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0nlythrowharrybeaux · 2 years

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Young American - Part 1^

Y/N get's offered the opportunity of a lifetime, an apprenticeship at English Graffiti, world renowned tattoo artist, Eddie Chan's first American shop. However, an unnerving rivalry brews between her and one of Eddie's old apprentices and best artists, Harry Styles.

WC: 10k+

Fic Casting

Y/N had been waiting ages for an opportunity to get a tattooing gun in her hand and become a tattoo apprentice. Since she was a young teen she knew she wanted to tattoo. This interest and passion had been born from her aunt Julie who was heavily tattooed. And while she was considered the black sheep in her family, she had always been special to Y/N and her favorite aunt. She always told Y/N that one day she wanted to be tattooed by her and hopefully soon that dream would be coming true.

Y/N had gone to a tattoo convention to sell some of her prints and designs to artists or shops and also with the hope to get her foot in the door of the industry as an apprentice. It was hard to network while needing to just be stationed at her table for the three days of the convention, so she hadn't really had much luck yet. It was nearing the end of the final day of the convention and she was just doodling on a notebook when someone approached her table and asked about her art and when she glanced up to see her visitor she almost had a heart attack when she recognized the man before her. That was Eddie Chan, a very prominent tattoo artist, one she actually followed on social media for many years. She swallowed down the starstruck feeling that was practically paralyzing her and chatted with him and answered all of his questions.

Eddie was so kind and on top of that, he really liked her art and even asked to see her portfolio. Y/N pulled it out of her tote bag and handed it over, allowing him to skim through the pages. If his facial expression were anything to go by in that moment, it seemed to be that he liked her work. He then asked her where she was working and she explained that she was currently working part-time as a design consultant for an interior design firm. And then he asked the fateful question, "So are you interested in tattooing?" And she could've sworn her eyes teared up as she nodded in confirmation.

He then explained that he was actually at the convention scouting talent because he was opening up a shop in L.A. with an all-star team. He shared with her that he wanted to have an apprentice there because there would be plenty of great and established artists to learn from. Eddie was Chinese-British and he lived in and had his shop in London, so hearing that he was expanding to L.A. was almost fateful. He got her contact information and promised he would call her soon. And a few days later he did and asked her if she wanted to visit the location of the new shop and to bring her portfolio, which of course she agreed to. The shop was beautiful and nearly finished. She even got to meet another artist he had hired, Aurelia Vega, a legend all on her own. They all started talking about her apprenticeship and what that would look like if she accepted. Y/N learned then that the shop would officially be opening in a month, which gave her plenty of time to ease out of her current job and get to be the shop apprentice full-time. And after a few hours she was heading out of the shop with Eddie at her side.

"Thank you for this opportunity, Eddie." She gushed and he smiled.

"Look, I wouldn't be standing where I am if someone hadn't given me an opportunity. You're an incredible artist and I'm sure you'll fit in well with the team we're going to have here." He assured her.

…. THREE MONTHS LATER …

Y/N had been at English Graffiti for two months now and was doing incredibly well in her apprenticeship at the the shop. She had been shadowing, drawing, and being taught so many techniques and strategies from Eddie himself which was a dream scenario all on it’s own. He continued to be so kind, encouraging, and patient with her, though he assured her that it was no biggie because she was a natural. And the truth was finally having that tattooing gun in her hand did feel so natural. She felt alive as she got a shot at pursing her passion. And not only was being involved in any way great, but the team Eddie had assembled was really great.

There were three full-time artists, Gerardo, Vy, and the guy coming from London, Harry. Aurelia, who went by Auree, also tattooed but would assume the role of shop manager once Harry got in. She was close to Eddie's age and she had hurt her arm in a car accident and couldn't tattoo as long or as frequently as she used to, so the managing aspect of things was right up her alley. They also had an assistant manager/receptionist who was in charge of bookings, deposits, and all of the front of the house stuff, her name was Rosa. Meanwhile Harry arrived, Eddie was helping run everything, essentially doing Auree's job and training Y/N. The new guy, Harry, was relocating from the U.K. and would be joining them the next week. Apparently he'd apprenticed under Eddie as well and was his top artist at his U.K. shop. Y/N was excited to work with and learn from this guy. When she checked out his page she was more than impressed, it seemed there was nothing he couldn't do. He definitely had talent and a myriad of skills and styles down, so she was eager to work with him and learn from him as much as possible.

Eddie had been working intensely and closely with Y/N, taking advantage of the fact that he was around to train her properly. The others had also offered support and some suggestions along the way, but Eddie was doing the most work with her before he headed back to London to manage his main shop. Before he left he wanted to see her work on real clients if possible; she had tattooed many oranges, grapefruits, and silicone mats, she'd even given herself a little tattoo, but she had never tattooed anyone else and regardless of her enthusiasm, she was a bit nervous to get into this next stage.

***********

The week of Eddie's departure Y/N scrambled around to find people who were willing to let her practice on them and in exchange they'd get a free tattoo and thankfully, she was able to find two people who were interested in small to medium sized pieces that she had designed. Needless to say, Eddie was impressed with her affinity for working with the clients. He noticed it right off the bat with the first one; she was gentle but easygoing and was great at making people feel comfortable. Her second and final client had the more complicated design, despite it being the black and gray piece, but she was feeling pretty good about it. And when Eddie came to check out her work he was ecstatic with it.

"That's fucking good." He hummed as he inspected the finished tattoo inked into the client's thigh, also a tricky place to tattoo, "Auree, come look at this." He called out. She came over and inspected the work closely as well.

"Damn. You're a natural, girl!" She said with a grin and Y/N was over the moon.

"Don't forget to take a picture and add it to your portfolio." Eddie reminded, "Mate, do you mind if I snap a pic for our Apprentice highlight on instagram?" He asked the client who of course said he didn't mind. "Good work, Y/N." Eddie said with a big smile after snapping the picture and heading off to let her wrap up the appointment.

Both clients were really happy with the tattoos they got and left her a good tip, which she got to keep for herself. At the end of the day she stayed behind a bit later, as was customary, to tidy up and to take inventory as it was the end of the month. She thought she was alone, but then Aurelia came into their inventory closet.

"Almost done?" She asked.

"Yeah, just about." Y/N responded as she ticked off a few boxes and jotted down on the page that they needed to get paper-towels before the week was out.

"You did really well today." Auree said again and Y/N bit her lip in excitement.

"Really?" She asked and Auree nodded.

"Yeah, especially for today being your first time with clients. It couldn't have gone better." She assured and Y/N chuckled.

"Thank you, Auree. That means so much.”

"Of course, hon! But I will tell you, you tattoo so similarly to Harry, the new artist coming tomorrow?" Y/N nodded as she recalled, "I think that he'd be a good person to shadow and stick to for the remainder of your apprenticeship, both Eddie and I agreed. He apprenticed under Eddie too." She shared.

"Yeah, so I heard!” Y/N hummed.

"Yes, he's very versatile, but he's literally the king of the black and gray in London. He's got an eye for making things pop and come alive even in the muted tones. He's just such a cool and talented guy. You're gonna love him." She said with excitement.

"Oh my god, I can't wait!"

“Yeah, so I would suggest you study up on his work a bit more tonight just so that you can be a bit more familiar with it and we’ll properly introduce you two at some point tomorrow.” She suggested and Y/N nodded, “Well, I'm going to head out, but I'll see you tomorrow!" Auree said and Y/N thanked her before hearing the back door close and lock.

Now she was really excited for this guys to come aboard and learn even more from him. When she got home she spent hours looking through his page and hashtags with his name on them on instagram. She watched YouTube videos and was very excited to meet this famous Harry Styles. He seemed cool and he was so talented, she was impressed by him and couldn't wait to work with him and see him in action. He was definitely someone who she now looked up to.

The following morning Y/N showed up at 8:00am, her usual time, and she was surprised to discover that someone was already in the shop. She could hear some things being moved around as she set her things down in the employee’s lounge. She was thinking that it was probably Eddie, packing up some of his things. She walked into the studio area quietly and was met with a tall, thin man. He had a bright pink beanie on his head and a baggy t-shirt with some loose-fitting jeans and dirty Vans. There were a few plastic boxes and totes on the tattooing chair and counter at his station. She cleared her throat and he turned quickly.

"Good morning, I'm Y/N, the apprentice." She said with a smile. It widened when she saw it was him, Harry Styles! She was about to speak up again, telling him how excited she was to finally meet him when he beat her to it.

"I'm Harry the new artist." He said in a sort of flat tone, "Is there a reason my station wasn't prepped last night?" He asked her and she wanted to frown but kept her composure.

"Ummm, I prep the stations in the morning, not the night before." She explained herself.

"Well, it's morning and the stations still aren't prepped or sterilized I'm assuming, so..." he trailed off and she immediately felt irritated with him. She wanted to tell him that she had sterilized the stations the night before and that she had arrived two and a half hours early precisely to prep all the stations and the shop before opening, but she bit her tongue and took a deep breath before responding.

"I'll get on it right away." She assured and hurried over to the disinfectant cart and grabbed some wipes and the disinfectant spray and got to wiping down and then spraying all of the surfaces - even if she had done it the night before, "Do you want me to clean your station?" She asked him as she came up to his station. She wanted to check with him in case he didn't want her touching his things or maybe he had already done it and was just giving her a hard time.

"Of course, just move the boxes." He instructed before walking off and then she heard the backdoor shut. She scoffed and moved his stuff to the ground, wiped and sprayed the counter and his chair before going back to the cart and grabbing a clean rag and wiping down the first station and so forth. She was on the station before his when he came back in and sighed. "Why did you just put my things on the ground?" He asked her, an irritated tone saturating his expression and voice.

"Ummm, you asked me to wipe down your station." She said.

"Yeah, but not to put my stuff on the ground." He huffed in annoyance and placed the things back on the counter and sighed yet again, "Why's it wet?" He asked her with a furrow in his brow.

"Because I haven't wiped it yet?" She spoke to him like it was obvious now, not really caring to hide her irritation towards him this time.

"I was gone for five minutes and you weren't able to wipe down a counter? Jesus..." he mumbled and she hated the way she felt her throat knotting up and her eyes starting to get glossy.

Y/N was so disappointed with how he was acting towards her when he didn't even know her. Her illusions of them getting along great and him becoming her mentor were gone. More than that, she felt her disappointment morphing into anger because really, from the moment she said hello to him he was already being a dick and she didn't do anything to make him upset.

“Well, you’ve clearly never bothered to read the back of the disinfectant bottles. It needs to sit for a few minutes to do its job properly. If you want to half ass the cleaning of your station you can do it yourself." She snapped and dropped the rag onto his counter and hurried out.

Harry was flabbergasted. The last thing he heard was the heavy back door slam before it was silent all around. Harry felt his insides boiling with anger, who the fuck did this chick think she was talking to him like that? He wanted to follow her and ask her what her problem was, but he decided to just wipe down her mess and finish unpacking his things.

Y/N had stepped outside to take a few deep breaths and fan at her eyes to avoid the tears she felt coming on and once she was calm enough again she decided that she needed to apologize to him. If he said something to Eddie or Aurelia they would surely let her go. With this new panic now festering inside of her she hurried inside and into the studio and Harry spared her a menacing glance before continuing with unpacking his boxes.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you. It was unprofessional." She said and he stayed quiet, "I've been here a few months now and I can assure you that I always do my job and I do it well. It may take some time for me to learn how you like things, but I'm willing to learn. Like I said, Ive been here for a few months and everyone else is really pleased with how I do things, so-" she was interrupted by his scoff.

"You've been here a few months, have you? You’ve just got loads of experience." He said sarcastically, not even bothering to spare her a look, “Look. Just finish prepping and stay out of my way and I won't mention your little strop to Eddie." He said and she bit her lip nervously.

"O-OK, thank you." She stammered and he didn't answer her so she just got to work again.

Y/N got through her tasks around 9am and then went to practice on silicone from the briefs and concepts Eddie would give her as homework. It was interesting that he never gave her designs to copy, just ideas. But he told her it was supposed to help her convey non-physical things through the art, help her find her style for these things, and collaborate better with clients, and it was true. Harry didn't say anything to her again while they were alone. When everyone else started filtering in closer to10am he started to look more cheerful and was greeting everyone as if the very sun shone out of his ass. It was incredible. Right at 10am Eddie came in with a box of donuts and a bright smile adorning his face.

"Morning team!" He greeted excitedly and everyone called out their greeting to him as they continued chatting and catching up, "Brought some donuts, I'll put 'em in the lounge." He announced and people started flocking over.

In just a few minutes the smell of coffee was permeating the air in the lounge and Y/N was waiting in the line for the donuts. She grabbed a plain glazed one and quickly scurried off to the side where one of the other artists, Gerardo, stood. He was friendly with her, so sweet and welcoming from the moment she arrived. He was a newer artist to the field and understood the pressure and anxiety of getting on the same level as these veteran and experienced artists. He was always willing to help or give her tips and listen to her when she had a particularly rough time with something, so she definitely leaned towards him a bit more.

"Hey, G." She smiled and he returned the friendly gesture, bearing his teeth in a bright smile.

"Hey, Y/N! How's your morning going so far?" He asked her as she leaned on the wall beside him. She skipped out on the part of Harry being a total ass to her and just said it was good so far. She was about to ask him how his morning had been going when Eddie called for everyone's attention.

"Yo!" He exclaimed and everyone glanced over to him, "First order of business, I want to formally introduce you guys to Harry, he's the newest addition to the team. We've worked together for nearly ten years?" He asked looking to Harry who nodded with a smile, "Fuck, I'm getting old..." he mumbled and everyone chuckled, "I know Auree has met him before, but to the rest of you he's a new face. But he's a really incredible artist! H can handle anything you put in front of him, I fucking swear it. He's also an ace lad and I'm really excited that he agreed to relocate for this gig. Thanks mate." He said to Harry once again as everyone clapped a bit as Harry mumbled something to Eddie lowly as they hugged briefly.

"Second order of business,” Eddie continued, "as many of you know, Y/N is our apprentice at the shop and she's being doing a bang up job around here for the last several months. I think we’ve all seen how anything you give her she will get it done efficiently and exceptionally.” He said and everyone gave her little whoops of encouragement as she shook her head a bit bashfully, “Y/N, you’ve been a lot of help around here as we get the shop settled and I think I can speak for all of us when I say we're thankful for your help and hard work." He said and everyone gave her a little cheer again as she smiled timidly, "I think you all know by now that Y/N did her first tattoos on clients yesterday…” Eddie reminded and once again, her coworkers cheered her on, “And well, she fucking smashed it. Did really exceptional work! Probably some of the best work I've ever seen from a first time artist!" He said and Gerardo elbowed her playfully as she shook her head as everyone whooped and as she looked around she caught Harry's gaze on hers, he didn't seem amused at all, "She did so fucking good that I received emails from both of her clients outlining what a great experience they had and how excited they were to hopefully get tattooed by her again.” Eddie shared.

"Oh my god, really?" She asked and Eddie nodded with a big smile.

"You did really well, Y/N. And after reading their stellar feedback I've decided that you can assist with walk-ins." Her mouth dropped open in shock.

"No way!" She exclaimed and he chuckled.

"You earned it! We can work out the details in a bit, but you've proved yourself." He said. And everyone clapped for her once more, praising her great work.

"Thank you." She responded meekly and then she bit her lip to suppress the huge smile threatening to split wide across her face.

"Those were the two biggest things I wanted to leave you all with. I will be leaving for London tonight, so tomorrow this is Auree's ship to run." Eddie finished and they all cheered again, encouraging Auree this time, “Honestly, I don't think I've ever felt more confident or at peace leaving something. I trust each and every one of you with this shop. You guys are going to kick ass." He said with confidence.

After a few more excited cheers and hollers everyone headed off to their stations and Y/N was following Eddie back to the office where he worked out the details of how her walk-ins would work. Apparently the walk-ins would be split 70/30 between her and Harry as he had no clientele in the area yet. Harry had first dibs because he was already an established artist, but once he had built up his customer base they would mostly fall on her shoulders. Eddie did outline that if clients specifically asked for her then that walk-in would go to her, but for the most part they should be fielded to Harry. She could understand that, he had moved transatlantically for this job and needed the money and also his tattoos would bring in money. She couldn't charge until her apprenticeship was finished, so anything she'd be doing would be "on the house" and if she got tipped enough she could put some of that towards the materials she used, but not every client tipped enough for that. Either way, this was a win for her and she couldn't wait to tell her aunt and her friends.

…. ONE MONTH LATER ….

Working with Harry proved to be a pain. She initially chalked up his bad attitude to jet lag. But after a few days he was still being a jerk to her, so maybe he was really upset by her snapping at him or was hazing her a bit? So she apologized once again and tried to start fresh with him but he simply brushed her off and his bad attitude towards her persisted. After a couple weeks she just decided to keep her head down and compartmentalize the hurt and frustration. It was a huge bummer that he had some vendetta against her that she didn’t understand, but she was determined to make the most out of this new opportunity she was given, as he was determined to be a dick to her.

So even with Harry practically cursing her existence, Y/N was over the moon being able to work with clients. In her first week on walk-ins she had been able to tattoo four people. And during her second week three, and now, on this third week of her new role it was barely Wednesday and she was already on her fourth tattoo of the week! But this time it was different because the walk-ins coming in so far had been asking for her. Yes, Harry was an incredibly talented artist, but so was she and hers were free? It was kind of a no-brainer. She even had to give a few over to Harry and upon seeing his work the clients didn't always mind paying up. But for some reason, to Harry this had sparked a sort of competitive streak in him and he was upset that she was getting so much attention and clientele as an apprentice. This confused Y/N because out of of everyone, he should've understood because when Eddie took him on as an apprentice he was just 17 years old and shortly after he turned 18 Eddie got him started actually tattooing on clients and the same thing happened to him! Moreover, whether he or she tattooed, it was a win for the shop in her eyes! So she was having a hard time understanding and even trying to rationalize his frustration towards her.

Harry was simply jealous, though he’d rather die than ever have to admit that to anyone. Because why would someone as incredibly talented as him be jealous of an apprentice? When he started out right at 18 people saw his skill and knew he was doing it for free to gain experience and he was tattooing up to ten times a week! A great tattoo artist was a great tattoo artist regardless of time, time just made them get better. And he knew he was one of those special people that just took off. But it irked him so much that Y/N was heading there even faster than he was. He had never seen anything like it, it was impressive - another thing he’d choose death over admitting it aloud. He hadn't really gotten a chance to observe her while she worked, but something she was doing was working really well for her, she was like a siren of tattooing. So yeah, he was jealous that an apprentice was getting even more attention than he, an established and reputable artist was.

It was now Thursday of her third week tattooing walk-ins, but she was currently covering the front because Rosa was out sick. She glanced up from the sketch on her iPad when a client walked through the door.

"Welcome, do you have an appointment for today?" She asked with a friendly smile.

"No, I but I was wondering if Y/N was available for a walk-in?" The man asked and she perked up.

“Oh! I'm Y/N! Nice to meet you…?” She asked extending her hand to the man, waiting for his name.

"Ian." He said shaking her hand.

"Ian, thanks for coming in. If you give me a few minutes to find someone to cover I can take a look at what you're wanting to get done, alright?" He nodded and informed her he would pull up his reference photo with a big smile and she excused herself for a moment to head back to the studio and see who wasn't with a client. To her chagrin the only one sitting on his bum sketching at their station was Harry so she tentatively approached him, but he somehow already knew it was her.

"What is it?” He asked monotonously.

"Ummm, a walk-in just came in and asked for me. Can you cover the front for a bit?” She asked him and he sighed and silently stood up and headed off towards the reception area and Y/N followed behind him silently. The only sound was coming from the little beaded curtain serving as the door between the front of the house and the tattooing studio,"Thanks, Harry." She said to him with a smile when he plopped down on the stool behind the register and she scooted a bit further down the counter with the client to keep the register area clear.

"Alright Ian, m’all yours!” She said charmingly and he chuckled, “What were you looking to get done today?" She asked with an easy smile and he handed over his phone.

"I've been wanting this piece done for a long time. It would be my first tattoo." He said as she looked over the reference image with wide eyes. It was a giant Japanese style dragon that wrapped around someone’s whole leg. "I just like the pose of that dragon, you can do it as a Chinese or Japanese dragon, whatever your preferred style and whatnot. And instead of the cherry blossoms I wanted some clouds like these." He said reaching over the screen and sliding it to another photo, "And I’d want it in black and gray.” He finished sharing his concept with a smile.

"Wow, that's really sick, Ian. You want it to wrap around your leg like that too?" Y/N asked and Ian confirmed with a nod.

Upon hearing that Harry perked up, he was about to cut in and remind her that she wasn't allowed to work on big pieces like that yet.

“God, I really do love this piece but unfortunately as an apprentice I'm just not allowed to work on pieces of this magnitude yet. Especially if they're going to take multiple sessions to complete." She explained and Ian immediately frowned.

"Really? That's B.S. I've seen the tattoos you've done on other people and let me tell you, you don't tattoo like an apprentice!" He said and she giggled.

"Thanks, I appreciate that, but them's the rules." She said with a shrug. "I mean if you're really set on starting this piece as soon as possible Harry here is a phenomenal artist. King of black and gray back in London, or something like that, right Harry?" She asked glancing over to him in question with a friendly smile. He looked to her with a bit of shock but nodded.

"Ummm, yeah, that's it." He confirmed and she smiled at Ian now.

"You'd be in really good hands with him. What do you say?” She asked him, enticing him to consider the alternative.

Quite frankly, Harry was shocked that she had even recommended him. All they'd done the last few weeks were have squabbles, glare at each other, or give each other the silent treatment. He must admit that he was the aggressor in most of these unpleasant exchanges, but if the tables were turned he would do something petty like not recommend someone else to do the tattoo. It was extremely professional of her to set aside her personal feelings for him and really play up his work as a professional. And he got excited for a moment because it had been quite hard to build up clientele so far. In the past few weeks he'd only done one large-ish piece and a project like this would be exactly what he needed to get on the map in L.A.

"Ummm, I'm sure he's amazing. All the artists here are! I was looking at the instagram page before coming in! But I really want to get it done by you." Ian said and her eyebrows arched up, "I kind of have this feeling that you're going to blow up and it would be an honor to have you do my first tattoo and also for me to have one of your first big pieces." He said and she smiled kindly at him and was about to speak when Harry butted in.

"Well that's not possible at this time, mate. Like you heard, she's only an apprentice and she's not allowed to do that yet." Harry responded quite harshly, it made her frown. But he felt his body boiling with jealousy, he could've sworn his head would explode. Y/N was now desperate to soften the unnecessary blow Harry had just delivered to this potential client.

"Oh Ian, I truly appreciate your belief in me to pull something of that magnitude off but Harry is right, that won't be possible today. I really am sorry." She said and he sighed in slight disappointment but smiled none the less.

"Alright, I understand. Well it was worth a try to get in with you." He said and she smiled.

"I could still tattoo you. Do something on a smaller scale for you if you'd like?" She offered and he shook his head.

"Nah, it's alright this one means a lot to me. I'm willing to wait until you're able to tattoo at this scale if you've got like a waiting list or something? I’d like to join it?" He asked and Harry was completely shocked as he heard this. Y/N was too. Her jaw dropped to the ground and she then looked to Harry for some guidance.

"Just take his bleeding contact information, Y/N." He said dryly and she nodded a bit frazzled still, "Jesus..." He mumbled lowly enough that only she could hear as she hurried over to the register and grabbed a sticky note and pen. She wasn't sure why, but his reaction really put a damper on this monumental moment for her. This was huge. He was so unsupportive and rude, it really affected her morale.

"You know, Ian you are the first on my list and I'd be honored to have you be one of my first official tattoos!" She brightened up despite how she felt inside now, "I'm not really sure how long my apprenticeship'll last, but it means a lot that you're willing to wait." She said and he went on and on about how it wasn't an issue and that he was really thrilled for this. She still asked him to email her the inspiration pictures so that she could start practicing the drawing portion and they could start working out some ideas and he was more than willing to do that. After another few minutes and the promise of getting a call when her apprenticeship was over, Ian was leaving with a big smile and a wave goodbye. Once the front door shut she folded up the bright orange sticky note and put it in her back pocket. Harry then stood from the stool and brushed past her silently.

"This morning the bin under my station wasn't emptied out by the way.” He said before he left her.

"Oh, the custodian empties the trash. Must've forgotten, I can leave a note." She said to him and he turned to her with furrowed brows.

"Well if you notice it then just take it out, OK? S'not that hard, is it Y/N?" He asked her.

"Yeah, OK." She responded softly.

"Don't forget that you're still just an apprentice here, Y/N. You think because one loser with some cliche tattoo idea thinks you're the next big thing that you're suddenly too good for everything else that has to get done around here?" He asked her angrily and she turned away from him, he was being ridiculous. She had no idea why he was being such a dick out of nowhere, "Hey, don't ignore me. Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He demanded and she sighed and turned towards him again, "Know your fucking place." He snarled. The air between them grew eerily tense and then he saw a look in her eyes that almost made him apologize to her. Her eyes quickly diverted from his and he watched as her throat bobbed and she bit on the inside of her cheek and she just nodded.

"OK." She nearly whispered before turning back to the register.

Harry bit on his lip as he just took her in for a moment. She was so tense and she suddenly appeared so small and he just shook it off before he could allow himself to feel bad and walked away.

As soon as he was gone Y/N's tears started to fall, she felt so utterly defeated. She had no idea what she had ever done to him to make him be so hostile towards her, but it was reaching a point that she couldn't handle anymore. Before she could even think about it she reached into her back pocket and blindly tossed the sticky note with Ian's information under the counter where the trash can was. She fanned at her eyes for a moment to stop the tears before someone came in, but she wasn't that fortunate.

"Oh my god, Y/N are you alright?" Auree suddenly asked as she came and rubbed at her shoulder and Y/N sniffled and nodded.

"M'sorry. I'm just on my period and have really bad cramps and I'm super emotional." She fibbed and Auree frowned.

"Oh hon, I get that. Look there's just a couple hours left in the day, why don't you head home early, get some rest." She suggested.

"Are you sure?”

"Yeah, of course. Besides, I don't think sobbing apprentice is a good look for us." She joked and Y/N sputtered on her tears as she chuckled and Auree giggled along."We'll see you tomorrow, OK?" She said and Y/N nodded.

"Thanks, Auree.”

"Of course. I'll get someone to cover." She assured her and with that Auree headed back into the studio and Y/N grabbed her tote bag from the coat hook hanging behind the counter and slipped out of the front door.

"Hey Styles, can you cover the front for the rest of the day? I've got a 5pm coming in." Auree asked, grabbing his attention.

"Where's Y/N?" He asked right away.

"She wasn't feeling well so I told her to go home." Auree said and Harry swallowed thickly and just nodded.

He grabbed his sketch pad and pencil before he silently made his way over to reception area. He was settling himself in when his pencil rolled off of the counter and under the reception counter. He groaned in annoyance and got off of the stool and stooped below the counter to look for his pencil and he saw it stopped right against the trash can and beside it was a crumbled, neon orange sticky note, like the one he had seen Y/N fold up and put in her pocket not even ten minutes before. He grabbed his pencil and the paper as well. Harry bit his lip as he started to pull apart the little scrap of paper and just as he suspected, there in her too perfect penmanship was inked the name Ian Greene and his phone number and email right below it. That made a sinking feeling appear in his stomach and for his chest to kind of feel heavy. He had been really mean to her, hadn't he? So much so that he made her feel inadequate enough that she didn't even want to tattoo this guy anymore. For a second he let the remorse take a hold of him, but then he just shook it off and stuffed the note in his own back pocket. She needed to toughen up.

************

Y/N was all cried out. Her aunt even offered to order her favorite take out to cheer her up, but she wasn't up for dinner. She didn't tell her what really happened, she didn't want her to make a big deal out of what Harry had said to her. Being an apprentice at Eddie Chan's shop was a once in a lifetime opportunity. If she let this go she would probably never get another shot like this again. But on the other hand, she was miserable now that Harry had come on board, he treated her like she was beneath him, like she was the enemy. In his eyes she couldn't do anything right, he always found something to harp on her about, something to criticize, something to piss her off. She was just disappointed by his behavior and the longer she dwelled on their interaction that afternoon, the more she thought about quitting.

She considered complaining about it to Auree, but the shop needed a full time artist more than an apprentice, so the logical step would be for her to part ways with English Graffiti. And as she laid in bed, staring at her ceiling she decided that she would give this option some very serious thought. She was just about to turn her Netflix on when her phone started ringing and she saw it was Gerardo FaceTiming her. She cleared her throat and sniffled before she picked up.

"Hey!" He said cheerfully, it looked like he was outside the shop, "Have you been crying?" He asked her with concern.

"I'm fine, G. What's up?”

"Nothing. I just overheard Auree say you weren't feeling too good so I wanted to check in on you." He said.

"Oh, that's sweet of you. But really I am feeling better now." She said as he settled himself into his car.

"Alright, Just being a good friend." He said and she smiled.

"Well, I appreciate it." She responded.

"Look, I know that starting out can be difficult. We can talk about it, if you want, whatever is going on." He offered and she really just wanted to get it off of her chest to someone who understood. And maybe G would just let her vent and not tell anyone anything.

"I do want to talk about it. I think you'd understand." She said.

"Well, I was about to just pick up some dinner, but if you want to meet me somewhere we can eat, have a few drinks?" He offered.

"I would but I'm too lazy to drive." She whined and he chuckled.

"I'll come get you." He offered and she sighed, "It'll be fun…” He sung and she smiled.

"Fine. I'll send you my address, OK?”

"Sounds good." He said before they hung up.

She Didn't bother with doing herself up too much. She just put on some mascara and her glasses before throwing on some shorts and a t-shirt on. After about 15 minutes she was getting a text from him that he was outside. She called out to her aunt that she would be home late and hurried out to his car.

"Hey!" He greeted happily as she settled into the front seat.

"Hi." She smiled.

"So what's good around here?" He asked her and soon they chose a place and he took off. They talked about the rest of the work day as they waited to be seated and soon enough they were scooting onto some high-chairs of a local gastropub and he was watching her look over the drinks menu, "So are you going to tell me what's actually wrong?" He asked and she sighed.

"I need a drink for that." She said and he chuckled.

"Fine." He mumbled. Soon enough they had both ordered their drinks and he asked her again what was wrong and she sighed. He saw that suddenly her smiley demeanor was gone and she looked conflicted and sad.

"G, I'm ummm- I'm thinking of quitting the apprenticeship." She said and once again her lip was quivering because even the idea of quitting was so painful. She had worked her ass off for this, the amount of rejection she had faced from even small-time artists for then to be acknowledged and taught by someone as renowned as Eddie? It was truly heartbreaking.

"Oh my god, why?! You can't quit!" He immediately protested and she sniffled.

"I know how insane I would have to be to give up on this opportunity, but I just can't do it anymore, G." She said and he frowned and reached for her hand and she took it and squeezed, she didn't want to cry in front of all of these people.

"Can't take what?" He asked her gently.

"Promise you won't say anything? Because I don't want to make trouble and I don't want to appear ungrateful or like I'm being a baby to anyone." She said and he nodded, "I can't work with Harry anymore. He is the biggest asshole I have ever met. I have never felt so undermined and demoralized in my life. He treats me like absolute shit! And the worst part is that I really was looking forward to learning from him. Auree and Eddie were both excited to have me meet him and get to shadow him, but literally from the first day I met him he was a dick to me and..." and so she went off and told him about all of the petty remarks and micro-aggressions and finally what had led her to leave early that day, "-and he literally looked at me and told me to know my place." She sniffled as she dabbed under her eyes with her napkin as the tears inevitably fell.

"No fucking way..." G sighed with a frown and she nodded.

"That was the last straw. Like I feel so discouraged and I don't even want to tattoo in front of him ever again. Like I don't want to see his stupid face or hear his fucking voice!" She vented her frustration.

"I just don't get it... after you tried to get him an appointment for such a big and complex piece he goes and talks you down? Plus being rude to the client? What a dick." G huffed and Y/N nodded.

"I know... like I know that having him there is important and far more logical than having me there, but like Eddie believed in me and brought me on! That has to count for something, no? Like out of everyone there he should understand what it's like because he also apprenticed under Eddie! I just don't understand his beef with me.”

"Maybe he's just jealous that an apprentice is getting more clientele than he is.”

"Well that's not my fault either..." she said and G sighed, "But anyway, please don't tell Auree or anyone else and don't be weird with Harry, I don't want to make him more angry. I just need to figure out if I can manage this or not.”

"Yeah, of course. But you know that I'm always here for you and really, if you get to the point where you want to leave please tell me. I have homies who are also really successful and well known in this industry and I would more than gladly put a good word in for you. You've got real talent, Y/N. I would hate to see you give up on it." He said and she nodded with a small smile.

***********

The next morning Y/N showed up a bit earlier to set up since Rosa was still out and she also needed to handle the front of the house. She was just about done prepping the stations when Harry came in. He had his headphones on and he spared her a look and despite the rage she felt as their eyes met she just offered him a half-smile before she finished setting up the final station. He liked to come early, so she now got his station done first so that he wouldn't have a reason to talk to her. She then walked past him to get to the drawing station and she noticed that his trash can was hidden between his counter and a big snake plant that served as the border between the drawing/stenciling stations and the tattooing station. Once again, his trash was not emptied out. It probably bugged him at his feet and so he'd move it, but the custodian couldn't see it there, she barely saw it.

Despite her irritation with Harry she was going to do her job and try her best not to piss him off any further. He couldn't hate her forever, especially when she was being cooperative with him. So she made her way over and crouched down and he glanced over to see her reaching for his trash can and picking it up. He watched her face and saw there wasn't a fussy look on it nor did she glare in his direction as she stood with the bin in hand and headed towards the back exit of the shop where the dumpster was.

Harry just sighed and gnawed on his bottom lip as he continued sketching out some designs for a consultation he had to do later in the morning. Shortly after she returned with a new liner in the bin and she set it down exactly where he had left it before.

Harry continued feeling bad and it was growing worse. She hadn't ever really done anything to him. She hadn't ever been rude with him (unless he started it) or treated him poorly. He always gave her grief about how she'd prep his station even after she had learned how he liked things and did them that way, and now this. Going as far as doing something that was not her responsibility without so much as as complaint?

Surely, that hadn't been him when he apprenticed. He whined to just about anyone who would listen about how annoying the prepping and cleaning bits were, because for his first year with Eddie that's all he did. He knew from experience that it was tedious and grueling work at times, so that fact that he had not once heard her complain about it made him respect her just a little bit more. Around 9am more people started coming in and he took off his headphones, he had worn them thinking that Y/N would try to confront him about what he had said to her the day prior, but she didn't seem all that combative today. The vibe he was getting from her was weird, to be quite honest. He strolled into the kitchen and found G making some coffee.

"Morning, G. How's it going?" Harry asked with a smile and G just glanced over at him quickly.

"M'fine thanks." He said plainly. This was odd because usually G was the very friendly energetic one and he always sparked up conversations with everyone.

"Did you do anything fun after work?" Harry asked just to try and keep the conversation going and at this G turned towards him.

"Yeah actually, grabbed some dinner with Y/N." He said and Harry nodded and rolled his lips together before answering.

"That's cool. At least she's feeling better." Harry said and G just hummed before walking out of the lounge. Harry sighed as he went to make his own coffee. He just knew Y/N had said something to him about what had happened the day before and now G was upset with him. Fucking, Y/N.

************

"Y/N, I'm sorry but I was a dick to Harry." G said softly as he came through the beaded curtain and to the waiting area and Y/N sighed as she leaned on the counter.

“G..."

"I'm sorry. I got one look at his face and I got angry." He explained, "Told him we went to dinner." He disclosed.

"Ughhh, fuck. It's fine, don't worry about it." She said and he apologized again, but then left her the coffee he had made for himself as a peace offering.

G actually had a really big appointment today and so she wouldn't be seeing him for most of the day and Vy was almost back to back all day. Aurelia was out supply shopping and Harry had a consultation scheduled for 11:30. She checked in G and Vy's appointments and they got started on their stuff and at around 11:35am Harry wandered out to front.

"Your client hasn't shown yet." She informed him, already knowing what he was coming for.

"Have they called or emailed?" He asked her.

"Nope, sorry." She said and he sighed.

"Fuck me..." he mumbled about to head back.

"Harry, you can have all the walk-ins, I don't feel like tattooing today." She said and he turned back to look at her, she wasn't even looking at him, she just continued doodling on her iPad.

"Why not?" He asked coming back closer.

"I just don't." She said.

"Well yesterday you were practically shitting yourself over that guy's tattoo and you'll never be able to tattoo him unless you get the practice." He said, baiting her and she smiled softly, still focused on her sketch.

"Oh I don't know if I'd want to tattoo that loser, as you so kindly put it, anyway." She said and he rolled his eyes and reached into his back pocket for the sticky note with the guy's contact info, he had every intention of just slipping it in somewhere discretely for her to find.

"Is that why you threw this away yesterday?" He asked slamming down the creased up paper over her iPad. She frowned and was about to respond when the phone rang and she reached for it.

"English Graffiti, this is Y/N how can I help you?" She spoke into the receiver their eyes still locked on each others in anger, "Oh hi, Jennifer." She said and Harry's eyes widened a bit, that was his 11:30, "Oh, well the consultation is just that, you don't have to decide today or even put a deposit down unless you-" the woman cut her off and she stayed quiet, "Are you sure? Ummm, OK. I'll be sure to let him know. Yeah, have a good one, bye." She said and hung up the phone, "She changed her mind about the tattoo." Y/N said and she saw his jaw clench, "Maybe you should keep this and try to convince Ian to let you tattoo him, seems like you could use the clients." She said smugly and she could see him trembling with anger.

"Fuck you." He gritted out as he left the sticky note before he stormed off towards the studio.

"If you're not going to call him should I just send you the walk-ins?" She called after him and he didn't respond and she smirked to herself in satisfaction. After about 15 minutes of feeling on the summit of success that feeling soon faded and made her feel bad.

He was the only person who knew about Ian, despite being a dick about it at the moment he saw the note in the trash or wherever it fell and didn't just leave it there. He intended to give it to her and that was at least a little bit nice of him. And as she thought about him she considered that maybe he was being such a prick because he was under severe amounts of stress and pressure. He had moved from another country for this job and had only been doing walk-ins here and there. For an artists of his caliber it was probably really discouraging and frustrating.

When she had searched him up she saw that he was typically booked up months in advance and now he couldn't even land a single client. Maybe G was right and he was jealous of her to some extent? She sighed as she realized that revenge was not as sweet as people made it out to be. No one was due to be coming in until 2pm for Vy. So she stood from the stool at the register and went to lock the front door and left a sticky note reading "BACK IN 10!" That was visible if someone tried to look in. She then headed back and saw that Harry wasn't at his station and she walked back towards the lounge and the bathroom and they were both empty. So she then pushed her way out of the back exit and looked around and saw him sitting against the building wall and when he saw it was her he shot her a dirty look.

"Can you fuck off?" He asked her angrily and she sighed as she approached him.

“No."

"Please, Jesus... just leave me alone, Y/N. I'm not in the mood." He grumped.

"I just wanted to apologize to you for what I said. That was really low and uncalled for." She said as she looked in his eyes. Harry felt that it wasn't uncalled for, he had been such an ass to her that she didn't even want to tattoo, he deserved it. "I can't begin to imagine how frustrating it must be for you to go from being booked out months in advance to just... struggling to figure things out here. Seriously, I don't feel like tattooing, you can have all the walk-ins. At least that way you make money and the shop makes money too." She said and he scoffed.

"I don't need you to feel sorry for me." He said and she shook her head.

"It's not that, I'm just saying that I understand that this is probably frustrating for you because this is literally your livelihood and I'm still doing this for free. So if you get the walk-ins it's a win for you and a win for the shop, that's all." She explained and he stayed quiet, "So do you want to take the walk-ins or what?" She asked him and he just looked at her.

"Why don't you want to tattoo?" He questioned and she sighed.

"I already told you, I don't feel like it, Harry." She responded.

"Is it because of me?" He asked and her eyes didn't waiver from his as she responded.

"It's cute that you think you affect me that much." She said flatly before walking back towards the back door, "I'm giving you the walk-ins, OK?" She called out before heading inside again and he let out a dry laugh. He was the apprentice’s charity case. Nice.

Y/N was a nice person and for some reason he had really honed in on her and made her miserable and despite that she still came out and apologized to him for finally snapping and saying something just as hurtful to him as he had said and done to her since he arrived. The entire time she kept her head down, stuck it out, and finally it seemed that he was wearing her down. She was right, he was frustrated and stressed and discouraged. He was literally starting to wonder if he had made a mistake in leaving London for L.A., even starting up things had never been this hard for him and it was... scary. He sat out there for a good half an hour before Vy popped out and let him know that a walk-in had come in and so he took a few deep breaths before heading inside and getting to work.

That day he ended up seeing about 8 people, all tattoos were small and simple things. However, the shop minimum was $120, with Eddie's name tied to this shop they were on the higher-end of tattoo shops and charged a big pricey with good reason. His was actually the last tattoo of the night, a matching friends tattoo for two young women, he could hear them gushing about it and asking Y/N to take photos for them up front as he cleaned up his station, soon he heard the front door open and close before the loud latch of the lock. After a few moments Y/N was coming to the back with her tote.

"Here Harry, the girls left these for you." She said and Harry turned around and she placed $40 in his hand and a post-it note with one of the girls' number and he rolled his eyes with a chuckle and put the $40 in his pocket and crumbled the sticky note before tossing it in the trash and she laughed softly, "Told her you wouldn't go for it…"

"And how would you know that?" He asked.

"Because you're too much of a professional." She said and he hummed.

She then went over to the disinfectant cart and grabbed the wipes and spray and went over the chairs and counters. Harry moved his things to the light-up desk where he was working on a stencil without her having to ask. As the disinfectant cooked on the surfaces for a bit she grabbed the broom and started sweeping. He could imagine that she was exhausted, first to arrive and last to leave, but once again, he noticed that she didn't show her exhaustion, or whine or complain about anything or even mention that she was tired as she picked up whatever little garbage she swept up and then proceeded to wipe down the counters and chairs. She finished before him and after putting things away she grabbed her bag.

"Good night!" She called out to him and wasn't phased when she didn't get a response. But she was surprised to hear him rush up behind her as everything went dark and he hurried ahead of her to open up the back door for her and they both stepped out into the parking lot. She locked up with her keys, feeling a bit odd about him lingering beside her. When she looked up to him he was looking at her a bit expectantly.

"Why don't you want to tattoo?" He asked her again and she sighed and started heading to her car, "Hey, you're really fucking good, you know that right?" He asked and she kept walking as she unlocked her car, "Hey, Y/N-" He said grabbing her arm and she spun around with a perplexed look on her face.

"What Harry?" She asked through a sigh.

"I know I've been...hard on you, but-" he said and she guffawed.

"Hard on me?" She scoffed incredulously, "Try a fucking nightmare, a jerk, a prick, a complete douche, a complete asshole, a-“

"OK Jesus, I get it!" He interrupted loudly.

"No, I don't think you do. I never did anything to you and from the moment you met me you started acting this way and why? I don't know and quite frankly I don't care to hear your excuses for it, Harry." She said and he frowned, "Why don't I want to tattoo? I'll tell you why." She said, "I'm so mentally drained from trying to deal with you and whatever vendetta you have against me every fucking day that I can't even think creatively anymore!" She admitted as her eyes started welling up, "And I get this whole "haze the new person" thing that people do and shit and I could deal with something like that but when Auree told me you'd be joining the team I looked you up and I was so excited to work with you! I was looking forward to shadowing you and learning from someone as talented as you. Someone who had gotten to where they are via the same trajectory I was on and man, what a fucking disappointment you turned out to be." She said sadly and his heart sunk and a large and uncomfortable lump formed in his throat.

”I have never felt so humiliated and belittled by another person in my entire life." she sniffled, "And it sucks because this is my dream. I have worked and struggled for years to even land an apprenticeship and you know what? I am so miserable here and I hate it." She said sadly and there was silence for a moment as she sighed, "I'm thinking about quitting." She admitted in a solemn tone as their eyes met, "And yes, Harry. It's all because of you." Her voice cracked and she kept walking. He swallowed down the lump in his throat and went up to her as she got into her car.

“Y/N-"

"Please leave me alone." She said as she shut the door and turned on her car. He knocked on her window a few times.

"Hey, c'mon, I really thought we were getting somewhere today!" He said and she rolled her window down.

"You really thought that just because I can put myself in your shoes and be nice to you?" she asked him like he was an idiot, "You're fucking delusional, Harry. I'm simply being professional despite how I feel about you. Even if I'm barley being paid to be here and don't have years of experience, this is where I'm working and I'm through playing this stupid fucking game with you. I don't want anything to do with you-“

"Y/N, you're too good to quit tattooing." He interrupted her.

"I fucking know that, you asshole! I'm not thinking of quitting because you make me insecure about my abilities! Who the fuck do you think you are? I'm thinking of quitting because I deserve better than this." She said and Harry was frozen, "I'll see you tomorrow." She said and rolled up her window before driving off.

Now Harry felt even more like shit about himself and during this entire conversation he couldn't even find it in himself to apologize to her. She was right, all he would do was make another excuse and avoiding getting to the root of the issue. It made him feel like shit that she, for a brief time, looked up to him and had the intent of learning from him. She was so talented and had an envious work ethic. He somehow needed to make this right.

----- Tag List-----

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