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watchmegetobsessed · 3 years

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TO LOVE AND BE LOVED - Part One (Harry Styles)

a/n: oh my god i am sooo thankful for the love the masterlist got with just so little info about the story! it means so much to me and i really hope i won’t disappoint you with this story! i was planning to post the first part on tuesday but i got excited bc of all the feedback and reactions and decided to start earlier, so here it is, part one of TLABL, a story im kind of proud of and very happy to share! please drop by my ask box or leave your thoughts on the story, i would love to hear everything from you guys!

pairing: CEO!Dad!Harry X Reader

warning: mentions of death, cheating and divorce

word count: 11.2k

SERIES MASTERPOST masterlist

“I hope you realize this holds nothing against you, we all love and appreciate you and your work, but we had to face some unexpected problems this past year.”

You sit in front of Claire, your boss completely dumbfounded, not even comprehending what she is saying completely. You came to work this morning absolutely oblivious that today is going to be your last day of work at the daycare you’ve been working at for over two years now.

“I’m sorry, but last time you let us in on the budget you didn’t bring up any complication that might have indicated someone could lose their job, so what possible problem could have come up so abruptly?” you ask with a shocked and nervous chuckle. Part of you kind of hopes this is just some stupid joke she is playing on you, but Claire is not one to make games out of such serious things. Letting out a tired sigh she pushes her reading glasses up to the top of her head into her carefully curled hair.

“Look, I’m really trying not to make a big deal out of it, but we had to make some cuts on the budget. The kitchen and gymnasium renovation was completely unplanned and it kicked us in the butt. We are making some changes about the groups this year and it was made that it can be solved with one less person on the team. I’m sorry it had to be you, but the decision had to be made.”

“But why me?” you press. “There are two people who have been working for a shorter period of time here, didn’t I earn your trust during my time here?”

“It’s not about that, Y/N,” Claire shakes her head.

“Then what is this about?”

“If you are so keen on knowing, we’ve… received a few… complaints.” Your eyebrows shoot up to your hairline, this is the first time you’re hearing about it.

“Complaints?”

“Yes. Some parents are not quite the fan of the kind of mentality you are using while teaching the kids.”

“What are you talking about?” you ask, feeling all the blood rushing out of your face. This is starting to get way too nasty. Claire pinches the bridge of her nose before leaning onto her desk, clasping her hands together.

“I know that you are quite the free spirit and want to teach the kids about openness and acceptance, but not everyone is as rainbow as you are. Some kids brought the word home about what kind of books you’ve been reading and we’ve gotten a few concerns about you basically promoting the LGBTQ community for the kids.”

“I’m not promoting, I’m trying to teach them to accept everyone just the way they are, how can that upset anyone?!”

“Well, it does. The committee had to make a decision on who we should let go and many agreed that it might be the safest decision to make it be… you.”

You’re about to faint. You are sure you are about to fall off this chair and just black out. How can someone get mad about you reading stories about acceptance and treating everyone equally? What kind of monster can see it as a bad thing? And now you are losing your job over such a stupid thing that you don’t even feel responsible for.

Though you’d love to stay and try to convince Claire to not let you go, you know the decision has been made and if you’re being honest, you don’t feel comfortable anymore working at a place where parents tell you off for teaching important values for their kids. Sadly, but you sign all paperwork about your immediate parting and you leave Claire’s office to pack your stuff.

“Miss Y/N! Miss Y/N!” Izzy, one of the sweetest girls in your group basically launches herself at you, smashing against your legs as she hugs you happily. “Do you want to see what I just painted?” She blinks up at you with her gorgeous green eyes and your heart breaks that you won’t get to see her again.

“Oh, Sweetie. I have to—you know what? Sure. Show me your painting,” you smile at her warmly. You can’t say no to her, not when this is the last time you get to see her.

As you’re cleaning out your locker in the break room, Heather walks in and stops in her tracks, seeing you with your gloomy face as you pack everything into a cardboard box.

“What the hell are you doing?” she questions right away. The two of you have known each other for years now, you did the same master’s programme and somehow ended up working here together, carrying on the friendship you’ve formed through your school years.

“I was… fired,” you sigh, wincing at the words.

“What?! Why?”

“Apparently, we are having some budget problems with all the renovations that was made recently and unbeknownst to me, some parents have been complaining about my openness with kids so I was the lucky one to part ways with.”

“That’s fucking bullshit! The kids adore you, how can someone complain about something like that?”

“Don’t know, ask them if you ever find out who they are,” you mumble under your breath as you shut the now empty locker closed. “I’m sorry we can’t carpool anymore,” you pout at her.

“No fucks given about that, what are you gonna do now?” she asks, seemingly very bummed at the news that you won’t be working at the same place now.

“I don’t know,” you shrug. “I guess I’ll have to find something new if I don’t want to end up on the streets,” you mumble.

“Oh girl, I’m so sorry,” Heather sighs pulling you into a hug. “Why don’t we go out for drinks on Friday? Everything is on me!”

“Don’t act like I’m already broke, makes me feel like a loser.”

“Sorry,” she scowls. “Just want to brighten you up a little. Meet me at seven at that Mexican place, how does that sound?”

“Stuffing my face with nachos and tequila? Sounds like the best plan I could wish for.”

You waste no time arriving home after your worst day at work. You jump right into the job ads, looking for basically anything that might help you out of this impossible situation. Sending your resume to as many places as possible, you get a few callbacks the next few days, but you only make it to one interview on Friday and that doesn’t go well either. The man who calls in for an open position at a private kindergarten turns out to be a total snob and he doesn’t find your free spirit too fitting with the profile of his institution so you get rejected at the end of the interview.

You head out to meet Heather feeling like shit. You’ve been unemployed for four days, but it’s already breaking your spirits.

“You know what? Clair is a bitch for giving in to the complaints,” Heather slams her fourth shot glass on the table with a grimace. “She should have defended you!”

“I’m sure she just didn’t want to get into any disagreement. Some of the parents donate great amounts to the school and Claire would never risk losing that money,” you sigh rolling your eyes.

“Okay, but she is being very… not inclusive,” she narrows her eyes. “Firing someone for teaching the kids openness? Bullshit.”

“I’m just sad I don’t get to see the kids anymore. They really grew close to my heart.”

“The little fuckers can be so damn cute, almost make me want to have one.” Heather sighs, downing another shot before pulling the nachos closer to her. You laugh at her vulgar reaction, she has always had quite a dirty mouth but somehow she controls herself well around the kids. “How has the job hunting been?”

“Horrible,” you growl in frustration. There are not many that offer a good paycheck and the few that does are these posh places that expect you to treat the kids like they are made out of gold which is ridiculous. That’s not how you raise a kid!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sure something will come up soon. Why don’t you look into nanny jobs, have you thought about that?”

“What do you mean?” you furrow your eyebrows, popping some chips into your mouth.

“A lot of people prefer having nannies for their little children, some even want them to move in. My brother’s ex-girlfriend was a live-in nanny for about two years and she earned a shit ton of money, because she didn’t have to pay rent and a good chunk of the food, because the parents just treated her like part of the family and bought groceries for five people instead of four.”

“I’m not sure I’m cut out for that kind of stuff.”

“What, earning money?” Heather scoffs.

“No, living with a stranger.”

“Most of the time the nanny gets like a separated place so it wouldn’t be that bad, but you know what’s good for you. It was just an idea,” she shrugs.

Soon enough you drop any work talk not wanting to ruin the mood. You enjoy some time away from the stress of job hunting and you’re just trying to have fun with your best friend. You start talking about nostalgic memories from college and end up looking up people you graduated with on social media, checking out what they’ve been up to in the past years.

“Alright, I’m gonna go to the restroom quickly, watch out for my drink,” you announce pushing your drink closer to Heather as you head towards the restrooms.

There’s a bit of a line so you stand behind two girls chatting about some cute guy they just met and leaning against the wall you close your eyes for a moment, feeling the drinks hitting you in the head. You’re not used to drinking, haven’t really had the time to get drunk too much lately and it’s saddening to think that now that you’re unemployed, you could black out every day, you wouldn’t have anywhere to show up in the morning.

Getting deep in your thoughts you almost don’t even notice that your phone is buzzing in your pocket. When you finally realize you pull it out of your back pocket and look down at the unknown number with a scowl. You quickly leave your spot in the line and rush out to hear something as you answer the call.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I hope I’m not calling at an inconvenient time, I’m Harry Styles and I’m looking to talk to Y/N Y/L/N?” you hear a thick British accent on the other end of the line.

“This is her.”

“Great. Sorry for the late call, I’m Isabelle’s father.”

“Isabelle?” you ask in confusion, the names not really clicking in your head thanks to the shots you’ve been taking.

“Isabelle Styles? Izzy?”

“Oh! Yes! Sorry, yeah. Mr. Styles, what can I help you with?” you ask, not sure why Izzy’s dad would be calling you.

“Well I just recently learned from my daughter that you’re not working at the daycare any longer?” “Uh, yeah. Unfortunately I was fired this Monday…” you awkwardly answer.

“I’m sorry about that. Izzy has been really sad about it, I wanted to ask if you’ve found a new job already?”

“Not yet, I’ve been looking but I haven’t had much luck yet,” you confess.

“In that case I have an offer to make,” he firmly continues and you perk up at his words. “I’ve been thinking about pulling Izzy out of daycare, but I didn’t want to do it until I found someone to take good care of her. You’ve been her absolute favorite and she’s been devastated since you’ve been gone. If you’re up for a job of this kind, I would like to offer you a spot as Izzy’s nanny.”

“Oh!” is all you react, completely not expecting this call.

“I know there are a lot to discuss, but if you’re interested, I would be more than happy to have a chat with you sometime this weekend? To go over the details and see if we can make it work.”

“I, uh… Um, yeah. We can meet, that sounds good. When would it be good for you?”

“How about tomorrow afternoon?”

“That can work.”

“Amazing!” he beams. “I’ll send you the address through text if that’s alright for you.”

“Yeah, of course. When should I be there?”

“Would three o’clock suit you?”

“Absolutely,” you nod, stunned at the turn of events.

“Great, thank you so much, and once again, sorry to bother you on your Friday evening. Looking forward to see you tomorrow!”

“Thank you, Mr. Styles, see you soon!”

You get back in line at the bathroom and then make your way back to the table where Heather gives you a puzzled look.

“Did you take a massive shit or something?” she jokes as you take your seat and stare back at her, still in shock.

“No, I had a very interesting call, actually.”

“With who?”

“Um, Izzy Styles’ dad just called and offered me a job as her nanny.”

Heather almost chokes on her drink, coughing at the news. You hand her a napkin as she dries her chin off from her cocktail.

“Harry Styles wants you to be the nanny of his daughter?” she gasps.

“You know Izzy’s dad?”

“Y/N, everyone knows him! He is the sexiest man to walk this planet and not to mention that he is like stupidly rich! Have you not seen him yet?”

“Not really,” you shrug. “Izzy was picked up by an old woman most of the times, I guess I never worked when her dad came for her.”

“That explains why you’re not squirming already,” she scoffs. “That man is like… crazy hot, I’m telling you. I bumped into him one morning when I guess he was dropping Izzy off, the way he said ‘Pardon me, Darling’ made my knees shake,” she tells you, faking an accent that’s nowhere near what Mr. Styles sounded like on the phone.

“Well, I guess I’ll see him for myself. I’m meeting him tomorrow to discuss details,” you shrug and Heather slams her hand on the table.

“Oh my God! You’re gonna work for Harry Fucking Styles! Get ready because your panties will be soaking wet all the time,” she laughs like a hyena.

“Heather, stop!” you shake your head laughing too.

Following Mr. Styles’ call you decide to cut the night shorter than you intended, not wanting to look absolutely wasted when you meet him. Arriving home to your small, one bedroom apartment you take a quick shower before climbing to bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to collect your thoughts. You told Heather you’re not willing to do the whole live-in nanny thing and Mr. Styles might not even want you to live with them, but now that the option is there, you realize it might not be the worst case scenario. Especially since you’re not really swimming in other job offers and you are in desperate need of anything at this point.

Despite having consumed quite some alcohol the previous night, you wake up at a reasonable hour in the morning, finding a text from Mr. Styles about the address you’d have to be going in the afternoon. You make a quick trip to the grocery store and do some chores before you start getting ready for the meeting. You opt for a simple black dress that reaches your knees and pair it with a little funkier, flower printed blazer to bring some color into the outfit.

Punching the address into the GPS you see that it’s taking you to the outer skirt of the city to the neighborhood that’s known to have some quite luxurious estates and you immediately think back to what Heather said about him being ridiculously rich. Driving down the streets in your old Volkswagen you couldn’t stand out more at a place where at least three cars park on the driveways and one of them is a Ferrari or a Porsche.

There’s a massive security gate under the address that’s your destination and it’s left open so you can pull up to the driveway easily. You park next to a fucking Tesla, finding it extremely funny to see your car next to it, but it is what it is. Walking up to the front door you ring the bell as you take a look at the house that can easily considered to be a mansion. Guessing from the outside there are at least about five bedrooms in it and you can only imagine what other luxurious units are squeezed into it.

Soon enough the front door opens and you find yourself staring back at a breathtakingly gorgeous man, wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black suit pants, his chocolate curls falling to his forehead as his emerald eyes fall on you, a warm smile tugging on his lips.

Shit. Heather was fucking right, you think to yourself swallowing hard.

“Miss Y/L/N, it’s so nice to see you. I’m Harry, Izzy’s dad, come on in!” he invites you inside before a short handshake.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Styles.”

“Please, just call me Harry. I don’t like formalities at home,” he asks you as the two of you walk further inside until you arrive to what looks like a living room, but it’s actually the size of your apartment.

“Only if you call me Y/N,” you smile at him and he nods right away.

“Miss Y/N!” you hear a small voice call out and turning around you see Izzy running down the hallway until she throws herself against your legs.

“Oh, hello Sunshine!” you hum, squatting down so you can hug her.

“I missed you!” she pouts, rubbing her eyes.

“I missed you too,” you smile at her, caressing her soft cheeks before standing up. An older lady walks in, the one you’ve seen picking up Izzy. She approaches you with a friendly smile as she extends a hand towards you.

“Hi, I’m Ruth, it’s nice to meet you.” “Y/N, nice to meet you too.”

“Ruth, would you take Izzy outside while I talk to Miss—erm, Y/N here?” Harry requests. Ruth nods and taking Izzy’s hand she lures her outside to look for ladybugs in the backyard and that immediately catches her attention. The two of them leave through the sliding door, giving you and Harry privacy.

“Please, have a seat,” he gestures towards the sectional couch. “Would you like something to drink?”

“I’m good, thank you,” you smile at him as he sits in an armchair across you.

The interior of the house is quite cozy, kind of modern with a hint of vintage touches that make it less rigid, a pop of color showing at most corners so it’s not too monochrome. You quite like it.

“Y/N, I once again apologize for calling you at such an inappropriate hour, but I often work late and I wanted to get in touch with you as soon as possible upon hearing the news.”

“Don’t worry about it, I understand.”

“Isabelle mentioned it to me on Thursday that the other workers told her you no longer work at the daycare so I asked around a little yesterday and was informed that they let you go earlier in the week.”

“It was quite sudden for me as well,” you chuckle lightly, feeling a little anxious to talk about it.

“I know it’s not too appropriate, but I asked why they chose you to part ways with and I have to say it’s outraging that some parents are so ignorant and wayward. I’m really sorry this had to be the reason out of everything.”

“Thank you.” It actually feels nice that he thinks the same, this whole firing was ridiculous and you were losing hope in humanity, but Harry is now very much restoring it.

“Let me walk you through what the situation is here and what I was thinking about.” You nod and listen carefully. “I’m president of a record label and it consumes most of my time, I sometimes work sixty hours a week which I know is not ideal and healthy and I’m trying to change it, but it’s not an easy situation. I thought that putting Izzy into daycare was a good idea, but it’s been getting harder to work around her schedule as a single parent with so much work on my hands. Ruth is a family friend who has been helping tremendously with Izzy, but she is not getting any younger and she would like to retire fully and spend more time with her own grandkids. So I’ve been thinking about hiring a nanny for Izzy and try to make her days work around mine while I’m able to do that. She is going to start preschool in little over a year and I want to spend as much time with her as possible, but it’s not easy when the schedule depends on an institution. When she told me about your firing I had the thought that you might be interested in taking the spot as her nanny. She is obsessed with you, wouldn’t stop talking about what you do every day, and I might have also looked into your professional background. I like what I’ve seen and I’m very much into the way you’ve been dealing with the kids at the daycare. Openness is really important and I want Izzy to grow up in an environment that teaches her about being equal and supportive towards each other. I would be more than happy if you’d be the one taking care of Izzy while I’m not available.”

To say the east you’re stunned at how forward and open he was about the offer and his compliment about your professional background is quite flattering. You can tell he is doing an amazing job at raising Izzy as an open and accepting human, she was always one of the nicest and sweetest kids who always made sure to include all her peers in the games you played. And it’s obvious Harry is not just being a hypocrite, his tattooed arm, painted nails and ring clad fingers are not quite what you’d traditionally imagine a man like him wear, but he does it well and clearly doesn’t give a fuck what others might think about it.

Harry continues with how much he thought you’d be earning for the job and you almost choke on your own saliva. It’s almost three times as much as you’ve been earning at the daycare and you’d be able to save a good chunk every month which is quite amazing.

“I have to ask, were you thinking about a situation where I live with you or I’d have to be coming here every day?”

“Well, essentially it would be the easiest for everyone if you moved in. I have plenty of rooms you could choose from and you’d have access to everything else as well, of course, including the home gym, the pool, the sauna and the entertainment room. But I understand if you are not willing to make that commitment. If you choose to live here you wouldn’t be charged anything, naturally.”

This actually sounds like a dream, moving into this luxury mansion from your cramped little apartment and being able to save the money you’ve been paying on rent.

“And what would be the time management? If I moved in it would easily make me fall into a habit of always working, which is not quite ideal,” you point it out.

“Of course,” he nods. “I like to take care of her morning routine so you’d have to start around nine when I leave to the office. If we can make this deal working I’d like her to start taking some extra classes during the day, moving her activities earlier in the day so her afternoons would be free. She takes piano lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays, a swimming instructor comes here on Thursdays and she is taking French lessons every Tuesday and Friday. Everything takes place here, I would reschedule her activities to take place between nine and twelve. You wouldn’t have to worry about her during those times. You’d cover lunch time and then the afternoons. I try to get home between four and six and just work from home if it’s possible so I can be around her. You’d have to only help out whenever I can’t make it home in time I have urgent works that have to be done from home. We could have dinner time together and then her night time routine is my duty again. Ruth is willing to help me out on Saturdays and I spend Sundays with her strictly without any work distraction so you’d have the weekends off unless something comes up. In those cases I would check in with you beforehand and arrange it however it works best for you.”

You’re speechless for a moment. What he just shared doesn’t seem too bad, you might have to work a lot more, but being one on one with just one kid is much easier than dealing with fifteen of them at once. Not to mention that the money is still amazing compared to what you’d have to be doing.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, it’s an amazing offer. Izzy is such a sweet girl, I would be more than happy to take care of her.”

Harry smiles at you warmly, clearly proud of his daughter, as he should be.

“Can I ask for some time to think about it? It would be a huge commitment.” “Of course. Take your time and let me know whatever your decision is.”

“Thank you.”

Harry offers a quick tour in the house regardless, the kitchen is massive, they have a nice dining area with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the green slopes of the backyard that seems to be Izzy’s kingdom. She has a playhouse that could almost function as a real one, the pool is filled with floaties for her and she has her own playground further in the back with slides, monkey bars and a swing set. Your assumptions were almost right about the number of bedrooms. Beside Harry’s master and Izzy’s own room there’s one that’s been used by Ruth, one that’s for Harry’s mother and sister for whenever they are staying over and there are three additional rooms now serving as guest bedrooms, one of those would be turned into your room if you chose to move in. The gym seems better than the one you’ve been going whenever you felt like being a little active, the entertainment room has everything you could ever think about for a room this sort of and the sauna is already calling your name. Living and working here might actually feel like a vacation.

“Miss Y/N! Look what I found!” Izzy runs up to you when you and Harry step out to the backyard, holding her pointing finger up. A ladybug is wandering around her tiny finger, not even bothering with the amazed girl that’s inspecting it.

“Wow! How many dots do you see on it?” you ask and she knits her eyebrows together, counting the black dots.

“Five!”

“Yes, good job!” you ruffle her curls as she smiles up at you proudly. She really is an angel, you’ve grown to like her a lot and you would be lying if you said you didn’t get emotional over thinking about never seeing her again. Being able to take care of her and give her the best possible childhood would be such a dream and the chance to do that is right in front of you.

“I’ll be waiting for your call, Y/N,” Harry smiles at you walking you towards the front door.

“Harry, I don’t think you need to do that,” you speak up and see his face fall, he obviously took it the wrong way, thinking that you want to say no to his offer.

“Oh…”

“It’s not that,” you chuckle softly. “I would love to take the job. And if you’re still okay with that, I’d like to move in, it would make everything just so much easier.”

You watch as his expression changes from disappointed to hopeful as he cracks a smile nodding.

“Yeah, the offer is still there. When do you think you can start?”

“How soon do you want to pull Izzy out of daycare?”

“As soon as possible. If I have to I can go in on Monday and do all the paperwork. You could move in sometime during the week maybe?”

“I have to talk to my landlord about my lease, but I’m fine with moving in during the week,” you nod smiling and you can’t help but feel excited.

“That would be wonderful. Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

You discuss a few more details and then you head out, thinking about how the next time you’ll be coming here, you’ll be moving in.

“If this one doesn’t go to the donate box, I’m leaving right now.”

Heather holds up a pair of denim shorts, painted in the colors of the flag of the States. She holds it pinched between her index finger and thumb as if it was something nasty and disgusting

“You know I only bought that for that stupid frat party. I never wore that anywhere else, so you can put it into the donate box.”

“Thank God!” she groans and throws the shorts into said box.

It’s Sunday evening and your place looks like a warzone, boxes taking up the place everywhere as you’re packing your life up to officially move into the Styles mansion. You agreed with Harry to bring over a good chunk of your stuff on Monday and then settle in for real on Tuesday. He is pulling Izzy out of daycare first thing on Monday and you’d stay at home with her for the first time on Wednesday. It’s been a fast paced change, but you couldn’t care less. With the amount Harry is gonna pay you, you’ll be able to save up a good chunk every month, like you always wanted to.

As you finish putting your books away you reach the shelves that contain all your photo albums. Photography has been your passion for a long time. It started as a simple hobby sometime through your freshman year in high school, but in senior year, your photos filled the yearbook and you even did the design of it too. You’ve had a few gigs since then, some weddings and pregnancy shoots and you like to sell your photos individually as well. You wouldn’t have imagined how much a simple nature photo costs.

Flipping through the one on the top, you can’t help the bitter smile on your face as you see the photos from your brother’s 14th birthday three years ago. There are tons of family pictures with you, your brother Trevor and your parents, seemingly being all happy and joyful. Things were different back then and you didn’t see anything coming.

It’s past midnight by the time you more or less finish packing, you’ve filled three big boxes with things to donate so you have significantly less stuff to move to the Styles mansion in the morning. Heather spends the night, but leaves early in the morning since she needs to go to work. The moving van you rented out arrives a little after eleven and the two guys from the moving company helps you load it with about two thirds of your stuff. Harry is at work when you arrive and Izzy is still at the daycare, Ruth is the only one at home, she helps you out even though you tell her not to break a sweat over it.

“Let me help, makes me feel needed,” she chuckles sweetly when you try to get her to stop, but she insists on bringing in some smaller bags and boxes.

You’re still unpacking when Ruth arrives back with Izzy a little after four. You hear her little feet tapping against the floor as she runs down the hallway, bursting into your future room.

“Miss Y/N! You’re here!” she cheers, throwing herself into your arms as you sit on the floor, being the perfect level for the little girl.

“I am! How was your day, little Sunshine?”

“We finger painted and I made a painting for daddy, do you want to see it?”

“Of course!”

Izzy disappears to get her backpack from Ruth who is making her some snacks in the kitchen. She soon returns with her painting, presenting it to you proudly.

“Look! This is me and this is daddy!” she points at the two human-like figures, the only thing giving away who is who is that one of them is bigger than the other one. “And then this is mommy!” she then adds, pointing at a star in the upper corner of the painting and you freeze.

In the midst of everything, you didn’t even have the time to question why Harry is a single parent. To be honest your first guess would have been divorce, but Izzy’s painting is telling you something a lot more tragic.

“It’s beautiful,” you smile at her, trying to hide your surprise at the new information. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

Ruth makes sure Izzy is busy while you finish up unpacking and when you’re about to be done, Harry arrives home. Approaching your room even though the door is open he knocks on the doorframe, catching your attention.

“Hello, just wanted to see how things are going. Do you need help with anything? I’m sorry I couldn’t be here to help with the boxes and all…”

“Hi! Oh don’t worry about that, I had plenty of help,” you shrug smiling. “Everything is going fine, thank you.”

“Great. I did all the paperwork today, tomorrow is going to be Izzy’s last day at daycare. You’re still up to start on Wednesday, right?”

“Yeah, of course. I only have a few things left at home so I’ll be all set by tomorrow.”

“Thank you so much,” he smiles warmly. “And thank you for being so quick about everything. It means a lot to me that I can spend more time with Izzy thanks to you. I really appreciate it.”

“I should be thanking you the opportunity. I wasn’t really drowning in the job offers,” you chuckle making him smile as well. “Please let me know if you want me to change anything, I have a plan I would like to go around with Izzy’s days, but of course, your word is the most important.”

“I trust you to take good care of her during the day. The only thing I want is to have her home when I get home. Ruth couldn’t always pick her up before and I really hated to do the extra trip and pick her up from daycare instead of coming straight home to be with her.”

“Understandable. I’ll make sure to plan accordingly,” you nod smiling.

“Y/N, I want you to feel home as much as possible. This is your place just as much as it is ours now. Izzy and I go grocery shopping every Sunday, it’s kind of a father-daughter thing we do every week. We keep a list on the fridge, feel free to add whatever you need and we’ll get it.”

You can’t help the smile that stretches across your lips, because this is such a sweet thing to do, when Harry could easily afford someone to do the work for him. Yet he still uses this time to be with his daughter.

“Yeah, sure, thank you!”

“I’ll get out of your hair now. Would you like to stay for dinner?”

“Oh, no, but thank you. I still have some things to take care of before tomorrow.”

“Alright,” he nods before walking out. He leaves you thinking hard about him. You wonder what really happened to Izzy’s mom and if he is dating someone right now. A man like him is basically a dream to any woman, you doubt he is having a hard time finding a partner, but you haven’t seen any sign of another woman around the house. Guess you’ll have to wait and figure it out yourself.

The apartment is awfully empty on your last night here. When you moved in about a year ago you didn’t think you’d be moving into a mansion from here. You spend the evening cleaning out a bit so you leave the place in good condition. Your landlord was terribly nice about your early leave, you could easily agree that you’d pay for the two more weeks that’s left from the month and that would be all, no extra costs for moving out before your lease was up.

You’re cleaning off the kitchen counter when your phone starts ringing, it’s a video call from your brother.

“Hey there! What’s up?” you ask, propping up the phone on top of the microwave while you move around, doing your thing. Trevor seems to be lying in bed, a black hoodie covering his upper body.

“Hello, just wanted to see how the moving has gone today.”

Despite the ten year age gap between you and Trevor, your relationship couldn’t be better. Probably because you were old enough to see what a blessing a sibling really is when he was born.

“Everything went smoothly. I only have a few stuff to bring over, that can fit into my car tomorrow, so it’s fine.”

“Cool. How is the dude? What was his name again?”

“Harry. Harry Styles.” You see him pull his laptop to his lap and probably searches up Harry’s name before his eyes widen at the screen.

“This dude is big! He is the president of HES Records, they run some of the most popular singers these days.”

“Yeah? I was sure he is a big name judging from his mansion,” you chuckle.

“Have you looked him up yet?”

“Not really.” “Want me to read what’s here about him?”

“Sure,” you hum, continuing to clean while you listen to Trevor.

“Alright. Apparently he is thirty-one, took over the record company when he was just twenty-five because his father wanted to retire early. The number of talents working under the label has doubled since he has taken over and many of his clients have won Grammy Awards. Impressive,” he hums, scrolling down on whatever site he has just found. “He is known to be a private person, the last time he made an appearance… Oh shit…” Trevor breathes out and you turn to your phone with furrowed eyebrows.

“What?”

“Wow, this shit is heavy. It says the last time he made a public appearance was in 2017, not long before his wife was killed in a car accident.”

You freeze, feeling your stomach drop to the floor, immediately thinking back at Izzy’s painting of her family. It very much makes sense why she said the star was her mother, it must be the way Harry explained to her what happened to her mother.

“It happened in 2018, she wasn’t in the fault, a drunk driver ignored the red light and ran into her car at a crossroad. This is terrible, oh God.”

“Poor Izzy, she probably doesn’t even know what really happened.”

“Must have been hard on him, there’s not much about him since then.”

“Can’t blame him for not wanting to be in the spotlight after losing his wife.”

“Yeah.”

Trevor shows you a few pictures of him from years ago, he has always been handsome, but your favorites are the few from the times when he had long hair. He looked so different, like a whole other person, but still, he rocked it perfectly.

Then you show Trevor around in the empty apartment before loving to the couch, turning all your attention to him.

“How have things been?” you ask with a sigh. Trevor purses his lips and shrugs.

“Other than the constant screaming matches on the phone and endless fights every time dad comes over for more of his stuff? Everything is rainbows and butterflies.”

“Is it really that bad?” you scowl.

“It’s like they never run out of stuff to throw at each other, but I feel like this much couldn’t happen even in their twenty-eight years together,” he scoffs making you chuckle.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck in the middle of all that.”

“It’s like payback,” he hums and you give him a puzzled look. “You had it bad growing up for being the surprise baby, making them teen parents. Then I came at a reasonable time, they already knew the drill, but now that you’re out of the house I’m getting all the shit, having to deal with their divorce.”

“I’m really sorry, Trev,” you sigh, feeling guilty that he is all alone at home.

“It’s fine, I don’t blame you,” he shrugs. “But you could make it better if you asked your millionaire boss if I could hang out at his house sometimes.” He grins at you slyly and you roll your eyes. Of course he is already thinking about using you for his own good!

“I don’t want to push the boundaries just yet, but I’ll see what I can do.”

You talk a little more about school and what he’s been up to with his friends before ending the call. You take a shower and go to bed right away, feeling extremely worn out from all the packing you’ve done through the day.

The next day you pack the remainder of your stuff into your car and then your landlord comes over to do a checkup, though he fully trusts you took good care of the place.

“Again, thank you for your understanding, I didn’t plan to leave so early, but it just kinda came up,” you tell him, handing him over your keys.

“Don’t worry about it. I hope your new place will treat you right,” he smiles kindly at you.

You chat a little longer before you leave and head over to your new home. Once again, Ruth is the only one home and being the angel that she is, she helps you to carry your stuff up from the car before leaving to get Izzy from daycare. Since there’s not much left to unpack you finish quite fast, leaving you some extra time alone in the house. Walking around you try to learn your way around, still finding it a bit of a maze. You find Harry’s home office’s door open and after a bit of hesitation you step inside, just taking a look around. Yeah, it’s kind of a nosy thing to do, but you couldn’t help yourself.

His space is quite clear, he keeps his stuff neatly organized. Certificates and plaques are hung up on the wall, showing off his many successes in the business. There’s a huge bookcase near his desk and there you see some family photos… ones that include his late wife as well.

She was beautiful. There’s a picture of the three of them in the hospital from the day Izzy was born, Harry has an arm around his wife’s shoulders who is holding baby Izzy, both of them radiating happiness as they just become parents. Your heart breaks when you see the photo next to it, it’s just Harry and her in Paris, the Eiffel tower standing tall behind them as they are grinning widely at each other, foreheads touching. Harry has his arms wrapped around her slim figure while she is hugging his neck. They look so happy and in love, like they were always meant to be with each other. Knowing what tragedy hit them is just hard to process even for you, who never even met the woman.

You hear the front door open and Izzy is laughing at something, so you rush out before anyone could catch you snooping around.

“Hi Miss Y/N!” she chirps upon seeing you when you meet them in the living room.

“Izzy, you don’t have to call me Miss Y/N, Y/N is perfectly fine,” you smile at her, caressing her rosy cheeks.

“Okay. Ruth, can I please have some ice-cream?”

“I’m afraid we ran out of ice-cream, but I’ll put it on your grocery list,” Ruth tells her, a pout tugging on Izzy’s lips.

“How about this: I’m gonna make a delicious smoothie, that’s almost like melted ice-cream, would you like some?” you offer and her eyes brighten up immediately, nodding right away.

While Ruth puts away Izzy’s things they brought home from daycare, while the two of you move to the kitchen to make the smoothie together. You find some frozen berries in the freezer and pair them with bananas, putting them all into the blender with oatmilk, blending it all together.

“How is it?” you ask Izzy, who is sitting on top of the counter, tasting the pink smoothie that leaves a cute little mustache above her cherry lips.

“I like it!” she smiles, scrunching her nose.

“We can make it some other time then,” you smile, drinking up your portion.

Izzy is dancing around the kitchen, babbling about her last day at daycare while you clean the glasses and the blender when Harry arrives. He is wearing a baby blue suit with a crispy dress shirt underneath, looking fashionable but still business appropriate at the same time.

“Daddy!” Izzy launches towards her daddy, who catches her, throwing her into the air before holding her in his arms, joining you in the kitchen.

“Hey baby. How was your day?”

“Good, all my friends hugged me but I told them we would meet in the park.”

“That’s right, and I have the number of all your friends’ parents, we can have playdates with them whenever you want to,” he smiles before his eyes meet yours. “Hi Y/N, everything went well with the rest of your moving?”

“Yeah, I’m all set,” you smile back at him.

“That’s great. I have a few calls to make, but I’ll be done in thirty probably. Would you mind looking out for Izzy in the meanwhile?”

“Of course. She promised me to take me around her room, so we could do that, what do you say?” you ask the little girl who nods in excitement.

Harry disappears in his office and Izzy pulls you to her room, showing you just about every toy she owns. Her room is a typical girl’s room, the walls are painted a light pink color, her bedframe resembles a castle and she has a dollhouse as big as your previous bathroom. Harry clearly spoils her rotten, but what you noticed is that she is not one of those annoying bratty only children who can’t take no. She was clearly taught how to behave and always listen to the adults.

While Izzy is putting her stuffed animals away after introducing you to all of them, you spot a photo frame near her bed, decorated with macaroni. You remember when you all did that together at daycare and now you get to see the photo that ended up behind the glass.

It’s a photo of Izzy and her mother, she was just a baby and doing quick math in your head you realize it must have been not long before her accident, might even be the last picture taken of the two of them. Her mom is smiling at the camera while Izzy is sleeping in her arms peacefully. Izzy looked a lot like her when she was a baby, the bridge of her nose and her lips resembled her mother’s, though now she appears to take more after her dad with her chocolate curls and piercing green eyes.

“That’s my mommy,” she tells you when she sees you looking at the photo.

“It’s a nice picture,” you smile at her, trying your best to hide how heartbroken you feel even just looking at the photo.

“Daddy said she had to go up to the sky, but she is watching me from there,” she explains, clearly not entirely sure what it means, but you can tell she misses her. “Daddy said she is living between the stars now and that she loves me very much.” You need to fight your tears back at her words.

“I’m sure of that too,” you breathe out smiling at her.

“Izzy, do you want to help me make dinner?” Harry walks in smiling, though it disappears for a moment when he sees the two of you looking at the photo of his wife, but he is quick to control himself.

“Yes! What are we making?” she runs over to him, jumping up and down.

“Uh, chicken and veggies.”

You step away from the photo, pretending like nothing just happened. You’re dying to discuss it with Harry, hear him talk about it, but you won’t push him. If he wants to share it, he’ll come to you.

“Alright, come on then,” he smiles down at her. “Thank you for watching her, I’ll take over from here. Food will be ready in about an hour, Ruth is staying with us as well,” he informs you.

“Great, I’ll… I’ll be in my room,” you nod.

The first two weeks on the job brush past smoothly. It takes you some time to get used to your new home, but taking care of Izzy doesn’t feel like work, so you’re feeling amazing in your new job. You easily fall into a schedule with her.

The mornings are always Harry’s duty. He wakes her up around seven-thirty, makes her breakfast and dresses her for the day before he leaves around nine. Thanks to this habit of his, you’re able to sleep in until eight, leaving you plenty of time to get ready for your day with Izzy before Harry has to leave. Depending on the weather, the two of you then either take over the back yard or move to her room for some play time before her class of the day starts in the noon. Piano with Rosaline on Mondays and Wednesdays, French lesson with Lyon on Tuesdays and Fridays and then Izzy’s favorite on Thursdays, swimming class with Kitty.

Izzy loves to help in the kitchen so you usually make lunch together. Once her tummy is full she takes a nap before you sit down to learn something new every day. You’ve been teaching her the numbers and the alphabet, or some days you just talk about anything that interests her and learn at least two things she hasn’t know yet, all through games so she doesn’t even realize what you’re doing. You’re usually done by around three, leaving you time to take a visit to the park, if Harry is not planning to take her himself later that day.

You’re strictly home by four, unless it’s Tuesday when she has her dance class until five. Those days you drive her to her class, run some quick errands and pick her up. Harry usually uses his extra time in the office on these days, but he is always home by six to have dinner together with his daughter.

Once Harry is home you’re off duty, though you like to stay close, not just in case something comes up for Harry, but because you genuinely like spending time with Izzy and Harry, seeing them interacting.

Harry sometimes has to work on Saturdays as well, but just as he promised Ruth is always here to take over duty on those days, leaving you free for the whole weekend. It’s been working perfectly for you and those very few concerns you had about moving in dissolve quite fast as soon as you start working.

Though it’s been pretty clear to you before, you now one hundred percent sure that Harry is living for his daughter. She is always a priority, he doesn’t hesitate to decline any work calls he gets in the evenings if Izzy needs him, if she is a little fussy and wants her daddy’s attention or when they are in the middle of a game. He is clearly trying to keep a balance between his work and role as a father and from what you’ve seen, it seems like he is doing an amazing job in that. However you haven’t learned much else about him. He is all friendly towards you, but makes sure to keep it business casual, not quite keen on getting to know each other better as just friends, maybe.

A Friday afternoon you’re having a little tea party in the backyard with Izzy when Harry arrives home, but this time, he is not alone. Through the sliding door you spot him with a blonde guy who is talking very articulately as Harry is typing on his phone. The man looks about Harry’s age, but you can’t tell if he is a friend or a business partner, but if Harry brought him home, he is more likely to be a friend of his.

“Uncle Niall!” Izzy gasps when he spots the man through the glass and abandoning the tea party, she starts running towards the door. The man spots her and slides the door open grinning widely before she jumps into his arms.

“Little bugger! How are ya?” the man laughs, holding Izzy in a tight hug before leaning back to take a good look at her. You notice his thick Irish accent and it suits his appearance quite well. You head inside as well, in case Harry needs Izzy busy for a little longer, though he doesn’t mind having her around, kissing the top of her head before finishing up whatever he was doing on his phone, watching Niall and Izzy smiling.

“I’m having a tea party with Y/N, wanna join?” Izzy invites the man, who then looks at you for the first time, smiling widely.

“Hi, I’m Y/N, Izzy’s new nanny,” you introduce yourself, holding out a hand that he shakes, keeping Izzy in his other arm without a problem.

“Nice to meet ya, I’m Niall.”

“Y/N, Niall is an old friend of mine. He is joining us for dinner, hope you don’t mind,” Harry informs you and you find it funny how he is kind of asking for your approval when it’s his house.

“Not at all.”

“Harry has told me he hired a pair of new hands to help, but he didn’t mention it’s a stunning young woman!” Niall beams, making you blush right away.

“Ni, I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to pick up my daughter’s new nanny,” Harry warns him lightly, though there’s some firmness in his tone, not that it scares Niall in any way, he even winks at you.

“Oh come on, you can’t expect me not to flirt when you surround yourself with so many pretty women! First Ruth and now Y/N!”

You smile at him, something is telling you he wasn’t joking and he tried to flirt with Ruth as well. Harry just rolls his eyes at his friend, taking Izzy from him.

“Keep it in your pants, Niall,” Harry tells him and though it’s nothing vulgar, it catches Izzy’s attention.

“What should he keep in his pants?” she questions, making your and Harry’s eyes grow big right away. Luckily, Niall keeps his cool and takes care of the situation.

“My attitude, Sweetie. Your daddy is just jealous because I’m more handsome than he is,” he smirks at the little girl, successfully avoiding an awkward conversation about what it is that Niall should keep in his pants.

You smile at his reply, even though you are not that sure about the comparison he just made between himself and Harry.

“Izzy, do you want to continue the tea party?” you ask her and even though just a minute ago she was inviting Niall to join her, now she shakes her head no. “Alright, I’ll pack it up then.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. We’ll do it, right Izzy? She brought it all out, she is going to be the one packing it up,” Harry reminds her and she nods.

The two of them move outside to put her little tea set back into the basket she keeps it in, leaving you and Niall alone.

“So Y/N, how did you end up here?”

“I was working at Izzy’s daycare, but they sent me away not long ago. Then Harry contacted me and offered the job which was a lifesaver, truly.”

“That’s great! Well, not that you got fired, but that you ended up here. I know it means a lot for Harry that he can spend more time with Izzy, you’re making everything a lot easier for him.” Niall walks over into the kitchen and grabs a water for himself as he leans against the counter. “I can see that he is a lot more relaxed now already.”

“Really?” you ask, surprised.

“Yeah. I know he always used to stress about picking Izzy up, or forgetting something the daycare asked for. Now he can make it all work just how he wants to, that fits him a lot more. It hasn’t been easy on him since Maggie’s death.”

This is the first time you hear anyone talk about Harry’s wife and now you just learned her name. Maggie.

“Being a single parents is never easy,” you add with a soft smile, not wanting to interrogate Niall about Maggie. It’s Harry’s place to tell you about her, if he wants to, of course.

Soon enough Izzy and Harry take over the kitchen, Niall helping them this time and you leave them alone, taking some time for yourself in your room. Later you go out to check if there’s anything you could help with, Harry asks you to set the table as he finishes up the cooking.

“So, Y/N. Tell me a little bit about yourself!” Niall asks you over dinner.

“Um, what do you want to know?” you ask, feeling a little flustered to be in the spotlight.

“I don’t know, family, friends, hobbies?”

“Well, I have a younger brother, Trevor. He is seventeen and already taller than me.”

“Oh, that seems like a big age gap.”

“Ten years, to be exact,” you nod. “He was planned, I wasn’t,” you add with a soft chuckle. “But we have a great relationship, so it’s all good. We talk almost every day.”

“I’m sure you’ll get well along with Gemma then!” Niall beams, glancing at Harry.

“Gemma is my sister,” Harry explains. “Though she is not that much older than me.”

“But you can bond over being stuck with a younger brother who outgrew you,” Niall jokes making all three of you laugh.

All through dinner you realize how different Niall is from Harry, but in a good way. While Harry is more quiet and calm, Niall is kind of all over the place, buzzing and chatting every chance he got, but the two of them make a great pair, bringing what the other doesn’t have to the table.

After dinner you attempt to leave them again, but Niall makes you stay as they open a glass of wine. Harry puts on a movie for Izzy to keep her busy, giving the three of you a chance to sit out at the terrace from where you still can keep an eye on the little girl inside.

“Alright, Y/N. When are we going on our first date then?” Niall asks out of the blue, a cocky smile tugging on his lips.

“Niall, for fuck’s sake,” Harry breathes out as you let out an awkward chuckle.

“What? I think there’s some electricity going on between us.”

“I, uhh—I don’t…”

“Please don’t turn me down!” he sighs dramatically, making you smile.

“You’ve been great company, but I’m not sure we should go out,” you tell him. He huffs in disappointment, but it’s clear he didn’t take it to his heart.

“Is it because you’re taken? I didn’t even ask, are you dating anyone? You can’t be engaged, because I don’t see any rings,” he points out, nodding towards your naked fingers, however his words make you suck on your breath.

“I’m not engaged. Not anymore,” you admit and you watch their eyes go wide at the information.

“Wait, you’ve been engaged before?” Harry asks, clearly surprised, if not shocked.

“Yeah. For about four months,” you nod, running your tongue over your lips as you reach for your wine, taking a few large gulps.

“And what did the fucker do?” Niall bluntly questions, earning a look from Harry. “What? I’m just curious what twat it takes to lose a woman like her!”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about that,” Harry presses, but you shrug.

“It’s not a secret. We dated for about two years before he proposed. I said yes, started planning the wedding and everything, then found out that he had been cheating on me with his assistant for about a year. We broke up, simple as that. It’s in the past, happened a year ago.”

“That’s some next level asshole bullshit,” Niall shakes his head while Harry is just staring at you with an unreadable look before he turns his attention at his glass, still clearly deep in his thoughts and you wonder what he thinks of you now. Here is the loser who not only got cheated on, but lost her job, all of that just in one year.

Harry doesn’t react, and a moment later Izzy comes out because she is thirsty, so daddy duties call him away. Niall stays a little, but heads home soon as well.

“It was nice meeting you, Y/N. The date still stands though,” he smirks when he pulls back from the short hug he enveloped you in.

“Alright,” you chuckle, slowly getting used to his flirty act.

You was the wine glasses and head back to your room while Harry walks Niall out and then takes Izzy upstairs to give her a bath. You don’t cross paths until later when you leave your room, already in your pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt to grab some water for yourself and he walks out of Izzy’s room just then, probably done with putting her to sleep.

“I’m sorry if Niall made you uncomfortable, he didn’t mean to be rude or anything,” he apologizes as the two of you walk together.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” you chuckle softly. “It was kind of a boost to my ego, if I’m being honest.”

Harry huffs with a smile and stops at the kitchen island, his fingers tapping on his lips as you grab yourself a bottled water.

“I’m… I’m sorry about… about what you told us earlier.”

Closing the fridge you look at him, seeing that he is kind of hesitant, like he is not sure he should have spoken up, but you appreciate the thought.

“It’s alright. Just water under the bridge,” you shrug.

“I just feel bad you had to go through that.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” you chuckle softly. “It sucked, yeah. I really thought I would live happily ever after with Keith, but instead I got a lesson.”

“A lesson?”

“When we broke up I was obviously on the floor, both literal and theoretical way. I thought it was my fault, that I did something wrong and that’s why he did what he did. I even thought that I’m not worthy of being loved and being in love again. Took me time to realize that no matter what happened, I still deserve to be happy and to find someone to love and who can love me back.”

It appears that your words touch him deep, staring back at you, he just nods shortly, not replying to anything you just said. You’re not sure he is so silent because he doesn’t really understand what you just talked about or if it hit too close to home. Whatever it is, he keeps it to himself.

“Good night, Harry,” you smile at him before walking out of the kitchen and up into your room.

You’re lying in bed already when you hear him open his room’s door and then close it and suddenly he is all you can think about. The way his eyes sometimes pierce down on you, the way he taps his fingers against his lips when he is thinking hard or the proud smile that always plasters across his face whenever he is watching Izzy do basically anything. But you do see some pain in those beautiful green eyes of his and your desire to take just the smallest fracture of it away grows, even though he is not showing any sign that he is willing to share it with you.

The next morning, despite having the day off, you wake up quite early. You toss and turn, try to fall back asleep a little longer, but you just can’t. It’s a nice, warm morning and you decide to take advantage of the little balcony attached to your room. Wrapping yourself in your fluffy robe you grab the book you started reading a few days ago and sit out, enjoying the morning Sun that’s shining right at you on the balcony.

You don’t even realize for a while that you’re not the only early riser. When your eyes wander down to the big oak tree that’s near Izzy’s playground, you spot Harry doing what appears to be yoga on a green mattress, wearing nothing else, just a pair of black shorts. No shirt.

For a moment you think about going inside, feeling like you’re invading his privacy in a way, but you have the right to enjoy the morning Sun on your balcony, it’s not your fault he decided to have yoga at the exact same time. And it’s just hard not to look at his shirtless body stretching in all directions, twisting and turning as he goes through the motions, his tattooed body on full display.

It’s been clear since the moment you laid eyes on him for the first time that Harry is probably the most beautiful man you’ve ever met and that includes all your exes. Paired with his kind of mysterious charisma and the way he takes care of his daughter, he is the whole package, but you have been busy with Izzy to dwell too long on how attractive he really is. But right now, you are not working and he is very much shirtless in the backyard, teasing you with thoughts you definitely shouldn’t be thinking about when it comes to your boss.

A shaky breath leaves your mouth as you let yourself watch him just for a few more minutes before heading back inside, not wanting to get busted for being a stalker and also not wanting to see him in more positions and have even more unholy thoughts about him.

But what you don’t know is that just as you step inside, Harry catches your figure disappearing in your room, knowing well you saw him too.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

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thran-duils · 3 years

Text

I Crave Annihilation (P.2)

Title: I Crave Annihilation (Part Two) Summary: Fem!Reader x Mafia!Dark Tony Stark. Tony works for the reader’s very influential politician father moving guns and drugs. She starts flirting with him and he is returning the vibes. She moves into her own place out of her parent’s house and texts him to come save her from a house party. Smut ensues. Words: 3,450 Warnings (for the fic in entirety): Smut, HUGE age difference, angst, violence, infidelity, possessive behavior

Part One || Part Three || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

“Who does this pussy belong to, baby?”

“You, sir!” you keened, your knuckles white grasping your blankets.

Tony slowed before laying a hard smack across your ass, drawing a cry from you. He kneaded at your ass roughly, groaning. You could feel him pulling your cheeks apart as he thrusted, a low hum leaving his mouth. He was definitely relishing in watching his cock moving in and out. He laid another hard smack and you whined for him.

“Such a good girl,” he husked, resuming his brutal pace.

<><><>

Tony left the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He smirked to himself, knowing he had worn Y/N out; she was going to be sore tomorrow. Just like how he liked to leave her so she remembered who she belonged to. Descending the stairs to the ground floor, he stopped seeing two girls sitting on the couch, looking pretty intoxicated, still holding drinks in their hands, Taco Bell wrappers spread out along the coffee table. They had not heard the girls come home; not a surprise considering how loud him and Y/N had been. He surmised they had been there for a while with the food and had been listening to him completely wreck Y/N upstairs.

He threw them a charming smirk and asked, “Roommates?”

“Yeah…” one said slowly, trying to hide the smile on her face. She was looking him over, taking in his tailored pants and pressed dress shirt.

“I wasn’t here. Right?” Tony responded, cocking his head in expectance. They both nodded and Tony winked, and he saw them both turn bashful in a second before he turned, opening the door and walking out.

As soon as he got outside, he pulled his phone out and texted Y/N.

Your roommates are downstairs. You might want to talk to them about keeping their lips sealed.

<><><>

You read the text and your eyes widened. You got dressed quickly and rushed out of your room but stopped at the top of the stairs. What were you going to say? You had been trying to keep this a secret for months.

Moving controlled down the stairs, you came to the bottom and turned to face the couch. They were both looking at you, bursting at the seams. Suddenly, they burst into laughter – the both of them – holding onto each other.

“Y/N! Do you have a sugar daddy?” Mara guffawed. She saw the look on your face, and she leaned forward, waving her hands in surrender. “No, no! I’m not judging! I’m just curious. He’s hot!”

“Oh my god, no wonder you don’t take guys home,” Lisa said. “Holy shit. He could beat the shit out of them if he ever caught you in bed with someone else.”

“How long were you guys here?” you asked uncertainly, worried about how much of it they had actually heard.

“Um… from the first ‘are you a dirty girl?’ I think?” Mara asked, snorting again. “And then every subsequent smack after that. How is your ass?”

“Oh, shut up,” you said as the two of them erupted into giggles again. “You can’t say anything!”

Lisa crowed, “Oh, it’s a secret! Oh okay.”

“I’m fucking serious,” you snapped, much to their amusement. “Now did you leave me any food or what?”

Mara laughed pointing at the bag, “Yeah. And I’m sure you’re absolutely famished.”

<><><>

Where are you?

You looked down at your phone, confusion coming on. You had told Tony what you were doing and where you were at when he had asked about an hour ago.

At the bar I told you.

I know, but where inside.

Are you here?

You know how much I don’t like people answering my questions with another question, baby.

I’m in the back.

Come to the front then.

Well, that answered your question well enough.

You made your way through the crowded back room, through the hall. You looked in the first front room and did not see him anywhere and you went through the doorway to the main front room where the bigger bar was set up. You spotted him and Steve sitting in a booth against the wall. He had told you that Steve was aware of your relationship, which had made you nervous, but Tony seemed to trust him, so you had to trust in that.

Sliding into the booth next to him, you asked, “What’s going on?”

“Figured we would swing by and see if you wanted to go out with us and Steve’s lady for the night.” Steve smirked at the comment. “Exclusive place.”

“You couldn’t have just texted me to get the answer?”

Tony simpered, “I wasn’t really looking to ask.”

Of course not. He was not the asking type.

“When are you going?”

“I’d prefer sooner rather than later. This bar is pretty… college-y.”

“I’m not entirely complaining,” Steve said finally speaking, his eyes wandering around the bar at all the people. His eyes lingered on one in particular and he winked at them, causing them to smile shyly.

“Can I get my drink then? Before we go?” you asked. “I was just about to.”

“If you move, I can go grab it for you,” Tony told you.

You shook your head, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. You quickly explained, “My friend owes me one. I bought the first round.”

“If you insist,” Tony said bringing his glass to his lips.

You tapped his arm before getting up again and walking through the tables to go back to the hall leading back to your table. You walked up to the table and your roommate, Mara, that was out with the small group asked you where your drink was. You eyed the line at the bar back here and frowned at how long it was.

“I’m gonna get but I wanna take that shot,” you said over the music to your friend, Gabriel. “Wanna come back up with me to the front bar? There’s less of a line up there surprisingly than the one back here.”

Mara was eyeing you knowingly, a smug smirk on her lips. You had been seeing Tony now for months since they had caught him leaving. You glared at her, willing her to stay quiet, as you grabbed your purse, and she held back a laugh.

Gabriel followed you up to the front bar and you shot a quick look in the direction of the booth to make sure they were still there. Tony was not looking at you but Steve was. Gabriel was talking to you and drew your attention away, your back to the booth now. The line went quickly and the two of you ordered your shots, took them, and left the glasses on the bar. You gave him a quick hug before parting ways.

Steve was getting up out of the booth, avoiding eye contact as he straightened out his leather jacket.

“I’ll be outside,” he said to Tony more than anything.

Tony finished off his drink and got up as well, his body brushing yours. He was peering down his nose at you and asked, “Anybody I gotta be worried about?”

“What?”

“The guy?” Tony asked.

“Yes, my friend.”

“’Friend’.”

You realized where this conversation was going and you sighed heavily, “Tony, don’t—”

“Don’t what?” he asked, a dangerous tone underlying.

“I promise you I mean it when I say a friend,” you told him, leaning into him. His expression was stern, and you grabbed the lapels of his jacket, to pull yourself closer, and said, “Trust me.”

Tony’s tongue ran across his lower lip and he finally said, “Don’t betray that trust, precious.”

Later outside the high-end club, Tony and you took a break from the atmosphere to mess around in the backseat of his car. Foreheads pressed together as you straddled him, low moans filling the space in the car until the two of you came tumbling down.

Tony pressed his nose at you to get you to move your face and his lips found yours, his hand at the back of your head holding you tight.

“I gotta go on a trip for a week overseas,” he murmured.

“Where?”

His eyes crinkled with a tickled smile, “You really think I can tell you that?”

Shrugging sheepishly, you said, “No, I guess not.”

He pecked your nose, “I’ll be back before you know it. Promise. And I’ll bring you something back.”

That perked you up much to his amusement.

<><><>

You were coming back from the pool house a month later when you saw Tony coming up the path. You faltered in your steps as he advanced. He barely broke stride as he grabbed your arm and began pulling you along with him.

“What are you doing?” you asked him alarmed, stumbling once as you worked to match his stride.

He did not answer.

He was drunk, that was apparent.

You had been out with your mum shopping and she had asked you to take the new towels out to the pool house. Tony was over watching a football game with some of the other men and you noticed he had caught sight of you walking from the hall to the kitchen. You had tried to ignore his stare as you disappeared again, heading out the door. You had turned him down earlier in the week about him coming over and he being his persistent self, had shown up at your place anyway, only to find you gone. He had called you and you had had barely any signal as you told him you were not there, you were up in the mountains with your friends. You had not told him you were going on a trip considering it had been decided on a whim and that had only irked him more. You had not spoken since you had gotten back.

It seemed he did not pick up on the hint to be subtle and let it be until a better time.

“Tony, we can’t—” you tried to plead. You were terrified someone was going to catch you here and he was too gone to either care or think of that. Even if you were in the pool house, someone could have seen you two sneak in.

“Tony, my mum sent me out here to put the towels out here. We had more things to put away inside! She’s gonna wonder where I’m at!”

He was still ignoring you, dragging you and he shoved you inside the bathroom.

“Tony!” you tried again.

“Be quiet!” Tony ordered you, turning you around forcibly. Your hands sprawled on the wall, your ass pressing into his pelvis. His breath was hot on your neck when he said, “You ready to apologize?”

“Apologize—”

“Avoiding me?” he growled.

“I’m not—” you said trying to turn around, but his grip flexed, forcing you to stay as you were.

“Don’t lie to me,” he snapped, hiking your dress up and shoving your thong aside to give him access. “How long have you been back?”

“A day—” you started to say but it was strangled in your throat as he began stroking your nub.

“A whole damn day and no text. No call,” he muttered angrily underneath his breath, working you up to get you ready for him. “Nothing to let me know you were back. That’s fucking naughty of you.” You ground against his fingers, biting your lip, whimpering. Upon hearing your arousal, he sneered, “You’re lucky I’m even taking the time to get you ready at all, precious.”

You felt and heard how wet you were getting – he knew how to play you like a fiddle.

Tony’s fingers disappeared and he kicked one of your legs out to spread you out further for him. Without much warning, he was pressing in roughly, his hands gripping at your hips. You moaned lowly as he stretched you out and let out a sudden cry as he pulled out and slammed back in. His thrusts were causing you to have to press your hands painfully into the wall to keep steady. He was not going easy at all.

One of his hands left your hip to wrap around your throat, holding your head back as he drove himself deeper. Your ass was clapping against his pelvis, mixing with the moans and his lewd taunting.

“You little slut, thinking you could hide from me,” he growled, giving a particularly hard thrust. “I thought I taught you better manners than that!”

“I’m sorry, sir,” you keened.

Tony only stalled to yank you away from the wall and whirl you around to the sink, bending you over it before resuming his brutal pace. Your fingers dug into the countertop, as you begged, “Please, please, please.”

“Please what?” Tony husked, his hips snapping.

He was driving deep, brushing your core with precision and you cried out again.

“Please fuck me, make me cum,” you whined in response, drawing a strangled laugh out of Tony.

“Just can’t fucking help yourself, can you?”

You heard the door open from behind the pair of you and your stomach dropped to your feet.

“What the hell is this?” you heard your mum exclaim.

Tony was out of you in a second, stuffing himself back in his pants. You craned your head around mortified, finding your mum staring at the two of you, disbelief splashed across her face.

Her gaze snapped to Tony, suddenly murderous. She slapped him across the face with all the strength she could muster and shrieked, “You absolute piece of fucking shit! She’s a child!”

Tony looked furious at her laying hands on him.

“Now, Rebecca,” Tony said loudly. She went to hit him again, but he was quick, and he pushed her to the wall as you rushed to push your dress down. He had her pinned there by her collarbone.

“Tony!” you pleaded, coming up towards them but he held his hand out, warning you to stay back.

You stopped, looking between the two of them wildly. Your mother only had eyes for him, trying to pull his hand away with no avail.

“Let me go!” your mum demanded, trying to push his hand away but your mother was a very small woman and Tony was so much larger than her. “Are you insane? Do you know what Damien—”

“Are you? Are you insane?” Tony asked dangerously, their noses brushing. She struggled again but he shoved her back again roughly and she finally stilled, glaring murderously at him. His voice was low, “You don’t want trouble with the mob. Running off and telling your husband is only going to cause that. If he loses his temper, they’ll take my side on this and all the power he’s got is going to be compromised because he’ll lose our support. How do you think you two would fare without that support, hmm?” He was searching your mother’s face, who was silent now. He scoffed when he saw she knew what he was saying was right. He dug his hand in again and she only flinched slightly, “And Y/N’s an adult, not a child, as you just so stupidly said. She can make her own fucking choices.”

“Let. Me. Go,” your mother said, enunciating every word. “I got the message.”

Tony only held on for a few more seconds before he pushed away from her. He tore his eyes away from her before saying to you, “I’ll text you later.”

He left the room, leaving the two of you standing there, staring at each other. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife and you hated the disappointed look on her face. Time seemed to expand into an eternity that the two of you were standing there before she finally spoke.

“How long?” your mother rasped out. You looked at the ground and you felt her gaze boring into you. She demanded louder, “How long, Y/N?”

“Since October,” you said weakly.

“Christ,” she half sobbed. “That’s almost a year, Y/N! What were you thinking?”

You shrugged helplessly, “I… we have a relationship.”

Your mother shook her head and snapped, “You can’t!”

“I love him!”

“Y/N, you don’t know what love is. He’s twice your age! He’s using you!”

“No, he’s not. You don’t know—”

“I know what I know!” your mother exclaimed, causing you to close your mouth. She looked heartbroken, her eyes watering. “I know, Y/N. I know men like him. I’ve dealt with them too! He’s taking your most formative years and weaving himself into them! You can’t let… you can’t let him do that. You can’t build yourself around him.”

“I’m not!”

“I don’t want you to see him.”

“I can make my own choices!” you said firmly.

She scoffed loudly, wiping away tears that had started to fall over. “What would your father think?” Your face screwed up in worry and you started to argue but she cut in forcibly, “I know! I know Y/N! That fucking… bastard is right. I won’t… I can’t say anything.” Her eyes met yours again and she shook her head. “Jesus, Y/N. I can’t look at you right now.”

Jaw clenched, you got the hint and stormed past her to leave and go home, irate and miserable at how the night had turned out.

<><><>

You had still continued to see Tony much to your mother’s disapproval. You meant it when you said you loved him, and you resented your mum telling you that you did not. But after seeing how he had treated her in the pool house, a small part of you was unsure now about the longevity and stability of the relationship. How could you stay together in secret like this forever, especially when he was ready to threaten anyone that tried to separate the two of you?

Unfortunately, you did not get the chance to make the decision for yourself.

“What happened?” you asked concerned, coming up to your mum quickly in their living room. You had come over to have dinner with them, but it did not look like dinner was going to be happening for a while or at all.

Your father was shouting into the phone on the patio, a few of his guys outside with him. There was fury and desperation in the air.

Your mum pulled you aside and said, “Something happened. I mean, obviously. sorry. Um,” she paused, stammering, as your father let out a slew of cuss words. “Um, your dad is trying to get control of the situation. Pull himself clear of it.”

“What situation?”

“There was a… police bust. Some of the men got arrested for… you know, it doesn’t matter what for. But, just let your father do his thing. Stay out of his way. It’s what I’m doing. How about you and me go out and grab food? It’s best for everyone to just let him be.” She paused and then added, “And honestly, this situation is best for you.”

The way she said that…

You knew who had been arrested.

Pulling away from her, you saw her start to say something else, but you turned abruptly, taking off down the hall towards the entrance way where you had left your purse. You dug through it clumsily before getting your phone out and dialing Tony.

His phone went straight to voicemail.

<><><>

~7 years later

You pulled up to your parent’s house seeing the copious amount of cars lined along the driveway. They were having their annual beginning of summer get together and as usual, you were invited as well as your closest friends, so you had people to hang out with. Some of your friends had already arrived, more than comfortable around your parents without you there.

The person that mattered the most to hang out with though was sitting in the passenger seat.

Your husband smiled at you and said, “I am very much ready for your mum’s crab cakes. Well.. you know, Willa’s crab cakes. Your mum just oversees the process.”

You snorted at this and said, “I know you are. And yes that is very true.”

It was hard to try to keep your heartbeat even now that you were here. You were going to have to face him. Tony and the others had just been released days before. You needed to steer clear of him after having ghosted him when he got arrested. You had been young, so young, and he had been sent to a different state for prison. It had been easy to make excuses and your mother had encouraged the excuses.

Your husband would shield you. You would make sure of that.

~~~

Forever tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld

#tony stark x reader #dark tony stark #dark!tony stark #dark marvel #dark marvel fic #mob tony stark #my shit

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atlafan · 4 years

Text

Office Neighbors - Part Four

a/n: alright, the angst in this is...ANGSTY, so please be careful lmao, I think the smut and fluff makes up for it though, but you tell me. enjoy! (reblogs and feedback are helpful!) (not proofread, I’m sorry)

warnings: fluff, angst, smut

words: 17K

masterpost

You were in a large t-shirt, underwear, and a pair of socks, getting your things packed for the conference. Harry would be picking you up around eight to hit the road for New York so you wanted to make sure you weren’t scrambling in the morning. You had your A/C cranked as you were running around so you wouldn’t be sweaty before bed.

The buzzer for your door goes off, and a shock goes through your system. You look out the window towards the street and you see Harry’s car lit up by the street light. You rush over to your door to buzz him in. You don’t even have time to consider putting something cuter on by the time he’s coming in through your door.

“Harry, what are y-“

He drops a small bag he brought with him, and pushes you up against the wall crashing his lips to yours. His hands drag down your hips and to your thighs to hoist you up. You instantly wrap your legs around his waist and tug at his hair.

“Wh-what’s happening?” You breathe.

“I didn’t want it to happen at the hotel.”

“What?” He gives you an almost pained look. “Oh!” You look down at yourself. “I looked so much cuter for you the other day, though.”

“I can’t tell you how cute I think you look right now. Can I please take you to your bedroom?”

“Yes.” You kiss on his neck while he walks you down the hall to your bedroom. “I want you so bad, Harry.”

“I know, I want you too, I was being silly the other night.” He gets you onto your bed and kicks his shoes off before settling on top of you. “I want this…with you.”

“Me too.” You arch up to kiss him.

“You’re okay with all this? Me being here right now?”

“Yes, Harry.” You reach for the hem of your shirt and lift it off, revealing your breasts to him.

“Do you have condoms?” He says as he licks over one of nipples.

“Y-yeah, in my bathroom.”

He hums his response as he kisses down your stomach. Everything felt hazy. When he looks up at you to speak, a buzzing sound comes out of his mouth.

“Huh?”

Your eyes flutter open to the sound of your alarm, and you nearly start crying from anger.

“Oh, for the love God!” You groan as you kick your blankets back.

It had been a couple of days since you were intimate with Harry. He called you the next morning to see how you were, ever the gentleman. He had a chance to see Andy before the conference, so he took it, not that you blamed him, but you were sort of hoping he’d come by and rail you.

You take a very quick shower, and make sure your things are together before he comes to pick you up. You had been up late getting everything packed, and clearly the stress from that had gone into your dream, and dream Harry came to relieve you of that stress. You just wish the real Harry would. Not that the other night wasn’t amazing, because it was, you were just sort of hoping to fully have sex with him. You understood him and you didn’t at the same time. What was the difference between having his dick in your mouth or having it in your vagina? You knew have sex was serious, and he probably had to be careful about who he got into relationships with because of his son, but he’s known you almost a year…doesn’t he trust you?

You’re taken from your thoughts when you hear your buzzer. You perk up a bit, and grab your backpack, and rolling luggage, and head out the door. Harry’s waiting outside his car with his trunk open. He looked really handsome. He was wearing a pair of light blue shorts, a white t-shirt, and a pair of sunglasses.

“Morning!” He says. “Got coffee and a breakfast sandwich for you in the car, I stopped off at Dunks.”

“Thanks, you’re the best.” You kiss him on the cheek and he puts your luggage in the trunk. You keep your backpack with you in case there’s anything you may need.

“So, it’ll be roughly four and half hours. We can stop anytime you want, don’t be afraid to speak up.”

“Do you…drive through the city often?”

“Not really, why?”

“Well…it’s just…do you mind if I do the first half of the drive? I’d like to gets us through Boston.”

“We don’t need to go that way. We’re going to take 93 to 293 and go through Manchester, and then eventually we’ll switch to 95, no need to go through Boston at all, love.”

“Oh…alright then.” You get the passenger seat and buckle up. He gets in the driver’s side, and pulls onto the street.

“That’s not to say you can’t drive, we can take turns. Or I can drive there and you can drive back, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“I just…sometimes I get road rage and I can be sort of a back seat driver, especially when it comes to driving in the city, but if we’re not going through Boston we shouldn’t have a problem.”

“Don’t forget, I do go to London quite a bit, people drive like wankers out there just the same, so I know what I’m doing.” He smirks at you.

“Mhm.” You nudge him.

“Did you sleep well? I feel like I never sleep well before big outings like this, no idea why.”

“Yeah, um, I slept alright.” Your face flushes a little as you remember your very vivid dream. “Slept like a rock, really.” You clear your throat. “What did you do with Andy?”

“I took him up to the cabin for some alone time. Went kayaking, made a little fire, it was fun.”

“Oh, that’s great!”

“Yeah, he says hello by the way.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.”

“He asked a lot of questions about you, he’s so nosey.” Harry chuckles.

“Probably just wants to make sure you’re not going out with a crazy person.” You laugh and open up your breakfast sandwich. You take a bite, and then have a sip of coffee. “Thanks again for breakfast, so nice of you.”

“Oh, don’t even worry about it. I have a little cooler in the back seat as well with other snacks if you get hungry.”

“Gee, thanks, Daddy, did you pack capri-suns? Those are my favorite.” You grin at him as you tease him.

“Make fun all you want, but when you get hungry or thirsty, you’re gonna be happy I prepared.” He side eyes you. “I have a tough time taking my dad hat off sometimes, alright?”

“No, no, it’s nice that you think ahead. I appreciate it.” You put your hand on his shoulder and give it a squeeze. “You just make it very easy to tease you sometimes.”

“Glad I can be a source of entertainment for you.”

“Hey, someone has to be on this long ass ride.”

“Long ass ride.” He chuckles.

“Yeah, it’s mad long.” You say as you look out the window.

“Mad long kid.” He says in a horrible Boston accent and you slowly turn to face him.

“Was that supposed to be me?” You laugh. “I don’t think you want to play the accent game, pal.”

“I think it’s cute when you let it out a little. I think you said ‘wicked’ in one of the classes I observed and I had to try not to laugh, or like any time you say ‘pissed’.”

“Everyone uses those words! It’s not like I’m sitting there going, ‘that’s wicked pissah, guy’, give me some credit.”

“See, again, I just think it’s cute.” He smiles. “Say more super-Boston words, what’s another good one?”

“Umm, god, I don’t know.” You giggle. “Is dungaree one?”

“What in the fuck is a dungaree?” He laughs.

“It’s another way to say blue jeans.” You laugh. “My parents and grandparents used to say it all the time. I don’t know if it’s a Boston thing though. Umm, spuckie is like a sub sandwich…sort of an East Boston thing though, so not everyone says it.”

“I notice you dropping your R’s a lot towards the end of the day. You don’t really have much of an accent otherwise.”

“I sort of trained myself not to have one because it’s fucking annoying. You sound like a moron. I think it just comes out more when I’m tired.” You shrug. “Do you mind if I connect my phone to the Bluetooth? Listening to NPR the entire time doesn’t sound like fun…”

“Not into morning radio, huh? Sure, you can just use my phone since I have the GPS going.” He grabs it out of the cup holder and unlocks it for you.

“Thanks.” You go into Spotify and slightly snoop at his Daily Mixes. You didn’t listen to a lot of the same stuff, but you did some similarities.

“Anything but top-40 is fine with me.”

“Don’t like pop?”

“No, I do, I just hate listening to the same shit that’s always on the radio.”

“Fair enough.”

“Put on…put on music you would have listened to in college or something.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready to expose myself like that!” You giggle. “I listened to a lot of degrading RnB.”

“Ha!” He shakes his head. “Please, find a playlist and put it on, I’m dying to know.”

“Alright.” You find a playlist with RnB songs from the later 2000’s and figure that will suffice. Rude Boy by Rihanna plays first, a great start. “Ugh, love this song.” You say and put his phone down.

“This is what you’d party to?”

“Sometimes.” You shrug. “It’s just a good song in general. I like Rihanna…do you?”

“She’s not bad.” He shrugs. “I probably wouldn’t let Andy listen to her.”

“Oh, but that’s half the fun! Being a kid and listening to really inappropriate music in your room, pretending like you know what they’re talking about. Used to do it all the time with Eminem.”

“Same here, actually.” He chuckles. You sing softly to yourself and he smiles. “Don’t be afraid to belt it out, I sing in the car all the time.”

“Really? Because you haven’t done it once since I’ve known you.”

“Good point.” He turns the music up and sings along with the chorus and you start laughing. “Come on, Y/N!”

You start singing with him, and that continues on a lot throughout most of the car ride. Around the halfway point, you stop at a rest area to use the bathroom and freshen up. You both grab a slice of pizza for an early lunch, and then head back to the car.

“Do you want me to drive, Har?”

“No, I’m fine…unless I’m making you car sick…”

“No! I just didn’t know if you needed a break.”

“I’m really all set, but thanks.” He pecks your lips quickly and then you both get into the car. “What do you feel like listening to now?”

“You pick.” You smile.

“No I want you to…I like knowing what you’re into…” He blushes.

“Do you like rock music at all? My mom used to listen to all those 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s bands. Might be night to take a break from the profanity.” You chuckle.

“Rock works for me.”

“Eddie Money?”

“Crank it.”

You both giggle and you put on some music. You feel like the two of you have been putting on a concert, and it’s been so much fun.

You arrive at the hotel for the conference, and head right into the garage to park it. Harry gets a ticket that he’ll be able to get validated inside. He helps you with your things, and then you both head inside to check in.

“Harry Styles.” He says to the woman at the desk. You go to the person to her.

“Ah, Dr. Styles, great to have you for the CMT conference. Did you take a ticket for the garage?”

“Yes, here it is, thanks.” She takes it and stamps it.

“Right, and you’ll be here three days, correct?”

“Yes.”

She types on her keyboard and makes some rapid clicks.

“Alright, you’ll be on the twenty-fifth floor, here are two room keys, Wi-Fi is included, and there’s complimentary breakfast every morning.”

“Wonderful, thank you so much.” He looks at you and steps back to wait until you’re given everything. “What floor are you on?” He asks as you both head to the elevator.

“The twentieth, you?”

“Twenty-fifth…I think they gave me a suite or something.”

“Oo, fancy.” You smile. “I asked for a room with two beds so I wouldn’t be shoved into a closet sized room.”

“Smart.”

You both head into the elevator, and Harry follows you out once you’re on your floor. You raise an eyebrow at him.

“I just wanna get you in your room in case there are any creeps watching through their peep holes.”

“Harry…I’ve been to a hotel alone before.”

“I’m sure you have…it’s just for my own peace of mind, humor me?”

“Alright.” You shrug. You key in and he comes in with you. “Still tight, but definitely more floor space with two beds.” You hoist your luggage on top of one of the beds and sit down on the other. “I think I’m gonna relax, get settled for a bit, but do you wanna get dinner later? We could just go to the hotel bar.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Wouldn’t mind a quick nap, honestly.” He yawns. “See you soon.” He leans forward and kisses your forehead before heading out.

You end up falling asleep for a bit, and then you put on a bit of a nicer outfit for dinner. Harry tells you he’ll meet you outside your room for dinner. He looked a lot nicer too.

“Hey.” You smile and hug him.

“Hey.” He kisses the top of your head, and holds your hand on your way to the elevator.

“Are you happy you get your presentation over with tomorrow?”

“Oh, definitely. Then I’ll be able to enjoy the rest of it.” You both find a spot at the bar and order a couple of drinks while you look over the menu. “Did you want to split something? I’m not starving.”

“Me neither, yeah, that sounds good.” You furrow your brows at the menu and gasp. “Har! They have vegan Buffalo wings, can we please get that?!”

“Yeah, that sounds like it’ll really hit the spot.”

“And curly fries, gotta have curly fries.”

“Agreed.” He smiles.

You both order the food and clink your cocktail glasses once they come to you. The Buffalo wings really did hit the spot because you both scarfed the down.

“I wonder if we’ll run into anyone we know here. I’ve been to this conference once before, but it was a couple of years ago.”

“We all sort of go to different ones, like, our faculty. Plus, not a lot of people go to ones in the summer because they don’t want to think about work, but I like it. I feel like it keeps me fresh for the school year, you know?”

“Mhm.” You smile and just listen to him talk for a little bit. Harry was so incredibly intelligent, and you always liked listening his thoughts on things.

After a couple of drinks you both decide to call it a night since Harry would need to be up early in the morning to prepare for his presentation. He walks you to your room, just as he did earlier.

“Well…goodnight.” He says.

“Did you want to come in?” You nod towards your door.

“I do…but…I probably shouldn’t. I need to get to sleep…”

“Okay.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s really okay, I don’t wanna be the reason you’re tired tomorrow.” You wink at him and peck his cheek. “See you for breakfast?”

“Definitely.” He smiles and waits for you to go inside before walking back to the elevator.

You wake up feeling refreshed the next morning. You take a quick shower, and put on a pair of grey slacks paired with a pink blouse and navy blazer. You liked looking nicer at these types of things. You put your hair up into your buns, just so you still looked a little fun, and head down to breakfast with your laptop bag slung over your shoulder. Your jaw nearly drops when you see Harry down at the breakfast restaurant. He was wearing a suit…you had never seen him in one before. It was brown, and he was wearing a purple button up underneath it.

“Y/N!” He snaps you out of your trance as he waves you over.

“Hey.”

“Morning.” He smiles and kisses you quickly. “You look nice.”

“Thanks…so do you, I mean…you look…so handsome.”

“Oh, stop.” He swats a hand at you. “It’s just dress pants and a matching jacket.”

“No…it’s more than that. I mean, look at all the other people. Blue or black slacks, white button ups. You’re very fashion forward.”

“You’re just now realizing? Well, how nice of you to come out from under your rock.” He winks at you, and you put your bag down so you can go up to the buffet with him.

“Yours it at ten, right?”

“Yup. Which session are you going to first?”

“There’s a working session about advising that I wanna go to, just to get some tips since I’m advising this year.”

“That’s a great idea.”

“What about you?”

“I’m not going to anything this morning, just so I can focus. I’m gonna practice my presentation again.”

“I’m excited to see all of your data. I hope more schools will see they should be offering wellness courses.”

Your first session was extremely eye opening for you. You head to bathroom quick, and then go to where Harry’s lecture will be. You weren’t sure where to sit. You knew he hated when people sat in the back of his class, so you knew not to sit all the way in the back. You decide on the fourth row. Not too far back, but not right up front either. You didn’t want to make him nervous. Seats were filling in here and there, which you were happy to see. Harry loved an audience.

“Y/N, is that you?”

“Dr. Pierce!” You gasp and stand up to hug your old friend.

“Please, you know you can just call me Arthur.” He chuckles.

“Old habits, would you like to sit with me?”

“Not saving it for anyone else?”

“No, the person I would be is going to be presenting.”

“Ah!” He says, sitting down next to you. “You know Dr. Styles?”

“I do, we’re colleagues actually. Office neighbors, in fact.”

“Good for you, he’s very bright. I’ve read a lot of his work, it’s refreshing.” He looks you up and down. “You look wonderful, your new institution is treating you well?”

“Very well! Thank you.” You smile. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

“You’re just saying that.” He runs a hand through his hair. “This kids today are turning my hair white.” He laughs. “That’s why I wanted to check this out. Maybe if I can find a way to make them less stressed, I’ll be less stressed.”

“You’ve definitely come to the right place, Harry is the king of no stress.”

Harry could see the audience filing in from behind a curtain. He smiles when he sees you, and then squints when he sees you speaking with the man next to you. It was clear you knew each other and it wasn’t some stranger sparking up a conversation. He could tell because you nudged him after he made you laugh, something you would only do with a friend. He sighs and pushes his glasses up his nose. He can hear himself being introduced, and then he walks out. The room claps and he nods his head once he’s at the lectern. He was given a lapel mic to wear so everyone could hear him, and a remote to turn his slides. This was he could easily walk around the stage.

“Good morning everyone, I hope you enjoyed your first sessions…or an extremely long breakfast, whichever.” He shrugs and the crowd laughs. “I’m Dr. Harry Styles, and I’m so happy you’ve decided to spend your time with me this morning.”

You smile as he says this. You remember him saying this to his wellness class when you observed it. He said it to them everyone morning.

“I say this to my students every time we meet because even though, much like you, they’ve paid to be there, they still have to make the choice to get up and come to class.” He changes his slide. “I teach a class called Communication, Media, and Wellness, it’s just one of the few I teach, and I only offer it at eight in the morning.” He hears some people make comments and he grins. “My attendance rate is one-hundred percent throughout the semester, wanna know how I do it?” He changes the slide, and shows a picture of his classroom with students, desks in a circle, heads down on the desks. “We take the first ten to fifteen minutes to meditate, and then we do the same with the last five minutes. I give them time to settle in and clear their minds. Some fall asleep, some work on their breathing, and some just listen to me speak.” He changes his slide. “We talk about a lot of things in this class. We talk about what we see on the news, social media, and everything in between. We talk about how those things make us feel. We talk about tactics to help ease our anxiety, and if I’m noticing a particular energy, we break out the yoga mats and do some stretching.” He changes the slide again. “Students today are anxious about everything. They’ve grown up during some really tough times, never truly feeling safe. I’m here to help them learn how to cope.”

Harry goes over some data he’s collected over the last few years. He sends surveys to his previous students every semester until they graduate, and then twice again after they graduate. Everyone that’s taken his class thus far has graduated, and those that haven’t graduated yet all had high GPA’s. He shows comparisons of their GPA before the class (it’s only offered to sophomores and up right now), and their GPA after taking the class. There were only improvements.

“These students are able to take what they’ve learned with me and apply it in other classrooms and in their lives outside the classroom. The biggest thing I explain to them is to not be on their phones before bed, to not even watch TV really. It’s too stimulating, and sometimes it causes anxiety and then you can’t fall asleep.” He changes the slide and the crowd laughs. It was a picture of students presenting Harry with a sign that says ‘NO SCREEN BEFORE BED’. “This group made me this because I must have said it a hundred times that semester. I keep it hung up in my office.” He changes the slide to show students in their place of work after graduation. “Many of the results I got from my graduated students are that they’ve taken things with them. I have students have fallen in love with reading before bed, or they listen to a podcast, or use some type of app that tells them a story at night to help them fall asleep. They they’re able to wake up refreshed and ready for the day. Many of them even wake up and mediate to help them really become alert.” He changes the slide again to a picture of him giving a yoga lesson outside on the quad. “I know this may seem silly, but it really does help these students. Offering a class for credit on this allows them to already build it into their schedule, rather than offering classes at the gym that they really have no obligation or incentive to go to. This is a CM course, but it also counts towards our school’s general education requirement. We call it a Wellness Connection, so any student can take this course. I’ve had such a mix of students take this course, and they’ve all come out better for it. Offering something like this in today’s age is extremely important for our students who are facing so many hardships. I hope you’ll consider implementing some of this into your classrooms.” He looks out to everyone and smiles. “Thank you.”

Everyone claps, and someone else comes out and tell everyone that there’s about fifteen minutes for questions. Harry gets a few and is able to answer them best he can. Once it’s all done he takes a deep breath and sits on the stage. He knew some people would want to come up to him afterwards.

“Will I see you later?” Arthur says to you as you both stand up.

“I’m not sure…I doubt we’ll be at all of the same sessions.”

“Maybe at the bar later then?”

“Maybe.” You smile. “If not…it was really good to see you.”

“You too.” He hugs you again. Harry sees this and furrows his brows.

You grab your things and walk over to him.

“Excuse me, Dr. Styles, I have a question.” You grin.

“And what might that be?” He says, taking his suit jacket off and rolling his sleeve ups.

“How are you so incredible?”

“Y/N.”

“I mean it! I was floored. What incredible data, and it’s all true! It’s all things we notice in our classrooms. I really need to implement that no screen thing into my own life, to be fair I tend to read on my phone, but-“ You realize how fast you’re talking when he raises his eyebrows at you. “Sorry…just a little excited.”

“I’m glad you got a lot out of it.” He smiles. “Who, uh, who was that guy you were sitting with?” He asks as you both walk out of the room.

“What guy? Oh! That was Dr. Pierce, he teaches at my previous institution. It was a nice surprise to see him. He spoke really highly of you too. He said he’s read a lot of your work, which is incredible because I’ve never once heard him say he likes anyone’s work but his own.” You laugh.

“Was he one of your professors?”

“Not necessarily…he was, um, a colleague…” You blush slightly. “I’m headed to the session on…what?”

“Was he the professor you-“

“Harry, now really isn’t the time, okay?” You say quietly. “It was before you and I even knew each other, it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter when you were sitting with him.” He frowns.

“He’s just a friend.”

“A friend that you-“

“Not the time.” You snap. “You’re not my boyfriend, check yourself.” You huff and walk away from him so you’re not late for your next session.

His mouth falls open, silence coming from him when he tries to call after you. He shakes his head and heads to his next session.

You were so pissed you skipped lunch and went for a walk outside instead. You were barely able to concentrate during your session, and you didn’t answer any of Harry’s texts. Were you acting childish? Maybe, but you hated when men got like this. What the fuck did it matter if that was the professor you slept with? It was so long ago, and the two of you were friends. You didn’t want to sleep with anyone but Harry, couldn’t he see that?

By the end of the say you had calmed down, and you finally answer his text. He had asked you to come up to his room before dinner so you could talk. You knock on his door and he lets you in. He had changed into a pair of jeans a t-shirt, you were in still in your nice clothes.

“Harry, I-“

“Let’s get something straight.” He cuts you off, and you’re a little shocked by his tone. “You were right earlier, I’m not your boyfriend. In fact, I think it would be too soon for a label like that considering it’s only been about a month since we started all this.” He steps closer to you as you had backed away when he started talking. “But what I am is the person that you’re seeing, right? I’m the one who had their head between your legs just a few nights ago, so I don’t wanna hear it. It’s a stupid fucking word that people use to put some type of seriousness on their relationship, and I’ve never really understood it. You’re either with a person or you’re not, plain and simple.” He looks at you. “You acted like a fucking teenager earlier, you realize that right?”

“I was upset.”

“So you ignored me? You said something purposefully hurtful and then walked away? Is this how you handle things? You don’t like when someone says something to you that you don’t like so you shut down?”

“I didn’t shut down! We’re at a fucking conference and you were starting something with me that I told you wasn’t the time to start. We each had a session to get to! Unlike you, I paid to come here, Harry.”

“You still acted like-“

“Do you know much you disrespected me back there? Do you even care? There I was, amazed by you, and all you could care about was the fact that I used to sleep with someone, and I was polite to them. He asked me when he’d see me again and I totally brushed him off because I came here with you and I wanna spend my time with you!”

“You don’t even think it’s a little weird that a guy that much older than you wanted to sleep with you?”

“That’s society! Older men like younger girls, what can I say? Is it sickening at times? Sure! But at the time, when I was twenty-three, I wanted it. I was attracted to him, we got along really well, and I made a move, okay? Me, I made the first move.”

“He should have told you no.”

“But he didn’t! I rode that dick for an entire semester, and then summer happened, and he went across the country to go on sabbatical. It was a brief stint, okay?”

“You’re being vulgar.” He shakes his head.

“That shouldn’t be new to you. You’ve been out with Janette and I enough times to know how I talk. You’re making a big deal out of nothing, and for what? Are you jealous? Is that it? He’s fucked me and you haven’t?”

“I’m not jealous of that.”

“Oh.”

“I’m not jealous of anything, I just didn’t like watching you flirt with him from backstage.”

“I wasn’t…” Your eyes start to water. “I wasn’t flirting with him…I was just being nice…cordial.” You blink a few tears away. “I…need to go, I’ve lost my appetite.” You brush by him as you walk towards the door.

“Y/N.” He sighs. “Don’t go, we can work this out.”

“You basically just said having sex with me wasn’t anything special, so…yeah, I’m leaving.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You said you weren’t jealous of it!”

“Because I’m not! It would be a stupid thing to be jealous over. I may not have fucked you with my prick, but I got in there, I made you orgasm – twice! My main problem-“

“Well, I hope you enjoyed getting in there because it’s not happening again.” You were livid now. “Here I was, putting you on a pedestal for so long, but you’re just like every other guy. You’re an asshole!” You huff and turn towards the door again. “And if I’m acting like a teenager, then that makes you the tallest fucking baby I’ve ever seen in my life!” You leave and slam his door shut.

“You said what to her?!”

“Don’t yell at me! I called for help, Paige, not-“

“No, no, I will yell at you. Where do you even get off getting upset that she was talking to an old colleague?”

“I told you, they used to hook up, and he’s like fifteen years older than her, it’s gross, and I see it as him taking advantage of a young girl.”

“Harry…” Paige sighs. “It doesn’t matter how you see it, it’s how she sees it. She clearly didn’t think anything was wrong with it at the time, you can’t get mad at her for it. It was before you even knew each other. Ugh, this is just like when you punched Ryan Green at that party when you saw him talking to me.”

“Because he was the guy that dated you before me! He shouldn’t have been talking to you in the first place, he knew we were going out.”

“It doesn’t matter, it’s about trust, and not jumping to conclusions. I don’t think I had ever been so mad at you.”

“Yeah…but…you forgave me…”

“And nine months later we got Andy, I know, I know.” She sighs. “You said some real hurtful shit to her. What happened to deep breaths before speaking?”

“I couldn’t help it…”

“You and your green eyed monster.”

“I have to apologize…I feel terrible. I put up a front, and it was like I had no control over anything I was saying. What if she doesn’t want to date me anymore?”

“Then it looks like you’ll have a really awkward drive home in a couple of days.”

“Not funny.”

“I’m not trying to be, that’s the reality you’re facing. Now, from what you told me she said…it sounds like you both have some sorry’s to say. I agree she shouldn’t have ignored you all day, but maybe she just needed to cool off.”

“True…fuck, I really hope I didn’t fuck this.”

“You won’t know until you go down there and talk to her. Bring a peace offering, she’s got a sweet tooth, right?”

Harry taps on your door with one hand, and a boxed Oreo cheesecake in the other. You were in your pj’s already, just a large t-shirt and shorts. You sigh when you see him through the peep hole. You open the door, but only enough for the chain to stay latched.

“Hi.” You say softly.

“Can I come in?” He says just as softly. “I know it doesn’t make up for anything, but I brought cheesecake…”

“What kind?”

“Oreo.”

You close the door and at first he feels defeated, but he hears you slide the latch and you open the door all the way, letting him in.

“Thanks.” He hands the box and the plastic fork to you. He sits down on one of the beds, and you sit across from him, taking a bite.

“Is this from downstairs?”

“No, I went one of the restaurants close by and got it.”

“Oh…thank you…it’s delicious…”

“Good.” You take another bite and set it aside. “You’ve been crying?” Your eyes were red and puffy.

“Balled my eyes out, actually.”

“I’m sorry, I feel terrible.”

“So do I.”

“It was my fault…I did disrespect you, and I lied…I was jealous. I know I have no control over anyone you’ve slept with previously, I just didn’t think I’d be in the same room as them with you acting all buddy-buddy. Why should a guy like that have the privilege of knowing you?”

“Why should you?” You scoff.

“Touché.” He smirks. “Suppose I don’t really deserve that privilege right now.”

“I didn’t know you could say such hurtful things to someone…is that how you are when you’re angry?”

“Not when I’m angry, but…I’ve sort of always had this problem with jealousy. I’ve tried everything to work on it. Believe it or not, I’m way better than I used to be. One time I punched one of Paige’s ex-boyfriend’s right in the face because he was talking to her at a party.”

“Yeah? And how’d she handle that?”

“Um…” His face flushes. “Well…she has her own issues so…uh…well…we got Andy out of it, let’s just leave it at that.”

“Aggression isn’t exactly a turn on for me. I don’t like macho guys who need to assert their dominance like that.” You look down. “I’m sorry I ignored you all day, I’m sure that didn’t feel good, and you probably didn’t like seeing how bratty I can be.” You sigh. “And I cried more so because…I don’t want this to be over, and…-“

“I don’t want it to be over either…it’s barely started.”

“Were you really just trying to look out for me?”

“It was a mix of that and being jealous. I mean…I can’t wrap my head around a forty-one year old guy being able to rock your shit.”

“Harry.” You chuckle. “He was in his late thirties at the time, give him some credit. Besides, who said I was getting my shit rocked? Maybe I was rocking his.” You smirk.

“Y/N.” Harry sighs and lets his head fall back.

“You need to know something, you’re, like, all I think about.”

“Really?” He looks at you again.

“Yeah…I don’t want anyone else, I don’t even know who else I could want, honestly.”

“I really am sorry for how I acted earlier.”

“Me too.” You bite your bottom lip. “But…I don’t wanna be spoken to like that again. I’m not your kid, Har.”

“I know that.” He says defensively.

“You, like, had your dad voice on.”

“I was just speaking sternly so you’d take me seriously.”

“I felt like I was getting a lecture from my father, I don’t need that from you. I think if something goes wrong we need to try to find a way to properly talk about it. It’s not just on you, it’s on me too, obviously. It’s something we can both work on.”

“Okay.”

“Do you wanna get cozy and split the rest of this with me?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” He perks up.

Harry kicks his shoes off and gets on the bed with you. You had some random movie on the TV, and you cutely feed him bites of the cheesecake off your fork.

“Just so you know, sweets can’t buy my affection.”

“It was a peace offering.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah…Paige gave me the idea.”

“What?” Your eyes grow wide. “Harry, you told her we had a fight?!”

“I had no one else to call for help!” He pouts. “Please don’t be mad.”

“I don’t want her knowing anything bad about me…I her want her to trust me with Andy.”

“She does.” He shrugs.

“She does?”

“Yeah…because I trust you.”

“Oh…well, I don’t want you running to her every time we have a disagreement.”

“Well, I was thinking this could be the only one we have.” You laugh at that and so does he. “Sorry, she’s still, like, my best friend, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to call my sister about this.”

“And notice…I’m not all jealous because you’re best friends with your ex.”

“It’s a little different, I’ve got a kid with her.”

“Most people I know who are divorced with kids aren’t as nice to each other.”

“We’re not divorced, we never got married, didn’t I tell you that? Maybe that’s why we don’t hate each other, nothing on paper that legally needed to be divided up.”

“Oh yeah…you did mention that once I think.” You set the box aside since there were only crumbs left, and look up at him. “I think I prefer when we disagree as colleagues better. I feel exhausted.”

“Same here.” He chuckles. “It’s also been a really long day. I should let you get to sleep.”

“Can’t sleep now, I just had all that sugar!” You laugh and crawl into his lap. You sigh as he starts to rub your back. “Can we just stay like this for a little while?”

“I’d like that.”

You nuzzle into his chest, and he rests his chin on the top of your head. You hear him take his glasses off and you look up at him again. You both slowly lean in, lips ghosting over each other, and then you’re kissing softly and slowly.

“Mm, you taste like Oreos.” He smiles against you and then bites down on your bottom lip, sucking it gently. You groan into him and he holds you closer.

“Please.” You breathe. “Can we-“

“I’d like to wait until we get home if that’s alright…we have another day of sessions, and then we’re heading back…we’ll get back late…and I might too tired to even get back to my place, so…”

“So then you’d have to come up to mine, just to be on the safe side.”

“Exactly.” He grins. You groan and then give him a lip smacking kiss.

“Okay, get out of my room.”

He laughs at you and you get off of him. He kisses you again before leaving. He was going to be the death of you.

Things were much better the next day. You both even went to some similar sessions. Luckily, Dr. Pierce was nowhere to be found, so you didn’t run into him. You both decide to skip the awards ceremony since it was mostly for board members anyways so you could hit the road.

“Alright, I’m driving.” You say. “You good with that?”

“Go for it.” He hands you the keys and you get into the driver’s seat.

You didn’t lie when you said you had road rage. Harry nearly had a heart attack every two seconds watching you weave in and out of lanes as you got out of the city.

“Get out of the left lane you fucking asshole!” You yell. “Look at this guy, can you believe it?” You look at Harry. “Let’s go!” You yell before he can say anything.

“Babe! Babe, relax, there’s no rush.” He says, putting his hand on your thigh.

“Wh-what?” Your features soften.

“I know you’re eager to get back, but let’s get there in one piece, yeah?”

“I…” You look at him quickly and then back to the road. “Yeah.” You swallow. Had he not realized that was the first time he called you babe? “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He chuckles. “Didn’t realize how badly you wanted to fuck me.” He smirks.

“Shut up.” You roll your eyes as he gives your thigh a squeeze. “You just called me babe…”

“I know.” He nods. “Is that alright?”

“Yes.”

He leans over the console to kiss your cheek and then he sits back. He was really glad nothing got too fucked up between you. He liked you so much, he wanted to keep seeing where this was going.

It was dark by the time you pulled up to your apartment. You had stopped off at the same rest area and had a quick bite. You were sort of shocked that Harry let you drive the whole way, maybe he was saving his energy. You turn the car off and swallow.

“So…you’re coming up?”

“You want me to?”

“Yes.”

He nods and you both get out of the car. He opens the trunk to grab yours and his bags and then he locks the car. He follows you up to your apartment.

“If I could just have a second to go, um, freshen up…feel free to use the hall bath if you need it.” You were blushing, perhaps a little flustered at the prospect of what was to come. He simply nods at you before going to use the other bathroom.

You rush into your own bathroom with your things. You weren’t sure what you should do. Should you bother with a fresh pair of underwear? It was only going to come off…was Harry the type to even care about that sort of thing? Something tells you probably not. So, you just freshen up your deodorant, and put on a little perfume before going back out. He was bent over one of his bags putting his glasses away. You come up to him and slide your hand up his back. He stands up straight and looks down at you.

“You want this?” He asks softly.

“I want you, Harry…”

You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him down to you. Your lips find his and his hands find your hips. He nibbles on your bottom lip, getting a soft moan from you. One of your hands slides up to his hair as he starts walking you back into your room. You both get on the bed and he hovers over you.

“I had a dream sort of like this the other night.” You smile up at him and he smiles back.

“Yeah?”

“Mhm, but I’m already liking this better.”

“Why’s that?” He asks as he takes his shirt off.

“Because this is real and not something I can wake up from.” You run your hands up and down his torso and it sends a shiver up his spine.

He tugs at the hem of your shirt and you sit up so he can take it off. He immediately unhooks your bra to let your breasts free and attaches his hands to them. As he leans back down to kiss you, your hands work to undo his jeans, and you toe them down his legs so he can kick them off. He kisses down your chest, licking over both of your nipples, sucking on one, before kissing his way down your stomach. He undoes your shorts and tugs them down your legs, leaving you in your underwear. It wasn’t your sexiest pair, but he didn’t seem to really care as he started kissing you over them. Your hips buck up. No one had ever really done that to you before. You watch as he watches the wet spot become more damp and he presses his thumb into it. He looks up at you when he hears you gasp.

“I know, you want these to come off, right?”

“Please, Harry.”

He nods and hooks his fingers into your underwear to drag them down your legs. Once you’re fully naked before him he licks his lips like you’re a buffet ready to be devoured.

“There’s something I’d like to do…if you felt comfortable with it.” He says and your eyes light up. You were sort of hoping he was a little freaky.

“What?” You bite your bottom lip in anticipation.

“I’d like to eat you out from behind, can I do that?”

Okay, not as freaky as you thought, but definitely not something guys offered to do often.

“Sure.” You shrug, and roll over onto your stomach. You get up on your knees and elbows and look back at him.

He comes closer to you, holding you close as he kisses on the back of your neck. He works his way down your back, biting you occasionally to get you a little riled up. He bites into your left ass cheek and you grunt. You feel him spread you apart, and you buck forward when you feel his tongue slide between you folds.

“Stay still for me.” He says as he grips your hips, diving back in for more.

You grip at your blankets as you feel his tongue sliding up and down your slit. He adjusts you a little so he can briefly suck on your clit. You moan out when he does so, not wanting him to stop, but he does. His tongue enters you, going in and out, only briefly. You feel his fingers start to rub on your clit as his tongue slides back on your slit, back further, and up to your other hole. Your eyes widen when you feel his tongue there, he doesn’t enter you this way, but he was certainly getting a good lick. You couldn’t find it in you to care because his fingers were sliding into your cunt.

“Oh, fuck.” You groan as he pumps them in and out of you.

You couldn’t remember ever feeling so stimulated before, everything he was doing felt incredible. His tongue stays lapping around your other whole while his fingers fuck you from behind, his thumb rubbing circles into your clit.

“Oh my god, Harry.” You moan. He grunts against you, not letting up for a second.

Your body starts to feel warm all over, and you feel your stomach start to tighten. Your breathing is getting heavier, and you could feel sweat forming on your forehead. He was getting in so deep with just his fingers, and what he was doing with his tongue was sending you.

“H-Harry, I’m gonnaaaa-“ You couldn’t finish your sentence. Your eyes roll into the back of your head as you come around his fingers.

He retracts them and brings his tongue back around your folds to lick you clean. He sucks his fingers into his mouth as you slowly turn around to face him. You were shocked.

“Good?” He smirks.

You grin and tackle him down onto the bed, pinning him down and crashing your mouth to his. You sponge kisses to his jaw and neck and down his chest. He groans when you start grinding over his still covered cock.

“I think these should come off now, don’t you?” You say, already tugging at the band of his boxers.

“Yeah.” He lifts his hips to help you as you tug them the rest of the way down. Just as you’re inching your way down his body he grips your hips and pulls you back up.

“What are you doing?”

“M’not done with you yet.” Yup, he was definitely resting up in the car earlier. You get the gist and raise yourself over his mouth, and lower yourself so his tongue can be on you again.

“Fuck.” You breathe as he sucks on your clit.

You reach behind you to pump his hard dick, and he bucks up into your hand. You use your other hand to tug at his hair. He was moaning against you from the way you were jerking him off and it just added to the sensation on your core. His tongue slips inside you and you essentially start riding it.

“Fuck! Oh my god.” You groan. No one had fucked you like this in a very long time, and he hadn’t even put his dick into yet.

You have to use both hands to grip at your headboard when he starts sucking on your clit again, and slips two of his fingers inside you from behind. You were a mess above him, crying out and whining about how good it felt. You release onto his tongue and he sucks on you until you’ve ridden it out completely. You slowly get off of him and sink down onto the bed. You look at each other for a moment.

“You’re wild.” You chuckle.

“I told you…I can get a little excited.” He leans forward and kisses your forehead. “Do you have any condoms handy? Mine are all packed away…”

“You packed some?” You look up at him with wide eyes.

“Well…I just wanted to be prepared in case anything happened…and then I went fucked it so-“

“Hey.” You cup his jaw. “It’s all good now, okay?” He leans into your touch and kisses your palm.

“Okay.”

“I keep them in the bathroom, just give me one second.” You get up and wobble slightly. Your legs felt like jelly after all that. You rummage through your cabinet below the sink and grab a few…just in case.

“How come you keep ‘em in there?” He asks as you come back out.

“I…don’t need them as often and I keep other things in my night tables.” You shrug and get back on the bed.

He cups your cheeks and brings you back down to him to kiss you. You hand him one of the condoms and toss the others on the night table. You lay on your back and lick your lips as he rolls it on.

“Is this the only form of birth control you use?” He asks as he shuffles to hover over you.

“Yeah…I got off the pill last year.”

“Oh, how come?”

“I just didn’t like the way it made me feel.” You clear your throat. It was the truth, but you also got off it so that if you met someone and got serious you would have an easier time getting pregnant when the time came, but you certainly weren’t going to say that to him. “Is it okay that we use condoms?”

“Yeah, I don’t care, I just don’t know if we had a backup is all.”

He slots his lips over yours and opens your legs up. He runs his fingers over your slit to make sure you’re still wet. He looks down to line himself up with you, and you push his hair away so he can see better.

“You sure?” He asks.

“Yes, Harry.”

He smiles at you and slowly start to push in. Your mouth falls open at the feeling. He was thick, obviously, but holy shit. Not only is he really good at eating out, but his dick felt amazing. How any woman could have ever let him go was beyond you. He grunts once he’s all the way inside you. He gives you a second and then he starts to thrust in and out of you. He props himself up with one arm, and uses the other to hook under one of your legs to drive in a little deeper.

“Oh! That feels good.” You moan as your head rolls back. Your nails dig into his biceps.

“Yeah? Like feeling me this deep? You feel so good, Y/N.” He says into your ear and it makes your eyes roll into the back of your head.

“God, keep talking.” You tug at his hair.

“Could barely concentrate during my presentation the other day.” He says between kissing on your neck and shoulder. “You looked so beautiful.”

“Your confidence up there was so sexy, I was about ready to find a closet or something to blow you in afterwards.”

“Jesus.”

“Would you have liked that? If I just tugged in you somewhere discrete and made you feel good?”

“Yes.” He grunts. He sits up and puts both of your legs over his shoulders and fucks into your hard and fast.

You look up at him wide eyed and reach to scratch at his stomach before your hand lands on your clit. You rub circles into yourself as you both continue making eye contact. With each thrust you could tell he was looking for your g-spot, watching your features to see what feels good. When he hits it you gasp.

“Ha! Right there?”

“Yes, keep doing that, I’m close.” You whine and rub yourself faster.

“Should make you wait, you already had two, greedy.”

“Don’t be mean.” You pout. “Please, Har?”

He grins at you and continues to hit the spot over and over. He could feel you tightening and squeezing around him. You definitely were close.

“Oh! Oh my god! Harry, Harry!” Your back arches and squeeze around him especially hard. When you become too sensitive you pull your hand away from yourself. You thought he wouldn’t be much longer but there he was…rocking in and out of you.

He comes closer to you, burying his face in your neck, slow, precise thrusts. You dig your nails into his ass and he groans. Alright, he liked feeling your nails, this was something you knew for sure now.

“Can I get on top?” You nearly beg.

“Yeah.” He breathes.

He pulls out of you carefully and gets on his back. You swing a leg over him and sink down with ease. You raise and lower on him until you get a groove going. His hands slide up to your breasts and he kneads them. You were surprised he was letting you just ride him and that he wasn’t thrusting up into you, but you appreciated having the control. His hands move your hips and ass, squeezing at different locations. You smirk down at him.

“Can’t decide where I wanna touch you most.” He admits.

“Wanna feel you all over.”

His hands move up to your back and he pulls you down to him so your chests are flush together. He bends his legs at the knee and digs his feet into your bed so he could thrust into you, moving you up and down on him. You kiss on his neck and move to his mouth as you grind on him. You both were moving in sync, and you were getting the best friction against your clit. You weren’t sure if you’d be able to come again, having never had four in one go, but you both were up to the challenge. He moves you faster and faster on him. You have to detach your lips to breathe when you start panting.

“Shit!” You cry out when you feel your release. You rest your head on his chest, and gives you a moment to regain yourself before pulling out. “You…you didn’t come yet.”

“I know, we’re not done.” Your eyes widen at him. “Don’t tell me you’re tired, babe.” He smirks.

“Nope.” You shake your head and grin. “Gimme all you got.”

He flips you onto your stomach, and has you lay flat as he slides in, almost his full weight on top of you. You almost sigh with relief because this was something you had been craving for what felt like ages. Just feeling him full on you, almost crushing you, but in the best possible way. He rocks in and out of you slowly and kisses on your neck and shoulders. It was needy at first, but now things just felt sensual. You feel a little bad he can’t really feel how soaked you are around him.

He slides an arm under your chest to grip one of your breasts, and his other hand snakes just under your pelvis. You gasp when you feel his fingers on your clit. You were overly sensitive now. He was just pressing down, not moving, and applying pressure. His hips move in circles and your mouth falls open. He was really stretching you out now. Your hips move with him, and he starts moaning softly.

“Love feeling you like this.” He says into your ear.

“Me too.” You whimper. Now his fingers rub circles into your clit with same motion as both of your hips, big and slow. “Harry.”

“Shh, I know you’ve got one more in you. This time we’re gonna do it together, how does that sound?”

“Sounds good.” You groan.

Between his breath in your ear, his fingers on your clit, his other fingers tweaking your nipple, and his cock working wonders inside you, you had no idea how you hadn’t melted into a puddle on your bed and evaporated into thin air.

“H-Harry, I-“ You squeeze around him and he bites hard on your shoulder.

This sends you over the edge you cry out loudly. You practically scream his name, which helps him meet his own end. It was so hot, you could feel his come through the condom. He kisses down your back as he pulls out, and you wince.

“Sorry.” He mumbles as he gets off your bed. “M’just gonna take care of this in the bathroom.”

“Be my guest.” You breathe. You push yourself up and waddle to the hall bath. Your shit hadn’t be rocked quite like that in a long time, if ever.

When you come back into your room he was grabbing a fresh pair of boxers from his bag and sliding them up his legs. His glasses were back on his face, and he was rummaging for his toothbrush.

“You have toothpaste I can use?” He asks, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

“Mhm.” You nearly squeak. Your voice was hoarse. “Just let me do my thing and then it’s all yours.” You sounded like you had gravel in your throat it made him beam at you.

Harry goes into the bathroom after you, and you throw a large t-shirt on and get into bed. You were nervous, a guy hadn’t stayed over with you in this apartment yet. And you had been living there a year! He comes out and slides into bed with you.

“It’s alright I’m staying?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You’re as stiff as a board.” He chuckles. “Here I was thinking I loosened you up.”

“Harry.” You breathe. “Please, I’m exhausted.” He laughs at that and leans over to turn your light off. He pulls you to lay on his chest.

“You don’t do this often, do you?”

“No…I get nervous sleeping next to people.”

“Why?”

“Because, like, what if I roll over too much and wake you up, or snore, or talk in my sleep, or what if I…don’t look cute when I wake up.”

“Y/N.” Harry laughs. “You’re talking about things that all people do, it’s okay.”

“I also really like to get wrapped up in my blankets…like a burrito.” You mumble the last part.

“Well, you know I like holding onto something, so why don’t I be your burrito tonight?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, let me wrap you up, we’ll get all snug.”

You smile and peck his lips before turning over. He spoons you nice and tight to him, his limbs slung over yours, blankets cozy around the both of you. You sigh happily.

“This is nice.” You whisper.

“I agree.” He whispers back.

“You…have a lot of stamina.”

“Surprised?”

“A little.” You chuckle. “Good surprise though.”

“Did you like everything I did?”

“Yes, very much.”

“Even the stuff at the beginning.”

“I was very surprised by that, but it felt good with everything else you were doing.”

“Good, so you weren’t freaked out?”

“Nope.” You adjust closer to him. “I’m pretty open to trying things. I would have told you if I didn’t like something.”

“Everything just felt right with you.” He nuzzles his face into the back of your head.

“I feel the same way.”

Everything would be different now, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. You had never connected physically like that with someone before. You were falling for him, hard, to say the least.

You wake up just as you did the night you went camping with Harry. His body pressed close to yours, and his breath on the back of your neck. You could hear light snores coming from him. The clock on your bed side table reads 9:30. You sigh and adjust against him, hoping to maybe fall back asleep. His arm pulls you closer to him, and you turn onto your back to look up at him. He blinks a few times before looking down at you. He smiles and opens his mouth to speak, and as if on cue, his phone starts buzzing.

“It’s Andy.” There’s a slight sigh. “Do you mind if I take it?”

“No, go ahead.” You giggle. That kid sure had impeccable timing.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Dad!”

“Hi, buddy, why you calling so early?” He knuckles at one of his eyes and sits up.

“Says the guy that gets up before sunrise every day.” Andy scoffs. “How was New York, did your presentation go well?”

“It was good, yeah, a lot of people showed up, I was surprised. Got asked some good questions.”

“Did Y/N come?”

“She sure did.” Your jaw drops and you smack Harry’s chest. He chuckles softly.

“So, is she your girlfriend yet, or what?”

Harry’s face loses all color and he clears his throat.

“Uhhh, I don’t know yet, um, could I call you later, Andy?”

“Why, are you busy?”

“A little.”

“Doing what?”

“I’m just tired, we got back late last night, and then…I didn’t fall asleep until later. Not really awake enough for a full conversation.”

“Fine.” He sighs. “Call me later, love you.”

“Love you too.” Harry puts his phone down and looks at you. “Sorry, he doesn’t understand how this stuff works…”

“What stuff?”

“Like…dating timeframes. You know how kids are, they think you go out on one date and that makes someone your boyfriend or girlfriend.”

“Labels really scare you, huh?” You sit up and look at him, covering your upper half with the blanket.

“No, that’s not it, I just don’t want you to feel rushed or pressured.” Your features soften at that.

He was right, it had only been a month, it was probably a little soon to rush into the boyfriend/girlfriend label. You shuffle over to sit in his lap, and you lay your head on his shoulder. He holds you close and rubs your back. You start laughing.

“What?”

“I can’t believe you said that to him.”

“Oh, he didn’t pick up on the innuendo, s’fine.” He kisses the top of your head. “Sleep alright?”

“Mhm, did you?”

“Yeah, like you a lot better than my body pillow.” You both laugh at his dumb joke. “What are you doing today?”

“Hmm.” You look up at him. “Laundry for sure, grocery shopping…I’ve got some reading to catch up on, you?”

“Bout the same. Could we have a shower and some breakfast? Then I’ll get out of your hair.”

“That sounds great.” You kiss his cheek. “But no hanky panky in there, I’m throbbing and not in a good way.”

“Sorry.” His cheeks grow red.

“No! It’s okay, I just...you had me all over the place, and your dick is really big. Not complaining at all, it was just a lot all at once.”

“I…may have been a little excited.”

“No skin off my nose, I’d rather have it like that anyways.” You kiss his nose and get off of him. You extend your hand out and lead him to the bathroom to start your shower.

“You bitch! You can’t just say he spent the night and not give me details!” Janette says over FaceTime later that evening. “I’ve missed everything!”

“When you get back we can go out for drinks. I don’t think he’d like it very much if I spilled the beans. I’m not sure what we’re telling people…if we’re telling people.”

“It’s been about a month, right? You could tell people you’re seeing someone.”

“Other than my brother you’re the first person I’ve told.”

“Please, just tell me this…did you go to sleep happy?”

“Very.” You smirk and she squeals.

“God, I’ve missed you.”

“I miss you too.”

A few days pass, and you end up going to Boston for your birthday. You and Harry have spoken, of course, but you haven’t been able to see each other. He was really bummed because he wanted to take you out to dinner.

“Can I take you out for a night on the town when you get back?”

“I’d like that.”

Harry was one of the sweetest guys you had ever dated, and you felt really lucky. Your parents and brother and Julian were all taking you out for dinner at one of your favorite Chinese food places in the city.

“How was New York, honey?” Your mom asks.

“It was great! I learned a lot. I’m really glad I went, there were so many good sessions.”

“And you went with one of your colleagues?” Your dad asks.

“Mhm.” You say, sipping your drink. You and Phil make eyes at each other and you swallow hard. “We’re…well, we’re sort of seeing each other.”

“Oh?” Your mom gasps and then she smiles. “Where the hell is he then? You didn’t invite him o your birthday dinner?”

“Mum…it’s a bit soon for him to meet the family, it’s only been a little over a month since we’ve started going out.”

“How long have you known him?” Your dad asks.

“Almost a year. He’s my office neighbor, so we’ve been friends a while.”

“Well, I’m just tickled pink! It’s been ages since you’ve had a boyfriend.” Your mom beams.

“He’s not my boyfriend, not officially, anyways. We’re just dating, seeing how it goes.”

“What’s the problem? He should want to snatch you up.” Your dad says.

“He needs to be really selective with who he gets serious…he sort of has a kid…” You mumble.

“A kid?!” They both say.

“How old is this man?” Your mom asks.

“Only thirty-two, Phil’s age.”

“How old is the kid? Must be young.” Your dad says.

“He’s eleven, actually…they had him young. I’ve met his mom, she’s really nice. She has a serious boyfriend who has a daughter. Harry’s son’s name is Andy, and he’s very sweet.”

“So, you’ve met him?” Your mom asks.

“Oh, sure. Harry has to bring him to work sometimes. I’ve gone hiking with them too.”

“Yeah, Y/N went camping overnight with them.” Phil says with a grin. “Think that was when he finally had the balls to ask her out. Shared a tent and everything.”

“I’m never telling you anything ever again.” You groan.

“I think next time we come up for a visit we should meet this man. I mean, you really want to get involved with someone with a kid in middle school? What if things get really serious, and then you find out he doesn’t wanna deal with having a baby again? I know it’s your choice, but you’ve always said you wanted a baby, I don’t want you wasting your time with someone who won’t give that to you.” Your mom says.

“Wow, a lecture on my birthday, what a gift.”

“We just want to make-“ Your dad starts but you cut him off.

“Look, I get I’m the baby of this family, but I’m not stupid, I know what I’m doing. It’s taken me a year to open my eyes and heart up to him, and I can’t believe the time I already wasted not being with him. He’s…he’s amazing, and kind, and exactly what I want in a guy. If things get more serious then I’m sure the topic of babies will come up, and we’ll talk about it then. I’ll let you meet him when I think it’s time, not when you do.” You huff. “Now, can we please enjoy this lo mein? It’s delicious.”

Phil invites you to spend the night at his place after dinner, which you’re thankful for. You didn’t want to be lectured anymore. Just as you’re crawling into bed you get a FaceTime request from Harry.

“Hey!” You say a little too excitedly.

“Hey, birthday girl. Have I said happy birthday enough times to you today? How about one more: happy birthday, Y/N.” You bite your bottom lip as you smile.

“Thank you, Harry. You’re so sweet.”

“I can’t wait to see you, I think you’ll like what I have planned.”

“I can’t wait too.”

“Andy made you a card, I saw him today and he gave it to me to give to you.”

“Aw, he’s so cute. He’ll be home with you pretty soon, huh?”

“Yeah, couple more weeks.”

“Listen, um…I sort of told my parents about us tonight…I hope that’s alright.”

“You did?” He perks up.

“Yeah, they wanna meet you soon, is that weird?”

“I don’t know, is it weird that my mum and sister are dying to video chat with you?”

“You told them about me?” You swoon.

“Course I did…a little while ago, when I was still keeping how I felt to myself…think it was after Andy’s birthday party.” He rubs the back of his neck.

“You’re so cute, Harry.” You smile. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Noah asked me to lunch…for some reason. Should be interesting. What about you?”

“Phil’s cooking for me all day to try out some new recipes.”

“Lucky duck.” You giggle at that.

“I’m tired so I’m gonna go to sleep, but I’m really happy you called. It’s nice to see your face.”

“It’s nice to see yours too. See you in a couple days.”

“Goodnight.”

Harry met Noah at a casual seafood place for lunch. They sat outside, and both ordered a beer with their lunches.

“So…not that I don’t like hanging out, but usually we do it with the kids around. What’s this all about?”

“Getting right to it, huh?” Noah chuckles. “Well…I guess, how do you feel about me, H?”

“How do I feel about you?” Harry laughs. “Well, if I were a prick I’d say you annoy me because you’re the guy fucking the mother of my kid, but I’m not so I won’t say that.” He smirks as Noah’s face falls. “Jesus, relax, mate, I’m teasing. I like you, obviously. You’re good to Andy, and to Paige.”

“You scared me for a second there.” He clears his throat. “We all have a nice thing going, this blended family thing.”

“Yeah, I’d say it’s all working out as well as it can.”

“Paige and I have been together for three years now, and we live together, and Rachel loves her to pieces, Andy too.” Harry hums his response and takes a sip of his beer. “We’ve chatted a bit, I know what she wants, so…I’m planning to propose next week.” Harry nearly chokes on his drink just as the waitress comes over with his food. “Sorry…”

“No, uh, no, uh, you just caught me by surprise.” He clears his throat. “Why are you telling me this? You want my blessing or something?”

“Sort of…look, after my wife, well…” He tears up slightly. “I never thought I’d fall in love again, and I love Paige so much. She’s been a great mother figure to Rach, not that I would let her forget her actual mother. If I’m going to be Andy’s step-dad, I wanna make sure his actual dad is okay with it.”

“Y-yeah, I’m okay with it.” Suddenly the food he was starving for made him feel sick. “Um, thanks for letting me know.”

“Of course!”

“Have you talked with her father?”

“God no.” He scoffs. “Would rather ask for forgiveness instead of permission with him. Besides, I think your blessing would mean more to her than his. I know how much she cares about you still, H.”

“Right.”

Harry does his best to make it through his lunch, but he gets most of it wrapped up, assuring Noah he just wasn’t that hungry. When he gets home, and puts his food in the fridge, he grips the counter and starts crying. He wasn’t sure what suddenly came over him, but there he was, alone in his kitchen, sobbing. It wasn’t that he wanted to be with Paige in that way, it just felt like a kick to the gut. He knew she would say yes to Noah, but she had said no to him. She didn’t love him enough to stay. She loved Noah more than him. Harry had you now, sure, but what if you’d never love him, or if you did, would you love him enough to stick it out?

You were very excited for your night out with Harry. You weren’t sure where he was taking you for dinner, but you wanted to look nice, so you go with a black dress that flows around your thighs. Your hair is down and wavy, and your make up is just on point tonight.

Harry: I’m here

You’re a little surprised that he didn’t ring your buzzer like he’s been doing, but you shrug it off. You’re even more surprised that he’s sitting in his car. Since you started dating he’s been waiting for you outside. You open the car door and get in.

“Hi.” You say brightly and kiss his cheek.

“Hey.” He gives you a soft smile.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, why?”

“No reason…”

He pulls onto the street and heads towards the local movie theater that wasn’t really used for normal movies. It was a place for live bands, dinner and a show, sometimes they’d show old black and white films and someone would come to play the piano live, that sort of thing.

“We’re going to the Flying Elephant?” You ask excitedly.

“Yeah, I thought it would be fun to eat and listen to some music.” He mutters.

He was off, you could tell he was trying to seem happy and excited, but something was definitely wrong. What could have happened in the last twenty-four hours? Your eyes widen you remember he had lunch with Noah yesterday, did they get into an argument?

Harry parks the car, and this time he opens the door for you like he usually would. He gives you a peck on the lips and smiles.

“You look really nice.” He says.

“Thank you.” You smile.

He leads you inside and one of the workers scans the tickets he got for the show. You follow him up to the small balcony where your table was. You had never been to an event at the Flying Elephant, but you had mentioned a couple of times that you would like to, so you thought this was very thoughtful.

“What kind of music is it tonight?”

“Jazz I think, but, like, the fun kind, big band style.”

“Oh, fun!”

A waiter comes over with your favorite bottle of white, two glasses, and a basket of bread. He says he’ll be back soon to take your order. Harry had clearly planned a lot of this out, so what was his problem?

“Got your favorite.” He smiles as you clink your glasses. “Happy birthday.”

“I see that, thank you, Harry.” You each take a sip, and then look at the menu. “Oh! They have a tofu marsala, that sounds nice.”

“I’ve had that here before, it’s really good.”

The waiter comes back and you both end up ordering the same thing. You take another sip of your wine and look around at the other people filling in. Harry’s quiet more than usual, so you decide to speak up.

“How was your lunch with Noah yesterday?”

“Huh? Oh…um, it was good.” He shrugs. “Nothing really to report.”

“So, did he just wanna hang out or something?”

“Yeah.”

“Harry…” You reach across the table and take his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Are you sure everything’s okay? We didn’t need to come tonight if something’s going on…”

“No! No, everything’s fine…I’m just in a funk I guess, I’m sorry. It has nothing to do with you, but I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

“Alright.” You sigh.

“I’m glad we’re here tonight, together.”

“Are you nervous about classes starting soon?”

“No.” He chuckles. “That’s, like, the least of my worries right now. Really, it’s fine, I’m just in my head about something stupid.”

“Well…if you feel like talking about it I’m here for you.” You smile softly.

“Thanks.” He gives you’re a hand a squeeze.

Luckily when your food comes out the music starts, and the tension breaks a bit. The band sounded incredible, and you both were having a wonderful time. A couple of the performers told jokes between sets, which had everyone in the audience hollering. Harry had the waiter bring a cupcake over to your table with a little candle in it for dessert. Birthdays weren’t really a bid deal to you, but it meant so much that he put so much effort in. You blow your candle out and split the cupcake with him.

“That was so much fun, thank you so much.”

“I’m glad you had a good time, babe.” He puts his hand on your thigh as he drives you back home.

You relax a little at the pet name. You desperately wanted to know what was bothering him, but you didn’t want to push him since he said he didn’t want to talk about it. He pulls up to your building and turns the car off with a sigh.

“If you don’t feel like coming up you don’t have to…”

“No, I want to. I wanna spend time with you.” He smiles and gets out of the car, and opens your door for you.

“Can I get you anything?” You ask as you get into your place.

“Just a glass of water would be great.” He says, sitting down on the couch. You fill a glass for the both of you and him his when you come to sit with him. “Thanks.” He says as he takes a sip.

“The band sounded great, I’d like to do that again sometime.”

“Definitely. They show film festivals there sometimes too. I usually give my classes extra credit if they go.”

“Fun! I love a good film festival, what do they show?”

“All of the shorts nominated for Oscars usually. All of the animated ones too, it’s great. Although, usually they’re all really somber for whatever reason.”

“People probably figure sadness will get them the nom.” You roll your eyes. “I think it takes more skill to make someone laugh, but that’s just me.”

“A lot of the comedies I’ve seen have had some of the darkest or saddest moments.”

“That’s what I’m saying! Comedies can be really gut-wrenching.” You sip your water and set it down on the coffee table. He does the same, but twiddles his thumbs.

��Har, you’re killing me.”

“Why?”

“Because something’s wrong and you’re making me nervous.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with you…”

“I know, but you’re here with me now, and you’re not all the way here. Just talk to me, please?”

“I…it’s stupid.”

“It’s not if it’s making you feel bad.” You put your hand on his shoulder. “Whatever it is you can tell me.”

“At lunch yesterday Noah told me that he’s going to propose to Paige. He invited me out to get basically get my blessing or some shit.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Apparently they’ve spoken about it, so she’s going to say yes, which is good, they make a great couple.”

“So…what’s the problem?”

He looks at you, eyes glossy.

“I don’t know.” He whispers and shakes his head.

“Are you…sad that things are going to be so official between them?”

“Maybe…I mean, I don’t want her in that way, you have to know that, Y/N. I’m not sad because I’m in love with her or anything, those feelings have long since left, but…it just sucks, like, it’s just a reminder that I wasn’t worth sticking it out for or something. It brings back to such a shitty time in my life, you know?”

“Oh, Harry.” You rub at his back. “I’m so sorry…”

“it didn’t work for a reason, we were both really young, and she…she told me she wasn’t in love with me anymore, for whatever reason, I mean Andy was a total accident, I don’t know if she and I would have lasted with or without him. It’s not like we were a perfect match. I think we were always better as friends, but I was stubborn about it. When we hooked up those few times after things ended, that was me going to her, not her coming to me. I was so lost, you know? Look at me, it’s been over ten years, and it feel likes it happened yesterday all over again.” He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“I get it, this is a big change that’s going to happen.” You chew your bottom lip. “I had a high school sweetheart, the kind that I thought I was going to be with forever and marry and have kids with. But when it came time for us to go to college we ended it to give ourselves some freedom. Well, about a month into school I go on Facebook and see he’s in a relationship with this girl that he had started talking to over the summer while we were still together. It crushed me. Now he’s married to her or whatever. It sucks when you thought you were someone’s number one, and it turns out you weren’t…but I also believe that things happen for a reason. I wasn’t meant to be with him, and maybe you weren’t meant to be with Paige. I think we all go through things on journeys that lead us to the person we’re supposed to be with.” He looks at you and blinks. “Sorry, I hate when I’m feeling like shit and someone tries to use their own story to relate because we all know that doesn’t do anyone any good, and I know I could never really know the feelings involved with having a kid with someone, but-“

He cups your cheeks and brings you close to him. He slots his mouth over yours and your eyes flutter closed. He gently sucks on your bottom lip and you groan into him. He lets go of you and smooths some hair away from your face.

“Thank you.” He smiles. “What you said did make me feel better.”

“Your feelings are valid, Harry, don’t discount them. I know it’s sort of awkward to talk to me about, but I don’t want you to feel like you’re going this alone.”

“The more I talk about it, I just feel silly. I’m happy for them, truthfully. He just sort of sprung it on me, but it all makes sense now looking back on it, like, why he’d wanna meet up alone.”

“Pretty respectful of him, not everyone would check in with the ex.”

“I know, it was really kind of him to consider my feelings. I’m sorry it put me in such a funk, I hope I didn’t ruin our evening.”

“You didn’t, it was really nice. Clearly you put a lot of effort in.” You cup his cheek and rub your thumb over his cheekbone. You peck at his lip and smile. “I think I’m too full to do anything, but if you wanna stay and cuddle…”

“I’d like that.” He smiles. “Sure you don’t mind?”

“No, I want you here. We can get cozy, watch a little TV, and pass out.”

“That sounds amazing.”

A couple of days later.

Andy stood there inside with Rachel watching through the glass door as Noah got down on one knee and proposed to Paige. He grimaced as he heard her squeal and nod her head yes as he slipped the ring on her finger.

“Can you believe it?! Now we’ll really be brother and sister.” Rachel beams at Andy before running outside to congratulate the two.

Paige looks around and frowns when she sees Andy walk away from the glass and further into the house.

“I’m gonna go talk to him, one second.” She says to Noah and Rachel. She goes upstairs and taps on his door before entering. “Hey.”

“Hi.” He was sitting on his bed hugging a pillow to his chest. Harry used to do the same thing. She sighs at the sight, and sits on the edge of the bed.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on? You’re not happy for me?”

“I just don’t understand how all of this works.”

“How what works, honey?”

“Being in love. You didn’t wanna marry Dad, but you wanna marry Noah? What’s wrong with Dad?”

“Oh, Andy, nothing’s wrong with Dad. I love Dad, but…we were so young when we had you and-“

“You say that like you were sixteen, you were twenty-two mom, almost twenty-three, it’s not that young.”

“When you get to be that age maybe you’ll see that it is actually a really young age to have a baby.”

“Whatever.”

“Andy.” She sighs. “I don’t really know how to explain it, I just didn’t see a future with your Dad. I didn’t wanna be the wife of a college professor. At the time, Dad put his studies over everything and I just couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I became resentful, and I fell out of love with him. I wanted something else. Noah and I have a much better connection. Dad and I are good friends, which is great and helpful when it comes to you, but I haven’t seen him as anything more in a long time. Did you think we were going to get together?”

“No, I knew you and Noah would end up getting married, I just didn’t think so soon.”

“It’s a big change, I know…but really not a lot is going to change. He’s just gonna be my husband instead of my boyfriend.”

“He’s gonna be my step-dad.”

“Sure, but you can still just call him Noah. He doesn’t expect you to call him Dad or anything.”

“Good, because Dad is who I call Dad.” He huffs. “Rachel refers to you as Mum sometimes.”

“Does that bother you?”

“It doesn’t bother you?!”

“No…I told she could call me whatever she wants. I don’t mind it. I mean…I am sort like a mom to her. Is this why you like living with Dad more? You think we’re becoming a family without you?”

“No.” He mumbles. “I like being in school with Brandon…and Dad…like, Dad knows how to do my hair the way I like, and he takes me on fun trips, and he helps me with my homework.”

“I help you with your homework.”

“Yeah, but you’re not a teacher. He knows how to explain things to me better than you, and as much as I’ve liked swimming all the time, it’s boring just going to the lake every day. I’ve barely been hiking this summer.”

“You could have told me, I would have had Dad come get you for a weekend.”

“Yeah, just for a weekend. I hate going back and forth, Mum, I hate it so much. I just wanna live in one place.”

“Well, I’m sorry, that’s just not an option. I’d miss you too much. I missed you so much last year only seeing you on weekends.”

“Yeah? How do you think Dad felt before I got to live with him?”

“Andy, don’t speak to me like that. I’m trying to-“

“Well, stop. Just stop trying.” Tears well up in his eyes. “I wanna go home now, I don’t wanna stay here for another two weeks, I wanna go home now.” Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

“Honey…I don’t know if Dad can-“

“Then call him.” He wipes tears from his eyes. “I don’t wanna be here anymore.” He looks away from Paige and it breaks her heart.

She wasn’t sure what to do. Should just give in and let him do his thing, or should she just give him what he wants. She didn’t want him to resent her, or make him think he was held hostage here.

“Okay, I’ll call your father.”

She stands up and leaves the room. She goes downstairs where Noah and Rachel are.

“Where’s Andy? I thought we could all go get ice cream to celebrate.”

“Andy wants to go home, I need to call Harry.” She grabs her phone off the counter and goes down the hall to the office.

You and Harry were out for a walk by the river to watch the sunset. It was really romantic. You had stopped to kiss each other when he felt the buzzing in his pocket. He sighs and rests his forehead against yours as he fishes his phone out of his pocket.

“It’s Paige, do you mind, babe?”

“No, go ahead.”

“Thanks.” He swipes to take the call. “Hello?”

“Hi.” She sniffles.

“Hi…um, are you alright?”

“No.” She swallows. “Andy wants to go home, to your home. He doesn’t want to wait two more weeks.”

“What happened? Is he alright?”

“He…he’s not happy with me. Um, Noah proposed…and I said yes.”

“Congratulations.” He says it sincerely, but he rolls his eyes.

“Thanks.” She sighs. “Andy and Rachel saw from inside the house, and he went right up to his room, and then he started saying all these things, and then he started crying and now I’m crying, and I…I don’t know what to do Harry, he hates me!”

“He doesn’t hate you.”

“It’s like he doesn’t want me to be his mom anymore. He doesn’t want me.”

“He wants you, he just…might not want everything else.”

“That’s not fair. I deserve to be happy too. Ugh, you should have heard him. ‘Dad’s better at helping with homework. Dad takes me on fun trips’. I felt like a piece of shit.”

“You do plenty of fun things with him. He’s just…it’s a lot that’s changing.”

“Not really. The living situation is staying the same, I’ll just have a husband instead of a boyfriend. God, I wonder if he’s scared I’ll want another baby…”

“I mean…do you?”

“No! One was plenty, I’m too old.”

“You’re only thirty-four.”

“The store’s closed.”

“Okay, Paige.” Harry rolls his eyes again. You find a bench to sit down at to give him a little more privacy. “What do you want me to do, do you want me to come get him?”

“I guess so, I’m not gonna make him stay here if he doesn’t wanna be here, but I can’t not see him, Harry. We have to keep the weekend arrangements.”

“And we will. Maybe once he’s with me for a bit he’ll calm down. He’s a preteen now, maybe his hormones are starting to act up.” He runs a hand through his hair and looks over at you. “I can be there in like forty minutes, tell him to get his shit together. He’s gonna get a stern talking to, I can tell you that much.”

“Don’t angry with him.” She sniffles again.

“I can’t have him making you cry.”

“But he was crying, and-“

“You just got engaged, he could have acted better. He’s too old to be acting like that. I’ll be there soon.”

“Thank you, Harry.”

He sighs and comes over to you.

“I’m so sorry, I have to go pick up Andy, do you mind if we go?”

“Of course!”

You and Harry jump into his car and make your way to Paige’s house. When he pulls up he leaves the car running.

“Do you mind just waiting here a moment?”

“Not at all.” You smile and he nods.

He goes up to the front door and rings the bell. The door flies open and Andy practically flings himself onto Harry.

“Start putting your things in the trunk, I need to speak with your mother.”

“About what?”

“Andy.”

“Great, so you’re mad at me to?!”

“No one’s mad at you.” Paige says as she comes into view.

“Go put your things in the trunk, and then come back into the house the three of us are gonna have a chat.”

“Here, I’ll-“

“Let him do it, he wants to come home so bad, he can load his shit up.” Harry huffs and goes inside.

Andy was stunned, but he does as his dad says. When he opens the trunk he grins.

“Hi, Y/N!”

You turn around and give him a smile. A smile that says it’s good to see him, but he better not lollygag. Once Andy gets all of his things in the car, he goes inside and down to the office where Harry and Paige were waiting for him. Harry was leaning against the desk with his arms crossed, and Paige was sitting on the couch.

“I’m very disappointed in you.” Harry starts. “Your mum just got engaged, and you couldn’t even say congrats?”

“Right, because you look thrilled.” Andy scoffs. Harry and Paige look at each other and then back to Andy.

“You better check your attitude, or you’re gonna wish you were staying here. You can’t run from your problems, Andy. I’m glad you’re coming home, but it doesn’t change anything. Mum’s still marrying Noah. He’s gonna be your step-dad, and Rachel’s gonna be your step-sister. That’s just the way of it.”

“Noah loves you, Andy, and so does Rachel. I don’t understand, I mean, it’s been three years…”

“He’s not my dad, and she’s not my sister.” He huffs, crossing his own arms. “I don’t love them.” He could feel tears forming in his eyes again.

“I think…” Harry starts. “Maybe it’s time you start seeing Dr. Gardner again.”

“No!”

“Andy, you clearly have things going on that you can’t articulate to us, maybe talking to someone else could help.”

“I agree with Dad.” Paige speaks up.

“Of course you do, you’re always quick to pass me off so I don’t have to disturb your perfect life!”

“You said you wanted to go to Dad’s!” She stands up. “What did you want me to do, say no?”

“I don’t know! Even when I said I wanted to live with him you just let it happen!”

“Because you put up a fight when I even thought about saying no!”

“Whatever, I like living with him better anyways. I had the best year at school I’ve had in a long time, I have way better friends, and I can actually have a conversation with him.” He hands ball into fists. “I…I…I ha-“

“Don’t, Andy.” Harry interjects. “If you say that, there’s no taking it back.”

“God, fuck this!” Andy storms out of the room. Noah had taken Rachel for ice cream, so luckily they weren’t witnessing any of this.

“Andy!” Paige and Harry say at the same time.

“Hey!” Harry grabs Andy’s arms. He tries to yank it free, but Harry’s much stronger. “We don’t speak like that, do you understand me?”

“Stop talking to me like I’m a baby!”

“Then stop acting like one!”

“Harry.” Paige says. “Stop yelling at him. It’s not going to solve anything. Andy, you can’t speak like that to us, it’s not right. Dad and I have been breaking our backs trying to do everything we can to make you happy. We haven’t asked for much in return. I really want to marry Noah, but I won’t if it makes you that upset.”

“What?” Andy’s features soften and Harry lets go of him.

“I won’t marry him if it upsets you that much.”

“Paige…” Harry says.

“But…then you’d be unhappy, Mum.” Andy says. “I don’t want that.”

“We should have talked more about what it would mean if he and I got engaged and all that, I’m sorry I didn’t include you in those conversations.”

“I’m just confused about a lot right now…” Andy looks away. “I’m sorry for how I acted…it’s great that he wants to marry you.” He looks at Harry. “Can I still come home with you?”

“Yes.” Harry sighs. “Go get in the car, I’ll be out in a minute.”

Andy gives his mother a hug quickly, which surprises her, and then out the door he goes. Harry and Paige look at each other.

“What else do you think is going on with him?” Harry asks.

“I have no idea. I wish I did. I try to talk with him, get him to open up, but he’s very selective.”

“I’ll see if I can have a more relaxed chat with him. He’s only going into sixth grade, he shouldn’t be this moody.”

“Let me know when he wants to come back next…”

“I will. I’m sorry he spoiled everything.”

“He didn’t, they’re bringing me back a big old sundae, and I’m gonna stuff my face.” She smiles. “Look.” She holds the ring up. “Got my style just right.”

“It’s beautiful.” He smiles. “You know, Noah had a chat with me about all this, wanted my blessing and everything.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows raise. “Well, thank you for telling him it was okay.” She says facetiously. “Do you know if he spoke to my father?”

“He did not.”

“Good.” They both laugh. “Thank you…I don’t know how I’d handle him without you sometimes.”

“What are co-parents for?” He hugs her. “I’ll call you in a couple days, yeah?”

“Sounds good.”

Harry comes out to the car where you and Andy were sitting in an awkward silence.

“Sorry bout that.” Harry says as he buckles up.

“No worries.” You smile.

“Do you mind if I drop you at your place, need to have some alone time with that one.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

Harry looks in the backseat, and sees Andy with his chin resting in his palm. He sighs and faces forward again. He pulls onto the street, and makes his way home. Harry drops you off, and walks you to your door.

“I’m sorry about all this.”

“Hey, it comes with the territory.” You shrug. “Shit happens.”

“I’ll have less time to spend with you sooner than I thought…”

“Harry, don’t worry about me. Once school starts we’ll see each other every day. We’ll make time for date nights later, go take care of things with him. Seems like he really needs you right now.”

Harry kisses your cheek and gets back in the car. It’s silent until they get home. This time he helps Andy with his things. Once it’s all settled, they both sit in his room to chat. They each sit crisscross, holding pillows to their chests.

“Whenever you’re ready.” Harry says softly. “I know there’s gotta be more to all this.”

“There is.” He sighs. “It’s just…I feel like everyone around me is finding their true love.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mom has Noah, you have Y/N now, and…Brandon, ugh, Brandon started dating this girl Molly…she’s in our class, and they go to the same camp, and he told me they, like, kissed, and…now I feel like he’s never gonna make time for me anymore. I always thought relationships were for adults…I didn’t know he liked girls…I don’t like girls like that…not yet anyways.”

“Oh, Andy…it’s okay that you don’t like anyone yet, and this Molly girl isn’t Brandon’s true love. Odds are they won’t last long. You’re only eleven.”

“When he called me to tell me he was so excited he had his first kiss…and I felt…sick.”

“Sick?”

“Yeah, like, my stomach felt weird like I was going to throw up, and my chest started to hurt. I thought it was my asthma, so I took my inhaler, but it didn’t help.” Harry’s eyes grow wide. Andy was describing heartbreak.

“What did you say to him when he told you?”

“I told him that it was cool or whatever…but that was a lie.”

“It made you feel achy, huh?”

“Yeah, but I don’t really know why…”

“That’s okay, you don’t need to have it all figured out right now.”

“But what if when I see him next he wants to talk about her, or he wants to invite her everywhere?”

“You just need to tell him that you’re not comfortable with it, and that you’d prefer the one on one time. If he’s really your friend he’ll understand.”

“I just wish I knew what was wrong with me.” He starts sniffling. “I hate that I’ve been so mean to mum, I feel like I’ve been taking things out on her, and I know I hurt her today.” He starts crying, and Harry pulls him into his chest.

“Come here.” Harry lays him down with him, letting Andy cry into him and so he could cuddle him easier. Arms wrapped around him tight. “When you feel up to it you can call her to apologize.”

“She must hate me.” He hiccups.

“She doesn’t, I promise.”

“I don’t want her to know about why I’ve been upset.”

“Okay, it can stay between us.” Harry rubs Andy’s back with one hand and scratches his scalp with the other. “When does Brandon get back from camp?”

“In a few days.”

“Is that why you wanted to come back here? So you could see each other?”

“And because I missed you.” He snuggles further into Harry, and it nearly breaks his heart. He couldn’t remember the last time his son let him hold him like this.

“I missed you too.”

“Are things with Y/N going well? I feel bad, I know I messed up your date.”

“Things are good, and it’s okay. We were just out for a walk by the river, nothing special.”

“Is she your girlfriend yet?” Andy yawns. Poor kid’s had a long day.

“Not exactly, but soon I think.”

Harry lays with Andy until he’s in a deep sleep. He goes to his own room and texts Paige that Andy will call her tomorrow to talk some things through. Just as he’s about to put his phone down your name pops up.

You: I know it’s none of my business, but I hope Andy’s alright…is he?

Harry: thanks for checking in, he’s doing fine. We had a good talk, he even let me lay with him a bit. Poor kid felt bad about cutting our date short

You: you’ve raised such a sweet boy, honestly

Harry: maybe you could join us for dinner here some night, I think he’d like that

You: I’d love to, just name the night and I’m there

Harry sighs happily. Other women he’s dated in the past always thought it was cute he had a kid at first, but none of them ever understood that Andy came first. You were so cool about it, and he adored you even more for checking in.

Harry: hey…I like you a lot

You: hey…I like you a lot too

#harry styles #harry styles series #office neighbors #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles y/n #harry styles angst #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut

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shijiujun · 3 years

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hey so uh, it's 110% Not Your Job, but can i ask for like a crash course on these chinese bl series that are everywhere around me but i don't know them. like i'm familiar with the untamed or however many names it has but i'm seeing two or three more???? help please if you can thank you

hello!! oh no worries, i happened to be looking for a distraction too so this was timely hahaha although it’s a pretty broad question since there are so many new live adaptations coming out (and some which have already come out which are featured as bromances), but let me see if I can like round this up for you a little.

*i may be giving you a bit more than you need or like irrelevant stuff, but i guess i’m bound to hit something hahaha

Okay so the chinese BL series you’re talking about is The Untamed, and since you said you’re familiar I won’t get into it in detail, BUT just for like flow’s sake:

The Untamed (Chen Qing Ling) is based on the danmei (BL) novel written by MXTX, called Mo Dao Zu Shi (and yes however many like English translations to this title there is), or MDZS for short. You watched the live-action, and there’s like a lot of other versions of it e.g. the anime, the chibi anime, audio dramas etc. etc. the list goes on. In case you still haven’t seen any of those, just glance through this masterpost made by @the-social-recluse - In any case, right now everything is sort of already out EXCEPT:

MDZSQ - chibi donghua, cutest shit you’ll ever see

More MDZS merch

Some teasers from MDZS mobile game which has been one year and developing

Now moving on to other BL series floating around so frequently - MDZS is the second book that MXTX wrote. So there’s SVSSS (The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving-System), which is also called lovingly by others in the fandom by Scumbag System/Villain in short, this is MXTX’s first danmei novel. Right now if you’ve seen this on Tumblr, it’s the anime (donghua) version - 10 episodes only for Season 1, available on WeTV with subs, finished airing like a few weeks ago. Translations of the novel are definitely out in full somewhere.

An absolute mess, but an organized one

Tried to do a manhua but failed

Everyone thought the donghua wouldn’t air on time either (it has a history of dropping development halfway) but it did

Would probably be the most entertaining if ever dealt with a live-action

And then there’s arguably, the most beloved child out of all three novels (at least right this moment) - TGCF (Tian Guan Ci Fu, or Heaven Official’s Blessing). This is the third and so far last (???) danmei novel MXTX has written, main pairing invented love. Strawhat-wearing scrap collector smiley angel with devoted kid-turned-adult-turned-ghost-king who follows smiley angel for like many years because he loves him. Anyway, if you’re seeing this, once again on Tumblr a lot, it’s the donghua version you’re seeing. Still airing, I think we’re midway through the whole season, the yelling starts Saturday (Asia time zone) and then extends into Sunday, sometimes Monday.

There’s like a god-tier Eng translation in full for TGCF by Suika

There is a manhua for this as well, only like 45 chapters in, but the time Jan/Feb 2021 rolls around, the donghua would have overtaken the manhua progress on the storyline HAHAHA

Apparently the director/production team who did CQL/The Untamed managed to get the rights to filming its live-action, but heh nothing much about that just yet aside from casting rumours and fans worrying that the casting will be done wrongly and also that they won’t be able to do justice to the story.

Alright now that we’ve more or less cleared MXTX and what everyone is hyping over (for good reason), let’s move on to the other CHINESE BL stuff you could be seeing (although I feel like you might not actually be asking about this), and these will all be live-actions (I’m also only clearing SOME of this year’s stuff, so none from before 2020, don’t ask me why I didn’t leave Guardian or SCI up here):

✨✨✨ Already aired, done and dusted or maybe ongoing, just ones I see on my dash and notifs so I definitely am biased ✨✨✨

The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty (Cheng Hua’s Fourteenth Year) - Many episodes, much bromance, base novel is gay af, but live action is cute af. Read more here and full translation is not yet done I think

My Roommate is a Detective - THIS IS A SPECIAL MENTION. NOT BL. Doesn’t even have like a book to go along with it, it’s just I’ve seen people getting into this again and creating content, so idk, imma just leave this here. It ain’t BL but it got the most glaring BL-esque relationship I’ve ever seen in my life. You’ll get what I mean if you watch it

The Lost Tomb Reboot - AGAIN another special mention, because many handsome young-ish men who you know, head into tombs, much bromance. Based on a huge series of novels, totally not BL, but as always with like a lot of men put into one story, ships happen. This year as well, in case you’ve seen it floating around

✨✨✨ Upcoming Chinese BL live-action adaptations, confirmed + casting + filming. You may have seen some of these because like posters were recently released etc. - As far as I know these are all slated for 2021 ✨✨✨

Faraway Wanderers (Tian Ya Ke) - A danmei novel by Priest, filming wrapped up, should be airing soon. Leads are pretty cute, although I’m sure they’ll turn this bromance. One of the male leads is known for a lot of period web dramas, and Gong Jun, the other male lead, is known for more contemporary modern dramas, but damn Gong Jun’s jawline

Winner is King (Sha Po Lang) - Another danmei novel by Priest, filming wrapped up recently as well if I recall? Posters recently released, and this is arguably Priest’s most famous and popular danmei

Immortality (Hao Yi Xing) - A super popular danmei novel called 2ha or The White Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Meat Bun. Filming also... wrapped? I think, because posters came out the next day and everyone from Earth to Pluto went mad, definitely one you should look out for next year spring i think, but I’m pretty sure there’s gonna be a hell lot more teasers, posters etc. coming up and then half of danmei Tumblr will probably go into cardiac arrest

The Society of Four Leaves (Zhang Gong An) - Ehhhh I think this hasn’t yet been filmed but casting was recently confirmed (contentiously). Concept posters are up though. This technically isn’t classified officially as a BL. There are no CPs officially in the novel, but apparently it’s very like idk flirty etc., also slated for next year

*There are a few more by Priest, e.g. Liu Yao, but no concrete news that I’ve seen (by now like at least 60% of her danmeis either have a live-action contract or a donghua contract or both lmao)

✨✨✨ Upcoming Chinese BL donghua adaptations (2021-ish). All by Priest✨✨✨

*Throwing this in just as a by the way thing, because these are also recent news (these two weeks). There might be more but I haven’t seen anything yet personally :D

Imperfection (Can Ci PIn) - Space AU, the novel won like two national literary awards if I recall like last year? Anyway a brief trailer recently came out last week I think, and main lead is handsome af, and once again it’s space and space wars so it’s pretty cool

Silent Reading (Mo Du Zhe) - Novel is called Mo Du, and honestly I think the donghua has been like teasing fans for like idk years, but it looks like we’re finally getting to the donghua as the team previewed the first ep like... two weeks ago live to an audience? Modern crime thriller thing, there’s a masterpost going on Tumblr

Lie Huo Jiao Chou - Another Priest fan favourite, a historical + modern danmei combination. Much angst from what I’ve seen, but donghua teaser looked good also, released also last week

---

anyway hopefully some part of this or at least one part answers your question? if not, just send me another ask or like, DM me hahahaha

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inkdemonapologist · 3 years

Photo

Tfw it’s like 6am and your penpal shows up at your hotel room but he’s like partially a demon and also won’t stop smiling????

Hi again Allison we’re all Very Normal

[BatIM Call of Cthulhu Masterpost]

ANYWAY HAVE SOME, OUT-OF-CONTEXT QUOTES for Session 6!!

[Sammy is played by me, Joey is played by Boo (inkyvendingmachine), Henry is played by Maf (inkcryptid), Jack is played by Mochi (whatyouwantedmetosee) and Thren (haunted-hijinxer) is our GM!]

[GM] You said you were there for... inSPECTION?? [Jack] In hindsight, that must've been a HECK of a Fast Talk considering half the group is in pyjamas.

[Henry] It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to sacrifice Henry.

[GM] *about Sammy's sacrifice attempts* He was very polite about it. [Sammy] Yeah, he was! [Henry] He was very polite, he gets points for politeness. [GM] And then he got yelled at, so unfairly! By someone. [Sammy] And then melted! So everyone was on the whole very rude about it. It's your own fault he's like this now.

[GM] We'll say it's ajar, how about that? [Joey] Oh, I thought it was a door.

[Sammy] You can spend Luck!! [Jack] Do I want to use Luck points, though? Here's the problem, I'm the person who finishes the JRPG with twelve thousand healing items, and has used TWO. [Sammy] Here's my counterargument: if your Luck gets really low, you start failing Luck checks, and bad things happen to your character. [Jack] ...that's a perfect counterargument, I'm going to do it.

[GM] You both spot the hat with the press card! Lying on the floor, over by one corner of the sliding doors. [Jack] Oh that's BETTER than taking sanity damage! [Sammy] EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!

[Joey] There's another jug of space juice. [Sammy] I don't want space juice!! I WANT PAINT.

[Henry] *tired* Hey, Sam. [Sammy] What providence, my little sheep! [Henry] ...Good to see you too.

[Sammy] Go into the other room and introduce yourself! [Joey] With two hats on. [Sammy] ASSERT DOMINANCE!

[Jack] Jack is going to take the hat. He's going to have, uh, at least one emotion. [Jack] Maybe more [Jack] Imagine

[Joey] Joey is immediately going to clamp his hand onto Sammy's shoulder, and ask him if he can feel it. [Sammy] UHHH? His... hand...? [Joey] Not-- No, the stone. [Sammy] OH

[Jack] Jack, how are you going to communicate this if one of your hands is taken up by a hat? [Joey] Interpretative dance! [Sammy] Put hat in elbow while writing, you can juggle stuff, [Henry] Put the hat on. Over your other hat.

[Sammy] Sammy will scurry with or without the sheep, but they are his navigation system, so,

[Joey] That is a place we are known to be by the people who tried to... murder us?? Or something. Snake us??????? [Jack] (Snurder.) [Joey] Snurder us.

[Henry] We're just gonna grab our stuff and head out and... let you finish dealing with the sNAKE, I guess!! [Jack] (the snake has already been dealt with!) [Henry] Okay, but the aftermath of the snake! The snaftermath.

[Sammy] In case we get grabbed by an Angel [Sammy] the much less well-liked sequel to Touched by an Angel,

[Sammy] You traitorous sheep, this is not what I asked you for! [Joey] Do you want to die. Is that what you’re interested in?! Just, sacrificing yourself, without doing the proper rituals, not getting anything done--?! [Sammy] What do you know of proper rituals?! [GM] (....quite a lot, actually,) [Joey] Yeah! Much more than you do! And I will make an intimidation roll! [Jack] Boys,... you’re both pretty,... it’s okay....

[Joey] We’re pretty sure there’s Angels.... does she know how to kill them. [Jack] What a first thing to—! No pleasantries, no “please excuse the fact that I’m grinning and have weird eyes and also Sammy has weird eyes and also I have a tail,”

[GM, speaking for Allison] She would like to know what all this is about! [Joey] We’re having problems— [Sammy] He tried to contain something that should not be contained!! [Joey] Shut up, Sammy! We’re having problems!

[Joey] Joey is just going to quickly explain that he.................... [Joey] *mumbling to himself* how do you explain this???

[Joey] Um... I guess he’s going to mentally ping Bendy and ask him how he would describe himself? Like... what was his job, I guess?? Security??? [GM] Bendy says that he’s an eldritch construct that was defending a cult... and now he is something else! That he doesn’t have a word for. [Jack] !! He’s a FRIEND now!!! [GM] He’s friend-shaped! But not at the moment. [Joey] No, right now he’s Joey-shaped.

[Sammy] I mean the whole body is garbage but you apparently want Sammy to wear clothes, so whatever.

[GM] Allison adds that she thinks she might have a connection to get you guys in to the party, if you need that -- [Joey] Wouldn't hurt! [GM] -- so long as you don't mind pretending to be the help! [Joey] ...hm,,,

[Joey] Admittedly, having two angles would be better than one. [GM] Two angels, what? [Sammy] There's an "I can be your angle or yuor devil" joke somewhere in this campaign...

[Sammy] Well, we've learned how to bind an angel, [Jack] Gotta teach the angel proper binding techniques!

[Sammy] Sammy will thank Allison for her help. [Joey] Oh god, there IS something wrong with him!

[Joey] Let's go get Norman tied up in this more! So we can hire him later!!

[Sammy] Jack over there like "I hope it doesn't taste bad" meanwhile Sammy's been grimacing as he swallows paint for the last two hours, [GM] Ink is much better, didn't you know! [Sammy] Ink is better... this tastes wrong... [Joey] I just really love the idea of Sammy longingly looking at Joey's flask like, "aw, you have the good medicine, mine tastes like the terrible cherry crap!"

[GM] So you all have shots with Allison! Space juice shots. [Jack] What a way to start the morning!

[Jack] These boys are gonna heckin' pass out! [GM] They got, what, maybe 3 hours of sleep? [Jack] And all of Jack's sleep last night was sat upright in bed, with his glasses on, surrounded by notes, [Henry] sounds like college [Jack] You're exactly right, Jack's sleep was exactly like college! He was stressed, he didn't sleep for very long, he was surrounded by notes, Pete was there,

[Joey] *saying farewell to Allison* Keep yourself safe; don't go out where we're going. [Joey] Unless we don't return, then pLEASE COME OUT AND FIND US,

[GM] Norman says, "Oh, I see you're back with your friends, Smiley." [Jack] I love the concept of Norman calling Sammy "Smiley," and then Prophet Sammy, in response to this, smiles, and Norman has no idea if this is like, weird? or some kind of strange power move to assert dominance.

[GM, as Norman] When I said I saw things happening on the 2nd, you're the one that went pale! [Joey] How's Prophet Sammy's cONCEPT OF TIME, [Sammy] Not great!!!! [Sammy] I don't think he... knows when the 2nd was.

[Sammy] Forgive my memory. That doesn’t ring a bell! [Joey] He's... a little affected right now. [Norman] ...you don't say...

[Joey] Listen. I have $75 here for you, to take us out to the lake, as soon as possible. [a couple minutes of googling later] [Jack] That's equivalent to $1,464. Joey. [Sammy] CAN YOU IMAGINE?? "We need you to take us to the lake please" "Alright, but explain to me what's going on?" "SORRY, the guy who said that is clearly HIGH OUT OF HIS MIND, here's A THOUSAND DOLLARS, take us to the lake please!" [Jack] its a trip to the lake, what could it cost, $75 [Joey] *laughing* I should've looked up how much money I was saying before I was saying it, [Sammy] No, no, I think this is accurate to JOEY DREW

[Henry] Henry is just watching everything happening... [Sammy] Henry is waiting for the next video game breadcrumb trail to show up. [Henry] YEAH, [Jack] “Oh! Looks like I need to put three gears in this thing!”

[Sammy] I'm so angry on Sammy's behalf that you've made him meet two different people like this.

[Joey] If he does ask for money later, Joey's going to give it to him, because he has no concept of.... money.... [Sammy] No concept of GIVING OUT ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS [Jack] Can Joey Drew meet me, in real life, please? [Joey] I don't know if you want that to happen,, that might be more of a curse,,, [Jack] I'll take a curse! Gimme money! [Sammy] vOICE OF EVERY JDS EMPLOYEE

[GM] And you've got suits, and dress shoes...... [Sammy] We are not dressed for this. [Sammy] ...We are more dressed for it than we were earlier. I promise you, Norman, this is a step up, believe it or not.

[Sammy] Probably making a face because it tastes bad. [Henry] Tastes like paint! [GM] The cab driver might just wonder if that's a new drink this year. [Sammy] If nobody jumped on top of Sammy to stop him from using his mouth, he would probably say something with vibes of "this is beyond your comprehension" [Joey] Joey might try to stop that, and instead just be like, “Yes. It is.” [Henry] He's high. Don't worry about it. [Jack] Driver's just like "oh, I should try some of that when I get off work, seems like a good time!" [Sammy] You should! It'll open your eyes! [Sammy] (I'll stop evangelising the cab driver now.)

[Henry] Henry is: Sims Tense Moodlet.

[Joey] Joey instantly does not like this, and it is apparent on his face, if Sammy can see it in the mist. [Sammy] Probably not! [Jack] You could say he mist it!

[Henry] We need to hurry—! [Sammy] *screaming* THATS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING!!!!!!

[Sammy] Sammy will be, sort of... whispering reassurance? I don't know how reassuring it actually is, [Henry] I'm sorry Sam, nothing about you is reassuring right now. [Sammy] Just kind of like, hush hush, come my sheep, that sort of thing, [Joey] Prophet ASMR Channel! [Jack] I'm sure Jack would appreciate this actually, it's a shame he's not the one getting this, [Joey] No, he's getting whatever comfort Joey can offer, which, uh, [Sammy] Well, and I will say, he's not like, whispering it in Henry's ear, like-- [Jack] I don't think Sammy in any form is capable of whispering. [Sammy] ...y'know [Sammy] that's fair

[Sammy] Well everyone's doing alright! We're doing great, it's going great! [Jack] Nooooo! No going great! I want more insanities! [Jack] ...I can stop at any time, I swear.

[Sammy] We can hold Norman's hand if you want, like, that's up to you. [Joey] Roll for gay, Norman! [Henry] Take him to dinner first,

[Sammy] This is such a bad idea that we're having.

[Joey] Joey is probably at this point holding onto someone else to guide him, and more in his head than not. [Sammy] Sammy's out of hands at this point, Joey, so you'll just have to figure this out. [Sammy] Got his hands full of sheep.

[Joey] Did Norman drink the juice. [GM] Did he...? Did he...... I think he was convinced enough by “this drink will save your life” that he does take a drink! [Joey] I'll roll intimidation if that helps! [GM] Yeah, you can roll to see how quickly he does it, or if he drinks enough of it. [Joey] *rolls* That's an EXTREME SUCCESS. [GM] Well, there we go; there's a preview, Norman, of your work environment!

#call of cthulu: haunted hijinx #joey drew #when in doubt just keep drawing #jack henry sammy and allison are here too #i just love the permasmile so much

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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years

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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 08 first part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary goodness)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Rabbits

The Jiang kids have some quality time with the rabbits. Initially Jiang Cheng says it’s wrong for gentlemen to hold rabbits, which is definitely in no way related to gay-rabbit-god symbolism, but changes his mind when he discovers how fun men rabbits are to cuddle.

Jiang Yanli says, in a moment with zero foreshadowing, that if they take one rabbit away from the others, it will miss its family and be lonely. Also if a rabbit were to watch from the rooftop while a mean enemy rabbit poured wine on the corpses of its parents, that would be extra upsetting. For a rabbit. So let’s leave all the rabbits where they are. Check.

Speaking of cute fluffy creatures that are upset, we see this distressed look on Wei Wuxian’s face kinda often when he’s talking with Jiang Cheng.

There are some sibilng relationships where you will always do anything to help each other because you survived a shitty childhood together, but as adults you find you don’t actually share values, and that your interactions are kinda toxic -- for both of you. This seems like one of those.

Even though he’s younger, Jiang Cheng is in the role of the elder sibling who is being abused by the parents, and is handing the abuse on down the line to the “younger” sibling, in the form of constant criticism and casual hittings. Wei Wuxian isn’t actually younger, but he is lower ranked because he’s not a blood relation, and he gets plenty of parental abuse as well. It’s...not a healthy family.

(more after the cut!)

Lan Wangji has been lurking nearby during this conversation, and after the Jiangs leave, he looks at the rabbits and says farewell. He clearly means farewell to Wei Wuxian, or else he has a really unhealthy level of yearning being directed toward the rabbits. At least, for a vegetarian.

Uninvited Gusu Guest

Lan Xichen is meditating, and because the Director of Photography loves us, we get a bunch of nice closeups of his exquisite face. He hears a noise thing and tells Wen Chao to come in, which results in a dire bird scream and Wen Chao’s muddy feet intruding on his day. Why did Wen Chao bring the bird with him? He’s trying to be sneaky, right? So...ok whatever.

Wen Chao acts like a dirtbag and menacingly reminds Lan Xichen that his didi just hit the road all by himself. Lan Xichen gets so upset he curls his fingers slightly. His beautiful, beautiful fingers.

Is it slapping time yet?

Road Tripping

Fortunately for the Lan brothers, Lan Wangji isn’t going to be alone for long. Wei Wuxian is determined to follow him, and where friend-maker Wei Wuxian goes, an assortment of other helpful cultivators will soon follow.

Wei Wuxian leaves a note to say “I’m running away from home with the hot boy I met in summer school” and signs it with a smiley face, the dork. Jiang Cheng is angry, as usual; Yanli has confidence in Wei Wuxian, as usual, and Jiang Fengmian is autocratic and doesn’t explain what he’s thinking, as usual. JF is aware of the Yin Iron, however, so he may understand that WWX will be useful in protecting it on the road.

Lan Wangji has changed his hair, upgraded his crown, and put on the most absurdly beautiful outfit of the entire show to go on a solo road trip totally without any hot infuriating boys.

Quick, Lan Wangji, catch this callback to that time you rejected my advances back in Gusu! This time Lan Wangji catches the offered fruit and keeps it, presumably to consume furtively when he wakes in the dead of night, restless with unslaked thirst for Wei Ying. Or, you know, to have with his lunch while they’re riding on the boat.

This is a level of synchronized walking-with-shoulder-contact that would make the Guardian boys proud. Lan Wangji is all touchy feely now that he’s out from under the eyes at Cloud Recesses.

He also has upped his troll game, actually smirking after he says “boring” to Wei Wuxian’s declaration of I’m-gonna-come-along-you-can’t-stop-me.

He also...doesn’t seem angry? Like, he is still seriously on edge, but it feels like he left the boiling rage at home. Lan Xichen is right; having a friend IS good for Lan Wangji. And for whatever reason, Lan Wangji is ready, now, to accept Wei Wuxian’s friendship.

We Rate Birds

Wen Chao has the weirdest fucking pet. This bird has a resentful energy problem, obvs, but it also seems to be invisible except for resentful energy, but it leaves random feathers behind at places, and then when Wei Wuxian kills it, it’s a regular bird corpse with a little smoke. “Imbued with Yin Iron energy” seems to be the explanation. But Nie Huaisang said they see a lot of these in their neck of the woods. Did he mean “just a regular bird” and didn’t notice the billowing black visual FX? Either way I want to see a nest full of baby dire Yin birds, I bet they’re hideous cute.

Wen Qing has a new outfit and an elegant fiery golden crown. There’s probably some plot stuff happening here. Wen blah blah Yin Iron blah blah. She’s so pretty. I love her ears and her cool double hair parting. The girls’ hairlines are always nice and soft, presumably because they get to wear their own front hair instead of a lacefront like the boys are glued to stuck with.

I Call it Bondage

After the fun they had in the ice cave, it’s only fair that Wei Wuxian gets to have a turn tying up Lan Wangji.

One of the fun things in clipping The Untamed is that the show’s editors generally didn't drop any frames when they intercut the various scenes, meaning that some longer shots can be spliced back together by removing the other camera portions, as with these two string-pulling bits.

Lan Wangji totally lets Wei Wuxian put a leash on him, quickly declaring it boring and taking control of it, pulling Wei Wuxian along behind him.

Incidentally, at this stage about half of Wei Wuxian’s talisman’s are blue. After he loses his core, they are 100% red, but nobody notices that. Well, maybe Nie Huaisang does because he notices a LOT, but nobody says anything.

After they play around in the field for a bit, Lan Wangji’s magic bag of plot advancement goes off, sending them to Flower Town.

He’s Leaving Home Bye Bye

Meanwhile, at Lotus Pier, we get a nice view of the rooftops. I’d hate to be the guy whose job it is to hang up bells and tassels at any of these places.

Jiang Cheng sneaks out to go join his brother’s road trip. He gets caught, because his idea of sneaking is to walk out the front door in broad daylight and leave the door open behind him.

Jiang Yanli tells him to go ahead, though and he scampers off to have...the last carefree fun of his entire life, actually. Sigh.

Flower Town

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji go to Tanzhou and immediately run into Nie Huaisang, because sure, why not. China’s not very big.

Lan Wangji’s startle response

Wei Wuxian’s startle response

Nie-Xiong and Wei-Xiong are delighted to see each other, once Wei Wuxian explains that Lan Wangji isn’t there to bust them.

While Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang squee over each other, Lan Wangji ...tries to deal with that. His reaction is probably a mix of jealousy and social anxiety. This town has got to be overwhelming for him after the order and quiet of Cloud Recesses; he even admits--aloud!--that it’s too crowded for him at one point. Add in his boyfriend’s travel partner’s number one enabler, and it’s not a comfortable situation.

Oh great now they’re going to want me to get high and make out with them, ugh

However, with Lan Wangji in the mix, the Nie-Wei dynamic shifts away from mischief making, and they very quickly become a friend trio sharing a serious purpose. When Wei Wuxian, in his second life, refers to NHS as “that old friend of ours” when talking to LWJ, he’s not wrong. Nie Huaisang and Lan Wangji become friends during this trip, and arguably remain friends, within the limits of Nie Huaisang’s revenge remit.

From one point of view, Nie Huaisang is grown-up Lan Wangji’s very best friend (not counting his eventual husband). Everyone in the cultivation world knows what Lan Wangji’s heart desires most, after Nightless City, and Nie Huaisang gives it to him. By, uh, manipulating a crazy guy into ritual suicide. Hey, no gift is perfect.

Continued in Next Post! Soon!

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #the untamed gifs #wangxian #nie huaisang #chen qing ling #the untamed memes #the untamed spoilers #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original

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midnightsnyx · 3 years

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Forever After All - Mat Barzal: part 2

summary: three years after a devastating break up, you wake up one morning in an unfamiliar apartment next to the man you thought was the love of your life: Mat Barzal. Is it a dream or a second chance?

a/n: here is part 2! i have no idea how many parts this will be cause i have many plans and ideas for it. so i kinda want to explain something about the fic so it makes sense. the reader remembers the past, her breakup with Mat and what happened but when she woke up in the first part of this story, she obviously thinks she’s dreaming because Mat is there and she can’t remember what everybody is talking about regarding the previous days. im going to write some flashbacks (there’s one in this part) to give some backstory on what exactly happened. not sure if my explanation makes sense lol but yeah i wanted to try to explain it before you guys read this part! anyway, i hope you guys like this!

word count: 2.2k warnings: none

forever after all masterpost

Part 2

You’re late for lunch because you spent nearly three hours picking through every inch of the apartment trying to get some answers because seriously, what the hell is going on? Everything you found was foreign and you couldn’t remember anything. Pictures, clothes, jewelry that you figured were from Mat that you had zero recollection of owning were neatly placed in the apartment you and Mat must be sharing.

So you’re not surprised when Hayden gives you her look. It could turn someone to stone but you’ve become immune to it through the years of your friendship. “You’re late.”

You pointedly look around the diner and raise a brow. “So is Jasper.”

She wrinkles her nose and shrugs. “Good point, I suppose.” Then she grins and looks at you expectantly. “So, how was last night?”

“Uh… last night?” You question because of course you have no idea what could’ve happened the previous night. You’re hoping she will fill in some of the blanks without being suspicious.

“Yours and Mat’s anniversary dinner?” She squints her eyes at you and then looks down at your hands that are neatly folded on the table. “And why aren’t you wearing it?”

You feel your entire body go cold and you know without seeing yourself that you look like a deer in headlights. “Wearing what?”

“The ring?” She says slowly and then her face drains of colour. “oh god, you guys didn’t break up did you? You two are like…” she waves her hands wildly. “The couple. This could break-”

You cut her off before she can stress herself out too much even through you’re still trying to process the current information. “We didn’t break up. I just…” you scramble your brain to come up with an excuse. “forgot to put it back on. After my shower.”

How the hell did you miss an engagement ring when you were going through your apartment?

“Okay, so how was last night? I want all the details. You know he’s been planning it for weeks.”

“Planning what?” Another voice says before you can answer. You look to your left to see Jasper sliding in the chair next to Hayden.

“Mat and Y/N’s anniversary dinner.” She explains and he grins.

“Oh, do tell. We need all the details.”

Great. They want all the details from a night you don’t remember.

You take a moment to figure out what to say. You don’t know if Hayden knew any of what Mat’s plans were so you can’t make something up completely.

“It was nice. You know what Mat’s like, he went all out.” You say because thinking back, when the two of you were together he had a tendency to go overboard. You knew it was his way of making up for being gone so often.

Hayden raises an eyebrow. “Awfully skimpy on the specifics.” you think she’s going to pry more but she just shrugs and smiles. “I’m sure it was lovely though.”

“It was.”

Jasper grins. “Good, ‘cause I don’t know if I could beat him in a fight.”

The smile you send back is forced because there’s so much information being thrown at you and you don’t know how to handle it. You just want whatever this is to be over.

Whatever it is, is messing with you and you’re not sure how much more you can take because it’s just reminding you of what you lost all those years ago.

. . .

After lunch you drive aimlessly through some of the neighborhoods on the island in attempt to clear your mind. There are aspects to what you’ve learned from Jasper and Hayden about your relationship with Mat that make sense. The ring caught you off guard but something that you knew after the two of you broke up was that he was planning on proposing.

It was a conversation you and Jasper had while you were grieving over your breakup. Your friends had been the rock you needed and listened when you needed to vent and were the shoulder to cry on. He showed up at your apartment at three in the morning when you’d called him crying with some chocolate and takeout in hand and the two of you had a heart to heart.

“Sam’s not mad I dragged you out of bed three in the morning is he?”

“Nah,” Jasper said. “He gets it.”

“Yeah,” you whispered. You knew the history Jasper had with dating and how understanding Sam was when they got together. He was the first guy who had the patience to deal with Jasper’s baggage and you were so grateful your best friend had found a guy who was deserving of him.

The two of you were quiet for a while, eating in silence and watching whatever movie he had put on.

“Can I tell you something?” He asked quietly and you nodded without looking up.

“He had a ring.”

It was in that moment that it felt like the entire world stopped. It felt like you couldn’t breathe, like you were drowning.

“He kind of asked for my permission? I don’t know. It was weird. I guess because he couldn’t ask a father figure in your life.”

When you felt like you could speak, you asked, “what did you tell him?”

“I told him that if he was going to give you that ring, he’d better be one hundred percent certain because I knew that if he proposed and then the two of you broke up, it was something you wouldn’t be able to get over. I told him not to hurt you.” He looked at you sadly and you’d realized there were thick tears making your cheeks wet. “I’m sorry.”

You just nodded and looked down at your left hand where there may have been a ring if things were different.

But they weren’t and there was no way you could have changed it.

. . .

You pull into the parking lot of yours and Mat’s apartment and slowly make your way in to the building. You didn’t notice his car so it’s probable that he isn’t home yet. You are glad because you want to find that engagement ring Hayden told you about.

You thought you searched everywhere but it was conveniently sitting on the bathroom counter. It’s beautiful and exactly the kind of ring you had always dreamed about which makes sense because this is a dream.

Sliding it on your ring finger, you examine it in the bright bathroom lighting. It somehow feels like it’s meant to be there while simultaneously feeling like it weighs a ton. Standing there for what feels like hours, staring at it, you nearly jump when you hear the front door open and close loudly. Mat calls out your name and you try to collect yourself because you can’t act as weird as you were this morning. You need to act normal until you figure out what exactly is going on.

“Babe?” He calls again and you hear his footsteps approaching the bathroom you’re in.

You ignore the way your voice cracks when you answer. “Yeah?”

He stops in the doorway and the smile he gives you takes your breath away. It’s painful how easy this feels - standing here with him in the apartment.

“How was lunch?” He asks, walking towards you and taking your left hand in his. His thumb runs across the engagement ring and the way he’s looking at you distracts you long enough that he raises an eyebrow, pulling you out of your thoughts.

Clearing your throat, you smile. “It was nice. They asked about last night.” You say, hoping he might give away some details.

“It wasn’t too much was it? I know how you feel about making a big deal over occasions but I couldn’t help myself.”

Helpful. You want to say but he’s looking at you expectantly so you wrap your arms around him and hide your face in his chest to hide the disappointment on your face. “No, it was perfect.”

You feel him press a kiss to the top of your head when he slides his arms around your waist. It’s so familiar, being held in his arms that it makes you want to cry because as much as you tried to move on after your breakup, you missed this. You missed him.

“Still coming to the game tonight?” He mumbles in to your hair and you just nod, knowing your voice will probably give away how close you are to tears. You step back and turn towards the shower.

“I’m gonna take a shower.” You tell him even though you’d showered this morning. You need to distance yourself from him to clear your head.

“Cool. I’m going to make some food, are you hungry or still full from lunch?”

“I can eat.” You say, reaching out to turn the shower on. When you’re satisfied with the temperature, you turn to look at him. Despite the affection you’ve shown him, you’re not ready to undress in front of him even though he’s seen you without clothes a million times when you were dating.

But this is different.

“You okay with some eggs and bacon? I know it’s a little late but that’s what I’m feeling.”

“I think it’s actually ‘cause you don’t know how to cook anything else.” You tease, laughing when he pouts.

“I’m wounded, Y/N.” He says, placing a hand over his heart and you can tell he’s holding back a smile. You walk towards his and give him a small push.

“Go make food.”

“Yes ma’am,” he grins, leaning down to kiss you before leaving the bathroom.You close and lock the door behind him, quickly stripping and hopping in to the shower. Knowing Mat will take quite a bit of time cooking, you let yourself stand under the hot water longer than normal and try to calm your mind.

It works pretty well because you are fairly clear minded when you finally go out to the kitchen. He’s just finishing cooking and you sit at the table while he dishes up the food. He sits across from you and you listen as he rambles on about how practice was and you try not to zone out but you can’t help it.

Sitting here with him with your feet resting on top of his and him insisting on holding one of your hands while you eat makes your heart ache.

Part of you still wants whatever is going on to end so you can go back to your old life but the selfish part of you wants to stay forever because you have Mat back and everything feels so perfect with him and you almost think you can forget about the past and the horrible break up between the two of you. This past day alone feels like one of the best days you’ve had in forever and it’s not even over. You’re almost afraid to go to bed tonight not knowing what you will wake up to.

If this is a dream, it’s going to break your heart to wake up and you don’t know how much more pain your heart can handle.

So for now, you let yourself savor this moment and try to forget everything about the past. You let yourself be excited for the Islanders game you’re going to tonight and you let yourself lay down with Mat after you eat and watch him after he falls asleep for his pregame nap. You stare at his features, running your fingers softly over his face trying to commit everything to memory, scared for if you fall asleep, he’ll be gone when you wake.

#mathew barzal imagine #mat barzal imagines #mat barzal fanfiction #mat barzal imagine #new york islanders fanfiction #new york islanders imagine #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #hockey fanfiction #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagines

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thearvariblues · 3 years

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And They Were Roommates - Chapter 2

Previously | Masterpost

2 – Put It Back Where It Belongs

“I said I didn’t want coffee, Jaskier,” Aiden sighed, pushing his dark sunglasses further up on his nose.

“Of course you do, darling. No offense, but you look like Death personified.”

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve already died,” Aiden murmured, accepting the paper cup from Jaskier with a frown. “Is there any chocolate in it?”

“No, of course not. I know how much you hate it,” Jaskier grinned.

“Oh, good,” Aiden smiled, taking a sip.

“There’s a shit-ton of caramel, though,” Jaskier finished.

Aiden made a face, but took another sip. His hangover really was killing him.

“I hate you sometimes,” he said. “Is this really a good idea, by the way?”

“What, to have a coffee on our way to Geralt’s?”

“To go to Geralt’s,” Aiden elaborated. “I mean, he still hasn’t texted you back.”

“Yeah, but Geralt’s always glad to see me.”

“I should hope so, considering that he’s gonna see you every fucking day for the rest of his life,” Aiden chuckled, wincing when a stray ray of sunshine found its way around the rim of his sunglasses and into his eyes. “Fuck me, I should have taken those painkillers.”

“Told you so,” Jaskier said, sipping his frappe. “Look, don’t be nervous about it. Lambert doesn’t bite, as far as I know. He’s just a little... grumpy.”

“I don’t blame him. I’d be grumpy if two idiots broke into my apartment totally unannounced.”

“I’ve announced us, love. I texted Geralt.” Jaskier rolled his eyes. “But Lambert’s kind of always grumpy.”

“So nice of you to force me to live with him, then.”

“Aiden, I’m not… forcing you to do anything. I’m just asking you, very nicely, to meet Lambert and see if you, perhaps… could share an apartment, that’s all.”

“You know, judging by what you’ve already told me, I don’t think I want to be anywhere near him, let alone share an apartment,” Aiden sighed when Jaskier unlocked the door of Geralt’s apartment building. “You said he really was an asshole.”

“He is, but…” Jaskier shrugged. “Look, I met Geralt after his divorce, I admit, but he’s told me, countless times, that he wouldn’t have made it through that if it wasn’t for his brothers. Eskel and Lambert.”

“So the asshole knows how to act like a normal human being when someone’s whole world is falling apart. Amazing.”

“Well, it can’t be said about most men I know,” Jaskier chuckled, calling the elevator.

“Fair point,” Aiden admitted. “So, is there anything else I should know about this… Lambert?”

“He’s straight, I’m afraid,” Jaskier sighed and stepped into the elevator.

“Fuck. Jaskier,” Aiden whined. “You know what I told you about straight guys!”

“Relax, babe. He’s not… like that. He’s not, you know, straight. He just doesn’t sleep with anyone but women, that’s all. He’s not gonna judge you, I promise.”

“So he’s an asshole but he’s, in fact, a pretty decent guy, too?”

“Well… he certainly is pretty,” Jaskier nodded as they stepped out of the elevator. “Yeah, trust me, him being straight is better for you. At least you won’t be tempted.”

“Tempted?” Aiden frowned. “Why would I be tempted?”

Jaskier chuckled, pushing his key into the keyhole of Geralt’s apartment.

“Oh, my sweet summer child…”

“Lambert.”

Lambert groaned and shook off the hand on his shoulder.

“Lambert, wake the fuck up.”

“Piss off,” Lambert mumbled, burying his face into the pillow.

“Shit… Lambert!”

It was the urgency in Geralt’s voice that made Lambert actually open one eye – a decision which he immediately came to regret when he felt a stab of pain shoot through his eye and straight into his brain. He moaned.

“What the actual fuck, Geralt?” he moaned. “Let me sleep, for fuck’s sake.”

“I’d love to, but we’re in trouble. Big, big trouble.”

“Have you set the kitchen on fire again?”

“No, but–”

“Is there an alien invasion?”

“No–”

“A psychotic serial killer on the loose in the building?”

“Not as far as I know, but–”

“Great. I don’t care, then. Good night, Geralt,” Lambert murmured, burying his face back into the pillow.

Which, as he realized, wasn’t really his pillow but a cushion, which probably meant he’d spent the night on their couch.

Oh, well, it wasn’t the first time.

“Lambert!”

“What?!” Lambert whined.

“Jaskier texted. Twenty minutes ago.”

“Mhm. Look, Geralt,” Lambert said, yawning. “I know you’re still awed or whatever the fuck that the little piece of shit not only acknowledges your existence but also loves you back, which I still find totally astounding, by the way, but you don’t need to inform me whenever he texts you, thank you very much.”

“Well, he texted me he’s on his way here.”

“Still don’t care, just try not to be too loud this time, you know Mrs. Nenneke doesn’t like it.”

“He’s on his way here with Aiden.”

Lambert groaned, opening his eye again.

“And who the fuck is Aiden?”

Geralt sighed. He looked like shit, Lambert noticed, his hair tousled, his face pale, eyes unfocused, wearing nothing but his black boxer shorts. He looked as if he’d spend the night on the couch, too. Well, it also wouldn’t be the first time.

“Jaskier’s roommate.”

Lambert sighed and sat up with a groan.

“Fucking awesome. Let me guess. Jaskier just happened to be telling this… Aiden about him having to move out at the same fucking time you were telling me about you moving out of here, am I right?”

“Well, I can’t guarantee it was at the same time, but…”

“Stop the bullshit, Geralt, or I’m gonna shove it so far up your arse that even Jaskier won’t be able to find it,” Lambert growled. “What did he text you, exactly?”

“Ugh,” Geralt observed, unlocking his phone. “On my way to your place with Aiden. Have had the bestest of ideas, explain when we get there.”

“Oh, go to hell, you and your bard,” Lambert murmured, rubbing his aching eyes. “So he wants to make me live with this Aiden, right?”

“Why do you think–”

“Because it’s fucking obvious, Geralt, to everyone with more than two brain cells.”

“It doesn’t seem obvious to me.”

“Yeah, I thought so.”

“I… Lambert!” Geralt said, offended.

“When did he text you again?” Lambert asked.

“Twenty minutes ago.”

“And… Just remind me, how long it takes to get from Jaskier’s place to ours?”

“Uhm… Twenty minutes with a stop for coffee.”

A key rattled in the door.

“Oh,” Lambert said. “Fucking fantastic.”

When Aiden stepped into the apartment, he immediately thought he’d died and went straight to heaven.

Not because Geralt was standing there in the middle of the living room wearing nothing but his boxers, no. Aiden was used to seeing Geralt like this whenever he stayed for the night, and honestly, Geralt was never quite his type – close, right, but not exactly it.

But then there was the other guy in the room. Tall, broad-shouldered, muscular, wearing only a pair of sweatpants with at least three holes in them – and he was only counting the big ones. The guy was pale and… all the gods help Aiden… ginger.

Now, Aiden had a thing for gingers. He didn’t need his boyfriends to have red hair, of course, but it was a nice bonus.

All in all, this guy was precisely Aiden’s type.

And, logically, it simply had to be the infamous Lambert.

The infamous, straight Lambert.

Aiden felt his mouth go dry.

Oh, no, this wasn’t heaven.

It was hell.

Lambert should have expected something like this, of course.

Not the fact that Jaskier would simply barge in with this Aiden at nine in the fucking morning on a Saturday, no. That was totally unpredictable and extremely annoying, no matter how much Geralt always tried to convince Lambert that Jaskier’s unpredictability was endearing or something.

But he absolutely should have expected Aiden to be looking… that way.

The… guy? Lambert settled for a guy in his mind, at least until proven otherwise. The guy was wearing a long black skirt, an oversized dark blue T-shirt which he had tucked into said skirt and way too many gold necklaces and pendants. His brown hair was cut into a style Lambert was pretty sure was called a pixie cut, since Geralt’s fourteen-year-old daughter Ciri had spent her last visit here trying to convince Geralt to allow her to have her hair cut exactly like this.

And then there was the black eyeliner, of course. The black eyeliner is a must, after all.

Lambert blinked and tore his eyes away from the guy or gal or whatever the fuck when he realized that Jaskier was talking.

(Lambert had long since learned to tune Jaskier out a little. He liked the guy, all right, but it was better for his mental health to at least partially ignore him from time to time.)

Before Lambert could start focusing on what Jaskier was saying, Geralt walked up to his boyfriend and gave him a kiss. Lambert groaned.

“I know, I’m sorry, I was sleeping. Next time, you’d better call, love,” Geralt smirked. “Wait a sec, I’m just gonna get dressed. Lambert?”

“You need my assistance or what?” Lambert chuckled. “I don’t think Daffodil would like that.”

“Dandelion, Lambert, it’s Dandelion,” Jaskier said, rolling his eyes, a tiny smile on his lips. This was a game they had been playing for a while. “And I think Geralt was kindly suggesting that you should also go and get dressed into… something more appropriate.”

“Nah, I’m good, thanks,” Lambert shrugged, getting to his feet.

“You’re scaring your potential new roommate,” Geralt said.

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Lambert grinned. He took three steps to Aiden, winked and grabbed a coffee cup from his potential roommate’s unresisting fingers. “Hey. I’m Lambert.” He took a sip of the coffee and immediately came to regret it. “Jesus Christ. There’s more sugar than actual coffee in this shit.”

“Hey!” Jaskier protested. “It’s not that bad!”

“Right. It’s worse,” Lambert nodded, taking a long swig from the cup before returning it to Aiden. “Ugh. Disgusting.”

“I know, right?” Aiden chuckled.

“That’s enough,” Geralt growled, grabbing Lambert’s shoulder. “You’re going to get dressed. Right fucking now.”

“Do I have to? I mean, it would be a sin to cover my body with… Ouch! All right, all right, I’m going, no need to be so pissy, Geralt. Fuck’s sake, let go of me you fucking moron…”

Five minutes later, Lambert was sitting in the armchair dressed in black jeans and a very fitting black T-shirt and Aiden, quite honestly, thought it was even worse than those sweatpants he had been wearing before.

In those sweatpants, he looked like a hot mess.

Like this, he was just hot.

So he was sitting there, sipping a Red Bull and watching Aiden in the opposite armchair with a cocky smile on his face.

Aiden opened his own can of the energy drink (which was, quite surprisingly, offered to him by Lambert himself) and matched Lambert’s smile with his own.

“All right, boys and whatevers,” Jaskier chimed in. “We’ve gathered here today–”

“This isn’t a fucking wedding, Jaskier,” Lambert grunted. “And we didn’t gather. You just fucking invited yourself in to force a roommate on me.”

“You do need a roommate, Lambert,” Geralt replied.

The two lovebirds were sitting on the couch, their limbs already entangled.

“All right. As you wish,” Lambert shrugged. “So tell me, Aiden, why do you want to be my new best friend?”

“Lambert,” Geralt sighed.

“I honestly don’t,” Aiden chuckled. “And honestly, I’m not even sure I want to live with you. It’s just that Jaskier insisted on dragging me here.”

“Aiden!” Jaskier groaned.

“And why wouldn’t you want to live with me, eh?” Lambert said, cocking his eyebrow. “You know, if you’re afraid of that, I can totally accept the fact that you’re…”

“Non-binary?” Aiden chuckled.

“I was gonna say a weirdo,” Lambert said with a playful smirk.

Oh, so that’s how you want to do it, Aiden thought.

“Are you?” he said, ignoring Jaskier’s protests. “I don’t know, Lambert. I’m not sure I can accept the fact that you’re one of those… soulless gingers.”

“Wow.” Lambert placed a hand on his heart and sighed. “This brings back memories of my childhood. You know, that’s what my dear departed father used to call me, may he rot in hell.”

“Jeez, slow down. It’s a bit early in our relationship to reveal your tragic past, don’t you think?”

“Nah, I think everything should be out in the open from the beginning. For example, what’s really underneath your skirt, Aiden?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Aiden chuckled. “Better yet, wouldn’t you like to see? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

“Will you? All right then,” Lambert nodded, standing up and reaching for the zipper of his pants. “I’m warning you, though, you might not be ready to face the glory of my mighty dick.”

“I assure you that I have seen dicks mightier than yours, my dear.”

“You think so? Wait for it, babe.”

“All right, all right!” Geralt said. “Lambert, zip up those pants or so help me!”

“You afraid Jaskier’s gonna choose me when he sees the true beauty of my manhood?”

“I’ve already seen it and, quite honestly, it’s not that impressive,” Jaskier shrugged. “Geralt’s right. Put it back where it belongs. Right now.”

“Yes, mummy,” Lambert grunted, rolling his eyes. “Ugh. You two are no fun.”

“I honestly don’t understand your definition of fun,” Jaskier sighed.

Lambert glanced at Aiden, who was currently busy choking with laughter. The redhead grinned.

“All right, whatever,” he said. “I’ll take…”

He raised a questioning eyebrow at Aiden.

“Him,” Aiden said helpfully.

“Him, right. Thank fuck,” Lambert nodded. “I’ll take him.”

“I’m… starting to think this wasn’t such a good idea,” Jaskier gulped when Aiden grinned.

“Quite the opposite, Daisy. It was probably the best idea you’ve ever had,” Lambert said.

“It’s a deal, then,” Aiden nodded. “Nice to meet you, roommate.”

“To living together, weirdo,” Lambert laughed, raising his can of Red Bull.

“Right,” Geralt sighed. “We’re fucking doomed.”

#geralt x jaskier #geraskier #jaskier x geralt #lambden #lambert x aiden #the witcher #witcher fanfiction #modern au #ginger!lambert #bisexual!lambert #nonbinary!aiden #attempt at humor #and they were roommates #my fics

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hiccanna-tidbits · 3 years

Text

Autistic Hiccup x ADHD Anna Headcanons

SO I’ve been really into the whole Autistic x ADHD ship dynamic and Hiccanna...highkey fits??? Like y’all know I will die on my “Anna has ADHD” hill, but after reading this post by @hobie-brown I’m like wait, the autistic Hiccup headcanon is wonderful too??? And blends SO WELL with ADHD Anna??? And I absolutely HAD to explore it more so BOOM headcanon time! Another special thanks to @hobie-brown for writing the super lovely autistic Hiccup headcanon masterpost that inspired me to do this!

Disclaimer: I myself am not on the spectrum (part of the reason I’ve always felt a little weird about definitively HCing characters as autistic unless I see actual autistic people HC them that way too), so most of the stuff here is stuff I know secondhand from my autistic friends! I do have ADHD, so I can always promise that ADHD Anna will be 100% authentic XD

~Anna absolutely gets into Hiccup’s special interests to try and impress him. The most obvious one being, of course, dragons, but also dinosaurs (extinct dragons), lizards (tiny dragons), and Dungeons and Dragons (An RPG game that does, in fact, include dragons). Hiccup absolutely had that dragonology book as a kid and got obsessed with it beyond all reasonability. Hilariously, Anna’s wooing strategy of indulging his special interests works like a charm--mainly because a) he’s pretty flattered that someone takes THAT much of an interest in what he likes and b) half the time, ANNA finds that she genuinely gets into whatever said special interest is and finds them easy to hyperfixate on. It helps that the more she obsesses over it herself, the more she has to talk to Hiccup about XD

~Specifically, Anna definitely joins a DnD campaign at some point so that Hiccup will think she’s a “cool gamer girl”--and then gets unironically obsessed with it and starts writing 10-page backstories for all of her characters. She later tells Hiccup it started out as a ruse to win his heart via nerdiness, and he absolutely loses his shit laughing.

~One of their overlapping special interests/hyperfixations is high fantasy. Hiccup is, unsurprisingly, all about the mythical creatures while Anna is more into the magic and the zesty political drama, but you dun best believe they catch every CGI-ridden fantasy movie that ever comes out. They’ve both spent a literal fortune on fantasy movie tickets, even moreso on watching them in 3D or Imax. How embarrassing for both of them.

~Another less-obvious overlapping interest is history. Hiccup gets into it while looking into the cultural mythos of dragons (he’s pretty fascinated by the fact that so many cultures around the world thought up similar creatures independently), while Anna gets into it because she grew up cooped up bored and lonely in a big house, and entertained herself by looking into the history behind some of the family paintings. They don’t seem it at first, but they’re actually both huge medieval and ancient civilization history buffs.

~Hiccup is THE most touch-repulsed person you will ever meet. This is unfortunate, as he is also SUPER touch-starved and absolutely does not realize it (I mean, I’ve never gotten the vibe Stoic was the super huggy type, considering his and Hicc’s relationship in HTTYD 1). This means he has absolutely no fucking clue what to make of Anna when they first meet meet. Anna’s the sort of person to give physical affection pretty freely, especially if she likes you--usually in the form of hugs, arm pats or playful swats, putting her elbow on your shoulder, etc etc. Hiccup is kinda just like “this is way too much touching but like??? I kinda like having her this close to me??? What do???”

~Anna, meanwhile, notices that Hiccup kinda stiffens up whenever she touches him and seems to not be crazy about it and she’s just immediately like “yo what’s wrong???” And as SOON as he admits he’s not all that crazy about being touched randomly she’s like “OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY” and never touches him without asking again.

~As soon as she finds out touch a kind of A Whole Thing for him, Anna is like...AGGRESSIVELY respectful of Hiccup’s boundaries when it comes to physical affection. Almost annoyingly so. She gets in the habit of basically never initiating any kind of physical touch without asking first--even long after they’ve started dating, and he’s told her it’s okay to initiate touching as long as she’s not smothery about it. She still refuses out of principle.

~They come up with a kind of “consent language” so Anna can pretty quickly determine when it’s all right to touch Hiccup--because Anna still really likes being physically affectionate with him, and he does actually like receiving physical affection a lot of the time (because, again, touch-starved), he’s just choosy about who does it. They work out a system based off of small, light touches that Hiccup doesn’t mind where it’s basically 2 taps on his shoulder for “can I hug you around the neck,” 2 taps on his side for “can I hug you around the waist,” 2 taps on his arm for “can I grab/lightly slap/punch your arm,” and 1 tap on is shoulder for “can I put my arm/elbow on your shoulder.” If he’s cool with it he’ll either nod or just say “yeah go ahead.” It works a lot quicker than asking “can I do such-and-such specific touch” every single time, and allows Anna to keep some of her spontaneity. They develop this during their friendship and it ends up rolling over into their relationship, even after Hiccup has basically told her she doesn’t need to ask permission for a lot of these anymore. She adds a new one after they start dating--she taps him a couple times wherever she wants to kiss him to ask if it’s cool to give him a smooch! It usually is.

~INFODUMPING. Literally SO. MUCH. INFODUMPING. Hiccup absolutely WILL NOT SHUT UP when he gets to talking about one of his special interests. Anna just will not shut up in general, but when the topic changes to one of her hyperfixations, it’s even worse. If you try to have a conversation with these two while they’re infodumping, you WILL get talked over. Honestly, left to their own devices, they could probably infodump to each other for literal days on end.

~Despite how much they both like to infodump, they’re both pretty good about being patient and indulging the other when it’s their partner’s turn to infodump in the conversation XD They are, however, notorious about accidentally triggering a barely-related infodump in the other person. It’s not uncommon for one of them to finish a rant and then the other goes “OH THAT REMINDS ME” and sets off on a completely different, barely-related rant.

~Hiccup actually really appreciates how overexpressive--and occasionally overdramatic--Anna tends to be. He never has to try and figure out what she’s thinking because she just says everything in her brain, and her body language basically always matches how she’s feeling to a ridiculous extent, so he never has to give himself a headache trying to read her. The fact that she’s the opposite of subtle and has no filter whatsoever works great for him, because he doesn’t have to drive himself insane trying to understand her. He gets her better than he gets most people because she’s an open goddamn book. The boy’s never been the best with social cues at all, never mind the nuanced, obscure ones, so Anna’s general straightforwardness and utter inability to hide her true feelings at literally any time is a breath of fresh air. What you see is basically what you get, and Hiccup wouldn’t have it any other way.

~People think when Anna and Hiccup start dating it’s gonna be a disaster, mainly because he’s so blunt and she can be...”oversensitive” (i.e. has a REALLY bad case of RSD). Turns out they’re dead wrong--because Hiccup has RSD too! (I mean, come ON--look how BADLY he wants to get his village’s approval! And how hard he takes it when his dad or someone else is mad at him--even if he tries to hide it with snark) He’s actually one of the few people who can be blunt enough with Anna that she realizes when she’s being a dumbass but tactful enough not to hurt her feelings or set off her RSD--because god, has he been there. When Anna is being especially difficult and has worked herself into a real bad funk, Hiccup (and sometimes Elsa) is the only people who can talk to her and get through to her without getting blown up at.

~They stim in similar ways!!! They both tend to fidget or kinda bounce up in down in place as a way to comfort themselves and calm themselves down (I see them both having a lot of anxiety and generally being kind of paranoid, although Anna is MUCH better at hiding this via putting on a cheerful face). They both do the leg bounce!!! Also if they get SUPER excited they’ll do a little awkward happy dance!!! They both also tend to stim by rubbing things in small, repetitive motions--with Hiccup, it’s usually his sketching pens, his ear, his head, or the back of his neck, while with Anna, it’s usually her other hand, her arm, her clothes, or really anything with kind of a comforting, consistent texture (some favorites are rubber, felt, and velvet). After they start dating, they actually will stim with each other’s hands while holding hands--usually by squeezing the other person’s hand in kind of a repetitive pattern or doing the thumb-rub thing on the back of the other person’s hand. It’s not uncommon for them to each be doing something completely unrelated while holding hands and just stimming on each other’s hands the entire time. Anna especially really loves when she feels Hiccup stimming on her, because it’s her little indicator that he’s happy and feels at peace and content in her presence and she LOVES being able to do that for him!

~They both stim by playing with hair too! Anna likes to play with her own to stim--mainly by figeting with the end of her braids or tucking hair behind her ear. She DOES love to ruffle Hiccup’s hair too (and she LOVES how fluffy it is!), but it’s usually not a stim thing. After they start dating, Anna does occasionally stim by massaging Hiccup’s hair/scalp, but she doesn’t usually do it for very long. Hiccup really loves braiding Anna’s hair, or just playing with it when it’s down. it helps him relax and clear his mind to have something fairly repetitive and/or mindless to do.

~Even after gaining some confidence, Hiccup still has a fair bit of social anxiety, so he and Anna basically always go to parties and social events together and stick with each other the whole time to make it less intimidating for him. Hiccup generally prefers to let Anna do the talking when they chat with people, and sometimes if he’s REALLY nervous he’ll sometimes even let her kinda talk for him (not in a condescending “speaking over” kinda way, but more in like a “I can sense you’re not comfortable speaking here so I’ll help you out as best I can” kinda way). She always makes sure to leave space in the conversation for him to take over talking if he wants. She’s also incredibly prone to bragging about his accomplishments to basically everyone they know. Hiccup is both embarrassed and flattered by this.

~When Anna finds out about meltdowns (probably through Hiccup mentioning it kind of offhandedly--“Eh, sorry I went AWOL last night, I was having a bit of a meltdown. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine now.”) she lowkey gets super anxious and frustrated because she REALLY wants to help, but has no idea how. Cue literal HOURS of research on the internet and AGGRESSIVE memorizing of any and all tips that she reads that she thinks would help. Which, of course, means several MORE hours spent going over flashcards like she’s studying for a goddamn test, because Anna has never been known for her sharp, expansive memory.

~The first time Hiccup ever has a meltdown in front of her (maybe after a really bad phone fight with his dad or something? Just general sensory overload?), she takes him to a secluded room and IMMEDIATELY gets rid of anything that could be agitating sensory-wise. She dims the lights! She closes the blinds! She throws a nearby clock, an alarm, a timer, and several other objects with only the slightest potential of making an annoying noise out of a nearby window in a fit of passion! She goes on a frenzied quest to find Hiccup’s noise-cancelling headphones--and finishes it in record time! Even in a state of emotional turmoil, Hiccup realizes that Anna’s being just a little too methodical in how she goes about all this--these are the kind of things that wouldn’t ever occur naturally to her to do. So as soon as he calms down a bit and has screamed into a pillow for a while, he’s like “...did you go on the internet to look up how to help with meltdowns?” and Anna’s like “...yes?” And Hiccup is lowkey so touched he starts crying all over again...and then, naturally, makes a long string of snarky comments to try and distract from it XD

~For their anniversary Anna saves up a bunch and buys Hiccup a lizard and a terrarium!!! She gets him a crocodile skink because, I quote, “Well, they always look annoyed, they’re kinda shy, they don’t like to be touched, and they look like tiny dragons, so they reminded me of you!!!” Hiccup screams like a goddamn fangirl, he’s SO excited. As luck would have it, Hiccup’s crocodile skink is a lot less skittish and prone to hiding than they usually are, and he actually lets Hiccup pick him up and pet him without much issue. Which is honestly great, because repeatedly touching something smooth and even like lizard scales helps calm Hiccup down when he’s agitated and helps with some of his sensory issues.

~Probably goes without saying, but Hiccup basically NEVER genuinely gives Anna a hard time about her memory problems or how she’s not always the quickest on the uptake, and if anyone tries to call her annoying, dumb, or immature he will absolutely roast them into oblivion. He does sometimes like...lightly tease her about jumping into things without thinking or never shutting up, but he never pushes it if he can tell she’s genuinely bothered by it (and, again, Anna is very easy to read, so it’s not hard to tell XD)

~I’ve seen other people in the fandom HC either Hiccup, Anna, or both of them as BOTH autistic and ADHD, and honestly...fuck yes!!! I’m down for this too! I love the idea of these two disaster ND kids just vibing with each other on so many damn levels that it’s like...incomprehensible to the average human XD Like man, they fuckin GET each other!!! I’m pretty happy with most combinations of ADHD + Autistic headcanons for Anna and Hiccup, so long as they end up vibing!!!

~THEY JUST. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. SO MUCH. THEY LITERALLY WOULD DIE FOR EACH OTHER. I AM SURE OF IT. I’M CRYING.

#hiccanna #hiccup x anna #anna x hiccup #hiccup #anna #hiccupxanna #annaxhiccup #autistic hiccup #adhd anna #headcanons #hcs #httyd #frozen #crossover #rotbtd #rotbtfd #hiccup haddock #princess anna

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izzyfandoms · 3 years

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Logince - Curse

(This is one of 36 Halloween-themed ficlets I'm posting today! One for every sides/Remy/Emile/Thomas ship plus creativitwins!)

GENERAL TAGLIST: @quillfics42 @aj-draws @phantomofthesanderssides @phlying-squirrel @sly-is-my-name-loving-is-my-game @because-were-fam-ily @imtryingthisout @a-creepycookie @emo-disaster @littlestr @spooky-scary-virgil @fuyel @mimsidoodles @soupgremlin @aroaceagenderfluid @birdsbookshiddeninrealbirdsskin @quirkalurk @gingers-trashy-stuff @iinyxtello @justaqueercactus @melodiread @mrbubbajones @spookedferns @pun-master-logan @gayturtlez @k1ngtok1

Masterpost

Logan was cursed.

And he didn't mean that in an exaggerated or figurative sense. He wasn't just spectacularly unlucky, or saying that for no good reason.

He was actually, literally cursed, and had been for almost five years now.

It was how he had discovered the existence of magic. He had accidentally pissed off a witch - in hindsight, yelling at a mysterious old person following him home had probably been a mistake: if it hadn't let to a curse, it might have led to a kidnapping.

And, now, well... he was cursed.

No one could ever fall in love with him, or even develop any sort of crush on him.

It had at first seemed like a useless curse, when he was 12 and had no desire for romance. But now that he was a teenager, having had crushes on a variety of people, it was really starting to feel like a burden.

Like all curses, it could be broken, of course. Only his true love was immune to the curse, and could break it at first kiss.

But a kiss from anyone else would lead them to despise him: to hate him so much they never wanted to see him again. He had never kissed anyone, though, far too afraid of the curse to risk that.

He didn't believe he would ever find a true love, anyway.

And, honestly, Logan was skeptical that such a thing even existed.

(Though he had once felt that way about magic and witches and curses, and he had been very, very wrong about that.)

"Hey, hey, specs!" A voice called out as hand waved in front of Logan's face.

Logan snapped out of his thoughts, and his eyes suddenly landed on one of his friends, Roman, who was sat right beside him.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Roman continued with a teasing grin.

"My thoughts are worth much more than a penny," Logan huffed, crossing his arms and looking away. "You could not afford them."

Roman laughed, and Logan's heart skipped a beat in his chest.

(Oh, the joy of hearing the laughter of one who you adore. And, oh, the pain of a love thought unrequited.)

"It's your turn to spin," Roman said, gesturing to the bottle that was in the centre of their little group.

Remy - who was sat opposite Logan - let out an irritated huff, likely rolling his eyes behind his dark sunglasses.

"The bottle landed on you," Remy said, gesturing towards it. "So now you gotta spin it, and then kiss whoever it lands on, kay? C'mon, we haven't got all day. I haven't had a turn yet, hurry up."

Logan opened and closed his mouth a few times.

Roman turned and half-heartedly glared at Remy.

"Don't be a jerk, Rem. He doesn't have to play if he doesn't want to," Roman scolded. "Calm down."

"Well, why's he in the circle then?" Remy huffed, unaware of the fact that Logan had been so lost in thought, that he hadn't known what he'd agreed to. "Oh, whatever. I'll just spin for him."

Before Logan could stop him, Remy leant forward and spun the bottle. It spun and it spun and it spun and Logan was practically hypnotised by the long, turning movement, before it finally slowed to a stop...

... pointing at Roman.

There was a beat of silence, where Roman and Logan's eyes met, and both of their faces reddened as they stared at one another.

Then, Remus - who was sat right next to his brother - howled with laughter.

"Ha! Oh my god, that's hilarious."

Remy laughed, too, and Patton - who was sat between Remus and Remy - put his hand over his mouth to hide his own giggles out of politeness.

"You- you don't have to," Roman stumbled over his words. "If you don't want to. It's okay."

Logan had never wanted something more in his whole life. And he had never not wanted something more, either.

Kissing Roman... was something he dreamt about practically every night. He was head over heels - having so deeply fallen for Roman that it almost hurt to look at him.

He wanted to kiss him. He really, really wanted to kiss him.

But, if he did... then Roman would hate him. Roman would despise him.

He didn't want that.

He really, really didn't want that.

But... there was a small, totally illogical part of Logan's brain that told him that maybe it didn't matter. If Roman wasnt going to love him back anyway, maybe making him hate him would be easier.

And one kiss would be better than the nothing he would get otherwise.

Logan made his decision, and decided to act upon it before he could actually think it through and change his mind.

(Roman had been trying to get Logan to loosen up and be more impulsive for a while. Logan doubted that this was what Roman had intended, but he chose not to think about that any longer.)

"Okay," Logan said.

Roman's eyes widened. "Really? Okay?"

Logan nodded. "Yes, okay. I- I don't see the harm in just one kiss."

(Logan knew that Roman knew that he'd never kissed anyone before, quite unlike Roman himself. Perhaps that was why Roman was so hesitant.)

"Yes, okay! Do this quickly so I can have my turn," Remy said, clapping his hands together.

"You do realise that you do not decide when you have a turn, right?" Logan said flatly. "It is entirely random."

Remy blew a raspberry, waving his hand dismissively.

"Well, I'm never gonna get a turn if you two take so long. Now, c'mon, smooch so we can get this over with."

"Uh..." Roman trailed off, giving Logan a questioning look despite his earlier confirmation.

Logan nodded, taking a deep breath to prepare himself. Then, he shifted forward, closer to Roman.

He wasn't sure exactly what to do, especially since he had no experience kissing anybody, but, luckily, Roman seemed to understand this and took the first step. He reached up, gently taking Logan's face in his hands.

Roman paused for a moment, hesitating, before he leant in and kissed Logan.

The moment his warm, soft lips met Logan's, something shattered inside of him. For one, terrible moment, he thought it was his heart breaking.

But then he realised that he wasn't hurting. Instead, he was... happy.

So, so happy.

And when Roman pulled away, Logan didn't have time to feel any kind of dread.

He opened his eyes as Roman pulled back, looking into Roman's. He searched for any kind of hatred, but... there was nothing of the sort.

Roman was looking at him so fondly, so softly, that he couldn't possibly hate him.

Logan did not understand.

Until he did.

His eyes widened.

Before he could say anything - though he had absolutely no idea what he could even say - he was interrupted by Remus wolf-whistling.

"Ha! Get a room you two," he called out.

Roman turned and glared at his brother, breaking the moment between him and Logan.

"Shut it, Remus."

Logan... did not know what to think.

Roman didn't hate him. Roman did not hate him.

Roman... kissed him, and did not hate him.

Was the curse broken? If so, did that mean... did that mean...

Logan stared at Roman, and as the game continued - their friends moving on from the two of them - Roman turned to look back at him. He gave Logan a soft, fond smile that gave Logan wonderful butterflies in his stomach.

Roman... did Roman break Logan's curse?

Was Roman his true love?

Did Roman love Logan?

Logan reached forward, taking Roman's hand in his own and squeezing it.

#me #writing #logince #sanders sides #logan sanders #roman sanders #fluff #angst #human au

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atlafan · 4 years

Text

Office Neighbors - Part Five

a/n: another long one! this won’t be the last part, there will definitely be a part six. There’s some puberty talk towards the end with Andy...

warnings: slight angst, fluff, smut (use of toys)

words: 20K

masterpost

The first faculty meeting of the semester. You officially had been at the university for a year, and it felt incredible. You think back to the morning you got ready last year, waking up in your cozy blanket burrito. This time around you woke up with your new favorite kind of burrito: Harry. You didn’t think you’d like having one of his arms under your neck with the other one wrapped around you, or having his heavy leg over your hip, but it was wonderful. Harry had sent Andy over to Paige’s for his Wednesday with her so Harry spent the night at your place.

Andy had apologized to his mother, who was more than forgiving. He didn’t fully explain himself, but Harry told her just to go with it, and she listened. Andy made her a congratulations card, and it’s been up on the fridge ever since.

You had dinner with them a couple of times, and you were amazed at how talkative Andy was with you. He asked you a ton of questions about anything and everything, and you answered things to the best of your ability. You hadn’t spent the night at Harry’s though. You had never spent the night there. You might have, but since Andy came back early both you and Harry agreed sleepovers would be better at your place for now. Once Andy gets back into the regular rhythm of going to Paige’s every other weekend, then you said you’d consider spending the night at Harry’s.

Your alarm goes off, and you turn it off. Harry peppers kisses to the back of your neck and it makes you giggle.

“Why are we getting up so early? Meeting’s not until two.” He yawns and then kisses your cheek, pulling you closer.

“Shower, breakfast, then office decorating.”

“What’s for breakfast?”

“Pesto toast and fried eggs.” Harry groans happily into you and you giggle.

“That sounds so fucking good.”

“And I bought the bread you really like to make it with too.”

He shifts, and forces you onto your back. He kisses on your neck, down your chest, your stomach, and then dangerously lower.

“Harry, wait!” You yank his head up by his hair and he pouts at you. “Can we shower first? That’s a little…gross first thing in the morning, isn’t it?”

“I don’t particularly think so, but we can shower first if you’re more comfortable with that.”

“I would.” You blush slightly.

“Okay.” He kisses your cheek and gets off of you.

If there was one thing you could look at forever, it would be Harry’s bare ass. It was just so…plump! Who knew doing yoga could help with the booty?

“Are you coming, or are you gonna keep staring?” He smirks.

“Oh, shut up.” You say, frazzled, and get out of bed to join him in your bathroom.

You turn the water on and you both brush your teeth before you get in. You sigh as the warm water hits your skin. You and Harry still fumbled around while taking showers together, not really having learned the full morning routine of one another yet, but it was okay. It caused for some laughs.

“Har?” You say as you lather up your body.

“Yeah?”

“What, um, what are we telling people at work?”

“About what?” He says as he steps aside to let you stand in the water.

“About us.”

“Oh! Well…what do you wanna tell people? We should probably let Lisa know…I’m sure everyone will figure it out the second we walk in together.” He watches as the soap falls down your body.

“So, like, are we just saying we’re together, we’re seeing each other?”

“That’s what we’re doing, so yeah, makes sense to say that.” He shrugs and wraps his arms around your waist. “Can I have now?” He pouts.

You giggle at him and nod. His lips press to yours as your arms wrap around his neck. You don’t stay like that for long though because Harry is kissing down your body until he reaches his knees. He gets one of your legs over his shoulder and you nearly lose your balance.

“Couldn’t we do this on dry land?!” You squeal as you clutch at the walls.

“You’re making things very difficult for me this morning.” He says as he looks up at you. “Would you relax?”

You couldn’t relax. Your period was just around the corner and you were worried about it springing up on you while he was down there.

“Sorry.” You mutter and take a deep breath. “Go ahead.”

Your back arches when you feel his tongue on you. you bite your bottom lip as you feel him lap away at you, and suck on your clit. He sucks harshly, and it has you tugging hard at his hair. He stands up and your mouth falls open to protest, but you’re shut up when you feel two fingers slip inside you.

“Sorry, my knees were starting to hurt.” He grunts as he kisses on your neck.

“S’okay.” You gasp when he curls his fingers up. You reach between the two of you to rub and tug at his hard dick.

His lips find your again, and he sucks your bottom between his teeth. You moan out for him and squeeze around his fingers. His thumb rubs at your puffy clit and you pump him faster.

“Fuck.” He groans. “M’not gonna last much longer.” His other hand come up to knead one of your breasts, and he pumps his fingers in and out of you faster.

“H-Harry!” You cry out as you release around him. You’re in such a daze you barely register his come splashing on your stomach and hand. He kisses your temple and grabs the shower head to clean you off. “Thanks.” You breathe.

He smiles at you as he wipes his mess away and puts the shower head back. You turn the water off, and get a towel wrapped around yourself. Harry follows you out to the bedroom, and goes through his overnight bag to find his boxers. He slips them on as you look through your own dresser.

“Do you know how hot it’s going to be today?” You ask him.

“Let me check my phone.” He says and looks through his weather app. “Um, mid-eighties, babe.”

“Humid?”

“A wee bit.”

“Alright.” You sigh.

You brush out your hair and run your blow dryer through it before putting it up in a messy bun. Harry was just getting his jeans and t-shirt on when you come out. It was a loose pair of jeans with rips at the knees.

“I think you wore those when we first met.” You chuckle.

“I wear them every year, sort of like a good luck for the semester. It’s weird, but it helps me.”

“Not weird at all, we all have our own traditions.” You shrug. “God, I have no idea what I wanna wear.” You groan. “I hate being all sweaty, you know?”

“Why not one of your pretty sundresses?”

“No, I’ll just be uncomfortable in a dress. I wish I could just wear workout clothes, but I think that would be a bit too dressed down.”

You settle on a pair of shorts and a top to tuck into them. You both go into the kitchen, and Harry sits down at your island while you start getting breakfast ready. He was better at cooking dinner, and you were better at breakfast, so you both just took turns making meals for the other. Once it’s all done, his mouth is watering. He takes a big bite and moans.

“Mm, best pesto toast I’ve ever had.”

“Thanks.” You reach forward to snag the bit of yolk that that’s dribbling down his chin. “It’s a bit messy, sorry.” He grabs your thumb before you can wipe it on your napkin, and sucks it into his mouth, letting it go with a pop.

“No worries, I’ve told you, I like it messy.” He winks at you.

“You’re too much.” Your face had to be red. A guy had never made you feel so flustered before.

“So, what exactly does office decorating entail? Aren’t you keeping the same furniture?”

“Oh, sure, but I wanna dust and wipe things down. I have some new things I wanna hang up. Might be night to air it out too. Don’t you wanna get your office in order?”

“I guess that would be the smart thing to do. I’m just feeling lazy today.”

“It’ll be the perfect thing to perk you up before our meeting. Are we getting new faculty?”

“Not this year, just the usual random TL’s that teach the online classes. Why? Hoping to meet someone new?”

“Stop.” You nudge him. “Couldn’t replace you even if I wanted to. I’m really excited to see everyone. I’ve missed Janette.”

“That’s why I’m glad we all usually go to the pub after the meeting so we can all really catch up.”

“And the game nights will start back up.”

“They’ll probably separate us now that we’re together. Not fair to have a couple who wins all the time on the same team.”

“Please, they should keep us together, I’d hate to see what you look like when you lose.”

“Aw.” He says as he gets up to clean the plates. “That’s so cute you think I’d lose a game to you.” He turns to you. “Lose to anyone, really.”

“I can’t wait to see how you are at Andy’s basketball games this season, you must be a backseat coach.”

“I’m actually not too bad, thank you very much. I would never try to embarrass my kid.” He puts his hands on your hips as you stand up. “Are you saying you wanna come to a few games this winter?”

“That’s what I’m saying.” You smile. “I think it would be good for him to know I’m there supporting him, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” He kisses you. “That means a lot to me that you care.”

“Of course I care.” You kiss again before he lets you go. “Come on, let’s go.”

Harry doesn’t do as deep of a clean to his office as you do to yours. You had barely been there this summer, opting to go to the library like he had suggested because of the A/C. You open up your window and you hear him curse from his office.

“What is it?”

“My cactus died…” He sighs and shows you the pot. “I don’t know how, I came in to water all of these. Fuck, now I’m gonna have to go get a new one.”

“So…you love plants, but you hate shopping for them?”

“No, I just prefer to go to Lowe’s and the drive is annoying.”

“It’s…twenty minutes south on the highway.”

“Yeah, twenty fucking minutes to get some decent plants, and then it’ll take me god knows how long to find ones I like, then I need to find pots for Andy to paint. He likes painting for me so it adds more decoration.”

“Just when I thought he couldn’t get cuter.” You pout. “Maybe we could have a painting party. We could all decorate some pots, I could do some for my own office.”

“You’d be into something like that?”

“Yeah! I like getting crafty, obviously.”

“I bet he’d paint you something nice for your office. He’ll love it. I have to take him back to school shopping this weekend anyways, so I can go to Lowe’s then.”

“Sounds good to me.” You smile, and just as you lean in to kiss him…

“Oh my god!” Janette squeals, and you both turn towards her. “Look at this! You’re a full on couple, how cute.” She pouts and pinches Harry’s cheek before giving him and you a hug. “I’ve missed you both so much.”

“Same here.” You say. “How were your travels with Sadie?”

‘Incredible! She gets to go to the coolest places. I always feel well rounded after traveling with her. H, I watched you lecture too since it was recorded, amazing job.”

“Oh, thanks.” He blushes.

“So, this is a thing now?” She grins. “Should have placed bets within the department. I saw this from a mile away, although, I thought it would have happened sooner.” She shrugs. “Oh well.”

“Do we have to make some type of formal announcement?” You ask.

“Please.” She scoffs. “The second you two walk into that meeting everyone will know. It’s written all of your faces.”

“Okay, okay.” Harry says. “Shall we head up then?” He shuffles the both of them out of his office.

You and Janette walk ahead of him, giggling about something. Harry was happy you made such good friends with her, he knew you were lonely when you first moved here. Janette was also someone you could hang out with while he was with Andy.

Lisa was already in the conference room with Mateo when you three walk in. Andre and Sandra come in next. You all find seats and wait for Lisa to get started. She smiles at everyone and squints at you and Harry.

“Well, well, well, how long has this been going on for?”

“Ha! I told you!” Janette laughs, and so does everyone else.

“Did everyone know we liked each other before we did? Is that it?” You also laugh.

“Are you kidding?!” Andre says. “Harry is the least subtle person when he has a crush! I swear I started keeping a tally of every time he popped into your office while I was in mine. Was pretty cute actually.”

“Alright, thank you everyone.” Harry says, chuckling. “It’s still new, it’s only been a month and a half or so.”

“Well, congrats to you both.” Lisa says warmly. “What a great way to start our meeting off. Now, let’s get to the fun stuff like budgets and course design.” She jokes.

After the meeting, just like last year, everyone walks down to the pub for dinner and drinks. Harry sits next to you, and even puts his arm around your shoulders, it’s loose, but it’s there. You get your chicken-less nachos, and a couple of drinks. It’s a lot of fun to reconnect with your colleagues. It’s also a reminder that you really need to get some work done on your doctoral thesis this semester. You had been doing so much research and reading that you felt like you could start writing your actual paper. Well, you felt like you could really start putting a solid outline together.

You and Harry walk back to your car, since you drove together in it this morning.

“That was fun, it was so good to see everyone. School really starts next week, I can’t believe it!” You say.

“I know, it’s wild.”

“I volunteered to help out with the movie on the green during welcome week. Seemed like the easiest thing to get involved in.”

“I signed up for that too. They’re showing Wonder Woman and I wanted to bring Andy since we didn’t get a chance to see it in theaters when it came out. Maybe we could all go together…”

“I’d like that.” You smile. “Am I just dropping you off at yours?”

“Yeah, Paige’ll be bringing him home in an hour or so.”

“Alrighty.” You turn left so you can get on the route to Harry’s house. You pull into his driveway. “So, painting this weekend?”

“Most likely, yeah. I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good.” You both lean over the console to kiss goodbye. You smile into it, just loving his lips on yours.

“What are you so happy about, hm?” He says, also with a big smile on his face.

“Just like you a lot.”

“Like you a lot too.” He gives you one more peck on the lips before getting out and waving goodbye.

That was something the two of had gotten into the habit of saying: I like you a lot. It was less serious than saying I love you, but it also gave that reassurance that the both of you were still happy in the budding relationship.

“Dad! I’m home!” Andy says as he comes into the house, bringing his things to his room. Harry was just getting some comfy clothes on.

“Hey, how was Mum’s?” He asks as he leans against the door frame.

“Good.” He shrugs. “She said I was too old to be the ring bearer.” He scoffs.

“You are.” Harry chuckles. “Did she say you could do something else?”

“Well, Noah said I could be in his wedding party, but I told Mum I’d rather be in hers, and they said that was fine. Rachel got all excited because she’s going to walk Noah up to the alter. I don’t really know why this being talked about now. They’re not getting married for another year.”

“Weddings take a lot of planning.”

“But why? It’s all a big hullaballoo for no reason.”

“Hullaballoo?” Harry laughs.

“Yeah! Like, they’re just having a small thing in the backyard, what’s the big deal?”

“You know how Mum’s family is, they like things a certain way. I think it’ll be nice, and you’ll look great in her wedding party, get you fitted for a nice suit.”

“Are you gonna be there.” He says, sitting on his bed.

“I don’t know if I’m in invited yet.”

“Why wouldn’t you be?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “Kind of weird to invite your ex to your wedding, but if Mum wants me there I’ll go.”

“You could bring Y/N.” Andy grins.

“Speaking of her, you and I are gonna go back to school shopping this weekend, and while we’re out we’re gonna pick up some paint and pots, thought she could join us for that.”

“Yeah! That sounds like fun, Dad.”

“Good.” Harry smiles. “Did you want to invite Brandon over too? He had fun with us last year.”

“Sure, I can text him…on my dinosaur phone.” He mumbles.

“Andy.” Harry sighs. “Two more years, I just need you to wait two more years, and then you can have a smart phone, okay? You’re lucky you have a phone at all.”

“Fine.” He rolls his eyes. “Does everyone at school know you’re dating now?”

“Pretty much.”

“When are you going to ask her to be your girlfriend?”

“I don’t know.” He runs a hand through his hair.

“Why not?”

“I just don’t, it’s complicated. Things are good right now, I don’t wanna rock the boat.”

“But…in like every movie we watch it’s always so clear that the girl just wants things to be official, so why not just do that? I bet it would make her happy.”

“This isn’t a movie. Dating someone for a month and a half, I feel, is too soon to really put a label on. It’s a very serious thing to call someone your girlfriend or boyfriend.”

“Ugh.” Andy flops back onto his bed.

“What?” Harry steps into his room more.

“Molly is Brandon’s girlfriend, does that mean things are super serious?”

“Andy…at your age…it really doesn’t mean much, I promise. I thought they just kissed, now they’re boyfriend and girlfriend?” He sits down on his desk chair and Andy rolls onto his side to look at Harry.

“Yeah, he told me the other day.” He sighs. “I don’t really get the appeal, Molly’s nice and pretty, but…” He chews his inner cheek. “I…I think I still think kissing is gross, is that weird?”

“It’s not weird at all. You all are going through different phases right now. You might think kissing isn’t weird this time next year, or even a couple of months from now. You’re only going into sixth grade, it’s okay to not be into girls or…whatever yet.”

“What’s so great about kissing, anyways?”

“Do you want the super high level answer?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, scientifically speaking, when you kiss someone on the lips, especially someone you really like, there’s a chemical reaction in your brain that releases the hormone oxytocin. Sometimes it’s called the love hormone.” Andy blinks at him. “Basically, it just makes you feel really good, and it makes you feel all lovey and attached to the person that makes you feel that way.”

“Do you feel that way with Y/N?”

“Um…well…yeah, I like kissing her.”

“I guess I just won’t understand until it happens to me.”

“Promise me something?” Andy nods at him. “Don’t just kiss someone to get it over with to see what it feels like because then it won’t mean anything. Your first kiss is something you’ll never get back, you know? So…don’t give it away to just anyone, alright?”

“Alright.”

Harry smiles and comes over to give Andy a kiss on the forehead.

“Go wash up and get into bed, it’s getting late.”

Harry absolutely detested back to school shopping. Every year he and Paige would take Andy to Staples and let him run wild. Buying new binders and notebooks really got him excited. The thing Harry couldn’t stand was the inevitable argument that Andy would have with Paige, and it was happening now.

“Mum, I’ll look like an idiot! I need a separate notebook for each class.”

“But this is like five notebooks in one! What’s the big deal?!”

“We all decorate each cover differently! No one gets these anymore, ugh, you just don’t get it!” Andy huffs.

“Just let him get the notebooks, Paige, it’s not worth it.”

“I guess I really don’t get it.” She sighs. “Go on, pick out what you want. We’re looking at planners next.”

Andy nods and goes down the aisle with the planners. He furrows his brows as he looks over his options.

“Jesus, these are so expensive.” Paige says.

“I know, it’s a rip-off.” Harry agrees. “You’re just writing your assignments down, it doesn’t need to be fancy, Andy.”

“I can’t decide.” His eyes widen when he sees a planner with blue flowers on it, and he reaches to grab it, but he stops himself and sighs.

“What’s wrong?” Paige asks.

“I’ll get made fun of I pick that one.”

“What? Why?” Harry asks.

“Because…flowers are girly.” Andy says quietly.

“No they’re not, I love flowers! We have like three different gardens in the back. You should get the one you want.” Harry says.

“And if anyone makes fun of you, just…well…fuck ‘em.” Paige whispers and it makes harry and Andy laugh.

Paige and Harry get Andy settled, and she leaves them so they can head to Lowe’s to pick everything out for the plants. Once they’re home, Harry gets everything set up in the garage. He lays some newspapers down so the paint won’t make a mess. Brandon’s mom drops him off, and he runs up the driveway, giving Andy a hug when he gets there.

“Thanks for the invite, my mom loved what I made her last year.”

“Yeah…of course.” Andy says, blushing slightly.

“Right, so, everything’s here that you need. Y/N should be here…oh! There’s her car now.” Harry smiles.

You get out of your car in a cute pair of overall shorts and a t-shirt. You grab some of your own pots out of your back seat and walk up.

“Hi boys.” You smile and kiss Harry’s cheek. “I had some extra potters, so I brought some of my own to decorate.”

“Sounds good, got all the paint we could need here.” Harry says, sitting down and gesturing for you to do the same.

“How was back to school shopping, Andy?”

“Good.” He shrugs.

“What kind of planner did you get?” Brandon asks. “Mine’s got these, like, cars on them, it looks so cool.”

“Oh…it’s got this…um…garden or whatever on it. I just grabbed a random one.” He mutters.

“I used to love getting all of that stuff, I still do.” You say. “Nothing like some new notebooks to get you excited for school.”

“I like the pens, my mom let pick out this pack that had all these different colors, highlighters too.” Brandon says.

It was fun painting the pots with everyone, seeing the different designs. Andy was really talented, you were surprised since he was so young. The detail he was able to get on such a small space was incredible. It was starting to get around dinner time.

“Dad, can Brandon stay for dinner?”

“Sure, but he has to call his parents first to ask.”

“Okay!” Brandon says, taking out his smart phone. He gets up to call his parents.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Harry asks you.

“I’d love to.” You smile.

“They said it’s okay, I just have to be home by eight.” Brandon smiles. “My said he’d come get me so you don’t have to drive Mr. Styles.”

“Alright, that sounds good. You boys work on cleaning this up, and I’ll get the grill started. Make sure you wash your hands before coming out to the deck.”

You help the boys make sure their paint doesn’t get smudged as they put the pots up on the shelves to dry. You wash your hands as well before going out to the deck.

“Where are they?”

“Oh, um, Andy asked if they could play video games until dinner…and I said it was okay…”

“Oh, alright.” He says with a shrug.

“Is that okay? I should have asked you first.”

“He’s been out all day, I say he’s earned some screen time. It’s perfectly fine.” Harry smiles. “I’m making those impossible burgers, they both really like them. Want cheese on yours?”

“Yes, please. Do need help with anything?”

“Nope.” He kisses your cheek. “Just sit, babe.”

Once the food is done, and on the table outside, Harry calls for the boys, and the come right out. The burger tastes amazing, not that you’re surprised. You started to really enjoy watching Harry interact with the boys. He could really carry on a conversation with them, and relate to them. The boys themselves were really interesting. Brandon was animated as he spoke, and Andy was a bit more reserved but he was hilarious. Andy loved having you over for dinner too. You came once in a while, and he liked seeing you interact with his dad. You made Harry happy in a way that he didn’t, and he sort of understood it.

“Can we play more video games until Brandon’s dad comes, please?”

“Sure, we’re gonna stay out here for a bit I think.”

“Thanks, Mr. Styles!” The boys both race inside to go back to their game.

“At least they ask first, right?” Harry chuckles.

“Exactly.” You smile and rub your arms.

“Are you getting cold? I can get you a sweatshirt.”

“That’d be great, thank you.”

Harry brings the plates inside and grabs you a sweatshirt of his to put on. This was the first time you’d be wearing something of his. It was a university pullover and it was huge on you, but it smelled like him so you didn’t care. It made you feel cozy.

“I hope you weren’t too attached this, it’s mine now.”

“That so?”

“Mhm.” You smile.

Harry lights the citronella candle and you both sit in the other chairs on the deck. You both hold hands and sit in a comfortable silence until Brandon’s dad comes to pick him up.

“Well, I guess I should get going.” You say.

“Yeah.” Harry’s hands were in his pockets. He looks back at Andy who was now watching TV. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“Thanks.”

Harry keeps his hand on the small of your back as you both walk outside. Before you can open up your car door he presses you against it, crashing his mouth to yours. You tug at the collar of his shirt as his tongue enters your mouth. He bites your bottom lip before pressing his forehead to yours.

“It was such a nice day.” You breathe.

“I’m really glad you came over.”

“Me too.”

“See you Monday?”

“Mhm.” He swallows and steps back. “Andy will be with me…school doesn’t start until Wednesday.”

“Maybe we can all have lunch together or something.”

He kisses you again, not really wanting you to leave, but he knows you have to. Even if Andy wasn’t there you probably wouldn’t stay over since you had your period.

“I have to go.” You whisper.

“I know.” One last, good kiss and he lets go of you. “Have a good night.”

“You too.” You stroke his cheek, and then get into your car.

Harry sighs when he gets inside and flops onto the couch.

“What?” Andy giggles.

“Ugh, I just really like her.” He groans into the couch which makes Andy laugh harder.

The first few days of classes were going well. Your period ended which was helpful so you weren’t too snippy while meeting with some of your new advisees who needed help switching classes.

“I’d like something Tuesdays and Thursdays, preferably after one.”

“Yeah…I was sort of hoping to not have Friday classes…”

“That doesn’t sound interesting, isn’t there anything else to take?”

“I’d rather just keep pushing off my math class.”

It went on like that and you wanted to scream, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t wait for the add/drop period to be over.

“Y/N?” You look up and see a shy Andy in your doorway. “I know you’re busy, but…can I hang out in here? Dad’s teaching and I’m bored.”

“Sure! Hi, yeah, come on in. I don’t have any more appointments today, and my next class won’t start for another hour.” You smile and he comes in to sit on your couch. “School starts tomorrow, huh?”

“Yup, we have two half days and a full day Friday.”

“That’s good, gets you back into a routine.”

“Mhm.”

“Are you and Brandon in the same class, did you end up on the four teacher team?”

“Yeah!” He beams. “And his girlfriend Molly is on the two teacher team, which he was sad about, but I’m happy about it. Now I don’t have to watch them flirt.” He rolls his eyes.

“You don’t like Molly much, do you?”

“It’s not that I don’t…he just…ugh, we were on the phone last night and you know what he said?”

“What did he say?” Your full attention was on him now.

“He asked if I wanted to go on a double date with him, Molly, and her best friend Alexis at the playground after school Friday.”

“Oh! What did you tell him?”

“I said I couldn’t because I have to go to my mum’s, which isn’t a lie…”

“But if you didn’t need to go to your mum’s…”

“Still wouldn’t have wanted to. Alexis is nice, but I don’t wanna go on a date with her. I don’t wanna date anyone.” He looks away from you for a moment and then back. “How…how did you know you liked my dad?”

“Oh gosh…um…well…I always liked him, we were friends for a while.”

“Yeah, but when did like turn into like like?”

“Gotcha, well, it was a couple of things. I just starting noticing different things about him that I liked more than usual, and then on the camping trip…well…he just made me feel really safe, you know? He helped me sleep better, and I hadn’t even realized it. I started feeling butterflies around him, and…when we first kissed I just sort knew it was supposed to happen.”

“I can’t believe kissing has so much power. He said he likes kissing you. He told me kissing makes your brain explode with this stuff that makes you feel good.”

“Andy?” Harry asks. “What the hell are you talking about in here?”

“Dad, get out! We’re talking!” Andy gets up and slams the door in Harry’s face. You suck your lips into your mouth to keep from laughing. “He’s so nosey.” Andy huffs as he looks at you.

“Perhaps he has a right to be.” You get up. “Would you open the door please?”

Andy sighs and opens the door. Harry was glaring at him.

“Go to my office, now.” Andy does as he says, and Harry looks at you. “I’m so sorry, I know you’re busy, and-“

“It was no problem, we were having a really nice chat until you barged in. You should really learn to knock first, Dad.” You cross your arms and smirk.

“Very funny.”

“Hey, come here.” You whisper and Harry comes closer. “I think he’s really confused about things. He was telling me how Brandon wanted to go on a double date, which, like, wow, kids are growing up way too fast these days, but, anyways, he said he didn’t wanna date anyone. Then he asked me how I knew I liked you as more than a friend.”

“I think he may have a thing for Brandon.” Harry whispers very quietly. “But I don’t he really knows that, or understands what he’s feeling right now, so I’m trying not to push it on him.” You nod your head. “Thank you for telling me what he said, though, definitely helps piece things together.”

“Dad, Brandon just texted asking if I wanna play basketball at the park, can I go?”

“Sure! I just finished my last class, so let me get my things together and we can go.”

“Awesome! Thanks.” He smiles. “Bye, Y/N.”

“Bye, have a nice afternoon.”

“Will you come over for dinner tonight?”

“Andy.” Harry sighs.

“I’d love to, but only if Dad says it’s okay.”

“You…really wanna come over tonight? You won’t be too tired?”

“It’ll help me get out of here at a reasonable hour. As long as I’m not imposing…”

“You wouldn’t be. Come by around six, yeah?”

“Works for me.” You smile.

Harry grabs Andy by the back of his shirt to push him back to his office and it makes you giggle.

“I’m so glad they’re in the same class again, Brandon was freaking out about it.” Brandon’s dad says to Harry at the park.

“Glad to know the feeling is mutual.”

“I’ve never seen Brandon with such a good friend before, it’s great. My wife and I adore Andy.”

“That means a lot, thank you. I love having Brandon over, they play really nicely together, and he’s so polite.” He watches as the two of them have fun playing basketball. “So…Brandon has a girlfriend now, huh?”

“Girlfriend.” Ed scoffs. “We’ll see how long that lasts, she’s already getting on his nerves.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, I guess she’s mad because she wanted Andy and Brandon to hang out with her and her friend Alexis Friday, but Brandon said they couldn’t because Andy has to go to his mom’s, and it turned into this whole thing. He’s not talking to her at the moment.”

“Wow, does Andy know that?”

“No, I think B wanted to keep it to himself so Andy wouldn’t feel bad about them fighting.” He rolls his eyes. “I knew he’d start dating at some point, but I didn’t think it would be this early. I should have told him no dating until high school or something.” Ed steps closer to Harry. “You don’t think…I mean…if they did I wouldn’t care, but you don’t think….” He nods towards the two of them.

“I don’t know.” Harry sighs. “I wouldn’t care either. I think Andy’s confused if anything. He’s not quite ready to date or anything, it still grosses him out.”

“See, that seems normal for their age to me.”

“They’re all going through things at different speeds, think we just need to give it time.”

You show up to Harry’s around 6:15, you were in the middle of some good work and you just wanted to finish it up. You ring the bell and Andy answers.

“Hi, Y/N.” He beams.

“Hi, Andy, did you have fun playing basketball?”

“Yeah!” He tugs you inside. “We’re having taco salad tonight.”

“Sounds yummy.” You smile and walk into the kitchen with him.

“Hey.” Harry smiles and kisses you on the cheek. “Just getting everything onto the table, have a seat.”

“Thank you, sorry I’m late.”

“You barely are, it’s fine.” Harry and Andy sit down. “Andy, here’s your taco meat.” He passes him the small bowl. “I just made black beans for us, Y/N.”

You nod as Harry uses the salad tongs to put some on your plate. You all add your different fixings and dig in.

“So, how do the half days work? Will you have really short classes and go to all of them, or will you have your first few classes one day and the rest the next?” You ask Andy.

“We have homeroom, and then some big assembly, and then we have our first three classes. Thursday we have our last four classes, and then Friday is normal.”

“What’s your favorite subject?”

“Art.” He says, mouth full. “But I won’t have it until the second half of the school year, I have gym the first half.”

“All kids with last names A through M get art the first half, and then they switch. It helps mix up everyone on the different teacher teams.” Harry explains. “You and Brandon should still be together since his last name is Stewart.”

“Thank god, he and I are the only ones that actually know how to play volleyball.”

“What would that matter?” You ask.

“Every fall the gym classes have a volleyball tournament and the winning teams get to have this big event and the entire class comes, it’s so cool.”

“Oh! We did something similar to that at my middle school when I was kid.” You say.

“I like having gym in the fall, it gets me ready for the winter program.”

“What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s so cool, Y/N.” Harry says. “It’s completely funded by the school, every Friday pretty much once the mountains open up for skiing, they take the kids up for a day of skiing and snowboarding. All the parents have to do is provide snow pants and jackets, we don’t even have to worry about the other gear. Although, if you have your own you can bring it. Sometimes I volunteer to chaperone, it’s a hoot.”

“That is really cool, wow.”

“I had so much fun last year, I was way better on the slopes for our trip last February, right, Dad?”

“You definitely could see the improvement.” Harry smiles and takes a sip of his water.

“So, you ski, you like volleyball, and you play basketball. You’re a pretty active kid, Andy.”

“I love basketball, I don’t know what it is.”

“You sort of had to love it, it’s the only sport Mum and I felt comfortable with you playing.” Harry shakes his head. “He wanted play hockey and football, but we said no.”

“Why?” You ask.

“We were afraid of concussions. I know they can happen with basketball, but they’re less common.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t have him out there playing soccer.”

“I used to play when I was in elementary school, but I didn’t like it as much as basketball.” Andy shrugs.

“So, what makes art your favorite subject?”

“It’s the only time of day you can just do whatever you want. The teacher tells you about what it is they wanna see you make, and whatever tech, um….” He looks at Harry.

“Techniques.” Harry smiles.

“Yeah! Techniques, they show you those, and then they just let you do your thing. And whatever you make is right no matter what. I like painting the best, I think, but I also really liked when we did stuff with clay last year, I hope we do it again.”

“What’s your least favorite subject?” You ask.

“IMEC.” He groans.

“What the heck is that?”

“The Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre funds it.” Harry says. “It’s just for fifth and sixth graders. Andy had to make a birdhouse last year, they learn how architecture works, they learn about robotics.”

“I hated it, it was so boring until they let us build stuff. I also have a typing class this term which is gonna be boring. I already know how to type.” He rolls his eyes.

“Yes, but you still look down at the keyboard.” Harry says. “Gotta learn to not do that so you can type faster.”

“Right, because whatever job I end up applying for someday isn’t going to hire me because of how I type.” He scoffs. “I’m pretty good at math, although I don’t really like it, same for science, but this year we get to dissect squids!”

“Oh, that’s very exciting! I did the same thing in sixth grade, and our school at this science center that was run by this other teacher, and he had all these reptiles and chickens and other animals like that in there, so he came to the class and helped our science teacher with us, and then he made us fresh calamari. And I already liked calamari so I was one of the few kids that actually tried it.”

“That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, I wish the school here had a science center.” Harry says.

“The guy was so nice, and he used to go to all of the elementary schools in the area to bring frogs and snakes, so he knew us well by the time we were in middle school, and we all knew his pets well by then so there was nothing to be scared of. One day, this was also in six grade, we had class in the science center, and we were passing the different pets around, like the frogs and stuff, and I wasn’t afraid of the little garden snake or anything, but it wasn’t the snake we were used to, and the girls next to me got scared, so I was asked to bring the snake back up to the teacher, and the girl next to me accidentally thwacked the snake’s head, and the snake bit me! Right here.” You hold your forearm out and show the spot, not that there was a scar. The boys both gasp. “So, I went up, still holding the snake, and I was like it bit me. And the teacher said no it didn’t, but my arm started spurting out blood so I was like no it did, so it was this whole thing, right? He took the snake and put it away, and he got me something for my arm, and my actual science teacher had to walk me down to the nurse, but before I left he gave me a fresh snake skin to take home with me as a consolation or something.” You take a sip of your water. “It was really funny when I was down at the nurse because while one was wrapping my arm up, the other had to call home, and my mom was in Florida with my grandparents, so my dad answered and I remember the nurse says, ‘I want to preface that Y/N is fine, but she was bit by a snake in the science center’, and I heard my dad yell, so they gave the phone to me and I told him I really was fine and I didn’t need to come home.”

“That’s so wild, are you afraid of snakes now?” Harry asks.

“Not at all, actually. The bite didn’t really hurt, if anything I respect them.”

“Did your mom ever find out?” Andy was fully invested in this story.

“Yes.” You giggle. “I went with my dad to pick her up from the airport, Phil, my brother, was there too. My dad claims he asked me not to tell my mom just because it would add to her nerves, but the second she got in the car I guess I told her all about it, and my dad was not happy.” You laugh. “I’ll never forget that.”

“You always tell the best stories, Y/N.” Andy chuckles and finishes up his dinner.

You help clean up, even though Harry told you that you were a guest and didn’t need to. You fix Andy up with a bowl of ice cream before he plops down in front of the TV.

“Hey, bud, you still need to shower…” Harry says.

“Ugh, fine.” He shovels the rest of his ice cream in his mouth and puts the bowl in the sink.

You and Harry sit down on the couch together.

“Smooth.” You say.

“What?”

“Got me all alone now.”

“He genuinely needed to shower! Played basketball all afternoon, after all.” He puts his arm around you. “But I definitely mind being alone with you right now, even if it’s just a few minutes. We have a fifteen minute shower rule.”

“Smart.” You look up at him and smile.

“He’ll be at his mum’s this weekend.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Would you like to go out Friday night?”

“Um, well, Jan and I were hoping to go out for drinks, but you could come! Or I could come over after.”

“No, I don’t wanna ruin your girl’s night.”

“You wouldn’t! You’ve come so many times before, I’m sure she won’t mind. I can ask her tomorrow if she’s okay with it.”

“Alright, but only if she doesn’t mind.” He kisses your temple.

“I should get going before things get a little too kissy between us.” You sigh. “Might not be able to peel myself away.” You say, ghosting your lips over his and pulling away with a smirk.

“Tease.”

“Sorry, babe.” You pout at him and stand up. “Tell Andy I say goodnight.”

“I will.” He stands up and walks you to the door.

“Thanks for dinner, I had fun as usual.”

“Anytime.” He pecks your lips before you head out and he sighs.

“How come she always leaves?” Andy asks coming out with his hair brush and mouse, sitting on the floor so Harry can sit in the chair behind him to do his hair.

“What do you mean?” Harry asks, taking the brush and mouse from him, sitting down.

“How come she doesn’t just stay over?”

“Um…it’s a little complicated.” He says as he runs the mouse through Andy’s curls.

“Because of me?”

“Not necessarily…it’s a little soon for her to be staying here while you’re here, though. I’m sure she will eventually. Alright, all set.” Andy stands up and plops down on the couch.

“A little TV before bed?”

“I’d rather you go read, you know that. I want you to sleep well before your first day of school.”

“Fine…can we pick out an outfit then?”

“Yeah, let’s go raid your closet.”

The next couple of days goes by with you barely seeing Harry. He was in and out because Andy had half days and he needed to pick him up. It gave you a chance to go up to Janette’s office to see if she minded him joining on Friday night.

“Of course I don’t mind! I mean, I was hoping for you to spill some of the juicy details, but that can wait.” She shrugs.

“Jan, there’s nothing juicy to spill.” You chuckle.

“Have you boned?”

“Well…yeah…”

“So there’s plenty to spill.”

“It doesn’t happen that often. It’s been over a week, actually. He’s been busy with Andy.”

“Single dads, they’re hot until the kid gets in the way.”

“It’s alright, we have all weekend to hang out.”

“So why even bother having drinks with me? Just go to his place and get it on.”

“No! I wanna hang out with you, get back into our routine. I just didn’t wanna leave him out.”

“I like hanging out with the both of you, it was a lot of fun last year the few times he joined us. It’s really no problem.”

“Great, thanks for being so cool about it.”

“Oh, please.” She scoffs. “We’re not in high school, I don’t care if you bring your boyfriend with you.”

“He’s…I don’t think he’s my boyfriend yet.” You sit down in one of her chairs and she quickly closes her door.

“What do you mean?”

“We haven’t had a chat about it. We know we’re together, but we haven’t had a talk about what it all means. It’s only been a couple of months.”

“Just like a man, he wants you, but won’t fully commit.”

“To be fair…I’d probably take it slow too if I had a kid.”

“Don’t make excuses Y/N, you two do so many things together, Andy adores you, Harry needs to just tell you he wants you to be his girlfriend.”

“It doesn’t exactly bother me, like, I’m not itching for the label. I’ve liked just going with the flow. It’s not like we’re seeing other people.”

“But you could if you wanted to, and he should know that. He can’t just string you along, Y/N.”

“He’s not…he wants to be with me.”

“Then he should really want to be with you.”

Janette made some good points, that had you wracking your brain around things. It was pretty clear that neither of you were seeing anyone else, but you easily could if you really want to. You would never do that, of course. You never really liked the idea of juggling multiple people at the same time. It was easier to focus your attention on one person.

“Hey!” Harry smiles. “Feel like I haven’t seen you all day. I dropped Andy off at Brandon’s, so he’ll be there until I’m done for the day here.”

“Alright.” You give him a small smile.

“How’s syllabus week been treating you so far?”

“It’s been alright, I’ve been busy with my advisees getting them the correct classes.”

“Oh, right, you got a few of the sophomores this year. Still can’t quite get it together I’m afraid.” You hum your response and nod. “Well, I’m free for a bit if you-“

“Har, I’m kind of busy. I need to prep for my next class and then I need to hunker down on my thesis. I’ll just text you later or something.”

“Oh…um, alright.”

“Jan said you’re more than welcome to join on Friday night, by the way.”

“Okay, I’ll plan for that then.”

“Could you close my door on your way out?”

“Sure.” He does so and you sigh as he leaves.

You didn’t mean to be so cold, but now you were feeling sort of pissed. If he liked you as much as he said, what was the big deal about him calling you his girlfriend? You wanted to be able to refer to him as your boyfriend. He was more than a friend, you were dating, hell, everyone knows you’re dating, so what the fuck was the hold up?

Friday after work you go home to change. You had barely spoken to Harry, but to be fair, you were really busy. You had a check in with Lisa that put a lot of your work into perspective. She was such a huge help, and now you two have bi-weekly meetings set up to keep you on track, which you greatly appreciated.

You wanted to look so strikingly good that Harry would get whiplash when he saw you. So, you rummage through your closet and dresser to find something, anything! You end up going with a tight pair of dark blue skinny jeans. You pair it with a black, lace bodysuit and black booties. You certainly weren’t fucking around. After fluffing up your hair, and redoing your makeup, you grab your leather jacket, and head down to your uber.

“Damn, chica, you look good.” Janette says, giving you a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks, I feel good.” You smile and sit. “I’m exhausted, it was a long week.”

“I know, everyone thinks syllabus week is easy, but it’s not. Sometimes I’ve had to redo my entire class structure depending on the caliber in class.”

“It was the advisees for me. I could never not have my schedule together like some of these kids. I’d have too much anxiety.”

“Many of them just haven’t had the lightbulb go off yet, unfortunately, but they well. You could always ask Harry for some pointers, he’s exceptional with his advisees.”

“Of course he is.” You scoff. “He’s exceptional at everything.”

You both get through one drink before Harry shows up. He kisses your cheek and Janette’s, and then sits down next to you.

“Sorry, Andy really wanted Paige to stay for dinner because he didn’t want to have to go through how his first few days of school were twice.”

“No worries, H, glad you’re here now.” Janette says. The waiter comes over to take Harry’s drink order, and then he puts his arm around you.

“You look nice.” He smiles.

“Thanks.” You smile back.

“Feel like I haven’t seen anyone all week, it’s been madness.” Harry says just as his drink comes to the table, and he thanks the waiter. “At least our hiking retreat is coming up soon.”

“I can’t wait! Broke in a new pair of boots over the summer.” Janette says. “And you’re a pro now, right, Y/N?”

“You bet.” You sip your drink, and Harry notices the red lipstick mark left behind. You rarely wore lipstick, and if you did it was more of a nude color. Harry had a weakness for red lipstick, for whatever reason, and with you wearing it, well, he felt especially weak. You look up at him innocently. “What?”

“Nothing.” He swallows and takes a sip of his own drink.

“So, how was Andy’s first couple of days of school?” Janette asks.

“They were good.” Harry shrugs. “Normal first week stuff, learning everyone’s names, getting the schedules together, overview of what they’ll be learning, and I got the usual pink and yellow cards for emergency contact info. Guess it was good Paige was over so we could just fill them out in one sitting.”

During the night, Harry’s hand drifts down to your thigh, and it stays there, squeezing it once in a while. You knew he probably just wanted to take you home, but you were enjoying Janette’s company too much to wanna leave yet. You all were laughing and having a great time, that was until the waiter had slipped you his number under the napkin of your last drink order and winked at you.

“Wow, he’s got some balls on him.” You say as you look at the number.

“I’ll say, I’m sitting right here.” Harry says.

“Well…the three of us have come here plenty of times, he obviously didn’t think anything of you sitting together.” Janette points out.

“I should go set him straight, I’d feel terrible if he was expecting me to call.” You say and look over at him, he was standing behind the bar now. You start to get up, but Harry squeezes your thigh especially hard.

“You can’t be serious, just let it go.” He says.

“Harry, relax.” You slide out of the booth and go up to the bar.

“You don’t own her, you know?” Janette says, sipping her drink.

“I’m well aware, thanks.” He rolls his eyes.

“Perhaps if you were her boyfriend she’d feel less inclined to go let that boy down.”

“We haven’t been dating that long, Jan.”

“So? When you know you know, and I think you know you wanna be serious with her. Don’t let her slip away because you’re scared. I’ve seen it happen one too many times. Usually whatever woman you’re seeing gets fed up with being put second to Andy, but she hasn’t. She completely gets it, so stop being such a baby, and just…define the relationship.”

He huffs at that and they both look over at you and the waiter.

“Hi.” You say shyly. “Did you mean to slip me this?” You show him the napkin with his number on it.

“I did.” He smirks. “You come here a lot, you’re cute, figured I’d shoot my shot.”

“That’s very nice of you, but...” You slide the napkin back to him. “See that guy I’m sitting next to you?” You use your thumb to point behind you. “I’m dating him, and I really like him, so…I’m sorry. I just wanted you to know why I wouldn’t be calling.”

“Oh…well…alright then. Thought you two were just friends, my bad.”

“We were friends, but now we’re more.” You smile. “Hope you have a good night.”

“You too.” He smiles back and you turn around to come back to your booth.

“What?” You ask as they both look at you.

“What did you say to him?” Harry asks.

“Nothing, just…that basically I’m not single, so, no big deal.” You sip your drink and look at him. “That’s the truth isn’t it? I’m not single?”

“Definitely not.” He puts his arm around your shoulders and kisses your temple.

Once you’re all done with your drinks, you each say goodnight, and head to your ubers.

“Did you want to come back to mine?” He asks.

“I don’t have my stuff, come to mine?”

“You know, I have makeup remover wipes and face wash you can use.”

“Harry, I don’t really wanna have to put all of this back on in the morning when I go home.”

“I could give you something to wear, please? You’ve never slept at my place, I really want you to.”

“Spare toothbrush?”

“Yup.”

“Alright.” You sigh. “We can go to yours.”

He perks up, and orders the car to go to his place. You both sit in the back and he holds you close. When you get inside his house he gets you a glass of water. You felt like you were going to boil over, and the alcohol in your system makes you blurt your thoughts out.

“Harry, I know it seems childish, but are you my boyfriend, or what?” You say in one breath and he nearly chokes on his water. “We both really like each other and we’re having fun, and I’d…I’d like to be able to refer to you as such and not just the person I’m seeing.”

“Oh, babe, it’s not childish.” He cups one of your cheeks and rubs his thumb over your cheekbone. You lean into his touch.

“I just wanna know you’re all mine, Harry.”

“I am, I so am.” He wraps his arms around you and pulls you to his chest. “And you’re all mine?”

“Yes.” You say, muffled by his chest. “All yours.” You look up at him and he looks down at you. “Just say it, please?”

“I’m your boyfriend, Y/N.”

You smile at him and pucker your lips so he’ll kiss you. His hands move to cup your jaw, and he sucks on your bottom lip, causing your eyes to flutter closed. He backs you up to one of the kitchen counters, and hoists you up for you to sit on it. Your fingers tug at his hair, but he pulls them away to get your jacket off.

“Look at this.” He says, playing with one of the straps on the bodysuit. “You wore this sexy thing, and you put on such a nice lipstick.”

“Probably all messed up now.” You say giggling at his now red lips.

“Don’t care.” He kisses you again as his hands travel to your breasts. He kisses down your chest, and swirls his tongue around the lace material covering your nipple.

“You tease too much.”

“It’s what you get being such a tease all night to me, making me wait. Wanted to kill you when you got another drink.”

“Aw, I made you wait? That must really suck.” You say sarcastically.

“I didn’t make you wait that long.” You roll your eyes at that. “Are you telling me you would have fucked me on our first date?”

“Maybe not the first, but the night you came to my place to watch that movie I certainly would have been up for it.” You bite your bottom lip. “Sort of missed you since we last got frisky in my shower.”

“I know.” He sighs and presses his forehead to yours. “I’m sorry we can’t just run off whenever.”

“It’s okay, I understand.” You peck at his lips. “But…we’re alone now, so…”

“Right.” He gets his hands under your ass and you wrap your legs around his waist and kiss on his neck as he brings you to his room.

You pull him down with you, but he stops.

“Shoes, babe.” He chuckles, kicking his boots and socks off.

“Oh, right.” You laugh and do the same, then he comes back to hover over you.

“I like how eager you get, makes me feel good.” He mumbles as he undoes your jeans. You lifts your hips to help him tug them down yours legs. “This is really all you were wearing tonight?”

“Not much I can wear under a bodysuit.” You smirk.

“It’s so sexy.” He runs his hand down your body and your covered center. “What are these, snaps?”

“Yeah, it’s so I don’t have to take the whole thing off to go to the bathroom.” You blush.

“How functional.” He smirks and works to take his own shirt and pants off, leaving him in his boxers.

“There’s also a zipper on the back, see.” You roll over and arch your back to give him the perfect view of your ass, and give him a playful smile.

“I literally can’t decide if I want it to stay on or off.” His hands rub over your ass and squeeze. “Off, definitely off.” He reaches for the zipper and drags it down. “Need to see all of you.”

You roll back over and get it the rest of the way off. You cup his cheeks and pull him down on top of you to kiss. He grinds his hard dick against your center and you groan.

“Get these stupid things off.” You grunt and toe at his boxers. They come off and his cock slides between your wet folds. “Fuck, that feels good.”

He kisses down your body and you smile as he works his way to get his head between your legs. His fingers dig into your thighs and he has you put them over his shoulders. He licks a flat stripe up your center before lapping around your folds. Then he swirls his tongue around your clit as his middle finger enters you.

“Fuck, Harry.” You breathe.

He moans against you as he sucks on your clit, and gets a second finger inside you. He pumps them in and out slowly, another way of teasing. Each time he pulls them out you squeeze around him. The tip of his tongue flicks against your clit and you start panting. You clutch at the blankets around you and grit your teeth. He goes back to sucking on your clit, and that’s when you lose it. Your back arches off the bed, and your vision goes hazy.

“Oh my god.” You moan. You watch as he sucks his fingers into his mouth. “Please tell me you have condoms.”

“Course I do.” He smirks and reaches into his side table for them. “And I keep them in a nice, convenient place, unlike you.”

“I told you, I keep other things in my side tables.”

“Yeah?” He says as he gets the foil packet open. “Like what?”

“You’ll find out at some point.” You wink, and pull him down so he’s on his back.

“Got some toys or something?” He grunts as you sink down on him.

“Maybe.” You grin and move your hips in a circle on him. His hands move your ass to hold onto.

“Like what?” He groans when you start to raise and lower yourself on him.

“Maybe I would have shown you tonight if you weren’t so insistent on coming here.”

“Oh, so it’s like that, huh?”

“Yup.”

He grips your hips and thrusts up into you, causing you to make a surprised noise. You let him continue and you scratch down his chest as you bounce up and down on him. He pulls you down to him so he can keep one arm wrapped around you, and the other is snaked between the two of you so he can rub your clit. You bite down on his collar bone.

“Harry.” You whine.

“Gonna come?”

“Y-yeah.” You squeeze at one of his biceps as you gasp from the pleasure. “Christ.” You breathe.

He rolls you both over so he’s on top, and puts both of your legs over his shoulders, going in hard and fast. Your head rolls back into the pillows. He didn’t care that you were sensitive, and neither did you because his tip was hitting your g-spot perfectly from this angle.

“I’ve-I’ve never had sex like this before.” You blurt out.

“Like what?” He grunts as he continues to slam into you.

“Where it just always feel good. I feel…shit, I feel so taken care of.”

His eyes widen as he looks down at you.

“Oh, Y/N.”

He drops your legs and comes down to you, crashing his mouth to yours. He rocks in and out of you as you wrap your legs around his waist. You tug at his hair and mold your tongue to his. You were tightening around him. He knew you were close. He moves to kiss on your neck and nibble son your earlobe.

“Give me another one, babe, know you can do it.”

“H-Harry!” His voice in your ear was just too powerful. Your nails scratch down his back as you come to another release.

He gives you another few hard thrusts before he spills into the condom. He rests his head on your chest for a few moments before pulling out of you and discarding the condom. He pecks at your lips and helps you up, guiding you to his bathroom.

“Let’s see….” He rummages through the cabinets. He grabs a spare toothbrush, the makeup remover wipes, a wash cloth, and his facewash. “Here you go, take your time.” He kisses your cheek and leaves you to do your thing.

You use the toilet first, and then furrow your brows looking for something to tie your hair back. You find one of his scrunchies and use that. You wonder for a moment why he might have makeup remover wipes, but you don’t worry about it for the moment. You wash your face and brush your teeth, and put everything back. You shake your hair out, and come back to the bed.

“All set?” He asks. He had put on a new pair of boxers.

“Mhm.” You slide into the bed as he goes to use the bathroom next. When he’s done he comes right in to spoon you. “Why do you have makeup wipes?”

“Because I wear makeup sometimes if I have a nasty zit or something.” He says honestly.

“Oh.”

“Is that weird?”

“Not at all.” You turn slightly look up at him and smile. “I was just curious if they were…leftover from someone else, but that’s probably a silly thing to think.”

“Would be sort of scummy of me to leave something like that lying around for someone else to use.” He kisses your nose and you settle back down. “I’m really glad you’re spending the night here.”

“Me too, your bed is really comfy.” You sigh.

“Mm.” He hums as he nestles into you.

This was the first time in a long time you actually felt comfortable sleeping over at a guy’s place, and it felt really good.

Harry wakes up incredibly hard against you. He couldn’t help it. You slept naked, quite a bit, and he was pressed against you all night. You were still sound asleep, and he didn’t want to wake you, but he just couldn’t settle himself. He slowly detaches from you to lay on his back. You feel a shiver go through you from a lack of warmth. You reach behind you.

“Mm, Harry?” You mumble.

“M’right here.” He chuckles and reaches to squeeze your hip.

You roll onto your other side to rest your head on his chest. Your leg goes over his and your eyes snap open.

“Um, good morning.” You giggle.

“Don’t laugh, it hurts.” He groans, putting his forearm over his eyes.

“I didn’t think morning wood still happened like this the only you got.”

“Nope it does, and it’s just as annoying as when you’re a teenager.”

“Well…” You yawn. “Maybe I can help you out.”

“You’re still tired, it’s fine.”

“No, I wanna take care of you, let’s have sex.”

“I didn’t think you liked it in the morning.”

“Just because I don’t want you tonguing my puss first thing in the morning doesn’t I don’t like morning sex. I love morning sex, actually.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm.” You start kissing on his chest.

“Get on your stomach.”

You grin up at him and does as he says. He gets a condom situated on him, and gets behind you. He slides in slowly, gripping onto your hips.

“God, you feel so fucking good.” He says once he’s all the way in. “Is it okay I didn’t finger you first, it doesn’t hurt?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, go ahead and move, Harry.”

He was so considerate, and you appreciated it so much. You were on all fours in front of him while he made slow, deep thrusts into you. He’d pull almost all the way out and then slam back in. Harry hadn’t realized just how much he missed being in a relationship. Being able to wake up and fuck the person you cared a lot about was so utterly convenient, and yet so incredibly hard to find. He wasn’t sure who to thank for brining you to the White Mountains, but he felt like someone deserved a fruit basket.

With Harry, you felt just as grateful. A year ago, you were thankful for a blossoming friendship, now you were thankful that he was your boyfriend. The guy really knew how to make run down, no other guy had ever made you so wet before, you were almost embarrassed, but he didn’t seem to care. He was probably flattered, if anything.

You feel his hand slide up your back and grip the back of your neck. His other hand slides from your hip to your clit. God, he’s so attentive. He really cares about how good you feel and isn’t concerned with getting his.

“Harry.” You moan as your head falls to your chest.

“S-say it again.” He groans.

“Harry.” You moan louder. He was hitting so deep inside you, and rubbing your clit perfectly. “Harry!” You cry out when you feel your orgasm consume you. You squeeze impossibly tight around him and he moans out your name and spills into the condom.

He pulls out slowly to not hurt you, and then throws the condom into the trash. He comes back over to your quickly and smooches your cheeks rapidly, causing you to giggle. You pull him close to you and he giggles too.

“I could really get used to this.” He says.

“Me too.”

You spent most of that day in and out of Harry’s bed. You had sex again in the shower, or, well, he fingered you in the shower, and then he made you breakfast, an egg frittata, and while it was baking he bent you over the kitchen table. You made some joke about it being a family space, so he just smacked your ass and told you to be quiet, and that was that on that. You were going to take a break and watch a movie, but things escalated, and he just brought you back to his bedroom. After scarfing down a pizza for dinner, you thought it might be time to go home.

“I’ve been here all day.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, you can stay another night if you want.”

“That’s sweet of you, but…”

“And you look so cute in my clothes.” He pouts at you. It was true, you looked very cute in his joggers and long-sleeve shirt. “You really wanna go?”

“I just…I mean, what time is Andy coming back?”

“I pick him up on Sundays, so it’s not like they’d just walk in on us. I usually get him around six.”

“Oh…you….you really want me to stick around another night? You’re not sick of me yet?”

“Sick of you?” He chuckles. “Haven’t had enough of you.”

“Okay.” You smile. “I’m too tired to drive anyways.” You press your forehead to his chest.

“Aw, did I wear my baby out?” He asks as he wraps his arms around you.

“Mhm.” You nod and smile bigger. You were his baby.

“What do you say we go get cozy in bed, I’ll turn the TV on, and you can sit in front of me, and I’ll rub your shoulders?”

“You have a TV in there?”

“Yeah, I keep it in the armoire.”

“Oh! That sounds perfect then.”

Harry puts on The Office, and you both get under the blankets, and you sit in front of him between his legs and he massages your neck and shoulders. About ten minutes in, your eyelids starts to droop, and your body fully relaxes into Harry’s. He kisses your temple and holds you tight.

“It’s okay if you fall asleep.”

“No, I feel bad.” You mumble.

“Shh, babe, it’s alright.” He coos.

“Mm’okay.” You could feel yourself really slipping into sleep. “Love you, g’night.” You mumble, and fully pass out in his arms.

His entire body stiffens and he looks down at you. His heart starts beating rapidly. Did you just say you loved him?! He just agreed to be your boyfriend, and now you’re in love with him?! TOO MUCH TOO SOON! He almost wants to wake you to ask, but clearly you said it by accident, in a haze. Would you even remember saying it? He sinks down in the bed, careful to not move you too much. He wasn’t sure how he felt about all this. How could you already love him? You still barely knew him. What was there to love?

Harry wakes up with bloodshot eyes on Sunday morning as he’s wrapped around you, his dick much less hard than it was the morning before. You slept peacefully all night, blissfully unaware of what you said, and his inner turmoil. You adjust into him and he holds you tighter, almost out of fear. You roll over to face him and you peck at his lips.

“Morning.” You say, nuzzling into his chest.

“Morning.” He rubs your back.

“I slept so good, I’m glad I stayed again.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I don’t even remember falling asleep. Your hands in every way are magic.” You chuckle into him.

“Yeah? You liked the little massage?”

“Mhm, loved it.” You smile up at him and give him a squeeze before getting out of bed.

You definitely forgot saying what you said. There wasn’t even any recollection on your face. You said it yourself, you didn’t remember falling asleep.

“Hey, do you mind if I wear this home?” You say, coming out of the bathroom, putting the clothes back on that he loaned you yesterday. “Jeans and a bodysuit don’t sound like fun.”

“No, yeah, that’s fine.”

“Thanks.” You smile and crawl back on the bed, straddling him. “You’re too good to me.” You sigh, moving to lay your chest on his, hugging him.

“What can I say…I just…like you a lot.”

“I like you a lot too.” You kiss his cheek. “I’m gonna go home now. I have to go grocery shopping and get ready for the week.”

“Alright.” He puckers his lips and you kiss him again before getting off him.

“Andy won’t have any half days this week?”

“Nope, those are all done.” He says, getting out of bed to walk you to the door.

“Okay.”

“Why?”

“No reason.” You say coyly. “Just…if both are free at the same time, we could…sneak away for a bit.” You bite your bottom lip and look up at him. “Just a thought.”

“I like the way you think.” He kisses you again, and lets you leave. “God, I’m so fucked.” He says to himself and flops onto the couch, grabbing one of the pillows to clutch to his chest. He felt like he was going to collapse in on himself.

“You had a dream you said what to him?!” Janette screamed through your phone on Sunday night.

At some point during the day between doing the laundry and doing some meal prep, you had this weird feeling come over you, and you needed to talk about it with someone.

“It felt so real, I can’t exactly remember what was going on in the dream, but I told him I loved him…”

“Do you?!”

“I don’t know! We just really made things official! God, we did have a really nice weekend together too. No work, just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. It’s so weird, I don’t even remember falling asleep. We were cuddling while watching TV, and then I think I just passed out.”

“Why?”

“I was exhausted…we…really enjoyed each other’s company on Saturday.”

“Damn.”

“At least it was just a dream. I’d be mortified if I had said it out loud. I wouldn’t want to scare him off.”

“So, you’re not in love with him?”

“I really don’t know, Jan. I’m falling really hard for him, I feel like I could be in love, but I really don’t know. I think it’s too soon to tell.”

Harry thought about you all day. While doing his own laundry, doing his own grocery shopping, and other chores. Andy could tell right away that something was off.

“Are you alright? You were quiet when you got to the house.” Andy asks from the backseat.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just a little distracted is all, sorry.”

“Did you get to hang out with Y/N this weekend?”

“Yeah, for most of the weekend, actually. It was nice. She’s, um, officially my girlfriend.”

“Took you long enough! That’s great, Dad.” Andy smiles and leans forward to nudge Harry’s shoulder.

“I’m glad you like her so much.”

“She’s been nice to me since day one, she’s cool. She’s easy to talk to, too.”

“Yeah, she is. Feel like I could chat with her for hours and never get bored.”

“I like when she comes over for dinner, she always tells a funny story. I told Mum and Noah about her snake bite story.”

“What a roller coaster that was, huh?”

“Yeah! Can we go hiking this weekend? Brandon was wondering if we could go again soon, and maybe Y/N could come too…”

“Sure, um, I’ll see how the weather’s looking next Sunday.”

“Awesome! So, guess what?”

“What?”

“Brandon and Molly broke up!”

“You’re kidding?! When did that happen?” Harry wasn’t all that shocked. Middle school relationships never lasted, but he was playing it up for Andy’s sake.

“Over the weekend. He said she was getting too clingy or whatever. He called to tell me right away. I made sure to ask if he was okay, and he said he was fine. He said he didn’t feel sad about it, is that weird?”

“Not really…maybe he didn’t like her as much as he thought, you know? It might have been exciting at camp because it feels good when someone tells you they like you, but maybe he realized he wasn’t that into her.”

“That’s basically what he said, that he just wasn’t that into her. He said even kissing wasn’t that exciting anymore.”

“There you go then.”

“Does it make me a bad person that I’m happy he’s not seeing her anymore?”

“No…but just keep in mind, if you two stay good friends for a long time, you’ll have to get used to you each dating people.”

“I guess.” Andy shrugs. “It feels like I’ll never like a girl enough to wanna date one.”

“You’ve got time to figure all that out…you…may not want to date girls in general, and that’s fine too.”

“I’m not gay, Dad.” Andy scoffs.

“I’m not saying you are, not that it would be a bad thing, I’m just saying you may find as you get older that…ugh…how do I explain this…like, for me? I just like people. I’m attracted to who I’m attracted to, and I don’t read into it more than that.”

“Ew, are you going to tell me that you’ve been with guys?”

“Well…I never have been, but I don’t think it would be gross if I did. I’m attracted to women, but I wouldn’t say I have a type. Y/N looks a lot different than Mum does, you know?”

“Yeah.” Andy ponders for a moment. “How…ow do you know you’re attracted to women?”

“Just do.” Harry shrugs. “I’m sure they’ll start talking to you about all this in health class this year, but when you really start to go through puberty, and your voice starts to crack, and stuff like that, you just sort of start figuring out what you like and don’t like. I’m not sure how else to explain it, but just know you’ve got a ton of time to figure it all out. There are people my age still figuring it out, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself, and no matter what, know that Mum and I love you.”

“You’re so cheesy.” Andy rolls his eyes. “But…thanks.”

The second week of classes was less stressful than the first, as far as classes went. You were stressed about your doctoral work. You wished you had done more over the summer, but you had a certain distraction to thank for not doing as much as you should have. This weekend you needed to stay in and hunker down. And you didn’t even need to feel bad about it because you knew Harry would be busy with Andy.

“Hey.” Harry taps on your door Wednesday afternoon before he heads out. He had been sort of distant this week, but you weren’t reading into it. You knew he was still working on a manuscript.

“What’s up?” You say without looking up from your computer.

“Going for a hike Sunday with the boys…would you like to join?”

“Um….” You stop typing and look at him. “I know I should say yes to get outside while it’s still nice out, but I was hoping to get some work done this weekend, so I think I’ll pass, sorry.”

“That’s fine, I get.” He clears his throat. “So…I won’t see you at all this weekend, is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m afraid so, I’m sorry.”

This whole ‘love you’ thing kept ringing in Harry’s ears. He was trying so hard to read you, but you weren’t letting on about any hidden feelings, and it wasn’t like you had said it again. Maybe you had just been so utterly exhausted that you saying ‘love you, g’night’ just felt natural, like you would have said it to anyone. That thought didn’t make him feel better either.

“Um…it’s Wednesday.” He says.

“Yes.” You chuckle.

“Sorry, I just meant, on Wednesdays I pick Andy up from school and shoot him over to his Mum’s for dinner, and then she brings him back around eight, right before bed.”

“Okay…”

“Would you like to have dinner tonight? I could come to your place if that’s more convenient, I could pick up take out.”

“I’ll take you up on the take out, but I’ll come to your place, that way you’ll be home in case he’s back early.”

“Alright.” He perks up. “Anything in particular you’d like?”

“Thai?”

“I’m on it, I’ll see you later.”

You giggle to yourself as he leaves. He was so sweet. You need to make sure you go out of your office at a reasonable time so you’d have a good chunk of time with him.

You did well, you got to Harry’s around six, and he had a sushi platter waiting for the two of you on his kitchen table.

“How much do I owe you?” You ask, sitting down.

“Don’t be silly.” He scoffs.

“Come on, let me give you some money for this.”

“It was pocket change, relax.”

You smile at him and pop a piece of sushi into your mouth.

“Mm, this is so good.”

“I’ve literally never had a bad meal at that Thai place, I feel lucky to have it here.”

“Same here, it’s a hidden treasure.” You take a sip of water and put your hand over his. “Sorry again that I can’t be there for the hike Sunday.”

“I completely understand, really, don’t worry about it.”

He wanted to just bring it up, he wanted to tell you what you said, but he knew bringing it up would open up an entire can of worms. He felt strongly about you, he cared about you, and was definitely falling for you, but he wasn’t entirely sure if he was in love with you yet.

“I love the pots that Andy painted for me, he’s really got a gift.”

“Yeah, he’s really talented.” Harry smiles.

“I…I know you haven’t let a ton of people into this little world of yours, but I’m…happy I’m becoming a part of it. We didn’t have a lot family dinners growing up, so I love how much you’ve been including me in yours.”

Alright, so not only did you adore his son as much as his son adored you, but you were expressing your feelings about becoming part of his world. Fuck, maybe he was in love you.

“You…you make me feel really special, Harry. I’ve never…really felt like this in a relationship before.” You were blushing. You weren’t sure why, over sushi, you felt like telling him all of this, but reassuring someone in a relationship was important.

“You’re so special to me, Y/N, you have no idea. I…I haven’t been this happy in a long time.” He chews his inner cheek and then takes a deep breath. “You…you said something right before you fell asleep the other night.”

“I did? What did I say?”

“You…said something sort of serious to me, and it doesn’t seem like you remember, so I haven’t wanted to bring it up, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

You try to think of what you might have said, and then it hits you and your eyes widen. What you said wasn’t just a dream, you had really told Harry you loved him. It was in a daze, but maybe you actually meant it.

“I think I remember now…I…shit, I thought I just dreamt that because I’ve had other dreams about you, you know?”

“So…it was an accident?”

“I don’t know.” You groan. “I was so sleepy, and you were making me feel so cozy and cared for, and…I guess it just slipped out.” You look away from him for a moment, and then back to meet his gaze. “Did it freak you out?”

“Um…a little at first, but that’s only because-“

“it’s too soon, right? It’s only been a couple of months.”

“That doesn’t matter to me. Sometimes you just know, it’s more…of an internal thing. I…to me, like, I don’t know, what’s there to love about me?”

“Harry…” You get up from your seat and have him skootch out so you can sit in his lap. You take him in for a hug, and press your head into the crook of your neck. He holds you just as close and then you lift your head to look at him. “Baby, it would take me forever to go through a list of things to love about you.” His eyes were intense as they looked into yours. It’s as if he thought you were lying.

“What are you saying, you…”

“I do.” You nod. “I…I’ve fallen in love with you.”

You had only been in love once before, and that love wasn’t even real, it was with your high school sweetheart. You had never been with someone you liked as much as you liked Harry, and it felt scary to feel so strongly about someone, but you felt it.

“Y/N.” He tucks some hair behind your ear, and that’s how you know it’s all okay. His fingers slide to the back of your neck so he can kiss you. It’s tender, and you feel a wetness on your cheeks. When you pull away you see a few tears sliding down his cheeks.

“Don’t cry, Harry.” You say just above a whisper, wiping the tears away with your thumbs.

“I can’ help it, I’m…scared.”

“About what?” You feel his hands grip at your back harder, like he was holding onto you for dear life.

“That…you’ll leave me.”

Your eyebrows raise. Paige had walked out on him, that much you were able to piece together from everything he’s told you. That mixed with the fact he hasn’t really gotten serious with anyone in a while. He clearly trusted you more than others, but you understood his fear.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not…I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“Maybe not, but I’m not the type to just quit on something. I know I walked away when we had that argument last month, but I feel like we’ve been doing well with checking in about our feelings since then. Don’t you agree?” He nods yes. “I want this with you, and everything that comes with it. If I didn’t then I would have never kissed you that night.”

“Well, technically I kissed you.” He jokes through his few tears, and it makes you laugh. “I want this with you too…I…”

“I only want you to say it back if you really mean it. It’s okay if you’re not there with me yet.” You run a hand through his hair to soothe him.

“I’ve fallen in love with you too.”

You smile at him and lean back in to kiss him. It’s soft at first, but he pulls you as close as possible, making it become needy. You both still tasted like dinner, but neither of you cared. He bites harshly on your bottom lip and you moan into him, tugging at his hair. He reaches around you to move the plates to the other side of the table and then lifts you on top of it, pressing your back flat to it, and keep your legs around his waist. He bites down on your neck while his fingers work to undo your pants.

“Is this okay?” he breathes against your neck.

“Yes, fuck, please, Harry.” You were panting with anticipation.

“Dad, I’m home!”

“Jesus!” Harry yelps and jumps back from you, rushing over to the door, checking himself first to make sure the strain in his pants wasn’t too noticeable. You quickly work to get off the table and button your pants back up. “What, uh, what, oh, hi, Paige.” He rambles as Paige comes into the house with Andy.

“Sorry we’re early, Harry, smart guy here left all of his homework here, so…” She blushes when she sees you, frazzled and flushed. “Hi, Y/N.”

“Hi, Paige, Andy.” You clear your throat. “We were just finishing dinner, um, I can get going.” You snatch your bag, and walk towards the door.

“You don’t have to go, Y/N.” Andy says.

“Um.” You heart was racing. You look at Harry.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” He says and puts a hand on your back to lead you out, leaving Andy and Paige confused. “I’m so sorry.” He scream-whispers.

“It’s okay.” You say, and clear your throat. “Um…maybe call me later when he goes to bed?”

“Yeah, definitely.” He kisses you quickly and then goes back into the house. “Where’s Andy?” Harry asks Paige.

“He went to his room to get started on his homework. I hope she didn’t leave because of me…”

“No! It wasn’t that…you both just sort of walked in on us.” Harry blushes and rubs the back of his neck.

“Oh!” She looks over the kitchen table. “In such a public spot?” She laughs. “How old are you?”

“It just sort of…escalated. We had a rather serious talk about our feelings, and…I got excited.”

“I know how that goes.” She chuckles and shakes her head. “So, what are these feelings?”

“We’re…in love.” He mumbles.

“Oh, Harry.” Paige nearly squeals. “That’s so exciting!”

“Shh!” He swats his hands at her. “Do you want nose-bag in there to hear?” He whispers.

“Right, sorry.” She giggles. “Maybe she and I should get lunch sometime since things are getting so serious between the two of you.”

“Paige.” Harry groans.

“Come on, you did the same with Noah. I like her, but I don’t really know her. Just run it by her.”

“Alright.”

She looks him up and down.

“You were really going to fuck her on your kitchen table?”

“None of your business, now is it?” He smirks and she rolls her eyes.

“Have a good night.” She says before leaving and he wishes her the same.

Harry cleans up the kitchen and then goes down to Andy’s room, clearing his throat.

“I swear if you had told me she’d be here, I-“

“Wouldn’t have purposefully left your homework here so Mum would have to bring you back early?”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Little bit. I thought you were feeling a little better about being over there, why would you do that?”

“Because after dinner it’s always wedding talk and I could honestly care less. I just want her to tell me what I’m wearing, and what I need to do, and that’s it. It’s so boring to talk about.”

“That’s fair.” Harry chuckles. “Do you need help with anything?”

“Yeah, actually, this geometry is already tripping me up…”

“Alright.” He cracks his knuckles. “Let’s take a crack at it together.”

Around 9PM, after Harry makes sure Andy’s in bed, and mostly asleep, he tip toes to his own room, and gets ready for bed. Once he’s comfortable, he sits up a bit and calls you. You answer on the second ring.

“Hey.” You say chuckling.

“A bit awkward earlier, yeah? Sure you still want all this?” He chuckles himself.

“Oh stop, that was a complete accident. Course I still want all of it.”

“Good.”

“I feel bad we didn’t get to finish…”

“I’d zip over there in a heartbeat if I could.”

“I know.” You sigh.

“Are you still…riled up?”

“No, I took care of it in the shower.” You say bluntly. “Why, are you?”

“Well, excuse me.” He scoffs. “Not all of us have the luxury of living alone, so no, I was helping a certain sixth grader with his geometry homework.”

“You can still do geometry?”

“I can.”

“Hot.”

“How is that hot?”

“I don’t know, I just find it sexy I guess.”

“Yeah? Using a protractor is sexy to you?”

“God yeah, did you find an irregular angle?” You were giggling now and so was he.

“Mhm, it was obtuse.”

“Fuck.” You moan, over doing it to be playful, and it makes him burst out laughing, clapping a hand over his mouth to wake Andy.

“You’re so fucking funny.”

“Think you bring it out in me, I’m usually not so hilarious.”

“I really can’t see you this weekend?” he nearly whines.

“Please don’t make me feel bad for needing to work. If you promise not to interrupt me all day Saturday, I could potentially take a break for you.”

“Deal.”

The weather ended up not being so great by the time the weekend came around. It was supposed to rain all day Saturday, which would make for muddy trails Sunday, and Harry wasn’t going to deal with that, so he tells Andy he’ll take him and Brandon another time. Instead, Saturday turned into a day for Harry to work on his manuscript, only, he had writer’s block. Not to mention Andy’s video games were distracting.

“Andy, can you turn that down, please!” He yells from up in the loft. A moment passes, and he can barely hear it. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t think of much. It was perfect writing conditions.

“Hey, Dad?” Andy says as he creeps up the stairs.

“What’s up?”

“Brandon just texted, he wanted to know if I could sleepover tonight since we’re not hiking tomorrow…”

Harry’s eyes light up. Not that he didn’t want Andy around, but now he could go over to your place without feeling guilty.

“Of course! Yeah, what time does he want you over?”

“He said around 3:30…his mum said she could take us to a movie and stuff for dinner.”

“What a nice way to spend a rainy evening. Here, let me give you some money for the theater.” He takes his wallet out of his pocket and gives Andy thirty dollars.

“Thanks! I’m gonna go get my things together. Will you be able to drop me off there in a bit?”

“You bet.” Harry smiles as Andy races back down the stairs. He knew you didn’t want to be bothered, but he couldn’t help but share the news with you.

Harry: Andy’s been invited to sleep over at Brandon’s tonight

Harry: 😈

At 3:15, Harry zips Andy over to Brandon’s. He still hadn’t heard from you, but he knew you probably put your phone on do not disturb. He gives Andy a hug goodbye, and tells him to call if he needs anything, and off he goes back home. He’s able to get some work done to his manuscript, but not much, he was still too distracted from the prospect of seeing you, and getting his head between your-

You: that’s awfully convenient, sure you didn’t ask B’s parents to take Andy?

It was 6:45, and you finally texted him back.

Harry: I swear, it’s all just a coincidence. Maybe I was manifesting lol

You: come by around 8? I’m almost done with this amazing article I’ve found and I’m just taking notes from what I’ve highlighted

Harry: sounds good, babe. Can I bring anything? Have you eaten today?

You: I’ve eaten plenty, Daddy, thank you

He smirks at the thought of you most likely rolling your eyes at his caring nature.

You: if you happen to have any chocolate though…

Harry: think I can make that happen

You: amazing, see you soon!

Harry felt…giddy! He was so excited to see you, even though he had lunch with you yesterday at school. But this was different. He knew he was most likely going to get laid tonight, and he needed it terribly. He had some pent up energy from Wednesday night, and it was killing him. His own hand just didn’t do you justice. So, he saves what he was working on, and goes downstairs to go take a shower. Once he’s all clean and dried off, he puts on the cologne he knows you really like, and puts on a pair of jeans and a polo. He grabs his keys, and out he goes to the nearest bakery to grab something chocolatey.

“Two whoopee pies please.” Harry says brightly to the woman behind the counter, and she boxes them up for him. Then he’s off to your place.

You unlock your door when you hear the buzzer. You…did not look cute. Well, he probably thought you would look cute, but you didn’t feel cute. Your hair was up in a messy bun, and you were in an oversized t-shirt that had stains on it and a pair of panties and socks. You had wanted to get yourself together, but you lost track of time.

“Babe?” Harry says as he comes in to your place.

“I’m just cleaning my things up, meet you on the couch!” You yell from your office.

He sits down with the box of whoopee pies and waits patiently for you. You run walk quickly down the hall and nearly slide into the couch.

“Hi, sorry, I’m gross, and…oh my god what did you bring?!” You nearly lunge for the box on the coffee table, but he snatches it.

“Now, you told me you ate, which is why you’re getting dessert. Did you lie?” He raises an eyebrow at you.

“It wasn’t a lie! I had some French toast sticks for breakfast, and then I had a smoothie for lunch, one of those green ones that you showed me how to make.” You pout and sit down next to him. “Please, what did you bring?”

“Whoopee pies.” He grins and opens the box.

Your eyes grow wide and you grab one of them stuffing your face and moaning. He eats his a little less aggressively, but he can’t deny that it does taste really good.

“Mm, this is so good, thank you.” You say with a full mouth.

“You’re welcome.” He says, mouth equally as full, and you both laugh. “Come here.” He says after swallowing.”

“Let me go shower really quick, I wanna be fresh for you.”

“You’re killing me, Y/N.” He groans.

“Five minutes, then I’m all yours.” You stand up. “We have all night, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay then.” You wink and go into your room to shower. “Come into the bedroom and wait for me!” You yell before going into the bathroom.

He kicks his shoes off and gets comfortable on your bed. Your things were sort of all over the place, but he didn’t mind.

“Okay!” You say, coming in wrapped in a towel. “So much better. I literally was wearing the same shit all day, it wouldn’t have been fun, Har.”

“I’ll take your word for it, can I have you now?”

You nod and drop your towel. He reaches his arms out and makes grabby motions with his hand. You come over to him, and he lays you on your back, getting on top of you. His lips are on yours and his hand is trailing down your body.

“Needed this, needed you.” He says into your ear as he plants kisses on your neck, his fingers running up and down your slit.

Two of his fingers dip inside you, and at first he pumps in and out slowly. You look up at him as he looks down at you. Your mouth falling open, and moans escaping you every time something feels really good. You reach for his glasses and toss them to the other side of the bed, and run a hand through his hair. He pumps in and out of you faster, and has you panting, and then he slows it down again. You rock your hips with the motion of his fingers.

“H-Harry.” You moan as you look at him. “Take your clothes off.”

“I will, baby, I will.” He could feel you getting closer. “It’s like you said, we have all night.” He grins.

You gasp when you come to your release. His fingers rubbing against your g-spot slowly help you ride it out longer than usual. He pulls his fingers from you and gets further down the bed, opening your legs for him. He licks a few stripes up your center before diving in. Your fingers tangle in his hair as he fucks you with his tongue. His hands grip the backs of your thighs as he groans into you. This is what he wanted all day long, to just get lost between your legs.

“Taste so fucking good.” He mumbles against you and the vibrations rip right through you.

“Feels so good, don’t stop.” You bite your bottom lip as you look down at him. He looks up at you at the same moment and it all becomes too much. “I’m, oh god!” You throw your head back into the pillows as you feel him lap up your second release. “Please, fuck me now.”

“But I wanna keep doing this.” He nips at your inner thigh. “Just a little longer.”

“If I say yes, can we try something afterwards?”

“Like what?”

“Wanna show you what I have in my side table.”

“Let’s just do that now.”

“Nope.” You shake your head and smirk. “You wanna stay there, you go right ahead.”

He bites a little harder on you, but goes along with it. After making you come for two more times, he comes up for air and licks his lips. He looked like a happy puppy or something, it was sweet.

“Okay.” You breathe. “Get naked.” You place his glasses on the night table so they don’t get broken. “Get in the middle of the bed.”

“Why?”

“Because it’ll make it easier.”

“Make what easier.”

“You sure are asking a lot of questions.” You say as you rummage through your night table. “Ah-ha!” You toss a pair of handcuffs on the bed. “See, they’re plush so they won’t hurt your wrists.”

“You…you want to use these on me?”

“I certainly don’t like being restrained.” You scoff. “I have some scarves for your ankles too, but if we can just do your wrists if you feel comfortable with that.”

“I didn’t think you were into this sort of thing.”

“I mean…I don’t wanna whip you or anything like that…I just thought this could be fun, but if you’re not into it we don’t have to.”

“No! I’ll, uh, give it a try. Just the wrists though…”

You smile and grab the handcuffs as you knee onto the bed, inching closer to him. You put them on his wrists and lock them up.

“I thought you’d clip me to the headboard?”

“No, I feel like we should just try it like this first. I think you’d break my bed, you’re so strong.” You grab a condom and rip it open, and slide it onto his hard dick.

“So, is this like a I can’t touch you kind of thing, or…what are the rules?”

“You can touch me all you want, you’re just going to have a little trouble since your wrists are together. You won’t be able to reach around and grab me like you do.”

“So I can’t move you then?”

“Nope, gotta let me do it.” You grin. “Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah.” He nods, and lays on his back.

“Great.” You lean down to kiss him, and then swing a leg over him, but you’re reverse.

“You’re gonna do this like this and not let me touch you?”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t touch me.” You line him up with your center and look over your shoulder at him.

“But I won’t be able to rub your clit or-“

“No, I guess I’ll have to do it. It’s called giving up a little control, Har.”

“Alright, I can do that.”

“Okay.”

You face forward and sink all the way down on him. You both moan out. He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands. He could still reach forward to grab at your ass and hips if he really wanted to, but he knew with the cuffs on he wouldn’t be able to grab at you the way he really wanted, so he just decides to let them rest above his head on the pillows.

You switch from making circles with your hips to raising and lowering on him. His dick felt so good in you like this, and it thrilled you knowing he had just had to let you be in charge. You had a long day focusing your energy on your work, and now you got to focus your energy on him. You had very little control over the requirements for your dissertation. It had to be a certain amount of pages, you had to have a certain amount of resources, and you had little control over who would be on your committee. But this, this you had control over. You could make your boyfriend, who you loved very much, feel amazing. And Harry, poor Harry had to make big decisions all day every day to basically keep his kid alive, like all parents do. You thought maybe breaking out the handcuffs could be a nice way for him to not have to make any decisions.

“Doing okay?” You ask, looking over your shoulder at him.

“Y-yeah.” He looks up at you. “Feels good.”

You smile and bounce up and down on him faster. You had him moaning and groaning every time you’d purposefully tighten around him. You rub your clit as you grind on him.

“Miss your face.” You hear him say. You pout from how cute he is and decide to throw him a bone.

You get off to turn around, and then you sink back down on him.

“Better?”

“Much.” He grins.

In a swift motion, he lifts his arms and gets them around your back, yanking you to his chest. You let out a surprised squeal. His hands cups your ass and he moves you on him.

“Sorry, that just wasn’t working for me.” He grunts. You bury your face in the crook of his neck. “You good?”

“Mhm.” He was able to thrust into you this way anyways, so it did feel better feeling him deeper. “Do you want me to take them off?”

“No, this is actually kinda hot. Sort of a happy medium, yeah?”

“Yeah.” You kiss him as he continues to move you faster on him. “Fuck.”

“Getting close?”

“Shit, yeah.” You were starting to breathe faster. “Harry.” You moan. “Oh my god.”

He feels you pulse and vibrate around him as you release around him, and he slows himself down, giving you deep thrusts.

“Okay, now I want them off.”

You nod and get rid of the handcuffs. He pins you down on your back and smirks at you.

“What else do you have in those drawers, hm?”

“Nothing special.” You blush. “Lube, a couple of vibrators, normal things women would keep in their bedside tables.”

“Can I use one on you?”

“A vibrator?”

“Yeah.”

“But…I already have you inside me, so…don’t really need it.”

“Alright.” He pulls out. “Now you don’t. Let me use one on you for a bit, and then I’ll really give it to you.”

Your face lights up and you nod. He opens the top drawer and his eyes widen.

“Which one do you like best, baby?”

“The purple one.”

He grabs the purple, silicone dildo out of your drawer and closes it. He looks it over, almost confused of how it works.

“You put it in, and then turn it on.”

“Yeah, I get that, but what does this thing do?”

“That’s for my clit, it does everything at once.”

“Oh!” He laughs. “Duh.” He shakes his head. “Should I put some lube on it, or do you wanna-“

“Lube, I’m not deep throating my dildo.” You laugh.

He laughs too and grabs the lube out of the drawer. This was nice, just exploring, taking your time. He gets the lube on the dildo, and slowly inserts it into you. It wasn’t as big as Harry, so you were annoyed that he wanted to tease you like this.

“How often do you use this?”

“Not often, only when I’m really going through a dry spell. It gets the-oh!” He had turned it on its first level.

“How high do you usually turn it up?”

“Five.”

“But it goes up to ten.”

“I know, that’s too much.”

“Can I move it while it’s inside you?”

“Yes.” You grunt as he turns it up higher. “Would rather just feel you again, though.”

“You got to play with me, now I’m playing with you.”

“But you barely even let me do what I really wanted.”

“I know, it’ll take me some time to get used to all that.”

“Next time I’m just gonna tie you to each bed post.” He squints at you and just turns the vibrator up to seven as he moves it in and out of you. “Harry.” You grit your teeth.

“I want to make it so you think about me when you use these things alone.”

The attachment on your clit was going extremely fast, and you knew you had to be soaked from the way he was moving it around inside you.

“I would anyways, you don’t have to worry about that.” Your breath hitches when he turns it all the way up to ten.

“It’s for my own peace of mind, really. Remember, I get jealous easily.”

“Over an obje-oh my god!” Your head thrashes back against your pillows.

“An object that makes you feel like this? Yeah.”

“H-Harry, I can’t-“

“How come you never turn it up this high, doesn’t it feel good?”

“It-it does, but…” You have to swallow to keep yourself from drooling. You can’t even finish your sentence. It’s all too much. You scream as you come around the object.

Harry turns it off and slowly takes it out of you, and places it on top of the side table so could clean it later.

“Now then-“ He was cut off by your hand on his throat. He looks down at you, surprised.

“Not nice.” You breathe.

“You came didn’t you?” He smirks.

“Wanted you.” You furrow your brows at him.

“Can have me now.” He reaches forward to smooth some of your hair away from your face and you release your grip on his neck. “How do you want it?”

“Slow.”

“Alright, baby.”

He slides back inside you, finally, and he gives it to you just the way you want it. Nice and slow. You were too sensitive for him to ram in and out of you, and he knew it. It wasn’t a problem though because it was like…oh…now it was like you were making love. You wrap your legs around his waist, and his arms around his back. He places gentle kisses on your neck.

“I love you.” You whisper.

“I love you too.” He moves to look at you and then he kisses you. His tongue licks into your mouth, and you meet it with yours.

“Come for me, Harry.” You whimper, and you swear you see his eyes darken.

“Fuck, oh my god.” His motions become sloppy and then he’s coming into the condom. You weren’t expecting him to lose it so easily, but all in all you were happy. “Jesus, that was sexy.” He chuckles and pecks your lips before pulling out.

Once you both get cleaned up, you get cozy in your bed together. You both lay facing each other, legs tangled up, soft giggles between the two of you.

“I’m really surprised by you.” He says.

“I told you when we first did it. I’m open to most things. And handcuffs aren’t the weirdest things to keep around.”

“Not at all, and for the record, I didn’t think any of it was weird. I’ve used handcuffs before…just on someone else.”

“Yeah, I don’t like being restrained, like, I’ll never put those on.”

“But you like when other people are?”

“I…I don’t know, I just thought it would be nice for you to not have to make any decision for a little bit. I see you, Harry. You’re a mellow guy, but I see the little crinkles of worry on your face. Sometimes it’s nice to let someone else take over.” You cup his cheek and rub your thumb back and forth. “But if you weren’t into it, that’s totally fine.”

“So…in a way you were trying to take care of me?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s kinda…sweet.” He smiles and squishes his nose to yours. He hooks his arm around your waist and pulls you into his chest.

“I don’t like doing it like that all the time, either, I just thought it might be fun since we had a little more time.”

“I definitely had a good time, no worries about that.” He kisses your forehead. “I really like having sex with you.”

“Gee, thanks.” You chuckle.

“I just mean…I feel like we…fit well together.”

“I agree.” You nuzzle into his chest.

“I like what we have.”

“Me too.” You kiss on his chest. “I’m really happy. I know it must be annoying when I have to work all day, and I appreciate you giving me the space to do so.”

“I remember how it was for me. It’s not easy what you’re doing. I wouldn’t try to do something that would make it more difficult.”

“The whoopee pies you brought earlier were so good too, and it was exactly what I want. It was like you read my mind.” You look up at him. “Always giving me exactly what I need.”

“I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you too.” You kiss him and turn over so her can really wrap himself around you.

Most people may not be able to sleep comfortably with a guy’s heavy leg over their hip, and an arm wrapped over their chest, but you sleep so much better when Harry’s there to be your burrito.

The next morning you wake up and decide to make breakfast in bed for Harry. You slide away from him carefully, and put the shirt he was wearing last night on, and do your thing in the bathroom. You crack some eggs into a pan, and whip up some hash browns. You get your coffee pot going as well, and get everything on a tray. You come back into your room and smile at him.

“There you are.” He yawns and sits up. “What’s all this?”

“Made us brekkie.” You get back into bed and balance the tray over his lap.

“Thank you, babe.” He kisses your cheek and takes a sip of the coffee.

“What time do you need to pick up Andy?”

“Like eleven.” He shrugs. “So I’ve got some time.”

“Good.” You take a bite of the hash browns and he digs into one of the eggs.

Harry takes a shower with you after breakfast, and lounges with you for a bit on the couch. You show him part of your outline for your thesis, and he gives you some pretty helpful tips.

“I better get going, I’ll text you later.”

“Alright, I’m really glad you came over last night.”

“Me too, love you.” He pecks your lips.

“Love you too.”

Harry was on cloud nine. It had been so long since he felt like this with someone, and he felt so lucky to be with you. He pulls up to Brandon’s house, and Andy comes out right away. He gets into the back with his things, and doesn’t say a word.

“Hey, buddy, did you have a good time?” Harry asks as he pulls onto the street.

“Yeah.” He mutters.

“What did you guys do, did you enjoy your movie?”

“Yup, movie was good, we played video games, stayed up late, you know how it goes.”

Harry helps Andy bring his things into the house when they get home, and he goes right to his room.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just tired.”

“Okay, take a nap if you want. I’m gonna prep some of your lunches for the week. Turkey and cheese rollups sound good?”

“Yeah, Dad, thanks.”

Andy closes his door and leaves Harry in the hallway. He was a little worries, but he decides to give Andy his space. He makes Andy’s lunches, and some things for himself for the week, and goes up to his office to get some work done. His writers block was definitely gone now.

“Dad?” Andy says, coming up the stairs.

“Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course!” He turns around and gestures to have Andy sit down on the loveseat he keeps up in the loft. “What’s up?”

“I think I sleep like you do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like…you know how you have that body pillow to hold onto?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I need one for myself.”

“Okay, we can go to WalMart to get you one, that’s no problem.” He studies Andy for a moment. “How did you realize you sleep like me?”

“Well…whenever Brandon and I have sleepovers at his house we just share his bed because his is full sized and not a twin like mine…and…god, it was so embarrassing, I woke up holding onto him…and I moved away before he noticed, but he didn’t seem bothered either, like, wouldn’t he have woken up when I grabbed onto him? It’s really confusing, and then…my…” He hides his face in his hands. “I got up and went to the bathroom right away, let’s just say that.”

“Oh…oh!” Harry was trying to think back to when he was Andy’s age. Was eleven when these things started happening to him. “Did you have to, um…”

“No, it went away, but it was really embarrassing! Why does that happen?”

“Um…well…scientific answer?” Andy nods. “Your bladder fills up at night, right? And it ends up…well, it pushes against this thing you have called a prostate, and, uh…your prostate likes it when things push against it, so…it makes other parts of you…happy while you’re sleeping.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Plus, if you were pressed up against Brandon, you may have been-“

“And there’s no way to control it?”

“Not really…”

“I’ll just bring my sleeping bag next time. I was so embarrassed! I’m lucky he didn’t notice, or maybe he did and didn’t say anything?”

“You know, it’s not just happening to you. It happens to all boys around your age. You start going through a lot of changes in middle school. Seems like you’re just starting to…”

“But I don’t wanna go through changes! It’s awkward.” He whines. “What if it happens during class?!”

“Then you put a book or a binder over your lap, and you think about something really gross.”

“What?”

“Yeah, just think of, like, moldy food, or something sad like a dog dying.”

“Dad!” Andy groans. “That doesn’t help while I’m sleeping.”

“Like you said, maybe just start bringing your sleeping bag.”

“He acted completely normal this morning, so maybe he didn’t notice. Like, he was joking around and we played basketball before you came to get me.”

“Should be fine then.”

“And this happens to all guys?”

“Yes.”

“Even you?”

“Even me.” He can tell Andy’s trying to wrap his head around everything. “When does health start up for you?”

“Not until second term, why?”

“I’m gonna get you a book…that has all the information you could need on this…subject, and then if you have questions you can ask me, but if it’s too embarrassing you can consult the book. Just promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“Don’t Google anything. There’s…a lot of weird and wrong information out there.”

“Okay.” He stands up. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He watches as Andy goes down the stairs and sighs to himself.

This was the part of Andy’s life that Harry was dreading, this awkward pre-teen phase. Soon his hormones are gonna start to go crazy, and they may not be pals like they are now. They’ll get into arguments that won’t end in hugs and apologies. At least Andy was still willing to talk to Harry about these things. Harry immediately goes to Amazon, and orders a few books on puberty for Andy. This was going to be a rough ride.

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