#i was talking with my friend trying to understand why is harry wearing a coat today | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

quokkacore · 4 years ago

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please don’t bite [wong yukhei] (m)

part of the wasn’t on pawpose collab

summary: you’d always prided yourself on being able to read people well and managing yourself as an independent hybrid in a world that was still getting over that. but when lucas, your best friend, manages to get himself turned into a wolf hybrid, it has you second-guessing everything you thought you knew about yourself, him, and the both of you, together.

pairing: wolfhybrid!lucas x bunnyhybrid!femreader

genre: friends to enemies to lovers, fluff, smut, angst, thriller if you squint

warnings: language, lucas is a bit of a dick, medical experimentation, mentions of sexual harassment, knotting, breeding kink, mating cycles, degradation (use of the word bitch to be specific), dirty talk, biting, marking, size kink, possessiveness, jealousy, mentioned doyoung x reader, momentarily dubious consent, stomach bulging, slight predator x prey dynamic between lucas and reader

song rec: troye sivan - bite ♡ wonder girls - why so lonely ♡ neon trees - everybody talks ♡ harry styles - cherry ♡ the 1975 - tonight (i wish i was your boy) ♡ sunmi - 24/7 ♡ loona (jinsoul) - singing in the rain ♡ fall out boy - hold me tight, or don’t ♡ wayv - bad alive

word count: 17.6k

a/n: this turned out a lot longer and a lot angstier than i expected. also.... dont ask where yukhei’s human ears went. i don’t know either :P

masterlist

You were going to kill Lee Taemin, if the dean of your university didn’t do it first. This was all his fault.

It all started at the beginning of the semester, when Lucas, your best friend and roommate, had told you during dinner he was helping your older friend, Taemin with an experiment for his Ph.D. You'd expected him to say he'd be handing out surveys on Main Street or trying some new diet and writing down the effects, or something along those lines.

Nope, not at all. What he really said had thrown you for a loop. “Actually, I’m gonna be trying out some hybrid hormone pills he’s been working on that have finally been cleared for human testing.”

You’d choked on the pizza you were eating. “You’re going to do what!?” You cried when you finally managed to swallow your food.

“Dude, chill,” He answered, large hands waving back and forth passively, “Taemin hyung is 99% percent sure that they’re absolutely safe. I’m just supposed to go in for testing once a week and write down any side effects I feel, which, according to him, should be at most three or four, and they’re not even that major.”

“Okay…” You’d answered, quirking your head. You were still slightly wary, your ears twitching. "And Taemin's like, completely sure they're safe to eat?"

Lucas nodded, demeanor completely casual. His calm expression did nothing to deter your concerns, mind going a mile a minute when a new thought popped into your mind.

“Yukhei, what kind of hybrid hormones are you even taking? Predator hybrids or prey hybrids?”

His smile had disappeared slightly, and his eyes left your face to stare down at his plate. Your stomach sank, and your foot started tapping in distress.

“Wong Yukhei. What kind of hormones are they gonna give you.”

“They’re, uh… alpha wolf hormones.”

Your eyes widened, and he rushed to placate you. “Y/N, bunny, calm down. I know how you feel about predator hybrids, but I wouldn’t be doing this if I thought there was something weird about this whole thing. The dean is breathing down Taemin’s neck telling him not to fuck it up. Trust me, he wouldn’t be doing this if he wasn’t absolutely certain that it was safe.”

You chewed on your lips, before sighing. “Please be careful, Xuxi. You’re my best friend. I don’t want you to hurt yourself all because Taem wants to find a way to get taller after puberty.”

Lucas had laughed, glad that the mood in your kitchen had shifted from tense to slightly less tense. He grabbed your hand, your eyes dropping to glance at it for a second, before looking him in his eyes. “If you want… He told me earlier he’d be at the lab until like, midnight. Maybe we could go pay him a visit, and he can explain everything better, you know?”

You pursed your lips, glancing at the clock. It was almost eight. After a few seconds, you huffed, and nodded, the tension finally diffusing.

“Alright, alright, let me get my jacket.”

He grinned at you, and you flashed him a smile back, automatically endeared at his goofy expression as he disappeared to gather his things. You smiled to yourself, looking down at your hands which had fallen into your lap, sighing.

Too cute. He's too cute.

The walk to the campus lab took about fifteen minutes, maybe less. Lucas, despite being taller than you, actually walked at a much more snail-like pace, and thus fell victim to your playful teasing over his slow walk.

"You're part bunny," He pointed out, eyes briefly glancing at the white rabbit ears poking out from your hair, "You have that natural spring in your step."

"Bull," You countered with a smile, turning to face him, now walking backwards, "They disproved the whole ‘rabbit hybrids run faster than humans’ theory years ago. You just suck at walking, Xuxi."

"You just suck at walking, Xuxi," Lucas grumbled, mocking your tone, but there was no malice behind it. You laughed, turning as he took a few quicker strides to catch up. His hand came up to pat the spot between your fluffy ears at the top of your head, and you hummed in satisfaction as the door of the chemistry department finally came into view.

The ride up the elevator was quiet. You were still slightly uneasy, ears twitching, something Lucas easily picked up on. He flashed you a soft smile, pulling you closer.

“Everything will be fine, bunny. I promise.”

You nodded, pressing your head against his shoulder. You took a deep breath, taking in Lucas’s distinct scent of cinnamon. “I’m sorry I blew up at you earlier… But you gotta admit, it sounds risky. And with the side effects, I thought maybe it would affect behaviot, and a lot of predator hybrids are just huge dicks, sometimes, especially around prey hybrids, you know? They’re creepy and asshole-ish and, well, you remember the snow leopard guy we met at The Burrow a few months ago, right?”

Lucas’s eyes darkened, recalling the time you had to mace a hybrid at a bar because the guy was getting handsy with you, despite the fact that you had made it incredibly clear that you weren’t interested. He nodded, staring at his feet.

“I don’t want any of Taemin’s weird science hurting you or affecting your behavior.”

He nodded, eyes sympathetic. “I totally get it. But like I said earlier, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t trust hyung with it 100%, or if I thought that it could hurt me or you in any way. You’re my bunny, you know? I would never do anything to hurt you.”

“I know, I know, Xuxi, and I trust you… But I will cut Taemin’s legs off if you die.”

He shook his head, his amused smile growing lopsided on his features.

Finally, the elevator made a ding! and the doors slid open. The hallway was lit with industrial fluorescent lights, much brighter than the warm light of the elevator.

Lucas’s larger hand grabbed yours, leading you down the hallway.

“I don’t even remember the last time I saw Taem,” You mumbled, not really thinking about the topic, “It’s like he lives here now.”

“Yeah, I know,” Lucas replied, “Baekhyun hyung’s been begging him to just let it go for at least a night, but he’s obsessed.”

A few doors later, and you finally arrived at the one indicating it was the floor’s chemistry lab, and Lucas knocked once, twice, before a soft, muffled voice said, “Come in!”

Lucas opened the door, letting you step in first before following suit and closing the door behind him. On the other end of the lab, stood a thin, short man facing away from the both of you, typing away at a laptop. You knew it was Taemin, he smelled like Taemin, but your mind didn’t immediately register that it was him; his ashy blond hair was up in a hairnet, he was wearing a long lab coat, and there were blue latex gloves covering his hands.

“Hyung?” Lucas asked, and the typing stopped abruptly as Taemin turned, took in the sight of the both of you, before flashing a gummy smile.

“Hey! Y/N, long time, no see. And Yukhei!! Just the person I wanted to talk to.” His tone was pleasant, excited. “I wanted to talk to you about your hormone treatment.”

“That’s great, because we wanted to talk to you about it also.”

Taemin furrowed his eyebrows, giving a slight shake of his head. His eyes flicked back and forth between you and Lucas. “We?”

Your eyes widened before holding out your hands. You exchanged a brief look with Lucas, whose ears were a bright red.

“I wanted to know about the whole wolf hormone thing because… you know. Well, you know how we live together, and prey hybrids and predator hybrids don’t really get along well, you know? I mean, I know that it’s just hormones, but… should we be worried about anything? Should I be worried?”

Taemin’s mouth dropped open slightly as he registered what you said, and he shut his eyes before shaking your head.

“No, not at all! I totally understand your concerns, Y/N. We’re using several different test subjects for the human testing, all with different circumstances, but they’re our ‘demographic’ when it comes to using the treatment. A few are hard of hearing, others have suffered physical trauma in their legs or arms, some have poor eyesight. Our intention with using wolf hormones is to see if it can be used as adequate treatment for specific disabilities.”

“Lucas doesn’t have any of those things?” You said, confused. You glanced at Lucas, who was still watching Taemin, before the latter spoke again.

“He’s part of a separate group, people who have no major medical ailments or physical disabilities. We want to see what the effects could be on the statistically average human.”

You nodded, still feeling slightly uneasy despite Taemin’s otherwise chipper attitude. “So the expected changes are going to be mostly physical? No behavioral side effects?”

“A few behavioral side effects, but nothing major. Increased appetite, irritability, high energy, maybe increased libido. Nothing too major. Mostly we’re trying to see if he gets stronger, or if his hearing and eyesight improve… I understand you feel worried, Y/N, but the members of my research team and I have been working around the clock to make sure that these pills are absolutely safe for human consumption. From our research, there’s like, a 98.7% chance that nothing other than the expected side effects will show up, and those aren’t really behavioral at all.”

“Why not 100%?” You asked, eyes shifting back and forth uneasily.

Taemin grimaced, gaze sympathetic as he exchanged a look with Lucas, and then with you. “Well, nothing is ever 100% confirmed, so science doesn’t really lend itself to certainty, y’know?”

That had been two months ago.

For the first two weeks, everything seemed like it would be fine. Lucas’s only complaints about the hormone pills were that they made his hair grow a bit faster and that they were so big that they were hard to swallow. Then… things started to happen.

First, he started to eat a whole lot more. Every time you saw him between classes, he seemed to be chewing on something. You were grateful he wasn’t touching your food, because he seemed to only ever be eating meat.

“Didn’t Taemin say I’d probably get hungrier?” He asked one night, eating a ham sandwich as he sat on the couch. You were resting your head on his thigh, scrolling through Instagram while hoping that any crumbs wouldn’t fall into your hair or your ears.. You set down your phone, blinking as you tried to remember, before nodding.

“Yeah, he did. Shouldn’t you write that down?”

“Uhh… Yeah.” He stood, you sitting up, and walked towards his room, probably to do as you suggested, before he called out to you one last time. He at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish.

“Hey bunny, can you, uh, order some Chinese food?”

Then he started complaining about loud noises. However, from what you could tell, there were no loud noises at all. Your rabbit ears, from what you understood, had similar hearing to that of humans, only you were slightly more sensitive to higher frequencies. So you were incredibly confused when Lucas barged in while you were pacing in your room, going over flashcards for an exam, dark eyes glaring at you. He seemed slightly ticked off.

“Can you please stop stomping around in here? I’m trying to finish a paper.”

Your eyebrows furrowed, and you glanced down at your feet, which were covered by a pair of fuzzy socks. “Uhh, I’m not stomping?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Y/N, I’m serious, stop yelling. This paper is due tomorrow and it’s like 15% of my final grade.”

“And I’m serious too?” Your tone was perplexed, because you weren’t yelling at all, “I was just pacing, Xuxi, like this.”

You took a few steps back and forth to show him, footsteps light, barely audible, and his face scrunched up in discomfort.

“But… it’s so loud. It’s giving me a headache.”

You made a face, before your eyebrows shot up, and your ears did as well.

“Do you think it’s because of the hormones?” You asked, lowering your voice so it was just above a whisper, “Taemin said that would probably happen, remember? Wolves have crazy hearing.”

He opened his mouth to answer, before closing it again. He flashed you a weird look, before shaking his head. “Okay...? I’ll tell hyung that it’s working… But like, can you please just sit down while you study?”

You nodded, sympathetic, and he closed the door. But a few seconds later, he reopened it. He looked a bit confused. “Is that… new perfume?”

It was your turn to make a face at him. “Huh?”

He shook his head, still looking confused. “Uh, nothing,” He mumbled, waving a dismissive hand, “Never mind. Forget I asked.”

He closed the door a final time, and you were left even more weirded out than you already were.

Somehow, he got even taller than he already was. A few days later when you were making breakfast for the both of you and you had your back turned, he came and hugged you from behind, still addled with sleep. You paid him no mind, continuing your task. One of his arms wrapped itself around your neck, almost as if he were trying to put you into a loving headlock, something he often did. In response, you did what you often did whenever he did so, which was to nuzzle your chin against his forearm.

"Good morning," He hummed, voice deep and raspy, “That smells good."

“For you,” You answered, scrunching up your nose as you turned over the bacon, “I feel like you forget sometimes that my genes make me a herbivore, Xuxi.”

Lucas stepped away, and you frowned at the loss of warmth. “Eh, sometimes. Do you want me to grab a plate?”

You set down the spatula before turning off the stove, as you turned to face him.

“You can serve yours—oh my god.”

You had lifted your head to where you usually did to look up at Lucas, and for some reason, had only been met with his neck. You craned your neck back even further, and met his eyes, which held a confused look, eyebrows furrowed, mouth agape.

“Did you get… smaller?”

“No,” You mumbled, still in disbelief, “I think you got… bigger. H-how tall exactly were you again?”

“Uh, 1.83 meters.”

You nodded, closing your mouth. “Yeah, you’re definitely more than that now.”

Lucas peered down at you, gaze slightly concerned. “This is starting to get really weird. Should I write this down?”

You frowned, looking him up and down. The shirt he’d went to bed with, an oversized white tee, now fit him better. “Yukhei, at this point, I think you should go see Taemin. Did he even mention growth spurts?”

Lucas blinked, before pushing the hair out of his still puffy, sleep ridden eyes. “Hmm, I don’t think he did. I’ll eat breakfast and then go see him.”

According to Lucas, when he’d gotten back, Taemin had been over the moon when he’d measured him and found he’d grown almost 11 centimeters in his sleep, now standing at 1.94 meters.

Everything had been somewhat tolerable. Not yet batshit insane. Lucas’s mood swings were relatively easy to handle as long as you left him alone whenever he seemed pissy, and he always apologized afterwards. He started staying up even later, but you didn’t really mind since he did his best not to be too loud.

Sure, the fact that his hair started growing faster and ended up in the shower drain when he decided to “manscape” (his words, not yours) was gross, but bearable. His random bursts of energy, making him even more eccentric than he already was, were kind of like babysitting a huge, five year old Lucas doped up on caffeine. Which, while a bit more tiring to put up with, had not yet crossed into uncanny territory.

Yet.

It all came to a head one Sunday morning, when Lucas had woken you up when he started screaming from the bathroom. You were woken from your peaceful slumber, and immediately stumbled out of bed to see what was going on, tripping on your way out the door in your panic.

“Yukhei!?” You shouted, slamming the door open. Your eyes were wide. Your heart was racing. Immediately your nose was hit with a strange odor. That put you even more on edge than you already were. Your eyes scanned the small bathroom in a haste. Your eyes fell to the corner. There, was Lucas, huddling. Knees to his chest, hands covering the top of his head, trembling and babbling incoherently, the sound muffled by the fact that his face was buried somewhere in between his knees and his chest.

“Y-Yukhei?” You repeated again, this time quieter, breathing heavily, anxiously. Was he having a panic attack? Was this a side effect of the treatment? “C-can I come closer?”

He trembled, not giving you an answer, still mumbling to himself. He seemed almost catatonic. Swallowing the lump in your throat at seeing your closest friend like this, you steeled yourself. Crouching, and slowly making your way to him, you cautiously held out an arm, and slowly, slowly, touched his hand.

He immediately flinched away, your heart dropping at his action. He sniffled, letting out a little sob, and tears sprung into your eyes. You blinked them away as best you could. He needed someone to lean on, and you couldn’t do that if you were an emotional mess.

“No, no,” He cried, voice small. “Please, stay away.”

“Yukhei,” You murmured, voice wavering, “I’m not gonna leave you like this. W-what’s wrong? Tell me Xuxi, please. You’re scaring me.”

“Y-you’ll hate me.”

You gasped quietly, resting your hand on his. “Xuxi… I could never hate you.”

“Even looking like this!?” He snapped harshly, lifting his gaze, dropping his arms, and you fell back onto your butt in shock. Your mouth fell open, eyes wide, white ears stood at full attention.

You peered into Lucas’s teary, red rimmed eyes. Only they weren’t Lucas’s eyes. Lucas’s eyes had always been a deep, rich brown, reminiscent of the earth. But these eyes were a bright, glowing amber, seeming almost radioactive in how much brighter they were than Lucas's old eye color.

Your mouth moved as you scrambled to say something, but no sound came out. Your eyes caught the attention of something twitching atop Lucas’s head, and you blinked dumbly, taking in the salt and pepper pointy ears peeking out between his caramel colored hair, before scanning his entire body and taking in the thick tail swishing back and forth behind him.

The blood in your body ran cold as you took a deep breath through the nose. Lucas’s signature scent of cinnamon was still there, but now overpowered by the strange odor from earlier. You realized with a chill that the scent was earthy, musky, a smell you were no stranger to as a hybrid. Your animal instincts automatically kicked in, whispering in your mind: predator. wolf. danger. danger. danger.

“I…” Your voice was hoarse as you pushed yourself up onto the balls of your feet, inching closer towards him slowly, despite the hairs on your neck standing straight up and telling you to run far, far away.

“Y-Yukhei, what happened?”

He shook his head, shaking like a leaf. “I don’t know,” He mumbled in a daze, and although he was staring at you with those strange yellow eyes, you got the impression from the blank look in them that he wasn’t really looking at you. “I woke up, and I c-came in here and I looked in the mirror and…”

He didn’t finish, but you got the point. You pursed your lips, before making your way towards him, but he let out a groan and you froze in your spot as he knocked his head against the wall, eyes fluttering shut.

“What is that smell?” He growled, “Why do you smell like that?”

“Like what?” You asked quietly, anticipating his answer. He shook his head, cracking his eyes open ever so slightly to peer at you. His gaze seemed to freeze you in place.

“Like… jasmine? I mean, it’s so strong…”

You stared at him, wide-eyed, unable to tell him that that was your characteristic scent as a hybrid. You were still reeling from the fact that Lucas, who up until yesterday, aside from a few obnoxious habits, had been very human, was now a hybrid just like you, with ears and a tail and…

You glanced down at his gritted teeth, taking note of the very, very sharp canines that had seemingly grown overnight.

You gulped, looking up at him. His wide eyes showed you that he was just as terrified as you were, and you swallowed back your wariness when your heart clenched at the sight. He needed help more than you needed comforting.“We need to get you to Taemin. Now.”

You had to force Lucas into his car, which was not easy in his dazed state, considering he was so much bigger than you. Towering over you, pure muscle, and basically a limp rag doll. In your panic, you’d forgotten your phone, your pants, and to give Lucas some shoes. You did the driving despite the fact that it was his car. He still seemed too frazzled to do so, so you buckled him up and started the ten minute drive to Taemin’s apartment.

On the way, you did your best to ignore the situation at hand. That just because Lucas was a predator hybrid now didn’t automatically make him like the rest of them. Lucas wasn’t like the pervy fox hybrids who would follow you for blocks when you were in high school. He wasn’t like the snow leopard you’d forced off of yourself. He was Lucas, he was Yukhei. He was your Xuxi, and you needed to repeat yourself that he wouldn’t hurt a fly.

The silence in the car was tense. You were sure that with his heightened senses, Lucas could hear everything, and you didn’t want to say anything to upset him further. He didn’t say anything to you. You didn’t say anything to him. And when you parked in front of Taemin’s apartment building, you got him out of the car, and grabbed him by the hand to walk to the door.

You were grateful it was Sunday morning. There weren’t that many people out on the street as you tapped your foot impatiently, pressing the button to buzz the comm on Taemin’s apartment incessantly. The few people that did pass were more focused on your sleep-addled bedhead and bare feet than anything else, and you thanked the universe for the fact that your oversized sleep shirt fell to your mid thighs.

“It’s eight in the morning. Literally what do you want,” A deep, groggy voice grumbled, and you rolled your eyes. Finally.

“It’s Y/N and Lucas,” You said into the speaker, pressing a hand to your forehead in frustration. “You need to see this, now.”

“Uhh, it’s Jongin,” The voice mumbled, and your eyes squeezed shut. He sounded so hungover. And whenever Jongin was hungover, that probably meant Taemin was hungover as well, and that it was generally Baekhyun’s idea.

“Wake Taem up, please, Nini,” You pleaded desperately. “It’s life or death.”

“Fine, fine, okay. Come on up.”

When you made it up to their floor, a bedraggled Jongin opened the door. He was shirtless, his hair was sticking up in random spots, his face was still puffy, and he didn’t look happy to be woken up.

He looked you up and down, eyebrows furrowing at your appearance. “I swear this had better be good,” He told you, before turning to look at Lucas, “or I’m gonna—”

Jongin cut himself off as he registered the pointy ears, the fluffy tail, and the glowing yellow eyes. His eyes widened, certainly looking more awake now. His mouth started moving, but no sound came out.

“I—uh—is this why—?”

“Get Taemin,” You snapped, ready to kill him. You were furious, to say the least, ready to barge in and kick Taemin’s ass. This was his fault, all in the name of mad science. But then you added softly, voice wavering, “I don’t know what to do.”

For someone who almost never stopped talking, Taemin had nothing to say, for once. Instead, his eyes turned wide as saucers, his eyebrows jumped up to his hairline, and you were sure that if his jaw could have dropped any lower, it would have fallen below sea level. When he finally did manage to speak, his voice was small and unsure, and he never stopped gawking at the ears on Lucas’s head.

“Uh… Y-Y/N, Jongin, could you give us a minute, please?”

So you did, letting them walk off to Taemin’s bedroom, and as Jongin sat you down on the couch to make you some tea, Baekhyun emerged from his own bedroom. Baekhyun at least looked a bit more awake than the dynamic duo, who, in their hungover state, both looked like the walking dead.

“Y/N?” He asked, seeing you on the couch. He had a small but confused smile on his face. “What are you doing here…?”

“You’re not gonna believe what Taemin did to Yukhei,” Jongin’s voice declared from the kitchen. Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows, craning his head once, to look at Taemin’s shut door, again, to look at Jongin standing at the cupboard, and then to you, sitting on the couch with a blank stare on your face.

Baekhyun blinked. “Shit, did he kill him?”

You pursed your lips, staring at him wide eyed, eyebrows furrowed. Your look was meant to convey something along the lines of, you’ve got to be kidding me. And by the way Baekhyun grimaced at himself a few moments later, broad shoulders scrunching up, he got the message loud and clear.

“Sorry. Just trying to lighten the situation, I guess?”

“Not helping, hyung,” Jongin huffed as he made his way over to you, handing you the warm mug of tea. You accepted it with a quiet “thanks,” before blowing on the tea and taking a quick sip.

“What even happened?” Jongin’s deep voice was quiet, concerned. He sat down next to you, and Baekhyun sat down on your other side.

So you told the story from the beginning of the treatment, all the way up to when you decided to bring Lucas to Taemin. The hearing, the growth spurt, his mood swings. They listened, nodding along to the story and thankfully, not interrupting. From Baekhyun, at least, that was surprising.

When you finished, you looked at them, then at your tea, which didn't feel as hot anymore. You lifted the mug to your lips, relishing the warm chamomile taste as Baekhyun opened his mouth to speak. Still not very comforting, but at least you were filling your stomach with something.

"Wow…" He mumbled, still in slight disbelief. "So, Yukhei's a hybrid now?"

“I guess. I don’t know.” Your voice sounded empty.

Jongin sighed, gaze pensive. “What’s gonna happen between the two of you, though? You live together. You of all people know that prey hybrids and predator hybrids, living together in tiny spaces don’t really mix well.”

You frowned, settling the mug down on their coffee table. “It’s not like he’s gonna become one of those asshole-y hybrids overnight, y’know?” “Didn’t you say he snapped at you this morning?” Baekhyun asked, tilting his head. “You said he was having mood swings, too.”

You shook your head, fluffy ears flattening against it as the stress seemed to accumulate in your body. “It wasn’t like that. I think he was just freaked out. And as for his mood swings… I don’t know.”

An awkward silence filled the room, and you gazed at your hands on your lap.

“Uh, Y/N…” Jongin mumbled, tips of his ears a bright red, “A-are you wearing pants?”

“Oh,” You answered dumbly, feeling your face heat up, “Um… No? I kind of panicked and, uh, forgot to put some on.”

Jongin stood, holding out a hand. “Come on, you can borrow one of mine. You must be cold, right?”

You nodded, glancing at Baekhyun, who had a sympathetic smile on his face. You looked back to Jongin, and took his hand to stand up. He pulled you toward his room, trying to make you smile by telling you about his drunken escapades with Baekhyun and Taemin during karaoke.

“Baekhyun almost got us kicked out while he was singing some Mamamoo song,” He said with a laugh, “You know how loud he gets.”

You smiled, giggling quietly as he opened a drawer, searching for something you could wear. After a few moments of fumbling around, he pulled out a pair of gray sweatpants, and shuffled towards you.

“So,” You said, reaching for the fabric, “I’m guessing you and Taemin did your usual rendition of Fergali—”

The sound of a door opening across the hall interrupted you, one ear lifting as you turned your head. Taemin emerged, Lucas trailing behind him. Taemin had changed out of his pajamas and was now wearing some jeans and a t-shirt. Your eyes immediately met Lucas’s, but a second after, his eyes fell to Jongin, then the pair of pants you were reaching out for, then back to you. His gaze was hollow, unreadable, but his eyes still shone bright amber. Jongin tucked the fabric into your hands, and took a step away from you. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Hey, man, how are you doing?”

“Not really good, if I’m honest,” Lucas answered, practically glaring at the older man. You frowned at his tone. He was rarely this quiet.

“I did a quick check-up,” Taemin declared, “I don’t see any immediate risk, he seems to be safe for now.”

Your shoulders sagged, as you sighed in relief, tension leaving your body.

“But I’m still taking him to the lab,” Taemin said, eyes serious. “We never foresaw these... mutations. I need to run some tests and contact the team and the other test subjects. Y/N, you can stay here if you want, I don’t think Jongin and Baek hyung would mind—”

“Head home, Y/N,” Lucas interjected, deep voice serious and clipped. He kept shifting his eyes in between you and Jongin. “I woke you up, you should go get some more sleep.”

The deep authority in his voice startled you. A small thought crossed your mind, submit, obey, and you realized that these were your rabbit instincts kicking in as it registered a predator in your midst. And that only happened when predator hybrids used a specific tone of speech, one used only to take command over a situation with other hybrids. It was a bit hard to disobey, but not impossible. With a chill, you realized he was probably doing this subconsciously.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to work, not with Lucas. Yes, Lucas had become this thing that you’d been told to fear, but it wasn’t necessarily him. You blinked, looking at Jongin, then at Taemin. You realized that Taemin and Jongin were staring at each other awkwardly, before looking at Lucas again. Despite your sleepy state, you knew your anxiety wouldn’t let you rest. And to be frank, you didn’t want to be alone after what had happened. “I could wait for you here, Xuxi, and then we could head back home together—”

“I can drop him off at your place!” Taemin said, an awkward smile plastered on his face. “It’s no problem, you should head on home…” You furrowed your eyebrows, before nodding slowly at having your actions countered.

“Huh,” You answered slowly, remembering all of the times Taemin had gotten pissy about giving you and Lucas a ride home (gas money, he complained), even though his apartment wasn’t that far from yours, “Okay…? I’ll head home in a little bit. You guys be careful.”

Lucas nodded, face not changing. He was upset, you could tell, but he was completely justified, given everything that he’d been through. You didn’t appreciate him taking it out on everyone around him, though.

“Yukhei, let’s go.” Taemin seemed all too eager to drag Lucas away, and you watched, bewildered at the strange shift in energy between the three men. You’d known Jongin and Taemin since your freshman year of college, and Lucas since junior year of high school. Never had you seen the three of them act like this.

You turned to Jongin once you heard the front door close. He was shifting back and forth awkwardly. “That was… weird.”

“Well,” He said, scratching at the back of his neck, “This whole morning has been a bit weird, don’t you think?”

You gave a sardonic smile, trying to figure out how to explain your thoughts. “I mean, yeah, but… I don’t know. Regardless of that, everything just seemed off between the three of you.”

Jongin’s eyes met yours. He looked a bit taken aback.

“You can’t be serious.”

You shook your head. “What?”

Jongin’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh my god,” He muttered, more to himself, “You really don’t know.”

“Jongin, what?”

“Yukhei likes you,” Jongin confessed, rubbing at his chin, “He has for years.”

Your ears shoot straight up, eyes widening. Immediately your face heated up, and your free hand shot upwards, waving them back and forth.

"What? Huh? No. No, no, no. We’re just—"

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” He countered, “You’re friends. But he wants to be more. He’s told me so, several times.”

When you didn’t answer, he walked around you to sit on his bed. He sighed, looking upwards as he gathered his thoughts, trying to figure out what to say.

“Y/N, you’re smart. And you’re an independent person, and you value that because of how some people still treat hybrids. Especially prey hybrids. I know that. You know that. Yukhei knows that. But…” He sighed again, shaking his head.

“You don’t see the way he looks at you when you’re not looking. He… he looks at you like you’re the only person in the world, or like you invented pizza, or something. And right now, his behavior…”

He groaned in exasperation, and you raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I don’t know how to put it other way than territorial,” He grumbled with a frown, “The way he was acting was like that look, but more aimed at me. Like, she’s the only one I see, don’t look at her the way I do. And I’m no expert on hybrid behavior, but…”

You didn’t know what to think, but you completed his thought anyway.

“...You think Lucas was acting possessive.”

“I don’t think, I know,” He said, “He seemed really standoffish, and you should be careful. Not because he’s dangerous—this is Yukhei we’re talking about—but because it might strain your friendship.”

You remained silent for a few seconds, absorbing everything he’d told you.

You didn’t want to believe him.

You went home not much later, trying to process everything you’d seen and heard that morning in the silence of the car as you drove through traffic, still pantsless. You didn’t feel comfortable accepting Jongin’s pants after everything he’d pointed out in Lucas’s behavior.

Lucas, your mind continued to think, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas, Lucas.

You’d known Lucas for so long at this point, he’d always just been your best friend. You’d never really wanted anything else from him.

You knew people had been expecting the two of you to get together for years. Your friends had told you, your family had told you, and now, his friends had told you that there was something going on between you and him. And every time, you’d been adamant to deny it. No, he’s like my brother. No, he’s my best friend. No, I don’t see him that way. No, he’s seeing someone. No, I don’t have time for a relationship, anyway.

Lucas was attractive, you knew that. You had eyes. You had ears. Regardless of his looks, he was effortlessly charming and funny, and that would make anyone attractive. You saw how people swooned and fawned over him, despite him rarely being interested. But he’d always just been your best friend, the one who supported you through everything and made you laugh on your darkest days. And from living with him for the past few years, you considered it a bit awkward to be attracted to someone after seeing them scratch their ass as nonchalantly as possible in front of you as he had.

That was until this morning, when he’d spoken using that tone of voice. You still weren’t sure how to feel about that. It gave you the chills, but... not in the way you’d expected. Something instinctual had begged you to submit to him. That didn’t usually happen to you when you heard other hybrids used that tone. Usually, you would feel a small tug in your gut, maybe a small flutter of anxiousness, but most of the time all it achieved was a roll of your eyes. But not with him. Not with Lucas.

You thought about it the entire way home. You thought about it on the way up to your apartment. You thought about it as you crawled into your bed, closed your eyes, and finally allowed your mind to be at peace once more. You slept until noon, then made yourself some lunch, showered, and worked on a few assignments you had for your classes.

Lucas came home several hours later, just before 7 PM. He no longer seemed as tense as this morning, but tired, instead. You didn’t blame him. His eyes had faded back to their warm, welcoming shade of brown, which didn’t surprise you. Wolf hybrids’ eyes tended to glow like that whenever they were on edge about something.

“How are you doing?” You asked, as he sat down on the couch. “Is everything alright?”

Slowly, you sat down next to him, wondering if he’d still be snappy as he had this morning. His neck turned to look down at you, and with a deep sigh, he nodded.

“Medically, I’m sound. They still need to run a few tests, to see if this is something permanent, or not. I’ve been ordered to stop taking the pills, for now.”

You nodded, giving him a small smile out of relief.

“Thank god,” You murmured, “I was worried about that. But how are you doing?”

He swallowed, his adam’s apple bobbing as he did so. He shrugged, pursing his lips. His body shifted towards you, and before you knew it, he’d tackled you into a hug, burying his face into your neck. He seemed to be holding back tears again, and your eyes fluttered shut as he spoke again. “Honestly? I don’t know,” He said, voice small and muffled against your skin, “Things like this are so… different. I found out several things have changed basically overnight.”

“Like what?” Your arms came to wrap around him, trying to calm him down.

“Fuck, I don’t even know. Like, I can smell so much more, now. I can see in the dark, apparently? I can hear so much, Y/N. I’ve been poked and prodded all day and no one knows if this is gonna go away and I’m just… I’m scared.”

He shook his head, shifting to bury his head again, but this time into the other side of your neck. Your hand began to comb through his hair, trying to avoid touching the furry ears that now resided atop his head.

You shook your head, humming. You rested your chin against his shoulder, nuzzling into his form, and his large hands rose to your waist, arms wrapping around it. You looked down when you saw vague movement from below your gaze, and smiled to yourself when you saw Yukhei's tale wagging with contentment.

“Everything will work out fine, Yukhei,” You whispered, “What matters now is that you’re safe, you’re healthy. You’re so strong, Xuxi. Whatever life throws at you, even if it knocks you down, you always get up with that big smile of yours and keep going.”

He nodded against your neck, cuddling even closer to you. “Thank you,” He answered, before pulling his head away. His eyebrows were furrowed, dark eyes peering into yours from above you.

“This morning,” He mumbled, “When you were in Jongin hyung’s room. I said something. And I don’t know what it was but it felt…”

You forced your face to remain blank and expressionless, and broke eye contact, trying to gather your words. God, you didn’t know what to tell him. “Oh… Yeah. That’s sort of a, uh, special tone more dominant predator hybrids use. I don’t really know how to explain it. I’m sure there’s some scientific term, but uh… yeah.”

“Oh.” He pulled away from you slowly, resting against the couch. You nodded awkwardly.

“I don’t hate you,” You said suddenly. “This morning, in the bathroom, you didn’t want to let me look at you because you thought I’d hate you… I don’t. I could never.”

He smiled, but didn’t meet your eyes. “We don’t have to make this awkward, do we? I don’t feel any different just because of… this. You’re still my best friend, Y/N.”

You nodded, smiling. “Why should it be awkward? I don't think this will change anything, Xuxi.”

Finally, he looked at you, and your eyes found his. His smile grew, and yours did as well.

“I’m gonna go to bed,” He said moments later, as his hand rose to rub at his neck, “I’m insanely tired.”

“Good night, Xuxi,” You told him as he stood.

“Good night, bunny.”

When he walked into his room without another word, you watched as he did so, closing the door to his room, right across the hall from yours. You rubbed at a kink in your neck, inhaling deeply as you did so.

A few moments later, you stopped, eyebrows furrowing. You frowned, ears perking up ever so slightly as something gained your attention. You sniffled once, twice, three times.

Usually, you couldn’t perceive your own hybrid scent unless you consciously thought of it, kind of like when a person thinks of breathing and starts doing it manually rather than automatically. But now, you couldn’t do it.

Instead, only the scent that you’d registered this morning as Lucas’s remained in its place. Your breath hitched as you realized that Lucas, in hugging you and burying his face in your neck, had scented you.

There’s no way he did that on purpose… right?

Did Lucas even know about scenting? Was he even aware that it was a courting gesture between hybrids, and a way to tell other hybrids to back off?

Your mind drifted back to what Jongin had said this morning, and you sighed as you once again contemplated the situation. Within a day, both your life and Lucas’s had made a turn for the stranger, and no one knew whether this would be permanent or not.

Shaking your head to yourself, you stood, making your way to your room. This is only awkward if I make it awkward. Lucas doesn’t know hybrid behavior very well because up until this morning, he wasn’t one. Y/N L/N, you’re not going to make this awkward. This isn’t about you being ‘uncomfortable’, this is about Lucas’s wellbeing. You’re not going to make this awkward, you’re not going to make this awkward!

When you reached your door, you took one last glance at Lucas’s door, deciding that you would do your best to help him, for his sake.

It couldn’t get that awkward, right? Especially not if you tried your best to make it as such. The both of you could continue living as if nothing had changed, right?

Wrong.

The next few days, it was almost as if the conversation you’d had that night had never happened, but not for your lack of trying. The next morning when you emerged from your bedroom, you found that Lucas was already gone, probably off to class. You shrugged it off, but still found it kind of strange.

When you got home from your classes and studying at the library, he was in the kitchen, eating a sandwich, and you greeted him, and he answered with a vague “hello”, not really paying you much attention. You thought it was strange, but chalked it up to him probably being tired.

Then it happened the next day, and the day after that, and the next day, and the next, and the next. And almost overnight, you had no idea who this person who had replaced your best friend was. You felt hurt, trying your best to speak to him when you returned to your apartment. He wouldn’t budge, and you’d back off before you pissed him off too much.

He didn’t look at you the same way he once did. It was like all of the warmth and happiness from his eyes had been sucked out of them, leaving a winter that rivaled the north pole. You couldn’t recall the last time he’d laughed around you.

You missed Lucas. You really did, and the worst thing was that you couldn’t tell if he felt the same thing. You didn’t want to confront him, telling yourself he was going through a tough time. You could tell it frustrated him, having this new tail twitch and to knock something over, the augmented senses distorting and amplifying everything around him.

He confessed about three weeks, in a clipped tone, that Taemin couldn’t be sure if it was permanent or not. Nothing like this had ever happened to anyone before. There was no way test designed for this situation, and Taemin would have to design a safe way to test it. Which meant time, money, and patience. Two of which, those being money and patience, Lucas had never had much of.

“Oh, Xuxi,” You’d sighed when he told him, “I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to be.” He set down the textbook he’d been holding onto the table. “You didn’t do it.”

You stepped forward, and he stepped back, almost immediately as you had. You frowned. “Please don’t do that,” You mumbled, now kind of angry.

“Do what,” He sighed, as if the conversation was exhausting.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know.” You were glaring at him now. “You’ve been avoiding me like the goddamn plague.”

“And what if I am?” He asked, turning to face you. The ears on his head twitched restlessly, and his eyes were burning with what seemed to be contempt. “What if I can’t stand to be around you anymore?”

Your eyes widened, taken aback. After weeks of him not giving you the time of day, for him to say that was too much for you to take sitting down. You scoffed angrily, tapping your foot anxiously. “Excuse me? Where is this coming from?”

He stood up straight, and somewhere in your mind, a little alarm went off in your head at the sheer size of him. He always slouched, just a little. To see him like this, especially now that he’d grown so much, was jarring.

“You heard me,” He said in a tone you could only describe as threatening, taking a step towards you, and this time, you took a step back. “I can't stand being around you anymore. I can’t stand your face, or your voice, or your scent, or your voice. You get on my nerves, and sometimes I swear, I just wanna...”

He didn’t finish.

You shook your head, laughing humorlessly, despite the fact that your heart was cracking with every passing second. You didn’t know this person. Sadness and anger swirled in your chest, creating a mixture that made you grit your teeth.

You weren’t backing down from this, not after giving him space to himself only to turn around and tell you this. You took a step forward, crossing your arms. “Um, why? What did I ever do or say?”

He didn’t answer, fully scowling now. His eyes studied your face, but after a few moments, it dropped lower. You realized almost immediately he was looking at your neck. You swallowed nervously, forcing yourself to not look away when he met your eyes again.

Still, no answer, and you groaned, causing him to snap out of his strange reverie. “Fine. Don’t fucking tell me. See if I care, Yukhei.”

You stepped away from him one last time, walking towards your room.

“I don’t owe you a fucking explanation, you know! I don’t owe you shit!” He yelled, and you jumped at his sudden burst of anger. You turned, incredulous. Even he seemed to be shocked by the volume of his voice, wolf ears pressed against his head, like a puppy who’d just gotten chastised.

“And I don’t need you yelling at me! Just because you hate me doesn’t give you the right to treat me like shit!” You answered desperately, just as loud. You hated the way that your voice cracked towards the end of your tirade, eyes welling with tears and throat closing up. You blinked the tears back furiously, taking one final look at the increasingly sad look on his face before slamming your bedroom door behind you.

Finally alone, you took a few deep breaths, trying to think over what had just happened.

You’d known Yukhei for years. Never once had he raised his voice at you or anyone else. And here he’d just exploded at you, telling you that he couldn’t stand you or the things that made you, well, you.

You sat on your bed, body numb, as the tears began to flow freely. But you couldn’t bring yourself to make noise. You couldn’t bring yourself to curl up sob into your pillow . You knew that he would most likely be able to hear you if you did, and you didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.

Instead, you laid back, trying your hardest to control your breathing, and fell asleep like that, with the tears falling into your hair, eyeliner and mascara streaking along your skin, feeling utterly destroyed.

After that, you felt yourself giving him an even wider berth than before. You didn’t speak to him unless you absolutely needed to, like when you couldn’t reach the sugar that had suspiciously ended up on the highest shelf, (even though you were the only one to use it) and needed him to hand it to you.

If you walked into the living room and he also happened to be in there, you two would meet eyes briefly, before you walked away. His gaze was never cold, but rather emotionless. Indifferent, bordering on unreadable. It still hurt to see. The only thing that could describe the mood of the apartment was tense. You quickly learned to hate living in such a suffocating environment.

The only "good" thing was that finals were right around the corner, so you were able to distract yourself from the whole situation and pour all of your concentration into studying into the wee hours of the morning.

But that only lasted for so long.

Taemin had mentioned a heightened libido as a side effect of the treatment. As far as you could tell, Yukhei didn't give off any signs of that. It didn’t even make sense, considering he’d stopped taking the pills ever since the mutation had occurred.

However, for some reason, the universe decided that it wanted to cause you trouble on purpose.

You came home one day to strange noises coming from Yukhei's bedroom. And when you got closer, it didn't take much for you to realize what was going on between him and whoever he'd brought home. Deep groans, high pitched moaning, and the undeniable sound of skin slapping against skin. Even worse, the smell. It smelled like sex, and sweat, and Yukhei.

Maybe if you'd been human, you wouldn't have smelled it. But alas, you weren't, and so your heightened sense of smell painted a picture you didn't want to see. Of Yukhei and some stranger, him on top of her, fucking brutally into her.

"Yes, fuck, right there!"

You damn near jumped out of your skin, then immediately cringing because… well. How could you describe the nasty feeling building suddenly in the pit of your stomach? It wasn't disgust. It wasn't… no. It couldn't be jealousy. Could it have been a mix of the two?

You couldn't be sure.

And that was only the first time it'd happened. Soon enough, it was happening two or three times a week.

You suddenly started spending more time away from the apartment. Be it at the library, at the café right off campus, at your best friend Mark's apartment.

But at night, you were on your own, having to listen to Yukhei plow a seemingly endless array of girls into his mattress while you were either studying or trying to sleep.

Your girlfriends still lived at the college dorms, and there wouldn't be enough space for you there. You didn't want to impose on Mark, since you were already spending most of your day with him and he shared his apartment with four other guys. You certainly didn't want to ask to sleep over at Taemin's, not after what Jongin had told you.

You were more or less trapped in your apartment past nine PM. You wondered if this was how Fiona felt in the first Shrek film when she couldn't go outside at night.

Yukhei was loud, you came to learn. He groaned, he grunted, he growled. He had a filthy vocabulary and, if you were to go by what the girl he'd brought home past Thursday said, leaving out all the gory details, he was very… well endowed.

You still weren't quite sure how to feel about constantly having to hear him from across the hall. You weren't judging him, not at all. It was none of your business, and as he'd so rudely put it, he didn't owe you an explanation.

But with exams rolling around, and stress starting to build up, you were disappointed, but not surprised to realize that your sexual frustration was doing the same. And Yukhei, with his pretty face, broad shoulders, foul mouth and maddening scent, was not doing you any favors by practically acting out porn across the hallway.

Even worse? Mating season was approaching.

The actual duration of heats and ruts for all hybrids varied, but a grand majority of hybrids went through them during the first few weeks of winter, regardless of whether they were predators or prey.

So while it pained you to say it, Yukhei’s across the hall antics were not doing you any favors. You found yourself lying awake on a Saturday at one in the morning, after a particularly rough Friday. Meanwhile he was with yet another girl, listening to him dirty talk her to high heaven. You had your eyes closed, trying to sleep in the dark of your bedroom, but it wasn’t easy given what was going on.

If you hadn’t been in a sleep deprived delirium, you wouldn’t have allowed your mind to drift to Yukhei, or to focus on the vulgar words he was saying. His words were muffled by the walls, but it was still pretty easy for you to hear them, ears perking up as you did.

“Yeah, baby, you love my cock, don’t you?”

If you hadn’t been so tired, you would have put in some headphones and listened to some soft music until you were able to fall asleep, instead of letting your breath hitch while your sleepy mind conjured an image of a sweaty Yukhei on top of you, doing to you what he’d been doing to the entire campus.

“So fucking tight around me…”

And you definitely wouldn’t have stuck your hand down your pants, with one hand, covering your mouth with the other. But you did, imagining that it was Yukhei’s fingers and not yours pinching at your clit, teasing around your slit, feeling yourself get wet with every passing second. Hard to do, considering Yukhei’s fingers were so much longer than yours were, and you clenched around nothing at the thought of his pretty hands and how deep they could reach inside of you.

You opened your legs a little more, eyes fluttering shut as your index finger delved inside of you, stifling a quiet moan. Even in your sleepy haze your mind told you not to be too loud, because you knew that Yukhei could end up hearing it, and you didn’t want to seem like a creep after everything that had already happened. Slowly, you built up to a speed that you felt went well with the sound of skin against skin.

“Fuck, baby, you gonna come soon? I’m so close...”

Your breathing turned heavy, and suddenly the sheets were too hot, kicking them off of you before adding in a second finger, relishing in the stretch and the way your palm rubbed against your clit in a deliciously frustrating way. You hesitated briefly before adding a third finger, searching desperately for a spot that would cause you to see stars before they cramped up too bad.

When you did manage to find it, your body curled in on itself, biting down on your lip to stop yourself from making any noise. So embarrassingly fast, you felt yourself nearing climax, listening as the moans and groans escalated in pitch and in volume. You pulled your other hand away from your mouth to rub at your clit, and your eyebrows furrowed, mouth tipping open in silent moans. You prayed to whatever cosmic force that ruled over the universe in hopes that you wouldn’t make too much noise.

“Shit, shit, I’m c-coming, baby…” You heard him say, before switching to Cantonese to swear, and with that, your orgasm came crashing against you.

Your toes curled, your eyes squeezed shut, and before you could bury your head in your pillow, you squeaked out the softest possible whine, “Yukhei…”

When you came back down, you were quick to fall asleep, ignoring the stickiness in your panties or the smell of sweat permeating your room, too tired to bring yourself to care.

You didn’t hear the shuffling of feet as Yukhei kicked this girl out of the apartment, too on edge after having heard your whimpering.

After that, Yukhei didn’t bring home any other girls, and you brushed it off as him needing to concentrate for finals. The coming weeks were filled with all nighters, cups of coffee, tears and desperation as you somehow managed to pass all of your classes.

You and Yukhei continued to practically tiptoe around each other, still not speaking. Now, however, it was more due to a lack of time than anger geared towards each other. Yes, you could still sense animosity when you crossed paths but it was getting… strange. While he almost never spoke, Yukhei’s wide eyes seemed to follow you whenever you passed him.

Now, the apartment had turned silent, rather than tense. You felt like you should anticipate something but you weren’t sure what. Many times, you could feel Yukhei before you saw him, and while before, at the apartment he tended to avoid you like a criminal dodging the law, now you always felt him close, his scent never far from where you were. On campus, you didn’t have that problem, rarely seeing him due to your different majors. But at home, it seemed like you could rarely hide from him.

Finally, winter break was so close to rolling around, and all you needed to do was take two more exams, and hand in one final paper. Then you were free, and all you needed to do was call up your… friend, Doyoung.

You used the term “friend” very, very loosely.

Doyoung was the only other rabbit hybrid you trusted enough to spend your heats with, and you really only spoke to him during this time of year. He was kind and soft spoken, and attentive to your needs when you were in heat despite him also being affected by his own rut. He was also insanely good in bed, and not too bad on the eyes either.

He enjoyed your arrangement, and wasn’t looking for anything serious, which you appreciated. This would have been your third heat spent with him.

You called him a week before your heat was due to start, and he swung by your apartment for a quick visit to discuss where you would go, how long your doctor had told you it would last, and generally to just catch up with each other.

Yukhei was out, probably studying with Mark or something. All you knew was that he was out.

Doyoung was cute. Really cute. His ears, white with black tips were generally stood at attention. His broad shoulders and gummy smile were too much, and even though it was a week before your heat was supposed to start you kind of had to resist jumping his bones when you let him inside.

You managed, somehow, and he sat down next to you at your small dinner table.

“So, how’s Lucas?” He asked once all of the details were worked out. You were going to stay at his apartment for the following week.

You pursed your lips, sighing. “He’s, uh… It’s complicated.”

He shook his head, a nervous smile gracing his face.

“What do you mean it’s complicated?”

You shrugged, letting your eyes flutter shut. “It’s a long story.”

“So? Tell it,” He said, ears twitching, “I’ve got all day.”

So you did. From the treatment, to the mutation, to what Jongin had said, to the shift in his behavior, to the argument, to him bringing random girls home, even including the bit about you masturbating to him that one time. You didn’t spare the details, given that you’d probably had more sex with Doyoung within the span of both of your heats than you’d ever had with all of your previous partners combined. There was no point in being vague.

You worried you might be airing out you and Yukhei’s dirty laundry, but continued anyway. Doyoung was a good guy. He wasn’t going to blab to anyone about it. During your whole tirade, he remained emotionless, nodding along to show he was still listening to you. When you finished, he took a deep breath, ears falling against his head. He blinked a few times.

“Phew,” He whistled, “That’s… a lot. Sounds like he’s going through a tough time.”

You nodded, staring at your hands on your lap. “I know. I want to help him but I’m scared he’s gonna yell at me again and I don’t want to have to push him away even more. I miss him, Doie. I miss my best friend.”

Doyoung offered a sympathetic smile, patting you on the back. “Can I be honest?” His voice was soft, not demanding. You, always appreciative of his candor, nodded.

“I don’t think you just miss your best friend, Y/N.”

Your head snapped upward to meet his gaze, sympathetic smile still there as he continued to rub up and down your back, now slower.

“No goddamn way,” You denied vehemently, shaking your head, “I don’t like him.”

“You’re right,” Doyoung answered, “You don’t like Yukhei. You’re in love with him.”

You spluttered, looking away as you felt your face heat up. “Y-you can’t really mean that, Doyoung. He’s like—"

“Yeah, yeah, your brother. You’ve told everyone and their mother that. But has it ever occurred to you that when you say that, it's just you trying to convince yourself? I see the way you look at him when I come to pick you up before your heats and you say goodbye to him. Your eyes just light up, and you smile like you’re the happiest you’ve ever been.”

“Well, because he makes me happy, he’s my—”

“Veggie lover’s pizza makes you happy, and I don’t see you smiling at it like it invented modern wi-fi. Yukhei? Y/N, he makes you happy happy. As in, if you were an actual bunny and not 25% bunny, you would be doing binkies around him.”

You gasped. “I would not—!”

“Would too,” He retorted, laughing slightly at your antics, “I swear, the way you talk about him—"

He would have continued, but was interrupted by the sound of the key clicking the apartment door open. Quickly, both of your heads turned to watch as Yukhei entered the apartment, eyes immediately trained on Doyoung. His expression was unreadable, but at the end of the day, both you and Doyoung, prey hybrids till the bitter end, could smell the tension that permeated his signature scent. You exchanged glances with the black haired man, and noted that his ears were standing at attention, just like yours.

“Uh, hey, man,” Doyoung said with his iconic awkward smile, adding an awkward wave as well, “...Long time no see.”

Yukhei remained silent for a moment as he took off his jacket, eyes still not leaving the other man. “Hello, Doyoung hyung. How have you been?” His voice was monotone, no discernible emotion in it, and you felt like you wanted the earth to swallow you then and there.

“Uhh…” Doyoung side-eyed you for the briefest second, your eyes flashing between him and Yukhei incessantly. Suddenly, you were on edge, and you knew that it was all because of the six foot tall nuisance that had just interrupted your moment with Doyoung.

“I’m... good. I was actually just about to, uh, head home,” He mumbled, and you furrowed your eyebrows as you turned to look at him, kind of taken aback. He was already getting off the couch, making sure he had everything.

You raised a tentative hand. “Hey, Doyoung—”

“Like I told you earlier, I need to go, uh… feed Jeno’s cat since he’s still out of town.”

“Uh,” You blinked, gaping like a fish, remembering the fact that you’d bumped into Jeno at the convenience store earlier today, “Take care, I guess?”

And then, quickly as Yukhei had come, Doyoung had gone, eyeing the wolf hybrid like he was about to get strangled.

When it was just the two of you, your eyes turned to look at Yukhei, and you huffed, before getting up and walking to your room. You closed your door, picking up your phone as you sat at your desk.

doyoungie: your roommate is insane

doyoungie: did you see the way he was looking at me? his scent was also super intimidating, y/n

doyoungie: i cant help you out, i dont feel comfortable given everything going on between the two of u

doyoungie: im really sorry y/n

doyoungie: please be careful around him

You saw red. You chucked the phone onto your bed, too angry and upset to answer Doyoung in that moment.

Everything going on between you and Yukhei had ruined everything these past months, but this was the icing on the cake. If Doyoung wouldn’t help you, you couldn’t go over to his apartment during your heat. If you couldn’t spend your heat at Doyoung’s apartment, you would have to spend it in the apartment, with Yukhei across the hall. And if Yukhei, a predator hybrid, turned out to go into rut at the same time you, a prey hybrid, went into heat… well.

It wasn’t even a matter of whether you would end up sleeping with him at one point or not. It was the principle of the thing. Yukhei brought home several girls to fuck and you had turned a blind eye. But god forbid you make plans to fuck someone in your own home. No, no, that was heresy. Highest treason in the land.

You slammed your door open, crossing the hall to stomp into Yukhei’s room. You ripped his door open, seething with anger. He turned in surprise, eyebrows furrowed. “Y/N, what—”

“Fuck you, Wong Yukhei,” You spat, getting straight to the point. He opened his mouth to speak, eyebrows turned downwards as he observed your angry frame. But you didn’t let him.

“How fucking dare you. I said jack shit when you brought home all of those girls. But no, every single time I get close to another guy you put on a pissy face and puff out your chest and scare them away. What gives you the fucking right?”

He scoffed, then gave a humorless laugh. “It’s not my fault your prey hybrid boy toy can’t handle being looked at for more than five seconds.”

Your mouth fell open, glaring at him. You couldn’t believe the way he’d said the words ‘prey hybrid’ like it was something shameful. “What, do you have a problem with us prey hybrids now, or...?”

“Please,” He growled, “You’re always the one who was so willing to push predator hybrids away.”

“You of all people should know why.”

He took a step towards you, eyes meeting yours before looking at the floor. “Of course I did. And that’s why I pushed you away.”

You stared at him, incredulous at his sudden quietness. “No. Don’t you dare spin this as some little ‘woe is me’ sob story. You ghosted me. You treated me like I was trash. Maybe you didn’t want to worry me with this whole thing, which is more on par with the Lucas I know. But my Lucas, my Xuxi, would never have taken it that far.”

“Did it ever occur to you that your stupid little Xuxi isn’t coming back!?” He yelled suddenly, and your eyes widened at his display of anger. He took notice and took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, and lowered his voice.

Y/N, this entire thing,” He huffed, gesturing to his ears and tail, which was now swishing back and forth restlessly, “It changed me too much."

"Yukhei…"

"You think I didn't want to keep being your Xuxi? T-that I didn't want to pretend that everything was normal and keep patting your head and hugging you in the morning and calling you bunny?"

Your demeanor faltered, and your heart sank. This wasn't how you wanted this conversation to go.

"Yukhei."

He stepped closer, and you swallowed at his sudden proximity. "I feel this… need. Inside of me. Almost all of the time, but it's strongest when you're close to me. And I don't know what it is, but every time I look at you, I want to…"

"Yukhei," you mumbled dizzily as he took another step forward, basically forcing you up against the wall. You could feel his breath on your skin as he peered down at you, eyes melancholy. He looked lonely. You felt lonely.

"I want to… God, let me kiss you."

Your breath left your body, and before you could give it a second thought, you were tilting your head, eyes falling shut as he pressed his lips to yours.

Immediately, you stood on the tips of your toes to meet him easier, and his hands cupped your face before moving to your back, and then finally splaying possessively around your waist.

The kiss was urgent, desperate; Yukhei kissed you as if he were dying and you felt the need to match his desperation. As your lips locked against each other's, Yukhei's body stepped closer to yours, his torso now pressed against yours. Your arms rose to his broad shoulders, wrapping around his neck, releasing a whimper when he pressed his tongue into your mouth.

Your stomach lurched when he used his thigh to separate yours, hands trailing down to grasp at your thighs. He pulled away from your lips, trailing to your jaw, and you whimpered, hands combing through his hair. Lower his mouth went, planting open mouthed kisses along your neck, and you felt a fire in your stomach, readying you to submit to him.

Submit?

Your eyes shot open, and your heart dropped, and as you realized what he had said, how he had said it, you were pushing him off of you. He stumbled back, chest heaving, eyes scared, lips swollen and pink. He seemed to have realized what he’d done. “Y/N, I didn’t mean t—”

“No.” You couldn’t look him in the eye, clenching your jaw. “I came here to say that I was tired of being treated like your property when all I’ve ever been is your friend. You turned it around and used that tone with me and you used it to kiss me. I-I can’t, Yukhei. Why would you even—”

“Because I’m in love with you.”

Your eyes widened as you met his, and you slumped against the wall, inhaling sharply. You opened your mouth to speak, but no words came out. He took this as his cue to continue, eyes pleading and apologetic as he leaned against his desk, giving you the space you suddenly needed.

“That’s no excuse, I know that. It’s literally the worst possible excuse I could give you. I don’t know how to control this thing yet and I’m… Y/N, I’m scared that I’ll hurt you with my words or all of this strength I now have combined with instincts I don’t understand and it terrifies me. And now, with this whole mating season thing coming I feel them even stronger and I...”

“Yukhei, you’re not making any sense,” You said, voice barely above a whisper. He looked up, eyes suddenly teary.

“How can I make my thoughts make sense when you’re the only thing on my mind right now?”

You pursed your lips, eyes squeezing shut. Your stomach swirled and your mind was jumbled, unsure what to tell him.

“Yukhei, what are your instincts even telling you?”

He shook his head, expression agitated as he looked you up and down. Finally, his eyes landed on your neck, and he groaned, shoving his face into his hands.

“I can’t hurt you, Y/N. I would never forgive myself if I did.”

Your breath hitched, heart rate beginning to pick up. “Yukhei, I need you to tell me what is going on with you. Then, we can call Taemin and he—he’ll figure something out.”

“I need to bite you. A-and you need to leave, so I can leave before I do something I regret.”

“Yukhei, hold on a second—”

“Y/N,” He growled, and you felt all of the hairs on your head stand straight up, animal instincts going haywire, “Leave.”

Even if he hadn’t used that tone with you, you would have done so. And you did, bolting out of his room, quickly grabbing your phone from your room and then darting out of the apartment, out of the building and somewhere onto the street, legs shaking and heart broken.

You ran for several blocks, stopping once you felt comfortable, which just so happened to be in front of a cafe a few minutes from your apartment. You went in and ordered, sitting at a table in the window, staring blankly at the cup in front of you. You felt numb. Yukhei was making absolutely no sense, and your thoughts were too jumbled for you to try and decipher what he was trying to tell you. There was only one thing that you could make sense of.

Because I’m in love with you.

God, you wanted to slam your head into the table, his words echoing in your head. He’d looked so candid, so vulnerable, so scared saying those six words, that it honestly kind of petrified you. After everything you’d thought about, everything you’d been told, and everything you’d said to each other, you were being forced with the truth, and you honestly weren’t sure if you could handle it.

Yes, you loved Yukhei. But what best friend doesn’t love their best friend? There was such a difference between loving and being in love, but in that moment you couldn’t be sure of any.

Yukhei had always been there for you. He understood your boundaries, understood that you wanted to be an independent person, but wasn’t afraid to support you if he felt you needed it. Whenever you were sad, or frustrated, he was there. And vice versa. You understood that Yukhei, despite his intimidating looks, muscles and tall frame was just a gentle giant, sometimes not confrontational enough to stand up for himself. And yes, he was confident, but you knew that deep down he would always feel like he wasn’t good enough, just a little bit. And whenever that feeling became too heavy for him to carry, you’d be the one to pick him up and help him carry the weight.

Your mutual understanding of each other went so much more than just finishing each other’s sentences sometimes. With a simple movement, both of you could tell whether the other was upset, or excited, or angry.

You sighed, taking another sip of your coffee.

Yukhei was kind, and he didn’t worry about what problems he might have in the future. He was funny, sometimes making you laugh till you cried because it was just an innate talent of his. And fuck’s sake, he was hot. And you… you, the worrisome, blunt hybrid who trailed behind him because he lit up your days, you were…

Oh my god. I’m in love with Yukhei.

You spluttered, immediately coughing as you choked on your coffee, attracting the attention of the people around you. It took you awhile, but you eventually managed to catch your breath, avoiding the questioning gazes of everyone around you. You were left with your head spinning, foot tapping anxiously.

You needed to get back to the apartment.

You paid for the unfinished cup of coffee in a hassle, and ran back up the street as fast as your legs could carry you. You realized that all of the running you’d been doing meant your hair would be frizzy and you would smell like sweat once you got back, but you couldn’t care less.

All you needed was to see him.

If you’d been able to talk him down from his own thoughts before, like that day in the bathroom and times before that, if you’d been able to get through to him before, it wouldn’t be that hard now, would it? You needed to know he was okay and that he knew that everything would work out in the end.

You dashed onto your street, mind filled with only Yukhei and his wellbeing, for once being a bit reckless when it came to your own safety. Yes, he’d told you to leave. But that didn’t matter anymore, you thought as you rushed into the building and pulled yourself into the elevator. He was your only concern, now.

Your heart pounded as you stood in the elevator. Your leg never ceased its insistent tapping. Waiting, waiting, waiting for the doors to slide open. It took an eternity, but finally, you heard a ding! And when the doors opened, you bolted. You ran down the hall, reaching your door before you pulled out your key and unlocked the door, not thinking twice before swinging it open.

“Yukhei!?”

Your loud, breathless voice rang out through the apartment, but there was no response. As you caught your breath, you noted that the scent of cinnamon and earth was still there, but faint, as if Yukhei had vanished into thin air. Your heart sank.

“Yukhei?” You asked again, voice now quieter as you realized that he was probably gone. Your face fell, and part of you began to wonder why you even expected him to still be here.

Walking towards his room, where the trace of his scent was strongest, you gnawed on the inside of your cheek, silently asking yourself where you would go from here. The vibration of your phone caught your attention, and you pulled it out of your pocket to see what the notification was. Your eyes softened at seeing Yukhei’s contact name grace your screen, but your gaze quickly turned gloomy when you saw how long his text was. That was never a good thing.

xuxi: Hey. I’m sorry about everything that just happened, and for scaring you like that. I’m gonna be staying at Taemin hyung’s until your heat passes. I don’t know how long that is, but I know it was supposed to start sometime next week? I want to keep distance from you until either hyung or I can understand what’s going on with me, and I don’t want to do or say anything that’s gonna damage our friendship. Please don’t worry about me, Y/N. I’m fine. Don’t think that I think you can’t be around other guys, because I don’t. I want you to be happy. And if you feel like you never want to see me once this is all over, then I’ll totally understand. I’ve been an asshole and I treated you horribly because I was acting selfishly. Take care.

You slumped against the wall, swallowing the growing lump in your throat.

How on earth did everything get this messed up?

The last few days before winter break were miserable. You spent the rest of that night after the argument with Yukhei crying out of frustration at the situation, falling asleep with puffy eyes and a runny nose. Eventually, however, you had to force yourself out of your pity party, because despite everything going on, you still had two exams to study for and a paper to turn in.

Your paper was going to turn out mediocre, at best. You simply couldn’t put your heart into it despite the fact that it was 10% of your final grade for the semester. Thankfully, it was due Friday, and the first exam was on Monday and the other on Tuesday, leaving you a full three days to finish it, and you’d done pretty well in the subject all semester, so if you flubbed the paper, it wouldn’t be so bad.

As for your exams, they weren’t your best, but you’d live. Exams this late were always hellish for you, because on top of all of the stress, your pre-heat symptoms were starting to set in. You felt tired, sluggish, and irritable.

You thought of Yukhei almost all week during what little free time you got. You didn't see him on campus all week, but you knew from texting Taemin that he was still going. According to him, he wasn’t talking to anyone much. Not even Baekhyun could cheer him up, and Yukhei loved Baekhyun’s jokes.

You never responded to the long text Yukhei had sent you. You weren’t sure what to say, and after a certain amount of days had passed it just felt awkward to try and respond to him.

Finally, Friday rolled around, and you strolled onto campus, ready to hand in your paper, go to your last few lectures, and then buy yourself some snacks to prepare to hole up in your apartment for a week during your heat. You wished you could just turn it in online, but this professor was probably as old as the university itself, and still preferred doing things the old fashioned way.

You sat down next to Mark right before your history lecture, about two hours before your paper was supposed to be turned in.

“Hey, how have you been?” Mark asked, and you shrugged.

“I’m pretty much over everything,” You sighed, “All I need is to turn in my paper to Wang and I’m out of here.”

“Can I see?” He asked. “Mine sucks and I wanted to compare.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” You answered, turning to open your bag. You rummaged through it, looking between your notes, laptop, and old pieces of paper, before frowning.

“No fucking way,” You muttered to yourself, looking through the contents of your bag again, now more frantic.

“What? Do you not have it?”

“No,” You answered, turning to him, sounding desperate. “I think I left it on my desk this morning. God, I’m so stupid.”

“Why don’t you just go get it?” Mark said, tilting his head. “Your place isn’t that far.”

You eyed the professor, who was preparing his presentation before the class started, weighing your options.

“...You’re right. I’ll be back in like, half an hour.”

And so you set off, power walking back to your apartment, which was right off campus. When you got to your building, you stepped into the elevator and heard your phone ring. You looked at who was calling first, furrowing your eyebrows. Hesitantly, you picked up.

“Taem? What’s up?” You asked, looking through your bag for your keys.

“Hey, Y/N.” Taemin sounded anxious, and it didn’t do anything to dissipate your confusion. “I just wanted to let you know that Yukhei said he would be passing by the apartment to get some more clothes, but uh… I forgot to ask him what time, and now he isn’t answering my texts or my calls. He was acting kind of… weird this morning. He didn’t say anything to you, did he?”

You blinked, swallowing at the idea of seeing him again after not having said anything to each other. Suddenly, your heart seemed to be beating a lot faster than it had been a second ago. “Um. No. He didn’t. But um… thanks for letting me know. I’ll just be going—”

“Wait, Y/N!”

“Taemin, what?”

“Have you ever heard of Tanaka’s Theory of Hybrid Compatibility?” He blurted, and you made a face, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

“...No?”

The elevator dinged, and you stepped out as he began to explain.

“I was doing research after running some DNA tests on Yukhei, yesterday, to see if I would be able to gauge whether he’d be going into rut or not. This theory says that two hybrids of different animal types could trigger each other’s mating instincts—”

“Wait, wait, wait, I thought that wasn’t possible—”

“That’s what a lot of people thought, until Tanaka and her team published this study about a year ago. She did an experiment where she paired up hybrids of different animal types, and induced heat in only one of them, to see if it triggered rut or heat in the other hybrid. She concluded that it was possible, but only if the hybrids had already formed a deep emotional bond. Y/N, you and Yukhei…”

You stopped right outside of your apartment, dead in your tracks. “D—Taem. Do you think that could happen if…?”

You didn’t finish, and Taemin sighed. “Yeah,” He said, voice quiet. “I think he might be in the very early stages of rut. Please, please be careful, Y/N.”

You stared at the door, before sighing. “I will, Taemin. Thank you for calling me.”

You hung up, trying to absorb everything you’d just been told. Cautiously, you inserted the key into the lock, trying to be quiet. A chill rolled through your body as you stepped into the apartment. For some reason, it seemed so much more quiet than it usually was. You gulped. Hurriedly, with quiet footsteps, you approached your bedroom. You sighed in relief upon seeing the paper on your desk, and grabbed it, stuffing it carefully into your bag before turning to exit.

“Hey.”

You shrieked in surprise, your skeleton nearly jumping out of your skin when you saw Yukhei in the doorway of his bedroom, staring intently at you. Immediately, you knew something was wrong. His eyes were wide like saucers, eyeing you up and down. His body seemed tense. His scent was overpowering. You scrunched your nose once it hit you.

“Y-Yukhei. What are you—Um, how have you been?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” He said, wide eyes never leaving you. You felt like he was studying you, and you squirmed underneath his gaze, “Just peachy. A little hot. What are you doing here?”

His sentences were quick and snippy, as if he were jumpy. You spluttered, gathering your thoughts.

“Oh,” You mumbled, “Um… I forgot my paper on my desk. I needed to come and get it.”

The entire time, you never stopped looking at him. He seemed poised, ready to strike, looking for the moment he could catch you off guard. You swallowed, trying to step past him, “I need to turn this in later, so I’ll just…”

He grabbed your wrist before you could get out of his arms’ reach, cornering you against the wall.

“I need to… talk to you,” He muttered, eyes trained on your face.

“Yukhei, you’re kind of freaking me out,” You answered, looking away from his face. Your own face was suddenly hot, animal instincts were screaming at his proximity, at his scent, begging you to either get away or pull him closer. Danger, one side of your brain whispered, while the other said, want.

“Just hear me out,” He answered, deep voice quiet and raspy. “I missed you this week. Missed my bunny.”

You looked away, unsure what to do.

dangerdangerdangerdangerdanger

He lifted a hand to lift your chin, forcing you to meet his gaze. You gasped, realizing that his eyes were a bright yellow. Had they always been that color or was it only now noticeable due to his proximity?

wantwantwantwantwantwant

“Y-Yukhei,” You mumbled again, panting as he brushed his lips against yours.

DANGERDANGERDANGERDANGER

In that moment, your animal instincts took over. What happened next happened in less than ten seconds, but felt like an eternity.

See, when rabbits feel threatened, they bite their attacker. You knew this. Yukhei knew this. So it should’ve been no surprise to either of you when you shifted your neck, quickly striking and giving his neck a harsh bite. Your animal instincts expected him to back off. But instead, he groaned loudly, pressing you even further into the wall, gripping your hips and pressing himself against you. You froze, feeling something hard press against your hip.

“So you want to bite me too,” He growled, “But I want to bite you harder.”

WANTWANTWANTWANTWANT

You whimpered, as he, agonizingly slowly, pressed his mouth to your neck, baring his teeth. He tugged your head to the side, and you squeezed your eyes shut, waiting for the bite to come, almost welcoming it.

But it never did.

Instead, when you opened your eyes, you saw that Yukhei was trembling.

“I can’t,” He whispered, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

You swallowed, realizing what was going on.

“You won’t,” You answered, matching the tone of his voice. “Xuxi, wolves bite like this to mate, not to attack.”

“Huh?” His amber eyes studied your face, searching for anything other than the uncertainty etched upon it.

“You’re not biting me to hurt me,” You said, stroking his cheek, “It’s because you wanna mark me as yours.”

“But you’re not mine,” He murmured, still trembling, “You don’t love me the way I love you.”

You shook your head, head spinning as the heat on your face spread across your body at the sensation of his body against yours.

“Except I do.” Your voice was hoarse. “I love you, Lucas. I realize that now.”

You tilted your head back, revealing the expanse of your neck. He growled in approval as you did. “And I want to be yours, forever.”

He didn’t mark you then. Instead, he craned his neck to catch your lips with his. You cried out softly when he did, his hands coming down to lift one of your legs, wrapping it around his hip.

“Jump,” He said into the kiss, and you did, without question. The feeling of uneasiness, of danger, melted away, leaving you only with want. He dragged you back to his room, tossing you onto his bed with ease.

You whimpered as you let him go, now fully aware that you’d entered your heat, and you wouldn’t be satiated until he made you cum. You watched, as he stared down at you with a predatory gaze—go figure—pulling off the t-shirt he was wearing. He crawled on top of you, not saying a word before he kissed you again.

Your hands roamed, tracing down his back and up your sides as he squeezed your thighs with his large hands, sliding up the skirt you were wearing.

“Please don’t tease,” You whined between kisses, “N-need you.”

“My bunny needs me?” He asked, chest rumbling with pride, and you nodded. He tugged off your shirt, leaving you in only your bra and your skirt. He pressed a kiss to your neck, before inhaling deeply and groaning.

“God, is this what you smell like when you’re in heat?” His voice was raspy, lustful; you felt punch drunk at the sound of it. “You smell fucking divine.” You nodded, reaching for the button on his jeans. You didn’t trust your voice.

“Bunny, you’re on the pill, right?” He asked suddenly, sounding a lot more sober than he had just a few seconds ago. Your eyes darted up to his face, noting his ears twitching nervously. You nodded. “Y-yeah, why?”

He pressed a kiss to your temple, before lowering his mouth to your ear. “Because as much as I want to pump you full of my pups right now, I know you probably don’t want that for us now.”

God, he was the human definition of whiplash. You straight up moaned at the idea, eyes squeezing shut as you pulled his pants down. “S-sounds good on paper. R-really good,” You declared, “But in practice… Not right now.”

He nodded, smiling softly. You realized he was wagging his tail, and you smiled gleefully. “Anything for my bunny.”

Yukhei pressed another kiss to your temple, before pulling your skirt down, hands kneading at your newly exposed flesh. You lifted yourself off of the mattress to press wet kisses to his collarbone, ignoring the desperation beneath your skin. Still, your mind screamed.

WANTWANTWANTWANTWANTWANTWANT

“Xuxi,” You said, “Please hurry and fuck me already.”

“I don’t wanna wait either,” He admitted, grinning wolfishly. With not another word, he pulled your panties to the side, and slowly pressed a finger inside.

Your breath hitched, feeling like when you scratch at an itch, but can’t find the exact spot. Content, but not yet satisfied.

“You’re so wet,” He mumbled, “All of this is for me, right, Y/N?”

You nodded insistently, legs spreading further to allow him enough space. He was so big, nearly engulfing you as he hovered over you. And his fingers were so long, reaching far further than your fingers could when you pretended yours were his.

“Lucas…” Your voice was high, breathless, “More, please.”

"So needy for me, hm?" Yukhei chuckled darkly, adding another finger. His smile grew when you tightened around him. "Tell me what you want, bunny."

"Fuck," You groaned, "I want you to fuck me and make me yours. W-want to be stuffed and filled with your cum. Want y-your pups, wanna be yours."

His amber eyes glowed in admiration, peering down at you. "Fuck, that's a good girl."

He tugged off your bra, but got a little too impatient when he got to your panties, and you gasped in surprise when you felt the seams snap. Your eyes darted to Lucas's hands, which were now holding the broken fabric with a smug look on his face.

"Oops."

You huffed, not caring about the underwear. Lifting yourself off of the mattress, you pulled him in for a kiss, and he responded with fervor. His tongue dipped into your mouth, swallowing your eager moans. In your eagerness, you reached into his underwear, wrapping your hand around his member.

You gasped into the kiss, feeling how hard he was. Even without looking, eyes still shut as you focused mostly on kissing him, you could feel he was big. You wondered, momentarily, if he would even fit. Yukhei pulled away from you, lowering his eyes to watch your hand stroking him. You did as well, swallowing at the sight. He wasn’t too thick, but he was incredibly long. The tip was a pretty shade of red, precum leaking steadily out.

“You want me to fuck you?” He asked, mouth brushing against yours, panting slightly.

You nodded, canting your hips in an attempt to entice him. He pulled his fingers out of your pussy, brushing against your clit intentionally. You keened, looking up at him.

“Yeah, baby,” You answered, pushing him away slightly, to turn around, and prop yourself onto your knees. He groaned at the sight of your wetness, one finger teasing at your hole. He came closer to you, and his free hand pulled you up. His chest was pressed against your back. He pressed a kiss to one of your shoulder blades, resting his head on his shoulder to speak to you.

“One day, I’m gonna sit you down on my face and eat you until you forget your name. But right now, I can’t hold back anymore. Need to be inside of you.”

You nodded in agreement, bated as he gripped one of your hips, the other nudging you gently between the shoulder blades, so your face was buried between the pillows. You inhaled, whining lightly at how much it smelled like him, like Yukhei.

“All mine,” He growled, sliding inside of you. He was met with no resistance, your walls sucking him in with no protest.

“Yours,” You agreed, rocking your hips lightly against his. He groaned loudly, gripping your hips tightly.

“S-so tight,” He groaned, with a little laugh, “I can barely move.”

“Please, Xuxi,” You whined, voice muffled, “N-need it.”

His grip tightened, and he gave a hard thrust, to which you responded with a loud noise. He immediately set a brutal pace. He bent over, practically covering your body with his own. You could feel the heat radiating off of his body, his grunts and growls right into your ear.

Your hand reached behind you, trying to grab him in some way. He registered what you were trying to do, and reached out to take your hand in his. “Who’s making you feel this good, bunny?”

“Ah, you, Lucas,” You cried, and Yukhei pressed a kiss to the junction of your shoulder and neck.

“You think Doyoung could fuck you this good, baby?”

Your stomach curled at his words, and you shook your head. “N-no,” You said, hips bucking back to meet his. “Don’t want him, want you.”

“F-fuck, that’s my girl, you just wanna be mine, huh?”

You nodded, unable to answer at the pleasure coursing through your veins. Yukhei wasn’t satisfied by this, evident in the way he tugged on your hair and pulled your head up. You shrieked not only at the pleasure, but also how unexpected it was. Yukhei was always one to be gentle, but now, with the need he felt to fuck you until you were both satiated, all of his mercy went out the window.

“Use your fucking words,” Yukhei snarled, hips never letting up. You whimpered, eyes closing.

This wasn’t Yukhei, or Lucas, or Xuxi. No, this was pure, unbridled, alpha wolf taking the reins. And in this moment, you wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Y-yeah, I want you to make me yours,” You answered in a small, shaky voice.

“You wanna be my bitch, baby?”

“Fuck,” You moaned, pussy clenching at his question, “Please…”

“Please what, bunny?” The wolf asked, voice sickly sweet, and you bit your lip, trying not to cry out. “P-please make me your bitch, baby.”

He pressed a kiss to your shoulder again, letting go of your hair. You fell back onto the mattress, practically boneless; you couldn’t find it within you to hold yourself up. His hands found their way back to your hips, using them as leverage as he pounded into you.

“What my bitch wants, my bitch gets.”

His hips sped up, something you didn’t know was possible. You were vaguely aware of his headboard ramming into the wall, but you couldn’t care less. All you could care about was the growing pleasure bubbling in the pit of your stomach, which only boiled hotter when you reached between your legs to pinch at your clit.

Yukhei groaned at the same moment you did, relishing in the way your walls clenched at the sensation.

“How the fuck are you still so tight?” He said. You craned your neck to get a good look at him, chest tightening at the sight.

His tan skin glowed with sweat, eyes rolled up into his head, mouth open as he let loose grunts and groans, and his light brown hair was matted with sweat. The dark ears on his head were twitching furiously and his cheeks were flushed. You felt like you could have cum from the sight alone.

Could have, because the awkward angle made your neck hurt, and it pained you to not be able to touch his skin or tug on his hair.

Yukhei opened his eyes immediately when you muttered out a soft, “stop, stop,” his hips stopping much to his discomfort. He sighed in relief when he realized you just wanted to change your position. You whined softly in discomfort when his cock slipped out of you, shaky legs doing their best to maneuver into the position you wanted.

You flopped down onto your back in front of him, staring up at him. “Come on,” You said breathlessly, parting your legs, “You know what I want you to do.”

He exhaled, eyes scanning your sweaty body, taking in just how beautiful you looked beneath him. “Fuck, I love you so much,” He declared, settling in between your legs, slipping back into you with ease.

You took advantage of the position, wrapping your legs around his waist, trying to pull him closer. Your hands wrapped around him, reaching for his back. You dug your nails into the skin, and he huffed slightly at the pinch of pain.

He growled with pride when his eyes darted down to where you were connected. “Fuck, that’s so hot, bunny. You’re so fucking tiny.”

Your eyes followed his, and you whined when you realized that there was a bulge sticking out of your tummy.

He immediately retook his rhythm, pounding away like there was no tomorrow, voice getting louder. It was still a bit far, but you could tell he was approaching his high, just like you. He was pressing wet kisses to your breasts, large hands groping them. Your head fell back, mind completely blank.

“X-Xuxi, I’m c-close,” You mumbled, “Please touch me.”

He nodded, lifting off of one of your nipples to meet your eyes. “Shit, me too,” He agreed, voice shaky. His lips travelled to your neck, one hand travelling to your clit. You moaned loudly, throwing your head back to reveal more of the skin of your neck.

“Gonna make you mine,” He growled, “Gonna fuck you full of my pups, show everyone who you belong to.”

His hips were losing their finesse, their rhythm, pace turning sloppy as his hand rubbed at your clit, hoping to make you cum.

“Yes, yes, yes,” You cried nonsensically, toes curling. “Make me yours, Lucas, ah, fuck, w-want it so bad!”

And then he sunk his teeth into your neck, and you tumbled over the edge, a lot harder than you ever expected it to be. You were drowning in a dizzying mix of pleasure and pain, vision blurring as your body writhed against Yukhei like a woman possessed. You cried out his name one final time, voice dying after you did.

You heard him groan against you, hips grinding against you as he released inside of you. Your mind immediately realized what was going on as his cock swelled within your walls, eyes snapping open as the sheer size of his knot caused you to cry out. Whether that was from the burn of being stretched beyond your limits, or the satisfaction of stuffed with him.

You were wordless when you managed to come down, breathing heavily, his head resting on your collar bone. The need that had been itching inside of you had gone away, for now. Your mind cleared up, and you were suddenly very aware of the fact that Yukhei was naked, on top of you, and now the two of you were stuck together for god knows how long. The few words you had exchanged prior were under the influence of his rut and, subsequently, your heat, and even before that, an argument that led to you not speaking to each other for a week.

"So…" You muttered, voice hoarse.

"Uhh…" Lucas lifted his head, tired eyes meeting yours. They were back to brown. "I take this as an 'apology accepted'?"

You rolled your eyes, swatting his arm playfully. "You're not completely out of the woods yet, asshole. You were a huge dick. But what matters now is that we're together, and I love you. We can work the rest out later."

Yukhei's hand brushed a stray hair out of your face, smiling softly at you. "I don't deserve you," He murmured, "But I promise I'll do my best to treat you like a queen."

You pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "I'd like that."

You both fell asleep slightly after, whispering sweet nothings and promises of a better tomorrow into each other's ears.

And when Taemin—who had worried about Yukhei not coming back to his apartment got worried enough to use your hidden spare key to get into the apartment—woke you up, screeching at the "ungodly sight" of your naked bodies pressed against one another, you laughed, despite Yukhei's possessive instincts kicking in and covering your body with his.

Because you finally had Yukhei in your arms, and, regardless of whether he's got fluffy ears and a tail or not, you were happy to call yourself his.

#kpop scenarios #wayv smut #nct x reader #nct smut #wong yukhei x reader #kpop x reader #kpop au #kpop imagines #kpop smut #kpop angst #nct scenarios #nct angst #yukhei angst #yukhei smut #lucas wong x reader #wayv angst #wayv x reader #my writing

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akitohsworld · 4 years ago

Text

Disclaimer: I wrote this some time ago, when I was very sleepy. How they could've met before the exchange? I love stupid references don't@ me lol

Warning: slight NSFW at the end (under the cut)

Put a spell on me |Solomon X m!Reader

Saying Solomon was feeling under the weather was an understatement. He felt like absolute shit. His stomach was recoiling, giving him the impression he had to vomit, but couldn't. Resulting in him being wobbly on his feet. Although, he was currently trying to sober up. The lack of water caused his head to hurt, while he walked alongside the river to go back to his apartment. He was in no shape to teleport, not with the sense of orientation he had right now.

A frustrated groan escaped him as he grabbed onto the metal fence beside the river, letting gravity take over as he slouched down onto the floor.

It was a beautiful night, you could see the starry sky reflecting in the river. The silence only being disturbed by some outlandish music in the distance. Somewhere, there was another party raving besides the witches sabbath he had successfully escaped.

He knew he shouldn't have accepted that many drinks from the witches. But it had been a successful year, he was only going back to the Devildom next week... And, probably, going to meet that other exchange student by then.

"Hey fam, you okay?" A voice slurred above him, blocking the blinding streetlights before him.

"Yeah yeah, thank you for your concern-," Solomon looked up surprised. He thought he was the only one here-

"Here ," a handsome guy, probably not a sorcerer, held out a bottle of water to him, grinning friendly. "You gotta stay hydrated when drunk."

"Uhm.. thanks?" Solomon chuckled. "That's nice, but I hear I shouldn't accept drinks from kind strangers"

Their hair reflected in the warm light, along with unfocused eyes glistening in the dark, when he shot Solomon a kind smile.

Solomon suspected he was from where the music was coming from. Another rave or party or whatever, since he was wearing flashy attire and sweat was glistening on his smooth skin.

From dancing, maybe? It wasn't that warm. Rather fresh, if Solomon would say so himself.

"Hmmm", the stranger put a hand on his chin. "I guess, I'm feelin' a biiiiit brave tonight haha. Here, I'll take a sip from it first."

He chucked down a bit of water. "There."

Solomon just stared at him for a solid second. Maybe, probably, surely, this was the alcohol. But this stranger had something alluring about him. His glistening lips from the water made Solomon unable to do anything else but stare.

"You going to take it, or not?"

"Ah yes", Solomon grabbed the bottle and took a sip before putting it back down again.

"May I sit with you?" He put a hand on his neck and averted his gaze. "I- uhm came here to get away from all the noise for a bit- I don't wanna be creepy or anything-"

"Oh- Yes of course! Don't worry about it"

The grin returned to his face as he slouched down beside him. "Thank you."

Solomon took another chug of water. He didn't really have anywhere to be, nor did he have the strength to go home anyways. So he figured he might as well sober up, while making some new memories.

"Out of curiosity.. what do you mean by brave?" Solomon smirked at him.

"Well...", the stranger just smiled, a slight tint of colour dusting his cheeks. "You're pretty handsome. And I normally can't ask out guys for the heck of it.. so yeah. I'd say I'm being stupidly brave by talking to someone as hot as you."

The sorcerer laughed. "How very direct"

"Must be the alcohol", he chuckled. "I don't know anyone around here.. and I have a habit of drinking too much when I'm at social gatherings without friends.. What about you? Why are you here all alone?.. If it's okay to ask, at least."

"Ah it's okay~ I'm trying to sober up from drinking too", Solomon sighed. "It was an exhausting night.."

The stranger nodded sighing. "Tell me about it."

"So.. what are you celebrating?"

And so, they proceeded to talk about the reasons why they were here. Their conversation slowly but surely going of its original rails, from politics to religion to light-hearted shows and childhood memories.

Solomon, of course, didn't go into much detail about magic nor anything like that. They were simply trailing off into more and more different topics, running their tongues because of the alcohol.

"Wait, people avoid you when you invite them?" He asked in shock, "Even after you offer to cook for them?! Woah, that's rude after everything you've done..."

Solomon hung his head in disappointment. "I really don't know what the issue is, you know? It's not like they outright avoid me when we nee- want to hang out, but everytime I offer my hospitality they just.. you know?"

"Shiiiit bro... ," he thought for a bit, then joked, "Maybe your cooking sucks?"

Solomon sighed dramatically, proceeding to pout. "Can't blame the tasteless."

"Just kidding kidding!!" he smiled sympathetically, "Maybe it's best if you ask them directly about it. Honesty is always key, no matter where you're from."

Solomon remembered something.

"So, I'm guessing you're not from around here?"

The stranger looked him up and down, seeming to think for a bit and then smirking back at him.

"You tell me, wizard boy. Am I?"

"Oh? How do you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I'm", Solomon gesticulated dramatically, "a wizard."

He became serious and leaned closer to Solomon, putting a hand on his shoulder. Solomon's breath hitched ever so slightly as the stranger's intense gaze held him entranced.

"You're a wizard, Harry."

"Huh?"

The stranger wheezed at his reference, as Solomon finally understood and erupted into laughter himself.

He stopped himself to respond seriously:

"..A wizard?"

"Don't you feel it ," the stranger put their hand over Solomon's heart, making his heart pound a bit harder, which surprised him, "...,Mister Krabs?"

"Huh- What?-"

After a perplexed pause they looked at each other and wheezed and cackled in the cursed manner your friends laugh when someone tells a ridiculous, dumb joke.

As they sat there, next to a river enveloped by the light of street lamps in a park, their laughter erupted through the silent night. Nothing but very faint music could be heard in the distance. Solomon didn't even know why he was laughing so hard. It was a stupid reference. And this stranger was clearly out of it.

There was something about him... Solomon just couldn't put his finger to it.

"S-so haha you're a man of culture as well~", Solomon calmed down, "What's your name?"

" Of course~ (y/N)." The stranger responded smiling, wiping away a tear. "Yours?"

"Solomon.", he answered reciprocating the smile.

"Solomon the wise?"

"Yes." He shot him a knowing glance. "So you do know me~"

"Oh yes~" (y/N)'s fingers slid over Solomon's coat. "You dress like a wizard, you look like a wizard aaaaand your named after King Solomon the wise. Great literature surrounds you: like Ars Goëtia and the lesser keys of, well, you", their gaze turned to look into the sorcerer's grey eyes.

With that, Solomon understood.

This person didn't know him . He knew of his tales, the legends, basically fairy tales.

He was like most humans... Unaware of the magical world he lived in. The realisation stung a bit, but the sorcerer decided to play along anyways as he felt himself sobering up.

"Well, I can't disappoint a fan like yourself now, can I?" Solomon smirked.

"Ohh~ So are you going to show me any tricks?" (y/N) laughed, standing up challengingly. "Come at me with your best shot, wizard boy~"

Solomon didn't know why, but he felt the urge to impress the young man.

"Hmm", he stood up, although a bit wobbly. "Alright. But I'll need an assistant~"

"Oh my oh myyy" (y/N) excitedly clapped their hands together. "I'll sacrifice myself for the greater good then."

Solomon chuckled, shooting him a provocative glance through his lashes at which he thought he saw (y/N) blushing.

"So, (y/N), are you ready?"

"I'm was born ready"

Solomon offered him his hand. "Take my hand, my cute assistant~"

"Oh my, and he has a way with words", (y/N) overdramatically took his hand, "The ladies will die if you do that, you know?"

"Oh will they now?", Solomon pulled him towards himself, "What effect do you think Hecate's power will have on you?"

"I like your funny words, magic man", (y/N) smirked playfully. "Tell me more~"

Solomon scoffed. This guy is a walking reference book.

"Have you ever danced with a sorcerer in the pale moonlight?", he asked, putting another hand on (y/N)'s waist, said man's breath hitching.

"W-well, I'm pretty sure the proverb goes different, Solomon", he put a hand on his counterpart's shoulder as he let Solomon take the lead, "I thought you were going to show me a trick though~"

"Patience is a virtue", he simply said teasingly.

"-and a pain", (y/N) retorted, while taking the first step back.

"So you know how to waltz?", Solomon began to lead.

"School taught me many things", he imitated a rough old man voice, "You youngsters would never understand"

Solomon tried to contain his need to laugh.

"Aha~ Funny, enlighten me?"

"Well, I don't know what they teach in wizard boy-school", they turned, " But back in my day, they tried to teach me calculus"

Solomon quirked a brow. "Tried?" Then he spun (y/N) around.

"Well, I was busy drawing into my notes", his cold hand slipped to Solomon's neck, making the sorcerer tense up.

"And what kind of Mona Lisa-worth drawings were you working on? I bet only of the highest quality~", sarcasm dripped from his voice as he shot (y/N) a teasing smile.

"Oh you can't even imagine~", (y/N) rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner before shooting him a deadpan look, "Penises mostly"

A laugh escaped Solomon. "How refined"

"I am nothing but refined, sir~"

Solomon spun him around again, matching no pace in particular, as he pulled him closer to his chest this time. A small gasp left (y/N)'s mouth.

"H-hey now, be careful there. Or do you want me to fall?"

Solomon's lips pursed up in amusement, but quickly froze as he looked into the man's face.

(y/N)'s expression was contorted in utter joy, like he couldn't contain their grin. He looked stupidly adorable...

Solomon felt his heart clench at the sight. But he quickly snapped out of it as he shot (y/N) another charming smile.

"So, about 'the ladies dying' at my charm.."

"You're still on about that?" (y/N) chuckled amused, "Give it a rest wizard boy. We get it, you're handsome-"

"What about you?" his cheeks burned as he felt himself getting... Nervous? That's new.

Solomon hoped the darkness wouldn't give him away, "How do you feel about my 'charm'?"

For a second everything stood still and they both came to a stop. Their eyes locked and silence engulfed them. Tension began to claw at both man's braveness, as realisation struck them. This encounter had progressively turned into something more. Not some random thing.

It felt like..

(y/N) averted his gaze, face flushing a bright red as he chuckled nervously. "It... It takes a bit more for me to die, Sol.."

Fate.

"Is that so?", Solomon's fingers interlaced with his as he slowly inched closer.

"I mean.. you could find out..." (y/N)'s eyes slowly closed when-

Strings of colourful magic sparked around them.

"Huh?!" His eyes shot wide open, grip tightening on Solomon's hands, "What-"

(y/N) looked around stunned and extremely surprised.

"So? How was that for a 'magic trick'?"

(y/N)'s gaze returned to face him. "Y-you.. How?"

The sorcerer just hummed. "Who knows?"

"This... Must be a dream then..", he sighed disappointed, a tinge of sadness in his voice, "That's a bummer.. I really like you."

Now it was Solomon's turn to blush.

"I- I understand the confusion, but- mph?!"

With that his lips pressed onto Solomon's.

The sorcerer froze, while (y/N)'s mouth opened a little, slipping his tongue through Solomon's mouth. He tasted like sweet liquor, further entrancing the sorcerer in a passionate kiss.

Solomon got over his shock quickly as his hands found the other's waist, pulling him towards himself. When (y/N) sighed into the kiss, hands burying into his white locks, excitement shot through his spine.

Solomon pressed him against a nearby tree. He grew hot as (y/N)'s soft, wet lips brushed against his, the passion growing with each passing second.

"Mnh hah", (y/N) parted for a second, a string of saliva connecting them, lips barely brushing against his, "This.. feels too real though.."

"Because it is- ", Solomon panted against his mouth, connecting their lips again with more of his own vigor this time. His tongue eagerly brushing over the other's.

God, what was he doing?

What was he doing??

But fuck it felt so good.

He couldn't resist the desire to touch (y/N) more and more. He wanted him closer and it showed.

As if on cue, (y/N)'s hand slid over Solomon's pants, suddenly palming his half hard erection and making him moan into the other's mouth longingly.

"Mnn- (y/N) wait.."

"Mnh? Oh sorry-!", he stopped abruptly.

"N-no I mean... Let's.. let's go to my place-"

"Oh~" (y/N) smiled and kissed him again, teeth pulling at his bottom lip as he parted panting.

"Alright then. Show me the way, wizard-boy~"

#obey me #fluff #solomon #solomon x reader #m!mc #m!reader #smut

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peepeepotter · 4 years ago

Text

Hogwarts: New Girl AU

A/N: Warning, some canonical changes were made for plot reasons, the biggest being: Harry and Ginny never dated; Harry, Neville, and Draco are all professors; George has a new WWW store in Hogsmeade. Also, she starts off living with the four guys whereas in New Girl she only lived with all four for about a season. I just thought it would be fun!! Also, when I wrote this it felt a lot longer than it ended up being—so let me know if this is too long or too short or just right!! P.S.: I do NOT condone transphobia (I’m LGBT and will defend trans people until the day I die) and obviously I feel JKR is a shitty person, I write because I like writing and we’ll all agree that 5 year old Daniel Radcliffe wrote the HP series :)

Chapter 1: Who’s That Girl?

Pairing: George x Female Reader

Warnings: Cursing

Words: 3k

Series Masterlist

“So, you know in horror movies when the girls are like "Oh my god, there's something in the basement. Let me just run down there in my underwear and see what's going on in the dark", and you're like "What is your problem? Call the aurors!", and she's like "Okay" but it's too late because she's already getting avada kedavra’d. Well, my story's kind of like that.” y/n said, remembering the borderline traumatic moment that happened two weeks ago.

Y/N sat in the back of a muggle taxi, on her way to her shared apartment with her boyfriend Cormac McLaggen. Only, incredibly uncomfortably, she was completely naked under a trench coat.

“It’s a surprise for Cormac. I’m just gonna walk in and drop my coat, like BAM. There it all is. He said he has this fantasy that I’m a veela with a heart of gold.” Y/N attempted to whisper into the phone speaker.

“You added the ‘heart of gold’ thing, didn’t you?” Ginny asked, chuckling and knowing full well that McLaggen wasn’t exactly a thoughtful person, and wouldn’t have included that in a sexual fantasy.

“Yeah. I wanted to really get into the character, you know?” Y/N tried to get into the fantasy more, hoping it would make her less uncomfortable.

“Oh really? What’s your veela name?”

“Uh...Fleur?”

“That ones taken, Y/N.”

“Whatever, I don’t need a veela name.”

“Either way, I’m so proud of you for getting out of your comfort zone! Good luck babe.” Ginny encouraged.

As Y/N walked into the apartment, she was trying to position herself sexily in the living room. She laid on her side on the couch. Too cliché. She propped herself on the back of the couch. Too masculine. Eventually Cormac entered the living room from the bedroom wearing only his boxers, making Y/N panic about the fantasy.

“Y/N! You’re back early! I wasn’t expecting you—“

Y/N dropped the trench coat. Immediately after a girl, Pansy Parkinson she recognized, followed McLaggen out of the bedroom. Their bedroom. And she was only wearing her underwear.

“Oh.”

“So that’s what happened and why I really need a new place to live. Anyway...what was the question?” Y/N smiled at the four men in front of her. They all looked traumatized by her story.

“Um, do you have any pets?” George asked.

“Oh, no I don’t. Sorry,” She chuckled awkwardly.

“You know what’s funny? When I saw your ad on DumbledoresList I thought you were women.” Y/N laughed. “Crazy, right?”

“Hold up, why would you think that?” Draco spoke before the other two could.

“Just some of the vocabulary used. Like sun-soaked and exposed brick daydream.”

“Draco you wrote exposed brick daydream? Oh my god,” George was nearly in tears with laughter, Harry and Neville following quickly. “Jar, right now, dude.”

“Yeah, jar, seriously. Five galleons.” Harry agreed, pointing to a jar on the mantle of he fireplace with a neon green post-it note labeled “Prick Jar.”

Draco rolled his eyes, getting up and putting the galleons in the jar.

Y/N coughed, trying to refocus the attention. “Look, I really like this apartment. I also really don’t want to live with my friend anymore. She’s a quidditch player...all her friends and roommates are quidditch players. They get into some real weird shit.” Y/N felt like she was pleading with them. Just let me stay here!

“Look I still don’t feel like we know enough—” George was interrupted by Draco.

“Oh, quidditch players? When can you move in?” Y/N grinned, hoping the promise of these three men meeting hot quidditch players would help.

“No, no, loft meeting. Bathroom.” Harry ordered, leading the way down the long hall to the bathroom at the end. When Y/N heard the door shut she quickly and silently followed, eavesdropping on the conversation.

“Come ON guys, she’s friends with quidditch players. Next to veela’s and the girls at Beauxbaton, that’s like the hottest girls in existence.” Draco begged the other two.

“The fact that you’re a professor now and you said that is like...incredibly disturbing.” Harry glared at Draco, George and Neville shaking their heads.

“Yeah, and my sister is a quidditch player so I don’t know about that.” George shuddered.

“I’m not going to lie to you guys, I don’t want a girl living here. Sometimes, I get home from a long day of teaching and I just want to strip and lay on the couch. Let the boys chill.” Harry casually shared. Y/N gagged at the thought, but the other three men in the bathroom made noises of agreement, or at least understandment of his statement.

“I am...actually neutral on this one.” Neville shrugged, causing Draco to scoff.

“You would be neutral on this.” Draco rolled his eyes, but directed his attention toward their fourth roommate. “Alright George, tie-breaker. It’s up to you. Is she in or out?”

“You guys know I don’t do well under pressure like this. Just give me a minute let me think.”

Both Harry and Draco started arguing with each other, putting George under more pressure to make a decision. He slowly backed himself into the stall in the bathroom and locked it. Neville watched everything play out, arms crossed with a smile on his face.

“Oh, now look what you’ve done!” Draco said, gesturing to the hiding George.

“What I’ve done! You started it—” Harry replied.

“Whatever, executive decision—she’s in.” Draco announced.

“YAY! I’m in!” Y/N exclaimed, not able to contain her excitement on the other side of the bathroom door. Draco opened the bathroom door.

“Nobody decided putting a silencing charm on the door would be a good idea?” Harry asked the boys in the bathroom.

“Oh you guys have a stall and urinals? Like a public bathroom? Okay, yeah I guess I can get used to that.” Y/N said, looking around the bathroom that reminded her a little too much of the bathrooms at Hogwarts.

“What do you do for a living anyway? Why do you want to live out here in Hogsmeade?” Draco asked as the group of five made their way back to the living room.

“I just became a professor at Hogwarts! I spent a really long time in both the muggle world and the magical world studying creatures. So, I’m taking over for Hagrid.” Y/N smiled, very excited to be doing her two favorite things in the world: working with animals, and teaching bright young minds.

“Oh, Harry, Neville and I are professors at Hogwarts too. I teach potions, Neville teaches herbology, and Harry teaches...Harry what fucking subject do you teach?” Draco crooked an eyebrow at Harry, purposely acting like he didn’t know what Harry taught.

“Defense against the dark arts.” Harry glared at Draco. “And George here just opened a new Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes shop in Hogsmeade.” Harry said, clapping George’s back. George sheepishly smiled at Y/N.

“Oh that’s awesome! I loved pranks at Ilvermorny. Cormac hated pranks.” Y/N started to tear up, staring off into space.

“George gets it, he was dumped, too.” Draco took his turn to clap his hand on George’s back this time.

“Yeah. Dumped,” George scoffed.

“George I just can’t do this anymore!” Angelina pleaded with George as he covered his ears, despite only the one really working.

“LALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU! WE CAN’T BREAK UP IF I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” George yelled.

“Yeah, I was dumped.” George shrugged. “What about it? It was like eight months ago Draco! Move past it. Pfft, dumped.” George got very heated over...seemingly very little, Y/N noticed.

“Ignore him, he’s still fragile. Which, you aren’t too fragile, right?” Draco asked.

“Pfft. I’m so tough. Don’t even worry about it.”

“We’ll always have Paris. We didn’t have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night. … And you never will. But I’ve got a job to do, too. Where I’m going, you can’t follow. What I’ve got to do, you can’t be any part of.” Y/N was screaming the words of the monologue from Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca at the television, the four men staring at her from the kitchen.

“Feel like we’ve made a mistake yet?” Harry asked Draco, who rolled his eyes and approached Y/N.

“Y/N, stop.” Draco turned the television off. “C’mon, you can’t be like this! You’re a strong woman! Strong women don’t cry over men who clearly didn’t deserve them in the first place! Strong women go out and hook up with strangers in the bar in Hogsmeade to get over their ain’t-shit exes.” Draco pulled Y/N up from off the couch. “Go take a shower. We’re going to the Three Broomsticks tonight and you’re hooking up with someone.” Draco pushed her in the direction of the bathroom.

“And that gentleman is how you take care of a crying woman. Not that any of you know how to handle women at all.” Draco snipped at the three men, who—to be fair—did not know how to deal with women at all.

At the Three Broomsticks, the four men watched Y/N absolutely fail at flirting with any even remotely viable man in the bar. Eventually Draco called her back over to the booth where the four men drank and talked about their days.

“Honey, you’ve got to stop doing whatever it is you were doing out there. In fact, you’re going to stop doing anything. You are going to go sit at the bar and look pretty until a man approaches you, and then you are going to smile and nod and agree to go out with him.” Draco nagged. The three other men were chuckling quietly as Y/N trudged to the bar, hoping for men to approach her.

“Anyway, what is this shit we’re chaperoning on Friday night?” Draco turned to Neville and Harry, hoping one of the two would know.

“I think it’s a school dance but like...not fun for the kids at all. Like I don’t think there’s actually any dancing at all.” Harry summed, confused as well. None of them had ever been to muggle high school, and did not understand what a “homecoming” dance was. The Muggle Studies professor suggested it might be fun for the first Friday back to school, and McGonagall agreed as long as the kids didn’t have too much contact on the dance floor. The Muggle Studies teacher explained to the three men that it was “middle school rules, no touching below the shoulders, room for Merlin in the middle.” if dancing were to be allowed. Neville, Harry, and Draco were clueless as to what that meant.

“Glad I won’t be in on that shit show.” George laughed, taking a sip of his drink.

“We actually signed you up.” Draco said nonchalantly, drinking his beer. George spat his beer out violently.

“Excuse me? I have to spend my Friday night watching a bunch of kids...do what? Drink butterbeer and sit on opposite ends of a room?!” George was clearly pissed off, wanting to have done literally anything else with his Friday night.

“I mean, you’ll see your brother.” Harry offered, which actually eased George’s tensions a bit. He smiled, missing his family.

“Oh, alright. Harry, you charmer, you always know how to get me.” George winked at Harry who waved him off.

“How are things going with you and uh...Loony?” Draco asked Neville. The three other men rolled their eyes, annoyed at how Draco still seemed to live in his own little world.

“Luna. And things are going...they’re going.” Neville shrugged, clueless to his own love life.

“Just as expected, he doesn’t know anything.” Draco shook his head at George and Harry, as if Neville’s cluelessness was their fault.

“Are you blaming—” Before Harry could finish accusing Draco of exactly what Draco was doing, Y/N came back from the bar, squealing about getting a date.

“What did you do?” Draco asked, smirking, just knowing he was right.

“I did what you said! I just smiled and nodded and said I wanted to hookup and he gave me his number and now we’re going out Friday night!” Y/N jumped up and down in tiny jumps, starting to fist-pump.

“This American is so weird sometimes.” Harry whispered.

“It’s endearing, I think.” Neville commented.

“Naive, maybe.” George rolled his eyes, the only one who seemed to notice that she blatantly told the man she would have sex with him.

When the night of her date rolled around, the four men found themselves with an unexpected floo guest.

“Ginny, what are you doing—” George stood.

“Who told her it was a good idea to get back out there again? That’s not your job, that’s my job. I’m her best friend, you guys are just some weird adult men living together. No offense brother, dear.” Ginny was in the living room, pointing an accusing finger at the men sat on the couch while Y/N was in her bedroom getting ready. Ginny was clearly ready to go out clubbing for the night, and was dressed in a short dress and very tall heels.

“None taken.” George rolled his eyes, plopping himself back on the couch.

“Now I’m going to go handle the mess you all created, thank you very much.” Ginny glared, walking over to Y/N’s room and walking in.

Y/N laid on the ground surrounded by clothes. Her hair and makeup was clearly done, but she seemed stumped on what to wear. She was currently wearing a witch hat, a crop top, sweatpants, and cowgirl boots.

“Y/N,” Ginny sighed. “What were you going for with this?” Ginny gestured up and down Y/N’s body.

“Witchy space cowgirl.” Y/N shrugged. “It seems like something you’d find in a porn anyway—”

“Here, let’s find you clothes that will actually get you laid.”

After about half an hour, Ginny emerged from Y/N’s room first, dressed in a crop top and sweatpants.

“Now presenting, the new but not improved, still absolutely perfect Y/N.” Ginny gestured towards Y/N’s bedroom, where Y/N emerged. She was wearing the short black sleeveless dress and tall heels Ginny had been wearing when she emerged from the floo. Draco let out a whistle, Harry and Neville started clapping, and George was sat, stunned. Well, until Y/N started fist pumping again, then they all started booing her.

“Don’t let me keep you guys, I know you have plans with a bunch of 11 to 17 year olds tonight.” Y/N giggled, watching as the men stood up at the reminder.

“Don’t worry, we’d rather be anywhere else. Even here watching your weird dancing.” Draco puffed, the other men agreeing.

“So yeah, that’s how we got a new roommate.” George explained to Fred, who’s hazy, ghostly form nodded.

“Believe it or not, I actually know her. I was her first friend here.” Fred grinned, pointing to himself. George wasn’t surprised. Ever since Fred died and became a ghost, Fred frequently felt lonely, and George knew that. Besides Peeves, he really didn’t have many friends. He couldn’t interrupt teachers while they were teaching, but since Care for Magical Creatures was not a required class, Y/N had a lot of free time. They bonded over pranks, baked goods, and George. “She’s so cute! You totally would’ve dated her a decade ago.” Fred teased his younger twin.

“Yeah, well, things change I guess.” George felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, and looked at the caller ID to find it as Madam Puddifoot’s store number. “One second.” He told his brother. “Madam Puddifoot?” George asked.

“George dearie, your friend Y/N here was stood up by her date. I figured someone should know, she’s in my shop crying and I have to close in,” she paused, clearly checking the time. “In a half hour. Do you think you could help?” George stood, already walking towards the school’s exit.

“Oh hello there.” Y/N sniffled, eyes red and puffy as she looked up to see George taking a seat in front of her. “Don’t you have a school dance you’re supposed to be chaperoning.” She furrowed her eyebrows, pointing a finger at him. She meant for it to be accusatory, but with red puffy eyes, George mostly found it (as Neville said) endearing.

“Some things are more important than watching boys and girls stand on opposite ends of a room.” He shrugged, reaching across the table and grabbing his friends hand. “Listen, real men don’t treat women the way you’ve been treated the past few weeks. I’m sorry you’re going through this. If it makes you feel better, sometimes I still call my ex and leave voicemails in a country accent.” George offered, making Y/N giggled, wiping lone tears.

“Well, you can always call me and talk to me in a country accent instead.” She shrugged, in an attempt to help him the way he’s come to help her. “Do you want to go home and watch—”

“Literally anything other than Casablanca, okay? I will watch whatever sad chick flick you want, but you have watched Casablanca like twenty times this week.” George puffed, standing up and reaching his hand out for Y/N. “Let’s go home and get drunk and cry.” He smiled. Y/N grinned, grabbing his hand and letting him walk her out of the shop. She was still embarrassed, but her heart felt a lot better knowing someone came to help her out of this feeling. She’d never admit it to George, but it was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her.

When Draco, Neville, and Harry returned home, their suit jackets thrown over their shoulders and looking rather tired from dealing with teenagers all night, they found quite the sight for their sore eyes. George and Y/N were stood in front of the TV, clearly drunk, singing along to Heath Ledger’s character serenading Julia Stiles character in 10 Things I Hate About You. Draco, Neville, and Harry all looked at each other, shrugging. They dropped their suit coats and joined in, feeding the fire that was drunken George and Y/N.

And that was the end to Y/N’s first week in the loft above the Weasley’s Wizards Wheezes store in Hogsmeade.

Taglist: @yllwtaxi @ememseay

Thank you for wanting to be tagged!! Let me know what you think, feel free to message me any mistakes I missed. If you want to be tagged, message me/comment!! Thanks y’all :)

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booksforevermore13 · 4 years ago

Text

Marry Me?

Summary: It's been a few years since the Wizarding War and Harry and Ginny are still very much in love with each other. Harry proposes to Ginny, who doesn't take it very well. Little does he know that Ginny's still troubled by her monsters.

Read it on Fanfiction if you prefer!

...

Snow rested upon the park bench as if it were a feather cushion, soft and warm. It covered the rich deep wood in perfect white, and the newly clothed trees rose as wintry fairytale beings in that pristine landscape.

Ginny shivered, gently brushing the snow off from the bench, beckoning Harry to join her.

Harry shook his head and chuckled nervously. He'd been doing that quite often today, Ginny had observed, and while she had been curious at first, she had later ruled it out as simply Harry being Harry.

She shivered again rubbing her hands as she tried to get some warmth back to her body. True, she had a sweater and a coat on but in the chilly winters of Scotland, a two flimsy layers were not enough. If she had known they were coming there, then she would have worn more. Or better yet, not come at all.

Ginny blew on her fingers, trying to warm them up as Harry wordlessly shrugged off his jacket and stepped forward, wrapping it around her.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, taking the jacket off. "You'll be cold."

"No, I won't. You've nothing on, Gin."

"I'm wearing a sweater and a coat. Don't be an idiot, Harry, take the damn jacket," she urged.

But Harry had that stubborn glint in his eyes, so Ginny huffed in defeat, though she was secretly grateful for another thing to wear.

"Why Scotland?" she asked, a few seconds later. "And why aren't you sitting?"

Harry chuckled again, that same nervous chuckle and Ginny's heart clenched in suspicion.

"Are you breaking it off with me?" she asked, her voice stronger than she felt. If he'd brought her all the way to Scotland to simply tell her that they were over, then frankly she'd … well she'd probably yell.

Harry frowned, and then hid eyebrows contorted in confusion.

"What? No!" he exclaimed. "That's not the reason. Why would I…" He shook his head then reached into his pocket, slowly bringing out a small box.

Ginny breath caught in her throat as a humourless chuckle left her lips.

This couldn't be happening.

She hastily got up, Harry's jacket falling off her shoulders. Her heart hammered against her chest, leaving her breathless.

Harry scrabbled, bending down before stumbling as he almost fell face-first into the snow.

"Heh," he chuckled, "This-I-I'll just stand up."

In other circumstances she'd have laughed but her throat constricted as Harry got up on his feet and smiled at her, before opening the box.

Inside, there was a small silver ring, resting upon blue leather, and engraved with vines running across its length. It was beautiful. It was utterly and completely beautiful. If Ginny had seen it in a shop window, she'd have stopped and marveled at it. Now, however, the ring brought dread, and she could feel the panic threaten to overcome her.

She looked at Harry and spotted the hopeful glint in his eyes as he smiled brightly.

"I think you know where this is going," he said. "Ginevra Molly Weasley, you are my love," his voice broke, "my life, the one person who has been by my side through times, good and bad. You are, frankly speaking, my everything and I am so lucky to call you... mine. Will you-will you marry me?"

Ginny felt her eyes tearing up. Her throat closed and she panicked, stepping backwards as her mind floated most involuntarily to what he had said.

Ginny struggled to catch her breath as she saw Harry smile fall, concern replacing his smile.

The world was getting abnormally blurry.

It was closing up, it was suffocating and Ginny felt her mind wander over to the first place she could think of, willing all her strength to Apparate.

Home.

...

She landed in a small clearing near her house, her feet buckling as her knees collided with the muddy ground. Her hands reached forward to support herself, and she retched violently, tears of exertion leaking out of her eyes.

A few acres away, she could see the smoke coming out of the chimneys. Her mother's burgundy dress had been hung out to dry and was just clinging to the line, as the chilly winter wind blew through their garden.

Ginny coughed, brushing away the dirt on her fingers. All she could think about was Harry's expectant face, and his huge smile, and all she could register was how badly she had disappointed him.

The thought made her want to heave again, but she refrained, instead choosing to turn away from her house. Even the Burrow seemed to stir dread in her, because all it suddenly reminded her of was the days she had spent locked in her room thinking about him.

"You were foolish to think I'd ever be a friend to the likes of you," he had said, while Ginny whimpered at his feet.

"Pathetic," he had spat then and she had winced at the menacing snarl on her face.

Ginny closed her eyes, bile rising up her throat at the memory of her lying on the cold, wet floor of the Chamber.

"I trusted you, you monster!" she had cried out, "I thought you were my friend. That you understood me. I told you everything!"

"Which only confirmed that you were a despicable wretch," he had laughed cruelly, and forced her chin upwards, as his nails dug into her skin. "Fancying Harry Potter, as if! Even he has standards enough to never bow down to scum like you!"

He had smirked and watched in evident glee as Ginny sobbed, utterly ashamed of what she had done.

"I wouldn't be so sure though," he had added as an afterthought. "Him being the fool he is, there's no guarantee he won't start inclining towards you."

A few tears fell, and Ginny rubbed at them furiously, her mud-caked fingers leaving streaks of dirt on her cheeks.

"But it would all be temporary."

"Ginny?"

Her eyes snapped open as she whirled around, the voice foreign to the one from her memory. Her eyes widened as she saw her youngest brother standing opposite her, concern etched on his face.

"Ron?" she questioned, as she wiped the dirt off of her face with the sleeve of her coat.

"What happened, why are you crying?"

"I'm not," she said hurriedly. "What-what are you doing here?"

"I saw you standing out here alone," he answered, "and don't give me that bull, why have you been crying?"

"I was not," Ginny said fiercely.

A smirk passed on Ron's face, which slowly grew into an impish grin. "Did he ask?" he said, a knowing expression on his face.

"How'd you know?"

"I'm his best friend, of course I know. What did you say?" he asked excitedly, almost jumping from one foot to another.

She stared at Ron for a few minutes, before bursting out crying.

Ron looked at her in alarm before stepping forward. "Ginny, bloody hell!" he exclaimed, pulling her into a hug. "What-wh-did he do something? What's wrong?:

"Nothing," Ginny managed between sobs. "I ran away."

"What?" Ron yelled, "You ran—what, why the bloody hell did you do that?"

Ginny's sobs grew louder as she clutched at Ron's shirt, and his grip around her grew stronger.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, panicked. "Ginny, talk to me, please. What happened?"

"I panicked, and I-I... I didn't know what to do, so I Apparated here."

She could feel Ron frowning, and knew it was a shock for him, seeing her cry like this. She knew he'd expected something more joyous.

"Gin," he urged. "Ginny, why'd you run?" he asked, keeping his voice level as best he could. Ginny knew he was at his wit's end, for after years and years of her being the one he had turned to in times of distress, the roles had reversed and he was helpless.

She looked up at him hesitantly, through watery eyes, half-expecting a confused look she so fondly identified with him. Ron wouldn't understand; this was not his forte.

What was not expecting was gentle eyes and as she looked up at him, she realized, not for the first time that somewhere along the way, he had grown up too.

But she just couldn't get herself to say it.

"I don't want to marry him," she choked out finally. "I can't."

Ron frowned, hiding his confusion extremely well. "You don't want to marry Harry Potter," he repeated, more as if convincing himself. "Why?"

"I," she sighed. "I just can't. I... don't want to."

"You don't want to marry him?" he asked incredulously. "Ginny, you do realize that this is the same man you've been in love with for years?"

"I just don't know, Ron," Ginny groaned. "I panicked, and I overreacted, and I-I just fled from the scene."

Ron stared at her for a few minutes, his brows creased in a frown before he hugged her again. Hugging always worked, Ginny had told him herself. Most of the time. She didn't think he'd take her advice so seriously.

"You're... allowed to overreact," he said, carefully choosing his words. "This is a decision that can affect your entire life, so if anything, you can cry a bit more. Anything that will help."

He winced as Ginny let out a watery sob, and more tears flooded her cheeks.

"You're, you're-you've grown up," he continued, his voice becoming softer, "And I never realized it, I think. But you were always wiser than me, always the one more practical, and somewhere along the way, I realized I looked unto you more than you or I will ever admit."

"Whatever you decide, believe that it is right, for I'll be standing beside you."

Ginny tensed, his words setting in her.

What she was deciding now was not right, she knew that but Ginny would not tell him that.

She couldn't.

...

They had gone inside after her talk with Ron, and her mum had almost cried seeing her. It had been two months since she had last visited, and her mum had immediately bombarded her with questions, just barely held back by her dad.

She had held on quite well before she saw Harry at the door.

Everything had gone downhill since.

While her mum amicably chatted with Harry, his gaze never left her, his green eyes piercing into her face. It was not long before she cracked and immediately excused herself, choosing to go into the fields instead of the recluse of her old room.

She couldn't handle the memories her room brought up. None of them were good enough, at least, none of them were good enough to overlook the bad ones.

She heard the small pattering of footsteps behind her and felt her throat closing in panic. There was only one person who would come after her right now, and it was the last person she wanted to see.

"You ran away," Harry said, his voice barely audible over the whistling of the wind.

Ginny turned around and stared at him, her face devoid of emotion for the first time that day.

"Why?" his voice cracked, but there was a touch of desperation in his voice.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"That's not a good enough answer," he said angrily. "Why did you run away, Gin?"

Ginny stayed quiet, her red hair whipping in the wind. It slashed across her face, pricking against her eyes, but she couldn't get herself to care.

"Is it too early?" Harry spoke over the wind. "Did I do something wrong?"

No, she wanted to yell. He had done everything right. She was the problem and she couldn't be more disgusted with herself. It was impossible to measure how much she loved him, yet now that the time had come to express her feelings, she was coming up with nothing.

Ginny felt the seconds ticking away as she looked at the ground, the white of the snow contrasting against the brown of her boots. She heard footsteps coming over to her and felt a hand resting against her own as Harry lifted her chin and forced her eyes to meet his.

Ginny gasped at the anger-laden sorrow in his eyes, and she pulled back, trying to get away from his piercing gaze.

"Don't run," Harry warned, as Ginny continued pulling. "For Merlin's sake, don't run!" he yelled.

She stopped in her tracks, a tear spilling from her eye.

"I deserve an answer, Gin, please," he begged. "Why?"

A choked sob broke through, and Ginny pushed Harry with all her strength, making him let go of her.

"This won't last," she choked out. "This is temporary, this is not permanent, he told me this wouldn't last!"

The whistle of the wind had become more pronounced, and it whipped around them, numbing the tips of her fingers.

"Who told you?" Harry pressed on. "Goddamnit, Gin, who told you that?"

"Him."

It was her voice that sent Harry recoiling, but in that briefest second possible, he knew exactly who she was talking about.

"Riddle," he whispered. "Shit, Gin—"

"There's nothing to talk about," Ginny said. "I can't do this, Harry."

The anger was back now. Harry stepped forward, his fingers wrapping around her forearm to keep her in place.

"Do you realize we've never talked about him, Gin? Never talked about that year?" he said, his voice dangerously low.

"We have, of course we have."

"Once," Harry's voice cracked, "when you yelled at me in my fifth year for not asking you how it felt like to get possessed by Voldemort. But that doesn't even…." he broke off, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Ginny couldn't bear to look at him. So she didn't, instead gazing away at the leafless trees, whose boughs weighed down due to the weight of the snow.

"For two years after, you listened to everything I had to vent about. But not once did you ever talk about him."

"Riddle has nothing to do with this, Harry!" Ginny cried out. "It doesn't matter what he said to me, it's what I choose to believe—"

"Doesn't matter?" Harry bellowed, grabbing her arm. "It matters, Gin, because after all these years, it's still influencing what you do!"

"Riddle has nothing to do with anything in my life!" Ginny yelled, pulling her hand away.

Harry let go of it, his green eyes, following her erratic breathing and her frenzied steps. "Do you know what he said to me in the Chamber?" he said quietly. "He told me how you poured your heart out to him. He bloody quoted you. That's right, he recited word to word whatever you had written in that damn diary."

"No," Ginny said. "No."

"Have you ever wondered why you're so scared of things lasting? How you always run away when it comes to me?"

"Stop, Harry, please," Ginny begged. "Please, just stop."

"Because I've let you in. I've let you solve all my problems, but when it comes to you, I'm helpless."

The wind whipped around, cold and unrelenting, blowing up billows of snow. Ginny closed her eyes, the cold of the wind creeping along her bones as she shivered, her hands wrapping around her stomach.

After a while, that seemed like ages, Ginny found herself being pushed gently towards the shed, Harry's hand on the small of her back as she stepped inside the building, welcoming the warmth of the place.

It was another few minutes before Ginny let herself look at Harry, her heart tugging as she saw his pained expression. His green eyes were still stuck on her, unmoving, and as brown met green, she realized just how torn he was over this.

"I'm sorry," she found herself whispering. "I'm so sorry."

Harry reached forward, his arms wrapping around hers and bringing her closer, until her head was under the crook of his neck and she was safely enveloped in his embrace.

"I'm just scared," she continued, in that same small voice she'd be ashamed to use in front of anyone else. But with Harry, it seemed, her guards melted away until she was her vulnerable self, her heart completely belonging to him.

"When I woke up in the Chamber and saw you," she said, "part of me was relieved and part of me was just vying the time until I'd become just Ron's little sister again. Stupid, I know."

"No," Harry said. "Don't ever say that."

Ginny looked up at him and braced herself for the words she'd say next. She'd never admitted it to anyone before, in fear she'd be shunned away for being too petty.

"The first time, I entered Hogwarts, I was known as the Weasleys' little sister, second time I entered, I was the helpless girl taken into the Chamber. The years after that," Ginny's voice broke, "I did everything I could to prove them wrong but I think-I think that part of me has always been scared that I'll become that small eleven-year-old kid again, who believed in something temporary. And I found myself applying that to everything."

Ginny choked on her words, as she felt the dam break and the tears start cascading down her cheeks. She'd said one of her worst fears out loud, and it just showed how controlled she still was by that… monster.

She felt Harry's rough fingers brush away the tears as he kissed her forehead, his lips lingering on her skin.

"I don't think you know exactly how much I love you, Ginevra Weasley," he said, cupping her chin and looking directly into her eyes.

Green to Brown.

"And-and if I didn't have you in my life, I wouldn't know what to do," he said. "You, this," he pointed at each of them, "is the most solid thing I have, and it is not going away anytime soon. I won't let it."

She was still looking at him, her brown eyes streaked with red. It pained him to see her this way, but he needed to get his point across.

And after a long silence, Ginny whispered, her voice raspy from all that crying.

"Okay."

...

Spring had come with a gentle spirit, as one who realises that warming up slowly brings the best results to the heart.

Harry's head was on her lap, the ghost of a smile on his lips as Ginny played with the ends of his hair. It had grown out in the last two months, and he hadn't bothered to cut it, so that it now rested just above his neck.

Ginny, needless to say, was not impressed.

"You look like Tarzan," she complained. "Just with black hair."

"You know Tarzan?"

"I have a Muggle-obsessed father," Ginny quipped. "I literally grew up around Tarzan and Her-Hercel—"

"Hercules."

"Yes that."

Harry laughed and Ginny bent forward, her lips lingering on his scar. For a moment, she hesitated, her smile off her face in a short second as she nudged Harry to get up. Her hands left his hair and brought out a box from behind her, prying it open to reveal a silver ring, with vines running across its length, identical to the ones she had seen two months earlier.

"I know this is overdue and I know last time didn't go out as you'd have wished it to," Ginny scrambled, "But will you... marry me, Harry?"

"Huh?" Harry's eyes widened and he shot up, gaping at Ginny in disbelief.

"Will you marry me, Harry?"

Disbelief turned to delight as his face broke out in a smile in mere seconds and he kissed Ginny, one hand wrapped around her waist. The other slipped into his jacket pocket, and he brought out a small box that had been lying untouched for the past two months.

"Only if you marry me, Gin," he said, as he took out the ring.

Ginny's eyes widened and she laughed giddily. "Have you been carrying that ring all this time?"

Harry nodded, smiling at the look of incredulity on Ginny's face.

"Then yes."

#fanfiction #harry potter #ginny weasley #ron weasley #love #marriage #written for the quidditch league fan fiction competition #marry me?#it is largely overlooked how much trauma ginny weasley went through as a eleven yer old #trauma #healing #hinny fanfiction #hinny #harry/ginny #tom riddle #chamber of secrets #second year #hinny proposal

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storiesforallfandoms · 4 years ago

Text

cliche ~ yungblud

word count: 2440

request?: yes!

chieftreepandagarden “Can I please get a yungblud x female reader. The reader is Dom child best friend who is a YouTuber and revealing on her channel that she is dating dom”

description: while doing a q&a on her channel, she decides to tell the cliched story of her and her childhood best friend falling in love

pairing: yungblud x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist

“Next question is one that I get a lot,” I read from my phone. “How did you meet Dom?”

I smiled to myself as I remembered the very first day I had met my best friend.

My mum had dragged me to the new neighbours house to wecolme them to the neighbourhood. She said we should be neighbourly, that everyone else had gone to welcome them. I didn’t understand why what everyone else did had to affect what I had to do, but I was only 6. It wasn’t like I could just stay home.

A woman around mum’s age answered the door after mum knocked. She smiled at the two of us, but gave me a wider smile that I always got because I was a “cute child”.

“Hello there,” she said, directing a high pitched voice that people usually use when talking to young children in my direction.

“Hi,” I said. My mum nudged me due to my bored tone.

“I’m (Y/M/N), and this is my daughter, (Y/N),” she said. “We wanted to come welcome you to the neighbourhood.”

“Well, aren’t you the sweetest?” the still unnamed woman said, kneeling down to smile at me. “I have a little boy that’s about your age. If you and your mummy would like to come in you could play with him for a bit.”

The mention of another kid my age excited me more, and I turned to look at my mum, hopefully. She smiled and nodded, “Of course, we’d love to come in.”

I excitedly followed our new neighbour to her backyard, where a boy roughly my age was sat in the grass playing with some toys. I bounded out of the door and sat next to him, way too excited to play with a kid I didn’t even know yet.

“Who are you?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows together.

“I’m (Y/N), I’m your new neighbour. Your mum said I could come play with you!”

This was a good enough explanation, as he smiled back and said, “Okay! I’m Dom!”

And with that, we began playing with his toys.

“Kids are way too trusting,” I said as I finished the story. “I was really okay with running into this stranger’s house at the age of 6 because I was told that there was another kid there, and Dom was just okay with a random 6 year old girl sitting next to him and playing with his toys! I tell you, if we had more common sense we never would’ve met. It’s probably a good thing that neither of us have ever had common sense, or else we wouldn’t have stayed such good friends.”

I looked back down at my phone before looking up at the camera again. “You know, there are so many questions about Dom and our friendship, so why don’t I just tell the story of the second most asked question: have we ever had a crush on one another? The simple answer: yes! Of course we have! We’ve been best friends for almost 20 years now, that included going through that awkward adolescent phase where all you wanna do is kiss or fuck anything that walks. Doesn’t help that our best friends kept trying to force us together in high school, of course.”

“There is no way you feel absolutely nothing for, Dom, or you never have felt anything,” Krista said as I closed my locker door.

“He’s basically my brother, Kris, that’s gross!” I responded, hoping neither of the girls noticed the blush on my face.

“You keep saying that, but brothers and sisters don’t act the way you two do,” Genevieve told me. “You’re always being all touchy feely with one another, and you always tease one another in a flirty way.”

“I tease him because he’s an idiot,” I retorted. “I don’t know why you two want us together so bad. He’s my best friend, nothing more and nothing less.”

“Just think of how cute you guys would be together!” Krista said. “You’d be the power couple of the group!”

I rolled my eyes at her and promptly elbowed both of them upon seeing Dom and his friends approaching us. Genevieve and Krista giggled as the three boys met us halfway.

“Hey,” Dom said, smiling his bright smile directly towards me. I felt my heart race with excitement, but I tried my best not to let it show.

“Hey,” I responded, smiling back at him. Krista nudged me slightly, but I shot her a quick glare as she did.

“We’ve finally convinced Dom to come to watch the football game with us tonight,” his friend, Harry said. “Will you ladies be joining us?”

I looked between Genevieve and Krista, but they were already looking back at me expectantly. I shrugged. “I guess...maybe. I do have a lot of homework to do.”

“The game will be over by, like, 8 at the latest, you can pull an all nighter,” Harry insisted.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to go. Homework was the last thing I wanted to be doing with my night, especially when my grades were doing well alright, and our teachers liked me too much to ever fail me. If my homework was late they’d probably just give me some sort of late penalty.

“Alright,” I said with a shrug. “I’m down. What about you guys?”

Genevieve and Krista were already nodding before my words were completely out.

“Sweet,” Dom’s other friend, Josh, said. “The game starts around 6, so meet at the bleachers around 5 so we can get a good seat?”

We all agreed and went our own ways as the warning bell rang.

~~~~~~

I was the first to show up to the game at 5 on the dot. I was known for my punctuality in the group.

I was wearing a hoodie with a coat over it, and had my matching beanie and gloves on. It was only late September, but the winter cold was already creeping in. I was so cold that I was starting to regret choosing sitting outside and watching a football game over the warmth of my room, even if it meant I had to do homework for that warmth.

I kept checking my phone, waiting for a text from one of the girls, or even from Dom, to say they were almost here. As time ticked away, I thought about just ditching the whole thing. It was way too cold to just be standing around outside.

Finally, I saw Dom’s familiar lanky stature approach. I smiled when I saw him, and his smile mirrored mine when his eyes rested on me.

“Hey,” he said. “Are the girls here yet?”

I shook my head. “No, I haven’t heard from them yet either. You hear from the guys.”

“Josh said his mom is making him babysit his little sister, and Harry says he was grounded for bad grades,” Dom responded. “So...just us I guess?”

I nodded. “Yeah...just us.”

I didn’t know why I was having trouble trying to talk to Dom. We had been best friends since we were six years old, we talked all the time. But, in recent years, it had always been through text - where it’s easier to say just about anything - or our friends were with us. I hadn’t talked to Dom one-on-one, face to face, in at least a year.

“Well...we should go find a place to sit I guess,” Dom said. Unable to find my voice, I just lamely nodded.

The first half of the game was spent in silence, besides cheering every time our school managed to get a goal. I couldn’t help but check my phone a few times, hoping one of the girls was going to text me to say they were running late. Of course, that didn’t happen.

“I feel like we haven’t hung out just the two of us in a while,” Dom finally spoke after what felt like an eternity of silence. “And I feel bad about that. I hope you don’t think I’m replacing you with the boys or anything.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at this. “No, of course I know that’s not your intent. You could never replace me anyways, I’m one of a kind after all.”

The two of us laughed together, and it felt like the awkward weight on my shoulders was lifted.

“We just ended up in a friend group instead of just a duo,” I continued. “Which I think is fine. I’m glad you have Harry and Josh, and I’m glad they get along with Kris and Gen so well. It just resulted in us hanging out as a group more than just as the two of us. It was bound to happen.”

“I still feel bad about it,” Dom said. “And, as shitty as it is to say, I’m glad it ended up just being the two of us tonight. I feel like this was long overdue.”

I smiled, grateful for this alone time with Dom, too.

I shivered as another gust of cold air passed over us. Dom looked at me, concerned. “You cold?”

I nodded. “Are you not?”

“Well...yeah, I am. Not as cold, apparently.” He opened his arms to me and gestured for me to lean into him. “Come on, bring it in.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I leaned into his embrace. I took in the familiar scent of his cologne, something I had loved to smell for years. Being in his arms was so warm, but still I found myself shivering, this time mainly from nerves.

I spent the rest of the game in Dom’s arms, only once leaving when one of our football players kicked the ball into the opposite team’s neck and got us our winning goal. When the game ended, Dom and I walked together to my car, taking our time as we did so.

“I’m glad you came out tonight,” Dom said. “Mainly so I wasn’t stood up like a complete loser.”

I giggled. “I’m glad I came out, too. Now, it’s back to homework hell for me.”

Dom groaned. “Yeah, I get that. I gotta go finish a paper for English, too.”

“Oh, I finished mine last night! Text me if you need any help, I can do my best to give you the answers without flat out telling you what to write.”

Dom smiled. “I’d love that, thanks (Y/N).”

There was another silence between us a we arrived to my car. Dom was standing so close to me that I could feel his warmth still. I turned to face him and came to find he was mere inches away from me. If I wanted to (and boy, did I ever want to), I could’ve leaned forward and kissed him. I could’ve figured out right there in that moment if the feelings I had for Dom were reciprocated.

But of course, I didn’t. I stepped away from him before I did something I regretted, although my heart was thudding so hard against my chest that it was making my vision blurry. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, (Y/N).”

I watched him walk away to his car, mentally kicking myself for not making the move in that moment.

“You’d be right to call me an idiot because of that,” I told the camera. “To this day, my biggest regret was not telling Dom in that moment how I felt about him. A few years after that is when Dom went off and started making music and became Yungblud. We kept in touch, but he was always touring and travelling, so it wasn’t the same. Then, he started dating Halsey, and you can imagine how I felt about that. Luckily, this past year we got back in touch, as you all know because he’s been heavily present in my videos lately.

“How does this story end, I can hear you asking. Did you ever tell Dom? Yeah, I did, right after he kissed me and told me he had liked me ever since we were kids. He really has be beat there since I thought he was gross and had cooties when we were kids. And this is where the story becomes terribly cliched, because now I’m dating my childhood best friend. Have been for...almost a year now, actually. I’m quite proud of myself for being able to keep it a secret that long. It wasn’t easy, but I did it.”

I continued filming my Q&A video as if I hadn’t just dropped the biggest bomb on my viewers, knowing how they’d react once the video went live.

I finished filming and sat back on the couch, turned on my favourite show on Netflix, and began editing the video. I was hoping to have it up by the next day, then I’d take the weekend off to watch the reactions roll in.

As I sat back to edit, the door to my apartment opened and Dom walked in. He smiled at me and held up a bag of take out he had picked up. “I hope you haven’t eaten yet.”

“I’ve been filming for a solid two hours, of course I haven’t eaten,” I laughed, extending my hand to the take out bag. “Give.”

“Learn some manners!” he said as he approached me. I playfully rolled my eyes as he leaned his head down towards mine and gave him a quick kiss before pulling the bag from his hands. “Hey!”

I giggled as he tried to get it back from me, but I had already opened the bag and stuffed a handful of fries into my mouth.

“At least let me get us some plates,” he said, kissing my forehead before going to my kitchen.

“I filmed that video today,” I called after him, after swallowing the mouthful of food. “The Q&A one where I revealed we’re together. I’m hoping to have it up by tomorrow.”

“The internet is going to implode.”

“I know, but I’d like for them to know now.” He joined me on the couch again, passing me my plate. “I like you too much to keep you a secret any longer.”

“The feeling is mutual,” he said, kissing my cheek again. “Show me the video when it’s done editing, I want to be the first person who knows we’re dating.”

I laughed as I playfully pushed him. I rested my head on his shoulder, leaning into him the way I had those years before at the football game, as I continued to edit the video.

#yungblud #yungblud imagine #yungblud x reader #dominic harrison #dominic harrison x reader #dominic harrison imagine #dom harrison #dom harrison imagine #imagine #one shot #request #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom

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enthusiasticharry · 4 years ago

Text

Baby Steps

summary: you’re harry’s sons therapist, and he isn't the only one you end up helping.

word count: hi! it has been a long while since I’ve posted on here so I hope you enjoy this 8.6k piece of pure fluff and smut!

masterlist | asks

As a child, Harry had never been given many opportunities to freely express himself. He grew up in a rural area where the sheep overruled the people and the only extra-circular activity available was playing football at the park with his friends that weren’t truly his friends. He was only a mere teenager when he decided that whenever he had kids, he would give them as many opportunities as possible.

He tried in school, don’t discourage him about that, but it didn’t work out as planned. That’s how he ended up working within the company he did. He started from the bottom, working 9 to 5 within a cubicle everyday until he had worked up to become chief editor. He had his own office, with his name written on a plaque upon the door and his photos sat upon the desk. It made day to day that little bit more enjoyable.

“Finishing early today, Mr. Styles?” Genevieve asked, watching as he closes his door behind him.

“Yes, I am.” He smiles politely, “It’s been in the calendar for weeks.”

“I’ve noticed.” He knew she hadn’t. Genevieve was okay at her job, he supposed. She was an apprentice the company had hired straight out of university and of course he didn’t mind that she was still finding her feet, “Enjoy your evening, Mr. Styles.”

“You too, Genevieve.” He nods his head at the girl and walks towards the exit.

At the ripe age of twenty-eight, Harry knew that he still had his entire life ahead of him but at the same time he was pretty content. He had his job, his small town house and more importantly his son, Theo. He hadn’t expected his girlfriend of a couple of months to get pregnant but in his mind he knew what had happened and that it was something that the two of them had to take responsibility for, but she didn’t think the same thing. Harry had loved her, and he had hoped that she had loved him and their son as much as he did but it just wasn’t meant to be. He had suspected that she was going to leave, he just hadn’t expected it to be in the middle of the night whilst their son was a month old and still nursing.

It was the following morning that Harry knew that he was going try his damned hardest to be the best Father possible for his son, try to give him the world and everything good that came along with it.

“Harry!” Mrs. Walters, the woman who lives next door exclaims as she throws the door open, “Please come in.”

“Hi Mrs. Walters.” He smiles, following the elderly woman into the living room, “Has he been good today?”

“We had a little disagreement at nap time but apart from that he’s been perfect!”

“I’m glad to hear it. He’s never been the biggest fan of naps.”

Just seeing Theo’s little face light up as he walked into the room was enough reason to keep his heart beating for centuries. Theo was the absolute double of Harry, and he could even see it himself. Even at three years old he had his father’s green eyes and curly brown hair and it was another thing that caused his love for his little man to grown everyday.

“Dada!” He toddled over to his father, only just starting to feel confident upon his feet, and wrapped his arms around Harry’s legs, his chunky cheeks pressed against his shin.

“Hi bubba.” He picks his son up and rests him upon his hip, “Did you have a nice day with Mrs. West?”

Theo nods and drops his head down upon Harry’s shoulder with a light sigh of content.

“He’s been amazing, Harry, don’t worry.” The older woman drops her head to Harry’s free shoulder, “I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Mrs. West.”

Theo’s little hand rests comfortably within Harry’s as they walk through the door of community centre, his little feet tapping upon the wood in his trainers.

“Harry! Theo!” You exclaim, walking over to the two of them with a large smile across your face, “I’m so glad you could make it this week!”

“Yeah. Sorry about last week, I couldn’t get out of work on time and then once I did he wasn’t in the best of moods.”

“Don’t worry about it! It’s totally fine, we understand that you can’t make every week.”

Harry nods his head.

“Anyway.” You have a nice smile and it was probably the first thing that Harry noticed about you when you met, “We’re just about to get started.”

Harry sits down, crossing his legs as he does so. Theo drops down upon his father’s lap straight afterwards, his face pressed into the material of Harry’s crisp white dress shirt. Harry’s eyes bounce to look over the other children, the ones who acted similarly too Theo when they first joined. They all either sat in their parents laps comfortably or on the floor now, not one with a flicker of anxiousness across their features.

Theo and Harry have attended three of these sessions to help with confidence, and Theo had only just started to leave his shell in the last twenty minutes of the last session they went to and now it felt as though Harry had messed everything up again. He felt as though they were back to square one.

Then he feels a hand upon his shoulder.

“Its okay.” You smile, squeezing gently, “He’ll be okay, don’t worry.”

He will be, Harry knows that.

Another week had passed and Harry was yet again sat in a circle in the children’s room of the community centre with Theo sat upon his lap. Harry felt a little more at ease this week, since his little boy sat forward with a small, very small smile on his lips as he looked at… you? You hadn’t been there to greet them like you were last week, and he certainly hadn’t had the chance to say hello yet. It had been a warm-ish day today and Harry concluded that was probably why you were wearing a cute yellow sundress with small white flowers on it, something he had never seen you in before. You still wore your smile, Harry had noticed.

“Today.” You always overplayed your facial features to interest the children, “We are all going to write a story together.”

Theo’s little eyes widened in excitement.

“You like that idea, bub?” Harry whispered. Theo nodded.

“So I’ll start.” You touch your chest, “Then we’ll pass to Edith’s mummy and then Edith and we’ll continue that way around the circle!”

Harry and Theo would be third, which wasn’t too bad. He just hoped that Theo would get involved, he loved stories enough to have a mind spiralling with ideas.

“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away there lived a princess…” You start, smiling to the person next within the circle.

“…in a big castle with a swimming pool!”

“She has dog!”

“…called muffin who she loves to play with in the…”

“Park!”

“Then.” Harry started, leaning so that he was speaking to Theo as well as the rest of the group, “One day, something magical appeared in front of her…”

“Dinosaur!”

Harry beams and whispers, “Well done Theo!”

The story finishes with the princess riding the dinosaur along a rainbow, courtesy of the little girl called Tara who finishes the circle. Normally the children disperse the last twenty minutes or so to play amongst themselves whilst the adults talk about what type of week they’ve had. They were doing just that, but today, Harry’s heart stopped at the sight of his little boy sat with little Tara drawing at the tiny desk when usually he just does that on his own.

Harry had honestly never thought that he would be going to group behavioural therapy for his three year old son, but, he promised he would do anything for his little boy.

“Hi everyone.” They were now sat around a table, one fit for adults, whilst a few of your colleagues watched the children, “I’m excited to hear how all your weeks have been!”

Tara’s mum starts, explaining that this week the nursery had phoned up to explain that she hadn’t spoken to anyone at lunchtime but there had been the odd time where she’d had a small conversation with a couple of classmates.

Harry listens to a few others. How Ryan had bit a kid at school the other day, how Delilah refused to say anything for a couple of days that week. Harry had never experienced Theo biting or injuring other kids but he had experienced him shutting down and not speaking to anyone.

“Harry.” You smile, “How has little Theo been this week?”

“He’s, uh, been okay I suppose.” He runs his finger across his bottom lip, “Nothing out of the ordinary. Had an odd hour or so yesterday.”

“Has he made any friends at nursery, yet?”

“No. I don’t think so. I’m trying to get him in everyday but it’s proving to be difficult.”

You smile, “He’ll get there Harry. It might take him a bit longer than normal but he will get there.”

After listening to the other parents, the meeting for that week finishes. Harry waits for Theo to finish his drawing before helping him into his coat. Your words pondered through his mind — he certainly hoped that Theo would get better but it was a walk, not a sprint.

“Hi Theo.” You beam as you walk towards the two, “Can I see your drawing?”

After a few moments of contemplation, he passes the drawing to you.

“Wow! It’s beautiful! Can you draw me one whilst I talk to your Daddy?”

Theo listens to your request and starts on the drawing straight away, picking up colour after colour whilst Harry looks at you with furrowed eyebrows.

“I just wanted to have a quick word, nothing bad, I promise.”

Harry nods.

“Theo is making excellent progress in the program and I’m sure you’ve seen the results for yourself but as you know he is going a little slower than the rest of the kids.”

“If this is because we missed one then it’s completely my fault—”

“It’s not! Don’t think that, it’s not!” You’re quick to say, “I was thinking the other day of ways to help and I remembered that my friend runs a group at the weekend for children that are struggling to cope with the loss of a parent.”

“But I thought he was too young to be affected by that?”

“I thought so too but I did some more research and even though he was very, very young when his mother left, it could still be affecting him.” You swallow and tuck a piece of your hair behind your ear, “He will have noticed that he doesn’t have two parents and that could be the stem of all of the problems.”

Of course this had run through Harry’s mind a few time but he always brushed it off because he was so young when it happened. The fact that woman might be the reason his son was so quiet and not himself all of the time caused his stomach to flip. He hadn’t seen her since that night but she was still affecting him day upon day and he hated it.

“When is this group?”

“Oh!” You exclaim, happy that he hadn’t just shut the idea down, “It’s on Saturday at ten whilst twelve but you can come and go as you please.”

“Will you be there?” Why had he just asked that? He probably sounded like such a weirdo.

“I will.” You smiled, “Just for you.”

Harry certainly hadn’t expected to spend his Saturday morning sat at upon a bench outside the community centre watching Theo play with other kids. He was surprised how easily Theo had left his shell around all of these kids but he supposed they all had something in common, that they were raised by only one parent.

Another thing he hadn’t expected was to be sat sharing the said bench with you, but he wasn’t complaining.

“Black coffee.” You smile, holding out the cup for him to take.

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem.” You take a sip of your own cup of tea, “He seems to be doing well.”

“I’m really surprised. The last time I saw him gel to someone so quickly was when he met our neighbour, Mrs. West.”

You smile, “It’s good. You’ll be able to figure out which group works the best for you both.”

“Will you be here every week?”

Is he flirting? You certainly weren’t complaining, anyone with eyes could see that Harry is a very handsome man but never in a million years did you think that he would be flirting with you. Maybe he wasn’t even flirting and you were just letting your imagination run a little too wild.

“I—”

“I’m sorry.” He’s quick to say, “What I meant is that he’s comfortable around you, and I would hate for him to loose that sort of comfort.”

“I completely understand.” You nod. So he wasn’t flirting with you. There was a part of you that was sort of disappointed and wished that he had been flirting with you, “Well he seems to be enjoying himself here so how about we slowly introduce him to just coming here. I’ll come for the first couple of weeks so that he’s comfortable.”

“Thank you. I haven’t said that enough but I honestly can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing for my son.”

“It’s my job, Harry. I do this for a reason.”

“But you didn’t have to do this. Spend your Saturday morning sat on a bench with me to make sure that Theo is okay. You didn’t have to do this.”

“But I am. I’m doing it because I care about that little boy and I want him to get better. And you’re certainly not bad company.”

Harry smiles and looks away. It probably makes it more obvious that his cheeks are flushing at her words. You have always made Harry nervous, even from the first meeting when he asked whether you could help his son. Was it wrong? Probably. Did he care? No, as far as he knew this crush was harmless and it wasn’t as though it was reciprocated he supposed.

“I know I’m not as exciting at Theo but I do try.”

“I can tell.” You smile, “Was he okay at nursery yesterday?”

“The same I think. Nursery didn’t say anything when I picked him up and they usually do if something happened. Good or bad.”

“That’s good. Some will just ignore the problem. I’ve helped a few parents who have struggled with that.”

“I’m lucky.” He nodded, “We’re lucky.”

“How are you?”

“I’m fine. Theo’s getting better, that’s the most important thing.”

You sigh, “Not Theo. How are you?”

“I’m getting there. I’m taking each day as it comes, I suppose.”

“Do you have people that you talk to?” You ask before immediately trying to retract your question, “I understand if you don’t want to tell me. I can be nosey sometimes.”

“No. It’s fine.” He coughs to clear his voice, his eyes watching as Theo sits in the sand pit with a bucket and spade, “I talk to my mum and sister if there’s anything really wrong.”

“Nobody else?” You’re daring, and your eyebrow raises in nervousness.

“I’m single if that’s what you’re asking.” He chuckles.

Your eyes bug, “Well I—”

“Its okay, YN.” He laughs now, his dimples deepening, “Are you single?”

“I am.” You smile, “I’m glad you have someone to talk to that isn’t your three year old son. It’s important.”

“I know. I kept a lot of it to myself at the start and just tried to be the best that I could be for Theo but it hit a point where I needed help, and I knew I did.”

“It’s commendable that you did that. Too many single parents try to do it on their own and it just doesn’t work. It not only causes them to fizzle out but it causes strain on the kids.”

“Have you got children?”

“No.” Your lips curl, “I just enjoy working with them — to a degree obviously.”

A chuckle passes. It’s at this point that Harry realises that this is the first conversation you have had with him that passes the point of being somewhat professional. You’re dipping your toes in the idea of the conversation being about getting to know each other rather than being about Theo or any information about the group.

“I can’t imagine.”

“You never know what the days going to hold when you walk through the door. They say to never work with children and animals.” You laugh, “Where you do you work?”

“I work at a publishing company. I’m the chief editor. It’s not the best but it pays the bills.”

“It sounds very interesting.”

“It isn’t. The amount of articles about interior design I read on a weekly basis is sort of absurd.”

“Interior design?”

“I work for an interior design magazine. I probably should’ve explained that first.”

You giggle, “I bet your house is immaculately decorated.”

“To a degree.” He chuckles, “Living with a three year old sort of means you’re house always looks like a bomb has hit it.”

“I can imagine.”

“I wouldn’t change it for anything. Yeah it is a mess but it isn’t too bad and he’s leaning that he won’t get treats if he doesn’t clean up after himself.”

“Nice. I’m sure that works a treat.”

“It does.” He laughs, “Literally.”

“He’s a good kid, Harry. You can tell. He’ll be perfectly fine.”

You keep saying that.

Harry received a message the following Wednesday around lunch time that he hadn’t expected. He was just about to tuck into the salad he had pre-made this morning fort lunch when his phone lit up on the desk. A small message box covers up his wallpaper which was a photo of Theo in the bath, bubbles on his head in a cone shape and upon his chin like a beard.

Hi Harry, Its YN. I promise I’m not weird I just got your number of the system to send this. I’m just letting you know that tonight’s group is cancelled, I’m bunged up with a cold and would hate to pass it onto any of the kiddies :) Hope you are well.

Hi YN. I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon. See you next week. H.

Harry couldn’t hide that he was a little disappointed. He was starting to enjoy going to the centre every week. He could say that it was because his son was slowly coming out of his shell, and that was part of it, but ever since your conversation he had that one weekend he enjoyed the few words you spoke to each other.

If he was more confident in the way you felt about him, he probably would’ve messaged to ask if you needed anything bringing but he thought that it would’ve been a little bit odd. Hopefully in the future it wouldn’t be as odd.

“You can’t eat your chips yet, buddy, they’re too hot.” Harry explains, picking a couple of the chips from Theo’s plate and blowing on them. The young boy sat and watched his father, waiting for his chips before chewing them happily.

“Oh! Harry!”

You’re stood with a drink in your hand, jeans and a floral blouse hanging loosely upon your figure. You looked cute and cuddly, something that Harry had missed seeing over the past week or so.

“Hi YN.” He smiles, wiping his mouth with his napkin momentarily, “How are you feeling?”

“Much better, thank you very much.” You smile.

“Would you like to sit?” He asks, motioning to the spare seat, “You don’t have to if you’re busy or anything.”

“No. I would love to. Are you okay with that Theo?”

For the first time since you’ve arrived the little boy looks up at his eyes immediately light up at the sight of you stood there.

“Miss YN!”

“I’m guessing he’s okay with it.” Harry smiles, watching as you pull out the seat and seat and sit down. “You weren’t in a rush, were you?”

“No.” You smile, sipping on the hot cocoa you had just bought, “I had just finished for the day actually. Did a bit of shopping and then decided to walk over here.”

“Sounds lovely. Anything exciting?”

“If fruit and veg is exciting, then exciting.”

“Hey, take it from me, trying to make fruit and veg exciting for your kids is the most exciting thing about fruit and veg.”

“Not a fan?” You ask, looking at the young boy who had started to munch on his chicken nuggets.

“Not really. Can you not tell?”

You laugh, looking at Theo’s plate which just had chips and chicken nuggets on with a blob of ketchup on the side.

“He seems to be enjoying those?”

“Oh god yeah.” Harry laughs, “He can eat for England. Takes after me in that sense.”

“That’s good. Some parents sometimes come in saying that their children don’t eat and it’s worrying them.”

“He went through a phase when he turned around two and a half of not eating but he rectified that very quickly himself.”

“That’s good? Have you had work today?”

It was only then that you had noticed his attire. Jean flares and a shirt that said something about eating honey. On anyone else you it would’ve set warning alarms within your head but he made it look suave and quite attractive.

“No. I have weekends off so I can spend them with Theo. I sometimes do a bit of work from home but not a lot, do you?”

“Sometimes. If there’s an emergency I’ll sometimes have to go in.”

“Is it hard? Do you find working with vulnerable children hard?”

“Challenging, I’d say. Maybe not hard. Some of the things that have happened to the children to cause them to behave the way they do are hard to listen to. Trying to get them to talk or just explain how they feel is even harder.”

“You do God’s work, YN.”

“I wouldn’t say that. I hate the though of children suffering, and I’d like to think I do my best to help with that.”

“You do. From experience you do.”

“You’re forever feeding my ego. I kind of like it, keep it coming.”

“Eh.” He curves his lips and moves his head from side to side, “You’re not that bad to look at either.”

“Cheeky! But you’re not too bad yourself, Styles.”

“Daddy!” Theo interrupts, “Toilet, please.”

“Okay bud.” Harry stands up and so do you, “You don’t have to go, I’ll be back in a minute.”

“No it’s okay, I probably should leave.” You smile, “I told Norman that I’d only been ten minutes and that was half an hour ago.”

“Norman?”

“My dog! God, I probably should’ve specified that. Norman’s my dog.”

“Ah.” Harry laughs, “That makes more sense. I’ll see you later YN.”

“Bye Harry.”

When you got home that night, you see the majority of the time sat staring at your phone whilst Norman stares at you as though you’ve gone crazy.

“I should just text him.” You sound crazy talking to your job but it is oddly comforting, “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Hi Harry! It was lovely seeing you and Theo today. I hope you had a lovely rest of your day :)

You immediately regretted sending the message. Would he think you were weird? Had you just ruined any chance you had of it going any further? Your stomach twisted and your phone lit up.

We did thank you, YN. I hope Norman wasn’t too mad that we kept you out longer than expected. H.

You giggled. He remembered.

He got over it pretty quickly. Gave him a treat and everything was back to normal.

That’s good. It’s a good thing dogs are forgiving creatures.

Rather I bribed him to forgive me. He can be stubborn when he wants to be.

I think you might be describing my son. He certainly didn’t get his stubborn side from me.

Good. I would hate to have to bribe you to speak to me.

Well that depends what you would have bribed me with. But hopefully you’ll never be in the bad books.

You seem to have very high expectations of me, Styles. I might just surprise you.

I’m going to hold you to that. The next time I see you I expect to be surprised.

Are you free any time soon?

Not until next weekend really. I finish work at five-ish everyday.

Is there any chance that you’d maybe want to do something after work? I can hopefully surprise you?

I’d like that very much. Tuesday okay?

Perfect! See you then, Harry.

Sweet dreams, YN.

Tuesday couldn’t come quick enough in your eyes. You were pleasantly surprised that you’d even managed to bag yourself a date with the man, usually you’d shy away from the male species as much as possible. That didn’t mean that you didn’t spend the entire time messaging Harry the other day with warm cheeks and a fuzzy tummy. The fact that he could’ve thrown everything back into your face being the thing that scared you the most.

You had messaged Harry last night that you were going to a restaurant, not a fancy one but one that required a smart/casual dress code. You spent probably a little too long getting ready, curling your hair and applying the make up you wore too perfection, dressing in some high-waisted trousers with a long-sleeved tucked in to reserve the warmth that the British summertime had selfishly taken away.

You had hundred’s of thoughts bouncing around in your brain. It wasn’t everyday that you bagged a date with the man of your dreams and even if it didn’t work out — at least you could say that it had happened. If it didn’t work out it was probably a good thing that Theo had started to make the move from your group to your friend’s to avoid uncomfortable confrontation.

The reservation at the restaurant was for eight, so you had arranged to meet there for around politely declined. The drive was quick but the wait for Harry seemed to take hours.

When he did arrive, your breath caught within your throat. He was wearing simple dress pants with a silk floral shirt tucked in, the first couple of buttons undone. It revealed tattoos that you were shocked to see that he had upon his chest and stomach. It intrigued you to know whether he had more tattoos. A part of really wanted to see them.

“Hi.” He smiles and wraps his arms around you in a welcoming hug. He smelt really good.

“Hi.”

“You look lovely.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself, Styles.”

“Shall we go in?” You nodded.

The table reserved for the two of you was small but lovely, located in the corner of the restaurant by the floor to ceiling windows. You had been to this Italian plenty of times in the past and it had become one of your favourites. As you sat down, you had ordered a bottle of wine to share between the two of you.

“Is that your first surprise?” He asked as the two you tapped your glasses together in cheers, “Drinking on a work night?”

“It’s a special occasion.” You shrug, “You’ll have to figure out yourself whether it’s part of the surprise or not.”

He raised his eyebrow at you before he broke into a smile.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

The waiter comes a few ticks after that, asking what we would like. I order a bowl of pasta whilst Harry orders a pizza of some sort.

“How was Theo when you left him today?” You started to tuck into the bread and dips that the waiter had brought as an appetiser.

“Absolutely fine. I’ve never seen someone so exciting to spend time with their grandmother.”

“Weekend’s with my Grandma were the shit!” You exclaim with a smile, “We used to bake and she’d cook me all of my favourite dinners.”

“You were spoilt rotten, to say the least?”

“Of course I was! That’s how little Theo is feeling.”

“Are you close to your family?”

“Yeah I am. More so my Mum and Grandma. I don’t really have the best relationship with my Dad.”

He nods, “My mum and Dad divorced when I was young so I was brought up my Mum. She remarried when I was nineteen.”

You hummed, “Are you close with your stepfather?”

“I was.” Harry coughed to clear his throat, “He died in 2017.”

You immediately felt bad.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

He stops the sip of his drink quick, “You haven’t, I promised. How are we supposed to get to know each other if you don’t ask questions?”

“We sort dived right into the deep shit straight away.” You laughed, “Quick fire questions: favourite band?”

“I honestly couldn’t pick one.”

“Well.” You sighed, “I tried but that answer was boring. Pick one!”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs, his smile growing, “I love Fleetwood Mac, The Zombies, The Kinks—”

“Basically anything from the past?”

“Pretty much.” He laughed, “I grew up listening to Shania Twain and Joni Mitchell with my mum.”

“I would’ve loved to have that childhood.” You laughed, “My mum was all for Bon Jovi, Meatloaf and Prince. Always said ‘I could’ve been a rock chick’.”

He laughs and sips his drink.

The conversation for the rest of the evening flowed better than you could have expected. You honestly don’t think you’ve ever been on such a lovely date before in your life, if you could even call it that.

You learnt about his childhood living in Holmes Chapel whilst he learnt about yours. You hadn’t expected to enjoy his company so much and even as the night came to a close you found yourself not wanting to leave.

“I must admit.” He starts as her walks you towards your car, “I was quite disappointed when you said I couldn’t pick you up.”

“Why was that?”

“Because I’m not able to drive you home, walk you to your door and hopefully give you a little something to remember me for the night.”

“Really? Who said that I would have let you?”

“You wouldn’t have?”

“I don’t know.” You tease, “Why don’t you come over and try?”

The smile on his face as he leaned in is something that will haunt your dreams at night for the better. Your eyes flutter closed and sigh in content as his lips touch yours. It was a little embarrassing, but there had been a few moments late at night where you have wondered what this would feel like. Those were enjoyable dreams but the real this was so much better.

No tongue was involved but you already knew that this was something you could become addicted to. The feeling of his large palm against your cheek as his kissed any worry you had away from the night. Your whole body tingled and if you weren’t in a public car park, you wouldn’t know whether you’d be able to contain yourself.

You both pull away breathlessly.

“I think you would’ve let me.”

“I certainly fucking would.”

If Harry had any other option — he would’ve taken it in a heartbeat.

When Harry had woke up this morning, he had expected it to be like his normal Monday morning. Waking up early and making breakfast whilst Theo sleep in. Then he’d wake Theo up to have breakfast and then Harry would dress him for the day.

That hadn’t happened this morning.

When Harry had walked into Theo’s room that morning he found his son, already awake with tears streaming down his face. He tried to comfort his son, and tried to get him to talk but he just didn’t stop crying.

That’s how he ended up stood in the corner of his son’s room with his phone pressed tightly to his ear.

“Harry? Hello?”

“Hi.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, well uh, not really.” He scratches the back of his neck, “There’s something wrong with Theo.”

“Is he okay?”

“No. I came into his room this morning and he’s non-stop crying and he won’t talk to me.”

“I’m on my way.”

You drove as fast as you could. The sound of Harry’s voice, mixed with his words and the faint sniffles in the background was enough to send your heart spiralling. You used the message that Harry had sent with address to navigate your way towards his house.

Doors unlocked.

You raced your way up the stairs, taking two at a time and saw Harry waiting at the top of the stairs.

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem.” You squeezed his arm in reassurance, “Is he in there?”

“Yeah.”

Then you saw him. The small boy with the brown curly hair and the green eyes that matched his Father’s peering up at you, small sobs leaving his lips.

“Hi bud.” You smile, “Is it okay if I sit down?”

The small boy nods and you do so, a small sigh escaping your smiling lips.

“Your Daddy phoned and said you were feeling a little upset this morning and asked if I could come and talk to you. Is that okay?”

He nods again, sniffling slightly.

“Is there anything you want to tell me?”

He shakes his head.

“Can you tell me why you’re crying?”

“Dream.” His chest heaves up and down.

“Did you have a bad dream?” A nod. Okay, you could work with that.

You hadn’t realised that Harry was stood at the door, leant against the frame with his eyebrows furrowed and his thumb running across his lip. He honestly wouldn’t know what he was going to do if you hadn’t been so lovely and come to check on Theo at such short notice.

“Was your dream about Daddy?” Another nod.

It honestly broke Harry’s heart. He had never ever though that something like this was the reason his son had gotten himself into such a state.

“Have you been having a lot of these dreams?” Nodding. So much nodding, “Are they scaring you?”

“Daddy hurt.” His voice was so quiet and unsteady.

“Daddy gets hurt?” Your palms start sweating, “Is that why you’re so upset? And you go quiet sometimes? You think Daddy’s going to get hurt?”

“I’m right here Theo.” Harry walks over and drops down to be face to face with his son, “I’m not hurt, and I’m not going to hurt.”

“You don’t move.” He cries become louder and louder the more they spoke.

Harry leans over and pulls his son off the bed, dropping him onto his lap and wrapping his arms tightly around him. You watch as Harry smooths his hand across his son’s back, hoping that it will calm him down and stop the crying. Harry’s catch yours and your heart physically breaks for him. You’d never seen anything like this in your four year career.

“Listen to this, bud.” Harry wipes his tear stained face briefly, “How about we take today off nursery and work and we’ll spend the day together.”

Theo nods and you smile, gently standing up and removing yourself from the situation. For the first time you can look at Harry’s house. It was exactly how you had pictured it to be — immaculately designed with a splash of Theo in ever corner. You drop down upon the sofa with a sigh and use your hand to try to rub the fatigue away from your face. You hadn’t had a morning like this in a long time.

Twenty minutes or so later, Harry joins you on the sofa with a deep sigh.

“How is he?”

“He’s asleep right now. I laid with him and he drifted off.”

“That’s good.”

He reaches over to grab your hand that was comfortably rested upon your thigh, threading his fingers nicely between your own.

“I’m sorry for calling so early. I know you were probably busy and this didn’t help.”

“It’s okay.” You give his hand another squeeze, “I told you that I’d help in any way that I could.”

“I know.” He nods, his voice starting to break, “It’s just so fucking hard YN.”

“Hey, don’t cry.” You move so that you can wrap your arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a comforting hug, “I know it is but we can sort this out, I promise.”

“Just knowing that this was because he has been worried about me. What kind of parent does that?”

“I want you to listen to me now, Harry.” You place your hands upon his cheeks, pulling his head up from your shoulder so that he’s looking directly at you, “You have done nothing wrong. This was completely out of your control.”

He nods and you wipe the tear that had fallen down his cheek away.

“I’m going to help you now and we’re going to get Theo better.”

He leans forward and to your surprise places a deep kiss to your lips.

“Thank you.”

Harry had invited you over as a thank you a couple of days later. You had told him multiple times that he didn’t have to thank you for anything and that you’d do anything for him and Theo but he insisted. Theo was still next door with Mrs. West after being picked up from nursery and she made it complete aware that she didn’t mind watching him for a few extra hours so that he could do this for his friend.

If Harry was honest, he doesn’t have many friends. Mrs. West has spoken to him about it on many occasions and he supposed that the old woman was just excited that he might actually have a friend that wasn’t herself or his son.

You had arrived at Harry’s house to see the dining room set out with plates and cutlery and wine glasses with delicious smell coming from the kitchen. He greeted you with a soft kiss upon the lips and a small hug.

“Has Theo been okay?” You ask, leaning against the counter as you watch Harry fry the vegetables for the stir fry.

“He’s been better. He’s been talking a little more according to to the teachers.” He starts to plate up the noodles, “For the first couple of nights he stayed in bed with me, as you suggested but last night he stayed in his own.”

“Did it go okay?” The two of you walk with full plates to the dining room.

“There were a few tears but he slept through the night.”

You honestly couldn’t have been happier for the two of them. You have worked with the two of them for a couple of months and now finding out that things were actually starting to work left you feeling happier than you had ever expected to be.

“That’s really good. I’m happy for you.”

Before you knew it the time had escaped from the two of you. Somehow, you had made your way to the sofa and now sat with large glasses of red wine in your hands.

“Are you sure you don’t need to get Theo?”

It was nearing seven, and you started to worry.

“If I go now he’ll probably kill me.” He laughs, “Mrs. West brings out the sweet treats around this time.”

You giggle and lean forward to capture your lips upon his. His hand reaches up to cup your cheek, the other resting lightly upon her thigh. In one confident movement, you shift your body so that your knees are either side of his hips. A part of you still couldn’t believe that this was happening, not only with anyone but with Harry.

This had all happened quicker than you had expected but you weren’t complaining.

“YN.” He pulls away breathlessly, “Hey, are you sure?”

“God yes.”

“Okay then.’

He skilfully picks you up, wrapping your legs around his waist as he carries you towards his bedroom. You land upon the bed with a small thud that causes you both to giggle. He presses his lips to yours one last time in a breath-taking, heart-stopping kiss.

“Move up.” You shuffle your bum up the bed so that your head is rested upon the lush pillows. Harry’s fingers toy with the zipper of your jeans, his eyes looking for any sign of uncomforted on your face, “This okay?”

You nod quickly, “It is.”

He sighs shakily, his fingers slipping into the band of your jeans, pulling them down your legs. You lift your hips up to aid him in the movement. At this point you were glad that a day ago you hd decided to have a pamper session and shave your entire body.

His lips place small kisses along the inside of your thighs, your body withering under his touch. It had been a long time since someone had touched you in this way, and your senses felt as though they were on override.

“Harry.” The small moan escapes your lips as he licks a stripe along your clothed centre.

“God.” He hooks his fingers into the material and pulls them down your legs, “You’re so fucking wet.”

You hum as his lips wrap around your clit, your chest heaving up and down as he uses his tongue to flick the sensitive nub over and over again. This had all happened so quickly and you felt so overwhelmed that you had no idea if you were going to last very long at all.

“Fuck.” You moan, “Harry.”

“That’s it.” He murmurs against your centre, giving your clit a few kitten licks afterwards, “Say my name again.”

“Harry.”

He suckles on your clit so quickly that you’re left breathless, your fingers threading through his curly brown hair. You tug on it causing a groan to escape his lips against you, sending your orgasm rushing in.

“M’coming.” Your chest heaves, “Fuck, baby.”

Harry pulls away after coaxing you through your high, his lips and chin glistening with your juices. He licks what he can before lifting up so that you can kiss him. He drops down, his head falling into your neck and for the first time you can feel him against your exposed thigh.

“Do you want me to help?’

“No.” He smiles, pushing your hair away from your face, “Tonight was a thanks to you. Hopefully there will plenty more opportunities for you to repay me in the future.”

“I’m excited for that.”

“Daddy?” The little voice wakes the two of you up from your slumber, “Miss. YN?”

“Hiya buddy.” Harry’s quick to pick the little boy up and drop him in the middle of the two of you, “Did you have a good sleep?”

Theo hums and cuddles into his Dad’s chest, “Morning Miss. YN.”

“Morning Theo.” You smile, “I’ve told you before, you can call me just YN.”

You and Harry had started to see each other frequently since the last date and very recently, in the past few days or so you’ve both made the jump of having sleepovers. With Theo it made it difficult for Harry to stay over at yours so you stayed over at Harry’s — not that you minded one bit.

“Okay, YN.” He smiles, leaning forward to place a kiss to Harry’s dimpled cheek.

“What do you fancy doing today bud? If you ask nicely YN might be able to stay with us today.”

“Really?” His eyes widen in excitement.

“Of course.” You smile and ruffle his hair, “But it’s your day, what do you want to do?”

“Can we go to the cinema?” You both nod, seeing as though that’s a very doable request from the little man.

“What do you want to go see?”

“Frozen 2 please, daddy.”

“Of course.” Harry kisses his cheek and your heart swells at the sight.

Theo sat the entire time in the cinema contently chewing on his popcorn as his eyes never left the screen. Harry’s hand was firmly grasped within yours and you both repeatedly picked it up to kiss the back of each other’s. It was the simple gestures that drew you to Harry in the first place, from that very first day at the centre.

“Did you enjoy it?” You both have one of Theo’s hands in yours, swinging him up as you walk along the pavement.

“Yes Daddy.” He beams.

“What do you fancy doing now? Fancy a McDonalds?”

“Can I have an ice cream, please?”

“Of course, baby.”

It was rare that you and Harry managed to get a night alone with each other, but this specific Saturday night Anne had offered to take Theo and the two of you weren’t complaining. It had been two or so months since your relationship grew from being professional into something more and you were yet to fully consummate your relationship.

You did other things, of course, in the dead of night when Theo was fast asleep. You were both just uncomfortable with the idea of having sex and reaching that last level of intimacy whilst he was in the other room.

The thought physically made you shudder.

“Are you hungry, baby?”

“I could eat.” You respond, sitting across from Harry as he scrolls through his phone whilst leaning upon the kitchen island.

“Pizza?”

You scoff, “Is that even a question?”

Once the delivery of your pizza’s arrive, you don’t think you’ve ever seen someone inhale a pizza as quickly as Harry did. He even ended up eating a slice of your own.

Cleaning up was easy and before you knew anything, you were both changing and getting ready for bed. It was at this point you could go through the plan that you’d created a week or so ago when you learnt that this day would be happening.

You dressed yourself in delicate white lingerie that would have anyone swooning and dropping to their knees. You tousled your hair, applied some lip balm to your lips and walk out to the bedroom.

“Fucking hell.” He drops his phone onto the bed beside him, “Where have you been keeping that?”

“It’s one of the surprises I always ramble on about.”

“Totally worth it.” He throws his hands up and makes grabby movements towards you which you give in to.

His arms wrap around you waist and pull you down so you could press your lips to his. There was something different within the air today and you could both feel it.

“You wanna feel me?”

“Always.”

His fingers reach up to unclasp your bra, dropping the lace material to the floor as you clamber upon his lap. His lips wrap around your pebbled nipples, the feeling of his swirling tongue earning breathy moans to escape your lips.

“Sensitive?”

“Just finished my period.”

“Ah.” You thread your fingers through his hair, tugging slightly.

You drop to your knees, looking up at him through your eyelashes as you use your hand to palm him through his boxers. You place two kisses to each of the ferns, another one at the top of his happy trail before you hook your fingers into the material of his briefs, pulling them down as he lifted his hips to help.

This wasn’t your first rodeo with Harry’s dick, but that didn’t mean that you became any less nervous every time you saw it.

“Are you just going to stare?”

“I’m contemplating?”

“Contemplating what?”

“Whether or not you deserve me to suck your dick. Leave me to it, baby.”

He shuts his mouth the second to place one kitten lip to his base, your eyes watching as his stomach heaves up and down at the feeling. Wrapping your lips around the tip, you start to bob your head up and down, using your spit to ease yourself into it. Harry’s hand reaches out to grip your hair, guiding your head up and down but making sure to not go too far.

“You’re amazing. Fuck, YN baby.”

You use the free hand that wasn’t aiding you by jerking the length that you couldn’t take to squeeze his thigh, right by his tiger once before allowing your finger to rub over your sensitive nub through your panties, allowing any sort of friction to be released.

“Gotta stop baby.” He gently pushes you off of him, your mouth releasing him with a pop, “Need to last for you.”

Once you’re stood up he pulls your panties down your legs, watching as you step out of them. You both switch positions so that you’re laid on top of the plush comforter whilst Harry fumbles through his bedside table, taking a foil packet out.

Your eyes never leave him as he gives himself a few tugs before rolling the condom on, giving you a once over before bending down.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He questions once and you nod, muttering confirmation as he moves to hover above you.

You feel a little discomfort at first, probably due to how long it had been since you last had sex.

“Move, Harry.”

“M’kay.”

His lips are on yours again as he starts to move his hips, finding his rhythm as he thrusts in and out of you. You whine into his mouth whilst he groans into yours, the feeling becoming all too unbearable for the two of you.

“Feel so good, H. So big, so full.”

The chuffed face he pulled as he continued to thrust his hips to yours, his lips wrapping around your nipple briefly was enough for you to fall for him again.

“M’gonna come, baby.”

“I know, H, me too.”

He slipped his hand down between you both to use his fingers to rub your sensitive bundle of nerves, sending you over the edge. A long moan of his name leaves your lips, your back arches and your eyes start to water.

“That’s it. Fuck! Squeezin’ me so tight.”

He moans as he comes, spilling into the condom whilst his movements halt inside of you.

He head drops forward upon your shoulder, the two of you masking in the overwhelming thing your had just experienced.

“There’s no one else I ever want to do that with.”

“Looks like you’re stuck with me, then.”

“YN.” Theo catches your attention as you wash both of your hands after the painting session you had both just had, “Are you my new Mummy?”

Your movements halt as you look down at the little boy, his features becoming more and more like Harry’s everyday.

You look up to Harry who’s stood drying his hand a couple of metres away, a goofy smile present on his lips as he nods at you.

“If you want me to be Theo, but are you sure?”

“I love you, YN.”

“I love you too, now go dry your hands.”

Harry passes him the towel to dry his hands which he does with little no disagreement.

“Are you going to go turn the TV on whilst Daddy talks to Mummy?”

The words felt odd leaving his lips, but a good kind of odd. You watch as he leaves the bathroom and bounds towards the living room.

You wrap your arms around Harry and sigh contently into his chest.

“I can’t believe he just said that.”

“I can. There’s no one else I’d want to be his mother.”

You stand on your tip toes to kiss his lips once.

“I love you, Harry.”

“I love you too.”

#harry styles #harry styles one shot #harry styles fic #harry styles smut #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fluff #single dad!harry #therapist!yn #harry styles writing

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amphxtrite · 4 years ago

Text

draco malfoy x fem!reader

part one: Broken

Warning: Angst, swearing, spelling and grammar mistakes

Summary: You finally decide to confront Draco his absence and find out his secret. fluff at the end.

A/N: Sorry if it’s a bit slow at the beginning, but I really like how this one ended up.

enjoy <3

___________________________________

You sigh as you continue to flip through your charms textbook, you had a big test coming up and you wanted to make sure you did well. Taking a look out your room’s window you break into a grin watching the snowflakes fall from the sky, you try your best to resist the urge to run into the snow, turning back to the textbook in front of you as a distraction, but when you kept reading the same line over, and over again, you give in and start to pull on your winter jacket, boots and a warm hat. Smiling to yourself, you hurried out of your common room door and ran through the halls until you finally felt the cool wind on your face.

Walking towards your favourite spot by black lake, you take in the gorgeous scenery. The trees in the forests were all ridden with bits of snow and icicles hanging down the branches, the lake had not yet frozen over but the snow and greenery around it made it seem like a muggle Christmas card, there were also little first years running around having a snowball fight, laughing happily. Flopping down on your back into the fluffy snow once reaching your destination, you enjoy the feeling of the cool snowflakes falling onto your warm cheeks. As you continue to lay in the winter wonderland your mind thinks back to the winters you and your family would stay at your cabin up north, your mother would always build large snow figures with magic, as you and your father always stared in awe at them. Since your father was a muggle, you also picked up on their traditions too, baking little cookies being your favourite. As your mind seems to perk up at all the happy memories, you replay a certain one in your head, the day Draco confessed his feelings for you in your fourth year.

“C’mon Dray, it’s just a little snow please.” you practically begged, giving your best puppy eyes to the grey eyed slytherin in front of you. “y/n you know I can't say no when you give me those eyes.” Draco sighs exasperated. “ so it’s a yes then?” you raise your eyebrow hopefully, Draco seems to debate this in his head before silently agreeing. You squeal with excitement telling him to get dressed in something warm before meeting by Black lake, before kissing his cheek and running off. Draco has to splash cold water onto his face to get rid of the blush. When you arrive outside you see the handsome blonde leaning against a tree, smiling as you got closer to him. “So, what did you have planned?” Draco asks, wrapping one arm around your shoulder. For the rest of that day you spent your time showing Draco all the different ways to enjoy the snow. You made snow angels with him, showed him how to build a snowman, (which he found rather ridiculous, but didn’t complain when he saw the look of pure joy in your face) had a snowball fight with him, and just sat in each other's embrace watching the snow fall. It had become slightly dark by then and you were still wrapped in Draco’s arms, he looked away for a second from the falling snow and his eyes fell to you, and you took his breath away. Your h/c was a little messy, but still framed your face perfectly, you had a faint pink blush on your skin and your nose was bright pink. You looked so perfect there in his arms and he knew he was a goner. “H-hey, y/n?” He started, trying to build up his courage. “What’s up Dray?” you ask cluelessly. He looked deep into your eyes and got lost in your e/c orbs, his confidence dwindling, he decided to just get it out. “I...I fancy you y/n. I have for a while, you’re so beautiful, kind and so smart. I just wanted to let you know.” He confessed, turning away bashfully. When you didn't respond he grew scared, did you not feel the same? He was about to apologize when he felt you lean towards him and close the small gap between you, pressing your lips to his in a short chasté kiss, “I fancy you too Draco, have since our first potions class together when you asked for my help on the essay.” you say truthfully. Draco’s mouth drops open, but it is soon replaced by a huge grin as he leans forwards and captures your lips in a kiss again, filled with snow, lipgloss and feelings coming out. You spent the rest of the night in the slytherin common room with hot chocolate, blankets and cuddles by the fire.

You bring your hands to your face and rub the tiredness out of your eyes, slowly drifting from the memory and back into reality.

Another month had passed since Draco broke up with you, you’d gone two and a half months without speaking or seeing the man you love. It hurt really bad that Draco didn’t even look at you anymore, and it confused you to no end.

You’re snapped out of your thoughts by a loud voice. “ I’m telling you two! Draco’s working for Voldemort!” You stiffen at these words, what the hell were they talking about? “Oh shut your trap Harry! You’ve been going on about this for days! I get you don’t like Malfoy, but this is getting out of hand!” That was Hermione’s voice, why did Harry think Draco would be working with Voldemort, that’s impossible… You keep still and continue to eavesdrop on their conversation. “Don’t you find it suspicious how much Malfoy has been avoiding us? What if he’s planning something?” Harry explains. “Forget it Harry, you know that prat’s been ignoring us because we’re friends with y/n” you could almost feel Hermione’s eye roll from here. “She’s got a point Harry…” Ron agrees. Harry seems at a slight loss of words and you choose then to take your leave, pulling your hood over your head to avoid being noticed and shaking your head at the golden trio’s antics.

Heading back to your common room you suddenly feel a slight shiver running down your spine, finally taking notice that the coat you were wearing was now very wet. Sighing, you shrug it off and quickly rush to the y/h common room to drop off your coat and change out of the cold clothing, swapping out your soaked outfit for warm sweatpants and casual shirt, running a brush through your hair before heading back to the great hall for something warm to eat. Taking your usual spot at the y/h table you start to sip on a mug of warm tea, letting the warm creamy taste of the milk and the sugary sweetness consume your body. You take a couple bites of shepard’s pie, you weren’t hungry, but you knew Hermione would be fretting over you if you dared to skip one meal, sometimes you wondered if Mrs. Weasley was rubbing off on her. Poking at your unfinished pie, you take a glance up to see if any of your friends are around, scanning the long tables around you, hoping to find a familiar face among the sea of people. While your eyes scan down the slytherin table, your eyes stop wandering and you’re met with those piercing orbs you missed so much. You felt your heart skip a beat and you tried to manage a small smile at him, but as your lips tug up Draco abruptly stands up and quickly exits the hall. You felt your heart drop, so many thoughts consumed your head, so many questions, insecurities and doubts, but you snap back to your senses and immediately storm out after him.

You had had enough, you could understand if he didn’t want to speak with you, but this was getting infuriating! What had you done so wrong that made Draco dash out of the hall after just making eye contact with you! You tail him from a distance, walking down several hallways and corridors, pushing past people until there weren’t any students around at all anymore. To stay hidden you’d hide in an alcove for a bit until you were sure Draco hadn’t sensed he was being followed. You continue down the last hall seeing a distinct flash of white enter a deserted boys washroom, storming in a minute later, you were about to raise your voice, but what you saw broke your heart all over again.

Draco was hunched over a sink his head drooped between his shoulders, his eyes were red and glassy, his hair was a mess and from up close you could see his sick face and very prominent bags under his eyes. You hid behind a pillar in the large room, unable to find your voice looking at Draco’s vulnerable form. As Draco straightened up a bit you could understand why he chose to come to such a deserted area, you heard him mutter muffliato in a small voice and a second later he began to cry. Tears filled with sadness and agony flowed free down his face, and strangled cries came from his mouth. He started hitting the edge of the sink with his fists, but Draco seemed numb to the pain, you could swear you heard a crack, but you were unsure if it was Draco’s hand or the sink he was beating. His sobs turned to screams with one word coming out like a mantra. “Why?” You began to walk slowly towards him, but the screams didn’t stop, he had still failed to notice your entry. “Why did this have to happen to me?! I don’t want this! I can’t be without her!” he screamed before you heard him whimper into his sleeve, tears began to form in your own eyes and you pushed back your nervousness, rushing towards him. “Draco!” you finally call to him and pull him towards you, hoping to hold him in your embrace. He stiffens and flinches away from you, a look of terror on his face. Brushing off the feeling of hurt as you step closer to him, you begin to speak, “Draco you don’t have to avoid me, please, tell me what’s going on! I’m sure I can help you.” you try to reason with him. “ y/n. You need to leave. Get out of my sight. Now!” You could tell he was trying to be cruel, but the breaks in his voice gave him away, you began to feel your own tears stream down your face. “No Draco, please don’t push me away, I’m here for you no matter what, you know I care about you.” You take another step closer to him as he takes a step back. Tears reemerge from his eyes and you reach out and wipe them away with your thumb, ignoring his tense features. “Please leave y/n, leave me, I don't want you to get hurt.” he whispers, removing his left arm from behind his back. “Dray, what on Earth are talking abou-” your words catch in your throat as you look down at Draco’s left arm, in dark ink that seemed to stare into the pits of your soul was a skull and snake tattoo. The Dark Mark. “Oh Draco…” you say taking his forearm into your hands. He lets you. “Go on y/n, run away, scream, tell everyone!” Draco’s soft voice raises into a yell, and as you look into the eyes you fell in love with, you can see the broken man inside him. “Draco-” he cuts you off. “What don't you understand y/n, I have the fucking dark mark on my arm! I’m helping a madman kill innocent people, I’m a bloody monster!” He’s sobbing now, and has fallen to his knees. You fall down with him and search his face. You search for any sign of dishonesty, any sign of hate, rage or evil, you’re unsuccessful. There is no sign of a monster. You only see a boy, a scared and innocent boy who doesn’t want or deserve the pain he is going through. You see Draco, the man you fell in love with and will love forever. You bring his wrist to your lips and kiss the ink on his arm. This shocks him and his mouth falls open, just like when you told him you also fancied him that winter 2 years ago, you smile at him. “Draco, this mark doesn’t define you, from what I’m hearing, you don’t want to hurt anyone or stand with Voldemort, you said it yourself you don’t want this, and if you were forced into this, I don’t care, Draco I love you, you, a tattoo doesn't change that if you don’t agree with the beliefs that come with it. It doesn’t have to change who you are.” you spill out truthfully. You reach out and hold his face in your palms and staring into his beautiful eyes, this time he doesn’t pull back.

“Y/n-” he stutters out. “Yes, my love?” you respond. He pulls you into him, wrapping you in a tight embrace and burying his face into your neck. “Thank you, thank you so much.” He murmurs against you neck. You start to feel tears running down his cheeks again, this time it’s not sad or angry tears, but happy and grateful ones. You return his embrace, rubbing his back soothingly and drawing patterns in his shirt. This beautiful boy has cried too many tears in his life and didn’t deserve an ounce of the pain and sadness he’s had to go through, you know he needs to get it out though, so you sit there in his arms, whispering sweet nothings into his ears and reassuring him you were never going to leave his side, he began to let apologies fall from his lips. whispering that it was all his fault and he was being stupid. You shut him up with a long passionate kiss, hoping your point was getting across. “Draco, you weren’t being stupid, you were trying to protect me, and I’m so grateful for that, I just wish you’d know you didn’t have to break up with me to protect me, we can work together.” you murmur against his lips with a smile. You feel him nod before he presses his lips to yours again and seals a wordless promise. A promise to stay, to fight, and to protect you from your side until his dying breath. You were his reason to stay strong and push through hard times, you were his hope that everything would turn up alright, you were a light in the dead of night guiding him out of dark times. With that kiss he sealed a wordless promise, a wordless promise of love.

@kitty7864 @lord-byron

#draco malfoy #draco imagine #draco angst #draco x y/n #draco x reader #draco malfoy x reader #harry potter #hermione granger #draco fluff #fluff #angst #harry potter imagine #harry potter fanfiction

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atlafan · 5 years ago

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a/n: these have been in my inbox for a while, and I thought why not just get all of these into one big blurby bundle??? I think I hit the main things everyone wanted. Enjoy! There is smut in this fam! @dancinginblackandred @harryhiswatermelon

Lock the Door - Blurb Four - Harry and Y/N Play House

The semester was just about to end, and finals week was upon everyone. But that didn’t mean parties weren’t still a thing. Harry was hesitant to bring Y/N over to Matt’s, but she had practically begged him to bring her out.

“I need to de-stress, and his parties are fun.” She whines.

“I know, but...it’s a little awkward, don’t you think? Have you two even spoken so since you hooked up?”

“No.” She shrugs. “Doesn’t he know you and I are together?”

“I haven’t had a chance to say anything. I’ve been busy working on different projects.”

“Harry, please, bring me with you. I need to go out and have fun, and I’d rather have fun with you.” She pouts.

“God.” He leans in to kiss her. “You make it really hard to say no...”

It’s a chilly evening, so Y/N clings to Harry’s arm as they walk. The smells of weed and alcohol fill their nostrils as they walk into the apartment. Harry finds a place to put their coats, and the second he finds Y/N, Matt has already backed her up against a wall, clearly uncomfortable. Harry rolls his eyes and comes onto the scene. He yanks Matt back by the collar of his shirt.

“Yo, what the fuck, Harry?”

“She’s got a boyfriend, mate.”

“Oh really, who?” He crosses his arms.

“Me.” Harry takes a step closer, getting in his face.

“Harry, relax, I was just about to tell him.” Y/N says, hoping a fight isn’t about to break out.

“Whatever.” Matt rolls his eyes. “Her and loose cunt are worth it anyw-” Smack.

Y/N gasps as Matt hits the floor. Harry looks down at his knuckles and then to her. She grabs him and pulls him into the kitchen to get some ice. She moves people out of the way as she does so. She gets some ice from the freezer and finds a cloth to wrap it in.

“You didn’t have to do that.” She says, not looking up at him.

“Don’t even start, you heard what he said.”

“I did.” She looks up at him. “You should have let me punch him.” She winks, and he hooks an arm around her to hug her close.

“Harry, did you just punch Matt?” One of his other friends asks.

“Yeah, he was talking shit about my girlfriend, is that a problem?”

“Nope, just wanted to confirm it was you.” He shrugs. “Didn’t know if we needed to kick some random out.”

“Nah,it was me.”

Finals week was busy as fuck. This would be the last week Harry and Y/N would have until they’d both be going home for for the holidays. Sure, they’d be coming back two weeks later to be on campus for winter break, but still. Y/N just had projects or presentations, nothing she really needed to study for. But Harry was either in the computer lab working on a larger screen for his graphic design stuff, or down at the studio painting.

Every time she looked over at his empty bed she was sad. He’d come home super late and would be too tired to even crawl into bed with her. One night she decides to order a small pizza and bring it down to him. It was kind of creepy going into the studio so late.

“Harry?” She squeaks as she goes into the room she knows he paints in.

“Y/N?” He looks up and rubs his eyes. “Did you walk down her by yourself? It’s late.” He frowns.

“Had my keys in my hand the whole time.” She smiles. “I brought you some pizza.”

“Aww...” He takes it from her and kisses her cheek. “Thank you.”

“I feel like I haven’t seen you all week.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” He sighs and grabs a slice. “My graphic design stuff took longer than I thought so I’m frantically trying to get things done here. I know you wanted to spend time together before we’re both gone for two weeks.”

“It’s okay, I understand. Wanna show me what you’ve been working on?”

He nods and walks her around to the different drawings and paintings. He explains the choices he made for each one. She was in awe of him.

“You’re so talented, I can’t get over it.” She wraps her arms around his waist and nuzzles into his chest. “Miss you.” She mumbles.

“Fuck, and I still have so much to do...otherwise I’d come home now.”

“Any chance of you taking a break?” She looks up at him.

“What kind of break.” He smirks.

“Are there cameras in here?” She looks around.

“Not in the rooms no, just in the halls. Are you suggesting what I think you are?”

“Could be fun?” She smiles.

He grabs her by the hips and lifts her onto the table. She giggles while he hooks his fingers into her leggings.

“I’m very surprised by you.”

“Thought you knew by now that I’m not some goody goody.”

“I know, but this is like...really cool.” He kisses her as her hands work his belt and zipper.

Harry slides her leggings down and leaves them around her ankles. He runs his fingers over he slit and moves her panties to the side. She groans into the kiss as he pushes his fingers inside her.

“Still need to be quiet, I may be the only one in this room, but I’m not the only one in the building.”

“Okay.” She whispers.

“I don’t have any condoms with me, shit.”

“In my jacket.” You nod over to it.

Even though they both had been intimate a million times at this point, neither of them had been tested, so condoms were still a good idea. They both agreed to go to the doctor when you’re home.

“You thought of everything didn’t you?” He smirks as he rifles through her jacket pocket.

He rolls the condom on his hard cock and pulls her a little closer. her head rolls back the second his tip starts to push inside. Her legs wrap around his waist to get him even closer. She clings to him, nails digging into his back. The room was filled with the sounds of their heavy breathing and panting.

“Shit, I’m...I’m not gonna last very long...” He groans. “You feel too good.”

“It’s okay, just touch me.” She leans back on her elbows, and his hand immediately starts rubbing her clit, while his other clutches to her hip.

“Fuck, Y/N.” He grunts.

She loved making him feel this way. He also just knew exactly what to do with his hands. Her release was coming just as quick. She bites her bottom lip and put her forearm over her mouth to stifle her moans. He loses it when she does. They stay like that for a moment until they both catch their breaths. He pulls out and finds a garbage can for the condom. She hops of the table and pulls her leggings back up.

“I hope your phone’s charged.” He says to her.

“Why?”

“Because I still have work to do, and no way am I lettin’ yeh walk back by yourself. So sit and get comfy, okay?”

“Alright.” She shrugs, too fucked out to argue. She grabs a slice of pizza and sits as he gets back to painting.

As she watches him it dawns on her that she’s totally and completely in love with Harry. She almost chokes on her pizza just thinking about it. She couldn’t tell him, could she? Would it make things weird? What if everything went wrong?

“Y/N?” Harry turns around to look at her, leaning against the table.

“Yeah?”

“I, uh, I love you.”

“I love you too, Harry.”

“Cool.” He smiles and turns back around.

“Cool.”

Y/N was happy to be back on campus, especially since she had her entire apartment alone with Harry. Liv and Chris didn’t have a reason for being on campus. Y/N got an easy job working for admissions answering calls, emails, and sending out mail. Harry would usually get back from basketball practice when she’d be getting home from work. They’d cook together a lot, it was great.

“Hey...” He was looking around your shared room. “What if we pushed our beds together like Liv and Chris?” He turns to look at you.

“We can’t.”

“Why not?” He frowns.

“Because...well...I finally told my parents we were sharing a room like I said I would...they weren’t thrilled, but they understood with Liv and Chris. But...”

“You still haven’t told them we’re together?” He sits down next to her, clearly disappointed. “I told my mum...”

“I know, I’m sorry. I just have this fear that they’ll yank me out of here if they knew. They like you, I just think they wouldn’t understand. I mean, to them it’s like we’re playing house at a really young age.”

“So they don’t mind we’re sharing a room?”

“They’re annoyed, but they’re dealing with it. I’m sorry, Harry. I’ll tell them, I just can’t yet.”

“Well, they always call before they visit. Why not push ‘em together, and then we can separate ‘em when they come?”

“Oh, so you don’t like being pressed up against each other all night anymore?” She jokes.

“I love it, but it would be nice to have a bit more room to spread out.” He kisses her. “Don’t you think?”

“I suppose.” She kisses him.

“Are you able to come to my game tomorrow?”

“Mhm.” She smiles. “And I’m gonna drive out to your away game this weekend. I’ll be like your personal cheerleader.”

“You’re the best.” He squishes his nose to yours and gives you another kiss.

Harry had gotten Y/N a sweatshirt with his last name and jersey number on it for her to wear to his games. A lot of the guys did that with for their girlfriends. She was happy to wear it. She looked extremely cute sitting in the stands. She waved to him and blew him a kiss. He was a starting player, so he was very busy.

She had completely forgotten the dance team would also be there in their skimpy outfits. Harry wasn’t allowed to chat between quarters, coach’s rules, but that didn’t apply to the dance team girls. Y/N felt annoyed when she saw him laughing with a couple of them. He looks up at her and waves though, taking all jealousy away. He only had eyes for her and she knew that.

“Woo! Go Harry!” She would cheer and clap for him, especially when he made a basket.

The team won the game, it was very exciting. Y/N knew it was okay to go onto the court when she saw the other girlfriends go down to their boyfriends. She races down the bleachers and practically jumped into his arms. He spun her around and kissed her.

“Sorry.” He sets her down and lets her go. “M’all sweaty. Might shower quick.”

“Please, don’t ever apologize. You know I think you look hot like this.” She runs her hand up his tattooed arm.

“H, meet us downtown in an hour to celebrate.” One of the guys says and he nods.

“Feel like goin’ out?”

“Where to?”

“One of the bars.”

“But...we’re not twenty-one yet.”

“They’re cool with us during winter break usually. They’ll just stamp our hands. Then we’ll go back to Pete’s for a real party.” He grins.

“Sounds good to me.”

Harry looks around and sees not many people going into the locker room, and tugs you to walk in there with him.

“Harry.” She whispers. “Isn’t your coach still here?”

“You mean my female coach whose office is in the women’s locker room?” He cock’s an eyebrow at you. “Think we’re good. I need to shower and it’ll take too much time to go all the way back home.”

“I know you don’t think I’m getting naked in here.” She crosses her arms.

“Oh, so you’ll fuck me in the studio, but not in here?”

“Nope, sorry. It stinks in here. But...we’re gonna drive downtown right?”

“Yeah.”

“So...shower quick.” She winks and leaves the locker room.

Harry does so and meets her back in the main part of the gym. They walk out to his car and she immediately climbs into the back seat. He smirks and starts the car up so it can get warm. He joins her in the back.

“See.” She says straddling him. “Isn’t this better?”

“Mhm.” He kisses on her neck. “I love seein’ yeh wear this sweatshirt.”

“I love wearing it.” She rolls her hips down on his. She feels him growing hard against him. “You have no idea the torture of watching you play, and get all sweaty, and see your muscles and just everything about you out there.”

“I thought it was torturous watchin’ me paint?” He says against her neck as he tugs the sweatshirt off her.

“It is, it’s all torture. My biggest problem with you is that you’re too sexy, Harry. Everything you do is hot.”

“I could say the same for you.” He unhooks her bra and shoves his face into her chest and groans. “This is my favorite place in the world.” He mumbles, making her giggle. “Right between.” He kisses on one of her breasts. “These big.” He kisses on the other. “Tits.” He licks around one of her nipples and sucks it into his mouth. She rolls her hips on his again, grinding against his hard-on.

She reaches for the button on his jeans and the hem of his shirt. It was clear she wanted him naked. He rips his shirt off and tugs his jeans down. She gets hers off as well. He takes her gets her fixed on all fours. She thinks he’s about to stick it in, but she jolts when she feels his tongue.

“Just need to taste yeh first, that alright?”

“Mhm.”

His tongue works from her clit all the way up dangerously close to her other hole. His tongue enters her center while his thumb works her clit.

“Harry, please, fuck me.” She groans. “Need your dick, please.”

He pulls away from her lines his dick up with her and pushes in. They both sigh with relief. They had been using condoms less since they both came back clean.

“You feel so fuckin’ good.” He moans.

“So do you, so big.” She bites her bottom lip.

The windows in the car got foggy, and they could barely hear the music coming from the radio from how loud his skin was slapping against her. His balls were hitting against her clit just right.

“Oh my god, fuck, don’t stop.” She moans.

He moves faster and faster, and he feels her tighten around him. She lets out a moan of his name as she releases around him. He pulls out to come on her ass. She was panting and collapses onto her stomach. Harry grabs a towel from his gym bag to clean her up.

“Thanks.” She breathes.

He hums his response as she flips over. He pulls her panties and jeans up her legs for her and she smiles big at him.

“I love you.”She says.

“I love you too.”

They both finish getting dressed and drive down to the bar. Y/N liked Harry’s basketball friends, they were really nice. Some even had boyfriends. They all order some nachos and other junk food to split.

Y/N knew as soon as the semester started the little bubble they were in would burst, but for now all was good. Her head was leaning on the shoulder of the guy she was absolutely smitten with. Harry Styles was in a monogamous relationship for the first time in his life, and he couldn’t be happier.

#lock the door #lock the door blurb #harry styles #harry styles one shot #harry styles blurb #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff #harry styles fic #harry styles smut fic #harry styles fluff fic #hope you enjoy!#feels good to post again #college!Harry

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kalimagik · 4 years ago

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Tumbling Walls

Ron Weasley x Reader

Word Count: ~3.7k

A/N: This Ron piece was requested by @siriusly-addicted-to-writing with the prompt: “Who hurt you?” My requests are opened! So send in any ideas you have that you would like to see me write! I love writing for Ron so much and hope you guys enjoy reading for him just as much! Feedback is always welcome! Happy Reading <3

Michael Corner. His words were burned in the back of your head. “I don’t love you. I never did.” He had used you. Used you as an emotional punching bag, used you as an object, used you for your body. It had been nearly 3 months, but they were still there burning. You had given him everything because you thought he was the one. The two of you had talked about marriage for god’s sake! You moved across the country, to London for him because he got his dream job. You took a job you detested. You even moved in with him, but now it was like you were starting all over again and London was brand new, tainted, but new. That little snot.

“What can I get for you today?” you asked your what felt like the millionth, table of the day. Everyone who seemed to come to this restaurant where you worked was gross. They were those types of old, privileged men who thought that they could have anything they wanted. At the end of every shift, you had to shower twice just to get the gross feeling off of your skin.

You thoughtlessly made it through your shift, not even upset to be walking into the pouring down rain if it meant you could get away from that place. The rain pounded on the pavement as you opened your bright yellow umbrella. Your mind wandered to your mum’s offer to return home. You could help her as a healer for the wizard population in your town, but that wasn’t what you wanted to do. In fact, you didn’t really know what you wanted to do.

You’d spent the last few years after Hogwarts, after the war, trying to figure out just that. But when you reconnected with Michael randomly in other parts of Europe while traveling, you were swept away. You were together for nearly 2 years… So figuring out what you wanted to do was put on hold when you decided to fall in love.

The rain wasn’t letting up. Your feet were soaked. You could apparate to your flat, but most of the tenants were muggle, so that wasn’t an option. Just like how you couldn’t use any magic at work. Stupid statute of secrecy. Okay, you did understand the reasoning for it, but you were just flustered about the rain. It was England though, so the dreary weather can only be expected. You were so preoccupied mentally that you didn’t even notice the blur of bushy brown hair coming at you.

“Oof!” you groaned as you bounced back from slamming bodies into another on the street. “Merlin, I’m sorry.” You let the wizarding slang slip.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there,” a familiar voice spoke at the same time.

“Hermione?” you asked, looking under the hood of her rain jacket.

“Y/N! Hi! When did you move back? I haven’t seen you since- since-” Hermione’s voice trailed off. Mostly everyone’s did when the last time they saw each other was shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts.

“I’ve been back for almost 9 months,” you thought, 3 of those miserable…oh well.

“How haven’t I seen you yet! What are you doing? I'm so happy I ran into you. Why don’t we get out of the rain and we can catch up?” You just nodded, knowing Hermione was not someone who would take a no from you. “Excellent! There’s a little pub over here. It’s clean, quiet, and quite nice overall.”

You were not planning on doing anything but going home and showering as you still smelled like the restaurant you worked in, but this would be better than spending your night wallowing in self-pity. So, you followed Hermione down the London street and into the dry pub, feet and socks completely soaked through.

“So,” Hermione started, settling into a seat and taking off her coat. “What have you been up to? What are you doing now?”

You sat there thinking about your sad existence. You didn’t want to talk about Michael and you didn’t want to particularly talk about your dead end job or the tiny flat that you had moved into. “Uhhh…I’m making ends meet. Looking at some different jobs.”

Hermione ordered you both a beer and when the waiter brought them, you held it tightly in your hand, enjoying the coolness of glass.

“What about you?” you asked, taking a sip and looking at Hermione, hoping to get the focus off of your life.

“I’m working in the ministry now. It’s a lot of work, but I like it a lot. I like being able to make a change in the ministry and rebuilding our community.”

“That’s fantastic. Everyone always knew you’d do important things.”

Hermione laughed at that. “I don’t know. People still ignore me when I talk about having rights for house elves, but that’s one cause I refuse to relinquish.”

“Hermione!” a voice said from behind you.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I was meant to meet Harry and Ron here tonight. Running into you was just a happy accident! I’m sure they’d love to see you. Over here!” Hermione waved to them as you felt the two boys got closer.

Oh great, more people from school. And you still hadn’t showered, so you still felt the stares of all those gross old men.

“Look who I ran into today,” Hermione grinned, motioning to you.

“Y/N! Blimey! How long has it been?” Harry asked, hugging you. Yes, he was hugging you. You weren’t even that close with the trio in school. But, having familiar faces around was refreshing.

“Hello,” Ron nodded in your direction. You were surprised when you felt little flutters in your stomach. You hadn’t had a feeling like that in months. You had always had a crush on Ron, but just from a far. You were much too nervous to ever act on it. He had all of these wild adventures and you just went through school focusing on well, school.

“Hi,” you responded quietly. Harry sat next to Hermione, which left Ron to sit next to you. Conversation flowed easily, you laughed for the first time in months. You felt like you had a place where you belonged since moving to the city.

You fell in with Hermione, Ron, and Harry easily over the next few weeks. You still kept her flat and job to yourself, but you had people to spend time with after work and on the weekends! No to mention, Hermione was helping you look for other jobs. She didn’t know you were serving, but she did know that you were unhappy with what you were doing. It was nice. And none of them knew about Michael either, even though they all went to school together.

You grew closer with each of them in their own way. You felt comfortable with each one and you were happy to call them your friends. Hermione would always hold a special place in your heart because she was the one who invited you to the pub that day, but you and Ron’s relationship grew exponentially. He would joke and mess around with you like he had known you for years. There was this magnetism about him that just pulled you in. That crush reemerged, but you weren’t ready to let anyone in again.

You were definitely healing, but part of that healing meant that you built a stonewall firmly around your heart. There might as well be barbed wire and electricity reinforcing the wall that it was closed up so tightly. With all of that, your heart still fought against the wall, beating hard each time the red head made you laugh. You kept him at an arm’s length, but your elbow seemed to be bending a little more with each interaction.

Then, a night out happened. You had finally felt as though you could let loose. You wound up at a pub with the trio and Ginny after going to a pop-up wizarding club. The lights and the music and atmosphere were more than you could ever imagine. It was the best night that you had had in forever. You didn’t go overboard with drinking or anything but you had a good buzz going on. You felt great!

“Harry and I are going to go get us some drinks,” Ginny announced, getting up from your little table in the corner.

“Oh! I’ll come! I need to use the loo,” Hermione responded, following behind the other couple.

Ron slid further into the booth, resting his head on the red leather. “I reckon that was the best night I’ve had out in a long time.”

“Work does sound like it has been busy for you and Harry.”

“Most definitely. I don’t understand why people can’t just follow the rules. It would make my life easier.” You chuckled at the casualness in his voice. “How has your week been? We didn’t see you aren’t much in the evenings.”

“I had some long shifts.” You kept it all vague, but that didn’t stop Ron from noticing how you were holding back. He could tell from the tone of your voice. At this, he rolled his head to look at you. You sitting there, playing with your fingers.

“You look really nice tonight,” Ron admitted, taking in your side profile.

“Thanks.” You avoided his eyes, but his blue eyes were just asking for you to look deep into them. Those alarm bells were going off in your head. You were not going to let yourself be swept away again.

“I don’t know if you are actually getting how beautiful you look.” He smiled softly. “You’ve actually looked beautiful every day from the moment we reconnected.”

Your cheeks felt warm as you took the salt shaker in your hands to preoccupy yourself. “I was wearing a polo and khakis when we met again.” You snickered, remembering how much you had just wanted to go home and shower.

“Yeah, but you can really work khakis,” he flirted. He’d been flirty before, but something about this felt different. And where were Ginny, Harry, and Hermione. Getting drinks didn’t usually take THAT long. Those alarm bells were getting louder as Ron moved a little closer to you.

Your heart and your head were saying very conflicting things. One was thinking ‘there is a very cute boy sitting close to you AND flirting with you! Go for it!” and the other was saying ‘remember the last time that you let a boy get this close to you!?! That didn’t end so well!!’ It was very confusing and made your head hurt.

Before you could listen to either one, Ron was a mere centimeters from you, eyes flashing between your own and your lips. “I’ve really liked seeing you again.” He whispered. “I know we weren’t close in school, but I really wish we would have been.”

You breath hitched in your throat. This was literally like a childhood dream coming true. You closed your eyes and let his lips connect with your own. It was sweet, but quick, because you pulled away, eyes shooting open again.

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No, no, it’s not you,” You shook your head, gathering your bag. “I do have to go, though.”

“I thought we were all going back together! Bloody hell, it’s 1 in the morning. Just wait for all of us.”

“No, no! It’s fine, tell the others I said goodbye! I’ll see you all soon.” You rushed towards the door, not even noticing that you were running past Harry and Ginny with glasses in their hands for all of you. You didn’t stop at the door when Hermione asked where you were going. The moment you stepped outside, you darted in the alley and apparated just a block or so from your flat.

The cold nipped at your skin. Merlin, you left your coat back at the pub. Your lips still tingled, asking for the connection once again. Ignoring the feeling, you briskly walked to your apartment building and stuck the key in the door. You were almost to the safety of your small, but warm flat when you heard the familiar *pop* of an apparating wizard.

“You left something back at the pub,” his soft, deep voice called out to you. You didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was, but you really weren’t sure how he knew where you went.

Slowly turning from the door to your apartment building, you faced the redhead that you had just left. “Thanks,” you whispered. “How did you know where to find me?”

“Hermione has known where you lived all along,” he chuckled. Your eyes widened at that comment. She always was the brightest witch in your year, figures she’d find the truth about this out. “But, if you wanted to keep it to yourself, we figured that we should let you.”

“Doesn’t make me feel much better now,” you mused.

“Why’d you run away?” he asked, jumping straight to the punch, your coat still in his hand. He had been a Gryffindor after all, bravery and looking for action.

“I had something to do. I need-needed to water my plants,” you lied. Gosh, you were awful at lying.

“At 1 AM?” Ron raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, they’re on a weird watering schedule. Keeps me up all night,” you joked.

“Why have you been keeping us at an arm’s length? I thought we were all becoming great friends,” he continued.

“I’m not doing that,” you lied again.

“Bollocks Y/N! You are. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you stop short before the end of a story. Or how you keep all of your answers about the last 2 years as vague as possible. Part of me felt like we were creating something, building up to something. We clicked, Y/N. You can’t deny that.”

You looked at your feet, keys still dangling on your fingers.

“Who hurt you?” Ron asked directly. “I remember you in school. You may have been quiet, but you were so full of life and so full of potential.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to look up at him. How could this boy read you so well? You’d given him nothing to work with. But, him remembering how you were in school struck a chord. He’d noticed you…

“It had to be pretty bad if you refuse to open up to anyone.”

You closed your eyes, breathing out deeply as you laughed to yourself. Bad didn’t even begin to cover it.

London felt like a whole new world. It was so exciting to be back in the city and starting a new life with the boy that could potentially be your forever. You had never felt more optimistic or hopeful about the beginning. Everything was falling into place. Michael started his job with Gringotts and was making good money, so that gave you time to shop around for a job that you truly wanted.

Michael was to meet you for lunch at your favorite little café, so you figured you would get there early to put your name in. You felt giddy with excitement. Michael said that he had some news for you and you could only imagine it was something like talking to your dad to finally ask for your hand.

You ordered an iced tea for yourself and tea for Michael along with a few appetizers for the both of you. Your 2 year anniversary was the next week. This would be a romantic day no matter what. He’d been working so many hours, but that was part of being newer at the bank.

Glancing at your watch, you watched as the hands moved from 11:45 to 12:15. You may have been early, but now Michael was running late. He didn’t show up until 12:30.

“Hello, hun,” you greeted him, standing to kiss his cheek. “Work was busy I’m assuming.”

“Yes, it was.” Michael was being short with you, how odd.

“At least you managed to get away. I ordered some of your favorites. I hope you don’t mind. You said-”

“I need to tell you something, Y/N.” Michael cut you off.

You looked up with him at bright eyes. Maybe he was just nervous. And going to ask you something that would change your life forever!

“Go ahead,” you responded calmly, hiding your excitement.

“We are breaking up. I’m breaking up with you.”

The words stung as he spoke them. You didn’t understand. Where was this coming from? He had literally asked you to come and live with him here. Before you could even stutter or ask, he stood up again and left. You were left there alone.

Not wanting to break down in the middle of a London café, you made your way to the flat you shared through glossy eyes. Maybe you should pack? You couldn’t stay there. You didn’t have the money to afford that flat. Where would you go? Why did he do this?

Instead of putting your things in bags and flying around in a blind rage, you sat on the couch. Emotions were swirling around inside you, but you just sat there and stared at the wall, unsure of what to do.

Michael returned to the flat promptly at 6:30, when he usually did. “Oh, I didn’t think you would be here.” The shock was evident on his face.

“Where else would I go?” you got out in a hoarse crack. “Why are we breaking up? I think you owe me that.”

“I don’t love you.” He stated simply. “You were a good bandage for a while, there when I needed you, but I’m sorry. I don’t love you. I never did.” You’d been holding back your tears all evening, but it was no use anymore. They came flowing like a waterfall.

“I’m sorry, Y/N.” He wasn’t actually sorry. You could hear the lack of emotion in his words.

You just shook your head at him. You couldn’t look at him once more. You wanted to scream and cry, but he didn’t seem to care at all, so why should you. Why should you show him and give him the satisfaction to know that he had broken you?

You stood up straight, wiped the tears quickly. “Go out to dinner. I’ll be gone by the time you get home.”

Ron stood at a small distance, watching you see a past memory flash across your eyes. You had built that wall for a reason, but maybe it was time for it to come down was all Ron could think about when he looked at you.

“I was hurt,” you whispered. You were still standing in the street, but you didn’t want him to see your sad flat. “Badly. I can afford to let someone else in, not when I gave my everything already.” You shook your head.

“You should talk to someone about it.” Ron offered. “It won’t hurt you so much then.”

“I don’t like to relive it.”

“Can you at least tell me who?” Ron asked, walking closer to you.

“You might know him.” You scrunched up your face. You didn’t really want to talk about your ex, but it was starting to boil over inside of you.

“Please tell me.” Ron asked again, eyes pleading with you.

“It was Michael Corner…” After the name, everything spilled out of you like word vomit. Meeting him again, the 2 years you spent together, the break-up, the fact that you didn’t even really know why he broke up with you, everything. You wouldn’t be surprised if Ron walked away right after that. It was a lot for anyone to handle.

When you finished, you searched Ron’s face for any sign of, well, anything. Any feeling, any inkling of what he might be thinking. “Say something?”

“That bloke deserves a swift punch in the gut.”

The bluntness surprised you so much that you just started to laugh maniacally. How could the simple words improve your mood so much?

“Would you like a cup of tea?” Ron then asked as he moved close enough to rub your arms with his hands. “You’re freezing.”

You nodded at him, agreeing that getting out of the cold was probably a good idea. You gave in. Ron already knew you lived in the building, so there’d be no use in trying to convince him to go somewhere else at nearly 2 AM. Once the kettle was on the stove and you settled onto the lumpy couch, you felt relaxed.

“I just have to say it,” Ron broke the silence. “What Corner did to you was terrible, but he is missing out. You are brilliant and funny and amazing at making the most out of a shitty situation.” He rambled.

You just chuckled in response, playing with a nonexistent thread on the couch. “Thanks,” was all you managed to say.

“I’d like to take you out sometime. If you would be okay with that, of course.” Ron followed.

You felt the walls around your heart begin to crumble. As if each word that Ron spoke, another stone was being pulled out of its place. It was loosening its hold. Your heart wanted to break free.

“Of course, after your story, I understand if you aren’t ready. I’ll wait until you are, but you should know that I will have flowers delivered here every day until that time. Just so you remember that I’m waiting around.” He chuckled at his own idea.

The smile that grew on your lips was real and genuine. Your heart was fluttering so wildly that it bashed against your walls from the inside. But when you looked Ron in the eyes, those blue eyes that looked so concerned for you, the wall just imploded. Each side surrounding your heart, well, the walls fell down.

“I’d like that,” you responded simply.

“Brilliant,” Ron got out as the kettle began to whistle, signaling the boiling water. “I’ll go prepare us some tea and then we can pick a date and time for our date and then you can leave the rest up to me.”

You watched, feeling content, skin burning with warmth as the boy who wiggled his way past your walls poured you a cup of tea.

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berrynarrybanana · 4 years ago

Text

deck the halls pt. 4

A/N: I’m sorry this took so long, but some crazy stuff has been going on in my life and with work, so I’ve been all over this place! But here is part four finally. I think I should have two or three more parts to post before this is over. Please enjoy and let me know what you think :)

Word Count: 8.2k

Warnings: Mentions of smut, dying, the usual, alcohol, etc.

November 14 Holly’s POV

“I guess paradise isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, huh?”

Holland twirled around, but the sound of the ice cracking under her feet made her her freeze in her place, causing her to stand as still as a statue so she wouldn’t fall through. Jack Frost’s voice was too close, almost like he was whispering in her ear. He was nowhere to be seen as she stood on the ice, terrified of the outcome. Harry wasn’t in the clearing this time, he wasn’t there to remind her that this was just a dream. Her cheeks were burning cold from her tears and the icy wind.

She sniffled, wiping under her frozen nose with the sleeve of her coat.

“Your soulmate is bitter, isn’t he?” Jack’s voice caused her to close her eyes, holding in a fresh wave of tears brought on by fear. “He doesn’t love you like you love him, does he Holland? He’s not capable of such emotion. He’s a broken boy-”

“Stop talking about him.” Holland cried out, lifting her hands to her face. “Please, Jack, just stop this.”

“I can’t.” His hands clamped down on her shoulders as the ice started to crack under her feet. “I need to be in control, Holland. I have to do it for my father.”

“Your father?”

Holland’s breath was gone from her lungs in seconds, replaced with ice cold water.

She closed her eyes, letting her body sink into the water.

Fighting was painful, but giving into fate brought her peace.

As she sunk lower in the frozen water, green eyes were all she could see.

❄️❄️❄️❄️

Harry’s POV

Harry pulled his door shut, sliding his key into the lock as he held his breath.

He felt his shoulder tense up at the sound of a door opening behind him, a new wave of tears welling up in his already swollen eyes. He turned the lock, hiking his leather bag up on his shoulder as he turned around. He expected to see Holland standing in her doorway, wearing some ridiculous set of Christmas themed pajamas with a Santa filled mug of hot chocolate in her hands.

Instead, he was met with the Christmas wreath she made. It was adorned with little trinkets she picked up around town, London landmarks were nestled into the bed of green that matched the shade of her sparkling eyes. Harry inhaled sharply, lifting his hand up to wipe at the tears under his eyes before he turned on his heel and stormed down the hallway, still ashamed of his childish actions.

It had been a few hours since he fucked up, since he’d pushed her away to protect himself (and her) from the war raging in his mind. He wanted to tell her everything going through his head, but he just couldn’t. The words he wanted to say were pushed into his chest while he lashed out at the one person he adored the most in this world. He knew that he’d never have the courage to tell her exactly how he felt about Christmas, and why he hated it.

Harry could see that she was already carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, even if she hid it behind a smile and Christmas cheer. She was busy trying to find her way in a strange new world while also trying to fight for her life. He didn’t want to add his problems to the long list of things she was already dealing with. He hadn’t really thought about it, but Holland was stuck figuring out the Jack Frost situation all on her own. And though there were things that he didn’t understand about her world, he still wanted to be here for her.

But right now, he was making things worse for her.

He was always making things worse.

As he stepped onto the lift, he felt a new wave of tears cascading down his cheeks. His knees were weak, wobbling like sliced cranberry jelly with each floor the lift descended. When the doors opened, he all but sprinted through the lobby and out onto the sidewalk. He gasped, taking in the crisp, fresh air as he wiped at his cheeks. People stared at him as he stood there, trying to pull himself together, but he couldn’t care less about their judgemental glances or their bitter frowns. He was hurting, and for once in his life, he wasn’t trying to hide it from anyone.

As he walked down the sidewalk, he tried to focus on the sounds of the city bustling around him to distract his negative thoughts. He was done wallowing in his own sadness, moping around in attempts to avoid his problems rather than solve them. He desperately wanted to make things right between himself and Holland so they could move forward together. He wasn’t afraid to admit that maybe they both needed help to get through this thing with Frost.

But before he could make things right with Holland, he had a few things to take care of.

☕️☕️☕️☕️

Sarah’s POV

Sarah flipped to the next page of Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares with eager fingers.

Her heart was racing in her chest as she read over the words in the cheesy novel that Holland picked up for her just a few days ago. They both agreed to read the book before meeting up to chat about it. It was a cute little book club with only two people, but Sarah loved it. She loved Holland just as much, and she even considered her to be her best friend.

Since Holland showed up in Java Java, things in Sarah’s life started to improve. She was practicing more self care after stressful shifts at the cafe, and she’d even started to meditate before bed. Her relationship with her Mother was improving, slowly but surely, and they even had plans to meet for tea in just two days time.

But most importantly, without Holland, there would be no Sarah and Mitch.

Sarah felt her heart swell as her eyes drifted from the page.

Holland gave Sarah the final push she needed to finally ask Mitch out on a date. It was something that she never thought she’d get the guts to do, but thanks to Holland, she went into Paradise Records with a peppermint mocha and a confident disposition. Mitch almost seemed stunned by Sarah’s gall, but by the end of her long winded speech about her feelings, he was smiling up at her like she hung the bloody moon in the sky.

Without Holland, that would have never happened.

Sarah picked up reading where she left off, her eyes drifting over the page.

Just as she made it to the end of a paragraph, the bell above the cafe door rang out.

She sighed, stuffing an old receipt between the pages before she looked towards the door with an obnoxiously fake smile. It fell the second she laid eyes on Harry Styles walking towards her counter. Sarah rolled her lips in, taking a deep breath in attempts to compose herself. She feared that if she didn’t compose herself, Harry would end up with a Christmas stirrer in his ear.

“Sorry sir, but we’re allowed to refuse service to dickheads that break people’s hearts.” Sarah plastered on her fake smile, reaching for her book as Harry stopped in front of her. “Goodbye.”

“I know I’ve been a dickhead, Sarah.” Harry’s voice cracked as he lifted his hand to scratch at his jaw nervously. “But I’m trying to do the right thing.”

“You’ve been a dickhead for a lot longer than you realize.” She let out a heavy sigh. “And we’ve all put up with it because we know that you’re still hurting, Harry, but Holland didn’t deserve to be pushed away and shouted at because you’re scared of your feelings.”

“I know that.” He said softly, his red-rimmed eyes glazing over. “But I’m trying to be better for her. She’s made me realize a lot of things since she’s shown up in my life, but the number one thing that she’s made me realize is that I stopped living when my parents died.”

Sarah didn’t know what to say to that.

It was true, but it made her heart ache hearing it aloud.

She loved Harry like a brother, and she just wanted him to be happy.

“We just want you to be happy, Harry.” Sarah said softly. “We don’t expect some wild, overnight transformation, but we do want to see you smile from time to time.”

“I smile.” He let out a wet chuckle, reaching up to wipe at a few stray tears. “I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry for pushing you out, Sarah. I know you’ve tried to cheer me up over the years, especially around the holidays, and I just want you to know that I see that. I appreciate you as a person, and I’m so lucky to have you as a friend.”

Sarah felt a burning sensation behind her eyes, and seconds later her vision went blurry.

“Thank you.” She said softly. “I just want you to be okay, H. I need my friend to be okay, and I need you to realize that you’re not alone. I’m here for you, always.”

“I see that now.” Harry wiped at his cheeks. “I love you, Sarah Jones.”

“And I love you, Harry Styles.” She chuckled, shaking her head before she leaned across the counter with her arms out. “Give me a hug.”

🍵🍵🍵🍵 Mitch’s POV

As Mitch dipped the small satchel of green tea into his steaming water, he thought about Sarah’s shampoo. If he remembered correctly, it was green tea and jasmine. He cracked a smile at the thought of her hair tickling his nose as they curled up on the couch. She left his flat about three hours ago for her shift at Java Java and he was already aching to have her in his arms again. Sarah Jones was the love of his life, and he was not afraid to admit it anymore.

The day that she stormed into the shop with a peppermint mocha in her hand and a wild look in her eyes, he knew that she was the one. He sat behind the counter on his stool with his guitar in his lap as she spewed out every single feeling she had about him. He smiled at her while she ranted, practically slamming the peppermint mocha down so that she could talk with her hands.

He loved that about her.

He loved everything about her.

As he twirled the tea bag around his finger, a knock sounded at his door.

Sarah was still at work, and Niall was at the record shop... so who could be knocking at his door.

He walked towards the bright yellow door tentatively, not bothering to peek through the peephole before opening it up. He felt his eyebrows lift dramatically at the sight of a distraught Harry standing there with his hands stuffed in his pockets and blotchy red cheeks. Mitch almost didn’t know what to say to Harry as he stood on the other side of the threshold. He had never seen the man before him cry, not even when he was at his lowest point in life.

Mitch moved aside, holding his arm out without a word.

Harry walked in, sniffling as Mitch shut the door.

“You okay?” Mitch asked. “Can I make you some tea?”

“I don’t need tea, but thank you.” Harry made his way to the thrifted couch that Mitch bought with Niall a few years ago. “You’re with Sarah?”

“Um, yeah.” Mitch crossed his arms over his chest as he walked towards the couch. “Is that why you’re crying?”

“No, I’m crying because I’m a shit friend and a huge fucking prick.” Harry let out a wet chuckle, leaning back into the couch as Mitch watched him. “I don’t pay attention to anything but myself, do I?”

“Not really, no.” Mitch sat down next to him. “But...that’s just you.”

“But it isn’t.” Harry raked his fingers through his hair, gripping at the roots as he dropped his elbows to his knees. “I’m not this guy, Mitch. I can’t be this kind of guy. Holland has joked about it before, but she’s right....I’m literally Scrooge.”

“Harry-”

“You never told me that you were serious about making music.” Harry lifted his head, slapping his palms against his thighs. “But I never fucking asked you about that. I never ask about any of your lives because I just assume that you’re all happy, all the time.”

“Not always.” Mitch sighed. “Harry, don’t beat yourself up about it, okay? The last three years have been really hard on you, and you can’t expect to be who you were before.”

“I don’t know who I am at all.” Harry whispered. “But I know I’m nowhere near the man I want to be.”

“First step is admitting you have a problem.” Mitch cracked a smile, causing Harry to bark out a watery laugh. “I’m glad that you’re doing... whatever this is.”

“I’m so fucking sorry if I’ve ever hurt you.” Harry said. “You always listen to every problem that I have, but I never ask about the shit you’re going through. I’m sorry for being such a self centered prick, and I promise that things are going to change going forward. I’m here for you, Mitch.”

“That means a lot.” Mitch squeezed Harry’s shoulder before patting it. “I’m really proud of you, and I’m so happy that you’re finding yourself.”

“It’s all because of Holland.” Harry rolled his eyes fondly, wiping under his eyes. “I owe her so much.”

“Right now, I hear you owe her an apology.” Mitch pulled his hand back, trying not to snort out a laugh as Harry groaned. “Have you seen her?”

“Not since this morning.” Harry blew out a breath. “I went to Java Java, hoping that she would be there, but I spent the last two hours crying to Sarah instead.”

“She received a very interesting phone call from Holland after your fight.” Mitch said. “I hope you’ve got something big planned for her.”

“I do.” Harry smiled, rubbing his palms together. “But I have a few more stops to make first.”

🎶🎶🎶🎶

Niall’s POV

Niall’s day was pure shit.

From the moment he opened his eyes, he knew that his entire day would be thrown off due to the absence of Gemma in his bed. It was unusual for them to spend nights apart at this point in their relationship, and Niall didn’t like sleeping without her and Noah under the same roof. He considered them both to be his little family, and he wanted to protect them always.

But Gemma insisted that he go back to his own flat for the night when Noah started acting fussier than usual. Niall insisted that he could handle it alongside her, as a team, but Gemma merely told him that she would call him later. He never received a call from her, and he spent his entire night tossing in turning in bed waiting to hear from her.

Being proud and stubborn was a well known, Styles family trait, and Niall hated it so much at times. He already had Harry pushing him away. He didn’t need to add Gemma to the list of people he was losing. He loved her, and he loved Noah with all of his heart. Being away from them hurt just as much as being away from his family back home in Ireland.

Despite a restless night’s sleep, Niall still had to open up Paradise Records.

He was running on no sleep, no caffeine, and no hope for his relationship with Gemma. He was lucky that the shop seemed to be slow today. Niall wasn’t usually one to snap at people, but he had his moments. He was currently grumbling at the rickety old cash register that refused to shut after a purchase. He’d told Harry time and time again that they needed a newer one, but Harry liked the vintage vibe that the old register gave off.

Niall slammed the drawer with a series of curses spoken in a language he rarely used. He let out a shaky sigh when it finally settled flush with the register, his chin wobbling and his eyes filling with tears. He hated the uncertainty lingering in the air, and he knew that he needed to confront Gemma about it. The only problem was, he didn’t want to lose her after.

“What did Ricky ever do to you?”

Niall snapped his head up with his brows pulled down.

“What are you doing here?” Niall brushed the back of his hand under his nose as Harry shifted awkwardly. “Shouldn’t you be with your new girlfriend?”

“No.” Harry cleared his throat, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. “We got into a fight this morning, and I was a proper idiot.”

“What’s new there?” Niall scoffed, shaking his head. “What do you want, Harry?”

“Are you alright?” Harry asked, moving closer to the counter.

“No, I’m not.” Niall said. “But I don’t want to waste my breath talking to you about it, Harry. I’m done fighting so hard with you two. I’m not getting anywhere, and it’s clear that I’m not wanted-”

“Woah, hold on.” Harry said. “What are you on about, Niall? I love having you around, and I’m happy that you’re with Gemma. I know that...I might have teased at the beginning, but I told Gemma that I was happy for you both.”

“Well, it might have been nice to hear it from you.” Niall snapped. “And it might be nice if your sister would stop pushing me away every time something goes wrong. I’m not some daft kid, Harry. I know how to take care of them both, but she won’t let me.”

“Niall, I don’t want to step into the middle of something, but I promise you that Gemma is trying with you.” Harry’s face fell. “They do need you Niall. You’re the zen in her chaotic world, and it would kill her if you left.”

“I’m not leaving, she’s pushing me out.” Niall whispered, his voice cracking. “Noah was having a full blown tantrum last night and she just told me to go. I know that I’m not his father, but I love that boy more than I love anything in this world. It kills me to see him like that, and it kills me to see her so out of sorts.”

“She’s a proud woman, Niall.” Harry inhaled sharply, biting at his bottom lip. “She’s been doing this on her own for a while, and it’s hard to let people into that little bubble that you create to protect your heart. I know it isn’t fair, but she’s trying harder than I’ve ever tried.”

Niall looked at his best mate, watching the rims of his green eyes turn red. The first few tears fell as Harry’s chin wobbled, and he ducked his head down with a soft sniffle as Niall stood on the other side of the counter, bewildered by the actions of the usually austere man.

“Mate?” Niall said.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a shit friend to you Niall.” Harry cried out. “I’ve been so unfair to you for so long, and you deserve so much more than me as your friend.”

Niall felt a new wave of tears blurring his vision as he watched Harry’s shoulders shake. He moved from behind the counter, wrapping Harry in a tight hug as he sobbed into his shoulder. It was strange, but Niall hugged him tighter, brushing his palm over Harry’s back as his frame shook violently. Niall felt a few tears fall from his own eyes and onto Harry’s coat as they stood there together. He wasn’t sure what to do with Harry when he was like this, but he figured holding him seemed to be enough by the way Harry clung to his shirt.

“I’m sorry.” Harry croaked out, lifting his head up to wipe at his messy face. “I’m sorry for all of it Niall. I’m sorry for pushing you away, and I’m sorry for making you feel like you weren’t welcome in our family. If anyone is a part of our little family, it’s you.”

“Harry-”

“And I can’t promise that things are going to go back to normal right away, but I swear that I’m going to try harder.” Harry hiccuped. “We’ll have family dinner, and we’ll go on holiday together when we can. I swear that I want to be better for you all, because you’ve been keeping me afloat for so long and you deserve more from me.”

“Harry, just take a deep breath.” Niall said. “It’s going to be fine.”

“I can’t lose all of you.” Harry sniffled. “I need you in my life, I know that now.”

“You won’t lose us.” Niall said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You promise?” Harry asked, taking in a shaky breath as Niall nodded.

“Yeah, I promise on me Mum.” He said. “I love you, mate. I think of you as a brother, you know that.”

“I think of you that way to.” Harry cracked a tiny smile. “Do you forgive me?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Niall sighed. “You’ve been a little grumpy, but no one expected you to be the same person you were before they died. You’ve just been trying to find out how to live in a world without them, and I’ve never been upset with you for that.”

“Thank you.” Harry nodded before glancing around the shop. “Slow day?”

“Dreadful.” Niall groaned. “I’ve cleaned the whole fucking store-”

“Lock up and go.” Harry said. “We’re just wasting electricity.”

“Are you sure?” Niall asked, his brows lifting up.

“Positive.” Harry chuckled. “Go find Gemma, and tell her that I said she needs to stop being so thick headed. She’s lucky to have someone like you around.”

“Thanks, mate.” Niall patted Harry’s arm. “Where’s Holland at?”

“I don’t know, but I’m about to head back home.” Harry said. “I figured making her a nice dinner and sitting her down for a proper talk is in order, so I’ve got a few errands to run first.”

“She still hasn’t tried pizza.” Niall pointed out. “Maybe make her one of those homemade ones that you used to do when we lived over in Camden.”

“I can’t believe you remembered that.” Harry laughed, the sound almost sending Niall into cardiac arrest. “We had good times in that flat.”

“Yeah, we did.” Niall smiled. “But I have a feeling better times are ahead.”

“Me too.”

⛸⛸⛸⛸

Holland’s POV

Holland couldn’t help but remember the words Harry told her the night they met.

“Just do me a favor, and don’t go near any lakes.”

Technically, this wasn’t a lake.

She let her skates glide over the ice, as she glided along the man made ice rink that was in the middle of Holland Park.

In the North Pole, she used to skate every single morning. She never went to the lake after her dreams started, but she did go to the rink her father had installed in the town square. There was always a crowd, and there was no danger of her sinking into an icy current at the rink. She missed skating, and part of her wished that she could bring Harry here. She couldn’t imagine him wobbling around in ice skates, cursing every time he almost fell to the ground.

He would be a little sour about it, but she would love to see him at least try it out for her sake. She tried not to think about him after their fight, but it seemed that she just couldn’t keep her mind from wandering off to thoughts of him. He was everywhere from the bitter cold wind to the scent of gingerbread in the air. She even saw a baby that almost looked like Noah, which led to her thinking about Harry lifting the toddler in the air, causing him to squeal out his uncle’s name between fits of laughter.

She missed him.

“Miss?”

A voice pulled her from her thoughts, causing her to stop on her skates before she turned her head. An older gentleman stood at the edge of the rink with a broom, his coat tight around his broad shoulders. She looked around the rink, her heart sinking in her chest when she realized that she was all alone. There was no one else around the rink either.

“Yes?” She asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“We’re closing.” He said. “I need to sweep the rink.”

Holland let out a breath of relief, nodding her head.

“I’m so sorry.” She skated closer to the edge of the rink, making her way towards the exit. “I hope I haven’t held you up.”

“It’s quite alright.” The man walked out further onto the ice, his broom sweeping over the rink. “I don’t have anyone to go home to, so what does it matter?”

“You don’t even have pets?” She asked, holding onto the railing as she stepped down carefully. “I suggest getting a pet, they’re wonderful company.”

“I’m allergic.”

His annoyed mumbling reminded her of Harry.

“Thank you for letting me stay a little longer, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.” She smiled back at the man. “Merry Christmas.”

“Same to you.” He went about his sweeping, ignoring Holland as she sat on a bench just around the edge of the skating rink.

She stripped the borrowed skates from her feet, dropping them in the return bin after zipping her winter boots up. She adjusted her beanie on her head, reaching for her bag before she started walking. With every step she took away from the ice rink, the darker it became. She didn’t realize that she had stayed so late, and an anxious feeling settled in her chest.

The dark always scared her.

Holland tried not to let it get the better of her, crossing her arms over her chest before she picked up her pace. She followed the path lined with trees, keeping her eyes down to avoid seeing shadows in the dark. It would only cause her to panic more, and she would end up freaking herself out over something that probably wasn’t even there.

As she continued to walk down the pathway, she realized that she was going in a different direction than when she started. She looked up, her eyes squinting as she tried to make out the large blob in the corner of the park. When she realized that it was in fact a small pond, her blood ran cold in her veins. She was stuck in her place, frozen with fear.

“I should have listened.” She whispered aloud, aware that no one was there to listen. “I’m sorry, Harry.”

Her heart started to beat faster in her chest as she turned around, ready to dart off in another direction. She was stopped, however, by a solid body pressing into hers. Holland let out a scream, falling backwards onto her ass as the body loomed over her. She couldn’t see a face, but she could tell that it was a man by the broad build of his shoulders.

“You shouldn’t be here.” The man hissed out, reaching down to pull Holland up by her coat. “It’s dangerous to be in the park after sundown, don’t you know that?”

“I didn’t know.” She whimpered, clenching her eyes shut. “I’m lost.”

“Anyone could see that, you daft girl.” He growled, pulling her closer. “Do you want to get mugged?”

“Not really.” She slowly opened her eyes, looking at the man in front of her. “I just don’t know how to get out of this park.”

“I’ll walk you out.” He grumbled, his voice husky and gruff. “Bloody naive little brat.”

He released her coat, turning on his heel before he started to move swiftly.

Holland could hardly keep up with him, but she did her best.

She tried not to pay attention to the groups of people loitering in the field, staring at her as she walked by with the stranger. She didn’t remember seeing any of them on her walk towards the back half of the park, but then again, she wasn’t really looking. As the man started walking her past more familiar territory, Holland felt her shoulders start to relax ever so slightly.

When they approached the gate at the front, the man turned around.

“Don’t ever stay in the park after the sun goes down again, do you hear me?” He snapped. “It's a surefire way to get yourself into a lot of trouble, and you don’t look like the type of girl who’s ever been in trouble before.”

“Thank you.” she said softly. “I promise to pay more attention next time.”

“Good.” He turned on his heel, strutting away without another word.

Holland pushed through the gate, walking down the sidewalk as quickly as her feet would carry her. She made a few turns, her eyes catching sight of a few buildings that looked slightly familiar, but as she approached them, she suddenly felt lost again. The golden arches of the Mcdonald’s restaurant were familiar, but the outside of the building didn’t look the same.

She growled out in frustration, turning around in a circle in attempts to find anything else that looked familiar to her. When she noticed a few key details missing from the area she was standing in, she decided to just push through and keep walking. It was better than standing still in the ice cold wind of the winter night.

But as she continued down the sidewalk, she realized that she was most definitely lost.

❄️❄️❄️❄️

Harry’s POV

When Harry finished up setting the dinner date he’d prepared for himself and Holland, he wiped his hands on his trousers before opening the door to his flat. He still had that hollow feeling in his chest that he got when she was far away, but he decided to knock on her door anyways. Maybe their weird connection was just a little off today. He stood there for a few minutes, occasionally knocking before he dropped his hand to the doorknob. It was a shot in the dark, but he had to try.

When the doorknob turned, he groaned as he pushed the door open.

Of course, she would leave her door unlocked.

He took note of the Christmas lights strung out on the rails of her balcony and the fake fireplace crackling on her television screen, but he didn’t see Holland. Her kitchen and living area lights were off, and the hallway was just as dark. He took careful steps, walking down it as panic started to rise in his chest. If she wasn’t home, where on earth could she be.

He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, clicking on Sarah’s contact as he peeked into Holland’s empty bedroom.

“Did your plan not go well?” Sarah answered.

“She’s not at home.” He said. “She’s not in her flat, Sarah.”

“Okay, so maybe she’s still cooling off?” she asked. “Call her.”

“She doesn’t have a phone.” He cursed under his breath, storming through her apartment back to his own. “Fuck, she’s probably lost, Sarah.”

“Take a deep breath.” Sarah’s voice switched from amused to serious. “This is Holland we’re talking about. If she’s lost, it’s probably in a Christmas store.”

“No, she never stays out this late.” Harry grabbed a coat and his keys, slamming his flat door shut before he turned the key in the lock. “She’s afraid of the dark.”

“Harry, just breathe.”

“I can’t, Sarah.” He cried out, the panic clear in his voice. “I have to find her. I can’t lose her like I lost them, I can’t.”

He hung up the phone stuffing it into his pocket before he jabbed the down button for the lift.

He struggled to get his coat on in the lift, his jaw tense as he tried to think of all the places she could be. Java Java was closed, Harrods was closing soon, and Paradise Records closed earlier when he told Niall to go home. He didn’t know of any other stores she might venture into, but he had to try to think like her if he was going to find her.

When he stepped onto the sidewalk outside of their building, he inhaled sharply.

The scent of berry and clove was feint, but he had no doubt in his mind that it would guide him towards Holland. He turned to the right, taking a few steps as the scent grew stronger. The warm feeling in his chest was back, and his heart was beating faster as he all but jogged down the sidewalk in search of his soulmate. He took a left turn at the end of the street, but when he did, her scent was gone. He turned around, taking the right instead. He followed that sidewalk to the end, letting out a frustrated growl as he pushed his fingers through his hair.

“Where the hell are you at, Holland?” He mumbled under his breath, breathing deeply as he let his eyes close. “C’mon baby, where are you?”

He could see her in his mind, walking past the Mcdonald’s just a few blocks away.

Harry’s feet moved quicker than they ever had, pounding against the pavement until he turned the corner where the Mcdonald’s was. He stopped when he saw her walking with her head down, his hands flying out to her biceps as she walked right into his chest. He held her tight, keeping her from falling over as his body became unsteady.

“Fuck!” He wrapped her tightly, planting his heels down. “You scared me half to death, Holland.”

“Harry?” She gasped out, tilting her head back to look up at him. “It’s you.”

“Yeah, it’s me.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek, watching her face as her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry for hurting you, baby. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that, and I swear that I’ll never do something like that again.”

“I just want to help.” She whispered. “Let me take some of the weight off of your shoulders, Harry. You don’t have to carry it alone.”

He sniffled, nodding softly before he pulled her into a crushing hug.

“Let’s go home.” He whispered. “I made us dinner.”

“Did you?” She asked, her voice raising an octave in excitement.

“Yeah, I did.” He let out a wet chuckle, wiping under his own teary eyes as he pulled back. “I made us pizza.”

Holland tossed her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.

“Finally!”

🍕🍕🍕🍕

Holland’s POV

Harry pushed the door to his flat open, holding Holland’s hand tightly in his own.

She smiled at his back, trying to hold back the laugh building up in her throat. He’d refused to let her hand go the entire walk home, and he even threatened to carry her on his back if she didn’t cooperate with him. He was being stern, and pouty the entire time, but Holland found it cute. It wasn’t at all like the closed off version of Harry she saw earlier that morning.

As she walked through the door, the scent of gingerbread and vanilla greeted her sense. Harry shut the door behind her, giving her a sheepish smile as her brows lifted up. In the center of his kitchen counter was a candle, the flame still lit up as the warm smell filled his home.

“You’re burning a candle.” She said softly, pulling at her scarf as Harry locked the door. “You hate candles.”

“I do.” He said. “But you like them.”

“I love them.” She smiled over her shoulder at him. “Why are you burning that for me?”

“It’s a small detail in my very complex plan to apologize to you.” He cleared his throat, stripping his coat off as his cheeks turned red. “I was a dick to you this morning, and you didn’t deserve that.”

“You’re right, I didn’t.” She turned back, handing him her scarf before she started working on the buttons of her coat. He hung it up on the coat rack, his face solemn like a puppy who had just been scolded. “And I do understand why you did it, but that doesn’t make it okay.”

“It’s really hard for me to open up.” He reached for her coat next, hanging it up next to his own before he held his arms out. Holland walked into them happily, snuggling into his soft green sweater as he sighed. “I’ve spent three years keeping every emotion, every serious thought, every fear in my own head. I don’t tell people, because I’m afraid of being vulnerable with someone I could lose in the blink of an eye.”

“Harry,” Holland tilted her head back, looking at him with a frown. “People are going to come in and out of your life, that’s inevitable.”

“But if I don’t get attached, then it won’t hurt so bad when they go.” He shrugged. “That’s why I tried pushing you away today. I know I could possibly lose you forever, and we’re already so close to each other. Losing you even now would nearly kill me, and I hardly know you.”

“I know.” She said. “But wouldn’t you rather spend the time that we have left together falling in love? I don’t want my time on earth to be meaningless, Harry. I want to be proud of what I’ve left behind when I go-”

“Stop talking about dying.” He whimpered, clenching his eyes shut. “I can’t take it.”

“It might happen.” She said. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough to take Jack Frost down on my own. My magic is too weak, and I can’t do it without-”

She paused, taking a deep breath before she pulled away from Harry.

“Without what?” Harry’s eyes searched her face.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said. “I’m working on it.”

“You’re being a hypocrite.” He scoffed, wiping at his cheeks in frustration. “You’re not exactly...you say that you like to be honest, but I know that you’re not telling me everything.”

“Because I know you’re not ready to hear all of it.” She crossed her arms over her chest, staring back at him as his jaw tensed. “What?”

“You’re just as bad as me, you know that?” He said. “If we’re gonna spend our time falling in love, and not fighting, then we need to lay it all out on the table. No more secrets.”

Holland bit her lower lip, inhaling sharply through her nose.

“I don’t think you’re ready.” She said. “I don’t think you’ll even believe me.”

“I know when you’re telling the truth.” He rolled his eyes at her. “I can feel it when you lie, remember?”

“That’s fair.” She mumbled, looking up towards the ceiling as she sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t want you to be mad at me for it though.”

Harry’s body nearly deflated as he looked at her face.

“Baby, I am so sorry for earlier.” He moved closer, grabbing her hands. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, and I know better now. I swear that I won’t be upset with you for whatever it is you have to share.”

“You’re gonna be a little upset.” She held up a hand, nearly pinching her fingers together as Harry chuckled. “But it’s only fair for me to be honest with you if I expect the same in return.”

“Okay.” He squeezed her fingers. “Let me get the pizza reheated, and then we can talk about the entire thing.”

“Do you have any alcohol?” Holland cleared her throat, leaning against the counter sheepishly as Harry’s brows shot up. “I think we might need it.”

“Noted.” He said, clearing his throat. “I’ll see what I’ve got.”

🍷🍷🍷🍷

Harry’s POV

“So, Santa is your dad.” He asked Holland, his third glass of Merlot nearly empty in his hand as he stared at Holland. “And Jack Frost is trying to kill the two of us to avenge his Father’s death?”

“Yeah.” Holland nodded, taking another bite of her pizza as Harry stared at her. “You okay?”

Her voice was muffled by dough and sauce, and if Harry wasn’t so shell shocked, he might have thought it was cute. He stared at her as she slowly chewed, keeping her eyes on him as he lifted his glass to his lips. He downed the red liquid before reaching for the bottle. Instead of pouring another round, he tipped the bottle back, gulping the liquid down with ease.

“I saw your dad.” He blurted out, putting the bottle between his crossed legs. “When I was five years old, I saw him putting presents under the Christmas tree. I talked to him, and I promise him that I would never tell another living soul that I saw him.”

“I know.” Holland gave him a soft smile, lowering her slice of pizza to her plate. “He told me about that before I left home.”

“He was really nice.” Harry glanced down at his thighs. “I used to think about him all the time when I was a kid, and I loved Christmas so fucking much because of him.”

Harry could feel Holland tense up, and he knew that she wanted to ask.

“Harry.” She said his name softly, sliding her hand over his knee. “Is he the reason you hate Christmas? Because he asked you not to say anything?”

“No, he’s not.” Harry glanced up at her, taking a deep breath.

It was now or never.

He had to tell her.

“My parents died on Christmas morning in a car crash. They were on their way to the shops for more eggs, because we had this Christmas tradition where we would bake pancakes together, but we were out. They left before Gemma and I woke up, and they never came home.”

Holland stared back at Harry, her eyes glued to his own.

“I’m so sorry.” She whispered, moving her plate to the coffee table before taking the bottle of wine from his hands. “Gumdrop, c’mere.”

“You don’t have to-”

“Come here.” She said sternly, holding her arms open as she situated her legs out on the couch.

Harry crawled over to her, settling between her legs as she rested her head on the arm of the couch. He pressed his nose into her neck, willing the burning behind his eyes to go away.

“I can’t even imagine how horrible that must have been for you, Harry.” She brushed her fingers through the tangles of his curls. “To lose your parents in such a horrible way, I can’t even fathom it.”

“Christmas was my favorite holiday until they died.” He croaked out, sliding his arms around Holland’s body. “I just couldn’t stomach the thought of celebrating their deaths, because that’s what Christmas feels like now. It’s an anniversary for the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”

He felt the tears escaping from the corners of his eyes, leaking onto his own cheeks, and Holland’s neck. She tightened her grip around his waist, burying her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck with her other hand. He sobbed, his body shaking as he released all of the anger and pain that he kept pent up since their death.

“It’s going to be okay, gumdrop.” Holland pressed a soft kiss to his temple. “I know it sucks, but you're doing so good.”

“I miss them so much, Holland.” He gasped out, clawing at Holland’s body, searching for comfort. “I just want them back.”

“I know.” Holland’s voice cracked, but she was quick to clear her throat. “I wish I could bring them back for you, gumdrop. I wish I could take away all of the pain you have.”

Holland scratched at his scalp as he let out a tsunami of tears.

He was never afraid to cry in front of her.

He knew that she wouldn’t judge him for it.

“I love you so much.” She whispered against his ear, causing his breath to catch in his throat. “I know that isn’t enough to fix this, but I want you to know that I love you. It’s not okay to hold yourself back because you’re afraid of loss. It’s unfair to your heart, and you deserve so much more than that, Harry. You deserve happiness.”

“I don’t want to lose you, too.” He lifted his head up, inhaling shakily as he lifted a hand up to wipe at his tears. “I couldn’t take it, Holland.”

“You could.” She brushed her thumb over his other cheek, a few tears leaking from the corners of her own eyes as she offered him a tiny smile. “You’re so strong, my love.”

“Losing you would kill me.” He felt his throat growing tighter, and his heart squeezing in his chest at the thought.

Holland closed her mouth, inhaling before she closed her eyes.

“What?” He asked, his eyes searching her face. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Um, there’s a lot to explain, but do you remember when you asked me what would help my magic?” Her cheeks were glowing red as she spoke, but Harry knew it wasn’t because of the wine. “Helping our souls bond will make my magic stronger. I could defeat Jack if we did that.”

“How do we do that?” Frantically, he pushed up on his arms, hovering over her so that his hair fell like a curtain around their faces. “Why haven’t we done it already?

“Well, you’ve done it, but I haven’t.” She mumbled as Harry tilted his head in confusion. “Sex.”

Oh.

Fuck.

Harry wouldn’t deny that he’d thought about her like that before.

He though about it often.

“Um, yeah-” He said, his face relaxing and his lips pressing together to hold back a wet chuckle. “Yeah, that’s something I know how to do.”

Holland shifted below him, clearing her throat.

“But we can’t do it, Harry.” She sounded just as broken as he felt. “I won’t.”

“You won’t have sex with me?” Harry frowned. “Earlier you said-”

“I wasn’t thinking straight.” She closed her eyes, shaking her head. “We shouldn’t have even talked about it.”

“Do you mind me asking why you’ve changed your mind?” He asked softly, pressing his body back into hers, his arms wrapping around her. “I respect your decision either way, but I’m just curious. If the bonding of our souls is going to help your magic, why wouldn’t we try it?”

“Because if our souls are bonded, and I die….you go with me.” She sniffled, brushing her hand over the back of his head as he nuzzled his nose into her neck. “And I refuse to let you die because of me.”

“That’s not your choice to make.” He lifted his head again, shaking his head at her with furrowed brows. “You don’t get to make choices for me, just like I don’t get to make them for you. If it’s something that will help us win this fight, then I’m all in.”

He sat up, falling back to his side of the couch as she brushed her palms over her face, clearly upset and frustrated. It was cute, seeing someone with so much patience frustrated. His heart still ached with hers, though.

“I can’t.” She said. “I can’t be the reason you die.”

“You wouldn’t be the reason, Holland.” He sighed, brushing his fingers through his hair. “Jack Frost would be the reason.”

“What about Noah?” She sat up, looking at Harry. “What about Gemma?”

“Holland-”

“Your sister has lost her parents, she doesn’t need to lose her brother too.”

“Don’t.” His jaw tensed as he looked towards the ceiling. “She would tell me to do it, Holland. If she knew what was happening, she would tell me to do whatever it takes.”

“If I die, it’s over!” Holland exclaimed. “You’ll be gone, Harry.”

“I would rather die with you, than live in a world without you.” He let out a frustrated huff, shaking his head. “Is there anything besides fucking that we can do to bond our souls?”

“Not really.” Holland mumbled, looking down to her lap. “It’s when you’re the most vulnerable.”

“You’re not wrong about that.” He mumbled, trying to fight off a smirk. “If I can’t convince you that it’s worth it, would you still have sex with me before Jack Frost tries to murder us?”

Holland reached behind her back before she hit Harry with a throw pillow.

“Baby, I’m kidding!” He groaned out, holding his hands up. “I just wanted you to laugh.”

“You’re such a guy.” She growled out. “I love you, and I’d love to experience that with you, but we just can’t.”

“What was it that you said earlier, about spending the last of your days loving, and not fighting?” He asked. “That’s a nice way to love-”

“I can’t tell if you’re trying to seduce me because you really want to get into my pants, or because you want our souls to bond so that you die with me.” Holland narrowed her eyes at him as he smiled back at her. “Which one is it?”

“A bit of both, if I’m being honest.” He pulled a face, waving his hand in a so-so motion. “Both have their perks.”

“I won’t.” She whispered. “I can’t.”

“I’m giving you permission, but I’m not forcing you.” He said. “I want you to make your magic stronger, and I also want to make you cum a lot before we possibly die. I think it would be unfair to let you die a virgin.”

“You’re horrible.” Holland dropped back against the couch, covering her face with her palms as Harry laughed. “I was promised a beautiful apology, and all I got was a candle and horny soulmate.”

“I’m so sorry, baby.” Harry smirked, kneeling onto the couch before he fell between Holland’s lips with a goofy grin. “Let me kiss it better?”

Holland rolled her eyes, but she let him plant his lips on hers anyways.

“I love you, too.” He whispered, pulling back from her mouth for a second to whisper the words before he stole another kiss. “I always have, and I always will.”

#deck the halls #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry fanfic #harry fanfiction

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