#whenever she saw harry wearing his leather jacket she would run to her room to change into hers

[alwayshinny]

Harry and Lily Luna✌🏼- Lily noticed that some of her classmates' parents bring their dogs with them when they drop their children off at school, so the next day she persuaded Harry to drop her off with her pet bunny, Pigsy.

[madamebaggio]

A ROMANTIC CRISIS - Modern JonSa

***

Summary: What do you do when you have a crush on your brother's best friend?

And what if he's also your friend?

What if he freaking bites your lip after giving you a cupcake?

Sansa Stark is panicking and it's all Jon Snow's fault.

***

Notes: Prequel to “A Family Crisis”. One shot, can be found here as well.

***

Sansa Stark had been a very girly little girl. She wanted to be a princess; she loved unicorns and fairies, cupcakes and rainbows. She wore pink and danced ballet and baked cookies.

Catelyn was beside herself with such an adorable daughter and Ned was a proud dad, who called his daughter “princess” every night at bedtime, before kissing her forehead.

As Sansa started to grow she kept the whole girly thing in her life. After she passed the phase in which she thought boys were gross, she started dreaming about prince charming, a spring wedding and happily ever after.

She had a list of attributes for the perfect boyfriend and she knew what type of guy she wanted. Sansa imagined a million times how it would be to find this boy, dreamed of sunset kisses, rainy kisses and of everything sweet and gentle.

Then… Life happened.

For such a romantic Sansa had the worst taste in men. It was bloody ridiculous.

First, there was Joffrey, her first boyfriend, back in senior school. He was everything she’d wanted back then: handsome, rich, well educated; he was like a prince.

Only… He wasn’t.

Joffrey was a piece of shit. Unfortunately it took too long for Sansa to see what everybody else could see. It actually took him slapping her in front of his friends for her to understand. She had forgiven his cruel words, the way he spoke about her family –even though she shouldn’t have – and how he tried to mold her to his taste.

The slap she couldn’t forgive.

So it was goodbye, Joffrey.

She had a brief thing with Willas Tryel, Margaery’s brother, but it never went very far. She’d also rather not talk about that creep Petyr Baelish, who was her teacher on her last year and tried to manipulate her.

Then she went to college and fell head first for another piece of shit: Harry Hardying.

Harry was different from Joffrey, that’s for sure. He wasn’t deliberately cruel, he was a sexist pig, that’s it. He wanted her to be by his side whenever he “needed” her, being pretty, or having sex; and when he wanted to be alone, she had to be a good girl and wait for him at home.

After Harry –and a frightening encounter with Ramsay Bolton, the fucking psycho –Sansa had sworn off guys and this whole romance bullshit.

No more love stories, no more sunset kisses and no more fucking clichés.

God, she hated clichés.

And what was she right now?

A fucking cliché!

Why? Because she had gone ahead and fell in love with her brother’s best friend.

God, this was ridiculous.

Why???

Actually, she did know why, and –in her defense- it wasn’t like she had a long time crush on the guy. Those stupid feelings were brand new.

As opposed to her siblings Sansa had never been particularly close to Jon Snow. They all saw him as a brother and she only saw him as Robb’s best friend.

She wasn’t really mean to him, just indifferent. Jon was a bit of weirdo, always brooding, looking like someone had kicked his puppy or like he needed to be fed a sandwich.

Yes, she could admit that she had admired his form in school, but that was only because Robb had all but forced him to join the rugby team during their years at Senior School and he had started to get a pretty great shape. However, this was a platonic admiration. He looked good, she acknowledged that.

So, she didn’t have a crush on him during senior school and she didn’t get jealous over whoever he dated at the time.

Jon was Jon and that was all that Sansa saw.

Curiously, it was Harry who changed that.

She was home for Christmas when she saw a picture that made her stomach turn. Harry was at some party with two girls sitting on his lap; the subtitle to the picture said, “Enjoying being a single man.”

Most his friends had given “likes” to it, laughing that his “shackles” had been removed.

Sansa couldn’t believe that he was doing that; it was downright disrespectful, almost cruel. If Harry didn’t want to date anymore he could have just broken up with her.

She called him, decided to get an explanation. Harry made himself the victim as he called her crazy, controlling and paranoid, he said she didn’t trust him and was chocking him, and that there was nothing wrong with the picture.

Sansa had thrown her phone across the room, hidden her face in the pillow and cried. That was how Jon found her, 30 minutes later.

Poor guy. He had only gone there to call her for dinner –he was also staying there –but he sat down and listened to her until Arya came looking for them.

They became friends after that.

Jon was so fucking caring and generous. He was a great listener and his advice was amazingly insightful.

Slowly they started to get closer and closer: friends, drinking buddies, shopping companions –poor Jon, he was a true hero.

Cue in an inappropriate crush.

Sansa felt like screaming.

She tried to fight it, she really did. She was sure that Jon saw her only as an annoying little sister.

She was being ridiculous. This was ridiculous.

“You are ridiculous.” Margaery informed her, rolling her beautiful eyes. “No straight guy goes shopping with a woman if he doesn’t have every intention of fucking her.”

“Jon isn’t like that!” Sansa defended automatically.

Margaery snickered. “Keep telling yourself that.” She put her sunglasses back on. “Just seduce the man already. You’ll see I’m right then.”

The thing was, even though Sansa liked this idea, she had no idea of how to do it. Margaery had some ideas, but Sansa refused to dress something ridiculously short in front of him or make him jealous.

She wasn’t 15, for fuck’s sake.

She was going to be mature about this and maturely pretend that she felt nothing until it passed.

It was a very adult decision.

It was! It was a solid plan and she had every intention of sticking to it.

If it failed completely it was Jon’s fault and nobody else’s!

Lord, talk about embarrassing.

She had just finished the last test of that year at the University and was considering spending the whole day under her blankets when her doorbell rang.

Sansa considered staying right where she was, but years of being the polite and well-mannered girl couldn’t be ignored. She got up from the bed, still in her pajamas and half walked, half stumbled to the door.

When she pulled it open she had not expected to find Jon on the other side, but he was there anyway.

Sansa wished she had the strength to close the door on his face –his ridiculously handsome face –and run back to hide under her covers. However, this was Jon Snow, wearing jeans, a leather jacket, a freaking wool scarf, with his head a mess of dark curls and a smile on his lips.

What sane woman would close the door?

“Hey.” She smiled at him.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?” Jon asked embarrassed.

“No.” She replied quickly. “I was just being lazy.”

“You have the right to be lazy sometimes.” He smiled at her.

Sansa finally recovered her senses enough to realize they were still standing by her door. “Come in.”

Jon entered her apartment and she noticed the pink box in his hand.

“Are those…”

“Ridiculously expensive cupcakes?” Jon finished for her. “Yes, I bought them for you. I figured you deserved them, since you finished your tests.”

He offered her the box and Sansa almost cried at his thoughtfulness. Why did he have to be so amazing?

She went to sit on her couch, while Jon left his jacket and scarf on the hooks by the door. She opened the lid and saw four heavily frosted and decorated cupcakes.

“These are really great, Jon.” She giggled. “Want one?”

“No, thanks.” He sat by her. “If diabetes has a face… That’s it.” He indicated the pink cupcake she selected.

She showed him her tongue. “More for me.”

God, those cupcakes were overpriced, but they were amazing.

Jon started chuckling and Sansa turned to him confused. “What?”

“You have frosting all over your face.” He informed, a fond smile on his face.

Sansa felt her whole face getting red. “Oh my god! Where?” That was what she got for trying to bite the whole thing.

“Here. Let me help you.” Jon stretched his arm and brushed his thumb against the tip of her nose.

Sansa was still feeling pretty embarrassed –what was she? A child? –but those feelings took a turn when Jon brought his thumb to his mouth.

Sansa was almost certain she had an orgasm.

Jon was looking at her in a way she couldn’t explain. It was… Different. It was like he was seeing her for the very first time. He stretched his arm again, but this time he was closer than before and Sansa didn’t remember moving at all.

His thumb brushed her chin and he once again brought it to his mouth.

“Done?” She asked breathless.

“Just a bit more.” Was she crazy or had his voice gone all husky?

Okay, there were getting closer somehow and Sansa had no idea of how, because, this time, when Jon reached for her he barely had to stretch his arm. His thumb grazed the curve of her lower lip ridiculously slow.

After everything that had happened to her, Sansa had started to believe that whole sparks and fireworks thing was a lie. But the way this simple touch radiated through her body…

Time must be working slower than normal, because Jon’s thumb hadn’t even reached the middle of her lip when Sansa decided to say something. “Stop stealing my frosting.”

Stop stealing her frost? STOP STEALING HER FROST? Oh Lord, she was pathetic. Who said things like that?

She did apparently.

“No.” Jon said simply. “It’s sweeter than I thought. Now I want a bite.” He spoke the whole time looking at her lips.

Sansa wasn’t sure when he moved. She just knew that one moment they weren’t kissing and the next they were.

Not exactly kissing. Actually it was way hotter than that. Jon had bitten –bitten –her lower lip and sucked it gently and Sansa felt it all the way down to her toes.

She forgot how to breathe and she was pretty sure her heart forgot how to beat for a second.

Jon let go of her lip and Sansa… Well, she jumped on him. Like… Literally.

She gave him no warning, or time to brace himself. She just put her arms around his neck and kissed the hell out of him.

In her defense, he did start it with the whole lip-biting thing, and her reaction was completely justified.

At least she tried to see that way later, when she felt so absolutely humiliated by the way she threw herself at him.

In fact, it was so strong –was she that desperate? – that he fell on his back, against the couch’s arm, and she was sprawled on top of him. She kissed him, her mouth opened over his, her teeth tugging at his lips.

Their position was very uncomfortable, but she didn’t even think of stopping; not when he was kissing her back, his hands traveling up and down her back, never going too low.

Then she did the most stupid thing ever: she stopped. She paused the kiss, just for a second, just to catch her breath, but Jon had opened her eyes, and so had she.

It was like being dosed with a full bucket of icy water.

She could see the moment he realized exactly what they were doing, his expression going quickly from shock to panic.

Sansa scrambled off him to her feet so fast she almost fell. Jon also got up quickly, looking like he had no idea of what he should do that moment.

So, he made it worse by speaking.

“Sansa, I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Well, that was just great. He regretted kissing her, seconds after doing it. All she could think about was how his lips looked swollen and pink from the kissing, how she could feel her face sensitive from where his beard had scratched hers and he’d said sorry.

This was terrible.

“It’s okay.” She said, her voice tremulous. “I just remembered I have some things to do…”

She just wanted him to go, that was all, because this was awkward and embarrassing.

“Yes, of course.” Jon jumped at her words and she thought she couldn’t hurt worse than she did, but she was wrong. “I’ll just…” He pointed at the door.

He was so obviously shaken and uncomfortable with the whole thing that Sansa couldn’t even begrudge the fact that he wanted to leave this fast. She kind of wanted him gone as well.

“Yeah, sure. Call me later.” She gave him a weak smile.

“Yeah, I will.”

She didn’t think he would, but she smiled at him anyway and watched him go so fast, he actually left his scarf behind.

Once the door closed behind him, Sansa fell on the couch. She noted absentmindedly that she had sat on the forgotten cupcake.

This day really sucked.

XxX

Jon Snow was the worst friend ever.

He truly was.

Not only to Sansa, but also to Robb and the whole family. You don’t lust after your best friend’s little sister, even though it wasn’t just lust, and you sure as fuck didn’t kiss her like that.

He had bitten her lip!

Sansa must have thought he was some kind of pervert or something. This was such a mess.

He should have kept his distance. The moment he realized he was feeling differently towards Sansa he should have stayed away.

Theon used to say that every boy (or man) at some point had had a crush on Sansa Stark. Theon himself had no shame in admitting to anyone –Robb included –that he had a serious crush on the oldest Stark girl when she was around 15.

Robb would bark at his friend to shut up and proclaim Sansa too smart to ever fall for Theon’s tricks.

However, Jon knew that Theon was right. Jon had had a crush on Sansa too, when she was 17.

He never opened his mouth about it to anyone –much less Robb. He felt silly for thinking about her at all, because Sansa was going out with Joffrey Baratheon then and he was a rich boy from an influential family. Jon was aware that Sansa barely knew he existed outside of being Robb’s best friend.

Crushes are crushes and eventually they go away, just like that.

Now… He wasn’t so sure if his crush on her had truly faded at the time or just remained asleep until this moment.

He never expected them to become friends, much less after so many years of knowing each other, but he loved it. Sansa was crazy smart, funny and charming.

She was the whole package.

“Oy, why are you brooding so much, Snow?” Tormund demanded.

Jon sighed. “Nothing.”

Edd and Davos traded looks, but it was the older man that spoke. “Come on, Jon. You’re even quieter than usual.”

Jon had studied to be a civil engineer and he was currently working on a construction site with those men. They were all good men and they’d become quick friends.

Which made them very nosy.

“I did something stupid.” He admitted.

“You?” Edd asked incredulous. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I kissed my best friend’s sister.” He informed them.

Edd made a face. “Big brother is overprotective?”

“A lot.” Jon sighed. “And I understand it, Sansa is…” He sighed again.

“Wow.” Tormund looked amused. “You got it bad, Snow.”

“Shut up.” Jon grumbled.

“Right… But what happened exactly?” Davos wanted to know.

Jon gave a simple explanation of the day before, editing the most explicit details –like the part where he bit her.

“I don’t see the problem here.” Tormund declared. “She kissed you back.”

Jon opened his mouth to deny it, but then, for the first time, he allowed himself to think about it. He had spent the whole day martyring himself and never considered that.

She had kissed him back.

Sansa had kissed him.

“Oh.”

The three other man traded looks again. “You just realized that, didn’t you?” Edd asked.

“I… I guess so.”

Tormund rolled his eyes so hard that Jon worried they were going to fall off. “What’s wrong with you, boy? Girl kisses you, you kiss her back, and –like a gentleman –carry her to her room to fuck her.”

“Hey.” Jon’s look was full of warning.

Tormund just snorted. “Stop being a pussy, Snow.”

“Robb’s going to kill me.” Jon predicted.

“His sister is a big girl, Jon.” Davos said patiently. “I’m sure she can make her own choices.”

“But what if…”

“Snow!” Edd barked. “Stop stalling. Call the girl!”

XxX

“I’m so stupid, Marge. Why did I do something so stupid?”

Margaery rolled her eyes. She let Sansa vent for another minute as she watched the girl in front of her paint her nails. She really liked this shade of red.

“Are you done?” She asked Sansa.

“What do I do?” Sansa wanted to know.

Margaery rolled her eyes again, happy that her friend couldn’t see her, since she was on the other side of the line.

Mary, the girl doing her nails, gave Marge a sympathetic smile.

“Fuck him, I hope.”

“MARGAERY!”

“Sansa, he bit you.” Margaery reminded her. “Do you have any idea how hot that sounds?”

“But…”

“Sansa Stark, you either call that boy, tell him you want to fuck him, marry him –whatever –or I swear I gonna lock you two in a room and only let you out after you fucked.”

There was a prolonged silence from the other side, while Mary looked pretty impressed by Margaery’s threat.

“Sansa darling, are you still there?” Margaery asked.

“Yeah.” It was weak, but it’d do.

“Great. Hang up, call Jon. Get laid.”

“Ok…”

Margaery was feeling pretty satisfied with herself right now.

XxX

“Jon.”

“Sansa.”

Silence from both sides.

“Is this a good moment to talk?”

“Yes, I just got home.”

“Good.” Silence. “So…”

“I think we need to talk, Jon.”

“You’re right. Can we… Let’s have dinner.”

“Tonight?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Ok… Are we… Are we ok, Jon?”

“Of course! We just… I really think we should talk.”

“You’re right.”

Silence again.

“So… Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Where?”

“Wanna come over?”

“Better if you come here. If I go to your house we’ll eat pizza again.”

“What’s wrong with pizza?”

“No pizza in the middle of the week, Jon. That’s the rule, remember?”

“How can I forget? Your place then.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“See you, Sans.”

XxX

Sansa was in total control of herself. This wasn’t different from all the other times Jon had come over to have dinner with her.

They’d done it a thousand times.

They had never kissed before, but dinner, sure.

Sansa had taken a serious decision: –a very serious one –they needed to talk about it. It’d be terribly awkward, probably a bit humiliating, but it’d be fine in the end. Jon was a nice guy, so he’d never make her feel bad about something like that.

She just wanted to talk about it because she was scared that –if they didn’t –they’d grow apart. She preferred a thousand awkward conversations than losing Jon’s friendship.

Yes, she had heard what Margaery had said, but… She was still worried.

Sure, Jon had bitten her first –she was never getting over that –but he was the one that said sorry and that he shouldn’t have done it; so she was confused.

She wanted to believe that Jon didn’t see her as Robb’s little sister, but it was a bit difficult when he said shit like that.

Why dating had to be so difficult?

Not that she was dating Jon. Or that she thought they were going to date. It was just the general idea of dating.

She was pretty sure Jon would never want to date her. She was way different from his other girlfriends. She was almost sure she wasn’t his type.

Lip-biting excluded.

She could be mature. This was going to work out very well. She knew.

The doorbell rang.

Oh heavens…

XxX

Jon took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell. It was just dinner with Sansa, they’ve done it a thousand times before.

But they’d never kissed before.

He needed to make things right between them, which meant doing whatever she wanted. He was willing to pretend nothing ever happened if it was what she wanted, he just didn’t want them to become strangers.

Jon could handle anything but that.

The door opened, revealing Sansa. “Hey.” She smiled at him, but her smile was tremulous, like she wasn’t sure of anything. “Come in.”

Jon entered and showed her the ice cream he had in his hand. “I brought dessert.”

“Great.” Her smile was a bit more sincere now. “Come to kitchen. I have to put the casserole in the oven.”

Jon followed her silently to the kitchen, then put the ice cream in the freezer. “Sansa…”

She turned to him, the casserole on her hands. “Hum?”

Jon took the thing from her and put it on the counter. “I…” He took a deep breath. “Are we okay?”

Sansa opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened again. “You mean after you bit me?” She offered a bit dryly.

Jon cleared his throat again. “Something like that.”

Sansa crossed her arms. “Why did you do it?”

Jon could give her a thousand different answers; he could lie, he could give the answer he thought she wanted to hear, he could protect himself.

However, now, standing in front of her, he only wanted to say the truth. So he did.

“Because I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” He replied honestly.

Sansa’s arms went slack and she looked perplexed. Jon wasn’t sure if it was a good sign.

“Sansa, I…” Lord, this was hard. “I’d never do anything to jeopardize our friendship, you know that, so if what I did was…”

He never got to finish that thought, because Sansa just grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled his mouth to hers.

She was kissing him.

Sansa Stark -The Sansa Stark -was kissing him! Again! She pulled him to her, she covered his mouth with hers.

Jon was in Heaven.

He kissed her back, pouring all his feelings into it. He sucked at speaking about what he felt, the words never came to him; he hoped that Sansa could understand him like this, that she could feel his love.

The kiss slowed, until they finally stopped. Jon cradled Sansa’s face between his hands, not letting her go too far. He dropped his forehead against her and gave her a gentle peck on the lips.

“If it’s a dream…” He murmured. “I don’t want to wake up.”

Sansa giggled breathlessly. “I’m glad you bit me.”

Jon groaned. “I wasn’t planning on that…”

She cut him with a short kiss. “It was hot.” She admitted. “Seriously hot. And there was I thinking you didn’t see me as a girl at all.”

Jon stepped back -just enough to be able to look into her eyes -and frowned. “Didn’t see you as a girl?” He snorted. “I’m quite aware of the fact that you’re female.’

She slapped his shoulder.” I thought you pictured me as Robb’s annoying sister.” She clarified.

“I tried to convince myself that was the case.” He admitted with a grimace. “I tried to think of you as Robb’s little sister, so I wouldn’t have to think about all the things I imagined…” He cut himself and cleared his throat.

Sansa arched a brow. “You imagined…” She prodded.

“Doing to you.” He finished.

“Oh…” Sansa bit her lower lip. “How detailed was your imagination?”

Jon looked at her with interest. “Very detailed. Explicit, actually.”

“Is that so?” She hummed.

Jon just nodded, fighting off a smirk.

“I think we should discuss that in detail.” Sansa concluded.

“I agree. But first…” He took a deep breath. “This… Us… I want it to be for real.”

“Me too.” She agreed, giving him a peck on the lips.

“So, before any of those detailed fantasies… How about dinner?”

Sansa groaned. “You seriously wanna take me out for dinner first?”

“I insist on a proper date.” He spoke solemnly. “I’m not an easy guy, you know?”

Sansa slapped his shoulder. “Not funny.”

“Date?” He offered, his hand touching her face.

“Date.”

They shared another kiss, then Sansa pulled back. “How are we going to tell Robb?”

“Oh fuck.”

[let-me-write-shit]

Somebody To You: 2

A/N: Another long one!! 

Warning: tiny itty bit of smut (mostly implied)

Word Count: 6,051

Click Here For Previous Chapter & Other Completed Stories

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CHAPTER TWO

The first week in LA was a weird adjustment for Zoey. She wasn’t expecting to be missing home so quickly and she often found herself feeling guilty for being here without her best friend - not that she didn’t want to be with Nancy and Aurora. Honestly, she hit the jackpot when it came to her roommates. Nancy was the funniest person she had ever met which came in handy whenever Zoey found herself feeling down. All she had to do was be in the presence of Nancy and a weight was lifted by the distraction Nancy gave.

Aurora, on the other hand, was the yin to Nancy’s yang. She was the calm to the chaos. Still, Aurora found herself fairly busy with photoshoots and meetings. But she’d always make time at the end of the day to have a little girl’s chat before Zoey left for work.

Zoey found she didn’t really have many conversations with her roommates about her home life. It just never came up. And it never felt like the right time to bring up Jess. She didn’t want to scare them away by crying or unloading all this burden on them. Their friendship was still so new. However, she did find out the situation between Harry and Aurora after some prying.

“It’s just flirting,” Rory blushed.

To which Nancy scoffed, “You text practically every day and eye fuck each other whenever you’re in the same room.”

The girls laughed and Aurora shifted in her seat, eyes sparkling, “He’s so hot.”

“Why aren’t you dating, then?” Zoey asked.

Aurora took a sip from her wine glass, “I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about it. I don’t know if he even wants it, and to be honest, I don’t know when we’d even find the time. I mean it’s Harry Styles. He’s gorgeous. You’d be stupid not to want to date him. But...we’ve been talking for weeks and I feel like there hasn’t been any progress.”

“So just tell him you want to fuck and get it over with,” Nancy shrugged, mouth full of mac and cheese, causing Aurora to throw a pillow at her.

Zoey’s new job at the bar has been going really well. She had been training with a guy named Andy. Andy was Zoey’s saving grace. He had a beautiful espresso complexion, short dark hair, and stood a lean six feet tall. You couldn’t deny his attractiveness or his likeability. And he was so easy to open up to. Andy was the one thing she needed to help her come out of her shell. And he wasn’t afraid to call her on it, either. He is the only person in LA, so far, that knows about Jess and the only person to see her get emotional. Zoey had confided in him one night on break about how the two had gotten into an accident in which her best friend had died and how she was trying to use this fresh start to try adapting Jess’ positive outlook and adventure in her life. Thankfully Andy didn’t make her feel uncomfortable by bringing Jess up again. Instead, as a gentle reminder, whenever he noticed Zoey starting to shy away from something, he’d always shout over at her ‘Girl, you better give me that J-energy!’, which instantly put her back in the zone.

She had also met Brett at work, a tanned and muscular Australian man who wore baseball caps over his short, tweed brown hair. He was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. Brett was definitely a flirt, but respectful of individual boundaries and was overall a pretty nice guy who took a liking to Zoey.

“Girl, we both know he’s hot,” Andy whispered to her one night, eyeing Brett at the other end of the bar who was helping out a couple of attractive girls with their drink orders. They batted their eyelashes at him as he laid on the charm, “If he was gay I’d snatch him right up. You should see what he has to offer. We’re going to your little welcoming party tonight. Invite him to come after his shift….and then invite him to cum,” he wiggled his eyebrows.

Zoey gasped, smacking him with a towel before helping the two guys who just sat down at the bar. She poured their beers and placed it on napkins while having a bit of small talk before looking back and forth between Andy and Brett.

Andy grinned, crossing his arms, “I see that J-energy sparking in your eyes. Go on, girl.”

He was right. Zoey hasn’t been with anyone since Michael. She came out here to live and let go. That’s what Jess would want for her: to have fun. Zoey tightened her ponytail and headed over towards Brett who had just finished wiping down a section. He smirked when he saw Zoey.

“I was wondering when you were going to give me the time of day today,” he joked in his thick Australian accent. That accent alone was the reason women gave him such big tips.

Zoey wrinkled her nose, forcing herself not to back down, “When does your shift end tonight?”

“Midnight,” his eyebrows furrowed in amusement, a tilted grin forming on his perfectly tanned face, “Why?”

We should still be going strong by then, she thought, and said, “Some friends are throwing me a welcoming party at Secrets tonight if you wanted to stop by. They rented out a private room for karaoke. Andy will be there.” The two looked over at Andy who wiggled his fingers in a wave and blew them a kiss.

Andy chuckled and nodded, “Well, if Andy will be there, so will I,” he joked, turning back to face Zoey with a smirk, “Are you going to save me a dance?”

“Buy me a drink and we’ll see,” she winked, walking back over to Andy who’s jaw dropped, impressed.

“Fuck it up, sis,” he snapped, giving her a proud hug.

Normally Andy and Zoey would work late shifts, overlapping with the second half of Brett’s shift, but because it was her first week there, they wanted her training from noon to 9 PM. When their shift ended, Zoey drove Andy to his house for a quick change of clothes before heading to her place to get ready. Nancy and Aurora were still there, waiting for her. They were introduced to Andy and pretty quickly got along with him as Andy took charge helping them figure out what to wear.

Aurora needed the least amount of help -go figure- wearing a black corset-like lacy bodysuit with flared black ankle length pants and black strappy heels, her brown hair pin straight. Nancy dressed in an oversized fashion nova ‘tired of the bullshit’ t-shirt and thigh-high black heels. Andy advised her to pair it with a leather jacket and to keep her tight curls down. As for Zoey, she got rid of most of her clothes before she moved, not wanting to pack too much clothes in her car and take up room. And she didn’t have time to go shopping yet.

“Girl, what the hell do you expect me to do with this?” Andy scoffed, dangling an old ratty t-shirt he found hanging in her closet. It used to be her ex-boyfriend’s until she took it over because it was comfortable to sleep in. He tossed it to the side and disappeared back into the closet.

“Oh, okay. Okay. I can work with this,” she heard him mumbling to himself before reappearing in front of her, laying articles of clothing on her bed. “There. Get dressed,” he urged, leaving the room.

Zoey slipped into the clothes Andy had picked out for her and stared at herself in the mirror. Although she had never put these particular items together, it reminded her of something she would have worn on nights out with Jess. A white, drawstring ruched crop top with a pair of black elastic waist and ankle cargo pants that had a silver zipper on the thigh paired with black strappy heels. She had been so busy over the past year from shutting people out and working three jobs. The last time she went to a bar for fun and not work was the night of the accident. It felt unnatural to be doing this again.

“Hurry up, Zoey! We’re gonna pre-game!” Nancy called.

Zoey quickly powdered her face to get the shine away and re-slicked back her ponytail before joining the girls and Andy in the kitchen, earning whistles from the three. Aurora slid her a shot glass and a chaser and they all clinked their glasses together, cheering and downing them. The alcohol burned, running down her throat and the bitter taste brought her back to the night of the accident.

“Brett is gonna drool when he sees you,” Andy smirked, eyeing Zoey up and down, earning inquisitive looks from the girls.

“Brett?” Nancy’s eyebrow raised, “Who’s Brett?”

Zoey bit her lip, slightly embarrassed, “A guy we work with. He’s coming tonight.”

The four of them carried on the conversation in the uber on the way to Secrets. There was a line out front, but after a word with the doorman, they were let through and made their way to the back towards the private room that was separated by walls of thick darkly tinted windows, the outline of at least a dozen people already there, including Harry who immediately made his way over, greeting everyone while a few people sang karaoke loudly.

“Thanks so much for doing this!” Zoey said, shyly, after introducing him to Andy.

“No problem,” Harry grinned, “Hope you have fun tonight.”

“Oh, she will,” Andy smirked, pulling Zoey into a side squeeze.

Harry watched as Nancy whisked Zoey and Andy away to introduce them to everyone, leaving him with Aurora.

“Drink?” he offered, still slightly nervous around her.

“Yes, I’d love one,” Aurora replied sweetly in French making Harry’s chest flutter.

More people showed up as the night continued on and with each passing drink became increasingly sloppy. Harry had gotten used to people-watching over the years and quite liked to imagine what was going on in other’s lives. He noticed a few things as he sang along to the couple singing karaoke while he was also in a conversation with a friend. Most people were dancing along with the music. Nancy seemed to be flirting with Cade, a guy covered in tattoos that she had some kind of ‘friends with benefits’ thing with. Aurora had finished a drink and excused herself from a group of girls before slipping out of the room, most likely to wait in line for the bathroom. He turned his attention to Zoey and Andy who now had the mics for karaoke and were singing ‘I Love Rock and Roll’ by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts.

He grinned in amusement as the two of them sang with drunk passion, dancing and grinding with each other. It was nice to see the difference in Zoey in the matter of two hours. She seemed to have loosened up and he assumed Andy was the reasoning for it. They seemed like great friends. 

People drunkenly sang along with them and he even noticed a group of three guys staring at Zoey and Andy, smiling, clearly amused by them. Harry would bet money that at least one of them would try and talk to her when the song was over. But to Harry’s surprise, they weren’t even given the chance. He saw her facial expression change to something more serious as she handed the microphone to the person next up and whispered in Andy’s ear before walking out of the private room. At first he thought she’d probably be joining Aurora in the long line to the bathroom, but as he looked through the wall of windows he noticed her veer right at the alley way exit and disappear through the doors. Harry hesitated, looking around to see if anyone else had noticed her leave. He turned to Andy to see if his body language would give a clue as to what that was about, but Andy was now in a conversation with another guy, smiling and seemingly flirting.

At first he decided to let it go. Maybe she smokes, though she doesn’t seem the type. Maybe she just needed to get some air. But after fifteen minutes passed and Aurora returned before her, he started to worry.

“Hey. I saw Zoey step outside a while ago and she’s not back yet, so I just wanted to check on her real quick, okay?” he said in Rory’s ear while Nancy loudly sang ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ with a group of friends.

Aurora’s eyebrows crinkled in concern over the news of her roommate, nodding understandingly, “Let me know if you need me.”

Harry agreed and stood up, heading out of the private room and deciding at the last minute to  grab a couple of waters just in case before slipping through the crowd and out of the alley door,

It was significantly darker in the alleyway as opposed to out front. And at first the only people Harry saw were a couple making out by the dumpster and a few guys smoking by the door. His heart raced, starting to feel worried when he finally noticed the back of Zoey’s ponytail as she leaned up against the brick wall, a bit past the guys smoking.

“Zoey?” he quietly spoke as he neared her, causing her to jump.

When she turned to face him Harry noticed a fresh tear trail down her cheek that she quickly wiped away, her eyes glassy and bloodshot, and the tip of her nose red, “Jesus! You scared me!” she breathed, clutching onto her chest.

“Sorry,” he sputtered, “Are you okay?”

Zoey sniffled, taking a deep breath to compose herself, “Yeah, I’m fine,” she shoved her phone in her pocket.

“I brought you some water,” he held up one of the glasses for her, looking at her suspiciously.

“Oh, thanks,” she said, surprised, taking the glass and having two big gups.

Harry watched her, contemplating his next words. Her demeanor was so clearly forced and he didn’t feel right just leaving it be and ignoring his intuition that something was wrong. He bit his lip before cautiously speaking, “I don’t mean to be forward or intrusive, but are you sure everything is okay? Because I noticed last week you seemed a bit upset. And then here…” he trailed off before saying, “You can talk to me. I’m a good listener.”

Her bloodshot eyes searched his face making his expression soften even more. She took a deep breath, feeling caught and embarrassed, “I’m sorry. I’m not normally an emotional person. It’s just been a really hard year,” she admitted, taking another sip of water. 

“How so?” he inquired, relaxing into the brick wall beside her.

Zoey paused for a moment before speaking, “Last June my best friend and I went to celebrate on her birthday,” she took another breath and continued, “And on the way home a drunk driver hit us. She didn’t make it.” Her gaze stayed down, afraid to look at him, and Harry felt a pang in her chest as she continued, “Moving to LA was always a dream of ours. Her moreso. She wanted to be an actress. And she could have made it, too. She was beautiful and so talented.”

Harry could hear the sincerity in her voice, and although his heart broke for her, he admired the way she spoke of her friend. “I’m so sorry, Zoey. What was her name?”

“Jess,” she looked up at him, feeling a sense of comfort in Harry’s eyes.

“Jess,” Harry repeated, “Well I’m sure you were lucky to have each other. I can understand how you must be feeling right now. When my stepdad died we were a wreck. Emotions circled through angry to sad to okay and back to angry again.”

Zoey nodded, relating to his words, “She should have been here doing karaoke with me. ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ was our go-to,” Zoey let out an upset laugh in remembrance, “We always took karaoke too far. She was the fun one between us.”

Her giggle made Harry soften a bit more and he said, “I’m sure she’d be proud of all that you’ve done. You seem like you’ve really got it together. And I don’t know, you seem pretty fun to me. I saw you in there. You were having a blast.”

Zoey smiled, “Yeah, I was.”

Her smile was infectious and he stood up straight, nudging her a little, “Well, if you’re up to it, maybe we can sing that song together. I can’t promise I’ll sing as well as Jess, but…”

She laughed, “It’s alright. I’ll try not to outshine you,” she joked, “Thanks for the talk.”

“Of course,” he nodded, feeling a sense of protectiveness building up in him. “I feel like I should hug you. Can I?”

She laughed, straightening up and holding out her arms to which he scooped her into a warm, friendly hug, rubbing her back. He felt her ease into the hug and knew in that moment that he had helped her and his chest felt warm, proud.

They pulled apart and began making their way back towards the door when she stopped in her tracks, turning to face him, “One more thing,” she said, seeming concerned, “Do you mind not mentioning this to anyone? I haven’t told Nancy or Rory about Jess yet and I don’t really want to start this conversation over again. I know it sounds stupid, but I’m just struggling internally about having girl friends again because I don’t want it to seem like I’m trying to replace Jess.”

Harry agreed, “Of course. Promise. I understand. Take your time opening up. I don’t know who you have in your life that you talk to about it, but maybe we can exchange numbers in case you want to talk about her again? Or need some reassurance from someone who’s been there?”

“I don’t really have anyone I talk to about it. That’d be nice.”

They exchanged phone numbers and chugged the rest of their waters before making their way back inside, Zoey following him. He didn’t know what to expect from their conversation, but it wasn’t that. He thought back to all of the people he lost over the years, realizing that he always had a support system that he could turn to that was within driving distance if he needed. Zoey doesn’t have that. She moved across the country by herself and for whatever reason doesn’t feel comfortable talking to Nancy or Aurora about it. He understood. They lived together in a confined space and they were comfortable. She just didn’t want to disturb that discomfort. And as crazy and hectic as his life was with his tour at the moment, he didn’t mind sparing some time to lend an ear if and when she needed it.

He caught eyes with Aurora, who was in the middle of a conversation with Nancy and a few friends, and nodded, trying to subliminally tell her everything was fine. He reached the karaoke machine and politely asked the people who were next in line if they wouldn’t mind if he and Zoey went next, which they allowed.

After choosing their song, Harry jumped up on the small platform and offered Zoey a hand, pulling her up with him and handing her a mic. She grinned at him causing him to smile back. Lucky for her, she didn’t wear too much makeup to cause mascara streaks down her cheek. You could hardly tell she cried if it weren’t for the slightly red eyes. But that could easily be chalked up to tiredness.

The music to ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ started up and the two started bobbing to the beat, Zoey not looking away from him. He didn’t break eye contact, wanting to make sure she was comfortable. But with each lyric they sang he noticed her relax and let loose even more. By the middle of the first chorus she seemed totally in her own world, spinning and jumping to the song as everyone in the room sang and danced along. Harry mirrored her, smiling widely as they got more into it, singing the lyrics to each other dramatically. He spun her around and he laughed as she did the same to him. Seeing her excitement radiate throughout the room made him feel even more comfortable. He was having a blast. This party was an excellent idea on his part. She clearly needed it, and so did he. He could tell that Zoey and him would get along quite well.

Just as they began approaching the last chorus, Zoey’s attention seemed to divert past him and she smiled, recognition stretching across her face. She let go of his hand and waved someone over. Harry turned to see a toned, tan man wearing a fitted plain white tee with the sleeved cuffed, blue jeans, and a black baseball cap hop up onto the platform. Zoey reached her hand out to the man and he took hold as she smiled even wider, still singing along to the song as the man sang and danced with her. 

The way they danced and interacted made it obvious that they knew each other and that there might be something going on between the two. Luckily, before Harry felt like a third wheel, Aurora jumped up on the platform with them, a bit tipsy still, but laughing along to the lyrics as Harry danced with her, Aurora’s long brown hair swaying behind her. The girls went between dancing with the boys to dancing with each other until the song ended.

Before he even noticed, Zoey had set the mic down and was whisked away by the Theo James look alike . Aurora tugged at his arm, snapping his attention back to her, and he smiled, setting the mic down and following her off to the side while the next couple began singing ‘Sweet Caroline’. The room went crazy singing along, but Harry got distracted stealing glances at the mystery guy with Zoey. His protectiveness grew. It was odd because they still barely knew each other. It’s not like he had feelings for her in the same way that he liked Aurora. She wasn’t exactly his type. Not that he gathered, anyway. Still, he felt the need to keep an occasional eye on her and make sure she was okay while simultaneously giving his attention to Aurora. They hadn’t spent too much time together tonight which was the whole point of him wanting to throw the party to begin with.

A few more rinks in him and he was feeling the buzz, singing along to whatever was playing and dancing with Rory who seemed to be sobering up. The two of them were more touchy feely this evening than they had ever been and he had a sneaking suspicion of where the night was headed as his drunken thoughts fantasized about what she looked like under those clothes.

By this point, the room had thinned out by almost half. Andy had left with a guy he met earlier, Zoey was still dancing, or borderline grinding, with the mystery guy, and Nancy was making out with Cade, who seemed to be more interested in her than she was of him. Poor guy. A half dozen others gathered around the karaoke machine.

Nancy would occasionally come up for air and take glances towards Zoey and the guy, commenting to Harry and Rory on his attractiveness and wanting to meet him. Nancy wondered aloud if he was the “coworker Andy and Zoey mentioned to them earlier”, though they couldn’t remember his name. They even began to inquire amongst each other if they were flirting or if their body language read ‘just friends’, which was quickly shot down when they shared a kiss. Harry had to admit, the man was annoyingly attractive-almost to the point of intimidation.

It’s almost like she knew they were talking about them, because an instant later Zoey turned her head and caught eyes with Harry. Quickly, he forced his gaze towards Aurora, but she had already caught him staring and the humility set in.

“Hey guys!” He heard Zoey’s soft voice sounded behind him.

Nancy managed to pry herself from Cade and they all turned to see Zoey standing awkwardly beside the guy. Harry didn’t have to look to know that Nancy was smirking at them through her eyelashes.

“Oh, hello,” Nancy sang, eyeing the guy, “Who do we have here?”

Zoey let out an amused laugh and introduced, “This is Brett. We work together at the bar.”

“Nice to meet you,” Brett’s deep voice rang, thick with an Australian accent that Harry had not expected and he saw both Aurora fight and fail to avoid swooning.

“I’m Nancy,” she stood to shake his outstretched hand, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Rory,” Aurora smiled when he turned to face her and shook his hand as he smiled politely at her, his perfect teeth shining before he turned to Harry.

“Hey, mate. I’m Harry. Nice to meet you,” he grabbed Brett’s hand firmly, but was met with a tighter grip from Brett, the tips of Harry’s fingers going white before he broke free. Harry tensed his face, trying not to roll his eyes. Why did men always find the need to assert their dominance by giving hulk-strength handshakes? What did it really accomplish?

Nancy rounded on him with a million questions like ‘Where exactly are you from?’ and ‘What made you move here?’ You’d think he was in an interrogation or on a job interview if it weren’t for all of the giggles from Nancy and Aurora. Zoey must have been used to his charm by now as she just watched the interaction in amusement. They were really laying it on thick and Brett was eating it up. It’s like they completely forgot they were standing right next to a celebrity. Of course that wasn’t true, it was just the alcohol talking, and Harry felt guilty for even feeling an ounce of jealousy about the attention Brett got. He’s just fresh meat; a new face.

Zoey shuffled where she stood and looked like she was having an internal argument when she finally spoke up, looking at both Nancy and Aurora, “Hey, uhm, Brett and I were thinking about heading...back to our place...if that’s alright?”

The girls stared at her, processing the words before their mouths formed an ‘o’. Harry’s eyes widened, unsure if he should have been listening to this conversation. The spark of protectiveness he felt earlier began to crackle up his spine again and he found himself staring intently at Zoey’s face to make sure there wasn’t any hint of intoxication that would put her in a position to be taken advantage of. He must not have hid his expression well because Zoey noticed his glare and she blushed, avoiding his eyes. Understandably, too, because she seemed entirely sober.

“Girl, please. You don’t need our permission to get laid,” Nancy joked, making Zoey and Brett laugh.

“Were you coming back, too?” Zoey asked the group.

“Was that...an invite?” Nancy coughed.

“It could be,” Brett winked.

He was joking, but it also sounded like he could have been serious. Zoey slapped his chest with a little chuckle and said, “No, just wondering if we should all uber back together.”

“Yeah, I could go,” Nancy said, before turning back to Cade who had been silently waiting for her to make out with him again, “You coming over, too?”

His eyes lit up and he shook his head yes. They all began walking towards the front. He felt Aurora’s expectant eyes on him, waiting for him to say something. Her buzz had worn off by now, but unfortunately his was still lingering, causing delayed reaction time. The thought of going to her place, knowing there were two other couples having sex only feet away, wasn’t the kind of situation he wanted to be in the first time he potentially got intimate with Aurora. Thank god he had his own place in LA.

“Do you want to come back to mine?” he whispered in her ear as they stepped outside, the warm summer night air hitting their faces.

She smiled, almost relieved, “Yeah.”

The group chatted on the sidewalk while they waited for their ubers. Nancy had a way of making banter seem normal and comfortable, even if she had just met you. And that’s exactly what was happening between her and Brett. They took friendly shots at each other like they had been friends forever, while Brett had an arm slung over Zoey’s shoulders, holding her tightly into his side, along with Cade who had an arm around Nancy’s waist. Harry glanced down at Aurora who held onto her purse strap tightly, feeling bad that he couldn’t embrace her like their friends were. He just couldn’t risk being photographed like that. Not this early into their ‘relationship’, at least. I mean, he didn’t even entirely know where they were headed yet.

Funnily enough, both ubers arrived at the same time. Nancy, Cade, Brett, and Zoey began climbing into their iber and Harry had opened the door to his for Aurora. He was rounding to the other side when he heard heels clicking rapidly on the pavement behind him.

“Harry!”

He turned to see Zoey jogging up to him, a calm urgency in her eyes. He stared at her, unsure of what to say and she hesitated, a flicker of embarrassment flashed across her face before she shook her head and stood up taller, “Thank you. For tonight.” She bit her bottom lip in uncertainty, waiting for some kind of response and he couldn’t help but smile. That was all the response she needed for her to give him a quick, tight squeeze, her ponytail swaying as she ran back to her uber before he could say anything. He watched as the door closed behind her and the car drove off before he finally got in beside Aurora.

“What was that about?” she asked.

If there was any jealousy or suspicion on her part, she hid it quite well. Though he was pretty sure she didn’t have those kinds of thoughts, especially about him and Zoey. And rightfully so. “Nothing. She was just thanking me for singing with her earlier because she was afraid to do it alone,” he lied, remembering the promise he made Zoey not to speak to anyone about their conversation.

Aurora nodded and nuzzled a little closer to him, causing his heart to flutter nervously. This was the first time they’d been alone together, in person, since meeting. Initial intimacy never got any easier for him, no matter who it was with or what situation he was in. He always got nervous and jittery.

Nancy and Cade decided to go on a late night stroll around their block instead of heading right upstairs with Zoey and Brett. She made it seem casual, but Zoey knew that it was her way of giving them space to avoid any awkwardness when they split ways to go have sex. And Zoey had to admit, she appreciated the gesture.

The elevator ride hummed in an uncomfortable silence as Zoey wrestled with her thoughts, though Brett didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy watching the floor levels light up during their ascent and mindlessly played with Zoey’s fingertips. She could feel her nerves physically weighing her feet down and was sure that if she attempted to move she would topple over. This would be the first time she will have sex since her and Michael broke up nearly four months ago. And she didn’t exactly have a long list of sexual partners. There was nothing wrong with that, but Zoey had secretly always wished that she could have had more experience like Jess had. ‘It’s fun not having strings attached. If the sex isn’t good, you don’t have to see them again’ her best friend always said. But the problem here is that Zoey does have to see Brett again. They work together.

She wasn’t trying to make excuses. It’s not like she didn’t want to have sex with Brett. Who wouldn’t? He’s by far the hottest guy that’s shown any kind of interest in her..and that accent?! She just worried that she would be a little rusty.

Brett must have noticed her hestiance, because as Zoey punched in the code to unlock their condo door and slowly pushed it open, Brett lightly grabbed her forearm, causing her to spin and face him.

“Zoey, we don’t have to do this, you know,” he accent made Zoey’s heart race and his sincerity even more, “I can head out if you’d like.”

She stared into his face, darting from one eye to the other in brief contemplation. She could hear Jess now. ‘Have fun, but be safe’. She made up her mind and grabbed Jake’s shirt, pulling him inside and allowing the darkness of their condo to swallow them as the door closed behind them. The city lights through the wall of windows barely illuminated their figures from where they stood at the entrance.

This move excited Brett and he backed her up against the hallway wall, smashing his lips onto hers. It was forceful and messy as they struggled to find each other’s rhythm, but exciting nonetheless. She felt Brett’s hands wander from her sides and down to her hips before he bent down and picked her up effortlessly so that her legs were on either of his heps, pressing her back up against the wall for a little more support. Zoey let out a gasp of surprise and squeezed onto his rock hard biceps. No one had ever done that to her before. And she had never been more aroused.

“Bedroom?” His voice was deep and full of hunger as he attacked her neck.

“Last door on the left through the living room,” she managed before he continued on through the apartment, carrying her.

Everything about what he was doing excited her more and she could feel herself pulsating, eager for more. She nibbled on his ear and suckled the base of his jaw as he carried her through the doors of her bedroom. Thank god she had tidied up a bit before leaving because as soon as he reached the end of her bed, he tossed her onto it like a ragdoll and swiftly pulled his shirt up and over his head to reveal every acth and bend of his tanned abs before climbing in and hovering over her smashing his lips onto hers again.

Their tongues danced and they wrestled with each other as they continued trying to find their movement, hands roaming all over each other. Brett pulled Zoey into an upright position, only breaking their terribly chaotic kiss to slip her shirt off, exposing her bare chest before she fell back down, her breasts bouncing from the force as he roughly yanked at her pants, struggling to pull them off to reveal her cheeky baby blue underwear.

“Condom?” she panted before he could reach for them next. “Do you have a condom?”

Brett froze before frantically searching his jean pockets. Relief washed over his face as he pulled out a square metallic pouch and shook it in the air for her to see. She nodded and while he struggled to pull his own jeans off and slip the condom on, Zoey’s mind wandered, wondering how her other friend’s nights were going. Would the guy Andy met be a new fling or just a one night stand? Had Nancy gotten back with Cade yet? Was Aurora finally having her first time with Harry? Surely they were, why else would he invite her over this late? Was it just as awkward for them as it was for Zoey? Were they enjoying it? Did it come naturally to them? Or were they still getting in the swing of things like her and Brett? She’ll have to talk to the girls about it tomorrow.

Zoey grinned, grateful to have friends again.

KEEP READING

[captnbarnesrogers]

9,445 Miles From You - honesty is the best policy

Pairing/Characters: Bartender!Harry Styles x Waitress!Reader Warnings: virgin talk, catching feelings, a bit angsty Summary: Harry takes you out to get some food after work and you both get into discussing things Word Count: 2.1k  A/N: Just wanna say that this story will get fictional later, everything else thus far is non-fictional lmao my dumbass really did that

As the days passed by, work seemed to get a bit easier but of course, you still had anxious thoughts filling your head. What if you screwed something up? What if you get fired? What if you’re not good enough? You couldn’t help it. It came flowing in like a running river.  

You sat on the staff room couch, mindlessly chewing on whatever food you’d retrieved from the kitchen. You hadn’t noticed Joe’s presence in the room until he tapped you on the shoulder.  

“Deep thoughts?” He asked. You nodded, “About?”  

“Um, I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to bother you with my bullshit mind.”  

“Please,” he shoved you playfully with a smile, “bother away.” Joe was welcoming from the first moment you met him. You couldn’t help but develop a little crush. Like Harry, he always felt the need to check up on you. The only difference was, you couldn’t see Harry the way you saw Joe. Joe had this sweet essence to him, like you could make the worst mistake in the world and he’d still see you as this precious angel who could do no wrong. It had only been two weeks since you started and in that short time, you felt a familiar bubbly feeling in your stomach every time you saw him.  

“Well, I just- I feel like I’m gonna screw up so much, I like it- I mean, I love it here, you guys make me feel loved and I love my job.”  

“Y/N, you’re new to all of this, right?” You nodded, “This is your first job, you can’t be perfect straight away, you have to make mistakes or else you won’t get better.” 

“I guess, it just stems from coming from a family who expects everything from you but your everything isn’t good enough.” He rubs your back comfortingly, something that, so far, only Harry had done. For a moment you forget that it was Joe comforting you. 

“Look at this way, here you can make mistakes, you can fuck up and not be thought as if you’re not good enough, in this place, you can improve yourself, use it and abuse it.” He chuckles, “Seriously, if you need to talk whenever, pull me aside and we can hide out somewhere and talk, I’d rather you waste your time talking to me than be stressed and panicked while you work.” He stands up.  

“Thanks, Joe.” 

“Anytime.” Harry walks in with a goofy smile which made you laugh. Joe nods at Harry as he exits the room. You felt, from what you’d observed, Harry wasn’t exactly fond of Joe. Every flirtatious comment Joe would make, Harry would butt in with a snarky comment which would make you laugh but feel guilty about later. Within the last two days, you had scolded Harry about it five times. Five times out of the two days.  

“Wha’ was tha’ about? Yeh new lover?” Harry jokes.  

“Shut up, I just needed a bit of reassurance, I guess.”  

“About wha’?” Harry takes a bite out of his food and turns his body to face you.  

“Work.” Harry hums in response, “So, what’s going on with you? You’ve looked a little out of yourself lately and you’ve been snapping at the customers.” It was true. Harry’s appearance was not as clean as you were used to. His eyes were darkened, more than usual due to working late hours at the bar, they were sunken in and his bright smile had not made an appearance in a while. His hair was dishevelled and his glasses were streaked which he had yet to clean, 

“So, what’s the go, Styles?” He sighs and looks at you, setting his food down.  “I guess I could use some female wisdom ‘bout this.” You nodded, “M’kinda goin’ through a tough break up.” Your eyes widened, you didn’t even know he had a girlfriend. 

“Break up?”  

“With Camille.” Camille? She even had a pretty name.  

“Oh.” You pouted but fixed yourself up before he could notice, “Well, what’s happened?”  

“She couldn’t take th’ fact tha’ I’d be gone fo’ two years, I jus’ wanna live m’life, y’know? But I do love ‘er, I do, I jus’ wan’ ‘er t’wait fo’ me.”  

“Then she’s not worth it, Harry, let her leave, don’t drag this out, don’t hurt yourself.” 

“I love ‘er, Y/N.” He leans forward and rests his forehead on your shoulder.  

“Let her go, Har, if she loves you, she wouldn’t have minded the distance.” He pulls away and looks at you with a soft smile upon his lips.  

“This is wha’ makes me no’ believe tha’ yeh’ve nev’a had a boyfriend, yeh too smart, too wise.” You laughed and shove him playfully just as Joe did with you.  

“I’m just waiting for the right guy.”  

“He’s prob’ly righ’ in fron’ of yeh and he’s a lucky guy, m’tellin’ yeh.”  

“You must be a lucky guy then.” You take a sip from your water bottle, smiling. 

“Wha’?” 

“You know, coz you’re right in front of me?” He laughs, his smile widening, the same smile you’d been missing for the past week.  

“Yeh too fuckin’ cheeky fo’ yeh own good, lovie.” He pinches your cheek, making you roll your eyes, “Now, don’ go rollin’ those eyes a’ me, do yeh wanna get some food aft’a work?”  

“With you?” He nodded, “I’d be honoured!” You got up and held your hand out for him to take in which he did. He laughed as you pretended to be wearing a dress, “I’d gladly take your hand in marriage!” You said dramatically in a 50s southern accent, your other hand resting on your head. He twirled you around and you laughed, almost forgetting you were in a messy staff room.  

“Yeh so silly.” You nodded, and he checked his watch, “Time fo’ us t’get back t’work! Yeh an’ me, Burger King, three-thirty a.m.”

Harry waited for you after work. He doesn’t really like the idea of you walking around the streets of the city by yourself. He’d rather wait a couple of hours for you to finish than for you to end up in a ditch somewhere. Of course, not only was the benefit seeing you safe but also, he could get a couple of drinks in. The managers allowed a maximum of three drinks but only limited them to beer and cider which was enough for Harry to feel loose but not over intoxicated - still remembering that he wanted to hear you talk and he wanted to have a nice conversation with you over some greasy food.  

You came down, wrapping your scarf around your neck and zipping up your jacket. You smiled at him and waved, exhaustion almost taking over your body as you walked over to the booth.  

“Yeh ready t’go?” He asked. You nodded, and he stood up and hung his arm around your shoulders. You both walked on the wet pavement of the city in silence. It was only a seven-minute walk to the 24-hour fast food restaurants but of course, Harry being the chatty lad that he was, decided to make small talk, “How was yeh shift?” 

“Exhausting, I worked eleven and a half hours tonight, Har, I’m so tired!” 

“M’sure yeh are, we’ll grab summat t’eat and I’ll wait fo’ th’train with yeh, okay?”  

“Okay.” You both sat down on the red leather seats of the Burger King restaurant after ordering and grabbing your food. Drunk people surrounded you and the floors were covered in mud and dirty serviettes. You let out a huff.  

“Wha’s with all the huffin’ an’ puffin’, lovie?”  

“Well,” You awkwardly began, popping a nugget into your mouth, “I- I think I like Joe.”  

“I knew it!” He took a bite out of his burger, “Yeh always givin’ ‘im eyes.” 

“I don’t give anyone eyes, Styles.”  

“Bu’ yeh do, they’re like lovey dovey eyes, I see it all th’time! ‘Specially aroun’ Joe.”  

“Okay, maybe I do.” You couldn’t help but notice the way his body shifted. He moved over slightly, his body now not facing you as straight as it was before, and he looked down at his food, a short and dishonest smile made an appearance. He looked back up at you, “I-is there something wrong with that?”  

“Yeh jus’ no’ subtle ‘bout it, everyone kno’s.” Your cheeks flushed pink and you were so embarrassed it was like your throat closed up. You took a sip of your drink to drown down the food that you had popped into your mouth.  

“Am I really that bad?” He nodded. 

“M’sure he kno’s.” God, he was being brutally honest. You found a change of tone in his voice unlike his usual sweet one. He sighed and smiled at you, probably noticing his actions, “Why don’ yeh test th’ waters, lovie?” You knew what he meant. See how things go with Joe but from conversations you’ve had with Joe, you knew he was not a relationship kind of guy. 

“I can’t.” 

“Whaddyeh mean? ‘Ave some fun with it.” You placed your drink down after taking a sip. You looked at him with wondering eyes as if you were saying, you don’t know? 

“Harry… I’m a… virgin.” You said quietly, shyly watching people walk past you, “I’m kind of saving myself a-and Joe’s not exactly the relationship type.” 

“I ge’ yeh, lovie, nothin’ t’be embarrassed about.” He smiled at you, “I lost mine quite young, I don’ regret it but I kinda wish I knew wha’ it felt like t’do it with someone I loved.” 

“That’s my thing, I wanna do it with someone I love.” 

“Tha’s good, Y/N, keep yeh innocence fo’ as long as yeh can.” He smiled sweetly at you and let out a breath. Almost like he was relieved, “Yeh’ve musta had a lo’ of guys chasin’ after yeh.” 

“You would be surprised how short the line is.” 

“M’sure they’re there an’ yeh jus’ no’ lookin’ prop’ly coz yeh too busy goin’ after th’ wrong guy.” He sneakily took one of your nuggets, laughing.  

“Har, I’ve never even kissed a guy!”  

“Yeh jokin’!?” He exclaims after almost spitting out his drink. You shook your head.  

“I honestly wish I was, but no one wants me.”  

“He’s out there, lovie, jus’ be patient.” He takes your hand in his, “Yeh don’ have t’rush int’everythin’, like I said, he’s prob’ly right in front of yeh and yeh jus’ too caught up on th’wrong guy bu’ yeh kno… yeh can’t help bu’fall fo’ th’wrong guy.” 

“I hate when you’re right.” 

“An’ I hate when yeh get hurt so if Joe’s no’ int’relationships, don’ do it.” You nodded, “Yeh’ve got a train t’catch in ten minutes, le’s go, lovie.” You sat up on your bed all night, thinking about what Harry had said but your eyes decided to shut when the clock struck eight-thirty a.m. When you woke up, just in time, the text tone of your phone went off.  

From: Harry Mornin’, lovie, wanna grab smth to eat?  

You unlocked your phone and began to type back.  

To: Harry Could use some coffee right about now :/ 

From: Harry Amazing! Get up and get out of bed, we’re having brunch 

You couldn’t help but smile and giggle at his texts. Mornings weren’t really this happy before he came along.  

To: Harry Be there in 45 minutes  

From: Harry I’ll be waiting, lovie! 

You found that Harry preferred to be the one with the last say. He never left you on read. His texts were always to be the last text of the conversation but he did, however, more often than not, take the longest to reply. Suddenly, your text tone went off again when you picked up your jeans off of the floor.  

From: Joe Busy? 

Unusual. Joe never really talked to you outside of work unless the conversation was about work.  

To: Joe Why? 

From: Joe Wanna come to my basketball game? Would love to have someone to cheer me on. 

Your heart skipped a beat. What did this mean? Was this him asking you out? You didn’t know. 

To: Joe Okay, sure!

You exited out of the conversation, clicking on Harry’s text message from before. 

To: Harry Sorry, babycakes, something came up, rain-check? 

Harry waited by the steps of the train station, somewhere he usually dropped you off. He held your favourite drink in his hand. He tapped his foot excitedly on the steps. His phone goes off and his heart drops. 

That was the first time Harry had ever left you on read. 

MASTERLIST

PERMANENT TAGLIST:

@abouttimefortea  @minervaem @barnes-heaven @buckyywiththegoodhair @heartmade-writingbucky @hellomissmabel @justanotherbuckydevotee @alphaabucky @naenae87 @sunnyfortomorrow @aya-fay @terralingua-ua @topthis808 @savebxrnes @mizzzpink @janellexox0spiderman @lara-ludbey @bread-poet-society @jjlevin @marvel-fanfiction @zoejohnson8 @frickin-bats @iamwarrenspeace @kenmen02 @captianwintersoldier  @bucky-bear-barnes @capsheadquaters @duncedgoofball @amisha25 @miniwroetofreezymd @honey-bee-holly @unstoppableminx @lancefvcker @stranger-stark-montgomery @avxgers @odinhson @marvelouslyme96 @rraise-a-glass-to-freedom @chonisberonica

[the-mangled-readings]

Coaster (Billy Hargrove x Reader)

AN: So as expected I wasn’t pleased with my first fanfic so, I deleted it.  

Summary: Billy was in love with the reader but she always turned him down, until one night where she gets drugged and confesses her past and later on her true feelings, but little did she knew that her Best-Friend Steve also had similar feelings.

Warnings: A little bit of everything, cursing, and sassiness.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

You weren’t the usual Hawkins girl. You weren’t popular, boys didn’t hover all over you, you didn’t go to parties and neither stood out as pretty, at least to their expectations.You were more focused on school and your mother, mostly because you were the only one that she had, and you wanted the best for her, but for now you were just a waitress and a senior.

You would do your homework during your breaks, due to the fact that as soon school ended you had to run to either the diner or the record store where sometimes you worked until midnight. Your friends often tried to convince you to take some days off but your stubbornness always turned them down.

“Guys, you know my situation …”- You would say for the millionth time, as they all sighed, Nancy and Jonathan, looked at each other trying to come up with something, while Steve took a deep breath.

“(y/n/n), you can’t keep living like this, you’re just wasting your life … you need a break .”- Steve tried to reason with you, sounding more concerned this time, and you knew he was right, but you weren’t that selfish, you thought. “Look, I get it, you have your responsibilities and all but for once be a TEENAGER, and come to Tina’s party with us tonight.”- He finished, practically begging. 

“Yeah, it will be fun, and we can leave whenever you want, and go somewhere else if you like, right?”- Nancy said looking at the two boys who were nodding.

 “Yeah right … look  I get it, I work 24/7 but I’m never complaining or am I?”- You looked up at them, trying to fight back.

Nancy gave you sympathetic smile looking down, Jonathan just furrowed his eyebrows and looked away while Steve just raised an eyebrow and leaned closer. “Well, you don’t, but your face says otherwise.”- And he wasn’t kidding, lately, you hadn’t had a decent amount of sleep, and neither time to really take care of yourself. 

Your (h/c) hair was a bit everywhere, and ever since you started your senior year, you stopped wearing your makeup, so it was long gone by now, making it practically impossible to cover your dark circles from everyone. 

You sighed defeated, looking up at Steve, who had a proud grin all over his face. “Okay, MOM, what am I supposed to wear anyways?”-You said annoyed at the fact that Steve won this time. “It’s a costume party, I was just going to wear regular clothes but, if you come over after school we can work something out.”- Nancy offered, and you just nodded. “And I’m also guessing, that you guys want me to behave like a teenager too huh.”-You said more towards Steve who was already nodding. “Ugh … okay.”- You rolled your eyes and felt Steve’s arms wrapped around you moving you to his chest.“Come on, it will be fun, I promise!”- He said excitedly as he held you tighter. “I hope so …”- Your muffled words barely hearable.

As soon school ended, you walked towards the parking lot to meet up Steve, who was already leaning on the hood of his car. He always gave you rides to school, home and even work. You guys were practically raised together since both of your moms were friends in high school. You would go to the same schools, and live in the same neighborhood, and you would also see him a lot for the holidays, so in other words, he was like an older brother.

He waved at you as soon as he noticed you, you returned the gesture with a smile, that practically dropped as soon as you heard it.

“Hey princess !”- Billy fucking Hargrove you thought, not wanting to turn around you continued to walk. 

“Come on, I’m talking to you !”- He yelled, catching up with you, you gave in, sighing, you turned around, annoyance written all over your face. “What Billy?”-You said folding your arms, he was too close to your liking but you didn’t mind, it wasn’t like you were intimidated by him or anything. He looked down at you, licking his lower lip, his stupid smirk coming back. “Are you going to Tina’s party tonight?”- He asked you tilted your head raising an eyebrow. “Why do you care if I go or not?”-You asked plainly. “Because I been asking you out since I got here and you been turning me down because you’re always busy.”- He said mocking you. “And what would be the difference if I go tonight?”-You said trying to see where this was going.”Well because that would mean that you’re free and …”-He got closer, you could feel his breath on your face, and his scent, that you secretly loved. “We can finally be alone, and maybe have a nice time.”-He said with a big grin, his blue eyes scanning you up and down. God, you hated him for what he did to Steve and the kids, but you had to admit, he had the looks. 

A scoff escaped from your lips, you looked at him. “Ah Billy, you practically have the whole school drooling all over you … and yet, you decide to annoy me with stuff I’m not even interested? I mean, why do you even bother, plus, won’t that drop your reputation or something?”- He simply laughed at your words, you just frowned your eyebrows. “Ah, Princess … They’re not you, you’re different.”- For a moment you thought you saw sincerity in his eyes. “Well, you’re right on that, I’m not like the rest, which also means … I’m not into you.”- You smiled at him and with that you turned on your heel, leaving him behind. “By the way, I am going !”-You yelled as you started to walk backwards to Steve’s car. He smiled, I’ll see you then Princess... he said to himself and started to walk to his car, with Max already waiting for him.

“What was that?”- Steve asked as you both got inside the car. You threw your backpack in the back seats and looked at him. “Oh you know, a little drama, between me and the new King, isn’t that what teenagers have now on days?”-You asked sarcastically, Steve just laughed and turned the engine. “Well yeah, just not with him, okay?- He drove out of the parking lot, looking at you with the corner of his eye. “Yes, mom …”-You complained, he just rolled his eyes. “I just want the best for you (y/n/n), you mean a lot to me.”-He looked at you, with that soft smile of his, placing his hand on your shoulder. “Please don’t tell me that you’re in love with me …”- You looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows. “Oh God no! You’re like a sister to me.”- He made a playful disgusted face which made you both laugh. “Thank God.”- Sighing in relief, you looked out the window thinking of those damn blue eyes and that cheap cologne that drove you crazy. 

As Steve got on your street you decided to break the silence “Hey, Steve ...”-You softly said. He parked in your driveway, turning the engine off. “What’s up?”- He asked finally looking at you. “Can you ask your mom if she can check on my mom, while we’re out? My aunt is out of town, so I don’t have anyone that can keep an eye on her.”-You asked turning to him. “Of course, you know she’s been telling me to take you out lately, to give you a break from everything that’s ... you know.”-He said trailing off, you looked down at your shoes. “I didn’t mean it in that way (y/n/n)”-He quickly said as he held your hand, you looked up at him and smiled. “No, it’s okay ... Thank you for the ride by the way.”-You thanked him as you walked out grabbing your backpack from the back seat. Steve quickly got out of the car, running to you. “(y/n), I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to”-”I said that it was okay Steve, I’ll see you later okay !”-You smiled at him and walked to your front door.

As you walked into the house, you were welcomed by the loud noises from the machines that were coming from down the hallway. You smiled walking towards the noisy room.

“Hey mom, I’m home.”-You said as you went to sit down in the chair that was next to her, you held her cold hand, blowing it some warm air. “How are you ... I’m great today, by the way, uhm ... So, nothing much happened today, you know the usual as always, although ... I’m going to a party tonight!”-You said shrieking in excitement. “Well, if you’re okay with it ...”-You said, looking for any signs, nothing still. You looked down and bit your bottom lip. “I’m going with my friends, you know, Steve ... Nancy ... and Jonathan.”-Nothing still, you looked around the room, seeing pictures of you guys, you smiled and looked back at her pale features, sleeping in an endless dream. “But I still don’t know what to wear, I was thinking in dressing up since it’s a costume party, maybe Debbie Harry ... or maybe Madonna, what do you think?”-You asked and still no response, you kissed her hand, and thought for a moment. “Debbie Harry it is then !”-You said sitting up and walking to your room. “BY THE WAY! I ASKED MRS.HARRINGTON TO MAKE YOU SOME COMPANY!”-You yelled from your room, as you quickly grabbed your purse and black leather jacket from your chair.

You peaked into your mom’s room, leaning on the door frame. “I’m a make 2 quick calls and I’m off to Nancy’s, okay?”-You told her as you ran into the phone that was in the kitchen. 

“Hey, Nans, I’m a be there in a bit, I just got my stuff ... Oh okay ... Yeah, no that’s fine ... By the way, do you have anything Punk? ... I don’t know, something that says, Debbie Harry ... Okay, that’s fine, alright I’ll see you then, Bye!”- You hung up and dialed to Steves house.

“Hello Mrs. Harrington, how are you? ... I’m great, thank you, uhm, I was calling to ask if Steve ... Yeah, okay! Well, I will leave you all the phone numbers you can call in case anything happens okay ... that’s perfect, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Bye Bye !”- You hung up and ran to your mother’s room again. “Okay ma, I’m leaving already, Mrs. Harrington is on the way already.”-You said as you walked over her, kissing her forehead one more time. “I love you ... Bye.”-You walked out and ran to Nancy’s House. 

“Wow, (y/n) YOU LOOK AMAZING !”- Nancy said wide-eyed, as she entered the room.

“I don’t wanna sound conceded or anything but … I actually feel comfortable.”-You said as you gave yourself another look in the mirror. This was way out of what you would normally wear, your oversized sweaters weren’t compared to the tight V neck bodysuit that Nancy let you borrow, that was surprisingly bigger than her, could it be ... you shook your head out of bit. 

“What’s wrong?”- Nancy asked innocently as she was fixing her hair. “Oh... Nothing”-You tried playing it off by smiling. “Are you sure cause...”- “Hey so I was thinking!”- You immediately cut her off, making her frown her eyebrows. “I think I’m going to wear my leather jacket.”-”Yeah, I think that would be better.”- Smiling at the suggestion. ”I mean, I don’t want to freeze my ass off, Oh wait ...”-You down and facepalmed yourself as both of you started to laugh. 

You looked at yourself one more time, adjusting your leather jacket before you guys walked out of the room. 

As you guys were going down the stairs you heard a wow and a whistle coming from the living room, you turned to see it was Mrs. Wheeler who was looking at you wide-eyed when she suddenly crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow, smirking at the bodysuit you were wearing.

Oh, Crap ... 

“Ah ... so that’s where it went.”- She said with a chuckle. Nancy for the love of God you did not just hand me your mom’s lingerie, you thought as you turned to Nancy who was looking everywhere but you. “It’s okay (y/n/n), either way, I haven’t worn those ... and I don’t think I ever will.”-She said as she turned to Mr. Wheeler who was knocked out in his chair, you tried to hold your grin when you felt a punch on the back of your shoulder, Sorry you softly said. “But at least they will be used for a good cause, am I right?”-She turned to you guys with a small smirk. “Mom, please stop!”-Nancy whined, and a knock on the door made us all look. “Well have fun ladies! Please be careful !”-Mrs. Wheeler yelled as she walked away.

“Come on let’s go!”-Nancy grabbed your hand and then it hit you.

SHIT ! 

“What? What’s wrong?”-Nancy paused and looked at you up and down to make sure you were okay.”I-I forgot about Steve”-You said as you bit your bottom lip, Nancy just scoffed. “What about it?”-You looked at her crossing your arms. “You really think he’s going to be okay with this outfit?”-She just shrugged. “Why wouldn’t he?”-”You KNOW how he is”-You whispered-shouted at her, Nancy just shook her head. “It’ll be fine ...”-She started to walk to the door, with you behind her. “No, it won't, wanna bet.”-You looked at her raising your eyebrows, she turned the knob of the door, to find Steve and Jonathan talking when Steve’s eyes immediately turned to (y/n). “REALLY!”-He yelled as you turned to Nancy. “See ?”-She just shook her head. “Come on we’re late !”-She pushed between the boys, with you behind her.

“NOW IM GOING TO HAVE TO BABYSIT YOU FOR THE WHOLE NIGHT!”-Steve yelled from behind, looking at Jonathan who was now laughing. “Can you belie- HEY, stop laughing!”-Steve tried to argue, while Jonathan shrugged. “Hey, you told her to behave like a teenager ...”-He said leaving Steve behind.

“Great, now the whole school is going to be all over her.”-He shook his head as he started to walk to his car.

If you guys like it let me know so I can write Part 2, and please tell me if you want to be tagged.

[evieshook]

caught in the act

pairing: harry/evie rating: t words: ~2600 a/n: a bit of a higher rating for some suggestive themes haha ;) prompt: Can you do a hevie fic where everyone catches them in the dorm? read on: [ao3] [ffn.net]

Their undoing had been a lapse of judgement on her part as Harry all but insisted that they were safe. She thought she had better self-control than she did, but she had to admit that in all honesty, he had been completely right.

Ever since they had made their relationship official, it was one characterized by excuses and secret hiding places as Evie had made it firm that their relationship was one that would be hidden by the shadows. She didn’t like the arrangement as much as he did, but they both knew that this would be their best option at this period in time. Despite him, Uma and Gil having arrived at Auradon four months ago, relations between both groups of VKs had been anything but friendly. While they all could get along with Gil, Uma and Harry were a whole different story. Uma was still unable to set aside her grudges against Mal, leading her to practically disliking the other three as well. And Harry, well Harry had a talent at pissing off people just by speaking. He and Jay still had their ridiculous rivalry going on, and Mal wasn’t particularly fond of him either. With Carlos, it almost like he was afraid of him, something that Evie could never figure out why.

And with her, let’s just say that all his endless flirting had finally gotten to her and she had fallen for him before it was too late. They had always had a little thing going on even before Auradon, but it never went beyond teasing banter whenever they were in each other’s presence. But once the pirate had escaped from the Isle, he had managed to take the banter one step further when he always seemed to openly seek out the girl, much to the curiosity of the others. Of course she had squashed it down by arguing that he happened to be his favorite person to annoy, which they bought easily because she made sure to shout at him every time they were in sight. Of course, Harry took it all in stride until one day it all boiled down to him grabbing her and pulling her into an empty classroom where he kissed her until her lips swelled.

From that day forward, their ‘extracurricular activities’ had been one of secret, Harry taking every opportunity he could to get them alone. It had worked for a good three months, if she said so herself, Evie having trained her senses to alert them if anyone was nearby when they were in the middle of their little activities. Of course it had gotten tiring when they had once been interrupted five times within a single hour, and it had all but killed the mood.

But now they had gone almost a week without being able to meet in private, mainly because of the royal celebrations coming up that garnered her all her attention. On the one free day she had to spare, Harry had taken the opportunity to sweep her away before she could say otherwise, stating that it had been far too long. She couldn’t help but agree; it had been far too long without him that she wondered how she even managed to keep her sanity with the piles of workload stacking everyday. He had wanted to ease her stresses by taking her out on a date near the Enchanted Lake, which was beautiful to say the least, until they had had to cut their date short because duty had called.

This had sent Evie running to the dorms where she was supposed to have delivered a dress in ten minutes, with Harry at her heels. He refused to let her go without him, so thanks to his help, she had managed to meet the deadline in time. When they had returned to her dorm room, which thankfully she now had to herself, Harry took this opportunity to kiss her, deciding this was the best time to do so. She was initially reluctant, urging that someone might catch them, but Harry argued that no one would be needing her today, not when she had her day off.

Without having anymore fight left in her, Evie had melted right into the kiss, sinking into his arms as he carried her by the waist, gently dropping her onto her fluffy bed. She leaned back into her pillows as he crawled on top of her, his lips curving into that sexy smirk of his before she pulled him by the neck to kiss him. Harry had returned her kiss with as much fervor as she had, using his arms to support himself so as not to squash her with his entire weight.

Her hands, which had been running through his hair, had lowered to push the leather jacket off his shoulders, Harry taking it off without hesitation. He threw it to the ground without a second look, his lips still attached to hers as her hands moved to lift up his shirt. He still wore that same ripped shirt he would wear back on the Isle, full of rips and tears that she could easily feel his skin beneath her touch.

Harry’s lips curved into a grin as he pulled away slightly, only to lift off his remaining shirt as Evie unzipped her own leather ensemble. Her eyes raked up and down his exposed chest with darkened eyes, teeth biting her lips before he lowered himself back down to kiss her, Evie letting out a small giggle in delight. Her hands roamed the expanses of his hardened chest, one carved from years of sword fighting and pillaging, as he moved his own to settle on her waist.

His fingers moved to the edges of her shirt, ready to remove the shirt when they heard a loud scream from her dorm room door as Harry felt himself being aggressively shoved off of her. Evie’s eyes widened in shock as she watched the pirate be tackled to the ground by a familiar bulky figure, her eyes soon moving to the door where she saw the shell shocked faces of Mal and Carlos.

Shit.

“Oi! Gerroff me!” she heard an angry cry from the corner, but she couldn’t look as she kept her eyes on her frozen friends.

“Mal, Carlos…”

Mal’s eyes diverted to the blue haired girl, sharing a look before she turned to the side of the bed where Jay held Harry to the ground. A scowl settled on her face as she marched up to him, Evie’s eyes dilating when realization struck.

Before Mal could even do anything to the boy, Evie had finally jumped off her bed and blocked the girl, putting herself between her and her pirate. She raised an eyebrow in bemusement and slight anger. “What are you doing? Move Evie, I have to teach him a lesson.”

Evie shook her head vehemently, placing a hand out to stop her. “Stop, it wasn’t his fault.”

Her nostrils flared at this. “Not his fault? He came on to you! He was ready to take you!” she practically screamed, Evie wincing at the loudness of her voice.

“I was not gonna take her!” Harry shouted from below, Mal’s frown only deepening at the interruption.

“Liar! I saw what your hands were doing. You were ready to take off her shirt.”

“I wasn’t doin’ anything the princess didn’t want me to,” he managed to get out before Jay covered his mouth to shut him up.

Mal looked taken aback as she diverted her attention back to Evie, eyeing her in bewilderment. “Is what he said true?”

The girl turned back to share a look with Harry, who gave her an infinitesimal nod before she turned to face the girl’s green eyes again. Confidently, she firmly nodded, lifting her chin up. “He’s not lying. In fact, I was the one who came onto him.’’

She looked completely stunned at this, jaw dropping in struck silence. “How long?” they heard Carlos say from the right, Evie having almost forgotten he was there.

She turned to him. “Three months. We’ve been dating for three months.”

They raised their eyebrows in surprise. “Three months? Why didn’t you tell us? I thought we were your best friends E!”

Evie lowered her gaze in guilt. “You are my friends, my best friends.”

“Then why did you feel the need to keep something so important from us?”

Her eyes narrowed before she pointed to Jay and Harry, who was still being held down like some sort of animal. “Because of this! Don’t lie and tell me that you weren’t going to hex him if I hadn’t told you.”

Mal had the decency to look the least bit guilt as Evie carried on. “I couldn’t tell you, nor could Harry tell Uma and Gil because of the reactions you guys would have. You and Uma still have that rivalry going on between you two, and you all seem to hate Harry.”

Carlos opened his mouth in protest. “I don’t hate him.”

She shook her head. “No, but you are scared of him for some reason.”

He slightly nodded, lowering his eyes a little bit. Evie sighed before turning back to Evie. “You see why I had to hide it from you? I didn’t want you guys to misunderstand, or try to break us apart. I’m with him out of my own accord, and not because he seduced me if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I honestly think it would’ve been the other way around,” she heard Jay quip from behind her, Evie turning to look at him.

“Can you get off him? I’d like to have my boyfriend in one piece,” she remarked, Jay looking sheepish before finally moving to stand up, Harry letting out a gasp of breath in relief. Evie moved to help him up, taking him by the hand as she carried him to his feet. He shot her a grateful look, the girl responding with a smile of her own.

“What’s going on here? I heard a scream and— why is Harry half-naked? And why are you all gathered around him?” they heard a new voice interrupt from the door, everyone turning to meet the gaze of a frowning Uma.

Evie wanted to slam her forehead on a table somewhere. She didn’t think she’d have to come clean to Uma so soon, hoping that perhaps she could’ve kept it a little while longer until it all settled down between her friends. But apparently not.

“Ooh, did you all catch them?” this time they turned to find Gil having newly arrived behind Uma, smiling at all of them smugly.

“Catch them? What are you on about?” Uma asked in bemusement.

He pointed to the shirtless Harry and the dishevelled Evie beside him, who were eyeing him like a hawk. “Those two. They’re dating, aren’t they?”

Everyone raised an eyebrow in surprise. “How’d ye find out?” Harry spoke out, just as bewildered as everyone else. Of all people, Gil had managed to figure it out all on his own accord. He had to give it to him, while he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, he was quite observant.

Gil shrugged. “It was kinda obvious. You two were always together, and I’ve never seen Harry annoy someone as much as he did you so I kinda figured.”

Uma frowned before turning to the couple in question, eyeing them behind unreadable eyes. “Is this true?”

“Yeah, I’m datin’ the princess.”

“And how long?”

“Three months,” Carlos quipped, Uma raising a brow. “That long? And when were you going to tell me?” she asked Harry this time, glaring hardly at him.

“They all only just found out a couple of minutes ago,” he replied, “But if Evie had it her way, we probably never would’ve told any of ye.”

At this, Evie slapped him lightly on his chest. “Not never. I was going to tell them…eventually.”

“And how long was ‘eventually’ before either of us found out?”

Evie winced. “I was hoping maybe, six months? Give or take a few.”

“Six months?” Mal uttered in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

She nodded. “I already explained it to all of you. I wanted to keep this a secret for as long as we could, perhaps until you and Uma had your thing sorted and we could maybe all be friends again.”

“It’s not my fault she won’t listen to me.”

Uma glared at the purple haired girl. “Oh yeah? It’s not my fault that you won’t listen to me.”

Mal returned her glare with even more heat. “Listen to you? What’s there to even listen—“

“Okay enough. Ye can both either take this outside and leave us both alone, or ye can all leave us both alone and we can never talk about this alone,” Harry finally interrupted, frustrated at what was going to be the beginnings of the fight.

“So in other words, we should all just leave?” Carlos asked, Harry nodding with a dangerous grin on his face.

“Nice to see someone understands. Now scram, the lot of ye before I find my hook and hook ye all.”

“Your hook is still in the museum,” Jay remarked, earning the glare of Harry who was ready to punch the smirk off his face before Evie interrupted.

“Okay stop. Please, no more fighting. Now that my relationship with Harry is out in the open, I refuse to stand for this stupid rivalry any longer,” she declared, eyeing all of them sternly. “We are all VKs, and we are all in the same boat. We were all good friends before we even came to Auradon, so why are we even fighting now? Why can’t we stick together?”

She could see Mal and Uma’s mouths begin to open before Evie cut them both off with a glare. “Either you two make up or I’ll make you do it myself. I have all day.”

The three were caught in a three way of glares, Evie unrelenting as her glare became colder and colder that Mal finally had to look away. “Okay fine! Uma, I’m sorry for everything I’ve done these past few years. I don’t hate you, I’ve never hated you but I can’t understand why we could never put these differences between us behind us and just start afresh.”

Uma looked away, eyes meeting Harry’s for a second before she turned back to the girl beside her. “It’s too bad because I always did hate you,” she began, Mal about to open her mouth before she spoke again, “But for Harry’s sake I’ll tolerate you. He’s been my friend for a long time, and I’m not going to lose him for this.”

Mal nodded in understanding. “Evie’s important to me too, and I don’t want to do anything that could hinder her own happiness.”

Everyone watched in stunned silence as the girls called a truce, Harry snaking his arms around Evie’s waist as she leaned into him. “I guess some good came outta them catchin’ us after all.”

She nodded in pride. “I guess something did.”

When Mal and Uma’s attention diverted back to the group around them, Mal’s eyes narrowed when she noticed Harry hugging Evie. “Before we leave, Harry put your shirt back on.”

Uma nodded in agreement, much to their surprise. “She’s right. I don’t want to see more of you than I have to.”

The pirate rolled his eyes as he tightened his grip around Evie’s waist. “Yer both just jealous the princess can have this and you can’t.”

The girls shared a look before scoffing. “You wish.”

[lynchgirl90]

@Ringer: @Kyle_MacLachlan's multifaceted #TwinPeaks performance is astonishing to watch

Kyle MacLachlan Is Currently the Best Actor on TV

His multifaceted ‘Twin Peaks’ performance is astonishing to watch

BY ALISON HERMAN  AUG 10, 2017

When Special Agent Dale Cooper introduced himself to the world nearly 30 years ago, he was an immediately comforting presence. Unflappable in his positivity, the FBI envoy to the eponymous town of Twin Peaks was the perfect entry point to the original show’s Lynchian eccentricities: Cooper, as played by Kyle MacLachlan accepted and even embraced Twin Peaks’ many quirks at face value. Cooper doesn’t show up until 40 minutes into the feature-length pilot, well after we’ve been thoroughly discomfited by the sight of Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic; when he does arrive, narrating everything he sees to an unseen woman named Diane, it’s as a steadying force — the eye in the middle of an interdimensional, backward-talking hurricane. If this platonically square lawman could transition smoothly into a world of demonic possessions and clairvoyant Log Ladies, so could we.

Fourteen episodes into Showtime’s Twin Peaks: The Return, Dale Cooper has yet to arrive at all. That absence is key to the disorienting atmosphere of the long-anticipated follow-up. (Lynch directed all 18 parts of The Return and cowrote the script with his creative partner, Mark Frost.) Gone, for the foreseeable future and much to viewers’ consternation, is our dependable lodestar through bizarre behavior and existential evil. In his place are a handful of enthusiastic participants in Twin Peaks’ mournful, terrifying new landscape. All of them are played by MacLachlan, and collectively, they make up the best performance currently on TV.

Notoriously, the first Twin Peaks ended on a brutal cliff-hanger: In an attempt to rescue his girlfriend Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham), Cooper plunged into the Black Lodge, the otherworldly locus of evil from which emanated the dark forces plaguing Twin Peaks. He never made it out, and was instead overtaken by a Lodge-minted doppelgänger. In the wrenching final shot of the series, the doppelgänger looks into a shattered mirror and reveals the face of Bob (Frank Silva), the spirit who raped and murdered Laura Palmer while inhabiting the body of her father, Leland (Ray Wise). The plot of Twin Peaks is never easy to convey on paper, but the significance of that reveal was clear enough: Our pure-hearted hero had been overtaken by the very essence of malice and cruelty. And thanks to ABC, which canceled the series just two seasons into its run, he seemed fated to stay that way.

Until now. The Return doesn’t shy away from the implications of that unhappy ending, which imprisons and incapacitates its hero in an unambiguous victory for the forces of darkness. Rather, it’s about those implications, and MacLachlan is essential to communicating the themes of loss, change, and decay, in no small part because he embodies them.

By splitting in two, MacLachlan’s multifaceted performance crystallizes the series’ black-and-white divide between virtue and vice. On one side, MacLachlan plays the doppelgänger, commonly referred to as Evil Cooper. Since we last saw him (in 1991), Evil Coop has grown accustomed to life outside the Lodge. He has recruited henchmen, grown out his hair, and taken to wearing a leather jacket—affectations that would be admittedly silly if MacLachlan didn't play them with such dead-eyed seriousness. With his artificially darkened eyes, robotic voice, and imperturbable menace, Evil Cooper is chilling; it is easy to understand why Diane, revealed in The Return to be a platinum-bobbed Laura Dern, breaks down in sobs after seeing him in prison. In Evil Cooper’s unsettling confidence, MacLachlan gives us the horrible mirror image of regular Cooper’s smooth professionalism.

While the real Cooper is stranded, Evil Cooper has thrived, and worse yet, the world has allowed him to thrive. It’s a sickening state of affairs even before you consider that all the murder and violence is being perpetrated by a man who one who once bonded with Sheriff Harry Truman over their love of donuts and damn fine coffee. For many Twin Peaks cast members, the visual effects of age underscore the melancholy of a place where so much time has passed and yet so little has changed or improved. For the remarkably preserved MacLachlan, however, the reverse is true: His similarity to his younger self only enhances the differences in his characters, who appear almost unnaturally arrested in time rather than swept away by its inexorable flow.

On the other side of The Return’s Manichean split is Dougie Jones, the character who’s directly replaced regular Cooper and therefore absorbed much of the audience frustration at his continued absence. Dougie is even harder to explain than a typical Twin Peaks plot development, but here goes: At some point during his 25 years on earth, Evil Cooper created yet another clone of himself, who went on to become a Las Vegas insurance salesman named Dougie Jones, with a wife, Janey-E (Naomi Watts); and a son, Sonny Jim (Pierce Gagnon). When the original Cooper is finally released from the Lodge, he's supposed to switch places with Evil Cooper, but ends up swapping with Dougie instead (who gets beamed back to the Lodge through an electrical outlet, because David Lynch). Real Cooper then takes Dougie’s place in Vegas, turning one of The Return’s most significant story lines into a comedy/tragedy about a shell-shocked, brain-damaged lost soul trapped in the exurban, middle-class life of a white-collar professional. It sounds even more convoluted than the first switch-up, and it sort of is — but the genius of Twin Peaks is that it’s all show and no tell, because Lynch’s visual storytelling is so strong it obviates the need for traditional exposition. None of the Dougie-Cooper–Evil Cooper relationship is spelled out for us; we just pick up on Lynch and Frost’s nonverbal cues.

Exactly who Dougie is or how he came to be is thus less important than what he represents, which is what happens to a fundamentally decent person like Dale Cooper when stripped of all but his most essential mental functions and forcibly ejected back into the real world. This setup offers plenty of opportunities for laughs, and MacLachlan has proved himself to be adept at a certain kind of slow-motion slapstick. In one scene, Dougie’s assistant leads him from room to room with the prospect of hot coffee, which he clutches and slurps like a child; in another, Dougie obliviously devours a slice of chocolate cake while Watts aggressively comes onto him. (What follows is an interlude as bonkers as the phrase “David Lynch sex scene” implies.) Even the mere sight of MacLachlan in an oversize green blazer — the original Dougie was on the heavyset side — has a clownlike charm to it.

But Dougie Jones is more than just a vessel for the humor that’s always punctuated Twin Peaks; he’s essentially the purest, most uncut version of the goodness that’s always defined Dale Cooper and that’s managed to survive his time in the Lodge. MacLachlan conveys the pathos of Dougie as well: Dougie is a man who can barely use the bathroom properly and yells at an inappropriate volume, but he’s also a loving father who plays catch with his son and a good Samaritan who uses his winning streak at a casino to help an old woman. It’s sad to witness Cooper in this reduced state, yet moving to see him forge connections with others and make their lives better, almost in spite of himself. The best in him wins out, a hopeful sign in a world where the best largely hasn’t.

Though nothing is guaranteed with a David Lynch production, Dougie appears headed toward a confrontation with Evil Cooper, bringing both halves of MacLachlan’s performance together. Prior to production on The Return, MacLachlan was the only actor who had access to the entire script (others have admitted they had no idea what was going on outside of their own scenes, or even in them), and it’s increasingly clear why. More than any other player, MacLachlan is charged with personifying the project of Twin Peaks: The Return.

With every tic and affectation — every burst of violence from Evil Coop, every slurred pronouncement from Dougie Jones — MacLachlan further delineates the differences between the first Twin Peaks and the follow-up. At first, the tensions in this season simply seemed like a result of Lynch and Frost making the story they wanted to make, regardless of nostalgia. But heading into The Return’s final stretch, frustrated nostalgia almost seems to be the point. It’s even written into the text: The typically catatonic Dougie comes alive whenever he makes contact with iconic motifs from the original show, like coffee or cherry pie. These aren’t meta references for meta’s sake. Instead, they’re part of The Return’s larger meditation on how much or how little people, places, and things can shift over, well, almost 30 years. We see it in the diminished state of Catherine Coulson, who was dying of cancer when she filmed her last scenes as the Log Lady; we see it in Amanda Seyfried’s Becky Burnett (née Briggs) following in her mother Shelly’s footsteps by getting trapped in an abusive relationship. Most of all, though, we see it in everything MacLachlan is doing, and how well he’s doing it.

Link (TP)

[maddieautobot273]

Loss - AC Syndicate Oneshot

My 7th Jacob Frye x Madeline Shrike (OC) oneshot! I hope you all like it! Words: 2026 

********

The year was 1874 at the beginning of September. Jacob was now 27 years old and Madeline had recently turned 26. By now, the pair were married and welcomed two identical twin boys into their lives, Jeffery and Michael who were now both age 4.  

Madeline and her fellow magicians in the Magic Club were preparing a rehearsal for a special show to celebrate the coming of the End of Summer Festival. Jeffery and Michael found some old theatre props and played with wooden swords, pretending to be pirates off at the side of the stage, while Madeline and her fellow magicians gathered at a round table on the main floor of the auditorium.

They were supposed to have begun their rehearsal two hours ago, but a group of Blighters snuck in earlier this morning, attacking the President of the club and stealing various props needed for their act, and perhaps most importantly, fireworks. Madeline had planned to use them for the final act during the night performance, but now that they were in the hands of the Blighters and Templars, who knows what they would do with them. Fireworks weren’t just used for entertainment purposes, one could tell you that…

Madeline praised GOD that Jacob heard what happened, as he and a few of his Rooks set out to try and recover the stolen stage props, and more importantly, the fireworks. The boys were not yet aware of their father’s actual profession, only knowing that he was the leader of The Rooks, so they were simply told that father would be reporting the incident to the police.

As Madeline tended to a cut Mr. Harris, the Magic Club president, received on his forehead from the Blighter’s robbery, the rest of the performers present tried to figure out what last minute acts they could do without the stolen props. It would be difficult, as the Festival would be starting later in the week with only a few days left to prepare.

However, that was not the only thing that occupied Madeline’s thoughts…

For the last few months, Madeline had received letters regarding her uncle John’s health. He had planned to stay in London until after the festival, however she knew he had been feeling a tad under the weather for the last while. He momentarily stayed here in London for most of the summer, but was then transferred to a hospital in Darlington in late July as his condition had suddenly spiked. The last she heard from him, he had informed her that he’d be travelling back to Scotland to be with his wife and son. That was just a little over a month ago…

Madeline hoped that her dear uncle was alright.

Her train of thoughts regarding her family were interrupted when the main doors to the auditorium suddenly opened, as Sir Jacob Frye and a few of his Rooks entered the room, carrying boxes of their stolen possessions. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the cavalry is here!”

“Father!” The twins beamed as they dropped their toy swords, and sprinted from the stage towards their father.

“Jacob, you found them!” Madeline exclaimed as she stood up from her chair with a smile.

Setting the box down on the floor, Jacob knelt to catch his fleeing sons that shouted for his attention, scooping them up in his arms. “Slow down, you two!”

“Did you and uncle Freddy catch the bad guys, father?” Jeffery asked, his eyes twinkling.

“Yeah, did ya?!” Michael quickly added with a squeak.

Jacob chuckled at his son’s questions as his lips formed a playful smirk. “Oh, we caught them alright, boys, and then some!” He boasted before giving the boys each a raspberry on their cheeks.

The boys squealed, trying to escape their father’s grasp, but alas, he was too strong for them. Their mother neared the trio, pecking her husband on the lips. “Thank you again for returning our props,”

“Think nothing of it, love,” Jacob smiled. “I do enjoy a bit of sparkle in your acts,”

“Thank you very much for your help, Sir Frye,” Mr. Harris praised as he dabbed away the last of the blood from his wound with a handkerchief, stuffing it into his pocket as he shook hands with the Assassin. “We are indebted to you and your Rooks,”

“Where would you like these, Mr. Harris?” Jacob questioned as he picked back up the box he was carrying.

“You can just leave them up on stage for now,” Harris directed. “That will be all,”

“Can we help, father?” Michael asked.

“Of course,” Jacob beamed, grinning. “Who wants to carry a box of fireworks?”

“I do! I do! I do!” Jeffery and Michael chanted in unison.

Madeline coughed, shooting Jacob a ‘really?’ glare. The Assassin chuckled light heartedly, shrugging in defeat as he looked down at his sons. “Sorry boys, mother’s orders. Perhaps when you’re older,”

The boys whined with despair before their mother gently ushered them back to play with their toys while the Rooks delivered the props to the stage. Jacob was about to follow behind them when he stopped, his eyes lighting up, “Ah, almost forgot,” he rummaged through his jacket pocket, pulling out an envelope as he handed it to Madeline. “It’s for you, given to me by one of the Little Rooks who stopped by the Post,”

Madeline smiled at Jacob as she took the letter in her hand, watching as he made his way down towards the stage before glancing at the front of the envelope. The hand writing belonged to her mother. It had been a while since she received the last letter from her parents asking how she was. Perhaps this one just simply arrived late?

Being curious, Madeline opened the envelope now instead of waiting to open it later. Unfolding the paper, she carefully read her mother’s message. With each passing word, Madeline swore it was like time was slowing down as the sounds around her seized to exist. Madeline could feel her fingers begin to tremble, her eyes becoming heavy as tears threatened to leak out.

“It can’t be…” she whispered.

Her uncle, John Henry Anderson, was—

“Love?”

The sound of Jacob’s voice snapped Madeline out of her trance as she gasped quietly, looking up to see that all eyes were on her. She wasn’t sure how long she had been staring at the letter, but it appeared to be long enough for Mr. Harris and her husband to regain her attention.  

“Are you alright?”

“I—uh— “Madeline struggled to speak as she glanced about between the faces of her companions, and the letter in her hand. “Something has come up, I—I—have to go,” When Madeline felt that she was about to break down, she bolted from her spot on the auditorium, shoving the main doors open as she ran out of the room.

Her response surprised everyone around her. Jacob tried to reach out to her, but she had moved far too quickly for him this time around. He glanced down at the floor, finding the letter he had given her. She must have dropped it when she stormed out of the room and didn’t even realized it. Jeffery and Michael were about to run after her, but Jacob knelt as he stretched his arm out, catching the twins. “Hang on, boys,” Signaling them to wait, Jacob stood back up as he made his way towards the letter, picking it up from the floor. His eyes trailed every word as he read the letter for himself. When he made it to the end, his lips fell into a frown as he lowered the letter to his side, scoffing with worry. “Oh, dear GOD, Maddie…”

Clutching the letter in his hand, he too left the auditorium as he set out to search and console his grieving wife.

Madeline was cooped up in her dressing room, sobbing into her pillow as she laid in bed all alone. Glancing up to catch her breath, she glanced over at the side table to see a picture frame, one with a photo with a young Madeline Shrike standing with her dear uncle. That photo was taken after their first show together. It only seemed like yesterday, and now…

The memory was too much for the woman as her emotions got the better of Madeline once more, burying her face into her pillow once more.

A knock came to her door a few moments later, followed by it slowly creaking open. Jacob had already made his way across the room, setting his top hat aside on her desk as he sat beside her on the bed, gently caressing her leg. “Maddie?”

“…Jacob?” Madeline sniffed as she slowly turned her head and body towards the sound of his voice.

When Jacob saw her face, he could have sworn he felt his heart break apart. Madeline’s eyes were red and puffy (And if she had decided to wear her makeup this morning, that would have been ruined as well), tears streamed all the way down her cheek, and the poor girl was shivering and trembling.

“Oh, Maddie…” He didn’t even need to think twice. Quickly removing his leather trench coat, he wrapped it around her before gently pulling Madeline up against his chest, tightly embracing her with one arm around her back, the other hand petting her head as he let her sob into his shoulder. “Shhh… I’ve got you,”

The two of them stayed in that position for quite a few minutes. Jacob was upset about John’s passing, but not compared to Madeline. She was his niece after all! Truth be told, he only managed to meet the man here and there whenever he visited London for one of his own shows, but his few visits were memorable. He remembered Madeline taking him to see one of John’s shows for the first time. He performed a trick where someone in the audience fired a gun at the magician and the man literally caught the bullet with his hand!

Jacob was more upset about Madeline’s reaction to the man’s death, and it brought back bits and pieces of when a family member of his passed away. His father… He remembers a similar event like this occurred with Evie. Comforting her as she quietly sobbed into his shoulder after everyone else had gone.

His mind was zapped back into the present day when Madeline began to slowly calm down, her sobs diminishing and weakening as she slowly pulled away from his shoulder, drying a few of her tears as she met the Assassin’s gaze.

“John… he’s gone,” she spoke softly.

“I know,” Jacob nodded. “Passed on in his sleep,”

Madeline’s eyes widened at the man as he reached into his jacket pocket again. “How did you---?” Jacob pulled out the letter from his pocket, showing it to her. Upon seeing it, Madeline gasped, a weak laughter escaping her lips. “I dropped it… clumsy fool…”

“Hey,” Jacob soothed. “it’s alright…” He tilted his head slightly, planting gentle kisses on her lips, cheeks, nose, and forehead to help ease her and calm her down.  

Madeline sighed in content, taking in his warmth. “… Thank you, Jacob,”

Jacob smiled in return, caressing her cheek. “His funeral is at the end of the month. I’ll plan the travel arrangements after the Festival,”

The two shared one more embrace when yet another knock came to Madeline’s dressing room door. The couple looked over to see two small bodies poke inside.

“Father, can we come in now?” Michael asked.

“Is Mum alright?” Jeffery asked with concern.

Jacob waved the boys in as they scurried across the room, climbing up onto the bed as they squished in-between their parents, hugging their mother tightly.

“We’re sorry about what happened to Uncle John,” said Jeffery.

“Thank you, Jeffery,” Madeline smiled, “I know I can count on all of my boys to be here for me when I’m blue,”

The four of them shared a group hug, embracing one another in a time of mourning. While more grieving would come in the coming days, Madeline would cherish this exact moment close to her heart for all time.

[tellusseries]

Character Short: Harry

It was hot. That was all Harry could think of as the Stormdancer landed gently in the docks of Cayn, Mericus. Hot, and scorchingly dry. He was surprised there was any wind to speak of, that the whole shipyard hadn’t just become another dead zone, but sure enough a warm breeze remained steady, making him feel like he was sat in an oven. 'Gods, how long do we have to stay here?' he complained to John as the pair of them went back below deck. Harry had only ever been to Mericus in the colder, wetter months before. He hadn’t been prepared for this.

'Two weeks, your Dad said,' the mechanic replied, chuckling. 'Lighten up, lad; you get used to it after a few days. Just don’t go outside while the sun’s high.' Harry grimaced; great. Two weeks in a foreign country and he’d probably be spending most of it inside. Still, he supposed, it wasn’t like they were on holiday. They had work to do. His Dad was looking to get a new supplier, something about a new fabric the Mericans were making that was light like cotton, but as hard to pierce as leather. Harry wouldn’t be too involved, as much as his father was trying to teach him the ways of the business now he was seventeen and a man grown. Truthfully, Harry didn’t care about fabric trading; he just wanted to fly.

They wandered into the control room, where their other mechanic Stan was stood leaning against the back of Jess’ pilot’s chair, laughing with the petite woman. 'All settled in, then?' Harry asked him, as Stan was the one currently on shift. The dark-haired man looked up, giving him a crooked smile.

'Oh, aye, she’s all powered down for the long stay. Go get your bags, lad.' They were staying in an inn for the duration of their stay; John said he wanted a break from having to cook for all of them, and the Stormdancer was long overdue a complete cool-down. Harry wondered if that was secretly the real reason they were staying so long.

'Yes, sir.' Harry turned on the heel of his boot, leaving the control room. His room was messy as always when he entered, but he ignored it, reaching into his wardrobe for the bag he’d already packed.

Pausing for a moment, Harry shrugged off his brown wool jacket, undoing the top two buttons of his shirt and shoving his sleeves up his elbows, tossing the jacket on the bed. If the heat was going to stand, he wouldn’t be needing it.

Shouldering his bag, Harry gave the room a quick once-over for anything he might have forgotten, checked his pocket watch, and upon realising that he was running late to his dad’s schedule — a cardinal sin on their ship — darted from the room, jogging back up to the control room. The entire crew had gathered by then, Harry being the last. No one scolded him; as the captain’s son, he was allowed a few liberties. 'Everyone sure they’ve got everything?' his dad asked, eyeing each of them. 'I’m locking her up behind us, if you’ve left something behind, you’ll have to make do without.'

'We know, Theo, you’ve told us a dozen times already,' Jess replied laughingly, tossing her curly auburn hair over her shoulder. 'Let’s just go, we still need to find somewhere to stay, and register for long-stay with the guards.' The entire crew grimaced at that; dealing with Anglyan guards at any dock, regardless of country, was always a nightmare. Harry didn’t know why Anglya didn’t just leave the rest of Tellus to it, rather than insisting they monitor every coming and going.

With John leading the way, the small crew made their way on deck, Harry braced for the rush of heat this time. He felt sorry for Jess, bundled in her tight corset and long ruffled skirts. She had to be sweltering. How did Merican women cope?

Easily treading the gangplank down to the concrete floor of the shipyard, Harry hoisted his bag further up his shoulder, waiting for instruction. 'Harry, lad, you can come with me to get registered. The rest of you, ask around for a decent place to stay. We’ll book a night and if it’s not what we’re after, look elsewhere tomorrow. I don’t know about you, but I could kill for a decent lunch.' Harry nodded in agreement, his stomach rumbling.

'Meet back here in half an hour?' Stan queried, offering an arm to Jess. Harry made a face at having to do the boring paperwork part with his father, and John snorted.

'We can only hope we’ll be done by then, knowing this lot,' Harry grumbled under his breath.

'I heard that,' his Dad chided. 'All part of the family business, lad, so you’d better get used to it. We’ll meet you here whenever we’re done, so stay out of trouble.' Faced with three identical innocent expressions from his crew, the captain huffed, shaking his head and cuffing his son on the shoulder. 'Come on, lad.'

Harry obediently followed, running a hand through his dark brown hair as he felt sweat begin to bead on his brow. His father led him through the bustling crowd towards the guard’s office near the entrance to the shipyard, and Harry let his eyes wander as they walked. While they didn’t come often, he loved Mericus; the centre of Tellus, it was always full of people from every corner of the world. A melting pot of cultures, it made him smile to see dark-skinned Kasemans in their brightly patterned, flowing clothes stood talking to deathly-pale Siberene natives, squinting in the sunlight and looking deeply uncomfortable at wearing so few layers. He saw a pair of young Dalivian women practically skipping as they walked towards the city, and it made him smile. Mericus was the only place outside of Dalivia itself that people from the far-flung land could be regularly found; they avoided Kasem due to a grudge from the old wars, and anywhere else was too far for most Dalivians to travel. They kept to themselves for the most part, anyway. Harry had always dreamed of going to Dalivia, but they had no business reasons to, and his Dad rarely travelled somewhere without a purpose. When he was captain, Harry decided, he would take his crew all over Tellus, just so they could see it.

Snapping back to the present as his father knocked on the guard office door, Harry shoved his hands in his pockets, wishing he weren’t wearing leather trousers. He felt like his legs were being roasted. No wonder the Mericans had taken to inventing a lighter fabric to better suit working in heat. He wasn’t sure what Anglyans would do with it, but he didn’t doubt his Dad had a plan. He always had a plan.

As much as he knew he was supposed to pay attention to the guard and the registration papers, Harry couldn’t help his concentration wandering; he’d filled out papers a hundred times before, he knew how it went. He was hot, and tired, and hungry, and wanted to sit down and have a drink. He hoped the rest of the crew had some luck with finding an inn.

Finally, the papers were filed and everything was in order, and the pair left the office, stepping back out into the heat. It was starting to cool down a touch, though, as the sun got a little lower in the sky. Clearly they’d arrived at the exact time they were supposed to avoid being outside in. Typical.

The rest of the crew were waiting by the ship as promised when the father and son duo returned, and Harry’s shoulders relaxed at the smiles on their faces; they’d found an inn. 'There’s a great little family-run place a few streets over, apparently,' Jess relayed, her cheeks dimpling as she smiled, her fingers twined with Stan’s. Their relationship was still fairly new; still in what his Dad and John called the ‘honeymoon stage’. Harry was happy for them, they made a good pair. 'A fair few crews recommended it when we asked. Far enough away that it’s always got free rooms, but it’s definitely a shipyard inn. Service is good, too, so we’re told.'

'Sounds good to me,' the captain said with a shrug. 'Did you get directions?' One of Jess’ perfectly plucked eyebrows arched at the tall man.

'What kind of pilot do you take me for? Of course I got directions,' she retorted, making Stan snicker. The crew let Jess lead the way, Stan at her side, and Harry mused on how odd they must look; a group of tall, muscular men obediently following a dainty woman who was all of four foot eight and looked barely a day over eighteen. In reality she was twenty, Harry knew, but she definitely didn’t look her age. Shifting his bag onto his other shoulder as his back began to ache, Harry let his gaze wander again, wishing he had a hat or something to block the sun from his eyes. Maybe he should invest in one; he thought he’d look rather dashing in a hat.

As Jess has promised, the inn wasn’t too far out from the shipyard. It was a tall, sandy-coloured building, the front porch running right the way across the front of the building and shaded with a dark red awning. There was a rocking chair off to the left of the door, currently occupied by an elderly man smoking a cigarette. A bell rang as they opened the door, and Harry sighed in bliss as they stepped inside the cool building. A large fan was spinning on the ceiling, accounting for the drop in temperature. He could get used to that.

The inn was busy in the lunch run, but not too crowded, filled with low-level chatter and the occasional burst of laughter. It was quaint, decorated in a homey way with all sorts of knicknacks on display that made him wonder if the owner used to travel. Scratching at his cheek and making a mental note to shave that evening, Harry glanced over at the bar, and froze. Storms.

Behind the glossy bar-top were three young women, sisters by the looks of them. The elder two were exactly identical and looked to be around Jess’ age, while the youngest couldn’t have been older than Harry himself. And she was beautiful. Honey blonde hair in a long braid down her back, several loose strands framing her heart-shaped face. Crystal blue eyes sparkled with delight as she chatted with a customer, the colour enhanced by the pale blue of her dress. There was a smile on her face that had Harry’s stomach doing backflips, and her arms were bare to expose smooth, golden-toned skin, wrists adorned with several brightly coloured knotted bracelets.

'Lad? Lad? Harry! Storms, Theo, your boy is done for, gods help him.' The amused voice snapped Harry from his trance, making him realise he’d been stood staring for a good while, and John was waving a hand in front of his face. 'There we go! You back with us?'

'Yeah, I just— I was— Sorry,' Harry muttered, flushing. John snorted, grin widening.

'You were stargazing, that’s what you were doing! Which of those fine barmaids caught your eye, then?' Stan teased, his arm settling around Jess’ shoulders, though she barely came up to his chest.

'The one in the blue,' Harry admitted quietly, blush still fiercely present. His dad let out a low, approving whistle.

'Yes, I can see why, lad. Go on, then.' He shoved his son’s shoulder, making him stumble forward a step.

'What?'

'Go talk to her, lad!' the captain urged. 'See if they’ve any rooms free. Introduce yourself.'

'Remember your words,' Jess added helpfully, giggling. Harry shot her a dark look.

'Thanks, Jess. Great advice.' He turned back to his father, opening his mouth. 'I— you— do I have to?'

'Don’t be such a coward, Peanut!' John goaded, using the childhood nickname that Harry despised. That was one of the downsides of growing up on a skyship; when some members of the crew had known you since you were born, they knew just how to embarrass you. He was just glad Jess and Stan had only been around for a few years, and had missed his awkward childhood.

'Fine, fine!' he relented, squaring his shoulders and making for the bar, determination on his face. He almost chickened out, but a glance over his shoulder showed the entire crew watching his progress, and he knew he couldn’t. He would never live it down. Besides, he really wanted to talk to that girl.

Waiting until she was finished with the customer she was serving, Harry edged towards her section of the bar, clearing his throat nervously. 'Hi, uh. We’d like to stay here. I’d like to book some rooms. I mean my crew— my Dad’s crew!' The girl couldn’t quite hide her amusement, and Harry sighed, feeling his cheeks redden. 'I would like to book three rooms on behalf of my Dad’s crew, if you have any free,' he said eventually, a somewhat helpless expression on his face that made the girl laugh, the sound light and musical.

'Sure, we’ve got plenty free,' she informed him. Her accent was definitely Merican, but it was fairly neutral, as in a lot of people who spent most of their time around foreigners and travellers. She’d obviously grown up in the shipyard area; the inn was probably her parents’. 'What kinds would you like?'

'Two twins and a single, if possible,' he requested. He’d share with his father, Stan and John would share, and Jess would get her own room. The teenager couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be before that would change, and Stan and Jess would start sharing instead.

'And would you like to make a payment for your entire stay upfront, or pay by the night?' The girl was polite, but the smile on her face gave Harry hope; or maybe that was just wishful thinking.

'By the night, thanks. Dad can settle up every morning, if that’s all right by you?' She nodded, turning to one of her older sisters, who was darker haired and taller, with her hair cut to her shoulders.

'Cora, can you go out back and tell Pa we’ve booked out five, seven and ten to a crew from Anglya, please?' she requested, turning to grab the three room keys off the board tacked to the wall. 'Paying by the night.'

'Tell him yourself,' Cora replied in annoyance, making frustration flicker across the younger sister’s face.

'Cora, please.' Cora huffed, rolling her eyes.

'Fine,' she muttered, her lilac skirts twirling as she turned to head through into the kitchen. The blonde girl smiled apologetically at Harry, and his heart skipped a beat.

'Sorry about her. Here are your keys, and breakfast and dinner are included in the price of rooms. You’re welcome to stay for lunch, too, but that’ll cost extra. I can show you to your rooms, if you’d like, sir?' she offered. Harry grinned, nodding.

'That would be great, yeah.' The girl smiled back, handing over the room keys before making her way in front of the bar. She came up to Harry’s shoulder just about, and he had the brief thought that she’d have to stand on her tiptoes to kiss him, making his cheeks flare pink.

'My crew are over here,' he stuttered, gesturing with one arm and leading the way to where he could see them waiting, Stan and John looking like they were about to burst from holding in their laughter. Harry mentally cursed; they were going to embarrass him, he knew it.

The captain offered a short bow to the girl, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. 'Pleasure to meet you, young lady. I’m Theo Kent, the captain of this crew and young Harry’s father.' She smiled, eyes flicking towards Harry, and the elder Kent paused. 'He didn’t introduce himself, did he?' he presumed knowingly. Harry wanted to swear; he’d completely forgotten to give her his name, or get hers! 'I promise I raised him with manners. He just forgets sometimes.'

'No, he didn’t,' the blue-eyed girl replied with a laugh. 'It’s fine. My name is Alice, this is my parents’ place. If you need anything during your stay here, feel free to ask me, or one of my sisters, Cora and Kayleigh. Cora is the one with shorter hair, and Kay always has a silver bracelet on, if you need help telling them apart,' she added helpfully, clearly used to people getting her twin sisters mixed up.

'I, uh, Harry Kent,' Harry mumbled in introduction, bowing jerkily as his father snickered.

'Pleased to meet you, Harry Kent,' she said, eyes bright as she smiled back. Hopefully she thought his fumbling charming, rather than idiotic. 'If you’ll all follow me, please.'

'So, Alice, you work here for your parents?' John asked curiously as she led the way towards a staircase in the back.

'Yes, sir,' she confirmed. 'I finished school a couple months back, now I’m here until I can find a better offer. Pa says it’s his dream come true having all his girls working with him, but even he can agree it’s getting a little crowded behind the bar with all three of us.' Harry listened intently to her words; if she’d just finished school, that made her sixteen or thereabouts. Only a year younger than him. Surely that was too good to be true.

'I can imagine,' Jess sympathised. 'I’ve got four big sisters, it’s kind of a nightmare when we all get together.' Alice winced.

'I thought the three of us were bad enough; five is crazy! But Kay’s sweetheart is looking like he’ll propose any day now, so she’ll probably be moving out soon,' she mused. 'Then it’ll just be me and Cora.' She didn’t look too thrilled about that, and from what Harry had seen of Cora’s attitude so far, he could understand why.

'And what about you; have a sweetheart waiting to sweep you off your feet and whisk you away?' the captain asked, making Harry blush brightly. He couldn’t believe his father was being so forward! Alice laughed, shaking her head.

'No, sir, no one like that.' Harry hated how much his heart jumped with hope at the admission, and Stan winked at him in an entirely unsubtle way. 'These are your rooms; number ten is the single, and seven and five are both twins. Bathrooms are at the end of the corridor, and towels are supplied in your rooms.' Harry passed the key to room ten over to Jess, and number seven’s key over to Stan.

'Would it be possible to get lunch for all of us?' Harry’s father asked. Alice smiled, nodding.

'Of course, sir. We’re serving chicken pot pie and greens today, if that suits?'

'Sounds brilliant, lass,' John enthused. 'Thank you.' Alice dropped into a brief curtsey, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

'I’ll get that sorted for you, it’ll be ready whenever you’re done settling in. Just shout if you need anything.' With that, she left, and Stan punched Harry playfully on the shoulder as soon as she was out of earshot.

'She’s single, lad! I’d say you’ve got a chance, the way she was smiling at you.' Harry raised his eyebrows, too surprised to be embarrassed.

'Really? You think?' he asked. He’d been too busy making sure his words came out in the right order to notice whether Alice was giving him any sort of smile.

'Aye,' John agreed. 'But you need to keep it together! You’re acting like a blushing schoolboy.'

'It’s adorable,' Jess agreed. 'But it won’t get you a date. Like I said, remember your words,' she added lightly, winking one green eye at him. He scowled, sure he’d had a permanent blush since entering the inn.

'Just go unpack,' he muttered petulantly, turning towards his own room and unlocking the door, trying to ignore the crew laughing at him.

****

By the time they were back downstairs, Harry had — for the most part — composed himself. Aided by a pep talk from his father, in which the man admitted he’d been much the same when courting Harry’s mother, Harry was determined to make conversation with Alice. They were only going to be in Mericus for two weeks, he didn’t have the time to be hesitant.

Unfortunately, it was Kayleigh who brought their lunch over, taking their drinks order. She seemed much nicer than her twin sister, but… she wasn’t Alice. 'Cheer up, lad,' Jess encouraged. 'She’s probably just busy with other orders. She’ll be back.' Harry sighed, tucking into his pie somewhat forlornly. It was spectacular, as they had been promised, but he could hardly pay attention to the taste, his eyes fixed on Alice as she charmed customers and delivered orders. Once or twice, a middle-aged man with short cut brown hair emerged from the kitchen to talk to one of the sisters, and Harry assumed it was their father. His presence made him more nervous than he was willing to admit. This was ridiculous! He’d talked to girls plenty before, why was this one so different?

He saw Alice starting to load up a drinks tray, and perked up when he realised it was theirs. She was coming back over! An elbow to his side made him grunt, and he glared at Stan. 'Play it calm, brat,' the mechanic muttered under his breath. 'You look like a puppy with its tail wagging and she’ll think you’re dense. You want her to be just as intrigued with you as you are with her, and that means taking it slow.'

'Bit rich coming from you,' Harry retorted. Stan had been the embodiment of a tail-wagging puppy from the moment he’d met Jess, finding any excuse to be in the control room while she flew.

'I had more time with Jess than you have with this one,' Stan pointed out. 'You need to make an impression.'

Harry couldn’t say anything more as Alice arrived, handing out their drinks with a smile on her face. 'How is everything?'

'It’s great, thank you,' Harry replied. 'So you said you’d just finished school, earlier. Not going for an apprenticeship in anything?' Girls doing apprenticeships was becoming more and more common these days, but some still preferred to just stay at home with their parents until they married. It wasn’t the smoothest line, but it made Alice’s smile widen, her cheeks dimpling.

'Oh, no. I’m not so much the scholarly type; the only thing I could see myself doing an apprenticeship in is hospitality, and after growing up here I don’t think I need to! Pa could sign me a certificate any day of the week,' she said brightly. 'How about you? Excuse me for saying so, but you look too old to be in school. You apprenticing with your Pa?'

'I never went to school in the first place,' Harry told her with a grin. 'Homeschooled on the ship, me. Dad signed me off as soon as I turned sixteen. I’ve been an official member of the crew for about eighteen months now.' Just in case Alice wanted to know how old he was.

'I’ll remember you said that next time you beg out of doing maintenance because ‘it’s Dad’s ship, not mine, I don’t work here!’,' Jess mocked.

'That was once!' Harry’s indignant tone drew a quiet laugh from Alice, who tucked her hair behind her ear once more.

'Being homeschooled on a skyship sounds wonderful,' she mused. 'I bet you got to see all kinds of things.'

'Far more interesting than school, at any rate!' Harry agreed. 'Dad says there’s no better lesson than experience. I could maybe tell you about it, if you’d like? When you’re not busy, of course.' Alice’s cheeks went pink under her golden tan, but she beamed wider, nodding.

'I would like that very much.' She took her tray, heading over to serve another table, and as Harry turned back to his food he noticed the rest of the crew staring at him, looking almost impressed.

'Not bad, brat,' Jess said with an approving nod. 'There may be hope for you yet.'

****

Harry was hardly able to believe it, but even after their lunch was long finished the crew were still at their table in the inn, and Alice was still talking to him. Between orders she would duck past their table to carry on their conversation, asking Harry about his travels and things while he asked her about growing up in Cayn. Having the rest of the crew there made it harder, as he was well aware of them listening to his every word as he tried his best to charm the pretty blonde girl, but he didn’t let it put him off, and they didn’t try and sabotage him. Much. There were more stories from his childhood revealed than he would have preferred, but it could have been worse.

They kept talking well into the dinner rush and even past it, going from talking about themselves to discussing anything and everything that came to mind, sometimes with the rest of the crew getting involved. Harry’s heart raced the entire time, so much so he worried he was going to give himself a heart attack. Every time he thought he had himself under control, Alice would laugh or smile and his stomach dropped out all over again.

'We’re off to bed, lad,' Stan declared as he and the rest of the crew got to their feet, clearly having been discussing that while Harry was too busy watching Alice pull pints. 'I assume you’re staying down here?'

'Uh, well,' Harry started, and the crew laughed, the captain ruffling his son’s hair.

'Don’t come in too late, lad, I don’t want you waking me up.' Harry nodded and the older man clapped him on the shoulder, bidding him goodnight. When he was alone at the table, Harry bit his lip, bravely rising and making his way towards the bar. There was a free stool near Alice’s section, and she looked up when he slid onto it, smiling.

'Been abandoned, huh?' she asked wryly, making him snort.

'Something like that. I’m not bothering you, am I?' The inn was getting less busy as the evening drew on, but there were still enough customers that Alice probably shouldn’t have been chatting to Harry so much.

'No, not at all!' she insisted, taking money for a man’s beer all while she looked at Harry. 'I’m just surprised you’re not bored of my chatter, is all.'

'Never,' he promised, smiling at the blush he brought to her cheeks. Maybe Jess had a point, about her liking him back.

Without either of them realising, they managed to talk all the way through to closing time, and were both laughing loudly when Cora came over and cleared her throat. 'Allie, Pa says you need to stop flirting and help do the dishes, it’s time to lock up.' Alice and Harry both turned scarlet at her words, and she smirked at them both, tossing her short hair and flouncing away into the kitchen. Harry checked his pocket watch, eyebrows shooting up at the time.

'Storms, it’s almost midnight!' he exclaimed. 'I’d better get to bed, or Dad’ll skin me for waking him up.'

'Oh! Yes, you should, it’s late,' Alice agreed, though she didn’t look happy about having to stop their conversation.

'I’ll, uh, see you at breakfast?' he asked hopefully. She nodded, twirling the end of her braid around her fingers.

'Of course. Will you guys be sticking around long, or…?' Her question was tentative, like she was afraid of the answer.

'Two weeks,' Harry told her, smiling when she immediately brightened.

'Great!' she enthused, before blushing. 'I mean, it’ll be nice to talk to you more. You’re interesting.'

'I very much look forward to talking to you some more, too,' he assured, daringly reaching over to take her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. 'But for now, goodnight.'

'Goodnight, Harry,' she replied, eyes looking even bluer next to her bright pink cheeks.

Harry turned away and made for the stairs, only glancing back once at Alice. He couldn’t shake the beaming grin from his lips, even when he slipped into the room he was sharing with his father, seeing the man sat up in bed with the lamp on and a book propped open. The captain glanced up at his son’s entry, rolling his eyes at the lovestruck expression Harry didn’t doubt he wore.

'I’m going to marry that girl,' the teenager declared dreamily, his tone certain. His father snorted, shaking his head.

'Sure you are, brat,' he placated. 'If you say so. Just get some sleep.' Harry shot his father an annoyed look; he wasn’t kidding. He was going to marry Alice, whatever it took. Now he just had two weeks to find out if she felt the same way.