#but yeh funny bits this episode

[babacontainsmultitudes]

In sum

"Of this episode or of the season in general?" Yes.

[keira-kaz2y5]

As much as I’ve loved the new episodes and old characters coming back (Shannon, Lola, Tommy, Norman)

Isn’t it kinda weird we haven’t had the wider 118 family scope? Like where’s May and Harry at? And Michael and David? Shouldn’t they be included in the “oh no Bobby and Athena’s cruise ship is missing” and like at least be introduced to abc? Maybe it’s just me but that was odd

And I love Karen but her scene was short (which is understandable) but then there was no other reference to her or Denny or the foster kids and the new baby at all? And we love Josh and Sue and my head says we probably got a scene with them already but also it must’ve been super short and likely only the first episode (cuz I remember it happening but super vaguely)

Like I know we will defo get them all in the next few episodes but surely it’s odd they weren’t in these first three given the dire situation?

Also May is acc so beautiful and funny and I love her character so much (—I’m almost the same age as the character, she’s a bit older —and she’s so pretty omg) like she’s my favourite character other than Buck/Eddie and she’s such an important role in the show and yet she isn’t in any of the promo and hasn’t been mentioned? (from what I remember)

Just a little heads up to that cuz I know they’ll be in other episodes but surely because of Athena’s near death moments it should’ve been included sooner am I right? Anyway yeh loved the new episodes cannot wait for more 118 content 💜

I hope Ravi, Lucy & Tommy are featured!

[whatfamidoinghere]

The Umbrella Academy Season 4 Final Thoughts

I have opinions I need to share. Obviously spoilers ahead so… enter at your own risk?

Firstly, the positives

To give it some credit, this was a beautiful ending. It was technically the only way they could end it bc it was clear no matter what they did, the apocalypse would follow

I loved the reference to them saving the Eiffel Tower in an alternate timeline, like they did in the comics

…yeh, that’s it

Oh wait, I loved Klaus’ relationship with Claire. I love Klaus. I love everything about him. Thank you. End quote

Now for the negatives - this will be in no coherent order so bare with me

It’s embarrassingly clear that this needed its usual 10 episodes. I think I read somewhere that the director felt that 6 episodes were the perfect amount so maybe Netflix didn’t cut it, or perhaps he was trying to make the best of a shitty situation. But every scene felt like it was missing something.

Where was the family dance sesh???

Five and Lila. No. Just. No. They’re begrudging step-sibling and that is it. And even if they did want to go down this direction, even if I wasn’t so opposed to the ship, I just didn’t care. You can’t just time skip 7 years in 1 episode and simultaneously get me to feel invested in their relationship. They needed 2 episodes at least to make me feel the impact of those 7 years. I know for 5 that’s probably nothing compared to his time in the apocalypse, but to Lila, that would’ve driven her insane, and in her breaking point, that’s when she goes to 5, bit like how they did this. Not to mention, they come back looking the exact same. 5 is supposed to be, what, 27 at this point? I sure as hell don’t see it. I would’ve much preferred a scene where, once Lila releases they’re going back home, frantically tries to clean up and cut her hair to look exactly how she did before so that her family still recognise her. Ugh that entire point was just so shit

The baby shark gag was not funny

Why did Diego and Lila have to have twins as well. I get it, they’re tired parents who miss their glory days. But if you want us to feel really sorry for them, and later mourn them when Lila has to say goodbye, maybe let us see the family interact as… as well as family. I was so excited to see Diego in his real daddy era just for him to talk to his oldest daughter maybe once? ALSO why does Lila get that whole emotional goodbye to her children and Diego just, nothing? “Get the family out of here” umm hello, even if you didn’t like the in-laws, those are 3 of your fucking children that you’re saying goodbye to forever. I think I’m just upset that they reduced Lila to being a tired mother (to me anyway) and forget Diego was the father. I would’ve so rather seen him being the dad that he never had in his life.

Like putting the family on the Subway to nowhere. Literally. It’s not like she knew how the Subway worked so she was just sticking her family on the train and hoping for the best. They made it seem as though they had never found a world safe enough. Like truly the best place for them to stay was the fucking Greenhouse world, so how did she expect the family to survive, and with no powers mind you. And also didn’t thy know at that point that all ultimate timelines would be destroyed, except for the main timeline. Was she hoping they’d magicallly be taken to the main timeline orrr? I’m just so fucking confused man

The Subway. What a fucking missed opportunity oh my fucking god. Its only true function was to have all the Five’s meet up to tell Prime Five the super duper important convenient information that would bring upon The Finale. It was such a cool concept and we saw… none of it. Firstly, they made it wayyy to easy that Five just happened to find a journal his future self made that worked out the tunnel system. You’re telling me that in 7 years he never worked any of it out. Uhhh I just wanted to see how the Subway worked and we couldn’t even get that. AND they only showed us 1 world!!!! I think alternate timelines are such a. Fun concept because you can explore multiple worlds that are like your own but a little more freaky with little to no consequences in your own world. I LOVED seeing the Phoenix Academy so much but… that was it. Imagine a montage of Five and Lila visiting a ton of worlds like our own with messed up Academy. Can you imagine if we saw a comic accurate Umbrella Academy??? Omfg the ultimate homage. I’m tearing up just thinking about what we could’ve had.

Gene and Jean were rly fun but again, what waisted potential. I loved my quirky not-so-instance parents sm

Uncle Five? Uncle Luther? Gone. Maybe I’m misremembering but they always seemed so excited to meet Claire. Ik they’re pissed at Alison or whatever (but they’re literally not though) but you’re telling me we never see them interact, despite them being some of the only sibling to care about Claire??? Oh okay, okayyy

The powers. Does nobody care that some have multiple powers now orrr? So Lila had laser eyes but could still mimic everyone else. Also the running gag of not being able to control her eyes could’ve gone on for so much longer. And Alison. Was she just so powerful she could rumour ppl without saying anything now? And when her eyes went yellow, that was a completely new power, right? And did Viktor’s powers seem different to you guys or is it bc he absorbed Harlan’s powers last season. Me personally, I think they’re should’ve gone down the Tinkerbell: The Pirate Fairy route and swapped the sibling powers with each other or completely different ones

It would’ve been such a good plot twist if after learning that the Cleanse restored them to the one true timeline, they all think it’s their original lives as a misdirect and they the horror sets in as you realise that they’re actually part of an ultimate timeline. They just could’ve done so much more than that. I know with limited episodes they had to wrap things up quickly so after they learned they had to be erased they just kinda had to accept it but I would’ve loved an entire episode of them grappling with the fact and saying goodbye and reminiscing about their past and maybe even being in denial and self sabotaging or whatever (kind of in the style of that ep in s2 when they have an hour to meet up

Why was Jennifer in a squid??? Why? did she get all the durango? Why weren’t there 42 other kids who got ur? That could’ve been such a cool parallel like cmonnn

I always suspected Ben’s death to be connected to Reg in some way so I loved the reveal… but I hated Jennifer’s involvement. Like it just felt tooo convenient. And I understand why they did it from a writers/ directors perspective that they wanted to wrap everything up but I just felt it could’ve been done much smarter. ALSO I just realised that Klaus doesn’t know how Ben died. Diabolical. I will not stand for it

Reginald didn’t recognise his own wife??? Like when Fake Gene called him “love” and Reggie didn’t clock it???

Speaking of Reggie ARE WE EVER GOING TO DISCUSS THAT HE’S AN ALIEN ROBOT BITCH???

Soooo Luther never once asked Reggie about Sloane???

Ray. Where’s Ray? Maybe the actor was working on something else and they had to get rid of his character

WE NEVER EVEN HEAD ALISON SAY “I HEARD A RUMOUR” NOT EVEN ONCE like I get she’s powerful enough to the point she doesn’t have to say it anymore but that line eats down every. Single. TIME!

Lastly and most importantly… the soundtrack. The songs didn’t slap. Simple as.

Final Statement

I think I covered all my points. I doubt I’ll make a part 2 bc honestly, the show isn’t worth my time and energy anymore. I just needed to rant bc I don’t know any ppl who watch this who have any lick of media literacy.

The finale was painfully underwhelming. It didn’t feel like the same TUA I’ve grown to love over the past few years. I can accept the ending but the journey to how we got there was one massive slap in the face. I’m going to ignore this ending ever happened thank you <3

[moonlight-tmd]

regarding your recent post:

I'll be honest, I'm either rooting for blitz or prowl lmao X3

blitz cause he's gone out of his way to do these things for bee that you listed in the other and his pure admiration and love for the lil' bug. blitz has nerve and gut to do those things, especially for an autobot ; who are the enemy since he's a decepticon, blitz's own fraction and leader are an after thought, and I respect that to an extent lol

can't really say the same for shockwave/longarm tbh but he's trying lol

and prowl because of the chemistry he and bee shared in the canon of the actual show. I'm pretty sure there are two episodes dedicated to just the duo working together or bonding cause they're the embodiment of technology and nature. I like this one because it fits more into the canon and they just give me brain rot >v<

and bee just seeking protection from bulk from all three is funny and cute to me! like, bulk and bee are long term besties of course they'd protect each other. bee just running to bulk, asking for a place to hide (from longarm and prowl lmao) and bulk agreeing. so, bee just naps in bulk's subspace while he's doing something as prowl and longarm wander around the factory

yeh me too X3

Blitz is literally attached to the Decepticons by nothing other than the fact he's scared of Megatron, it says so on the wiki even. And now Megatron is gone so technically there's nothing holding him back from doing what he wants and ditching everything to pursue the yellow scout that stole his Spark.

Prowl knew Bee for a while and had grown to admire him in secret. He never thought about asking him out cuz there was never an occasion- plus he thinks that Bee will turn him down cuz he's so different from him. (even if they get along great as they are)

Longarm/Shockwave is just stuck in a perpetual loop of "What's more important: Job or Love?" So he's just trying to cope with everything at once- seeing how every choice will impact his and Bee's life and all. It's a lot even for his processor. Although, similar to Blitz, Megs is gone atm so there's nothing holding him back from casually switching sides once and for all and devoting his life to Bee.

Bee is just there very confused and worried to why everyone wants to date him all of a sudden. I mean, he likes the attention but he doesn't like how possesive each of them get. He doesn't wanna be treated like a prize, but like a loved one. Bulkhead is just trying to help him out and so is the rest of the team- when Bee suddenly disappears they don't tell Prowl or Longarm where he went on purpose. Prowl is smart enough to understand Bee avoids him which saddens him. He wants to apologize but he never gets an opportunity.

Tbh after Blitz reveals Longarm is a spy there are 2 routes it can go; Longarm gets arrested and Bee is hurting cuz he did like him and Shockwave is just being depressed in his prison cell. Or Longarm pulls an uno reverse and says he's been an Autobot spy in disguise and been doing infiltration missions in secret to get Decepticon files, effectively earning him a good favor with Bee. (he's not really registered in the criminal records, he has access to that if he needed to delete it and all his actions have been anonymous from the start, few know of Shockwave's existance.)(Blitz knew Shockwave for a bit but he is too dumb to see thru Long's lie.)

Either way it's most likely that both Blitzwing and Prowl get to date Bumblebee. If Shockwave does decide to pull the uno reverse then he tags along too. Don't worry they learn to share nicely and that there is enough love for everyone.

though BlitzBee is my favorite but don't tell them

[monsterfloofs]

Favorite new character you found from any media as of late?

(A favorite of mine lately has been The General/Mr. Villain from Mr. Villain’s Day off. Though I started it back in late January. It’s a really funny cute slice of life anime about an alien villain from the perspective of the equivalence of a power rangers having fun days off and a love for pandas, I totally recommend it!)

This is a picture of the show it has about 13 episodes in sub and the season just finished and has been a real help for me when I’m stress and been a treat at the end of the week when it came out.

Sorry if this was long!

I also just wanted to try and send some good vibes back your way since you always give them back with your wonderful writing and art! I hope you have the loveliest of lovely days!

Favorite new character from media... That's a great question!! I really have to sit and think about that I. . . I kinda struggle with finding characters in media that I am super drawn to??

I am pretty jealous of folks who get crushes on characters in media! 🤣 It unfortunately doesn't happen a lot with me, so I typically swoon over my characters to make up for that ehehe.

But uhhhHHH let me think... has there been any character that I have found cute?...

Nos-4-A2 from the Buzzlight Year of Star Command cartoon! It's a old cartoon, but rewatching that show was a fun NOStalgic trip! 🤣

I have also been playing a beta version of a Nsfw game called Cloud Meadow and I think Brontide has a fun personality, between being this tanky warrior vs the silly blushy guy you see in the art sometimes. It gives me the vibes that he gets silly and shy with the romanto and that is very cute! = D

Also the weird silly clown man that appears? He is weird, he is silly, he has puppets on his hands that talk to you. Is he throwing voices or are the puppets sentient? I have no idea!

Though I have to say I am personally really drawn to the shadowy NPCs you run into, they are human shaped but drawne in a way where their features are obscurred.♡A♡ ) You can't tell if they are just regular humans or if they are some kind of shadowy beings and.. I really like the mystery and think they are cool looking. Also the resident mage has a really neat design and I wish you could talk to them more too. . .

Of course I take a liking to the guys that you can't romance in the romance game ahahaha 🤣🤣🤣

Oh! Yes, I think I have read a little bit of that!! That is such a cute comic! (And an anime? Heck yeh!) I am so glad you found fun stuff to read with cute characters that you enjoy! >//U//< ) That is the best!!

Thank you for chatting with me, I really appreciate it! 💖 I hope you have a restful weekend = D

[darlenicy]

Okay, I will say it over and over again: I don't like Bloom BUT I will admit, that she has some really good scenes and this is one of them. Bloom is impulsive, yes, but in the first episodes she is also a bit shy and unsure and therefore I love how this reaction literally breaks out of her as if she was a Vulcan. This is also a great lesson for the audience (us when we were kids, mostly girls, in this case). That a girl should never surrender to a boy/man who wants them to do something they don’t want. In this case, Bloom is actually a very good role model for all the little girls who watched the show. ….yeh and it’s goddamn funny xD.

[just-jammin]

I started watching the newest Drawfee episode, and in the intro after Karina’s portrait came up, I instantly thought

“WOW THAT LOOKS LIKE JAM’S PORTRAITS”

SADJLHFFKFDHLKGJKFSDHS— XDDD

well my dude, you're in for something, haha!!

bc Karina was actually the accidental basis on how i drew myself back then!

like yrs ago, my brother showed me one of her comics from her Buzzfeed days & asked me if i could base my hairstyle off of that bc it was quite similar to mine back then

however, i did NOT know who she was until a bit after i found out abt Drawfee a few yrs later, when i was watching one of their eps!

sooo yeh, it's quite funny that you thought that sdkljfkhdhjks—

[watyousayin]

The Office - Levi & Y/N Office AU (platonic)

Hey all! Wrote something based on an episode of The Office where Dwight gets a concussion. Thought it might be funny to have Levi be Dwight’s character and Erwin as Michael Scott. For anyone who hasn’t watched, Dwight and Michael’s characters are meant to be obnoxious and a little annoying. You can see the scenes it’s based off of here:

- Dwight get a concussion

- Dwight goes to the hospital

Bit of fluff and humour (hopefully 😅) with Levi, Zeke & Erwin. Ft Sasha and Historia

TW/CW: Mentions of a car accident, a concussion, hospital, a burn, hospital tests (specifically and MRI scan) mentions of sharp objects

Minors DNI with my blog

Hope you all enjoy it

Sara 💙x

You’ve been listening to your boss talking about his burnt foot for most of the day and how no one cares for him, boring the life out of you. He called the office in the morning asking you to pick him up after he burnt his foot on a grill he kept by his bed to ‘wake up to the smell of crackling bacon’. His words. Levi, the assistant to the regional manager, heard the commotion rushing to the rescue while screaming ‘I’M COMING ERWIN’, and jumped in his car. And in his hurried panic, crashed into a wall on his way out of the parking lot. It looked quite bad, but he didn’t have any bumps or bruises. But his behaviour got weirder and weirder as the day went. The usually diligent, no nonsense and frankly annoying Levi started to forget what he was saying and doing as he was saying and doing it. He started to daze and stare into space. And the weirdest part, he was happier, making jokes and… nice. He was nice to no one…

All up until now, when Levi drops sideways onto his desk interrupting Erwin’s guiltrip speech.

“Oh my god Levi!” colleagues get up and gather around Levi trying to support him.

“Okay, I think we need to take him to the hospital, because I’m pretty sure he has a concussion”. You say worriedly.

“Oh, so now you feel some compassion, for him”. Erwin clearly feels salty that he did not get this much attention for his grilled foot.

“Erwin, he needs to get to the hospital and you’re his emergency contact. You need to go with him.”

“Why don’t you go with him? Levi I can’t take you, I don’t have my car and yours is all broken.” Erwin retorts.

“Please, I want Erwin to take me!” Levi desperately begs, much to his boss’ dismay while you try and calm him.

“You can take my minivan. It’ll be more comfortable for him”. Sasha suggests behind you and Levi.

“Oh yeh, okay whatever, that’s great. No. That won’t work, I can’t drive because of my foot. Zeke, you’ll have to drive”.

“Fine.” Sasha throws her keys to Zeke.

“Alright big boy, let’s go”, you say, trying to sling your coworker’s arm around your shoulders.

“I don’t need the doctor Y/N. I’m humanity’s strongest!” he says while barely being able to stand straight.

You exhale trying to figure out how to reason with humanity's strongest who may or may not be currently experiencing a concussion.

“Levi”, you exhale. “C’mon, we have to go and get your head checked out. You hit it really hard.”

“It was a small bump Y/N, just relax.” He waves his hand dismissing his accident.

“Levi, you crashed your car into the damn wall in the parking lot! That wasn’t a small bump! And please, stand up!” Levi was currently trying to lay himself on the couch by your desk near the front entrance. You let go of him with a huff, causing him to face plant into the couch.

“I’m so tired. Let me take a break.” Levi groans and starts to close his eyes.

“Oh no no no, sweetie you have to stay awake for us, ok. We have to get to the hospital.” You pat his cheeks struggling to keep him up and awake.

You hear the squeak of an office chair roll behind you.

“Okay, you know what”. Zeke, who had been watching the whole ordeal with concern and slight humour, starts to feel sorry for you both (you mainly) and makes his way over. He grabs a spray bottle full of water kept for the office plants and sprays the shorter man in the face a few times.

“AHH.”

“Zeke! “ you exclaim.

“What?” the blond shrugs his shoulders.

“Time to wake up buddy. Let’s get to the elevator.” Zeke moves to help Levi up again, the task proving to be much easier for him than for you.

“You gotta stay awake for us Levi, alright.”

“Where are we going?” Levi asks confused as Zeke tries to awkwardly sling Levi’s arm over his shoulder. The height difference between the two men wasn’t helping.

“Okay let me help you Levi”. You move to take him from Zeke who goes to grab his coat.

“Y/N, try keep him awake. I’ll get the van by the entrance so he can get in easier.” Zeke leaves you to try and coax Levi to the elevator.

“Okay. C’mon Levi, let me help you. Let’s go, c’mon.”

“Okay. You’re the best Y/N.”

“Yep, thanks Levi”.

“What is that smell?” Levi lightly sniffs

“I dunno.”

“I have to go to the hospital.”

“I know.” You respond as though he's a child.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m just gonna take you downstairs to Zeke and Erwin and say bye okay. I’ll see you later.”

“But I’m coming back from… where am I going?” Levi staggers to a stop.

“I know you’ll come back, but it’ll be different.” You try getting him into the elevator.

Levi thinks for a moment as he sways into the elevator.

“What do you mean?” he questions getting slightly dizzy at the motion.

“Long story”

“Oh Y/N,” he laughs as he playfully boops your nose with his index finger. “You’re adorable”.

“Oh wow… uhm okay.” You’re taken aback by this sudden affection.

“Well thanks Levi. Okay let’s get off.”

You guide him to the front entrance of the building.

“Alright, c’mere. I’ll see you.” You gently pull him in for a hug knowing this will probably be the last time you see the nice playful Levi for... well forever.

“Okay huggy hugs. I love you Y/N.”

“Wow. Okay see ya buddy.” You laugh.

It’s been a while since Erwin and Zeke left with Levi. You couldn’t help but feel a little worried. Even if Levi wasn’t the most likeable or easiest person to deal with in the office, you still cared for him. Dare you say you considered him a friend after working with each other for the past few years.

On cue you get a call on your deskphone from Zeke.

“Hey, how’s he doing?”

“Still a little loopy. Erwin’s sitting with him in the waiting area. I dunno who’s worse right now.” Zeke groans tiredly down the phone making you lightly laugh.

“Oh and Levi is asking when you’d get here? I think he thinks you’ll be here. Or he just wants you here.”

This takes you by surprise.

“Oh. Well I mean I can come and maybe we can swap over and you can bring Erwin back.”

“Oh god no, please! I’ll send him back in a cab. I can't stay here nor there with his whiny ass!”

“Haha, alright, I’ll be there soon.”

You made your way to the hospital and found the ward Levi had been shifted to waiting for his MRI scan results.

“Oh thank god! Y/N can sit here now. I can’t breathe in here!” Erwin shoots up on his feet, including the cooked one.

“Wait! Erwin! Where are you going? Don’t leave me!” Levi was still clearly suffering from his accident.

“Oh shut up Levi. You bump your head and you become such a whiny baby”. You and Zeke look at one another not sure whether to laugh or not at your boss’ statement, considering he has been demanding attention all day from the whole office. Plus Levi is like this because of him.

“Excuse me”, a passing nurse interrupts the moment. “I’m sorry, there are too many people in here. We can only allow 2 people max.”

The desperate look on Levi's face while looking at Erwin makes you laugh and feel sorry for him, while the latter looks bored and has already used this cue to leave.

You turn to Zeke, “It’s okay, I’ll sit with him. You go and sit outside.” He smiles and nods leaving.

“Hey buddy, how are you feeling?” You ask, sitting by his bed.

“My head feels like somebody threw a boulder at it. I don’t feel so good.” He rubs his head. And it seems like he’s still suffering some amnesia as he looks at you confused.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Just here to stay with you, make sure you’re okay.”

“Oh. Thanks for that Y/N.” You smile back in response and you both fall into a comfortable silence. Levi leans back slightly, careful not to lay down just yet as instructed by the nurse. He peers back at you and you meet his silver eyes.

“You alright there Levi? Need anything.”

“No, just… thank you.” He says quietly looking down at his fingers. You smile and your eyebrows slightly furrow. You’re not used to being thanked this much by him.

“You thanked me already. And I’m more than happy to be here and wait with you.” You pat his hands.

“No Y/N. I mean, it’s just… Thank you for being nice to me. You’re always nice to me.”

You stare at the side of his face not knowing what to say.

“You’re nice to me when Zeke plays his stupid pranks on me and when Erwin is mean to me and will only let me be assistant to the regional manager.” You lightly laugh at his comments as he continues.

“I know no one really likes me in the office. You’re my best friend there”. He looks at you sincerely and you feel really touched.

“Believe it or not, I do care about you.”

“Aww, Levi. That’s really sweet. I care about you too.” You reply honestly.

“You’re my best friend and I love you”

“Oh…”

“Like I can kill for you.”

“Oh, well, that’s not necessary.” You awkwardly laugh.

“Platonically of course.”

“Uh… Which part?”

“If anybody hurts you, I keep various weaponry strategically placed around the office. Like those 2 swords in the uhm… Where were they?” And the moment is gone.

“Wait what..?” Your eyes widen, knowing he most likely isn’t kidding.

“You’re a great gal Y/N.”

“Wait Levi, can you just-”

“Hi Mr Ackerman, how are you doing?”

Levi and the nurse have a brief conversation before he cries out for Erwin to join him again. You step out of the room with a small smile feeling weirdly warm after hearing those words from Levi. And slightly concerned about the swords. You’ll have to thoroughly check the office later. You bump right into Zeke who had been waiting outside the room.

“How’s he doing?” Zeke asks, pushing off the wall.

“Uhm.. yeh, good. I think. He said some nice things.”

“Oh, so still concussed then.” He laughs

“Hey!” You lightly hit his bicep laughing. “Oh but seriously, we need to check the office for unauthorised sharp objects…”

“Yup, that sounds more like Levi.” You both walk to the waiting area.

“Oh Y/N, can I tell you something?” Zeke stops walking.

“Yeh, of course.” You wait expectedly.

“Well, I just wanna say…” You nod for him to continue.

“Well. I really care about you. I love you.” You stare at him, not blinking.

“I can kill for you. Platonically.” He smirks down at you.

You clock onto him. He clearly heard yours and Levi’s conversation. “Oh very funny, ha ha. You ass.” You playfully shove him, your face heating up slightly.

He slings an arm over you. “C’mon Y/L/N, let’s get some coffee. I’ll get it for you, best friend.”

“Oh god,” you sigh and Zeke just laughs.

A few days later

You leave a bunch of flowers on Levi’s desk that the office bought for him for his first day back. He was given a few days off to rest by Erwin, much to Levi’s dismay.

You hear the door to the office open and Levi walks in hanging his jacket on the coat rack.

“Morning Levi, how are you doing?” You smile at him.

“No time for idle chit chat.” Levi walks right past you to his desk.

“What the hell are these?” He looks at the flowers distastefully.

“We thought it’d be nice after you got back out of hospital” Historia says from her desk behind him.

“Waste of time, money and space”. Levi scoffs and throws the flowers in the trash can under his desk as he settles into his chair.

“Tsk, Zeke, your craps on my side of the desk again.” Levi tuts as he proceeds to shove things off of his side of the desk with a ruler not caring that Zeke’s paperwork was now all over the floor.

Zeke sits back in his chair and watches in amusement.

“Great to have you back Levi, I missed you.” Zeke says

“Oh shut up you oversized monkey. I bet I can catch up on my work and still make more sales than you”.

Zeke looks over at you grinning and you both stifle a laugh.

Ah, that’s the Levi you know. But you also now know what a softie he actually is.

You now need to know where those swords are…

[winterpower98]

Part 2 on the way

- beach episode but macaque stays hidden under the umbrella judging everyone

Ma supervising

Wukong either running around to look for cool rocks or sleep the whole time

And Ba and Beng being cute around

Also yk those people who sell like granite (i swear how do you say it in English) ? Okay wukong would zoom just to get the peach flavored and then go back to sleep like a grandpa

- i like to think that Beng didn't know how to swim, and felt stupid for it because he was scared of water (and never learned how to swim)

So one day, when he tried to swim, Mac was watching, Ba was teaching him, and Ma was making sure Beng wasn't scared or anything.

Wukong? Under water holding Beng up so he didn't sink. Just standing at the bottom giving Beng a chair with his hands.

- imagine you're relaxing and suddenly wukong says "lmao" out of no where.

- like to think that sometimes or deadass every Friday Beng and Ba receive a gift. A gift for both, maybe a book for Ba and something else for Beng, anything that they would like.

They don't know who is the person who gives them a gift, and honestly they have started to wait for them each Friday.

Little did they know it's wukong giving them gifts.

- this hc is really funny to me but- macaque being jacket but not being able to open a jar of pickles, then you see wukong, this skinny man, being able to lift a whole mountain. Even better if you think that wukong is a bit chubby because he doesn't train and keeps eating junk.

- feel like Mami, despite wukong horrible choices, is very proud of wukong.

He started as some stubborn child, and ended up as being half if not all china hero and a god. He matured a lot and she's proud of her son for it.

- wukong as both a grave for Ma and one that used to belong to macaque, he used to stay there and sit and give flowers to each grave.

He still does, but doesn't do it to Macaque one anymore, since he isn't dead anymore.

- wukong still has a big amount of animals in his house, especially weird cats and horses.

- wukong used to groom his friends a lot, monkey way to show affection 💪

Sometimes he gave flowers too because apparently humans did it to show that they loved someone. He didn't quite get it was rather more romantically than platonic. But did he care? No.

- wukong likes salami. That's it. Bono er salame

- wukong acted like a grandpa since he was a kid, maybe he took it from langur and horse, unknown, he was just a grandpa since birth man. The ultimate old sun.

- both handsome monkey king and old sun were nicknames made by his monkeys,

Handsome monkey king because he reached both demons and monkey standards,

And old sun because everyone saw their king as a second parent or directly their grandpa.

- Ma was likely the first one with Beng to ask wukong to train them, both wanted to protect their people when wukong wasn't there!

- monkey king is so bored as a god that he knows how to code, sew, draw, paint, and make a rocket

Like wow dude

- if Beng and Ba ever visit again wukong the first thing they'll see is probably wukong with 7 monkeys on him, one grooming him, one attached to his leg, one trying to tackle him and push him, one playing with his tail, and one asking questions for the next three hours (imagine wukong and the monkey asking questions like : "wabadababa is that true? Yeh")

- i imagine the whole group feeling bad in different ways for wukong, they already do because of jttw (other than Mac). because despite Tripitaka treating wukong so badly, wukong still misses him and can't let go. It's just..sad. y'know? (I'm talking about Ma if she was alive too)

- they all liked Mami. Mami is a very likeable person and wukong will beat up whoever says otherwise.

whenever the ground had a sleepover to wukong house Mami always made food that wasn't fruits, everyone liked that.

- speaking of the house, wukong house was a human one, so Mami and wukong were the only monkeys who lived in an actual house and not maybe little camps or also caves. That's why doing a sleepover there was the best. Cozy house.

- bet Ba and Beng would have loved how well taken care and full of life flower fruit mountain is again!

- apparently, monkeys do get periods! Yes menstrual ones. so i can only imagine wukong taking good care of Mami whenever her period came, he did the exact same to Ma and Ba too. Just helping like a true gentleman. (i do wonder if he would have periods too because of my trans headcanon..)

- if the monkeys could ever meet MK, what would be their reaction? We know that Mac didn't had the...best first impression, but he's working on it.

We already talked about how Mami treats MK like her kid just like wukong, (i don't know if you ever talked about MK with langur and horse, i remember you saying that wukong tried to hide the fact that he had a successor from them but failed though!)

Part 1

(I think it's like a gelato kinda situation, you just call it granita I guess. Because granite is the rock)

Oh, I love the idea of Beng not knowing how to swim and Ba teaching him! That's very cute.

Of course Mami is proud of her son! Yes he made mistakes, but that is part of growing and he did his best to atone for them

Man god ADHD and was alone for 500 years. That is a dangerous combination, no wonder he knows how to do so many things

I didn't know monkeys get menstrual periods too. I'm sorry for them, I hoped they would be free from that pain

I did say that Wukong tried to keep MK a secret from Langur and Horse. That's because he knew the two would have made fun of him, calling him a dad even when he had only started to train the kid. Both immortals like MK very much, he's a sweeter version of Wukong to them.

And while I'm sure Ba, Beng and Ma would absolutely adore MK too, they would also be equally worried about him because 1 he's a kid, and 2 why would Wukong even need a successor?

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 57 - Self-staged kidnapping.

K: Hi, this is Dir en grey's Kaoru, with this week's episode of The Freedom of Expression. Joe, Tasai, welcome. Ok, lets get straight on with it, Joe..?

K: Yes, so this is some news from America about a self-staged kidnapping. So, on the 10th of February police in Coolidge, Arizona got a call saying there was a man lying in the gutter of the road with his hands bound behind him. Upon arriving at the location, they found 19 year old Brandon Soules in a state of abandonment. Soules had this to say. 'I was punched in the head by two masked men. While I was unconscious, they put me in a car, and when I woke up, I was here'. However, no such events were picked up by local security cameras, and it was clear that there was no evidence of this happening to Soules' body. It was concluded that the whole thing was staged by Soules. It appears that for some reason, Soules really hadn't wanted to go work that day, so he thought of a reason why he wouldnt have to go, stuffed a bandana in his mouth, tied his hands with tape and took himself somewhere where he would be spotted and rescued. He was fired from his job at a tire company as a matter of course, the reason being for making false claims. Local residents made some critical comments such as, 'Not wanting to go to work might not be so bad, but if you really don't want to go to work, its better to just quit. Many people have lost their jobs due to corona, so the position can be filled quickly', and 'Couldn't he have thought of a better excuse like a headache or food poisoning or something? Its so embarrassing for him, he won't be able to live in this town anymore'. ..So, a self-staged kidnaping. He just didn't want to go to work.

T: Its incredible.

J: Haha, I can't help feeling that its very American.

K: He got caught out, didn't he?

J: He did. Like it said at the end, if he really didn't want to go to work, he could have just said he had a stomach ache.

T: He's 19?

J: Yes, 19...Brandon Soules.

K: He probably didn't think the news would spread this much. 

J: Yes, thats right.

T: He might have thought it would be funny.

J: He might have, yeh. But it went too far, and he got fired in the end.

K: Maybe it was because he thought his company wouldn't let him have a day off just for a headache or stomach ache?

J: Oh, right. Maybe he thought he wouldn't be able to take a day off?

K: Yeah.

J: I wonder what it was.

K: Its a bit strange that it was a tire company he worked for.

T:???*1

J: Alternatively, yeah. If it was a scary company, that never let him stop unless he was kidnapped or something like that?

K: Well, normally, you'd be able to, right?

J: Hm, yeh. Normally, you only have to have like a fever to get the day off, right?

T: He says he was punched all of a sudden by two masked men.

K: You'd be able to see his injury if that was the case.

J: Yeah, in this surveillance society we live in, he must have realised the security cameras would be checked, and there would be no sign of any struggle between him and some men. Its bad of him to tell lies to this extent.

T: Maybe he wanted to draw attention to himself.

J: Ah, I see. He might make his youtube debut after this?

T: Hasn't there been someone like that before?

J: There might have been.

T: Yeah, like, people who want to draw attention to themselves.

J: I might have seen something like that. It might have been for that reason. I wonder what will happen to him.

T: Didn't you sometimes used to see people being late for school, and claiming they'd been helping an old woman who'd had a fall?

K: I can't really remember seeing that.

Kami: Um, this kind of guy, if he's done this once, he will definitely do it again.

T: Ah, you think?

Kami: Yes, he definitely will. Uh, this happened to me once a long time ago too.

T: Kami!

J: Kami, thats bad!

Kami: When I was in elementary school, I didn't want to go to school, I found it annoying. Its boring, right?

J: Well, yeh, I guess.

Kami: And I had a friend who was good at imitating our mothers. He called the school in the morning, and said, 'My son has a fever, so I'm just letting you know he will take the day off'.

K, T: Haha

Kami: So we could play all day at his house, there were about 3 of us.

T: Thats pretty bad.

J: Its complete trickery. haha

Kami: Yeah, but our joy didn't last long. After about three days, the teacher came to check  on the house and we were found out.

T: You did that for three days?

Kami: Yeah, three days in a row. We were only in elementary school, so we didn't realise. It was fun so we just wanted to carry on doing it day after day, even for a month.

T: Haha

J: Well, kids aren't good at understanding that kind of thing.

T: Im just kinda surprised at the fact that Kami had elementary school days. He was a little kid once?

Kami: Ahh, it was a secret identity for me.

T: Did he become a teen and then an adult?

Kami: As to why this guy (Soules) will definitely do this again though..

J: Ah, yes this is important.

Kami: ..he didn't think he was doing anything bad. There were a lot of people saying he'll be so embarrassed, he won't want to live there anymore, but I don't think he'll be embarresed at all.

J, T: Ahh

J: I see. Well, he probably wouldn't have done this if he felt like it might be embarrassing.

Kami: He wouldn't have, yeah.

K: But it is embarrassing in the end.

J: Absolutely.

Kami: Well, as for me, when I remember those three days now, I feel happy, haha.

J: Hahaha

T: Well, yeah, not going to school..

J: Do you ever skive off like that from your night shift work?

Kami: No, I don't do it for that. I really hated school, I couldn't help it.

J: Still, you've become a god.

Kami: Hehe, yeah.

J: Did you become a god at some point along the way, or were you born a god?

K: Ah, thats important.

J: Right?!

Kami: I was born a god.

K: In that case it doesn't matter if he doesn't go to school. Its already decided, right?

J: Yeah, his godship is confirmed already.

K: So, yeah, its ok if he doesn't go in that case.

J: Yeah, I guess so, Kami.

Kami: The time I was born was the same time 'Freedom' started though.

J: Huh? haha. So thats quite recent.

Kami: Yeah, I was born recently, so whats all this talk about me in elementary school then?

J: Yeah, the time axis doesn't match.

K: Haha

Kami: I'll leave that to your discretion to figure out. (よしなに/yoshinani).

T: Ha, 'yoshinani'?

J: He said it. Kami, you just revealed you're old. No-one says that these days.

Kami: Don't they? haha

J: Yeah.

K: I havn't heard anyone say that in ages.

J: Right?! 'yoshinani'...Kami!

Kami: Yes

J: Someone born at the start of 'Freedom' would never say 'yoshinani'. But its quite godlike to have these kinds of discrepancies.

T: Yeah.

K: Well, anyway, is that about it?

J: Yeah. Whats gonna happen with this guy, Soules? Do you think he will become a youtuber?

K: After this, yeah.

T: It actually seems like something an actor might do.

J: It was a famous performance, right?

T: Yeah, he may be hoping to become an actor.

J: We'll have to keep an eye out for whether this self-staged performance actually appears in a kidnapping drama.

T: Yeah.

J: America is great for this type of thing.

K: Ok well..

J, T, Kami: Yes.

K: Thank you very much!

*1 Couldn't catch

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[tobeornottotc]

The Problems with HIStory4; Close To You Ep 1-4 (Observation and Comments)

The verdict is out!  I actually enjoy History4, as much as there's problematic elements to it, and it does feel a bit like a regression; the acting is great, the chemistry is perfect, and it's not as bad as the trailer made it seem. Like yes, we have a very invasive annoying fujoshi trope, but the characters are written in a way that it makes sense that they fall into this.

The Fujoshi Harassing Invasive Fake Dating Trope:

Cheng is so childish and so up in the clouds, and from a typical sexist, ignorant flawed man perspective, it's like he's always never taken anything seriously because he doesn't see any need to. Also, because he doesn't take anything seriously, he's ignorant and very self-focused and takes things too far; it's his character flaw. The only person who keeps in line is Moren. Who is someone who takes a lot of things seriously but also kind of ignores or avoids feelings and what that entails.

Moren is very gentle and sweet with his friends whilst on the surface, he seems cold and distant, but he tends to be very comfortable and have fun, like the childish part of him is brought out by Cheng. They compliment each other so well. There's something about the way they like each other so unconditionally despite being so opposite to each other, they do care a lot, and they have a very ignorant homophobic mindset because of how they've been raised in society, so they don't know a lot about queerness and what it means, so that's interesting to see them learn their feelings and grow from that.

I like their domestic vibes and how they are when they're just together alone; it's not entirely romantic or in your face that there are feelings; it's very soft, and very based and focused on the depth of friendship that they've developed, and I think that's so cute and adorable to see. The only thing I don't like about their storyline is the fujoshi trope; she's not always there; she's hidden but her presence always reminds me of why this trope is so problematic because she should be called out for her invasiveness. She should be taught about why what she's doing is not okay; maybe she does, later on, do so but I can't tell how serious this writer wants to be with this show. She may have genuinely just wanted a typical old BL style novel like show in the past that we used to read that doesn't address problematic stuff.

The show is very light and funny with these twos story so she may not want it to be so serious, which is why I'm trying to be careful when analysing the show. My thing is the fujoshi thing needs to be addressed because her actions aren't okay more than Cheng and Moren. The trailer for the show is wildly exaggerated and made me dread watching the show. Still, although Cheng is sometimes quite touchy and can fall into that line of harassment, it's been called out by Moren in episode 1, and everything in the trailer that seemed problematic with harassment for them isn't like it is.  It's just them joking around and being Moren and Cheng. Moren may feel weirded out by some situations, but it's not against his consent, is what I'm trying to say. Cheng is not meant to be a perfect character; his flaw is his childishness, and how he doesn't take things seriously, so he comes across as rude, invasive, loud etc. But for them, there's nothing so far that is as bad as what the trailer suggested it would be. Maybe, later on, I'd change my mind.

The Stalker Obsessesive Step Brother Trope:

For Jie and Xingsi. It's different. It's the same issues with stories about obsession, possession and trauma tropes. People will not like Jie because the reason why he does what he does, is because his character outline is based on a mental disorder (that isn't even diagnosed, but it's clear he's on a  sociopathic spectrum), he's emotionally shut off, so he doesn't have any feelings, doesn't know when he's gone too far or when he is doing something to others that are seen as problematic. All he focuses on is his feelings for XingSi because he's the only person who makes him care.

Not goanna lie, their storyline has toxic elements, and it is weird that the show wants to humanise his actions and make him seem pitiful. For me, he is pitiful, and I do understand why he acts the way he does, but I think others would have an issue with him. I think it's hard to accept the storyline because it is romanticising toxicity and dependency, but I kinda after being freaked out by him; I've come to kind of understand why they write his character the way they did for him and Xingsi. The theme of these two's story is conforming to societal pressures vs being free and accepting your self. So they kind of help each other with the other's problem/issue.

You can decide if you want to see that as romantic or if you are so turned off by Jie's insensitive actions. For me, this is a typical toxic storyline that makes sense to me why they'll be together. For example, when looking at Jie; Obviously, he's been nurtured into developing parts of being sociopathic to deal with the pain of his childhood. It's not an excuse to let him get away with his actions; I'm just saying I understand his character outline. He doesn't trust people; he doesn't let anyone in. So he's automatically someone with sociopathic tendencies, very possessive, can be aggressive if he isn't sure he trusts what's happening, alienates himself and doesn't care for how others view him. But he's someone who kind of helps Xingsi deal with his own secrets; Xingsi is someone determined to be responsible/right in society; hence he hides himself and his actual wants and needs to please people.

So Jie, with his own twisted ways, is always a catalyst to helping Xingsi find out what he wants and for Xingsi to come to terms with being brave and showing who he really is to people. In a way, Jie, because he's so emotionally uncaring about what others think of him, is the antithesis to Xingsi; he is freer because he's not hiding who he is or conforming to what others think is right/wrong he only cares about his own freedom/happiness. So he provides that way and escape for Xingsi to be himself and stop pretending or acting to please people and society. That's what the writers are trying to achieve with them. Jie is then also taught about feelings and emotions because of having Si as someone he does care for automatically and does want to change for and be gentle to whilst Si learns to accept himself /stop conforming to societal pressures.

They follow typical old BL novels in the past; they have problematic issues and toxic stuff around them to discuss, and they're very flawed; they are written to help each other deal with their flaws/issue by falling for each other. Is it right to romanticize that storyline? Maybe or maybe not, we need to do better stories for BL; that's something we know, it's not okay to always have toxic or problematic storylines, but if you know me, I also enjoy the past BL tropes as well. I like toxic storylines because they have so much interesting character dynamics that are wild to explore and analyse. They usually are very angsty and dramatic, and they have a good plot. That's something I never try to hide away from, I don't agree with when people say you shouldn't write toxic storylines or add problematic characters, but that's an argument for another day etc., I just want it to be called out when its a toxic thing/problematic trope like give consequences and show them learning why its wrong, or have them go through a character development.  

It's not going to make me judge the show so badly or stop watching it when I actually enjoy the friendship, characters and lighthearted, funny vibes the show brings every Sunday. Like it makes me smile and laugh when I'm watching Cheng and Moren, and it makes me think when I watch Xingsi and Jie. So yeh I enjoy the show and I'm not ashamed to say it.

[keira-kaz2y5]

I honestly think that there should be a whole episode of s7 9-1-1 from the rest of the 118 firefighter’s perspective, like how they go out on jobs or are in the background of jobs the team’s gone to, and like how they joke about and contrast to Bobby’s problem children and like they’re sat there looking at these fckrs who constantly almost die and make stupid decisions and they’re like “I would’ve just done this.. it’s so much simpler” eg “why didn’t they just use the other ladder?” or making bets on 118’s love life and shipping Buddie etc

I think it would be so funny but so good to have an episode dedicated to their lives and families and stresses but also how they see Bobby and Athena’s problem kids (for humour) but also so they aren’t just background characters running around that you never really see or get to know

And for other scenes for a change of pace do the same thing at dispatch with other dispatchers maybe gossiping in the kitchen over coffee or dealing with some bad calls etc.. and Carla’s life outside the Diaz family

Also not forgetting the kids of 118 and how they might possibly interact with other firefighters kids (the ones we don’t know), and Karen’s work place and police officers, paramedics/nurses/drs

I like that the last episode gave them a bit more screen time and we saw 118 interacting with the different shifts a bit more but it was short and they deserve longer

So this is explained kinda badly but yeh I hope ygwim

Also Ravi Begins episode!!!!!

Pls guys help me get this idea on ABC’s radar

[daydreamsofh]

Dreaming of You

A/N: Hi, hello friends!! Here is Dreaming of You, this is a slight continuation/part two to my piece from the Pick Your Poison Fic challenge last month! You don’t have to have read Dreamy to understand what’s going on in this piece, but if you wanna, you are more than welcome to do so, here. :)  I hope you enjoy the continued yearning and please feel free to let me know what you think! xx 

Also a special thanks to my girl @harryinsweatersandbandanas for listening to me ramble about this for weeks now, love you <3 

**

The past month of your life has felt like nothing short of a dream. A dream filled with you confessing your undying love to your best friend, and him very, very surprisingly declaring it back to you. You literally could not make it up if you tried. 

The two of you had only spent a small amount of time together since your life altering, relationship altering monologue. Now it really was like an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. What the hell was going to happen next?! 

Harry had spent the night at your place that night, the two of you spending the entire afternoon into the evening reading through his letters to you and giggling and sharing kisses and making him explain each and every letter and what he was feeling when he wrote it. You traced his handwriting on each letter, smiling like a mad woman when you realized he had already told you he loved you over and over again, in different cities and countries all over the world. How many times had you both said I Love You at the same time, out loud, but not to each other? Wrapped up and tucked against his side, Harry pressed kisses into your hair and softly looked down at you, smiring and chest puffing over the fact that your cheeks had been burning red since he first slid the pile of notes across the island to you. 

Nothing had happened that night further than gentle kisses and cuddling. Mainly because you were still in utter disbelief that he felt the same way, and that he was here curled up in your living room giving you kiss after kiss and also because you weren’t completely convinced he was real and holding you. What kind of over the top, non stop yearning daydream was this?  

It was kind of unbelievable the way things had turned out. Okay not kind of, more like incredibly unbelievable that things had turned out so, so beautifully. You woke up asleep on Harry’s chest on your couch the next morning and you had to quietly slip from on top of him because you were afraid you were going to start crying from the vision of this man in front of you. Happy tears this time though. 

But that’s all that had really happened, that one night together and he was off the next morning to finalize tour details. He had left you with a stream of kisses on your doorstep, and a promise to see you soon. 

The one thing you didn’t account for when you delivered your inner monologue to Harry was the timing of it all. Shortly after the listening party and the week you spent hiding from him, he was supposed to start a brand new tour. But that dream was cut short and he was forced to reschedule the european leg, and self isolation had officially started. You knew Harry was upset and disappointed that things had to be rescheduled. He knew there was nothing he could do, it was out of his hands, but that didn’t stop him from feeling badly. After he told you about the tour being rescheduled, you were right there with him, well not literally right there with him but he had called you the moment they had made the decision.  

It was easy to tell how disappointed he was by the tone of his voice, and it made your heart ache hearing him beat himself up about it. His usual honeyed slowed rasp was even more drowned out and you had only managed to get a small snicker out of him by the end of the phone call. You told him that you loved him,  and that you were proud of him for always seeing the bigger picture, no matter how hard it was sometimes. 

**

You were granted access to work from home, so you knew where you would be, but you had no idea where Harry would be for the length of this self isolation period the entire world seemed to be in. You almost didn’t want to ask because you didn't want to seem like you were the overly attached new girlfriend that wanted to spend every possible second with him. Sure you both said I love you but you still were trying to play it sort of cool, as much as you could. Have you seen him? Playing it cool was next to impossible. 

But one night, about three days into quarantining by yourself there was a knock at your door. 

You opened the door to your apartment to find a curly headed (and you hated yourself for how mushy this man makes you AND how mushy it sounds) angel face of a man staring back at you. 

You squealed, actually squealed when his eyes met yours and he never got tired of seeing how excited you got from seeing him. He positively scrambled to hug you as soon as you swung the door open and you laughed and steadied the two of you by putting your hands on his shoulders as the two of you stood in your doorway and softly hummed as you swayed together. 

Once he finally let go so you could breathe he asked you, “Hi angel, are you busy?” He raised an eyebrow at you and laughed once you rolled your eyes. 

“You are not a funny man you wanker.” You giggled, very loudly and your cheeks started to blush when you saw his eyes crinkle at your quip and you mumbled a very shy, “I missed you” into his neck. 

He grabbed your hand and laced your fingers together before bringing your hand up to his lips to kiss. “I missed you too, love. M’sorry I haven’t been around lately or called. Head’s been in a bit of a mess after postponing everythin’. M’sorry. You deserve better than tha’ from me.” 

His eyes were so soft and he looked like a little boy peering down at you and you could tell he genuinely felt bad for not being around, even though you didn’t expect him to be after the past few weeks he had. You knew he would come back to you when he was ready, he always did. 

“I know. It’s okay, H. It’s a lot to digest. I’m sorry.” You smiled softly reached out to touch his cheek and his eyes shut at the reassuring contact. He melted into your touch and your fingers started to twitch against his cheek. How was it that even though you told him you loved him and he repeated the words back to you, that you were still this nervous? Butterflies were fluttering around in your stomach and the longer you looked at him the giddier you got. You couldn’t believe that you were the one that got to reach out and touch his face and feel his lips against your own, it was all still so surreal. And special. And the thought of all of the new possibilities that were floating around in the air between the two of you was enough to make you feel like you were walking on air. What is it about the beginnings of a new relationship or even a new friendship that fill you with so much joy you literally have no choice but to laugh so some of the joy could be released into the air for you to feel? Whatever it was, you knew that you and Harry had an untapped amount of it left to discover. God you loved him.

 After a minute of you daydreaming about the new possibilities of your relationship, Harry said your name to get your attention.

 “Alrigh’ there?” He laughed at you and chucked under your chin with his thumb. “Let me have a kiss, angel, been waitin’ long enough.”

 You squealed then too and puckered your lips and kissed him pertly one, two, three, four times. He was positively beaming at you when you broke apart and you asked him, “Better now?” He hummed and your heart dropped into your stomach (in a good way) and your throat became thick when he said “Never gonna get tired of getting to do tha’.”

 Harry cleared his throat and said “I wanted to see you obviously but I also had a proposition f’you.” He raised an eyebrow at you and your stomach swirled at the possibilities of said proposition.

 “Go on,” You raised your brow back at him and goaded him into continuing.

 “Well, yeh working from home for the foreseeable future, right?” Your eyes went wide and you slowly nodded your head yes. “Well… y’know that the tour got postponed and that i’m staying home for a while, and I was wonderin’ if you would like to come quarantine at my house w’me?” 

Your mouth fell open and before you could say anything Harry started again. 

“Know it's not supposed to be a romantic thing or summat and that the situation is serious but-” He was starting to ramble nervously and you saw the skin of his neck turn pink. “I thought you might like someone to keep yeh company, and I just really wanna spend some time w’you. Haven't gotten to properly have a date or even hold yeh since our big love fest.” 

“Our love fest?” You sputtered out a laugh and he started snickering. 

“Y’know what I mean. Maybe we can have a real love fest later.” He smirked at you and you felt your knees buckle. 

Breath positively knocked out of your lungs, you managed to squeak out, “No I suppose we haven’t gotten to do that yet. Good things come to those who wait, H.” 

That had his nostrils flaring and he suddenly had a tickle in his throat. When he didn’t speak you took the opportunity to ask him,  “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose or step on your toes. Plus who knows how long we could be in self isolation, and I don’t want you to hate me by the end of it.”

 You laughed and you knew you were mostly joking, but there was also this fear that you had that if the two of you really spent some time together, he would somehow change his mind. That if he really saw you, day in and day out he would see something he didn't like. Unlikely though considering he had practically written you an entire book of love letters. Those insecurities that  you had always had were still there at the surface, always afraid that something would happen and Harry would slip through your fingers like water. You almost had him so many times over the years and even though it seemed like you were both in this together now you still hadn’t had that conversation yet. Sure you were in love but what does that really mean? 

There were so many things you and Harry had left to talk about and you had so many things to discover with one another. But the more you thought about it this might be THE perfect time to get to know each other on this new level. Day in and day out together to learn what it’s truly like to be loved by him. And plus all of the fun and exciting and sexy steps that the two of you had to take together. Andhaving Harry all to yourself for the foreseeable future was enough to make you scream with excitement.

 As you stood there mulling all of this over in your head Harry stood there patiently waiting for your response. He knew you well enough to know that you were running a possible million scenarios through your mind. He reached for your hand to lace your fingers together.

 “Love, please don’t say things like that. Y’know there is nothing you could ever do to make me not want to spend time with you, do you remember me saying I was in love with you? The handful of love letters that have your name all over them? Been watchin’ too much TV and forgot?” 

Your cheeks warmed and you were suddenly fidgeting again, everytime you were reminded that he loved you too it knocked the wind out of you. “C’mon love. Come stay with me. I don’t wanna go home w’out you. Come stay with me.” 

You stood there melting under his stare and when you looked up at him from your fixture on your wood floor you smiled and bit your lip before nodding. Like hell if you’d leave now,  you had waited long enough.

 “Okay, okay. If I must keep you company in that ridiculously massive house of yours. I’d love to H.” You giggled to hide your squeal over the fact that you would be alone, ALONE with him for the next few weeks. 

Suddenly Harry was in your apartment and picking you up and spinning you around. “Y’will? You’ll really come home w’me?” His lips were trembling and his smile took over his entire face as he held you tightly against him. Looking him up and down and smiling you fidgeted with the hem of his shirt and brought your eyes back to his, “Yes, yes i'll come home with you, H. It’ll be nice to have you to myself for a while.” 

You were cut off from him lunging forward and kissing you so hard it hurt just a little bit and you melted into it. In just a matter of seconds he had you so pliant, puddy in his hands. As if you'd ever say no to spending the next few weeks wrapped up in him. Literally and figuratively. If the next few weeks consisted of kisses like this and his hands on you at all times, you were more than game for it.

 “Y’have no idea how nice it’ll be, love” 

That sentiment, actually more like a promise he was set to deliver on made your stomach drop in the most delicious way.

 Breaking apart from his lips finally you were out of breath, and shakingly told him “Come in and wait for me so I can get my stuff.” Another kiss, “I won’t be long.”

 Leaving Harry sitting in your living room waiting for you to get your stuff together, you texted Sam to let him know where you were going to be for the next few weeks. Sam was one of the first people you called after your and Harry’s “love fest”, and he was so excited he had to come over and scream about it with you in person. He had been texting you everyday waiting to see if anything else had happened yet. You knew telling him you were going to stay with Harry would make him almost excited as it made you. Pulling out your phone you typed out:

 “Gonna be staying at Harry’s the next few weeks. Tour was postponed as you know and I’m so excited to spend time with him. Just wanted to let you know. xx” 

Your phone dinged almost immediately with a response, you knew Sam was as bored as you were, on his phone even more than normal.  

Sam: “OOOOOOH SHIT!!!!!!! That’s incredible babe! Hope you’re packing some lingerie because things are definitely going to happen, babe!” 

 Oh shit. Shit shit shit shit shit!! The possibility of sex hadn’t even crossed your mind, well, today it hadn’t crossed your mind. Obviously sex with Harry has crossed your mind over the years of your friendship. Have you seen him? No, seriously, have you seen him?! It’s infuriating that he looks like that. And it’s not like you didn’t know he was well endowed, years of friendship and accidentally and sometimes not accidentally (on harry’s part) you had seen him naked and willed your eyes away to not look at it, even though it was next to impossible. The thought of having the real thing and so so so much more was exhilarating, terrifying, and made your stomach clench and your cheeks heat up. As exciting as the opportunity of being with Harry in that way was, it made your insecurities spill out all over again. How many women had he been with? You don’t mean it like it sounds, you know he has had very serious relationships with people and that he was no stranger to intimacy, but still. How would you measure up to the women he had been with? Why did Sam have to say that? You knew he meant well but you were also incredibly nervous all of the sudden. Harry had been your best friend that you were in love with for years now, and the two of you had told the other you were in love with each other, this was still all new territory. Territory you had dreamt of for years of getting into with him. This was a big deal. 

Trying to push Sam’s text out of your mind, you focused on what exactly to bring to Harry’s house. Lounge clothes a plenty, some stray pajama shorts, (knowing you would more than likely sleep in one of his shirts every night) plenty of cute (and sexy) underwear just in case Sam was right. You even packed a few fancier outfit options, just in case you and Harry decided to have an impromptu date night at home. Toiletries packed, laptop and your necessary chargers gathered together, you stopped what you were doing to look at yourself in the mirror. You have been waiting for this moment for a long time. He was your dream, in more ways than one, and he was here. He was here with you physically, emotionally, and the weight of that kind of hit you in a way that made you tear up. Quickly shaking those tears off you laughed and ran your fingers through your hair. 

At the same time you were zipping up your bags, you heard Harry’s footsteps carrying himself into your bedroom. He snaked his warm, strong arms around your waist and nuzzled his face into your neck. 

“Almost done?” He started to pepper kisses down your neck and you felt like you were lightheaded all of the sudden.

Turning around in his arms you rested your forehead against his. 

“Yeah, I’m done. Let’s go home, H.” 

You didn’t miss the way his ears perked up and the smile that overtook his face once you called his house home.

 “K, darlin. Let me get your bags for yeh,” He kissed your forehead and lingered for a moment before he grabbed your bags and headed back in the main part of your apartment.

 Making sure everything was locked and out away the two of you made the way out of your place. Harry reached for your hand and led you to his car, helping you in first and putting your bags in the trunk. You watched him from the rear view mirror and noticed him smiling from ear to ear and shaking his head. You started beaming before he got into the car and once he shut his door he slid in his seat and looked at you like you hung the moon. He let out a dreamy sigh before reaching over and chucking his fingers under your chin to bring you into the sweetest kiss. His lips softly sucked your bottom lip before slanted his mouth over yours again. You were in the car for only a few minutes and you again, you were already so pliant and cushiony for him. He hummed into it and you did the same, like a couple of lovesick teenagers alone for the first time. 

His fingers traced over your cheek and he beamed at you through swollen lips. Your gaze flittered all over his face and you bit your lip before giggling softly at him. 

Harry looked like he was making no move to actually start the car and leave. He just sat there gazing at you with his dimple denting his cheek. When he just kept staring at you dreamily you laughed and kept one hand cradling his face and the other resting on his thigh.

 “C’mon H let’s go, can’t hold me or take off my pants if we sit here all night,”

 His gaze zeroed in on you and when you laughed to break the tension Harry cleared his throat and dropped his gaze to your mouth. You ran your hand through his curls and he leaned into your touch and his eyes almost shut. You leaned in and kissed him again, pulling his bottom lip back with you. He leaned forward when you finally pulled back and you were grinning nervously at him. 

Laughing you repeated to him, “C’mon Harry let’s go, take me home.” 

Harry groaned when he backed up out of your space, already craving your warm, flowery and comforting scent to invade his senses again. You were so soft and pliant in front of him already, looking at him so doe eyed and innocent, he couldn't wait to get you home alone, just the two of you, with the door dead bolted.

 “Okay okay m’going, let’s go home love,” He looked over and smiled at you, and finally started the car and put it in drive.

 **

Harry kept his eyes on you the whole drive to his house, it wasn’t very far from your apartment but also far away enough to make you feel like you were secluded from the rest of the world. He held your hand the whole way home, tightly grasped within his and he peppered kisses into your skin repeatedly. You admired the way his jaw moved as he drove, the way his curls framed his face so perfectly. You ran your free hand through his hair and he groaned once you started scratching his scalp. You softly talked to each other the whole way to his house, and as you pulled into his driveway you suddenly got so nervous. The two of you being at his house together, alone was nothing new, but the two of you being together at his house alone after you had decided to become a couple, was brand freaking new, and the nerves of that hit you as soon as you pulled into the drive. 

As soon as he put the car in park, he ran over to your side to open the door for you, something he did while the two of you were just friends. He very theatrically opened your door and reached for your hand to practically pull you out of the car. Once the two of you were inside the house and he unloaded all of your bags he reached for your waist to pull you into him. 

You laughed and fell into his frame and his hands cradled your face, and he smiled before slanting his lips over yours. Some of your nervous energy melted away, and when you sighed into it he took the opportunity to slip his tongue past your lips and into your mouth. This kiss wasn’t as sweet and innocent like all the other ones you two have shared, this kiss had a purpose. He wanted to kiss, and to be kissed back. He slowly backed you into his kitchen from the doorway until you were resting against the bar of his breakfast nook. His hands shifted from your face and slid down your back and once you felt them near your butt you squealed and broke the kiss. 

Harry’s eyes flew open and you started laughing, uncontrollably so and you buried your face in his chest. When you groaned he laughed and started carding his hand through your hair, rubbing small circles over the expanse of your back. 

“Erm, something wrong, love?” He snickered through his confusion and kissed your forehead in hopes to coax you off of his chest and look him in the eyes. 

You lifted your face from his chest and your face was red hot, cheeks burning and you finally willed yourself to stop giggling. “No-no no nothing’s wrong it’s just,” you looked up at him softly panting, his swollen lips red and bitten from your own doing. His eyes softened when you stuttered and you groaned again. “It’s just um, you just, you, uh-” you groaned again and buried your face back into his shoulder. When he looked at you again, his gaze was even more confused than before. He nudged his forehead against yours and goaded you into telling him what was wrong. 

“You just, it’s just you just you just touched my ass,” you covered your face with your hands and started giggling nervously again. Harry let out a small laugh and you could only imagine the confused smirk he was wearing. 

 This was Harry, your best friend turned rockstar crush that you pined over for years, finally turned boyfriend. This was all brand new, undiscovered territory. You were flustered and overwhelmed to say the least. You wanted everything with Harry, obviously but this was your best friend feeling you up, the man you have fantasized about and pined over for literal years had his hands on you, that fact just seemed so unbelievable it literally had you in disbelief. Hence the freaking out and nervous uncontrollable laughter. You suddenly felt like you had never been in front of a member of the opposite sex before and the thought of having THIS man’s hands on your hips? You were surprised you weren’t passed out on the floor beneath him. Any sort of physical touch from Harry when the two of you were friends had you about to fall over, and the fact that you could now touch him and hold him and kiss his glorious skin had you shuddering in disbelief.  You were incredibly embarrassed by your outburst, hiding your face in his chest and panting.

“Is tha’ not okay?” His eyes flitted around your face, afraid he had gone too far already. 

You heard him scoff and you were terrified he had gotten the wrong impression entirely. You lifted your head from it’s resting place on his chest and kissed up his neck to his cheek and blurted, “No no no it’s not funny H I swear it’s just-” he raised his brows at you in question. “It’s not funny, it's just this is all new, brand new actually and it’s just- I just, it’s new, that’s all.” You smiled at him with your bottom lip in between your teeth after you were done rambling. Understanding lit in his eyes, and he laughed with you this time. 

He pecked your lips again and ran his hands over your hips and up your back, and he leaned his forehead against yours. You lifted your gaze to meet his and you let your head fall back against your neck, and he groaned at the sight of your hair elongating your neck. 

When he finally spoke his voice was raspy and he softly murmured to you, “S’pose it is all new, huh? Guess we should talk about some things first, if tha’s what you want.” 

You bit your lip again and with wide eyes you slowly nodded yes and slid your arms around his shoulders, carding your fingers through his hair, softly scratching his scalp. He was melting under your touch and his eyes fluttered shut before he groaned again. When you softly giggled he opened his eyes and whined. “Christ, gotta stop looking at me like tha,’” you giggled again and scratched his lower back. He buried his face into your neck and growled playfully into your skin. 

“C’mon love,  s’go get your stuff squared away an’ then we can have a talk,”  

**

Your stuff was squared away and you were giddy at the thought of your clothes mixed in with his in his chest of drawers and your toothbrush next to his. You normally stayed in his guest room when you were just friends, and most of the time Harry ended up in bed cuddled beside you when you woke up in the morning. The thought of getting to sleep in his bed, with him, under the same roof made your chest ache and butterflies swarm in your stomach. You knew he would tease you if he heard you say it but you had always loved his bedroom. It was calm and serene, muted in color but not dark, old vintage posters on one of the walls and dark curtains covering the windows that led out to his balcony. You hated how teary eyed you were when you put the last of your stuff away, and Harry pretended not to notice, instead he was just waiting for you in the doorway, silenting watching. When you turned around to face him he reached his hand out for you, smirking at you. You took his hand and rolled your eyes and let him pull you into him. 

“Shut up,” you scoffed as you tried to walk past him before he grabbed you. 

“M’not sayin’ anything love,” 

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” 

He snickered into your neck and you didn’t need to see his face to know his dimples were popping. His arms tightened around you and you sighed at how easy it was to fall into him. 

“Wanker.” 

**

You followed behind him walking downstairs back into the living room, and he waited for you at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Go have a seat love, I’ll put the kettle on an’ be there in a second,” He sent you a shy smile and his eyes were doing the sparkly eye thing that they so often do when he looks at you. You nodded your head and watched him disappear into the kitchen. 

You plopped down onto the l-shaped couch in the living room, curling up on one side of it and plopping a pillow onto your lap. Sitting there in the same living room that had previously been the sight of your massive meltdown only a few weeks prior, you couldn't help but remember how heartbroken and alone you felt on that night. How badly you wanted Harry, how angry and pissed off you were at him, but mainly how much all that you wanted was to be with him. Now only a few weeks later, the two of you were a unit, an item, in love. Again, what kind of yearning covered day dream was this? You looked down at the couch you were perched on, running your fingertips over the fabric you giggled at the memory of you weeping like a mad woman and causing a scene. The things you have to do to get his attention, right?! Kidding, but seriously. 

You turned your head towards the kitchen to get a glimpse of him, that curly headed, lanky legged, dreamboat of a man making you tea, you couldn’t help but tear up a little bit. How long had you waited for this? How long had you dreamed of having moments like this with him? How long had you waited to share a bed with him, to see your clothes hung up in his closet, to see your toothbrush next to his, to be able to feel his fingertips against your own, his lips against yours? You wanted to take in every moment, every minute detail of being here with him. You wanted to save every memory and so you could replay them over and over again when he was gone and away from you when he was on the road again. He makes people feel everything so deeply, and you were not immune to that. In fact you were the least immune person to that. 

After what felt like an eternity of tea making Harry pottered his way into the den, your favorite mug of his that was designated for your use when you were at his house in one hand, and a mug with a gold H in his other hand. “Alrighty then angel, here we are,” He was beaming at you as he sat the mugs down on the coffee table. You shifted your pose and nervously smiled up at him. Suddenly there were no words left in your brain. Damn him and the sparkly eye thing. 

He plopped down on the couch on the opposite side of you, and patted the spot next to him. 

“C’mere love, want you closer if we’re gonna talk,” 

When you scooted closer to him he patted his lap. “Mm gonna need you a bit closer love,” He winked at you and you giggled softly before crawling on his lap. Now eye level with him you put your arm around his shoulders and ran your hand through his hair. Your gaze flitted around his face before you looked in his eyes and smiled, beamed at him. 

“Hi mister,” you nervously giggled and you felt your stomach start to do backflips again. 

He laughed softly, tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and he sighed when your eyes fluttered at the small gesture. 

“Hi sweets,” He ran his fingers over your back before he rested his hands on your hips. 

When you didn’t say anything in response he laughed again and you sighed, tears welling up in your eyes and you leaned forward to kiss him. His lips were soft but firm against yours, and you loved that every kiss of his had a purpose. This was the slow, sipping one, meant to calm you down and lull you back to him. You were entranced by his lips and the two of you looked like a couple of teenagers necking on the couch of their empty parents house. You had to physically break the kiss by gripping his shoulders and pulling away. The both of you were panting and his lips were red and swollen from your biting and nibbling and he looked so besotted with you. He let out a whine and tried to catch your lips back and you laughed trying to get your breathing back to normal. 

“We’re supposed to be talking but this face of yours is so distracting,” you whined and let your head fall onto his shoulder. 

“Tha’ the only thing that’s distractin’ love?” you could hear the smirk in his voice and when you lifted your head off his shoulder his lips met your neck and he peppered kisses up your neck, his slight stubble pulling and tugging against your sensitive skin as he made his way up. 

“H, we need to- we need to oh,” your voice was caught in a throat and you let out the softest breathy moan and he pulled you closer in response. HIs arms squeezed around you even tighter and your hands fisted in the neck of his jumper and his lips found yours again. 

This kiss, oh this kiss was brand new. It was hard and unrelenting and then it slowed and the two of you moved poetically against each other. The two of you had always been in sync, able to anticipate the other’s move before they even make it, and now there was no difference. The two of couldn't possibly be closer and when you pulled back and brought his bottom lip with you he let out a growl that had your stomach flipping. When his hands gripped your hips tighter to bring you back to him you giggled and kissed the corner of his mouth and across his jaw. 

“Love if we’re gonna talk yeh gotta quit doing tha’,” he groaned again and you couldn't help but feel an enormous sense of pride knowing that you were the one who made him feel so good he was practically growling at you. 

You bit your lip and smiled at him, but when he was staring back at you, soft eyes blinking at you and that same reassuring smile he seemingly always had when he was looking at you, your smile dropped and you were suddenly so nervous all over again. You wanted to talk and get some things out in the open before you went too far too fast, this wasn’t just some guy, this was Harry. Your favorite person in the whole world, your quite literal dream man and even though you knew that you know him, like you really know him but at the same time he was Harry freaking Styles and he looks like that and you could feel him getting rock hard beneath you and you were suddenly terrified that this would happen and it would all be over. Again, not likely, (hello stack of love letters the size of your head) but the fear was still there, staring you back in the face. You were all in your head and getting teary eyed AGAIN and when your breath hitched Harry’s eyes softened again and he shifted underneath you. When your eyes were even more glossed over and tears were threatening to spill out of the corners of your eyes he felt you start to shake and pulled you closer. 

“Oh love, you’re alrigh’ it’s okay, tell me what’s goin’ on in that head of yours?” he rubbed his hands up and down your arms and you lifted your head from your hands to look at him through bleary eyes. “Look at me please, love let me see those eyes o’ yours,” 

When you finally wiped your eyes and took a deep breath you sighed and simply stated, “I’m scared,” 

“Of wha’? Of me?” 

“No- no not of you H, but a little I guess of just everything,” he was still holding you, his hands still rubbing soothing circles over your arms. 

He fought for you to keep his gaze on him and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Love, we don’t have to do anythin’ you don’t want to, m’mot gonna force yeh, yeh know that.” 

“I know that, I do H but this is just- it’s a big deal. You and me, here together. I love you and it just has felt like I’ve been dreaming the past few weeks. I can’t believe that you’re here and you’re in front of me and I get to hold you and kiss you and I finally have you, and I just want to know that you’re here with me, that you’re in this for real. I’m afraid that this is all going to disappear in the morning. I want you, more than words can say, and I can’t be without you now, now that I know what it’s like to have you.” You had managed to even your breathing out and your voice had actually gotten stronger the longer you talked. You were pretty good at delivering these inner monologues by now, you thought. Harry just sat there, once again, annoyingly unreadable and calm, just like he was that night in your kitchen just a few weeks ago. 

When you saw the corner of his mouth start to raise and he started laughing softly you gave him a very confused glare and he settled his laughter and pulled you to him to kiss your forehead. When he finally spoke up his voice was soft, but calm all the same.

“You are the cutest thing I have ever seen right now, angel,” 

When you scoffed and moved to get off of his lap his arms held you tight and he pressed you to him once more. 

“M’not laughing at you I promise. It’s just funny to me tha’ you think I don’t feel the exact same way about you. I don’t even know how m’hiding the fact that my hands are shakin’ right now. This is just as big a deal as it is to you, to me, love. I promise you that. I never thought I’d be able to hold you like this, or have the chance to make you feel as good as you make me feel, without even touchin’ me. I’d be okay just to look at you from across the same room. This is not a one night thing for me, love. Never will be. I could never walk away from you now that I know what its like to kiss yeh and feel your hand on top of mine. Not when yeh look at me the way that you do. Now that I know what it’s like to be loved by yeh. Really loved by yeh.” 

Harry was smiling so softly at you and he had his tilted trying to see if you were still in there and hadn’t gone unconscious from him again confirming that yes, he did love you too. 

When you still didn’t say anything he started again. “I love you, angel. I’ll say it however many times y’want me to and in as many languages as yeh want. It’s you and me, yeah?” 

Your response was leaning forward and kissing him, hard and you both melted into it. 

The next few hours consisted of breathy moans and I love you’s mixed in between harsh breaths and his hands on your hips and your mouth and just about everywhere else. Over and over again he made sparks shoot up your spine and your toes curl and your heart ache over how attentive and gentle, but rough and passionate he was to your body. When you finally separated both of your voices were spent and he pulled you into him and more I Love You’s were exchanged mixed with happy, overwhelming tears and shakes of his head in disbelief. 

**

The next morning as you sat in his kitchen donned in his one of his t-shirts and you watched him whistle why he busied around the kitchen making you breakfast. You sat there, teary eyed, sleep lines still on your face you had never felt more lucky than you did right in that particular moment Harry was singing his own rendition of “You Make My Dreams Come True”, and as cheesy as it sounds, he had no idea how true that was. He made you a cup of coffee and was sliding by every few minutes to steal a strawberry flavored kiss because he just couldn’t help it. Your rare moment of bravery and complete and accidental inner monologue delivery you had spewed out just a few weeks ago, got you here. With this man. You decided to jot something down in your memory. 

Reminder: Sometimes you have to just say how you feel. No matter how scared you are, no matter how genuinely terrified you are of the repercussions, you just have to say it.  Say it again and again until they hear you. Being vulnerable is scary, I won’t lie to you, but it is also one of the best parts about being alive. We have the ability to make people laugh, and smile, and we have  the ability to make them feel our love. That is not a small feat. It is a privilege. Let the people you love, know that you love them. The rest of it doesn’t matter. 

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Seventy-Six

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: Fluff, and smutish

It was nearly the end of June, it was sweltering, and you had your period. You were thankful your apartment had central air. Harry often found you standing above the vent, with your head pressed against the wall.

“Babe…what…why do you keep doin’ that?”

“I’m sweating.”

“We can just turn the A/C up.”

“No, it’s not enough. My hormones…they’re making me sweat more, and I feel disgusting. So fucking disgusting. And I hate working when it’s this humid out.” You turn to look at him. “I feel like a sausage casing every time I put a dress on, and I can’t really wear my sundresses because they’re not appropriate, and we’re not even allowed to wear Bermuda shorts. What’s inappropriate about a Bermuda short? They’re the least attractive shorts out there!”

“You know what you need? A chocolate milkshake. I’ll just run to McDo-“

“A milkshake? A milkshake?! I just told you I felt like a sausage casing in my clothes and you want to get me a milkshake?”

“A…smoothie then? I could make you a smoothie?”

“I don’t want anything to eat! It’s swimsuit season, any extra calories are bad calories Harry!”

“Just tell me how to help you!”

“Go take Buster for a walk!”

Harry grabs the leash and whistles for Buster. He texts Niall to meet him downstairs. It was 8:30 at night. Niall comes rushing out.

“Thank god you texted me. Sarah’s goin’ bananas.”

“So is Y/N.”

“She got her period too?”

“Yeah! I offered to go get her a milkshake and she yelled at me. She’s really hot, I thought it would cool her down.”

“Never offer a woman food on her period, you have to wait until she asks you to go get her somethin’. I thought I made a kind gesture to Sarah once, and she freaked out and called herself fat. Sarah, for Christ’s sake, called herself fat!”

“I can’t listen to Y/N when she talks shit about herself. It breaks my heart.”

“Mine too. I feel so bad when Sarah does it. She’s perfect to me.”

“Same with Y/N!” He sighs, and Buster yips at him. “Mummy’s scary sometimes, huh Buster?” He looks at Niall. “I’m afraid of what I’m goin’ to walk into. She’s not like this all the time, I just think the heat is gettin’ to her.”

“Same with Sarah. We’ll survive this like we do every month.”

Harry gets back upstairs, and finds you sitting on the couch with a pint of ice cream. He wants to say something, but he knows he’d be dead if he did. He sits down next to you and he smiles. He sees tears streaming down your cheeks.

“What, uh, what are yeh watching?”

“Um, I made the mistake of rewatching Glee, and…it’s the first episode, and oh god they’re singing don’t stop believing! Corey Monteith had the voice of angel!” Your voice cracks as you sob.

“Do want me to put somethin’ else on?!”

“No leave it! I love this show so much!”

“I think…I’m gonna go read.”

“No! Please stay, I want you near me.”

“Okay.” He moves closer to you.

“I said near me, not on top of me.”

“Okay.” He sits there and faces the TV.

He really didn’t want to watch Glee, but he had no idea what else to do. You had never been so worked up on your period before. Buster sits between his legs, and he mindlessly pats at his head. You finish the pint of ice cream, there wasn’t much in there anyways. You stand up to go throw it out, but you feel a sharp pain.

“Ow! Oh god.” Harry looks at you as you start to crouch and then lay on the ground. You start crying again. He stands up and stands over you. “I took some ibuprofen with the ice cream, why is this happening, Harry?”

“I don’t know, love.” He sighs and sits on the floor next to you. “Where does it hurt the most?” He asks softly.

“Like right in my lower stomach, feels like I’m being stabbed.”

Harry’s heart breaks for you. If he could take all your pain away and endure himself he would.

“Okay.”

He scoops you up and carries you to the bedroom. He lays you down and leaves.

“Harry?”

“One second!”

He returns shortly with a hot water bottle wrapped in a rag. He gets on the bed and presses it lightly on your lower stomach. You wince and then you relax.

“My sister used to do this when he cramps got really bad.” He strokes your face. “Is it helping?”

“A little, yeah. Thank you.” Your eyes get watery again. “I was so mean earlier, I’m sorry.”

“Please, Y/N, I can’t watch you cry anymore. It’s okay, I know you can’t help it sometimes.”

“I don’t deserve you.” You sob.

“Please, honey, please, just take a deep breath.” He gives you a reassuring smile. He presses the bottle a little harder and you close your eyes.

You eventually fall asleep and Harry sighs. It was like having to calm a child down. You were never like this, ever. He wondered if it was the heat, or if you were just having a particularly heavy flow.

//

Harry was in absolute shock at your bright attitude the next morning. You got up, showered, took Buster out, and made breakfast. It was like you hadn’t gone psycho at all last night.

“I’m so excited to have a long weekend soon. We’re still going to Hull right, you’re okay with it?”

“Uh, yeah…how are you feelin’ this mornin’?”

“Great! Why?”

“You, um, well…”

“Did I scare you last night?” You chuckle.

“A little bit, yeah.”

“I’m sorry.” You sigh. “I don’t really know what came over me. Just a rough night. Good news it, it’ll be gone in time for the party so we can go swimming.” You smile. Your phone goes off. “Oh shit, Niall’s downstairs, I gotta get to work. Taking Buster with you today?”

“Yup.” He kisses you. “Have a good day.”

“You too, my doll.”

You head down to the car, and Niall looks frightened honestly.

“Good morning?”

“Mornin’.” He starts to drive.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just didn’t sleep much last night. Apparently, I don’t fold my socks correctly, which resulted in Sarah reorganizing my entire dresser and closet.” You burst out laughing. “It’s not funny, it’s like a demon possessed her.”

“She and I are the same person sometimes I swear. I wasn’t too kind myself last night.”

“Heard you were cryin’ like a baby.”

“How nice of the two of you to compare notes about your girlfriend’s periods.”

“If you compare notes about sex with us, then it’s only fair we compare notes on that.”

“You got me there.”

“Then this mornin’ she got up before me and made me breakfast. It was very confusing.”

“It’s because you’re not actually the problem, you’re just in the line of fire. I feel like every year, every month I just angrier. Like I have to deal with this easily for another thirty or so years, and then what? I get all dried up and get reminded I no longer can produce life, great.” You scoff. “It’s a shit deal.”

“I remember when my mum started havin’ hot flashes and shit, no Bueno.”

“Exactly. My mom didn’t have hot flashes, she just had a mid-life crisis and left my dad.”

“Jesus, Y/N.” He laughs.

“Sorry, too dark?” You laugh.

//

Your stomach felt better, but the same could not be said your breasts. They were super sore and felt like hard rocks. You ripped your shirt off the second you got home, including your bra. You let out a large sigh. You threw on some athletic shorts, and filled a bag full of ice, not even bothering to wrap it in a towel, and pressed it to your chest.

“Mother of god.” You say to yourself. “What is wrong with me this month?”

You drag yourself over to the sofa and turn the TV on. You put Glee on, hoping you don’t cry again, but fuck it if you did. You had leftovers from last night’s dinner in the fridge. You didn’t have the energy to make something new, Harry could just eat that if he wanted.

He comes home with Buster around 6PM. He runs right over to you and you pat his head. Harry stops short when he sees the water from the ice dripping down your chest.

“Hi.” He says, cheeks growing red.

“Hey.”

“What’s all this?” He gestures to the bag of ice.

“My boobs really hurt, so I’ve been icing them.”

“Is it helpin’?”

“It’s numbing, so a little.”

Harry sighs and thinks for a second.

“How do they hurt?”

“They’re just really tender, and they feel heavy.”

“Alright, how about I give you a little massage?” You raise an eyebrow at him. “A genuine massage, nothing more.”

“Okay, well, that actually sounds nice.” You smile.

“Come on, it’ll be easier if you lay on the bed.” He extends his hand out to you and you take it.

He stops in the kitchen quick to throw the bag of ice in the freezer. He strips down to his boxers to cool his own body off, getting used to the A/C.

“It was so hot out today.”

“I know, baby.” He looks at you for a second. “Lay with your head towards the end of the bed, then I can stand over you.” You do as he says.

He grabs your lotion from your night table and rubs it in his hands. He starts with the back of your neck and your eyes flutter closed. He kneads his thumbs into your shoulders and works his way down your chest. You wince slightly, but you relax at his gentle touch. Your nipples were already pebbled. Harry could feel how hard your breasts were and he felt awful. He grounds his knuckles in and then slides his palms over you. You let out a sigh.

“So nice.” You whisper.

“Feels good, babe?”

“Mhm, thank you.”

Harry continues to massage you. He moves his hands back under your neck and you arch up a little so he can get at it better. He remembered you raving about this part of the massage when you went away at that weekend. He smooths his hands back down to your breasts and you groan.

“Is it feeling better?”

“Much, yeah. You’re the best.”

He smiles and continues to work on you. He spends a full thirty minutes massaging you before your hands get tired. You sit up and start to tear up.

“What, what’s happening? Why-“

“It’s just.” You sniffle. “You came home from work and didn’t even get to eat or relax, you just jumped to take care of me, and for what? What do I even do for you?”

Harry’s mouth falls open. How could you not know what you do for him? You do everything for him? You do his laundry, fold it, and put it away. You iron all of his clothes and make sure they’re hung up. You make him breakfast every single morning, and make sure his lunch is fully packed before you leave for work. You take care of him in so many ways, how could you even ask that?

“Y/N.” Harry sighs. “You do a million things for me every day, I can’t even begin to list everything.”

“But you were probably busy all day.” You hiccup. “And you were probably tired, and there I am being a big baby, and-“

He grabs you by the back of your neck and cups your cheek with his other hand, crashing his mouth to yours. You needed to calm down, and he didn’t know what else to do at this point. You sink into his touch and kiss. Your eyes flutter closed when you feel his tongue enter your mouth. He could feel your tears against his own cheeks, and could taste the salt from them. He lets go of you slowly, and uses his thumbs to wipe your face clean. You press your forehead to his.

“I really need you to calm down.” He says lowly. “Can you do that?” He says looking at you, and you nod your head yes. “Okay, did you eat yet?” He lets go of you.

“No.”

“I’ll go heat up the leftovers. Go get comfy on the sofa. Buster’s been missin’ his mummy all day, I’m sure he’d love to sit with you.”

“Okay.” You go over to your dresser and grab a t-shirt to throw on. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He gives your bum a smack and you squeal as you both leave the bedroom.

Harry washes his hands and makes up dinner. He comes out with a bowl for you and you happily take it.

“So, what did I miss on Glee?” He asks and your smile brightens. You pause the TV.

“Okay, so Sue, Jane Lynch, doesn’t like that Will’s club is taking from her funding, and Rachel has a crush on Finn, and he likes her too, but he’s dating this cheerleader…”

Harry let you go on with the synopsis so he’d be caught up. He could have cared less, but it made him happy to see you get so excited to talk about a show you loved so much. And there were a few songs he actually didn’t mind. And sometimes you’d sing along to certain songs, which he loved so much.

The next morning you get up and cheer happily, waking Harry up. You burst out of the bathroom.

“That bitch is gone! Fuck you Aunt Flow!” You cackle, and Harry gives you a thumbs up. “Get your ass up and come shower with me, I’m feeling frisky.”

He didn’t have to be told twice, he got his ass up and joined you in the shower.

//

Harry closed the studio for the fourth of July. It was a Friday anyways, and no one had booked anything. He didn’t get to see what bathing suit you put on before you put your blue coverup dress on. He could tell it was white from the knot peeking out, but that was about it. You put a hat on and pulled your ponytail through it. You and Harry packed a cooler and a bag of things you’d need. Buster would be spending the day with his Uncle Isaac at his apartment.

You meet Sarah and Niall down on the street. Sarah had a red coverup dress on with a blue bathing-suit on underneath. One could assume Rachel probably had a white coverup dress on with a red bathing suit. Harry had his yellow trunks and a white T on. Niall had on a pair of green trunks and a white T. Everyone looked summery and ready for a day at the beach. You and Sarah decide to sit the back together as Harry drove off towards Hull.

“Check out this air bnb at the Cape.” Sarah shows you on her phone. “Not terribly expensive, and it would fit all of us.”

“Yeah! I saw that one too. I think we should book it. Rachel said she could get the time off that weekend, and I already have it off.”

“Friday to Monday right?”

“Yup.”

“Alright, I’m booking it.”

“Oi! I’m supposed to do that.” Harry says.

“Snooze you lose.”

“But now they’ll have your credit card, and-“

“Harry, I promise, you can just Venmo me later.”

“Oo yeah put him in his place, Sarah.” Niall says winking at her and she makes a kissy face towards him.

You arrive at Seth’s parent’s house just when Rachel and Mariah do. Mariah had a one piece bathing suit on with a cute pair of jean shorts on over.

“Yay! Now we can all take a picture!” Sarah squeals. “See, we’re red, white, and blue.” She hands her phone to Niall and three of you line up.

You smile brightly and then giggle, getting a good and a silly picture out of it.

“Where should be put all our stuff?” Niall asks. “Should we just leave all our spare clothes in the car?”

“Yeah, for now.” Sarah says. “I’ll just bring this bag with our towels in it.”

You all walk up to the house, and around the back. The three of you had been here before, you knew where to go. The house was huge, and had its own private beach. There were a ton of hard games set up and a volley ball net. There were plenty of people there already, and a ton of food out. Seth had set up a bar on the deck for drinks.

You look over and see the tall boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He was shirtless and you notice a new tattoo from the last time you went swimming with him.

“That’s Seth.” You point him out to Harry and he nods.

“Look, there’s a bunch of lawn chairs, we can go put all our shit down and claim a spot.” Mariah says. “I’m already ready to get in the water.”

You all walk over to the open chairs and put your things down. Seth notices you, Sarah, and Rachel and jogs over to you.

“You all made it!”

Seth was handsome, there was no denying it. In a way…he was your first Harry-esque kind of guy. He has a deep voice, paints his nails black, has tattoos, and he has small hoop in his bottom lip. But he as sweet as all hell. And one of the funniest people you had ever met. Before you can stop him he’s hugging you three.

“I’m so glad you’re here. I can see you’re setting up shop, that’s great. Bar’s up on the deck, help yourself to whatever and however much you want. Plenty of food too. The water’s actually warm too, it’s great. Got some extra sunscreen too.”

“Thanks Seth.” Rachel says. “This is my girlfriend, Mariah.” They shake hands.

“Great to meet you.” He looks over at you and then to Harry who was just taking his shirt off.

“This is Harry.”

“Hey man, heard a lot about you.” They shake hands.

“Same here.”

“And this is Niall.” Sarah says.

“Welcome. Well, uh, I better keep playing host. Really glad you all are here. Max and Ben are here too, they’ll love to see you.”

Oh god. You swallow hard and give Sarah and Rachel a look as he walks away. You take your hair out of your hat and shake it out. You decide to just put it half up.

“You all want drinks before we head into the water?” Niall asks, taking his shirt off.

“Sure! Why don’t you all go up and grab some of whatever, we’ll go test the water.” Sarah says.

Harry, Mariah, and Niall all head up to the deck.

“Oh my fucking god.” Sarah says. “I haven’t seen Ben since we broke up! What am I gonna do?”

“What are you going to do? Max is here too!”

“Times like this, I’ve never been so happy to be a lesbian.”

“You’re not helping.” Sarah glares at her.

“Relax, it’ll be fine, we’re all adults now, right?”

The three of you rid yourselves of your cover ups. You all help each other put some lotion on your backs and shoulders. The sun was strong today.

Harry, Mariah, and Niall were busy making drinks when Mariah gasps.

“Oh, I could kill her.” She says.

“What?” Harry asks.

“Look at them!”

The three of you had the same bikinis on. You all looked cute, but Harry was hoping you’d wear something a little more modest for a party. Plus, you were wearing a white bathing suit, which just made your skin look even better.

Harry and Niall’s jaws fall open as they watch the three of you walk into the water.

“It’s going to be a long day, isn’t it?” Niall asks.

“Yup.” Harry says. “Good thing there’s plenty of free liquor.”

“Bro, is that Sarah?” Niall whips his head around to see a couple of guys talking.

“Looks like it.”

“She looks good. I didn’t think she was still friends with Seth.”

“Yeah, and that looks like Y/N, damn…”

Harry’s jaw tenses immediately. He did not like college friends, nope, not one bit. He sighs heavily, and the three of them come down with the drinks. The three of you turn around and smile at them.

Mariah takes her shorts off and goes into the water. Harry walks right in and grabs you, lifting you up, making you squeal.

“Harry! Please, I don’t want to get my hair wet!”

“Should’ve thought about that before comin’ to the beach.”

“Please! Please don’t drop me!” You cling to him and wrap your legs around him as he wades deeper in the water.

“Don’t worry, I gotcha.” You move around him so he’s giving you a piggyback ride. “That’s a nice bathing suit.”

“Okay, so I know it’s a little revealing, but we all wanted to wear red, white, and blue. Are you mad?”

“Nope…just know a lot of people are gonna be lookin’ at you.”

“Don’t worry, anytime I’m not in the water I plan to have my coverup on.”

“Okay.” He loosens his grip on you.

“Harry, I mean it don’t drop ah!”

He drops you in the water and starts laughing hysterically when you come back up.

“Not funny!” You pull the scrunchie out of your hair and flip it over.

“Come on, now you’ll have those beach waves you’re always after. You’re looks so nice when you leave it naturally.”

“Fuck you.” You flip him off and walk back towards your friends.You stop when you see a soaked Sarah.

“Niall just did the same thing to me.”

You feel a hand clasp on your shoulder.

“Are you really mad?”

“No.” You sigh. “What did you bring us to drink, I’m thirsty.”

“Vodka tonics.”

“Perfect.”

You all get out of the water and sit down on the chairs. You put your sunglasses on and sip on your drink. Once you’re dry enough you put your coverup back on.

“Hey Y/N!” Seth says.

“Yeah?”

“Will you come be on my volleyball team? We need another person.”

“You know, I haven’t played since college…”

“So, it’s just for fun.”

You look at Harry. He nods towards the net and you stand up.

“You all can come play too, you can play winner.”

He puts his hand on the small of your back as he leads you over.

“She played volleyball?” Harry asks Rachel and Sarah.

“She was on an intramural team, that’s how they met.” Rachel says. “We used to go to her games.”

Harry turns around and watches you laugh and say hi to the other people.

“Alright, so let’s go watch.”

Everyone gets up to stand near the net and watch you play.

“You serve first.” Seth tosses the ball to you.

You wind up and jump to hit the ball, and the people on the other side miss.

“Yes!” Seth turns to you and gives you a high five. You turn to your friends and they all give you a thumbs up.

You serve the ball again and someone calls base so you run to your actual spot and watch the ball. You bump the ball so someone can set, and Seth spikes it.

Harry had never seen you so…athletic. You worked out, but the two of you never worked out together. You never even went for runs together, and you certainly never went to the boxing gym with him. He was impressed.

“Hey Sarah.” Ben comes up to her and she immediately loops her arm around Niall’s.

“Oh, Ben, hi.” She gives him a fake smile.

“Didn’t know you and Seth were still friends.”

“Sure, yeah, we talk from time to time.” Niall looks at the man talking to Sarah. “This is my boyfriend, Niall.”

“Hey mate.”

“Boyfriend? Wow, good for you. Hey man.”

“Yeah, we’ve been together for like nine months.”

Niall notices how uneasy Sarah is and hooks his arm around her waist.

“How do you two know each other?”

“Friends from school.”

“Right, because dating for a year is totally just what friends do.” He smirks. Harry looks over to make sure everything’s okay.

“You know what? You’re right, I’m sorry. Niall, this is my verbally abusive ex-boyfriend, Ben. Ben, this is my incredibly wonderful amazing love of my life Niall.”

“Sup.” Niall says smiling.

Harry focuses his attention back on you. Your team was about to win. Seth sets the ball for you and you jump to tap it over the net, securing the win. Your team cheers and Seth nearly lifts you to hug you but you shake your head no and push him back. You awkwardly shake his hand, and walk away from him. You jog over to hug Harry who happily takes you in his arms.

“You were incredible.” He says.

“Thanks. Think I’m done though.” You look at the situation with Ben and Sarah and you storm towards him. “Ben Richmand, walk the fuck away.” You say crossing your arms.

“Chill, Y/N, we’re having a pleasant conversation.”

“No, you’re trying to cause trouble, look at her, she’s shaking.” You get in his face further. “I’ve beat your ass before, and I’ll gladly do it again.”

Sarah and Rachel burst out laughing.

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“No?” You step towards him and he steps back. “We all came to have a good time, so please, do everyone a favor and just leave us alone.”

“Dude, are we playing Polish horseshoes or not? Y/N…hi.” Max rubs the back of his neck.

“Hi.”

“Please, if you’re gonna beat up Ben again, make sure you tell one of us so we can get it on video.”

“Can do. I’m hoping it won’t come to that. Think you can keep him away from Sarah? She’s clearly here with someone.” You point to Niall.

“What about you, you here with someone?” She smiles smugly and you blush.

“Um…yeah…Harry?” You turn to him and wave him over. Max smirks and shakes his head. “This is my boyfriend, he own a dog together, it’s pretty serious.” He starts laughing.

“How’s it going man?” Max shakes Harry’s hand. “Wish I knew all it took was a few tattoos.” He smirks. “Come on Ben, let’s head over to the game.”

“I…have so many questions.” Mariah says. “You beat that dude up?”

“Let’s go back down to our chairs, too many people around here.”

You all make your way back down and you all sit together.

“Okay, so there was the four of us. Me, Kate, Rachel, and Sarah. Then we had the boys. Kev, Seth, Max, and Ben. Kate and Kev got together, and later Sarah and Ben got together. But what none of us realized was that Ben is a sick fuck, and poor Sarah was too scared to say anything. One night Rach and I got back from a party and we heard Ben violently yelling at Sarah, which in turn set me off because my father used to violently yell at me. So-“

“Y/N tore Ben away from me and broke his nose.” Sarah says. “It was awesome.”

“I thought I broke my hand when I did it. It was like right before we all graduated. Rachel called campus police and got him out of there.”

“You’re a little badass.” Mariah says.

“You broke his nose?” Harry asks. “You must have really socked him.”

“She did! Cried like a baby.” Sarah says.

“You never told me, Sarah.” Niall says concerned.

“It wasn’t something I wanted to talk about.” She shrugs.

“Man, you girls have so much bullshit to deal with.” Niall shakes his head. “I’m glad you all have each other to lean on.”

“So what’s the deal with Max then, is he your ex-boyfriend?” Mariah asks you.

“God, he wishes. He had a thing for me, but I didn’t like him like that, and I made it very clear.”

“Oh please, Y/N.” Rachel scoffs. “That boy did everything you asked, all you had to do was smile at him.”

“I did nothing on purpose, nor did I lead him on. I told him I wasn’t into him like that, and that I just wanted to be friends.”

“Wait, do you remember when he walked in on you and Seth.” Sarah starts giggling. “Think that made it really clear you just weren’t that into him.”

“And could you have been more obvious before? Uh, hi this is Harry, we have a dog together.” Rachel laughs. “You’re a bitch.”

You mouth falls open. At first the boys and Mariah aren’t sure what do to, but you start laughing and whip the lime from your drink at her.

“As if you didn’t fake being straight to get Max to tutor you in math.” You say.

“Look, it’s not my fault that he’s the type of guy to only be friends with girls because he think he might have a chance. And thanks to him, I was able to graduate.”

“So this guy had a crush on you, and he accidentally walked in on you and that other guy?” Harry asks.

“God.” You groan. “It was so embarrassing. I had accidentally spent the night at their place…and…”

“How do you accidentally spend the night at someone’s place?” Niall laughs.

“Oh, this was Y/N’s thing, it was so smooth, honestly.” Sarah says. “The master of getting what she wants.”

“Okay, can we get a drink refill please?” You say.

“Yes! Let’s get fucked up.” Mariah says. “I love drinking with you guys.”

You all get new drinks and go back to where you were to tell stories.

“Okay, please explain, what exactly were you the master of?” Mariah asks.

“Nothing!” You giggle.

“Shut up, you did this all the time. If there was a guy you wanted to hook up with, you did one of two things. You either asked them to walk you home, if you knew you’d have the room to yourself, or you’d get them to play video games with you until you were the last two people in the room.”

“Video games?” Harry smirks.

“Oh sure, I’m pretty good at NHL, and Mario Kart.”

“You’re a savage as Smash Brothers too.” Rachel says.

“Thank you.”

“That’s how she finally scored Seth. I was dating Ben, so I didn’t really care that she wanted to hook up with him. We were at a kickback at his place, and she got him to play NHL. Everyone else had left after a certain point.”

“And we were both too tired to walk me home.” You say. “So he let me crash in his room with him, but no one knew. And we when we both woke up in the morning we started fooling around, and poor Max walked in because Seth had Max’s phone charger.”

“I think he knew you were in there and he wanted to get hurt.” Rachel says, sipping on her drink.

“I don’t understand why you had to work so hard to fuck some guy.” Harry says. “Look at you, how did he not just say hey let’s go?”

“He didn’t know if it would be weird for Sarah. Seth’s a really nice guy.”

“I think Harry, Louis, and I all had sex with like ten of the same women when we were in school.”

“Probably more.” Harry says.

“I secretly wish we all could’ve gone to the same school. You two totally would’ve hooked up back then.” Rachel says to you and Harry. “I just wonder who would’ve made the first move.”

“I’m sure I would’ve had to work to get his attention with so many girls probably trying to hook up with him.” You nudge Harry and he shakes his head. “I would’ve stayed across the room and made eye contact occasionally. And then at the end of the night, I would’ve walked up to you.” You turn to face him and he looks at you. “And said, I know this is your party, and you probably don’t want to leave all this, but I can’t find my friends, and I don’t feel safe enough to walk home alone.” You bite your bottom lip. “Could I ask you to walk me?” Harry starts grinning, his dimple popping out.

“As much of a prick as I was, I don’t think I could’ve said no to that.” The group starts laughing. “That’s a pretty good move.”

“It worked just about every time I wanted it to.” Harry pulls you into him and kisses the top of your head.

“Well, it would’ve been my honor to walk you home.”

You were so happy he was being chill about everything. Sometimes your friends had zero filter with bringing up stories. You all decide to grab some food and mingle with some other people. You all swim for bit, and eventually decide to change once the sun starts to go down. You had a pair of capri, cuffed jeans on with one of Harry’s sweatshirts. You hair was really curly, but you used your sunglasses like a headband and it actually looked cute.

Someone gets a bonfire started and you all sit around it. Seth comes around with blankets for everyone.

“When we watch the fireworks later, we’ll go down closer to the water. Sand might be wet.” He says to you with a smile.

“Thanks Seth.”

“Having fun, Harry?” He asks, genuinely.

“Yeah, your parents have a great house.”

“Thanks, it’s just a summer home. It was actually my grandparent’s. We rent it out a lot to make some money back on it. It’s super expensive to take care of.”

“I bet, lot of square feet to take care of.”

“Hope you’re taking good care of this one. She’s special.”

He gets up and walks around to other people to keep giving out blankets. Harry throws his arm around you and you lean into him.

“So you two never actually dated?” You look up at him.

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“We were just better as friends. It was our senior year, neither of us wanted to get into something when we didn’t know where our lives were going.”

“If it had been better timing do you think-“

“Harry, why all the questions?”

“I don’t know…would you like me better if I had my lip pierced?” You burst out laughing. “You clearly have a type.” You laugh harder. “No really, I see it. Tall, tattoos, I really am just missing the lip piercing.”

“His tongue’s pierced too.” You both laugh.

“There it is.”

“What?”

“That’s why you and Sarah wanted to keep hookin’ up with him.”

“Because he had his tongue pierced?”

“A straight guy only get his tongue pierced to do one thing with it.”

Sarah overhears the conversation, and takes the opportunity while Niall is getting more drinks to chime in. She leans into Harry.

“He also has a huge, thick cock, so there’s that too.” He pats him on the shoulder.

“Sarah!” You swat at her and she laughs.

“I don’t feel bad saying it because Harry has nothing to feel self conscious about, do you Harry?”

“I don’t know Sarah, you tell me.”

“Oh, are we talking about Harry’s dick?” Mariah says as her and Rachel sit down. They had gone off to change. “Cause it’s huge.”

“Oh my god.” He groans. “How the fuck would you know that?”

“You used to wear the tightest fucking pants when you started, dude. Your bulge was just always there.”

“It’s true mate, you used to wear some tight jeans.” Niall says, pulling Sarah into his lap.

“You all are just jealous that I know a thing or two about fashion and you don’t.”

“Yeah, that’s what it is.” Mariah says.

“Anyone hungry?” Seth asks. “Did we have enough to eat?”

“Seth, relax.” You say. “Everyone knows where the food is. Chill, enjoy your party.”

He laughs and nods. He nudges your shoulder and walks away. Things for s’mores get passed around as everyone hangs out around the bonfire. You had some melted chocolate on the corner of your mouth.

“Babe, you got some..” Harry taps his mouth.

“Oh, do you have a napkin?”

“No, but I’ll do you one better.”

He pulls your towards him and sucks the chocolate off your mouth. You giggle while he does it, realizing you’ve barely been able to kiss all day.

“Alright you two.” Sarah says. “Don’t be gross.”

“I was just helpin’ her get some chocolate off her face like a good boyfriend.”

“Mhm, you’re so considerate.”

Eventually you all head down closer to the sand and find separate spots. It was dark enough where you could all cuddle openly. Sarah sat against Niall’s chest with his arms wrapped around her. Mariah and Rachel were laying on their backs holding hands. And you were laying on top of Harry. You both were giggling and talking. You start kissing and he rolls you both over onto your sides.

“Fireworks start in two minutes!” Someone yells.

You both sit up and he has you move between his legs like the way Sarah and Niall were sitting. He rests his chin on one of your shoulders and keeps his arms around you to keep you warm. You take your phone out so you can take a selfie.

“Oh look, Isaac texted us a picture of Buster…he’s home now in his little bed.”

“We’ll be home to him soon, babe.”

“I know.”

You pull up your camera and take the selfie of the two of you. Harry sticks his tongue out and you make a funny face too. A firework goes off and you both look up. A few more start to go off and you both lay back so you can see better without having to crane your necks.

“These are amazing.” Harry says.

“Yeah!”

Harry looks over at you and smiles at the way you look at the fireworks and the way the light your face up. The grand finale starts and everyone cheers when they’re done. Harry helps your up and you grab the blanket. You all head up back towards the house and you throw the blankets on the stairs that lead up to the deck. Seth was drinking beers with his friends.

“We’re headed out.” Rachel says to him. He frowns and stands up.

“So soon?”

“We’ve got like an hour drive back to the city.” Sarah says.

“Oh right…”

He hugs Rachel, and then Sarah. He looks at you.

“Are we shaking hands again, or can we hug?”

“We can hug.”

You wrap your arms around his neck and his go around your back. He squeezes you close to him and lets you go.

“It was great to meet the three of you. These are probably my three favorite girls, and it seems like they’re all in good hands.”

“Thanks for a great party, mate.” Harry shakes his hand, and so does Niall. Mariah waves goodbye.

You hug Rachel and Mariah goodbye as they get into Mariah’s car. You and Sarah sit in the back seat again. Harry lets Niall drive back. You and Sarah lean against each other and slowly fall asleep.

“They’re knocked out.” Harry chuckles.

“Got a lot of sun today.”

“You know what’s nice?”

“That we both kept our cool today?”

“That, and…this is the part of growin’ up I don’t mind. Goin’ to parties with our girls, you and I still gettin’ to hang out.”

“Yeah, I like when we all get to do this. Gotta make time for fun.”

You and Sarah wake up to the sound of Niall and Harry laughing about something. You were parked in the garage of your building.

“What are we doing?” You ask.

“We were waitin’ for you to wake up.” Harry says.

“I’m…so tired. Niall carry me up.”

“Alright babe. Can we grab our shit outta your car tomorrow?”

“Sure.” Harry shrugs.

Niall gives Sarah a piggy back ride and heads across the street. You and Harry walk hand in hand up to your place. Buster wakes up when you get int and you squat down to love on him for a few minutes before letting him get back to sleep. When you get into your bedroom you wrap your arms around Harry.

“Can we just shower tomorrow? I’m exhausted.”

“Course, honey.” You say looking up at him. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“You were unbelievably cool today, and I appreciate it.”

“It’s like you’re always sayin’, I’m the one sleepin’ with you not them. I know I have no reason to be jealous.”

“Nope. Cause at the end of the day, you’re the only boy I want to trick into walking me home so I can bang him.”

You both giggle and he presses his forehead against yours.

“You know, you didn’t ask me what my move was.”

“My apologies, what was your move?” You step back from him and cross your arms.

He puts a hand on your shoulder and looks at you.

“That’s it? An intense stare?”

He keeps looking at you and then he licks his lips and smirks.

“Yeah, I can see how that worked.”

You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him in for a kiss.

“I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you too, Harry.”

[strawberriestyles]

Chapter 4

(Banner made by sweet sunshine @harry-nofookingway-styles​)

Harry X OFC (AU)

Sequel to Brutality: In which Melody and Harry must relearn how to navigate one another among a flurry of changes.

Read previous parts here.

Author’s note: HELLO HELLO PLS ENJOY MY BIRTHDAY CHAPTER MWAH

Harry’s mood seemed to improve, but according to Sean, it was only around Melody. When it was just him with Harry, he was just as miserable as he’d been the past few weeks. And Melody didn’t know what to think of that.

“Harry, I don’t think you’re getting how to play this game.”

“What d’yeh mean? ‘M playin’ just how yeh explained it.”

Sean coughed to hide his laughter, but Melody didn’t even try to mask the wide smile breaking out over her face. She shook her head and laid her hand of cards facedown on the table they'd swiveled over Harry’s bed.

“You just claimed you had three queens when you only had one,” she said to him, “which meant that either Sean or I already had at least two. You can’t have three queens.”

“Sound like the ‘inconceivable’ guy from that movie yeh made me watch,” Harry grumbled, tossing his own hand onto the table. “Nothin’ yeh’re sayin’ makes any sense. Whatever. Whole game seems like bullshit, anyway.”

Melody shot Sean an amused look as she sat back in her chair. “Was there something else you wanted to do, then?”

“Yeah, wanna get the fuck outta here.”

Melody crossed her arms over her chest and drew in a deep breath. Sean shuffled all the playing cards into a pile so he could return them to their box. “It’s pouring out, Harry,” he informed him.

“Can see just fine, thanks.”

“See?” Sean directed to Melody. “Miserable. You’re not nice, Harry.”

“Well, he does have two working eyes,” Melody agreed, gesturing to the windows, where rain was beating heavily against the panes and the sky had grown dark and gloomy. “And that’s not what he meant, anyway.”

“Thank you,” Harry said. He covered half of his face as he yawned, and then added, “At least one of us has a whole brain.”

Sean laughed like he’d just witnessed comedic gold. Harry grinned at him. “Was good, right?”

The smile was so bright, something that she hadn’t seen in so long, that Melody felt that all too familiar ache again. Even though she didn’t find his joke funny. She didn’t find any of his self-deprecating jokes funny at all. But she would endure them if this was the way that he delivered them, all bright-eyed.

Sean must have made a joke too, because Harry was laughing. A full, loud laugh. Melody couldn’t contain her own smile at the sound of it, at the way his eyes crinkled up at the corners. And then it stopped. Abruptly.

Harry’s spine curled forward. His head dropped into his palms and his fingers curled into his scalp. His breath stopped short in his throat. And then he let out a gasp, a heavy groan laced with pain. Melody had never heard him make a sound like that. Her smile fell faster than a drop of rain.

“Harry?” she whispered, leaning forward and slipping her fingers over the back of his neck, beneath his hair. “What’s wrong?”

He winced again, loudly, and hunched further forward.

“Sean, go get the doctor,” Melody muttered urgently.

Sean nodded quickly and was out of his chair, rushing into the hallway before Melody could even move again.

“Hey.” She shifted onto the edge of the mattress and ran her hand down Harry’s spine. Her other fingers rubbed at his wrist, where he was holding his head. “What’s going on?”

Harry did nothing but grit his teeth together and tip forward until his forehead met her chest. His breath returned, heavier, and his legs pulled in toward his body.

There was a rustle in the doorway as Dr. Florin entered the room and Sean stopped at its threshold. Melody caught the doctor’s eye as she leaned over the bed and began to lay Harry back. He grunted. His eyes were clamped tightly shut, his fingers still curled into the sides of his head.

“Harry, I need you to tell me what you’re feeling,” Florin said quietly. She pulled his hands away with a bit of an effort and began to probe around his head. Melody settled back into her chair, her fingers twitching around the edges of her lips.

“Feel’s like my head’s on fire,” Harry spat out before clamping his teeth back together.

Dr. Florin finished examining his head and as soon as her touch retreated, his hands returned. She peeled back the lid of one of his eyes and shined her penlight into his pupil, then repeated the same on the other side. Harry’s heaving breaths continued throughout, and then she backed away. She gestured to Melody as she returned to the hallway.

Melody squeezed at Harry’s forearm and then hurried after the doctor. “What’s going on?” she asked without a pause as she stepped up beside Sean.

“His brain has healed as best as it’s ever going to, Melody, but that’s a lot of trauma for it to go through. It’s amazing that the bullet didn’t ruin any of his basic functioning, but he’s probably going to have pains like this for the rest of his life. We’ll get him something to dull them. I was going to discharge him in the morning, but I think he should stay another day for monitoring. All right?”

“Are you sure we don’t need another MRI or—“

“He’s okay, Melody.”

Melody clutched at her elbows and gave a minute nod. Dr. Florin pursed her lips as she turned to hurry down the hall, and Sean met Melody’s eyes for a short second before the two of them returned to the room.

Harry’s hands were knotted into fists, his knuckles pressed to his brows. Melody could see his arms shaking at their odd angles. She stepped back to his bedside and smoothed hair back from his forehead, whispering into his ear.

“They’re gonna give you something for the pain, okay?”

Harry’s head barely moved, but she could feel the hint of a nod beneath her palm.

Dr. Florin returned shortly. She hooked Harry back up to the IV drip that he hadn’t needed for weeks and then injected a medication into the line. Sean sat back down in his chair, fingers working at his jaw. The doctor watched Harry’s pulse begin to steady in the next few minutes, and then nodded and stepped out of the room silently.

“Okay. Okay,” Melody muttered, sitting on the edge of the mattress once again. She took Harry’s hand when he finally lowered it from his forehead after another few minutes. His eyes were open, lazily roaming the ceiling as she curled her fingers around his. He parted his lips and mumbled something.

“What’s that, man?” Sean asked, leaning forward.

“Really am a hothead, yeah?” Harry said, raising his voice just above a whisper.

Sean exhaled a weak chuckle and leaned back in his chair.

Melody rolled her eyes. She lifted his hand to place a kiss on his thumb and then leaned in to settle her lips at his temple. “You need to work on your jokes.”

“Hmm,” Harry murmured. He closed his eyes and Melody pulled herself back upright. “Maybe you just need to work on your sense of humor. Sean thinks ‘m funny.”

“Yeah, well you’re both idiots, so.” Harry’s lips twitched. His fingers were loosening in her grip. “Sean and I will go get some food while you take a nap, okay?” Melody said.

He hummed, barely above a breath. Melody slid back onto her feet and settled his hand at his side. She took a final sweep over his relaxed form and his lulling head, and then led Sean out of the room.

***

Harry slept for hours. Melody ate a large salad in the cafeteria, as per Sean’s instructions, since she wouldn’t be training the next day and didn’t need to load up on carbs. They took their time eating, and after returning to Harry’s room, played a few games of cards and watched an episode of a court program on T.V.

Sean yawned when the show ended. He looked out the window, where the rain was still falling, but had let up just a bit. “I should get going,” he said, “before it starts coming down heavier. You gonna stay the night?”

Melody looked over at Harry’s face, still relaxed with sleep, his lips parted but his breathing soundless. She nodded.

“Okay, well let him know I said to get his ass out of bed tomorrow.”

Melody smiled. “I’ll tell him.”

“We’ll take a break from training until he gets settled in at home, but don’t forget about your match on Friday. Keep your muscles loose.”

Sean slipped into his jacket and took one last look at Harry before heading for the door.

“Get home safe,” Melody called after him, and he lifted a hand in farewell before disappearing into the hall.

The room was quiet and the shows dull without any conscious company. Melody had grown used to this loneliness over the past few months, but that didn’t make it any better or easier. Her feet were kicked up onto the corner of Harry’s mattress and her head kept lolling.

“Mel?”

She lifted her head from the back of her chair, twisting around to see Harry’s face. He was rubbing at his sleepy eyes. Melody was surprised how the smallest things opened up wounds in her chest and then stitched them right back together. She hadn’t seen him so tired and fresh from sleep in what felt like an eternity.

“How’re you feeling?” she whispered, blinking her own exhaustion away.

“Don’ even know,” he mumbled.

“Are you hungry?”

Harry shook his head. He glanced up at the T.V. and watched its picture with a blank gaze.

“Had me a little panicked,” Melody said after a moment’s pause. She pulled her feet back down to the floor and turned her chair toward the top of the bed.

“Yeah?” Harry dropped his eyes to her face and ran his tongue over his dry bottom lip. “What’d Florin say?”

Melody hesitated. She didn’t want to be the bearer of even more bad news. Harry’d received enough of that in the past few weeks to last him multiple lifetimes. But she didn’t have much of a choice.

“She said you might have random pains like that for the rest of your life.”

Harry blinked once, twice, and then rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “Just my luck,” he muttered.

“You’ll have medication for it, though,” Melody added. She didn’t know if that was any comfort at all.

“Sean leave?”

Melody nodded. “But he said you need to get up tomorrow. Dr. Florin thinks you might be discharged Thursday morning.”

Harry’s eyes brightened, as they usually did when there was talk of leaving the hospital. He was beginning to grow skeptical, though, that he would ever be free. Especially when his physical therapy seemed to be so slow-going. He was wary, even as Melody smiled at him.

“Thursday mornin’, for real?” he asked.

“Yeah, if you don’t have another one of...these again,” Melody answered, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. “And Aiden wants to check that your motor function is improved enough to leave.” She leaned forward, out of her chair, to press a kiss to the corner of Harry’s lips, to his temple. She settled her chin into his hair, thick with dried sweat from his episode earlier. She didn’t mind the scent or the texture. It was all just Harry to her.

He lifted a hand to the back of her head. The other to the dip of her spine, and when she pulled back from his hair he pulled her face down to meet his.

Melody locked her lips with his, fitting together like magnets. She cupped the corner of his jaw and buried her other fist in his pillow cover. There was something in the firm pressure of his lips, the way that they slipped from hers only to return at a new angle. It made her shoulders shake. Her very bones ached so powerfully she thought he could have splintered them himself. She slumped into him, struggling to pull air through her nose but unwilling to break the kiss. And when Harry finally broke it for her, she felt her body grow slack.

He pressed his hand into her back as she dipped her chin into his neck. She was gasping against his skin like she’d just sprinted a mile. He turned his cheek into the curl of her fingers around his jaw, stroked the hair spilling between her shoulder blades, and breathed in the scent of her conditioner. He felt her relax beneath his hands, but he was craving this touch just as much, and there was a delay to his movements when Melody began to pull away.

Her breathing had evened out. She felt Harry’s hands snag in the locks of her hair, in the waist of her sweater, and she bit her lip as those hands fell back to his chest. Her fingers smoothed down the slopes of his shoulders. She paused and then pressed another short kiss to his mouth before standing up straight, trying to shake off the gelatinous feeling in her limbs. Now that she’d kissed him like that again, she wanted to feel the heat of it all the time. Her lips wanted to always be touching his. She didn’t think she could take even the most chaste of pecks for granted anymore.

“Get some sleep, Harry,” she whispered, her voice raw. "Gotta show Aiden you’re ready to get outta here tomorrow."

“Are yeh stayin’, love?”

Melody nodded, pulling her hands back to cross her arms over her chest. There was a full ache when she was no longer touching him. Was this normal?

“D’yeh want me to move over? Yeh can lay up—”

“No, no,” Melody rushed with a quick shake of her head. It didn’t feel right. Although she wanted nothing more than to curl up with him. She didn’t want that in a hospital bed. “It’s okay. I’m used to the chair.”

“But yeh don’ have—”

“I’m okay, Harry. I promise. You won’t be in here in a couple days and then we won’t have to worry about it. Don’t worry about it.”

Harry sighed, letting his eyes flutter as Melody’s fingers skimmed over his wrist to emphasize her point. “Okay,” he assented.

Melody offered him a twitch of her lips and trailed across the room to shut the door with a soft click.

“What’re yeh doin’?” Harry asked.

“Changing,” Melody answered as she wandered back over to her chair and pulled her bag onto the seat, digging through its contents for the clothes that she always brought, just in case she decided to spend the night in the hospital. She hadn’t slept here since the week that Harry woke up.

Melody yanked her sweater over her head and unclasped her bra without a moment’s hesitation. Even staring out the room’s windows, into the sky, dark with night and rainclouds, she still felt the heat of Harry’s gaze, his eyes streaking down her bare torso. She slipped a t-shirt over her head and then kicked off her shoes and peeled off her jeans. It was only a moment before she was in a pair of sweatpants and kicked back in her chair, her heels propped on the edge of Harry’s bed again. He was still watching her, crease between his brows.

“What?” she mumbled around a yawn. The television was still humming, rain pattering against the windowpanes in the background. It was meditative and it made her sleepy.

“Yeh used to be nervous takin’ your clothes off around me.”

Melody pulled a blanket out of her bag and tilted her head on the back of the chair as she draped it over her legs. “It’s nothing you haven’t seen a hundred times.”

“Haven’ seen that bruise on your hip.”

Melody pulled her lip between her teeth and let her fingers fall to the hem of her shirt, just over the tender skin that he’d pointed out.

“Let me see it.”

Melody frowned, shaking her head. “No, Harry.”

“Why not?”

She rubbed at her eyes and smoothed hair out of her face. “Just because, okay?”

“No, I—”

“Harry, please.” Melody stared at him, holding his heavy gaze. She tapped her toe against his shin through the sheets. “I don’t wanna argue.”

He snorted, a dry half-laugh, and closed his eyes, resting his head back against his pillow and lowering the upper portion of his bed. “Goodnight.”

Melody pulled her blanket up over her shoulders and watched Harry’s jaw flex as he relaxed. She pulled in a long breath and let her own eyes close. “Goodnight, Harry,” she whispered.

Chapter 5

[strawberryflavoredsalt]

Not gonna lie but it's kinda funny to me how the anime keeps disappointing lov stans and affirming mic/aizawa stans. They've been making their character favoritism more and more apparent in the last couple of seasons.

Let's not forget that Bones is the same studio that made a special ending credits for a single episode of Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) because their collective hearts were broken for Nina and Alexander's fate, and did a little "In Loving Memory" clip show ending.

And who has Aizawa been offering to help look over? A sweet little girl with a tragic past.

And what does Aizawa also have? Mic. I've given plenty of examples on my main of how the animators at Bones clearly love animating for Mic, but basically it's made apparent through how over-the-top his character animation is, which wouldn't exist if they didn't provide a plethora of key frames for him, which would have only been given if they really really wanted the viewer to see just how much chaotic energy this one character conveys in any scene he's in.

Comparing some moments of the My Villain Academia to Mic's animation from the Sports Festival in season 2, they're key frames are very "looked at the manga once for reference" and then provided some key frames to make it a little more animated, making it a bit stilted. Mic on the other hand had waaaay more movement conveyed, movement that his manga counterpart didn't even have, with nothing but plain action lines to imply movement.

I say all this without ill intent, I just find it funny how the anime seems to want to say "yeh OK here ya go" to lov stans, and then turns around and provides more than what was probably necessary for mic/aizawa stans.