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imgoingtocrash · 5 years ago

Text

knowing (of everything she doesn’t)

Chapters: 1/1

Rating: G

Word Count: 9,097

Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & Morgan Stark & Tony Stark, Michelle Jones & Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Michelle Jones, Happy Hogan & Peter Parker

Summary:

“Mister Stark means a lot to me, M,” Peter says firmly, effectively ending the discussion.

“I know,” she answers, squeezing his hand where it rests over the cupholder between them.

Looking out the window, what she thinks to herself is: do you mean that much to him?

Maybe it’s overprotective or presumptuous of her—she’s only known Peter well for a couple of years and has been dating him for less than one.

It’s just—in all that time, in all of the stories of his alter-ego’s exploits that he’s finally shared…she just can’t see how the universe-saving multibillionaire fits into all of this.

MJ joins Peter for a Thanksgiving visit to the Starks' lake house. It turns out that even after years of quiet observation and a few months of dating, there are still things about Peter Parker and his life that manage to surprise her.

Read on AO3

My gift for @peter-stank for @friendly-neighborhood-exchange!!! Happy belated Birthday, Beedee, and thank you so much for your amazing contributions to the fandom. Hopefully you enjoy this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. <3 (Fic also under the cut, as requested by the exchange/until reveal.)

They’re an hour into a two and a half hour drive when Michelle decides to drop the question.

“Isn’t it weird?” MJ asks. “Casually being invited to your boss’s house for Thanksgiving?”

Peter shrugs, but she can see the way his shoulders tense underneath his hoodie when he answers, “Maybe. Before.”

Before doesn’t need to be clarified. The Blip.

“Besides, he makes a mean turkey stuffing. I promise, that’s worth it,” Peter attempts to deflect, the barest hint of a smile directed her way.

But Michelle has never been good at leaving well enough alone. She asks too many questions, sometimes makes people uncomfortable. It’s how she got good at academic decathlon and how she (mostly) figured out Peter was Spider-Man.

“What changed?”

“Hm?”

“The Blip was traumatic for everyone in one way or another. Why did it change things with Tony?” She never refers to him as Mister Stark despite Peter rarely ever calling his mentor anything else.

“It just…did.” Peter shrugs again, eyes determinately focused on the road ahead and far away from her. “He lost me, I almost lost him, it sucked. That’s all.”

“Okay, but—“ It just doesn’t make sense to her that he was an intern at SI or a superhero colleague or whatever, and somehow it added up to…whatever this is. Schlepping up to the Catskills in Peter’s hand-me-down Toyota for a few days at the Starks’ cabin. Like, that’s just a thing that Peter has been invited to do, and he doesn’t think anything of it.

“Mister Stark means a lot to me, M,” Peter says firmly, effectively ending the discussion.

“I know,” she answers, squeezing his hand where it rests over the cupholder between them.

Looking out the window, what she thinks to herself is: do you mean that much to him?

Maybe it’s overprotective or presumptuous of her—she’s only known Peter well for a couple of years and has been dating him for less than one.

It’s just—in all that time, in all of the stories of his alter-ego’s exploits that he’s finally shared…she just can’t see how the universe-saving multibillionaire fits into all of this.

They arrive at the lake house just as the sun’s setting, the orange hues reflecting across the water.

A loud thwack breaks the relative silence that’s formed by the car’s engine turning off.

“Petey!” shrieks the high pitched little voice that accompanies a little blur of movement out of the house.

Peter’s already unbuckling his seatbelt, a smile blown wide across his face. He kicks the door open—used to the way it sometimes sticks—and just barely misses hitting the brown-haired little girl that can only be Morgan Stark in her precious little head.

“Morgie!” Peter shouts in a parrot of her tone, not bothering to shut the door behind him before he picks up the five-year-old girl, spinning them both around in circles while she screams with laughter.

“’S so good to see you,” Peter says, pressing sloppy kisses to Morgan’s cheeks. “Did you miss me?”

“Yeah! Daddy said you were coming for a whole week this time, and I have a whole list of movies that you have to watch with me, and—“

Morgan trails on, but MJ is watching Peter—his attention is zeroed in on the girl in his arms, his megawatt grin on full display. He’s comfortable with her. She called him Petey—a nickname she knows is usually reserved only for May. She knew Peter was close with Morgan, but she’d always assumed it was in that way she sees her younger cousins every holiday and they think she’s the coolest person in the world for exactly eight hours, and then they don’t see or speak to each other again until the next family event, rinse and repeat.

The girl stops herself, moving her eyes directly to MJ and locking on. She’s always kind of hated that about little kids—they look into your soul and just kind of know things.

“Who’s that?” Morgan asks, more firmly wrapping her arms around Peter, as if to protect him.

(The only danger Peter’s been in from MJ in the last three hours was during their argument about road trip playlists. Particularly, Peter’s memetic gag of repeating What’s New Pussycat? on the same playlist multiple times and thinking she wouldn’t stop it before the first It’s Not Unusual.)

Michelle decides to get out of the car and introduce herself instead of awkwardly staring through the open door. It’s a bit of a chore—the passenger door’s handle is finicky—but she gets out without landing her ass in the mud and considers it a win. She still wipes her hands on her pants as she rounds the car, trying to remove any weird, nervous sweat. She’s not worried about it. She’s fine.

“I’m, um. Michelle,” she states, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

Morgan’s head quirks to the side, looking Michelle up and down before she screams, “Daddy, Petey brought some weird stranger to Thanksgiving!” directly into Peter’s ear.

“Ow,” he hisses, rubbing at his earlobe. “Morgan, that’s not cool, MJ is—“

Morgan doesn’t let Peter finish, sticking out her tongue and wriggling out of Peter’s arms, running off towards the house as fast as she came out of it.

Tony Stark himself opens the screen door of the cabin next, chuckling as his daughter weaves between his legs. The effects from the battle with Thanos are clear—though it’s less intense than she imagines it was a year ago. White scar tissue spindles through the right side of Tony’s face, following down under his t-shirt and transitioning into to the metal arm painted the iconic Iron Man color scheme of red and gold.

Peter showed her the specs of that arm shortly after they got together—apparently Tony finished his rehab just after their trip to Europe, and it was supposed to be a gift from Peter. Seeing it on the man himself is…daunting, to say the least.

“Sorry about her,” Tony says, easing himself down the stairs as he approaches. There’s no kind of limp, but he seems to take his time with it all the same. “She gets a little territorial with us sometimes. Pep says we need to get her around more kids her own age, but the idea of sending her off to preschool…”

He shakes his head like he’s clearing cobwebs. She has to admit, he seems more human like this, surrounded by nature, talking about his daughter, the sun showing the lighter, grey strands of his hair more clearly.

“Hey, Pete,” Tony says, pulling Peter into a hug. It’s not just a one-armed casual sort of hug either, but a full one that goes on for a minute, dramatically rocking them back and forth. “Ugh, I missed you.”

“It’s only been a few days, Mister Stark!” Peter’s laughing reply is muffled into Tony’s shoulder. When they come apart, the smile from earlier has returned. Tony’s hands—robotic and human—have moved to Peter’s shoulders.

“A week. A whole week! I can’t spend that much time away from you anymore. It aggravates my angina.”

“Now you’re just trying to be embarrassing,” Peter grumbles, reluctant when the other man runs his hand through Peter’s gelled hair and musses it up just so.

“Absolutely,” Tony admits. He turns to Michelle. “You must be the famous scary girlfriend.”

“You’re just as bad as Morgan!” Peter whines. MJ isn’t sure she’s ever heard him sound so childish in his life despite the fact that he acts like a giant, overexcited goofball ninety percent of the time.

“My reputation precedes me,” Michelle ends up replying, shaking Tony’s hand when it’s offered. For some reason she was more nervous to meet Morgan than her father. Maybe it’s just her instinct to not be intimidated by rich tycoon types. Then again…she and the rest of the world know that he’s much more than that. Still. Old habits die hard.

“Now see, she can take a joke. I like her,” Tony says, nodding at Peter. Peter’s face goes a soft red, just edging on a full blush. She doesn’t really care if Tony likes her, but Peter clearly does.

Tony hooks an arm around both of their shoulders, leading them up to the house.

“Seriously, it’s good to have you guys. I’ve kind of been dreaming about the holidays—it got me through a lot of my physical therapy sessions,” he admits. It seems to be a more vulnerable comment than he lets on—Peter leans his head onto Tony’s shoulder. He’s almost too tall for it, but it’s…weirdly sweet. Peter’s big on physical comfort, as she now knows. Apparently even Tony has gotten used to it.

“Christmas is going to be a goddamn blow out, trust me,” Tony continues, breaking their grouping to lead them into the house. “Wall to wall Avengers, a mountain of presents. I’m slowly but surely convincing Pepper to let me build a fully functioning Santa’s sleigh to put on the roof.”

“No, he’s not,” comes a voice from deeper in the house. Pepper Potts steps in from what must be the kitchen, wiping flour off on the apron around her waist. “I will accept the light-up ones that are meant to be decoration and nothing else.”

Pepper presses a finger into her husband’s chest firmly, spreading a puff of flour and accenting her point with a quick peck to his lips. It’s a surprisingly domestic scene. She looks at Peter, and he’s looking at her already, soft doe eyes and a mind probably full of gross, sweet things that are way, way in their future.

Dork, she mouths. His returning smile is predictably un-cowed.

“You kids are just adorable,” Tony comments. Pepper nudges him with an elbow on her way to Peter.

“Hi, sweetie,” she says, pressing a kiss to his head and holding her hands up. “I’d hug you but—“

“All good,” Peter replies. “Anything I can do to help?”

“No, no. You unpack, relax. I’ve got it, just—semi-literally have my fingers in a lot of pies, right now.”

“That’s code for please, god, don’t let a Parker near my cooking,” Tony whispers to her.

“Enhanced. Hearing.” Peter’s look at his mentor is the closest to peeved that he really gets. (She has to admit, though—there’s a reason they mostly go out or order in on dates. Cooking isn’t really either of their fortes.)

“Boys,” Pepper hums. It sounds like this is a common occurrence in the Stark household. “It’s nice to meet you, Michelle. Peter talks about you all the time. Again, I’d shake your hand, but—“ She holds up her palms, shrugging.

“No it’s—super awesome to meet you. Thank you for having me.” It’s actually beyond awesome. Despite her beef with Stark Industries and their ilk, she has to admit Pepper Potts is pretty high on her list of inspirational female powerhouses. She became CEO at 40 with only a Bachelor’s in Business and a Fine Arts minor, and Stark Industries entered a historic era of technology production and philanthropy under her guidance.

“Oh my god, you’re totally starstruck right now, aren’t you?” Peter questions in her ear, quieter than Tony so that only she hears.

“Shut up,” she says between her teeth, swatting at his arm without breaking her smile at Pepper.

Pepper smiles, giving Tony a look that Michelle can’t decipher. It might be flirtatious? Are she and Peter reminding Pepper of Tony and herself when they were younger? Her life is so weird, right now.

“I’ll go get our stuff,” Peter offers, out the screen door before she can argue that she doesn’t need his help. Like, it’s nice that her boyfriend can lift an entire car’s worth of stuff in one go, but she doesn’t always need him to. It feels a little…exploitative of his powers, somehow.

“I have a five-year-old to console,” Tony says, then quirks his head. “Chide? Eh, I’ll feel it out in the moment. Maybe a little of both. Make yourself comfortable, Michelle.”

Pepper watches Tony ascend the stairs, a what can you do? sort of look on her face towards MJ.

“Seriously, you and Peter have the afternoon to yourselves. If you need anything, just ask FRIDAY.” Pepper points up to the ceiling, as if that’s where the AI lives—which, maybe it does—before she turns around and attends to the beeping timer coming from the kitchen.

Michelle’s had a little experience with Peter’s AI, Karen, but the whole house being run by a super AI is something totally out of the norm. Honestly, she’ll probably just ask Peter any questions to avoid conversing with it.

She takes the chance alone to really observe her surroundings. From the outside the house looked like a pretty rustic cabin, but inside it’s a mostly-open floor plan mix of modern design and homey decor.

In particular, she notices the walls and surfaces are covered in pictures. The entryway features what can only be a shot of Tony and Pepper’s wedding day. The lake is featured behind them—Tony in a suit, Pepper in a white maternity dress that accentuates her pregnant belly.

Further into the living area there’s a larger variety of shots: Baby Morgan in Tony’s arms at the hospital, a few older shots with faces Michelle recognizes—Bruce Banner, James Rhodes, and even a group shot of the Avengers, smiling and receiving Medals of Honor from the Mayor of New York.

Nestled in a few shots of Morgan at a few different ages is a familiar face. Peter is pictured with Tony—it’s a selfie that was clearly printed, Peter making a goofy face combating Tony’s unamused expression. Next to it is a more recent picture. It appears to be from the spring shortly after the battle. Morgan is sitting in Peter’s lap, her hands covered in sticky popsicle juice while Peter is taking a lick from the offered desert over her shoulder. Clearly a candid moment.

Finally, nestled in-between a shot of the Starks teaching a younger Morgan how to swim and a press picture of Tony and Pepper from a gala she can’t identify is one of Peter and Tony on the very couch next to her, both of them asleep and pajama-clad, like they’d fallen asleep like that the night before and someone caught it the morning after.

“Ugh, that one’s so bad,” Peter says, suddenly behind her. He has a talent for sneaking up on her, one that would probably be more useful if he wasn’t always running his mouth and announcing his presence, particularly to bad guys. “Of course you found it.”

“I didn’t realize—“ she starts, but frowns, unsure of exactly what she’s thinking. It’s so…homey, here, and Peter’s clearly welcome. She knew he visited a lot, but this… “You’re all over the place.”

Peter clearly doesn’t think anything of it, shrugging. “I, um. We didn’t have anywhere to go after, you know?”

He’s never comfortable talking about the Blip or the battle against Thanos. A lot of people aren’t, but Peter in particular always stumbles through it. In the months of their dating, he’s only brought it up if she’s asked, never on his own.

“We lived here for a while. Our old apartment belonged to someone else, but May wouldn’t take any charity, wouldn’t accept the Starks’ penthouse in the city. She and Pepper looked for a place in Queens for months, but there were suddenly all of those people looking for housing…”

He loses himself for a moment. He does this sometimes too, drifting off like he’s disconnected, unable to keep himself in the here and now.

She takes his hand, and with a squeeze he comes back. There aren’t any tears, but there’s a weight in his eyes that she recognizes: guilt. For having a home when others still don’t months later. For failing at stopping Thanos the first time. For any number of other things he’s yet to reveal to her.

“Peter…” she tries, but what can she say? It’s times like this that she wishes she was…more. That she was better equipped to handle this superhero life that he’s so dedicated to. He takes the weight of the world on his shoulders, and she hasn’t figured out exactly how to give him a break, to take some of the weight as her own, or if she ever can.

“It’s fine, I’m—anyway, it was just…kind of nice, after everything that happened. Tony was recovering from here, Pepper was working from home a lot, Morgan was scared, I was…” He clears his throat, not finishing the sentence. “It was good to have everyone under one roof for a while, that’s all.”

She tucks herself into his side in a hug, unsure how else to respond. He would accept platitudes but he wouldn’t believe them. She rarely knows the right thing to say, anyway. Maybe this is the best she can do.

He pats her shoulder, breaking the quiet. “Come on, I’ll show you upstairs.”

Peter keeps his arm around her as they walk, squeezing them both up the stairs with their backpacks in hand.

“We’re staying in my room.” He stops walking, stiffening in a way that makes her feel—well, her age. They haven’t even really discussed sex, but any discussions past their first few chaste kisses have turned out a little awkward, stumbling forward because neither of them have dated before this.

“I mean, as long as that’s okay with you, I can take the couch, or—“

“No, no, that’s fine. We’ve shared before,” she mumbles, knowing there have been a few times May must have seen them asleep on Peter’s bed and let them be. She assumes his aunt’s open door policy will stay in place, likely why the Starks are okay with them sharing. Not like she has much desire to do anything in the Starks’ house, and especially with a five-year-old only a few rooms away.

“Your room?” she asks, moving them along. She assumed he and May just shared a guest bed or something that he just took over whenever he visited, not that he had a room of his own.

“It, ah—Mister Stark insisted,” Peter laughs, but mixed in with the slight embarrassment is something warm too, shown by how Peter’s gaze turns to the door clearly labeled Morgan’s Room in a pretty cursive font, likely Pepper’s work. She can hear the soft murmurs of Tony’s voice in the room, meaning that Peter can probably hear the entire conversation.

There’s a bathroom in the hall that’s a mix of Morgan’s colorful bath toys and what she knows is Peter’s deodorant sitting on the sink counter. Next to Morgan’s room is another bedroom, likely Tony and Pepper’s. At the end of the hall is where they stop, the unmarked door holding a room that is different from Peter’s in New York, but funnily enough, almost more expressive of him.

Peter hasn’t made it a secret that he doesn’t love his new apartment—it’s smaller than their old place, and devoid of the memories from his Uncle Ben’s presence. He seems to think there’s not much point in decorating it with the future expectation of college dorms ahead of them, and has apparently spilled most of his personal effects across this room instead.

The A New Hope poster on the wall is one of the nicer reproductions, framed and—signed by Mark Hamill, of course, probably a gift from Tony. A hologram is up on the desk, the Spider-Man symbol lazily floating around like a desktop screensaver. There are a few Lego sets unfinished in the corner—Peter rarely finishes them without Ned to keep them on task.

It’s Peter spilling out of every crumpled sheet of loose-leaf paper, every sneaker missing its mate.

Peter immediately takes to cleaning up the array of dirty clothes on the floor, mumbling apologies. She spies a faded hoodie with the cracked screen-printing of MIT’s logo among the mess before he scoops it up too.

“I was in a hurry last time I was here, sorry. Pepper says she won’t clean up after me because it sets a bad example for Morgan—which I totally get! But also, I mean, you’ve met me.”

It’s as self-explanatory as he makes it sound—he has a busy life. Sometimes, when stuff is crazy, a few dirty socks on the floor don’t really matter so much.

However, she also senses that some part of him likes the mess. His room in the city is a cramped box, and the charging case for the Iron Spider takes up an entire corner on its own. Here, he’s free to spread himself across the floors and up the walls as much as he likes.

“Yeah, Parker, you are kind of a mess,” she teases, only smiling more at his response of wrinkling his nose up at her.

“Anyway,” he continues with a grunt, flinging a sock into a hamper that’s overfull like he’s some kind of basketball star and frowning when it bounces into the floor instead. “Since Pepper’s kicked us out of the kitchen and Mo is being a grouch, we can do whatever. FRIDAY has any movie or show you could want—comedies, romcoms, that sad documentary about polar bears you like…“

“It’s not sad, it’s realistic.”

“What’s real is that you watched me cry about the ice caps melting for like thirty minutes, M.”

He brings her close, wrapping his arms around her waist and swaying them in place like it’s some kind of grand romantic moment, the two of them bickering in the middle of his messy bedroom at Tony Stark’s house. For some reason she has the impression that he’ll spurt into a tall and lanky mess in a few years, but for now she’s still looking down at him just a smidge, meaning he’s looking up at her all…mushy and enamored.

“As we all should,” she replies, failing to sound serious because she’s suddenly distracted by the hint of Peter’s teeth peeking out of his smile. Her boyfriend is so cute, which, yes, she knew that, but it’s just—he’s so much, Peter Parker, and she’s barely even scratched the surface after quietly watching him for years and thinking she had him all figured out. It’s intimidating, to see the open emotion on his face and know there’s even more that she’d never considered underneath.

“I—“ She takes a breath, trying to recover from the flustered blush that’s creeped up her cheeks without her permission. “Nap. I could go for a nap. That sounds good, right?”

Peter’s smile grows—he’s always so entertained when he breaks her brain like this, so smug that he’s one of the only people that can.

At her warning look, he lets her awkward stumbling drop, holding up his hands. “Yeah, MJ, that’s—sounds good.”

“That’s what I thought.”

If she picked that activity for an excuse to hold Peter close for a few hours alone after the barrage of meeting so many new people, well, no one has to know.

“Pete.” A voice she only vaguely recognizes is within the edge of her consciousness. It’s not her step-father, so she chooses to ignore it, snuggling into the warmth under her head further. “Spiiiider-baby. Kiddo, c��mon, wake up.”

Her eyes open just a slit—watery vision turned milky by the overpowering beam of light that leaks in. In the darkness of the room, she finds Peter’s face, still firmly buried in his pillow. Behind him, partially obscured by the curve of his shoulder and the powerful light from the hallway, is Tony.

He smiles when he catches her eyes. “Not the one I planned on, but hey, one out of two’s not bad.”

“Peeetey,” Tony tries Peter again, this time accompanying his calls with a touch to Peter’s head, he’s—running his hand through Peter’s hair? Is she dreaming? “Buddy, it’s time to get up. It’s dinnertime.”

“Hm?” finally comes Peter’s groggy response, slurred as he turns into Tony’s hand.

“Magic words,” Tony jokes to her, stroking Peter’s curls again, fully mussing what’s already been ruined by their nap.

“Feels nice,” Peter sighs. He squeezes the arm he has around MJ, as if for emphasis. “M’comfy.”

“Aw, they’re so cute when they’re sleepy,” Tony full-on coos, and that seems to do it, eliciting a groan from Peter’s chest against her ear.

“You’re so embarrassing, Mister Stark.” Peter bats Tony’s hand away this time, rubbing at his eyes and flitting them over to the holographic clock on the desk—6:30 PM.

“We slept a while.”

“I’ll say. I had Morgan all primed for an apology and you two were totally passed out.”

MJ removes herself from Peter’s hold, running a hand through her loosened ponytail and catching a few matted curls with a frown.

Tony turns up the lights slowly, sliding the switch to half-power.

“I negotiated that you two would watch Mulan with her after dinner, by the way. She tests people with how they react to Disney movies. Don’t ask me why.”

Peter nods solemnly, stretching his arms with a few quick pops.

“I got Tangled. Ned and I went to see it with Ned’s little sister as kids, but I still got all choked up at the whole hair-cutting scene. Cemented me with her for life.”

Peter literally rolls off of the bed, landing on his feet as if he’d simply sat up and stood like a normal person.

She and Tony are similarly unimpressed.

“The fact that you also act like her personal spidery-jungle-gym probably doesn’t hurt either,” he comments.

“You’re just mad that she doesn’t play Iron Man as much anymore.”

Tony sniffs, but doesn’t deny it. “Pizza’s getting cold. Pepper was too tired to cook anything else tonight, and I instantly agreed.”

“But have you ever had pizza for Thanksgiving?” Peter inquires, tapping his skull with his pointer finger like this idea holds the secrets of the universe. “You order the night before and eat it reheated the next day. No cooking required.”

“Just say May burned a turkey the year before and you were scared,” Tony replies. “It’s so much faster that way.”

“I’ll have you know it was Uncle Ben who was scared—“

By the time they’ve moved on to weighing the importance of tradition versus creating new traditions, Michelle has managed to brush her hair back into a more controlled ponytail and has splashed a little water on her face in the bathroom.

They’re still in Peter’s room going at it when she returns.

“You guys talk a lot,” she interrupts.

They both go silent, look at each other, then shrug. It’s like looking into a mirror, in a weird way, and she’s concerned that she’s dating half of that mirror when the other half is Tony Stark, who spent years flying around in a suit of armor and almost died on multiple occasions.

“Daddy!” Morgan thumps her way up the stairs, sliding into Tony’s legs on socked feet. “Mommy said you’re taking too long.”

Tony easily brings his daughter into his arms, bouncing her on his hip and leading them down the stairs that way.

“Oh she did, did she?” he asks, voice taking on a playful quality. “That doesn’t sound like Mommy. She usually just tells me to hurry the fu—“

“Mister Stark!” Peter interjects, slapping his hands over Morgan’s ears and awkwardly hovering over Tony’s shoulder on the stairway to do it. Honestly, it would probably be more comfortable for him to just get on the ceiling at this point.

“Oh, I’m kidding! I wasn’t actually gonna say it!”

Tony pulls Morgan out of Peter’s loose grip, moving all of them forward and almost sending Peter toppling down the stairs. MJ grabs the back of Peter’s shirt even though she suspects his feet are doing the steadying for him.

“You guys are like some kind of messed up comedy troupe,” Michelle comments, watching Peter pout and dust off his clothes as if it will rid him of any embarrassment.

Pepper shakes her head at all of them as they enter the kitchen, probably having heard at least some of that. “More like a circus,” she grumbles.

“We do have an alpaca,” Tony adds, placing Morgan onto her feet.

“I think that’d be more of a petting zoo,” Peter argues.

“Michelle, I’m sorry about them,” Pepper says. “Get whatever you want, we always order plenty for Mister-Mega-Metabolism over here.”

Pepper points to Peter, who has already unceremoniously shoved half of a slice of pepperoni pizza in his mouth and has a trail of grease slipping down his chin.

“You guys are so mean,” he sulks without bothering to swallow, meaning the words are a garbled, spitting mess. “Mister Stark’s the one that keeps nagging me about my blood sugar!”

“You’re attracted to this,” Tony says to Michelle, pointing at Peter. “This? Really?”

“He’s alright,” she answers, dragging both a slice of vegetarian and a slice of cheese onto her own plate without bothering to look at Peter’s fake-hurt expression.

“MJ, you’re supposed to be on my side, this is—I can’t even—“

In his distraction, Morgan decides to be sneaky. Only MJ seems to catch her subtle movements toward Peter, using her short height to her advantage and the element of surprise to steal what’s left of the piece of pizza from Peter’s hand. She giggles to herself triumphantly, biting into it herself.

“Morgan, sweetie, that’s—“ Pepper tries, but seems to lose the end of the admonishment that was probably about germs.

Peter only smiles, crouching as if preparing for a fight.

“Here they go,” Tony hums, expectant in a way Michelle certainly isn’t.

“You better watch out, you little—!” In a fit of laughter, Morgan sprints out of the kitchen, Peter hot on her heels. They run a lap around the living room furniture.

“Peter, leave your sister alone, she needs to eat her—aaaaand they’re already in the yard,” Tony sighs. He and Pepper seem to give up, bringing their own plates and the so far unused plates of Peter and Morgan to the table. MJ follows suit, placing herself an empty chair between the two table heads.

“I swear to god, they’re normal, like, ninety percent of the time.” Tony pauses. “Eighty-five. Solid eighty percent.”

“Did you…?” MJ feels awkward asking about it, but maybe it’s something Peter hasn’t told her yet, something she wasn’t supposed to know that just slipped out. Tony said—he called Morgan Peter’s sister. “Is there something I should know?”

Both Tony and Pepper look at Michelle like she’s not making any sense.

“What you said—that Morgan is Peter’s sister, it’s just—I can keep a secret! I just didn’t know he was, you know. Yours.“

“He wishes,” Pepper snorts into her ice water.

Tony’s responding smile is far too wide.

“I keep asking May for partial custody, but she just won’t budge!” He snaps his fingers in a very exaggerated, aw, shucks way. Pepper and Tony both laugh.

“Ah,” she lets out, embarrassed to have even had the thought that Peter might be Tony’s secret child or something, picking at her pizza toppings to avoid looking at the Starks.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie.” Pepper pats her arm comfortingly. “Before the Blip there were articles with pretty similar lines of questioning. All shut down because they photographed a minor, of course.”

Pepper seems pretty proud of that, and MJ supposes she should be. People definitely would have made the Spider-Man connection sooner if Peter and Tony were in the paper together all the time.

More seriously, Tony says, “I’ve looked at the kid’s blood…more than I wish I had, honestly, but he gets injured, it happens. Anyway, yeah, no. FRIDAY would have figured that one out pretty quickly. DNA scanners and all.”

She nods, and the awkward silence thankfully only has to sit for a few more seconds before Peter bursts back into the house, Morgan wriggling around and squealing in his arms.

“I caught a wild Morguna!” Peter cheers.

“Is that the name of an actual Pokémon?” Tony asks, switching his gaze between Pepper and Michelle for an answer. “Did I accidentally nickname my kid after a battling monster thing? I only know like three of them, help me out here.”

Peter rolls his eyes, placing Morgan down with a quick tickle to her ribs that sends her flying towards the table.

“Come eat, Little Miss,” Tony commands, patting his hand on the chair to his right. Peter sits automatically to his left. “Michelle won’t want to watch a movie with you if you misbehave.”

“Do you like Disney movies?” Morgan probes, kicking her feet under the table and creating a light vibration.

Michelle shrugs. “Depends on which movie.”

Morgan squints, accessing. She nods.

“Good answer.”

Next to her under the table, Peter gives her a thumbs up, another piece of pizza already in his other hand.

The answer of where he got the food is clear as Tony shoves his other piece over to Morgan.

Pepper rolls her eyes and stands to presumably help re-fill his plate from the boxes on the counter.

Mulan was as good as MJ remembered it being when she was a kid.

Morgan seemed pretty pleased when she started mouthing along the words to I’ll Make A Man Out Of You, but less so when that prompted Peter to turn it into a dance number including the jumping kicks that almost resulted in a broken glass coffee table.

Despite their earlier nap, Michelle and Peter both find it fairly easy to fall asleep that night.

Still, it may be because of the nap that she doesn’t sleep as hard. She feels a disturbance, physically—Peter’s warmth leaves the bed, the steady pressure of his spine against her own is no longer there.

At first Michelle thinks it’s just a quick bathroom trip. Then she finds that she’s not as comfortable as she was those five minutes before without Peter because he keeps the room warm and he’s cool under the sheets (possibly because of the spider-man thing, she’s never asked).

So she waits.

She thinks about the English paper that will be her final for this semester that she only has half an idea for, and what drills AcaDec should be running for their first practice after the break, and…still no Peter.

She thinks about the pictures she spotted of Peter and Tony in the kitchen—the one of them from his internship next to one of Tony in a hospital gown, Peter on the hospital bed, his body covering Tony’s lost arm, both of them smiling with wet eyes and what it all means.

He still isn’t back yet.

She scoots over to Peter’s side of the bed and peeks her head out of the open door. There’s not even a light on in the bathroom.

Well, now she definitely has to investigate.

The cabin probably isn’t old enough for any squeaky floorboards, but she watches her step just the same, aware of every little noise in the half-dark of the night. She makes it to the stairs before she finally sees the dim glow of lights on downstairs accompanying the sound of someone talking.

“…it��s just so—messy.“

“Then explain it to me.”

She goes to her tiptoes, moving just a few steps down. On the couch she identifies the owners of the voices—the backs of Peter and Tony’s heads are silhouetted in the light of the fireplace in front of them.

“Tony…” Peter says, clearly hesitant, curling further into the couch.

“I can handle it, Pete. It’s worse for me when I don’t know what you’re going through, trust me,” Tony replies.

“I don’t even know what I’m going through,” Peter jokes, but his voice is weak, and Tony doesn’t laugh.

Peter sighs. “It was just—one thing to another. Like, I was under that building, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and then it was Titan, and I couldn’t breathe and I could feel myself—I could feel it happening and I was reaching out to you, but then you were—“

She can’t see Peter’s face, but his arm moves over his eyes, and the sleeve comes away tear-stained. He’s crying. Peter’s crying, broken, and her heart strains to do something about it, but this is—all of this is so much and she’s just overhearing it, what is she even doing?

“You were dying and I couldn’t…I heard when your heart—when you—” Peter’s words hitch into sobs, quiet and purposefully muted, like he’s scared to release them.

“Oh, buddy, no, no,” Tony brings Peter closer, his arm bundling Peter against his chest. Earlier she’d thought of what Peter might look like years from now, but now he looks smaller, younger.

The things Peter’s seen…he fought aliens in space, he was dusted and remembers it, his hero, his mentor, this man taking on Peter’s tears and pain with his whole body, his heart—another father—almost died right in front of Peter’s eyes. God, Mysterio almost put a bullet through Peter’s head for revenge—they’re still children, how can Peter handle this, how could anyone?

“Shh, I’m right here. I’m here, I’ve got you,” Tony soothes easily, like Peter is Morgan, just another one of his children seeking comfort.

“It’s okay, Pete. Everyone is okay. Just let it out, you’re okay.” Tony presses a kiss to Peter’s head, rubbing Peter’s back, so gentle, so soft, so unlike anything the world has ever shown her about Tony Stark, something precious and kind.

Something saved only for Peter, for his family.

Michelle sits at the top of the stairs for too long.

Too long thinking of every epic story Peter’s ever told about Spider-Man—the bruises he brushes off, the cuts and scrapes that he can hide away within a day, all of the times that he wins, the failures glided over as footnotes to a success story.

There’s so much she doesn’t know.

She knew he carried guilt, responsibility, but never this. This is a raw, deep wound of loss. It’s a fear scraping at him in the dark that he hides in the light. That he hides from everyone. From her.

Peter is curling into Tony for that comfort instead, burying his fears and worries into the man who brought him into all of this. If there’s anyone that could understand, of course it would be Tony.

She doesn’t know what do to with this knowing of everything she doesn’t. These are things she’s scared to know, things she wants to know anyway because they’re a part of Peter, and she wants more of him despite the sensical parts of her brain that scream for her to run off to California for college and leave dating a literal superhero that regularly risks his own life behind.

As Peter’s tears start to taper off, she stands from her place on the stairs, tip-toeing her way back up to Peter’s bedroom just as quietly as she came, leaving Tony's final whisper of, “I love you, it’s okay,” behind her.

She lies down, bringing the covers that smell of Peter's body wash up to her neck, the familiar scent comforting.

She only falls back asleep as the first dregs of sunshine begin to peek through Peter’s blinds.

Peter doesn’t come back to bed.

Unlike the day before, Thanksgiving morning is a quiet affair. A fog seems to have fallen overnight, leaving the outside of the cabin wet and hazy, matching her mood after the night before.

MJ wakes lightly a few times: the scent of coffee hits her nose, a high-pitched giggle echoes from Morgan in the hall, the sounds of doors opening and closing downstairs break the spell on and off.

If Peter enters the room to get dressed, he doesn’t wake her. She’s not sure if she wants him to or not.

There’s this—knot, buried right in the middle of her chest. Guilt for watching a private moment. Disappointed that she hadn’t thought about it sooner, that she’d let herself accept his constant assurances that he was fine, that there was nothing for her to worry about beyond the norm.

It’s Happy that ends up waking her.

“Knock, knock,” he announces, pulling open the already cracked door. Michelle doesn’t think she’s ever seen him out of a suit before now—usually he’s playing driver for them after school or hovering around Peter and May’s place, something Peter’s only become minimally more comfortable with since May and Happy's dating-ish-thing started. He’s picked a dress shirt and dark jeans instead. Not far from casually formal, but still…weird.

“Morning,” she announces from her blanket bundle, sulky and comfortable.

His eyebrow raises, wrinkling his balding hairline. “Do I wanna know?”

She shrugs.

“Okay, well, Tony and the other kids are making breakfast. Doesn’t seem like your thing, missing out on good food.”

“Are you fat-shaming a growing teenage girl?” She raises an eyebrow, her face dead serious and her tone purposefully instigating.

“Of course not, why would you—“ he catches on quickly, used to her tricks by now, her jokes that aren’t jokes. His lips hint at a smile under his goatee. “Very funny, kid.”

“I thought so.” She smiles.

“Food in ten,” Happy reiterates, turning around to shut the door.

“Happy—wait,” MJ calls, hesitant. He looks back at her expectantly, but she isn’t sure what to say without saying everything, her emotions caught in her throat.

“You—Peter’s worked with you for a while, right?”

She sits up from under the covers, ignoring the borrowed t-shirt of Peter’s hanging off of her frame and the messy wrap containing her curls. This is Peter’s family, in a way, and Happy saw her unhinged and wielding a mace back in Europe. Surely they’re at the point of being able to ignore things like appropriate dress, or whatever.

Her hands end up wringing themselves together. She’s unsure where to look—the whole room is a reminder of Peter, a collage of all the different parts—the hero, the boy, the growing man.

Happy’s facial expression questions the non-sequitur, but he redirects to Peter’s bed anyway, situating himself comfortably, probably realizing this isn’t just about what she’s asking.

“Working with, not so much. Looking after his scrawny ass…” He nudges her with his shoulder, but she doesn’t brighten up much, so he sobers.

“In the beginning, I spent a lot of time ignoring him when he needed me the most. Tony and I both did, and we both regretted it. After the Vulture, things changed. I listened to every asinine voicemail, Tony instituted lab time every other weekend…”

Happy clears his throat, his eyes honest. “Don’t tell him this, but after we lost him, I spent so much time wishing I hadn’t missed a minute of it. I kept wishing I could get him back, listen to him babble about his nerdy crap in the back of the car for just one more hour. Stupid stuff.”

“But then he came back,” she supplies.

He nods. “Then he came back. Tony was out of commission, and I promised myself that I wasn’t ever going to miss another call, even if it was just the kid rattling my ear off about free churros or a dress that he thought looked nice on you at school that day.” At the ending comment, he bumps a hand at her leg, emphasizing.

“Ugh,” she groans, but puts a hand over her mouth to hide a smile. Happy doesn’t appear fooled.

“What’s this about, Michelle?” he asks, meeting her eyes.

She sighs, crossing her arms and leaning back against the bed’s headboard.

“It’s just—after everything that’s happened, after everything you’ve seen him go through…do you think—is Peter okay?”

Something dawns on Happy’s face, followed by a somber kind of smile.

“If you ask me, the people that choose to do this kind of thing—these hero types…none of ‘em are anything close to okay. I mean, you’ve seen the kind of stuff they’re up against first hand. Weird tech, magic, aliens…it doesn’t exactly scream mental stability if you’re going towards that kind of danger.”

It’s not meant to be comforting, and he doesn’t say it as such. It’s just a fact: normal people don’t put on suits and fight bad guys and come out on the other side unscathed. That’s why so few ever do it, powers aside.

“But it does speak to a lot of heart. People didn’t understand that about Tony, when he started: you have to care about people a whole hell of a lot to want to keep saving their ungrateful asses over and over again.”

“I know that Peter cares—and I love that about him!” She blushes at the heated admission, but Happy seems content to let it go with only a kind smile. “It’s just—I didn’t realize how hard it must be on him. He doesn’t tell me how hard it is. I don’t know what to do.”

“Talk to him?” Happy suggests with dry condescension.

She frowns at him, because very clearly she’s not there yet, which is why she’s talking to him.

“I had to try,” he sighs. “Look, I know it’s hard to see someone like him going through all of this. It’s even harder when they don’t admit things are tough. Sometimes it’s just—there’s not much that you can do. We sit on the sidelines, we pitch in where we can, and when they do need us…”

He trails off, looking out Peter’s window. The lake ripples with a light rain.

“When they do need us, we show up. We show up and tell them how stupid they are for acting tough. We’re there when it matters, even when they’re being stubborn and telling us to go.”

Happy shrugs. “Well, that’s always been my tactic, anyway.”

MJ shrugs back, biting her lip. “It’s not the worst advice I’ve ever heard.”

“Tony?” he questions.

“Captain America. Those pre-recorded seminars make you want a big bag of weed more than any college stoner alive.”

Happy actually does laugh at that, patting her knee over Peter’s comforter.

“You two are good together. And I’m not just saying that cause I’m romantic or something—though I did know Pepper and Tony would be perfect together before anyone else, and you can quote me on that.” He points his finger at her, dead serious. Clearly that’s a regular argument at the Stark family get-togethers.

“He’s not going to get lost in this alone. He has too many people on his side for that. But if you need him to be more honest, you’re probably going to have to ask for it. Multiple times. Explicitly. These geniuses have concrete skulls protecting all of that brain matter.” He taps against his own head for effect.

“Yeah, I—thanks, Happy.”

“No problem,” he replies. Then he groans as he lifts himself from the bed, standing. “Now get up, or Morgan’s going to hog all of the syrup. Tony’s not above stealing from her syrup pool, but I personally think it’s an abomination.”

Despite the quiet morning, downstairs is filled with activity once she arrives, her floral dress toned down by one of her favorite grandpa sweaters, grey and a little garish.

Happy arrived with James Rhodes, apparently, as the Colonel is currently swinging Morgan around the living room like it’s a playground. Pepper and Happy are involved in something at the stove, crowded together and bickering about whatever they’re attempting not to burn. Tony is absent at the moment (out feeding their alpaca, maybe,) but Peter’s gaze finds her from his place at the counter where he’s seemingly just stealing bits of fruit out of a bowl instead of contributing.

His smile makes her feel floaty, like the department store dress and thrift store sweater are something more elegant, something he’s revering from across the room. She has value outside of his opinion, yes, but she likes his stuttering compliments, the bloom of pink on his cheeks, the tentative hand he links into her own.

Michelle likes him, might even love him one day, and she wants to get past all of this business where she’s torn up about his other life as a superhero and get back to his eager attempts to get her to full-belly laugh, holding his hand in the hallway, sneaking chaste kisses as rewards for acing flash cards.

“Hey,” Peter says, but he looks just as pensive as she feels. Maybe he knows how she’s feeling, senses it with his weird tingle-thing.

“Hey.”

They end up breaking the following silence at the same time.

“Peter, I—“

“Can we—“

She tilts her head to the porch, smiling. They’re both kind of ridiculous. “Outside?”

Peter situates himself on the porch’s bannister, swinging his legs from his perch. She chooses to lean on the wood next to him.

She’s trying to prepare exactly what she wants to say when Peter says, “I know that you were there last night. I know you heard…well, everything.”

Michelle’s eyes go wide, turning to him apologetically. Of course, his super senses. He probably heard her heartbeat.

“I really didn’t mean to pry, you just didn’t come back to bed and when I overheard you were clearly so upset and—“

“It’s okay, MJ.”

“Is it, though?” she asks curtly. “Because it didn’t seem like that was the first time something like that’s happened.”

He looks away. “It’s not.”

She nudges his side with her own, swaying him on his ledge a little.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault, bringing everything up like I did.”

“M, no, that’s not—“

She holds up a hand, asking for his silence.

“I just feel like I kept…pushing. You don’t really talk about all of this—Tony, the battle with Thanos, everything that made you want to become Spider-Man. And I realized I never really asked, either.”

She knows that she doesn’t have to take this burden on for him, but she wants him to know she’s listening, that she cares.

“I mean—Tony Stark is kind of your dad, dude! And I had no idea.”

Peter laughs, rubbing the back of his neck as if embarrassed. He also doesn’t deny it.

“It just…it made me feel like a crappy girlfriend, ‘cause I never thought about how all of that felt for you. That’s all.”

“You’re not a crappy girlfriend,” he replies, bringing her hand to his lips for a quick kiss. “Just ask Mister Stark—for all that I like talking, telling people about my problems…” He shakes his head in distaste. “I hate it. It feels like I’m just complaining.”

“Well, I personally love complaining, and would love to hear you do it more,” she says.

He lets out a breath of a laugh through his nose, but he sobers again, keeping hold of her hand and squeezing.

“The stuff with Tony…it can be hard to talk about him without mentioning everything that got us here. It’s easier to let people think what they want to.”

MJ nods, understanding. Tony has been a public figure for his entire life. It makes sense that he’s pretty insular about the people that he considers family. Anyone important can be a liability—at least, she knows that Peter also tends to see it that way.

“It’s cute that you care about my relationship with him so much, though. I didn’t realize you were so protective,” Peter teases, hopping off of the ledge and onto the porch next to her.

“Oh, shut up,” she grumbles, swaying their still-attached hands between them.

“Yeah, yeah,” he hums, smile wide across his face. He’s used to the parts of her that go hot and cold, and takes them in stride.

It feels good to have this out in the open, a previously closed door now tentatively cracked and inviting her in. It's a step closer, she thinks. A step closer to him and his world, this family he's made for himself.

A familiar look overtakes his face, and she feels a rush of warmth in her veins.

When they kiss—really kiss—it’s always tentative, a silent game of question and answer.

Peter inches closer, slow enough that she could turn away if she wanted. (She never does.)

Michelle tilts her head, reaffirming his desire. Are you sure? (He always is, his confidence always so much easier than hers.)

Together they take the final step, their movements more confident now as they’re slowly gaining practice. The slight difference of height between them often means she catches his top lip and his hands have a way of snaking around her waist, pulling them closer.

A wolf-whistle breaks them apart abruptly.

It’s Tony, walking over from what appears to be a barn not far from the lakeside, a teasing caught-the-canary smile in place.

“Well, well, look at you two,” he says, working his way up the steps with a little more pep than the day before.

“Please don’t start,” Peter begs, shrugging off the metal hand that immediately goes to ruffle his hair.

“Hey, you’re lucky it was just me. Rhodey has a real hard-on for breaking up PDA.”

“Please never say hard-on again in my presence.”

“Say it in mine,” Michelle interrupts. “I want it on camera.”

“I mean, I’m sure it already is if you look hard enough.”

Peter groans.

“I’ve never hidden my past from you, Pete. Now, Morgan—I’m hiding as much as possible from her internet searches until she’s at least sixteen.”

“I personally love the old flip-phone one of you drunkenly dancing on a bar-top to Toxic.”

“Oh, yeah! I actually remember that. Nice girl, Miss Spears.”

“I regret introducing you two,” Peter sighs, pouting.

“Love you too, kiddo,” Tony replies, opening the door ahead of them. “Now, c’mon. Happy’s going to deep-fry the turkey and you gotta watch. It’s some real Food Network shit.”

“Mommy! Daddy said your word again!” comes Morgan’s call from the living room area.

Peter shrugs to her, a smile on his face like he’s apologizing for getting her involved in all this.

She takes his hand again, giving it a squeeze before following him back into the Starks’ lake house and shutting the door.

#irondad #spiderson #spideychelle #ironfam #peter-stank #friendly-neighborhood-exchange #marvel #my writing

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fireprooflarryfics · 5 years ago

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⛓hate to love larry fic recs⛓

another longer list while my country is under quarentine-- enjoy! -emma

⛓Strangers in Love - sweetums�� (42.2k) Louis wakes up to find himself in a marriage with the last man he thought he'd ever end up with. tags: amnesia fic, married au, getting back together

⛓everything that shine ain’t always gonna be gold - sarcasticfluentry⛓ (49.2k) Inception-inspired AU. Louis Tomlinson is the most respected and skilled extractor in the dream-sharing business; together he and his point man Zayn have been hired countless times to steal hundreds of valuable secrets straight from the minds of CEOs and politicians. One day, a mysterious and wealthy client contacts Louis and Zayn, offering them triple their normal rate in exchange for successfully completing a job that other extracting teams have deemed "impossible." The one catch is that this client wants the very best - so he's decided to team Louis' skills up with those of Louis' most hated rival, another highly-respected extractor named Harry Styles. Can Louis and Harry work together to complete the job and get the payout, or will they lose their minds along the way? tags: scifi au, based off a movie (inception)

⛓(we will be) as if chosen - alivingfire⛓ (35.5k) There's not a royal in the world who doesn't carry some sort of secret, and Prince Louis has more than his fair share. To protect himself and his family, Louis withdrew from the public eye and tried to live a quiet life, biding his time until his sister Lottie could take the throne in his stead. Unfortunately for him, the national media and the worst person Louis has ever met team up to bring him kicking and screaming back into the spotlight. Under the watchful eyes of millions, Louis has to figure out how to keep his carefully constructed house of cards from falling, and the first step to accomplishing that is to keep from falling in love with the irritatingly charming Prince Harry, who just won't stop showing up and trying to whisk Louis out of the constraints of his boring life. Or: the course of true love never did run smooth, because sometimes people are stubborn and sometimes people are scared and sometimes, just sometimes, love can cause just as many problems as it solves. tags: royal au, prince louis, prince harry

⛓For Reasons Wretched and Divine - indiaalphawhiskey⛓ (94.6k) Ten years ago, Harry Styles was just a nerdy kid with one friend and a debilitating crush on the captain of his school’s football team. He thought the stars were smiling down on him the day he and Louis Tomlinson were paired for their end-of-term Literature project. But because Harry’s life is decidedly not a fairytale, the budding friendship quickly leads to the least happy ending of all time. Now, Harry Styles is a household name. Barely twenty-seven with two Grammy nominations to his name, the singer-songwriter is poised to take the music industry by storm with his highly anticipated third album. So, what happens when the best producer in the business is also the only person Harry’s vowed never to speak to again? An AU in two parts. Two boys, two stories, and hopefully, two chances at love. tags: high school au, strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to lovers, songwriter louis, singer harry

⛓All The King’s Men - sacredheart (orphan_account)⛓ (39.8k) Louis is an arrogant, self assured prince who falls in love with a charming thief named Harry during his youth. However, years later, a revolution is sparked amongst the frustrated commoners... and Louis's former teenage romance is leading it. tags: royal au, prince louis, theif harry, medival au

⛓That’s How I Know - allwaswell16⛓ (19.8k) Louis Tomlinson has just landed his dream job, coaching soccer at Augustus University. When he moves into a new house near campus, he meets his very fit new neighbor, English professor Harry Styles. Although their first meeting leads to an instant mutual dislike, the more Harry gets to know Louis, the more he likes what he sees. Or the one where Harry’s African grey parrot spills his dirty secrets to his very hot neighbor. tags: funny/crack fic, teachers au, fics with pets

⛓Only You - mystic_believexx⛓ (78.4k) A strict school, a forbidden love and a burning hatred that turns to passion so hot Louis' in very real danger of getting burnt… After pulling one prank too many on their high school's Principal, Louis and Liam get transferred to Stanford Institution, a boarding school with a reputation for handling rebellious teens. Louis' determined to buckle down and follow the rules so he can come back home as soon as possible but unfortunately for him, his roommate-one Harry Styles- has other plans. Sometimes things have a funny way of working out... tags: high school au, boarding school, roommates, ptsd

⛓That Sounds Fake But Okay - dancingontheceiling⛓ (112.5k) Harry Styles is a rookie journalist forced to work the gossip desk at a major New York magazine. Louis Tomlinson is the A-list actor who doesn't appreciate Harry or his articles. tags: fake relationship, friends with benefits/enemies with benefits, famous x nonfamous, actor louis, journalist harry

⛓i want you so much (but i hate your guts) - becauselarry⛓(83.6k) AU in which Louis gets accepted to play for the Manchester University Alpha-Beta Football Team. The only problem: Louis is actually an Omega. He is determined to make it big in the football world, though, and he can't do that bound to an Omega team. With the help of a faked doctor's certificate and some pretty strong suppressants he is ready to fight for his dream. That Harry Styles (Alpha, second year and youngest football captain of the A-B team in ages) doesn't seem to like him complicates matters, though. tags: a/b/o, omega louis, football au

⛓You Drive Me Round The Bend - TheCellarDoor⛓(77.1k) In which Louis is a spoilt rich kid who’s always on the phone while he drives and Harry is a struggling musician making his way down the mountain. It’s just a matter of time before they crash and burn. tags: rich louis, poor harry, struggling musician harry

⛓got the sunshine on my shoulders - hattalove⛓ (124.1k) five years ago, harry styles left his tiny home town to make it big as a recording artist. he didn't have much regard for what he left behind - a life, a family, and a husband, who woke up one morning to find him gone. now, harry has everything he could possibly want: he's rich, famous, and adored by everyone he meets, including his boyfriend. but when said boyfriend proposes to him, he's forced to face the uncomfortable facts of his past - and louis, who's spent the last five years returning every set of divorce papers harry sent him. tags: getting back together, angst, alcoholsim, famous harry, songwriter louis

⛓Just Me, You, And This Box Of Matches - tomlinsunshine⛓ (87.0k) Louis is fairly sure that his new neighbour is going to destroy him. And also their apartment building, and the dumpsters outside, and all the forests within a thirty mile radius. But. Mostly him. tags: crack/funny fic, neighbors au, there’s way too much going on for me to effectively tag this i’m sorry

#larry fic recs #larry fics #larry stylinson

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visceralcoma · 5 years ago

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Aria Loiza De Sardet

Finally filled out my own questionnaire for my first De Sardet

What is De Sardet’s given name?

Aria Loiza De Sardet

What is the name Arelwin would have given De Sardet (assuming Petrus told them and its different than their given name)?

Arelwin never got to see her, much less name her. The Nauts named her instead. But in another life, Seren.

What was their relationship with Constantin like when they were teens?

Antagonistic. When they were kids they got along, but something changed in their teens when Loiza did exceptionally better than Constantin at everything. From academics to martial to politics and even social. Constantin withdrew from her, growing resentful that she was better than him at everything. Constantin’s resentment grew when he eavesdropped on his father and Sir De Courcillion and learned Loiza wasn’t even related to him and that his father was intending on wedding them together.

Did your De Sardet and Constantin ever have a fight? If so, about what?

When Constantin’s resentment of Loiza exploded, he shouted that she wasn’t even his real cousin. He said it to hurt her specifically. Unbeknownst to Constantin, she’d always suspected that she wasn’t really related to him given how much different she looked. And so she fled while crying and that’s when Constantin knew he’d went too far.

What is a special heartwarming memory of your De Sardet and Constantin?

Sir De Coucillion set Constantin to apologize to Loiza as she had locked herself away. It took much time but eventually when Loiza went a few days without eating or leaving the De Sardet apartments, he finally went to apologize for his words – now worried she was wasting away. He told her how he felt with her doing so much better than him, and his father preferring her over him. Stated how he was just another shadow he lived under. Only this one was a living one, as his brother was long dead. Loiza then revealed her own doubts about her place in the family. That even though she was the General De Sardet’s daughter, it was like she had no resemblance to her mother Princess Livie. And she suspected she was a bastard. With the air clear, Loiza promised to help Constantin with his studies and Constantin would stop resenting her.

What was the relationship like with Princess Livie (their adoptive mother)?

Very close. Even though Loiza felt like she might not actually be Livie’s daughter, she treasured her mother deeply and mourned with her when the diagnosis came back that she had the Malichor. Princess Livie view Loiza as the culmination of all the children she almost had but ultimately miscarried. A gift from her brother from the Island he had tried to colonize all those years ago.

Did De Sardet ever have a pet growing up? What happened to it?

There was a bird she inherited from General De Sardet. A Grey Al Saadian parrot. It was already forty years old when she took over care for it at the age of 8. Sadly it dies in her care but it lived a very long life and was her early exposure to losing a loved one. So when Livie was diagnosed, she was mentally prepared if anguished.

What was De Sardet’s relationship with their uncle (Constantin’s father)?

Close. Closer than Constantin and his father. Her uncle saw her like a pawn in his future plans and as a balm to Constantin’s rashness. He sought to marry her to Constantin, to temper him and reign him in. and also to be the driving force for the colonization of Tir Fradi. He had high expectations and so gave Sir Courcillion instruction to push her academically to reach her full potential. Loiza met each one head on. He often bought her gifts, commissioned swords and daggers for her use, and even had a custom gunsword made when she mastered both. He never pressured her to be like the other young ladies of court and indeed had her accompany him on many of his diplomatic and mercantile meetings when she grew older.

Did De Sardet ever get into trouble with their mother and uncle? Were they a frequent troublemaker?

She got into trouble once, when she broke under the pressures set before. It was revealed to her she would wed Constantin once colonization of the Island was underway. Though she didn’t hate her cousin – in fact she loved him. Loved him in the way they wished, but to be told she had to marry him as part of their plans, she revolted. Her sole act of rebellion and troublemaking was running away and finding the first brothel to deflower herself. But once there, she had no idea what she was doing and was nearly taken advantage of when mistaken for one of the working ladies.

For the first time since they were children, Constantin was the one to save her, revealing he was a frequent and high paying customer that he had a private room. There he sequestered her away. They spent the night and at her request he recommended one of the working gentlemen to her, someone he trusted.

Did De Sardet have many other friends?

Loiza had little friends given her schedule was packed most of the time. She had Constantin and a few acquaintances in court, no one else besides Constantin she would consider her friend.

How did they handle growing up with their mark? Did people mention it? Talk about? Treat them differently? How did De Sardet respond to them?

Poorly. As a kid, children called her mark a symptom of the Malichor and so they kept their distance from her. They neither wanted to be near her or play with her. As such she had a lonely childhood outside of her time with Constantin. Not that she had much time to play, for as soon as she was old enough her days were spend in study.

What are De Sardet’s favorite: food, color, music (genre/instrument), weather, season, and animal?

Food: A particular stone fruit from Al Saad, called a mango.

Color: Seagreen,

Music: Opera for the singing. She dreamed once of becoming a performer, but alas her uncle had other plans.

Weather: Rainy weather. It left the air cleaner back on the Continent, almost renewed and refreshed. On Tir Fradi, it was the same, but after each rain it was like she – herself – was rejuvenated. Like she’d taken a large drink of water.

Season: The end of winter. It feels like a fresh new beginning.

Animal: Birds. She has a liking to all the different sorts and has a collection of feathers from her uncle’s ‘friends’ who would try to win her favor, and thus her uncle’s ear, by giving her wild and exotic feathers from various birds.

What was their first thought of Vasco, Siora, Aphra, and Petrus when they met them?

Vasco: Capable, competent, if a little reserved. But beautiful.

Siora: She has a mark! Like me! Did father have an affair with someone from this island? Was father the first people to come to this island from the continent? Is this where I’m from?

Aphra: I could take the gun right out of her hands, but something in her gaze said not to. Determined, calculating, but not a killer unless pushed.

Petrus: Just like one of uncle’s acquaintances in court. He wants something I can tell but what. He could prove useful though.

If they had one, who was De Sardet’s first kiss and/or love?

Constantin was her first kiss. It was a few months after Constantin had apologized for their big fight when Loiza was re-teaching him what Sir De Courcillion had covered in their dance lessons. He was following her instructions perfectly when he started doing poorly. His hands were sweaty, and he stumbled over his feet. She didn’t understand why until when he nearly crashed them into a wall during a spin. She was getting up when the next moment he had pressed her against the wall, lips to hers and then he was stumbling back apologizing. She didn’t know what to make of it, as she was only thirteen and he fourteen, she carried on with the lesson.

Did De Sardet have any childhood/teen crushes on anyone? Describe how they realized it and how they behaved.

De Sardet didn’t have any crushes. Though she admired Kurt’s skill and ability it was more akin to hero worship, and though her first kiss was stolen by Constantin. It wasn’t until they were older did she love Constantin and he knew it, but neither acted on it in a silent act of rebellion against their parents. They both denied themselves because this was the one area they wanted to be free from their intrigue.

What subjects were their favorite to learn while being taught by Sir De Courcillion?

Music lessons. Being taught to sing was a passion she rarely got to express and so for as long as De Courcillion taught her it, she enjoyed it, but she quickly surpassed the level they would teach her. And though she continued to practice, it went nowhere. Instead she was encouraged to take an interest in other singers, and thus her love of the Opera was born.

What was their relationship with Kurt initially like when he became their bodyguard and/or when he became their Master of Arms?

When he became their Master of Arms, there was a bit of hero worship on Loiza’s end. He could fight and fight well. Though when he became their bodyguard as well, she tried to engage with him in discussion and had to excuse himself. Later he found her describing him as boorish. A word she regretted using as he would hold it over her head from that moment on for talking behind his back. She still feels guilty for calling him that, but Kurt won’t let her forget it. Especially when she playfully flirts with him.

What was Kurt’s initial assessment of De Sardet when he began teaching them to fight?

Graceful, crafty, and potentially deadly if given the chance. She’d be good for close combat and quick fights, but dreadful for cover and protecting herself. I’d give her a shield, but that would only slow her down. She can move faster than those wielding heavier weapons. Still, she needs to learn to parry. A heavier longer blade but not a long sword would do her well, but nothing too cumbersome. She’s got an aim not to be trifled with but shies away from guns due to the loud noise. A pistol on hand if she needs it but nothing more.

What did De Sardet specialize into first and why?

De Sardet specialized into the more technical aspects of combat. Swords, daggers, traps, explosives, and grenades and the art of subterfuge and misdirection. It was useful for her Uncle as when he entertained, she’d slip out and find what her Uncle needed in court in other cities. Eventually it became her preference.

What did they feel when they learned they were adopted and the circumstances behind it?

She knew it was something like this but she had imagined at least her father was actually her father, but instead it was all a lie. She was heartbroken and yet resolute. It was almost a relief to know, until it really sunk in what her “uncle” had done. Stolen a child and raised away all to be a piece, a way to get the Natives to concede to the Congregation. And her mother…Princess Livie an unwilling participant to his schemes but no less responsible – yet Loiza couldn’t fault her. She did the best she could. Instead all her anger directed at her “Uncle”.

#greedfall #greedfall de sardet #loiza de sardet

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pathofcomet · 5 years ago

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bride of ice (1)

{dragon age: inquisition | g. | female trevelyan/iron bull | 2.9k}

| https://archiveofourown.org/works/23533642/chapters/56444983|

There is some kind of comfort in their name, and the knowledge that they will always be part of House Trevelyan, that there’s always the safety net of their title and of their family, and all that it taught them. When uncertain, just follow Andraste’s words and your better’s orders, and pray it goes well. Sometimes, life is as easy as that.

Even if it isn’t fair. Even if it doesn’t leave space for questions.

She was born on a holy day, her mother’s birth-giving pain’s screams mingled with the joyous ringing of the bells from the Chantry. That’s how her mother knew, as her desperate wish has been, that this one last, late child will be a girl. Or at least that is the story that her mother says when she feels particularly fond over the fact that there’s only one of her children left in her house, or to nobles visiting hoping for the young lady’s hand in marriage, or when she wants something from her sole daughter and has to preface her request with emotional manipulation.

The young Trevelyan looks out the window of her carriage, frowning, knowing exactly what her mother wants from her this time before she even has to voice it.

“You cannot, mother.”

“Of course I can,” her mother smiles back at her. “I am your mother and I am your lady and I am sending you on a trip with your brother, not to marriage against your will.”

It is a bait, and a reminder of all that her mother has already done for her: postponing her marriage for this long already, despite the disagreement from other nobles and her own husband, asking in return just from some obedience when she outright needed it. Like right now.

It was the Conclave after all, and an important meeting for her family. Not only was her own brother in the Templar order, alongside cousins and uncles, but most of their relatives were also spread in the ranks of the Chantry. At this point, it was equal parts family reunion and political orchestration for her. It is also an out, one last taste of the world before she knows, with certainty, that she will be made to choose her position in her family’s expectations: become a wife or a Chantry sister. Her time is running out, and this is why she doesn’t want to spend the last of it calming down centuries of hatred over diner.

She turns, to glare at her mother. At least, she doesn’t want to do it without her. There isn’t any political party that she hasn’t navigated thanks to the patient guidance of her mother. But whereas once her mother had dark, black hair – it is now faded to a grey, and when before, during her childhood, her mother used to do this trip to the Chantry by horse, her daughter laughing between her arms, she is now preferring the rest of a carriage. Her daughter grew, but she just got old. It is a startling realization for the young woman to have, in the golden light of the morning, that her mother is now frail and aging. Even if she wanted to do it, her mother couldn’t physically withstand the long journey, or the cold weather upon the arrival.

It was an escape as well: given the opportunity to prove herself, and carve a path straight between the crossroad the destiny was putting her at. She wanted to laugh then, to agree just to please her ingenious mother. She was her only daughter after all, and she was born alongside the joyous ringing of the Chantry bells, and her mother had taken one look at her baby girl and was determined to give her the world, or as much of the world as she could give to another woman.

But before she can answer, the carriage halts to a stop. Her mother wipes her fingers alongside her daughter’s lips, erasing a mark of stray rouge, and pulls at the thin, lace veil she is wearing to cover her head, making it more presentable. It is a light colour, matching her dress, and it is a pious imitation of the statues of their most holies. Her father has insisted on this outfit for her, just an image of their reputation and a reminder of their role and quality in the world.

She links her arm with her mother’s, eyes trained to the sky. Even after years and years of doing every week, she cannot get used to the murmured thanks of the poor, who have just been sent coins by her father’s men, or the enthusiastic greetings of possible suitors, or the envious glances of fellow nobles. As time went by, it felt less like her finding a connection with the Maker of the world, and more like a theatre play that she cannot take part in, because she’s unsure of her role or of the script she has to parrot.

So she walks, tight lipped, taking her seat inside the Chantry, offering a chair to her mother, and her dropping on her knees to the cold floor, palms held together in front of her, eyes casted down in a perfect picture of modesty and belief. She feels pity towards her dress, washed just the night before, and she can feel the hilt of her daggers digging painfully in her thigs, at least needed support in keeping her awake during the preaching. She’s not sure if the Maker is supposed to hear you better just because you are in pain during your pleas, or because he’s seen your face in his house more often than others’, or because your house has the largest donation ever given in the history of the city.

It is one’s own badge of pride that they decide to rely on. She’s not sure she wants hers to be as fickle and unsure as religion’s teaching. Even now, the sermon that they are given is against what they’ve been told just three weeks before, and yet no one seems to notice, or to consider it the least queer.

The bells start ringing, above their head – and slowly, people begin to rise and trickle out into the street. Her mother slowly pats her head and her back, reward for another of these days spent together. Her father is supposed to be busy ruling, and her brothers each with their own titles – so it is the women of the Trevelyan that have to show their faces to the world, stand proof of their ties and their history. People will believe a great many things if they are shown they can rely on said beliefs. And their house has been just a great constant, and such a stable pillar for their people, such an easy path for their own.

The young lady sighs, wondering when exactly this stopped pleasing her, given that she’s gotten nothing less than what she could have possibly wanted, sometimes even before she knew she wanted it. As they ride back towards their estate, she thinks it must have been around the time her brothers placed a dagger in her hand for the first time, and she realized she doesn’t want to let it go.

It is with that same pure glee that she greets her second brother on the entrance steps, hands cupping his cheeks to get a good look at him, then having him pull out his tongue at her and throw an arm around her waist, raising her up effortlessly and spinning her around. She screams into the air, servants turning around to laugh alongside them. Behind them, she can hear her mother clearing her throat, and he puts her down slowly, to go and place his hands in his mother’s, kiss her forehead.

He still stinks from the road, probably back just a little while before them – and his sister turns around, stops one of the chamber ladies, demands a table to be set as soon as possible for them all, and a warm bath to be drawn for him. Out of all of her siblings, his is the only room still kept intact: although he has his own place within the Templars, being situated just outside the city, he has always been just half a day ride away – and it has always been her family’s delight to summon him among them for any and all possible excuses. Out of all her siblings, this is the one she loves the best, he is the one that taught her the most, that cared the most about the small girl who came into his life well into his teenage years.

She cannot remember him without the Templar uniform. Even with all the silks awaiting him at home, out of pride, he wears the cotton shirts of his peers. She finds him magnificent and an idiot for this choice. He also forces her in leather pants and shirts, demands spars and duels from her, and laughs when it is way too easy to best her. He is the only one who seems to care if she can fight on her own, though it is an activity that no one interrupts them from, which means it must be approved by the Bann. Her only weapons are gifts she’s gotten from him, alongside the stories about all the female Templars among his ranks. There’s a fierce protectiveness from him that translates into actual actions, rather than advice that paints her in nothing more than beautiful furniture.

If she wasn’t the only daughter, if she wasn’t so precious in securing a political tie because of her good blood, she wonders is her parents would have agreed to her following the steps of her brother. Though, when he joins them at the table after his bath, he is carrying an empty vial, and she knows things aren’t as easy as he would like to make them seem behind all his blinding smiles. After all, that’s the entire purpose of the Conclave that the two of them are supposed to attend together.

His fingers move to pull at her veil, teasing her even more by unknotting her hair-do when she tries to protest against it.

“Ass,” she mutters under her breathe, though her mother’s leg kicks her under the table and she bites her tongue as a result. He laughs again, leaning to plant a loud kiss on her cheek, and she stuffs a pie in his mouth just to make him stop.

“So, sister. I heard you almost let me be the only suffering Trevelyan out there.”

“Oh, and I would have done it gladly if someone –” here she stops to bite into an apple, staring pointedly at their mother “didn’t insist upon my presence. I am not even qualified to breathe in those meeting rooms.”

“Nonsense! You’d make a fine serving girl!”

“Ass!” This time she says it out loud, and her mother slaps, loudly, against her wrist. It leaves a stinging, red mark behind and she glowers at her brother, blaming.

“You know it doesn’t suit you to whine like a petulant child,” her mother says, calmly. “If you are aware of your own faults, then work on them. If you’re not willing to do so, then do not complain when others point them out to you.”

“Yes, mother,” she murmurs.

“And both of you will be on your best behaviour out there, I hope. I did not raise fools who bark at each other out of boredom.”

“It’s out of love we do it, mother,” he says from her side, and he pats her leg, where she keeps her daggers, asking for peace. She smiles in her bowl of soup, hides it behind the rim.

His spine straightens. “We are Trevelyans, mother.”

With that, he says a whole history in a sentence. It means they will do what must be done of them, and they will honour the name that they are wearing. It means she is a good daughter and he’s a loyal Templar – and no matter the place, no matter the time and no matter the setting, they will do right by this first and foremost.

This calms her, better than anything her daughter might have tried. There is some kind of comfort in that knowledge, that there’s always the safety net of their title and of their family, and all that it taught them. When uncertain, just follow Andraste’s words and your better’s orders, and pray it goes well. Sometimes, life is as easy as that.

Even if it isn’t fair. Even if it doesn’t leave space for questions.

After lunch, they retreat in their father’s study, discussing the details of their departure the next day. There’s a stiff bitterness in his tone whenever he talks to his daughter, and she can imagine exactly how displeased he is with having her go. But someone still has to be just a Trevelyan, and nothing more, and his choice is limited, at the moment, to her – his oldest would never be sent to such a meeting to begin with.

So he must agree to letting her have her own horse, have her own say in their family’s matters. She tries not to take it personal, that he lacks any more trust in her – it is just that, as much as her mother wished for a daughter, he aimed for a son. He didn’t quite make peace with the fact yet.

Only after all this, her brother double checking their servants’ work, are the two finally left alone. He calls her over in his room, where a big, wrapped present is waiting for her, his hideous scribbling accompanying the rope keeping it together. There’s no hint of what’s inside from the text, just normal teasing for the spoilt baby, and he patiently waits for her to open it.

Inside, the pieces of a leather fighting gear. The smell is faint, and the sewing high-quality, and her brother must have spent quite a considerable part of his pay for this. She blinks away her tears before they can fall, the awe still there, her fingers still touching at each surface they can find.

“Thank you.”

Murmured, softly, overwhelmed.

“The Conclave is more of a war gathering than they’d like to let you believe, sister. You won’t be left powerless if I can help it.”

“I have Andraste,” she says, but he just scoffs, incredulous.

“Because that worked so well so many times before.”

That makes her laugh, at last.

“Thank you,” she says again, because there’s nothing more than that that she can say to express how truly grateful she is.

“I’m glad you are coming, sister.”

But she can’t quite say the same, even if the next day she wears her brother’s gifts, proudly.

_______________________________

The travel itself is pleasant enough, spent in good inns and with good food, sharing memories of their childhood with her brother. They add layers as the weather turns colder and admire the landscape around them. One evening, he plays the lute – the next, she sings by voice. Halfway through, their party meets up with their uncle and aunt, working as escorts for the elder couple – as they arranged weeks prior through a letter. Her aunt immediately presses a silver hair pin in her hands, a beautiful gift that she puts to use the following morning. Her uncle spends one afternoon sharpening her daggers, and she’s reminder that their daughters won each hunting game between their families for the past three years.

Once their destination reached, she situates herself by their side, among the civilians present for the Conclave. Her brother hugs her goodbye, before joining his friends, and later in the day, a second degree cousin, now Chantry sister, finds her and they spend some time catching up. The tension is palpable in the air, but everyone is doing their best to stick to their own and try not to start anything. Divine Justinia is a wonderful respite in the midst of all; her kindness oozing off her, a softness in her voice that manager to lift the angriest frown, a power in her presence that silences even the rowdiest person.

Honestly, Lady Trevelyan admires the woman, finds some hope that the Conclave might actually come to an agreement after all, if she is to judge over all of it. And yet, in this world, everyone wants as much as they can get, and then even more if they can fool others into giving it to them. The negotiations are not that different from her own arguments with her tutors, spoiled and exasperated sides equally certain that they’re in the right.

So the days pass by, and at least the food is nice, and the wine flows freely in the evenings. She’s seen enough drunken Mothers. If bored, in the long afternoons when they aren’t allowed to be present to the talks, the guards ask her for a fight, and she trains alongside them until she knows her fingers will turn red in the water basin as she tries to wash away the dirt from her clothes. She reads out loud holy texts with the sisters in the morning, plays chess with the older participants, writes the letters for her aunt who left her glasses at home. Sometimes, a servant slips her a note – most from her brother, Kill me written out of boredom and exasperation, some from admirers trying to tell her that she’s pretty, but only making crass comments that she immediately throws into the fire.

It’s life – but life as far from the one she knows as she will likely ever get.

And then, it all blows up. Or that’s what people tell her, because she cannot remember –

#dragon age: inquisition #iron bull x inquisitor #female trevelyan #DA: Inquisition #iron bull x female inquisitor #female inquisitor #house trevelyan #dragon age #da: i fic #the inquisitor #da fic #dragon age fic #da fanfic #HELLO guess who is replaying as my favourite inquisitor origin and i am set on writing a fully fleshed out series #my writing

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cheshiresense · 6 years ago

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Sky Arcobaleno!Tsuna + Hunger

Premise: Basically, Arcobaleno are batteries. The Sky Arcobaleno bears the brunt of the Curse to keep the world going while the other Arcobaleno elements are responsible for keeping their Sky going. The strongest and purest Sky is needed to stand as a pillar of the world and keep the other Arcobaleno elements in check, and the other elements need to be the strongest and purest in order to feed their Sky for as long as possible.

The Sky Arcobaleno eats their Flames, which allows them to keep their adult form and stay alive, but the more Flames they consume, the more it reflects on the other elements by de-aging their bodies. Because the Sky carries the weight of the Curse, in exchange, the six elements that serve them are theirs to command. If their Sky wants to eat, the elements can’t refuse. And Giglio Nero Skies have always known their duty.

Once the Sky Arcobaleno eats all the Flames available to them, the Sky would starve and die as the Curse becomes too much for them, and the other elements would either cease to exist soon afterwards because the Sky Arcobaleno has eaten too much of their Flames, or they would live on under the rule of yet another Sky until their Flame reserves have been completely drained dry. After that, a new generation of Arcobaleno is chosen, and the cycle repeats itself.

Reborn remembers Luce. Remembers the way she drew them in, welcomed them, gained their trust, bonded with them. And then ripped it all away in a single moment when she called them together and Checkerface sealed their fate with the Curse.

They were still adults at first. But then Luce started eating, told them it was her right and their duty and they had no choice. Reborn had never felt so furiously helpless, and he’ll never forget what it feels like to have someone feed on his Flames like some kind of leech. It didn’t matter where he went either. He fled halfway around the world and Luce could still drag his Flames from him, still gorge on them like she was hungry every minute of the day.

On good days, it only feels like someone has sliced his belly open and is feeding on his organs, and it makes him wonder if this was how Prometheus felt. On the bad days, it’s a violation at a soul-deep level that Reborn couldn’t describe even if he wants to. It isn’t all the time, but it’s often enough that Reborn can never seem to recover between bouts of feeding.

They all deal with it similarly and differently. Reborn throws himself into his work, into as many different fields as he can, takes as many jobs as possible, and sometimes, his exhaustion almost numbs the sick feeling in his gut and the weakness that tugs at him more and more as the years go by.

Viper holes themselves up in the Varia, distracting themselves with missions and money. Some days, Reborn thinks the reason Viper is so obsessed with money when they never were Before is because the endless calculations gives them something to focus on.

Skull signs up for as many suicidal missions as he does stuntwork even though he barely knows how to hold a gun properly, and the few times they bump into each other, Reborn knows that the only reason the Cloud is still alive is because Luce demands it. (Skull tries though. Because one day, it might even stick.)

Fon disappears into the Chinese Triads and stays away from his family like he thinks he might contaminate them or give Luce a way to hurt them too through him.

Lal and Colonello stay apart as much as possible. Lal can’t stand to see Colonello in pain, and Colonello can’t stand to see Lal’s guilt eating away at her as surely as the Curse is eating away at him. For the most part, they think she’s been spared. At the very least, Luce can’t eat her Flames, and her pacifier remains a dull empty grey.

Verde disappears too, into his labs, and he constantly swings back and forth between an almost feverish madness in his attempts to figure out a way to break the Curse and a detached sort of apathy when the despair takes over and he gives up.

The day Luce dies is a relief even though it doesn’t really change anything. They’re babies by that point, all of them except Luce, and they’ve been called together at the Giglio Nero mansion for the boss’ final moments.

Skull breaks out into raucous cheers when the news breaks. Luce’s subordinates look offended and outraged but the Cloud just grins wildly at them, daring them to shoot. Viper and Verde don’t even bother looking up from the deskwork they brought with them. Fon continues meditating like he doesn’t hear the death knell echoing across the grounds. Reborn breaks out a bottle of champagne and some glasses and makes a toast with Colonello and Lal in celebration. They all do their utmost best to make clear just how much they loathed the beloved Angel of the Giglio Nero Famiglia. Reborn for one doesn’t give a damn if they’re disrespectful. Luce doesn’t deserve respect.

They weren’t just called here for Luce’s passing though. Unbelievably enough, Luce’s Sky Flames burned themselves out before she managed to eat all their Flames. And so here they are, stuck in bodies that look somewhere between two and five as they wait for Checkerface to appear and bequeath the Sky Pacifier to Luce’s twenty-six-year-old daughter - who looks like her and spouts the same Greater Good bullshit like her, and already they hate her just like they hated Luce - and they all stand around and pretend they aren’t scared out of their minds. They sustained Luce for almost thirty years. They don’t have much time left, and they’ve long since resigned themselves to the fact that they would die for this Curse, for a monster-god and his mad plans, for a Sky who was supposed to care about them as much as they cared for her.

Checkerface does appear, the Sky Pacifier disappearing from Luce’s folded hands and reappearing in Checkerface’s, and the whole room tenses even as Aria takes a determined step forward, inclining her head respectfully as she reaches out to accept the Pacifier.

Except... Checkerface stares at her for a moment, and even if they can’t see his expression, they can almost taste his disapproval.

“What has Sepira’s line come to?” He murmurs as if to himself. “To produce such a weak Sky? But I suppose diluted blood was destined to out sooner or later.” And then to a frozen Aria, “You are unsuitable for the position. The Pacifier will go to another.”

And then without another word, he disappears, without leaving so much as a hint of who the next Sky Arcobaleno will be.

They all leave that same night. Aria seems shell-shocked but none of them could care less. If she has any sense at all, she would realize just how lucky she is, to now be able to live a full life. Reborn and the others - not so much. Not anymore. Not for a long time now.

They don’t know what to do. They wait for a month, together, however irritated it makes them to be in each other’s space for even that long, but nothing attacks their Flames, no invisible presence appears to begin feeding on them yet again, and eventually, they part ways, go back to their lives, uneasy but unsure of what to do about it. They keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it doesn’t, at least not for another six years.

They don’t know why no Sky has called for them or why they haven’t started eating. They know the Curse hasn’t been broken, if only because they’re still babies, and they still have their Pacifiers, and the Flames Luce ate won’t ever come back no matter how much time passes.

Maybe Checkerface couldn’t find a suitable replacement Sky. But whatever the reason, at least they’re not actively being used as someone’s food source anymore.

The day Reborn arrives in Namimori - six years after Luce died - to train the heir to the Vongola throne and instead finds the Sky Arcobaleno haunting the Sawada household, he almost turns around and books the first flight he could find to Anywhere-But-Here.

The only reason he doesn’t is because the new Sky Arcobaleno is Sawada Tsunayoshi, who should be thirteen and would’ve been seven six years ago. He’s also currently in a body that looks younger than it should be, not quite a toddler but smaller than the average thirteen-year-old’s should be, more pre-pubescent child with stunted growth than teenager, and looks about one gust of wind away from keeling over dead.

This is a new low even for Checkerface, and Reborn is ruthless and sadistic and mostly heartless too, but he feels the ravenous pulse of Sky flames from his perch in the tree across from the house, spots the emaciated cheekbones and hollowed-out emptiness in the boy’s eyes, and he can’t quite make himself get up and leave.

They’re close enough now that Reborn’s Pacifier is already glowing faintly, and Tsunayoshi’s should be doing the same. Even if the boy himself doesn’t know how - did Checkerface explain nothing? - instinct should ensure the boy would latch on to Reborn’s Flames and start eating.

But they don’t. Reborn thinks he feels a whisper of want, of desperate hunger reaching for him, but a moment later, even that’s gone too.

It takes him longer than he’d like to admit to make himself go inside. He’s so stupid, he can already hear the other Arcobaleno yelling at him for his stupidity, because if the Sky Arcobaleno learns how to latch on to Reborn’s Flames, he’ll be able to do it to the rest of them too, no matter how far away they are. But he goes anyway, if for no other reason than morbid curiosity and perhaps momentary madness. Besides, what’s that phrase youngsters like to use these days? Right. YOLO.

He braces himself for another Luce, for speeches about the greater good of the world, for Checkerface’s belief in Sacrifice parroted at him, taken as gospel.

He gets none of that. Instead, he meets Sawada Nana, who is - as that idiot Iemitsu spouted in great length - the perfectly welcoming, perfectly courteous, perfect housewife, but so clueless that it makes Reborn suspect brain damage, and completely oblivious to the way her son finds it easier to simply sit on the dinner table rather than in his chair to eat and picks at his food like he wants to throw each bite back up.

Luce told him once, through a serene smile that didn’t match the hungry darkness in her eyes, that normal food tasted like ash to her, and don’t you see Reborn, I need to eat too.

And of course he meets Sawada Tsunayoshi, who stumbles around the house like each step hurts him and doesn’t move unless he has to. Whose hands are covered in cuts because he has a habit of digging his nails into skin and rubbing back and forth until he draws blood. Who takes one look at Reborn, slaps a hand over the Pacifier around his neck, and spends the next hour doing his utmost to kick Reborn out of the house. He only stops when he exhausts himself. Reborn is impressed he actually managed to last an hour before he collapsed.

The story comes out in bits and pieces once Reborn’s half-dragged, half-goaded Tsuna back up to his bedroom for some privacy.

“Mom won’t notice anyway,” Tsuna mutters, slumped on his too-big bed. “She doesn’t notice anything. Nobody in this town does.”

Reborn wonders if that’s Checkerface’s doing. Probably.

Reborn coaxes out the story, aims for gentle because there’s something in Tsuna’s eyes - something flat and tired and dead - that makes him think pushing won’t do any good. Tsuna doesn’t really seem to care enough to hide anything from him anyway. Reborn just has to ask the right questions, and that’s something he’s almost always been good at.

Except when it came to Luce. How he didn’t hear the lies, he’ll never know.

And that’s how he learns of Checkerface’s visit to Tsuna when Tsuna was seven, of how the monster-god told him there was a way to make him feel better, of how Tsuna’s Flames were sealed two years prior by Vongola Nono and his own father and he hadn’t felt right ever since, of how Checkerface revealed that the Curse would shorten his lifespan and Tsuna doesn’t have a choice in the matter because it’s for the good of the world, but at least it would break the seal, and he would still be able to live a decent number of years because his Flames are strong. And finally of the method Tsuna can use to keep himself strong, to keep himself alive - by using the other elements that were already in place to support him. It’s what they’re for, and if Tsuna uses them up before he dies, Checkerface will be on hand to pick a new batch for him. The burden he has to bear is a heavy one but this at least would make it a little fairer and ease that burden just a bit.

Reborn’s heart seizes at that, and again, he has to suppress the urge to escape the house, the town, the country. It’s not like it would do any good anyway. He stays put instead and says, “So you know.” and the logical follow-up demand, “Then why haven’t you eaten?” Because Tsuna hasn’t, not once, in the past six years.

For the first time since the conversation started, Tsuna dredges up what little energy he seems to have regained just to pick his head up to peer incredulously at Reborn like he’s questioning Reborn’s intelligence.

“I can’t eat your Flames,” He says.

“They’re yours,” He says.

“I can’t just take them because I’ve been cursed,” He says.

“That’s wrong,” He says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

And for the first time in decades, Reborn is left completely speechless.

Reborn stays. For one, he still has a job to do, even though it’s a rather moot point now, seeing as there’s no way the Sky Arcobaleno will be able to carry the Vongola rings on top of the Curse, and Timoteo might as well be a footnote in Reborn’s list of priorities at this point, but that’s not a conversation he wants to have before he sorts out what he’s going to do, so he might as well pretend he’s well on his way to shaping Tsuna into the Vongola’s perfect pet mafia boss.

For another, he looks at Tsuna and just... can’t leave. There’s a voice in his head that tells him this is one of the stupidest things he has ever done, only topped by his life-ruining mistake of falling for Luce’s charms, but he just... can’t. He couldn’t say why, if someone had the balls to ask, but maybe part of it is remembering that Tsuna’s first reaction upon seeing him and realizing who he was was to try and make him leave. Even now, sleeping in the same room, their Flames unavoidably brushing against each other, Tsuna doesn’t try to feed on him. Reborn can’t even begin to guess how much self-control that takes. Luce never even tried to hold back.

He follows Tsuna around over the next several days and sees the way people mostly just ignore him, like they know Tsuna’s there but they found him so insignificant that they couldn’t be bothered to talk to him or befriend him or even bully him.

Something in Reborn bristles at the sight.

The teachers are abysmal at teaching, and Tsuna barely pays any attention. Reborn thinks he should reprimand the boy for that, but he’s not really here as a tutor anymore, and the longer he observes, the more he realizes it’s not just his lessons that Tsuna doesn’t seem particularly interested in. It’s everything.

Reborn doesn’t dare shoot him with a Dying Will Bullet. He has no desire to see what dragging out Flames that are already so drained and unstable would do to Tsuna. If it drags out Flames at all. It’s just as likely Tsuna would simply drop dead, with no regrets to bring him back.

Sometimes, Tsuna throws up his meals. His body simply can’t digest it, and after the third time it happens, Reborn sits up with him on the floor of the bathroom, handing him a glass of water and a wetcloth when Tsuna finally surfaces from the toilet, looking paler than ever and too thin by far.

“I do eat,” Tsuna protests when Reborn mentions it. He flushes - barely - when Reborn raises a judgmental eyebrow at the toilet. “I do.” He grimaces. “Flames, right? I do eat it.”

Reborn stills, and then very deliberately does not flinch away, because even just two weeks is enough to foster just enough trust for Reborn to believe that Tsuna won’t eat his Flames.

“Most of the time, I eat my own,” He mumbles, and Reborn has to suppress the urge to gag at the very idea. “I have- I guess I have a lot? Once the seal broke at least. And it- it doesn’t make me full, but it makes the hunger a little better for a while.” He cracks a smile that’s less amused and more self-deprecating. “I’m running out though. I can’t eat as much of it anymore.”

Reborn keeps his face blank and breathes through the nausea roiling inside him. “...You said most of the time?”

Tsuna’s gaze drops to where his hands are twisting the wetcloth between them. “Um, yeah. I...” His shoulders hunch a little. “It was an accident, the first time. There were these two men in suits, and- and they said I had to go with them as leverage against the- the ‘Vongola Young Lion’-” Reborn’s lip curls with scorn. “-and they had guns and they were threatening me and-” He breaks off again and takes a breath. “They had Flames. Inside them. I could... sense the colour I guess? One of them was blue, the other was red. And I just- I was so hungry.” His head comes up, and he looks at Reborn like he’s simultaneously imploring him to understand even as he resigns himself to condemnation. “I didn’t even know what I’d done until after. I just... reached out and... ate, and they died. And I couldn’t sense their Flames anymore.” His shoulders sag. “I still- Sometimes, bad guys still come after me. They’re the only ones I- I eat. So. Yeah.”

Reborn takes a moment to digest everything. First of all, Iemitsu’s an even bigger moron than Reborn thought, which he didn’t believe was actually possible but one learns something new every day. And second of all...

“Does it help?” Reborn asks, tugging absently at the brim of his fedora, wondering why Luce never tried this method. Or maybe she did and it wasn’t enough.

Tsuna blinks owlishly at him. “Um, you mean- Well it doesn’t- it doesn’t make me full.” He hugs his middle in a way that pulls his shirt against his body, and there’s just something extra horrifying about being able to count the ribs on a child’s body. “I’m always hungry. Just... less hungry and more hungry. If I eat... someone else’s Flames, it makes me less hungry for a while. It works better than eating my own Flames too.”

Which makes sense. By eating his own Flames, Tsuna isn’t actually gaining any more sustenance. It’s like trying to fill a half-empty hole by scooping more water out of it and then pouring that same amount back in. All while more water drains away at the bottom because Tsuna is also fueling the world. Reborn is frankly astonished the boy’s even still alive.

Reborn is sitting less than a foot away from Tsuna. He can practically feel just how hungry Tsuna is. And still, still, his own Sun Flames remain untouched, an iron wall of resolve standing solid and firm between him and the black hole of a Curse inside Tsuna.

Out loud, he only says, “Okay. Okay, I can do that.”

Tsuna blinks at him, confused. Reborn doesn’t say anything else that night and only nudges Tsuna back to bed.

Reborn disappears for the rest of the night and reappears in the morning. It’s a Sunday, Tsuna is only just sluggishly crawling out of bed, and then he stops and gawks as Reborn opens the window and tosses in two criminals he found a town over, both with dormant Flames inside them.

“They won’t be missed,” Reborn tells the stunned Sky. “Now eat.”

Tsuna’s jaw flaps for a moment longer before he snaps it shut, only to whisper-shout, “Reborn! You can’t- Oh my god you can’t just kidnap people and- and- and feed them to me!”

Reborn sighs and points at one. “That one’s yakuza. Has a fondness for small children.” Tsuna blanches. Reborn points to the other. “And that one’s a serial killer. Just starting, with four kills under his belt. Not the sort you want remaining on the streets.” He gives Tuna a pointed look. “So it’s fine. Eat.”

Tsuna stays frozen on the bed. There’s something in his face now though, something that reminds Reborn of Luce as he stares at the unconscious bodies on the ground, on the verge of losing control.

“You’re sure?” Tsuna asks one last time, voice gone thin.

Reborn nods. “I am,” and then he has to fight not to look away as Tsuna’s eyes burn with the same orange that glows in his Pacifier, he all but falls out of bed, fingers fumbling for his prey’s flesh, and between one breath and the next, flashes of indigo and red struggle briefly in Tsuna’s hands before the Sky drags them to his lips and literally eats them.

Reborn has never been gladder that he at least avoided this scene with Luce, and she had to resort to eating their Flames from afar. (Would she ever have stopped, if she had them right in front of her twenty-four/seven? Or would she eat them all in one sitting?)

The two men are dead by the time Tsuna finishes. Their Flames weren’t that strong to begin with, nowhere near the strength and purity that the Sky Arcobaleno is supposed to feed from. But when Tsuna finishes, he only looks a little mournful that his meal is over. When he looks at Reborn, there is only a miserable sort of gratitude there, no lurking darkness ready to swallow him whole, and Reborn lets himself relax a little.

“I’ll clean up,” Reborn says briskly, and a routine is set from that point on.

Reborn doesn’t even know why he continues helping Tsuna. He makes sure the people he tracks down are always criminals of the more unsavoury sort, for both Tsuna’s and his own peace of mind. Killing someone is one thing. Yanking out someone’s Flame core for food is quite another, and... well, Reborn just makes sure to stick to the scummier side of society. Luckily for everyone involved (except the scum), there’s plenty of those on planet earth.

“You don’t have to,” Tsuna tells him later, after Reborn brings him yet another meal. He tries to find at least one person every couple of days so that Tsuna doesn’t have to eat his own Flames anymore, and something inside him unknots itself upon seeing a little colour return to Tsuna’s cheeks, a little more weight on his bones.

“You know that, right?” Tsuna persists. “You don’t have to do... this. We both know I can’t be Vongola Decimo. You can just... leave. I’ll be fine. I’ve been taking care of myself for years.”

For a certain measure of ‘taking care of’, in Reborn’s broody opinion.

“I don’t even know why you’re still here,” Tsuna mumbles when Reborn’s only response is to arrange the cooling corpses in the alleyway so that it looks like a knife fight gone wrong for both parties. “It would be... safer if you weren’t. What if I- I get too hungry one day? You could get hurt.”

I’m your Sun, Reborn thinks, unbidden, and apparently he knows exactly why he’s doing this after all. And you’re my Sky. A proper Sky. Not like Luce.

Tsuna is young and inexperienced and an odd mix of civilian-raised and mafia-numbed and death-acclimatized, but he is also... kind. Or perhaps just someone with a very particular sense of right and wrong. He has lines in the sand - some that he’s resigned himself to putting a foot over from time to time, others he won’t cross even at the expense of himself, and once upon a time, Reborn wouldn’t have found that especially notable, might even have scoffed at these morals when they’ve already ventured so far into murky territory, but nowadays, in this situation, when it involves the Curse and the Sky Arcobaleno and decades of being violated by one puppet master, only for this one to say no, Reborn can’t help but appreciate that.

“I’ll leave if it seems like you might lose control,” Reborn only says in the end.

Tsuna still doesn’t look happy because they both know full well that leaving - if Tsuna really wants to eat - won’t do Reborn any good. It’s just that staying might do even worse.

But Reborn doesn’t budge from his decision, and Tsuna eventually drops the argument. For now.

Reborn doesn’t call Gokudera. That volatile mix of self-esteem issues and anger is not what Tsuna needs to deal with. Besides, the boy is looking to serve a famiglia, preferably one that would look past his parentage and with enough clout to give Gokudera a chance to make a name for himself. It’s not a good quality to have in a Guardian, whose first priority should be the safety and support of their Sky.

And even if Gokudera did check off all the requirements for Storm Guardian, there’s also Fon to consider. Reborn rather thinks his fellow Arcobaleno would sooner pitch himself into the ocean before willingly acknowledging and strengthening the bond between himself and their new Sky, but there’s also a small chance that Fon will meet Tsuna and then promptly lose his mind like Reborn clearly has and end up sticking around. And however calm and polite Fon normally is, he’s still a Storm with a possessive streak a mile long.

Likewise, when Tsuna walks to school, sometimes they’ll bump into Sasagawa Ryouhei who leaks a cringe-worthy waste of Flames everywhere on his morning runs. He’s almost the spitting image of Knuckle too, but the first time Reborn - perched on Tsuna’s shoulder as they make their way to Namimori Middle - spots the boy and makes the connection with Vongola’s first Sun Guardian, his fingers twitch for a gun, and Leon hisses on his fedora.

Fon isn’t the only one with a possessive streak.

Reborn starts tutoring Tsuna. Future Vongola boss or not, Tsuna still needs to pull his grades up. He isn’t failing but he could definitely do better. Reborn has to tone down his teaching methods though. Even eating more, Tsuna is frailer than Reborn would like, frailer than Luce ever was, and his Flames are volatile on a good day. But Reborn’s never not excelled at anything he put his mind to, and he isn’t about to start now.

“Am I even going to live long enough to need any of this?” Tsuna asks once dubiously.

Reborn spritzes water in his face with his spray bottle. “That’s not the point. You can do better so there’s no reason not to try.”

They both pretend they don’t notice how Reborn never gives him a straight answer to that question.

Reborn doesn’t only tutor him. He teaches him how to fight too. Not with Flames because he doesn’t want to destabilize those any further than they already have been, and from what Tsuna’s told him, he’s used his Flames before, when he retaliated against the hitmen and assassins that came after him, it just always left him drained so Reborn doesn’t ask him to show what he can do. But basic self-defense is something Reborn can teach, along with how to hold and assemble and use a wide variety of weapons.

And when Tsuna goes with him on one of Reborn’s hunts, they make their excuses with Nana, and after Tsuna’s eaten, Reborn takes him to the local shopping center or an amusement park or the hanami gathering when the spring day coincided with one of their weekend outings.

“I’ve never left Namimori,” Tsuna confessed the first time he insisted on going with Reborn so that Reborn wouldn’t have to spend an entire night dragging his prey all the way back to the Sawada residence.

So Reborn starts planning their trips to include more than just hunting down food, and even if the places they go to aren’t anything special, Tsuna doesn’t seem to think so if the way he sometimes smiles is anything to go by, small, hesitant, flickering things that never stay on his face for long, but they’re genuine at least, paired with wide wondering eyes at every new place they go to, and with every passing day, Reborn finds himself more and more invested in coaxing out those smiles.

Reborn thinks about telling his fellow Arcobaleno that he’s found their new Sky. But he reasons that they’re more likely to drop everything and move as far away as physically possible from Japan than anything else. There’s no point telling them and causing panic, and no point telling them that Tsuna is different either - for all that they’re in the same boat, and Lal and Colonello aside, they’ve only ever been friends in the loosest sense of the word, and for some of them not even that, so he doubts they would believe anything he said about the Sky Arcobaleno.

They all still remember - of the six of them who spent any amount of time with Luce all those years ago, it was Reborn who got attached fastest, who fell hardest for Luce’s warm smiles and charisma.

Reborn does ask Tsuna if he wants to meet the others. He is possessive but even he knows better than to hoard a Sky all to himself if that Sky wants to claim his other elements.

“Would they like me?”

“I like you, don’t I? And I don’t like that many people. You should be honoured.”

“Yeah, but you were easy, Reborn.”

“...”

“I- I mean, you wanted to stay. From the beginning. I felt your Flames reaching for me right away. I think... you wanted a Sky? And I’m not sure why cuz I’m not much of one, but your Flames at least thought I was a suitable one from the start. So. That’s why you were easy. You wanted to stay, so you stayed long enough to get to know me. I don’t know if all the others will. And even if they do, I dunno why they’d want to stay once they know me. I’m not... anything special. I still don’t know why you stay.”

Tsuna says no, in the end, if only because he’d rather they don’t see him like this, so Reborn doesn’t call them. He knows Tsuna thinks he’s a nothing-special Sky, that at least half the reason Reborn stays is out of pity. Reborn doesn’t know how to explain that that’s not it. He barely understands his own reasons. Tsuna is right about one thing though - as embarrassing as it is, Reborn does want a Sky. He always has. He just never met one strong enough to attract him until Luce, and Luce was poison on so many levels. One would think Reborn would’ve learned his lesson after her - once burned, twice shy - but no, apparently his own Flames still don’t know better. And no matter how unstable Tsuna’s Flames are, they’re also magnificently powerful, even after six years of damage from the Curse.

Eventually, the Flame cores from the criminals Reborn hunts down aren’t enough. Tsuna starts to fade again, hollow-eyed and too-thin and tired all the time, and he can’t even keep down the Flames he eats, throwing them back up in a sludge-like tar that reminds Reborn a little of the Vindice’s Night Flames.

“It happens,” Tsuna just mutters when Reborn comes back with twice as many unconscious Flame-active bodies as usual in an attempt to make Tsuna eat more. “Sometimes, they just don’t work. They don’t- They just taste like ash.” Reborn flinches. Hears the ghost of Luce’s voice. “I’ll be fine. I just have to ride it out. I’ll be able to eat them again later.” His smile is a tight, brittle thing that doesn’t even reach his eyes, one Reborn hasn’t seen in a while. His gratitude is genuine though. It always is. “Thanks though, Reborn. For all of this.”

Tsuna gets worse. He tells his mother that he’s coming down with the flu again and Nana obliviously excuses him from school. It’s obvious they’ve done this song and dance before. Then he retreats to his bedroom and only drags himself out for meals that he throws up later and leaves him shivering like there’s ice in his bones and crying like someone’s carving out his insides with a rusty spoon. Reborn can’t do a damn thing except offer him water and try to keep his sudden fever down.

A terrifying idea begins lurking at the back of his mind, and Reborn does everything he can not to think about it because that way lies the kind of madness he swore he would do everything he can to avoid.

Then a letter from Nono arrives, and at this point, almost three months already since he arrived in Namimori, Reborn’s almost forgotten Vongola. But the Nono tells him that there are Vendicare escapees heading to Namimori, and that it’s Tsuna’s job to deal with them.

Reborn tells him of course. There’s no point hiding the truth.

“I’ll take care of them though,” Reborn promises grimly despite Timoteo’s orders of non-interference. Timoteo isn’t his boss. His contract only stipulated that he had to train Tsuna to become the next Vongola boss, and even that became irrelevant because a Guardian bond superseded any contracts, and Arcobaleno business superseded everything. This is both. “They might try to lure you out, but I won’t let them hurt you.”

Tsuna stares hazily at him, blinking sluggishly through his fever. Reborn makes a note to hunt down another criminal tonight. Tsuna hasn’t eaten in four days.

“Can I eat them?” He finally asks, and that dark edge of hunger is back. Reborn barely twitches in the face of it now. “They’ll be strong, right? If they could escape a mafia prison? So if we get them, can I eat them?”

Well, why not. At least a few of them should have stronger Flame cores than the average killer on the street. “Sure, Tsuna.” He brushes fingers over Leon, whose eyes glow yellow for a moment. “I’ll make sure not to kill any of them so you can see if any of them suit your tastes.”

Tsuna smiles, all serrated edges and eldritch hunger, and all Reborn can think in that moment is, I have made a monster of myself for you and I don’t care.

He thinks he should mourn that more than he does.

It’s an on-and-off thing, as Tsuna said it would be. He goes back to the pathetically weak Flame core diet for several weeks, and then he’d spend a few weeks after that heaving up anything and everything he tries to force down. And then back. Reborn watches it happen three more times but he gets sick of seeing Tsuna suffer long before that. The last time, a week goes by, then two, then three, then a month, and still he can’t stomach the food Reborn brings for him. He can barely get out of bed anymore. Reborn knows he’s resorted to eating his own Flames again. He stays up half the night, listening to the rattle of Tsuna’s breaths and feeling the writhing agony of his cannibalized Sky Flames, half-expecting to wake up to a corpse any day now. He’s at his wits’ end, and that insane idea at the back of his mind is looking less and less insane by the day.

And then one day, in a moment of startling lucidity, Tsuna turns to Reborn, white-faced and clear-eyed and determined, “I want you to leave.”

Reborn fully admits to staring for a full minute, rendered speechless by the sheer stupidity of such a request. “No.”

Tsuna is already shaking his head. “My Flames, I can’t- sometimes I feel like they might start acting on their own and I- I’m just so hungry-” He breaks off, madness staining his eyes orange before he shakes his head again and yanks himself back into the present, clinging to his sanity like a drowning man to a lifeboat. “I might hurt you. And I know I can still- Even if you go back to Italy, I could still hurt you, but if you’re not here, I think I’ll be able to control it better. You’ll be safer away from me. So you have to leave. I-” He smiles shakily, and for a second, he looks on the verge of tears. “I’m so glad I met you, and I’m so glad you stayed, but you need to go now.”

“No.” Reborn repeats flatly, and he thinks again-

“You have to!” Tsuna yells at him, and then he doubles-over and starts coughing up black Flames into the wastebasket Reborn quickly snags for him. It goes on and on and on, and Tsuna isn’t the only one shaking by the time the boy finally collapses back into bed, chest barely stirring with each shallow breath.

Something in Reborn snaps.

He’s never done it to himself before, but he lived with it for almost thirty years, so he knows how to find the Flame core within himself, how to grasp a shard of it in his mind’s eye, and finally how to break it off from the whole.

He almost passes out from the pain, but there it is, glittering at his fingertips, a yellow-gold so pure it fills the room with light.

And on the bed, Tsuna freezes, and then his head snaps around like a hound scenting blood. There’s a terrible darkness in his eyes, on his face, all his attention on the piece of Flame core in Reborn’s hand, and he’s halfway off the bed before his shoulders jerk back, an invisible wall slams down, and he actually reaches up and slaps himself.

It’s Tsuna again, looking out from those eyes, flickering between orange and brown, swaying on his feet even as he shakes his head. “No. No no no!” And then his Sky Flames surge up and out like a tidal wave. It’s the first time Reborn’s ever felt the full weight of it, more powerful than Timoteo’s, more powerful than Luce’s, and Reborn only gets a second to marvel at it before Tsuna snarls, “Get out!”, and he’s flung right out the window, shoved clean over the front lawn and gate, and dumped on the sidewalk just as a barrier of Sky Flames erect themselves around the house. They glimmer orange for a moment before the colour disappears, but when Reborn extends a hand, he meets resistance, and he can get no further.

The barrier doesn’t fall the next day, or the next, or the next. Reborn fumes and swears and even dares to fire a few bullets at the barrier, to no avail. Nana comes and goes like there’s nothing there but Reborn can’t get in no matter what he does.

Four days pass, and Reborn’s had enough. He calls Viper, because if anything can slip past even a Sky barrier, at least the first time, it would be a Mist with Flames of equal purity.

“I need you to come to Japan. I can’t tell you what for until you get here.”

“You know my usual fees for favours.”

“I’ll pay.”

“I’ll be there in three days.”

“I’ll pay triple if you get here by tomorrow.”

“Done.”

“I’ll send you the location.”

Viper doesn’t realize who exactly is residing in the Sawada residence until they actually arrive. Or at least they don’t realize it’s the Sky Arcobaleno. All of Vongola probably knows who Reborn’s been sent to teach.

Viper tries to leave as soon as they realize. Reborn has a gun to their head and a concentrated Chaos Shot glowing at its muzzle in the time it takes them to back-peddle half a foot.

“You’re going to get me inside,” Reborn tells them with a calm he doesn’t feel because Tsuna’s lifeforce, so entwined with his own these days, is slipping away like sand through an hourglass. “You can consider leaving without a bullet in your brain your payment.”

“Have you gone insane?! Do you know who that is?!”

“Considering I’ve been tutoring him for the past seven months, I would say so, yes.”

“Then why are you still here?!”

“I don’t have time to explain things to you. Just get me inside. I’m not asking you to stick around after that.” The Sun Flame bullet brightens. He stares unblinkingly through the glare of it, straight at Viper. “Get me inside. Now. I won’t repeat myself again.”

Viper does it of course. They’ve never been quite as suicidal as Skull. It takes some work, but Viper manages to worm a hole through the barrier within the hour, and as soon as they’ve made it big enough for Reborn to slip through, Reborn is gone, tearing back into the house and up to Tsuna’s room as fast as he can manage.

Tsuna is a broken motionless sprawl of limbs on the bed. His Sky Pacifier is still glowing but he barely twitches even when Reborn shakes him by the shoulder.

Reborn still has the soul shard he snapped off from his own Flame core, and he presses it to Tsuna’s lips the moment he gets some semblance of awareness from his Sky.

“Eat.” He orders, demands, begs. “Damn you, Tsuna, eat it or I swear I’ll force it down your throat if I have to!”

And - at last - when Tsuna finally gives in with a noise at the back of his throat that sounds achingly like a sob even as he swallows down the piece of Reborn’s Flame core and his own Sky Flames flare like wings unfolding for the first time, Reborn sits back on his heels and feels like he can finally breathe again.

#khr #r27 #sawada tsunayoshi #reborn #myscrap #hunger verse #headcanon #arcobaleno #what is this monstrosity #my brain i swear #is a dark and disturbing place sometimes #but i just #really wanted reborn murdering ppl for tsuna #no big deal #offering up bloody hearts on a platter #or at least flame cores which is almost the same

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canaryquillastrology · 6 years ago

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Ruling Planet Deity Archetype

SUN: THE CREATOR

He is a golden Sun god, handsome and strong, with a youthful face and body. He is often depicted with a shining smile as an expression of his warmth and boyish optimism. The Creator is a god of creativity and the ego, associated with the forge, the arts, and sculpture. He is also an embodiment of male fertility and fatherhood, and patron to young children, of which he is very much alike. At his worst, he is egotistical, selfish, self-centered, and arrogant, demanding what is not given to him. He is a god that thrives on love, praise, and attention, and in turn is endlessly generous, proud, and kind to children, artists, and those seek him out.

MOON: THE CHILD

She is a silver Moon goddess, small and fragile. But what she lacks in size and light, she makes up for in emotional strength. She is the daughter of the Mother, and clings to her gravitational pull like a dependant child. The Child governs the tides, the oceans, and all bodies of water, pulling them back and forth toward her whenever she rises into the sky. At her worst, the goddess is needy, clingy, moody, temperamental, and childishly irrational. She needs comfort and security in order to settle her highly reactive moods. But in return, she gives us intuition, compassion, empathy, and all the emotions we feel.

WHITE LILIES | IVY | WATER | ALL WATER-DWELLING CREATURES | BLACK CLOAK

MERCURY: THE SCHOLAR

He is a fat, soft looking young man in a modest cloak. He is most often depicted over a book or a scroll, writing or reading, to show he is a god of knowledge, communication, and intellect. But in myths, he is usually at the center of conversation, debate, or discussion, either teaching in a classroom or in a crowd of his peers. He is a patron of rational thinkers, philosophers, scientists, and anybody else engrossed in their studies. His dark side is his intellectual egotism, short attention span, and tendency to stir the pot out of boredom. But he is a god of intelligence, memory, and language, and gives mental gifts to those who worship him.

VENUS: THE MAIDEN

She is a beautiful goddess, much adored and sought after by the suitors who covet her. The Maiden is depicted as a young, lusty woman with long hair and pouting lips. A goddess of love, beauty, sex, and true femininity, she is sensual and seductive, with a want for beautiful mortals and all the finer things in life. Her darker side comes out when she isn’t desired, where she becomes vain, possessive, jealous, fat, and lazy. But when she is secure in the knowledge that she is loved, she is pure and lovely; polite, cooperative, diplomatic, sensitive, and open to compromise.

MARS: THE WARRIOR

He is the torrid god of war, violence, and bloodshed, often depicted in battle as a heavily muscled man with rough skin and a thick beard. The Warrior fights first and foremost for his own personal gain, be it to win an item of his desire, attain some goal, or extinguish some enemy. At times his efforts are noble, heroic, justified in their brutality. But at other times, he rapes, pillages, and slaughters scores of innocent victims. He gives strength, conviction, bravery, independence, and determination to those who worship him, chiefly to soldiers, assassins, and hunters on the prowl.

CERES: THE MOTHER

She is the green Earth mother, goddess of female fertility, motherhood, pregnancy, family, food, home, and caregiving. She is depicted as a pregnant woman with wide hips and large, swollen breasts. All living things are her children, whom she loves and takes care of their whole lives long. But in this respect, her dark side is that she loses all rational sense when something threatens her child, and cries when they grow the nest and try to leave her. At her worst, she is coddling and manipulative, prone to guilt-tripping and cries of loneliness. At her best, she is protective, strong, soft, warm, and kind.

JUPITER: THE JESTER

He is a nubile man who calls himself a fool, a comedian, a trickster, and a seducer. He sees and speaks the truth nobody else wants to hear through jokes and sarcasm and wit. His charm is in his frankness. He can say things nobody else can, and get away with it, because he can make the gods laugh at their own folly. The Jester is drawn center-stage and to parties, feasts, weddings, and theatre, where he parades his antics on stage to the amusement of the crowd. He is a patron of actors, musicians, travellers, and entertainers from all walks of life, worshipped to rid themselves of homesickness, stage fright, and pre-show jitters.

SATURN: THE CRONE

She is an old woman, close to the end of her life, draped in grey hair and sagging skin, criss-crossed with bulging veins and knobby joints. She is the grandmotherly patron of wisdom withered from experience; of the harvest; of elders passing down knowledge onto the younger mortals below. She teaches responsibility, preparing for the future, focus, and sensible choices. To some she is boring, ugly, restrictive, a harbinger of a slow death and the horrors of old age. But she is respected as the one who taught mankind how to harvest and preserve food, allowing them to survive in hard times.

CHIRON: THE HEALER

The Healer is an elderly man, scrawny, with a short beard and a body covered in scars and bandages. He is said to be very kind, caring, and gentle, with delicate hands dedicated to his mortar and pestle. He is the grandfatherly patron of the healing arts, of medicine, tinctures, herbology, and surgery. It is said he hears more prayers than any other god, of desperate voices wishing for good health and to overcome what horrors they’ve fallen to. At his worst, he is useless, an embodiment of false hope in desperate times. At his best, he is a miracle worker, able to pull mortals back from the void.

MORTAR AND PESTLE | ST. JOHN’S WORT | WEREWOLF ROOT | BETONICA | ACHILLEA

URANUS: THE USURPER

His face is hidden, so we do not know if he is a young man, or an old one. What we know is that he is a disruptive, anarchic, rebellious man, set out to overthrow those in power and free the people from tyrannical leaders. Revolutionaries pray to the Usurper more than any other group, for he is the embodiment of their cause, no matter what it is. At his worst, he is a god of madness, chaos, mayhem, and destruction. He is both feared and hated for the disruptive changes he brings upon society. At his best, he is a symbol for freedom from slavery and subjugation, of revolution, and a leader for anyone who feels abandoned or alone.

SWARMS | POISON, VENOM | WOLF | STORMS | DISEASE, MADNESS

NEPTUNE: THE MYSTIC

She commands the veil that separates this world from the next. When we are born it is she who pulls out a droplet (a soul) from the sea of creation. When we die, she is there, easing our soul back into the waters of the afterlife, where we dissipate and become one with one other. She is a goddess of birth and death and rebirth, of magic, sleep, dreams, drugs and alcohol, and spirituality. Associated with death, she is frightening, foreboding, morbid, and macabre. But associated with birth, she is joyful, exciting, and a welcome sight.

PLUTO: THE MONARCH

She is a queen, a patron of royalty, money, precious metals and jewels, and seats of power. She represents those who reign safely from the throne rooms in castles in state capitals. To many she is an abusive, tyrannical, exploitive Monarch who exacts war and violence upon those under her control. But to others, she is a dedicated and faithful ruler who serves her people loyally. She and the Usurper are forever battling against one another, with him trying to overthrow her, and her trying to stay in power, the two of them locked in an immortal, unwinnable battle for all time.

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mun-sal-vache · 6 years ago

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So, Game of Thrones has finally woken the dragon. I hate this show with the burning rage of a thousand suns. In my opinion, seasons 1-4 were visually lacklustre - mediocre at best, yet valuable as they were mostly true to the books. The next three seasons overwhelmed me with D&D’s unfathomable stupidity and incompetence as screenwriters, though I treated it with irony and never let the disappointment really get to me. Now, with season 8 coming to an end, I’m vomiting wildfire further than I can see.

Disclaimer: I only watch GOT to catch a glimpse of the future outline of GRRM’s story, so dealing with its nonsense has become an unpleasant but very addictive routine. Please bear with me for a moment, while I randomly ventilate my anger.

First of all, Jon Snow’s role is reduced to being a talking parrot with a very limited lexicon. His complex personality has been completely erased, as if he is nothing more than a walking corpse. A corpse so dimwit, immature and devoid of willpower, that he became the most annoying character in a matter of a couple of episodes. D&D revoked his arc and gave it to Captain Marvel Arya, then stomped the fool into the ground some more, making him the ultimate whipping boy of the entire series. However, Jon has never been a one-dimensional northern buffoon they attempt to portray him as. Conflicted, yet determined, honourable but not naïve. In fact, he learned to be observant and steadfast at a very young age, and his service on the Wall further hardened him as a person. His becoming this soft-handed butternut, who shies away from the crown and the responsibility it goes hand in hand with, is ridiculously absurd. Besides, now that Westeros’ political and socioeconomic system is flushed down the drain along with consistent writing and common sense, no one cares what exactly his current position in the Seven Kingdoms’ pseudo-feudal society is.

Then, Daenerys. Well, she decimated the population of an entire city with the determination of a maniac. Some would argue that it is a massive OOC, but I am not completely opposed to the idea of her character snapping like a wounded beast backed into a corner. The problem is, Grey Worm’s extra chins had more buildup than her going stark raving mad. Daenerys has always been stubborn and hot-headed, struggling in the iron grasp of the Targaryen legacy, true, but at the same time she tried to temper her most violent urges, fully aware that the coin might not flip in her favour. What happened to the girl who once dreamed of bringing peace and prosperity to her realm? She became a power-hungry, jealous, angry bitch, who forced her way through a foreign land, earning ‘love and respect’ by bringing everyone on her path to heel with fire and blood. Like a spoiled child, Daenerys is delusional that everything she laid eyes upon is hers by the right of birth, not worth. My point is, if D&D wanted us to believe that she became this self-appointed prophetic figure who just couldn’t come to terms with the resistance she had faced, and thus decided to take revenge on those who rejected her, then they should have FLESHED IT OUT. After all, it is only natural that this mindset would result in frustration, despair and lead to inevitable doom. This setup just needed more work.

I am disappointed and devastated with grief D:<

#game of thrones #got #asoiaf #jon snow #daenerys targaryen #text post

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thelarriefics · 6 years ago

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SPORTS FIC REC:

📖 Galileo by @13ways-of-looking (63k)

Louis was captain of the state championship high school soccer team. Harry was that gorgeous, scarf-wearing, long-limbed British kid in his art class. They weren't supposed to be friends.

But somewhere along the line, Louis Tomlinson opened the locked mystery that was Harry Styles.

📖 Falling Slowly by @lhstylinson9193 (43k)

Louis is a quiet and shy famous football player who has a secret obsession with fish and Harry is a photographer who talks enough for the both of them.

📖 Runner on Third by @flamboyantommo (39k)

The AU where Louis and Harry were best friends growing up, but lost touch after Harry moved away. Ten years later, Harry has moved back to town, but he and Louis don't pick up where they left off.

📖 Be My Little Good Luck Charm by @100percentsassy (34k)

In which Harry is a promising amateur golfer making his debut at the PGA Championship, and Louis is a Sky Sports anchor who would really rather be commentating on footie.

The other boys are around too: caddy!Niall provides victory pints, Liam is Louis's Very Serious co-anchor, and poor Zayn just gets his face drawn on.

📖 lock me up with love by @liltinylouis (29k)

Louis had a messed-up knee, ruined career, and labradoodle to take care of. Harry had a normal knee, perfect career, and concern for his recluse neighbor. Harry's baking skills were enough to bring them together.

📖 Has the Ocean Lost Its Way by @fullonlarrie (28k)

Louis and Liam are professional surfers who have been traveling the world together for years. Now they travel with Liam’s pro-surfer girlfriend Amelia and their baby Vivian. They’re in Manly Beach, Sydney to compete in the 2017 Australia Open of Surfing when Louis meets Harry, a freelance surf photographer working for Surfer Magazine.

Louis wonders if his nomadic lifestyle will keep him single indefinitely or if there’s someone out there who’ll fit in with his little makeshift family.

📖 Ain't That A Kick In The Head! by @maybetheyrefireproof & @lesbianharrie (22k)

In which Harry’s a disaster gay who doesn’t know shit about soccer, Liam drinks too many blue raspberry Coolattas, Niall knows everyone, Zayn looks dead, and Louis is Not Happy about sharing his breakout moment with “Drunk Hawaiian Guy.”

📖 Oh Glory by @alivingfire (21k)

Harry Styles is Team Great Britain's newest swimmer, and has spent his whole life training for this moment, a chance at the gold medal in the Rio 2016 Olympics. All his training, hard work, and dedication to no distractions is tested when he's assigned to the same Rio apartment as Louis Tomlinson, British gymnast and Harry's childhood crush.

📖 That's How I Know by @allwaswell16 (19k)

The one where Harry’s African grey parrot spills his dirty secrets to his very hot neighbor.

📖 Strength in Softness by @wellingtontat (16k)

The one in which Harry is a boxer/trainer, and teaches Louis that there can be, and is, strength in softness.

📖 I Still Find You Lovely by @angelichl (16k)

In which Harry goes to a bar in search of a bloke with an air-conditioned flat.

📖 burn this flame by @rainbowninja (13k)

When Harry gets invited to play in a celebrity charity match with Louis Tomlinson, Manchester United's star player, he's determined to impress him with brilliant football skills. The only flaw in Harry's otherwise foolproof plan? He has absolutely no football skills, brilliant or otherwise.

📖 Scoring Position by @juliusschmidt (13k)

Harry Styles hasn’t pitched a perfect game, but if he closes out this final inning, he’ll get the win and bring handsome soccer star Louis Tomlinson home.

📖 It's halftime. Are you ready to go? by @gaycousinlarry (12k)

Harry would like to think that he doesn’t know how he got himself into this. Only… he’d be lying. Because he knows exactly how he got himself into this. Oh man, does he know, and it’s all because of a certain Louis Tomlinson. Alternatively - football is gay and Harry is trying to cope.

📖 I've Always Liked the Fireworks by @becomeawendybird (12k)

When alphas and omegas reach the age of twenty-one they are required to attend a Proving Day ceremony. Omegas watch as alphas do their best to compete in events, show off their skills, and prove how good a mate they can really be. And hopefully, Louis Tomlinson will finally find his mate.

📖 In This Moment by @dimpled-halo (11k)

A mix-up at the hospital causes Louis to reevaluate his life and he works on trying to fix his biggest mistake: letting Harry Styles walk out of his life two years ago.

📖 Save Some Luck For Me by @jaerie (10k)

Louis arrives at the 2018 Winter Olympics to make history as the first omega to win a gold medal at the games. Harry, his oiled up crush from the Summer Olympics, just happens to show up to sabotage him, but maybe helps him win in the end.

📖 One Taste And He Want It by @lululawrence (9k)

The one where Harry and Louis are the captains of the two Frisbee Battles teams in the finals, and Louis has to find a way for his team to win. Seduction is, naturally, the only option.

📖 Use Your Words by @flamboyantdaddy (6k)

Football player Louis tends to serenade Harry, the flower crown wearing boy in their music class. There might be more truth to his songs than Harry realizes.

📖 Don't Bite Your Tongue by @catfishau (4k)

City and United are competing for the Premiership but, for Louis and Harry, it's not just the title that hangs in the balance.

#sports fic rec #thelarriefics #everythingstylinson #larry fic rec #masterpost

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mikotyzini · 7 years ago

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What Defines Us - Ch. 20

Thank you to those who’ve been following this story, and a special thanks to the people who’ve signed up on Patreon for early chapters and commentary and everything. Your support means the world to me! Recently, I’ve been spending 3-4 hours a night after work writing, and I really wouldn’t do that if not for you guys. <3

If you want to read on ff.net (or find previous chapters), here’s the link.

After briefly rubbing her tired eyes, Ruby blinked and then blinked again - trying to get the tiny object in her hand to come into better focus. It’d be a whole lot easier if it weren’t so dang small! Like, seriously, why were small things the coolest? It made them so friggin’ difficult to work on!

Taking a big breath, she let it out in one smooth exhale while carefully layering another swipe of paint - her hand steady while a thin line appeared against a background of dark grey. Taking another breath, she blew softly on the fresh paint so it would dry before she set everything down on the workbench.

Perfect!

It was really tough to make such little lines, but she’d figured out how to do it after a whole bunch of practice. ‘A whole bunch’ meaning pages and pages of trial swipes done just to make sure that one itty bitty line would look great. But it did, so the sleep hours devoted to drawing instead of sleeping had been worth it.

And, for not having a heck of a lot of time, her latest project had turned out a lot better than expected. Maybe because her inspiration was better than usual. Or maybe because she was better than usual!

That was definitely something Yang would say. But Yang wasn’t here right now, so Ruby got to say it! Er...think it.

It wasn’t very long ago that she’d kind of dreaded the days her big sister would leave for hunts, but this time had been different. Without Yang around, the house was actually...quiet. It was really weird, but also kind of nice. If anything, it gave Ruby the chance to work on her projects without her sister barging in and throwing random objects at her. Although she missed the candy - it wasn’t so bad when Yang would throw candy into the garage. That was the best! It just wasn’t as great when Yang threw things like lemons or pieces of cheesecake. It was really hard to catch cheesecake without smearing it everywhere...

Yang and Blake had left last night after dinner, but would hopefully be back soon. Using her novice interrogation skills (she was still learning from Blake), Ruby had managed to pry the hunt details from Yang like a hot knife slicing through warm butter. Or...well, basically it had been really easy to get Yang to talk. Like bribing a parrot with a carrot. Heh, that rhymed.

But Blake and Yang had picked up an ‘assassinate’ contract - the kind Blake loved to do. Ruby could see why - they sounded awesome! Basically, certain Grimm were so smart and deadly that they’d earn themselves a nickname - a cool one like ‘Deathdealer’ or ‘Ten Claws’ or ‘The Vanisher.’ The goal of an assassinate contract was to hunt down and destroy these overly powerful and aggressive Grimm. Wipe them off the face of Remnant!

This particular contract was for an Ursa who’d grown a bit too well known near the outskirts. His name was - and Ruby had thought Yang was teasing her until she saw the name with her own eyes - The Hugger. The Hugger! That didn’t sound like a deadly Ursa - it sounded like a character from some kids’ cartoon show!

Or just a cartoon show, because cartoons weren’t exclusively for kids. In fact, people of all ages could watch cartoons. Not just kids. And watching cartoons didn’t make someone childish. Adults could watch cartoons - cartoons with characters named The Hugger.

When Ruby asked how they’d know they’d found this super deadly bear hugger, Blake had almost too calmly answered that it’d be whichever one tried to hug Yang. It was funny because sometimes Blake could be really possessive about people getting too close to Yang, but didn’t seem to care much when it came to Grimm. If anything, it kind of sounded like Yang was going to be bait for this contract.

Tracking a Grimm through the forest at night though...that sounded like a lot of fun! Ruby wished she could’ve gone, but she also knew she was a little clumsy and wasn’t sure she could stay quiet for that long. She didn’t know how Yang could stay quiet for more than a few minutes at a time!

Because Blake and Yang had to find the Grimm before they could kill it, they had no idea when they’d get back. It could be next week; it could be in a few minutes - it all depended on how quickly they could track and dispose of the beast. Theoretically, they could be gone for years - stuck out in the forest, eating berries and tree bark to survive…but Yang had sounded pretty confident that they wouldn’t be gone for long. She’d even made a joke about how Ruby should make dinner for them, as if they’d want to eat undercooked noodles and raw vegetables after they’d been up all night.

Staying at home wasn’t so bad though. It meant Ruby didn’t have to eat tree bark and it had given her enough time to finish a spur of the moment idea she’d had. Unfortunately, being spur of the moment didn’t mean this project was quick and easy. It was actually the opposite of that - never-ending and horribly challenging. But she’d been determined! Determined enough that she’d skipped her last few practices - something she hadn’t done in months. Ordinarily, she’d feel guilty about skimping out on her training, but Yang said it was ok to take a little break after a hunt to rest and recuperate.

Sitting on the edge of her seat, Ruby leaned over the bench to look at what she’d just created - being extra careful not to touch it for the next few minutes while the paint dried. When a big yawn slipped out, she covered her mouth with one hand and blinked several times to knock the exhaustion away.

The little project looked pretty good, but the most important question was - would she like it?

When Ruby’s scroll buzzed beside her face, she jumped out of the seat in surprise and knocked her knee into the workbench with a loud bang.

It was Weiss though!

Hopping on one leg while rubbing her broken knee, Ruby grabbed the scroll and was immediately disappointed.

It wasn’t Weiss. It was a message from Yang - a picture.

Resuming her perch on the chair, Ruby opened the message and found a picture taken through a heavily wooded area. At first glance, it looked like nothing more than trees and bushes and leaves, which was totally something Yang would do. Send a photo and get Ruby all excited…

Ah! But there was something! If she squinted her eyes, she could barely make out a black shape in the distance. Zooming in on that spot, the caption of ‘huggin’ time!’ suddenly made a lot more sense. If that was a regular sized tree right next to the black blob, then that was a big Ursa. Big, big, big Ursa. They should’ve called him Jumbursa. No, that was lame. But not as lame as The Hugger!

She knew better than to respond right away, but her heart was pounding from just looking at the photo and knowing that Yang and Blake were, right at this moment, within shouting distance of the monster. While Ruby was safe at home, they were getting into a huge fight. It was weird...she felt like she should be out there with them, but she also knew that they could take care of each other.

Hearing two knocks on the front door, she instantly leaped to her feet and yelped when both of her knees crashed into the bench this time, nearly knocking everything over. Squealing, she managed to catch her newest prized possession, steadying it on its stand before dashing into the house and flying to the front door. Not even checking through the window to see who was outside, she threw the door open and grinned.

“Weiss!” she exclaimed, rushing forward and pulling Weiss into a hug that was returned with one arm.

One of these days Weiss would hug properly - which meant using both arms! A full circle! Although it probably didn’t help that she was currently carrying a brown paper bag in one hand...

“Hi, Ruby. I hope you don’t mind, but I brought you some food,” Weiss replied with a timid smile, holding out the bag.

“Why would I mind??” Ruby asked in confusion while accepting the bag.

“Oh. Well, that’s just - I didn’t actually think that you would - it’s a saying.”

Ruby couldn’t help but giggle at Weiss’ adorably flustered response, which only made Weiss look even more unsure of what to say next.

“How about - I brought you some food,” she finally concluded, her eyes searching Ruby’s to see if that had cleared up the miscommunication.

“Well, I hope you don’t mind if I accept the food I don’t mind that you brought me,” Ruby replied while unfurling the top of the bag. “You really didn’t have to - oh!! Spaghetti! That’s my favorite!”

The comment made Weiss smile while she followed Ruby into the kitchen. Setting the bag on the table, Ruby pulled out the containers and gave them a second and third glance. It didn’t take a master-level detective to figure out that they hadn’t come from any restaurant she’d ever been to.

“Did you make this?” she asked, which only made Weiss look embarrassed.

“Yes, I did.”

Homemade spaghetti! From Weiss! That was a gift Ruby really didn’t mind!

“You can cook?” she asked in complete amazement. “Wow, is there anything you can’t do?”

“Many things,” Weiss answered so sincerely that Ruby chuckled.

“Yeah right...tell me one thing you can’t do!”

Searching for an answer, Weiss looked into Ruby’s eyes while her mouth opened, but no words came out.

“See? You can’t even think of anything!” Ruby pointed out happily. Finally smiling, Weiss shook her head.

“I can’t catch butterflies.”

Bursting into laughter at the memory, Ruby quickly stuck the containers into the fridge so she could turn back to Weiss. “But you looked so cute trying!”

Ah - that word! It just slipped out. Could she use that word with Weiss? Yeah? No, she could play it off.

“I can’t cook at all,” she added quickly, changing the subject like a pro. “But I’m great at cutting things up! Yang calls me the Super Chopper.”

Waving her hands through the air in a chopping motion, she beamed when Weiss chuckled.

“Well that’s perfect - every chef needs a sous chef to prepare ingredients for them.”

“Then I can be your sous chef?”

“Absolutely.”

For a long time, the two of them shared a smile - probably the longest one they’d shared yet - before Weiss finally turned away and coughed into her hand.

“So...what have you been up to while Blake and Yang are away?”

“I’ve been keeping myself busy! Working on another project and enjoying the silence,” Ruby replied with another small laugh. “They might be back tonight though, so it’s not so bad.”

“You don’t mind having the house to yourself?”

“It’s awesome! I can do whatever I want!” After spinning in a quick, semblance-fueled circle, Ruby planted her feet and caught one of her petals out of the air when she came to an abrupt stop. “I used to get kinda lonely or bored when they left for a few days,” she admitted. “But it’s not so bad anymore.”

This time she’d actually been excited for her two roommates to leave. The front door had hardly closed before she’d messaged Weiss to see when she could come over. And then the front door had reopened because Yang had forgotten something, so she’d caught Ruby texting and gotten in a few lame jokes before actually leaving.

“But now when they leave we can hang out, right?” Ruby shot Weiss a hopeful look before quickly adding, “I mean, if you’re not busy.”

“I can always make time for you.”

The effortless reply made Ruby’s cheeks warm right up. It made her feel special when Weiss said things like that! Like she’d actually try to create time for Ruby, if it came to that. And the way Weiss said it was so simple, like of course she would do that - because why wouldn’t she go through the effort of doing something impossible just to hang out with Ruby?

“Great! Then I hope they go on a lotta hunts,” Ruby said before stifling a yawn and rubbing her eyes.

“Are you alright?” Weiss’ eyes were openly concerned as she asked the question, so Ruby rubbed her eyes again to remove some of the tiredness Weiss must be seeing - only for another yawn to slip out.

“Yeahhh just a little tired!” she said after her yawn had passed. Staying up all night tended to do that to a person.

“Did you not sleep well? Is it your wrist? Did you take anything for it?”

Giggling at all the questions, Ruby shook her head. It was sweet how Weiss fretted over something so simple, but the worry was unnecessary.

“Naw, just stayed up too late!”

The answer was made of fudge. Technically Ruby had stayed up until this moment - which was quite late (in her opinion).

“Do you want to get some sleep? I could always come back later -”

“No, it’s ok! I’m feeling great!” Ruby yelped before forcing a wide grin.

Weiss couldn’t leave yet - she’d just gotten here! Plus, Ruby felt fine! Sure, she was tired and had a bit of a headache, but it was just one of those vague tired headaches - like when your head is squishing your brain a little too hard. Being too tired must make your skull shrink...either that or makes your brain bigger!

She could always take a nap later, but right now she had something for Weiss.

“Oh! I have something to show you!”

Even though she’d been thinking about it since Weiss had knocked on the door, Ruby tried to make it sound like she’d just remembered it. That way it would seem like no big deal - because it wasn’t really. It was just…a normal deal.

Waving Weiss after her, Ruby made her way back into the garage, where she’d spent practically all of her time since their visit to the Dust factory. Which had been amazing and so much cooler than Ruby had ever expected. And so, so thoughtful – like, wow, Weiss had really gone out of her way to make sure they had a great time.

Because Weiss had done something so nice for them, Ruby wanted to give Weiss something nice in return. So she’d been hard at work! That meant she’d stayed up a little later than she should have - or hadn’t slept at all - but it was worth it! Or it would be worth it if Weiss liked what Ruby had created - which was still resting on top of the workbench where she’d left it. By now the paint would be dry, so she didn’t hesitate reaching over to pick it up and hold it out to Weiss.

It was a little nerve-wracking! Weiss was so amazing and obviously had enough money to buy anything she wanted, so the idea of giving her a gift was kind of stressful...stressful enough to make Ruby’s heart beat really, really fast.

“What do you think?” she asked, dropping the tiny object into Weiss’ hand.

“Wow...Ruby, this is spectacular…” Weiss whispered while holding the shiny object carefully between her thumb and forefinger, rotating it gently so it caught the light in the garage just right.

It was just a little ring, but Ruby had made it from scratch!

The band had been the easiest part - repurposing a nice dark grey metal that had welded together smoothly. Along the outer surface, Ruby had painted a single vine of thorns, but the thorns were in the same shade of white-blue as Weiss’ glyphs. Against the dark grey metal, they popped way better than red or black would have.

“You made the entire thing, I’m guessing?”

“Uh, yeah. The band is from an old sword, and I just finished the painting before you got here,” Ruby answered, wringing her hands while Weiss continued to look over the ring.

“It’s beautiful,” Weiss finally said, the reply making Ruby grin while her heart thundered in her chest.

“I’m glad you like it! Because...uh...well, I made it for you.”

Running one hand through her hair, a nervous smiled tugged at her lips when light blue eyes shot up to hers.

“I can change the design if you want,” she added when Weiss said nothing in response. “I’ve just been drawing thorns everywhere since naming my glove. Yang keeps making jokes about how ‘prickly’ I’ve been.” Ruby rolled her eyes at the lame joke. “But I wanted to give you something as a ‘thank you’ for showing us around your family’s factory. It was really fun!”

From the way Weiss was staring, she was at a loss for words. It was only when Ruby shuffled her feet uncomfortably at the silence that Weiss opened her mouth to speak.

“You didn’t have to do this…”

“I know! I wanted to. I had fun making it, too.”

When Weiss’ eyes fell back to the ring in her hands and searched the inside of the band, Ruby held her breath. Spinning it in a slow circle while examining it closely, Weiss eventually turned it back over, and Ruby couldn’t help but grin.

She might have taken a page out of the book of the person who’d worked on Myrtenaster and hidden a word on the interior where the two pieces seamed together. It had taken hours of practice before she’d gotten good enough to make the tiny letters somewhat legible, but she’d eventually figured it out. And apparently she’d done a good enough job that Weiss couldn’t see it - score one for Ruby Rose!

“I don’t know what to say…” Weiss whispered towards the ring in her hands before looking up and meeting Ruby’s eyes. “Thank you. This might be one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me...”

“I’m really glad you like it! Here I was all worried…” Ruby let out a small chuckle at how silly her fears seemed now.

“I love it, Ruby.”

Weiss looked directly into Ruby’s eyes as she said the words, making Ruby’s heart do a silly little double beat that felt just as weird as it sounded. She’d hoped that Weiss would like it. Loving it was way better.

“But don’t feel like you’ve gotta wear it or anything!” Ruby hurried out before Weiss could feel any pressure to do so. “You can always put it in a drawer or something - I won’t be upset!”

Biting her lip, Weiss thought about the words for several seconds before she slipped the ring onto her finger and gently wiggled it around.

“It fits perfectly,” she remarked, her brow furrowing in confusion. “How did you know my ring size?”

“Oh, you know, I have this super scientific way of figuring out someone’s ring size,” Ruby bolstered before letting out a giggle. “It’s called ‘Ruby’s Art of Guessing!’”

Her laughter made Weiss chuckle softly along with her.

“But I figured your hands are, uh, more delicate than mine, so I used my ring and then made yours a bit smaller!” she explained, briefly holding up the ring around her neck to prove her point. “Oh, and the best part!” Moving around Weiss, Ruby grabbed Thorn from his stand and pulled the glove over her hand. “Ok - give me a high five!”

Curious, Weiss held up her hand and reached towards Thorn. The moment the ring and glove were in close enough proximity, the thorns painted on each illuminated - the vibrant ice-blue popping out against the dark gray backgrounds.

“Luminescent paint!” Ruby exclaimed, clasping her hand around Weiss’ so the heightened color wouldn’t fade away. “Isn’t it cool? It’s purely cosmetic, but ya know, totally worth it.”

“That’s...amazing…” Weiss replied softly, intertwining her fingers with Ruby’s while staring at the thorns glowing brightly.

Ruby watched Weiss’ reaction with a grin, their hands still locked together. She’d had to repaint Thorn since she hadn’t used the same paint the first time around, but it was worth it. Now she and Weiss had a cool friend thing! If they went on more hunts together, people could give them a cool nickname - like The Glowing Thorns or The White Thorns. Or they could be officially lame and go with The Huggers. Ha. Grimm beware…

Still undecided on a nickname, Ruby’s attention flitted back to Weiss when she suddenly slipped her hand away and rubbed both hands up and down her arms with a barely noticeable shiver.

“Are you cold?” Ruby immediately asked.

“Um...just a little.”

“It gets cold out here. Come on - I’ll get you something warm to wear!”

“It’s really -”

“No no, don’t say it’s ok!” Ruby interrupted while heading towards the door to the house. Turning around, she grinned at the perplexed expression on Weiss’ face. “You’re cold, so I’m getting you a jacket or sweater or something! You can either wait here or come with me!”

Taken aback, Weiss blinked several times before finally nodding her head.

“Then lead the way.”

Chuckling at Weiss’ acquiescence, Ruby walked inside - tugging Thorn off her hand and tossing him onto the kitchen table while they walked by it. Making it to her room, she gently kicked open the door with one foot and gestured towards her bed.

“You can sit if you want,” she offered, before heading to the closet to find some warmer clothing to lend her friend.

If she had to guess, Weiss would like something super trendy and fashionable. In other words, nothing Ruby owned. But she couldn’t let Weiss be cold! There had to be something that would kinda...maybe...sorta…well, a great lesson to be learned right now was that Weiss had a different taste in fashion than Ruby did. So...her favorite one would have to do!

Grabbing the red and black jacket and spinning around – her headache giving a slight twinge of complaint as she did so - Ruby found Weiss perched on the very edge of the bed like she didn't know how to sit there. Her back was super straight, her hands were in her lap, and her hair draped over one shoulder. Maybe she felt uncomfortable, but she looked like a princess.

“Here you go!” Holding up the jacket, Ruby waited for Weiss to stand and then helped her into the sleeves. It was a little big on her - the sleeves too long and the shoulders too big - but it was kind of cute the way it enveloped her.

Ah! That word again! At least Ruby hadn’t said it out loud this time. Wait - she hadn’t said it out loud the first time...had she?

“Sorry, it probably smells like roses,” she apologized when she noticed Weiss lower her nose towards the collar. “I can never get the smell out of my stuff! It’s like permanent perfume. Permafume.”

Letting out a small scoff of amusement, Weiss gave Ruby one of the best smiles she’d received yet.

“Don't be sorry. I love the smell.”

The words made Ruby’s cheeks pleasantly warm while Weiss turned her gaze down to the cuffs of the jacket.

If Weiss loved the smell of roses, that was great! For Ruby. Probably not for people who didn’t always smell like roses.

“At least it beats smelling like I just jumped out of a burning building like Yang does!” Ruby joked at her sister’s expense, earning another surprised laugh from Weiss.

“If I’m not mistaken, Blake loves that smell,” Weiss replied with a smirk.

“Oh yeah. Something about how it smells like ‘home.’” Laughing a little, Ruby shook her head. “Those two are so weird.”

“At least they have each other.”

“That’s right! Every weirdo must have a matching weirdo, right?”

“You’re right,” Weiss agreed, smiling back at Ruby. Again their eyes stayed locked for a few seconds before Weiss abruptly turned away in favor of staring at the ground.

Maybe Ruby wasn’t the best at social interactions, but she was more interesting than the ground, right? Seriously, the carpet was just carpet. It was a kinda gray, kinda blue color that probably had a weird name like ‘afternoon sky’ or ‘inky clay.’ The little whatchamacallits - the fabric part that stuck up - were super soft though. They felt really nice when she wasn’t wearing any socks! There was also a small patch hidden underneath the bed that had gotten an itsy bit burned by complete accident. Yang had wondered why Ruby decided to rearrange her room so suddenly...

Ok, maybe the carpet was kind of interesting - but not as interesting as she was!

Determined not to be outdone by the flooring, Ruby grabbed the desk chair and spun it around so she could sit in front of Weiss.

“Did you get to hang out with your sister while she was here?” she asked, happily noting that Weiss was subconsciously playing with the newly appointed ring on her finger, but the question made her let go and return her attention to Ruby.

“Yes, we had dinner before she returned to Atlas.”

“I hope you had fun!”

“It was...great,” Weiss answered with a thoughtful nod and small smile. “I wasn’t expecting to see her, so that was a nice surprise.”

“Yeah! For me too!” Ruby replied. “I mean, I didn’t even know you had a sister, so that was the surprise. And the nice part was, um...her. She seems super nice!”

Nice, and pretty, and kind of stern. A bit intimidating, actually.

“She is. She supported me growing up...I owe her a great deal.”

“Aren’t older sisters the best?” Ruby asked with a smile that Weiss returned.

“They are. You happen to have a great one, yourself.”

“I do! Yang’s awesome.”

“She is…” Weiss replied softly. “She cares so much about you too.”

Growing up, Ruby had never questioned her sister’s love for her. It was always her and Yang against the world - whether it was the actual world or some pretend universe they made up.

“I know she does. With my injuries and stuff, she really went out of the way to help me get better. One day I want to make it up to her! I have no idea how, but I’ll figure somethin’ out.”

Ruby knew that sacrifices had been made in order to help her recover. Of course, with the way Yang was, she’d never mention them. So Ruby had no idea what they were, but she knew they must be there. No one devoted a year of their life to helping another person go through rehab without missing out on something for themselves.

“Well, if you ever figure that out, let me know. I’m still trying to make things up to her, myself,” Weiss added with a self-depreciating shake of her head that made Ruby frown.

“Is she still being mean to you?”

Yang had said that she’d try to be kinder to Weiss…but Ruby would talk to her sister again if she needed to.

“Actually, she’s been a bit more...tolerant...recently. But something is still really...broken between us.” Pausing, Weiss sighed and shook her head. “I know I hurt her, but I want to make it up to her. I have to. We used to be so close.”

“I’m sure she’ll give you another chance! She has no reason not to when you’re here making an effort!”

“Well, I think I’ve finally learned that running away fixes nothing. It only leaves the wounds to fester…” Brow furrowing, Weiss was silent for some time before sighing and meeting Ruby’s gaze with mournful eyes. “It was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop regretting it, but hopefully, I can find a way to overcome it.”

The biggest mistake she’d ever made? What was it? The biggest mistake Ruby ever made had landed her in the hospital with some pretty serious boo-boos and quite a few missing memories. But that seemed like a completely different type of mistake. The way Weiss looked right now made it seem like she’d done something horrible. But, to Ruby, it seemed impossible that Weiss was capable of anything that bad.

Maybe it was kind of bad, or maybe Weiss was just really hard on herself. Whichever it was, Ruby didn’t care. What she cared about was how sad Weiss looked right now.

“I’m sure you’ll overcome it,” Ruby replied confidently, leaning forward and nearly reaching over to grab one of Weiss’ hands before stopping and tugging on her necklace instead. “And I’m sure you had a good reason to leave!”

“But she gave me the chance to come back. I just...I couldn’t do it…”

“But you did! You did do it! Unless...are you a hologram??” Reaching out, Ruby lightly poked Weiss in the shoulder. “No, you’re real! And you’re in Vale, so you did come back!”

“It took me so long though -”

“So? What matters is that you did it,” Ruby said. “You’ve gotta let go of how long it took, Weiss. You’re here now, and that’s what matters. It’s like my mom used to say -” Scrunching up her face, she searched for the exact wording, so she didn’t mess this up. “Mistakes don’t define you - your reactions to them do.”

When Weiss stared at her thoughtfully, Ruby kept talking.

“Basically, you made a mistake, but did it make you a better person in the end?”

“I...don’t know. I hope so.”

Weiss was clearly unconvinced, so Ruby decided it was time to do some ultra convincing.

“Like, look at this!” she said, holding out her wrist so Weiss could see the scar running all the way across it on both sides. “Clearly, a mistake was made. But I’m not going to be Ruby Rose - injured girl, forever. I train really hard every day so that I won’t be that person.”

After briefly glancing at Ruby’s wrist, Weiss turned away and bit her bottom lip in thought.

“We get to choose our reactions to our problems,” Ruby continued. “That’s the great thing about life! Maybe it took you a long time, but you chose to come back, Weiss. Running away can’t define you anymore, because that’s not how the story ends.”

While Ruby grinned at her hopefully-successful argument, Weiss stared for a long, long time while processing the information. It looked like she was going to disagree, but eventually, with a partial smile, she seemed to concede - for now.

“How did you become so...strong?”

“I’m not though!” Ruby answered with a laugh, holding up her left hand and wiggling her fingers. Without Thorn, her left hand was still injured - and she was beginning to realize that her full strength might never come back. Fortunately, she’d found a way to compensate for her weaknesses and then some.

However, Weiss shook her head at the response.

“You are,” she insisted. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. I still don’t know how...how did you work your way back so quickly from your injuries? They were so serious...from what you’ve told me. And with your memories...it must’ve been so difficult.”

“Yeah, I guess it was...the beginning especially, but I had a lot of help!”

“Yang?”

Ruby nodded.

“Yang and Blake encouraged me, and I tried to keep my spirits up. My mom helped too - it felt like she was trying to talk to me all the time, reminding me not to give up. Oh, and can’t forget my secret source of power!”

Looking in both directions like she was about to disclose top secret information, it was only when she found the coast was clear that she leaned forward and held her necklace up in between them.

“Tada!” she exclaimed. It was supposed to be a big reveal, but Weiss only looked confused - glancing between the ring and Ruby several times.

“Your...ring?”

“It’s not just a ring!” Ruby stated matter-of-factly, spinning the necklace around so she could fumble with the clasp. “It’s also filled with magical powers!”

Since she hardly ever took it off, she was less than skillful in getting the itty bitty fastener to open, but after several failed attempts she was finally successful. Letting the necklace fall into one hand, she made a show of slumping her shoulders at the same time.

“Oh...yeah...I feel weaker already…” she tried to say in a tired voice while sliding the ring off of the chain and holding it out to Weiss. “You can feel it – it’s like there’s an invisible power in this ring.”

Even though Ruby was holding the ring in between them, Weiss seemed extremely hesitant to take it.

“Don’t worry, it’s not one of those buzz rings or anything,” Ruby assured her. Finally convinced, Weiss held out her hand, and Ruby dropped the ring into it. Curling her fingers around the small band, Weiss closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Can you feel it?” Ruby asked in a whisper, watching Weiss intently. When Weiss opened her eyes, crystal blue seemed to be looking deep into Ruby’s heart.

“It’s important to you,” Weiss remarked softly, uncurling her fingers and looking down into the palm of her hand.

“Yup!”

With a small smile, Weiss gave the ring one last glance before extending it back to Ruby.

“I guess the answer is that I had a lot of people looking out for me,” Ruby explained while accepting the ring and sliding it back onto its chain. “Yang, Blake, my mom, and the one thing from my past that feels...powerful in a way. They all kept me going.”

Stringing the necklace around her neck, she fumbled with the clasp several times before giving up and holding it out to Weiss.

“Can you help me? I haven’t taken this off in months, so I kinda suck at putting it back on.”

Nodding, Weiss took both ends of the necklace in her hands while Ruby turned around. Carefully lowering the chain, Weiss gently fastened it in place - drawing a round of goosebumps when her fingers lightly grazed the back of Ruby’s neck. When Ruby turned around, Weiss moved the ring so it was sitting perfectly in front - holding onto it for a few seconds longer while staring at it intently.

“Who’s it from?” she asked.

The question made Ruby’s brow burrow.

“I’m actually not sure,” she answered truthfully.

“You’ve never asked?”

“Naw...Blake said she’d tell me, but…” Ruby shrugged one shoulder and gave Weiss a small smile. “Is it important where it came from? Or that when things sucked, it made me feel better?”

Weiss opened her mouth, but said nothing for a long time until finally muttering, “I guess...that it made you feel better…”

“But I have a sneaky hunch it’s from my partner,” Ruby admitted. The words made Weiss’ eyes widen in surprise.

“Your partner?”

“Yeah, I know we had a fourth teammate - every team at Beacon has four,” Ruby explained, rubbing her forehead as sleep deprivation continued to weigh on her, pressing behind her eyes in a super annoying way. “But Yang hasn’t told me much about her, and I haven’t asked. There was just...so much else to focus on. I don’t know. All I know is that whoever she was, she was really cool.”

The revelation seemed to catch Weiss completely by surprise.

“How do you know that?”

“That’s one of the only things Yang told me!” Ruby explained, briefly closing her eyes while trying to recall Yang’s words around the stupid, growing headache. “She said…that our teammate was one of the most talented fighters she’d ever seen. And was super smart - like the brains of the whole operation.”

“She said that?”

Ruby nodded. “Yup! ‘We got the smartest in school,’ she said.”

“But you never wanted to know who it was?”

“Of course I wanted to know! I still do. There were so many times I almost looked it up myself...because I’d love to meet her. She sounds amazing, but…” her words trailed off as a familiar twinge pulled at her heart.

It was a decision she’d made a long time ago and stuck with to this day.

“But what?” Weiss prodded, her eyes searching Ruby’s for whatever was going to come next.

“But she’s not here, is she?” Ruby finally answered, temporarily drawn back to the times when she hadn’t had enough energy for anything - when getting out of bed might be the best thing she could accomplish in a day. “If I wanted to get better, I couldn’t dwell on the past. So I decided to focus on the here and now. Maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to meet her if...I mean...if she’s still...”

They’d reached the root of the matter - something she was too scared to ask, yet quietly desperate to know. But if she could share this worry to anyone, it was Weiss.

“If she’s...still alive, you know?”

Weiss’ response was one of pure shock. For a second, her mouth hung slightly open with no sound coming out before finally speaking.

“But what makes you think she’s not?”

Raising one hand to clutch the ring around her neck, Ruby shook her head – and paid for it with another pang in her forehead, this one sharper than the last.

There were a lot of reasons why she’d avoided her past for such a long time. It was confusing. It was scary. It made her feel vulnerable and small.

And it would’ve been impossible to move on if she remained stuck in the past. Being able to let go and move on had been important. But, beyond all of those things, something was lurking in the fog that was really painful. Whenever she thought about it, her chest tightened with this ache that only went away through distraction. There was something surrounding her partner that hurt, even with no memories of who they were.

It was the part of her past that eluded her most. Some days she wanted the answers but was terrified to know them. The way Blake and Yang dodged around the subject only made her more nervous to know what the truth might be. So she’d avoided the topic altogether - content to deal with more important matters and live in blissful ignorance. One day she’d probably figure everything out, but she wasn’t in any hurry for that day to arrive.

“I’ve always felt like someone or something important to me was missing,” Ruby tried to explain. “It’s kinda difficult to describe, but...it must be her, right?”

“But to think she died -?”

“It’s either that or she left and has no interest in speaking to me, or us.” Either of those answers kind of sucked - enough to bring tears to her eyes as a sense of loss grew in her chest. Sniffing once, she tried to play it off by rubbing her tired eyes.

This was part of the reason why she avoided thinking about the wall of fog sealing her off from those memories. It made her way too emotional!

“I’m pretty sure the ring is hers,” she whispered, briefly scrunching her eyes closed when another quick jab of pain appeared over her left eye. “That’s why it’s so powerful,” she continued, opening her eyes and shaking off the exhaustion. “It’s a huntress’ ring. And that’s why I always kept it near me. Honor her memories even if I don’t have them, ya know?”

Picking up the ring again, Ruby looked down at it the best she could while it was still hanging around her neck.

“Maybe she’s not in my life anymore, but she helped me get through some rough times without even being here. If I ever get to meet her...and I hope I do, you know? I hope I’m wrong. But if I ever get to meet her, I want to thank her for that. For leaving me with something that helped me through.”

Smiling, Ruby looked up only to find that Weiss was staring back with tears growing in her eyes.

“Weiss?” Ruby yelped in concern, quickly moving over to the bed and sitting by Weiss’ side. “Are you ok? What’s wrong??”

“I’m -” Choking up, Weiss stopped and shook her head. “I’m sorry. Just...hearing you say that…I didn’t realize...”

“Hey, it’s ok.” Consoling Weiss, Ruby made sure to smile to prove that she was just fine. Because she was. This was something she’d come to terms with a while ago. “It’s just one of those things, you know? That’s why I try not to think about it too much!”

“Yes, but…”

When Weiss’ lip quivered, Ruby reached out and pulled her into a hug that again made her stiffen. Only this time she eventually gave in and returned the hug in full, wrapping both arms around Ruby and pulling her closer.

“I’m sorry,” Weiss murmured, burying her face into Ruby’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry…”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” Ruby replied softly, rubbing one hand up and down Weiss’ back. “I’m probably just overthinking it anyway. Maybe she decided to go off on her own after school and no one’s heard from her since. Maybe we were never that close. Or maybe I bought the ring for myself!”

Her sense of loss could come from not having access to any of those memories, not over some specific person or thing. The ring might only symbolize the years she’d lost - a tiny, pretty reminder that she could carry with her everywhere.

Maybe she should consider that her story might be a little sad to people who were hearing it for the first time. Just because she’d accepted what had happened to her didn’t mean that others were on the same page as her. But it was really sweet that Weiss was so sympathetic!

Savoring the hug, Ruby gave Weiss a gentle squeeze to try to comfort her even more. Now, this was a good hug. Firm yet comfortable. Open and accepting. This was how a hug was supposed to be.

It was only a few more moments before Weiss pulled back and looked at Ruby for what felt like a long time - her hands resting softly on Ruby’s knees. If Ruby could look into Weiss’ mind right now, she could probably see the wheels turning full speed - coming up with an answer to some question Ruby had never asked.

The next second, Weiss abruptly stood up.

“Ruby, I need to tell you something,” she said, immediately pacing back and forth in front of the bed.

The sight made Ruby feel a strange twinge of anticipation - like something really significant was about to be revealed. If she was right, that would be amazing. The possibility of getting another glimpse into Weiss’ thoughts made her both hopeful and excited at the same time.

“I’m listening,” Ruby said, standing up as well. The moment she did so, there was another prick of pain in her temple that caused her to temporarily close her eyes and wait for the feeling to pass, but it only slightly went away this time. Thankfully, Weiss hadn’t noticed, but Ruby might need to get some sleep soon…

“There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you, but I wasn’t sure how you’d respond -” Weiss was saying quickly, pacing the small room and not daring to glance Ruby’s way. “I know it took me a long time to summon the courage, but I hope that telling you now counts for something. Because I need you to know.”

Standing in the middle of the room, Ruby remained as motionless as possible. She didn’t want to move because the room had kind of started to spin. The tired tension in her forehead was getting a little harder to ignore, and she was growing increasingly light-headed the longer she watched Weiss walk back and forth, back and forth.

Something didn’t feel right.

“I know you’ve wondered how Yang and I know each other. From school, but -”

Weiss’ words were beginning to fade away as a dull roar crept into Ruby’s ears, and a black spot appeared in the center of her vision. She blinked, but it didn’t go away - it only got bigger. Probably not a good sign.

“Weiss…” she said, her voice sounding hazy and far away. “I don’t feel so good…”

“Ruby? Ruby!”

The last thing she saw were light blue eyes headed her way.

#RWBY #White Rose #Weiss Schnee #Ruby Rose #what defines us

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missytearex · 6 years ago

Text

To Read List - Larry

Part 3 of my Larry to read list! Hopefully this is the last part (but if I know myself at all it probably won’t be).

Has the Ocean Lost Its Way by FullOnLarrie

Louis wonders if his nomadic lifestyle will keep him single indefinitely or if there’s someone out there who’ll fit in with his little makeshift family.

burn this flame by rainbowninja167

“You’ve played keeper before?” Tomlinson asks suspiciously, hands on his waist.

“Er, yeah,” Harry coughs. “Loads of times.”

“Alright Popstar, if you’re sure,” Tomlinson tells him with a shrug, his professional expression already curling into laughter. Harry tries not to read too much into it. After all, how hard can goalkeeping really be?

Strength in Softness by larrymylove

"As soon as he saw Harry’s picture, he froze. It was a picture of Harry practicing his boxing, heavy black gloves covering his fists as he punched at a bag hanging from the ceiling. His face was focused and he looked like an absolute beast. Louis reached out and touched the picture with his finger, consistently amazed by the duality of Harry. As he started at the picture, he wondered if Harry had pink nail varnish on his toes when it was taken, and what other tattoos and secrets he had buried underneath his workout gear and hard expression."

Or, the one in which Harry is a boxer/trainer, and teaches Louis that there can be, and is, strength in softness.

Galileo by 13ways

“Dangerous? Not haute?” Harry mused. “Why not haute?”

“‘Course you're haute, babe,” Louis smiled. He reached out to fix a stray curl that had dropped down onto Harry’s forehead. Harry stared at him with a dimpled smile, and Louis reared his head back to laugh. Harry craned his head back in parallel with Louis’s, watching him. He couldn't peel his eyes away. Louis Tomlinson laughing was the most beautiful thing in the world.

“You're a whole other level of charming, you know that?” Louis said. Harry leaned forward to kiss Louis. They both closed their eyes, savoring the moment. It was a kiss that should have happened ages ago.

Louis was captain of the state championship high school soccer team. Harry was that gorgeous, scarf-wearing, long-limbed British kid in his art class. They weren't supposed to be friends.

But somewhere along the line, Louis Tomlinson opened the locked mystery that was Harry Styles.

In This Moment by dimpled_halo

Louis is on a mission to right all the wrongs he’s made and Harry is the first on his list. He’s not looking to be in a relationship with him again–though he wouldn’t be opposed to it–but he really doesn’t want to leave this earth with Harry hating him.

Louis waits until the rush dies down, and when the last customer leaves the shop, he starts walking towards the front door. His heart beats faster, the closer he gets, the anticipation getting to be almost too much. He opens the door with shaky fingers, and when he goes inside Harry is in the middle of adding more scones to the display case.

“Welcome to Tiers of Joy, what can I get started for you?” Harry isn’t looking at him, but when his eyes make their way to Louis, he pauses. His eyes harden immediately.

***

A mix-up at the hospital causes Louis to reevaluate his life and he works on trying to fix his biggest mistake: letting Harry Styles walk out of his life two years ago.

That's How I Know by allwaswell16

Louis Tomlinson has just landed his dream job, coaching soccer at Augustus University. When he moves into a new house near campus, he meets his very fit new neighbor, English professor Harry Styles. Although their first meeting leads to an instant mutual dislike, the more Harry gets to know Louis, the more he likes what he sees.

Or the one where Harry’s African grey parrot spills his dirty secrets to his very hot neighbor.

I Still Find You Lovely by angelichl

Reason #37 - Because They Have Air-Conditioning and You Don't

The more he thinks about it, the more he can imagine himself in some bloke’s bed, sweat-free and soaking up the air-conditioning, maybe even curled up under the duvet because he's actually a little cold. The prospect of a reprieve from the heat is even more alluring than the prospect of getting laid. Which may or may not be saying a lot.

“That’s… actually not a bad idea…”

In which Harry goes to a bar in search of a bloke with an air-conditioned flat.

Use Your Words by zedi

based off this prompt: collage au where jock!harry always serenades flowercrown!louis with love songs in their music class. what nobody knows is that harry actually kinda means the words he sings.

But instead it's Louis as the jock and Harry as the flowerchild because I do what I want.

Scoring Position by juliusschmidt

Harry Styles hasn’t pitched a perfect game, but if he closes out this final inning, he’ll get the win and bring handsome soccer star Louis Tomlinson home.

[Or the one where they’re all athlete-type people (except Gucci model Zayn and overly-friendly sports journalist Niall) and long-fated lovers Harry and Louis finally get together after Liam plays in the Superbowl.]

One Taste And He Want It by lululawrence

Stan: Yeah, dude. Listen to Steve and Oli, as much as I hate to say it.

Perrie: Well I’m supportive. If you two actually got together, it would be super cute. Perrie: Jesy says she stans you and supports your marriage

Stan: Shut up, Perrie. He doesn’t need more fuel for this. Stan: For real, Louis, I don’t think it’s a good idea.

Louis: Too late. I’m captain, which means my vote counts more than yours, and my mind’s already made up. I’m gonna woo him and learn about his team and we’re gonna kick their asses.

Or the one where Harry and Louis are the captains of the two Frisbee Battles teams in the finals, and Louis has to find a way for his team to win. Seduction is, naturally, the only option.

It's halftime. Are you ready to go? by momentofclarity

Reason #12 - Because it's halftime.

Don't Bite Your Tongue by dinosaursmate

Reason # 19: celebrate major victory by favourite team or political candidate. - Louis looked down at Harry’s chest, and… shit. He was wearing a Manchester United shirt. “You were right.” Harry inhaled through his teeth. “Someone stole your seat. A horrid little Man U fan, at that.” “Are you seriously not getting up?” Louis laughed humourlessly. “You little shit.” “You didn’t call me and then you ask me for a favour? Please.” - City and United are competing for the Premiership but, for Louis and Harry, it's not just the title that hangs in the balance.

Read Between the Blurry Lines by QuickedWeen

Harry gave a shocked laugh, “Smooth, very smooth.” Louis shrugged unapologetically. “What can I say, you’re cute, and I’ve only got one stop left before you get off. I don’t exactly have time to beat around the bush.” Harry giggled again, and quickly handed his phone to Louis to get his number. Louis dialed his own number and handed the phone back to him as the train was pulling into Harry’s stop. Just before the doors opened, Harry turned around and smiled. “See you on Thursday, Louis.”

Harry and Louis meet at an event and hit it off, but Louis is hiding something important about his life.

The Balcony by maggieisalarrie (ls2k14)

Just as he’s about to fall back to sleep, a strange sound catches his attention. He quiets his breathing and focuses, trying to hear whatever it is more clearly. The same noise comes again and he starts to silently freak out because, obviously, the logical explanation is that there’s someone inside his apartment and is there to either rob him or murder him and he can’t quite say he’s okay with either of those scenarios.

There’s no indication of someone walking or shuffling or moving things around out there. His heart rate slows just a bit and then spikes again when a different sound comes from outside his balcony doors.

“What the fuck,” he whispers to himself.

My English Love Affair by isthatyoularry

The thing about sleeping with a member of a famous indie band is that the inevitability of having a song written about you is most likely a hundred percent. The second thing is that in the end, nobody's supposed to find out it's about you.

The one where Harry writes a song about his English love affair and Louis sleeps with someone in White Eskimo and all he gets is a stupid song written about him.

Can't Start A Fire Without A Spark by larrymylove

Louis Tomlinson is the pop sensation with his first new single out since taking a personal hiatus from the spotlight. Harry is a paparazzi hired to photograph him during promo. Louis hates paparazzi with a passion, but there’s just something about the pretty young pap with wide green eyes and chocolate curls that Louis can’t shake from his head.

can i be him? by amory

Louis is twenty years old and has been waiting for his soulmate and true love to come along since the day he was born. Harry is an eighteen year old youtuber who is skeptical of soulmates and the pressure of being the person someone else has been dreaming of their entire lives.

They meet at Playlist Live

Boy, you got me blinded by jbm_94_bcn

If Louis wasn’t completely sure that they were on May 22nd, he would’ve bet this was an April’s Fool joke. He couldn’t believe all these important people were seriously proposing he should appear on the cover of fucking Vogue magazine. He wasn’t alone, it seemed like Lottie was about to faint right next to him. He stared at each and every face in front of him, and they weren’t smiling, so this had to be a serious proposal. Actually, there was one face smiling - Harry’s. The fucker was smirking. Louis didn’t like him anymore.

Or the one where Louis finds himself modeling for Vogue Magazine next to hot top model Harry Styles and faking a relationship with him for the public, finding along the way more than a new way of life

Keep Yourself Warm by navigator

AU. Harry sleeps around.

as long as skies are blue by theboyfriendstagram

Summer Camp!AU. Louis has been a football instructor at Lake District Camp for three years when twenty-year old Harry Styles - the latest addition to the counseling team - stumbles not so gracefully into his life. It’s not that Harry is everything Louis can’t stand-except. He is. But that doesn’t stop him from walking in on the naked boy too many times for it to be a coincidence.

Never Be by cherrystreet

Monica: You've got to see her again. Ross: And why do you care so much? Monica: Because! You could get to live out my fantasy! Ross: You had fantasies about Emily? Monica: No! Y’know, the fantasy! Meet someone from a strange land, fall madly in love, and spend the rest of your lives together.

The one where Harry Styles moves to Connecticut from England for nine months as a part of a study abroad program, and he just so happens to move in with Louis Tomlinson and family.

Escapade by dolce_piccante

In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He's rich. He's handsome. He's reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.

As You Are by zarah5

AU. Five years after The X Factor launched his career as a radio host and songwriter, Louis Tomlinson returns as a judge. Falling for a contestant is the last thing he needs. It's also against his contract.

The only reason Harry auditions for The X Factor is because his best mate signed the two of them up as some kind of joke. Harry doesn't get the big deal—not until he's faced with this season's judges and realises that one of them used to be his desperate, impossible teenage crush.

You'll Breathe Me In (You Won't Release) by LoadedGunn

His first driving lesson with Louis takes place on a Saturday.

Harry stumbles out through the front gate in thrown-on baggy jeans and his ratty Ramones shirt, sees Louis leaning casually against the car, and his knees nearly give out. Apparently "not another surly teacher" meant a drop dead gorgeous twenty-something scruffy guy with shaggy brown hair and cheekbones sharp enough to chop a salad with. Clearly, Robin's trying to get Harry killed at seventeen.

Or, the AU where Louis is a 25-year-old driving instructor and Harry is a 17-year-old virgin who's really awful at seduction, except for the time he gets Louis to fall for him and fuck him senseless and take him on kinky adventures.

Up To No Good by whoknows

Harry doesn’t think of himself as a womanizer, not at all. Sure, he enjoys sex, enjoys how women feel underneath him, and by some people’s standards he has sex with quite a lot of people, but that’s no reason to tell him that he can’t have a female PA anymore.

It’s especially no excuse for giving him a male PA who’s possibly the most gorgeous boy in the world who won’t even let Harry look at him for too long.

Sometimes Harry hates his life.

like a bastard on the burning sea by vashtaneradas

au; harry breaks louis, louis breaks everything.

Here In The Afterglow by fondleeds

“If you hadn’t noticed, I don’t have many friends,” Louis whispers, the blossom of insecurity in his stomach unfurling and clawing its way into his throat.

Harry is silent for a long time, and then he speaks; a soft, slow uncurl that makes Louis’ stomach shake. “I’ll be your friend.”

1970’s AU. In a tiny town in Idaho, Louis’ life is changed forever by the arrival of a curious stranger.

Too Much To Bare by soloistharold

"From where Harry was sitting, Louis’ face looked more angular, more mature. He found himself studying Louis’ features, from the way his hair fell against his forehead, to the prominence of his cheekbones, to the dip of his cupid’s bow, and finally, to the subtle curve of his small lips.

He stared and stared and stared, noticing how his eyes crinkled every time he laughed at one of Chandler’s stupid jokes, watching the way his mouth moved when he smiled, feeling a slight yearning in his chest for more contact. He wanted to reach forward, maybe tuck a stray strand of hair behind his ear, press his lips against the warmth of Louis’ cheek… perhaps let them wander to the right a bit and capture Louis’ lips in a kiss.

He wondered what Louis would do if Harry kissed him. Would he get mad and push him away? Or would he welcome it? Maybe bring a hand up to cup Harry’s cheek and use the other to stroke his hair.”

Harry has been in love with Louis for as long as he can remember despite his many efforts to move on, until finally, in a last ditch attempt to put it all behind him, Harry pushes away everyone he loves.

Bathroom Tricks by luminescence2

louis tomlinson doesn't do relationships. but he does do harry styles.

A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall by rosegoldhl (Rosegoldhl)

Like an automatic machine, Harry opened his marker and stood in front of the customer waiting to write the name and order. “Hi, welcome to the 78 Café, what would you like to order?”

“Free tea?”

Harry’s eyes snapped to the customer, the voice spreading warmth in his chest. He smiled at the blue-eyed man, who looked cozy in an oversized hoodie, sleepy eyes and tangled hair.

Louis is a homeless man and Harry is an uninspired writer, who gives him a home.

A Rock For Your Thoughts by caverlywrites

Harry is ready to start his new job as a full-time nanny. Everything that could go wrong, does.

something in the way you move makes me feel like i can’t live without you by justaboat

au. harry and louis are figure skating partners in the sochi 2014 winter olympics.

Lust for Life by larryent

AU. After Louis moves into a new flat, his fit next door neighbour who happens to be a baker brings him cupcakes to welcome him into the building.

Your Silhouette Over Me (orphan_account)

“Alright don’t forget the mission, get Louis laid,” Louis shouted over the music.

“Don’t know who Louis is, but I support it.”

Louis turned towards the contributing voice and saw the bartender leaning in front of him, his elbows resting against the lip of the bar. He had brown hair that fell in loose curls just above his collar bones which were perfectly on show due to the fact that his shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his abdomen. The shirt’s sleeves were cuffed up along his inked bicep and the pattern was something that Louis would expect a dad on vacation to wear, not a young bartender.

“He’s Louis,” Zayn said, jutting his thumb in Louis’ direction.

The bartender nodded approvingly, “then I definitely support it.”

~~~~~~

Or the one where Louis went out one night after work, wanting to get laid, and then ended up meeting a bartender named Harry Styles.

The Summertime, The Butterflies, All Belong To Your Creation by PumpkinspiceLou (CatyDreamDwyer)

When Louis decides to help out a lost little girl at the park, he never expected it would lead him to finding his home.

heroes of the orange skies by queenmcgonagall

Louis likes bathroom walls and Sharpies, Harry likes metal, Zayn likes Liam and Liam likes Zayn, Niall is wise, and they all go to the zoo.

Stargazer Louis by thecheshirepussycat

Louis has been deaf ever since a he was a little kid. Some of his only comforts now are the colors and fragrances of flowers. Harry could care less about flowers and prefers the beautiful melodies of his music. How could two people so different find love and maybe something else they didn't know they were missing in each other?

All The King's Men by sacredheart (orphan_account)

Louis is an arrogant, self assured prince who falls in love with a charming thief named Harry during his youth. However, years later, a revolution is sparked amongst the frustrated commoners... and Louis's former teenage romance is leading it.

another hazy may by deLILAh

louis is a terrible poet and harry lives in the now and they have six weeks to fall in love but, really, it only takes six seconds. bookshop meets military meets summer romance au ft. marlboros, the backstreet boys, and underrated literary devices.

hush. by Wankerville

“I don't like you like that, Harry.”

“See,” Harry starts, Louis can hear the smile in his voice, “that's where I think you're lying.”

or an au where small towns suck, louis is losing it, and harry’s just too perfect.

As Cold as a Whisper by panda_bear21

Harry did not turn around to face Louis yet and Louis’ body screamed at him to take the opportunity and run. Run until he couldn’t anymore, until his lungs collapsed out of breath and he was either safe and away or caught back in Harry’s gaze. Harry turned then, and his eyes were darker than the heavens and just as green as the haunting woods surrounding them, entrapping Louis. Focused, and clear. Louis' heart rattled in his ribcage, shaking, wanting to escape his unmoving body. Harry walked closer and Louis’ eyes stayed on him, breath leaving in a sharp exhale when Harry bent down to touch his face.

A fairy tale au where people in Louis' village are disappearing and Louis is married off to uphold a centuries long agreement.

Love's Truest Language by summerwine

The first part was meant as a joke. He didn't really expect Harry to buy anything. It was just Louis’ way of softening the ‘get the fuck out’ blow.

“Where's your order forms, then?”

“I don't want your flowers.” Louis chided before directing all of his attention to the arrangement in front of him.

Harry laughed under his breath as he stood to his full height, “Who said anything about them being for you, love?”

No One Does It Better by nodibs

Harry's an alcoholic and Louis is a bartender. The first time they meet isn't the first time they've met.

finding you was so hard (but loving you is easy) by togetherwecouldbealright

An incredibly shameless vampire!AU filled with stupid jokes, endless dates, flappy bird, a bro man dude pal sleepover thing and there also might be some sex in strange places.

Also known as the one where everyone is a vampire, Louis is oblivious and somewhere along the way it becomes a bit too much like Twilight.

Then a string of thoughts make themselves clear in Louis’ head. First, Harry is a vampire. Second, Louis is a dumbass. Third, Louis is also unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him. Fourth, he’s pretty sure he just quoted the back of the Twilight book.

Only You by mystic_believexx

A strict school, a forbidden love and a burning hatred that turns to passion so hot Louis' in very real danger of getting burnt…

After pulling one prank too many on their high school's Principal, Louis and Liam get transferred to Stanford Institution, a boarding school with a reputation for handling rebellious teens. Louis' determined to buckle down and follow the rules so he can come back home as soon as possible but unfortunately for him, his roommate-one Harry Styles- has other plans.

Sometimes things have a funny way of working out...

Off The Record by Tomlinsontoes

Louis is an out of control teen heartthrob, Harry is hired to get him back on track and they both hate each other while they secretly don't.

“I'm not your personal assistant you know,” Harry says once he gets there and Louis lets him in and he shoves the bag into his hands. “I'm your publicist.”

“I know that,” Louis smiles a devilish grin patting Harry in the middle of his chest as he takes the bag, “but look at you personally assisting me,” he says looking in the bag and pulling out the Cheetos. I also know that my PA turns his phone on silent at night, and clearly, you don't. Waiting for a booty call or something?” Louis says turning on his heels and scurrying over to his sofa and plopping down. Harry swears he sees a puff of orange dust soar into the air when Louis opens the bag. He's amazed that couch is as clean as it looks.

Soft Hands, Fast Feet, Can't Lose by dolce_piccante

American Uni AU. Harry Styles is a frat boy football star from the wealthy Styles Family athletic dynasty. A celebrity among football fans, he knows how to play, he knows how to party, and he knows how to fuck (all of which is well known among his legion of admirers).

Louis Tomlinson is a student and an athlete, but his similarities to Harry end there. Intelligent, focused, independent, and completely uninterested in Harry’s charms, Louis is an anomaly in a world ruled by football.

A bet about the pair, who might be more similar than they originally thought, brings them together. Shakespeare, ballet, Disney, football, library chats, running, accidental spooning, Daredevil and Domino’s Pizza all blend into one big friendship Frappucino, but who will win in the end?

Baby Heaven's in your Eyes by theboyfriendstagram

They couldn’t be more different if they tried. Louis Tomlinson is 17 years old and in his last year of the most prestigious private school in Doncaster. Everyone who attends his school knows him thanks to his incredibly rich family, sassy attitude and gorgeous girlfriend, Eleanor Calder. If there’s one thing that completely annoys him, it’s that there is a poor community college right across the street.

Harry Styles is 19 years old, and (once again) in his last year of college. He goes to community college in Doncaster. He never shows up to classes and if he actually bothers to, he’s either high or drunk; sometimes both. His skin is littered with tattoos and if there’s one thing he absolutely hates, it’s the snobby students attending the private school right across from his.

Or a sixth form!AU where Harry is the fucked up bad boy with too many problems, Louis is the perfect rich boy with too much money and their schools are right across from each other. They meet at a party and that’s the last (and maybe the only) thing they need.

Trailer here

Mute by TroubledPro

How is love supposed to speak, when one can’t even choke out the words? Louis’ life was a joke through his witty words. Harry’s life was a joke through his lack of words. Louis was classed as a normal child; mentally and physically. Harry was classed as an abnormal child; mentally and physically. Louis could speak. Harry could not. Harry had progressive mutism. Louis did not.

Love Is A Rebellious Bird by 100percentsassy, gloria_andrews

AU in which the boys still make music. Louis is the concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, Harry is the New! and Exciting! interim conductor/ex-cello prodigy who "has made Mozart cool again" according to Esquire Magazine (Louis hates him immediately, which is definitely why he internet stalked him in his dark bedroom late at night that one time), and Niall is the best. Zayn and Liam are around too.

Don't hum Bolero.

Flour and Chocolate by teaandtumblr

It was nice, for a bakery he supposed.

Then he approached the display cabinet.

And the foreboding slammed into him. Because every product had letters next to it. Letters. GF, DF, V, O, VGN.

What. The. Fuck?

Lifting his eyes to the chalkboard menu spread across the back wall Louis felt physically ill. ‘Gluten-free’, ‘organic’, ‘vegan’, ‘paleo’, ‘dair-…’ Wait, what the fuck was a paleo? He had entered some hipster-trash establishment and it was more than time to get out.

Louis is a single dad and Harry works at the newly opened bakery down the street.

the wonderlands by stylinsoncity

"Somewhere between chaos and control — these are the wonderlands."

Harry's daughter, Andy, is signed to Louis' girl band. Her path to success is marked by competition, chaos, and for Harry, a love affair.

Take My Breath Away by RealityBetterThanFiction

There is a prestigious school in the British Royal Navy classified as Premier Delta - or as it is known by its flyers, 1D. These select pilots are an elite set of Naval lieutenants who are trained in the skill of aggressive aerial combat. They are instruments of war, trained in times of peace. They are dogfighters, relentless and fearless in their mission to protect their beloved country. From their lofty vantage, they are always watching, waiting, and ready to lay it all on the line.

Lt. Harry Styles, call sign Sparrow, is a prodigy when it comes to flying. The owner of an unrivaled Naval pedigree, being a pilot was always written in the stars for Harry. With his trusty RIO, Lt. Niall Horan, Harry has made an unprecedented ascension in the ranks of the Naval aerial combat elite, and has been recruited to the esteemed Premier Delta flight school, carrying on his family’s legacy. What he finds there are unexpected friendships, perilous challenges, and something beyond what he ever thought possible. Because as his father had always told him, before the great Captain Styles went tragically missing in combat, you don’t fall in love with the sky, you fall in love with what keeps you on the ground.

Shake Me Down by AGreatPerhaps12

Harry's new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.

Young & Beautiful by Velvetoscar

Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn't stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

Time Bomb by ThisSentimentalHeart

“Why exactly are you here?” Louis asked, feigning annoyance and failing pathetically at it. “My publicist told me I can't go anywhere near you.” Harry said, eyes still smudged with last night's eye liner. “That makes you my favorite person in the world.”

Or the one where Louis has everything: a lead role in a giant Hollywood franchise, a glittering new house with an entertaining Irish neighbor, and a steady, normal boyfriend who he probably loves. Louis never expected to become a household name among young Hollywood overnight. He also never expected to find something endearing about the enigmatic rockstar who keeps showing up on his back porch.

Hide your Face (So the World Will Never Find You) by neozeka

Louis is a master thief, and one of the most wanted criminals in the kingdom. When he hears that Prince Harry is holding a public masquerade ball to find a potential queen, Louis can’t pass up the opportunity to go after the crown jewels.

Or the one in which Harry is a prince, Louis is definitely not Cinderella, there is still a ball, and the magic doesn’t end at midnight.

in the middle of the night by hazkaban

louis takes a stray dog in for the night and ends up with more than he bargained for.

We Never Said Our Love Was Evergreen by PumpkinspiceLou (CatyDreamDwyer)

Harry takes his position at the top of the grand staircase, eyes washing over the crowd. It’s a sea of formality, ornate fish following the waves the music dictates, the current of Victorian tradition. Harry begins to wonder if perhaps that is his problem. Being stuck in an endless circle is why what he yearns for most in this world is still so cruelly out of his reach. Before the thought can grow and wreak havoc though, something catches Harry’s eye in the middle of the ballroom.

OR A Victorian Masquerade Ball AU where Harry is basically the Phantom of the Opera

This Must Be My Dream by nothing_but

When he got closer, Harry could see that the person on the side of the road was a young man who was holding a piece of cardboard. London was scribbled onto it in big letters so passing drivers leaving the motorway station could easily read it.

OR Louis is hitchhiking and Harry takes him in. And well, who knew that there would be so many things to be discovered apart from towns and roads and motels?

Rhonda by aclosetlarryshipper

“Would it be weird of me to say I’m almost, like… nervous?”

Louis shakes his head, giggling as their noses press together in an Eskimo kiss. “Would it be weird of me to say I’m glad? Because I am too. A little.”

Louis can feel Harry exhale. “If you’re nervous, it means you really like the person, right? That’s what I’ve heard.”

“That sounds right,” Louis says, and then he leans in.

The High School AU that was inspired by Home.

Green Eyes, Empty Canvas by SexyAsswoMan

His eyes were a weird shade of green. A shade that reminded you of a forest. a forest washed up in rain, glistening in the golden sun. Bright yet soft at the same time. And Louis wanted to get lost in them. Wanted to take it all out and splatter it on a canvas. Wanted to know every stroke of the man that stood in front of him. Too bad he was shit at forming words.

or where,

Louis Tomlinson liked to paint and suddenly, all he could ever paint was Harry Styles.

Amid the Falling Snow by noellehenry

Harry is going to spend Christmas with his sister Gemma while their parents enjoy a vacation on Aruba. However, she has a few surprises for him.

Harry can deal with the Irish boyfriend and a birthday party; it's the birthday boy he's not prepared for. The boy he once had a massive crush on, the boy who had hurt him, the boy he wanted to forget.

Why is he still attracted to him?

Featuring lots of snow, books and a cosy cottage in an idyllic village

A Whole New World by backonefish

He squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head, imagining the notes he heard earlier are from a residual dream. He opens his eyes, and, nope. The music is still there. Notes of a song he could never forget clear as the confusion in his head. That is to say, they’re really not very clear. The more he strains to comprehend what the fuck is actually going on, the more he understands. Understands that what he’s hearing is piano keys, not a record of a song. Understands that whoever is playing the piano is really not very good at it, hesitance heard before each press of the key. Understands that his fucking neighbour is waking him up at – he fumbles with his phone on his bedside - 7:30 in the morning by playing Aladdin songs on a piano. Badly.

Or- Louis has moved into his new apartment to start his new job as a teacher. Things would be great. If only his arsehole neighbour didn't wake him up every morning by playing piano. Shenanigans ensue. Like a very inadvisable kissing bet.

Ride 'Em Cowboy by larry_love13

A Harry Stripper AU.

i just know i have found the place my heart belongs by scagnetism

“Gracie loves faeries, don’t you, little love?” Louis asks, cutting through Harry’s thoughts, and she spares a glance over her shoulder at her father, nodding quickly before looking back at the house and touching it with gentle fingers.

Harry looks up at him, and they share a small smile, Louis making him feel warm, warm, warm. “This is her house, and it’s my favorite thing in my shop,” Harry explains, and Louis crouches slightly so he can see it better.

“’S beautiful,” he murmurs, and Harry smiles appreciatively at him.

Harry looks at Gracie again, blonde hair falling into her face as she inspects the glittery house, and he instinctively tucks her hair back behind her ear. “I’ve never seen the faerie,” he says to her softly, “but sometimes, when it’s very quiet, I can feel her.” He closes his eyes, taking in a breath, just sitting like that for a few seconds for the effect. “That’s how I know she’s watching over me.”

Or, the one where Louis has a quiet little girl, Harry has a toy shop with a magic faerie house, and they were made to fall in love.

Just Tell Me the Song and I'll Sing It by myownspark

Louis is an architecture student who can only think about the future. Harry is a baseball player who can only think about right now. Both are lonely for different reasons. Boybands bring them together.

Or, this may just be a long love letter to Louis’ voice, I’m not sure.

Based on the following prompt: Harry and Louis are university students who go to the same bar on the weekends. The bar has karaoke and Louis likes to sing Disney/Musical/Boyband songs sometimes. Harry thinks he's cute so he starts singing Disney/Musical/Boyband songs and flirting with him while he's on stage.

The Fox You've Been Waiting For by FeelsForBreakfast

Louis isn't in love with Harry, but it’s something like that. A story where Louis is a contradiction and Harry thinks he’s the greatest.

"He wants to be loved and he wants to be the best but he wants it whispered to him, so quietly he almost can’t hear it, on Harry’s lips that sting like nettles. Harry’s golden in the sun and ivory in the moonlight and Louis wants to be in his orbit. He wants them to be kings."

Even Angels Have Their Demons by AFangirlFantasy

Louis is appointed the role of Guardian Angel, and his first mission is a boy named Zayn Malik. Unfortunately, it seems that a certain Demon has gotten to him first.

Or... an Angel/Demon AU where Angel Louis hates Demon Harry, but somewhere along the way that stops being so true.

Little Technicolor Things by tekhnicolor

Louis is a poor writer and recent university graduate, depressed, anxious, and living in London when he meets Harry, an artist with a secret who likes to paint sunrises and pretty boys from California.

more than just a dream by spit_on_me_larry

Louis Tomlinson loves his life, he really does. It's just that he's constantly on the verge of everything completely going to shit. He's disorganized and clumsy and hotheaded and just a little bit ridiculous.

And then he meets Harry Styles. Harry is the type of person Louis hates. It seems like everything comes easily to him. He's rich and brilliant and everyone loves him and he has his life impossibly and perfectly together.

Louis detests Harry Styles. Except for the inconvenient fact that he can't seem to get Harry out of his head.

Send My Love by FallingLikeThis, Rearviewdreamer

Louis Tomlinson is fed up with dating losers. Harry Styles is tired of leaving his love life up to fate. Maybe one last try is just what they need to get it right.

Or, when online dating actually works.

Given a Chance by Fabby

Five years after One Direction took their last tour, the last thing Louis Tomlinson ever expected to happen while on a tea run at the local Piggly Wiggly was to run into his ex-boyfriend and ex-bandmate Harry Styles.

The odds of them ever running into each other again had to be super slim, right?

Wrong.

What happens when you mix ex-boyfriends with a large serving of Small Town America? Will Louis and Harry be able to set aside their differences, or will Louis be able to stay breezy as fuck in the wake of Harry’s arrival?

(or, the one where Louis and Harry run into each other five years after One Direction ends and learn how to love each other again. Featuring: Reggie as the overweight labrador, Niall as Louis’ last grip on reality, and Nowheresville, North Carolina as the setting for Louis’ worst nightmare to come true.)

The Brightest Lights by Rearviewdreamer

After watching yet another actor walk away with his Oscar, Louis is on the lookout for the role of a lifetime that might finally get him the one thing he has always wanted. He didn't think coming out of his self-proclaimed break to do another film would be all that difficult, but that was before he met his new co-star.

If Tomorrow Never Comes (We Had Last Night) by FallingLikeThis, Rearviewdreamer

Louis accepts the call without bothering to look at the caller ID. Only Zayn would be a big enough asshole to call him at two in the morning. This fucking better be important. “This fucking better be important,” Louis greets.

On the other end of the line comes a soft giggle. “Li, you don’t usually curse. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I like it.”

Yeah, that’s not Zayn. Louis sighs, his anger melting into resignation when he realizes that it’s some poor bastard probably drunk dialing his ex or something. “Sorry, mate. Think you’ve got the wrong number.”

Based on this Tumblr prompt: "Accidentally called your number while drunk asking for a ride and you actually came au"

Monday Meetings by kikikryslee

American AU where the boys all work for their college newspaper. Louis gets to voice his opinion in every issue, Liam is in charge, keeping everyone in line, Niall just really loves soccer, Zayn is an aspiring photographer and Harry is the incoming photo editor.

(Or, the one where Louis wants to date Harry, but won't, because they work together, even though the other boys follow no such rule.)

--- Louis turned and looked Harry in the eye. "I told Niall that even though he wanted to date Josh, his co-worker, it just wasn't going to work out. And that was OK, because there's plenty of other people out there for him." Please take the hint. Please. It looked like Harry did, because he simply nodded before breaking the gaze.

For the Sake of Propriety by panda_bear21

Louis Tomlinson is the caretaker of an estate that is not truly his, and when his Uncle calls upon him to take it back, Louis knows he will soon be out on the streets with four overly zealous sisters to care for. His only solution: wed the eldest two off and pray for the best. When an even better solution unexpectedly presents itself in the form of the charming Mr. Styles, Louis is faced with a difficult choice. But as with all things in the regency era, reputation very well may threaten to outweigh the fleeting matters of his heart.

once upon a dream by thedeathchamber

Louis is psychic and gets caught in the middle of a murder investigation led by FBI Special Agent Harry Styles.

aka. the Medium/Criminal Minds-inspired AU no one ever asked for.

Forever Home by thedeathchamber

Louis heard humming, soft and melodious, and the scribble of a pen on paper, before he blinked into awareness, his vision focusing gradually to make out the person standing at the foot of his bed. It was a young male nurse, dressed in light blue scrubs. The morning autumn sunlight streaming in through the window lit up the hair that escaped from his bun like a halo. “Hi,” Louis croaked. The nurse’s head whipped up from his notes. “Oh, you’re awake—” When he looked at Louis his voice broke off and his face went slack. “You’re awake,” he repeated.

Hate Me To The Moon by harrystylesandstuff

The last thing Harry wanted was to spend his entire summer stuck with his dad's new fiancée and her kids. He wants no more when he learns she's a very religious dictator, raising a sixteen year old nun and a clean cut potential priest ass kisser.

Everything takes a slightly different turn, however, when Harry finds out his future step-brother is actually the rude stranger he caught sucking off a guy in a pub, far from the reserved Christian his mom thinks he is...

AU where Harry is a sexy nerd, Louis is a great actor, and they both pretend to hate each other's guts to convince themselves they're not feeling things future step-brothers shouldn't feel...

Purer Than The Water (like we were) by FeelsForBreakfast

Louis is a merman and Harry is a boy. The lake is a good place to fall in love.

"Louis wants the boy to wade deeper, deep enough that Louis can go under and wrap his fingers around his ankles for just a moment. Pull him under. Just touch skin, for a second."

every time i run, i keep on falling on you by hazmesentir

Shameless fluffy Christmas fic.

AU. After being best friends for 8 years, Harry moves to LA. It takes the keen observations of all of Louis' friends to realise the one thing he really wants for Christmas is Harry.

Today and Every Day by LittleLostPieces

Five times Harry proposed, and one time Louis definitively said yes.

you and me were kings by ithacas

harry plays football in a small town in west texas. louis might be the only person that doesn’t give a damn. au.

Reeling Through The Fall by zarah5

AU. They hate each other. Except for when they don’t.

This Shifting Ground by zarah5

University AU. In which Louis, law student, is the cheeky waiter to Harry’s dates. This is how it starts.

These Roads We Stumble Down by onewasturning

He’s completely drenched, not one millimetre of him not covered in rain, and the old sheepskin cover over the seat is probably going to stink afterwards from the damp. But even with what seems to be a constant tremor shaking his body, brown hair plastered to his forehead, and a blue tinge to his skin, he’s still probably the most gorgeous person that Harry has ever seen.

Or, Harry picks up a hitchhiker in Oxford, and it's a long ride to Glasgow.

Red Brick Heart by hazmesentir

Harry has only had his room for thirty-two minutes when it stops being his.

Uni AU. Harry had turned up at the halls of residence expecting fun, new friends, and maybe a life experience or two. What he doesn't expect is a surprise roommate who's loud and dramatic and obsessed with tea and is maybe, actually, all he's ever wanted.

we're falling skyward by brownheadedstranger

AU. Louis fires people for a living and meets up with Harry in big cities.

(Take You Back Where You Belong) This Could be Our Favorite Song (orphan_account)

When recently divorced, thirty-five year-old, overworked tax accountant Louis Tomlinson gets sent on a two-week vacation to Aruba by his best friend, he automatically assumes it's going to be two weeks of panicking about all of the work he's missing and staying holed up in his room. But then, right on his first night in Aruba, he meets Harry Styles, the cheeky, crass, and charming waiter and up-and-coming musician. Who happens to only be eighteen years old.

Nonetheless, a whirlwind romance kicks up between Louis and Harry, and Louis finds himself falling for the boy in a way he hadn't thought he could fall again after his divorce. But as Louis' two weeks in Aruba come to a close and Harry finds himself standing on the cusp of the fame he's always craved, Louis has to make the decision of whether or not he's going to stay with Harry, or leave him behind in Aruba, and it turns out to be the toughest decision Louis ever has to make.

Counting The Steps Between Us by zarah5

AU. So, yeah. That year abroad helped Harry establish that he is in love with his best friend. Now, if Louis would stop treating him like a little brother, that would be awesome. (Additional ingredients: a collapsing tree house, a lot of pining, the other three boys as Louis' new best mates from university, and a camping trip. Serve hot.)

love me in between the future and the past by navigator, quitter

Set during the 2013 VMAs.

Harry's scared of history repeating itself.

Now I Got You In My Space (I Won't Let Go of You) by three_miles

Louis and Harry used to fool around, until they just... stopped. Until today, when Louis gets a signal from Harry that he hasn't seen in a long time.

Relief Next To Me by dolce_piccante

AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

oh your touch, so bittersweet by soleilouis

louis meets harry in a tattoo shop.

twisting the kaleidoscope behind both of my eyes by hazandboo_write

harry's cute and curly and blind, louis's not, they meet at a wedding, and then out for yogurt.

We Will Find Our Way by supernope

Harry smiles at Louis, quick and easy, and says, “Well, since we’re in the same boat, we’ll just make our own Christmas. What do you say?” Louis tamps down on a bloom of warmth in his belly. He barely knows Harry past seeing him walk down the hall in just his skivvies - not that he’s complaining - but he’s being so lovely, smiling at him so hopefully, and, well. Louis doesn’t much fancy the idea of spending Christmas completely alone. Nodding, he reaches out and pokes Harry’s dimple, watches it flirt to life underneath his fingertip. “I say yes.”

AKA, Harry and Louis are uni students studying abroad in New York, stuck in the dorms together over Christmas.

Spin Me Like A Record by zarah5

Uni AU. Sometimes, Louis poses as Harry’s boyfriend. It doesn’t mean anything. Really.

Speaking of Marvels by navigator, quitter

AU. Louis is a nanny in suburban New Jersey, and the neighbors' son is home from college for the summer. It was supposed to be a fling.

we are the greatest pretenders by chillpills

“You do matter,” he says, roughly. “You matter so much, and you’re not just a computer, because you’re Hazza, and you’re mine, and it doesn’t matter what they say because I think you’re the best person I’ve ever known and I’d be honored to serve with you and - ” Harry tosses the memory drive aside and then throws his arms around Louis and drags him down on top of him, burying his face in Louis’ neck. Louis can feel Harry’s forehead against his false pulse, and hear the quiet sobbing noises he’s making under his ear.

or: Louis and Harry are androids, Nick developed them with independent emotions, and they get much more than they bargained for with them.

Thought The Song Was Sung by 100percentsassy

Louis never auditioned for the X-Factor. Years later, Harry's just another gay ex-boybander who lives alone with his cat... until Niall decides to take matters into his own hands and set up a profile for Harry on a dating website.

harder to hide than i thought by dangerbears

ridiculous self-indulgent high school au. louis's best friend's little brother suddenly got very attractive.

Waited My Whole Life for This One Night by LittleLostPieces

It's been said that patience is a virtue. Harry is sure that the person who came up with that cliche never spent eighteen hours waiting for the birth of their first child.

Exhale the Dust by flutterbutt

Louis is a disgraced former pop star who needs help writing a single. (a Music and Lyrics AU)

A week later, the note from Breakfast Harry is still buried in Louis' kitchen drawer under forks and spoons and spatulas, all but forgotten. Louis is in bed (because it is only 11 o'clock, after all) when he gets another call from Herb. It's probably about opening for fucking Blue again. He'll probably say yes this time. He hates turning Herb down, especially since he knows that Herb most likely begged Blue's people to consider Louis in the first place.

we are honey and the bee by soleilouis

It isn’t his fault though, it is entirely the fault of whichever gods thought it would be a good idea to taunt Louis by dangling a curly haired boy in front of him with a mouth that can’t possibly be as soft as it looks, a mouth that requires further inspection with Louis’ own mouth. Unfortunately, Louis absolutely cannot do that, because it would go against all rules and guidelines in the Golden Handbook of Nanny and Employee Etiquette that he’s pretty sure exists.

au where harry plays rugby at uni, louis needs to hire a nanny, and life is one big cliche.

we were just like glue by togetherwecouldbealright

Louis works in a library where his own books sit on the shelves. Also, there may or may not be a Harry Styles involved and he may or may not be Louis' muse. Not that Louis is admitting to anything.

me and you and you and me (orphan_account)

On the occasion of Harry's 20th birthday, aka pretty much total FWP (fluff without plot).

It's All Brand New Because of You by supernope

It’s nearing six o’clock in the evening, and despite the fact that it’s summer, the aquarium has emptied out considerably and it’s quiet as Louis wanders the exhibits. A few people try to ask him questions as he wanders, but Louis knows less about the creatures in the tanks than they do, so he keeps having to apologize and explain that he’s just a counselor, not a biologist.

AKA, Louis starts a new job as a summer camp counselor at the local aquarium and Harry is a biologist who really likes teaching people about the ocean.

hold a hand for cover by vashtaneradas

they’ve still got all the money in the world, all the big nights and bigger houses, all the people at their doors with singles and album deals and promises of more, they still have all of that, and they will forever. the only thing they’ve burnt through is each other.

or, two years after the band, harry and louis bump into each other for the first time.

Under The Same Sun by FeelsForBreakfast

Louis and Harry live 400 miles away from each other. Sometimes it’s hard. (internet boyfriends, indie bands, and happy endings)

“I already miss you. I miss you all the damn time.” Louis says, because it’s late enough for honesty.

not fortune's fool by eleadore

The one where Louis goes to sleep in his X-Factor bunk and wakes up years in the future to discover things have... changed.

if you're for real and not pretend by brownheadedstranger

In which Harry works in a bakery and Louis can't seem to find what he's looking for.

Celebrity Discount by LoadedGunn

Louis fell for Prince Harry when he was ten and Harry was eight and peeked behind the Queen’s elegant gown for his first public appearance—a shy smile and a mess of curls. He fell for him when he caught Lottie putting up a magazine cover of Harry on her wall and all she had to say for herself was, “He’s such a good person, yeah?” and, yeah. He fell for him when Harry gracefully accepted his demotion. He fell for him when Harry came out and stayed out.

Truly, Madly, Deeply (10 Things I Hate About You) by sunsetmog

The first Louis had heard of Harry auditioning for X Factor was the night he'd turned up on Louis' doorstep the day before leaving for Boot Camp, with a DVD and an illicit bottle of vodka.

Thing was, Louis hated secrets, and he really hated being made a fool of, and he really, really hated Harry Styles.

or: the one in which they're all in sixth form together, and Harry auditions for X Factor without them.

Let the Words Fall Out by pertunes

It’s not a thing, he decides. It’s not going to be a thing, because his ears have been ringing for months and so what if some days he feels like he’s straining to hear what even Niall’s jabbering on about.

hold onto your stars by vashtaneradas

au; harry's in the army, louis' back home, and ninety days is a lifetime.

sugar never tasted so good by vashtaneradas

louis sells rock candy and harry sells flowers and london is cold; aka a dumb valentine’s au.

Always There by tothemoonmydear

Louis Tomlinson, of One Direction, has been almost completely blind since birth, the exception being he can see blotches of shadows and shapes; just enough to keep himself standing upright. He’s supposed to be doing an interview about being blind in a world wide famous boyband, instead his answers once again drift off to Harry Styles..

based off of this meme: http://icantlouis.tumblr.com/post/43865524622/au-meme-louis-tomlinson-of-one-direction-has

place your hands on my face, close my eyes by empress

Louis met Harry on the fifteenth of August. He would never forget that day.

Or, Louis is the star footballer of Manchester United, and Harry a member of the rising pop sensation, One Direction. They shouldn't work, but they do, anyway (based on this AU post on tumblr).

Keep Me In Your Pocket by ologist

Louis has been living in a teapot since he was miniaturised by a witch, but Harry is determined to break the curse.

To Build A Home (orphan_account)

A story about a broken boy and the boy who falls in love with him.

Call Me Baby by mediwitch3

Louis moves to Holmes-Chapel after his parents die in a car crash. He has custody of his five sisters, and it is through the youngest he meets Harry Styles, a preschool teacher. Life just got a lot more complicated for Louis.

All the Corners of the World by robpatFF

Written in response to these tags on Tumblr though I'd recommend not reading those first unless you want to be spoiled. Alternatively, university!AU in which Harry runs away to New York City with only his camera and a playlist and Louis doesn't have a good side.

just a memory (and all that we could've been) by trustingno1

"I think - there's something wrong. With Harry's memory," Louis says, and someone mutes the TV.

(or: Harry wakes up in a reality in which he and Louis are very much together. Which is pretty awesome. Or - it would be. If Harry could remember any of it).

once like a spark by flimsy

Louis is a bartender, and Harry is just his type.

"Can I get you anything else?" Louis asks and shimmies his hips along to the beat of the music. Zayn is giving him a look from the other end of the bar, frowning slightly at the line of people waiting to get a drink. Louis rolls his eyes and shrugs and turns his attention back to the boy, who ruffles his fringe and gives Louis a little lopsided grin.

Smaller Than Me by checkthemargins

Harry's just finished his first year of uni on his way to becoming Dr. Harry Styles, Neurosurgeon. He's young, he has endless potential, three amazing best mates, a new love and the world at his fingertips. The fact that his new boyfriend may or may not be a sex-worker, of course, throws a wrench into the works. But it's not true. Really.

Probably.

It most definitely might not be entirely true. And that's all Harry needs to know.

If You Build Yourself a Myth by pukeandcry

Harry is six the first time he makes something change. (magical realism AU)

How Would You Feel (If I Told You I Loved You) by Only_angel_28

An AU inspired by the music video for Ed Sheeran's song Perfect featuring two idiots who are too thick to see that their friendship is anything but platonic, lots of pining, too many terms of endearment to count, a wedding, slow dancing, a couple of steamy hot tub moments, karaoke, snow, a healthy dose of cuddling, love confessions, and Harry and Louis being quite generous to each other.

*Or the one where Harry has been in love with his best friend for four years, and New Year's Eve at his family's holiday home in Switzerland is perfect for finally telling Louis how he feels.

Boy Interrupted by MrsStylinson

Five times that Harry walks in on Louis by accident and the one time he walks in on purpose.

Or, the one where they can only resist each other for so long, featuring some epic sexual tension, a heavy dose of pining, a hint of angst and a fluffy ending.

reminiscing the other day by tilthesundies

“Spain,” Harry says. “This weekend.”

Louis blinks. “Are you asking me, or telling me?”

“Asking,” he says with a huff.

Harry's invited to a wedding, and there's only so much Louis can hide.

Take Care of Me by louissketios

Louis is the fan that asks Harry to find him a date at his concert and Harry offers to take Louis out on a date instead.

Promise Not to Fall by dimpled_halo

Louis raises his eyebrows. “You want to be friends with benefits?”

Harry shrugs, “If that’s what you want to call it then, yeah. Why not?”

Louis brings his hand to rub the stubble on his jaw, seeming lost in his own thoughts. “Okay, I’ll agree on three conditions.”

“One: no sleep overs.”

Harry nods, “Okay."

“Two: if either of us finds someone else we call it off no questions asked.”

Harry isn’t sure why his stomach turns at that, but he agrees anyway.

“And three,” Louis’ face hardens, “you cannot, under any circumstances, fall in love with me.”

Harry snorts, “Yeah, okay,” he chuckles lightly.

or- When One Direction goes on hiatus, Harry and Louis reconnect, becoming the friends they once were during their days in the X Factor. It doesn’t take long for their friendship to evolve into friends with benefits, unable to resist the physical attraction between them. Things get complicated when feelings get in the way.

Oh, We're In Love, Aren't We? by Rearviewdreamer

After sixteen wonderful years of friendship, it's hard to imagine any grand (and usually dumb) plans they haven't had or some type of mischief they haven't gotten into together. But, when Harry suddenly finds himself without a fiance and Louis just wants to help him feel okay again, they realize falling in love is one thing they haven't done, and that's about to change.

Big Dicked Bottoms Make the Rockin’ World Go Round by YesIsAWorld

Harry was tired of the assumptions made about his sexual preferences and he wasn't afraid to (drunkenly) post on Tumblr about it. The last thing he expected was to find his perfect partner.

Seven Minutes in Heaven by Canadianlarrie (canadianlarrie)

It’s musty, it's confined and its where lost musical instruments go to die. It also happens to be where Harry and Louis are currently standing after being forced into the alcove under the basement stairs at Niall’s house for Seven Minutes in Heaven.

First kisses rarely happen as imagined – they’re awkward, ill-timed and sloppy af.

The one where Harry and Louis kiss and the whole thing’s kind of a hot glorious mess.

Surrender My Everything by crimsontheory

After his flight was delayed, Harry showed up stressed out, exhausted, and four hours late for his date with Louis.

Waiting For Someone Who Needs Me by graceling_in_a_suit

Harry huffed in frustration. His feet pigeon-toed as he took a step forward. “None?” he asked with a hint of desperation. “You have nothing that you need?” Louis shook his head. “Listen. I’ve a million things that I want, like for the Donny Rovers to get to finals and for our band to do well and to write better songs and for my mum to be able to pay off her mortgage, but I don’t need any of those things. There’s a difference.”

AU: Harry is a genie, and Louis doesn't think he needs anything.

You Wear White (I'll Wear Out The Words) by rainbowslovehl (Larrymateforlife)

“You’re drunk Harry. And you can’t possibly get married by the end of this week.” “Why not?” Harry asked, stubbornly jutting his chin up. “I’m a great person.” “Because you’re single, Harry, that's why,” Niall remarked as he plopped down on the opposite side of the booth.

Harry is desperate to get married before the end of the week. In walks Louis.

Bad Girl Riri by 13ways

Harry and Louis have a cat named Rihanna. She has opinions.

Do I need to worry? by enigma_scars

Louis needs to blow bubbles to get rid of his smoking addiction. Harry finds Louis cute and strikes a conversation head on. Louis finds Harry creepy and dangerous.

One Mississippi by AlwaysAqua

“What are you even doing here, Louis?” Harry asked faintly through the door.

“Trust me, if I had anywhere else to go,” Louis paused and reflected on the absolute shit show his week had thrown at him. He sighed, “If I had anywhere else to go, I wouldn’t be here. I promise you that. You know you’re the last person I would ask to help me.”

Or, Louis and Harry broke up two years ago and now Louis has nowhere else to go and Harry reluctantly lets him back in.

The Depth and the Breadth and the Height by phdmama

"What do you need?"

Over the course of a life together, the answer to that question changes.

truth, justice, and the gay way by hattalove

Liam needs a costume. Louis needs a best best friend award, a holiday, and to get a grip.

(Harry's just in the right place at the right time.)

Needing is One Thing, and Getting—Getting’s Another by kiwikero

Six months and moving back home is what it takes for Louis to finally start getting over his divorce.

Backstage, Sex and Outrage by taggiecb

Prompt #20: your chance to do it in a specific location

Louis loves working towards a goal. His friends say having a goal in life is the only thing that keeps him sane some days. Right now he is working towards his before twenty five bucket list, and fate must have been smiling on him the day he won tickets for a show at Wembly, getting into one of the locker rooms is something he will have to think about later. Plus it doesn't hurt that the show he's seeing is his favourite celebrity crush Harry Styles.

I’d Like To Buy an ‘O’ by FallingLikeThis

When Louis fails at Wheel of Fortune but, by some miracle, not his love life.

If Only You (Knew) by LadyLondonderry

Catch a busy train at a busy time. Find a seat and look like you’ve been there a while. Feign sleep. Look like you belong there. Look like you haven’t been living out of a rucksack for four months.

Don’t look homeless.

When Louis needs somewhere to go, he finds himself in an abandoned barn in the middle of nowhere. Unknown to him, he's stumbled on the home of someone else, and they're not too happy about it.

Coming and Going (Anonymous)

Harry is a shy loner looking for someone who will help him discover his new found sexual fantasies. Louis is a lonely writer who doesn't realize how much he has secluded himself. They are brought together by a simple ad, and a common interest.

All in 'Cause of You by crimsontheory

Harry was married to the most amazing man in the world and he was ready to take the next step of their relationship. As he journeyed down the road of adoption, he realized it was bumpier than he had anticipated.

drive all night to keep her warm by thepriestthinksitsthedevil (stubliminalmessaging)

After a devastating break-up, Harry discovers that his life is depressingly empty. He spends some time with his best friend Niall and Niall's lovable oaf of a golden retriever and realizes that the missing piece in his life is a pet. Unfortunately, the pet that seizes Harry's heart is a sickly puppy who is hostile towards people after a history of abuse and neglect from her previous owners. Can Harry, with the help of the handsome vet, Dr. Tomlinson, earn this puppy's love and nurse her back to health?

Sing With Me (just for today) by Eleven_11

When Harry arrives at Camp Half Blood as a clumsy and terrified 12-year-old, he has no clue what he's doing, just that he really wants to be friends with this Louis kid. Louis has been at camp for five years when Harry shows up, and he still doesn't know who his godly parent is. Everything Louis does is in hope of catching his dad’s attention. Everything Harry does is in hopes of being enough.

The story picks up in the Percy Jackson universe after the Titan War and right in the middle of the conflict with the Giants. Louis is one of the demigods left behind to defend the camp, and Harry just discovered he's a demigod.

Calling Love by AlwaysAqua

“Can I just say I miss you? Is that allowed? I know we said we said there’s no point in saying it because we can’t change the time apart. But I just really fucking miss you.” — This whole fic is a voicemail.

Hope by kiwikero

Louis was, emphatically, not a cat person.

Roses in the Rain by theweightofmywords

“Don’t- I know what you’re going to ask, and I… Harry, I can’t,” he said, his voice cracking. “Please. You know that I can’t.”

Louis had his six siblings and his old house with its falling-apart porch to take care of. This town was where people still approached him, 8 years after high school graduation, to tell him that they loved him as Danny in Grease. This town was where he had his pick of suitors, where he had his first kiss, where he took his first steps, where his mama lived, died, and was buried, and he couldn’t leave just to follow some man that he loved.

Harry, for now, seemed to understand that.

“Okay, baby,” Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Okay.”

I Kinda Need A Hero (Is It You) by FallingLikeThis

Louis is a barista who’s had his heart broken. Harry is the boy who wants to put the pieces back together.

Heart of a Lion (With Metal in His Teeth) by graceling_in_a_suit

The man sighed impatiently. “Can you confirm your mission, please, you useless piece of junk.” Harry smiled politely. “Mission Code: 645-a3. Status: incomplete. Description: assess the situation on Olivia, report all findings to Captain Cowell and his board of advisors in three to five days. Specifically, locate and analyse the citizen known as Louis Tomlinson, suspected leader of the current strike, and present a strategy for destabilising his movement.”

Harry is an Android. Louis is his target: a revolutionary leader trying to free his people.

(01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01100110 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101.)

Hiding in the Rain by asphodelknox

Louis’s used to the bullies. However, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy Harry Styles dragging him off on adventures to avoid them.

This Soft and Fluffy Thing Called by LadyLondonderry

Harry waits.

He waits for his eleventh birthday. He waits with bated breath. He waits and waits and waits and watches the post for the letter - the letter that decides his fate - the letter from Hogwarts.

or, the one where Harry was adopted as a baby, his downstairs neighbor is Louis, and he really should learn not to keep things bottled up.

Love, This Wild Thing by asphodelknox

Paris, the City of Love. Harry's hiding an unused Tinder account and Louis's hiding how much he doesn't want to go home. They find what they need in each other.

You're Gonna Pay for This by Eleven_11

“'NO!” Three sets of hands moved to grab Harry, and he was so startled that he jumped into the air from his nearly seated position on their new couch, butt just inches away from the pristine leather. He scanned the faces of the four boys in front of him, all colored with a mixture of shock, incredulity, and embarrassment. Harry was at a loss. “Why?” he sighed. " --- Or, Louis and Harry get something new, and the boys refuse to break it in. Chaos and ridiculousness ensue.

Teenage Dirtbag by 13ways

Louis loves Harry. Harry dislikes confinement. They play some dodgeball and kiss.

A Pun-derful Life by AlwaysAqua

Falling in love with his best friend was never part of the plan, but it happened. It keeps happening; Over and over again on a daily basis. Sometimes, even that’s too long between falling in love.

Or, Harry and Louis use too many puns as a means to make each other laugh.

Back To One by FallingLikeThis

Harry opens his eyes to a blinding white light. It fades gingerly and he blinks as his eyes adjust to his surroundings. There’s a soft cushion beneath his bum and his legs are crisscrossed in front of him. He’s only wearing a pair of white boxer briefs for some reason but he’s oddly comfortable wearing so little in a strange place. Slowly, he becomes aware of a crinkling sound and looks down to find that he holds a square of paper in his hands.

Neutral Good it says in pretty, flowy handwriting.

“Hello, everyone!” A chipper voice calls out, capturing Harry’s attention and pulling his eyes towards its location. He takes in the woman suddenly standing before him with her hands clasped in front of her.

“Welcome to The Afterlife."

a house built out of stone by robpatFF

Louis has a used bookshop and Harry has a habit of claiming things that don't belong to him.

Through the Darkest of Your Days by robpatFF

"Harry thinks he might not really know what okay is, but Louis is warm next to him, solid and constant and questioning. He’s all wide eyes and nerves and vulnerability. And this feels alright, this might be some sort of okay, Harry thinks." Future!fic, roadtrip!fic, OT5 friendship!fic.

Only Several Miles From the Sun by robpatFF

It started with a walk and unexpected rain and Babs. It started with a smile and green eyes and a bag of warm apple cinnamon muffins. Actually, it started with the bakery. Bakery AU, because of reasons.

Fate's A Bitch Really (Yes) by CalamityK

Louis is twenty-three now, and painfully aware that “Yes.” Is quite a common response when first meeting someone. ----- or that soulmate au where everyone has the first words their soulmate is supposed to say to them tattooed on their body

Have You Coming Back Again by whoknows

It’s five o’clock in the morning. Louis has a lecture at half eight. He could be using this time to study or to do his readings or to go to the gym, but - well. He doesn’t have any exams coming up, he’s not going to his seminar today anyway and he hates the gym.

Instead he’s using this time to fuck with Harry Styles’ poor little brain.

Louis jogs across the street and jabs the key into the car door. It opens easily, not that he was expecting anything else. He copied the key for a reason, after all.

He’s got Harry’s schedule memorized, more because the guy keeps following him around than anything, so he doesn’t bother looking around before climbing behind the wheel and setting his bag on the passenger seat. It’s a Monday, which means that Harry doesn’t even get out of bed before noon unless he’s planning on harassing Louis.

Nice Boy Seeks Same For Hook-Up by LittleMousling

From a kinkmeme prompt: Louis wants to lose his virginity but doesn't want anyone at school to know he's gay. In order to finally get with a guy, he posts an ad on Craigslist.

Harry Styles answers.

like a simile, i paint suggestive pictures (of me and you) by dangerbears

louis is a TA for an english 101 class and harry is stupid gorgeous which of course leads to a morality crisis.

Hiding Out in the Kitchen by LittleMousling

Harry's in an internationally famous boyband with his three best mates, he gets laid on a pretty regular basis, and he's headed to Australia in a week. He doesn't need anything else, and he certainly doesn't need a boyfriend. If this nice guy he met in a coffeeshop wants to date him, great—but that's all it is. Right?

when i feel that something by somerdaye

In which Harry and Louis are put into a duo instead of a group, and Louis Googles asexuality.

Some Say It's a Blessing, Some Say It's a Curse by homelesshats

In a world where humans are blessed with timers on their wrists to tell them precisely when they'll meet their soulmate, Harry has waited his whole life -- eighteen years, six months, one week and five days exactly -- for this day.

scared that i couldn’t find all the answers, honey by cathedralhearts

from the 1dkinkmeme on livejournal; niall writes larry stylinson fan fiction

If You Weren't Real I'd Make You Up by FeelsForBreakfast

These are the facts: This is a love story. Harry can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what isn’t. Louis doesn’t eat.

blackjacks running down my back by dangerbears

AU. university stuff. best friend stuff. music stuff. sappy stuff.

You're The One That I Want by spacecakesandmilkshakes

Harry had always been Louis' best friend and...well...his baby, until one day he realized that his baby was all grown up.

Make Tea, Not War by howdoyouwhisk (popsongdelusional)

"Is he the messiest?"

"Yes."

"Does he do the washing up?"

"Never."

"Does he make his bed?"

"Never."

"Hopeless, hopeless flatmate. Would you rather be with one of these guys?"

"Nope!"

Or: Louis attempts to become a better flatmate, much to Harry's dismay.

So much stays unknown till the time has come by becka

While on holiday in 2011, Louis has an unexpected visitor from his future.

if it's me you're looking for by eleadore

Louis has a bad habit of getting drunk before he confesses--or maybe it's the other way around. AU.

touch my neck and i'll touch yours by amongseafarers, gravitycentered

Harry feels the press of Louis’ leg against his side and the flimsy cotton of Louis’ pajamas. “Soft,” he mumbles, curling his hand around Louis’ thigh and using the grip to pull himself closer, nestling his face into the side of Louis’ hip.

Where Your Heart Is by antihetharry, tvshows_addict

Louis is ready for his brand new adventure. So what if he suffers from a genetic condition that prevents him from being touched? College is going to be awesome. It has to. Karma kind of owes him right now. Forget about his overprotective mother, or Liam-- his entirely too chipper step brother-- or his mess of a roommate. Forget about the gloves he has to wear at all times. He’s here to expand his knowledge, write and drown himself in books -- No matter how distracting ‘Hallway Boy’ may be-- The obnoxious, flirty frat wannabe determined to become the bane of Louis’ existence.

Or, a college AU set in San Francisco where two lost boys who seemingly have nothing in common find inspiration, each other, and themselves in the process.

Gracious Goes the Ghost of You by haloeverlasting

And there it was again. That heaviness, that shift in the air that makes everything feel just a little slower. It’s like just moving forward makes him sore from the exertion. It’s not in the least physical, it’s his heart and mind and soul that feels stretched and pushed too far. It’s those moments, where his heart feels like it’s thudding only because it still can, that Louis feels the itch to glance at the clock. When he aches to know how long it’s been and maybe a part of him is wondering how long it will be. If this time, when he checks the clock, he’ll feel the same shame for his long stint of grief, but it will be followed by some sort of pride. He’s made it this far, and “because it still can” is a perfectly good reason for his heart to keep beating.

“What are you thinking about?” Harry asks.

Louis hums, shifting a little to rest his head on top of Harry’s. “Is this your new question?"

“Yeah,” he whispers, softly.

“Just… thinking about how long it’s been. And how long it may be before it doesn’t hurt so much anymore."

Harry is a ghost who comes to visit. Louis feels like a ghost, himself. In forgiveness, they find their way back to life.

You Drive Me Crazy ( I Just Can't Sleep) by objectlesson

The first time Louis ends up in Harry’s bed is a total accident.

try to not remember (rather than forget) by hereforlou

Harry hadn’t left, not really. He had been right there the entire time. And that’s what had made it worse, knowing that his body was within touching distance but his mind, everything that made Harry Harry, was lost somewhere Louis wasn’t able to reach.

He hadn’t left, but that’s what it had felt like most of the time. Just as if one day Harry had up and left him.

(Or the one where Harry wakes up.)

Say You'll Remember by whisperdlullaby

au. louis and harry are best mates that are only half aware that they're also soulmates. alternatively, louis goes to university and harry travels the world, and they always manage to find their way back to each other.

takes place over nine years, in which they love and hurt, make mistakes and learn, and above all, grow.

things unspoken by stylinsoncity

he wants to say it. he’s waited his whole life to say it. but how do you tell your childhood best friend you want them?

So Much Left to Say by myownspark

Reason #32: Cheer Someone Up.

Harry remembers Louis stalking along the Cougar’s sideline as the final seconds of the game ticked away. He was apart from everyone, with his arms crossed and his head down, sort of fragile looking even in his pads and helmet. Harry’s fingers actually itched to hold his hand, just as they do now. He holds the phone up to take a selfie and smiles into the camera, trying to ask Louis a question with his eyes. (Are you really okay? Tell me the truth. I bet you’re sitting on your bed, playing Madden, sulking. If you want to see me, I’ll come. I know you better than anyone. You’re sad. I’d like to come.) He pushes send.

(Harry and Louis play for rival high school football teams, and when they play against each other in the Homecoming game, someone has to lose.)

kiwi by fondleeds

With a stuttered mixture of a laugh and a groan, Harry lets his head droop, pushes his forehead against Louis’ chest and leans into him, fingers curled around the railing.

"You’re driving me crazy,” he breathes.

Louis lets out a puff of laughter, and when Harry lifts his eyes, the look in Louis’ gaze is one he knows too well, so distinctively coy and mischievous and gently charming, his lips quirked up with a smirk. Harry’s heart falls into the palms of his playful hands. “You’re into it.”

AU. Harry plays on Saturday nights at The Motley. Louis bartends on Saturday nights at The Motley.

It’s a thing.

Things That Go Hump in the Night by haloeverlasting, indiaalphawhiskey

“I thought you said I make everything fun,” Harry replies with a curt shrug. “I thought you liked trying new things with me.”

Harry is clearly upset with him, and camping or no, Louis was hoping for a good weekend all the same.

“You do make everything fun, but I’m warning you right now. This isn’t something new we’re trying. This is a well established hatred and I’m fucking cursed, so this isn’t going to be fun.” Louis hates how petulant he sounds, but it’s true. Camping never has and never will go well for him. And sure, maybe part of that is his attitude, but the attitude has only come from a consistent cause and effect in his life.

Louis goes camping. Something horrible happens. Louis is miserable.

It’s science.

Or, the one where Louis is right.

Things Gone Cold by MediaWhore

"your heart is warm for things gone cold.”— Sophocles, Antigone

With his soulmate’s thoughts about him written on his skin and the world’s eyes trailing his every movement, Harry Styles is having a bit of a rough time releasing his second album in peace. And that’s not even counting the breakup. Or the car crash.

Ever Fixed by delsicle

Three years ago, Harry was happily married, successfully heading the largest technology company in the world, and raising his young daughter. After he loses nearly everything in the aftermath of his daughter’s lost battle with a rare brain tumor, it may take three strange and yet very familiar visitors – and a man from the therapy group Harry keeps refusing to go to – to get him back on track.

Based on the film Collateral Beauty

The Melody You Never Heard by bananasandboots

It's one last adventure. One last chance to be young and carefree. One final weekend before they take up their internships, their corporate positions, before they enter the real world, fresh out of university. Niall's his best mate. Liam's been there for him since they were lost, little freshmen, trying to find their ways through an overwhelming first year. Harry can't disappoint them, even if it means enduring four days with Louis.

Louis, who he does share a history with, a history he's never told anyone about, not even Niall, a history he hasn't brought up in three years because it's stupid and embarrassing and confusing.

Or, the one where Harry gets roped into a four-day camping trip with the boy who kissed him and never called back.

One for Luck by leavingonatrain

The very first time Louis remembers hearing Harry Styles' deep, deep voice, he's just won gold at the World Equestrian Games and he's officially back on Great Britain's Olympic team. He's also three sheets to the wind, drunk on victory and champagne, and there's a gorgeous boy whispering in his ear. Life's grand.

(AU: Louis and Harry are professional riders on the British Olympic team.)

we've got to get away from here by suspendrs

“It is my understanding that you are the most comprehensive member of this agency in the field of extraterrestrial life, is that right?” the agent asks. He’s trying to sound calm, but Louis can tell he’s shaken as well.

“Um, I guess so,” Louis says, glancing over at the man in the blanket again.

Suddenly, Louis’s blood runs cold. There’s something off about the man, something in his gaze, something Louis can’t put his finger on. It’s terribly unsettling, but excitement bubbles in his gut.

Or, Louis is an FBI agent who likes to think himself a paranormal expert, and Harry is the alien that somehow ended up in his office.

love is divine by stylinsoncity

Being a witch doesn't help when it comes to unrequited love.

Sing When You're Winning by hazmesentir

Harry is fifteen minutes late to the office on the day Louis Tomlinson comes out as gay.

Or, the one where Harry's a chronically underpaid magazine intern and Louis is the Premier League's first gay footballer and pretty much the last thing they need is each other.

the impossible now by stylinsoncity

A wish on Christmas Eve sends Louis to an alternate dimension where Harry is a member of One Direction.

Finding Lou by stylinsoncity

Louis is the nomadic stranger who wanders into Harry’s bookstore. Harry is the skeptic who falls for him.

I'll Know My Name As It's Called Again by pukeandcry

Louis wakes up in Harry's body. This is a problem for several reasons.

Devil in the Bible Belt by TinyBeautifulTales (MikeandHarveyTime)

A Shameless AU starring Louis as Fiona and Harry as Jimmy/Steve.

(or, Louis is raising his seven siblings by himself, and Harry steals cars and crash lands into Louis' life. Together, they navigate south side Chicago and love.)

my heart is breathing for this moment in time by usedtothebeach

When Louis first saw Harry at the 2010 X Factor Auditions, he thought he was watching a peculiarly special stranger. But Harry has known Louis ever since he was five years old.

Because Louis has a rare genetic disorder that causes him to Time Travel to important moments in his past and in his future - and to Harry, always to Harry. When they're put into a band together, it seems like everything Harry has been waiting and wishing for has finally come true. Except for the small fact that Louis doesn't know that Harry is in love with him- that Harry's always been in love with him. Fate, it would seem, is just getting started.

A story about growing up and growing together, and the impossible love that makes it all worthwhile.

Those are the Days That Bind Us (Together Forever) by nightwideopen

Soulmate AU where when two soulmates meet they can hear each other's thoughts for a limited amount of time.

My Excuse To Write Teacher!Louis

je vole by nightwideopen

Two best friends, two broken boys on the run from themselves who managed to land a safe space in the heart of a beautiful city.

Harry and Louis are thieves in Paris. They're all the other has.

(Alternatively titled Pink.)

Don't Act Like It's a Bad Thing to Fall in Love by nightwideopen

Louis was born blind, completely blind, leaving him with nothing but the absolute blackness that his lack of vision produces.

Harry, on the other hand, is deaf. No sound can be registered by the two tiny ears his rowdy, chocolate curls obscure so well.

The first time Louis and Harry meet, it’s sort of an accident.

Take What's Mine by jaerie

Years after he is kidnapped, his life altered forever, Louis goes through the motions in a way that barely feels like living. Harry is a wild card, a forbidden fruit that Louis swore off of before he even had a chance to experience it. Maybe, in the end, Harry holds the key to being reborn. Louis just has to be open to the idea first.

(End game: this is a comfort/healing fic)

Wholehearted by TheMagicWord

AU. When superstar singer and winner of The Voice Louis Tomlinson tweets “Nothing worse than waking up with no milk for a cuppa !! Gutted” he doesn’t expect someone to bring him some. And he really doesn’t expect that someone to have bright green eyes, long curly hair, and (fucking) dimples.

Peaches and Cream by seducedbycurls

The study was to see if two strangers could live together for a month and fall in love.

“We are a new organization working to prove that love can do extraordinary things.” “You will do everything together & you are not allowed to leave the resort for the whole month.” “We want to prove that opposites attract.”

Louis is allergic to peaches, Harry smells like peaches. Louis just came for the money.

Singing To Tiny Dancer by BriaMaria

“Yes!” Harry punched a fist into the air. He laughed at the confusion that wrinkled the little space between Louis’ brows.

“What?”

“You’re flirting with me,” Harry smiled, letting his dimples pop.

Louis’ face went blank for two seconds and then he rolled his eyes, one side of his mouth lifting. “Am not.”

“You soooo are,” Harry sang out, poking him in the shoulder. “You like me.”

“I was simply showing you how to actually bring… what did you call it? Your A-game.”

Harry adopted a patronizing expression, sure it would piss him off. “And you did great. Really.”

“Oi, fuck off,” Louis said, but he was actually laughing now. Outright. It was gorgeous and Harry wanted to live in this moment forever. It was the very best one he’d experienced. He wanted to always remember the image of Louis’ crinkled eyes, the sound of his breathy giggles, the smell of citrus that radiated off him as he swayed in his amusement. And Louis didn’t even know his name.

Or ... When everything gets to be a bit too much for A-list actor Louis Tomlinson, he runs back to the town he had never really called home and the boy who was the only one he did.

All the Lines We Cast Will Bring Us Home by afirethatcannotdie

Harry wakes to a series of tweet notifications.

@Louis_Tomlinson: Sooo excited to announce I’m going on tour !! In America in 5 weeks and then coming back to the UK ! Get tix here: bit.ly/LTonTour @Louis_Tomlinson: Gonna be siiiick !! “Niall!” he yells, running out of his room. “Louis is performing at the O2 in January. Niall, I have to go. Wait. Niall. Oh my god, we’re gonna see Louis Tomlinson’s bum.”

AU. The one where Louis is a famous singer, Harry's a uni student obsessed with his music, and sometimes things have a way of working out.

say you want me (orphan_account)

Louist95: @HarryStyles, I’m personally offended that you haven’t invited me to your concert in Leeds next week. Proper fan I am and all.

HarryStyles: @Louist95 Proper fan? I’m personally offended on behalf of all our fans everywhere that you’ve lumped yourself with them.

~ A Famous/Not-Famous AU featuring Liam, Zayn, and Harry as the members of Sonic Boom, an English band that unexpectedly sky rocketed to international fame, Niall as their biggest fan, and Louis as the exact opposite. Harry’s a closeted pop star and Louis is the uni student he keeps fighting with on Twitter. It’s all silly banter until it turns into something else.

Cosmic Love by smittenwithlouis

Sudden chills rake over his body yet again, making him stay rooted to the ground. Static in the air makes every hair on his body stand up straight. That's when he notices something a couple feet in front of him lying on the ground. It’s what appears to be a person, weird white beams snaking around them like Christmas lights. Louis' heart rate picks up. Is the person alright? What are they doing here? What the fuck is happening? Or: Louis lives in a small, desert town in the middle of nowhere Texas, yet a strange visitor manages to find Louis among the stars.

who we used to be by itsnotbleak

“The doctor said he might remember,” Gemma said. “If he was around familiar things. Mum thinks that means he needs to stay with her forever, spend all day looking at old baby pictures and school photos. But he remembers all that perfectly. It’s living with you and your weird gang of lost boys that he doesn’t remember.”

“And you think the best way to jog his memory is some weird kind of full-emersion re-enactment?”

“It might be,” said Gemma. “It can’t hurt to try.”

An au where Harry and Louis used to be together, and then they broke up, and now Harry can’t remember any of it.

we've got the world in our hands by sarcasticfluentry

A mutants/superpowers AU. Louis and his friends attend the Cowell Institute for General Education and Mutant Training in London; when Louis meets Harry, the newest student at the Cowell Institute, he immediately recruits Harry to help play matchmaker for his friend Zayn. Harry and Louis are so caught up in meddling in Zayn's love life, though, that they don't notice that their own friendship is progressing into something more. Meanwhile, an ominous threat up north grows slowly until suddenly, no mutant - or human - is safe.

You Are The Blood by sarcasticfluentry

A seventh-year Hogwarts AU in which Niall gets all the girls, Liam goes on a journey of self-discovery, Zayn falls in love, Harry wants something more, and Louis tries to figure out once and for all why he, a Muggleborn, was sorted into Slytherin.

the dark and the dentist by sunshiner

“I know this song,” Louis whispers, and Harry has to lean his ear toward him to pick up what he’s saying. “It was written for people to dance to it. We should be dancing.” We can’t, Harry almost spits, but it’d be stupid of him. Louis knows they can’t. Even if he looks like any regular Parisian in their twenties, and Harry looks like any hipster Parisian in their twenties, they can’t anyway. To be fair, they probably wouldn’t do it even if they were out. But if they were two uni students, both in Paris for an exchange, meeting over fallen books at the library, or because of mutual friends, or watching Monet’s Water Lilies? “How would we dance?” Harry murmurs, mouth almost pressed to Louis’ cheek, so close he can feel his warmth. What a picture they must make, two millionaires freezing in a park and dreaming of a different life. An account of the events of November 2014. Canon-compliant.

Autumn At My Window by TheCellarDoor

A canon-compliant AU, in which Harry and Louis are both in the band and have been sharing flats and hotel rooms for nearly five years, but never made the leap past 'friends who are too close for comfort'.

Featuring a lot of pining, Louis' addiction to Harry's scent, and a whole lot of sexual tension that might just snap loose when they decide to spend some time together all on their own.

My Saddle's Waiting by crimsontheory

It's late and Harry is bored. He texts his one night stand from last week for a quick, no strings attached hookup. As it turns out, the guy gave Harry the wrong number and it ends up being Louis instead.

Saw It In Your Eyes by taggiecb

Harry Styles counts himself extremely lucky that he has landed such a great roommate. It doesn’t bother him at all that his new roommate is gay. In fact, they get along so well that they have formed an extremely close friendship that takes up pretty much all his free time. When Louis starts bringing a new guy home with him, Harry is surprised by how much it bothers him. Is he not as okay as he thought he was with Louis’ sexuality?

Or the one where Harry is an oblivious walnut.

This Winter's Day by QuickedWeen

Dear Mr. Harry Edward Styles, We regret to inform you of the passing of your cousin Lord Edward William Seaward, the Viscount Merston. Please contact us at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, Messrs. Pratt, Rutherford, and Spaulding

Louis is Harry's stablemaster, and when he falls ill and his mother turns to Harry to help her try and find someone he can settle down with, it's only natural that Harry suggests himself.

There is my heart for you to hold (Feel the beat, feel the one blood?) by larrycaring

“You,” the man says simply, voice slightly breathless.

Louis instantly frowns, eyes narrowed. He feels like he recognizes the man, but he can’t put his finger on where he saw him. “What are you doing here?” he asks instead, trying to make his voice sound firm and assured.

The man’s alarmed face changes, the corner of his lips rising in a smirk. “I could ask you the same thing, bawcock.”

Louis’ frown deepens at the endearment, because this man and he are certainly not on that level yet.

“I’m a journalist,” Louis says, even though it’s a lie. He is pretty sure the boy can’t really legally justify his presence either.

“You too?” the man replies, his smirk constant on his face. It’s like he’s sharing a private joke Louis can’t understand, or remember. “So you are also here, in this blood-spattered hotel room, for some folklore stories?”

And then, Louis remembers.

Harold E. Styles.

or a vampire AU where famous vampire hunter Louis meets human Harry, and they go through hell to stay together and have their forever.

Strip That Down by Domeaspreadsheet

“Does this have something to do with Louis being into nipple piercings?”

Liam feels his mouth drop open, and snaps it shut quickly. “No. Why on earth would you think that?”

“Maybe because Louis told me he told you he thinks it’s hot on guys, and now you’ve convinced Harry to do it, three minutes after Louis walks out the door.”

“Well. When you put it that way.” Liam sighs. “Fine. I think they should be together. Thought this might help.”

Niall smacks him on the shoulder. “Why didn’t you say something? I’ve been hoping those two would get it together for years.”

Four strippers. Possible fun. A New Year’s Eve matchmaking plot. Will it work?

Sympathy For The Devil by taggiecb

Louis keeps stealing some of Harry’s mail, which would be annoying for anyone, but it’s especially troubling when you consider that Harry is Santa Claus. Harry will have to go through hell to get Louis to stop. Literally.

Or the one with Santa Harry and Satan Louis and a series of misspelled letters to Santa.

It's All Brand New by midnightwhistleberries

“Harry,” Louis intones emphatically, “literally everyone in the U.K. has known that I’m openly bisexual since 2011.”

“’Cept you, I guess,” supplies Niall.

In which Harry studies engineering, loves Madonna, and can't tell if Louis likes him or just keeps coming back to the record store because he's some sort of musical hoarder. Louis is famous, Harry has no idea, communication issues are rampant and fluffy pining ensues.

you pull me in by yoursongonmyheart

“Did you really wear silk jammies to meet him?” Fizzy is almost in tears.

He’s going to kill them.

He’s really going to kill them.

Ernie throws his backpack on the floor before telling Fizzy, quite loudly, “Mr. Styles looked at Achoo like this” and making an exaggerated jaw dropped face.

“That is not what happened!” Louis protests.

“And Achoo looked at Mr. Styles like that, too!” Doris pulls the same face before laughing.

------

//or the one where Louis is a model, Harry teaches Doris and Ernie at primary and now might be a good time to fall in love.

all the kingdom lights shine just for me and you by hypocorism

“I can help the baby, for I have not yet given my gift.” Caroline smiles and waves as the audience cheers appreciatively. “Although, tragically, I cannot reverse the work of such a powerful opponent, I can mediate the effects. Prince Harry will not die, but will fall into a deep and peaceful sleep. From this slumber, he can only be awoken by a kiss from his true love! Once she is found, his safety will be ensured!” Happy sighs all around.

“Thank you, good fairy Caroline,” the king says politely. “We are in your debt.” She beams and the other three fairies look mildly annoyed.

“I knew she was full of it when she said she ‘couldn’t think of a good gift,’” one of them whispers to the other two. “I was supposed to go last!”

In My Place by kassio

Prince Louis has it all. He's wealthy, privileged, famous, and handsome, with a loving family and a world of opportunities. There's only one problem: he isn't actually the queen's son.

Harry and Niall Horan don't have much, but they have a dream: to win the X Factor and achieve something more than their normal middle-class life.

Two dreams collide and two very different paths come together when Louis requests to meet with Harry after seeing him on the X Factor.

Even As Young As You Are by ologist

Harry’s sister has a baby. When he goes to meet her, he finds more than one new love of his life at the hospital.

Two Steps Behind by sacredheart (orphan_account)

"Can I play?" He's far away enough that he almost has to yell a little bit. He's got one leg steadying him on the ground, and he's holding the handles of his bike as tightly as he can. He doesn't want to fall off in front of the older kids - the cooler kids.

"We've got four of us, though, and we don't want uneven teams," Zayn lies apologetically, and Louis frowns. He's not stupid. They don't want to play with him. "Maybe tomorrow." That's also a lie, because Zayn said the same thing yesterday and now it's tomorrow and Louis is being told no, again. His head is spinning with rejection and confusion and, most of all, disappointment.

(Or, Louis is two years younger than his neighbors, Harry, Liam, Niall, and Zayn, and he grows up bending over backwards to get their attention and acceptance. Especially Harry's.)

You and The Moon and Neptune (Got it Right) by alienharry

Of all the different ways Louis had pictured meeting his soulmate, he never imagined he’d come second to his little sister. He assumed he’d have met his own soulmate by now, that he’d already be married and sickeningly in love, guiding his kid sister through these new and confusing feelings. He wanted one hand on his soulmate’s waist and the other on Lottie’s back as he told her that everything was okay and she wasn’t moving too fast.

Of all the ways Harry saw his life going, being a 23-year-old sales associate at Harrods and hating every minute of it was not what he envisioned for himself. If he’s being honest, he saw himself in Peru or China or - hell - even fucking Denver, just traveling. He wants to see the world, not oversee the women’s department 36 hours a week.

---

Louis has always wanted to meet his soulmate; he's built his life around the plan that one day his soulmate would come along, and they could begin their happily ever after.

Harry has always wanted to travel; he's built his life around the idea that nothing is permanent, and seeing the world is his only objective - soulmates mean nothing to him after all.

Home for the Holly Days by LadyLondonderry

There he is, bowl of batter in one arm and whisk in the other. The wireless is blaring something that distinctly sounds like Fairytale of New York, which would make sense with how much Harry loves muggle music.

But. The thing is, is he's doing some terribly odd moves, swaying his hips slightly out of pace with the music but with so much more passion than Louis thinks he's ever seen anybody display about this song. His apron, down to his knees, is swishing back and forth as he moves and - dear lord - his shorts don't even reach as low as the hem of his apron.

Louis has to get out of here.

Or, Louis’s participating in the Secret Santa exchange between all the Hogwarts professors stuck at school over the winter holidays, and the Sorting Hat may fancy itself a bit of a matchmaker.

The Fairy Ring by thedeathchamber

Harry has dreamed of a world outside the tiny village of Holmes Chapel for as long as he can remember... a world full of magic and adventure and true love. It was nothing but a childhood dream, however, until an old family friend comes bearing word of a plot against Harry's life and a very dangerous truth: Harry is the rightful heir to the crown and must embark on a perilous quest to reclaim his throne from the ruthless would-be King Simon. But in the end Harry will find himself fighting for more than a crown, and on the verge of losing something much more precious than his sovereign power. Because magic might be real, but life is not a fairy tale, and Harry is a prince up against a very big dragon.

Or: a medieval fantasy AU in which Harry is a prince in disguise and Louis is the king of the faeries.

I see London, I see France by incandescentlight

Harry Potter AU. Louis is working at the coffee shop when the most gorgeous boy walks in. Harry is an eighth year Beauxbatons student and Louis is determined not to fall in love because Harry returns to France in four months.

kiss me like it's christmas, hold on 'til we're breathless by itjustkindahappened

Louis is broke and in desperate need of a coat, Harry is a rich kid who catches him shoplifting and they accidently go on a date.

tether beat by turnyourankle

Prince Harry meets his longtime celebrity crush, Louis Tomlinson, after the Royal Variety Performance.

just a dream by BriaMaria

“Won’t you join me?” The voice was soft, more melody than anything else. It wrapped around Louis, silken bands that tugged at his arms, at his chest.

He didn’t step out of the shadows. “No.”

The man in the pond smiled, sad and sweet and knowing, and then sunk beneath the water in the next heartbeat. The butterflies that had adorned his chest like jewelry, that had tangled in his dark curls, fluttered away.

Or the one where Louis is the king of the forest, Harry is friends with butterflies and a war is brewing on the horizon.

your eyes are like starlight now by babyboylouis

“Yeah. Me, Daddy, and Buttons. That’s my puppy. I named him. Sometimes we call him Butt for short,” Olivia told him, looking up at the boy with a full smile, minus her two front teeth. Louis realised that talking to this girl was more fun than talking to Zayn. Zayn was a little shit, though, so that was understandable.

or the one where louis hates his job as an elf at the shopping mall, but hates it a lot less when he meets olivia and her hot daddy

Let's Raise a Cup by YesIsAWorld

Louis is a telekinetic bartender and uses his super special powers to cheer up recently-broken-up-with Harry.

which is sweeter love or its loss by patdkitten

After he catches his boyfriend cheating on him, Louis runs away from London and answers an ad to housesit an estate in the Yorkshire Moors while the mysterious owner is away. It's easy enough to forget about his problems when confronted with the routine that exists in a former abbey in the moors, when the only people around are a cat and the caretaker.

And then the mysterious owner returns.

Don't Put Out the Glow by backonefish

"He fists out a pair of skinny jeans and a plain black tee. Nothing wrong there. Then he sees an atrocious Hawaiian shirt in Zayn’s hand and he starts digging through the bag urgently, pulling out more and more items that don’t belong to him"

Or: The one where Louis picks up the wrong bag on his way to Paris.

The Powerful, Immovable Object You Can't Change by LiveLaughLoveLarry

627: The dread of your own hotheadedness

Louis couldn't be happier about Lottie and Tommy finally getting married. Except for the presence of his Aunt Martha.

~*~*~

Harry looked between Louis and Martha. “Is this… the aunt?” he asked.

Only Harry could manage to be that polite, yet still manage to convey that much disdain. Louis turned back to Martha, who was frowning at both of them, and gave her a smile that mirrored the false sweetness of her own. “Aunt Martha, this is Harry,” he said. “My boyfriend for the past five years. As you can see, I think he’d have some objections to my finding a nice girl, or a wife. Harry, this is my aunt Martha.”

“Charmed, I'm sure” Harry said, making no motion to shake her hand.

In A World Full Of Wrong (You're The Thing That's Right) by LiveLaughLoveLarry

Harry is a vampire. Louis is a vampire Hunter. This sounds like a bad idea already, doesn’t it? Yeah, it probably was. Feat. Vampire!Zayn and obliviously normal human Niall. When Niall is the most normal person in your life, you know you have problems.

~*~*~

Niall tapped him on the forehead. “He’s not lost, dipshit. It’s just an excuse.”

Harry was well and truly baffled. “Excuse? I – what?”

“He doesn’t ask anyone else to show him the way.”

Harry blinked. “Just me?”

“Just you.”

“But – why?”

Niall gave him a look. “Do I really have to spell it out for you?” He poked Harry in the chest. “He likes you.”

“No way!” Harry said. Then, “Really?”

Coming Home Through the Dark to You by LadyLondonderry

Harry Styles works at the Fox in the Snow, the most hipster coffee joint around. He's got too many roommates and a best friend he met his first day of university who he might very well be head-over-heels for.

#larry #to read #one direction #1d #larry to read #mine

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