#like.. niall wasn’t there either lol

[dreamings-free]

zouis in the news !

- via google news search for "louis tomlinson" 30/1/25 at 5pm GMT

[jarofstyles]

Illicit- II

Check out our Patreon- part 3 and 4 are up there now!

Warnings- Cheating (H with Y/N), asshole H lol

WC- 3.1k

------

“How was the event yesterday?” Niall asked, leaning back in his camping chair. 

The lake view was stunning. Nestled in the foothills of the mountain range, the lake town had always had charm. It was a true small town, despite the string of multi million dollar lake homes, and Harry had found it to be one of his favorite estates their family owned. That’s why he hosted an end of summer weekend there with his true friends. His small handful of trusted people and their significant others- and a few staff with iron clad NDA’s- were invited out to the lake house for the last hoorah of summer activities. Tubing, swimming in the lake or the pool, volleyball, bonfires, even fireworks that he hired out, all of it was being utilized before it couldn’t be anymore. It was similar each year, but this year had a new, important addition.

Y/N, his sweet little thing. 

“Horrible.” Harry grunted, watching as Y/N and Zayn’s girlfriend Hannah combed the bush around the lake looking for wildflowers. “It’s never good. I despise those things, and the fact I have to go to save face makes it even more insufferable.” The events were so drab and dull. Sometimes, in his youth, he’d enjoy the food or the drinks. Winning something at auction. But now it was watered down with people who, quite frankly, didn’t deserve to be there. He could give to charities on his own- and he did- but un-fucking-fortunately, if he showed up then there would be more eyes on it. His presence was just as valuable as his money. 

“Don’t blame ya for hating ‘em. As soon as I got out of them I felt better. But how was Katherine? She splattered you all over her instagram, said she got flowers from ya. Did you?” He knew the answers, obviously, but wanted the confirmation he all too easily got with the scoff and Harry’s head tipping back to finish his beer.  

“Fuck no. I haven’t gotten her flowers since the first date. I left Y/N in my bed, arrived to the event late to get my ear chewed off about how rude it was and dragged around to be photographed even though I’d rather chop off a thumb.” He grunted. “Then I went home, Y/N was asleep so I packed and then… woke her up.” His face grew a slight smirk, remembering how he woke her up with his mouth between her thighs and flowers actually bought for her on the nightstand. He felt awful whenever he had to see Katherine and knew it wasn't something that Y/N liked either, so he wanted to make it up to her whenever he could. The fact that Katherine showed him off like a showpony and lied about flowers she had certainly got for herself was laughable but not at all surprising. 

“It’s so odd to see you like… properly into a girl.” Niall admitted. “I have to admit, though, y’look actually happy. Weird as fuck to see you walk around with a smile after the scowls you’ve become famous for.” It really was. Y/N had exposed a softer, gentler side of Harry that hadn’t been seen before. Before Y/N he wouldn’t have been caught dead with a woman on his lap, and yet he pulled her into his lap whenever he got the chance. Even here. He didn’t give a fuck if his inner circle saw- no, he wanted them to. The need to show off the one girl he actually wanted was overwhelming at times. 

“She’s different.” There was no use in denying how much he really loved Y/N. It was obvious, written all over his face when she was around or even mentioned. She’d taken the stiff iron walls of his heart and turned them into soft molten fluff for her to mold. There wasn’t much shame he had, except for having to hide her for a bit. “I just want this contract to be over so I can move it along. She’s halfway moved in but I want her there all the time. Just can’t have her fully there because… y’know.” Because Katherine liked to show up unannounced sometimes and demand attention. He never really did, sending her off with the excuse of work, but once he got serious with Y/N he had his locks changed and a lack of care that increased as the days went on. 

Harry was an awful boyfriend to Katherine and he simply did not care. He hoped that she would come to her senses and break up with him but apparently, the perks of being attached to his name were too good to give up just because he was mean, didn’t give her attention or affection. He’d refused to kiss her besides the cheek and told her that he didn’t care if she got it somewhere else, but he was on a ‘sex ban.’. Ironic, considering he was the most thoroughly sexed he’d been in his life. Sometimes he felt a tad bit of guilt, just knowing how his mother would feel if she found out how awful he was to her- but she didn’t like the girl either! 

He was desperate for this to end so he could introduce her to Y/N. The woman he was certain he was keeping for as long as she let him. Harry was a possessive man and intended on that being forever, but he cared about her too much to lock her into a secret engagement. She deserved to be able to show off and tell the world- and so did he. 

“Yeah, I don’t blame you. It’s good there wasn’t an infidelity clause, he was dumb as fuck for that. It’s a shame cause she’s a pretty girl, could probably find some other new blood to stick to and make her money that way. But I get why she’s sticking to you. All those people wanting a slice of your empire must be fucking exhausting.” Niall was wealthy, his family going back a few generations short of Harry’s own, but it didn’t have the public notoriety that his did. He often wished that was the case for his legacy. 

“Wish she would just have a real moment of clarity and realize no money is worth this, that she could be getting dick and designer bags and someone else to dote on her. Not me. Never will be me. But, in just a few months it’s not my problem and her arse will be on the curb whilst Y/N will go public with me.” He didn’t plan on waiting very long for that. Perhaps it would be in bad taste to only wait until a day after a public breakup but he would do it if Y/N didn’t have some weird guilt surrounding Katherine. 

Their conversation was cut short by a call of his name, his beaming girl approaching with a basket of wildflowers in her hand. His heart stuttered, his scowl falling to build up a soft, fond smile. His arm opened and he patted his lap, motioning her to sit pretty on his thigh and drape her legs over him- which she easily did. Her breezy, cornflower blue dress hit just above her knees and the off the shoulder cut showed off a nice amount of skin. A necklace she had gotten from him, a sunflower pendant with an H etched into the back hung perfectly on her neck, glistening in the setting sun. The floppy sunhat looked fucking adorable on her, pushed back enough to ensure it didn’t hit Harry in the face. 

“What have you got, my love?” He asked tenderly, hand folding on her thigh and tucking under the hem of her dress. An intimate hold, but they were in their own safe place. As soon as he went public with her, he was going to show the world just how much. HE wasn’t necessarily the public type, but he had no qualms with letting people see Y/N on his arm, draped in jewelry his money bought, on his yachts, in his businesses, with his ring, and hopefully, full of his child. He couldn’t think about the last one for too long without getting hard, though, so he reserved that for later. 

“We got a little bouquet for the table for dinner. Love the flowers you got too, but it feels nice.” Her hand stroked through his ungelled hair, loving the curls they formed whenever he was unstyled. He left it like that specifically for her, and she took advantage of it. “My mum and I would do it every summer, we had that flower garden. Remember the photos?” Harry nodded, he did indeed. He would be building her her own whenever he could propose and they moved further out of the city. “Yeah, good! So, we got some and m’gonna go ask Ms.Greta if she’s got any vases. We’re eating outside tonight, yeah?” 

“We are. Proper grill out. I think she does have some, I don’t remember offhand what we’ve got here but-” He squeezed her leg, letting his fingers press into the warm flesh. “Before y’go and do that, think you forgot something.” His expectant look was clear on his face. Y/N gasped, quickly remedying the situation as she curled her hand around his strong jaw and tilted it so she could connect their mouths for what she intended to be a chaste kiss. Harry had different intentions. Instead, he snuck his tongue into her mouth and used his hand to cradle the back of her neck, slightly damp with sweaty hair, keeping her to his mouth. He was never one to half ass, even when Niall began to fake gag. 

“Alright, fucking christ. Swallow her whole, why don’t you!” Niall continued to make childish noises but Harry continued, ignoring his friend as he hummed against his girl’s mouth. He had few places he could actually do these sorts of things and he’d be damned if he let anyone tease him out of it. This was the woman he wanted more than anything, and he liked the tiny glimpses he got into their possible future. 

—------

“I like this.” Y/N mumbled into his chest. The day had dwindled down and she was sitting on his lap in front of the fireplace in the master bedroom. Harry’s chest was bare as her cheek rested against the smooth expanse, the middle of it covered in a thin layer of hair. He’d started to let it grow since they’d begun to see one another when Y/N expressed how much she found it sexy, and Harry was one to please her when she said things like that. “Not having to hide. I can’t wait until you can be mine for everyone to see.” Her lips brushed his pec, pressing a chaste kiss there.

Guilt swarmed inside his stomach like a disturbed beehive, making him swallow down the lump in his throat. While he felt no guilt at all for the supposed infidelity towards Katherine, the guilt lied in having to suppress the most incredible relationship with Y/N. He knew she didn’t love feeling like a secret all the time, and while Harry had said he didn’t care if people found out, Y/N had to think of her own reputation. That was what had him ensuring he kept it under wraps. While people would just see him as yet another dumb, horny man? They’d see Y/N as a homewrecker, a slut, every bad name under the sun. Not to mention the online bullying she’d be subjected to by Katherine, her little group and all her naive fans. 

He’d never cared about someone like this before. Yes, of course he loved his family and his friends, but this was a whole other level of care. It went bone deep. Y/N was the type of person you met once in a lifetime. The type you couldn’t let slip through your fingers because you really couldn’t. Y/N was everything and more and Harry was dedicated to keeping her as happy as possible, but the reality was that they had to hide just a bit longer. 

“I know, my love.” He said quietly, trailing his fingers over the crown of her head. “It’s hard right now. I never anticipated meeting you or I never would have… Wouldn’t have taken the deal.” The words were murmured just for her, eyes searching her own to try and gauge her emotions. She didn’t seem particularly devastated, but there was still that undercurrent of sadness that made his chest twinge. “I know I’ve told you time and time again about how much I am obsessed with you, how you’re the woman I want… But I can’t wait either. You’ve not even a clue about how much I look forward to showing you off.”

While he had complained of Katherine doing so, it was a whole other ballgame when you truly adored the person and felt proud to be theirs. 

“You do?” She peeped, eyes rounding as she peered up at him. Sometimes she was so fucking beautiful that it felt like a hit in the stomach. She was clear of makeup now, showing off her natural features. He loved seeing her in any capacity but this had to be his favorite. Private, intimate, bare. Her hair in two messy braids but still managed to have some strands in her face. Her lips were soft and plump, the overnight mask on them that she had tried to explain to him and he still had no clue what it did other than make his girl happy- his Y/N was his gift. He knew he didn’t deserve her but he never claimed to be a good person- He would keep her forever. Some could call him intransigent, but he wouldn’t argue. 

“Of course I do. Look forward to everyone seeing you on my arm. I think it will be apparent that I’m pretty far gone. People will wonder what magic powers you possess.” He laughed through his nose, leaning in to kiss the side of her head. “You just bewitched me, sweet little thing. Had me in knots when you blocked me, y’know that?” His smile grew. “Never wanted to talk to someone so badly in my life.”

“From what I knew, you had an actual real girlfriend!” She defended adamantly. “And then you basically locked me into a room with you to explain yourself. Scared the shit out of me. Y’know, there were rumors that people thought you were some sort of mafia boss.” She snorted. “Kind of believed it for a bit. You’ve got the whole, tall, dark and handsome thing going on. Mysterious. Kind of a dick.” She yelped when he lightly pinched her side, erupting into a fit of giggles. “Hey! No. You’re a handsome asshole. And to your credit, that was the last time you were all weird with me. Once I believed you, you became a sweet little thing.” Her voice cooed as she reached up to pinch his cheek like a grandmother would, making him roll his eyes.

It was true, though. He’d met her and it hadn’t gone so well in the beginning. His reputation for being cold and callous to new people, to most, actually, didn’t help when his interest in her spiked. He remembered very clearly, watching with a drink in his hand as she laughed with some of the girls. Grinning wide and showing teeth, making his chest do the weird pitter patter it usually did now when he saw her, but the first time had shocked the hell out of him. He’d never had that sort of reaction to someone before. Sure, he found people hot and experienced lust, but it was the first time in his life he craved conversation. To be nosy. So he hunted her, cornered her like prey and had him picking her brain for a while. He’d been gaining momentum, touching her and getting her a drink , and she had been into it until someone whispered into her ear on the way back from the bathroom what he assumed was the information that he was ‘taken.’ 

So what? He had gone through drastic measures to convince her to see him again, even showing her the contract that was notarized. 

“A mafia boss?” He snickered, raising a brow. “Not a chance. Though I appreciate you thinking I’ve got what it takes. No, unfortunately it’s just the multitude of legitimate businesses in my empire, my darling.” His smile grew warm, watching her return it. “Though, if that’s something you want to roleplay in bed, I’d not be opposed.” 

“Of course you wouldn’t be, perv.” With a roll of the eyes she patted his chest. “Never met someone so dirty in my life. Energizer bunny must be a sponsor of your cock because I swear, even being older than me you’ve got more stamina.” It was the truth, but she didn’t grasp how it was just for her. He used to be satisfied with a fuck or two a week, he could go without it if he went to the gym. Being with Y/N changed him to an insatiable beast, but she was his willing accomplice. 

“I don’t see you complaining when my cock is in your pretty cunt and you’re crying for me t’let you cum. Begging Daddy to let you cream all over my cock, because you tend to be a messy little girl. At least m’nice enough to let you.” He said with a straight face. There was no comment about how he could feel her clench on his thigh, but she already knew he could. His filthy mouth couldn’t be competed with and thankfully, Y/N had a thing for dirty talk.

“Alright- jesus.” Y/N whined, burying her face against his chest. “Don’t get me worked up now. I’m a little sore, someone took it out of me in the shower.” The grumbled words made him smirk, smugness and pride evident on his face. If she was really hurt she would let him know and he would grovel on his knees to make it better. “If you take it easy, I think you could have me in the morning. Wake me up with it.” A treat for the man, considering he adored watching her eyes peel open and a whimper sounding from her sleep swollen lips as he slipped in and out of her warm insides.

“Hm. I suppose that’s a fair deal.” He signed, acting resigned as he tugged her closer to him. “I’m lucky to have you, my minx. Always so good to me.”  Even more than he deserved. 

[zot3-flopped]

Niall and Louis are an interesting study in how a halfway decent attitude can get you to where you want to be. Initially they were both underdogs. Niall was an awkward, scrawny, pretty unattractive young teenager whose voice was very hit-and-miss. Louis always had that air of desperation, he wasn’t good-looking, and his voice could strip paint. But they were both boisterous and I guess fun? I don’t know, I’m not sure I’d have picked either of them.

Niall seemed innately to understand how to get the best for himself out of the 1D experience. He did learn to sing and he benefited a lot from being styled. By the end he was a grown man with a plan, a far better voice, and he seems to know and accept that out of all of them, he was most artistically boring. But look how he actually makes that work. Personally I think his clothes are awful and I don’t like his music, but his voice is so much more mature and not at all bad. He puts the work in. OK some of that work is copying Harry, and some of it is cringe, but he is doing it and getting a response.

Then you have Louis, who also realised he was not going to set the world on fire artistically in 1D, but his whole attitude was so different. Hiving off whoever was the most popular and annoying them to the point where they stopped talking to him (Harry) or left (Zayn) and then doing the same with loser Liam because Niall wouldn’t play. Putting in zero work except trying to assert his dominance as the band leader (and calling that work! lol). And STILL he hints that other people have used their advantages, knowing full well his fans turn that round on those people and claim Louis was deliberately disadvantaged. He was never disadvantaged, getting into that band in the first place was a massive advantage, being taught how to sing and dress and be a pop star? He has dismissed every single gift he was given, he’s built nothing, in fact he’s worse now as an artist than he was as an ignorant teen. If he has any success now it’s down to his mad fans (which, to be fair, he acknowledges) and also to his record company, whose investment has probably not paid off, but THEY tried even if he just sees their money as a way to fund his vanity career/sweatpants fetish.

🤣🤣 I watched a couple of video clips from Niall's recent shows and they were so different from Louis'. Sure, Niall is still ungainly on stage but at least he's word perfect and not looking down at lyric sheets or knocking back vodka, and you can actually HEAR him clearly over the instruments and the crowd. Niall also engages nicely with his audience instead of swearing his head off and making excuses every night for his poor performance.

[lululawrence]

To celebrate it being the last show of FITFWT, what have your favourite moments been of the tour? 💕💕

I love this and have enjoyed seeing everyone’s varied answers! So whoever you are that started this, thank you, and nonnie, thank you for including me.

I saw this come in when I was in the middle of around 14 different tasks so now those are all finished I’m gonna try to answer. Even with those hours to ponder, though, and read everyone’s answers, I still having a hard time narrowing it down because it’s really clear how much fitfwt has meant for Louis and his confidence on stage and all that, but it’s meant just as much for me personally.

I’m gonna start with the more silly or like… surface level answers and then go from there, yeah?

To absolutely no one’s surprise this got long so…

My first show was his first tank top back on stage and as a years long certified member of the pit crew as well as my favorite tattoo of his being the “far away…”, that particular choice on that particular night meant an awful lot to me. Always in my heart, FITFWT Cuyahoga Falls!

That night he also played High in California for the first time, and I still remember the song starting and I was vibing and singing the opening lines before it even hit me what it was lololol once it sank in I flipped my shit and my husband was laughing cause it was (and still is) my alarm every morning when school is in, so he hears it a lot and can sing along to the first few lines at least lol but that moment is definitely forever stuck in my brain

That show was seriously lacking rainbows though and what meant the most to me during LTWT was the feeling of safety and pride and acceptance in every tiny theater venue across Midwest. It was my pride and I expected it to be the same for fitfwt and when it wasn’t I was disappointed and knew we had to change it, at least for our remaining shows. We brought our own flags to Cincinnati, handed out hundreds of flags in Columbus, and then @londonfoginacup spearheaded @rainbowmegamix for the rest of the North American tour and it still blows my mind that we were able to do that. To spread the word and get rainbows so well integrated to the shows like that. It is amazing and awe inspiring to see the photos and videos of all those projects STILL.

We had so many close encounters with Oli. Lololol Emmu was THIS CLOSE to her fiance so many times and they still kept missing each other. Maybe next tour. Lol

I think here is a good place to mention fitfwt was SUCH a great time because I got to get together with friends I had made during previous 1d/niall/harry/Louis tours, but I also got to finally meet some other friends for the first time. So many hugs and just the sharing of love while watching Louis and seeing the way everyone cared for each other in so many ways was just. Really beautiful.

For the shows I attended though, outside of him gifting us with tank tops again starting at my show, the success of rainbow megamix, and getting together with so many dear friends, my last highlight was at the Council Bluffs show where it felt like Louis was staring right at me as I stood in the pit with my flag high above my head as he gave his speech about how beautiful it is what we have created and that he sees the heart that we put into it. I felt seen in a way I hadn’t anticipated being and it still makes me wonder if he was actually looking at me or someone else in the vicinity, but either way it was a powerful moment and I love him for it lol

Seeing the way the megamix lights morphed and changed, the way the flags continued strong through the North American leg, watching Louis as he seemed to blossom on stage even more than he had during his first tour, it was just truly incredible to witness, you know? How do you choose highlights???

One last one though is when he repeated MY OUTFIT!!! Hahaha the outfit of his I claimed as soon as he walked out on stage in cuyahoga falls anyway. Seeing him choose to repeat that outfit in Montevideo, almost exactly a year after he wore it the first time? I’m still not over it. I’m really not. lol

The rainbow lights project in Mexico City for the megamix was fucking gorgeous and makes me emotional still. And the one in Paris for Saturdays. And the one in Vancouver for megamix. And just all of them. So beautiful. So important.

I could keep going. I already pruned down around four bullet points. You’re welcome lol this tour just has been incredible. So fucking proud of Louis and so fucking proud of us. Look at all we have done together.

I can’t wait to see what’s next for all of us.

[makeupinthedrawer]

i try to not argue with these fans cause really you can't reason with them... but my only argument is always how it is painted as if L was showering N with support and N wasn't reciprocating when in reality out of the other guys Z included, N was the only one L never mentioned like ever since 2020 i don't remember him saying anything about N? obviously up until he went to the concert so like it's clear they were not close and it wasn't on either of them cause that's just how friendships go sometimes but to take that tragedy and target an old friend of his is just crazy especially when they're claiming that the bullying is the reason for his death (which is another interesting thing like trying to gloss over the actual reason just to justify bullying other people around L tells you everything about those fans).... it is just a sad situation all around but i hope everyone that actually knew him is safe and not directly receiving any hate.

“how it is painted as if L was showering N with support and N wasn't reciprocating when in reality out of the other guys Z included, N was the only one L never mentioned like ever since 2020 i don't remember him saying anything about N?”

i agree that liam wasn’t showering niall with support but liam didn’g “never mention” niall, he actually said a lot about him and it was always a little snarky. like how niall was a slobby eater, or how niall “told him to stop mocking his accent”, or even before he went to the concert he said they had things to work out. meanwhile, the only times niall ever mentioned him after the band broke up was to support his music.

“to take that tragedy and target an old friend of his is just crazy especially when they're claiming that the bullying is the reason for his death”

my point exactly! just ignore him if you don’t like him. but in your heart you know he isn’t to blame. just hating to be evil

also you don’t have to censor their names with me lol especially not if ur on anon!

[louisisalarrie]

There’s one thing I don’t understand about RBB and SBB and that’s why did their management let them get away with that?

Simply put - plausible deniability.

RBB and SBB were really for the fans only. To communicate with us. I mean… it wasn’t really picked up by the media/gp to the extent of other things larry did (apart from that one interview where niall almost breaks his neck and some other small interest). Their team were too busy trying to put together bbg and all these big stunts and keep larry from outing themselves that RBB and SBB were the least of their worries. We couldn’t prove that it was harry and louis putting the bears there and dressing them up (even tho we did LOL), but there was enough plausible deniability, much like a lot of things larry get away with, that as long as there was bbg pulling together smoothly, media outlets were gonna jump at that, not at the bears.

It was an act of defiance, and their team didn’t necessarily let them get away with it. RBB and SBB weren’t at a lot of shows, and they weren’t at the one that Simon was in attendance to in London either. They did it where and when they could get away with it, and im sure their team would just be like “don’t do that again” and louis would be all angel smiles and be like “we won’t” and then just do it again lol. And as long as those bears are set up when the show starts, mgmt can’t do anything about it. They’re not gonna come out mid show and take away the bears, because that would prove what we already know, which is that the bears were not approved by mgmt (they did remove them once just before a show started, though, so they screwed the pooch on that one).

So I think it’s just a matter of plausible deniability and what louis and harry knew would communicate with us, without them saying anything or getting themselves into further trouble. But it was a strong act of defiance and certainly a pushback towards bbg.

I’d recommend checking out a few of the rbb and SBB masterposts on skepticalarrie’s page because this is touched upon a fair bit.

[jlf23tumble]

Heya Jen, know this is old news, but I was watching AOTV for the first time (lol) and was actually taken aback at the amount of footage of Harry by himself in the first 5mins. I wasn’t looking for it but thought I might just be seeing what I wanted to see so I had to count for myself how many times each of the boys were shown and. H shows up 4 times solo (vs Zayn once/Niall twiceish/Liam not at all but a lot as a duo with L) and some of the clips are definitively not blink and you miss. Dunno if you could brush it off as trying to somehow farm engagement w H (or spinning some quiet line ab his moves towards a solo career which I think could be interesting to think ab but don’t think that’s what’s going on) but coupled with the voiceover made me LAUGH. Plus the glaring lack of clips with H and L together apart from That one paired w L’s ref to ‘the relationship’ vs the veritable sea of L and Li, L and Niall, and Z to an extent….like there were Choices made. &feels like these particular ones were overshadowed by either the #hug or the way Freddie was featured which I find equally hilarious and frustrating like it’s RIGHT there but bc it’s not a particularly rosy picture…..

Ho ho ho, my favorite lareef is this movie and the radio fucking silence about that part, like, what?? He made #choices, but oh no, not that one, it's the way everyone focused on Harry looking at him intensely before that last XFUK performance, but meanwhile, you're gonna ignore the voiceover part? The singular "relationship" part? Okay! We're all telling stories here!

[youcouldstartacult]

Someone on deuxmoi saw niall and Amelia in a bar last week maybe in London so he was in town but either wasn’t invited to the rolling stone awards or he decided not to attend?

if he was nominated then he 100% was invited lol that’s not even a question. if deuxmoi was telling the truth then i guess he just decided not to go.

he gets much more exposure from live shows than things like this bc these awards didn’t make any noise at all. plus like oomf said! he probably just wanted to rest

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

I have a bunch of finals this week so I’m rewatching a bunch of Louis videos for comfort hahaha but as I’m rewatching X-Factor (2018) content, I can’t help but feel so sad at how much potential Dalton Harris (the winner and Louis’ mentee) had and how he doesn’t get more than a couple thousand streams on his songs. I know X-Factor is irrelevant now, and the weird gap in Louis’ album process (rip LT0) to be a judge sucked because it would’ve been nice for him to release that music earlier, but I still think the whole situation was so special. It was clear that everyone that season really admired Louis’ loyalty and understanding as a mentor and also Dalton, who was recognized over and over again as a true “star”. I don’t know too much about the SYCO/X-Factor lore or how the record label thing works but Dalton’s story is so interesting and I’m not sure what he’s doing now. Most X-Factor finalists, other than Little Mix, Fifth Harmony, and One Direction seem to just fade into irrelevance?? Just a bummer lol I loved his voice so much

Good luck on your exams!

Dalton told a story of personal hardship as a child, and seemed to have a lot of mental burdens to overcome, including his sexuality. Unfortunately, this particular issue significantly worsened his mental health throughout the X Factor competition and afterward. Maybe signing with a dying label like Syco didn’t help either. Syco wasn’t going to promote him as there was no future label, and Sony wasn’t interested in picking up any Syco artists.

He does have any extraordinary voice. Louis recognized it right away.

It speaks to Louis’ work ethic and moral values to put his all into the X Factor once he committed.

Syco could have worked harder to make promote Louis Tomlinson, solo musician, and maybe not leave their relationship on such tepid terms.

Liam and Niall both came to the tapings, and I believe Liam performed? Louis never got to perform any of his solo music. The show also did not feature any of Louis’ solo music, neither as background music nor as a competition song. Weirdly, the show didn’t feature Louis as an emerging solo artist at all, even though Syco Music would be releasing his album in 2019 and would benefit from positively marketing Louis.

It was a very, very odd decision for Louis to judge X Factor UK. He had to have known that Syco Music wasn’t financially healthy as a label. Seeing his ex-bandmates release new solo music and going on tour should have made his own music/tour more urgent. Louis also said that his priority was music and that X Factor would not delay an album release or tour, which was clearly not true. As it turned out, X Factor delayed Louis’ tour from 2018 to 2022. Four wasted years.

[yoandri]

@/thestartreks,

It still hurts me to say this but alright I’ll give up. I never thought it’d come to this. I actually didn’t even know we weren’t friends until I reworked my tumblr in 2017. I checked you tag and I didn’t know I broke your heart. Honestly I am sorry for what I did. I wanted you to know I always talked highly about you. I even wished I could’ve hugged you whenever I wanted as before but you were away. I met a girl who liked Star Trek too in college and I told her all about you. I even asked her for a hug because I missed you so much. I wasn’t able to tell you that but I want to tell you how much you mean to me. You were my best friend. My confidant. My Boobear.

I met you back when we started Highschool in 7th period. I met you because we were both on Tumblr and liked One Direction. I never told you but I got more into them because of you and that friendship. I used to confuse Liam’s and Niall’s last names all the time at first. So much that I probably still have them tagged with each other’s last name lol on here some where. But what I am getting at is that you and One Direction have this hold of who I am. Because you mattered the world to me. Both you and the boys.

So seeing how you never responded to me I assumed you were busy as the years went by. Then it was 10 years of One Direction and I messaged you about it. I understood we stopped talking but I still feel compelled to tell you things because you’re my Boobear. I knew then and after no response or acknowledgement that we weren’t close. That we were complete strangers. I would often check on you and smile but stand my place.

Which brings me to today or well the past several days. We lost Liam. A big part of what connected us in our friendship. Losing him made me realize that I have to let you go finally. Our friendship is gone. I was holding onto something that doesn’t even exist anymore which breaks my heart because you mattered so much to me. I am writing this after that last message I sent you to let you know that I will entrust this friendship I held onto for so many years to Liam. I will let you go and let that friendship lay to bed with Liam Payne.

Thank you for the memories and being my best friend but especially being the Louis to my Harry. Now I’m a huge Louie and Swiftie. Something you probably were back then. I love you and this is my goodbye to you. I doubt you’ll ever see this either but…

Farewell Brianda

[cowboylikedean]

Bestie can you tell me the events of the bbmas 2015 everyone is talking about it lol can you show me videos/gifs and give me like a sum up of what went down or the context??

akldsjfkl yeah

So that night was a lot... I've tagged it bbmas 2015 if you wanna look through my tag. There's also a video at the top if you erase the %202015 and just go to the bbmas tag where you can see how out of it he is, and his head snaps when he hears her name in the background.

So for context here: 

This was the first time they were publicly in the same place since they were caught by paps at a hotel in January after Caleb Followill’s birthday party.

It was the night the Bad Blood MV premiered, which premiered at the beginning of the show. As in everyone watching the broadcast and everyone in the room watched the Bad Blood video as the official start of the show. 

The last time they were at the same awards show was the AMAs in 2014 where he whistled for her when she won the Dick Clark Excellence Award.

We all knew about tayvin, obviously, but this was a HUGE step for their relationship and for Taylor in relationships in general

So that night, Taylor was the start of the show. The Billboard Music Awards are dictated by the charts and Taylor was the queen of the charts. Because of this, they sat her LITERAL front and center so she didn’t have to walk very far when she won. This was the first awards show ever she attended with a boyfriend. Calcium was there as an artist too, not as her date, but they were seated next to each other and their PDA that night was BY FAR the most PDA she’d ever shown when she knew people were watching. He could NOT stop touching her and she craved it. 

Anyway, it stung. A lot. Most of all for Harry. The haylor fandom all underestimated how badly it would hurt to see Taylor with someone new.. But we also didn’t know how serious tayvin was. It was a huge punch in the gut to see how serious they were.  Being public and commitment were big issues in haylor’s relationship, as we can hear in both their music about it. And it certainly felt like Taylor was rubbing it in Harry’s face, how she was getting serious with this guy and it wasn’t like that with Harry. The PDA that night felt almost weaponized. After the show, Taylor liked several posts about how the best part of the night was that she got to be affectionate with her boyfriend.

I was devastated after that and I have often cited that night being the start of my 1989 disconnect because she literally seemed to care more about having a boyfriend than she did her own accomplishments.

Harry took this very personally. One Direction won two awards that night and for both of them, you can see Harry trying SO hard to look ANYWHERE but in front of the stage. The second time they’re up there when they won top tour, his lip quivers slightly and if you zoom in, you see his eyes are watery. The man was holding back tears.

The whole time, Harry was.... not his best. In several red carpet interviews, you can see him completely zoned out and either actively snarky, or attempt to prematurely end the interview... Like he just wanted to be done and go home. 

The official story was that Harry was sick and not feeling well. There’s one story of him walking by a group of people holding a haylor sign and he stopped to take a picture with them. He didn’t stop for any other fans all night. 

After the show, Taylor and Ed threw an EPIC after party, which Niall and Louis attended. Harry went back to LA. My headcanon was always that he went home, got drunk, and started If I Could Fly and Woman. He was clearly not doing well and neither were we. 

[ficrections]

What I Have With You (I don't want with anyone else) (73530 words) by lululawrence/ @lululawrence​

Chapters: 11/11

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne, Niall Horan/Shawn Mendes

Characters: Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Shawn Mendes, Jay Tomlinson, Anne Cox, Gemma Styles, The Tomlinson Family

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Louis Tomlinson, Alpha Harry Styles, Alpha Niall Horan, Alpha Zayn Malik, Beta Liam Payne, Omega Shawn Mendes, Asexual Louis Tomlinson, Aromantic Harry Styles, Casual Acephobia, Casual arophobia, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Meet the Family, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Communication, Mating Cycles/In Heat, it's actually rut but this is the tag they give us so, No Smut, there is discussion of sex though, Sexual Identity, romantic identity, Banter, Roommates, American Harry Styles, American Louis Tomlinson, everyone is American sorry lol

Summary:

Louis smiled. “I’m sorry for how I ran away last night.”

“It’s totally fine. I’m sorry I did all that. I never asked if you were okay with it, and I really should have.”

Louis didn’t know how to respond to that. “I mean, I wasn’t really telling you no before that. How were you to know I’d be fine and then… not.”

“Well, if I had asked you first like I should have, then I would have known your boundaries.”

“How can you know my boundaries when even I don’t?” Louis scoffed. “Shit.”

Louis hadn’t meant to say that much to Harry. It’s not like he was embarrassed by who he was, but he still didn’t really talk about it openly either.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

Louis shook his head and kept his eyes trained on Harry’s chest. The shirt was old enough he could see the ghost of Harry’s tattoos through it.

“It’s a long and complicated story that is also very boring, so I don’t think you actually want the answer.”

Or Louis is an asexual alpha, Harry is his aromantic alpha friend and possible roommate, and faking a relationship might be exactly what they need to get their families and friends off their backs.

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Tues 11 May ‘21

Louis saw us all coming up with wacky theories about what the BMG announcement might mean and came to tell us what’s going on… wait no he just retweeted the same article from yesterday with the partnership wording! Haha, but in seriousness while I know not everyone agrees I think it’s pretty clear at this point that BMG is his new record label. The tweet he posted was captioned with another easily misconstrued statement, THANKS FOR THAT LOUIS, but I will repeat what I said yesterday, which is that by far the likeliest explanation of his announcing to a fandom that’s rabid for label news that he’s joined a label is that- it’s his new label! And all the evidence I see supports that. The post he retweeted said (in the words of Music Week) “After five One Direction albums and one solo LP with Sony Music and Syco, now Louis Tomlinson is officially an independent artist with BMG”. Some believe this means he’s NOT signed to BMG but is putting out his own album and simply using them as a distro; I personally would say it seems pretty clear at this point that that simply refers to the fact that BMG are, as a label that isn’t one of the Big Four, considered an independent label, making Louis, as someone on their roster, an indie artist- like the tweet said. If he’d gone rogue and started his own label there would be articles everywhere about it and that article would have talked about it (instead headlines read “Louis Tomlinson Signs Record Deal With BMG”), plus we have plenty of quotes that would be frankly odd if he weren’t signed to BMG, such as the vice president of A&R at BMG UK, saying "We are delighted to welcome Louis to BMG. He is already busy working on new music, and we are excited to join him on the next phase of his extraordinary career,” a BMG sales manager saying “BMG will have the new album” and referring to the fact that they’ll do promo for it (in a DM conversation that actually appears to be real, unlike SOME going around today), and Charlie Lightening posting “Congrats @louist91 on the new deal with BMG UK excited for LT2, gonna smash it lad”.

More to the point-- why do people want so badly to think he ISN’T signed with BMG? This is GREAT NEWS!! They’re an indie (what everyone has wanted for Louis forever), and they were founded specifically to give artists more control than the majors (after splitting off from Sony; they were more or less founded as a direct push back against Sony’s business model), but they’re big enough to give him the support an artist of his size needs, which would be very hard for him to pull off running his own label-- I’d much rather see him putting his energy into writing songs, touring, making documentaries, and running his management company, rather than doing his own promo and wrangling with distro deals and shit. He should be signed to a label to do that work for him! And BMG seems like an awesome choice! But the weird ideas out there just continue right on-- not just people saying he’s not on a label, but also others, who don’t think him being on a label completely unconnected to Sony will be able to prevent Sony from dropping a piano on Louis’ head like the moustache twirling masterminds they are er sabotaging BMG somehow (the whole point of them being an indie is that this shouldn’t be an issue?), and such amazing takes as “louis has signed to a queer label” (evidence? “we just know that they are queer”; an actual dialogue from tiktok), are unlikely to be affected by any number of facts, as are the twitter folks getting excited about him ‘unfollowing’ accounts he never followed to begin with (Syco etc).

Anyway Louis, on a roll of giving us what we want today, also gave us a VIDEO with his HAT OFF! I don’t even care that it’s a silly ad (for samsung), or that he trimmed his luscious locks a little, it’s Louis! Talking and stuff!! Showing off his still wonderfully long hair all pushed up and back! Gorgeous, amazing, perfect… and yes I am ignoring the slides and socks thank you very much, though I will mention that they are literally exactly the same as Harry’s slides and socks. He also followed BMG, one of his (no doubt many) NFT trading profiles was found (@LT282828, LMAO), and new shows are being added as the tour dates finalize (though ticketmaster showing a Harry date for the same day/place as one of them was a glitch, we don’t have Harry’s updated dates yet)

And speaking of Harry! MP filming was indoors today, so Harry was only seen walking to his car, but he showed up at the Brits!!! In an amazing geometric patterned (or, uh, “macro framed sequence print” I GUESS) brown and tan suit (that clashed just HORRIFICALLY with the neon pastel Brits décor and his award, I fucking love that) and a cute lil handbag and sneakers to accept his AWARD for Best British Single!! (For Watermelon Sugar oddly, but hey a wins a win). CONGRATULATIONS baby and WOW great to see him! He popped in with pal Tomo Campbell, last seen by us when they drove to Italy together last summer. He thanked “my fans, for being so generous to me, always, and everyone in my life who has my back, thank you so much I love you.” Question, did he make the choice to swap out the pink and yellow award he was handed onstage for the blue and green version he had later? Either way, lol. Lots more people will have nice things to say about him now with this high profile win, but even before that people were gushing about him-- Joshua Bassett came out as queer by calling Harry hot (”I guess this is me coming out”), we got Billy Porter on the Brits pre show carpet saying, “I am seeing change! You know Harry Styles on the cover of Vogue Magazine that is change. You’re welcome!” and someone from his recording studio telling us he “was very nice wasn’t he, he brought doughnuts for the assistants and gave everyone a lift home. He came into reception and offered to make everybody a cup of tea,” awww Harry! Lift home from Harry, that’s my new meeting-one-of-the-boys goal.

Niall wished “everyone involved at the Brits” good luck, and Liam wished an NFT creator luck on his sale.

[lululawrence]

I love those boys, and no one wants them back together more than I do believe me. But if 1D has taught me anything since they stormed into my life in 2011, it's that they lie. Like all the time. Niall is promoting a new album and tour, of course he is going to give lip service during promo. I love Liam, but we know he will also just say things. I won't believe it until it actually happens 😞

I get it, I totally do haha because there have been soooo many times they’ve said things that just never happened so like. VALID. But I’m also a bit confused.

Like. They all say things, but what Niall has done doesn’t seem any different from anything that Harry or Louis have said or done so far either? Since you mentioned Niall and Liam specifically I assume Harry and Louis are who you’re comparing them to. From what I’ve seen, Niall has mentioned a group chat and that the current one is more active than previous versions, but that doesn’t really tell us anything other than they’re feeling more chatty with each other than they used to lol you know? We knew they had a group chat before, I think Harry was the first to confirm that one actually, but yeah i think he only said anything because he was asked about the other guys, wasn’t he?

Is that what you’re referring to or is it something else I missed? Cause if it’s that, then I think we can all stand to be a little kinder to both Niall and Liam regarding their mentions of the band. Harry and Louis also do it, though by nature of the ways all of their careers have gone and developed as well as other factors it can and often does look different from one of them to the next, and without one direction none of them would have had anything close to the same level to jump from into their solo careers nor would they have the kind of fan base already there to work with. It’s natural for them to mention the band and I read and hear a lot of people who seem to be a bit hard on Niall and Liam whenever they talk about their band mates. I guess I don’t understand it. They put in the same five+ years in the band as the others did and therefore deserve to talk about the band and band mates as much as they want to. I don’t want it to overshadow their current work and the music they’re releasing on their own because they also deserve better than that, but if they want to talk about it then I say go for it! Celebrate that success and claim it still because why not, you know?

But maybe that’s just me ¯\__(ツ)__/¯

[heyyyharry]

Deep End - Chapter 6: Andersen’s Fairy Tales

…in which Harry teaches Ezi how to read.

Word count: 4k

AU: famous!harry, siren!mc, adult modern retelling of the little mermaid? lol, fake dating, enemies to lovers.

WARNING: MATURE THEMES

All chapters / Synopsis / Moodboard / Playlist

Wattpad link

A/N: please please let me know what you think. I can't write without motivation 😭

.

.

.

When Harry finally decided to answer his mother’s call, he had prepared himself for some verbal ass-whooping. He was twenty-four years old, a celebrity and a millionaire, yet still getting scolded by his mother on a daily basis. Life was good.

“Is your date okay?” The first thing his mother said to him was this. At first, Harry thought he’d misheard it. But then she repeated the question in a more urgent and concerning tone. “Harry, is Ezili okay?”

His mother had never remembered the name of any girl he’d brought home. His mother always had a lot to say about the way those girls had dressed, talked, and carried themselves. Had Ezi charmed his mother with her siren magic?

Harry shuddered at the thought. “Y-Yeah...why?”

“Dawson told me you and Bax got into a fight at the manor.”

Harry smacked his forehead. Fucking Dawson. “How did Dawson know?”

“He found Bax lying on the floor.”

Although Harry hated to recall that night because he couldn’t imagine how scared Ezi must have been, it was funny to think about how pathetic Bax must have looked when Dawson had found him. The mental image made Harry laugh. “See?” he told his mother. “It wasn’t a fight if it was one-sided. I beat him up.”

His mother exhaled sharply. Harry could imagine her with her eyes closed, shaking her head. “The only reason I will let you get away with fighting your cousin in my house is because I know what he was trying to do with Ezili. So I called to ask if she was okay.”

“She’s okay. Don’t worry. I think she also scared him.”

“She’s a woman. Any strong woman would’ve been terrified in that situation,” said Harry’s mum. “I feel bad for having let that happen. I shouldn’t have invited him.”

“It’s not your fault, Mum. He’s always been scum.”

There was a pause, and Harry knew exactly what his mother was going to say. “Bax’s parents have always hated us. They envy your father. I think they’re trying to sabotage our wine business. Maybe if you’d change your mind--”

“Mum, we’ve talked about this,” Harry sighed. “I love my career. I can’t...I’m not a businessman like Dad. Isn’t Dawson doing a good job managing our family business already?”

“He is. But I know your father would’ve wanted it to be you.” When Harry stayed quiet, his mother knew it was a sign that this topic shouldn’t be continued, so she switched to another. “You should invite Ezili to lunch at the manor.”

“Mum, that wouldn’t be necessary.”

“Nonsense! Her first time in our house and she got absolutely traumatised. I’ll make up for it. I’ll send you an invitation in the afternoon.”

“Mum, there’s no need for an in--”

But his Mum already hung up on him.

Sighing, Harry sunk back into his chair. A staff member knocked on the door and informed him that he would have to return to the set in fifteen minutes. He told them he got it and intended to call his mum again and try to talk her out of the lunch thing with Ezi. That was when he got another call.

“Don’t tell me someone’s injured. It’s only been an hour.”

“Worse!” Niall screamed. “Dawson kidnapped the girl!”

.

.

.

Ezili didn’t know if the bookstore was small or Harry’s house was just too big, but she liked the cosiness of it in contrast to what she’d always been used to. There were bookshelves climbing all the way up to the ceiling. The walls were covered with hundreds of books of all sizes, and there were dozens of piles on the floor in the corners as well. But seeing that most of the furniture was covered in dust, Ezili guessed they didn’t often have visitors.

She wondered why nobody wanted to come into this fascinating place. She loved books even though she couldn’t read or write. She’d found a few books in her room and some of them had pictures, but she could only guess what the stories were about. So she wanted to read, but it would be something her mother would never approve of. If she learned to read, she’d become a laughing stock for her kind for sure.

Entering the bookstore, Ezili and Dawson were greeted by an old lady with crazy chestnut hair that looked like she was wearing a fluffy dog on her head. Her eyes were huge behind those thick round glasses that gave her a psychotic kind of look that absolutely terrified Ezili.

“Hello, love birds,” she said with an ear-to-ear grin. Ezili could not take her eyes off the shiny wires attached to this lady’s teeth. They sparkled every time she opened her mouth. This woman must be rich if she wore silver on her teeth.

“Oh, we’re not birds,” Ezili said as she pulled Chilli tighter to her chest.

The crazy lady hugged her stomach and burst out laughing. “She’s a funny girl,” she told Dawson, pointing to Ezili, then her face turned serious. “But no cats allowed.”

“She’s with me. Her name is Chilli and she’s very nice--”

“She can stay here while you pick your books.” Before Ezili could protest, the lady took the black cat and put it on the counter. “So what are you looking for?”

“Thank you. We’ll just have a look around,” Dawson said with a tight smile and pulled Ezili with him. They turned into one of the aisles and heard the lady telling them she’d be here if they needed help. What kind of help would you need in a bookstore? It wasn’t like books would attack you.

“The Book of Wisdom,” Dawson said as he took out one colourful book from a higher shelf. Ezili peered over his arm as he scrutinised the front cover. He smelled like coconut and summer, which reminded her of those tropical islands she’d visited with her mother. And the fact that he was a lot taller than her made her want to bury her face into his chest to get soaked in that homely smell. But then she remembered what Harry had taught her about consent. Realising her chest was touching his arm, she stepped back and felt him relax a bit more. She hoped he didn’t think she was sexually hairdressing him. She had no idea why they called it hairdressing, and she kept forgetting to ask Harry.

“Hey, why do they call it hairdre--”

“Lesson 1: Be polite.”

Ezili jumped and hid behind Dawson’s back, her heart pounding violently. “Did the book just..talk?”

“Yeah, it’s a talking book for children,” Dawson chuckled. “I like your sense of humour.”

He flipped to a new page and the book talked again, “Remember, kids, if you accidentally raise your voice with someone, always apologise to them. It’s not nice to yell at other people.”

Ezili couldn’t decide if she was in awe or creeped out by the talking book. Maybe a little bit of both. But then her eyes zeroed in on a picture of a beautiful siren on one of the covers. She passed Dawson to try and was trying to reach for the book when his hand landed on her shoulder, and she looked up to see him grab the book without effort and hand it to her with a smile.

“You like this? It’s the new edition of Andersen’s Fairy Tale.”

“The Little Mermaid!”

“Yes.” Dawson’s eyes squinted behind his glasses. “You’ve never read Andersen’s Fairy Tales?”

“I have,” Ezili lied, hugging the book to her chest. “I want this book.”

“Great. I’ll buy it for you. As a gift.”

Harry had told Ezili that humans couldn’t just take the things they found because they would get arrested, and apparently, they couldn’t fight and kill each other for things either. It didn’t sound fair and was kind of stupid. Why were humans so dependent on these stupid papers they called money? Ezili couldn’t understand how their inferior brains worked sometimes.

“Hey, look,” Dawson said, holding up his phone that was buzzing in his hand. “Harry’s calling.”

Ezili couldn’t care less about Harry now. She let Dawson speak to him while she flipped through the book to look at pictures. But...why was there a picture of the prince and another girl? Didn’t he marry Ariel? She tried to look for the ones that revealed the new ending, which was apparently different from what she’d seen on the telly, but the rest of the chapter was just text and no pictures. She hated this. She wished she could read.

“Yeah, she’s here with me. The bookstore is just a few blocks near your house…” Dawson finished the call with Harry and turned back to Ezili. “He’s coming to pick you up.”

She found it strange that Harry would speak about Dawson with such hatred, like the way Koa would speak about Ezili, while Dawson had always been so nice about Harry. She couldn’t recall him saying anything bad about Harry when in fact, she could go on and on for days about Harry’s bad qualities. And she’d only known him for a week!

“Why doesn’t Harry like you?”

The question seemed to have caught Dawson by surprise, but he was quick to put on a smile.

“I don’t know. Maybe because I’m helping his mum run the business his father left for him. But he was the one who didn’t want it. He wanted to become a singer.”

“Harry’s mother doesn’t want him to be a singer?”

“No.”

Ezili closed the book and gave an understanding nod. “My mother never lets me do things I like, either. She never thinks I’m good enough because I’m not like her.”

“I’m sure your mother loves you,” Dawson said. Ezili liked the twinkle in his eyes and tenderness in his voice when he reassured her. Maybe he had a special gift that only sirens had. The gift to charm anybody they wanted. “Every mother has their own burdens and loves us in a different way.”

“But...if they love us, should they want us to be happy?”

Ezili didn’t know where that had come from. For the last twenty years of her life, she had never once thought of this. Why now? Why now that she decided that she could have been happier if her mother hadn’t been the way she was? But sirens were all supposed to be the way her mother was. Cold and dangerous like the ocean itself. So did it mean...did it mean her mother and sister were right? That she was too weak and emotional to become Queen?

“Ezi!”

The sound of her name pulled her out of her own head. She snapped her head up to find Harry padding toward her. He looked just like that night when he’d scolded her for biting his cousin. She hated this Harry.

“Let’s go home,” he told her coldly.

Before she could reply, he took her wrist and pulled her with him. The book fell to her feet and she was too appalled to even pick it up. She was about to remind Harry that Dawson was standing right there, but then she realised Harry had intentionally ignored his cousin.

“Ezili, your book!”

Harry and Ezi stopped before they got into the car parked out front. Dawson handed her the book and beamed. “I already paid for it.”

“Thank you.”

“Very nice. Get in, Ezi.”

Dawson seemed slightly annoyed by Harry’s attitude, but he didn’t act on it. Instead, he gave Ezili another gentle smile and told her he’d see her another time. Then, he went back inside the bookstore.

Ezili wished she could have stayed with him.

“Rescue mission accomplished!” said an energetic voice as Ezili got into the back of the car. A stranger she had never seen before peered around the passenger seat and smiled at her before he started speaking in a funny accent, “You’re welcome, by the way. The name’s Niall.”

Chilli was sitting on Niall’s lap, licking her own paw, which showed that she was comfortable around Niall, and Niall wasn’t an enemy. To human Ezili, of course. All humans were enemies to sirens.

“I’m Ezili,” Ezili said, then, she recognised the funny accent. “You’re Niall...Horan?”

“You know me?”

Ezili could feel her grin stretch from ear to ear. “I saw you on TikTok! You’re so funny.”

“Look, H, a fan!” Niall exclaimed as he shook Harry’s shoulder, but Harry didn’t react as he manoeuvred the car back onto the road. “I like her already.” Niall laughed. “I’m Harry’s best friend. Are you following my TikTok?”

“Yeah. I’ve watched every single one.”

“Good, good, good,” Niall said, nodding slowly. He turned to the front and back to Ezili immediately. “Also, I’m sorry about what happened to you. The accident must have been awful.”

“What?”

“Niall,” Harry growled. “Seatbelt.”

Niall flinched. “Sorry.”

Frowning, Ezili hugged her new book and sunk into her seat. She hated this Harry. He reminded her of a whale with a toothache, and even with that image in mind, she still couldn’t laugh. That was how angry she was with him. Yes, she was angry with him being angry with her. And for pulling her out of that beautiful bookstore. For making her drop her book. For holding her hostage like a prisoner. For being rude to Dawson. She hated him. She hated Harry Styles.

So when they’d arrived home and he told her to go inside and hang with Niall, she had to chase after him and let him know how much she hated him.

“Harry Styles!” She called when they reached the white stairs leading to the enormous courtyard where he’d parked his car. “Why are you upset? You have no right to be mad at me after you lied to me.”

Harry stopped halfway down the stairs; it seemed like Ezili’s words had finally hit him. He slowly spun around with a stunned expression as if she’d accused him of manslaughtering. “I didn’t lie to you,” he said, his jaw tight. “I told you to stay in your room. You were grounded.”

“You didn’t tell me that you’d leave me with your assistant and Niall!”

“But I didn’t lie to you.”

“Telling half-truths is telling lies.”

Harry held Ezili’s gaze for a long moment before he started ascending the stairs. She stiffened as he stopped right in front of her, leaned in, and stared.

“Oh, so you’re so honest, aren’t you?” he asked in a mocking tone. “You’ve never lied to me?”

“Never,” she said confidently.

Well, that was also a lie. But since when had Ezili felt bad for lying? She’d eaten men like him. Why did his presence now make her nervous?

She hated that the more she stayed human the more human she became. That thought terrified her even more than the possibility of getting caught and killed in this foreign land.

“I’ve never lied in my entire life,” she added, making Harry's eyes grow wide.

He said nothing, and when he turned to leave, she hurriedly followed him down the stairs. “Speechless by my honesty?” she asked.

“Speechless by the lies that come out of your mouth,” he said. “Is your name even Ezi?”

“No, it’s Ezili.”

Harry let out a scoff but he didn’t stop, so Ezili grabbed him by the arm and spun him around. Hard.

“Shit! How are you so strong?” he cried out, facing her again.

“Apologise.”

“What?”

Ezili folded her arms across her chest and sharpened her gaze. “Apologise right now.”

“For what?”

“For yelling at me.”

“And why should I apologise for yelling at you?”

Ezili bit her lip. The voice inside her head told her to push him down the stairs. She could just say it was an accident, and no one could prove that she’d done it. However, she needed him alive. Sucking in a breath, she said, “Because that’s what decent people do. A talking book told me that.”

“You mean those children's books you found in the bookstore,” Harry taunted, giving her a despiteful smirk.

She scowled at him even harder. “Apologise.”

“Fine,” he breathed. “I apologise for yelling at you. Now you apologise for stealing my cat.”

“I tried to save Chilli. You see, your assistant said something about the Master of the House being dead. I thought you were dead. But she was only talking about a show--”

“Yeah, famous Netflix show. It’s good. But that’s still no excuse for taking my cat.”

“Fine.” Ezili glared at him. “I’m sorry for stealing your cat.”

“And for getting into Dawson’s car.”

“And for getting into Dawson’s car.”

“And for leaving with him and liking him.”

“And for—What is your problem with Dawson?”

Instead of answering the question, Harry pulled out his phone, looked at it, and then told Ezili, “Go inside. We’ll continue this talk when I get back.”

He was just about to run when she pulled him back by his sleeve. He gave her a ‘what do you want?’ kind of look as she stammered, “When...when you get back…”

“Yeah?” He stressed out the word, an eyebrow arched impatiently.

“Can you teach me how to read?”

“What?”

“Teach me to read. Are you deaf?”

“You can’t read?”

When Ezili shook her head, Harry’s frown transformed into a smile. “That explains a lot.”

She smacked him on the arm and he gasped and leapt down two steps.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing! Why are you so aggressive?” Harry winced and backed away from her. “We’ll talk about this later. Now go inside and film a TikTok with Niall or something. I’m late for a photoshoot.”

Ezili opened her mouth to ask him what time he’d be home, but Harry had already run back to his car.

.

.

.

Harry got home at around 10 PM. He’d had a rough day. His manager had been furious because he had run out on a magazine photoshoot without saying a word to anyone. In his defence, he’d been in a rush, and couldn’t figure out an excuse to cover up for the fact that he’d almost let a mythical creature get loose. He shouldn’t have been so careless and left her with his assistant and Niall. That was his fault. Also, he could never think straight when he was angry. He thought about the look Ezili had given him when he’d pulled her out of the bookstore. The look Dawson had given him. Fucking Dawson. If it wasn’t for him, Harry wouldn’t have had to be mean to Ezi.

“Hey.”

“Jesus!” Harry shouted when the light switched on and he saw Ezili sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room. “Wha--Why are you on the floor? Get up.”

“This is Chilli’s favourite spot so I thought I might try to see how comfortable it is. Pretty uncomfortable, I must say.”

Harry rolled his eyes and offered Ezi a hand to help her get to her feet. “Why are you still awake?”

She pulled away from him and rushed over to the table to grab the book Dawson had given her. She shoved it at him. “You promised to teach me to read. This is a collection of fairy tales. Andersen’s Fairy Tales. I noticed that one of the details from The Little Mermaid story was different from the film, so I want to know how the story actually ends in the book.”

Harry sighed as he took the book and looked at the cover. When he glanced up, Ezi was giving him these big puppy dog’s eyes with her hands clasped together in front of her chest. “It’s late,” he said tiredly.

She shook her head. “You promised!”

“I can just tell you the ending.”

“No, I want to read!”

“Fine, fine.” He put his hands up, left palm out, the other holding the book. “I guess there’s still time to teach you the alphabet then we’ll call it a day.”

Harry could have sworn he had never seen anyone as excited about learning as Ezi was, which was quite amusing, he must admit. So they sat on the couch as he taught her the alphabet and how to put letters into words. She was a fast learner, so it didn’t take long for her to memorise everything.

“It’s been three hours and I still can’t read,” Ezili whined as she hit him with a pillow.

Shocked, Harry blinked at her. “That’s not how learning works. You need time.”

“You said my brain was more developed!”

“Yeah, but still!”

Scowling, Ezi kicked Harry’s feet. “You’re the worst teacher ever. I’ll never get to know how it ends.”

“Okay, Miss Drama Queen,” Harry scoffed. “How about I read you the story now, and when you can read on your own, you can practice by rereading it?”

Ezi thought for a moment, then the line between her brows eased, and she nodded once. “But you must teach me everyday until I can read.”

“Fine,” Harry breathed as he opened the book. His body stiffened when Ezi suddenly leaned on him like he was a pillow, her cheek against his arm, and he could feel every beat of her heart.

“Go on,” she urged him, giving him a nudge.

He cleared his throat and opened the book, trying to distract his naughty mind with the innocent words of a fairy tale.

Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea King and his subjects. We must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most singular flowers and plants grow there; the leaves and stems of which are so pliant, that the slightest agitation of the water causes them to stir as if they had life. Fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees here upon land. In the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the Sea King. Its walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of the clearest amber. The roof is formed of shells, that open and close as the water flows over them. Their appearance is very beautiful, for in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for the diadem of a queen...

By the time they’d finished one-third of the story, Ezi had already fallen asleep with her head on Harry’s shoulder. Harry wished he’d read this to her in bed so he wouldn’t have to carry her upstairs now. She was small and slender, but he’d had a bad day, so even the littlest inconvenience could bring down his mood. Cursing under his breath, he picked her up and carried her to the stairs as she curled against his chest like a little cat.

When her eyelids fluttered, he thought she was going to jolt awake, but then her brows knitted, and she murmured, “Mother, please...give me more time. I will bring you the heart…the heart...”

He chuckled and put her down on the bed.

[twopoppies]

I don’t usually use tik tok anymore but my sister sent me one that popped on hers today. It was some girl talking abt how Harry only dates skinny white women and how even though she isn’t skinny and is black she’s dumb enough to think she has a chance. Now I don’t think Harry is with or has been with any of these people and if he wasn’t with Louis and not straight I 100% think his type wouldn’t be the type of people he’s perceived to date. But it sometimes makes me sad to see how this push of Harry and the other boys dating these models and singers effects the way that some girls look at themselves and that they believe they aren’t good enough bc of this. I definitely used to feel this way even as a larrie just with the intense push of this is the ideal girl if you want to ever have the chance of being with someone attractive. Sorry this became longer then I meant it to and sorry if I started not to make sense I’m hopeless when writing my points lol. I hope you are doing well💗

Hi honey. I understand what you’re saying. And yes, it’s definitely an issue. And I see Harry trying here and there to course correct (for example, with the models that were hired for the Watermelon Sugar video), but it’s such a losing game.

We’ve talked about this before when he was first pictured with Molly Hawkins. He never looked happier or more comfortable with a woman, ever. But did anyone start shipping them? No. Of course not. She’s not Victoria’s Secret material. Never mind that she seems super cool and she’s totally pretty… our society is super fucked up.

And even if people think he’s gay, many still act like no one is good enough for him. Certainly not Louis, not David Dawson (his costar in MP) either… not “hot” enough, according to some.

So, there’s both an expectation that he date someone “at his level”, and anger at him for dating “only stereotypically beautiful women”. I do wonder why I never see the same outrage about the women Niall dates.