Here’s the chappie where you get a look beyond the Mediterranean fortress Harry calls home… ;)
Timing is sometimes too perfect to be the pure product of coincidence.
Everything is connected: the earth and the seas, the moon, and all the sky’s stars.
Our bodies are made of these, fragments of their nature, tying us to this world.
Aunt Lara used to tell me that we are a part of the cosmos, the cosmos pushing and pulling people into paths they’re supposed to be on. She’d smoke her cigarette on our porch with the full moon hanging high in the sky that she’d soon be flying through, and I’d nod, thinking I was so cool just for being around her. It was our time then, just the two of us, sometime after my parents had gone asleep and I’d sneak past their room to meet her outside. She never told my parents I was staying up late on a school night. She’d take another drag, extending one to me, knowing I wouldn’t take it.
“I’ve seen seven year olds with these things,” she’d mutter, laughing to herself, and when she’d look out, I imagined she was envisioning the Roman Cafe she’d frequent beside the famed Colosseum. A hot sun, and balmy breeze, warm like the foreign friends she’d meet, or the lukewarm seas lapping around her ankles. “So much warmer and clearer than anything you’ve ever felt here. The most miraculous shades of blue…” She’d smoke, she’d smile. I’d admire.
Here’s the chappie where you get a look beyond the Mediterranean fortress Harry calls home… ;)
Timing is sometimes too perfect to be the pure product of coincidence.
Everything is connected: the earth and the seas, the moon, and all the sky’s stars.
Our bodies are made of these, fragments of their nature, tying us to this world.
Aunt Lara used to tell me that we are a part of the cosmos, the cosmos pushing and pulling people into paths they’re supposed to be on. She’d smoke her cigarette on our porch with the full moon hanging high in the sky that she’d soon be flying through, and I’d nod, thinking I was so cool just for being around her. It was our time then, just the two of us, sometime after my parents had gone asleep and I’d sneak past their room to meet her outside. She never told my parents I was staying up late on a school night. She’d take another drag, extending one to me, knowing I wouldn’t take it.
“I’ve seen seven year olds with these things,” she’d mutter, laughing to herself, and when she’d look out, I imagined she was envisioning the Roman Cafe she’d frequent beside the famed Colosseum. A hot sun, and balmy breeze, warm like the foreign friends she’d meet, or the lukewarm seas lapping around her ankles. “So much warmer and clearer than anything you’ve ever felt here. The most miraculous shades of blue…” She’d smoke, she’d smile. I’d admire.
It was a full moon that night.
Just like it was tonight.
There are some things that happen so precisely, I think there must not be any other way these things could have happened, no other explanation, other than Aunt Lisa’s: the universe and its timing are inextricably linked to create our destiny.
Our choices change our future, sure. But there’s something beyond that, in the fickle way our choices play out ironically, that makes me think some things are fated. God, the cosmos, whatever you believed in - they had bigger plans for everyone.
They certainly had bigger plans for me other than a depressing Netflix binge in my dorm room after the game.
Yellow fluorescents flickered in the dismal parking garage. Lionel Styles was waiting by the elevators with Sven, looking oddly casual in normal streetwear. They grabbed Harry from me as soon as I’d parked, carrying him in. I followed, for a brief second questioning whether or not my services were needed. Maybe this was only family now.
But Lionel hastily beckoned me towards him. “You wanted a hands on experience right?”
His words seemed crass in a moment like this, but I brushed it off as stress as I went with them in the elevator. Lionel punched in a code and it creaked to life, slower than normal. A table had already been cleared in one of the surgery rooms, a white plastic sheet like that of a serial killer lain across. Gauze, ice water, rags, forceps, and needles were atop a metal tray. It was everything I expected of a surgical room - stark, sterile, and cold without any frivolous decor. No paintings. I assumed there was never anyone awake enough in this room to enjoy them anyway. Sven lay a white medical pillow down, too thin to be comfortable, as Lionel lowered Harry. I cringed, feeling another wave of nausea wrack through me. His gauze, once pink, was now completely red and looked wet to the touch.
“He’s been bleeding this whole time,” I breathed. Albeit obvious, it was less to inform Lionel than it was to come to terms with it myself.
Lionel flicked one of the syringes, nodding solemnly. “He might need a blood transfusion.”
Blood transfusion. IV poles were behind the table, blood blags and clear IV fluid already ready. He was expecting this.
“Shouldn’t he be at a hospital?”
“Nothing we can’t do. He’s just a boy. Gets into scrapes every now and then.”
“This is more than a scrape.”
He ignored me, plunging the needle in, and less than a second later, Harry’s eyes fluttered.
“Adrenaline,” I whispered under my breath. I recognized the protocol.
Lionel looked at me, curiously. “You’ve done a good job. Did you stuff the wound?”
I shook my head. Harry was still lightly breathing thanks to the adrenaline. But he wasn’t anywhere near stabilized to warrant my work being commended.
“It’ll be enough until my friend gets here,” he said.
I looked at him, skeptically.
“The anesthesiologist,” he clarified.
And I blamed it on the shock for being so daft. Dr. Styles had been established in the medical field since he received his degree, it was no surprise if he had a “friend” for everything.
“Is Mary here?” I don’t know why I asked this question. I don’t know why I thought it was relevant. Perhaps because if my mom knew I was bleeding out on a table, she’d be right there. Right beside me. She would’ve been the one driving, bossing around all the doctors. 911 would have been called and she would’ve moved hell fire and water screaming like a banshee to get to me. “Does she know?” I questioned.
Lionel didn’t even look at me, carefully unwrapping the gauze. “She’s sleeping. I didn’t wake her.”
The separate lives of Mr. and Mrs. Styles spread further in my eyes, only their roof and rings joining them.
I unpacked new gauze, handing it to him. The butterfly bandaids hadn’t held, big shock, and blood trickled down in a steady current. How much blood could he have left? Lionel didn’t have time to be surprised, but the stoic doctor looked a shade whiter when he grabbed the gauze. The wound was exposed and he hesitated, simply applying pressure. His hands bloodied by the second.
For as renowned as he was, in facing his own son, he suddenly seemed paralyzed. I wanted to shake him.
Sven re-entered, slightly out of breath. I’d never noticed him leaving. “They’re here, sir. But they can’t get in-”
A spark was lit. Something familiar for him to grasp onto. “Elevator’s been jamming,” he cursed.
I helped apply pressure, and Dr. Styles looked at me, unsettled.
“I’ll stay here. You can let them in,” I nodded, even though there hadn’t been a question.
“It’s deep. So you have to physically stuff the wound with gauze. Have you ever dealt with a stab wound?”
My eyes narrowed. He already knew what kind of injury it was.
Then, mustering all the poise and retort of the First Lady, “With all due respect sir, I can do this.”
“I’ve seen grown men faint at the sight of needles let alone handling an open wound.”
“Thank God I’m a woman then.” I don’t know what possessed me, but my steely gaze must’ve been convincing. Lionel ran through the door, not even bothering to shut it.
Perhaps it was all the hours of being kept to dull paperwork and the maddening helplessness I’d felt for too long now.
But I couldn’t sit around anymore.
I needed to do something.
Sven watched me as I put on gloves and bunched up the gauze, holding my breath as I pushed it past the skin’s opening, ignoring his little gasps telling me this was hurting him, and ignoring the hot sensation around my hands. Tissue. That hot sensation was his tissue. I was inside Harry. I was touching… suddenly the anatomy I’d memorized in textbooks was a little too detailed. These gloves were too thin. I kept going and Sven jumped in to help elevate Harry so I could wrap the gauze around his entire abdomen, stuffing his wound until it was full.
We didn’t speak.
I sat on the only steel stool in silence. I may not want to sit around, but right now the floor could move beneath me at any moment. Sven was in the corner of the room, gaze locked to the clock. The minutes seemed to tick by slower than anything I’d ever felt. I could feel time, just like in the elevator. And maybe it was because his time was running out. He could die. Harry could very well die. If I’d chosen to go with Renny, if I’d stayed a moment longer, if I’d left a moment sooner, I would’ve passed the locker room without hearing him, without seeing him at all. What would the alternative have been? An image of Harry bleeding out, cold on the floor made me nauseous.
And still the clock ticked.
I could have screamed by the time they burst through the doors in a flury. Two men I’d never seen before entered in slacks and untucked button-downs. This hadn’t been an expected call. This wasn’t official. They ignored Sven and I, instantly getting to work, which was fine by me as long as I could stay. They inserted needles and attached wires and masks until I wasn’t sure I could untangle him if I tried. The smallest mewling noises came from him, but he didn’t stir. I don’t think he had it in him to move anymore. Only able to give one desperate lolled roll of his head.
One of the men, the anesthesiologist, fiddled with a machine. The whooshof releasing gas sounded when Harry took his first breaths. A slow, but steady, heart rate appeared on the monitor.
Lionel looked at it briefly.
The Doctor and his helpers worked for what seemed like hours. Maybe it was. For how long time felt and despite how intently I’d been staring at the clock, I couldn’t recall when we’d arrived. I cringed as they undid my handiwork, only to excavate deeper into the wound. I know this might be my future when I pursued medical school, but on more than one occasion I had to look away.
Sven had left the room entirely, standing guard just beyond the door. At least Sven escaped the smell of metal and flesh.
They stapled Harry together like meat, a butchered boy on the operating table, like Hasbro Operation except no one was laughing when the forceps dug in, and nobody won.
Every time I cringed, I reminded myself: Harry was asleep. He couldn’t feel any of this.
He looked like a corpse under the unforgiving white light, but the heartbeat reminded me he was alive.
When Lionel Styles finally turned away, tossing his gloves in the bin, he looked whiter than the sheet beneath Harry.
It was the longest night I’d ever had.
But for him, to excavate into his son the way he just had, I imagined it was longer.
——
“I didn’t have to come,” Matt said, for the first time irritance lacing his voice. Golden Boy stood at my doorway, recoiled, after I’d practically growled upon seeing him.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “It was a long night.”
And annoying after the e-mail notification I’d received about the DG Pretty Please. Time was running out, and it was the last thing I’d had on my mind recently.
“Why was it so long?”
I twirled my hair around itself in a messy bun, letting it hold itself up. I just shrugged while Matt’s concern mounted.
Lionel had asked me not to speak of it. “We’ll let you know when you can see him,” he’d said. As far as anyone else was concerned, I hadn’t been there that night. There was a reason he didn’t want Harry going to a hospital. Less questioning, less spotlight, less of an impact on their image… it still unnerved me. Such a horrific injury, and yet… it was almost expected, brushed under the rug. Had Harry really been this much of a troublemaker growing up that a stab wound was equivalent to a scrape for Dr. Styles?
Matt set the steaming Del Taco bag on the floor. “Y/N, seriously, what’s up? You couldn’t even stay the weekend on campus? She told me you’ve been gone for weeks.” He sat down at the foot of my bed when he was sure I wasn’t going to turn into a snarling monster. Which, to be fair, must have been a hard conclusion to come to. “And it’s true, I haven’t seen you around at all. You just… disappeared.”
“Okay, it was ONE week,” I clarified. “And we don’t see much of each other anymore anyways so don’t act like you’re so butt hurt that I decided to come home again.”
I wanted to take the words back as soon as I said them. They were the ones we hadn’t said. The ones we knew were true. But a mood had crept through me last night turning me sour against the world. And now each word I spoke was infected with its poison.
His brows scrunched, eyes flashing with indignation, not sure how to handle me, of all people, lashing out abuse.
“Yeah, because youquit your PT job.”
“I got a new one!”
“And that’s fine! Why are you so… defensive right now??” he laughed briefly at the absurdity. “I just don’t know why you’re trying to blame this on me. Where is this coming from?”
I remained silent. I didn’t know why I was blaming him so harshly for our friendship reaching a downward slope. I knew we had different circles of friends, and as gross of a cliche as it was, he was with the athletes and I was with… Renny. Though now I was starting to hang out with Lynn more, too. A part of me envied him for having such an instant community with his team. Isn’t that why people joined sororities? For community? I’d seriously flunked that one, though a little voice told me I just wasn’t trying hard enough.
He looked to my collaged wall, expecting to see our photo strip. But it wasn’t there. He stood up, finding it atop my mom’s arts and crafts bin.
“Haven’t been here in a while,” he said, softly.
I watched him, stood in my room like all those high school nights of old, seeming taller than before. Like in the months we’d lost touch he’d somehow gotten too big for this room, like he’d somehow outgrown me.
“It fell down,” I lied, because Harry had taken it off.
They say your high school friends won’t stay with you forever, that as you grow older, the number of friends you stay in touch with start dwindling until it’s down to one or two. I stopped speaking to most of mine after the first year of community college. People move on. People change. I changed too, even though I stayed behind. But there was always Matt. Of all people, I didn’t think it would be him and I standing apart and feeling farther, still. When these relationships change, the transition feels gradual. It’s like, in some unspoken unseen moment, your lives sync up, and you’re both busy at the same intervals. And then you make plans to see each other, but both of you don’t reach out the day you’re supposed to meet up. Neither of you follow through. Because it’s easier. It’s natural. An unspoken agreement.
“We’ve both been busy,” I said.
“The last time I saw you, you had a massive mark on your neck.”
“You can say hickey, Matt.”
His eyes fluttered, and he looked away. If I wasn’t devoid of emotion then, I’d think it funny how he got flustered just thinking or talking about anything sexual with me.
“You’re pretty close with Harry then?” he asked, ears slightly reddened.
“What makes you say that?”
“An educated guess.” A charming smile lit his face, almost shy, the hostility in the air dulling for a moment. “I’ve seen you with him before, and you were wearing his jersey at the game… I didn’t really believe it though.”
“What do you mean?”
“C’mon. Harry Styles.”
“And?”
He raised his hands as if the answer was so obvious it was floating in the air. They dropped. “He’s not really your scene, is he? I don’t mean that in a bad way, he’s not really my scene either.”
“So?”
“So, nothing. I was just trying to find something to talk about.” He was getting more irritated now, his thumb digging in between his fingers. “Really, I don’t even care to talk about him, let’s talk about you. Please. Have you drawn anything recently? Why’ve you been feeling off?”
I snorted. “Please, I haven’t drawn anything since high school. There’s nothing new.”
He crossed his arms, testing me. “I don’t buy it.”
He was smart not to.
“You know… It took a lot for my dad to ask me to stay behind instead of going off to Princeton,” he said. Every molecule seemed to still around him. “He can barely speak now. The guy who wouldn’t ask you to fetch the boogie board even if you were the one who’d let the waves take it in the first place…” his voice trailed off, a silent sadness swirling in blue eyes.
I remembered Patrick Price taking us to the beach and pushing us beneath the big waves, teaching us how to balance on those harmless foam boards we’d pick up at Rite-Aid. Just three years ago at high school graduation, Patrick was running across the grass playing football with Matt and Dad at the BBQ while Mom and Summer dished out the pasta salad and watermelon. He was diagnosed two years ago, and now instead of serving pasta salad, Summer serves him, watching him closely on his wheelchair. ALS was a nasty disease and it acted fast.
“I can’t help you if you don’t want to be helped,” he finished.
I wanted to say that I was sorry. I wanted to say that it wasn’t him, that it was me. But something else had already consumed me, not letting in the light, finding the darkest parts of me and unfurling them until some spilled past my lips. “You didn’t have to drive all the way down here just to see me.”
“I didn’t,” he said, and even though he hid his hurt well, I could still see it. He stood from the bed, making up his mind that there wasn’t any use being with someone who pushed away anything that ventured near. “I’m helping my dad move offices. The rent is too high now for landscapers.”
“They’re leaving? But you guys have been in the same spot for years.”
Matt gave a shrug, taking his turn at the silent treatment.
“I didn’t know,” I said, lamely.
The chasm between us grew bigger, and I shrunk even smaller, letting the silence and guilt consume me.
“But you wouldn’t want to talk to me about that either, right?”
I swallowed, hard. I deserved that.
And I was too ashamed to stop him from leaving.
Less than an hour later, I was cursing him again. The smell of Del Taco drove my mother away from the living room. Messy wrappers lay scattered around me when the door opened. I may have been too ashamed and prideful to apologize to Matt, but my growling stomach was stronger than both.
She saw me in the same position Matt had left me, and I avoided her gaze, checked my phone. No updates.
The room seemed cold.
“You look like you’re having the same day I’m having.” She came in with a basket of clean clothes, setting it on the floor.
“Mom, I told you I’d do that.”
“No, you needed rest.” There was a flash of pity, but it was lying beneath a thick shell of annoyance. She huffed, sitting on my bed, just like Matt hours before.
She snuggled closer. I faced her on my side, hands pressed against my cheek. She mirrored me.
I waited for her to say something, but in the silence her eyes grew wide, shaking her head. The mysterious reason for her mood like a gorged balloon floating towards a fan.
“What?” I asked.
“I think your Dad has feelings for somebody else.”
My brows scrunched. “What?”
“I don’t have any proof. But we were on a date night last night and…” -she let out a cruel laugh that made me want to hold her- “He was texting her.”
“Who?”
“A waitress.”
“A waitress?”
“Nicole the waitress.”
“How do you know it was her?”
“He denied it. But I looked at his phone when he went to the bathroom. She’s been a little… friendly with Dad.”
“Nicole?? Mom, she’s like nearly forty.” A brief memory of a friendly blonde working in the restaurant trickled up and left a sour taste on my tongue.
“Still fifteen years younger than me.”
My nose shriveled up, the thought of Father being romantic with my own mommade me cringe, but the thought of Father being romantic with somebody else? It didn’t seem… conceivable. My parents weren’t like the Styless. They kept us together. They loved each other.
“Have I met her? I’ll punch her next time I see her,” I said, the words still not connecting with my brain. With the facts laid out before me.
Mom snorted. “Not before I do.” She plucked at a hangnail, a habit I’d gotten from her, and I could practically see the insecurities already rolling around in her mind.
“You’re gorgeous, Mom.”
She gave me a look. “I’ve been stress-eating chocolates. I need to watch myself.”
“Mom.” I frowned, seeing worry behind her humor. “He needs to watch himself.”
She sighed, turning to the ceiling. “I don’t know. I just have this… feeling.”
“Women’s intuition?”
“Yeah,” she breathed, and I knew if Mother was telling me this from her vault of secrets, it must have been significant. She wasn’t one to listen to Lara’s spirituality, but intuition was something she would never refute. Momma turned back, rattling her thoughts together. “Anyway. I’ll just be… shocked. If it’s true. I mean…a waitress? Really?” Silence suspended. The afternoon sun warmed the room a little more than usual, exposing the paled filmy stars on my ceiling to be illuminescent frauds. “Or maybe I’m not,” she said, quieter. Before I could bat my eyes, she changed the subject. “Why’d you come back last night?”
But I could still see the steam rolling off her shoulders. “Do you want to talk about it more?” I offered. The Del Taco turned queasy in my stomach, and as much as I loved her, I really hoped she said no.
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned anything.” She squeezed my hand, letting me know she meant her apology. She did a once-over at my stale big t-shirt. “Did something happen to make you want to come home?” Her fingers ran along the tops of my knuckles. “Or do you just love me.” Her smile was less than half-hearted.
“I was going to be alone at the dorm again. Renny was going to a party and I didn’t want to go with her…”
“I hate how she leaves you alone. Maybe we should get you a puppy for company?”
I gave her a look and she caved. “No, you’re right. Probably wouldn’t fit in there. You couldn’t take care of a puppy now anyways. Too needy. So, did he like the house?”
Her mind seemed scattered in a million directions. Mine struggled to keep up.
“Mom, seriously whatare you talking about?”
“Oh, I didn’t know if he said anything about it afterwards or-”
“Mom,who?”
“Harry, honey.”
She was clueless of what her words did to me. My heart lurched just hearing his name, and the worry from last night washed over my exhausted frame like a crab on the shore, strong tides like a persistent weight, threatening to carry me away again.
“I’m sure he liked it,” I said.
“It’s an older home…he’s probably used to columns of marble.” Her embarrassed smile for even asking the question made my heart split further.
“Actually, he did say something! I remember now, he told me it was cute. Homey. He thinks the marble stuff is too cold anyways, he’s excited to come back,” I reassured her. The last bit was probably a stretch but it worked. Embarrassment fell away and her smile glowed.
Satisfied that she was happy, I turned to face my ceiling, closing my eyes. The problems with her and Father swum in the back of my mind, but I was too tired to take on anything else. She was an adult. She could make her own decisions. The information settled in a box in my brain, waiting for a moment when I could fully process it and I’d unlock it all again. I could feel the inklings of damage it would do to me if I truly unpacked it - anxiety, anger, confusion, fear, pity.
Family was a constant.
I couldn’t think about that changing, too. Not when I could barely keep my eyes open.
“You’re so sad, angel. What’s going on in your mind, hm?”
I shook my head, shifting to look at the ceiling. I didn’t need to feel guilty for not confiding in her. I needed to not feel anything.
Her presence was like a lighthouse, radiating heat, beckoning me to come back. All without her saying a word.
She looked as if she were going to say something else, but her hand fell back into her lap. “Okay,” she said.
She didn’t even try.
Maybe she knew the fog was too thick for me to see her light.
Then, through the fog, a vibration shook me to the core.
—–
“Y/N, I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon,” Sven stepped aside, the grand foyer to the Styles estate stretching out before me. Any other time, it would be enchanting, captivating. Now, it looked as treacherous as a hospital hall. I wasn’t sure what rendition of Harry was waiting for me on the other side of the staircase.
My feet carried me up a familiar path, my heart pounding at the unknown.
Irrationally, I had to remind myself that Harry was alive. I wasn’t going to find him, not like I’d found my Grandpa in his room.
Regardless…
“Are there people watching him? Is he alone?”
“He’s stabilized. There’s no need for nurses to keep watch.” Sven held dirty linens as he stayed in my shadow up the stairs.
I nodded, the assurances not really meaning anything, not until I could put an image in my mind as to what he looked like. Right now, all I could conjecture was a gray blur for a head sticking out above the sheets. How bruised would he be? How much stained blood would there be? I didn’t know what to fill in the gray with, so my mind envisioned the grim Harry I’d last seen, the Harry that, if it weren’t for the monitor, I wouldn’t have known still had a beating heart.
Each step carried me closer with a horrifying thought. My brain playing connect the dots as I walked.
Pale.
A clay boy.
A stitched up doll.
And everyone knew dolls didn’t breathe.
I didn’t realize I was alone until I turned around. Of course Sven wouldn’t have followed me, but for some reason I wanted him to be here.
Maybe it’s because he was with me when I’d seen Harry last.
“Y/N.” The familiar voice was weaker, but the grim tone was still so painfully bare. Of course he’d sensed me.
When I stepped out from behind the door, I didn’t find a dilapidated monster. Harry lay resting.
“Hey.” I snuck in, light as a swallow’s feather in the morning breeze, floating down beside him and resting my head atop crossed arms. The sight of him shook me. “Raggedy Harry,” I barely whispered, a horrible punch-to-the-gut feeling ballooning in my chest.
Half of his face swelled more than the other, his bottom lip completely bruised and jutted out, with a fairly deep gash that had started to scab. I fought the urge to trace over it.
“Looks worse than it is,” he said, watching my eyes carefully. Besides the pink-red swelling, his face appeared flushed. And despite his injuries, he was still miraculously beautiful.
I didn’t even blush from staring. Loose earthy curls had not been affected by time spent smooshed against the pillows. If anything, it’d pushed them forward, the floppier fringe defying gravity just there above his forehead. People could go to a stylist and ask for effortless mussy curls and not have it turn out as good as his - and this just with his genetics and days spent sleeping.
If I were him, I’d look like a grease monkey.
“Well, I can’t see the worst bits I’m sure.”
His chest was wrapped in gauze, this time not bloody to the touch. It was thick, white, and secure, and suddenly the tears that had yet to spill started pricking my eyes. I didn’t know just how badly I needed to hear the words before he said them.
“Y/N, I’m fine. I promise.”
The heaviest weight lifted from my shoulders, but my body slumped deeper into his mattress from an instantaneous realization. I’d needed Harry to be okay. I needed him here, even if I couldn’t explain why.
My hand reached out, brushing the tops of his hand.
“It would’ve been a dick move if you died,” I managed to breathe. I let out a sorry excuse for laughter, nervously sniffling.
His eyes seemed heavy, tired. The circles beneath them a cry for help from his beaten body.
“You can sleep if you want. I just wanted to check in on you.”
“I’m not sleeping when you’re here. S’all I’ve been doing,” he croaked. A flood of relief washed over me. Being apart from him was the last thing I wanted right now. The anxieties that’d been plaguing me the past 24 hours were muted to a dull simmer, drowned out by the highs of my body being close to his. Noticing his body…
A steady drip came from the IV hooked to his arm. Five pill bottles were on his nightstand, within arms reach. He noticed my staring.
“To stay hydrated.” Then, under his breath, “And numb.”
“I know,” I barked a laugh that instantly felt out of place. “I want to go into medicine, remember?”
His voice seemed lower when he rumbled, “S’right. You’re a smart girl.”
The tenderness in his voice sent an unexpected warmth straight to my chest. “You know that’s also a curse,” I noted. “I think too much.”
“I know,” he said, but he didn’t laugh like I had. It sounded like an apology. I almost jolted when his hand reached out to touch mine, not expecting him to be warm.
“You almost died,” I said, taking a breath. “I was there when you almost died.”
“I never wanted you to be there-” Before I could take offense, he weakly squeezed my hand. “I want to protect you, Y/N. I never wanted you this involved with me.”
“Well we’ve done a shit job at staying uninvolved. You can barely protect yourself. You can’tprotect yourself.”
“That isn’t going to happen again.”
“The fact that it happened! Harry, I don’t think you understand how scared I was. How scared I am. I could be next, I don’t know what they want…”
A horrifying puzzle piece clicked into place. My nightmare of being stabbed could become a very real reality. It wasn’t until I saw Harry wincing that I realized his breath had quickened.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “Shit I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stress you out. We don’t need to talk right now.”
The sting of I never wanted you this involved with me pulled me to the door, but his hand pulled me back.
“No. Fuck no.” But his grip softened again, his abdomen screaming at the effort to pull me back to him. When he spoke again his voice was a murmur, quiet-quiet, so gentle I could’ve imagined it. “Stay. Please. Seeing you here is the happiest I’ve been all week.”
My heart could’ve flown out of my chest, but for the buzzing electrical phenomena his words ignited in me, I was frozen by his sober admittance of want. It seemed all we ever did was dance around each other, literally. As if we were in an old 1700s ballroom, and everyone was dispersing into pairs. We spy each other from across the room and tiptoe around, refusing to seek other partners, yet refusing to commit to a dance.
“Is that sad?” His sincerity broke my reverie.
I leant closer, and his eyes fluttered shut in expectation… But my lips pressed soft kisses to closed lids. “I’ll stay,” I promised, nose to nose. Because my answer to his question would be yes. Something told me the mess of his body finally matched the inside of his heart.
Rather than tilt his head up to kiss me, he tried scooting over in the bed. It was painful to watch. I stopped him. There was plenty of room for me to lay beside him. So I did, scared to touch him.
“I’m not going to break,” he huffed. Tough and untouchable, I imagine being tip-toed around was the exact opposite of what he was used to.
“You didn’t see yourself that night.” Bloodied gauze and feeling his hot insides against my hands was enough to make my own blood curdle. It was enough to make me question if the Harry in front of me was simply a mirage. He was okay now, I reminded myself. But after I’d seen him bleeding out in the seat next to me, I wasn’t sure I believed him to be unbreakable anymore.
“You’re right, I’m… sorry,” he looked away, as if not being able to meet his reflection in my eyes. As much as I could hear regret, I knew he felt it even more.
My hand reached out, fingertips gently touching his raised cheek. “You were the one who felt it.”
He barely leant against my touch, gaze boldly probing my tired eyes, puffy from crying. The longer he stared the guiltier he became.
“Maybe we both did,” he said. The statement seemed to confuse him, brows stitching together. “No one’s ever been there for me like you. And-” he smiled as wide as he could with the swelling- “honestly it scares the living shit out of me. I know you didn’t have much of a choice to help-”
I surprised myself again, the definitive statement flying out of my mouth faster than I could comprehend. “I’d do it again.”
But the words seemed to hurt him more. His head lulled to the side, his prominent adam’s apple moving as he swallowed, deep in thought. “You’re too good for me,” he surmised. Before I could argue, he took my hand, pressing the back of it to bruised lips. He was acting so soft, so vulnerable. Was it the drugs? Was it an act? But if it was, how could eyes lie like that?
He hummed as if we were laying on the beach on the first hot day of summer, despite all the pain he must be in. The pros and cons list I’d written and stashed in my purse was sending out a throbbing heartbeat in my body, burning a hole where my purse lay at the end of the bed. No matter if the list were true, it couldn’t encapsulate the complicated person that he was. It wasn’t a fair portrait to paint. And putting me on a pedestal wasn’t either. “That’s not true,” I mumbled, far too late.
“It is,” he said. No room for argument.
“Did they give you some love drugs in this medicine bag of yours?”
His brows quirked at love, but he didn’t seem mocking when he said, “Maybe.” Emerald eyes were a mix of admiration, torment, and want as they drank me in, and I was sure if I let him stare into my soul a moment longer, he’d discover I wasn’t perfect at all.
I looked out towards his panoramic balcony window. Little flickers of light told of a city at the bottom of the hill, the dark ocean like a blanket for the rest of the world just out of reach. I wondered how long it’d been since the sun had set. Like any night with Harry, the rest of the world slipped away.
I stole a glance back at him, the beautifully broken boy resting his eyes. As if sensing me, he stirred, mumbling something incoherent.
“Too far,” he repeated, opening up his arms.
“I’m not laying on you Harry. Your stitches could burst.”
He growled. “I don’t care.”
And I didn’t doubt it. I came as close as I dared, thankful his shoulder wasn’t bruised as I lay my head in the crook of his neck, hands blindly combing through curls.
I could feel him relax into me, hear the boyish smirk across his face. “My mum used to do that,” he whispered. “Not this mum, my other…” his voice stuttered out. “My biological.”
It grew quiet in the room. An opening to the door of his past just barely letting in light.
“Do you miss her?”
“Can’t miss what you don’t remember,” he dismissed. And just like that, the door to his past was slammed shut. It was exactly what he said about the Styles’s first child Jane. But this time it sounded rehearsed, mechanical, a river of emotion carefully masked. But not to me.
My hands stilled, not sure if I should continue. But he leant into me again, and I continued my gentle work, as if undoing his tresses could untangle messy thoughts. “Thank you,” he sighed.
In some unspoken moment, he turned his head down, his tanned beaten face leant closer to mine. And with the intimate intensity only he possessed, he saw me. Like I was the only woman in the world. The oxygen seemed pulled from the room as time suspended. He leant lower until our foreheads brushed, his brows stitching together when I instinctually drew my leg across him, careful not to hitch it up too close to his wound. Our breathing deepened, the anticipation building as my hand drew across his face, my fingers settling behind his ear. He huffed, irritated at the tangling of the IV chord when he wrapped his arm around my side.
We stayed like this for a while, cradling the other. And just like I had done before, his pillow-soft lips ghosted over my cheek, then my nose, then my chin, until they hovered just over my lips. My eyes fluttered closed, the trail he left leading to one place…
“Y/N,” he breathed. I opened my eyes. There wasn’t any reluctance in his eyes, but something similarly cautious yet fervent, an unspoken sentence pushing against closed lips.
But the sound of glass shattering woke us both up. His body turned hunter, still as stone as he listened for what came next. A hysterical cry drove Harry to stand, miraculously faster than I thought possible, and it wasn’t until he limped halfway towards the door that I realized he ripped out his IV. The banshee scream turned into a chilling wail, freezing me to my core.
My mind went to the worst case scenario. I’d have to jump from the window somehow. The gang must have found us. They must be in the house-
“It’s Mary,” he cursed, stopping my spiralling mind so quickly I was left dizzy. I don’t remember following him, but he stopped me at the door, hands locked around my shoulders.
“She has… fits, sometimes,” he explained.
“I don’t care.”
“Y/N, you don’t have to see this, too,” he said, and the amount of shame that shadowed his face was like a gouge through my heart.
I barely had time to say the words before another scream ripped through the empty house. “I’d do it again.”
With a somber nod, he rushed us out, practically sprinting to the living room where Mary Styles lay cradling her shell-shocked frame on the floor.
“You were gone. You left me,” she sobbed. Her hair was ripped from its usual loose curls and mascara ran down her face like the clear snot running from her nose.
“Oh my God,” a voice mumbled.
But I realized the voice was me.
The glass mirror at the bar had shattered. Shards of glass lay scattered all over the floor. Harry trudged through it, barefoot, bits of red mixing on the marble floors.
“No one was here, no one saw.” Her eyes were crazed as Harry bent over to pick her up and she pushed him away. “No! NO!!”
Fear spiked in my body. I’d never seen someone look so disconnected from the present reality. This was raw. Unpredictable.
But Harry seemed unphased.
“No one saw her, no one saved her,” she wailed. The weight of the words caused crippling sorrow. She stopped resisting, retreating into a shell of herself with choked cries, “Jane, Jane…” as Harry let out his own shout at the effort to lift her.
“Be careful, you’re hurt,” I called out, weakly. He didn’t bat an eye.
“Go through those doors, through the living wing, there’s a closet on your right. Grab the Valium and meet me in the guest room.” He avoided my gaze, looking instead to the direction I should be running to.
“Where in the closet?”
“Black box,” he ordered. Then, whispering to Mary, “It wasn’t your fault.”
But if she heard the words, they didn’t register, her face twisting, her own little trickle of blood running from the tips of her hands.
Her sobs barely quieted as they rounded the corner down the hall, abandoning me in the wreckage.
I was careful to step around the glass, heading to the massive hidden door in the wall I remembered Harry pointing out as the “living wing.” No one was around to confirm if memory served correct, but when I finally found the latch handle and tugged it open, tropical foliage surrounded me. It smelled humid, like stale water and… musky. Like when I had a hamster in fourth grade and forgot to change out its bedding. The light from the moon shone through their giant skylight, illuminating caged birds gently calling behind bars, enclosed in a sizey aviary. A small raised indoor pool made of rock looked like a concave fossil, with a shadow swimming amongst the mossy water. A miniature crocodile skirted to the furthest edge away from me and raised for air, two eyes looking skeptically in my direction. “Toto” was etched into the rock.
There were more enclosed habitats, and at the head of the room overlooking it all, a giant wooden desk. But no closet. No closet.
Frick.
I didn’t have time to ponder the eccentricity of the Styles’s owning a freaking zoo in their mansion. Nor did I have time to try and find a friggin light switch. Not at all.
I walked the length of the wing which seemed just as expansive as their living room. Ironic, I thought. Because this was literally a livingroom.
Then, beneath an arching tree canopy held in a planter box, two wicker handles protruded from the wall with a crack running between them.
Bingo.
They opened easily, revealing a deep closet full of filing cabinets and old paintings. My phone light illuminated the top, where two black boxes seemed to have gone untouched for years.
My foot tapped impatiently, not sure which one to grab. I hadn’t heard any cries of bloody murder, but someone (not me, someone more athetlic) could’ve run a mile in the time I’d been gone.
I reached for the one closest to me. It was velvet, I realized, surprised even this family’s storage containers would have some element of luxury. I prayed to find pills. But instead, a wax sealed envelope holding a thick stack of documents glared back at me. I was just about to secure the lid again when the inklings of a photograph peaked through between the papers. The deep-red seal, already opened, was their insignia, a cursive “S” that looked like it’d come from the 18th century.
Since the seal was already broken…
My hands carefully leafed through the pages, and as if they knew, the animals grew louder, alarming themselves of an intruder. These documents seemed court-ordered. Various signatures adorned the pages using language I couldn’t understand. My heart dropped when I realized what I was holding. Adoption papers. Among them, a newspaper clipping about a boy separated from a violent family, and adopted by rich Americans.
Slowly, with each word I read, the oxygen felt snuffed from the room, another puzzle piece falling into place. One that changed the picture completely.
Wednesday morning at 5 am, neighbors of Sheffield awoke to gunshots at the King flat. After an attempted murder of his wife resulting in two gun shot wounds to Maisie King’s abdomen, Roger King committed suicide. Maisie is currently in recovery, and her two children have been placed in foster care while the court assesses their home situation.
More newspaper headings were clipped out, detailing the TV star rescuers of the boy, how lucky he was and how a wonderful, ritzy life in California awaited him. His entire fate had been changed - but there was no mention of Gemma. And in each photo, the child-like innocence in his eyes seemed vacant, replaced with a stoic sadness I’d only seen glimpses of when he was medicated. When he was too numb to remember to keep up the mask.
For how little the Styles’s divulged about Harry’s past to the American press, in England the story seemed to be the tragedy turned happy ending. At least, to some extent, the Styles’s were owed credit for something. They’d probably paid off the international papers.
Little Harry… My stomach suddenly flipped, the room’s darkness transferring to something physically heavy in my chest. There was a photograph, too, and I carefully wedged a finger where the worn corner of it peaked out from the paperwork, keeping its place as I tugged it out. But when I saw it, I almost dropped everything.
The familiar curly-haired child I’d known from old Housewives episodes stared back at me in a worn blue polo from discolored film. Reddened tear-stained eyes looked at whoever was behind the camera.
There were fresh bruises on baby-plump cheeks, cuts across rosy cherub lips.
I looked away as soon as I saw it, but the image had already burned in my memory. A taste for the shadows of scars I could only imagine he carried ten-fold. His cuts had buried much deeper than flesh; the most dangerous wounds afflicted his soul and stole the air straight from my lungs.
Oh, God.
Oh, Harry.
How could anyone do such a thing? He was just an innocent boy, how could anyone- how often…?
Bitter bile rose in the back of my throat. Dealing with bloody injuries was one thing, but seeing a beaten child had me sick for another reason entirely. This was something evil.
I put the photo back just as quickly. I’d gone too far this time. I’d really gone too far.
So it was almost an accident that the next photo fell out when I was putting back the first.
A man, strewn across a red puddle seeping from his head. A gun tossed at his side. The bile rose again and I refused to stare, but my mind caught the ends of wavy brown hair and a face that wasn’t really quite there.
I should’ve noticed when the animals quieted, I should’ve heard footsteps quicken in the other room, but it seemed far away, muted by the roaring secret I’d just uncovered, my mind fully fixated on the life no one could have known about Newport’s playboy hier.
If Harry hadn’t noticed the velvet top of the box not quite closed shut, he saw the guilt in my eyes when he stood square before the closet doors.
He looked irritated, almost grabbing the closed box from my fingers.
“It’s the wrong box!” I cried, horrified that even my voice reeked of pity. And something else. Fear.
He froze. A flame flashed beneath the dulled emerald, a spark of knowledge I was sure he’d like to forget. That he’d probably triedto forget, countless times. He shoved it away and grabbed the other box, stopping briefly as he walked past me again. He threw a cold glare.
“Don’t be scared of the snake,” he said. “But he doesn’t like strangers.”
As if on command, a giant boa constrictor slithered out from the overhanging tree, tightly coiled around a branch.
I felt my heart lurch in my throat.
“Harry!” I called, but he wasn’t here anymore. And if he was, he didn’t answer. He left, rushing to deal with one mess, when I feared I’d just created an even bigger one. Frozen to the spot as I figured out how to basically army-crawl out of the closet, I ran out past screaming birds and rustling waters, snake eyes burning two holes in the back of my neck as I chased Harry’s shadow.
Hope everyone is keeping themselves mentally/physically well… here’s the next update in your adventure. Please safely read from home ;)
The sun moved slowly up my window, illuminating the dancing dust in the air. Even though I knew dust didn’t have feelings, it all still looked very peaceful, suspended there in space.
I wanted to be suspended, floating, with no obligations or pressures.
Instead, I watched time slip by, slowly, as the shadows stretched along my floor and I lay still, wrapped in a giant Winnie-the-Pooh sheets burrito.
HI LOVIES. Please enjoy a Friday update on the Frat Boy universe. This one is a bit of a breather after the TUMULTUOUS ANGST of the last chappie. Shorter than my usual, but it’s all the chapter needed. Tons more y/n and Harry interaction on the way in the next! Have a safe and happy day loves xx
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Things I want:
Live a life that helps others
Financial freedom
Experience a great love
Visit the the Pincio Gardens in Italy
To have more dreams and fewer nightmares
Doodle more
Acquire a first edition book, either because an old friendly man who owns an antique bookshop decides to give it to me in a bonding moment, or because I have accomplished #2 and I am celebrating being a Boss Bitch
To be happy
Please note: not necessarily in that order
It was taped above my desk, waiting for me to bring it in to the next session. I hesitated to write number 6. It was a dream I hardly entertained after committing my scholarly life to pursue medicine. I used to love to doodle. All the time. Since elementary school. I doodled so much my mom dedicated a wall in the house to my illustrations. She hung a sign above it that affectionately said “Y/N’s Doodles.” Seriously, you couldn’t get me to stop. Even if it was gross sappy sketches of my crush Billy who I would NEVER show on the playground at recess.
My doodling stopped how these things normally do. Because life grew busier than anything else, and the sketchpad and easel my dad had bought for me at a garage sale became ignored, collecting dust in the corner of my room. At some point, it’d become a year since I’d drawn anything, and then it was two, and three, and by this point I’d realized I was the one who’d need to create her own stability in life and medicine was the more logical fit. It wasn’t that I didn’t see the value in drawing anymore, I just had other things take up my time. It became a comfort just knowing I usedto draw. Paul had paved his way, and now I was on my way to do the same. At least with medicine, my soul felt fed. It was almost comfort enough.
Type: One shot about Harry Styles Rating: PG Word Count: 4600+ Paring: Harry + Zoey Enjoy
She walked out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. She put on a shuffle of music as she was getting ready for tonight. She slipped a pair of panties on and an oversize t-shirt before sitting on the floor. In front of her mirror, she pulled out her hair blower and started to dry her hair. Once it was dried she also curled it, finally getting up and going to her closet. She decided on what to wear and finished getting ready. She left her apartment and went downtown to meet up with her friends.
“Finally,” a girl said. “Sorry I like to be fashionably late,” she said as she got out of the car. “Where are Rebecca and Dawn?” She asked. “They are late as well, well not late but you know,” the girl said. “Calm down Sarah,” she said. Sorry, I’m just so excited to be here" Sarah said. “I am too,” she said. “The party has arrived,” Dawn said as she walked up to the girls. “Hey girl,” she said as she hugged Dawn. “First concert in over a year,” Rebecca said as she joined the group. “I know right,” she said. “Zoey, do you have the tickets?” Dawn asked. “RIght on my phone, now let’s go,” Zoey said as she linked arms with Dawn.
They walked up to the gate and checked in. They weren’t late for the concert but they wanted to get there early enough to see Harry do the soundcheck. He was already on stage when they made their way to their seats. Just watching him do soundcheck, trying not to make a sound to disrupt him.
“Why are you guys like two hours early?” Harry asked in the mic. “To beat the traffic” Dawn replied. “To see you,” Rebecca said. “Well come backstage” Harry nodded to security. “Don’t want you guys getting cold,” he said. “Sure,” Sarah said.
Security came to where they were and led them backstage. They stayed backstage while Harry was still on stage working out how he wanted the show to go. He finally got off stage and said hello to everyone. He then took them back to his dressing room and offered them drinks.
“Thank you,” Sarah said. “Yea thank you,” Rebecca said. “I can’t drink,” Zoey nodded. “And why is that?” Harry asked as he sat next to her. “Just because,” Zoey said as she looked at him. “It’s a long story,” Dawn said. “Ok,” Harry nodded. “Are you sure we should be back here?” Zoey asked. “Yes I’m sure” Harry looked at her. “Hey, Harry” Zayn said as he walked into the room. “Oh hello, ladies” Zayn smiled. “They were early so I let them come back here,” Harry said. “Cool,” Zayn said as he sat next to Dawn. “Let’s play a game,” Rebecca said as she took a sip from her drink. “What game?” Harry questioned. “Never have I ever or truth or dare,” Rebecca said. “Surely never have I ever,” Sarah said. “I’m game,” Zayn added. “I’ll get Ms. Zoey some water so she can drink without drinking,” Harry said. “Why thank you,” Zoey said. Harry went to get her water and returned, sitting next to her.
They all went a few rounds and mainly were starting to get drunk. All besides Harry and Zoey, because they were just drinking water.
“Never have I ever been in love with someone,” Rebecca said. “Really?” Harry asked as he took a sip. “You have?” Zoey asked as she looked at Harry. “Long story,” Harry said. “Fair enough,” Zoey said as she took a sip. “Never have I ever been in an accident that killed the person I love,” Sarah said. “Sarah!” Zoey said. “Opps,” Sarah said. “I’m drunk,” she said. “I can’t believe you,” Zoey said as she got up and left the room. “Sorry Zoey,” Sarah said. “We should go,” Rebecca said as she grabbed Sarah’s arm. “Sorry,” Dawn said as they left the room. “Wait a second” Harry said as he ran after Zoey. “Stay for a second,” he said as he grabbed her arm. “I’m sorry,” Zoey said. “Come in here for a second” Harry said as he pulled into a room. “I should go with them, they can’t drive. I’m sorry we ruined your evening” Zoey said. “Stop for a second and breathe,” Harry said as he sat her down in a chair. Kneeling in front of her. “I’m sorry” Zoey took a deep breath in, putting her head down in her hands. “It’s ok, just breathe,” Harry said. “I got them a taxi and they are on their way home,” Zayn said as he leaned against the doorframe. “Thank you” Harry nodded towards him. “Is she ok?” Zayn asked. “I’m making sure of it right now,” Harry said. “You’re on stage in a few seconds,” Harry’s manager said. “Give me 5,” Harry said. “I’m fine,” Zoey said as she looked up at Harry. “Are you sure?” Harry asked as he brushed his hand against hers. “Yea, you should go,” Zoey nodded. “Come backstage and watch? I mean you did spend money to be here” Harry said as he stood up. “Yeah sure, wait where is everyone?” Zoey asked as she stood up. “Zayn put them in a taxi, they are safe,” Harry said. “Thank you,” Zoey said,
As soon as Harry walked out of the room everything started to move fast. He has ushered off as well as Zoey, she was placed backstage as Harry was getting ready to go on stage. She stayed backstage and watched the entire show. Harry ran off stage and grabbed Zoey’s hand, leading her away from everyone.
“That was amazing,” She said. “You liked it?” Harry said as he caught his breath. “Yes you are always amazing” she smiled. “Thank you, I sometimes get so much in my head before going out there,” Harry admitted. “But tonight?” she questioned. “I was worried about you before heading out to the stage,” he said. “I’m sorry about my friends,” she said. “It’s ok, it happens but are you ok?” Harry asked. “Yea I’m ok” She nodded. “Didn’t like the reminder of what happened” she looked away. “It’s ok, I’m sorry that your friend said that,” Harry said. “Thanks for tonight, I should go,” she said. “Are you hungry?” Harry asked. “I could always eat,” She smiled. “Let’s go get something to eat,” he said, “I don’t do fancy restaurants” she looked at him. “Choose wherever you want to go,” he said as he went into his dressing room. “And we will go,” he said. “Alright” she chuckled slightly as she watched him.
He finished changing and walked her out the back exit. Opened the door for her as they got into a USV. She told the driver where she wanted to go and they were off. The city was such a beautiful place at night. While they were driving Zoey stayed pretty quiet, just looking out the window. Harry reached over and placed his hand over hers.
“Are you ok?” He broke the silence. “Yea sorry” She turned and looked at him. “Can I ask about the accident?” he asked. “You don’t have to answer if it’s too much,” he said. “It was late at night and we were heading to dinner,” she said. “We were arguing about something, I can’t even remember” she trailed off as she looked out the window. “I never saw it coming” she swallowed hard. “The rest I can’t remember,” she said. “I’m sorry” he brushed his thumb against her hand. “This is my first actual outing since the accident last year,” she said. “I stayed mainly to myself and just sunk into this hole of hopelessness and loneliness” She looked down. “I’m glad you came out tonight,” he said. “Are you doing better now?” he asked. “Yea so much better, I started going to therapy a few months ago. It has helped” she nodded. “I’m sorry life has given you such a shitty hand” he pouted as he looked at her. “We are here sir,” the driver said. ‘Thank you,“ Harry said as the driver got out and opened the door. Harry slipped out and reached for her, she grabbed his hand as she got out of the car. "Harry over here,” the paparazzi said as cameras were flashing. “Who is this?” one asked. “Not tonight guys” Harry wrapped his arm around Zoey to get her inside safely. “I’m sorry about them,” he said. “Does that ever get annoying?” she questioned. “Yea like all the time” Harry sighed. “Well welcome to the diner” she smiled as she looked around. “Wow, this is cute and rustic,” he said. “My favorite place” she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a booth. “Oh,” he chuckled as he sat beside her. “What’s good here?” he asked. “Anything” she smiled as she glanced over the menu.
She took control when the waiter walked up, ordering for them both. She turned and crossed her legs as she faced him in the booth. He turned to face her as they started talking. They talked and enjoyed their food without anyone else around. Harry’s security team made sure no paparazzi entered and that they couldn’t get any pictures.
“So I know a quick exit if you want to ditch everyone,” she said. “Really?” He asked as he looked at her. “Should I trust you?” he placed his hand on his chin. “That’s up to you” she chuckled slightly. “Well you haven’t killed me yet, so I trust you” he smiled as he stood up. “Well you never know” she smiled as she stood up.
She grabbed his hand and led him out the back exit. Running towards the wood, they disappeared into the night sky. He kept a grip on her hand as it was pitch blackout. She took out her phone and led him deeper into the woods. Finally, come up to a cabin and a lake. She let go of his hand and walked over to the lake, sitting down allowing her feet to dangle over the edge. He walked over to where she was and sat next to her, allowing his feet to also dangle over the edge.
“How do you know about this place?” he asked. “Well it’s a family secret really,” she said. “Oh ok,” he nodded. “Thought for a minute you were leading me to my death” he joked. “You said you trusted me” she looked at him. “I do trust you” he looked at her. “I like to come out here and just look up at the stars. Everything just melts away” she said. “I bet you can see the stars better out here than in the city,” he said. “Yea you can” she nodded.
She stood up and reached for his hand. He stood up and grabbed her hand, she led him to a place behind the cabin. She grabbed a blanket and laid it on the ground. Laying down on it on her back as she looked up at the sky. He also laid down and looked up at the sky. It was different for him, he stayed silent and just enjoyed the quietness. She closed her eyes for a second just enjoying the moment. He slowly moved his hand towards her, gently intertwining their fingers together. She turned her head and looked at him. He moved closer to her, placing his hand on her neck. His thumb brushed against her cheek. He leaned in closer to her, his lips close to hers. She could feel his breath against her skin as she leaned in. Kissing him softly as she placed her hand against his chest. Gripping his shirt to make sure he didn’t go anywhere. He smiled against her lips as he kept the kiss between them. He gently pulled away when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He sighed as he noticed so many missed calls and texts.
“Guess you are a wanted man,” she said. “Only because of who I am” he rolls his eyes. “They just want to make sure I’m safe,” he said. “You should go,” she said. “We can go back to my hotel room and just relax,” he said. “Thank you for tonight,” she said as she sat up. “I don’t want tonight to end though,” he said as he sat up. “It’s ok Harry” she looked at him. “I don’t fit into your world,” she said. “I want you to fit in my world though,” he said as he brushed the hair from her face. “I enjoyed tonight,” she smiled. “I’m glad you did” he leaned in and kissed her softly. “But seriously come with me” he pouted. “Alright” she pushed him gently.
He stood up and offered her his hand, she grabbed his hand and got up. He intertwined their fingers together as she led them out of the woods. Back to the diner where his security was looking for him. They pulled the car around and Harry opened the door for her. She got into the car and he did as well and they were off to the hotel.
“Ok so they are going to drop me off at the front door and then bring you around back,” Harry said. “Wait what? "she asked. "The paparazzi are at the front of the hotel,” he said. “Ok,” she nodded. “I understand,” she said. “I wish things were different” she leaned over and kissed her softly. “But to protect you this is how it has to be,” he said. “I get it” she rested her forehead against his. “Thank you” he whispered.
The car pulled up to the hotel, she moved so no one would see her as he got out of the car. He walked into the hotel as the car pulled off. They pulled up to the back of the hotel and let her off.
“Have fun tonight, surely it won’t last” The driver said as he opened the door. “Thank you,” she said as she got out of the car. “Just another girl knocked into his belt,” the driver said. “Aw sad you don’t get the girls?” she pouted. “Stay in your lane and keep your mouth off of me,” she said as she walked off.
Zoey walked into the hotel and made her way to the front entrance. She didn’t see Harry nor did she know what room he would be in. He snuck up behind her and placed his hands over her eyes gently.
“Guess who” he whispered in her ear. “The boogeyman,” She smiled. “No try again” he chuckled. “Oh, Harry,” she said as she grabbed his hands, turning to face him. “You got it right,” he smiled. “After you my lady,” he said as he offered her his arm. “Of course” she linked her arm in his and walked with him.
Harry led her up to his room, opening the door for her. Once she enters he also enters, shutting the door making sure it was locked. She walked around his room in awe, it was a big room.
“All for one person?” She looked at him. “Well yea but now you are here,” he said as he walked towards her. “I’m here only for one thing,” She said. “What?” he was confused. “That’s all you do right? Bring girls up here for one night” She crossed her arms. “I have no clue what you are talking about,” He said. “Like Taylor or any one of your 'Loves’,” she said. “What? Did someone say something?” he asked. “It’s who you are,” she said as she sat on the bed. “I’m not looking for that,” he said as he stood in front of her. “If I was then I would have brought you back here right after the concert,” he said. “Why didn’t you?” she questioned. “Because I was concerned about you,” he said. “What happened on the drive to the back?” he questioned. “Your driver had a few choice words,” she said. “I’ll handle him but no that’s not true,” he said as he sat beside her. “I’m sure you get a lot of girls,” she said. “And the only ones I handpick get to spend time with me” he placed his hand over her hand. “Am I one of those?” she looked at him.
He placed his hand on her cheek, brushing his thumb against her skin. He leans in, placing his lips onto hers, kissing her softly. She smiles against his lips as she kisses him back. She ran her hand through his hair, gripping the back of his neck. He pulls her onto his lap as the kiss turns passionate. She smiled against his lips before pulling away, resting her forehead against his. He brushed the hair from her face and turned her over so he was over the top of her. Leaning down, kissing her softly, caressing her sides with his hands. Gently tugging at her but she grabs his hand stopping him. She’s not ready for that step yet and he leans down kissing her softly. He lays beside her as they start to talk. They stayed up the rest of the night talking before they both drifted off to sleep. She snuggled close to his chest, falling asleep to the sound of his heartbeat. His chest rising and falling made her feel safe. Later on that morning, Harry woke up and she was gone, it was like she was never there. He got ready for the day and went to talk to his driver to make things right. He asked everyone at the hotel if they saw her leave but no one knew anything. He went back up to his room and saw a note. He sat down on the bed and opened the note.
'Thank you for last night, it was truly amazing. After everything you made me feel safe, you made me feel like life could go one after him. I’m not sure where I would fit into your life. You deserve the world and I’m not sure if I can give you that. I will always cherish the night I met you. The night you made me feel like a human again. Hopefully, see you soon but I won’t hold my breath. Goodbye Harry xo- Zoey’
He held the note in his hand not knowing what to do. He cared for her even though they just had one night. He wanted more, he wanted her to be a part of his life. He just didn’t know how to make that happen, he didn’t even have her number. LA was a big city but he was determined to find her. He had his team out looking to see if anyone knew Zoey but unfortunately, they didn’t even know her last name.
“Someone has to know something” Harry sighed as he got back into the car. “It’s like she disappeared,” The driver said. “Yea I know,” Harry said. “What about the beach?” Harry asked. “We can stop there” the driver nodded and started to drive. “Wait, she’s a student at the University of California,” he said. “She told me last night that she had not been to classes since the accident,” he sighed. “We will find her” the driver nodded and started driving.
They pulled up to the college and Harry rushed inside. He acted like a student and asked if there were any tutors available. He remembers Zoey saying she loved to tutor. It was a long shot but it was worth a shot.
“There is a student that just returned doing tutors,” the lady said. “I could give her a ring to see if she has an opening,” the lady said. “Thank you,” Harry nodded. “Harry?” Zoey said, “Never mind, I’m sorry for wasting your time,” Harry said to the lady and turned to see Zoey standing there. “There you are,” Harry said. “How?” she asked. “I remembered that you told me that you went here, I wanted to see you again,” He said. “You did?” she smiled as she looked up at him. “Of course I did,” he said as he pulled her to him, hugging her close to him. “I wanted to stay but I just didn’t know,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him. “I want this as much as you do” he kissed the top of her head. “We can figure this out,” he said. “I’m sure we can” She leaned up and kissed him softly. “NO WAY HARRY STYLES,” someone said. “That’s my cue to leave, see you later?” he asked. “Of course” she smiled as he rushed out the door and back into the car.
Later on that day Zoey made her way to his hotel again. Making sure no one saw her go up to his room. Knocking on the door he quickly opened it and let her in. He snaked his arm around her and kissed her softly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kept the kiss between them.
“Hey” he whispered against her lips. “Hey” she smiled. “I’m glad you decided to come back,” he said. “I had to think about it,” she chuckled slightly. “Of course, I came back,” she said. “So I was planning on heading down to this private section of the beach, you want to come?” he asked. “Private beach?” she looked at him. “I could get used to this,” she said. “So I take that as a yes?” he smirked. “Yea but I have to get my bathing suit tho,” she said. “Sure we can stop on the way,” he nodded.
They left the hotel and stopped by her apartment before heading down to the beach. He took her hand in his and led her down to the private beach. He laid a towel down and sat down as did she. She handed him a bottle of sunblock and he rubbed it on her before she rubbed it on him. They spent the rest of the day at the beach, running in and out of the water. Splashing each other, getting swept up in waves. Making sandcastles and eating the food he had for them. She laid between his legs as they watched the sunset.
“Always doing things in the moonlight,” she said as she played with his hand. “My favorite time of the day” he kissed her cheek. “Same” she smiled as he pulled her closer. “I enjoy our time together, I want this to work” he whispered. “I do too,” she nodded. “We can see how things go,” she said. “I like the sound of that,” he said. “Come on, there is something I’ve always wanted to do,” she said as she got up, pulling him up as well.
She grabbed his hand and led him into the ocean. Going all the way into the ocean, allowing the waves to crash over them. She pulled him closer to her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, once the waves crashed over again. She leaned in and kissed him as they both went under the water. Once they broke the surface again he held her close to him.
“Kiss underwater?” he asked. “Yea” she laughed as she looked at him. “Well, I’m glad I was your first” he leaned in and kissed her softly. “Same” she smiled against his lips.
They swam back to the shore and got dressed. Leaving the beach he dropped her off at her apartment and went back to the hotel. Over the next few months, they would sneak out and spend time together. He would always fly back to LA when he had a week off so he could spend time with her. He kept her away from the media and fans, protecting her at all cost. He knew the moment that they knew about her things would be different. The media would tear them apart and Harry couldn’t stand the thought of that. He was back in London for a few dates of his tour. He came off stage and grabbed a bottle of water, trying to cool off. Someone came behind him and placed their hands over his eyes.
“Guess who?” She said, “No way” he turned and picked her up, spinning her around. “Well hello to you too” she wrapped her arms around him as he spun her. “I didn’t know you were coming” he placed her back down on her feet. “I wanted to surprise you” she looked at him. “Well I’m surprised” he smiled as he leaned down, kissing her softly. “I’m on spring break so I wanted to see you,” she said. “I was coming back this weekend,” he said. “I know but a few more days with you won’t hurt” she looked at him. “True,” he smiled. “Harry you got a meet and greet,” Harry’s manager said. “I’m going,” Harry said, he kissed Zoey once more before walking away.
Zoey stayed on the sidelines and watched Harry with the fans. Some fans were nice and some fans were more than nice. Harry was always nice back, giving in to the fans and what they requested. One fan asked him for a kiss and of course, he did it. It started to rub Zoey the wrong way as she watched. As the meet and greet went on Zoey decided to leave and go back to the hotel. Once Harry was finished he came backstage to find her gone.
“Not again,” Harry sighed. “She’s at the hotel waiting for you but I don’t think she’s too happy,” the driver said. “The fans?” Harry asked. “Yea” the driver nodded.
They left the venue and went back to the hotel. He went up to his room and Zoey was sitting on the bed. He walked past her and went to get into the shower. He took a quick shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. Coming out of the bathroom, leaning against the door frame he looked at Zoey.
“Go ahead and yell,” He said. “What?” she replied. “I know you are mad about the fans,” He said. “I’m not mad,” she said. “You’re not?” he asked. “No, I’m not,” she said as she took a deep breath in. That’s when he realized she wasn’t mad but upset. “Babe,” He said as he slipped on a pair of boxers. He moved in front of her, kneeling. Placing his hand on her leg. “I’m not mad,” she said. “I don’t want you upset either,” he said, tracing circles on her leg. “It’s just something my fans and I do,” he said. “It’s ok,” she said. “No it’s not, because clearly, you are upset,” he said. “You would be too if you saw me with someone else,” she said as her tears slipped from her eyes onto her cheeks. “Yea I would but I don’t want anyone else baby,” he said as he sat beside her. “Why not, you get it thrown at you all the time,” she said. “Wait is this about us waiting to have sex?” He wrapped his arm around her. “I’m scared you won’t wait” she looked down. “We agreed to wait until WE both are ready” he rubbed her shoulder. “I don’t want anyone else,” he said. “You don’t?” she asked. “Of course not” he tilted her chin up so she was looking at him. “I want you and only you,” he said. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Don’t be sorry baby girl” he wiped her tears away. He leaned in and kissed her softly. “I love you” he whispered against her lips. “I love you” she looked at him.
He finished getting dressed and they went out to dinner. He showed her around London, doing all the tourist things with her. They went to the London eye. Before heading back to the hotel. The relationship was new to them both but they knew they wanted things to work. It would just take a lot of work but he was willing to chase her and be with her, where that may be.
Type: One shot | Imagine about Harry Styles Rating: PG Word Count: 4000+ Pairing: Harry and Ava Enjoy!
She was known for having the best voice in her town. Always the first one to get up to do karaoke. Unfortunately, since she was in a small town no one noticed her. That was until she went viral on social media. After the video of her singing went viral, her little town wasn’t so little anymore. It seemed like the little town came back alive, people coming in and out of the town.
“Did you know that tickets are sold out at the karaoke bar tonight?” Brady said. “Wait what?” she asked. “Yea people have come to see you,” Brady said. “Wow,” she said. “You deserve the world” he placed his arm around her shoulders. “I’m a small-town girl,” she said. “With a voice of an angel,” he said. “Stop,” she said as she started to blush. “Seriously Ava you have the voice of an angel, the world deserves to hear it” he stopped walking. “Bradly, things are getting crazy and I’m not sure,” Ava said. “I’ll be with you every step of the way,” he said. “You got this” he looked at her. “Only with you by my side” she looked at him. “Always and forever,” he said as he held out his hand. “Always and forever,” she said as she hooked her pinky with his.
He placed his arm around her shoulder once again as they started walking again. They finally made it to the bar that was holding the karaoke night.
“You’re the girl from the video,” someone said. “Yes I am,” Ava nodded. “Thanks for coming,” she smiled. “Nice to meet you,” the person said. “You too,” Ava said.
A car pulled up and security guards got out. Opened the back door and Harry Styles got out. Ava couldn’t believe her eyes, an actual celebrity was in her town.
“Is this the girl?” Harry asked. “Yes this is Ava,” Bradly said. “Nice to meet you,” Harry said as he held his hand out to her. “Nice to meet you,” Ava said as she shook his hand. “Can’t wait to see you tonight” Harry smiled slightly before walking away. “Oh my god,” Ava said. “Breath,” Bradly said. “That was Harry Styles,” Ava said. “I can’t do this” she started to panic. “You can do this,” Bradly said as he placed his hands on her shoulders. “Just breathe,” he said. “I’m going to make a fool out of myself,” she said. “When have you ever?” Bradly questioned. “But Harry Styles isn’t normally watching,” she said. “Just ignore the fact that he’s here,” he said. “I’ll try,” she nodded. “You got this,” he said. “Thanks,” she said as they walked into the building.
Everyone started cheering as they saw Ava walking in. She went up to the stage and sat down on the stool. The owner of the bar handed her her guitar and she started to play. Ava ended up playing a few songs before calling it a night. She left the stage and went to the bar.
“Can I get a beer please?” Ava asked. “Sure thing,” the bartender said as he handed her a beer. “You were amazing,” Harry said as he walked up to her. “Thank you,” Ava said. “I want you to come back to L. A with me, record a few songs,” Harry said. “Feature on a song with me” he looked at her. “Wait what?” she looked at him. “Are you serious?” she questioned. “Yea I am” he nodded. “I’m not sure about going to L. A” she admitted. “Give me a few days?” she asked. “Of course, I know how that is,” he nodded. “have your whole world changed because of a viral video,” he said. “I know you do, I just need a few days,” she said. “Sure, let me give you my number so you can let me know,” he said. “Sure” she nodded and handed him her phone.
He put his number in her phone before they both left the bar. She went home and went straight to her room, laying down on her bed. Looking up at the ceiling trying to decide what to do. Does she take the chance and chase her dream or does she play it safe? It was easy to stay where she was because it’s what she’s used to. She knew she had to do something that scared her. She finally contacted Harry.
“About time I hear your voice,” he said when he realized who it was. “Just needed time,” she said. “So do you need a ride to L.A?” he questioned. “Yea I do but wouldn’t it be easier to get on a plane?” she questioned. “True but I like driving” he chuckled into the phone. “Are you the one that’s going to come to get me?” she asked. “Yes I am but with my bodyguards as well,” He said. “See you soon I guess,” she said. “See you soon,” he said before hanging up the phone.
Later on that week Harry finally came into town. Ava said her goodbyes to her parents and Bradly before leaving with Harry. His driver drove most of the road trip. They had a few stops before they got to L.A. They had to end up stopping at a hotel room for the night.
“Hey Harry, can I talk to you and Ava for a quick second?” Harrys manager said. “I didn’t even know you were here,” Harry said. “Yea I tag along without you knowing” he nodded. “Hello,” Ava said. “Let’s go to the room so we can talk,” Harry’s manager said. “Sure,” Harry said as they went into the hotel room. “Our management team has talked about you two being together,” Harry’s manager said. “Wait what?” Ava questioned. “Yea what?” Harry asked. “Just for the public, it would be good for both of your careers,” Harry’s manager said. “This is crazy,” Harry said. “Yea I know but it can be really good, especially for her career,” Harry’s manager said. “I’m not sure about this,” Ava said. “It’s just for the media, not in private,” Harry’s manager said. “Like photos, red carpets, and stuff like that,” he said. “A contract relationship” Harry rolled his eyes. “It sounds good on paper but what if we don’t like each other” Harry asked. “Like I said it’s just for the media ” Harry’s manager said. “Can we think about it?” Harry asked. “Sure,” Harry’s manager said.
He left the room so Ava and Harry could talk. She sat on the bed trying to figure out what to do. Of course, she wanted to jump-start her career but was it worth it to bring Harry in on it.
“Is he serious?” Ava asked. “Yea he is,” Harry said as he sat down on the bed. “But it would be a lie,” she said. “I know but it could help you,” he said. “So you are asking me if I would sell my soul to the devil” she crossed her arms. “That’s Hollywood unfortunately” he looked at her. “It’s all up to you,” he said. “Yes,” She said. “Yes?” He questioned. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Yes I am sure, If I didn’t want to further my career I wouldn’t be here. Plus you’re not the worst person to be tied to” she said. “Alright,” he nodded.
Harry went out into the hallway to get his manager to come back into the room. She told him that she agreed and that she would sign the contract but only if she got a record deal. Of course, they agreed to sign her onto the label. The next day, while they were driving to L.A, Ava and Harry were in the backseat talking.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked. “Yes you can,” he said. “What if we fall for each other?” she looked at him. “Then we fall for each other,” he said. “Then what about the contract?” she asked. “It would still be valid but it would just be real for us,” he said. “Ok,” she said. “Do you think we would fall for each other?” he asked. “Maybe” she shrugged her shoulders. “You like me,” he smiled. “Yea I do but you would never,” she said. “Who said that?” he asked as he tilted her chin up to look at him. “I’m just a small-town girl,” she said. “So?” He looked at her. “You like me?” she asked. “Maybe” he smiled slightly.
He brushed his thumb against her cheek as she looked at him. They finally arrived at Harry’s place. The driver pulled up to the gate. There were media at the gate, waiting to catch who Harry was with or just to snap a picture of him. They got through the gate and the gate closed behind them as the driver pulled up to the house.
“Are you ready?” Harry asked. “For?” Ava replied. “The media, they are at the gate so they will take pictures’” Harry looked at her. “This is when everything changes,” he said. “I’m ready” She nodded and grabbed his hand. “Are you sure?” he asked, kissing her hand softly. “Yes,” She smiled as she looked at him.
The driver got out and opened the door for them. Harry got out first and held his hand out to her. She grabbed his hand and got out of the car as well. He waved to the crowd of people before going inside with her. He led her upstairs to where she would be staying. It wasn’t for a long stay, just a few days in L.A.
“So this is your room for next week,” Harry said. “Thank you for allowing me to stay with you,” she said. “It’s ok really” he nodded slightly. “If I stay longer than this week then I’ll get a hotel room,” she said. “Don’t worry about it, stay however long you want to stay” he smiled slightly. “Thanks,” she said as she walked into the room.
He was left alone to get adjusted, he lay in his bed just thinking about things. She finally got settled into her room, she made her way downstairs. Trying to find the kitchen, it was easy to get lost in this huge house. She finally found the kitchen.
“Whoa,” she said as she looked around. “I don’t think I could ever get used to this,” she said as she opened the fridge. “You will,” the maid said. “Oh I didn’t realize someone was in here,” she said as she jumped a little. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” the maid said. “I’m sorry,” Ava said. “Beautiful house,” she said. “Yea it is,” the maid said. “You found the kitchen,” Harry said as he walked into the kitchen. “Yea barely though,” Ava said as she looked at him. “You’ll figure it out,” Harry said as he walked over to her. Leaning over to get a cup from the cabinet, she looked at him as they were close. “Sorry I should move,” she said. “No I should move,” he said as he stood back slightly, looking at her. She looked up at him, their eyes met. “So clearly you don’t live here alone do you?” she questioned. “No, I have a maid and security,” he nodded. “I bet it gets lonely being in such a big house,” she said. “It does but now I have you” he smiled slightly. “Just for the week”, she looked at him. “So why did you come into the kitchen? What were you looking for?” he asked. “Oh, just something to snack on,” she said. “Be my guest” he smiled as he sat down at the kitchen table. “Technically I am” she smirked as she went into the pantry. “You have these? These are my favorite,” she said as she walked out with a box of her favorite snack. “Those are my all-time favorites,” he said. “Really?” she questioned as she sat at the table. “Yea really,” he said as he watched her.
She started eating the snack as they talked. He grabbed the box from her and got himself some as well. They laughed and talked for hours, just at the kitchen table. Before they knew it, it was nearly 3 am.
“It’s getting pretty late,” he said. “Yea it is” she yawned. “You should go to bed,” he said. “If I can find my way back,” she said. “Well come on” he stood up and put his hand out. “Alright,” she smiled as she grabbed his hand. He led her back to her room. “There you go,” he said. “Thanks” she looked at him. “No problem,” he said as he tucked her hair behind her ear. Brushing his thumb against her cheek as he looked at her.
She leaned in towards him, allowing her lips to softly touch his. Not knowing if he wanted to kiss her or not. He leaned in slightly, kissing her softly. Placing his hand against her neck as she rested her hand against his chest. She pulled back slightly, looking at him.
“I’m sorry” she whispered. “I’m not,” he said as he leaned in, kissing her again.
He placed his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him back. He pushed her against the wall, keeping the kiss between them. She slowly pulled away, tugging at his bottom lip. Resting her forehead against his as she looked at him. He smiled as he brushed his thumb against her lip.
“Wow,” she smiled. “Yeah wow,” he smirked. “Why did you say sorry?” he questioned. “Didn’t know how you felt” she looked down. “Since we are in a contract,” she said. “Hey” he tilted her chin up. “This has nothing to do with the contract, I like you,” he said. “You do?” she looked at him. “Yes I do” he peeked at her lips softly. “I could care less about the contract, it would still be you,” he said. “I should get some sleep,” she said. “Sure” he kissed her forehead before leaving to go to his room.
She went into her room, closing the door behind her. Laying in her bed just thinking about everything and how everything was about to change. When she woke up in the morning and checked her phone, she saw the pictures of her and Harry. Her social media was blowing up with good things but also with a lot of hate. Ava tried to focus on the good comments but the negative ones were pulling at her as well. She turned off her phone and made her way to the bathroom. Turning the shower on, while waiting for the water to heat up. She stood in front of the mirror and just looked at herself. She got undressed and went into the shower. Once she finished in the shower she got out and wrapped her towel around her. Going through her bag and finding something to wear. She put on a pair of black skinny jeans and just a tee shirt.
“Ava are you ok?” Harry asked as he was outside her door. “Yea I’m fine,” she said as she opened the door. “Did you see social media?” he questioned. “Yea I did,” she said as he looked at him. “And you are ok?” he grabbed her hand. “Yea,” she said. “Ok, well we have breakfast in the kitchen and then we are off to the studio,” he said. “Sounds good” she nodded as she followed him into the kitchen.
They sat down at the table and the cook put their plates in front of them. They started to eat and once she was finished she put her plate in the sink. She wanted to clean up but the maid stepped in.
“Sorry, I’m just used to doing everything by myself,” Ava said. “It’s ok,” Harry said as he stood up. Pulling her to him, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Hey” she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hey” he looked at her, leaning in slightly. Kissing her softly, she smiled against his lips before kissing him back. “Sir, the car is ready,” the guy said. “Thanks,” Harry said as he pulled away from Ava.
He grabbed her hand and led her out of the house. Opening the door for her and helping her into the car. He got in and sat beside her as the driver got inside. They went to the studio and there were a bunch of fans and media standing around.
“This is going to get crazy,” Harry warned her. “What do you mean?” she questioned. “Just stay close to me and you will be ok,” Harry said. “Ok,” she nodded.
The driver opened the door and Harry got out. Reaching back for Ava’s hand, she grabbed his hand and got out of the car. The fans and media crowded around them. They could barely move, she held onto Harry. He kept a hold of her as they made their way into the studio.
“Are you ok?” he asked. “I don’t know,” she said as she tried to catch her breath. He can tell that she was overwhelmed and needed a quiet space. “Come on” he pulled her into a room, where they could be alone for a second. “Just sit down and breathe,” he said. “Ok” she nodded as she sat down at the table. He moved her chair so he was in front of her. He kneeled, placing his hand on her leg. “I know it’s a lot but it’s ok,” he said. “How do you get used to that?” she asked as she started to play with his fingers, calming herself down. “I don’t,” he admitted. “Are you ok?” she looked at him. “Yea I’m ok, it doesn’t bother me anymore but you never get used to it,” he said. “Who looks after you?” she placed her hand on his cheek. “I look after myself,” he said, leaning into her hand. “Well now you have me” she leaned over and kissed him softly. “Yes I do” he smiled as he kissed her.
She calmed down and they went upstairs to the studio room. He went in and laid down vocals as she watched him. A few other people came in to help with the session. Harry called her into the booth, placing the headphones over her ears. Wrapping his arm around her waist, resting her head against her shoulder.
“You got this, it’s just us” he whispered. “Just us” she smiled as she looked over the lyrics. “Yea” he spoke softly.
She started singing the song, it took a few takes for her to get her voice right. Harry left the room to hear how she was doing. After she finished laying down the vocals she left the booth. Sat down next to Harry as they played the song.
“Wow, it’s pretty amazing,” Harry said. “Yea just a few touches and it will be done,” the producer said. “Wow, that quick?” Ava asked. “Yes, it is,” Harry nodded as he placed his hand on her leg. “So we are going to get you, Ava, to start writing some songs,” the producer said. “Wait really?” Ava said. “Yea for your album,” the producer said. “Once this song is out, people are going to want more of you,” he said. “Yea they will,” Harry smiled. “Ok” Ava nodded.
They went into another room so it was quiet. They both started writing songs, they got into it. They didn’t realize that it was getting late.
“We got pizza in the break room,” the producer said as he walked by the room. “Thanks,” Harry said without looking up from his notebook. “What time is it?” Ava asked as she reached for her phone. “Damn, is it midnight?” She asked. “Yes, it is,” the producer said. “Wow” Harry smiled slightly. “I’ll grab us something to eat” he got up from the table, stretching his arms. “Thanks,” Ava said.
He brought them food back to the room. They ate and then started writing again, while Harry was writing Ava went to lay down. She ended up falling asleep on the couch. He looked up from his book and smiled as he saw her. He got up grabbing the blanket from the chair and covered her up. She woke up slightly and grabbed his hand before he could walk away. He smiled and laid beside her, wrapping his arm around her. She snuggled close to him as she started to fall back to sleep. He also started to drift off to sleep. He woke up in the morning and eased off the couch, making sure not to wake her up. He stretched and went into the break room. Pouring himself a cup of coffee as the manager walked in.
“You two were here all night,” the manager said. “Yea we were,” Harry said as he took a sip from his cup. “Got involved in writing,” he said. “What are you doing?” the manager asked. “What do you mean?” Harry asked. “With her?” the manager asked. “It’s just a contract,” he said, “Yea I know that but maybe something is there” Harry shrugged. “Maybe I want it to seem real,” Harry said. “So you’re going to make her fall for you and then what?” the manager asked. “Maybe I have feelings for her as well,” Harry said. “Ever thought about that?” Harry said as he placed his cup down. “Sure we will go with that” the manager rolled his eyes. “It’s new, we don’t know what it is yet,” Harry said. “But I know the contract and I won’t do anything to make her hate me,” he said. “Good,” the manager said. “Don’t worry you’ll get your story and whatever else you want to come out of this” Harry said. “It’s just a contract,” Harry said as he walked away. He ran into Ava as she was walking down the hallway. “Just a contract?” she asked. “What?” Harry asked. “I’m just a contract?” She looked at him. “No, I said this was new and I didn’t know where it would go,” Harry said. ‘I’ll remember it’s just a contract,“ she said. "God, why do people only hear what they want,” Harry said as he walked off. “What?” Ava asked as she ran after him. “Harry waits” she grabbed his arm. “Stop” he pulled away and when he did he pushed her. “Ava” he looked at her. “Maybe this was a bad idea,” she said as she left the studio. She forgot there were fans and media outside so she was surrounded when she went outside.
Their driver helped her through the crowd and got her into the car. They waited for Harry to get into the car as well. They left and went back to the house, she went straight to her room. Locking the door so she was alone. She sat on her bed and hugged her knees to her chest. She was questioning everything, why did she come here? Why did she sign the contract?
“Ava?” Harry knocked on the door. “Go away,” She said. “Come on, we have to talk,” he said. “No go away” she fought back her tears. “Please,” he said. “Fine” She sighed as she got up and opened the door. “I’m sorry that’s what you hear but you aren’t just a contract to me,” he said as he walked in. “I don’t know what to believe,” she sat down. “Look I know it’s scary” he kneeled in front of her. “Being in a town you know nothing about, and around people, you don’t know,” he said. “It’s a lot but I thought we were more” she looked at him. “I want us to be,” he said. “But like I told my manager, it’s still new and I don’t know where this will go,” he said. “I know that but I don’t just want to be a contract, ” she said. “You aren’t Ava” he grabbed her hand. “At the end of the day you will still be my friend if we don’t work out,” he said. “OK,” she nodded as she played with his fingers. “Are we ok? he asked. "Yeah we are,” she said. “Good” he leaned up and kissed her softly.
She smiled against his lips before kissing him back. Slowly pulling away as she rested her forehead against his. She was still questioning did she sell her soul to the devil?
Baker!Harry slowly falls for a pretty sweet-tooth customer who always buys the cream puffs. But could he get her name too?
To the girl who buys the cream puffs, started all of Harry’s morning thoughts.
He did not know your name, but for months he recognised your face. Your glossed smile in the passing glass window, the small strands of hair that glued themselves to the back of your neck on a particular hot summer day.
For months, his ears would perk up at the sound of your voice. A happy too-good-to-be-his “Good morning!” or “Good afternoon!”, always followed by a “How is your day?”.
And who wouldn’t want to seize that opportunity to have your full and undivided attention? To sit you down over a cup of coffee (the way he saw you order, the way he knew you liked it) and spend all day answering that simple question.
Harry had never been on the receiving end of it, he was always somehow busy in the kitchen or cleaning the bathroom or anywhere but where he wanted to be. He would be forced to listen to his coworkers’ one-worded replies, wasteful and insincere and sometimes plain rude.
Those bugged him to no end. It would always make him confused more than anything. How on Earth could somebody be rude to a face like yours?
But he couldn’t even be annoyed for long, would have to shove the bitterness aside to a cave in his chest, because your laugh melted him.
You giggled and smiled regardless of what their replies were. Harry knew it had to be fake, at least sometimes, but he didn’t care. You were so convincing and he was a puddle of honey on the floor.
And your order. Could there be more of a perfect order for you? I’ll have two cream puffs please.
Cream puffs. Those damned cream puffs. Harry hadn’t been a fan of them, hadn’t even so much as bothered to restock them, until you had claimed them as yours.
It was always cream puffs, nothing else. You walked into the small bakery, bell noting your entrance, and you made a bee-line for the puffs.
Not stopping for any of the tarts, nor anything new displayed in the windows.
And it was always two. I’ll have two cream puffs please.Two.
Harry couldn’t help it. He would wonder endlessly after you left the store with the white paper bag. Who were you sharing it with? Which lucky man had won the lottery ticket for your time?
It became such an integral root to his daily routine that it bypassed all practicality. Hell, you most likely bought the both of them for yourself. They sold them in such small bundles that to have one was to easily have ten.
But Harry was a puddle of honey on the floor and needed you all to himself. Needed to know your name. For you to know his. To snatch the pastry away and tasted it on your lips.
He knew if he did, he would be swimming in sugar for the rest of his life.
The bell jingled. A customer.
Harry was in the back room, having just clocked in and in the midst of tying on his apron.
Silence.
And then, “Hello?” Foreign word, familiar tongue. “I’m sorry for being so early. Is anyone there?”
Harry almost trips over himself. It was you, without a doubt. He could’ve picked out your voice from an orchestra of noises.
You, early. You, apologising. You, alone with him.
“Hello?”
And here he was keeping you waiting.
Harry took a deep breath in before revealing his presence to you, a shaky hand torn through his curls, eyes carefully turned downwards as he approached the cashier.
He didn’t notice that your heartbeat was beginning to rise as well, and that the flush in your cheeks wasn’t all from the walk over.
He didn’t notice that you recognised him too.
“Good morning!” Your voice came out more rushed than usual, but Harry was too dizzy to care.
He had never been this close to you before. The smell of your perfume was making his head spin in ways no drug could.
And this was what he had been preparing for. This was what he had been hurting for months for.
He had his answer all prepared already. I’m really good, a bit tired, could use a cup of coffee, hey want to grab one with me after my shift?
But instead of asking him about his day, the words that spilled out from your lips, those pretty pink lips that Harry is trying so incessantly hard not to stare at, was ones he could’ve never imagined.
“I know you.”
And because he had not expected that (Harry would’ve bet on a meteor crashing before a kiss from you), Harry finds himself blurting out, “I know you too. You come in everyday and get the cream puffs.”
“Yeah,” you draw out with a small smile, making Harry’s heart beat faster with every passing second. “How did you know?”
A double-bladed question. Because there aren’t pretty girls like you swinging by everyday. Because there aren’t pretty girls like you ever.
All he says, though, is: “We don’t get a lot of customers.”
You nod, and Harry thinks you look a little disappointed. He quickly dismisses the latter thought, because why would you? Thinking that way filled him with fragile hope. The kind he was so used to getting from you.
“Would you like your regular?” He sounded so casual, so dismissive, that he wanted to puke. Why was he acting like this when all he wanted to do was reach over the counter and hold your hand.
“That would be great. Thank you.”
You weren’t laughing. Why weren’t you laughing? Yesterday a one-word curt reply sent you giggling, and now…
Harry’s heart was sinking fast. This was his shot and he was blowing it. He could feel it slipping away from him in the bitter taste in his mouth.
Quickly, quickly. Harry had already wrapped the two cream puffs in the white paperbag. Time running out. You were handing over a thin wad of cash.
His thoughts flew in a million directions at once. Don’t leave. Who is the other puff for? Please don’t go. Say something. Where are you going?
You turn away from him. Steady hand on doorknob. You twist—
“Hey, hold on a second!”
If the two of you weren’t the only ones in the store, Harry could’ve sworn that somebody else had beat him to it. That it was somebody else you were turning back around for. Somebody else you were looking expectantly at.
But, no.
You were staring at him with a curious expression, mixed with a little bit of intellect.
Harry’s mouth tastes like pure sugar as he asks, “Would you like to go out with me sometime?”
You laugh and squint your eyes at him, as if you thought he would’ve never asked.
Baker!Harry slowly falls for a pretty sweet-tooth customer who always buys the cream puffs. But could he get her name too?
To the girl who buys the cream puffs, started all of Harry’s morning thoughts.
He did not know your name, but for months he recognised your face. Your glossed smile in the passing glass window, the small strands of hair that glued themselves to the back of your neck on a particular hot summer day.
For months, his ears would perk up at the sound of your voice. A happy too-good-to-be-his “Good morning!” or “Good afternoon!”, always followed by a “How is your day?”.
And who wouldn’t want to seize that opportunity to have your full and undivided attention? To sit you down over a cup of coffee (the way he saw you order, the way he knew you liked it) and spend all day answering that simple question.
Harry had never been on the receiving end of it, he was always somehow busy in the kitchen or cleaning the bathroom or anywhere but where he wanted to be. He would be forced to listen to his coworkers’ one-worded replies, wasteful and insincere and sometimes plain rude.
Those bugged him to no end. It would always make him confused more than anything. How on Earth could somebody be rude to a face like yours?
But he couldn’t even be annoyed for long, would have to shove the bitterness aside to a cave in his chest, because your laugh melted him.
You giggled and smiled regardless of what their replies were. Harry knew it had to be fake, at least sometimes, but he didn’t care. You were so convincing and he was a puddle of honey on the floor.
And your order. Could there be more of a perfect order for you? I’ll have two cream puffs please.
Cream puffs. Those damned cream puffs. Harry hadn’t been a fan of them, hadn’t even so much as bothered to restock them, until you had claimed them as yours.
It was always cream puffs, nothing else. You walked into the small bakery, bell noting your entrance, and you made a bee-line for the puffs.
Not stopping for any of the tarts, nor anything new displayed in the windows.
And it was always two. I’ll have two cream puffs please.Two.
Harry couldn’t help it. He would wonder endlessly after you left the store with the white paper bag. Who were you sharing it with? Which lucky man had won the lottery ticket for your time?
It became such an integral root to his daily routine that it bypassed all practicality. Hell, you most likely bought the both of them for yourself. They sold them in such small bundles that to have one was to easily have ten.
But Harry was a puddle of honey on the floor and needed you all to himself. Needed to know your name. For you to know his. To snatch the pastry away and tasted it on your lips.
He knew if he did, he would be swimming in sugar for the rest of his life.
The bell jingled. A customer.
Harry was in the back room, having just clocked in and in the midst of tying on his apron.
Silence.
And then, “Hello?” Foreign word, familiar tongue. “I’m sorry for being so early. Is anyone there?”
Harry almost trips over himself. It was you, without a doubt. He could’ve picked out your voice from an orchestra of noises.
You, early. You, apologising. You, alone with him.
“Hello?”
And here he was keeping you waiting.
Harry took a deep breath in before revealing his presence to you, a shaky hand torn through his curls, eyes carefully turned downwards as he approached the cashier.
He didn’t notice that your heartbeat was beginning to rise as well, and that the flush in your cheeks wasn’t all from the walk over.
He didn’t notice that you recognised him too.
“Good morning!” Your voice came out more rushed than usual, but Harry was too dizzy to care.
He had never been this close to you before. The smell of your perfume was making his head spin in ways no drug could.
And this was what he had been preparing for. This was what he had been hurting for months for.
He had his answer all prepared already. I’m really good, a bit tired, could use a cup of coffee, hey want to grab one with me after my shift?
But instead of asking him about his day, the words that spilled out from your lips, those pretty pink lips that Harry is trying so incessantly hard not to stare at, was ones he could’ve never imagined.
“I know you.”
And because he had not expected that (Harry would’ve bet on a meteor crashing before a kiss from you), Harry finds himself blurting out, “I know you too. You come in everyday and get the cream puffs.”
“Yeah,” you draw out with a small smile, making Harry’s heart beat faster with every passing second. “How did you know?”
A double-bladed question. Because there aren’t pretty girls like you swinging by everyday. Because there aren’t pretty girls like you ever.
All he says, though, is: “We don’t get a lot of customers.”
You nod, and Harry thinks you look a little disappointed. He quickly dismisses the latter thought, because why would you? Thinking that way filled him with fragile hope. The kind he was so used to getting from you.
“Would you like your regular?” He sounded so casual, so dismissive, that he wanted to puke. Why was he acting like this when all he wanted to do was reach over the counter and hold your hand.
“That would be great. Thank you.”
You weren’t laughing. Why weren’t you laughing? Yesterday a one-word curt reply sent you giggling, and now…
Harry’s heart was sinking fast. This was his shot and he was blowing it. He could feel it slipping away from him in the bitter taste in his mouth.
Quickly, quickly. Harry had already wrapped the two cream puffs in the white paperbag. Time running out. You were handing over a thin wad of cash.
His thoughts flew in a million directions at once. Don’t leave. Who is the other puff for? Please don’t go. Say something. Where are you going?
You turn away from him. Steady hand on doorknob. You twist—
“Hey, hold on a second!”
If the two of you weren’t the only ones in the store, Harry could’ve sworn that somebody else had beat him to it. That it was somebody else you were turning back around for. Somebody else you were looking expectantly at.
But, no.
You were staring at him with a curious expression, mixed with a little bit of intellect.
Harry’s mouth tastes like pure sugar as he asks, “Would you like to go out with me sometime?”
You laugh and squint your eyes at him, as if you thought he would’ve never asked.
you get into a car accident when harry’s in the middle of a concert.
You had just gotten off the phone with Harry thirty minutes ago. You had called him in a panic, explaining how you had less than ten minutes to get from one side of the city to the other for an extremely important job interview.
Harry had reassured you in that deep, soothing voice of his that you were going to be fine. That everything was going to be fine. And you believed him. Hell, nobody–not even a psychic–could’ve predicted the events that would transpire.
Your boyfriend of 2 years was currently in Manchester for four nights. You two had last seen each other in person about a few weeks back when you surprised him in London.
“I missed you so much,” Harry had murmured against your lips, “and I still miss you now, because after a few days you’re just going to turn around and leave me again.”
“I’m never going to leave you. I promise.”
It was in the middle of Woman when it happened. That is–Harry’s phone ringing backstage. It was on silent, and it was locked up in his dressing room.
