to do very well."

"Except Jenna. Danielle and Liam were together for a long time too."

"She still did a lot better than I did." Haley crossed her arms.

Louis' hands wrapped around her shoulders as his fingers started to work her muscles, tense or not.

"Let it go, Hay."

Haley really wanted to voice how much she hated it when he called her that, but she really didn't want Louis to voice any of her sexual preferences out loud again. Plus, it was starting to grow on her, just a little bit.

"So, are you ready to go down with a fight?" Louis asked with a joking smile.

Haley raised her eyebrows, forcing a small smile.

"I'll try."

She wasn't sure if Louis even bought her answer, but he wrapped an arm across her shoulders and kissed the top of her head lightly.

"You wanna take your mind off it for a while?"

His lips moved to her neck, just under her earlobe and she nodded.

She wanted him to take her mind off of a lot of things for a while. Like the possibility he might not be around to anymore soon.