#seriously the first thing i saw about lizzie on my dash like an hour after episode started dropping was someone already complaining

[hybbat]

You know I've had a lot of posts on my dash about Lizzie including 3 fics... And all of them are about how she is ignored for the men.

I've not seen any of the content they're complaining about, and I've not seen any of the content they're asking for...

You know you can just... make content about Lizzie. Instead of content about the lack of content. You can just draw her or write about her or make headcanons and essays about her, instead of about how there isn't any.

We get it, nobody is talking about her. So, please just actually talk about her?

[let-me-write-shit]

Like We Used To: 6

A/N: And I - oop. Things are about to get heateddddd. Can you guess what’s gonna happen in the next few chapters? What do you WANT to happen?

Also, what do we think about smut? Yay or nay? Will it ruin the story or make it better? Let me know before I continue.

ENJOY!

[ONE] [TWO] [THREE] [FOUR] [FIVE] ------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER SIX

The night air was crisp and the stars had started to shine as the sun had set only an hour ago. Elizabeth managed to swipe a blanket that had been randomly draped on a chair in the eat-in kitchen on the way out, wrapping it around herself. She peered up at Harry as he led her down the lawn and towards the docks feeling surprisingly confident. After their unexpected 2 AM talk, their friendship seemed to be so effortless now. As much as Elizabeth tried to avoid it at first, their relationship seemed to have grown quickly back to what it felt like when they were teenagers. 

‘This is what it must have felt like for the others,’ Heather thought. ‘If I hadn’t built up that wall, it would have been easier for us to fall back into our old ways just like it had for the rest of our friends.’ Elizabeth felt the soft squish of the grass under her bare feet turn rough when they stepped onto the dock.

“Matt didn’t seem too keen on me tonight, did he?” Harry spoke as they both sat at the end of the dock. He crossed his legs while Elizabeth rolled up the hem of her lounge pants and dipped her toes in the water.

Elizabeth sighed, looking at Harry who was gazing out at the dark water. She slipped half of her blanket around him to share and said, “Matt’s just protective. He did warn you that he had taken your place once you left.” Harry shot her a ‘watch it’ look and she laughed, “Not that anyone could ever take your place.”

There was brief silence before Harry laughed, “We really can’t even go to the bathroom alone? What if I have to take a shit?”

Elizabeth shrugged, “I’ll plug my nose and close my eyes.”

Harry laughed and cleared his throat, “So should we reveal our big secret to each other now?”

“We’ve got time. I have to think of one first.” She said before quickly realizing what he said. She nudged his arm, “You’ve got more secrets you’ve hidden from me?”

His dimples deepened and his teeth seemed to almost glow when he smiled, “I’m a man of mystery.”

“Yeah, be careful before you mysteriously get your ass whooped,” Elizabeth quipped.

An hour seemed to fly by and so far there weren’t any fights. In fact, Elizabeth didn’t think she had laughed that much in years. They filled each other in on what’s happened since they lost touch, talked about movies they enjoyed, and shared some really embarrassing stories with each other, yet they still felt at ease. This dare wasn’t so bad after all. 

By now their buzz from the alcohol had disappeared and was replaced with hunger as Elizabeth’s stomach started to grumble. “You know what sounds so good right now? Ice cream.”

“Let’s go get some,” Harry suggested.

Elizabeth groaned, “But we can’t have any other human interaction, remember?”

“Who said anything about human interaction?” Harry grinned mischievously, “I passed a 24 hour store down the street on the way here. It has a self checkout. No human interaction necessary. All we have to do is sneak inside, grab our shoes and my car keys and slip out. No one even has to know we left.”

“I like your style, Styles,” Elizabeth smiled, standing up, “Fine. But try not to let them hear you.”

The two of them jogged up the hill towards the sliding glass door, playfully pushing and shushing each other along the way. Slowly, they slid the door open and stepped in, hearing muffled voices in the direction of the parlor. 

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Elizabeth whispered, “My shoes and purse are already by the front door. There’s a greater chance of someone catching us if we both go up to your room to get your stuff. So, if you can channel your inner ninja and sneak up to your room as quickly as you can to grab your stuff, you can meet me out front. Okay? Just don’t let anyone catch you without me or we’re screwed.”

Harry nodded, chanting, “channel my inner ninja,” a few times and they both set off, silently running past the door frame of the parlor room and towards the bottom of the stairs that met the front door. Elizabeth started pulling on her shoes and Harry whispered, “Wish me luck,” before creeping up the steps.

Elizabeth bounced on her toes and crossed her arms nervously waiting for Harry to come out. It was getting colder now and she regretted not bringing that blanket along. She half contemplated sneaking around to the back of the house to grab it before she heard the door crack open.

“Jesus, I thought you got caught!” Elizabeth breathed when Harry quietly closed the door behind him. “We are not separating again until midnight. That gave me way too much anxiety.”

“You just want me all to yourself, Lizzy. Admit it,” Harry smirked, shuffling his keys and a pile of fabric around in his arms that he had stretched out and dangled in front of Elizabeth as an offering. “Here, thought you might want this.” It was his hoodie. 

“For me? Oh, thanks!”

Elizabeth slipped it over her head, grateful for the warmth it provided and taking in the subtly spicy scent that lingered from his undoubtedly expensive cologne,  following Harry to his classic, yellow, two-seater car. He opened the door for her and smiled as she slid in. It was very clean and smelled like it had been recently detailed. 

When Harry started up the car, the engine rumbled a little louder than she had expected which made her slightly nervous, but he quickly managed to shift the gears and drive. With a flick of a knob on the dash, the car filled with the sound of Pat Benatar singing ‘Shadow of the Night’.

“No way!” Elizabeth shouted and burst into song.

Harry smiled from ear to ear as he watched his old friend dancing wildly in her seat, belting very off-key to the music and he decided to join in, continuing like that for the next three songs that played until they reached the store. There weren’t many people there, but Harry pulled his hood over his head, just in case, as they bee-lined to the ice cream.

“Let’s hope you don’t get recognized,” Elizabeth said.

“Story of my life,” Harry muttered, scanning the freezer shelves, “Why are there so many?!”

“There’s not that many,” Elizabeth laughed, grabbing a personal size jar of classic chocolate and groaned, “Hurry up, Harry! I’m hungry!”

“I take my flavor choice very seriously, thank you very much!” He stuck his tongue out at her and grabbed a small tub of Magnum white chocolate vanilla.

They grabbed a box of plastic spoons on the way to the self check-out where only one other person was finishing their transaction. Harry stole Elizabeth’s ice cream out of her hands saying, “It’s on me,” and scanned it.

“What a gentleman,” Elizabeth smiled, pulling her freezing cold hands into the sleeves of the hoodie Harry lent her and looked around the store. “Uh, Harry? You need to hurry,” she urged, tapping his back. A girl, close in age, was staring over at them. Harry had looked up after inserting his credit card into the machine to see what Elizabeth was talking about, and when he did, the girl instantly recognized him and started walking towards them.

“Harry!” Elizabeth whined under her breath, “No human interaction, remember?”

“Shit!” he muttered, pressing buttons frantically. As soon as the transaction was complete he spouted, “Run!”, grabbing the bag in one hand and her wrist in the other, leaving the receipt behind.

The girl picked up her pace, but Harry and Elizabeth managed to make it to the car and hightail it out of there before she could catch up to them. They panted, trying to catch their breath before howling in laughter from the adrenaline. 

Elizabeth looked over at Harry, capturing the details of his face. His stubble was starting to grow out which somehow made the depth of his dimples even more noticeable. His lips were wet from his tongue and she could see smile lines which were prominent at the edge of his eyes and the corners of his lips making her wonder about all the things he’s been through in the past nine years to cause them. She saw the veins in his hands that gripped the steering wheel and gear shift, and the black paint that was starting to chip on his nails. 

His laughter started to settle, but when he looked over at her with his radiant smile Elizabeth twisted in her seat, realizing that it was happening. She was starting to fall for him again.

‘It’s fine,’ she thought to herself, ‘I liked him all throughout school without anything happening. I can do that again. I’ve got more restraint now.’

It took them a little longer to get back because Harry had gotten lost and they weren’t allowed to use their phones for directions, but they eventually got back on track and pulled into the driveway. Elizabeth recommended that they quarantine themselves in his room since Kate and Lewis eavesdropped on their last conversation they had in her room. Luckily the front door was still unlocked and they darted up the two flights of stairs to his room without being seen.

Harry tossed their bag of food onto his bed and they kicked off their shoes. Elizabeth looked around the room. His duffel bag was open on a chair in the corner of the room with some shirts hanging out. The bed was clearly slept in and she noticed his rings on top of the nightstand beside his bed next to a glass of water that was half full.  

“If you’re done snooping,” Harry smirked, patting the space beside him on the bed.

Elizabeth plopped on the bed next to him and sarcastically said, “Well I’m a bit disappointed that you didn’t light some candles and cover the room in rose petals for me, but you did buy me ice cream, so I guess it’ll do for now.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry laughed, “I’ll remember that for the next time I try to seduce you.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, smirked, and took a spoonful of her ice cream, “Mr. Styles, what makes you think you’ll get a second chance to seduce me?”

Harry smiled nervously at his pants, picking at a loose thread before looking up at her and saying, “I never did tell you that you looked beautiful at the wedding yesterday.”

Elizabeth’s chest fell to her stomach and she smiled sweetly at him, “Thank you, Harry.” She almost certainly started to blush.

The two talked a little bit longer, sharing spoonfuls of each other’s ice cream, enjoying more laughs together when Harry’s face suddenly turned serious.

“Uh...Lizzy?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really sorry, but I have to pee so bad!”

Elizabeth sighed with a slight giggle, “Oh, thank GOD! I’ve had to pee for the past hour!”

They both went into Harry’s bathroom and Elizabeth went first. Harry turned around as she pulled her pants down, noticing the pile of dirty clothes on the floor next to his shower.

“I bet this is the point where most of the people who get this dare start freaking out; because they don’t wanna have to pee around someone,” Elizabeth said, wiping and pulling her pants up.

“I don’t know,” Harry’s voice was muffled because he was facing the opposite direction, “I could listen to you pee all day.”

She flushed the toilet and turned on the faucet, kicking the back of Harry’s foot to signal that it was okay for him to turn around and playfully said, “You know, that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Alright, you!” Harry warned, “turn around. If you want to see my penis you’ve gotta take me on a date first.”

Elizabeth laughed and turned around joking, “Is that not what we’re doing? My ice cream adventure wasn’t date-worthy enough for you?”

“No, I want candles and rose petals,” Harry mocked her.

“Well if that’s how you feel, just be grateful it wasn’t Daisy who was picked. She wouldn’t have even given you the chance to finish your ice cream,” Elizabeth joked. She heard him finish, flush, and start the faucet so she turned around and saw his serious expression.

“I’m glad it was you,” he said to her, lathering the soap in his hands.

Elizabeth blushed and they both walked into his room silently, taking a seat back on his bed. She could tell by his demeanor that something was bothering him.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

He hesitated, looking at the wall before turning to her, “Lizzy it’s been over 2 hours now. Are we really going to carry on pretending we didn’t just say those things down there?”

“What things?”

“....Everything!” Harry vexed, “How we both, you know, fantasized about each other. About how I told you that I liked you.”

“What about it?” Elizabeth asked, unsure of where this conversation could possibly go. What did he want? To talk out their fantasies about each other? That was nine years ago. “I don’t think much can come out of this conversation. We used to have crushes on each other at some point. Like you said, we were horny teenagers. What good does this information do now?”

“It wasn’t just at one point, Lizzy!” Harry protested, “It was throughout all of high school. Through both girlfriends I had, and all three of your boyfriends I liked you. You’re saying that we both liked each other and we could have been together that whole time? Does that not piss you off?”

Harry stared so deeply into her eyes that she was certain he could read her mind. Honestly, she had been thinking the same thing all night. And it hurt. But, again, that was in the past.

“Yeah, I know. It sucks!” Elizabeth frowned, “but that was then. It was so long ago. Who knows what would have happened if we dated? You might not be where you are right now.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Harry retorted, “but maybe I still would have, and we could have been where Kate and Lewis are right now!”

“Harry!” Elizabeth chuckled, with amused , “We would not have ended up married!”

Harry looked at her, irritation glowing in his eyes. ‘This is it,’ she thought. ‘The card is doing it’s thing. Maybe it really is cursed.’

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