#Harrys got to be the worst patient ever

[oodlesodoodles]

More sickos cause im sick

[purplecoffee13]

NFWMB - part 4

Summary: “Y/N and Harry both attend Sophie’s party, and it doesn’t exactly pan out how Y/N thought it would.”

Wc: 5.6k

Tropes: boxer!harry x innocent!reader

Warnings: physical violence, verbal threats, angst, mention of SA, fluff, jealousy.

A/N: tell a friend to tell a friend… SHE’S BAAACCCKKK!!!! Hi guys, thank you for being so patient. I was literally unable to write for weeks and they were the worst weeks of my life, but I’m finally doing better and my creative juices are flowing! Pray with me that it’ll last🙏

Also THIS IS NOT PROOFREAD sorry I was just too excited to get this out🤭😋

P.S. I recommend you listen to ‘Ice Cream Man’ by RAYE. Not only does it apply to the sorry (warning: SA) but RAYE is also an incredible artist!!

General Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Y/N had never observed herself in the mirror for this long. She was certain that at one point she was going to start to look disfigured to herself, but she just needed to make sure that everything was right.

During her childhood, and especially her adolescent years, Y/N had always been told not to be too vain, but to always look good. There were contradictory balances that she's had to sit in the middle of for as long as she could remember, and she was good at it, until tonight.

For some reason, this burgundy dress she was wearing had to be matched perfectly with her shoes, bag and make-up, and right now she was absolutely sure that it didn't.

Instead of throwing her blow dryer at the mirror like she wanted to, Y/N took a deep breath and closed her eyes, hoping her mind would occupy her with a distraction good enough to give a refreshed perspective when she'd open her eyes again. Of course it was him that flashed through her mind the second her eyelids fluttered shut. She should not have been surprised, because wasn't that what this was all about?

Y/N hadn't been able to stop thinking about Harry since... well, actually she couldn't exactly remember since when because that's how long he's been floating around her head for. Seeing him multiple times a week wasn't helping much either, it gave her new material to think about whenever she had a second to spare. It was like a disease, spreading through her entire body, except she didn't mind and the symptoms made her feel more alive than ever.

Just the sole touch of fingers on her waist, or shoulders was worth replaying a million times in her head, as were all the times he'd say something that could even remotely be said in another, less appropriate context. Y/N felt like she had to visit a confessional or something, because it was getting out of hand. But she knew this wasn't bad, and the only thing she was doing by fighting this was stopping herself from getting something she—deep down—felt she didn't deserve.

Despite these pitiful revelations, Y/N still found herself nitpicking at every single aspect of her appearance as she got ready for Sophie's birthday party.

With only five minutes on the clock until her Uber driver would be outside, Y/N decided to accept the black heels she'd put on and the small shoulder bag she'd settled on. A final look in the mirror indeed gave her an epiphany: brown lip liner.

After darkening her lips with the pencil, at last it felt like everything had fallen into place— with the exception of the nerves dwarreling around her lower stomach of course. Even as she sat in the Uber with the nice woman who was talking about her kids as she drove her to the party didn't do one thing to take her mind off the excitement she was feeling.

Y/N tipped her driver before she got out of the car and made her way inside, where she was greeted by an elated—and perhaps already slightly intoxicated—Sophie. The long, dark green dress she wore complimented the blonde shade of her hair, and her make-up was out of this world. Y/N made sure to note that when she congratulated her friend.

It only took five seconds of scanning the room before she spotted him, standing by the bar as he—Y/N could only assume—waited to be served his drink. It felt much like being a magnet to a whiteboard, the way she was so drawn to him. Y/N knew she should've considered herself lucky that another couple came into greeting Sophie, because otherwise she wouldn't have been let off the hook so easily, but that gratefulness was far down on the list of things that took up her thoughts as she made her way to the man at the bar. And when he turned around, she may as well have punched herself then and there, because Harry looked breathtaking.

He always did, of course, but seeing him in a dark grey suit with a soft pink dress shirt, his hair pushed back and all clean shaven... it did something to her.

From the looks of it, Y/N took the guess that her appearance also threw Harry off in some kind of way, since the stutter in his greeting was too apparent to ignore.

"H— hi." He said, mouth slightly agape as his widened eyes took in Y/N. "You look beautiful."

She could have sworn her intestines were being swapped all around inside her because those nerves in her stomach tripled in size as she eyed the floor for a second while heat rose to her cheeks. Y/N had never been good at receiving compliments, mostly because she had been taught that not immediately accepting them was the only way to be worthy of them. Besides, it would make her conceited and rude to just agree.

And yet, all those rules on how to behave flew out the window the second those green eyes were on her, and she didn't care that she jeopardized her worthiness. She just wanted to soak in the words he deliberately told her, and feel good about them. So she didn't argue him on anything, and instead responded:

"Thank you. You clean up good yourself."

The lopsided smirk on Harry's face made Y/N want to jump up and down, for no other reason than that the sight of it just made her really happy. And for a moment she wondered if it couldn't just stay like this forever? Pure, sincere, and not strong enough to be soul crushingly destroyed by anyone, including her own self sabotaging tendencies.

"Oh, this old thing? Just threw it on." Harry shrugged, his eyes fixated on Y/N. She laughed at his ridiculous attempt to be cool. He leaned against the bar, his head tilting a bit. "What are you having?"

His head nodded towards the bar, and Y/N took it as an invitation to get closer to Harry. She stood next to him, just a little closer than necessary, as she hummed and thought about the hundreds of drinks she could possibly order, and totally didn't settle on the same one she always gets.

"I think I'm going to get a cosmopolitan." She answered, and surprised her smile as much as she could as she watched Harry flag down the waiter and order the drink for her. She quite liked this gentleman-like treatment.

"Very fitting, angel." He said lowly as the waiter put down the drink in front of her.

Y/N turned her head to him, a raised brow challenging him slightly. "And why is that?"

Harry moved to lean his entire back against the bar instead of just one side, and shrugged his shoulders as he observed the room before locking his eyes onto her again.

"Because you're just as sweet as that cocktail." The grin that his comment was accompanied by would have been enough to make Y/N's knees buckle right then and there, but the fact that she was holding onto a bar helped a great deal.

The sight of Oscar talking to some other colleagues of hers also helped with that. She could quite literally feel the color drain from her face as she took him in.

It wasn't like it was unexpected; she knew there was a big chance he'd be there. But between Harry, the amount of work she had to do, and all of her self-defense training, she hadn't had much time to think about hypothetical confrontations with Oscar.

"Are you okay?" Harry's gaze darted from the direction in which you were staring back to Y/N. Only when her eyes settled on him again, a part of the worry in his eyes slightly faded. She mustered a smile, nodding her head and hoping it would be enough to convince him. From the look on his face she knew that he wasn't convinced in even the slightest, but she was surprised to hear him switch the topic of the conversation.

"I want you to meet Greg." He said, and Y/N hummed in agreement, grabbing her glasses and following as Harry lead them to her colleague's boyfriend.

"I've already met Greg." She noted, still walking closely next to Harry, whose hand was ghosting over the small of her back.

"Yeah, but I want you to meet him as my best friend."

Y/N was sure that whatever was rattling in her stomach was doing cartwheels as she took in the determination on Harry's face. It didn't seem like he was shying away from what he was implying, and yet she wasn't certain. Because what if he didn't mean it like that at all? Y/N needed to be 100% sure that her suspicions were correct, because the weight of the humiliation that hung over the risk she could take was too great to bear. Besides, she didn't want to jeopardize the self-defense classes. It was a place of safety for her now, she couldn't lose it.

She didn't have much time to dwell on it given that she found herself in front of Greg. Quickly shoving her thoughts away, she conjured a smile and gave the man in front of her a hug.

"How have you been?" Greg asked, grinning widely as he waited on an answer. "Heard you've been taking self-defense classes."

The way he eyed his friend, and the manner in which Harry's eyes glared at Greg, caused a wave of of giddiness to flood over her. This had to mean something, right? Or was she just fishing now?

"Uh, yes, I have. It has helped me a lot." She  answered with rosy cheeks. Greg nodded his head.

"That's great, Y/N. I mean, Harold here is a great teacher, isn't he?"

She snickered, turning to Harry. "That's your full name?"

"No, Greg just likes to be an asshole from time to time." The agonizing smile on his face told her that Harry was a bit on edge, nervous almost? Y/N focused on Greg again.

"Yes, he's amazing." She said, and could feel the blood rush to her ears as she took in her own words. Instead of throwing out a bunch of excuses and rectifications on the construction of her sentence, she zipped her mouth shut, and let the compliment hang in the air. Her heart was racing, and she didn't dare look Harry in the eye, but from the small glance that Greg threw his way, she knew that he'd had some sort of reaction to the compliment.

"Well, stick around and soon you'll be strong enough to take out any man. My Sophie could knock me the fuck out of she needed to, and I'm glad she can." Greg beamed as he mentioned his girlfriend. Y/N was filled with a warm feeling in her chest as she observed Sophie's boyfriend. Her friend was a boss of a woman and to know she was getting the love she deserved was most heartwarming.

The moment was cut short, though, when another person entered the conversation. 

"Harry Styles?!" A joyous shriek—for lack of a more polite word—came from a short blonde woman to Y/N's left. The woman didn't pay any mind to Greg nor her as she headed for Harry, giving him a long, very very long hug. Y/N swallowed.

"Lindsay, I haven't seen you in ages." Harry's voice was kind, he sounded excited even. Maybe it was an old friend, or classmate, or—

"That's because the last time you saw me you broke my heart, hon." She giggled. Harry's brows raised ever so slightly.

An old girlfriend. Right, Y/N should've known that. That just made this entire situation a whole lot more awkward, and if there was one thing Y/N didn't care for it was unpleasantries like these.

So, she decided to do the one thing she was best at: escape. Downing her drink in one go, she wiggled her glass, catching Harry's attention.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom and then get another drink, see you later." Y/N's smile was sweet and full of sincerity, but her legs were heavy as she made her way to the bathroom, as if carrying an invisible ball and chain around each leg. She didn't want to be away from Harry, she wanted to snarl at that ex-girlfriend of his and tell her to back off.

But it was irrational and petty, and not to mention totally inappropriate, so she distanced herself instead. Y/N felt a headache looming, her body fighting her mind for the cowardly attitude it encouraged. She spent way longer in the bathroom than she needed to, eventually only going back after a minute long silent peptalk that she performed to herself in the mirror.

When she returned to the room she saw Harry still talking to his ex, only Greg had now left them and was dancing with Sophie and some others. Y/N thought over her options, and decided to join her friend.

She tried her hardest not to look for Harry in the crowded room, letting the music capture all of her attention. Sophie and Greg were performing all kinds of dance moves that had Y/N throw her head back in laughter, and in that moment everything felt so good.

Simple and good, that was joy. She hadn’t felt that in a long time.

After countless of songs and dance battles on the lit up floor, Y/N decided to take a break and treat herself to another drink. Sauntering over to the bar, she waited her turn order another cosmopolitan, and took a step to the side to let other people order as well.

Y/N was still looking at her fidgeting hands, lost in deep thought, when a familiar scent roamed through her nostrils and stiffened her entire body.

"A Long Island ice tea, please." Oscar's voice sounded from beside her. Y/N didn't dare to look up and stayed focused on her hands instead. She could see his hands from the corner of her eyes, they were desperately clamping onto the bar, knuckles  white.

Without even touching her, Oscar had managed to put a tightening strain on Y/N's chest that felt too uncomfortable to make her move. She was glad to see her cosmopolitan arrive, and was quick to move to the other side of the bar. In the quick second that she glanced at Oscar, she noticed his eyes were following her.

When he started moving closer to where Y/N was standing, the tenseness in her body began to develop into a full-blown panic, and when a set of hands settled on her waist, she couldn't help the hasty gasp that left her mouth before she turned around.

Harry looked surprised when she met his eyes, and she let out a sigh of relief to see that it was only him. Y/N let out a breathy chuckle as she slowly shook her head.

"Gosh, you scared me." It was noticeable in the strain of her voice that the stress hadn't left her body entirely, and Harry seemed to notice that. He raised a brow.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded eagerly, not wanting to steer the conversation this way. "'M fine. What about you?"

"Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed." Harry admitted, and Y/N frowned at the confession. Her head tilted, she asked:

"Why?"

"You told me I wasn't going to get rid of you so easily the other day." He noted, the memory of your conversation brought a smile to your face. "And yet I lost you after about ten minutes."

Y/N chuckled. "I was giving you some space. I didn't want to be rude."

"Angel... in any case, when it comes to Lindsay Holloway, please be rude." The sincerity in Harry's voice made her burst out into giggle.

"I take it you weren't planning on rekindling old flames then." Y/N said, and when Harry confirmed it with a firm nod, she grimaced. "And here I thought I was being a good sport, leaving you alone with her."

"Trust me, angel. She is not the woman I would like be alone with." He leaned forward, his face way too close to Y/N for her to function normally because of it. The overwhelming urge to just— kiss him was almost too great to resist. The way his eyes took her in was so exhilarating, and it didn't make her insecure because she didn't need wonder what he was thinking; it was written all over his face.

"Oh." Was the only sound that Y/N could utter as she processed Harry's words. His eyes flicked from hers to her mouth as he softly pushed her back against the bar, grinning at how her doe-like eyes were observing his every move.

"Aren't you going to ask me who I would like to be alone with?" Harry asked, and it was clear that he was taunting her. But it didn't occur to Y/N to mind, as she immediately obeyed him.

"Who would you like to be alone with, Harry?" She posed the question, watching his jaw clench at his name falling from her lips.

"Y/N!"

Both Y/N and Harry's head whipped to the side where Sophie was standing with a slightly distressed look on her face. Almost out of instinct, it seemed, Harry took a step back. A pang boomed through Y/N's chest.

"I need to talk to you, now." She demanded, not even a hint of a questioning tone in her voice. She meant business. Y/N nodded and slid past Harry, grabbing Sophie's hand and letting her friend lead the both of them outside.

There were some other people outside, smoking cigarettes as they chatted with each other. Every person stopped to greet Sophie with a smile or another 'congratulations' as they walked more towards the alley, where there were less people. Y/N's heart was racing from both the encounter with Harry and the nervousness that had built up thinking of the possible ways that this talk with Sophie could go.

She hadn't expected Sophie to start squealing in excitement, but it was better than anything she could've imagined.

"Oh my god! You and Harry?! For how long has this been going on?" She asked, and Y/N swiftly shook her head.

"There is nothing going on." She replied, the monotony in her voice doing little to hide the frustrations about the truth of that sentence. "I mean, there might have been a start of something going on before we went outside."

Sophie winced. "I'm sorry, I cockblocked you. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you don't seem like someone who is into casual hook-ups."

Y/N's face twisted in discomfort, and Sophie panicked at the sight of it.

"Not that Harry only does hook-ups! I didn't mean it like that. I just— I hadn't heard you mention him before and I didn't realize you were so close until last week." She instantly began to rant, and Y/N grew defense from her words.

"He offered me some extra training to build more muscle." She shrugged.

“Hmm, sure he is.” Sophie hummed playfully, wiggling her eyebrows and causing a snort to fall from Y/N’s lips. It took a few moments to control their schoolgirl-like giggles, but when they’d managed to pipe down, Sophie’s face turned a bit more serious.

“I just wanted to assure you that Harry is a good guy. You can trust him, you don’t have to hold yourself back.” Her eyes were soft as Sophie spoke, both her hands wrapped around Y/N’s right one. There was a stinging sensation in Y/N’s chest at the mention of the tendencies she thought she concealed quite well, but she was far from offended by it. On the contrary; she was relieved that Sophie could see right through her regarding this topic, because without this confirmation, Y/N would’ve doubted this situation for too long, probably causing Harry to grow bored and leave.

“Soph, we’ve been looking all over for you! We need to do the Photo Booth!” Stacy, another lawyer from the firm suddenly appeared and interrupted the conversation, shrieking in excitement as she hurried over to Sophie and grabbed her arm. She barely paid any mind to Y/N, at least not until Sophie gave her a guilty glance. Stacy conjured a confused smile of her own, her mind clearly battling about the fact that she seemed to recognize Y/N, only she had no idea where from.

“I’m going to borrow her for a little while.” She said, and it was only now that Y/N realized how nasal this Stacy sounded. Sophie had complained about it a dozen times, and now she finally understood the issue.

“Go ahead, have fun, I’ll find you later Soph.” Y/N said, smiling as she watched Stacy and Sophie walk back inside. She took the moment alone outside as an opportunity to clear her mind. To assure herself, that she had the confirmation that Harry liked her as well, and to just take the leap.

“Cigarette?”

Y/N’s head snapped towards Oscar, who was standing only standing a few feet away from her. She glanced at the other people smoking outside; at least she wasn’t alone. She turned her attention back to Oscar, and shook her head.

It stayed silent between the two, and since Y/N didn’t want anything to do with Oscar, she slowly started to walk away. But then, a sentence left Oscar’s mouth that had her frozen where she stood.

“Are you going to accuse him of assaulting you too?”

Y/N lost her breath. Did he really just say that? She pressed down the immense wave of nausea that threatened her to puke all over her pretty dress, and focused on her breathing before she turned around to face him.

“What did you just say to me?” Her tone was sharp, laced with a feeling of injustice. She tried to steady herself as much as she could, but she could feel her hands trembling from the adrenaline.

“I should probably warn him. Who knows what you’ll do to his life.” He sneered, his tone smothered in resentment. Y/N hadn’t even told anyone about what Oscar had done to her, and here he was, accusing her of ruining people’s lives.

“You need to leave me alone…” She growled, balling up her fists to channel her frustration into anything else than the wall or his face.

“Or what? You’re going to tell on me? Seriously, you don’t think that two men with a stellar reputation would make for a more believable story than a self-pitying gold digger?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“What? Mad I’m right? You do only target successful men right, don’t you?” He asked. The amusement in his eyes was disgusting and it made Y/N take a step back. She was seething with rage over Oscar’s words.

“Stay the hell away from me, Oscar.” Y/N fumed, turning around to walk inside, and when she felt a hand around her wrist, she couldn’t help the instinct that caused her to plant her fist in Oscar’s face. Just the way she had been taught.

It was with way more force than she’d ever managed to do before, and she was pretty sure she heard something crack—although she couldn’t make out whether that was Oscar’s nose or his knees as he fell to the ground.

It was like she could finally breathe, seeing him lay on the floor, groaning in pain. She’d been strong enough to defend herself from danger. Pride filled her chest, although it was vague in comparison to the rage that had overtaken the rest of her body.

Y/N flinched when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, but calmed down at the sight of Lindsay, Harry’s old girlfriend, standing beside her. She looked quite worried as Y/N let her guide her to the rest of the people who were still smoking outside. They all began to ask variations of the same questions: ‘are you okay?’ ‘Did he hurt you?’. Y/N frowned upon noticing Lindsay hurry back inside, but she didn’t pay much mind to it anymore when the guy next to her offered a cigarette. She shook her head, a bit taken aback by the timing of the action, and was just about to answer the question of the woman in front of her, when the huddled up group opened up and Harry appeared in front of her.

Crouching down, his eyes roamed over her entire body before settling on her knuckles that had already begun to turn red. His gaze met Y/N’s.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded.

“What happened?”

It only then occurred to Y/N that Oscar was probably still laying there, and the quick glance she shot to her left was enough for Harry to know what was going on. He stood up and walked over to Oscar, who had gotten up himself and met him in the middle.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” Harry asked. His voice was stone cold, everything about him was, actually. Not one hint of emotion could be traced in his tone, posture or really anything else. It would’ve been scary, had Y/N had the ability to feel scared of Harry. But she just couldn’t; he made her feel safe.

“Listen man, you need to avoid that girl. She’s fucking crazy. She already tried to ruin my life, don’t let her threaten you to ruin yours.”

All the pent up anger that had seemed to subside slightly once having socked Oscar in the face raced back all at once as the words registered in Y/N’s brain. But before she could get back up to her feet, Harry struck a punch, bringing Oscar to the ground once again.

Leaning forward, he grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up far enough so he could hear him when he said:

“If I ever hear you talking about her like that— better yet, if you come near her again I swear to god I’ll kick out every last one of your teeth… to start with.” Harry warned before letting go of Oscar’s collar with a shove that made a couple of people take a physical step back, and even made one person behind her gasp. Harry didn’t seem to care about any of that as he turned around; he just headed straight for Y/N.

Nor did he didn’t even so much as acknowledge Lindsay, who thanked him, but Y/N made sure to send a grateful smile her way as Harry wrapped his arm around her and led her inside. He didn’t say a word as they entered the room again and walked towards Sophie and Greg.

At first, Sophie was smiling at the sight of Y/N and Harry, but upon spotting her friend’s pale face, the corners of her mouth lowered into a thin line.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” Her hands were on Y/N immediately, fixing her hair and brushing her fingers against her pale cheek. Y/N knew that she probably looked like she had seen a ghost.

“I’m going to take her home.” Harry announced, and relief washed over Y/N because she didn’t really know what to say right now. Faking a smile, she tried to assure Sophie that it was alright, but her friend was already nodding before Harry had finished speaking.

Throwing her arms around her, Sophie hugged Y/N so tightly that she nearly lost her breath. When she finally let go, the look on her face was determined.

“I love you, have a good night. If you need anything, call me.” She said. Y/N nodded.

“I love you, have a great night.” She turned to Greg. “Watch her.”

The weak joke still managed to make the couple chuckle—probably out of pity—and Greg nodded dutifully, wishing her a good night with that playful wink of his. When Y/N turned back to Harry, he held out her jacket. Her face settled into a confused frown; how did he manage to get their coats so quickly. Was he a wizard or something?

Harry bid the couple farewell as well and soon they were on their way back to the car. Y/N was tense about going outside again, but her shoulders relaxed upon seeing an empty street. Oscar had left, thank god.

The car ride was mostly silent, aside from a few questions about the AC, and an attempt of Harry’s to casually ask for her address again, only to have it at the top of his search list on Google Maps. Y/N had to hold back her giggle.

The rest of it consisted of listening and moving their heads along to whatever song was on. It was mainly rap songs, and Harry knew them all, which was logical considering it was his playlist. There was something attractive about Harry knowing all these songs, it made him look a bit more… intimidating.

Y/N really needed to figure out what deep rooted issue caused her to like that.

She had to admit she was slightly disappointed when he pulled up in front of her apartment complex, so she took her time to turn her head to him, the hint of a smile on her face still. Y/N couldn’t help it; he just made her comfortable. She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned towards the middle of the vehicle, closer to Harry.

“Thank you, for dropping me off.” She said in a near whisper. The corners of Harry’s mouth tugged up, and he—in turn—closed the distance between even more, their faces only a few inches apart now. Y/N’s hands began to sweat.

“Anything for you, angel.” His voice was raspy, and despite the cockiness he radiated, there was still concern behind it.

But it was over— for Y/N it was over. Her self-control, an entity of its own, seemed to exit her body leaving her with nothing but him. All that adrenaline had channeled into a pressing urge to put her lips on his, to touch him, feel him all around. It was over.

Nothing held her back, not even her own stubborn mind, as she leaped forward and kissed Harry.

While she had expected him to maybe be surprised about her action, the way his mouth welcomed her—invited her, even—was enough proof that he had been ready for her.

Kissing Harry was like jumping off a cliff and diving deeper into the ocean. For once, she didn’t feel like to love was to drown. No, she submerged herself into the water and felt more at home than she had ever felt at the surface. Was it possible to feel at home in someone’s arms?

With a hand on her jaw, Harry lured Y/N forward further, challenging her by pulling back a bit. Needing his lips like it was her own source of oxygen, Y/N didn’t hesitate to lean further, and in all her desperation, climbed right onto his lap.

The short dress didn’t leave much restrictions for her heat as she automatically began to grind her hips. Only when Harry let out a pained groan that shot straight to her core, she’d realized what she was doing— what they were doing.

Pulling away in a flash, a gasp left Y/N. Her lips felt all puffy, much like Harry’s looked.

“S— sorry, I didn’t know what came over me.” Y/N shot in her defensive mode, but Harry only shook his head.

“Don’t say sorry, angel. I—” he cut himself off, and met her eyes. “I don’t think we should do this right now, because—”

Shit, no, shit, shit!

“Oh, yeah, no of course, no problem. I mean, you’re right.” Y/N began to rant, cheeks heating up in embarrassment. How could she ever do such a stupid thing. She was quick to lean over and grab her bag. “But thank you, for bringing me home, and I’ll see you Tuesday.”

Before Harry could even get a word in, she opened the door on the driver’s seat and climbed out of the car, smashing the door shut harsher than she intended to. She winced at the sound, but kept walking. This rejection was humiliating enough as it was, she didn’t need Harry to elaborate on all the reasons he didn’t want her.

She heard the car door open, but by then, Y/N had already entered her building. In the chaos of it all, she decided to sprint up the stairs, wanting to get away from the situation as fast as possible, and in that process forgetting that she lived on the sixth floor.

She was out of breath when she finally reached her apartment, but not as out of breath as she would have been a month ago. Damn Harry, those classes were really working.

Once inside, Y/N leaned against the door, dramatically letting herself slip to the ground as she buried her head in her arms and let out a frustrated groan. Why was every next step she took on the aspect of love always destined to be her most embarrassing one yet?

She huffed, massaging her temples as she soaked in the shame and slowly felt it wither away. She knew the mortification would wane, but the sudden awareness of that ache between her legs, she knew that wouldn’t just go away. With a sigh, Y/N hoisted herself up and got ready for bed before lying down and digging into her nightstand’s drawer to grab the only thing that could cure the ache down there.

Her racing mind was a reminder that getting this out of her system wasn’t going to be done very easily…

Taglist: @meetmeatyourworst @mema10 @seafoamwhispers @namoreno @inkedskin @fangirl509east @mellamolayla @lizsogolden @prettydelilah @harry2121 @babegoals @hermionelove @kierramcduffie

[elzdaizy]

Trouble After Paradise (Part 1)

Warnings: lots of angst, conflict, explicit language.

Summary of short story: Reader and Harry have returned from their honeymoon to a harsh reality and their first huge hurdle as a married couple.

A/N: This is 1 of 3 parts. Enjoy! Just a little short story idea i had and wanted to share with you all.

It’s been four weeks since you returned home from your honeymoon in Costa Rica and you’ve found yourself reminiscing constantly on that magical holiday.

To say the least, things have took a turn for the worst since you and Harry got home.

You were bombarded with mountains of piles of work to get through because there was no one to fill your position whilst you’d taken the month off leading up to your wedding, including the honeymoon.

Harry had started filming his next movie, one that was mentally draining due to his character being a very unwell mental patient at a psychiatric hospital.

You worked from seven in the morning until four in the afternoon in the office but always brought home some work to do which kept you busy until about eight at night when you’d get into bed.

Weekends were exhausting as well, you were catching up with friends and family after basically being off the grid throughout the week.

Harry’s shooting location, thankfully, was only a few hours away up north in Manchester so he managed to be home often between breaks but unfortunately meant that he wasn’t home with you for periods of times.

He tries his best to be at home with you on the weekends but his schedule doesn’t work that way all the time. On average you probably see each other a total of two days out of the week and it’s been this way the past four weeks.

You’ve both been so busy, you’ve barely had the time to live life together as a married couple. There’s a tension building full of stress and exhaustion on both ends of your marriage. You find yourselves bickering when you’re together and getting on each other’s nerves more than ever before.

You know it’s because you’re equally annoyed with yourselves and each other with the current situation.

It’s 8pm on a Friday night and Harry called you earlier that morning to let you know he’s coming home today at around 6:30pm and will be able to stay the full week until he’s off again. He asked for you to pick him up from the station because he had booked a meal at The Ivy for 8pm. You of course said yes. You were so excited to hear the news, you felt tears well up in your eyes. “I really can’t wait, I miss you so much.” You replied before you both said your goodbyes and I love you’s before hanging up.

What you didn’t know was that working would be busier than ever that Friday and now you’re still in the office trying to hurry up and finish off one last piece of paper work to be sent off to your client before the weekend. Your phone had died two hours ago and Harry hadn’t contacted you before it died so you weren’t too concerned that he would’ve tried to since then.

You could cry out of frustration. You purposely stayed back to get all this extra work done so you could book off Monday and Tuesday to extend your weekend to spend some time with your husband.

Half an hour later, you finally send the email and pack up your stuff. You race to your car and make your way home. The door is unlocked when you go to turn the key and your heart skips a beat when you realise that Harry must be home.

The lights are all off downstairs which is odd so you make your way upstairs to your bedroom to find Harry sat on the edge of the bed in just his underwear and his phone in his hands.

“Hi, baby.” You softly speak up as you walk through the door and put your bag and coat over the chair in the corner of the room.

Harry glances at you over his shoulder briefly without so much as a tiny acknowledgment of your presence before looking back to his phone.

You frown, thinking his behaviour seems a bit off. The energy in the room seems low and you can sense he’s not in a good mood.

You walk over to him, a hand on his shoulder and the other hand reaching to lift his head by tilting his chin in your direction for him to look up at you. As soon as you try to lean forward to place a kiss to his lips he yanks his head away from your touch and rolls his eyes, letting out a huff.

You step back, very offended and extremely hurt by his cold actions.

“Fuck you, then.” You throw your hands up and storm away to head downstairs to the kitchen. You’re literally trying so hard not to break down and cry right now so you’re pacing around your kitchen, breathing heavily for a few moments then deciding to pour yourself a large glass of wine.

You almost down the first glass. The second one being poured less than five minutes later. You’re just stood by your kitchen island with a glass of wine in one hand and thoughts racing around your mind as you try to figure out why your husband seems to despise you at the moment.

You soon realise it could possibly be the fact that your phone was dead and maybe he was trying to get ahold of you.

You start to feel a pit of guilt in your stomach when you take your phone from your pocket and plug it into the charger point next to your toaster.

You finish your second glass of wine once your phone switches on and your eyes widen when you notice the ten missed calls and five unread messages from Harry.

You read the texts carefully one at a time.

From Harry:

6:09pm - l’m fifteen minutes away from the station if you want to set off now. Love you. Xx

6:30pm - Where are you? I’m waiting near the security box until you’re here. Xx

6:53pm - I’ve rung you five times and you’re not answering so I’m making my own way home now.

7:26pm - Why aren’t you answering and why aren’t you at home? You do realise we have to be at The Ivy in half an hour.

8:03pm - cancelled the booking. If you read this before you come home - don’t bother me when you get in, I can’t be arsed with this tonight.

You heart feels like it’s going to stop. You have never felt more terrible in your life. You feel like a punch to the gut is what you deserve right now and nothing less. And to think, you literally just spat in his face and said fuck you to him, still not realising what you’d done.

You were so fixated on wanting to spend the week with Harry that you’d completely forgotten about picking him up and going out for dinner tonight.

You were a little drunk and very upset with yourself so of course the only thing currently you did was start to cry. You sat on a stool at your island, lent your elbows on the countertop, put your face in your hands and sobbed. Sobbed for your husband and how upset he must be feeling. Sobbed at the realisation of how much you hurt him and let him down. You felt like a failure.

After about thirty minutes of letting your feelings flow out of your system uncontrollably, you composed yourself and prepared yourself to go and apologise profusely. You’d gone over what to say in your head a million times and nothing sounded good enough but you know the least he deserves is an apology rather than an explanation or excuse right now.

Your face is puffy and red from the crying as you shakily walk up the stairs to your room and find Harry is now laying under the covers with the tv on, watching a movie with a deep frown on his face. As if he’s in deep thought rather than paying attention to the screen.

You push the door open gently and let yourself in. Basically walking with your tail between your legs, you can barely look at him as you sit on the bottom corner of the bed on your side. You couldn’t be further away from him on the bed if you tried.

“Harry, I’m so sorry.” You croak. Lips quivering as you fight the urge to break down crying again. You finally look at him after your first attempt at the beginning of a long apology. He’s ignoring you. Keeping his eyes fixed on the screen and his arms crossed over his chest.

You decide to keep speaking, “I completely understand why you’re angry and I don’t want to give myself any excuses for-.”

He reaches for the remote and turns up the volume to drown out your voice.

You let out a shaky sigh. A tear slipping down your cheek. “I didn’t ignore you on purpose- look, can you please just say something?” You beg pathetically and Harry’s head turns as his eyes look at you with anger.

“Told you I can’t be fucked with this tonight just leave me alone, please.” He sighs in annoyance before completely turning his back to you as he lays on his side.

You really don’t know what to say now. You didn’t expect this reaction from him. He’s never been this angry with you before and it’s terrifying you slightly because you really can’t cope with it. You don’t even care if he shouts at this point, you just want more of a reaction from him.

He has every right to feel the way he does, you know that. You hate going to sleep on bad terms though. You both agreed to always resolve conflicts before getting into bed because you never wanted to be that couple that gets into fights and makes one or the other sleep on the sofa.

It seems like it’s going to be that way tonight though. You don’t want to say another word because you don’t want to make it worse. Even though you know you won’t get much sleep, you decide to go sleep downstairs on the couch. You could go sleep in the spare room but you need a tv to distract you from your racing thoughts so the living room it is.

You get up from the bed, go take a quick shower and change into your pyjamas before grabbing your pillow from your side of the bed and walking towards the door.

“Goodnight, Harry. I love you.” You say to him softly before closing the door behind yourself and making your way downstairs.

You turn on a shitty reality show to fall asleep too. It takes a few hours but eventually you drift off.

The next morning you’re awoken by the sound of the blender rattling off in the kitchen. You feel at peace for a split second as your groggy memory clears up as your consciousness comes back, along with the awful events of last night. You grimace start yourself as you sit up on the couch and turn around to see Harry standing in the kitchen, making himself a smoothie, dressed in his running gear.

It mustn’t be any later than 6am because he only likes going running at the crack of dawn. He hasn’t noticed that you’re awake yet but you know he’s still fuming by the look on his face.

Now that you’re not intoxicated and knowing it’s a new day, you’re determined to resolve this issue very soon. You don’t want to waste any more of the short time you two have together for the next four days being bitter.

You get up from the couch and stretch before walking over to the kitchen island and taking a seat on the stool you were sobbing on last night.

“Morning.” You say with a tired voice as Harry still hasn’t acknowledged you whilst he’s cleaning up some dishes. You’re both facing each other on opposite sides of the island.

Harry looks up at you frowning and doesn’t reply so you take it as your queue to go in strong with all guns blazing.

“Can we please talk about this now?” You plead. Harry just deadpans and looks at you with a look that tells you no as he picks up his AirPods and puts them in as he makes his way to the door to go on his run.

“What the actual fuck! This is an actual fucking nightmare.” You frustratingly shout to no one but yourself after Harry closes the door on his way out.

[angelsarecomputers]

I know it’s been said but I find it so weird when people demonise Dora. The one interaction that we get with her- the REAL her- in the whole game, she is extremely patient, despite the fact that Harry is calling her in the middle of the night and asking creepo shit like ‘are you sleeping naked’. We can infer through context clues that this has probably happened multiple times before, and yet she still knows no signs of ill-will towards Harry- she just seems tired and concerned.

And it would be completely within her right to be angry at him for harassing her, as well! Knowing how volatile Harry can be, perhaps she even learned through fear not to confront him. And yet, there still seems to be this perception that, out of the both of them, DORA was the abusive one, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary! It’s not even that I don’t think she wasn’t at least slightly abusive, given Harry’s disabilities and their class differences, but what I am saying is that it was likely mutual, and that, out of the two of them, Harry was worse.

Their relationship probably got horrible and toxic towards the end, of that I have no doubt. What I don’t get is why the fandom seems to believe that Harry, as he currently is, is in any way capable of viewing the relationship objectively. There’s ample evidence that he was violent, frequently misogynistic, and that the experience gap between him and Dora was significant, and yet people still take his worst thoughts at face value. That she’s a ‘war criminal’, that’s she’s a goddess- people seem to think Harry’s deification of her is the main issue, and not the opposite; his virulent hatred towards Dora, towards ‘Revacholian women’.

It just boggles me that people are so willing to believe that Harry was the only one truly hurt- that Dora’s decision to leave was made lightly. We don’t know exactly what happened, and what glimpses we do get are filtered horribly through Harry’s grief, but they were in a relationship for more than a decade! They were planning to get married! I don’t think Dora just up and left for Mirova one day- the way the dream conversation goes seems to suggest they hadn’t been together for a while.

There are so, so many things said during the final dream that are probably just Harry’s self-hatred masquerading as Dora/Dolores- and while I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of it did come from Dora, at other points in their relationship, I think it’s pretty obvious that the final dream is meant to be a confused muddle of Harry’s memories and grief. Why else would she appear as Dolores Dei? But, while no one ever explicitly says it, I feel like a lot of people want to believe that the way things are during the last dream is how they were in real life. That Dora really was cold and cruel to Harry- when in real life she appears as just the opposite, despite what he puts her through.

[jarofstyles]

Sugar Sugar 11

they are back 😜 next part is the smut I promise don’t yell at me.

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Wc- 3.9k

Warnings- mention of cheating, witchcraft, relationship traumas

Series Masterlist

—-

Y/N was still thinking about the woman the next day. She hadn’t mentioned it to Harry yet, wanting to gauge his reaction in person. It had unsettled something, made her wonder why the hell she needed to contact him. It also made her realize that Harry really didn’t tell her too much about himself.

It wasn’t that she was necessarily suspicious- though her gut was urging her to ask questions- it was that she realized she had given him a lot of information and he hadn’t done it back. She was a pretty rational person, and figured it was probably because he hadn’t wanted to overshadow her sharing. It probably was. But something made her think Harry was hiding something he didn’t want anyone to know yet.

It wasn’t something horrid. That would have made her senses alert when she met him- but it was something that she wanted to know. She was patient but also a little nosy.

Y/N was broken out of her thoughts when warm hands wrapped around her body, making her squeal as soft, cool lips connected to her neck. As soon as she realized who it was her body relaxed, melting into his own as he let out a deep sigh. “Missed my Sugar today.” His voice vibrated against her skin, raising chills over it. “Long fucking day.” It was 7 right now and she had been closing up shop when he had snuck inside. It was a sort of a routine now, her smoky pink cloud of infatuation swirling around and engulfing the two as soon as his presence braced her.

“A long day?” She placed the swiffer duster down on the table, turning in his arms to look at his face. He looked tired. Slight dark circles under his eyes, hair flopped over on his face and more stubble than usual, she felt her bottom lip slope out in a bit of a pout as she rose a hand to cup his cheek. “What’s the matter?” She could feel he was tired. Just being around him, she could feel his energy was off. Murky instead of the normal crystalline pool of soft blue green she was used to sensing around his aura.

He leaned into her warm hand, visibly relaxing as he rubbed his scratchy cheek against the smooth skin. Y/N had an ability to soothe just with her touch, he was positive about that. Any time she got her hands on him he felt like he could melt. Sighing, he debated on telling her.

It wasn’t something he fully felt ready to talk about. As much confidence as he had in the fact that she was definitely not at all like the people he had walked away from in his old life, he was still paranoid. Nervous that at some point she would look at him differently, in a bad way. The circle he used to run in wasn’t known for the things he had tried to implement in his personality now, with her. He had effectively gotten away without a trace, and he didn’t need that to ruin the carefully cultivated dream world he was living in now.

“S’just… you know when old thoughts haunt you?” He asked, eyes closing when her fingers continued their soothing. “Couldn’t sleep well. Missed you. And I just can’t get some thoughts out of my head. It’s a bit ridiculous too, cause it’s irrational. Doesn’t mean my head got the memo.” The weak laugh was supposed to make her giggle as well, but it didn’t. His eyes opened to see the concern on her face, the rings on her fingers cooling his skin as she inspected him.

“I understand that.” Boy, did she fucking ever. Y/N had struggled with her own personal demons herself, things she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy, and sometimes they still found little cracks and crevices to hide in. They popped out of the dark to taunt her, to try and ruin her moods but she had worked hard to protect her energy. “Doesn’t mean I like seeing you upset. Your energy is off.” She murmured, sighing as she went to remove her hand from his face. Harry’s palm stopped it, pulling it back.

“Wasn’t done.” He tried to lighten the mood slightly. “Dunno how you can read energy like that, but I trust you in saying it’s off. I just… don’t know how to fix it. All day I’ve been waiting to see you.” There was a pause as he decided to just speak how he wanted, not worrying about being too much in their little bubble. “You always seem to make it better. Make me forget a lot of the bad shit.”

Y/N had a feeling that Harry was struggling with some things. It’s partially why she was waiting to question Claire's appearance. Something told her that he would know, and selfishly she wanted to ignore that for a little bit. Her gut was usually never wrong. How he knew her was a mystery, but her inky, cloudy energy had been radiating possessiveness. Something Y/N didn’t do well with.

Not when this pretty, tired man was hers.

“I’m glad.” She felt the heated tingle in her stomach, leaning up to catch his lips in a kiss. A supposed chaste kiss that he followed when she went to pull away, opposite hand curling around the back of her neck and dragging her back in. Warm and sweet and slightly chapped, his lips pressed against hers harder and made her forget why she had even wanted to pull back.

She gave in. Harry wanted to kiss her and she didn’t see why not, the firm hold on the back of her neck and the thumb brushing her wrist as he held her hand to his face making her shiver slightly. Every kiss with him, she could feel his attraction and fondness for her. Feel how he was holding himself back a little because he didn’t want to scare her. They’d been taking it somewhat slow but Y/N wasn’t sure she wanted to wait too much longer to get intimate with him.

A startled squeak left her mouth as her back hit the counter, his slow steps backing her up having been ignored until right now when she succeeded in pulling back. With a laugh, she pressed her hand to his chest and craned her neck back, smiling at his pout. The man wanted more of her, the greediness evident in his grip on her and how close he had pressed his body to hers, but she didn’t want to do this here.

“Hi.” She peeped, looking up at him. His soft hair that had fallen from its usual pushed back state, evident that it was the end of his day and he had worked hard. He was beautiful, this man.

“Hello.” He replies, his voice grittier than it had been before. “Too much?” His tone didn’t give away much, but a flash of nervousness had gone through his face when she had stopped him. It was always a learning curve, as he reminded himself. Every relationship was different but there was something so familiar about her. Like he knew her soul. The comfort was so natural that sometimes he felt like had known each other their whole lives.

“Not at all.” The girl’s breathy tone made her want to wince. “I just… I was thinking that maybe we can go to your place. We can get food delivered or… we don’t have to.” She peeled up at him, looking away from his chest where her hand was resting on his thundering heart. “Probably more comfortable than the shop.” And if Delilah knew they did anything in the front she would hex her.

“Oh. Oh.” He blinked at her suggestion. “Yeah. Course. Did you want to like… stay over? Cause we have the day off tomorrow?” They were going to see one another anyways. It made sense, and he really, really wanted to wake up to her. He wanted his sheets to smell of her, he wanted to see her in his kitchen with messy hair and sleepy eyes.

“If that’s okay.” Her smile was shy, excitement blooming in her chest. “I’m just gonna run home and grab some stuff, some clothes for tomorrow and I’ve got t’feed the cats. Then I’ll be over.”

“Well, don’t be too long. Or M’gonna come and drag you over to mine. Or worse.” He teased. “I’ll set up camp there. You’ll never get rid of me.” It was a slight joke. Harry was obsessed. He didn’t think she could do much to have him leave her at this point. It would be scary if he didn’t like the feeling so much.

“I wouldn’t want to, but okay, pretty boy.” She shook her head at his antics. “I’ll be 30 minutes at most. Go home and decide what you’d like to eat.”

—-

Harry was panicking slightly.

After a quick shower, he realized that he needed to change his sheets. And his laundry basket was full. So he struggled with the fitted sheet, cursing to himself as he changed the pillow cases, lighting an incense stick Y/N had left and pulled on loose gym shorts. He had thought about dressing in jeans again, but Y/N would want him to be comfortable at home.

“Fucks sake.” He groaned, dragging his hand down his face. Why he was this level of nervous; he didn’t know. It was just the crippling need to impress her. She had helped put together his place, she knew what it looked like and what his bed felt like, but his mind was racing as he walked around to pick up the clutter that had accumulated and put it in its rightful spot- stuffed into the hall closet.

The food had been delivered and sat hot on his kitchen counter, Chinese food being the choice. She had texted him her usuals that he could choose from to surprise her and he had gone with his veggie lo mein, vegetable dumplings and fried rice. He wasn’t a full vegetarian, but he limited his consumption. Taking out two plates, he set them on the counter neatly before he shook his head. “Get a grip, mate.”

Harry had been dying to get his hands on her. When she had gone down on him and sucked his cock into her soft mouth, he was pretty sure he had his soul sucked out of him and she had held it in her soft palms ever since. His hands were greedy and grabby all the time, feeling her softness against his hands and he had been itching to uncover her in any way he could- but now he was nervous.

Y/N wasn’t just a hookup. This was his girlfriend. This was the first time he had done things properly, the first time it had been fully his choice to do so and he wanted it to be as perfect. As understanding as Sugar was, he would die of embarrassment if he fucked this up. The need to make her happy, to make her know that he was the one for her was so strong. All he wanted to do was prove it.

But he couldn’t deny the idea of finally getting to be inside of her, being truly intimate wasn’t making his body hot. He wanted to see her soft body exposed for him, see her laid out on his bed without a stitch of clothing hiding the body he had come to drool over. He wanted to feel her plush thighs against his face and squeeze her waist, watch her as ripple as he fucked into her- he wanted every bit of her raw and vulnerable so he could return it.

The knock at the door broke up his horny daydream, a thick swallow taken before he nearly jogged to the door.

There she stood. His pretty girl, soft gray cotton shorts hugging her hips and a flowing tank top with her shop’s logo on it on her body. It was disgusting, how his body was so unhinged that he felt the twitch in his cock as soon as his eyes dipped down to see a peek of cleavage. He felt like a mere boy getting his first glance of tits. God damn it.

“There she is.” He cooed despite his obvious check out of her body. “Come in. Do y’want me to put your bag away?”

Her smiling face was his reward for all the panic he had been feeling prior to her calmness walking through the door. “Course. Sorry it took me a minute, I grabbed a quick shower.” Her hair was still slightly damp, a sunflower shaped claw clip holding it back with two tendrils in her face that were seemingly too short to be held back. “I brought some dessert. I had this at home and thought I’d bring it.” From the plastic bag she pulled two cartons of Ben n’ Jerry’s. “I realized on the drive here that I wasn’t sure it was smart to bring sweets to your house since you’re always making them, but ice cream is different, right?” She had to laugh.

“Oh! Yes, I actually love this flavor.” He saw the name written on the tub, the swirly writing declaring it as ‘Half Baked.’ Mayhaps ironic, but he really did enjoy it. The fact that Y/N had thought to bring it over was only a plus. “You can put it in the freezer if y’want, I’m going to go tuck your bag away. I’ll be right back.”

Harry left her in his somewhat familiar kitchen, Y/N doing as requested by placing the softening treat into the freezer so it wouldn’t be soup by the time they got to it. Turning around, she got to observing how he had changed the place up. It hadn’t been much, but she saw that he had finally filled the frames that they’d gotten on their excursion. Walking into the living room, she went to the mantle over the fireplace and smiled as she saw that he had, indeed, been using the incense. The ceramic cup that held the incense sticks had far fewer than had started there, ash from the burning on the bottom of the holder still. It made her feel good that he hadn’t used it just to humor her- Harry actually liked it.

Eyes dragged back to the main event, the photos in the frames. One held him in a suit along with a younger woman that resembled him quite a bit in a blue gown. It had to be his sister. He didn’t often speak of his family but he had mentioned her in passing. He was smiling in the photo, just barely. Looking at it made her a little sad. It wasn’t the dimpled grin she had come to adore, the one that would rise right before he said a terrible joke. It was lackluster. Something she had never known the man to be.

The others held other men, a bigger smile on his face as a younger Harry looked back at her. The theme ran along them, Harry being younger and with the same group of boys.What surprised her was some of the locations. One looked to be a beach, the other in Paris in front of the tower, another in a lush looking pool. All places that didn’t look cheap in the slightest. She didn’t want to judge at all, but she had to wonder if he had money- why had he gone for a bare bones place? Y/N loved it, don’t get it wrong. It was comfortable and open, someplace she could be very comfortable living if she had the choice- it just wasn’t the type that had that air.

Maybe it was just some budget vacations? He had wealthy friends? Who knew. She was going to worry about it later. Even with the slight tug in her belly, she turned to look at how he kept the rest of the room. She had set it up a certain way when they’d come back to fix it up and he hadn’t strayed from it. If anything? It was just more clean. A tad more personal. The couch had a new throw pillow, an ornately beaded cartoon tiger that was very cute. She hadn’t thrifted that with him so he must have had it or ordered it later. Her eyes did a sweep, impressed on how the floor was spotless and he managed to keep clutter away when his footsteps interrupted her train of thought.

“I need to know…” She crossed her arms over her chest, startling Harry as he entered the kitchen to hear her voice coming from across the living room. “Have you always been this tidy? It looks immaculate in here.”

“I regret to inform you that I unfortunately have not been.” Tha man sighed, brushing a hand through his hair while he made his way over to her. “I tend to kick my ass into gear when I’ve got pretty girls coming over to spend the night.” Greedy hands reached for her, his fingers digging into her waist as he tugged her into his body to feel some of her warmth. It was obsessive and maybe a bit gross but the man was clingy. Clingy with a capital C.

“Oh?” Y/N’s brow rose on her face as she uncrossed her arms to rest her hands on his chest. “You have lots of pretty girls here to spend the night?” It was a tease, knowing what he meant, but she could see the flash of panic in his eyes as he blinked down at her.

“No! No- not here, not since meeting you. I promise-” His words were interrupted by her laugh, head falling back with a trill of her giggle. Her hands clutched his shirt, a shake of her head given as she righted herself.

“H, m’just joking.” She soothed, gently scratching over his shirt to smooth out where she had grabbed. “I know. I would know if you were cheating.” It was a reassurance but also a warning. Y/N always knew. Most women did. “A woman’s intuition is sharp and precise, darling.” Fingers gently pinched his blushing cheek, leaning up to peck the opposite one.

Y/N had felt it in the past. When her partners would pull away, when they’d avoid subjects. Even people she wasn’t in real relationships with. She could feel that deep rooted icky smoke billowing up from her stomach to her chest, making it squeeze. Harry had never once made her feel like she had to worry- even if her insecurities tried to suffocate her at night when they’d sometime slip through her confident wall’s cracks.

“I would never.” His face was serious despite her joking tone. “I promise. That’s… I know how that feels. I would never cheat. I think it’s one of the worst things you can do to a person.” A thick swallow was followed by sweeter words. “I haven’t looked at anyone since I met you. I wasn’t… I had actually told myself not to date or hook up or do anything as soon as I moved here. Then you came into my bakery and that idea smashed to bits. I couldn’t… Not pursue you once I’d met you.” Strawberry tongue swiped over petal pink lips, hand fiddling with the clasp of her necklace. “I wouldn’t do anything to risk that. I know you were joking but I really never want to joke about that. Hurts to think about.”

Y/N felt bad immediately. Granted, she hadn’t known that would be a touchy subject with him, but she still didn’t like how tight his brows were knit and how he had seemed nervous about her not believing him. For once, she had a feeling a man was being honest. He wasn’t afraid of her knowing, it was a fear of losing her.

“I’m sorry.” She sobered up quickly, lifting her hand to cup his cheek. “I didn’t know it would upset you. I never thought you would. I won’t joke about it again.” Eyes gazed into his, a sad smile raising on her lips as her thumb brushed over the slight scruff on his jaw.

“S’okay. I know you were joking. I just hate that people do that to one another. Y’know? I’d never be stupid enough to put this at risk for something dumb like that. Besides, you’re the only one I want.” He leaned into her soothing touch. “It’s why I've been so.. Maybe weird? I dunno. Sometimes I feel clingy and it’s not normal for me. I’ve never been like this in a relationship but I just want to be around you all the time.”

The admission had taken her by surprise. “Hey… I really don’t think that’s weird considering I feel the same way.” Thank god she hadn’t been alone in this. “Had to stop myself some days from telling you to come over because I wanted to give you space and not crowd you. I was told a lot uh….” Her throat tightened as she went to speak. “When I was in my first relationship, he told me I was really clingy and he needed a break from listening to me talk. From being around me. It hurt my feelings a lot and even though I’ve healed a lot from that, It makes me feel really good that my urges aren’t one sided.” She paused. “But it was never as intense as this. It’s way worse with you. I was a puppy following him around because I wanted any attention I could get back then. I really enjoy just your attention now.”

That was the difference that Harry could relate to. He had been similar when he was younger, but as he got older he was much more picky with who got his time. Now? He hand picked every single person in his life to avoid any sort of conflicts, any betrayals the best he could.

“Well.. I’m glad that you only want my attention, cause if there was someone else I’d have to take up witchcraft and curse them for it.” He joked, watching her roll her eyes before pushing out of his grip. “Hey! Come back here. I wasn’t done holding you yet.” She could hear the pout in his voice as she walked to his kitchen.

“Mhm. You can hold me later. We can do all sorts of things later.” She shot him a look over her shoulder, finding exactly what she had felt. His eyes had been on her ass. Blatantly. He didn't even have the decency to pretend he wasn’t looking, eyes dragging up her body. As if the slight insinuation had rewired his brain.

“And god, am I looking forward to that.” He muttered, running a hand over his face before following after her.

[blouisparadise]

Upon request, today we have a rec list of bottom Louis fics where Louis is an independent omega. If you enjoy our fic rec lists and want them to continue, please be sure to like and reblog this post to help spread the word. Happy reading!

1) Something To Prove | Explicit | 9425 words

Louis is the first and only omega to work at Red Valley Medical Center. Despite being more than qualified, he still faces prejudice for his career choice everyday. From patients refusing his treatment to condescending alpha doctors intervening with his work, practicing medicine in Boston is more challenging than Louis had ever thought it would be.

2) Night Out | Mature | 9741 words | Sequel

Note: This fic has been locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Symphony hall was the first place Louis had felt at home in this city, and he always had the box to himself. Until tonight.

3) Where Do We Go Now | Explicit | 10617 words

Louis goes off to college ready to start a fresh life away from the oppressive alphas of his pack.  The odds aren't in his favour when his new dorm mate turns out to be an alpha.

Louis hates alphas.

4) Overwhelming | Explicit | 13261 words

Louis is an omega attending university to get his degree and most definitely not waste his time with unimportant things such as finding a mate. Harry is the alpha who manages to unwittingly mess up that plan.

5) Just Let Me | Mature | 14714 words

Note: This fic has been locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

The party was going well. So well, Niall had already sworn undying love to one multi-tiered chocolate cake, two friendly corgi-poodle mixes, Zayn’s hair, and the entire population of Los Angeles. So well, Zayn had only laughed and ruffled Niall’s hair and not even twitched towards a cigarette. So well, nearly everyone had spilled far past the boundaries of the night’s original plans, extracting bottles of vodka from the cabinets and losing a lot of clothes. Harry had proclaimed that he was finally going to throw a small and very grownup dinner party and of course here they were three hours later, fifty people half-naked in the pool. Soon to be full-naked, if Louis had to guess. Everybody in LA loved a heated pool. Everybody loved Harry.

6) I Still Crave It | Explicit | 16143 words

Louis is an independent omega, who doesn't need or want an alpha. When he becomes ill and meets alpha Harry, he agrees to let him take care of him and quickly gets addicted to his scent. Once he feels better though, he keeps making up lies so that the alpha continues scenting him.

7) With Love Comes Strange Currencies | Explicit | 16508 words

One day One Direction will be over and Louis won't be around Harry every waking moment. He'll be able to finally get some space, let their bond dissipate as it's bound to do, if they don't mess up again. He can move to Costa Rica and forget that Harry Styles popped his first knot inside him. Until then, he's going to have to deal with this.

8) Don’t Call Me Angel | Mature | 16648 words

Manhattan is a dangerous playground for the rich and entitled Alphas of New York. Those same wealthy Alphas are robbed after spending one night in the presence of a blue-eyed Omega and Officer Styles is assigned to the case.

9) I Didn’t Fall For You (You Fucking Tripped Me) | Explicit | 20681 words

These days Louis tends to steer clear of dating alphas. He’s dated too many knotheads in his time, and he’s ready to just focus on school and his friends and his pet monitor lizard, of course.

Too bad the alpha next door won’t take a hint and stop using the worst pick up lines of all time on him. He’s really got to stop laughing with him--and talking to him and walking to class with him and letting him bring him coffee and tea and gifts for his lizard and watching Netflix together and...

10) The Voice Of Range And Ruin | Explicit | 25470 words

It seemed as if the freshly formed Omega Uprising had always been a step or two ahead of the Commandant and the rest of the reigning Alphanian officials. The idea had been floated that there must be someone working with them from the inside, reporting back to them on the government’s plans so that they could be prepared. That person had yet to be discovered, and the Commandant and his surrounding forces had finally had enough of this game of cat and mouse. Harry understood. He agreed. It needed to come to an end, one way or another.

“Your job is to navigate their landscape and gain entry into their forces. You will pretend to be one of them and gain reliable intel for us. It’s clear that no one else has been capable of doing it, and you at least have some semblance of experience in this field. This has gone on for too long, Harry. Enough is enough.” He made direct eye contact with his son, holding it. “I’m counting on you.”

11) Yours To Lose | Mature | 25742 words

“I think I know the person that matches your descriptions of your dream alpha.”

“Who? And oh not my dream alpha, god you’re making me sound like a teenage school girl. I’m a mum, H.” They laugh as they watch kids gather in front of the verandah, getting ready to go back to the orphanage.

“Well, you’re gonna have to find out.” Harry winks before standing up to start cleaning their spot.

12) Where The Lights Are Beautiful | Mature | 31170 words | Sequel

Harry wasn’t wrong about that, not in a general sense. Lots of omegas did seek out rich alphas and betas, hoping or planning to go into heat at the right time. Plenty of omegas saw this as their duty, especially if their families weren’t well off.

Worse, Louis couldn’t honestly say he’d never thought about it.

If that had been his life, his goal, Louis would feel pretty good about himself now.

As it is…Louis feels like shit.

13) These Hallowed Woods | Not Rated | 35535 words

Louis becomes Luna of the Tomlinson Pack after the untimely death of his father, the Pack Alpha. Saddled with his newfound responsibility and an unpleasantly demanding pack council, he finds secret respite in the arms of a rogue wolf that camps out just outside his territory. The only problem? The rogue has no idea who Louis actually is, and as Louis falls harder and harder for the man he escapes to every night, the weight of his lies steers him along a path of certain misery.

14) Wild Hearts Run Free | Explicit | 42979 words

Harry is an alpha who is harbouring a dark secret, one that has forced him into self-imposed isolation, far from civilization and far from temptation.

Louis is an omega who has fought the predispositions of his secondary gender his whole life and suddenly finds himself cast aside by his beta partner, leaving him to question his place in the world.

When fate and Mother Nature conspire to trap the two strangers together, will Harry’s worst fears be proven, or will Louis find a way to break down his walls and lead him into the light?

15) Worth Dying For | Explicit | 44906 words

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Louis says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. In the center of the table, a set of three glossy photos stares up at him, mocking him.

“A security detail is non-negotiable, Louis, you know this,” his mum reminds him, tapping the middle photo with two fingers.

Louis doesn’t look back down at the pictures, gesturing towards them wildly, over-dramatically. “This is not a security detail!” he protests. “This is a lanky college student. In what world do you hire someone like this kid to protect me?”

16) Tastes Like Summer, Smiles Like May | Explicit | 47519 words

A cold prince, an alpha with nothing left to lose and a kingdom with a secret.

17) Hold On To Your Heart | Explicit | 54183 words

The Proposal AU, where Louis is the no-nonsense editor in chief of one of the largest publishing houses in the country, and Harry is the unlucky assistant that gets roped into a fake engagement to prevent his boss from being deported. Things don't go as planned.

18) Let Your Damage, Damage Me | Explicit | 57077 words

A low and dangerous growl was ripped from the future King’s chest.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” the alpha snarled, eyes dark and nostrils flared.

Even as anger rushed through him at the alpha’s brutish display, Louis felt breathless at the intense gaze of the man that was going to be his future mate.

‘Tomorrow I’m going to be under all that. He will be inside me, all muscles and rage.’ Louis felt his cheeks heat again, but refused to be cowed. So he put his best smirk on display, the one alphas despised to see, the one that assured them all he had the upper hand.

“Thought you were expecting me, dear husband. I’m your future mate.”

19) I’ve Got You | Explicit | 62988 words

As a reward for saving the king's life, Harry is offered omega Prince Louis' hand in marriage. Neither of them has any interest in the union going forward, and so they concoct a plan to prove to the king that they are far from a perfect match.

20) Mead Of Poetry | Explicit | 65053 words

Under the pressure of continuing the Styles viscountcy line now that he is getting older, Harry sets himself three rules to finally settle down and marry: firstly, the omega needs to be reasonably attractive, secondly, they must be of great mind, thirdly, they cannot be anyone he would ever fall in love with.

Enters Charlotte Tomlinson, the diamond of the first water of the upcoming season and seemingly the perfect candidate to the viscount’s plan, but her omega brother, Louis, is in Harry’s way. Louis only seeks to protect his sister and he sure is not going to let a rake play with her heart.

21) I Want You So Much (But I Hate Your Guts) | Mature | 83648 words

AU in which Louis gets accepted to play for the Manchester University Alpha-Beta Football Team. The only problem: Louis is actually an Omega. He is determined to make it big in the football world, though, and he can't do that bound to an Omega team. With the help of a faked doctor's certificate and some pretty strong suppressants he is ready to fight for his dream.

That Harry Styles (Alpha, second year and youngest football captain of the A-B team in ages) doesn't seem to like him complicates matters, though.

22) Swim in the Smoke | Explicit | 101778 words

“What about this, Captain?” Liam asks, nudging the boy kneeling between their feet with the toe of his boot. The boy hisses and swipes at him, slurring out something unintelligible around the makeshift gag Niall had to stuff in his mouth. He misses by a mile and tries again, just as ineffectively.

Harry looks down at him, at the way the sun streams over his face and shoulders, at the way the gag stretches his mouth, lips pink and chapped. He’s lithe and pretty, smudged all over with dirt. They had found him tied up below deck, mostly unconscious, next to a barrel full of gold. He’s clearly a prisoner, but there’s something familiar about him, something that niggles at Harry’s brain. Something he can’t quite put his finger on.

“Put him in my cabin,” Harry decides, turning back to deal with the rest of the loot. The boys screams out jumbled curse words at Harry’s back, muffled by the gag, and Harry can’t understand any of it.

23) Billow and Breeze (Islands and Seas) | Explicit | 102506 words

It was bright; that was the first thing Louis could recall. With a groan, he winced at the throbbing behind the sockets of his eyes and rubbed his temples in an effort to soothe the pain. Maybe he really did hit his head when he took his tumble. The omega squinted as he looked at the surrounding rolling hills and fog hanging over the countryside. As strange as it was, the world felt different, though it looked practically the same.

Disoriented and confused, Louis padded through the moss and listened for his husband. “Liam?” he croaked shakily.

Nothing but a symphony of woodland creatures met his ears. His footsteps were muted by mossy green grass beneath his feet and soil fragrant as he neared the crest of the hill. At the top, he froze, lips parted in horror and eyes widening at the expanse of empty farmland—not a soul in sight. It had only been less than ten minutes prior that he could see Inverness from the crest, but now there was nothing.

“Impossible,” he whispered to himself, shaking his head in disbelief—his mind not quite able to make sense of it.

24) A Taste Of Desire | Explicit | 104414 words

A Victorian ABO where Harry is the owner of the most successful cotton mill in Manchester, and Louis is an opinionated social activist about to disrupt Harry’s world.

25) You’ve Got A Higher Power, You’re Once In Any Lifetime | Explicit | 113444 words

Giving up and letting them think they're right were never valid options in Louis Tomlinson's mind.

In a society full of prejudices, finding a family and being accepted, also seemed like an unrealistic utopia.

Louis sets out to do what no other of his kind ever has before and in doing so, he finds love, friendship and more about himself than he thought he would.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

[klairwritesthings]

Whumptober Day 2: Role Reveral

This is set in the wonderful @lumosinlove 's sweater weather universe. Go check out their incredible works!

If Sirius was being completely honest, he had completely lost track of how many times Remus had told him he was a horrible patient. And honestly? Sirius had always been inclined to agree.

Even before they were together, when he was still rehabbing his ankle, Remus hadn’t hesitated to call Sirius out on his bullshit. About the way he would gripe and complain about the pain, only to skip his nightly ice and elevation. Push himself too far, too fast. 

Then, when Fenrir broke his ribs, it had become clear just how horrible of a patient he really was. The pain had made him irritable, quick to push and snap and break. Remus had been a saint through it all, a steady presence in the storm of Sirius’ ever changing emotions. So yes, Sirius had agreed that he might just be the worst patient. But now, he was realizing how wrong he had been, because that award went to Remus. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me”. Remus’ head snapped around so fast Sirius was surprised it didn’t just keep on spinning. 

“Sirius! Hey!” Sirius narrowed his eyes at Remus’ fake grin. His fiancé was currently teetering dangerously on his crutches, attempting to carry a plate of saran wrapped leftovers without falling on his ass. “You hungry?” 

“No, but if you were, you should have called me.” Remus shrugged, which only further unbalanced him. 

“You were busy.”

“I really wasn’t”. Sirius actually had been pretty busy, spending most of the day running around trying to keep Remus from further injuring his dislocated knee. Except, Remus had said he was going to lay down for a bit, and Sirius thought it was safe to sneak into the home gym and get a quick workout in. Evidently not. 

“It’s just lunch, I’m completely capable of making lunch.” Sirius scoffed. 

“You’re not even capable of walking right now.”  The glare Remus turned on him was so harsh Sirius raised his hands in defeat.

“Okay, okay, désolé, you’re right. I know you can make lunch.” Remus narrowed his eyes, as if he was trying to suss out whether Sirius was mocking him. Then, he slowly began moving towards the counter. When Sirius didn’t stop him he continued, unwrapping the leftover thanksgiving Turkey. 

When Remus reached up to open the microwave that hung above the stove Sirius held his breath, watching closely for any wobbles in balance. The last thing Remus needed was to fall. However, he managed to successfully place the plate in the microwave and turn it on without incident. 

Remus turned, a gloating grin on his face. “See, told you I could make-” For a second Sirius didn’t understand what had happened.

One second Remus was basking in his small victory, the next he was all but collapsing onto the tiled floor. A loud squeak startled him out of his silence, a red rubber dog ball rolling innocently away from where Remus was now crumpled. 

Continue reading on ao3

[xa176]

Here are some of my fav LIs from each season of litg (we all have different and similar opinions, please be respectful)

•S1: Jake and Talia. Jake was a slow burn but really did care for Mc and was just afraid to show it until last minute, coupled up with him the moment I had a chance, plus when Cherrygate happened… Jake put a protective arm around you as you walked away from your current partner. Talia is so gorgeous and thoughtful, when my Mc was coupled up with Mason, him and Levi started getting into it and Talia told them to stop swinging their dicks and made sure my Mc was ok. I of course replayed it and took the Talia route 😊 have not regretted it.

•S2: BOBBY!! No words can explain when my s2 Mc and him just meshed together. Literally so thoughtful, kind, loving and funny. He really was head over heels for Mc in the end and really cared for his friends! When drama would happen, he would be the first to try fix things together.

•S3: Harry and AJ. Harry is cute looking and I love his backstory of his family basically saying he is adopted and he has two other siblings (I think, it’s been awhile and I of course am not able to replay it) he explains he such a good brother and his old t-shirt looked kind of cute on my Mc. AJ gives off golden retriever energy and she’s so beautiful! Her style is beyond stunning and playing her route was heart warming for me.

•S4: Youcef. Now towards the end of the season I realized I’m a sucker for slow burns. At first I thought he and Bruno were ugly when they showed up in the hot tub date. But as we got to see more of his personality somewhere in between… I had to make my Mc couple up with him. But seriously… fusebox did him REALLY dirty. I remember someone saying this… every time he smiles he looks like he’s in pain. He kind of does tbh. I love his personality but he could have looked better. Also playing his route is the sweetest and the only time you are on track with his route is when you say honesty is the best policy when talking with Tiffany, Bruno and him.

•S5: now f*ck this season! My Mc coupled up with Suresh and took her f*cking money because screw that season. Worst season ever.

•S6: Lewie, Bella and Andy. Lewie is major Golden Retriever energy, I just find him so attractive that I made my Mc immediately coupled with him right away, he just wants everyone to get along and when things go south I think his Captain instincts kick in and try to keep the vibes going. Bella is the most patient woman ever in all the seasons, she literally waited for Mc. She’s just so out of this world too! Her smile is just… UGHHH I WAS SO IN LOVE THAT I HAD TO DO HER ROUTE TOO!! WORTH IT! Now Andy, he was the most popular casa boy this season, I mean look at him! How can anyone resist his smile? And his little prank you see if you brought him back to the main villa on movie night and his little dance, ugh my heart. (I had to play the Ryan route so I wouldn’t have felt guilty for leaving Lewie to be dumped) and he works with animals, I love animals!!

•S7: Joyo. This season wasn’t really worth it since it lost all its excitement after Mc went into the main villa. Joyo immediately caught my eye so I stayed loyal and now I’m replaying for a Raphael route.

•S8: Claudia, Bea and Max. Claudia is so gorgeous AND SHE DESERVED MY MC MORE THAN THEO. My opinion on Theo was that he was still a playboy and disrespected Claudia by trying to flirt with my Mc, like Theo I don’t want you, I want your girl you are not treating correctly. Bea is so gorgeous and if you aren’t on her route, she’s literally your best friend and you get the option to have a little date with her when you guys are in casa together. As I am writing this, I notice that I’m a huge sucker for golden retriever vibes. Max’s color yellow def suits him! Adorable and I found it funny when he pied off your last LI (in my case, it was Jin) and basically showed he wouldn’t back down just because Mc and the last LI had history.

•S9: I have no opinions so far on my favorites but Natasha be looking like she could be a bit of me. She’s beautiful. I just hope Fusebox brings back people from later seasons and people we weren’t able to romance at all. Like being Eddie back, he did not deserve to go and how he experienced love island. I want him to have a chance with my Mc this season.

[telli1206]

I Won't Let Go

Happy Holidays @bucket-barnes! I'm your Descendants Secret Santa. I did my best for a little Harry hallucination holiday angst for you. I hope you like it!

Harry is dealing with past trauma in Auradon during Christmas, and Uma and Gil are there to get him through it. Just a little fluff and angst for the holidays ❤❄

AO3

Uma’s hand tightens on the doorknob. Her eyes are tilted downward, following her own movement as if in a trance. She’s trying so hard to focus on the dinged-gold gleam of the metal rather than the words being spoken to her.

“Uma? You get what I’m saying, right? It’s for his own good. T-to, help him, I guess? I just…I want to keep him safe.”

Her chest feels tight, and the next breath she sucks in is borderline painful. But she plasters on the most genuine-looking smile she can muster, looking Ben in the eye with her chest puffed in fake bravado.

“Of course, Ben,” she coos, brushing her hand along his arm in a reassuring way. “If there’s anyone here that knows what’s best for us, it’s you. If you think Harry needs this, I’m in.”

Ben flashes her a grin, the most white and straight and perfect one she’s ever seen still, despite being surrounded by them now in a world of prim princes and princesses. There’s a sadness in his eyes, though. Uma feels like she’s been recognizing it more often. Whenever Ben has to acknowledge how the Isle has made their lives different, she sees it. And she finds she can really appreciate that about Ben in this moment. Neither of them wants to do this, but they both care enough about Harry to know it needs to be done.

“So, you really want to be in there, with him? I’d hate to keep you confined, too.” Ben’s chewing his lip, his brow furrowed with worry. “Once I lock the door it has to stay that way. The clock’s going to start ticking down the minutes to the parade in about…10 minutes?” He tells her with a brief glance to his watch. “And then the bells go off for a full minute after that. I think Harry’s going to need the full night to recover. After what happened at that Tourney game, I can’t risk it. The gash on Jay’s leg isn’t even fully healed yet.”

Uma winces at the thought. That wasn’t the first time they realized the Tourney bell could set Harry off, but it was definitely the worst. He had lunged at Jay simply because the boy was closest to the direction of the sound, so he got the brunt of Harry’s swing. Jay hadn’t stood a chance.

She shook her head sternly. “I’m not leaving him alone, Ben. He needs me.”

And I need him. The thought goes unsaid, but the tiny smile quirking at the end of Ben’s lips makes his understanding clear. With a gentlemanly wave of his hand, he grants Uma’s entrance through Harry’s door.

There’s no hesitation in Uma’s step. She charges through the door with the same determination and confidence she always has when she’s coming to see Harry. Like she wants to be here. Because she does.

In this moment, there’s nowhere else she’d rather be.

The second he meets her eyes, Harry’s smile gleams so bright. Warm and all-encompassing, reaching all the way to the crinkles of his ocean-blue eyes.

He always smiles that way when he sees her, Uma knows that. Because she always feels that same familiar heat pool in her belly when he does it, like she’s the only thing he ever needs to see again. The only thing he wants in his life, forever.

“Love, you’re back!” Harry proclaims, his arms already outstretched for her. He waits patiently that way, his wide grin unwavering until Uma’s in his arms, her tangle of braids spilling into his face as he envelops her.

“I was hopin’ ye weren’t gonna make me spend Christmas Eve without ya,” he said, voice muffled into the side of her neck. She shakes her head vigorously at that, making him chuckle.

“Don’t be a dolt, Harry. You know that would never happen.” She pulls back to smack him on the chest, the gesture missing all its animosity as she couldn’t fight the smile off her face. Harry ducks into her space, looking up into her eyes with a teasing smirk on his lips.

“A dolt, am I? But I’m your dolt, so what does that make you?”

“Well-“

“CAP’N! HARRY!”

Uma’s eyes whip to the door when Gil comes bounding in, practically toppling over Ben as he tries to open the door. She swallows a snort at the comical way the blond boy rolls over the king’s arm, flipping into a somersault and jumping up to his feet in an almost graceful flop. He flashes a toothy grin when he’s finally standing in front of them, panting audibly as he tries to offer a little bow for them.

Harry bursts out a laugh at that, picking up Uma in his arms to bow them both in return, eliciting a giggle from her while she clings desperately to his neck. Harry stands up quickly though when a loud cough erupts from the doorway.

“Eh, well…I guess Gil…we’ll see you in the morning too?” Ben stammers slowly, his smile halfway curling in an uncomfortable way. “Just, you all have a good night. And Merry Christmas!”

Ben waves as he closes the door, barely nodding an acknowledgment at the way Harry waves wildly back, almost dropping Uma to the ground as he does so. She lands on her feet though, brushing herself off quickly so she can jump on Gil and hug him tightly.

“Gil, what are you doing here?” Uma demands, smiling easily when he hugs her close. He’s sighing happily, and she lets it happen for a few moments before pulling back to look at him.

“Really, you should be out, enjoying the holiday stuff! You don’t need to be stuck inside.”

Gil’s brows knit together as he stares at Uma, clearly dumbfounded.

“Why would I want to do that when you an’ Harry are in here? That stuff doesn’t matter if I don’t have you guys! You know I love you, don’t you Ums?”

Uma bites her lip at that, holding her breath to fight down the swell of tears that’s starting to build.

“Yeah, Gil. Yeah. I know.” She smiles at him, turning to stand beside him to throw an arm over his shoulders.

“And you love our first mate too, right? We both do,” she adds with a wink, relishing in the way Harry beams back at them.

“Course!” Gil agrees, quickly jumping on Harry. They fall back on the bed in a hug, Harry nearly bellowing with laughter as Gil squeezes him tight, tickling his neck when he buries his nose there.

“I was bummed when Ben told me you guys couldn’t come out of this room, so I made him lock me in too,” Gil added in his muffled voice. He lifted his head to look at Harry, his expression changing to confusion when he sees the smile unexpectedly slip from Harry’s face.

“Locked…in?” Harry repeats. “So we can’t get out?” He glances at Uma. “What’s he talkin’ about?”

Uma huffs, but forces a smile back on her face. As much as she loves Gil, sometimes he could really stand to have some sense knocked into him.

“It’s nothing!” She waves it away, walking up to Harry to grab him by the forearms. “I wanted to have a nice Christmas, just us. I told Ben not to let anyone bother us, ok? I’m sick of all bells and lights and singing and that…eggnog crap that tastes like spoiled milk with cake mix thrown in.”

She emphasizes her last comment with a fake gag, forcing a slight chuckle out of Harry. She throws a quick glance over Harry’s shoulder to Gil, who’s just staring at her, eyes blank and confused. She tries to give him a little wink, but she’s sure it’s not enough for him to understand what she’s doing. Still, she tips her head their way, indicating for Gil to join them, and her shoulders relax when he simply shrugs and follows her.

“Can we snuggle Harry? I just need some time with my boys. This winter weather is shit. I’d like nothing more than to lay in bed and maybe watch a movie on the laptop.” She grabs Gil and yanks them both to stand beside her.  

“‘Pirates of the Caribbean’?” She adds, pouting her lips hopefully.

Harry grins instantly. “Oh Cap’n, you always know how to get me to do yer biddin’.”

She smiles brightly, pushing Harry back towards the bed. As he crawls into place, Uma is quick to pull Gil close to her.

“Clock ticking’s about to start,” she mumbles quietly, eyes still on Harry. “Make sure you have both arms around Harry as soon as we lay down, got it? The next 10 minutes are gonna be real tough on him. And us.”

She looks up briefly to Gil, relief flooding her chest when his eyes widen in recognition. He nods and scrambles quickly onto the bed, prompting another cackle from Harry when he leaps on top of him, wrapping his arms and legs around him and locking them together on the bed.

Uma manages a shaky laugh at the sight, her eyes darting quickly around the room for a second. She spots Harry’s hook on a high shelf, where Ben had made him set it when they arrived in Auradon. His sword is mounted in a case on the wall, out of commission.

She sighs in relief and crawls her way onto the bed, carefully positioning herself on the other side of Harry. He’s still laughing, and she offers a loving smile as she lays her head on his shoulder, placing a hand over his and Gil’s on his chest. Her grip tightens as the clock ticks its first, and she’s fast to swing her other arm behind Harry’s shoulder, holding firmly as his eyes bulge at the sound.

Harry’s face quickly twists from fear to anger as his fists begin to clench. Uma plants a small kiss to his shoulder before closing her eyes and bracing herself.

“Love you Harry,” she whispers softly, before the silence of the room is lost to a heart-wrenching scream.

[whispdoodle]

Stuck like a tattoo.

synopsis: Nicholas D. Wolfwood considers his life as mundane as possible, and at this point doesn't expect any surprises. Naturally, all of that gets thrown out the window the moment he meets a small but feisty distressed damsel with a truck problem right in front of the coffee joint where he works.

WARNINGS: the series will be rated as Explicit later on, as the plot develops! NO WARNINGS for this chapter, first meetings and dork galore ahead!

Pairing: Meryl Stryfe x Nicholas D. Wolfwood

No. 1

The only other thing accompanying the unusually annoying sound of a traditional alarm clock are the groans of a clearly disinterested in waking up man and the rustles of the bed sheets. The mattress dips underneath the weight that is now firmly pressed to the edge of the bed. Nicholas hits the clock, yet it rings still. Don't test me, motherfucker. He hits it again, more forceful, and this time the alarm dies out. God, that is the shittiest way to wake up. He knows it. Just as much as he knows how badly it affects his mornings. But, it can't be helped. The first day he was supposed to get to work, Nicholas set an alarm on his phone. Thing is... considering the damn thing is touch sensitive, and considering this dumbass usually falls asleep with his phone in his hand after using it, I believe it is needless to say that Nick simply slid the turn off button as soon as the alarm began to blare while turning around in his bed.

So that option had to go, obviously.

While the traditional clock is a kick in the nuts, it definitely does its job. Nick reaches out for it, and squints while trying to make out if he even set the thing correctly. '5:02'. Alright. So he DID set it right. His free hand swipes across his tanned face, a rather exasperated exhale rolling off his tongue. C'mon Nico, nothing else to do but move your ass. And he does just that. The clock is nonchalantly tossed onto the sheets behind him, and the grumpy 'adult' slowly rises to his feet. Like a senior with scoliosis, if you can picture that. He stretches, his voice cutting off as his bones creak in every frequency a bone can make. The fact he even listened to Milly last night and thought 'yeah let's drink the clean 20%, what's the worst that can happen!?' makes him think there's something to it when Livio calls him a dumbass.

Because that DEFINITELY wasn't a smart decision, he'll admit that free of charge. Ugh, whatever. It's not like he can call in work and say 'sorry, can't make it today. I've got a bitch of a hangover because I can't say no to my bestie'. If that's not getting him thrown out right onto his ass, then he's gotta be Harry fucking Houdini.

That in mind, Nick simply fixes the crotch of his boxers and lazily waddles out of his bedroom.

The squishy corridor is blessedly dark and filled with happy snores coming from within the room opposite of Nick's. Still a whole while before the big guy has to get up, Nick simply tip toes past the room and into the living room/kitchen/entrance. Yup, the apartment definitely wasn't the biggest out there. But at least paying the rent didn't hurt as much as it usually would. And most importantly...

As soon as his foot presses to the fake wooden flooring of the kitchen, a warm press of a furry fat rubs against Nick's ankle. The adorable black feline looks up at her owner, pupils dilated at maximum, making her charm even more irresistible than ever. She meows, like she even needed to work extra to ensnare Nick in her cute spell. He knew exactly what she wanted, actually thankful she waited patiently for him to get up without the encouragement this time. The encouragement being Kuroneko laying her belly on his face until he starts suffocating, which does startle him awake. Shocker, I know.

Better to give this little criminal what she wants before she switches her tactics to arson.

The rest of his morning is extremely bland to be honest. Kuroneko gets fed, leaving towards Nick's bedroom afterwards. Planning on nesting in his unmade bed, if he had to guess. He eats his own breakfast: warm toast bread with jam and cheese, gets dressed, grabs his wallet and phone and with a heavy heart leaves. Almost 6 around the clock, and despite his shift starting at 7, well... the bus ride IS a long one. But at least he makes it to the stop on time today. If he missed the damn bus, again, his manager would definitely get his ass again and he'd spend the rest of the shift being coddled by Milly. AGAIN. Don't get him wrong, he absolutely adores that woman. But she really has to ease up with her motherly instincts. She worries, he gets it. But Nick's a big boy. And the last thing he wants is for someone as sweet and kind as his best friend to waste her mental health on him. She's been an angel for both him and Livio ever since they've met, and so far? He didn't do squat to repay that kindness. The fact she still sticks around is just another proof there's not an ounce of malice in that girl's heart. Too good for this world, one might say.

So dizzy from sleep, Nick almost misses his stop. This time of year, it was still fairly dark outside, even at this hour. Still a hefty walk away from the café, Nick checks his phone for time: 6:24. Alright, that's actually not bad. He should be there about 10 minutes early. Should give him enough room to prep the machines and slip into the apron. He's also gonna have to check the produce for-

"God damn it!"

If that doesn't cause his entire body to straight up jolt. Nick absolutely freezes in place, frantically looking around for the source of the noise. And surely, he finds it, as soon as there's a slam of a head against a truck that parked right in front of an empty loft. "I wanna die..." Yeah darling, you're not the first, you won't be the last. No reason to scream about it though, giving some poor pedestrian a near-death experience.

And just as he was about to pray to whatever god was going to listen to please, PLEASE let him pass unnoticed... "Oh! Hey, wait! You there! Th-The black dressed... person!" She was waving. Waving, for him. With so much vigor Nick was almost certain that another flap of that wrist will cause it to fly away for the winter season. He hated this. He just wanted to get to his shitty work, make shitty coffee, and then get back to his shitty apartment. Where, oddly, life was a bit less shitty. Yet when he turned towards the clearly distressed damsel, and saw those pathetically sad puppy eyes, which he SWORE were sparkling, well...

He sucked in a breath, scrunched up his nose, and walked over. Whoever she was, the lady was practically hanging off the truck's hood while her distress slowly changed to relief the closer he got. So not only was he expected to help, but it was already set in that girly's tiny mind that he was the solution to all her problems. Not that he minds turning out to be a disappointment. The guy had plenty of practice for that.

...might as well.

-

Half an hour, a piss poor excuse to his boss and one fixed tire later and finally there's some semblance of peace and quiet. Despite the café being open, 7:30 is usually the most unproductive time around these parts. And thank the Lord in Heaven for that, because if Nico was to deal with people somehow knowing how to do his job better than he does this early in the morning, then he wouldn't have even gone to jail. People with the kinda thoughts that sometimes go through his head are just stuffed in a straitjacket and tossed in a safe room.

"Oh, I needed that." Comes in the voice of the only other living being in the shop, currently occupying one of the green leather stools by the main counter. Between her hands is grasped a single white mug with a leaf print at the bottom, a faded brown for a color. Like an afterthought, his boss says. Like a shitty coffee stain, Nick corrects in his head. The drink currently residing within isn't the grandest of his creations, but it seems a lukewarm cappuccino on coconut milk with caramel syrup and cinnamon powder is good enough for the missy. "Well, glad ya like it." He honestly didn't have much else to say. When Meryl was done introducing herself and thanking for the help with a flat tire, somehow the conversation turned to her mentioning she didn't have her coffee yet, not an actual breakfast. Whatever the latter meant, Nick had no clue, but since the cafe was literally across, well... he offered. And that's how they got here. With Meryl attending to her long time coming drink, and to a white cheese and pastrami sandwich waiting on the side.

"Mm!" Nick's attention turns, from the glass he's been setting with the rest on display, back on the woman with a mouthful of that sandwich she looks desperate to swallow before saying anything. She sure looks like a strange one, at least strange for someone dressed like her to be so well-mannered. Don't get him wrong, her neatly cut hair and a pair of minimalistic golden earrings definitely sold the 'I'm a woman on top' kinda feel. It's everything else that didn't really add up, from the half-cut grey top more displaying than exposing the hibiscus-patterned tattoos down the length of her entire right arm, to the shorts that were so short they would be enough to cause a crime rate to rise on an instant. Well, if it weren't for the solid black stockings at least, but even those were torn in places, and these tears? Yeah, definitely self-made.

"...done?"

It's her voice that gets his head outta his ass, the man blinking twice before his tongue turns from lead to an actual functioning muscle once more. "What?" The way this single word comes out makes him sound like he just woke up from a daze, a mental cringe in his part for that one.

"I said: 'Are you done?' because you've been kinda ogling me for the past 2 minutes." And at that moment, Nick thought to himself 'yeah, that's fair'. Because as much as he wants to pretend like he's having none of that, well... he's pretty damn sure his sights were set directly on her god damn thighs by the time she caught him, which, by the way, have no shitting right to be so ample on somebody this, uh... small. "2 minutes?" He asks, head turning towards the clock on the wall behind him, though he shifts his attention back to Meryl way too quickly to make it look genuine. "Pretty sure it's been at least 4."

He doesn't miss how that makes her smile.

"Ha. Ha. Look at me, laughing so hard my side's cramping." This girl can go ahead and serve her monotonne, sarcastic answer left and right, Nick encourages it in fact. Hell, he'll contribute to the attitude, so long as he sees the dimples in the corners of her mouth to make their appearance every damn time. "Shit, that's a dangerous thing, doll. Let me know when you start losing balance on that stool." Taking another sip of her coffee, Meryl's brows crease and her eyes narrow: suspicion painted all over that expression. "Why? So you can come to the rescue and be a knight in shining armor?" Her lips trail her upper lip as she's done talking, cleaning up the mustache of sweet coconut milk foam that formed there.

Cute, he notes. Actually, scratch that, very cute. Ridiculously so, in fact.

He scoffs, a mock expression akin to both a sarcastic insult and something along the lines of 'are you dumb' message. "So I can get the phone on time and record it?" And call him a brat with an inflated ego, he does not give a shit. And would you want to know why? Because the way Meryl snorts into her mug, trying to conceal that ridiculous smile with it as she practically dives half her face inside, is absolutely worth it. He might even admit - and he knows just how crazy that makes him sound - that perhaps this morning isn't as miserable as he expected it to be.

-

"Wait." Meryl's fingers move across the screen of Nick's phone, pinching at the center and spreading out after. "Your cat's name is 'Kuroneko'?" The way she raises her perfectly picked out eyebrow at him with that sly smile tells him everything. He is, most definitely and without a doubt, about to get shit on. "I... Look, before you start, yeah: the name's Japanese. But I didn't pick it, my little brother did. He watches anime, said it suits her." If this thing actually costs him a chance with the cute tattooed girl he met like an hour ago, he's never letting Liv forget the betrayal he felt at that moment. Meryl actually chuckles, it's a small thing and short at that, but it does make her shoulders hiccup. "I mean... yeah! Yeah, the name DEFINITELY suits her!"

Okay. At this point, Nick's curiosity definitely overtakes the awkward shame. He has to know. And so, he pulls out his phone. Types into the translator, sets the translation from Japanese to English and... "You... are shitting me." The way Meryl tried ever so diligently to choke down her own laughter was all the answer he needed: this was real. This was real, and his brother was a stain on the society for this. "So, um..." She talked with the barely contained laughter just oozing out of her tone, smiling like a complete dork while leaning forth onto the counter propped by her folded forearms. "Did you realize-"

"Did I realize that my fucking black cat's name is 'black cat'!? YES I'D SAY I DID!" That was the last encouragement Meryl seemed to need in order to absolutely let loose. The wheeze that followed was nothing short of amazing. Like an old vacuum cleaner from the 90s. Once it's swallowed so much dust all it does is choke- you see the picture, right? She nearly falls off the stool, she does! So keen on enjoying the miserable shame that Nicholas has to endure because of Livio. Though, let's be real... if he really did mind, he wouldn't be laughing alongside her.

"Fucking Christ, calm down wheezy G." And well, it does seem to only break the woman further. "WHEEZY-!" She repeats, before bursting into an even more maniacal laughter. Nick will say this: first time he saw her? This is definitely NOT the kinda attitude he expected her to have. Meryl seems so... free with how she acts. If she's happy, then she's happy. No matter how ridiculous it makes her look, it feels right for her so she just does it. Ah, well... Nick at least would never consider a trait like that ridiculous.

If he'd have to use a word, it would be... admirable.

-

The rest of the day fades to the fog, really. Meryl has to leave to get some stuff for her studio, and afterwards Nick stops smiling as genuinely as he did with her. He just works through his shift, makes some overpriced brews, and after 4 p.m. his late night shift comes to dismiss him and he goes home. That's pretty much every day, Monday to Saturday for this guy. Wake up, work and go home. Except tonight, he does smack Livio across the back of his head, saying 'you know what you did' before leaving the dumbfounded bear of a man to his lonesome.

The ball of fur spitting nightmare makes herself comfortable the second Nick's ass lands on his bed. Her belly is already up and on display, and the man doesn't even hesitate to start rubbing at the hairs that definitely need a good grooming at this point. The day wasn't horrible. In fact, it wasn't even bad. Because seriously, how can he pretend it's been bad? When in his free hand he's already holding the stick up note with Meryl's number on it? Honestly, Nick was always less than optimistic when it came to meeting strangers. He knew how to leave things without the relations going sour, but if he were to choose then he'd rather the meeting never happened in the first place.

But not with Meryl. He'd say for he wished wouldn't realize he was walking by this morning, she definitely made it worthwhile.

He'll call her. He has to, right? He should, at least. Kuroneko purrs, enjoying how Nick's doubling his efforts while spoiling that one particular spot underneath her right arm. She gave him that number, so it wouldn't be weird to call her. He thinks. He... hopes?

He overthinks. But that's a sure sign this whole thing really is worth the anxiety he knows it'll bring about.

He will call her. That's the one promise he's not breaking.

Thank you all for reading! This is the first chapter to come for the MerylWood series that I'm working on currently! I wanted to do something based on the coffee shop/tattoo artist AU for the longest time! Hope y'all liked the first installment! Sharing and liking helps the algorithm, so I'd appreciate it ✨

[ladyinbooks]

Because I was in the mood for some fluffy goodness, let’s have Valentines day fun with Samiel and Jay. 😉

Title: Then kiss me once again Warnings: None Summary: It’s been thirty years since the Songbird Pact Notes: Title taken from ‘It’s been a long, long time’ (Harry James)

The thirtieth anniversary of the Songbird Pact is not a grand affair.

When Daimion had floated the idea of having the celebrations on Elysium, Jay hadn’t really had the heart to say no. The compromise had been: no media, no diplomats, and friends and family only. It was working surprisingly well so far.

“He’s loving this,” Samiel murmurs in Jay’s ear.

Slowly, Jay leans back into the warm, familiar heat behind him. “I know.”

Because Daimion really is loving it all.

His curls – silver now, instead of gold – are thoroughly visible against the warm stonework of the hall. He’s sitting comfortably, bright-eyed as he talks amiably to Hird and Venndred. One of the neighbour’s children is tugging on his hand, demanding attention, much to the stifled horror of her father.

“I wish –” Samiel adds, then stops to clear his throat.

Jay settles more comfortably against him. “I know,” he repeats. Because he does.

However much Samiel may want otherwise for his father, Daimion is never going to have a gentle retirement; a slow, peaceful decline into rest. He’ll never settle on Elysium; never leave his own lasting impression on neighbours, or live close to them in Kathikas. He’s still far too active, and far too reluctant, to leave Lenia in the hands of someone else yet.

But it feels like time is slipping away from them because of it. Samiel doesn’t see him as much as he wants to, and Daimion fights desperately for every scrap of time he can carve out for his son, sometimes to the detriment of his own wellbeing. It’s an uneasy balance, and not an entirely satisfactory one.

Pyrrhine Medala is being surprisingly patient about it all, though. Especially given that she’s probably serving the longest apprenticeship in history, at this point. Even Jay has to admit that she’s been helpful; quietly taking up more of the strenuous burdens of ruling where she can.

Samiel hooks his chin over Jay’s shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. He wraps his arms around Jay’s waist and hums, contented. They both sway a little, moving with the slow, gorgeous tempo Jay can feel winding through their bond, as Samiel rocks them from side to side.

This feeling never gets old, Jay thinks. The giddying privilege of being here, with this man, in this time, wound so tightly together that they share a heartbeat most days.

Thirty years, and sometimes he still has to blink awake in the morning, scrub the sleep from his eyes and realise that yes. Yes, that is Samiel Athannus staring back at him: a perfect composition of silver-threaded curls, laughter lines and the kind of smile that Jay is never going to be able to stop from breaking his heart, just a little.

“I love you,” he says quietly, as Samiel digs the point of his chin in harder. “But all of this. It’s been so long. Did you ever think we’d make it this far?” He means thirty years, and he means together, and he means as everything.

“Yes,” Samiel says, and Jay feels the utter conviction of it ring through them both. “And we’ve got a way to go yet, mio ades.”

“Says you.” Jay slides a hand down; wraps it around Samiel’s forearm and squeezes. “What if I’ve had enough of you causing me trouble after thirty years?”

“Then you’d better be prepared for the worst,” Samiel says. He drops a kiss, small and a little wicked, to the corner of Jay’s jaw. “Because we’ve all seen what I’m capable of, if you decide to leave me. I’m not sure the galaxy could stand it again.”

“Once every three decades is enough then?”

“Once every lifetime,” Samiel says firmly. “Because my knees may sometimes ache, but it doesn’t mean I’m still not perfectly capable of slinging you over my shoulder, carrying you off to the nearest abandoned outpost and keeping you there, if you get any foolish ideas about running away now.”

“Ah well,” Jay murmurs, and feels Samiel grin against his shoulder. “I suppose if I’ve put up with you for this long…”

The tip of Samiel’s nose nudges against Jay’s cheek. “Then you can keep going. Because you’re stuck with me forever. And be nice: it’s our anniversary.”

It’s not actually their anniversary – not the day they were married, anyway. But… it really sort of is, Jay admits to himself, as Samiel drops another kiss to his cheek.

Thirty years to the day, since he’d been standing there, free-falling and terrified, and Samiel had held out a hand and said, Will you run away with me?

There hasn’t been a moment since, not one, where Jay has regretted saying yes.

“Papa said he got us a present,” Samiel adds. “He wouldn’t tell me what it was though.”

Jay closes his eyes. “Ah.”

“‘Ah’? What do you mean, ‘Ah’?”

“Well, I may already have it.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“It’s…”

Complicated. Difficult to explain.

“…vitrios,” Jay finishes, opening his eyes.

Against him, Samiel stills.

“Vitrios,” he repeats.

And there – there – is the sudden upswelling in his soul that Jay was expecting. It catches under his ribs; winds tight around his heart with a triumph so sweetly painful, that it makes his breath stutter in his throat. Samiel is a burning rush of light, roaring in the atoms between them, as the bands of his arms clutch Jay tighter.

“He’s letting you do this?” he demands hoarsely.

“It’s already been done,” Jay admits.

And it has been. He’d handed the block of vitrios to Venndred this morning, with strict instructions to place it in the Naos next to Samiel’s.

Vitrios is unbending; unbreakable. So when the time comes – when he and Samiel are spread stardust-thin across the galaxy and this is all that is left of them – Jay’s threnodia will sit, carved aeons-deep, with the only words that have ever truly mattered; with the only thing he has ever wanted the universe to know.

“Humans don’t –” Samiel rasps. “I mean, no one’s ever –”

“Your father made an exception.”

“You’ve already written it,” Samiel realises. “What does it –” His hands are frantic, as he spins Jay roughly around. This close he’s bewildered; triumphant. The pounding of Jay’s heartbeat is not his own, but Samiel doesn’t seem to care about the way he’s bleeding desperate, greedy delight between them. “What does it say?”

“Well.” Carefully, Jay reaches out; tucks one silver-threaded curl behind Samiel’s ear. “Not much.”

“Jason.”

Jay laughs at the growl; leans closers and presses their foreheads together. “I didn’t have long stretches of wisdom,” he admits. “And I couldn’t think of anything profound that I wanted to pass on, that might help others. I certainly didn’t have an endless narrative of triumphant deeds.”

“So?” Samiel demands, impatient.

“So,” Jay says. He clears his throat hoping, absurdly, that he’s done the right thing here. “So it actually only says one thing. The only thing, in fact.”

“Which is?”

Jay tells him.

**********

In the depths of the Naos, there are two blocks of vitrios.

One contains a careful, exacting narrative of the life of Samiel Athannus, written in High Maa-Tarekian. No detail is spared; no moment left undescribed. Covered, the vitrios stands as a testament to all that happened, in a time when there was change at the heart of the universe.

The other block is simpler.

Small. Neat. There is only one sentence written on it, in exacting Interior Circle Standard.

Because Jason Lane hadn’t needed to say anything more about his life than this. He hadn’t needed to write history, or pass down wisdom.

Three words were enough.

I loved him.

Nothing else had really mattered, compared to that.

[theol1-2]

Barney Miller 101: The Squad

Barney: In charge of this chaos. Practical, kind, patient, protective of his people, worries about them and does his best to help them. Dad In Charge. Jewish. Morals are more important than the letter of the law because sometimes the law, and bureaucracy, is stupid. All-around good guy. Deserves better.

Fish: Been there done that got the aches and pains to show for it. Old and going to complain about it because he damn well deserves it. 120% done with this shit. Reluctantly married and 50% prunes and painkillers by weight.

Yemana: The most unlucky gambler ever to walk this earth, and yet he continues, undaunted. Once got his sideburn shot off. Worst coffee maker the planet has yet seen. Japanese. Sentenced to 25 to life in Filing in 1960 and hasn’t escaped yet.

Harris: Dapper As Fuck. Writer, spends more of his time trying to make money than almost anything else, and annoyed by all this crap. Does Not Care until he really does. Makes a shockingly good looking woman. Black and proud. Best Hair Award 45 yrs running.

Wojo: His full name is unspellable unless you’re Polish, accept it. Built like a brick house and eats like a horse. Former Marine and proud of it. A straightforward, nice boy who has the most character growth by a country mile and is trying really hard even if he doesn’t always understand. Squad Slut, total himbo. Also plays the flute and faints at needles.

Dietrich: 90% of his personality is Fun Facts, Dramatic Effect, and feeding off other people feeling awkward. Pedantic as hell, wit dry as fuck, puns always. His jokes are terrible. Obsessed with Goethe for some reason. Grows his own wheat in his apartment. Always has a definition ready. Intellectual Asshole but cute about it (it’s probably the glasses).

Chano: Passionate af. Dancer, Puerto Rican, loves his country, a silly boy. Once had to write a burglary report and had to write his own name under ‘Victim’. Loves playing secret agent. Broke down sobbing when he had to shoot a guy and needed a week off to recover. Loved wearing a dress for mugging detail completely unironically.

Wentworth: Gets combat fever like CRAZY oh my god do not get in her way. Survived a relationship with Wojo, sanity intact. Does not care what people think about her and focuses like a laser. Protective af, tiny and will fite you. (and you will lose.)

Batista: Don’t fuck with her. Even tinier than Wentworth and even more determined. More arrests than everyone else combined. Gets Shit Done.

Levitt: He’s short and he’s angry about it. Fluent in ASL, determined to make detective no matter what it takes. Frequently misunderstands because he is convinced that there is a trick to getting this damn promotion and there isn’t. Has the worst suits, bless him.

[zemkzone]

That Rare Arctic Thunderstorm: Ch15 (on AO3)

Happy 2024, y'all!!!

FULL FIC LINK HERE

Caitlin’s life had taken unexpected turns in the last two years. After the particle accelerator explosion, she’d grieved the loss of her fiancé by burying herself in work within the broken remains of what had once been a renowned scientific institution. Months later, when she’d been at her lowest, she’d been given two mysterious coma patients to care for. Nearly a year after the explosion, the Flash and Captain Cold were born. Impossible, improbable things became her new normal. She worked with metahumans to defend the city against other metahumans. She got her fiancé back, and he was now her husband. She’d also gained an extended found family. And learned things about herself she wasn’t sure she wanted—was ready—to know. She put that uncomfortable thought aside as Professor Stein and Hartley stepped into the morgue and closed the doors behind them. “Does Lyla have everything she needs?” she asked. “They’re as comfortable as they can be,” Professor Stein replied with a tight smile. “Considering that they’re in a room with a portal to another dimension, guarding an evil telepathic gorilla in a medically induced coma,” Hartley amended. Caitlin shuddered. She still couldn’t wrap her head around how the captive primate she’d once spent hours monitoring, playing with, and taking care of had become something out of a nightmare. On the way from the airfield, Lyla had kept the details to a minimum, but Caitlin had guessed the worst from the agent’s grim expression. Ronnie, wrapped in an emergency foil blanket, rubbed her shoulder from the seat to her left as Cisco grimaced on her right. Grodd wasn’t their most pressing concern now, though. From the way Barry was rubbing his fingers and rocking back on his feet, their latest dilemma was the farthest thing from simple. “I take it you haven’t told this lot about Leonard and the Eye of Calm.” The strange British magician who’d introduced himself as John Constantine rolled his shoulders and passed a transparent glass sphere between his hands. “No,” Barry replied in the guiltiest tone Caitlin had ever heard. He wouldn’t look anyone in the eye. “Len and I kept it to ourselves.” “What’s this eye thing?” Ronnie asked, pulling his blanket even tighter around his himself. “It sounds like the title of an Indiana Jones movie.”  Harry, a hoodie and baseball cap firmly covering his head in case someone walked in, snorted loudly from where he’d been looking at metahuman remains in the drawers. “It sounds like another secret that shouldn’t have been one.” “This has nothing to do with you!” Barry snapped, uncharacteristically explosive. His arms were vibrating as he rounded on Constantine. “And this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t given Len that magic necklace in the first place!”

READ THE REST OF THE CHAPTER HERE

[localwebslingers]

The screen changed from the scene of Ravencroft burning to go over other reports from the city through the night. Probably a break to wait for more information to come in and update on later. At the bottom of the screen, the usual rolling banner was repeating the latest news. The breakout, the body count, the risk of missing inmates and patients, and would probably keep running like that through most of the day.

Briefly, he considered changing the channel to something else but for the life of him, Peter had no idea what was even on TV anymore. Between school, work, and Spider-Man he was more out of the loop on things than he ever had been before. So the news would stay, even if it was just things like the weather and stock markets.

He shifted and rested his head against his hand again, leaning back and letting his attention turn back to Harry instead. The relief was almost missed but Peter was sure that he'd caught it. Brief, more like a weak glimpse of the emotion, and probably only because Harry still looked beyond tired. Whatever he'd been dosed with, it absolutely was still working out of his system. Giving May the cover of a few days was starting to feel like the smart idea, "Yeah...she transfered to the emergency room, actually. A few years ago they had an opening and she went for it."

A part of him settled. Still on edge and cautious, it was hard not to be with everything that had already happened. For now the worst of it eased, decided to rest and take away some of the strain. This was still just talking, and it was slowly moving from civil to casual. Harmless things. Things the two of them could talk about without it suddenly going off the rails and barreling down on fire to try and get an edge up on the other. Peter settled, and that was probably as close to relaxed as he was going to get for a few days now.

"It's got longer hours sometimes, but she likes it. Keeping her busy, letting her help people..." Peter did what he could to try and pick up things around the house. Cooking, cleaning up, making sure groceries were picked up. It was the least he could do until he found his own place. It didn't always work out smoothly, but he tried as best he could.

\\ @inhcursed \\

A gas leak was a smart enough idea, Harry had to concede. The kind of rumor that would not attract curiosity if May talked about it, and he supposed she'd mention it to whoever she went to stay with. He didn't ask further: He'd find out more, if he have to, but he was not particularly eager to have that information. Mainly because while May was clearly one of the few people remaining to Peter, if losing Gwen had not broken him fully, going after May would be foolish.

He had not targeted her from Ravencroft, he would not waste time and resources targeting her now. Not when he was, he found, glad to hear she was doing okay.

"Good." He said, and he'd blame his body and his exhaustion for the faint relief in his voice. For the way he shifted, minimally, trying to get comfortable now that he was exhausted but no longer mostly asleep. "Is she still a nurse?" He asked, however.

Less a matter of gathering information and more polite conversation, and a dash of genuine interest. A topic that would not have him wanting to strangle Peter, when his arms would not work with him, and not one that would push Peter when Harry only had words to put between them.

And as good as he was with his words, he knew they weren't infallible.

@localwebslingers

[sparecrew]

Good news - my fever broke overnight

For those who missed it, I was down for the count yesterday.

Woke up with a sore throat, felt a little off but otherwise not too bad. Went about my day. Noticed I didn't have an appetite and that my body felt "weird" and I thought, "Ah, ok, I've got a little bit of a bug, I bet. Probably caught it from a patient." As long as it stayed at that level, I was fine.

Yeah it didn't stay at that level.

Come afternoon, I grew weaker and weaker. My head hurt. I began spiking a fever, I was shaking, my joints ached.

I have been looking forward to book club for weeks, and I spent the day thinking, "I can make it. I can still go. I'll just wear a mask and take it easy." But as the time to leave grew nearer, I was fighting chills and weakness. I realized I'd never be able to walk the mile and a half after parking to get there. I had to cancel. I'm wickedly bummed about that.

Then I settled in for the worst night I've had in a long while. It's hard living alone because that's when you want someone to grab soup or medicine for you. I forced myself to drink water and I laid in bed, basically suffering.

Interesting thing - both of my dogs knew something was wrong. Buddha posted himself in bed next to me in a place he doesn't normally sleep, and he actually snapped at Pharaoh twice for trying to approach me. That was strange. Pharaoh still pushed his way through and posted himself on the other side of me.

As much as I love them, they're the worst nurses ever. They spent the whole night snuggling close to me and nuzzling me and checking on me...but I was so overheated that their body heat and cold nose application was making everything worse. I kept shoving them away, only to have them wake me up later so I could shove them away again.

Everytime I groaned, Buddha also made a groaning noise.

I tossed, turned, shivered, and sweated through the night. I had fever dreams - those were weird! It wasn't a good night.

The good news is I woke up with a bit of a cough and some back pain, and that's about it for now. I'm hoping against hope it holds because I have my Harry Potter Experience tonight and I don't want to cancel yet another thing that I've been looking forward to.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Now I've got to go shower and feed my two nurses.

[haarrrys]

H@RRY STYL5S M4ST3RL1ST V0L. 2 ?!%

MORE 【M@ST3RL!ST】 HERE

← my first harry masterlist!

⌗fluff !

*invisible string - ⌗ summary : harry is sure that he and Y/N were destined to be together, that's why he decides to take the first step and do what he has wanted so much since he met her: propose.

*writing with you - ⌗ summary : could be considered platonic but harry and reader confession feelings over writing ♥︎

*the happiest birthday - ⌗ summary : y/n gives harry the best birthday gift he’s ever had. 

*someone's got a crush - ⌗ summary : gemma & harry meet up for dinner at anne’s and he tells them about the girl he can’t seem to get off of his mind.

& pt ii - ⌗ summary : harry finally tells y/n how he feels, in the way he knows best.

*sweet stems - ⌗ summary : harry was a lot of things; loving, a florist, shy, deaf, and patient with you as you learned how to communicate with him in BSL.   ♥︎

& how you sound - ⌗ summary : florst!deaf!harry wishes he could know how y/n sounds. ♥︎

*fucking-t-shirt - ⌗ summary : y/n learned how to sew, and harry is getting spoiled by it.

*queen annes coffee - ⌗ summary : y/n visits harry’s coffee shop every tuesday and thursday and always orders the same thing. harry HAS to get to know her!!! ♥︎

*amor - ⌗ summary : harry is dating a latina, y/n, and harry is meeting her family for the first time, stressed that he doesn’t know any spanish.

*vogue beauty secrets - ⌗ summary : actress!y/n does the vogue beauty secrets video, and harry decides to help.

*harry shows you a song - ⌗ summary : as the title says :)

*baby blues - ⌗ summary : idk, insecurity about pregnancy weight gain

*duvet music video - ⌗ summary : you are harry's ex-girlfriend, and he persuaded you to film the new music video with him. both of you find out that you could've still been dating if you communicated better all those years ago

*sick for the holiday - ⌗ summary : harry’s sick for the holidays, and when his girlfriend stays by his side, he realizes he hasn’t had someone who cared about him in a while. 

*italy - ⌗ summary : when your vacation starts to become a bit monotone, you and harry decide to go on a little trip and watch the sunset at the end of the day.

*engagment - ⌗ summary : for the last few months, harry has been acting unusually, when you think of the worst, he comes up with an explanation.

*golden girl - ⌗ summary : It’s your first golden globes and harry wants to be the supportive little bean of a boyfriend he is, but doesn’t want to take the attention away from your big night. 

*five seconds - ⌗ summary : In which famous!Y/N and harry are each other’s celebrity crush (requested!!)

*oh anna - ⌗ summary : In which y/n is sweet as honey, and harry is hopelessly in love with his best friend. -- 8.8k words <3

*sawyer - ⌗ summary : i thought it’d be fun to write some magazine articles for harry and sawyer since i assume they’d be in the public eye with how well-known harry is in my southpaw universe!

*crushing - ⌗ summary : harry x famous!reader

*you're gonna love me - ⌗ summary : in which y/n is younger and harry wants her

*hard - ⌗ summary : in which harry can't get hard

*pretty please - ⌗ summary : in which harry has baby fever

*bathroom floor confession - ⌗ summary : harry helping y/n through panic attack on a date

*christmas at the styles home- ⌗ summary : harry bringing his girlfriend home for christmas

*harry shows you a song - ⌗ summary : as the title says

*first time- ⌗ summary : first time sleeping at harrys house

*new love - ⌗ summary : harry is quite new at dating and though unsure how to behave around her, he knows he’s already in love. 

⌗smut !

*sex tapes - ⌗ summary : harry and y/n like making sex tapes for when harry’s leaving for tour.

*way to good - ⌗ summary : In which you’re way too good at riding harry.

*eight times - ⌗ summary : eight times you've giggled during sex

*harry cumming 4 the first time inside you - ⌗ summary : as the title says ♥︎

*our first time - ⌗ summary : In which y/n feels uncomfortable out in public and harry wants to make sure she’s ok. 

*make it fit - ⌗ summary : in which harry and y/n try anal for the first time.

*pop the cherry - ⌗ summary : harry and the miss being best friends and he takes her home to celebrate christmas and he takes her virginity on christmas eve

*needy - ⌗ summary : summary – you aren't needy, no. but that doesn't mean you will let go the opportunity of harry fucking you.

*little things harry does during sex - ⌗ summary : the little things harry does during sex that you've picked up on through-out the many of times you have sex together.

*cum- ⌗ summary : harry cums for the first time

*show me the ropes - ⌗ summary : harry gives y/n her first kiss, and it’s smooth sailing from then on -- until it isn’t.

*a special valentine - ⌗ summary : the "series of firsts" it's harry's first time with a girl...

*pressing on y/n's tummy while fkin - ⌗ summary : basically the title

*virgin - ⌗ summary : y/n is a virgin and harry is her 1st

*4 the first time - ⌗ summary : harry cums inside you for the first time

*smut reccomendations

⌗angst !

*rape - ⌗ summary : **TW about rape & sexual assualt** when y/n sees her rapist in public, but harry has no idea what she has been through. but she soon tells him & he’s very understanding, loving, and let’s her know she’s worth it.

*lets hurt tonight - ⌗ summary : harry has a box filled with memories from a previous relationship. y/n finds it. drama ensues.

(?) *sick - ⌗ summary : in which harry’s feeling sick and y/n can’t help but take care of him

*unstable ride - ⌗ summary : harry and y/n get caught having s!x in the car

*reason to hate you - ⌗ summary : he loves her, but has no time to show it even when she asks him to. but she’s had enough, and harry writes a song.

⌗dad!harry !

*trouble w/ fans - ⌗ summary : dad!harry x reader in which fans test harry.

*pregnancy reveals - ⌗ summary : seeing Harry interact with a pregnant couple gave you an idea to reveal your pregnancy to him.

*baby fever - ⌗ summary : a sign at harry show inspires you ♥︎

*theadora - ⌗ summary : a collection of short blurbs about ex husband!harry

*italy - ⌗ summary : Italy with dad!harry!

*period problems - ⌗ summary : harry daughter gets her first period. ♥︎

*im not sure but I think it's time - ⌗ summary : the missus goes into labour at one of H’s concerts but doesn’t tell him and they don’t quite make it. ♥︎

*first period- ⌗ summary : harrys daughter gets her first period

*pacifier - ⌗ summary : while on stage, harry's daughter posie throws her binky to her daddy and he catches it and continues to hold it for her until after the show.

*daughter finds your vibrator - ⌗ summary : when your daughter wonders into your room while you're at the store and harry is on the sofa holding a sleeping baby, she finds your vibrators and goes to ask her daddy what the colorful items were.

*harrys son imagines - ⌗ summary : as the title says :)

*weeping willow - ⌗ summary : Harry sends his wife for a girl’s night, and their five-month-old baby falls sick.

*sunflowers - ⌗ summary : harry is very much in love with his little family.

*perfect angel baby - ⌗ summary : you and harry return home with your newborn baby

*baby shopping - ⌗ summary : shopping with harry on new year’s day as new parents♥︎

*we'll be alright - ⌗ summary : In which having a baby during a global pandemic isn’t the best idea

*unexpected - ⌗ summary : In which a visit to the doctor brings some unexpected news.

*bye bye brother - ⌗ summary : your daughter is less than pleased with her baby brother. luckily her father has the right words to say.

*number two - ⌗ summary : summary: your daughter wishes for a little sibling on her fourth birthday. you and harry decide to make that come true.

*little miracle - ⌗ summary : finding out the baby's gender after a long time

⌗masterlist !

@onefineangel 's masterlist

@stylesberries 's masterlist

@hrrysluv 's masterlist ♥︎

@mysticalrambling 's masterlist

@writingfortoomanyfandoms 's one direction blurbs

@amethystnalaah 's masterlist ♥︎

@astranva 's masterlist ♥︎

@harryfanfics 's sic rec fics

@harryssunflowerkiwi 's smut rec fics

@stylesmygucci 's masterlist

@kiwitsayedsugar 's fic recs

@adore-laur 's masterlist

@confidently-dasiavuu 's masterlist

⌗headcannons !

*his favorite sex positions

*famous!reader headcan

*fetus harry as a bf

*nsfw alphabet

*random bf harry head cans

*pet names

*your first tattoo

*can i?

*when you're pregnant

⌗series !

*since forever universe ♥︎

⌗instagram !

*announcing birth

*baby related idk

*famous reader

(hello! ive reached the max limit of links on this masterlist, sooo I made a third one, here ←←