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once-upon-an-imagine · 2 months

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Scars To Your Beautiful - James Potter

A/N: I have no idea how I was able to finish this xD thank you @captainlunaxmen for all your help! I hope yo loves like this :)

Request - @nix-rose asked: What about a James Potter x Black!Reader (if reader can have some personality: extrovert, loyal, gryffindor but could probably be a slytherin, just a happy person, definitely rough and tumble but still enjoys looking cute-) “Have you… Always been this beautiful?” “…That’s so cheesy even for your standards.”

Warnings: reader is really insecure, mentions of abusive parents, James protecting you from a creep (nothing to explicit though) also, this isn't proofread :D

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter :) gif isn’t mine :D

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Scars To Your Beautiful

But there's a hope that's waiting for you in the dark You should know you're beautiful just the way you are And you don't have to change a thing, The world could change its heart No scars to your beautiful, we're stars and we're beautiful

The ‘other Black’. That's how you were known in Hogwarts.

You knew your family wasn’t perfect. As much as they all like to make it seem that way, it was very much far from it. Being part of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black brought a lot of pressure with it, but you were used to it by now. And, deep down, you loved your family. At least your brothers and your cousins. Well, two of your cousins, you were always pretty terrified of Bellatrix after she enchanted all of hers and her sisters’ ancient creepy dolls to come alive and it still terrified you to your very core today. But you loved Andromeda and Narcissa, even if the latter was now spending all of her time with Lucius Malfoy and you saw less and less of her.

Even if you’d never admit it, you were always a bit envious of them. Not in a bad way, you just… wondered a little how it would feel to be like them. You remembered guys literally fighting to get your cousins’ attention. And not a day went by without you having to hear at least ten different people saying how gorgeous your brothers were.

And then, there was you. You had a respectable reputation since you were part of the Black family. But it sometimes felt like you weren’t worthy enough to be part of it. You’ve sometimes noticed some guys staring at you a bit too long. And you’ve gone out with a few guys before. But you’ve also had people come to you specifically to get closer to one of your relatives. And nobody had referred to you as beautiful. Well, no one, except…

“Hey, beautiful” you heard that very familiar voice standing next to you.

“Potter” you smirked.

“Going to the match today?”

“The Slytherin-Gryffindor match?” you smiled. “Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for the world” you told him.

“Good, cause I need my good luck charm” he said as the two of you walked to the Great Hall.

“Exactly, how does that work, Potter? Because I’m not really rooting for your team” you reminded him and he scoffed, pretending to be offended.

“But of course you are, your brother plays on my team-”

“My other brother plays for my team” you interrupted.

“Well, maybe not the team but… I’m sure you like the Gryffindor captain more than Slytherin’s” he smiled sweetly at you.

“Well, you got me there, Potter” you admitted.

“Promise you’ll come to the party when we win?” he asked as you entered the Great Hall and you knew you would separate.

“That’s a lot of talk, Potter” you smirked but he offered his pinky to you. You rolled your eyes but you took it. “Never speak of this” you told him.

“See you there, beautiful” he said before he saw you walk to your table.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Here” you said, sitting down next to your brother at Potions and handing him a small bag.

“What’s this?” he asked, grabbing the bag.

“That girl from Ravenclaw wanted me to give you this. I think she wants to ask you to Hogsmeade next weekend” you said, grabbing one of the chocolates inside. “Bite this, if it doesn’t have a love potion, I’m stealing them” you said.

“I’m not trying anything!” he complained. “Remember when we had to take care of Sirius after that girl from Hufflepuff basically drugged him?”

“I know, that’s why I wanted you to try them first” you chuckled.

“Hold on” he said, grabbing his wand and pointing it at the candy. “We’re good” he said when a small purple dust came out of it. You grabbed one of the chocolates and Regulus grabbed another one, reading the note inside. “So, how was your talk with Potter this morning?”

“I didn't talk to Potter this morning” you frowned, stealing some of his chocolates.

“Don’t do that. I’m not Sirius” Regulus glared at you. “I’m not oblivious of how you two just casually entered the Great Hall together” he said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Reggie” you said, pretending to be confused.

“Or whenever he goes to Honeydukes he just happens to buy one too many Peppermint Toads so he gives you some, which just so happens to be your favorite” he said.

“He doesn’t… do that” you said, with your mouth half full of chocolate.

“Are you… playing dumb? Or have you actually not noticed this?”

“Notice what? James is just friendly. That’s how he is” you tried to explain.

“Really? He’s never gotten me Sugar Quills” Regulus said.

“He doesn’t like Sugar Quills, why would he buy those?”

“He doesn’t like Peppermint Toads either” he smirked.

“Y-yes he does!” you argued, nervously.

“No, he likes Chocolate Frogs, like the rest of us normal people” he said, as you glared at him. “And besides, it’s not just that. He’s always asking Sirius and me what your favorite books are, or asking Remus which songs you liked” he shrugged.

“He… he does?”

“Does he really strike you as the guy who would read Pride and Prejudice for the fun of it?”

“He might” you tried to convince yourself as you grabbed another chocolate.

“Look, I know what you’re doing, and I know why you’re doing it. And it’s not worth it, bug” he said, getting serious.

“It’s easy for you to say, Reg” you mumbled, picking another chocolate. “Look, it’s just… not that easy for me” you added.

“You’ve gone out with guys before” he frowned, confused.

“Not like James” you added. “What if… what if he’s really just being friendly? What if I think he’s interested in me and then I make a complete fool of myself? Just because he’s nice to me and I think there might be something else there? I feel…” you sighed, looking down at your hands. “It feels pathetic” you mumbled.

“First of all, there’s nothing wrong with you liking James. Having feelings doesn’t make you pathetic” he said in a serious tone. “Secondly, did you not listen to what I just said? I honestly don’t think that James is just nice to you randomly like he’s nice to everyone else. He’s always looking for excuses to be around you, and he seems happier when he is. As do you. And, to be honest, I thought you were as oblivious about this as Sirius is, but now that I know that you were just trying to live in denial well, you’re dumber than Sirius- OUCH!”

“Excuse me?!” you asked, offended.

“Only when it comes to this” he defended himself. “Look, I know that… for some reason, you’ve convinced yourself that you’re never going to find someone who fancies you-”

“For some reason? There is a very clear reason, Regulus, her name is Walburga!”

“I know” he rolled his eyes. He knew very well about the hierarchy of the three of you in your home. And even if you were still not as below as Sirius because you were in Slytherin, your mother never let you forget that you were not Regulus or any of your cousins for that matter. “And I know that is not easy for you to turn off her voice in your head but, if you don’t, you might miss your chance to be with someone who is actually a great fit for you and it looks like he really likes you” he explained. “Don’t do that. If you let her win, you’re admitting that she’s right. And we all know, she’s not” he reminded you. “What’s the worst that could happen if you give Potter a chance?”

“It’s very annoying when you’re right all the time, did you know that?”

“I do” he smiled triumphally, eating one last piece of chocolate as Professor Slughorn finally entered the class.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Ugh, what is it?” you heard your cousin’s annoyed voice on the other side of the door that you knocked on before it opened, and she appeared. “Oh, hey, love” she smiled when she saw it was you.

“Hi, Cissa, um… is this a bad time?” you asked, hoping you were not just interrupting her having sex with Malfoy.

“Oh, no, love. Lucius is just moping about losing the match” she laughed, stepping out. “What’s up?”

“Um, w-well, I wanted to ask for a favor… if you’re not too busy” you smiled.

“Please, anything to get away from Lucius” she said, linking her arm with yours and already walking over to your dorm. “So, what’s going on?” she said, stepping into your dorm and noticing all the clothes scattered around your bed and the floor.

“Well, I was hoping to get your opinion on something” you said, smiling sweetly.

“Let me guess” she said, sitting on your bed and grabbing a few skirts and dresses. “You’re going to the Gryffindor party to see James Potter” she said, erasing the smile off your face.

“Wha-? How did you know? Did Regulus tell you?”

“Oh, please, love, I’m sure you and Sirius are the only ones who didn’t know” she laughed.

“What?”

“Yeah, Bella and Andy also know” she informed you.

“What? How?”

“I told them” she shrugged.

“Ugh, great” you said, throwing yourself on your bed. “My entire family is discussing my pathetic crush” you lamented.

“It could be worse” she said. “At least he’s a pureblood” she smiled.

“Right” you said awkardly, sitting up. Of course that would be the only pro she’d find on James.

“Besides, he obviously likes you back” she said as she started looking through the dresses. “Stand up” she said, pulling you up and putting the dress in front of you.

“How are you so sure that he likes me back?”

“Oh, please, love. You can’t be that dense” she snorted. “The boy won’t leave you alone. And I’m pretty sure you’re the only one not from Gryffindor to get invited to their parties” she said. “Or at least the only Slytherin” she said.

“W-well, maybe Sirius invited me-”

“Then why isn’t Regulus going?”

“Okay, fair” you sighed.

“This looks pretty. How come you haven’t worn it before?” she asked, holding up a black dress.

“Oh, I got it a while ago in a very cute shop, but, I know it’s not something my mother would ever let me wear” you told her.

“Well, lucky for us, your mum isn’t here” she said, throwing the dress at you.

After you put it on, Narcissa happily sat back down on your bed and helped you with your makeup.

“Hey, Cissa?”

“Try not to move, I’m doing your eyes” she said.

“How do you um… get a guy to uh… notice you?” you asked, making your cousin’s look soften a little.

“James Potter already notices you, love” she smiled.

“W-well, yeah, I guess b-but, um… how do I let him know that I like him?” you asked. “You know, without actually telling him” you chuckled.

“You mean, how do you flirt with him?”

“It’s just… Regulus insists that he does these things to get my attention and… to be honest, I didn’t think it was any different from the way he acts with other girls so… I guess I have been acting normal, but… I’d like him to know that I’m interested, I guess…”

“Well, Potter seems to have a big ego, so congratulate him on how well he played today” she said as she kept doing her makeup and you glared at her a little.

“And Lucius is as humble as they come, I suppose” you muttered.

“Fair point” she said, before she continued. “Look, you already know he’s interested in you. Just smile at him, laugh at his stupid jokes, you should be fine” she insisted as she finished. “Okay, I’m done” she smiled. You got up and walked over looking at yourself in the mirror.

For the first time, in a very long time, you actually felt beautiful. Narcissa had managed to make you look as elegant and flawless as you did whenever your family had a dinner party, but you didn’t feel like you were wearing a costume in one of the dresses your mother always picked. You felt like yourself. You turned around and hugged your cousin tightly.

“Thank you so much, Cissa!” you smiled.

“You’re welcome, love. Now go flirt with your dumb boy” she said, ushering you outside your dorm.

“You too” you said, smiling and walking down the stairs as she rolled her eyes.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

When you entered the Gryffindor Tower, the party was already in full mode. You felt a few people, guys specifically, looking your way but you thought maybe it was because you were possibly the only Slytherin here. You walked across the Common Room, looking for James, but you found a different Marauder first.

“Hi, Remus” you smiled as he walked over to you.

“Oh, thank Merlin you’re here” he hugged you. “You’re the only person I like at this party and now Prongs can finally stop moping about you not being here” he said, making you laugh a little as he pulled away and looked at you. “Wow… you look-?”

“Bad?” you panicked.

“What? No! You look lovely” he smiled. “Prongs’ probably gonna have a heart attack though” he smirked.

“Shut up! Stop saying things like that!” you widened your eyes at him.

“Oh, please don’t tell me that you are as oblivious as your brother” he chuckled.

“I am not-! You know, I hit Regulus for saying that today!”

“Alright, don’t hit me” he said, putting his hands up in surrender. “But, you cannot tell me that you haven’t noticed the way Prongs acts around you. He was literally throwing a fit about you not coming today” he insisted.

“Really? Because he seems fine to me” you said, pointing behind Remus where you saw James talking to a group of very pretty girls as he offered a drink to one of them while another one threw her hair back, clearly flirting with him.

“That means nothing” Remus said, rolling his eyes when he looked back to you. “That’s how James is-”

“Exactly, that’s how James is” you repeated.

“No, it’s different with you” Remus insisted as he grabbed a drink and handed it to you.

“Really? Enlighten me” you glared at him.

“So, you are admitting you are as oblivious as Sirius then?”

“You know, you’re making a big deal out of that for someone who is just as oblivious on my brother’s crush on him-”

“What?!” Remus said, choking on his drink and pulling you aside. “Alright, now you’re just making stuff up” he said.

“I’m not! You really haven’t noticed how Sirius is obnoxiously loud whenever you’re around to get your attention?”

“He… does not” Remus said, blushing a little.

“Or that he calls you sweet names” you smirked.

“He calls everyone ‘love’” he interrupted.

“Yes, he does” you nodded. “But he only calls you ‘my’ love” you added.

“He… does not” he repeated.

“What are you doing here?” Sirius asked, walking over to the two of you all of the sudden.

“Nothing” Remus quickly said.

“Being normal, why?” you said at the same time, making Sirius raise an eyebrow at the two of you. “Um… h-have you seen James?”

“No, but I am seeing too much of something” he said, gesturing his hand at your body. “What the bloody hell are you wearing?”

“A dress?” you said, looking down at yourself.

“That is too revealing. You need to go change!”

“First of all, it is not. And secondly, your shirt is literally completely open!” you complained.

“Yeah, well, this isn’t anything they haven’t seen before” he defended himself. “I am not in the mood to fight some prick that stares at you for a little too long because of… that” he said. “Go upstairs and grab my jacket” he told you.

“What? No!” you complained.

“Yes” he insisted. “Would you reason with her, my love?” he asked, looking at Sirius and you smirked when he blushed furiously.

“Shut up” he whispered to you. “Look, just go upstairs and pretend to look for a jacket, I’ll distract him and you can come back in a few minutes” he said while Sirius finished his drink.

“Ugh, fine” you rolled your eyes.

“How come she only listens to you?” Sirius complained, pouting at Remus. “It must be your beautiful eyes” he smiled.

“How many of those have you had?” Remus asked, taking his glass away from him.

You made it upstairs to the boys’ dorm and went over to Sirius' trunk to look for one of his jackets. You found one that you kind of liked and put it on before you went back downstairs. You looked for James but saw he was still talking to the group of girls. You tried to look for your brother instead but saw him very busy with Remus and you didn’t want to interrupt so you went to grab something to drink.

“I didn’t know they let Slytherins into our parties” you heard Augustus McLaggen on your left, pouring himself a drink as well.

“Oh” you said nervously. You were rarely alone at these things. You would at least have Regulus by your side and he would make someone go away if you were uncomfortable. “W-well, James invited me and- I was with my brother-”

“Relax, darling, I’m joking” he smirked, walking closer to you.

“Oh” you smiled wearily.

“It’s actually a bit… refreshing to have someone from another house” he said.

“Um… thanks?”

“There’s something different about you” he said, eyeing you up and down. “I can’t quite put my finger on it” he said, making you pull your jacket a little closer.

“Hey! You finally came, love” you thankfully heard James’ voice coming towards you and wrapping his arm around your waist. “I thought you were standing me up” he said, kissing your head.

“J-James, hi” you smiled relieved.

“Sorry, mate, gotta steal her for a bit” he said, smirking at McLaggen who was glaring at him and he quickly pulled you aside.

“Thank you” you told him as the two of you walked away.

“Don’t mention it, love. McLaggen’s a prick, why were you talking to him?”

“I wasn’t talking to him! He was talking to me” you insisted as James raised his eyebrow. “I was just getting a drink! And I was gonna go look for you-”

“Are you wearing my jacket?” he asked, confused.

“Y-your… what?” you said, looking down at your jacket. “This is y-your jacket?” you asked confused.

“Yeah” he smiled.

“Oh, I’m sorry, it was in Sirius’ trunk” you said, confused. “I thought-”

“Yeah, beautiful. I’m gonna save you some time, probably none of our clothes is in the correct trunk” he laughed. “Except Remus’” he added.

“I’m sorry” you said, starting to take it off.

“N-no! Don’t worry about it, gorgeous. Are you cold? Is that why you wanted my jacket? ‘Cause it looks good on you- I mean, you look beautiful tonight” he said smiling at you. “W-well, you always do” he added.

“R-really?” you smiled, feeling your cheeks blush.

“Yeah” he nodded. “You don’t need the jacket if you ask me-”

“Oh, um, w-well…” you stuttered. “Sirius just… didn’t like my dress and said I needed a jacket” you rolled your eyes.

“Well, Padfoot just needs to snog Moony and mind his business” he laughed, making you laugh as well. “You look beautiful with that dress” he smiled dreamily at you.

“Thank you, James” you said, feeling your heart flutter. “Wait, you know about that?”

“How Sirius calls Moony ‘my’ love? Of course I do” he chuckled. “So, what took you so long to come? Were you crying all this time because your house lost?”

“Really? Did you want me to come just to brag about the match, Potter? I can still leave” you smirked as he handed you a drink.

“Please don’t. I was so bored before you came” he said, walking you over to one of the sofas near a window.

“I find that very hard to believe” you said, looking around.

“Why do you always think I’m lying?” James asked, placing his hand on the sofa, behind you.

“Because I’ve known you since I’m eleven?” you replied, making him glare at you a little.

“That hurts, love” he said, trying to sound offended. “When have I ever lied to you?”

“Well, for starters, you didn’t tell me that you, my brother, and Peter became Animagi to help Remus-”

“That was your brother. He didn’t let us tell you” he defended himself.

“Alright” you said, trying to suppress your smile. “So, you’ve never lied to me?”

“Never, love” he insisted.

“Not even to avoid hurting my feelings?” you raised your eyebrow at him and noticed him tense a little.

“N-no, of course not” he said, taking a sip of his drink.

“So, last Christmas when you invited us over and your mum was teaching me how to cook, you actually liked the Christmas Pudding I made?”

“Of course I did” he chuckled.

“James” you glared at him.

“Yes, love?” he smiled, goofily at you.

“I mistakenly added salt instead of sugar, it was ruined” you laughed.

“No, no. It wasn’t ruined. It gave it a new better taste” he shrugged.

“James!” you laughed.

“What? It’s true! I liked it” he insisted.

“Nobody else ate it! You can’t possibly think it was good” you laughed.

“Well, I did” he shrugged, turning your way.

“You’re really stubborn, did you know that?”

“Oh, and you’re not?” he laughed making you smile. “Have you… always been this beautiful?”

“That’s so cheesy, Potter, even for your standards” you chuckled, feeling your cheeks burning.

“Wait… do you-? Do you not believe me?” he asked, his tone getting serious.

“I- um… I do” you said, unconvincingly.

“You don’t” he said, turning himself to you. “It is one thing that you don’t believe that I liked your Christmas Pudding-”

“You didn't” you insisted.

“But how can you not believe me about that?”

“I do!” you insisted. “It’s just… I’m sorry, I’m being stupid” you smiled sadly, looking at your drink.

“No, you’re not” James insisted, placing his hand under your chin to make you look at him. “What’s going on, love? Did- did I say something wrong?”

“No!” you quickly said. “You never say anything wrong” you smiled sadly. “It’s just… I’m not really used to um… hearing that” you said, feeling your cheeks blush.

“Love, I tell you that every single day! Why is it so hard for you to believe me?”

“Because, James, look at my entire family” you said, sadly. “You know who I live with. My mother is not warm and loving like your mum is. I grew up very differently than you” you reminded him, making his look turn soft and his heart break a little. “I know you wouldn’t lie to me” you added. “It’s just… not easy for me to believe it, I guess” you smiled sadly.

“Well, love” he said, moving closer to you and placing his hand softly on your cheek. “If you’re okay with it, I will keep saying it until you believe me” he told you. “Because you are the most beautiful person that I have seen in my life. And, since apparently I haven’t been as obvious as I thought I was, I am completely and madly in love with you and I would love to take you out on a date” he said, making your heart stop.

“R-really?” you asked and he raised his eyebrows at you. “I m-mean, y-yes, I would love to go on a date with you” you smiled. “And… in case you didn’t know because I’m horrible at this… I am very much in love with you too” you added, making the biggest smile appear on James’ face. “And I also think you’re really beautiful” you said before he pulled you in to kiss you on the lips.

“I love you, beautiful” he said, making you smile.

“I love you too, Jamie” you said. “Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Anything” he said.

“Do you like Peppermint Toads?” you asked suddenly, remembering your conversation with Regulus.

“Do I uh-” he frowned. “Why are you asking me that?” he chuckled nervously.

“You always give me Peppermint Toads when you say you bought too many but… I don’t think I’ve seen you have one” you explained.

“Well, love… I hate to break it to you, but nobody likes Peppermint Toads” he admitted.

“That’s not true!”

“Yes, it is” he said, kissing your cheek. “I just bought them because you always smiled when I gave them to you” he said. “So, I’ll buy you as many as you want” he said, hugging you to him and giving you another peck on the lips.

"Thanks, love" you smiled. "Can you now tell me if you actually liked my Christmas Pudding?"

"I did!"

The End

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A/N: I hope you loves liked it! :)

#marauders #marauders imagine #james potter #james potter imagine #james potter x reader #sirius black x sister!reader #regulus black x sister!reader #james potter oneshot

502 notes · View notes

1d1195 · 1 month

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Ding - Round 3

Read Ding here | ~6.5k words

Warnings: scummy man appearance, angst involving the frustration/grief/sadness of the last part regarding her shitty experience with said scummy man, fluff

Summary: Harry wants to know what happened to Cupcake. She really isn't sure she wants to tell him. Until she has to.

From me: NEW DIVIDER BY @babegoals THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR CREATIVITY AND SUPPORT AND JUST EXISTING 💕

Harry was mad.

Fuming. He had thought about nothing else but seeing her for the last two months and now that he had seen her, he was pissed to see her at his self-defense class. He asked her the same question about ten times throughout the instruction. He was furious and irritated that everyone else needed his help (even though it was literally what he was being paid for) when all he wanted was to talk to her.

He was all for helping women feel empowered. But he was mad she needed it. He knew she was feisty. The fact that she was there said a lot in its own right. The way she bantered with him until three in the morning texting him the other night made him smile more than he could describe. It was flirty and sweet. But always had him guessing if she would suddenly stop messaging for one reason or another.

Someone like her needed someone—maybe even someone like Harry—to make sure nothing bad ever happened to her. And he knew. He knew why women went to self-defense classes. He had been teaching these classes since before he owned his own gym.

He knew.

"Why are y’here, Cupcake?" He asked gruffly. The other women nearby were all but forgotten. One was mid-sentence, asking to clarify something Louis had said. Harry was practically rude to just ignore her question in favor of his own.

“Umm... for self-defense,” she muttered trying to focus on Louis’ answer.

Harry didn’t want her banter right now. (As cute as it was to him, despite his irritation.) “Right. But usually everyone has a story that... convinces themselves t’sign up. So what’s your story?” He repeated.

He watched the way her cheeks warmed at his assessment, and she folded her arms protectively in front of her. Guarding herself. “That’s kind of personal, Harry.”

Once Harry’s anger took hold, it was hard to backtrack. “Listen,” he shook his head. The annoyance that clouded his eyes and covered his face was so obvious, she felt the slightest bit bad about interrupting his lesson with her own issues. “M’not good at this kind of thing, Cupcake. Being subtle. I punch people for a minimal living and work the rest of m’time here, teaching people how t’punch.”

Part of her wanted to break down and tell him. Because as much as she was willing to do this on her own, she was so scared. That nervousness made her feel even weaker, and she wanted to tell Harry, she realized. She wanted someone to know and to help her because this wasn’t something she wanted to deal with on her own—it was too much.

But she couldn’t do it right in the middle of a self-defense lesson, surrounded by strangers. “I’m here to learn how to punch,” her voice was even and final.

His nostrils flared and he stalked back to the front of the room, a trail of anger coming off him as he did. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with her.

The remainder of the lesson went by without incident on Harry’s part. He watched her the entire time. The way she flinched when they practiced moves made him nauseous. But he couldn’t help but notice how good her stances were. Almost natural. “Hey, love,” Louis smiled at her kindly as he geared up to practice more tactile moves. “You liked his match so much you wanted to try on your own?” He asked.

She smiled, but it didn’t fully reach her eyes. “Something like that.”

“It’s good skills to have,” he assured her gently, because even though Harry’s infatuation annoyed him at the time, he knew Harry liked her. A lot. Knew just as well as Harry did why women signed up for a self-defense class. “You have a very natural stance,” he noted. “We should get you in the ring,” he winked at her.

She laughed lightly. “I don’t even know how to make a fist,” she snorted.

Louis chuckled giving her a gentle shoulder squeeze and moved onto the next person.

Harry moved in front of her next and he looked at her footing. Aligned near perfectly and practiced as if she had been doing it her whole life. He was still steaming with anger. It rolled off him and demanded to be felt—and she felt every bit of it. “S’like you’ve done this before,” he muttered.

“I haven’t,” she answered. “I’m just good at following directions. Like a recipe, you know?”

He was staring at her feet and trailed up to her hand where he carefully took hold of her delicate fingers. Instantly, it felt like her whole arm was made of jelly. Her heart took off about the speed of an airplane and she was lucky she could hear anything over the sound of it. Harry touching her skin made her feel faint. Carefully, he bent her fingers and tucked her thumb below the flat of her knuckles. It felt so intimate it seemed wrong to be doing this in a class put on for the public. Holding her wrist, he brought her fist to his cheek and tapped it against his skin a few times. “Like that,” he murmured.

She wanted to be cute and smile. Say something like, I’ll keep that in mind for strangers in dark parking lots when I ding their car. But instead, she was overcome with gratitude for the knowledge and a bit of awe. She was speechless without meaning to be. He released her wrist, and she wanted nothing more than to grab his hand again and never let go. “Thank you,” she whispered. He nodded sullenly.

Harry felt defeated—something he didn’t enjoy at all. Rarely did he feel it, but he wished he felt defeated after a match more so than he did right then. All he could do was walk away from her and finish the lesson without chatting with her again.

In hindsight, confronting her in the middle of a self-defense lesson wasn’t his wisest choice. The following morning, he had a renewed spirit and was once more determined to chat with her and figure out what made her join a self-defense class.

What he hadn’t anticipated was how stubborn she could be. He should have known but he was willing to dig his heels in as long as she was. Harry went to the bakery morning, noon, and night—literally—trying to figure out her schedule. “Again?” The girl behind the counter asked suspiciously when they returned at four in the afternoon on the third day of waiting. She had been there all day and hadn’t said anything up until their third arrival.

Niall shook his head and sighed. “Sorry, darling. He’s being super creepy, yeah?” Niall elbowed him with irritation. They sat at a table as they had the last few days. They didn’t stay long, only fifteen minutes to half an hour. (And they only stayed half an hour once because Niall had to get one of the cronuts that he had been pining for since he saw them.)

Harry was looking at their text message thread. The last message was from him. Are you working now? C’mon, Cupcake, you’re killing me here :(

It went unanswered since yesterday afternoon.

“He’s trying to talk to Miss Cupcake,” Niall rolled his eyes. He missed the back and forth between the girl behind the counter. “But I think he’s being a bit ridiculous.”

“Oh, were you her bad date?” She frowned.

Harry was still looking at his phone, checking his schedules, and making sure he didn��t miss anything in his email or messages from his mum or sister. But the moment the girl behind the counter spoke, his head snapped up to meet her gaze.

“What bad date?” He asked, his voice low, menacing.

The girl behind the counter blanched. Feeling bad she revealed something she obviously wasn’t supposed to and quite honestly, if he was her bad date, that was a horrible thing to announce. It was a reflex. “I don’t know, actually,” she tried to backtrack. “I don’t know why I said that out loud.”

“We won’t tell, darling,” Niall assured her. “Do you know when Miss Cupcake works, it would save Harry—and you—a lot of trouble.”

“OH!” She shook her head and went around to the front of the counter. Her eyes widened. “You’re Harry. Context clues, I didn’t recognize you without gloves,” she smiled excitedly. “Thank goodness, I almost closed this place down.”

Harry turned to the girl again feeling a warmth pass over him at the idea that she talked about him to her friend. “Oh brother, so she does like Harry?” Niall grumbled.

“I’m Maeve,” she announced.

“Maeve,” Harry stood up and held his hand out to her. “Nice to meet you.”

“You have a very cute niece.”

Now Harry really couldn’t help but smile because that little girl was practically his own pride and joy. And she was very cute. Plus, it meant she really was talking about Harry to her friend and that had to mean something. “Thank you, she’s perfect,” he agreed. But then he refocused on why he was haunting the bakery. “Does she not work during the day?”

“She pops in,” Maeve shrugged and fiddled with the cupcake display. He noted there was a raspberry filled one on the top tier. He recognized that cake and frosting pair anywhere. “But she’s been mostly coming in after close,” she admitted. “She’s been a little...stingy with details about everything. She gets like this sometimes. Compartmentalizes things so she can deal with it when she needs to,” Maeve bit her lip. “She’s visiting her dad right now.”

Harry realized there was very little he really knew about her. Most of their chatting had surrounded the bakery, boxing, and Harry’s niece. There was a little bit of information about their education and some books and hobbies they liked. But there wasn’t a huge depth of knowledge of her family.

“Oh,” Harry felt defeated again. “Uh... I guess we’ll go then,” he mumbled. “Try later.”

Maeve sighed. “She really likes you, Harry. Really,” she promised with a sad smile. “She’s just...a little stubborn and careful with her heart.”

Harry nodded. “Got it,” he could handle that.

She parked as close as she could to the bakery in the parking lot. Thinking about all the steps and stances that Louis and Harry had told her during her class. She took a deep breath and opened her car door. As she went to the back of her car to grab supplies from her trunk, she noticed a plethora of other cars parked in the lot—most people were probably at the restaurant near the waterfront. But there was no way she could miss the car she had accidentally dinged with her door just a few spaces down and across the row from her.

Once more, her gaze met the intense green gaze in the driver’s seat. She sighed knowing there was no escaping this talk anymore. Harry put a bookmark in the novel he was reading while waiting and set it on the passenger seat beside him. He locked his car and hurried to her side, taking the heavy bags of flour and sugar she bought to tide her over until the delivery came to the bakery in the morning. He didn’t speak to her as they walked to the storefront. She was overwhelmingly aware, once more, how safe she felt with Harry beside her in the nearly deserted parking lot. She unlocked the front and held the door open for Harry to enter. “Were you waiting long?” She asked.

He shrugged, putting the supplies on his now regular table while she fiddled with the display case and cupcake display once more. The raspberry one was missing from the top and she went behind the counter to get another. Harry closed the door and locked it, so she was safe inside. It was dark, the only light was a low soft glow coming from the case of treats. It had the glow of a candle, and he wondered if there was a way to keep it that way during the day because it was so warm it made him want one of everything that was in the display. “Yes,” he nodded. “S’okay.”

That felt worse. If he was willing to admit it, it meant he was there a while.

“I’m sorry,” her cheeks felt warm. “I should have just told you when I was working,” she was willing to admit when she was wrong. Harry watched in fascination as she placed the raspberry filled cupcake on top. He wondered if it had always been the one she put on top. He would have imagined the chocolate ganache one was a fan favorite, or the vanilla sprinkles one with the little toothpick and label of A Pinch of Sprinkles on it.

He shrugged again, nearly indifferent. “S’okay,” he repeated. “Read most of my book.”

“Is it a good read?” She asked and grabbed the bag of flour Harry had settled on the table and started for the back. He grabbed the bag of sugar and followed behind her.

He nodded. “Yeah...it’s,” he sighed. “S’a little darker than I expected,” he shrugged. “Was hoping for something lighter.”

“I only read rom-coms in book form,” she smiled. “It’s very light reading, but probably not what you want.”

“Rom-coms?” He repeated. She nodded. “Y’don’t strike me as a rom-com kind of girl.”

“No?”

“Y’seem more like a film noir or suspense.”

“I’ve had enough suspense for a while,” she muttered and turned to her ovens to preheat. Harry placed the sugar beside the flour bag and sat in the same chair he sat in when he fell asleep a couple months prior. He watched her in the same way he had before as she flittered around the kitchen, humming to herself as she worked. “How’s the baby?” She asked.

They were ignoring the elephant in the room, it seemed. But it was the first time he’d seen her since the self-defense lesson. In between his visits to the bakery (his stalking grounds, as Niall was calling it) he had been splitting his time between training, teaching, and ensuring Driven, his gym, was working as expected. He had to call an electrician because the lights in the men’s bathroom kept going out despite the fact, he had already replaced the circuit and lightbulbs a handful of times. But he had gone to see Gemma and his niece two days prior to get his fix of the sweet little girl who made him feel so much better about all the frustration he felt about his favorite Cupcake.

He couldn’t help but smile. “Perfect.”

She grinned back and nodded. “Good, and your sister?”

“Good, thanks for asking,” he thought that was polite of her—he always noticed when people asked about his sister. It wasn’t often. Once the baby was there, it was like they forgot about the mum.

“Does your mom live nearby?” She asked.

“Yeah, especially with the baby. Mum sold her house the moment she found out Gem was pregnant.”

She laughed. “That’s sweet. You’re all close?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “Mum’s m’hero,” his voice was filled with admiration so thick it made her feel wobbly on her feet. She wished she had that kind of admiration for her mother. “How ‘bout you? Maeve said y’were visiting your dad? He lives nearby?”

She nodded, guarded. “I feel the way about my dad, the way you feel about your mom,” she explained. There was a pause in conversation that seemed to stretch farther than it needed to. Maybe he was trying to get her to break first. Perhaps she did. “You talked to Maeve?”

He looked at her, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. “Didn’t leave me many options, Cupcake,” he reminded her.

She swallowed thickly, nodded. “That’s fair,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“Can you please tell me?”

She shook her head. Harry felt so agitated, so defeated. “Not yet,” the bit of hope creeped back in. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she admitted, her voice cracking slightly. She swallowed the lump of emotion in her throat and turned away from him. “Sorry,” she sniffled. His heart broke. Quickly, he realized it wasn’t her wanting to hide it from him. It was painful to watch that frustration fall on her face.

“Oh, kitten,” he frowned. He stood quickly and made it to her side. He put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly not wanting to touch more than she wanted or needed in that moment. His imagination could only guess what went wrong on her date and it was painful to think about for him. He wanted to comfort her, but it had to be at her pace.

At once she melted into his touch. She turned quickly, almost reflexively into his embrace. Her face pressed against his shoulder, her arms wrapped up around his back, and she inhaled shakily. It felt awful to see her sad, feel the anxiety coming off her in waves. But Harry was grateful to hold her so close to him. “M’here, Cupcake,” he promised. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, nodded against him.

Harry could live with ‘not yet.’ For now.

Over the next week, they went back to texting throughout the day and chatting well beyond bedtime on the nights she wasn’t at the bakery. Additionally, Harry walked beside her from her car to the bakery when she arrived and back through the dark parking lot. Not once did he ask her what went wrong with her date even though it was killing him. She wasn’t budging. She knew Harry was waiting for more details, but she couldn’t. It hurt and she didn’t want to think about it—even if she actually did want to tell him. It was overwhelmingly kind that Harry appeared beside her car—especially at night.

“I’m still really sorry about Clay,” she frowned. Harry didn’t park far away from her like he did the other night. But she was very mindful of her opening the door and not bumping into his car.

“S’okay,” he smiled and rubbed his fingers on the little indent. “Reminds me of you,” he winked at her.

Her heart fluttered and she looked away briefly before smiling back at him. “Like you need more reminders of me,” she murmured.

“Can never have enough, Cupcake,” he assured her. “Can I kiss y’goodnight?” He asked on the third night he walked her though the dark parking lot. Her heart literally skipped a beat. Speechless. He tapped his cheek. “Jus’ the cheek, kitten. Need a proper date before I really kiss you,” he acknowledged and smiled shyly at her. That boyish grin that made her weak in the knees. Breathlessly she nodded. His lips swept across her cheek. It was brief and soft. Like a piece of her hair had brushed over her face and tickled her skin. “Thank you,” he grinned. “Been dying t’do that,” he admitted and once more tucked her safely in her car.

Harry mentioned it only twice more. He never pressed or demanded she reveal the facts of her bad date. It was more of—what he hoped was—a gentle reminder. He was waiting for more information. All he wanted was to assuage her worries and fears. She attended the second class for her self-defense lessons (dropping off a box of blueberry scones at the front desk had everyone in the class asking if they could go after the lesson to pick out their own sweet treats). Harry continued to boil with anger just thinking about her using the moves he and Louis taught her. But it was obvious he was much less angry than the previous week. More so, his anger didn’t extend to her. He was mad, but he understood her choice to keep it to herself.

Louis was going over demonstrations using Harry as the attacker. Everyone watched with rapt attention. “Your goal is to get away,” it was repeated about a hundred times and Harry had the hardest time watching her every time it was repeated. Each time it was said, she flinched. He wasn’t sure she knew it or not—it was a reflex. But she did get away. It terrified her still.

Harry couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t pushing him away. Every night, she thanked him profusely for coming to the bakery and walking her to and from the car. She could see his anger growing beneath the surface. He wanted to know. She was trying so hard to brush it off. It wasn’t a big deal. Now she had two classes under her belt, and she promised herself she would never be in such a vulnerable position again.

“Can I watch you at work?” She asked randomly. It was a morning shift this time. She was covered in flour, and she had frosting streaked in her hair leftover from when she put it up after icing four dozen cupcakes. Harry didn’t think she could look cuter if she tried.

“Watch me?” He repeated.

“Not this again,” she smirked.

He chuckled. “Y’want to watch me train?” He repeated anyway.

She shrugged. “You always watch me bake and stuff.”

“You’ve attended the class, Cupcake. S’pretty much the same thing,” he reminded her.

He noted her cheeks turned pink. “Um...if you don’t want me to hang around then—”

Harry nearly gasped. “Oh, no. No way, kitten. I want y’around. I promise,” he assured her. “Jus’ don’t want you t’be bored.”

“I won’t be,” she shook her head.

That was how she ended up sitting beside the ring, Louis padded and guarded while Harry punched and punched and punched for over an hour. His breath was heaving, and his body was slick with sweat. She watched intently examining his form and his moves like she would one day repeat them.

When he came for water at the end of his training session, he was heavy breathing and smiling at her. He struggled to get the towel he had from his bag beside her with his gloves on. “Bored?” He asked.

“Not even a little,” she assured him, grabbing the little towel and swiping it across his forehead. It felt intimate and made Harry feel warm all throughout his body. “Can I try?” She asked with an impish smile.

He chuckled and nodded. “Come on,” he held the ropes open for her to enter the ring. She wasn’t wearing the right shoes or equipment. Louis rolled his eyes discreetly at Harry and held the pads out for her to hit. “Make the fist I showed you,” she did for both hands. “S’all the balance in your legs,” he promised. “No balance, no punch, no follow-through. Punch through the pad,” he explained and guided her hand to the pad slowly so she could see how it would look and feel to go through it.

“Pretend it’s Harry,” Louis suggested. “That’s what I do.”

She giggled. “I don’t think I could throw a punch if I thought it was Harry,” she admitted and gave her best attempt. It was honestly exhausting. She only threw a dozen or so punches and was breathless as she answered Louis.

“You’ll get there,” he assured her.

Harry scowled at him. “Take the pads off.”

“No, you lunatic.”

“Coward.”

She giggled, thanked Louis, and twisted herself out of the ring again. “That was fun,” she told him. “I can see why you like it. Plus, you’re really good at it.”

Harry was staring at her, the way that sent all the butterflies in the world directly to her stomach and began to flutter as if they were trying to escape. His gaze was firm but gentle, his eyes almost glowing somehow as he looked her over. “Please tell me, Cupcake. I want t’help,” his voice was quiet, begging ever so gently.

She looked at the floor, their shoes were nearly toe-to-toe. “I can’t,” she whispered back.

He nodded, defeat did not come easy to him, and she knew that. “I have t’shower, do some office stuff. Get ready for some lessons and classes,” he told her, his voice the slightest bit disappointed.

“Want me to watch you in the shower too?” She asked hoping to alleviate the mood. It worked, his smile returned to his pretty lips, and he chuckled.

“Hell yes, Cupcake,” he shook his head at her cuteness. “Maybe next time. Not here,” he winked.

Even though it was her that was forward it still made her blush. Plus, joke or not, she agreed here was not a good idea. “I have to do some errands anyway,” she admitted.

“I’ll walk you t’your car,” but she knew he would. It was like a safety blanket being wrapped around her.

She really liked it.

After her third self-defense lesson she was feeling more confident. She even showed Maeve some of her moves in the back kitchen. Shadowboxing the same way that she saw Harry do to Louis the night she met him. “I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to give the Queen of Sugar boxing lessons,” Maeve rolled her eyes.

Honestly, she was feeling better. More confident. Plus, she was enjoying her not-so-date-dates with Harry. There was one night when Harry wasn’t around, and she realized she missed him so much. Not only because the dark parking lot seemed more foreboding but because his presence made her happy. Happier than she had been in a really long time. It felt undeserving to be so happy but it wasn’t something she thought about when he was actually there. I missed you.

Oh? 😍

Sorry, I know that’s...

A lot...

I miss you all the time, Cupcake. Think about you all day.

The message made her warm and she wished she could explain how simple it seemed to just have Harry fit in her life. They were busy people, but he always managed to come by and see her. She enjoyed watching him train or sitting with Sarah at the front desk and chatting while he taught classes and lessons. Maeve teased her every time he arrived and she wasn’t there. Can’t you just give him your schedule? The poor guy is going to have to train twice as hard to get rid of the extra cupcake weight.

I like to keep him guessing a little 😉

Today, she was up front on her own—one of her employees called out sick and she didn’t mind in the slightest. Working up front was one of her favorite tasks. Interacting with customers and sharing her gift was something she enjoyed thoroughly. Her other coworker was out back, working on inventory and prepping the bagels for her monthly bagel sale.

Ding.

The bell attached to the front door signaled whenever customers arrived or departed. It was a busy morning. So busy that it took her a minute to realize Harry was sitting with Niall at one of the tables. Niall gave her a wave as she finally got caught in his gaze. She waved back, smiling brightly and paused the customers that were at the counter while she ran to the back and then to the table as quickly as she could. She pecked Harry on the cheek without thinking and deposited a raspberry filled cupcake and a personal sized loaf of Irish soda bread.

Harry felt as gooey as the filling on the inside of his cupcake. Her soft little kiss made him crazier for her. Watching her made him happy. Being around her made him happy. Happier than the little kid that was bullied could have dreamed.

Niall was making noises that would have embarrassed the porn industry while eating his bread. Harry snorted at him, tried to steal a piece, only for Niall to slap his hand away. “Eat your cupcake,” he nearly snarled.

“She could make more, m’sure.”

Niall shook his head stuffing his face of the treat made specially for him.

Harry liked watching her. He wondered if it was the same way she felt when she watched him. People obviously fell in love with her the moment they spoke to her. Unironically, she was so sweet. Of course she was. It was like she was a sprinkles-fairy. This ethereal being that passed out sweet treats to everyone.

Ding.

With her back turned to get another bag, she didn’t notice the influx of new customers. When she turned back, her heart leapt to her throat. She was lucky she didn’t drop the dozen cookies she was packaging.

“Shit,” she whispered mostly to herself. He hadn’t seen her yet. Fortunately, it was crowded enough to hide behind her wall of customers. All the progress she had made, the classes thus far, all seemed for naught at that moment. Her gaze darted to Harry and Niall. They were unaware of the turmoil she was facing while she packaged treats for the next customer. Her stomach churned uneasily.

If Harry just looked at her, she knew he would know. “Hey Lexi!” She called toward the back room. But Harry was chatting with Niall. Niall was focused on his soda bread. Neither of them noticed the anxiety that swept over her. Lexi doesn’t answer at first. Making her more anxious and scared. It shouldn’t be that way. He shouldn’t ruin the one place she loved most.

Niall now had crumbs on his cheeks, but his head tilted curiously in the direction of her main display. “Harry, something’s wrong,” Niall’s voice was quiet.

Harry’s gaze snapped up defensively. Sure enough, her whole demeanor had changed. Harry could see it. Her smile was tight, and her eyes darted toward the door and the customer in front of her more times in ten seconds than Harry could ever begin to count. Harry wanted to kick himself. How long had she looked like that?

After an eternity, Lexi finally appeared. She mumbled something to her employee and headed to the back kitchen. Not even a glance in Harry’s direction. Without fanfare, without permission, Harry marched his way into the back almost as soon as she left his view.

“Excuse me,” Lexi said. “Hey, that’s employee—”

“He’s fine, Lexi,” she answered quietly.

Harry found her in the kitchen, hand clutching the front collar of her shirt, her eyes lit with anxiety while she paced back and forth. “Is he here?” He asked lowly, while she moved quickly across the kitchen.

She tried to remember the last time she felt safe. It was her dad, right? Her dad before...before everything. Before she moved her shop here. Before she uprooted her life.

But there were those brief moments where she was overcome with how safe she felt in Harry’s presence. Walking to his fight for the first time. Each time he walked her to her car. How his hand felt when he pressed her fingers into a fist.

She nodded, her eyes watering.

He spun almost immediately to do who knows what. He didn’t know and she certainly didn’t know.

“No, don’t leave me!” She practically shouted before he could hardly take a step further. She started to follow him but he stopped at the sound of despair in her voice.

Harry groaned lowly; it came out nearly as a growl. He turned back to her immediately as if it pained him. “M’never leaving you,” his eyes were so dark and desperate—her whole body felt heavy at the seriousness of his words. Breathless again. “Please don’t ask me that,” his eyes darted back toward the front of the bakery.

“Harry, please,” she whispered.

His hands were already balled into fists. He shook his head. “Cupcake,” he grumbled. It was such an oxymoron in itself. Harry was calling her one of the sweetest things in the world and it sounded downright terrifying.

“Please, Harry,” she begged, grabbing one of his closed fists. “I need you,” she whispered.

Groaning again, he rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “Fine,” he snapped.

She felt bad making him stay. She knew she was forcing his hand, but she was scared. To soften the blow, she threw herself at him. Arms around his neck, face buried in his shirt. She sighed with relief with the feel of him: solid, warm, protective against her body. Harry was safe. He proved that already and she still hardly knew him. It wasn’t hard. It shouldn’t have been hard for her date to make her feel safe.

Harry was momentarily shocked before he returned the hug, one arm looped around her back, the other cupping the back of her head. It was like the antidote to an disease she didn’t know she had. Another loud sigh escaped her. Like the feeling of Harry was cause for another wave of relief.

“What did he do?” He mumbled into her hair. She ignored him and scrunched her eyes shut. “Please, Cupcake,” he begged. She realized she wanted to tell Harry.

“I’m so embarrassed,” she whispered. “I don’t even know why I went out with him...I had met you and—”

“Doesn’t matter, kitten,” he shook his head. “He doesn’t get t’make y’feel unsafe,” he reminded her.

“It was such bad judgment.”

He shook his head again. “No, Cupcake. He doesn’t get t’make y’feel that way. S’not you. S’not asking a lot t’feel safe on a date. S’not even the bare minimum. Y’don’t have poor judgment. Your judgment got y’out of there that night. S’why y’signed up for classes and—”

It poured out of her at that moment. She told him everything. In the middle of the story, she tried to downplay it sensing the way his body tightened around her with every word. Explained why she signed up for the self-defense class. Every detail and emotion she felt for the last few weeks. How scared she was that very night. Why she requested Harry and chatted with him until three in the morning. How he made her feel better when she didn’t think she could. How safe she felt around him in general.

At the end, Harry pulled away from her.

Her heart felt heavy. Now he wouldn’t like her. She was broken and hurt. Harry didn’t want to be a bodyguard, nor should he have to be. “I need t’go to the gym,” he started toward the front, and she thought that was it. It was the last she would see of him. He was too overwhelmed with how stupid she was. This wasn’t what he wanted. Someone who couldn’t defend herself or be smart enough to see the signs earlier.

“Harry, I’m sorry—” She managed to croak with tears thick in her voice and vision. Right as he reached the threshold back to the front of the bakery. He was shaking. Every inch of him. She wondered how he wasn’t a blur from how much he shook. In the moment it took for the apology to form in her mouth, he was back in front of her.

He grabbed her firmly but still softly by the chin, held her sweet face between his palms. Gazed into her eyes and shook his head slowly. His eye contact was overwhelming but still felt so good. “You are to never. Ever. Apologize.” Her eyes welled with more tears. She couldn’t do anything but nod at him. Her heart felt so heavy and broken. But Harry was looking at her. Taking in every inch of her face and he sighed. “M’sorry, Cupcake; m'angry. But s'not something you need t'apologize for. Y'didn't do anything wrong. M'jus' mad I wasn't there for you,” he whispered and brought her back in to hold her against him once more. Her body felt relieved it was ridiculous for him to feel bad--he didn't even know she was going on a date. She didn't want him to feel bad.

"It's not your fault either," she whispered. Harry sighed with relief and he kissed the top of her hair.

She lost track of how long they stood there. It could have been two minutes or two hours. All she felt was Harry’s warm body against hers and reveled in how good it felt. “Call me a half hour before you’re ready to leave here. I’ll come walk you t’your car.”

She smiled softly, hoping to alleviate the tension now that a significant portion of time had passed. “Even if it’s in the middle of the night and—”

He didn’t think her joke was funny at all. “If y’call,” he repeated, interrupting her, his eyes were hard and serious. No room for joking at all. “I’ll be here.”

He was rapidly making her fall in love with him.

“Hey Dad,” she smiled softly sitting across from him at the dinner table. He grinned at her.

“Hey sweetie. How was your day?”

“Good! Did you see the game?” She asked. He nodded.

“Your guy did well, don’t you think?”

She laughed, shaking her head and blushed a bit. “Max Kepler is not my guy, Dad.”

“I didn’t say his name, honey,” he reminded her with a chuckle.

She rolled her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek. “I think I met a guy, actually,” she rushed out quickly.

“Oh?” He looked at her curiously, tilted his head ever so slightly and smiled. “That’s nice, sweetie. You haven’t had a boyfriend in a while. You need someone to...chat with, depend on,” he said knowingly. “I want to know you’re taken care of.”

“Dad, that is so 1950s of you. I don’t need a guy to take care of me.”

“Oh honey, I know you don’t. But I want you to have someone,” his voice was gentle.

For a moment she just looked at him. Thought long about all the things that had happened since she met Harry almost three months prior. It was a big deal to tell her dad about Harry. She wanted to make sure it was the right move especially after she was feeling poorly about her gut feeling. But she thought of Harry, the reassurance he gave her that it wasn’t her poor judgment that caused her bad date.

“His name is Harry. He’s a boxer,” she shrugged. “The raspberry filled cupcakes are his favorite.”

“Well, then he’s perfect. Right?”

She laughed, nodded, then bit her lip. “I mean...he’s...” she sighed forgoing all the details about how she was insane to let him steer her to his boxing match. How he helped her with self-defense classes. And why she was taking self-defense classes. No. She would tell him how they met another day. When Harry and she defined more of what their relationship was... if there was a relationship to be had. “I like him,” she admitted. “Then that’s all that really matters, honey,” he assured her. It felt like a blessing.

She couldn't wait to see Harry.

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I'm sorry if I missed anyone in the taglist. Please let me know if you'd like to join, if it didn't work, if you no longer want to be included, etc. :)

If you like this, check out my masterlist here

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zeldasnotes · 1 year

Text

ASTRO OBSERVATIONS PART22🎄

For some reason Ive noticed that Virgo women adoooore Taurus men and vice versa. I know they trine but there is something special here.

I also noticed that Sagittarius Moons and Cancer Moons adore eachother. Once they meet they are inseperable.

If you have planets in the 8th house my advice to you is to always think about yourself first. Be extremely egoistic. Because you transform people. When people meet you they become better and then they leave. People want you to be their therapist, friend, personal trainer, personal advisor because they can sense your power. They want to take from you and have it to themselves. So be careful what you give and to who. Wait with giving your partner stuff until after you are married.

People with Mercury aspecting Pluto grew up in a home where there was a lot of backhanded comments or where the communication was toxic and sneaky and thats why Mercury/Pluto people think everything people say is a hidden dig towards them. They learned that behind every sentence there is a hidden meaning and now they analyze every word.

Biggie Smalls 11th house ruler is conjunct his Sun. He was very known for his friendship with tupac, also a suspect of Tupacs shooting. His image revolved a lot around friendships and groups.

I got my Moon in my 11th house and I will always respect a person whos humanitarian and fights for equality even if I dont like the person for personal reasons. While I could never respect someone who doesnt care.

My Valentine(447) conjunct a guys Sun got me acting crazy. Like I was so in love with him it was scary. It was the ”I would die for you” kind of love.

A pattern Ive noticed with men and their Venus sign when it comes to settling down:

Leo Venus: Goes for looks and confidence when choosing a life partner. They are the kindest and most generous men but they just NEED someone to show off.

Capricorn Venus: They need someone to build and empire with, they will choose stability and ambition over looks. They need the Blair Waldorf kind of woman. They need to be a powercouple.

Scorpio Venus: Sad but settles for someone who were not their first choice. The one who saves them but they never end up with ”that girl” and they keep dreaming of that special girl and stalks her on fb until they are like 80 years old.

Pisces Venus: They spend too much time dreaming of that perfect person while not even working on themselves to be someone that person would even want. Settles down with someone whos kind and feels bad for them.

Aquarius and Leo placements can sense when something is going to be fashion. They start wearing something and one year later everyone is wearing it.

Men with moon & venus in my 1st house always treats me like a Queen. I love them😭 They make me feel so beautiful❤️

In my opinion 8th house synastry is only nice when its with someone you are physically attracted to or have good synastry with otherwise its just annoying.

Every Sagittarius Venus Ive met had some kind of charm that made them very very popular without trying. They were also gorgeous. Two of my friends from high school had this and there were always some guy madly in love with them.

Ive met so many men with Venus aspecting Saturn who asked too much about my economy. Which was a huge turn-off for me. I showed them the door🚪

Lilith in the 2nd house cant go out without people commenting on their body or asking them where they bought their clothes. People are obsessed with their stuff.

Ive seen so many royal people who got Jupiter conjunct their IC. Or IC in Taurus. Example: Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth, Kate Middleton.

Venus is pretty, Neptune is beautiful, Moon is cute, Mars is hot, Pluto is sexy, Saturn is perfect, Uranus is gorgeous, Mercury is foxy.

I notice that a modality, sign or even element can be prominent in a whole family or even a whole bloodline. In my family there is a dominance of cardinal energy. A lot of Aries Risings, Capricorn Risings, Cancer Moons and Capricorn Midheavens. So my family cares a lot about acting properly and to be respected. In my friends family there is fixed/scorpio dominance so there is a strong sense of loyalty and secrecy. In her family most family members dont even have social media, you never talk about a family member to outsiders, you spend holidays with family and dont invite friends etc. In my family image is everything and everyone is invited to make more connections. But in these families there is usually someone who lacks that energy and that person might be the black sheep of the family.

Pluto shows strong and intense emotions in the house it sits in. I know someone with Pluto in the 11th house and she got her best friends initials tattooed.💀

People with conjunctions to jupiter are just naturally funny.😂

People with personal planets in the 8th house experience more intense relationship because people who have conjunctions to their planets will also have planets in their 8th house. So they experience 8th house synastry even stronger than others. And if they have Lilith in the 8th house it will be extra strong because then they will have Lilith synastry with those who put planets in their 8th.

#astro notes #astrology #astro observations #astronotes #lilith #ascendant #lilith aspects #birth chart readings #astrotidbits

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ivanzplaid · 11 months

Note

Can I get yandere head canons for the Sinclair brothers, Billy Lenz and Harry Warden, thank you as always 💛

-📼

HIII HELLO YES OF COURSE YOU CAN CASSETTE ANON SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU 🫶🫶 i have had sm work and no motivation but a little yandere hcs will do, ALSO THIS IS SUCH AN OLD REQUEST ORE HIATUS IM SO SORRY💔 these are sfw so if youd like nsfw ill do that :) these are mainly set for after meeting you, and how theyd make sure you'd stay with them, and some cute little ideas for when youre theirs

this is darker than i remember writing it so please proceed with caution⁉️

requests r open, masterlist is up!!

Yandere! Slashers x Gn! Reader | Headcanons | Meeting You

Warnings: Yandere Behavior/Actions, Obsession, Kidnapped reader in every section.. my bad, Dark themes kinda-ish, Drugging mentions in Billy's & Bo's section

------------------------------------------------------------

Lester Sinclair

lester, love of my life, he will most likely be the one to plot your meeting. he sees you while hes out of ambrose, hes infatuated, he thinks youre the most charming person hes seen in a while. he will stalk you when he finds youre in town, its a small, but quickly growing obsession, he thinks that youre just an after thought, but the more you come in, the more he wants to have you to himself

so, he does his lester thing, and waits & waits, trying to lure you into ambrose one way or another. he'll show up more in youre life, saying hello or making small talk, then, he may slash a tire or make it so that your car just has its miles draining faster n faster, so when youre pulled over on the side if the road, hes your savior

not only does he love this because hes saving you from this, and youre just thanking him over and over, and hes becoming more excited by the minute, he loves to hear praise come from your mouth, its exciting. he also loves this because now he finslly has his excuse to bring you to ambrose, away from those friends he always sees you with that just dont value you and love you as much as he would, or care about you as much as he does

he'll bring your car in, and say in such an exasperated voice that it just wont be done for the next few days, would you like to stay for coffee?

he explicitly tells his brothers that you are not to be made a sculpture, hes serious, but if they see you trying to leave, they have the job to bring you back to him

hes just too thoughtful of you to let you go, do you really wanna go back to your family? who let this happen to you? look him in the eyes snd tell yourself he doesnt care, because he wants to know all about you if you gave him the chance

touchy, touchy touchy touchy, arm around your waist, a smiling kiss on the cheek, you on his lap, he wishes for it to happen

he thinks of physical touch as wondrous, how can he hold the epitome of perfection in his hands? hes in awe

he will 100% sweet-talk-manipulate you into staying with him, hes too desperate to let you go, its unfair, why would you leave the man who loves you the most?

hes also very delusional, he truly believes what hes doing is justified and fine, and it pushes him to be much more emotional in this 'relationship'

will be absolutely distraught if you outwardly insult him / say rude things, but hes convinced you dont know what its like, and this is for the greater good of your existence

caretaker!! loves to treat and pamper you, he almost needs to take care of you because he thinks its cute, but dont let this trick you, he will take these privileges away because he loves to see you beg for basic things

be a good little pet and stay with him, hes the only one who knows how to treat you

not the violent type, wont hit or hurt you because it would pain him as well, you deserve so much more than that and he stands by it

but is not afraid to tie you down if that means youll stop trying to leave ( if you do try )

he loves sharing time with you, he will bring you everywhere to do everything, you deserve the same fun as him!

he loves to talk about you, allll you you you, please tell him about your hobbies, he'll do his best to indulge in them more! or about your day, or who you are as a person, or aomething that makes you laugh, anything, literally anything please

not as into killing as his brothers, but he will be the most protective man over you, he is not a fan of flirtation and will be passive aggressive if visitors flirt with you, but dont worry your pretty little head, they'll just go on over to bo or vincent and you two wont need to worry

loves loves loves to give you gifts, but has a stigma where only he can give you gifts. if he sees anyone else trying to give you them, it leads to his temper shorten

id be happy to exaggerate if youd like! but these are the main ones :)

Billy Lenz

he most likely meets you in the sorority/fraternity, and is immediately interested, youre a sophmore trying to get through your classes, youre like every other person, but he cant get his eyes off of you

unlike lester, he acts on his thoughts quickly, hes impulsive and foggyheaded, he has not a care in the world, and most dont know he even exists, so the moment he takes a liking to you is the moment he sets out to talk to you

he'll call you nonstop, sometimes just to listen to your voice, or to say obscene things, or even to pretend hes really with you, he wants to have the interactions you have with your friends and hes jealous, he should be getting that treatment, its just unfair

i have yet to mention hes possessive, even before he has you, he gets upset at the slightest of things because he focus's completely on you, its hard to get his eyes off you, so your every move will be noted

one night, its before winter vacation of course, the holiday lights are up and youre packing your things to go back home, youre the last one left besides a friend whose waiting on you outside, but in the house its quiet, your own breathing is too loud for you

billy is upset, hes been upset, why dont you answer the phone anymore? why havent you been responding to the notes hes been leaving you? why why why

he doesnt like to see you leave either, he prefers if youd stay because youre the only thing keeping him from having the realization that he will be alone once you leave, he will have no one to talk to or see or be with

hes spiraling, his impulsiveness and intrusive thoughts get the best of him and he decides you arent leaving, you cant and you wont

he doesnt mind having to do a bit of killing if it means you'll stay, he needed to get rid of the people taking away your attention from him. you should only be focusing on him, spending time with him, all about him

he is desperate for attention, he needs you to acknowledge him, will create disturbances just so youll look around and think of him

he eventually kidnaps you, treating you in the most delicate nature as to not harm you ( hes already slipped sleeping pills into your drink before bed, the easiest method so that you'll be compliant )

he wont understand if youre mad at him, and will genuinely be hurt by anything you say or do. why wouldnt you enjoy being with billy? billy loves you, thats all that matters

his warped perception of love & infatuation causes him to be awkward and have a harder time in a relationship (especially now)

loves to have express his love for you in all ways, he wants to stroke/hold your hair and give you gifts and play board games with you because he loves you so much that it physically hurts to not be with you

if youre thinking about it, theres little chance for escape, hes always with you, whether hes lurking or just hanging out, he likes to see you

will steal someones camera to take photos of you two together, its perfect since he can always remember you and your face

loves to take you around and show you all the secrets he knows of the fraternities/sororities, as well as the campus himself, hes your certified tour guide

will jump on you if hes scared, like full on hide behind you while clawing at your shoulders, hes quite literally a little feral

if you want to, he will allow you to style his hair, he thinks you work wonders with whatever you do to it, even if it looks bad, because as long as his love did it, hes happy

Bo Sinclair

i want him.

you'll stumble upon him out of town, accidentally shouldering him, which will make you get his attention. at first he'll want to give you a charming "watch it.", but when he sees you, he physically stops in his tracks, he just stares at you for a long amount of time before you awkwardly laugh and walk away

he gets hooked faster, hes interested in the absolute beaut that just walked out of his life as fast as they came in. hes not used to social interaction so being bo, he tries to plot out an official meeting (after stalking you from a distance and trying to put on a charming stranger face)

he'll bribe lester to mess with your car so that he can bring you into ambrose, sealing your fate as soon as you've entered

hes talked to his brothers, instructing thst youre not to leave, and to not be *too* hurt in the process, he understands if you have to be roughed up a bit, just so that you'll listen to him next time

when you come in to meet him, he'll act so shocked to see you, chuckling and saying what a coincidence it is, and how fate brought you two together

the entire time hes taking in your figure and your body language, trying to control himself from drugging you right then and there, to have you all to himself

he uses his social skills to talk you into staying a night, claiming that your car has been meanin for a checkup, and the damage is bad.. but he wont charge you the full price, since youve been so kind. He'll offer you a room snd a nice homemade breakfast, saying that hell work on it so you can be out of here in no time, all of these promises just for you, because he wants to take you home

hes extremely possessive, he believes that youre property, and youre owed to him. which is the exact reason he thinks its ok to toss you around if it means youll behave better (he'll comfort you after, stroking your head.... while saying 'thisll be easier if you just listen to me darlin')

he likes to take the shorter, yet harsher route, so that stockholm syndrome sets in quicker. he just wants to live his best life with a docile partner.

his delusions cannot take you arguing or insulting him, it will cause him to have outbursts of anger, because this is your new life with him. it is real, he is the one for you, so why cant you see it? hes been so nice, so caring, and yet youre unappreciative.

dont worry, a few more hours of isolation will have you thinking better than before. he uses this to emphasize his care and touch, because thats all you need to know now, how his fingers feel when they cup your cheek and delicately hold you

he would love to have a quiet morning with you, him working on something in the shop and you accompanying him, talking while sharing a cup of coffee

he wants to have a life like his fathers, living up to what he did, and to be better. in short, if he feels like hes not achieving that, he will also lose it. he has a short temper, and while youre one of the only people who can ease him out of it, he cant always control himself

he has such a strong emotional attachment that he feels like he needs you to live. not like billy, where he was not as emotionally intelligent and was just clingy, but bo feels that without you he is incomplete, and to live his life he needs you in it, or else he isnt really living

he loves to see you smile and be happy, it warms his heart to know that you enjoy his company

bo can be a genuinely compassionate man, who will take you for rides or out somewhere to eat, be a romantic and loving husband, and thats what he wants to be, but he truly thinks it all relies on your behavior and how loving/into the relationship you are, because either way youre not heading home

quick note before we end this he will gaslight you, bro is the gaslighting king, he will convince you that ambrose is the place for you, and that your old friends and family cant do what he can

he'll try his hardest to impress you (shows you his muscles) and make you love him, he just wants to show off all his great qualities since you're so amazing in his eyes

Harry Warden

you stumbled into him while your friends and you were drinking in the mines, partying on valentines day night. Harry could feel his anger rise because he never got a day off, always having to be disturbed or intruded on, never having anyone to give him any pity when he deserves it all

his pickaxe dragged behind him, and as he approached your group, he eyed everyone in it. seeing as you were the closest, he'd begin the chase with you. Raising his pickaxe snd bringing it down right next to you, your head swiveled to his direction, and the look of fear on your face stunned him

truth be told he hadn't had a human interaction longer than 5 seconds without him killing them, he felt that you were somehow different. The way you were paralyzed with fear as you begged for your life made him feel something close to love that he hadn't felt for a lifetime

it wasn't like his previous killings, the rush he got when he towered over you, tilting his head down to get a better look at his newest interest

maybe you could be his reparations for valentines day all those years ago, finally getting a proper gift for being left to die

he'll let you go.. for now, until he can make a proper place for the two of you and make sure you'll be comfortable and safe. hes concerned about you having a good living and a nice place for the both of you to share the rest of your lives

really wants you to come with him willingly, dowsnt want to scare you or anything like that, so he'll drop off gifts, or disguise himself and go into town to stalk you find out what you like, and charm you better

hes typically a semi-romantic man, wanting to convince you to be with him, then cut off all contact with the outside world so that you can be in the perfect relationship hes imagined, but if push comes to shove he will drag you to youre new haven with him, literally

will see who you hangout with, who your family is, maybe he'll even research your name in any ancestry books/records, because he would just be a bad boyfriend if he knew nothing about you right?

may or may not replicate your room in the mines... just so that the transition is easier <3

eventually, you'll find out hes the one thats been making you feel like youre being watched, and was the one giving you all those gifts

so when he gets down and proposes the idea of dating, and you (presumably..) say what the fuck? he knows what he has to do, quality time in the mines!!! (forever)

once he brings you to his humble abode, he'll explain everything, he has to let you know how much he loved and needs you for his own well being, and how in time youll feel the same because youll see how great of a partner he is!

he knows these mines like the back of his hands, and would be overjoyed if you even took interest in him or asked to be toured, because in his head hes shocked about the quality time you're initiating

will let you hold his pickaxe, maybe show off how strong he is & talk about his suit

he talks and talks, finally after being left alone for years without any sorry's or nothing from the town, you come in and show him what life is all about, so of course he wants to listen and talk to you, youre the most entertaining person in the world

not only can bro not cook, but he genuinely cannot cook, he doesnt have anything to make anything with, so he uses this as an excuse to steal your favorite food and drinks to cater towards your feelings

wants to hold you and see how delicate you are, he admires you like a god(dess)

he doesnt like to be violent, he tries to avoid it, he may accidentally leave bruises from holding you too tight, but he thoroughly apologizes and tries to make it up. he doesn't wanna screw up the one 'relationship' hes ever cared about/recently had

Vincent Sinclair

you were definitely a victim brought in by lester who caught vincents eye, something about you stood out from the rest of his victims. maybe it was because of your respectful nature and not intruding on ambrose, maybe you admired the detailed wax work and complimented it, or maybe it was with your looks or social skills. either way, vincent wants to know all about you

he immediately tells his brothers that youre off limits, and states that he wants to see you better. while bo and lester dont really care, they say that they'll assist him in making sure you cant leave (as they always would)

he likes to draw/sculpt what you look like and leave it around for you to find, he thinks your beauty is on another level snd that you are a piece of art

he may be seen lurking from a distance, scared to show his face since hes nervous of rejection from someone as perfect as you are. he'll make it known that hes there, and one of his brother may tell you about him, but other than that (unless you ask) you wont see much (.... until he takes you)

leaves you gifts alot. flowers, sculptures, even some jewelry from other victims that youd like, he wants to flatter you and put out the image that hes a genuine guy, and that he pays attention to you

he pays attention to your style and what you like, adding it to his room to make it feel more like youre with him

if you have friends with you, hes most likely been plotting their deaths since the start, theyre skeptical about ambrose and are beginning to panic

he thinks they're a bad influence and could possibly get the cops called, so he tag teams with bo to take care of the problems

by this time youve most likely figured out whats been happening, so he takes his chances in knocking you out (and tenderly caring for you afterwards), and then carrying you back to his room, making sure youre nice and comfortable

he does care about you, and even now is a semi-gentle giant to you. he doesnt want to spook you more than whats already happened, he just wants you to be adjusted and not afraid

to some extent he wants to live a free-er life with you, going outside and acting 'normal', but his fear of ridicule because of his scars snd his pre-built of walls from years of bullying cause him to even be reclusive with you, the person hes infatuated with

he likes quality time, sitting with you or having you watch him as he sculpts, he likes when youre interested in his work so he can show you the process and maybe do it together

he'll sometimes slip into a mode where his feelings are amplified, and if you decide to insult him or work him up, he'll go mute and angrily pace around. sometimes grabbing your face and forcing you to look him in the eyes so he can convince himself you dont mean it

shares his clothes with you quite a lot, he thinks the value and meaning with you in his clothes is special

he'll sit with you all day, trying to make it so that you like his company more and more

this took so damn long im sorry vincents section is so small but i needed to get this out😭 i swear i love him but dawg

1K notes · View notes

tpwkwriter · 1 year

Note

PLEASEE do one when H and y/n are at Harrys DWD premier and Chris pine is very flirty with y/n and looky with her and harry just gets protective and does all the things he can do to prove to him that y/n is his, pleaseee that would be so cute

you.

Didn’t he just look so dreamy this day? 😭thanks for the request bc I’m actually crying of how cute this concept acc is😫 enjoy!❤️

PLEASE NOTE: I am aware Chris pine would never hit on a taken woman this is for story purposes only!!!!🫶🏼

Warnings: jealousy, cussing, some flirty behaviour, angstyyyy, upset Harry 😭, fluffy ending!!!

— — — — —

It was a sunny day in Venice, the sky was a light blue, the sunshine was really doing its thing, it was a perfect day to be a plus one at Venice film festival.

When y/n heard about Harry’s upcoming physiological thriller ‘don’t worry darling’ she was ecstatic.

Every moment in his crazy career she was there for she hadn’t missed a a single thing.

“Y’not joining me for the carpet?” He asks realising her hand was no longer locked in his.

“This is your moment H, m’happy to watch” she smiled.

He glanced over to the carpet to which Chris pine, gemma chan and nick kroll were already occupying.

“I wouldn’t have done with film without you lovie, c’mon” he said pressing a kiss to her forehead and taking her hand once more.

“Fine” she sighed.

When Harry revealed them from the black curtain that shielded them from the world, the mixed audience of fans, film enthusiasts, paparazzi and journalists, erupted into cheers and heckles.

“Harry, Harry over here!”

“Harry we have questions for you!”

And to y/n’s surprise even some directed to her.

“Y/n you look beautiful”

“Y/n are you proud of this movie”

In a loving and protective manner Harry slid his arm around the girls waist and guided her next to Chris for photos to be taken.

As the main cast/crew member pictures had been taken, Gemma went off to have an interview? Nick found himself speaking to Harry which left y/n and Chris still next to each other.

“You Look good y/n” Chris says turning to the girl now having his full attention.

“Oh Chris, thank you! You don’t scrub up to bad either!” She playful gested

“Y/n, Chris come over we have some questions!!” a male reporter chanted.

Chris placed his palm on the lower of y/n’s back and walked towards the reporter.

Harry took a glance back at where he thought y/n was, a panic filled his mind when he couldn’t see her or Chris.

“Don’t panic mate she’s right there with Chris” nick noted making him turn the opposite direction.

“How did you-?” He asked.

“I know you too well, she’s all you think about” nick laughed.

Harry turned to his girl who spoke to the microphone the man was holding towards her.

Watching her do the most simple stuff made Harry realise how lucky he truly was.

The only thing he was sure of is the eyes of the one and only Chris pine staring her down.

Now, Harry wasn’t normally a jealous type but when a man like Chris appears, he can’t help but feel like he has no chance.

“Yeah, no y/n has been great! She delivered us all hot coffee and if we were lucky then donuts” Chris laughs thinking about the fond memories there shared through the filming.

Chrises hand slowly rubbed up and down her exposed arm as she spoke.

That did not go unnoticed by Harry.

“But filming was super fun to watch and seeing the movie made it all really worth it! I mean everyone involved did great”

“And it’s amazing seeing the actors behind the-“

Harry had snaked his muscular arms around her waist forcing Chris’s to remove his, and pressing a sweet kiss to her cheek.

“Oh hi Harry” she giggled

“Carry on Angel” he reassured.

“As I was saying yeah- um it was really interesting seeing behind the scenes”

Harry continued pressing mini kisses to her cheek and using his thumb to slowly trace her waist.

“The world is going to go crazy over this” the camera man laughed.

Y/n blushed and placed her hands on top of Harry’s.

Once the interview was over Harry pulled the girl close to his chest.

“Y’do know the world can see us” she said giving into his touch nonetheless.

“Oh well, at least the world know y’mine” he emphasised.

“Hey guys” a familiar deep voice chimed.

“Hey man” Harry replied reluctantly letting go of his girl.

“You 2 joining us for some fine dining?” He said straightening his blazer and hair.

“You up for it baby?” Harry asked looking back to his girl

“Oh yeah of course” she smiled.

“Great well I guess I’ll see you then!” He said patting her arm and heading off into the posh car to be taken to the location.

“God he has a thing for you” Harry said annoyingly with a roll to his eyes.

“Harry” she laughed

“Chris pine has a thing for me?” She continued.

“Mmm not sure about that love” she giggled.

Y/n wrapped her arm around his waist.

“I love you” she mumbled into his side.

“Love you too”

— — — — —

The cast of ‘DWD’ sat around a table that was located in one of Venice’s fanciest restaurant and poshest experiences.

Y/n couldn’t deny Harry had looked devilishly handsome the whole day and despite being next to the idols like Chris and Nick she only had eyes for him and will only have eyes for him.

Y/n was sandwiches between Harry and Chris with jemma, Nick opposite with Florence and Sydney head of the table.

“I love the material of your dress y/n” Chris nonchalantly mumbled while running his fingers on the red satin dress.

“Yeah it’s nice right, don’t you look beautiful baby” Harry was quick to say pressing a kiss on her temple.

“Where is it from?” Chris asked.

“Oh this is-“ y/n started.

“This is Gucci isn’t it darling? My very own collection tailored and measured especially for her” Harry spoke.

“Yeah, yeah that he did” y/n bash fully laughed.

“Wow! That’s crazy, I’m invited actually to be one of Guccis models for next month’s catalog” Chris bragged maintaining eye contact with Harry.

“Maybe you two should do a fashion collab” y/n mentioned taking a sip of her wine.

“100%” Chris mumbled into his napkin that he delicately patted around his lips.

The rest of the night went down a blast the girls shared laughter and gossip as the evening went on, Harry and the rest of the boys managed to have a conversation and the dining experience itself was great.

Harry just couldn’t take his eyes off of what Chris was to do next.

While y/n was speaking to Gemma who was adjacent to her Harry noticed Chrises heart eyes.

“Oh it’s lovely, me and Harry went a few years back missed it ever since” she began

“Where’s this y/n?” Chris interrupted.

Harry noticed the sudden interruption due to him, he placed his palm on her knee and gave it a light squeeze in a way to show he’s sorry for the interruption.

“Oh just telling Gemma about almafi coast, me and H went a few years ago” she smiled turning back to hemme and continuing her story.

As y/n carried on her conversation, it was the little things that Harry noticed. The way Chris would look from her dress all the way to her eyes, the way he would bite his lip when he had his attention. It was driving him mad.

“And so i Definitely thin-“ y/n started

“Y/n, I have to say your looking beautiful tonight” Chris blurted.

“You interrupted her to say that?” Harry said placing his arm on the back of y/n’s chair and leaning forward to meet eyes with Chris.

“Harry-“ she warned.

“Is a compliment a bad thing?” He answered back.

The tone in the both the boys caused the table to turn to the three of them.

“When I’m right here yeah” Harry scoffed.

“Harry-baby-“

“All I’m doing is complimenting her, something I haven’t seen you do all night” he laughed, causing the rest of the table to watch in shock, those who knew Harry knew when it comes to his lovie there’s no messing.

“Chris” Nick gasped.

“M’not hearing this all night, I’ll be outside y/n” and with that Harry rose from his seat and made his way to the exit of the restaurant.

A cold chill blew over y/n’s spine, this escalated from 0-100 very quickly.

“All over a compliment?!” He laughed taking a swig of his whiskey.

“I should go see him-“ Nick offered.

“It’s fine” y/n sighed.

“I’ll go” she begins as she stands and grabs her bag and slings it over her shoulder.

“Thanks for tonight guys” she said trying to be as friendly as she could.

“I’m sure he’s fine he’s just a bit stresse-“

“You don’t Need to explain yourself to us y/n, go find your man and keep us updated” Sydney said with Jemma and Flo nodding in agreement.

Y/n pushed the cold glass door open with her palm and slowly walked around the place in search of her boyfriend.

“Hey you” she said gently to the familiar figure that stood just by an alleyway.

“Fuck, love I’m so fucking sorry” he started.

“Hey hey hey” she said voice softening.

With a glance she could note the glossy eyes, without another word she wrapped her arms around his blazer clad waist, brung him in tightly.

“How about we get to the hotel and you can tell me what’s going on hey?” She offered using her fingers to play with the curls at the back of his head.

“Mmhmm” he hummed.

— — — — —

The ride back to the hotel was silent but not at all uncomfortable or awkward y/n knew he was hurt by something and she was determined to find out before the night ended.

They checked back into there hotel rooms and much to Harry lamberts disgust there fancy clothes ended up remaining in the floor for the night.

Y/n changed into one of Harry’s hoodies and her joggers.

Y/n joined harry on the bed and immediately made her self comfy, and cuddled straight into him.

“What’s going on H” she lowly whispered.

“Feel like I don’t appreciate you enough” he started.

“Hmm?” She hummed confused

“All night he had something to say, ‘oh your dress’, ‘oh your makeup’ and I just, I don’t know, feel shitty” he said honestly.

“And every look he gave you, every compliment, every touch he gave you it just scares me” he said pushing his head into the nook of her shoulder.

“Scares you?” She asked.

“I can’t lose you y/n, and Chris being this admittedly handsome guy, and giving you so much more attention then I did, it’s understandable”

“Harry”

“Baby, never, ever worry about that, no Chris or any other person could ever take me away from you ever”

She traced the back of his neck with her gentle fingertips.

“Only have eyes for you my love, only for you, and I don’t need your affection to feel loved by you, knowing your next to me or even in my life makes me feel like the luckiest girl ever” she stated whole heartedly.

— — — — —

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #my fic writing #harry styles au #harry styles blurb #harry styles x y/n #fluff #boyfriendrry #don’t worry darling #dwd #Chris pine #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles x fem!reader #actor harry x y/n #harry #angst

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jestinjoculators · 7 months

Text

Here's a doodle of all the horror movies I watched for the first time during October !

Couldn't do every single day of October and missed out on a lot of films i planned to watch due to work and such, most were watched with friends, some (like the obvious scream-binge I had) were by myself! I plan to continue this chart for every Horror movie I watch after this post!

AWARDS:

I got an A in film studies so my opinion is obviously fact

WORST/LEAST SPOOKY:

Obviously Jennifer's Body got the worst points, but I didn't even choose that one so Jennifer gets a mere participation award, I'm not even going to talk about that one.

Besides her, the winner is the Exorcist! Congratulations????

I'm sorry, I do not care for exorcism horror, I think religious horror is badass, and posession/exorcism should be too, but it's lame. This just felt like my priest was wiggling his fingers at me with a flashlight under his chin. HOWEVER - I CAN appreciate the impact it had on horror and pop culture, and its theme is awesome.

BEST/MOST SPOOKY:

oh oops it's a top 3 lol...well anyway,

*opens the palm of my hand*

I liek these ones..... :) they scare me

okay well Sadako not as much, she's too cute to spook me, as well as the film being mostly buildup and story than spooks. The well scene though? EOUGH. It's like touching wet food while washing dishes but x10 worse. I love Ringu and dear little Sadako very much!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre was slightly horrifying, everytime Bubba showed up I went AAH even if it wasn't a jumpscare, maybe I'm just afraid of hillbillies? Lmao. Everything about Bubba's house just creeps me out, especially that red room with all the animal heads, why did any of the victims willingly go in there???

The spook factor went down pretty hard when I saw Bubba interacting with his family though, but that's not a bad thing for the film itself. I just couldn't be scared with how much I sympathised with Bubba, the 6"5 stroganoff of a man turned into a confused child in front of my very eyes. I love TCM a whole lot, my only complaint is that it was too short, I wanted it to be LONGER.

So My Bloody Valentine gets the TRUE Spook Award, and I thought Harry Warden was pretty adorable to look at, but no, he's beastly. I was creeped out almost the entire film. The gore was scarily creative and brutal, even if I didn't go AAH as much as something like TCM, I was cold when things got tense.

But eh...thanks for reading....here's a bonus award *opens my other palm*

The Autism Award

It is literally his fault I'm talking to you right now. All of this. Everything that's ever happened. It's his fault.

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slonechnik · 3 months

Text

oh but what do you see in harry why do you like him so much whats so good about him he stinks hes an addict hes done fucked up shit hes not even cute how can you find anything attractive in him how do you find anything good like AAAAAAAA

ITS ABOUT CHOICE! THERES SO MANY BAD OPTIONS TO CHOSE FROM BUT THERE IS STILL AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING INCREDIBLY KIND AS HARRY

YOU CAN BE AN ULTRALIBERAL YOU CAN BE A MORALIST A FASCIST EVEN BUT YOU CAN ALSO CONSCIOUSLY CHOSE NOT TO PURSUE ANY OF THESE ROUTES

ITS ABOUT HAVING CAPACITY TO DO GOOD IN A WORLD THAT ACTIVELY DISCOURAGES YOU FROM IT IN A SYSTEM THAT EVEN PUNISHES YOU FOR IT

ITS ABOUT CAPACITY FOR CHANGE ITS ABOUT THE BEAUTY OF HUMAN RESILIENCE

and honestly so what if hes an addict! im surrounded by addicts! theres an alcoholic living next door theres acoholics at a family function theres a bunch sitting at a bench near the church or at the park theres an addict i love theres an addict i just met or some that i just heard of and some are kind some are not some are trying to get help some arent some stopped using and some havent and they all deserve at least the basic modicum of respect and kindness and aid harry might be fictional but all his troubles and ailments are not theyre real things that happen to real people! and i do empathize with that! sometimes i even relate! and it does make me love him as a character very much!

and frankly i dont care if hes conventionally attractive im tired of conventionally attractive im tired of seeing the same cardboard cutout of a pretty face and perfect abs okay! i find the receding hairline delightful! i love a belly! thick arms are wonderful! i dont care that his ass is flaccid thats where all our asses head towards and theres beauty in it! and in the flamboyant mismatched clothing and weird hairstyles and questionable facial hair! and idc abt the bloating or the redness i have a red face too! perpetually! i think its cute! and its also a testament to the resilience of human body and it is inherently beautiful to me!

and he stinks bc hes on a bender and forgot everything and doesnt even know what money is give him time honestly you can work up to a good hygiene and a good routine

okay im done goodbye

#disco elysium #harry dubois #harrier du bois #riemblings #ive seen one post too many ill probably feel stupid about this tomorrow but for now im going to sleep or finish writing my stupid essay #i hate having adhd but thats besides the point okay #i love harry a lot idcidcidcisc #message me with your harry critique when you manage to not make it abt his disabilities or his looks or his addiction #hes far from perfect hes done horrible things! and yet everyone is focused on him having shit hygiene and a drug and alcohol problem #okay im fine now!! im fine! im okay!!

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cupid-styles · 1 month

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WEED/INTOX CONCEPTS IM SO UP !!!!!!

soft plug!h x sunshine reader who buys from him and he has a huge crush on her but shes a little oblivious and he always tries to be extra nice to her and give her more than she paid for in hopes of her talking to him more and maybe one night she buys from him and invites him to stay and maybe smoke w her bc its raining and she feels bad she made him come all the way to her house and they smoke and he cant stop staring at her and its very fluffy and cute

i love down bad plugrry

thoughts?? :D

AWWWW that's so cute :(((( I love the thought of him being a softie!! I actually started writing a plug!y/n blurb awhile ago and I just never finished it, but it was kind of like this where she was just the soft plug instead of him BUT he was still super down bad for her </3333

I'm not sure if the completed blurb will ever see the light of day but here's a little bit of it under the cut!

CWs: weed (obviously) lol

word count: 414

Harry doesn’t actually need any weed.

However, this doesn’t stop him from texting the cute girl who sells nuggets of weed and bundles of shrooms in adorable pastel pink baggies. He met Y/N through friends a few months back — she was roommates with Lena in college and apparently had a knack for making edibles that got you to a smooth high without completely melting your brain. The second she introduced herself to him, with her bright smile and sweet voice, Harry was hooked.

Stupidly, ridiculously hooked.

The thing is, Harry doesn’t even like weed that much. He’ll smoke at parties every now and then, but it’s usually just one or two hits from a friend’s joint before he returns to drinking whatever tequila-based cocktail he’s palming in his hand. But she’s so sweet, and cute, and she keeps her drugs in a canvas tote bag that says “support your local public library.” How was Harry not supposed to fall for her?

And yeah, he bought some pre-rolled joints from her a week and a half ago at Mitch and Sarah’s housewarming party — his heart nearly collapsed to his stomach when he saw the adorable strawberry rolling papers she used — but he misses her. It’s dumb, considering they barely know one another, but it’s a Wednesday evening and he can’t stop thinking about the warm scent of her perfume and the pretty, flushed hue of her lips.

So, he texts her.

Their entire text thread is filled with Harry being stupidly obvious about his feelings for her, thinly veiled by requests for deliveries and pick-ups. Tonight is no different: Hey Y/N, hope you’re having a good week :) do you think I can come pick up tonight?

She replies almost immediately as Harry drums his fingers nervously on his thigh. His stomach dips when he reads her response. Of course!!!!! :) come by whenever ur free !

He swallows tightly when she follows it up with another message: also im making veggie pasta if u haven’t eaten dinner yet! I made too much and it never reheats well! you’re more than welcome to it if u’d like :))))

Typically when he buys weed from her, their interactions are far too short for his liking. They engage in friendly small talk and she giggles at whatever bad jokes he makes, but they’ve never actually hung out one-on-one. The thought makes Harry prickle with nerves, but he knows he’d be foolish not to take her up on her offer.

#bestie asks #plug!y/n

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jarofstyles · 7 months

Text

FICTOBER DAY 23 - Don't Hide That Smile

some cute comforting H <3 sorry for being days late my loves

FICTOBER

Patreon

----------------------

“Y/N…. Come on.” Harry pleaded. “I think that got a smile out of you, don’t hide it away!”

It did, in fact, get a smile out of her. But the absolute fail of a costume had made her very, very upset at first.

In hindsight, Y/N knew that attempting a full costume as a first sewing project was ambitious to say the least. What was supposed to be a floor length gown ended up looking like a giant tube, the seams wonky and her poor attempt of dying the fabric last minute making the fabric look like it had been a weird bleach accident. It was the night before halloween and they’d had a check in, Harry wanting to see and Y/N bursting into tears when he’d aside to see the finished product.

To make matters worse, she had pretended she had it all under control. To a fashion student Harry. She’d wanted to impress him, but she had made a fool out of herself and told Harry she was a phony, which he quickly reassured she wasn’t and thought it was cute she wanted to impress him. When he’d asked to see it, if maybe he could help fix it, she assured him he couldn’t, but it still didn’t help when his reaction to the dress had been a wide eyed “Oh….”

That had sent another bout of tears, making Harry panic at now being the source of them, so he tried to mend his error.

“I didn’t mean a bad, oh!”

“I mean, I’m shocked but I wasn’t trying to be mean!”

“It isn’t awful, please don’t cry.

“Babe, it’s camp… no. It’s French.”

The reference to Fleabag made her crying stop for a moment, trying not to laugh. She still felt like a failure when he gently dragged her hands off of her face and tried to wipe her tears, frowning as he really didn’t like to see Y/N upset. No one would. She looked so sad and heart wrenching when she cried, her eyes rounding and the little pout- no.

“I-It can’t be saved, Harry. I watched project runway and i thought I could do it cheaper but-but its so hard to sew on the little machine I got and-and fabric is so, so expensive!” That was a fact Harry knew firsthand. No wonder he tries to get thrifted things so often. “I thought helping my grandma when I was younger would have paid off but no. So now I look dumb, I cried in front of you and I’ve got no costume. It’s too late to go gething now, they’re all gonna suck.” She sniffled, making his heart throb when her sad look hit him.

He couldn’t lie- the dress was bad. Awful. He didn’t know how she overestimated or cut the length so long, or why the ruffles were sewn over each other or how the bodice was crooked, but somehow she had created an atrocity. But it was abstract, if you’d want to think of it that way- and god, he needed to to calm her down. Functionally, the dress was useless, but in a matter of art, anything could be good.

There was no way he wouldn’t be flattered that she had done this to impress him. It was beyond cute and sweet and he just wanted to squish her cheeks and kiss her little lips but he held it together. “It’s okay, sweets. You aren’t dumb, we’re all set with the crying now, and we can find you a costume. It’s totally okay. We can match…” He tried to think of what else they could be. Their original was prince and princess, but he had to think on his toes. Looking around, he prayed for inspiration and to actually be quick on his feet sometimes- and thankfully it was answered as he looked at her muted TV.

“Pam and Jim!” he exclaimed. “Yes- you have the things to be the cat, I can do the paper shirt thing. What do you think?”

Y/N seemed to mull it over, sniffling again as her eyes scanned Harry’s face. That had been quick, but… “That’s a good idea.” She smiled slightly, making him sag with relief. He couldn’t handle seeing her sad. “A-are you sure, though? I know it’s a downgrade from the other costume we planned. I’m sorry.” Y/N really did feel stupid about it but it really didn’t seem like Harry minded.

“Not a big deal, baby. Promise.” His hands smoothed her hair back, smiling lightly down at her. Halloween wasn’t his thing and he had agreed to go to the costume party with her so he’d made his costume, but he was sort of relieved considering his prince outfit could get a bit hot. “All that matters is we’re going to be together and ditch Niall’s as soon as we’re ready eat our body weight in sweets. I ordered that variety bag, y’know?”

Her eyes lit up at the mention, making her nod. “Does it have Kit-Kats?” She whispered, her grin widening when he nodded back. “Okay. It sounds good to me then.” Her face plastered to Harry’s chest, body sagging in relief. The secret was out, the embarrassment was over, and now she could finally breathe again. Although.. “When he said he was going all out for the pe party.. I just really hope Niall doesn’t get one of those fog machines inside the house. You can’t breathe with that stuff on”

“About that….” Harry hissed, pretending to wince.

“For fucks sake. Maybe we are ditching super early.” “I’ve got no problem with that.”

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genericpuff · 5 months

Note

Do you have any recommendations for comics on tapas? I'm rather new to the app so I wondered if you had any. Sorry if someone already asked!

Oh, so many! Tapas was one of my OG homes waaay back in the day, when I was still getting into drawing comics (back then it was gag-a-days). I spent a lot of time reading comics on there and it was one of my first introductions to comic platforms in general (next to SmackJeeves, RIP).

Rock and Riot - 1950's LGBTQ+ gangster teenagers getting into shenanigans and turf wars. Very cute and fun and adorable <3

Monster Pop! - Monster girls who are besties! This one has some real gorgeous art especially if you like the original vibes of S1 LO, lots of bright beautiful colors and lineless shapes. The creator of this comic, mayakern, now develops comfortable and eco-friendly skirts with her wife and pals for plus-sized folks! (they have pockets!)

A BETTER PLACE - Young girl Hannah and her little brother Theo find something cool in the woods. Children becoming gods. This was one of those comics that had some REALLY cool "you had to be there" time travel elements that aren't quite as immersive in hindsight (I was one of those people who were there and DAMN it was awesome), but it's still absolutely worth the read and it operates as a sort of prequel to another one of Harry Bogosian's comics on the platform.

Fail by Error - This comic is long since done with, its creator having moved on to bigger things, but at one point in time, this was the titan series on Tapas, before the platform became predominantly BL's and isekais. Fail by Error was truly one of the best of the best of Tapas-hosted comics from its golden era of comedy comics. Also the creator made art for me once and I still have it! <3

(my babieees <3)

RandoWis - funny gag strip is funny ! He also draws an MMO-themed comic that - coincidentally - when I double checked, looks like it stopped updating in 2021 until two days ago. So yeah, good time to check that one out too!

Undying Happiness - Naomi takes a chance on love and decides to meet up with a guy she met online. He turns out to not look like the guy in the photos in the most hilariously absurd way.

Deep Fried Pudge - Okay, this is a really weird inclusion because like... this comic isn't good. This comic is painfully bad. Like, "roll your eyes into the back of your skull at your dad's stupid jokes" bad. This comic has not stopped updating daily since 2012. It literally just had its 11 year anniversary. Every update is just a single panel either making some pun or just stating very innocent, inoffensive opinions. There are four thousand of these things. And every single one is done with the same art style and joke structure as before, the comics from today look and feel like a 7 year old made them the exact same way they did 10 years ago, as if trapped in a hellish time capsule of its own design, and I love it, I freaking love it. Its existence quite literally defies human nature. Reading it and attempting to comprehend why it exists is like staring into the eyes of some Eldritch god that chose peace over chaos. Pudge will outlive all of us. Pudge will outlive the universe. All hail Pudge.

#there are definitely tons more that i haven't unlocked in my brain #i spent so much of my formative webcomic years on tapas man #i miss the way it used to be #like yeah ok it has actual branding and its own originals catalogue now #but what it is today is only a fraction of what it used to be in terms of its community and culture #i haven't been on tapas since 2020ish and like #it was a good decision to leave #but damn i miss it sometimes #there are some genuinely amazing hidden treasures on it that either got buried or just stopped updating but are still 100% worth reading #webcomic recommendations #tapas #tapastic #webtoon recommendations #ama #ask me anything #anon ama #anon ask me anything

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drarrily-we-row-along · 1 year

Text

The curse Harry had been hit with wasn’t so bad when he became something cute and small.

At the end of some days he just transformed into a little lapdog, easily squishable, easily manageable, easily lovable. Those days it was easy to curl up on Draco’s lap, to allow his ears to be stroked, soft endearments spoken over him. He’d often drift off to sleep, lulled by the peace and easy contentment of being scooped and cradled in gentle arms.

Some days he became something a little bigger, something with bigger teeth and a bit of a reputation, something that some people might be a little afraid of. But he wasn’t actually dangerous unless provoked, just a bit larger than some might prefer; his bark was certainly worse than his bite. Still it was easy enough to allow himself to be cuddled and held, to be petted and told that he was good. Even if he might feel a little grumbly about it, huffing barks and little growls, the affection and gentleness he so craved with this form was easily accessible. There was always a couch to lay on, Draco’s thigh to press against, his knee to rest his chin on while he was told that he was good if a bit misunderstood.

It wasn’t even too bad on the days that he looked more like a wolf than a dog, when his body was as long or longer than a human was tall, when his teeth were long and sharp, when his throat was possessed by the urge to howl. Even then, it wasn't too hard to transform, to run, to push his body to its limits before collapsing on the floor in front of the fire, sofa at his back. He was, theoretically, actually dangerous in this form. But hands were always gentle, stroking his thick fur, removing any burrs that had gotten caught, offering him water and little treats. The words were still always gentle, soft declarations of love, proclaiming his goodness in spite of how dangerous he might have been.

But nights like tonight were a different story entirely. On nights like these, he transformed into something far smaller than the wolf, and perhaps he wouldn’t have been seen as a threat in this body. Small, frail-looking, and very obviously wounded; everything about this body ached, everything about this body was too much for him to bear. And the woundedness, the pain that left him exposed and broken, made him more dangerous than any of the others. To be pet in this form was to experience pain, even the most gentle hands prompted a reaction; a bite, a snarl, teeth snapping and hackles rising.

On nights like tonight, he didn’t go inside. He didn’t find his way to the chair or the sofa, didn’t find a comfortable place to lay in front of the fire. No, on nights like tonight, he carried himself, limping and bleeding, into the woods and found a place to lie down. The forest was alive with the sounds of creatures around him and even the noise rubbed something raw inside of him.

He found a giant tree, one whose roots had carved out a hollow in the earth between, and laid down in the dirt close to the trunk, gingerly curling his body around itself. The small whines that escaped his throat were inevitable, he was unable to stop himself from whimpering in pain no matter how he tried.

And that was where Draco found him, lying shivering from cold and pain, trying very hard to block out all of the world. A low growl escaped his throat as Draco approached, teeth bared in a snarl, in spite of the way that his presence soothed something inside of his chest.

“I thought I might find you out here,” he said evenly, sitting down a few feet away, giving him space. “I worry for you when you don’t come home, you know.”

He huffed and curled tighter, shifting slightly away from him.

“I brought some things that might help,” he said, taking the rucksack off and flipping it open, “maybe a little water first?” Draco suggested, filling a bowl and offering it to him, “or a snack. You must be hungry from how far you ran,” he added, nudging some food toward him as well.

After a few minutes of careful mistrust, sniffing the proffered gifts for any signs of poison, any ill intent, he took a few tentative sips of water, a bite of food.

“Bandages next,” he said softly, broadcasting his movements as he pulled out ointments and bandages, salves and healing potions. “I know you don’t like this part, but it always helps.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that was true but it didn’t stop him from snapping at his hand when he reached toward him.

“It’s alright,” Draco soothed, not pulling away, not turning back. Gentle hands, hands that had praised and healed before, resumed their task, starting with the most obvious gaping wounds.

The process hurt, he cried and whimpered, shifting restlessly while the wounds were dressed. And when he was done, Harry thought he would leave, thought that was enough, surely, already too much to ask, too much to take.

But instead he prompted, “Let me see.”

He growled, low and dangerous; guarding the deep, festering wounds that he’d purposely kept hidden. They were ugly, dangerous in their own right, the festering was toxic; something that could poison not only his own body but that of anyone he touched as well.

“Come on,” he murmured, soft and encouraging, “show me.”

Pushing back, he found himself trapped against the tree. His hackles rose and he crouched a little lower to the ground but before he could work himself up too much further Draco took a step back.

“You’re alright,” he said gently, “you’re safe, you’re not trapped.” Another step back and his body eased a bit. “You get to choose. You don’t have to let me help, but I want to. I’m here when you’re ready.”

He laid back down, his whole body shaking with exhaustion and a pain that radiated from his chest and throughout his body. And he watched him.

And Draco just looked back at him, not pushing, not expecting him to do anything, not forcing anything on him. But he made it equally clear that he was not going anywhere, that he really would sit there until Harry was ready. The experience of his desire for his healing was almost too much, it set a pain even deeper in his body, all the way down into his bones.

After several minutes of staring at one another, his growl turned into a low whine, soft and pitiful, even to his own ears.

“Come here,” he invited again, holding out a hand and waiting.

He crawled forward on his belly and bumped his hand with his snoot and he carefully stroked his head.

“You’re good,” he murmured as he rubbed his ear between his thumb and forefinger, “you’re good.”

Whining, Harry gingerly rolled onto his side, exposing the wounds on his chest. They were the worst, he knew they were the ugliest, the deepest, the most dangerous.

“Oh,” he whispered soft and aching, “let me?” he asked and Harry turned his head to the side, allowing him to clean them, to work in the ointment that would ultimately heal in spite of how badly it hurt, before bandaging them.

Panting, whimpering, he waited for the sharp pain to dull, to ease.

Draco shifted closer, sitting cross legged near his head, petting him and murmuring soft, gentle words to him. “Come home,” he murmured.

He curled into a ball, settling his body back into the tree roots once more, seeking the shelter of the tree. It was enough, this place, wounds already tended to, water and food freely given; more than enough really all things considered when you saw his ugliness, his brokenness, the way he snapped and growled. It was too much, surely, for anyone to bear.

With a little sigh, he unrolled a mat and started to settle on the ground, like he planned to stay.

Lifting his head he gave a little bark and nudged his hip with his nose.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said stubbornly, “not without you. You either come with me or I stay here, that’s how this works.”

He huffed and gave another bark but when Draco made no signs of moving, he curled up tighter and tucked his head. Dozing off was a matter of necessity at this point, exhaustion made every limb heavy and achy.

When he woke, body stiff and sore, nerves alight with the sensation of sleeping somewhere unfamiliar, he turned his head and found that he was still there, watching over him while he slept. “You’re alright,” he soothed, “you’re safe.”

Whining again, he leaned forward slowly and pressed his nose to Draco’ arm.

“Home?” he asked softly, two fingers tracing over the bridge of his nose.

And he gave in, let himself be loved, be too much, he stood and waited while he rolled his mat and packed up. The walk back was a slow, painful one but he stayed by his side the whole way back, not rushing him, just staying with him.

When they got back he laid down in front of the fireplace and Draco built up the fire, then covered him with a blanket and sat beside him to stroke his head until he drifted off to sleep again.

---------------

The next morning, the sun shining through the windows woke him. He shifted with a groan, stretching his stiff muscles.

“There’s coffee on the table.”

He looked over at Draco where he was sitting looking out the window and sipping his own cup of coffee, before sitting up and reaching for the cup. Leaning against the sofa, he took a sip of coffee before scrubbing his hand over his face. “Sorry,” he finally said, voice coming out rough from misuse.

��I’m not,” Draco replied without missing a beat.

He laughed, a hint of bitter disbelief in his voice, “you had to chase me out into the woods,” he said. “Heal gaping, disgusting wounds.”

“I love you,” he countered, like it was the easiest thing in the world. “I’ll always come find you. I’ll always want to help you heal.”

He shook his head and looked down at his coffee. “I hate this curse,” he whispered, broken and frustrated.

“It doesn’t have to be a curse.” He stood up and moved over to sit next to him on the floor, shoulder to shoulder with their backs pressed against the legboard of the sofa. “Not if you let me help you, not if you let me see you.”

“It feels like as much of a curse for you as it is for me.”

He shook his head, “I want all of you. You aren’t too much,” he added softly.

He leaned over and rested his head on Draco’s shoulder, “I feel like too much.”

“You’re not,” Draco said easily. “And it’s okay that you feel that way. But you’re not too much, your wounds aren’t too much. It’s helpful sometimes,” he continued, “to see how hard your days are,” he kissed the top of his head. “You always want to hide the hurt away from me, but you can’t like this. I like getting to know what’s really going on inside of you.”

A tear slipped down his cheek, rolling down his chin, “what if it never gets easier? What if I never stop feeling this much pain? What if I never stop growling and snapping at you? What if I hurt you?”

“That was a lot of different questions,” he said, kissing the top of his head again. “I imagine that sometimes it will get easier and sometimes it will get harder.”

“Great. That sounds really good,” he muttered.

He laughed, soft and fond, “that’s just life. Sometimes we feel a lot of pain, we experience inordinate amounts of suffering. But you can always growl and snap at me, you can push me as hard as you want but I’m not going to leave. I won’t ever leave,” he promised. “Even if you hurt me.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered.

“I know,” he affirmed. “But even if you do, we’ll make it better. You don’t have to shut me out, you don’t have to try to protect me from yourself. I’m not afraid of you.” Draco nudged him up off his shoulder so he could look at Harry’s face.

For a long moment, he just let him look, let himself be flayed open by his piercing silver gaze, every secret laid bare.

“You are good,” he said. “You are loved, so loved. All you have to do is let me love you.”

“I’m scared,” he confessed.

He smiled and let him snuggle back against his side, head resting on his shoulder once more. “I know. But you’re not alone. I’ll be with you,” he assured him. “I’ll be your safety net, I’ll help.” He rested his cheek on Harry's head, “everything will be alright in the end,” he promised. “You just have to trust me.”

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