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alltheficsiwant · 2 years

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Watched

Watched | A Foxy 🦊 and Wolfie 🐺 One Shot

Summary: Weeks after the encounter with James Barnes or Wolfie inside your head. You embarked on a journey of discovery as you learned who he really was. During those times, he was radio silent. You don’t know why, he seemed eager that night to know you but you took it as a win. You are not by any means going to be involved with the fucking Mob Boss of New York city despite how fucking beautiful he is.

Not until one day, you felt like being watched and you know your effort to come to the police is futile. So, you decided to ask for help. Cash in a favor. After all, he owes you one right?

Warnings: Mentions of violence, stalking and being stalked, police ignorance and possible assault. If you are triggered about this, please read with CAUTION. On a good note, this also have fluff and comic relief.

Words: 7.1 k

Ratings: 18+ Minors DNI

Author's Note: I was hoping to make this spicy but I ended up making this a bit cute on the end with lots of innuendos. BUT don't fret. I'm gearing up for a spicy encounter with these too but NOT TODAY.

This is also like kind of a sequel of one of my one shots, When Foxy meets Wolfie. Check it out through my Master List link below. :)

Disclaimer: I have not beta reader. I do apologize for my mistakes and errors in terms of grammars. Please do message me if I miss something with my warnings.

Main Masterlist

New York is always filled with people and if you live here long enough. You would be able to at least recognize the regular people. Yes, you might be a person who loses touch of her surroundings but it always has been when you are coding. Though when you are walking around the city that never sleeps. Well, you are as alert as a fucking fox.

Huh, maybe that is why you also named yourself Foxy (You already admitted it was because of your Naruto addiction but nobody has to know about that.). But since the past few weeks, you swear there is someone following you. You could feel eyes watching your every move.

You are quite secure with your identity remaining anonymous to the internet or even on the dark web. After all, you are a good hacker, you just chose not to be a hacker and instead dedicate your life to coding for robotics and tech with Shuri. You already have back up plans in case a cyber bullying would happen (highly unlikely, you hate social media.) or when your accounts or identity is suddenly stolen (that is impossible. You made that sure but still…).

You never really slipped up when you do a thorough background check even to the sketchiest people. That includes the socialites of New York specifically, James Buchanan “White Wolf” Barnes.

Now you get why Shuri named him that. That is basically his name now, the White Wolf of New York. Known for owning the business conglomerate, Barnes Incorporated. An old family business that started in a very familiar place. Brooklyn.

Before he was the King of New York, he was the Boss of Brooklyn known as the Winter Soldier. How do you know this? A magician never tells their secrets. But you found pictures of him and reports of news that involves him.

Though you can’t quite figure out when he had the metal arm. It's a story you're going to ask him if he ever calls or text. The only thing he sent you was an emoji of a wolf just so you can save his number. Then silence. Not that you are waiting for him to text back or call. He’s dangerous but he owes you a favor. So he said so.

Anyway, you had to use the very same emoji and save his name as “Wolfie” . You can’t resist. After all, all the names in your contacts are a total of six plus Wolfie now that he is in it. Shuri is a “Cub” with a picture of a tiger. T’challa is a “Panther” with a picture of a black cat. Tony Stark is “Old Man” with a metal gun (Yes you know him and wish you didn’t because he constantly annoys the hell out of you). Wanda is “Witch” which has the devil emoji (She never took offense to it. After all, your friendship with her happened in a dark place. Another story to tell on another day.) Then her brother, Pietro, whom you named “QuickSilver” with the running emoji. Of Course your Mother who you named “Ghost” with a ghost emoji because let’s face it. She was only a ghost in your life. Only there but never really present, ya know?

Since finding out about him, you have felt as if you are being watched. You are sure you made the precaution when you gathered the intel about him. Maybe he had a taboo kind of thing on his name when searched?

You only learned about his business (which screams MOB all over it) and some of his personal information.

Name: James Buchanan Barnes

Parents: George Barnes and Winnifred Barnes

Siblings: Rebecca and Sarah Barnes

Age: 31 years old.

Birthday: Unknown

If you are asked what is the best information about him, his marital status. Single. You don’t know why you are relieved but your stomach did a flip on that or it might just have been a facade. You know, he might be secretly married and cheating— Okay, Y/N you gotta chill my girl.

This is not a fucking novelesque life or fiction. This is real life, as real as it can be at least for you.

Besides a man like that, you can’t help but sigh as you scroll through the plethora of pictures of him in various business functions and news. He was quite an eye candy.

A best piece of candy– maybe more edible than your gummy bears but you wouldn’t admit that. You won’t betray your favorite candy that way.

Focusing on the situation at hand, since obsessing about him by searching through the world wide web and trying to know much about him. You swore someone is watching you.

Your fears were confirmed when you noticed someone new on the route you take to go to your grocers which is coincidentally your route to work too. For the past weeks, it has been busy in Wakanda Industries and Shuri has asked you to come in at the labs to work hands-on. After all, she needs extra hands that she trusts to handle the vibranium that came in from their country.

You noticed him at first, he was tall and towers over you. You never really noticed him until he stood beside you. He was broad too and you knew he could easily manhandle you. He wears a cap over his head all the time and the same black bomber jacket and straight blue jeans. He is also wearing working boots.

The reason why he raised a red flag, because usually a few people in New York do greet you. Contrary to people’s statement, if you are a regular around the neighborhood, people greet you. Sometimes, foreigners do that and that makes them stand out but this man. Oh boy, this man scares the crap out of you.

If he greeted you properly you wouldn’t have thought about him but the way he specifically reached out to you to tap your shoulders.

“Hey” He breathed out as he smiled or smirked?? You don’t know but it floored you when you saw his eyes. It was dark and fucking dangerous. You scrambled away from him after that, not bothering to greet back. Not your finest moment and you might have thought to toughen it up. But what happened at the club did a number on you. Men these days are more fucking aggressive and why do they choose to be one when you decided to take part in the real world.

That is why you wanted to stay at your apartment and code. Coding can only hurt you because it was a mistake you made that made it wrong. People? Well, you barely cope up with your mother’s absence and mistakes. You can’t deal with them at all.

Since then, you noticed him everywhere and your mind concluded (rather cursed) that it might be James Barnes’ fault that you are now being followed.

You are so regretting giving his number or even getting involved with him. It’s not totally worth it to stare into beautiful blue eyes and have the interest of one of the most eligible bachelors in New York when you might end up in a ditch somewhere.

So, you made a logical move, and reported it to the police. Though, you knew better. Not that you are bashing the police force but the people in Brooklyn PD? Is such a fucking waste of time.

You compiled pictures and evidence. Even the times when he followed your route to the T and even came into the same coffee shop as you. You even brought Wanda into it.

The people in the police station, specifically that dumb brunette that manned the desk for this kind of reports scoffed at you.

“Miss, it just looks like he walks and goes to the stores you are in as a regular. I’m sure you just noticed him now but we would ask around,”

Ask around my ass. That already happened a week ago and they never get back to you.

Now you are walking yet again to your home and you know he is right behind you. You could hear the gum he was chewing. You had your headphones on and no music playing. Afraid that if you got caught up with the sound, you might not hear him approaching.

You just want to get home safe. It's that too much to ask? You decided to pull out your phone. You have to call someone, anyone.

You looked at the six contacts and sighed. Shuri and T’challa are out of the question. The former is still busy in the labs when you leave the building. The latter is off in Wakanda despite your salary. International calls are expensive. You don’t want to blow him up after all despite being CEO, he is still a fucking king of the country.

Your mom is also out because that woman never answers a call even when it was from her precious daughter. Pietro is a no go, its a middle of the fucking week, he might be somewhere even out of New York. You don’t even know what he does exactly but he is out most of the time.

Wanda is ideal so without thinking you dialed her up and prayed to whoever is listening to let her answer. You continue to walk aimlessly. Trying to make the guy think you are going off somewhere but he never faltered in following your steps.

Though your hope was dashed when it went to voicemail.

“Heya! This is Wanda, if I haven’t answered in the third ring. It means I’m busy, leave me a message and I’ll get back to you babes,”

“Wands, I kinda need you right now. Someone is following me,” You whispered to your phone. You tried to discreetly look back and you knew you shouldn’t have done that because now the man is staring straight ahead at you. His almost black irises turned darker as he grinned at you. He looks so damn familiar but you can’t quite place where you last saw him. You decided that it doesn’t matter now. You are going to die anyway.

You cursed. You put the phone down and looked down at your contacts. Great, being the best hacker and a fucking IT genius. Yet you are here scrambling to do something that is supposed to be logical.

Fuck life, this is a dangerous situation and you cannot deflect or even joke about it. This isn’t about numbers or codes anymore or having the fucking problem how the hell do you write a code that could make a fucking robot flex it’s arms.

You stared down at the last number.

Wolfie 🐺

Fuck it. You pressed the call button. You could have texted but hey, your life is at stake.

The first ring didn’t even finish when it was answered.

“You finally—”

“Listen to me,” You cut him off his sultry greeting with a hissed as you tried to not be too noisy. You are speedwalking now and from your last glance he is matching your speed. “I-I need to cash in t-that favor now,”

Silence only met you as you walked through the streets of New York. You don’t even know where you are going anymore.

“Cash in?” He said, his voice turning serious. You started to breathe harder as you took a turn. Not noticing that you have entered the park just a few blocks away from Winter.

“Y-yes, ummm– It's not ideal but I am in the same situation as before,”

This time you heard a growl. “Someone is trying to assault you?”

You can’t help the chill that ran down your spine when he said that question. The coldness from it felt like seeping through the phone and to you.

“Might be the end of it if he caught up to me,” You panted as you tried to weave yourself through the people. Panic started to settle on your veins. You cannot hide anymore that you are trying to run away from him.

“You’re being chased?” You heard him shuffling on the end of the line. If you have focused, you could hear him clicking on something then a car door closing but you’re not. You are too focused on losing the man.

You chance another glance and saw him quite obviously chasing after you, making you curse.

“Yes,” You told him in panic as you turned back around only to slam into a girl. You nearly let your phone go but you held on tight to it as you apologized furiously to her. You could hear James’ muffled voice over the phone as you looked behind to see the guy had caught up to you.

“I’m sorry but I got to go,” You only said to the girl and started to walk away. You held your phone back to your ear.

“---Foxy, you better speak to me now. Where the hell are you?”

“I’m here, I uhh–” You looked around as you saw the place. “At the park, four blocks away from Winter.”

“Okay, you know about Sarah’s Bake Shop?” James' voice said to you. He was eerily calm and quiet now. Momentarily you forgot you are on the phone too caught up by looking over your shoulder and where you are going. “Foxy, talk to me baby. Don’t go quiet on me,”

“S-sorry,” You muttered and confirmed that you knew about the bake shop. You remember opening a couple of years ago. You never really had a chance to visit since bread isn’t something you consume on a daily basis but Wanda and Pietro are regulars despite living in Manhattan. You looked around and saw the exit to the park. “It’s the artisan bakery around the corner,”

You took a turn, your feet already walking you towards the Bakery.

“Good, go there and come up to the counter. You will see a brunette with the same eyes as mine. Tell her Bucky sent you and you need to be kept safe,” James explained.

“Bucky?” You can’t help but snort at that name. It wasn’t an unusual name per se but it reminded you of a certain man back in college in Utah. His name was Buckett with a double “t”. He always emphasized that and he was a total tool bag to say the least. He tried to hit on you and you can never forget the words he uttered to you the first time. Earning him a big ole slap. Your hand had to be bandaged up and you were restricted to move it for a week making you miss a coding class. (This is the reason why you also started your obsession with Naruto. You can’t really do anything but watch TV when you badly want to code instead.)

“I heard quiet girls are freaky. You might want to show me if it's, baby girl?”

You had to do it though and you did not regret that slap. He was such an extraordinary human being. Though last time you heard, he was locked up. Figures.

You know it's not the time to be amused by that but you can’t help it. You are scared out of your mind and you are uncomfortable with all the human interaction you had to do for the past few weeks. This is what you result into when you are in that state.

“Now is not the time baby, just do as I say,” James grunted as he heard the quiet giggles now that you made your way over the bakery.

“That name reminded me of a douche bag in college,” you told him, your filter off now as you made it through the crowd. Though your voice still sounded panicked.

“Tell me all about him later, doll but I need you in the bakery now okay?” James coaxed you and that made you glanced back to see the man’s eyes are now dark. A sneer on his face as he neared you.

You cursed. “He’s nearing me,”

“Do you see the bakery?”

You frantically looked around and once you saw the distinct pastel blue sign and “Sarah’s Bakery Shop” on the front. You sprinted, willing your short legs to please not fail you this time. You could hear him running after you now, and you didn’t even look at the road that you were crossing. Cars started to blast their horns but you didn’t care.

Your eyes tunneled towards the door and luckily a man was coming out of the shop and opened the door. Just in time for you to dash past him. The bakery was a bit filled despite it being 7PM at night. A few people were dining there and once you crashed in they all looked at you shocked.

“Excuse me Miss?” You looked towards the voice and then you were struck dumb thinking you are seeing James but in his place was a woman a bit taller than you. She is wearing a long sleeved white blouse and she is looking at you weirdly. Though what caught your eyes is the electric blues she sported. Almost the same ones as James but he was more beautiful. Sorry to say or is it just biased thinking?

You looked out to see the man ready to cross the street so you blurted out the words that James gave you.

“Bucky sent me here and to tell you to keep me safe,” you told her in a rush. Your eyes wide as you clutched the phone to your chest. Momentarily forgotten that James is on the other side of the phone. The woman looked at you for a moment and then followed your vision to where you turned. She must have seen the man because the next thing you know she was already shielding you from him as he entered the bakery.

It suddenly felt like the air in the shop was sucked out. The chatter quieted down as the man entered the shop. His eyes fixed on you.

“There you are babe,” The man suddenly exclaimed as he looked towards you. You remain frozen to where you stand but the woman behind the counter stepped right where he won’t be able to see you.

“Do you know him?” The woman only asked as she stared at him down.

“No,” You outright told her and you tried not to flinch as the man sneered for a moment before replacing it with his maniacal smile.

“Come on babe, don’t be like that. I already said I’m sorry to you, come on lets just—”

“Don’t touch me!” You exclaimed as he reached out over the woman. The woman, despite her fearless way of shielding you, wasn’t strong enough to deflect his reach. He was able to hold on to your forearm but you managed to twist it out of his grip. The woman then pulled you away from the man.

“That is not nice, babe. Don’t pretend you don’t know me. I have been walking with you for the past weeks,” He mused. You only glared at him as you held your forearm. He tried to reach out for you but this time the woman slapped his hand making him glare at her.

“I don’t even know you, you freak.” You told him as you leaned towards the woman who has her arms around you now. “You were stalking me,” you spat out.

“I was just trying to protect you babe.”

“Don’t call me that, i’m not your babe,”

“Of course you are,” He snorted and then reached out again.

“Don’t you dare touch her,” The woman threatened as he slapped his hand away. “She is not your babe. She is my brother’s girl,”

The man growled at that. “She is nobody's but mine and I can do anything to her,” he spat back as he reached out again. You tried to step back and produce space between you and the man but to no avail, he was big enough to be able to reach for your wrist this time.

“Oh, my brother would be so pissed off if he learns that you are touching his girl,” The woman threatened as he finally closed his hands on your wrist. When the words finally processed, you froze, which was a wrong decision because the man now has easily pulled you to him but your mind is elsewhere.

Brother?

“Oh yeah, what is he going to do—”

“You will be dead,” A voice interrupted. You knew that voice and the next thing you know you are in his arms this time. You look to see him staring at the man down who glared back at him.

“Who the hell are you? Give back my girl—”

James only laughed at that while your eyes suddenly caught a quiet murmur. The patrons were being escorted out by two men. One of them is Sam who offered a nod to you while the other is a tall blonde man. He has piercing blue eyes but his eyes are kind despite the stoic expression on his face.

Though the moment he saw you looking, he offered only a smile as he continued his job. Soon the shop was empty and the window blinds were closed.

James still has you in his arms and the woman is now standing alongside Sam and the blonde man. The man suddenly realized he was outnumbered.

“Just give her back to me. She has been making trouble—”

“Buddy, how many times am I going to tell you that she is not your girl?” James mused as he pulled you closer. You only leaned against him, quite shocked at yourself on how much you let him touch you. Again, your filter is off and you are in a dangerous situation. You might have been uncomfortable with human touch but if it comes from James it wasn’t entirely uncomfortable.

You remember the way he touched your face that night and— now is not the time,

“Fuck it, she’s not worth it. I could find a different whore—”

The only warning all of you had was the sound of his vibranium arm’s plates clicking and the next thing you know. The man was flying until he hit a wall and you swore you heard a crack after. You jumped and gasped at that.

James momentarily let you go and in his place came the woman who took your trembling figure in her arms. Though your eyes remained fixed on James who menacingly stepped towards the man whose eyes are half-lidded. Without any more words, you heard his metal arm wired to life, suddenly you are momentarily distracted by that as it reminded you about the code you are still working on to help with that. But then before you can finish that thought, the man cried out as you heard another crack.

You looked back at James but before you can even see what happened to the man. Sam and the blonde man blocked your view. Then you are back in James’ arms.

You tried to look again but you felt a hand behind your head turning you gently towards him.

“Don’t look,” is all he murmured as you nodded. You buried your face on his chest, knowing you wouldn’t like what you are going to see anyway. Your grip on your phone loosened a bit and then you completely let it go as you felt his vibranium arm wrapping itself around you.

“I got you Foxy. You’re safe now,” You didn’t know you need to hear those words. You sagged against him. The adrenaline and the rush of trying to save yourself seeped out to you. Your knees buckled and you felt James leaning down to take you in his arms. Your phone fell down on your grip and you might have winced when you heard the crack but you don’t care. You're safe.

You felt James move somewhere and the next thing you know he is seated in one of the booths with you on his lap. Your head now leaned against his shoulder as his vibranium secured you on his lap while his flesh one caressed the back of your head.

You stayed there trying to get your thoughts and your body to cooperate. In another situation, you might have quipped something inappropriate or joked about it. A defense mechanism of yours when things are overwhelming but right now. You seek the comfort you thought you didn’t need to the most unlikely person ever.

As you stayed quiet, you heard James murmuring orders to the two men. While the woman, who you later on will know as Sarah Barnes had busied herself in the kitchen. She even pulled out a cup of water and a cup of coffee towards the both of you. Your broken phone also laid on the table.

But you didn’t move and you remained in James’s arms. James continues to caress you and continue to whisper sweet nothings. Assuring you that you are safe and no one is going to touch as long as he is around.

You don’t know how long you and he stayed there but eventually someone has to break the silence. James decided it's going to be him.

“We should really stop seeing each other like this,” James said and that finally broke it as you can’t help but snort.

“It's your fault,” you can’t help but say as you leaned back to look up at him. His electro blue eyes staring down at you amused.

“My fault?” He asked his eyes now, swimming in amusement.

You nodded. “I got involved with you and now I am in my quota for dangerous situations,”

James chuckled at that as he reached up to you and cupped your cheek. Your brows scrunched at the deja vu feeling this situation is giving you.

“I guess I owe you one again?” James asked as he looked at you.

You huffed as you looked away making your cheeks squish against his hand making you pout. James must have found your huffing amusing because you heard him chuckle again.

“What is it? You don’t like me owing you?” He asked as he tried to catch your eyes but you continued to dodge him as you huffed.

You felt like this is going to be the cycle between the two of you and you wanted not to do anything with him. Even if he is the most beautiful man and you wanted to do things to him that you rather don’t want to think about. You don’t have your filter on. (You will never have it back. Let’s face it.)

“I’d rather not have anything to deal with you,” You grumbled but it only earned you a chuckle from the man himself.

“Oh Foxy, do you think I would be able to let you go now?”

“Well, you did a good job ignoring me for the past few weeks,” you blurted out and then your eyes widened at what you just said. You looked back at him to see him looking at you taken aback before it morphed into mischief. You huffed again.

“You are waiting for me to call you?” James asked amused.

“No!” You exclaimed and when you tried to move away. You noticed that you are still on his lap. You immediately move to stand up. James again, let you not make any move as you stared back at him incredulously.

“I thought you don’t want to deal with socialites like me?”

“Shut up,” You quipped not knowing what comeback you will give him. Shit shit shit. You just outed that you are thinking about him. Soon he would discover you were stalking him through the world wide web. Oh gosh Y/N, you really did it this time. You’re dead. Completely dead.

“I was out of the country,” James suddenly said, making you look at him in confusion. He turned his body so he is still facing you. He remained seated in the booth as he laid both of his hands on his thighs. You just noticed his outfit now. He was in a casual black sweater paired with black jeans and doc martens. An outfit that usually is fit for traveling.

“I was in Russia and then Wakanda for the past months doing…” he trailed off as if trying to find the right words.

“Mob business” you completed it for him and then your eyes widened again. Oh shit.

James then looked at you before he smirked. “Yes,” he didn’t even deny it as your eyes widened more. “I’ve been busy and I wasn’t able to hold on to my phone until today. I just landed when you called me,”

You bit your lip at that. He came all the way here? Then your eyebrows scrunched together.

“How come you came here so fast? New York is like a labyrinth of traffic,”

“I came here through my building. T’challa let me use one of their Quinjets.” He explained and you nodded now. Not knowing what to say anymore.

“So you’ve been busy huh? What more did you find about me doll?” James asked and your eyes widened at that.

“I am not inclined to answer that question,” You decided to tell him. To hell with it, you won’t snitch on yourself.

James chuckled at that as he looked at you though his face grew sober as his eyes trailed down towards your arms. You followed his gaze and saw the mark that the man left on it. Suddenly, you felt your knees become jello as the events of today crashed to you again.

“How long is he following you around?” James asked quietly as you shakily looked up at him.

“A few weeks now,” You told him and you watched as he clenched his jaw. “I-I tried to go to the police but—”

“They didn’t do anything about it?” He sharply asked and you shook your head. You heard him curse before he took a deep breath, calming himself down. “Well, I guess it's a good thing I ended it before it became too much,”

You looked up at him and then your eyes trained towards the wall where the man was slumped. You didn’t hear James stand up but the next thing you know, he was right in front of you again. Blocking your view and making you look at him.

“Hey Foxy,” He murmured quietly as he hovered his arms over your face. His eyes asking for permission. You can’t help but nod. He kept doing that, even on the first encounter. He was always asking you before he touched you. You liked that.

Once he held your face, one flesh and one metal, he stared at you for a while. His eyes roaming around your face making you self conscious. You scrunch your nose and were about to remove your face from his hands. This time his hold was gentle yet firm.

“I’m sorry for not reaching out to you for the past weeks. I really wanted to know about you, Foxy.”

You only stared back at him. Oddly, he sounded sincere.

“I think it's also bad that I get to see you when you are in danger,” James added as he smirked at you. You huffed at that.

You pouted. “Well, you are trouble personified as much as I know,”

James chuckled. “You attract trouble, baby.” He answered back and you looked at him offended.

“I do not! I just have poor luck,” You mumbled but James just looked at you with amusement.

“Then, I’ll be your lucky charm.” James declared as you raised a brow at him in questions. He gently ran his thumbs over your cheekbones as he looked down at you with a small smile.

“I didn’t know people like you can be this cheesy,” You told him.

“It's a hidden talent,” James joked and you have to stop yourself from laughing. Instead you just ballooned your cheeks. James just finds it amusing but then his face turns serious. “But I’m serious Foxy. Whether you owe me or I owe you one. When you run into something bad, you call me okay?”

You looked at him for a moment. “Why are you so adamant on knowing about me?” You questioned instead. Your stand of having nothing to do is still up but you are curious about his fascination with you.

James then thought about it with a playfully expression on his face before he looked back down at you. He ran his tongue on his bottom lip before he spoke.

“You intrigue me Foxy,” James said and you were about to protest that it was such a vague reason when he added. “Trust me, I don’t get intrigued or amused easily.”

You blinked at that. Intrigued? No one really told me that before.

“Bucky?” You and James turned around at the mention of the name. You saw the same woman before, her eyes the same as James trained on his hand which was holding your face. An amused expression fixed on her face. Though the both of you didn’t make a move as you both looked at her expectantly.

Then something clicked in you. Bucky.

You snorted suddenly, the memories of a man named Buckett coming back to you as you looked at James. Then it clicked.

“...You will see a brunette with the same eyes as mine. Tell her Bucky sent you and you need to be kept safe”

“She is not your babe. She is my brother’s girl,”

Bucky = Brother = James

“You’re Bucky,” You concluded out loud and James looked down at you amused. Then you heard a giggle to look back at the woman. Then your eyes widened.

Sarah’s Baker Shop

Siblings: Rebecca and Sarah Barnes

“Holy shit, your his sister Sarah,” You mumbled and the woman, Sarah nodded. She turned to Ja—-Bucky with a smirk.

“She’s smart. Different from the girls that flocked around you Buck,” She retorted towards her brothers. James rolled his eyes at her before letting go of your face but then you snorted and couldn't help the giggles that came out of you.

Now two identical blue eyes looked down at you amused yet confused.

“Why are you laughing Foxy?”

“Bucky? Seriously Wolfie?” You can’t help but let the nickname you have for him slip out as you continue to giggle. “Where the hell Bucky came from?”

“He hated Buchanan and he hated being called James before,” Sarah mused as she caught on to what was funny to you. She looked at Bucky now with a small smile. “He insisted everybody call him Bucky. Steve joked about that sounding so much like Bucket–”

“Oh gosh, Buckett. The college douche bag,” you exclaimed and now you are full on laughing. Sarah snickered at you while James just sighed.

“Glad I could make you laugh Foxy,” James grumbled and that just made you laugh more. It was a while before you had your laugh under control. Then you sobered up as you looked back at Sarah remembering how much she tried to protect you before.

“Thank you,” you blurted out as you looked at her. Sarah then offered a small smile. “You didn’t know me yet you protected me,”

Sarah then glanced at Bucky before looking back at you. “Any friends of Bucky are friends of mine too or is there something going on?” She mused.

Your eyes widened at what she was implying. “Umm– we-we are not– something! We- we are–”

“We are not yet something,” James slyly replied as you looked at him now with wide eyes as he looked back at you. “But we are friends now,”

“I said no such thing!” You exclaimed as you tried to take a step back away from him. “Besides you are one of our clients in my work place and I do not—”

“I am friends with Shuri,” he cut you off again as he looked at you with a tilt of his head. “Why can’t I be friends with you?”

You opened your mouth but honestly, you don’t even know why he can’t. Yes he might be involved with the mob but honestly, you just blamed him for the situation you are in. It was honestly a coincidence that you had a stalker and you happen to know one of the dangerous men of New York. Maybe because you knew once you let him in your life. You would be dealing with shit you never dealt with before and you knew that you wouldn’t be able to walk away. As one of the articles says about him; “James Barnes, the most charming CEO over 30’s”. Of course, you won’t admit that. Over your dead tiny body. So you say your default reason.

“You’re dangerous,”

James chuckled as a sense of dejavu washed over you. “I told you, you are the safest with me,”

You looked at him for a moment and sighed. “I will never be able to get rid of you now huh?”

James then turned serious as he looked at you. “You never really told me you want me out of your life.”

“I did,” you mused as you looked at him but James shook his head.

“You have to mean it, Y/N.” You can’t help but blush at the way he said your name. “And when you do, I would know.”

You continue to stare at him. For once, you are lost at what to say back to him. You know your resolve is crumbling. Who are you even kidding anymore?

“Maybe it is best if Y/N take her rest,” Sarah interrupted as you both turned to her. Your eyes widened when you realized you weren’t able to introduce yourself properly.

“Oh right, I forgot. My name is Y/N Y/LN,” You offered a smile at her. Sarah beamed back at you.

“Nice to meet you Y/N. I’m Sarah Jane Barnes, Bucky’s youngest sister.” She introduced herself. “Well, as much as I want to know more about you and how you met my pain in the ass big bad brother. It's best that he takes out for a bite first before ensuring you are safe home?”

She said that as if she was talking to you but one she mentioned James, her gaze turned to him as she finished speaking.

“I’ll make sure she’s eaten and home safe,”

“Good, see you Y/N.”

After that, James— rather Bucky now in your head. Escorted you to the car he drove here which was parked right outside the shop. Sam had greeted you and then you were introduced to the tall man.

“This is Steve—”

“Oh the one who joked about your nickname sounding like Bucket,” you blurted out and then blushed at that. Steve had looked down at you amused. His stoic expression is long gone.

“You are really cute,” He commented, making you blush deeper and lean more towards Bucky who glared at him.

“Stop flirting with her dumb ass.” Bucky said before he led you towards the car. When you were situated, he turned to instruct them on helping Sarah up. You didn’t know what they talked about but the next thing you know Bucky is inside the car.

“Will you be taking me home now?” You asked without thinking about your question before you even realized the implication of it. It was too late as Bucky turned to you with a dark expression and smirk.

“I would love to take you home now Foxy,” He flirted and your eyes widened at that.

“No! That is not what I meant— I meant if you are taking me back to my home,” You emphasized but Bucky only laughed at you as he put the car on drive.

“I promised SJ I would be feeding you and then taking you home,” He said as he spared you a glance before turning back to the road. “Whichever home you prefer,” He teased and you huffed at him.

“You don’t have to–”

“I want to,” Bucky suddenly turned serious as he gave you another glance. “I might have promised my sister but that is what I’m going to do anyway,”

“If you are going to feed me, I want pizza.” You said and then you hurriedly added. “But I don’t want high end things. I had too much stress today. I want the pizza at Hal’s the little store near Wakanda,”

If he wants to know you, you both do it on your terms. If he is uncomfortable, then he’s not worthy to be your friend—

“Sounds good.” He then pulled out his phone and handed it to you. The same phone he handed me before. “Why don’t you call ahead and order in advance?”

You looked at the phone and then him. “Are you seriously handing me your phone right now?”

Bucky raised a brow as he glanced at you. His hand remained, one hand on the wheel and the other giving his phone to you.

“Ugh yes,”

“What if your mob business got–”

“This is my personal phone,” He explained and then he lifted it again as an offering. You took it and shrugged but then you have another idea. You are still not that comfortable with this so you decided to be a little shit that you are.

“I’m going to order a whole pizza. Half and half. Are you okay with pineapples, olives and mushrooms?” You asked as you looked at him. Then he gave you quite the opposite of what you expect.

“With extra cheese?” He asked and you blinked at him.

“Ugh, yes.” You can only answer.

“Sounds good.” He only said and then you just continued to stare at him. Bucky must have noticed before he chuckled. “What do you expect me to say no and force you to be taken to a high end restaurant just like in fiction?”

Honestly? “Yes.”

Bucky laughed at that and you can’t help but admire it. “I’m not going to force anything on you Foxy,” He then looked at you with a mischievous look before looking back at the road. “Besides, the only thing I exert force on is in my work and in bed,”

You can’t help your first instinct and lightly hit him on the shoulder earning a laugh from Bucky.

“Stop with innuendos!” You exclaimed and Bucky laughed.

“Can’t help it, Foxy. I like it when I can make you blush,” He said and then made you tuck in to yourself.

“Gosh, now I'm starting to see how you are going to be in the future,” You grumbled and Bucky only smirked at you.

“I’m just starting, Foxy. I have a lot things in store for you,”

Again, what have you got yourself into Y/N?

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes × reader #mob!bucky x reader #mob!bucky #bucky barns x you #alltheficsiwant writes #Foxy & Wolfie #ilovemybuck #marvel

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korizzybee · 1 year

Text

|| Something New || Chapter 1: Kendra Sullivan ||

(If you don’t know already this is an OC story pls go look at the info)

Currently reading: C.1

Next chapter (WIP)

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Okay let’s do this the right way, my name is Kendra R. Sullivan. I’m 14 years old, and I was bitten by a radioactive spider on the way home from ballet practice. During the time I’ve been SpiderWoman, or as the people from my town call me, StarSpider, I’ve been through a lot.

I’ve fallen in love, been in MANY near death situations, lost my mother, Bianca and my uncle Benji in a car accident, and lost my best friend, Suzy Carter in a fire accident. I was adopted by my aunt, Mary Johnson, and was given the billions of dollars left in my name by my parents.

I currently live a life of luxury with my aunt and for the last 2 years I’ve been the one and only SpiderWoman…or that’s what I thought. A couple months ago I was recruited to join the Spider Society by a man named Miguel, even though I was young, he saw great potential in me.

He told me I had what it took to help him out with protecting the multiverse. Of course I HAD to accept, I mean not only did I get a cool watch that I could travel to many different multiverses with, but I was also not alone.

That amazing event is what led us to today…

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ALARM ALARM!!

“Kenny! It’s time to get up for school you’re going to be late!” I heard my Aunt May call out to me from downstairs. I groggily opened my eyes and looked at my alarm clock, ‘7:43 AM?!’ I thought. “Coming Auntie!” I yelled, rushing to get out of bed as fast as I could, making me trip over my blanket and fall on the floor. “Ow…” I groaned slightly.

“Is everything okay up there!” My aunt yelled from the kitchen. “Yes ma’am!” I yelled back. The maid, Darla, came running in to my room, she helped me off the ground. “Oh dear, Ms. Sullivan, you sure are a clumsy one.” She said with a soft voice and kind smile. I loved Darla, she was like a mother to me, most of the time my aunt would be out working, so Darla would be the one taking care of me. Plus, Darla was the only one who knew about me being StarSpider…

I giggled at her words as she pulled my uniform out of my closet and handed it to me. As I got dressed, Darla was packing my bag and making sure I had everything I needed for both school and ballet practice. “Ms. Sullivan, you’ll need to leave school early today around 12:45 to be at practice. Ms. Johnson had scheduled you an extra practice so that you will be ready for your ballet solo this Saturday.”

I nodded at her words, “Got it, by the way, I’ve told you many times to just call me Kendra.” I sighed, a fake annoyed tone showing through my voice as she placed my cardigan on me. “Sorry,” she said softly with a small chuckle, “force of habit.” I rolled my eyes playfully at her, she sat me down on the bed and placed my brown loafers on my feet. “Well, I hope you one day get out of the habit.” I replied with a playfully snarky tone.

Anyone who didn’t know me would’ve thought that I was actually being rude to Darla, but I would never. Darla is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and yea I might be short tempered sometimes, but never to Darla, I’m always patient with her. “Come on Kendra!” I heard my Auntie yell, “It’s fine to go!” “Okay! Okay!” I yelled back, slightly annoyed she was rushing me. Darla put my lunch in my bag and placed my bag on my shoulders before hurrying me downstairs.

“Darla, please take her to school, it’s too late for me to now. I have a meeting with my boss, I won’t be back until late tonight.” She informed Darla before pressing a kiss on my cheek. “Auntie!” I whined, “I’m not a little girl anymore! You don’t need to give me cheek kisses every time you leave!” I softly argued. She giggled softly, pinching my cheek gently, “You’ll always be a little girl to me, my little girl, now have a good day at school.” She said as Darla and I left the house.

Looking out the window of the car, I see building passing by, or more accurately, us passing by the buildings. New Orleans was a big city after all, it’s always an adventure and sometimes there’s always a lot of traffic. Today, fortunately, there wasn’t any. “Make sure you work extra hard today, you have an algebra exam next week. Besides, it’s important you work harder because you’re a grade ahead.”

Darla said, keeping her eyes on the road. I just turned 14 in the summer, really, I’m still supposed to be in the eighth grade. Since I’m so smart though, I was able to skip seventh grade. Many people say I get my smarts from my dad, he graduated college at 18. I sighed, leaning back in my seat, “I know Darla, you tell me this with every exam each school year.”

I said with a bored sigh, but I know Darla was just looking out for me. “Sorry,” she said apologetically, “you know how I feel about this. I think you should be in a class with the rest of the eighth graders, but this was your decision to skip that grade so I have no choice but to comply.” She said. “I understand, I know you’re just looking out for me.” She turned and looked at me, smiling a bit.

The car stopped in front of the school, I stepped out of the car. “Have a good day Kendra.” She said, blowing me a small kiss. I pretended to catch it and place it on my heart. “Thanks, bye Darla.” I said to her, grabbing my bag and heading inside of the school. When I walked inside, a bunch of kids were staring at me. I was the youngest at the school, everyone there was either already 15-18 or turning 15 this year.

I had literally just turned 14 four months ago! This was a private school filled with snobby rich kids with nothing better to do than hate on others just trying to live their lives. I looked at the time on my phone, ‘8:15 AM,’ I thought to myself. Class started in 5 minutes, my senses went off, something told me this was going to be a terrible day….

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#korizzybee’s work #x black reader #across the spiderverse x reader #atsv x reader #spiderverse x reader #miles morales #miles morales x reader #Spotify

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druidgroves · 2 years

Text

Chapter 08: Rhythm of the Rain

Fandom: Fallout 4 Words: 7,844 Characters: Georgia Tate (Canon Divergent Sole Survivor), RJ MacCready Notes: hi this is one of my fav chapters so far pls enjoy >:3c

read on ao3 ch. 1 / ch. 2 / ch. 3 / ch. 4 / ch. 5 / ch. 6 / ch. 7

For the next three weeks, the settlement game became a hell of a lot easier. They’d rock up to wherever, the Boss would charm the settlers silly with her lofty promises for aid, and they would pay her with whatever caps they could scrape together. The first time Mac had actually tried to press her into asking for more–there was no way he was clearing out a possible feral den without proper reimbursement–she had fixed him with a look so severe that he almost ate his words. She ended up giving him part of her share to make up for it, and Mac had been in no hurry to stop her.

She had given him his weekly pay three times in that interim, always on time and with her promised compensation when caps were low. By the time the Boss would be ready to head back to the city at the end of the month, his pack would be full to bursting with all he’d earned under her. For all the good samaritan work they were doing for the Minutemen, at least working with the Boss was never without reward, and it certainly wasn’t dull.

However, if he didn’t know it before, after three weeks on the road with her, Mac found out the Boss talked a lot.

He might as well have learned everything about her for how much she talked. He learned that her favorite color was something called “blush pink”, that she preferred Nuka-Cherry to Nuka-Cola, and that she had a strong hatred for any sort of bug (that one he knew already after the Radroach Incident, but it only became more clear after the later Bloodbug Incident). He learned that she enjoyed cooking but disliked doing it on the road, loved books but had a weird hang-up about “bending the spines”, and hated the song “A Wonderful Guy” whenever it played on the radio, but would be humming it under her breath an hour later. In addition to her books, he found her to be a magazine collector as well–he’d even gotten a few new comics out of it.

“Bullshit,” she had said one day as they walked. “Are you really tryin’ to tell me that Grognak could take on the Silver Shroud? And win?”

“Grognak could smash that nerd’s head in with his axe, easy,” Mac argued, kicking a rock in the road that Dogmeat went chasing after. “What could the Shroud do? Talk funny at him? Please.”

“Oh, them’s fightin’ words, Mac! So, here’s why you’re wrong—”

(She had then gone on for ten minutes straight).

Mac also learned things about the Boss that weren’t so straightforward as her telling him about herself. Instead, he learned through watching. Not in a creepy way, but in the way that two people traveling together naturally ended up watching each other–sometimes they were the only interesting thing around. He saw that she kept three bobby pins in her hair; two for pinning her low bun in place and one for picking locks. He watched when she would type faster than anyone he’d ever seen, fingers flying over the keys as she hacked her way into any terminal that caught her fancy. He’d seen her cut herself off mid-sentence, then switch the direction of her words like she was avoiding something, but he never called her on it. He saw when she popped a Rad-X before every meal and whenever she brushed her teeth every morning. He knew she had a particular way she packed her things, always pushed her glasses up with her middle finger, and always made a face whenever he’d pick over raider corpses.

“Y’know, this would go a lot faster if you’d help,” Mac had said one evening as he shoved his hand into the inner pocket of one of their vests, coming out with a few cigarettes and some caps.

They’d been clearing the road for traders heading northwest from one of her Minutemen settlements—raiders had been attacking their caravans and stealing their wares, and they’d finally found the hideout as well as the missing cargo. Mac couldn’t remember which settlement had sent out the call, only that they’d gotten word over Radio Freedom and would be paid one hundred and fifty caps upon their return.

The Boss had tried a charismatic approach when they came up to the “toll” the raiders had put up, but it had turned into a shootout the moment their leader recognized who she was. The fact that the guy whose corpse he was now picking over knew her by title concerned Mac, in so far as his connection to her. He had to remind himself that as General, she was still a known quantity, and he was willingly tagging along with her. When all was said and done, though, Mac didn’t mind the extra spoils he got when it came down to the mighty General of the Minutemen’s disdain for picking over bodies.

He looked over his shoulder to where he knew the Boss had been standing, watching him with thinly veiled abhorrence. Her arms were crossed and her nose was scrunched up like she’d smelled something awful.

“Where I’m from, that’s called desecration of a corpse. If I can help it, I’d rather not go diggin’ around in someone else’s pockets,” she said, averting her eyes as he began patting over another body.

Mac almost had to laugh as he pulled out a handful of shotgun shells from their pockets. Scavving off cadavers was standard wasteland practice as far as he was concerned–the dead had no use for extra ammo or a handful of caps. He’d always heard that you “can’t take it with you”, but he figured someone else always could, and he quite liked being that someone else. It paid well.

“So, I guess you’re not interested in these then, right?” he asked, and held the shells aloft for the Boss to see.

“Well, I mean, I am, but—”

(She’d stuck her tongue out at him when she took them later–another one of her little habits).

By the middle of that second week, Mac had come to realize there were many things about the Boss that he couldn’t quite make sense of.

His big theory was that she’d come from a vault, he just hadn’t figured out how to ask which one. He didn’t want a repeat of that night in the library when she closed up faster than a bear trap after his big mouth got away from him. He had a feeling she kept her personal business close to the chest, but even so, he was still incredibly curious about her. He’d decided that she couldn’t have been from any of the local vaults early on, given that two were overrun with Gunners and another by triggermen. Mac was fairly confident in the idea that she couldn’t be from Vault 81 simply because none of their traders that he’d seen and heard sounded like the Boss with all her clipped G’s and long I’s. They all had some variation of the Commonwealth on their tongues that he could never imagine her speaking with.

There was also the Boss’ strangest habit of saying things that didn’t quite make sense. Three weeks to the day they met–it was January something, all Mac knew was that the New Year had come and gone while they were busy doing a clean up job on some mutants–a radstorm rolled over the Commonwealth, long overdue.

He had smelled the radiation on the air before the telltale green clouds made themselves known, and when the geiger counter on the Boss’ Pip-Boy started clicking, it hadn’t taken much to convince her to duck into the nearest building. After they made sure it was clear of hostiles and the Boss had dispensed some Rad-X for the two of them, they had settled into one of the Slocum’s Joe booths to wait out the storm. Dogmeat was tucked under the table between them, fallen asleep last Mac knew.

Now, the sounds of Diamond City Radio played softly from the Boss’ Pip-Boy, marred by static and Travis’ anxious reporting. An hour had passed and the storm showed no signs of letting up any time soon, hellbent on making sure the Commonwealth remembered what mother nature was capable of. Mac had pulled out his comics a while ago, knowing they’d be there for a bit, while the Boss had contented herself with chain smoking and watching the rain through the window, humming quietly along to the radio.

“Funny which songs survived two hundred years,” she said suddenly, a cloud of smoke hanging in the air around them as “The Wanderer” faded out. Her words pulled Mac out of his issue of the Unstoppables.

“Huh?”

“If it were up to me, I’d’ve let both parts of ‘Butcher Pete’ go the way of the old world,” she continued, the corner of her mouth curling slightly.

Thunder boomed high above them as Travis’ voice came on the radio again. The Boss frowned and, without tearing her eyes away from the storm, lowered the volume on her Pip-Boy a few notches.

“What about ‘A Wonderful Guy’?”

“That one, too.”

Silence fell between them again after that, so Mac went back to reading his comic. The Boss ashed her cigarette onto an old dinner plate. The quiet lasted all of two minutes before she spoke again.

“How long do these things usually last?” she asked, nodding towards the window.

“What? Oh,” Mac replied, pulled out of his reading once again as he followed her gaze. “Depends. Haven’t had one in a while, so this one looks like it’s gonna be a beast.”

The Boss seemed both captivated and concerned by the storm, her eyes having never left the window since they sat down in the booth. She was bathed in the glowing green light provided by both the storm itself as well as her Pip-Boy. She looked at the sky like she was trying to study it, entranced by how the clouds rolled over themselves and bounced around jagged bolts of lightning. The light reflected in her glasses, the crack in the right frame fracturing the view into several smaller ones. Thankfully, the crack hadn’t been large enough to render her glasses obsolete, and in the few weeks they’d been together, Mac knew well enough that she was blind as a damn molerat without them.

“So we might as well get ready to hunker down, huh,” she muttered after a bit, finally turning away from the window.

She sighed and put out her cigarette, then began poking through her pack. She came away with a bottle of Rad-X, the pills inside rattling as she took it out. It was her own personal stash–Georgia’s, DO NOT TOUCH written on duct tape slapped over the label, but she shook out two capsules despite it. She dry-swallowed one before holding out the other for him.

“You’re real paranoid about rad sickness, Boss,” he said, but took the capsule anyways–far be it from him to refuse anything free. “No offense.”

“‘Scuse me for not wantin’ my insides to turn bright green.”

“Pretty sure that’s not what happens.”

“It’s called a joke, Mac.”

“Really? Then you need better material.”

“I’m gonna start callin’ you Mac the Mouth, I swear. Nothin’ but sass from you,” she laughed as thunder and lightning crackled outside. Mac was suddenly grateful for the miraculously still-intact glass in the windows nearest them, and the boards covering the ones further away.

“Wouldn’t be the worst name I’ve been called,” he shrugged, closing his comic book and stowing it away in his pack to swap for his journal and a pencil.

She stuck her tongue out at him as he opened his journal to a blank page near the back. The Boss was a very chatty woman, her endless need for conversation pulling him out of his reading more than once, so he opted to scribble instead. Doodling never required much focus from him, so if the Boss kept talking, it wouldn’t be as much of a bother.

“You draw?” she asked as he put his pencil to paper, her interest piqued. Mac felt heat creep up the back of his neck as he reflexively shifted his arm to hide the pages of his journal.

“I wouldn’t call it drawing, really. Mostly uh, comic stuff,” he said with an attempt at a nonchalant shrug. “They’re not good, believe me.”

She pursed her lips, disbelieving, “C’mon, don’t put yourself down. Can I see?”

“They’re just doodles. They’re nothing serious, I promise,” he said, trying to get her to lay off.

“Please?” I won’t make fun of you if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“They’re really not anything special,” he tried to insist. “I just followed those step-by-step instructions in the back of my comics.”

“Okay, but I don’t wanna look at the instructions, I wanna look at your’s.”

Mac groaned, running a hand down his face. Knowing that she could keep pestering him forever if she put her mind to it (she was nothing if not stubborn, he had come to find out), he relented, leaning back and turning his journal around for her to see. He had started sketching out a body but had stopped mid-torso, and suddenly feeling like he needed to impress her with his mediocre artistry, he flipped back a few pages to some of his other work. The Boss’ eyes grew wide with curiosity and glee as he did, putting her short, delicate-looking fingers on the pages but leaving the journal where it was on the table.

“Mistress of Mystery fan?” she asked with a grin as she looked over the page, his best rendition of the femme fatale winking over her misshapen shoulder with a crooked eye. He was pretty sure he’d accidentally skipped over a step somewhere in there.

“Like I said, mostly comic stuff,” he shrugged again, feigning indifference to any opinion she had about his drawings. Even if he wasn’t his own biggest fan, there was the tiniest part of him that wanted her to like them, even a little bit. He quickly stamped it out like a cigarette butt on a sidewalk and moved past it.

The Boss looked up at him expectantly when she began pulling at the corner of the page, as if asking for permission to peruse further. Biting the inside of his cheek, Mac nodded hesitantly, thinking suddenly of all the half-written letters to Duncan towards the front.

“Just don’t go too far.”

She gave him that familiar, sparkling smile, all excited and full of perfectly straight teeth as she nodded and turned the page. A half finished bust of Grognak in a power pose was in one corner next to a detailed depiction of his axe, while a simpler doodle of a super mutant in a similar muscle-flexing pose stood in the opposite corner. It garnered a laugh out of the Boss as she turned the page again, flipping to one of his other attempts at drawing without a guide.

Mac grimaced. He’d forgotten about that one.

“...A Mr. Handy?” she tried after a minute, raising an eyebrow and biting her lip.

Mac sank into his seat, looking away as he said, “...It’s Dr. Brainwash. From the Unstoppables. Y’know, this guy?”

He flipped open the top of his pack and pulled out the edge of the comic he’d put away earlier. The Boss’ eyes flitted from his journal to the comic book, trying to fight a laugh the longer she looked between them. He knew he butchered it, but shit, she didn’t have to be so obvious about it.

“Oh, of course,” she said, and he could tell she was trying her hardest to keep up a supportive front. “Silly me. Looks…looks just like him.”

“You said you weren’t going to make fun of me.”

“I’m not! It looks so good, Mac, I promise. You really tried and that’s what matters.”

“Alright, alright, hand it back if you’re gonna be like that,” he chided, narrowing his eyes at her.

The Boss finally laughed, closing his journal before sliding it back over the table. He’d never really shown people his doodles, never had anyone ask, but he honestly should have expected it from the Boss the moment he pulled them out.

“Really, Mac, you’re an artist. Don’t matter if you’re ‘good’ or not,” she said, more earnestly than her other comments, and leaned back as Dogmeat let out a snore from under the table. Mac had almost forgotten he was there; he’d been still and quiet since he disappeared under the table.

“I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call me an ‘artist’, but uh, thanks, I guess,” he said, flipping the journal back open to the page he’d been on.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it, Picasso,” the Boss said with a definitive sigh as she slid out of the booth. He made a face at the unfamiliar name, but left it at that. “I’m gonna poke around, see if there’s any good scrap.”

She turned up the radio again as she left, the end of Travis’ reporting filtering through the static as he shilled ads for Arturo’s shop, before giving way to more music. Dogmeat shifted under the table by Mac’s feet as he returned to his drawing. He could hear the Boss humming to herself as she went behind the diner counter, opening cabinets and drawers and rummaging through them.

Now, Mac understood resourcefulness. He really did. He could appreciate getting crafty when supplies were short at hand. What he couldn’t abide by, however, was the woman’s ridiculous hoarding of junk. Because that’s what it was despite her reasoning that it had use “somehow.” He point blank refused to carry any of her crap when she tried once more to lighten her haul onto him. He eventually sat down and ran her through what would and wouldn’t sell on the market last he knew, the going rates for various choice scrap, and what was better left behind in an effort to be more efficient in what she scavved. The Boss was still working on that last part, unfortunately. Her pack jingled with matching salt shakers and a vase wrapped in her spare clothes, tucked next to a framed picture and faded postcards taken off the walls of the various places they’d been through. It was all old world junk to him, but she delighted in picking them out of the two hundred year old ruins and looking over them with reverence.

By the time he was done drawing and redrawing the Silver Shroud’s jawline before giving up, the Boss was pouring her newest haul over the table. A Nuka-Cherry (off to a good start–he couldn’t begrudge her a soda every now and then), a handful of caps (even better), a pair of thick rubber gloves (alright?) and a pile of holotapes with faded orange plastic (...interesting).

“Look at what I found,” the Boss said as she sat down, popping open her soda on the edge of the table and flicking the cap over to him. Mac caught it with a sniper’s reflex, looking over the pile before him.

She picked up one of the holotapes, holding it up to her face to look for any indication as to what was on it as she took a sip from the bottle. “There was a pile of holos in an old drawer in the kitchen and I wanted to look at them ASAP.”

“Of course you did,” he said and she clicked her tongue at him. He rolled the cap across his fingers as he tacked on, “Plenty of people out there are willing to pay good caps for working holos. Most people end up wiping the memory for their own uses, though.”

“And erase what’s on ‘em? God, how much information has been lost that way?” she said, suddenly looking very distraught at the idea. She shook it off after a moment, shaking her head, “Well, I’m not wipin’ ‘em. If I’m right about what’s on them, they’ll be worth keepin’.”

She put her drink on the table and pulled her Pip-Boy closer to her. Mac watched as she hit a button or a switch or whatever, and a tray popped open on the top. She slipped one of the tapes inside at random before closing it and pressing play. It took a second for the tape to start, skipping a little at the beginning, but as soon as music began to play, the Boss’ face lit up like the stadium lights over Diamond City.

“Oh, my god, I know this song!” she cried out in excitement, cranking up the volume over the rain now beating against the window with fervor. The music was upbeat and inviting, and it showed in the way the Boss started climbing out of the booth again, feet tapping and hips swirling as soon as she hit the floor.

“Come, let’s stroll / stroll across the floor / come, let’s stro-oh-oh-oll / stroll across the floor / now turn around, baby / let’s stroll once more…”

Mac watched her in puzzled amusement, mouth curling at the corners despite the shaking of his head. The Boss strolled across the diner, her moves simple but done with a certain swagger exaggerated by the way she moved her shoulders and rolled her hips to the music. All the commotion woke up Dogmeat from under the table, who padded out to join his owner once he saw her moving about. He looked up at her, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he pranced in circles around her. The Boss laughed, carefully sidestepping around the hound before finally catching Mac shaking his head at her.

“What are you doing?”

She laughed again, still dancing as she raised her voice over the music, “You dance, Hotshot?”

Mac barked out a laugh, shaking his head fervently, “Not a chance in he–uh, no way, Boss. Not enough caps in the world to convince me.”

“Hundred and fifty got you walkin’ with me all over the Commonwealth, though,” she pointed out with a smirk, slinking back over towards him.

“True, but I never learned how to dance, so.”

“C’mon. How much more to get you to bust a move?”

“Sorry, Boss, contract’s already been signed. No new amendments,” he said, tipping his hat to her with a flourish and she laughed, throwing her head back. It was easy to make her laugh, he’d found out.

“Where was that attitude after the library job?” she quipped as the music began to fade.

“Dunno, guess I just found it.”

Mac gave her his shit-eating grin and a shrug as she made her way back over and fell into her side of the booth in a heap, Dogmeat hopping up to sit beside her. She settled back and turned down the volume on her Pip-Boy as the next song began to play.

“What brought all that out?” he asked finally, curious to her reasoning.

“Memories of better times,” she said after a beat, quiet.

Mac had a rush of deja-whatever, bringing him back to that time in the library, when he’d asked what he thought was a simple question that only belied a more complicated answer. She’d shut down faster than the lightning currently streaking across the sky outside. For a moment, the air between them seemed to change, but it passed just as quickly as it had rattled through him. The Boss still had her smile on, if a little strained, but he knew they were good.

“Used to have a bunch of gal pals that I would go out dancin’ with,” she said after a moment, already lost in whatever memory she was recounting. “God, there was this one time we went out to this new dance hall we’d never been to. They played that song and everyone but my friends and I were dancin’ all stiff and formal-like, it was like they’d never been to a party and the word ‘dance’ wasn’t in their vocabulary.”

Her attention had once again returned to the storm, staring out at the south Boston sky. Mac had about a billion questions from her opening line alone, but he didn’t dare speak out for fear that she’d clam up if she realized what she was doing. He kept stone still as he continued to listen, years of hard-won sniper training settling over him.

“People were pairin’ off all save-room-for-jesus style and my friends and I were completely over it,” she said with a vague annoyance in her voice. “We were standin’ there next to each other across from a couple people who must’ve had the same idea it seemed, because as soon as we paired off and hit the floor, we were doin’ about half of what I did, except two feet closer and practically on top of each other.” She paused to bring her hand up to loosely twirl one of the strands of hair at the back of her neck. “Goodness, the way we did it, you’d think we had stripped naked by the reactions of the–and get this–dance hall monitors. They kicked us out for ‘immoral behavior’ and ‘vulgar dancin’.’ Can you believe it?”

The Boss finished her story with a breathless laugh to Mac’s confused but attentive expression, crystal-clear nostalgia washing over her after she was done. Half of the things she’d just said barely made any sense to him no matter what context he put it in, but the big picture of it clicked for him immediately: he’d had her pegged wrong all along. Unless she was lying for fun, which didn’t seem her style, then she wasn’t from any sort of vault period, not with a story like that. What kind of vault had whatever the hell a ‘dance hall’ was? Let alone more than one? And what the hell were dance hall monitors?

As Mac sat there in his realization, soaking up that tiniest bit of personal information from her, he realized that for all he had learned about her in the past few weeks, from menial shit like her morning routine to her eating habits, he still didn’t know a goddamn thing about her.

“Hellooo? Earth to MacCready?”

The Boss’ hand waving in front of his face brought him back to reality, his mouth moving faster than his brain as he blurted, “I’mfromtheCapitalWasteland.”

“What?”

“I’m from the Capital Wasteland,” he repeated, clearing his throat. “I mean, where I’m from, we didn’t have whatever a dance hall is or that song or dance hall monitors. Where the hell are you from that has all of that?”

Before she could answer, all his mind could supply was deja-vu.

Just like the library, the Boss’ face fell and she was leaning back slowly on her side of the booth, arms crossing over her chest in a defensive shield. Mac was already mentally kicking himself for him and his goddamn mouth, prepared for her to stonewall again and shut him down. But she didn’t.

“It’s…a long story,” she said finally with a sigh, once again reaching up to tug at the loose blonde curl at the nape of her neck. Mac watched as she wrapped it tight around her finger, skin going red between the strands. “More confusin’ than is worth it to tell.”

He raised a helpless eyebrow as she continued to fidget, “More confusing than the one you just told me?”

“One hundred percent. It’s not that I don’t trust you, ‘cause I do,” she said like it was that easy, and Mac didn’t quite know how that made him feel. Either she was too trusting (entirely plausible) or he was too cagey (also likely). “It’s just…a lot.”

“I could try to follow along,” he dared to say, taking advantage of the way she continued to talk to him through the crack in the metaphorical door instead of closing it entirely. He had his foot in, maybe he could wiggle in a little more.

“Soon, maybe, just…not tonight,” she said, her metaphorical chain lock catching his metaphorical door with finality. “It’s a little hard to talk about. Too much to get into.”

That, Mac could understand. Feelings weren’t really his forte, he never felt confident in what to do with them. But what sort of place did the Boss come from that made her so evasive? If she wasn’t from a vault, where did she get the Pip-Boy still playing quietly on the table? Very little about his employer made sense—General of the Minutemen, First Ever Rad-X Addict, the only wastelander (?) with teeth that straight, and a vulgar threat to dance halls everywhere, apparently—and it was almost enough to make Mac’s head spin.

“Can I ask you a question about your first story then?” he asked instead of the thousands of other questions he had, burning to be asked.

Her eyebrow, the one with the scar through it, arched behind her glasses.

“You got kicked out of a hall where you dance…for dancing?”

Like neon light breaking through Goodneighbor’s haze, the Boss’ grin reappeared. The green light of the radglow illuminated them in the darkness of the diner, glinting off her glasses as she began to laugh.

“Vulgarly,” she reminded him between her laughter. He couldn’t help but join her and suddenly it was like everything was back to normal between them, personal revelations notwithstanding.

Later that night, when the storm had finally moved on but had stuck around long enough that the skies were still dark afterwards, they set up their sleeping bags behind the diner counter. Dogmeat settled up against the Boss as Mac volunteered to stay up for first watch. The Boss had looked particularly tired, and had stopped talking as much as the night went on. If Mac knew anything about her at this point, it was that if the Boss wasn’t talking, something was wrong. Sleep usually fixed most problems in his experience.

Besides, he needed some time to himself to sort through the emotional whiplash he’d experienced during their conversation. Mac thought he had her mostly figured out, given all her previously thought “obvious” tells. Then one little story had turned everything on its head and replaced it with burning curiosity. The Boss was an enigma all her own, every new fact he learned about her canceling out anything he thought he knew. Even so, he couldn’t help the gnawing need to make sense of her.

He chalked it up to wanting to know exactly whose hands he was putting his life into, but then again, he’d made it out alive of every situation she’d put him in after three weeks. He could trust her to do that, at least, even if he was only holding out for Duncan by the time she’d met him. She’d given him a little bit of slack in his rope, so to speak, when she hired him. Gave him a little bit of hope at the end of a long, dark metro tunnel.

But, since he wasn’t ever allowed to be particularly hopeful for very long, he bitterly reminded himself that what they had going couldn’t possibly last. How long did she tell her reporter friend it would be before she’d be back to Diamond City? A month? He knew how most contracts like their’s worked: some schmuck hires you, sticks around with you until they can make their way back to a major settlement because pissing off a hired gun on the road isn’t the smartest move if they’ve hired you for a reason, and then end business there before picking up another gun somewhere else. It was similar to caravan work, the brahminhands and caravan guards trading off walking alongside whichever traders paid well. And with how good the Boss paid…

He had a week left, he decided suddenly, selfishly. He had a week left to convince her that he was irreplaceable, if only because it meant more caps to send back home if she decided he was worth keeping on. He’d pretend like her goody two-shoes, above and beyond approach to the Minutemen didn’t make him roll his eyes sometimes, pretend that her cryptic hints into her life weren’t driving him nuts, and he’d never miss a target coming through an unnoticed exit. He’d keep watching her back, help keep her alive until she realized that he was better than any soldier from her rinky dink militia. His own survival–the survival of his son–depended on it.

----------

The next morning on the road, over a breakfast of scavenged pre-packaged food the Boss had found after another sweep of the kitchens, Mac could tell she had something on her mind. Given the tone of the night before, he kept it simple between them and didn’t talk much except to eat and pack up.

Dogmeat took point ahead of them once they were on the road, and in between keeping his own head on a swivel, Mac’s eyes would fall to the Boss every now and again. He knew the night had ended on a heavy note, and he’d also had a lot on his mind after, but the longer they walked and she still hadn’t started her usual errant chatter, he began to worry. She hadn’t even told him where their next stop was, he realized.

“So,” they both said at the same time.

“Oh, you go first,” the Boss said quickly before he could say the same.

“So,” Mac said again, “where are we headed next?”

“Oh, shit, I forgot to tell you, we’re goin’ to the Castle. Tuned into Radio Freedom for a bit before you woke up,” she explained, tapping the screen of her Pip-Boy through her jacket. “Someone named Ronnie Shaw really wants to talk to me—put the message on repeat out on the main line and everythin’—and she didn’t sound like the type to be kept waitin’, so gotta heed the call and all that.”

“Good thing we were already in the neighborhood then,” he said, then spun it back around to her, “So what were you gonna say earlier?”

“About last night,” she said after a moment, hesitant. “I don’t mean to be so…cagey sometimes. I just have a lot goin’ on that’s hard to explain, but then I realized that I still don’t know a whole lot about you, either, so I thought maybe we could make a game out of it. Like an icebreaker.”

“What’s an icebreaker?”

“Gettin’ to know each other, ‘breakin’ the ice’, y’know,” she said, and he shook his head to indicate that he did not. “It’s supposed to help with team bondin’ and all of that. I get that you gotta keep up with your whole ‘cool, loner mercenary’ schtick, so it may sound a bit gradeschool–”

“Wait, you think I’m cool?”

“Don’t let it go to your head. Anyways,” she went on, attempting to suppress a grin, “I was just thinkin’, we’ve spent a few weeks watchin’ each other’s backs, patchin’ each other up–well, mostly you patchin’ me up, but that’s besides the point. We’ve walked from one end of the Commonwealth to the other it feels like, but if we’re gonna be workin’ and travelin’ together, I think it’s high time we play the ‘gettin’ to know you’ game for real. Ever play Twenty Questions?”

“No, but I think I get the idea. Seems pretty obvious,” he replied with another shake of his head. If a silly little game was the way to make sure she stuck with him, then so be it. He could humor her and play along for what she was paying him.

“Great. One caveat, though,” she said, and he arched an eyebrow, “we can veto any of each other’s questions and we don’t have to explain why. We just can’t veto everything.”

The rule was probably more for her benefit than his given her whole…thing, but he was glad it was there just in case. God knew he had his own baggage he didn’t want to get into.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Alright then, you first. Ask away.”

Caught off guard, Mac thought for a minute. His litany of questions were nowhere to be found now that he was put on the spot.

“Shi–uh, crap, I dunno. Uh…How about this: If you’re not from a vault, where’d you get that Pip-Boy?” he asked, nodding to her arm.

“I never said I wasn’t from a vault,” she said matter-of-factly, and he held in a sigh at her evasive answer. She tugged the sleeve of her jacket up to tap her nails against the screen of the device, “but I got this from one.”

“Obviously. Boots, too?” He pointed to the practically pristine condition of the black leather on her feet. Barely a scuff on them.

“Aht, my turn to ask a question, Hotshot,” she said with a cheeky grin. She bit her lip and tapped her chin with her finger, thinking. “What’s with the swearin’? Or the lack of it, actually. You’ve heard my mouth, I’m not gonna make you wash your mouth out with soap, y’know.”

Mac grimaced. He knew that had to come up sooner or later.

“It’s not about you, it’s about a promise I made to someone that I wouldn’t do it anymore,” he replied after a moment. He, too, could reply with non-answers. “Or at least try not to. Still a work in progress, I guess.”

“Hm. Interestin’.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Is that your question?”

“No. My question is…” He thought for a second, choosing his next words carefully. He perked up when they came to him. “Where’s your accent from? You don’t sound like you’re from Boston.”

“God, I hope not. Can you imagine?” The Boss laughed, then put on her best Boston accent, “‘Wicked smaht, get a load a’ this fahkin’ guy!’ Jesus.”

Mac snorted, “I’m pretty sure you just offended everyone in a ten mile radius. Still didn’t answer my question, though.”

“Accent’s from down south,” she replied, choosing her words just as carefully. “Arkansas, specifically.”

Where the hell is Arcansaw? Mac wondered, but we’re getting warmer. He kept the question in his back pocket as an option for later anyhow.

“Who’d you make your promise to?” she asked for her next question.

Mac shook his head. “Uh-uh, veto.”

He wasn’t opening that can of worms right now, because if he brought up Duncan, he’d have to bring up his illness, why he wasn’t back home taking care of him, why he needed every cap he could get…If the Boss had her own stuff that was too much to get into, he had the right to keep the deep shit under wraps, too.

“Alright, new question then,” she nodded, though he could tell she still wanted to know. “Oh! Your name! You’ve never actually told me your first name. It’s not MacCready, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” he said with a shake of his head. “My first name is Robert, but my friends used to call me RJ.”

“RJ,” she repeated, like she was testing it out before she quickly added, “What’s the J stand for?”

“Joseph,” he answered without thinking, then made a face. “Hey, wait, that’s not fair. I get to ask two questions this time.”

The Boss grinned, satisfied she had pulled one over on him, but relented anyway, “Fine, fine, ask your questions.”

“Where’s Arkansas?”

“Ever heard of Texas? Near there, but northeast a ways. Second question?”

“How’d you get all the way up here from down there?” he prodded. He knew from the educational holotapes passed down through the hands of every Little Lamplighter before him that there was a lot of wasteland between that area and the Commonwealth.

She paused for a moment, eyebrows furrowed behind the frame of her glasses.

“Moved up here for higher education,” she replied after a beat, whatever that meant. Getting colder. “This one isn’t my question, but you said last night you were from the Capital Wasteland, right? What’s it like out there?”

“God-awful,” Mac said swiftly with a dismissive snort, “but it was—is, home, I guess. Most of it’s destroyed, at least D.C. is. We don’t have as many intact buildings as Boston does. Outskirts aren’t as bad, but they’re just as dangerous. We’ve got clean water, though, so that’s a plus. I actually know the person who did that, but don’t go telling anyone. She’s private.” And doing me a huge goddamn favor right now. “What’s Arkansas like?”

The Boss shrugged, her right hand reaching over to rub over the left, “Wouldn’t know. Been a while since I’ve visited…Can I veto the home questions? It’s makin’ me homesick.”

“Consider the subject vetoed,” he nodded, holding his hands up. Definitely getting colder.

She nodded back a thanks, then thought on her next question for a moment.

“Why RJ?” she asked suddenly, “Not Rob, or Robby, or Bert—”

Mac wrinkled his nose at her so aggressively that it startled a laugh out of her.

“Absolutely not. If someone called me ‘Bert’, I’d shoot them on the spot.”

“Answer the question, RJ.”

He shrugged in exasperation, throwing his hands up again, “I dunno, okay? The other kids just started calling me that when I got left there—”

As soon as the Boss’ eyebrows shot up, he cut himself off with a sigh. He could anticipate her next question, but she’d have to wait her turn. “...How old are you?”

“It’s impolite to ask a lady her age, y’know,” she replied, sticking out her tongue.

“Oh? That’s weird, because I don’t see one around here–Ow, jesus, okay, okay, I’m sorry!”

“I’m twenty-four,” she snipped, massaging her hand, then added, “How old are you?”

“Twenty-two,” he replied, rubbing his shoulder. The Boss suddenly looked surprised. “What?”

“I just thought you’d be older,” she shrugged.

Huh. That was a first. It was usually the other way around.

“Oh. Thanks.”

“Sure. Next question?” the Boss supplied.

“Hmm…What’s with the constant Rad-X? You take it like it’s going out of style, and none of the other vault dwellers I know pop ‘em like you do. If you are a vault dweller, that is.”

Given her non-answer around the question, he still couldn’t be too sure.

“I’m countin’ that as two questions, just so you know,” she said before he could argue. “I didn’t grow up around radiation like most people, so I don’t have as good of a resistance. I’ve been inside a vault, but not for very long. Or so it felt.”

Radiation was everywhere, so he thought, an inescapable fact of life for the past two hundred years. The idea that there was somewhere out there so untouched by it to the point where he’d seen the Boss go a little queasy at even a few ticks from the geiger counter was a foreign concept to Mac. So much so, that he didn’t even catch the cryptic ending of her answer.

He had always thought the entire world had been lost to the bombs, no stone unturned. Even the people that still remembered that world, alive but ghoulified, bore the scars of nuclear war.

“Alright, my two questions,” she went on, fingers steepled in front of her chin and he didn’t bother to protest. “Don’t think I forgot—” well, maybe he should have, “—what do you mean ‘got left there?’ Where? Elaborate.”

Mac groaned. It wasn’t the question that bothered him. Despite it all, he had some pride in where he came from, given that they were just a bunch of stupid kids that very well could have died had shit gone horribly south. While he used to sing the praises of ‘pure fucking anarchy’ during his mayorship, someone had to make sure Little Lamplight was kept (mostly) in one piece, which meant there needed to be at least a little bit of organization. Had to make sure it didn’t completely fall apart for the other kids that came after them. With that in mind, he was both grateful and incredulous that he managed to make it to twenty-two years of age under such circumstances. There were a lot who weren’t so lucky.

What really bothered him, though, were the mixed reactions whenever he explained Little Lamplight to outsiders. They usually fell into one of two categories: the disbelievers who usually accused him of lying, or the assholes whose first reactions were to get weird or make fun of him about it.

“I lived underground in a place called Little Lamplight with a bunch of other kids,” he said at last, trying to gauge the Boss’ reaction as he continued. “Just kids.”

Her face fell, genuine concern overtaking her features and almost disbelieving as she stopped in her tracks. Mac stumbled then stopped a few steps ahead of her, and even Dogmeat turned back to look at them, head tilted to the side.

“And no adults? At all?” she asked, and the tone of her voice told Mac that she definitely wasn’t asking as part of the game, and that it may have just ended, actually.

He shook his head as they stood there in the middle of the road, staring each other down. The two of them were on guard immediately, but he could not for the life of him figure out why she was.

“Having adults around wasn’t really something we could trust. We got kicked out when we turned sixteen.”

At that, the Boss looked aghast.

“...How did kids end up there? How did you end up there?” she demanded, incredulity and indignation screwing up her face.

Mac tensed. The Boss had fallen into and created a third reaction category all her own: pity.

“Like a lot of the other kids,” he bristled, defensiveness rising further within him. “Get left there, usually. Look, we turned out fine for the most part—”

“Mac,” she breathed, entirely horrified, “that–that’s awful, I’m so sor—”

“Hey, I don’t need your pity,” he snapped before she could finish the word, pointing an accusing finger at her. He was not about to be felt sorry for, of all fucking things. “Just like a colony you’d find anywhere else, we all had our designated jobs and we watched each other’s backs. I damn well made sure of it. I ran a tight fu–freaking ship.”

“You were in charge of everyone?!” she seethed, her voice raised and barely concealing the fury behind it, channeling it into the shaking of her tightly clenched fists. When she spoke again, her voice went soft, but her grip did not. “Mac–RJ, hun, that’s…you get how that’s messed up, right? No kid should have to go through that—”

“You don’t have to tell me how sorry my life is, I lived it,” he spit, fingers digging into the fabric of his duster. “Veto.”

“I—Okay,” she said, forcing the anger in her voice to dissipate, replacing it with stiff restraint. She started walking again, moving past him with purpose as she hiked her pack further up. “Game over. We’re almost to the Castle anyways.”

#fallout #fallout fic #fallout 4 #fo4 #rj maccready #fic: best laid plans #hi ignore everyhting i've said the past few days. enjoy new chapter lol #i decided fuck it we're posting.

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leclercsbf · 1 year

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hello!! i know you posted about this a while back but i just wanted to tell you that i honestly would love to see you write that charlos + landoscar fic (the roommates au) i just know for sure that the entire fic would be CHAOTIC because they’re all oblivious lovesick idiots at the end of the day (pls feel free to add in a splash of maxiel as well if you would like too)

and the amnesia au!! YES YES YES. i love the fact that they’re husbands too, i think it’ll be really interesting to see the dynamic between them and that like whole ‘oh’ moment charles would get when he gets his memory back (pls tell me he does gets his memory back because i cannot handle pure angst in this context)

i am so on board with the idea of the set it up au as well, i haven’t watch the film but i did watch the trailer and small parts of it and i feel like it would just make perfect sense to have lando and oscar in that context. and also the idea of having charlos and maxiel as their bosses *chefs kiss* you’re an absolute mastermind

and that line from pierre in the “woke up with lady parts” au is EVERYTHING. it’s just so pierre coded and typically like charles said there’s always an element of “fucking the other person back to normal” so i cant wait to see the direction you’re going to go in with this fic

and of course the whole jack frost and pitch idea is literally so intriguing i love your mind so much

im so sorry if this feels like added pressure i really don’t mean for it to come off that way!!

i just absolutely adore your ideas and your whole thought process and if you do plan to write these fics i hope this gives you somewhat of a motivating boost :)

sending you so much love <33

hi there! please don’t apologize. you’re free to send me asks about whatever, whenever, because asks are generally appreciated. thank you so, so much for letting me know that the ideas i mentioned piqued your interest! if anything, i’m probably going to start with the roommates fic because it seems like the lightest fic overall, but we’ll see how it goes because i haven’t written up a proper outline for either pairing. your boy has unfortunately been too busy to write. i miss it. looks off.

to be honest, i haven’t really figured out whether or not charles is getting his memory back, but angst isn’t currently on the roadmap for the amnesia au. that might change once i start writing it, but i’m not planning on any tears for now! i feel like i owe my ao3 account a bit of joy after the last charlos fic i wrote.

set it up is a very good movie, and i’m not just saying this because i have a massive crush on zoey deutch. i’m not really a romcom kind of guy but this had me very entertained, so i definitely recommend checking it out if you’re in a romcom kind of mood. that said, i don’t plan on following the movie to the letter. i’ll basically just be taking the general premise and maybe a few details here and there, because the kiss cam scene? actual genius.

you know i just had to make pierre say it, anon. i absolutely had to, because it’s a very pierre thing to say. the direction for that fic is basically homosexuality (as per usual) and i’m very excited to write it! the question of when i’ll be able to write it is an entirely different matter, but the motivation is there. believe it. i’m similarly intrigued by my own brain because i feel like it was onto something with that jack frost and pitch thing… i just wish i knew what my brain was cooking because i completely forgot. HELP. glad to know that it sounds interesting to you as well, though!

and don’t worry, it doesn’t seem like you’re pressuring me in the slightest. i really appreciate that you went out of your way to express your enthusiasm for the ideas i’ve got lying around. fic writers do what they do because it’s fun, but it always helps to know that people enjoy reading our work, too. gives us a much-needed boost. sending you just as much love, anon! i’m wishing you the best day. ♥️

#inbox #anon #🎱

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xenrui · 3 years

Text

My Valentine’s Gift

(3rd or 4th time writing this cause it keeps deleting itself, So I’m loosing my f-king mind. But I can’t not post on Valentine’s day and waste an Idea. Also Ps, if you have any Req (s) or other characters you’d want me to write from Marvel/Avengers, pls don’t hesitate cause I’m Brain Dead from ideas)

Paring: Stephen Strange x Reader (G/n)

Warning: It might make you feel lonely if your single :) And a little bit Suggestive at the end

____________

Waking up to an empty space next to you was pretty normal, so waking up to a warm pair of hands wrapped around you was well, Surprising

“Finally awake, are we” rasp laid across your Lover’s voice, Signifying that he had only woken up a few minutes ago

“Good Morning to you to” You said not wanting to open your eyes yet In case the Morning Sun was not welcoming yet

“How long have you been staring at me sleep you creep?” You said while you snuggled right next to your Lover’s arm as a small smile starts creeping up your face

“Long enough to notice how you drool in your sleep, Mumble stuff and Snore slightly” He said

Quickly your eyes shot open as you tried wiping your mouth with your sleeve but you wiped nothing away and as you were about to look at your significant other. A lough could be heard coming from him making you turn to his direction quickly with a confused look “What” You questioned him

“Nothing it was just your expression was priceless.. I lied,p you don’t drool in your sleep Darling. But the rest was true” He said still lightly laughing at his own Joke

Rolling your eyes playfully at him, You started getting up, but an arm stopped you from doing so

“Where are you going?”

“Getting ready for work?” You stated as you try to get up again only to be pulled back by your lover with a quick swipe of your waist

“What are you doing? You know we have work right?” You questioned as he placed your head on his chest

“We don’t have work” He said nonchalantly but your confused expression made him explain more

“I called your Dad- Boss and said you were sick so you are on leave” He said smiling proudly

“And he believed you?” You asked not believing anything he said

“No..” Stephen Strange dropping his smile

“Of course, he is Tony Stark. A sick leave from his employee’s significant other on valentine’s day wouldn’t be believable.. And he isn’t my Dad Strange” You said, correcting him on the last part

“And I’m not your Boyfriend, Seriously why do you keep denying you don’t have a Father-Daughter relationship?? Even the whole team can see it. And his daughter calls you her Big Sibling” He said

Pinching the bridge of your nose you sighed “whatever you say. And Wong? what about your work?”

“I said the same thing, no he did not believe me but both Tony and Wong gave us a day to spend some time together” He smiled as you nodded at his statement

“OK!! Now that is out of the way, let us get to out Valentine's gift” He said as he moved out of the bed as went outside the room

_____

After a few minutes of waiting Stephen finally came back in the room with different types of Bags and 4 boxes

“Stephen!! I told you not to get anything”

“It’s valentine’s day My Love, And it is my treat” he smiled as he placed all the Bags on the ground. Sitting next to you and giving you a bouquet of Roses and Daisies

“Open this one first” Your lover gave you a white Bag, containing inside was a White shirt with the text “I’m Darling” in Blue

“Wha-” Before you could finish what you we’re saying, Stephen has already taken out another white shirt with the text “If lost please give back to Darling” in a Dark Red text this time

Laughing as you look at both the shirts “I thought you we’re joking when you said you’d buy one of these”

He said “I’m offended by that”

_____

You spent about an hour just opening Gifts, receiving Sweaters, Vest, matching Hoodies and even a Gold Necklace which you wanted to give back but your Lover insisted that ‘cannot be returned now as it would go to waste because someone not as beautiful/handsome/attractive as you would wear it’ in his exact words

now came to the last 4 boxes

“Here” he gave you the biggest box first and inside was a beautiful pair of Doc Martins

“How did you know I wanted these?”

“I saw you looking at a bunch of photos on your phone last month” He shrugged thinking nothing of it

“Before you say anything open this first” He said handing you another box, this time it was smaller

As you opened it, you found a beautiful G-Shock Watch in Black and Blue, taking it out of the box you examined it but as you turn it around, you found engravings on it.

‘T’ill Time runs out for the both of us.’ - My Sorcerer

“This is so beautiful, Thank You so Much” You said as you jump slightly to hug your Lover

“I have another here” He said as he opened another box revealing a Black and Red watch turning it around, It had the same engraving but instead it was written with ‘ - My Darling ‘

“I know how much The watch Christine gave me hurt you when I kept wearing it but now, I want a fresh start and bought us matching watches” He smiled softly at you even though you couldn’t see him because you we’re still hugging him

“Thank You.. Really” You said as you pulled away with a smile on your face

“Last two Darling” Stephen said as he handed you a rectangle box now, Containing inside was.

“Keys? for what” You questioned

“You’ll understand after you open my last gift” He said as he gave you the last gift

This gift was the smallest, It was in a White box and felt very.. Hard??

Opening it up, There was another box but this time it was velvet and had a fur texture.. Wait

You significant other took the Red box from your hand and stood next to the spot in bed where there weren’t any gifts

“Stephen What are you-”

“[Y/n]..” Your lover started but he looked away as soon as he started which made you smile, seeing just how he can still be nervous around you

“This past 5yrs have been fun-”

“10yrs if you count the blip part” You smiled but he just smiled at you and shook his head

“10yrs” he corrected Himself

“It has been great, and you always waited for me in those 5yrs when the Blip happened. This might sound cheesy but, I knew after that you were the one... I never thought I’d be able to do this, Especially with The Tony Stark’s Son/Daughter/Kid” He laughed as he looked at your expression when he said the Last part

“So-” He continued, getting down on one knee

“Will you make me the Happiest man on Earth and this Valentines and Marry me??” He smiled opening the velvet box revealing a Beautiful Silver Ring with a small Diamond on it, You felt your eyes getting glossy as he waited for your respond

continuously nodding your head, you say

“Of Course!! I would love to make you the happiest man” You said as you let him slid the ring on your finger. Then quickly jumping towards him and landing on the Ground

“So, is that a yes to moving in with me As well??” He said Chuckling at your Response

“Yes” You said as You buried your face in his neck

“Hold up” he standing up and doing a quick spell, and in an instant all the gifts and mess was gone, except for the ring on your hand of course

“Where did they go?”

“Somewhere safe Darling” he said as he kissed your Forehead

Then continuing to kiss your lips softly, picking you up and placing you on the bed gently

Let’s just say, You couldn’t walk for the whole day

______

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! <3

#dr stephen strange #Stephen Strange #stephen strange x reader #Dr Strange #dr strange x reader #dr stephen strange x reader #happy valentine's day #I hated writing his because it took so long

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natewriteslol · 3 years

Note

May I request a reaction(?)/headcanon?

(twst boiz }:‑))

Rook, Sebek, Idia, Jack and Azul reacting to a secretly ripped reader.

Explanation!: Reader wears a lot if oversized stuff, lazy af, tends to skip PE classes and etc. You know acting like they're weak and stuff while in reality they're just lazy. For some reason Vargas saw the potential and the true power in reader, so he decided to add them to the team of [insert a really brutal sport or smt]. Everyone r like: "Y?? They weak!" When it's Readers time to enter the game, they take their hoodie off and omG those muscles. I swear someone fainted right on spot. And someone went 🧎🤰 After Absolutely destroying opponents team, they're just like "ok, I did the thing! Now I want my super duper rare chips".

A/N: This is such a creative premise, thank you for sending it!!

MC goes by they/them pronouns :)

Warnings: none except that MC takes off their shirt

Honestly Y/N was known to be one of the most laziest people on campus, so lazy that it even rivaled Leona! Which there has to be some form of intervention for them because it’s just getting out of hand. And while it benefitted in certain situations, such as annoying Grim to actually start moving his lazy ass around the house, or bullies leaving them alone since Y/N couldn’t bother to muster a reaction.

However they continued to skip P.E classes, and just all around not doing anything. So it came to a surprise that when they were called to Vargas’ office.

“Wait. Y/N where are you going?” Ace questioned, as their friend went with their backpack toward the door.

“I got an interview with Vargas for something. Watch Grim for me please, later” they replied relaxed. And while both Deuce and Ace questioned what their friend was going to be interviewed for, the pair just looked at each other, shrugged and went back to their schoolwork.

Once Y/N got to Vargas’ office, they sat on the chair on the other side of his desk. The student gazed at the sports paraphernalia on the walls, before Vargas started talking.

“Well Y/N, I bet you’re wondering why I called to talk to you?” He asked.

“Yup” the student said, keeping their answers short and concise.

“You tend to skip my classes a great amount, and while both you and Grim are enrolled as one student your lack of participation is dropping your grade,” Vargas said while standing up.

Y/N started to feel bad, sure they didn’t really care to participate but they didn’t want to inconvenience Grim.

“But, I will promise you one thing, I can feel the potential in you Y/N!” the man said excitedly, slightly spooking you. “As a man who is incredible person overflowing with talent,” Vargas started,

‘Wowee, pretty narcissistic’ you thought, but then you started to pay attention again.

“I can see greatness within others, it’s almost like my 6th sense. And I can feel it within you. Now all I ask of you Y/N, is that you participate in the Great Dodging Tournament try outs. And I will raise your grade” The older man offered, Vargas really believed in you.

And that really put a smile on your face, “You know what, I’ll do it.”

“Thanks kiddo!” the man boomed with a great smile on his face while ruffling your head.

I mean, if he’s this excited you can try for him.

It was tryouts, Deuce and Ace were a little apprehensive for Y/N to be participating. I mean the Great Dodging Tournament involves one person dodging great magical attacks from the opposite team, in order to get at least one of the balls from the other team. And while you didn’t technically need magical powers to compete, it certainly did help.

“Y/N L/N, you’re up!” It was their turn. Whispers broke out, everyone didn’t understand why they were even allowed to participate.

“Have you even seen them run?” Someone whispered.

The heat was rising despite it being the afternoon, “Damn, I’m getting hot” Y/N says and they start to strip, taking off their oversized shirt.

What came to a great surprise was their physique, incredibly ripped abs. Strong shoulders, back and arms now exposed to everyone.

They did absolutely fantastic for their tryouts, moving across the field with great speed, dodging every single attack and they were able to take 2 out of the 7 balls from the other team. Y/N was excellent, and absolute essential to the Great Dodging Tournament team. Every person was in great shock, they didn’t even break a sweat.

“Alrightie! Now where’s my snacks?” They said, sitting down on the bench.

Rook:

-Oh mon cherie, what have you been hiding from him? ~

-Rook had alot of information on almost everyone at the school, so this definitely came to a shock to him

-A strong advocate for keeping them shirtless all the time

-I mean Y/N lays around all the time, they might as well look good while doing it

-It's just him and Sebek arguing (well it's Sebek who is actually arguing) about what Y/N should do once they come back: Shirt or no shirt?

-He’s very impressed with their strengt and willpower to get that physique

-Very mischievously looks down at Y/N while they complete their audition

-Rook I love you but what are you planning-

Sebek:

-He goes bright red, and starts yelling at Y/N to put a shirt on

-”I-it’s inappropriate for you to be walking around like this! Do you humans not have any shame?!”

-”D-don’t come closer! I don’t want a hug from you!”

-W-what? How could he miss that this mere human held this much power?

-He was incredibly observant (or so he claimed)

-Sebek didn’t know weak, puny humans could possess that type of strength

-If Y/N as a non-magic user were able to obtain this level of power, you were a threat

-Definitely not intimidated by them (he lowkey is intimidated by them)

-While he’s still incredibly opposed to Y/N’s lazy behaviors, he has a newfound respect for them

-Later on he thinks about it more and is marching to their dorm inorder to force them into doing more powerful stuff

-”YOU COULD HAVE GREAT LEVELS OF POWER, JUST WORK YOU LAZY HUMAN!”

-” Naw man, but since you’re up can you get the tv remote? It’s pretty far.”

Idia:

-Of course this happens the one time he goes outside in person!

-Erupts into flames and has a bright ass blush

-Has Ortho calm down his flames with his built in fans

-Idia literally hides inside his hoodie so that no one could notice him

-But I mean it’s kinda hard since at this point he’s looks like a campfire but go off-

-He literally can’t look Y/N in the eyes omg

-Idia tries to talk to them but he just ends up spluttering

-He thought that Y/N had put their shirt back on so he takes his head out of his hoodie and NOPE they still have it off and the cycle of embarrassment repeats

-Idia manages to compliment Y/N, comparing them to a powerful anime character from a show he watched

-The man cannot look at Y/N the same anymore now that he knows what’s under all that baggy clothing

Jack:

-Jack definitely did not see this coming

-Can admit that he is a little flustered (Alot of people teased him since his tail started to wag at the sight of Y/N’s body

-He couldn’t imagine the Y/N he knows doing all of this activity, let alone dodging such powerful magic attacks with this much skill

-They’re a perfect candidate for the team and Jack grows really passionate about you wanting to pursue sports

-Has alot more respect for you

-He will drag Y/N to do a bunch of brutally, active shit with him since the whole “I’m too weak” jig is up

-”Jack pls no”

-”But when you were soaring through the air during Dodging tryouts I heard no complaints. Get your ass up, Y/N”

-While their P.E grade is saved, at what cost?

Azul:

-Azul thought that it was going to be a fun little attempt on Y/N’s part

-Were they joking? I mean he’s never seen them move a muscle for extracurricular activities like sports. Honestly-

-And oh dear oh it’s them shirtless

-Azul is so caught off guard

-He turns away so that Floyd and Jade don’t see his face, but those sneak boys know what’s going on

-”Boss you’re so red!”

-”Ooooh, are you flustered by shrimpy taking off their shirt~”!

-So that’s what you’ve been hiding under your clothing!

-He’s very impressed by your strength, Azul is wondering why you decided to hide it?

-Are you involved in shady business too? Hence why you’re laying low? (Sounds like projection but okay Azul-)

-He’s also thinking about getting you to sign some form of deal so that they can take advantage of your strength (Sorry Y/N)

#twisted wonderland fanfictions #twisted wonderland drabbles #twisted wonderland headcanons #twisted wonderland imagines #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #sebek x reader #sebek zigvolt #azul ashengrotto #azul x reader #jack howl #jack x reader #jack howl x reader #rook #rook hunt #rook x reader #rook hunt x reader #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland

1K notes · View notes

because-of-a-friend · 3 years

Text

Enemies to Lovers!Jeonghan

MASTERLIST

One day I will come up with titles for my works lol.

Hi Hannah!!!! Thanks for requesting! I loved doing this one! I went ahead and went with Jeonghan cuz I feel like he fits this trope best! Sorry you had to wait so long, this particular fic got deleted like... three times so it was a struggle lol. I hope it’s what you were looking for!

I hope this is a good one, I’m realizing I get real insecure about my writing anytime I’m not doing a bulletpoint or reaction fic, so I don’t feel great about this time. Also I only started recently putting actual detail into my kiss scenes and idk how I’m doing with those???? Like do they seem ok??? Also I feel like I make it so obvious that I am such a sucker for SVT having cute nicknames for siblings, friends, partners, etc in fics lol. Anyways...

Also, I really said: Jeonghan... but in different types of lighting

Remember I don’t own the gif! Link to OP is right there if you want to go give the creator some love!!!

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: Mentions eating, reader is using female pronouns (I will keep things gn unless you request differently), I think that’s it, pls let me know if I missed any

You’re not sure exactly how it happened. It was probably just an instance of getting off on the wrong foot, that led to more awkward interactions, giving both of you the wrong impression of each other. You knew this, you could rationalize it all. You were well aware that all it would take was one “I think we might have the wrong idea of each other” conversation and it would all be over. You could easily fix it all, but…

But his stupid smug face. The sarcastic jokes. The never-ending pranks that were not as funny as he thought they were. His ridiculous arrogance. His overall unapologetic nature towards all of it.

You couldn’t help but hate Yoon Jeonghan.

*****

“I don’t know, Wonnie…” you say uneasily over the phone. In previous years, you’d go over to the dorm without hesitation. You loved spending time with your brother and many of the other boys. But ever since you had officially met and begun interacting with Jeonghan…

“C’mon, [Y/N]! I bought that new game you were talking about! We can play it together on my gaming system!” Wonwoo began to persuade. You knew you’d give in; you always did. Your brother was far too sweet a person and far too comforting a presence to reject. The question was how long did you want to argue with him about going to the dorm.

You sighed, accepting defeat early to save time, “I’ll head over there in a bit.”

Wonwoo gives a small cry of victory, “Ok, I’ll have Gyu make extra ramen.” Wonwoo abruptly hangs up the phone right after, leaving you in silence to groan in regret of your decision.

You immediately straighten yourself out, though, trying to put yourself in a mindset of determination. What were you thinking? Just because you and that asshole didn’t get along meant you couldn’t go see your own twin brother without feeling uncomfortable? Screw that! If he wanted to keep the peace then he was going to have to start watching where he stepped around you.

*****

You knocked loud and clear on the door of their dorm, knowing that with thirteen people living inside, it was usually too noisy for them to hear someone signal their arrival. To your relief, Seungcheol opened the door just moments after you knocked and greeted you with a warm smile followed by a hand sneaking into your hair to ruffle it, “Hey there, kiddo! How’s it hanging?”

“Just fine,” you tilt your head down slightly in his direction as you pass him to enter the dorm. “How are things here?” As soon as you ask, your ears are met with the noise of someone dropping something in the kitchen, followed by Seungkwan crying in alarm.

“Same as always, I supposed,” Seungcheol sighs, but his smile doesn’t fade. “I think Mingyu and Wonwoo are already in the computer room, if you want to go ahead and see them!”

“Ok, thanks Cheol!” you call as you both rush off in different directions, him towards the kitchen and you towards the small room that would provide you solace from the possibility of having to see Yoon Jeonghan.

You were determined not to let things go how they usually did: you with your mouth clamped shut as Jeonghan spoke whatever teasing words he had saved up for you, and the most you can do to fight back is by rolling your eyes and finding any way to get away from him.

This time, you would still avoid contact with him, but if it happened, you’d speak your mind and not care what he thought, since that’s how he treated you.

But there was no sign of him or anyone else as you walked to the computer room. You could hear Mingyu and Wonwoo yelling and cheering at the game long before you opened the door. It was pitch black inside, the piercing light of the screen making you squint your eyes.

The two men inside both turn immediately to check who offended their dark space with the soft, yellow light from the hallway.

“Oh [Y/N], you came!” Mingyu beams up at you. You nod, matching his bright expression.

“How’s the game?” you ask simply, looking up to your brother.

“We like it so far,” Wonwoo’s smile is wide, he always gets excited about new games, whether they’re good or not. He leans over to grab a can of some sort of energy drink before gulping it down. “We left some ramen for you over there on the table. Eat first, then I’ll let you have a turn.”

You roll your eyes, though Wonwoo was only mere minutes older than you, he found those moments to be enough leverage to order you around and act like you should be dependent on his care. There were times when he even referred to himself as “oppa” to you and insisted that you do the same.

Most of the time you let it slide, especially when you weren’t in the mood to argue. However, there were times when you’d pull out the “We’re the same age,” “Even if you’re older, I’m smarter,” or “Don’t boss me around when I’m more mature than you” cards at the drop of a hat.

“Can you at least turn on the LEDs while I eat?” you ask, tip-toeing in the darkness towards the table at the back end of the room. You hear a click before a soft blue glow fills the room, finally giving you a clear view of your path. You pull the bowl of ramen towards you as you sit and resist the urge to comment on how little they left you. The dorm was filled with food anyways, you could find more later if you got hungry again.

Wonwoo and Mingyu begin to eagerly tell you what they like about the game as you eat. You listen happily, feeling safe in the presence of your brother and friend.

Then of course…

“Hey you two, Cheol wanted me to remind you that we have to get up early tomorrow,” you can’t help the sour expression that comes over your face as Jeonghan enters the room to speak to Wonwoo and Mingyu. “Oh, hey there cutie, I didn’t know you were here!” His smirk makes you sick.

“Don’t call me that,” you say bitterly into the nearly empty bowl.

Wonwoo looks nervously between you and his bandmate, well aware of the dislike you have for him. He’s grateful that you’ve always kept it so civil, but still feels bothered by the unrest between you.

Jeonghan lets out a little giggle in response, and Wonwoo feels a tug in the pit of his stomach, he wishes Jeonghan wouldn’t be so hard on you sometimes. He knows his hyung doesn’t mean anything by it, but you…

You feel your heart sink as Jeonghan steps fully into the room, striding to sit across from you at the table. You can only stare in wonder at his audacity as he slides the bowl towards himself and finishes off the ramen in one bite.

“I was eating that,” you try to keep your tone measured, attempting to keep within the balance of standing up for yourself but not starting any drama that would affect the boys.

“Go make more if you’re hungry, then,” Jeonghan says casually, making your anger positively flare.

You don’t even give your brother the chance to mediate, jumping up from your place and leaving the room, wanting to be anywhere but around that prick.

*****

“You’re leaving already?” Mingyu pouts at you.

“Gyu, I’ve been here for hours,” you laugh, stretching out your fingers as they start to prick from pain of slamming into a keyboard for so long. You had returned to the computer room but only after Jeonghan left. Part of you had wished you had done more to confront him; another part was glad you didn’t start a fight and put Wonwoo in an awkward position. “Besides all of you, as well as me have to get up early tomorrow, it’s already late. I need to get back home.”

“You can stay here,” Wonwoo was quick to offer.

You shook your head at him, “Then I’ll just have to get up even earlier, I’ll go back to my place.” Wonwoo nods almost reluctantly, standing to walk you out.

All of you run into Joshua on your way to the front door, he turns out to be the only one smart enough to ask how you got there.

“Oh, I took the bus,” you say slowly, knowing this is about to cause issues.

“Well, the last one would have already stopped running by now,” Mingyu says looking at the time on his phone.

“I’ll give you a ride,” Josh offers immediately.

You bring your hands up to shake them back and forth, “No, no, I can find a way home, you all need to go to bed.”

“[Y/N],” Wonwoo speaks up immediately in that stern voice you hate but also can’t help but listen to, “let Josh take you home. It’s either that or you stay here, I won’t have you walking around alone at night.” Wonwoo waits a moment to gauge your expression. He finally nods affirmatively, before speaking directly to Joshua, “Take her home, please.”

Joshua nods before walking off to grab his keys. You and Wonwoo send Mingyu off to bed. Once you’re alone, your brother pulls you in for a tight hug. “Do you want me to say something to him?” he asks lowly.

You shake your head, “I don’t want to cause any problems with you guys.” You sit in silence for a moment. “Come and stay over with me sometime, I miss our sleepovers.”

Joshua comes back and Wonwoo pulls away, “Thanks, hyung. Please get her home safe.” For the second time that night, your hair gets ruffled before your brother disappears to go off to bed.

The ride home with Joshua is comfortable. He speaks kindly to you and makes you smile.

You begin to wonder how amongst all these angels, there exists a person like Yoon Jeonghan.

*****

Wonwoo used the new game as leverage to guilt you into coming over quite often in the following weeks. You hadn’t realized how much you had limited your time at the dorm until you started going consistently once more. It was nice being able to spend time with the boys again. You hated that Jeonghan had become such an unbearable presence that it affected your relationship with the rest of your friends.

But ever since you had started to stand your ground and talk back, he had finally begun to avoid you. You supposed it was only fun for him when you sat there and took it.

It didn’t stop the two of you from bickering when you saw each other, but now both of you preferred to avoid each other instead of Jeonghan seeking you out to tease you.

The following weeks of visiting were fairly comfortable. Whenever Jeonghan wasn’t around, you got to spend plenty of time with the other boys and your brother. Plus, the new video game was even better than expected.

Jeonghan’s presence slowly became uncomfortable in a different way.

Instead of being smug and overbearing, he became strangely quiet around you. His facial expressions became more serious as he sent genuine glares your way before letting out bitter remarks and going on his way.

It made you even angrier.

Who the hell was he to torture you all this time and then act like a kicked puppy when you finally fought back???

Your anger and his bitterness slowly escalated the tension between you two. Although they were happening less frequently, the arguments between you became more serious and almost hurtful.

Whatever, you told yourself, he could do as he pleased, you wouldn’t let it affect you anymore.

*****

You stared down at your phone screen. Why? Why did it have to be here, while you were at the dorm?

The call was only five minutes. They didn’t even do it in person. Of course, they had warned that because of hard times, there’d be lay-offs soon. But they couldn’t even do it in person? And all you got was a simple “Sorry, come collect your things on Monday”??? You were a hard worker, passionate about the job, more efficient than most of your coworkers and this is how they treated you???

A part of you could’ve guessed, many of the employees your age had gotten in because of nepotism. But you didn’t want to believe that they’d just brush off all your years of hard work just to avoid stepping on the toes of higher-ups who had relative connections hired at the company.

You squatted against the wall of the hallway, still too in shock to move.

So, you simply sat in silence, for what seemed like forever.

“You good?” you had never felt worse than the exact moment his voice reached your ears.

“Go away,” you said sternly, knowing you’d be crying soon.

“Geez, forgive me for asking,” Jeonghan responds before turning to walk away. He stops abruptly after you sniffle. “So, you’re not ok?”

“No offense, Jeonghan,” you say hating the way your voice is shaking, “but you are the last person I want to speak to right now.”

There’s a heavy silence for a long moment. You silently pray that he’ll just leave. “Do you want me to get your brother?” he asks lightly.

You shake your head, “No, I don’t want to ruin the mood. I’m going to go home, just tell him I had a stomach ache.” You push yourself up and begin to walk briskly towards the door.

To your surprise, Jeonghan reaches out to stop you. You stare at his hand wrapped around your arm and wonder if you’ve ever even allowed him to touch you before. “It’s already late, let me give you a ride.”

You pull his hand off of you, “No, thanks.” You grab your coat and start to dig around in your purse to make sure you have all of your belongings.

“[Y/N],” Jeonghan’s voice rings clear in your head despite your brain feeling fuzzy. You don’t want to look at him. Who is this person that’s showing concern and speaking kindly? You don’t like it. It feels fake. It feels like a predator playing with a wounded prey. You’re just waiting for him to laugh or make a remark or do anything to make you feel worse than you already do.

But Jeonghan simply grabs the keys laying on the front table, grabs your arm once more, and leads you out to the car.

*****

The ride is suffocatingly silent. You wished he’d at least turn on some music to cover up the sound of your crying, but you remained in the quiet. You rolled down your window and stuck your head out, letting the warm night air and sound of wind comfort you. Since you were turned away from him completely, you didn’t see Jeonghan glancing over at you throughout the drive.

You couldn’t have left that car faster when you finally pulled up to your apartment.

To your dismay, Jeonghan also gets out, apparently intent on walking you up.

“You don’t have to-” you start but abruptly stop when he gives you a look telling you an emotion you don’t quite understand.

Jeonghan finally speaks when you’re riding the elevator up to your floor, “I don’t really mean it, you know.”

“Mean what?” you say weakly, starting to feel the exhaustion from crying so much.

“When I talk to you like that… I mean when I’m… rude,” he trails off, running a hand through his hair. “Usually it’s just teasing, but obviously I went too far with you. And I didn’t realize it until you started showing how upsetting it was for you. I should’ve known before that, though.”

“You seemed ruder after I started talking back,” you say, confused.

“I was just being petty and defensive. I kept telling myself things like: It’s her fault, isn’t it? She should have made it more clear from the beginning that it was upsetting her. How was I supposed to know? But that was just me being immature, I should’ve just talked to you.”

“Is that an… apology, Yoon Jeonghan?” you ask, letting yourself be a little smug.

For the first time, you get a genuine smile out of him, “Maybe.”

There’s more silence for a second.

“It’s a two-way road, though,” you say finally.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I mean, I could have also come and talked to you instead of letting things escalate,” you say. “I played some part in all of this… unpleasantness. You can’t entirely blame yourself.”

Jeonghan smiles again, reaching out to ruffle your hair the way Seungcheol always did. Then he takes a dramatic deep breath and rolls his shoulders, “There! That feels better, doesn’t it? We can finally be friends!”

You roll your eyes in a playful manner, but you feel it too, a weight has been lifted.

*****

Wonwoo showed up at your door in the middle of the night that night. You took one look at his frantic face and groaned, “I told Jeonghan I would tell you myself.”

“You should have told me immediately!” your brother pouts as he passes you to walk into your apartment.

“I didn’t want to worry you so late, especially when all of you were having a good time. I was going to tell you tomorrow,” you close the door behind him. You watch as he turns on the TV and starts picking through your pantry. “Hmmm, yes it seems quite clear that you came here out of concern for me,” you can’t help but use a sarcastic tone.

Wonwoo sends a glare your way as he grabs snacks and settles on the couch. You sit next to him, grabbing your fair share of the food. You try to keep your attention on the show, but the feeling of Wonwoo staring straight at you is distracting.

“I’m fine, you don’t have to worry,” you sigh.

“Really? Because Jeonghan described you as an emotional wreck,” your brother scoffs.

“I was just shocked and upset. I’ll be ok. I have a good resume, I can find a new job,” you insist.

“I keep telling you, you don’t have to work-”

“I don’t care how much you make,” you interrupt. “I’m not going to depend on you. It’ll just make trouble for both of us.”

“Will you at least let me help out if there’s any problems before you find a new job?” Wonwoo kicks at your leg.

“Like I would even tell you if I was having trouble,” you return his kick.

“You just can’t help but be difficult,” your brother complains quietly.

You let the sound of the show take over the room for a few minutes. “I do have good news,” you finally speak up, wanting to give your brother some peace of mind about something. “Me and Jeonghan made up. We figured it out.”

Wonwoo bolts upright with a grin on his face, “Really??? It’s really all good now?”

“100%,” you say, unable to stop yourself from pinching your brother’s cheeks, finding his excited expression cute.

“Let’s celebrate soon then! We can have a big gaming party with all of the boys!” You agree to your brother’s proposal. You feel content in this moment, knowing you’ll wake up in the morning in an uncomfortable position, immediately kick at his legs and tell him to get his stinky feet away from you.

*****

Your time at the dorm increases with the weight of you and Jeonghan’s rivalry being gone. You’re enjoying getting to know him as a friend instead of constantly walking on eggshells around him. Going to visit the boys is once again a happy and comfortable experience.

You hadn’t realized how much Jeonghan had affected you until you two had worked things out. The world felt light again and you could breathe, no longer in constant worry of possibly ruining things between your brother and his bandmates.

You hoped things would remain without complications for a long time.

*****

“Seungkwan, you should come with us!” you begged. “The carnival only comes once a year; you can’t miss it!”

“But it’s so crowded and there are screaming kids everywhere,” Seungkwan complains.

“Oh, whatever,” Soonyoung interjects. “You love it every time we go.”

Seungkwan gives Soonyoung a look that has you laughing through your mouthful of ramen. “Oh, shoot,” you say feeling liquid start to dribble down your chin. “Can I get a napkin?”

“Here’s one,” you hear Jeonghan’s voice as he enters the room. You reach out to grab the napkin as Seungkwan and Soonyoung continue bickering. But instead of handing it to you, Jeonghan extends his hand not holding the napkin towards you. His fingers come to lightly touch your chin and turn you towards him. Jeonghan wipes your face with the napkin himself, taking the time to make sure it’s really all clean. “All better,” he smiles at you, running his thumb across your chin to check its cleanliness one last time.

As Jeonghan walks away, you turn to see if Seungkwan or Soonyoung saw what had happened. They were still arguing, though. The boys showing you physical touch or affection wasn’t really all that uncommon. But for some reason, the way Jeonghan had grabbed your chin just now… Why was your heart beating so hard?

*****

You couldn’t stop yourself from dragging Wonwoo all over the carnival. It was nice to get out in this environment, the lights, the laughter, the food, the games, the rides. You wanted to do everything, but not before you looked at all there was and took in the spectacle.

You could hear all the boys laughing excitedly behind you, you knew they’d want to try everything as well. You shook your head at Seungkwan’s bright expression, you couldn’t wait to play the ‘I told you so’ card later.

The night was a blur. All of you ran from games to rides to snacks and then all over again.

You couldn’t help but stop completely in your tracks as you passed a booth with a giant stuffie of your favorite animal as a prize. Your fascination with the plushie doesn’t go unnoticed.

“You want me to win it for you?” Jeonghan’s voice is suddenly speaking right into your ear. You jump after realizing he was right behind you. You grip your cotton candy a bit tighter and shyly nod. The way Jeonghan grins at you fills you with warmth.

You watch him walk over to the booth. His light hair and pink shirt were illuminated by the soft glow of the surrounding lights. Jeonghan takes his wallet out and hands some bills to the vendor. You step up closer to stand next to him as he plays the game. He laughs as he chats back and forth with the vendor. You watch in awe as Jeonghan clears the game, no problem.

“Anything from the top shelf!” the vendor exclaims happily.

“That one please,” Jeonghan points right at the stuffie you had been staring at.

“It’ll be a wonderful memory for your girlfriend,” the vendor smiles as he hands the prize directly to you.

“Oh, I’m-”

“Of course!” Jeonghan interrupts you almost instantly, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and starting to pull you away from the game. “We’ll cherish it for a long time! Thanks for the game!” The vendor waves kindly as you two walk away. After a moment, Jeonghan pulls his arm off of you, “Sorry, sometimes it’s just easier to agree than explain, you know?” You nod in agreement. “Wait a second,” he stops you by putting his hands on your shoulders and standing in front of you. Before you can ask what’s wrong, his hand comes up towards your face as it had earlier that day. He quickly swipes his thumb across your lips before pulling to back to show you remnants of your cotton candy. “Do you always eat this messily?” he grins and then, to your surprise, puts his thumb in his mouth to clean it off.

You stand there, frozen, unable to really comprehend what just happened as Jeonghan walks away towards the other boys.

“For the second time today?” Soonyoung is suddenly standing next to you.

“So you did see what happened earlier!” you exclaimed, hitting his arm lightly. “It was weird, right?!”

“Can’t tell yet,” Soonyoung replies cocking his head to the side and putting his hands in his pocket. “Sometimes Jeonghan is just sort of naturally flirtatious. But I’m not sure about you. I figured since you two didn’t get along at first, it’d take him awhile to warm up to you at that level. He seemed to get comfortable with you quite quickly.” Soonyoung turns and shrugs at you after his words.

“You’re no help at all,” you say emotionlessly. There’s a pause before both you and Soonyoung slowly look at each other and laugh at your quip.

You decide to brush off your new concerns about Jeonghan and enjoy this night with the boys. The vendor was right, it was a good memory, and you’re sure it’d last you for your whole lifetime.

*****

You hate yourself a bit for it, but you once again seem to be avoiding Jeonghan. He had made you so nervous that day, and the way your heart pounded… You didn’t want to get sucked into having a silly crush on him if he wasn’t actually trying to flirt with you.

No, from now on, interactions with Jeonghan would be friendly but short and appropriate.

You were stupid to think he wouldn’t notice.

It wasn’t long before there came a night when Jeonghan insisted that he be the one to give you a ride home. You couldn’t help the way your nerves spiked at his determination to be the one to take you. You knew he most likely wanted to talk to you about your sudden distance from him.

The ride itself was nice, Jeonghan rolled the windows down for you, remembering that you enjoyed the warm night air of summer. You talked comfortably with one another. Jeonghan was always able to make you smile so easily.

You couldn’t stop yourself from staring at him. He was just wearing a t-shirt and sweats but… His blonde hair being illuminated in the moonlight as he ran his hands through it and his bright smile as he laughed...

He really was beautiful.

Once again, Jeonghan came with you to walk you to your door. And once again, he finally spoke up in the elevator, “You’ve been avoiding me, sweetheart.” Your heart drops to your stomach at the nickname. “Is everything ok? Did I do something to make you mad again?”

You quickly shake your head and pull your hands up to shake them as well, “No! Not at all!”

“You sure?” he insists.

“Yoon Jeonghan, you really don’t think I’d tell you if you did?” you say.

He giggles, “Yeah, that’s true. You’d let me know the moment I messed up, wouldn’t you?” The elevator dings and opens up to your floor. You and Jeonghan step out together. “Is everything else ok, then? You don’t start avoiding people for no reason.”

You nod as casually as possible, “Everything is great.” Your tone isn’t convincing and Jeonghan nudges you. “I guess, I just got… nervous? I mean one moment we were like enemies and then the next we were suddenly really… close, and-”

“I made you uncomfortable?” Jeonghan’s voice is slightly panicked.

“No, you did nothing wrong! It’s all on me, I just got caught up in my emotions and-” you stop abruptly when you realize what you were about to do.

Jeonghan nods quietly as if to say he understands, but what it is he understands, you’re not sure. “Is it ok for us to remain close, or do you want me to back off?”

“I don’t want any more distance between us, but…” you trail off.

“But, what?” he prompts you again.

“I don’t want to get the wrong idea about anything…” you say, finally reaching your door.

Jeonghan watches as you slowly unlock your door and push it open, “You haven’t gotten the wrong idea about anything.” He avoids eye contact when you look up at him.

You’re shocked by his forwardness. But once he voices his thoughts out loud, you once again feel the feeling of a weight being lifted.

Jeonghan gestures for you to step inside, catching your arm once you fully pass him. He pulls you back to him, close enough for him to lean in and leave a quick kiss on your cheek, “Night, babe, I’ll see you later.”

You stand there, completely still, staring at your door that had shut closed in front of you. You can feel heat rise from the tip of your toes all the way up to your ears. You finally let yourself fall into a squatting position, covering your face with your hands, and letting out a squeal.

*****

Jeonghan invites you to meet up outside of the dorm. It’s a cute little coffee shop at a quiet part of the city. You’re already sitting when he walks in. Maybe one day, you won’t be completely caught off guard by his beauty… but today is not that day.

His whole person is bathed in the glow of the early morning light as he approaches you, the softest, most genuine smile gracing his face.

“No, don’t get up,” he says when you try to leave your chair, “I need to go off and order anyways.” Jeonghan leans down to kiss your forehead firmly. “I just wanted to come say hi first,” he whispers, holding your face close to his.

Your first date sets a wonderful precedent to the rest of your relationship. Jeonghan gets your heart racing with flirty comments and sweet touches. But he also makes you feel calm and content, easily keeping a smile on your face. You just feel… good throughout it all.

You insist on walking him back to the dorm, since they had schedules that day.

“So, we’ll be doing this again?” Jeonghan asks hopefully, as you reach the front door.

“Definitely,” you nod enthusiastically up at him, wondering how you had ever managed to despise the man that made you feel so whole and happy.

Jeonghan looks utterly happy and a tiny bit nervous as he stares down at you. His hand reaches up to brush back your hair before settling firmly against your face. Jeonghan looks at you so fondly as he leans in. His lips connect to yours… so softly… so sweetly. You can feel his nose nudge against your face to push it into a preferred position. He pulls back slightly after every little kiss to let out laughter so sweet, it sounds like it should be coming from the mouth of an angel. But he’s never far away for long, reconnecting to you quickly every time. You let him take the lead, allowing his lips to take care of yours, giving them the sweetest kind of attention. He pulls back for a moment longer to nuzzle his nose against yours, an action that has you gripping his shirt to keep him close. His hands keep themselves entertained by running across your face or through your hair.

He’s going back in to kiss you once again when he front door of the dorm opens, leaving you caught in the act. Wonwoo stares at you two for a long moment before making a single comment that causes you and Jeonghan to laugh.

“You know, when I said I wanted you two to have a better relationship, this isn’t exactly what I meant.”

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tobesobri · 4 years

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Traditions | 17.3k

a/n: it's been a while since I uploaded writing and for some reason I decided to sign up for this challenge and by some miracle actually managed to write something for it 🤯anyways, this is for the Valentine's Day Challenge by @1dffchallenges and it's honestly just a bit of fun, enemies to lovers little bit of angst and some smut! so i hope you enjoy! I'd always love to know your thoughts!! (also pls excuse any errors, I wrote this in a week with little editing lol)

prompt: doube date

dialogue: “So let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date for a Valentine’s Day Party?”

Pink and red were speckled throughout the entire office, whether it was a bouquet of chocolate roses, a banner of hearts, or stuffed bears residing next to bowls full of heart-shaped candies. Every employee’s section of the office had been filled to the brim with decorations as well. Pink and red ribbon taped carefully around the edges of their desktop computer, little store-bought balloons, also heart-shaped, grouped together and tied to desk chairs.

And Y/N, dressed in her typical all black outfit, rolled her eyes as she paced through the office toward the one section in the back that was immune to all things heart-shaped, pink, or stuffed.

She sat down at her desk with a loud sigh, her purse hitting the floor in its usual spot just before she slipped out of her jacket and draped it haphazardly between her back and the chair. It’d be wrinkled by the end of the day, but she didn’t care all that much, nor did she put much thought into the stains on her purse from leaving it on the floor. All she concerned herself with, after settling in, was getting straight to work… which was put on hiatus when she came face-to-face with both a pink and heart-shaped sticky note plastered onto the center of her computer screen.

Groaning, she ripped it off and moved to turn her computer on before she bothered to read whatever was written on the note. She considered three potential suspects while she pulled her keyboard down onto her desk and logged in. There was Kayla, who worked front reception and was one of the main culprits of all the Valentine’s decorations. A strong contender. It could’ve also been Ines or Carmen, her closest work friends whom Y/N knew both owned a pad of pink, heart-shaped sticky notes.

However, when she finally let her eyes fall to the note as her computer loaded up, the handwriting didn’t match any of the women she knew, and she was quite positive that none of them would have written was was sprawled out in black ink either.

Roses are red, violets are blue. I will fill your office with teddy bears and balloons, if you don’t send me your half of the proposal by two.

Harry.

She crumpled the note and tossed it into the bin under her desk. He could go fuck himself for all she cared. Sure, she was nearly done with her portion of the work and would be able to send it to him before then, but now that he’d pestered her about it, he’d be lucky if she even bothered to send it to him at all.

She didn’t doubt the promise, i.e. threat, he made on the note, but being surrounded by teddy bears and balloons would be worth making Harry’s life just a tad miserable.

After opening all the apps she’d need to get her work done, namely Photoshop and Illustrator, she connected her drawing tablet and set up the rest of her work station for the day, both on screen and off.

Harry had worked at the company for about two years longer than her and she’d started off as an intern while she was still in college and, after graduating, was hired as a permanent graphic designer. They had never really gotten along ever since Harry—jokingly—asked her to get him a coffee once… or twice. Unfortunately for her, though, they ended up working well together and their boss had stuck them both on the same projects ever since. Especially after the month-long project last spring that had been their most successful one to date.

While she came up with the design parts of client projects, Harry handled the more technical side of things and they’d never really argued much over each other’s work even though they clashed constantly at a more personal level.

“I see your feeling festive.” Just as she’d gotten into the groove of her typical morning and had forgotten all about Harry’s stupid note, his voice interrupted her entire thought process. So when she swiveled around to find him leaning into her little office space, it was hardly a surprise when she glared at him, even though he feigned offense at her bitterness.

“You got my note, I presume.” He let himself into her space anyway, holding a mug of steaming coffee she was sure he’d just made in the workroom, and leaned up against the opposite side of her desk that housed a much larger, digital drawing tablet for when she needed to do more intricate design pieces.

She just swiveled back around to face her computer again and went back to work as if he was no longer there. Pretending to ignore his existence proved to be quite difficult when the very particular woodsy, vanilla scents of his cologne met her nostrils and filled her entire office. Not to mention, the sight of what he’d been wearing singed the backs of her eyelids so that she still saw him every time she blinked. It was as if her brain refused to let her forget what he looked like in his white button-up, sleeves rolled to the crooks of his elbows, all tucked into his fitted black trousers that tended to get the imaginations going of all the women in the building.

Not her though, of course. She was better than that. Obviously.

He cleared his throat, still very much present in her space and still very much giving her a migraine. “So will it be ready by two?”

“Well, I planned to send it to you before lunch.” She tweaked the spacing between letters of a potential logo for the millionth time. “But now… I think I might need the rest of the day.”

She heard rustling behind her and knew he was shifting his weight impatiently and running a hand through his hair as he often did when he was… displeased. “I told you I’m leaving early tomorrow and I need it no later than two.”

She cocked her head to the side, still staring at her computer screen and not giving him an ounce of satisfaction. “Did you tell me that?” She teased, an amused smirk lifting the corners of her mouth when she heard him groan behind her. “I must’ve forgotten.” Shrugging, she went back to her work.

“Unlike you,” he snapped, “some of us actually have a love life and I’d appreciate you not fucking up mine.”

She froze then, only for a split second, when his words sank in. Two thoughts raced through her head. The first a string of curse words because of his assumption that she didn’t have a love life. But the more prominent and worrisome part of his statement was that he did have one. And that he was leaving early tomorrow—Valentine’s Day—so he could get ready for a date.

Throwing both her prickly exterior and heartbreaking smirk up again, she turned to face him. “I’ve known you for three years now and if anyone has the potential to fuck up your love life, it’s you.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and her gaze fell to the hand that seemed to wrap a bit tighter around his Bugs Bunny mug. His knuckles whitened and she met his heated stare again, pleased with herself for getting him riled up before he’d even finished his morning coffee.

“So,” she continued before he get get a word of retaliation out, and sat back against her chair, crossing her legs confidently as she folded her hands in her lap. “Who’s the poor girl you’ve tricked into going on a date with you this time?”

Harry had a terrible track record. The longest relationship he’d been in lasted for two months, and that was well before she’d known him. Everything else he had was just a one or two night thing and nothing more. Sure, it was all more than she had, but she preferred it that way. Harry seemed to resent the fact that he couldn’t keep a girlfriend to save his life.

“You don’t know her.”

Her smile widened. “How long have you been seeing her?”

“Couple weeks.”

“Ooh, that just might be your second longest relationship, Styles.”

“Well at least I’ve had one.”

His jab didn’t have an affect on her however, and he knew it wouldn’t because it never did. He knew she didn’t give a damn about relationships, or at least that’s what she claimed anyway. He couldn’t think of many twenty-four year old women who actually wanted to be alone. He actually couldn’t think of a mid-twenties anyone who wanted that.

“You’ll have to try harder than that.” She said nonchalantly, which irked him even more than he already was, and then swiveled away from him one last time, picking up her drawing pen and getting back to work.

“What’s your issue with relationships?” He went on and she knew he was headed right down a path intended to hurt her feelings just as much as she had his. So, she tensed slightly and braced for impact. “Is it a commitment thing? Or can you just not find anyone to put up with you for longer than five minutes?”

She let his words sink their teeth in and then smiled to herself. “Hm. Seeing as you’ve been in my office now for,” she checked the time at the top right-hand corner of her screen, “eight minutes, maybe we should date.” She lifted a brow, awaiting his next response.

It felt a bit like a cat-and-mouse chase bickering with Harry and since she was usually the cat, it brought her way too much pleasure fighting with him.

He scoffed. “Like I’d lower my standards for you.”

That one hurt, she had to admit. Not out loud or to Harry, but it still stung because it was true. He’d have to drop his standards to the floor to even consider dating her and she knew it.

“Maybe,” she began, still half focused on her work, and ignored his comment all together, “some of us like being alone.”

“Nobody likes that.” He responded quickly and she heard a shift of his weight again and then his voice once more a few moments later. “It’s nice to be by yourself sometimes, yeah, but you can’t tell me you don’t want someone to come home to at the end of the day.” He crossed one leg over the other as he gripped the edge of her desk for support and just when she thought he was done, he kept going, “Someone you can vent to about your annoying co-worker.”

She glanced at him through the little portable mirror hanging above her desk—mostly used to make sure she looked decent before meeting with clients or, sometimes, Harry—and saw the tight smile on his lips. Almost as if that’s what he wanted, like he was talking about himself and not her.

She’d slowed her progress down while he’d talked until she was no longer working at all. She no longer swiped her pen across the pad or had any idea what she was even doing when she focused solely on his words. Because, once again, whether he was talking about himself or about her, he was right.

“Yeah well,” she quickly hid herself back behind her wall and made her hands function properly again. “Some of us also don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.”

She imagined him smirking at that one because, buried deep within her words was a compliment. That he was handsome enough to actually have anyone he wanted.

Instead, when she glanced at the mirror again and found him, there was the complete opposite of a smirk on his face, and as he stared down into his mug, clearly lost in thought, she wondered what the tightness in his jaw and the frown pulling on his lips meant.

She sighed and stole his attention away from his coffee. “I’ll have it to you before lunch. You can go now, unless you’d like to argue some more and slow me down by another…” she glanced at her clock again, adding up all the time he’d been standing in her office, “fifteen minutes.”

Without another word, she listened to the drag of his footsteps as he finally left her office space. And although she was glad to be rid of his distraction, the room felt so much bigger and so much colder and emptier without him in it. Shivering, she slipped back into her jacket and spent the next few hours doing nothing but staring straight ahead at her screen as she made final adjustments to her designs.

Any other conversations with Harry were had over email as he worked in his own respective office, messaging her with every little concern he had in order to get his work done efficiently so that he wasn’t stressing to finish it tomorrow before he had to leave. Even though Y/N considered not responding to him a few times, just to spite him and slow him down for her own amusement, she found herself feeling guilty after leaving him hanging a couple times. Sure, she hated Valentine’s Day and everything surrounding it, but she’d almost hate even more the idea of both her and Harry being miserable tomorrow, so she inevitably gave in and cooperated with him. She’d probably regret it when he came back on Thursday spreading around the office all the gory details of his date, but at least he wouldn’t also be in a shitty mood. Her days were both boring and slow whenever Harry wasn’t having a good day. And although she’d blame it all on selfish reasons, it did also make her sad to see him frowning around the office and sulking when all she wanted to do was bicker with him and make him smile again, even just a little bit. But it was easier leaving him to his own devices than risk him finding out she cared about him enough to not wish sadness upon him.

She couldn’t say the same for him. Harry probably relished in the days she came into the office in a sour mood. He probably celebrated and threw a party whenever she was upset, and, even so, it didn’t change how she felt about him.

The sun had long set and most of the office was gone by the time she finally called it quits and began packing up her things and giving her computer a rest for the night. There were still quiet murmurs from other workaholic employees, which comforting her knowing she wasn’t completely alone in the building, since the last time she’d done that, it took everything in her not to have a panic attack all the way to her car.

Even though her boss told her countless times not to stay past five o’clock, as he told every other female employee that worked for him that he didn’t wish to see attacked after sunset in the city. Of course, when she was the only one who didn’t listen to him, he hired more guards and one of them rounded the corner into her office space, ready to escort her all the way down to her car.

“Figured you were still here.” He leaned against the walls of her cubicle and watched as she startled, twisting to meet his eyes for a moment before she settled and returned to slipping her belongings into her purse.

“I don’t need you to escort me.” Zipping her purse, she rose from her chair, checking one last time across her desk to make sure she’d grabbed everything she needed to take home with her before turning to him as he still lingered in the opening of her little office.

William had been hired a couple months ago, and was only a year older than her, but even so he was more than a foot taller than her and his biceps were about as big as her head. While the entire office drooled over him, she tended to keep her eyes and her thoughts to herself.

“You say that every night you stay late. Just let me do my job and shut up about it.” He smirked at her and when her eyes met his again, sharply, glaring at him, she groaned and whirled past him toward the elevators. He followed swiftly behind, knowing she’d close the doors on him if he didn’t keep close enough pace with her, mostly because she’d done it before.

As he took his spot beside her and she pressed the button for the parking garage at the basement of the building, a familiar voice rang out through the office.

“Wait!” As if she wasn’t already annoyed enough with William’s presence, his stupidly large arm held the elevator doors open as Harry slipped inside a moment later.

“Thanks, mate.” Harry said exclusively to William as he caught his breath and stood wedged in the middle between the guard and Y/N, who was inching closer and closer into her corner to get away from Harry.

“You have any plans tomorrow?” Harry asked, his attention solely on William again while the elevator took off down through the levels of their building. Not fast enough for Y/N, of course.

William sighed, crossing his arms and trying to resist smiling. “Me and my girlfriend take turns surprising each other every year. And it’s her turn this year… so I guess I have plans, but I don’t know what they are.”

“Damn, way to make us feel incompetent.”

Y/N whirled her head to glare up at the side of Harry’s face. “Speak for yourself.” She warned.

Harry just ignored her though. “What did you guys do last year?”

Again, William stifled a grin. “I had been saving up for a while and took us both to Paris.”

“Shit.” Harry’s eyebrows rose and Y/N rolled her eyes away from him, watching the LED screen above the elevator doors as they neared the bottom levels of the building. She knew Harry and William had become friends, mostly because Harry was annoying and befriended everyone. Except her, of course. She heard his stupid voice again and wished she could just transport herself directly into the front seat of her car and be done with the both of them. “And now she has to do better than Paris.”

Y/N glanced around Harry just in time to see William smirk and she should have known what was about to come out of his mouth before it did. “Well, I don’t consider much better than her mouth ar—“

Y/N cut him off. “Ew! Are you serious?”

Both men eyed her curiously just as the elevator came to a stop and, with a ding, the doors opened. She flew toward them quickly.

“Y/N wait, I have to—“

Again, she cut him off, turning once she was out on solid ground. “I’ll be fine, besides trying to rid my mind of that image you just burned into it.” She turned on her heel and headed off toward her car.

William made a move toward her and Harry grabbed his arm, “I’ll walk her. Forgot she’s a bit of a prude.” They shared an amused look and Harry jogged out onto the concrete and asphalt until he reached her side.

“I heard that, you know… and I know for a fact your car is not parked in this direction.” She seethed and he just smiled to himself, happier than ever that she was in the mood to bicker with him, because he wasn’t quite in the mood to leave yet, where he’d have to wait till tomorrow morning at nine-thirty to see her again. And she wasn’t always the most talkative person on Valentine’s Day, either.

“Why are you the only female in our building not foaming at the mouth over him?” He asked instead, referring to William.

He heard her scoff. “Just because he’s attractive doesn’t mean I have to be interested… or want to hear about his girlfriend sucking his—“

“Cock?” Harry finished for her and within a second she spun around to face him, forcing him to stop in his tracks just inches from her now. His smirk only grew when he saw just how quickly he’d gotten her all flustered.

And then, as they started each other down, the hardness in her face softened and she drew out a breath, forcing his eyes to fall to her lips and his smirk to fall from his mouth. He thought back to last spring, when there were numerous late nights with her just like this one. When he went home and couldn’t stop thinking about…

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked and he blinked a couple times before he lifted his eyes.

“Like what?” He furrowed his brows, trying to track down all the resentment he had for her but he couldn’t find it anywhere anymore. He couldn’t summon it and say something that would save his ass from being caught looking at her like he wanted to kiss her.

Like he wanted to taste her and feel her against him, and hear what she sounded like when he tugged at her hair for more.

“Nevermind.” She shook her head, silencing the chaos going on in his brain. And then she turned, continuing the walk to her car with or without him, but, when she heard the echoing click of his shoes against the asphalt once more, she knew she wasn’t rid of him yet.

“I don’t suppose you’ll give me a ride back to my car, will you?” He easily stepped back into place beside her like nothing had happened.

She didn’t say anything for much longer than he was comfortable with. And then, finally, they reached her car and she sighed. “Get in before I change my mind.”

As she went for the driver’s side, he took quick steps to the opposite side, watching her over the top of her little Honda as she unlocked her door, and then, after clicking the button, his door as well. They both slipped in at the same time and while she fastened her seatbelt and settled in for her drive home, he sat perched with his backpack in his lap, knowing he’d be out of her car within only a couple minutes.

He still glanced around at his surroundings as she backed out of her parking space. “Should’ve guessed your car would be as neat as your desk.”

She didn’t say anything as she drove in the opposite direction of the exit toward the section of the garage Harry always parked in. It was closer to the elevators because he always came in before her and snagged a prime spot. She preferred an extra few minutes of sleep over walking an extra fifty steps.

And he started up again when she continued to not talk to him. “Most artists I know of are super messy.”

“I’m not an artist.” She gritted out through her teeth as she came to a stop once she spotted the rear-end of Harry’s BMW. Although she knew it well enough to distinguish it from the other black BMWs in the garage, it also helped that Harry had an old, faded license plate cover filled with a collage of cute pictures of puppies. He’d said it won him bonus points with women, but she also knew his screensaver at work was a picture of puppies as well, and no women he was interested in ever saw that.

He peeled his eyes off his car and looked over at her. “I know you can draw, too.”

She paused, gripping her steering wheel. She did enjoy both art and design and she knew Harry knew the difference between the two. She just didn’t know why he always insisted on bugging her about it.

“Yeah, well that doesn’t make me an artist.”

When he didn’t say anything, she glanced at him just in time to find him shrugging a shoulder like he was agreeing to disagree. Even if she couldn’t draw, he’d still consider her an artist because the things she managed to design always blew his mind and if that wasn’t art…

She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to get out, or do I have to drag you?”

He grinned, and it was almost as if her eyes refused to see anything else but his dimples and the bright whites of his teeth, and the birthmark to the side of his mouth…

“I’m going.” He assured, and yet he still hadn’t moved an inch. “Even though I’d love to see you try to drag me.” With her knuckles whitening on the steering wheel, he chuckled and unzipped the small pocket on the front of his backpack, withdrawing his keys as he finally swung her door open.

Once he was out, he gripped the top of the door and leaned back in to find her staring straight ahead. “Drive carefully, yeah? Would be quite tragic for your bitter ass to die on Valentine’s Day.”

She reached over and, despite having to brush her knuckles along the side of his thigh, grabbed the handle of the passenger door and yanked. His body remained in her way, however, and he was unfortunately a lot stronger than her.

Then she finally looked up at him, and those thoughts he had earlier surfaced again as much as he’d tried to bury them. This time though, he didn’t fight it as he glanced at her lips once more, then back at her eyes, which had widened slightly just before the dimples reappeared in his cheeks. “And I guess I would miss bickering with you every day.”

With that, he was gone and she retreated back to her seat as he shut the door for her. She had no idea what to think about what had just happened. Why he’d looked at her like that again. What that look even meant.

By the time she reached the freeway, she’d convinced herself she was just seeing things. Harry wasn’t looking at her in any other way he had before when he was intent on pestering her. But, as she took in the scent of him still lingering in the cabin, she allowed a small part of her to hope she was wrong.

Her eyes fell on the man down the hall from her door as she slipped her key into the lock, her brows furrowing as she watched him. It wasn’t unusual for their paths to cross, as they tended to get home around the same time, but it was quite odd to see him sitting on the floor outside his apartment, his head in his hands.

They’d said hi to each other a couple times in the mailroom, but she definitely didn’t know him well enough to go up and ask what his issue was or try to fix it for him. And after it was confirmed that he hadn’t, in fact, lost his keys, as they sat beside him on the floor along with his phone, she figured it best to leave him be.

Turning her key, she pulled her gaze from him and disappeared from the hallway.

The second she was inside her apartment, she felt all the weight lift right off her shoulders, especially when her cat came racing up, screaming at her from the floor while also coaxing her toward the kitchen to fill the food bowl. Whatever was going on with her neighbor still very much on her mind, she tried to focus instead on relaxing and getting both her and the screaming Pretzel some dinner.

She tried to remember his name as she heated up leftover pasta. She knew it started with an A, but her brain was coming up short. So, while Pretzel crunched on his food in his corner of the kitchen, she tried her hardest to remember.

And it was no question why she cared so much. Her neighbor was someone she was actually interested in, and she had been since she first saw him. Of course, she was never foolish enough to think he was into her, but she still let herself fantasize. He was tall, nearly black curly hair atop his head always in a state of disarray, and he had the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen hidden behind his glasses. And, if she was being honest with herself, he was just a darker-haired version of Harry. Maybe that’s why she liked him.

The beeping of her microwave tore her thoughts from the dangerous path they’d been headed down. Harry’s voice rang in her head a moment later.

Like I’d lower my standards for you.

She’d needed to hear him say that, because sometimes her thoughts got carried away when it came to Harry and sometimes she did let herself be a fool who hoped. But after he’d said that one damning phrase, it was enough for her to stop. She didn’t meet a single one of his standards, inside or out.

Still, she tried her hardest not to go back out into the hall and make sure her neighbor was alright. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to and it wasn’t like she was doing anything important. Even if she didn’t have a dumb crush on him, as she did Harry, she still didn’t enjoy seeing him in the state he’d been in.

Before she could work up the nerve, however, a knock sounded through her quiet apartment.

She held her breath as she opened her door, really hoping it wasn’t the boy from across the hall, since she was still blanking on his name, but she couldn’t imagine anyone else knocking on her door this late into the evening.

So when she inevitably found him there, looking down at her through his annoyingly long lashes as she took in the horrible state he was in—red, inflamed eyes and hair that needed to see a brush rather than his hand—she completely lost her breath instead.

“Uh, sorry, I… saw you come in and I know we don’t talk and this is a weird thing for me to ask but…” He ran said hand through said messy hair and she found her breath again while looking up at him like she’d do whatever he’d asked just so he’d stop frowning.

He sighed, glancing down the hall toward his apartment and then met her curious and somewhat concerned gaze. “Can I come in?”

She recoiled. “Um… why?”

“Well, um, I was hoping you could help me with something and I’d rather not have the entire floor know about it.”

She was beyond confused now, but still, she stepped aside and let him pass, assuming that if he was actually a murderer he would have done her in a lot sooner than this. He had plenty of other opportunities. Plus, something in his face just… made her want to trust him.

She closed the door and turned to him, watching as his eyes scanned her kitchen and where her food still sat before he twisted around, eyes wide. “Shit, I’m sorry for interrupting.”

She shook her head. “It’s fine.” And after clearing her throat, she crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you, um… what do you need help with?”

He swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple budge in his throat. “I don’t imagine you’ll like me very much after I ask but… I need a date.”

“What?” Again, she nearly flew out of her skin.

His eyes darted back and forth between hers, gauging her reactions and very obviously on the verge of seeing himself out and pretending this never happened. Instead, he stuffed away his pride and went on. “My ex… she, uh… well we broke up a few months ago and I saw her the other day and she’s seeing someone and we were talking and I… told her I was seeing someone too and so she invited me to go on this stupid double date with her… but the thing is… I’m not actually seeing anyone and I just told her that so she’d be jealous but she didn’t seem jealous at all and I don’t exactly have many friends to ask for help and I saw you and…” He rambled, but she managed to understand his predicament just fine.

“A double date? With your ex?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know either. She’s… she does weird shit but… I still want her back.”

Y/N’s heart ached in her chest. As much as she detested relationships, she was a sucker for other people’s relationships and she was definitely a sucker for her beautiful neighbor, even if he was asking to use her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous.

“Not that I’m saying yes but… when? And where?” She finally asked after thinking things over for a moment.

“Tomorrow night… I can pay you. I will pay you, I mean… but, seriously, you don’t have to do it I just thought I would ask.”

“Where is this date at?” She repeated when he didn’t answer that part of her question.

“At this party… and bef—“

She cut him off. “Okay so let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date to a Valentine’s Day party?”

He lifted a brow, “Well, there’s more… she wants to get dinner before going to the party.”

She shook her head, looking away, “I don’t really do Valentine’s Day…”

“You wouldn’t have to do much. I’ll pay for your dinner, too. Whatever you want. I just… really need your help and you’re my only option.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You realize I’m not exactly…” she waved at her face and his eyebrows screwed together in confusion. “I’m not easy on the eyes and I don’t think taking me will make anyone jealous.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, just stared at her incredulously. She shifted her weight nervously and he finally opened his mouth. “You don’t actually think that, do you?”

Her features scrunched up and she kept her eyes planted on the middle of his chest. And then he realized that she, in fact, did.

“I’m so sorry… I shouldn’t have asked you to do this.” He also realized that using her to make his ex jealous would possibly hurt her more than it would help him and he could no longer fathom putting her through that. “I’ll figure it out. I’m sorry.” He moved to walk past her, back to his apartment but she stopped him before he got far.

“No… I’ll help you.” And then she realized his identity was still somewhat of a mystery to her. “This sounds even worse than what you just asked me to do, but… I completely forgot your name.”

He breathed out a laugh. “It’s Adam.”

She knew it had started with an A!

“Y/N.”

He smiled wider and nodded. “I know.” And then his face grew sad again. “I am really sorry I’m asking you to do this on Valentine’s Day, it’s definitely not my proudest moment.”

She waved him off. “I wasn’t going to do anything anyway. Just tell me what you need me to do.” She didn’t bother brining up the whole payment thing. She didn’t really care about being paid. He was nice, the only nice person she’d encountered in her apartment building and if getting him back together with his ex meant she’d never have to come home and see him in the fetal position on the floor again, she’d suffer through a date and a party on her least favorite holiday.

It was somehow even worse than it’d been yesterday. The decorations seemed to triple in size. Not an inch of the office was untouched by something pink and she prayed whoever had put up even more decorations had spared her little cubicle.

“Oh, hey, Y/N!” One of the receptionists most responsible for the overflowing decor, Kayla, called her over to her desk not even a minute after Y/N had arrived. And she stalked over until she saw the package Kayla pulled out that instantly lifted her spirits.

She stopped in front of Kayla’s desk and took the thin box from from her, already knowing what it was and thanking god for the timing so that her entire day wasn’t completely miserable. It was a new drawing pad she’d ordered, a bigger one that she hoped would be a bit more efficient to use than her current one.

Even with her back turned to the rest of the office, she sensed Harry’s presence long before he stopped beside her with his mug in hand.

He lifted a brow at the package in Y/N’s hands just as she reluctantly turned to look at him. “Getting gifts sent to the office? That’s a first.”

She rolled her eyes and stuffed the box under her arm, holding herself back from running off to her office to set it up. “Jealous?” She cocked her head.

And instead of his condescending smirk and a hateful response to go with it, the sparkle in his eyes seemed to fade as he eyed the box again, genuinely worried now that it was actually a gift from someone.

Before either could say anything, they all turned to find a delivery man walking up to Kayla with a giant bouquet of flowers in tow. And so it began. Although, when Kayla took the vase from the man eagerly, a bright smile on her face because Kayla loved love a little too much, Y/N couldn’t help but think about Adam. About how the only time she’d managed to get a date on Valentine’s Day was when it wasn’t even real. Instead, she’d stupidly agreed to help her cute neighbor win back his ex-girlfriend in exchange for a free dinner.

It was… pathetic. To say the least.

She felt Harry watching her, too, while she eyed the bouquet of flowers as they departed reception with Kayla and made their way to their recipient. As stupid as she found everything about the holiday, she couldn’t help but want someone to send her flowers. To give her anything for that matter. To have thought about her for at least a second of their day. Harry cleared his throat and she tore her eyes away.

“So… what’s in the box?”

“None of your business.” She rounded him, heading to her office, but he grabbed her free arm to stop her short and didn’t speak until she met his gaze again.

“Can we meet up in my office to finish the proposal? Think it’ll be easier to get it done than over email.”

She had every reason to be suspicious of him. They almost never worked in each other’s offices. When they did work together, which was often, it was in one of the empty conference rooms and it was usually at the beginning of the process when they needed the space to plan things out. The last time they’d really been in each other’s offices was last spring. Figuring he just wanted to get things done so he could be out of the office on time, she let it go.

“Give me fifteen minutes.”

He watched her walk away, watched her even as Kayla returned and noticed his gaze and giggled at him as she took her spot back behind her desk.

“It was something she ordered for herself, by the way.”

“What?” Harry whipped around again, not having even realized the other woman until now.

“I know you two pretend to hate each other but I see the way you look at her, Harry.” Kayla lifted a brow at him as she began typing on her keyboard.

He feigned disgust. “I’m seeing someone, you know.”

“Are you?”

“Yes.” He insisted. “I have a date. Tonight.”

She lifted her hands in surrender. “Okay… I’m just saying.”

“I don’t look at her.”

Kayla suppressed a smile and snorted instead. “If you say so. I guess you didn’t also sneak into her office this morning, either.”

“I think all these flowers and stuffed bears and heart-shaped things have gotten to your head.” He pointed around to the decor littering her desk while holding his mug steady.

Kayla met his eyes and her smile slipped off her face. “Harry, please don’t mess with her.”

His face screwed up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If you don’t like her then don’t lead her on.”

“I don’t think she’s capable of being led on.”

Kayla froze for a moment and then nodded. “You’re right.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by that either. “Why are you being weird?”

“Because,” Kayla sighed, brushing her curled brunette hair onto one shoulder and then lowered the volume of her voice. “I happen to know she doesn’t think very highly of herself and I’d rather not see her get hurt, especially not by you.”

Now Harry froze. The hand that gripped his mug tightened and he didn’t even flinch as it began to burn his skin. He heard Y/N’s voice in his head then as he drowned out his surroundings.

Some of us don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.

He had instantly regretted what he’d said to her yesterday when she’d told him that. And now hearing Kayla, in a way, confirm what he’d read between the lines of Y/N’s words… his chest tightened in quite possibly the worst way ever. He’d hated himself most of the day after telling her he’d never lower his standards for her and he could say he was just bickering all he wanted, but he knew now for certain she took it the wrong way. And he wished more than ever that he hadn’t said something so horrible to her, especially when it was the farthest thing from the truth.

And the real truth, that he was trying desperately to shove away with stupid remarks like that, was that he didn’t meet her standards. She wasn’t into relationships and he knew he wasn’t good enough to change her mind.

“How do you know that?” He finally asked.

“That Christmas party last year… she’s a really happy drunk until she’s not.”

He flinched. “Did she say something?”

“I don’t want to get into it, mostly because I don’t think she remembers and would probably kill me if I told you but… just leave her be.”

He hardened back up again. “She does’t have any interest in relationships anyway, ‘specially not with me.”

Kayla scoffed. “She’s a really good liar.”

Harry stood there for a few more moments, feeling as if his life had just gotten flipped upside down. He’d been in such a good mood mere minutes ago before his dumbass waltzed into reception all because he’d seen Y/N. Because, despite everything and despite the fact he was already attempting to date someone else, it was Y/N he wanted to be close to all the damn time. Groaning, he turned on his heel and left for his office, hoping she wasn’t there waiting for him so he could have a moment to himself to gather his thoughts.

In a hurry to open her package, Y/N slumped down into her chair tossing her purse on the ground at her feet and pulling out her box cutter in a rush of movements. She was so distracted, in fact, that she didn’t even notice the little stuffed frog, the box of chocolates and envelope sitting on the other side of her desk near her mouse. Instead, she unboxed her new tablet and began setting it up, not noticing the gifts until she went to turn on her computer. And then she froze.

With reluctant hands she grabbed the envelope first, her name printed on it in perfect cursive. She knew nobody in the office who had such good penmanship. Opening the card in hopes of finding out who had placed the items on her desk, instead, she just found it signed as ‘secret admirer.’ Rolling her eyes, she set the card down and realized it had to be from her boss. Sometimes he remembered to go around and give everyone little gifts on the holidays. Obviously he’d remembered this year.

She dug into the chocolates as she set up her tablet and began calibrating it to suit her needs before finally testing it out in the little bit of time she had before she needed to make her way to Harry’s office.

And once that time came, she left everything in its place, besides the box of chocolates, which she continued to pick at while she made her way through the room. What she didn’t notice while stuffing her face with candy was that… no one else had a stuffed frog or chocolates or a cheesy little card on their desks.

She rounded the corner into Harry’s office, which was a real office and not a cubicle that he usually shared with one other person who was thankfully out with clients for the day. She knocked on the doorframe to get his attention after just watching him focus on his screen for a moment. Harry was cute when he was focused.

But then he turned to her and his eyes fell to the box in her hand.

When he didn’t say anything, she held it out toward him. “Do you want some? I think Andrew was feeling generous this year.”

Harry’s eyes quickly panned up to hers and his brows furrowed as if she’d just punched him in the gut. And she couldn’t make out what that expression meant no matter how hard she tried.

“He didn’t give me anything.” Harry motioned around his desk.

“Maybe he doesn’t like you.” She shrugged, setting the chocolates down on his desk while she grabbed his office mate’s chair and pulled it up beside him.

Harry sighed, turning to his computer for a moment and then watching her from his peripheral while she picked out another piece of chocolate. “I didn’t see anyone else with chocolates on their desks this morning.”

Y/N just shrugged. “There was a frog too. And a card.”

“And why do you think he’d give you all of that and no one else?” Harry hoped she’d get the hint but he didn’t hope too hard. She was still Y/N after all. And he really didn’t mean to sound so bitter… well, okay, he did. But he knew she’d misplace his bitterness, crushing what little hope there was to bits.

“Maybe he likes me better than all the rest of you.”

Harry scoffed, shaking his head as he put his attention back on his screen.

“No one else in this office would give me a card signed as a secret admirer so… maybe I did something I don’t remember doing and he’s thanking me?” Now that she really thought about it, and if Harry was right… then it really didn’t make much sense. It’s not like she was Andrew’s favorite employee.

Harry just lifted a brow and then pretended to lose all interest.

Sensing the tension, she slipped the box closer to him. “Here. I think you need a knock-off Snickers if you expect me to work with your grumpy ass.” He made no move to indulge her, however. And so she went on, continuing to poke the bear. “Why are you in a lousy mood anyway? Isn’t this your favorite holiday? And you get to leave early.”

His eyes fell from his screen and he stared at the brick of sticky notes below his monitor before mumbling, “I’m sorry about what I said yesterday.”

Taken aback, she searched what she could see of his face for answers to what he was apologizing for. He’d said a few things she could imagine deserved an apology and yet, so did she. Maybe she should have been the one to apologize to him first.

“I didn’t mean to say what I did.” He finally turned to meet her face on. He’d hoped the frog and the chocolates would have been atonement enough, but considering she thought they were from their boss and not him, he just had to suck it up and actually say what he meant.

She shrugged. “It’s fine. I can be a prude sometimes.”

He searched her eyes for a moment and then shook his head, “No that’s not… I meant what I said earlier in your office… about lowering my standards. It was a stupid thing to say and not true in the slightest.”

But then she smiled and he grew confused. “Yes it is. It’s okay to have standards, you know.”

“I know that. But if we… I wouldn’t have to lower my standards. And it was cruel of me to have said that to you.”

She couldn’t stand looking at him any longer and averted her gaze, clearing her throat. “Well it doesn’t matter so… can we just get this proposal done?”

He’d wanted to spend how ever long it took to convince her that it did, in fact, matter, but Y/N was persistent, more so than him, and so he’d given in and they moved on to being productive with their time. And in less time than he’d anticipated their proposal was finished, being sent off to Andrew for approval before their presentation at the end of the week with their clients.

Harry sat back in his chair and she returned her own to the other desk where it belonged, all while he watched her.

“What do you do on Valentine’s Day?” He asked, just trying to get her to stay longer, knowing that if those were his true intentions, then he was fucked. That he wanted to be around Y/N, even though he was seeing someone else, albeit for just a week so far, even though she’d never want the same from him.

Maybe he was just as terrible with relationships as she claimed if he always chased after what he couldn’t have.

“That is also none of your business.” She grabbed her box of chocolates from his desk, his voice pinning her in place again though.

“Let me guess… it involves chocolate, your cat, and the most anti-romantic movies you can find?”

He would not think her very prudish if he knew what else she did on Valentine’s Day while alone in her apartment, but she figured it was best to keep that to herself. Instead, she smiled at him. “Something like that.”

He narrowed his eyes and threw his arms up behind his head as he laid back in his chair, watching her curiously like he was trying to figure her out. Meanwhile, she was trying to not make it obvious she was staring at his biceps as they just about bulged from underneath the sleeve of his pink button-up. He’d done it on purpose though, so as much as she tried to hide it, he still grinned with satisfaction when she became flustered.

“Well, have fun with that, then.” He nodded, and for a moment while she was lost in his eyes and growing embarrassingly hot, she wondered if he could read her mind. If he knew exactly what not-so-innocent things she did on Valentine’s Day. Then he brought his arms back down to rest his elbows on the edge of his desk, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers and watching as she rolled her eyes, held her chocolates close, and left his office.

Adam arrived right when he said he would at five-thirty. It had given her plenty of time to change out of her work clothes and into one of the few dresses she owned, to at least seem somewhat convincing that this was a real date. She also fixed her makeup and put on a pinkish-nude lipstick before switching out her bulky purse for a smaller crossbody.

When she opened the door to him, he most certainly did not disappoint. She almost let herself get lost in the delusion that it was a real date when she saw him dressed to the nines and cleaned up for the first time since she’d known him. And she especially got a little lost in it when he pulled a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to her.

“You didn’t have to—“

“I know.” He gave her a once over when she wasn’t looking. “You didn’t have to do this for me either.”

She quietly accepted the flowers and let him in while she found a vase and filled it with water. He leaned on the counter, watching her as she did so.

“You look… beautiful, by the way.” He blurted out once she had cut and placed the stems into the vase. Her hands froze, though, and when he met her eyes, he knew he’d made a mistake.

“You’re paying me to make your ex-girlfriend jealous. Please don’t flatter me.”

“Sorry.” He muttered, although he was beginning to wonder if the bigger mistake was not taking her out on a proper date that had nothing to do with his ex.

She sighed and adjusted the strap of her purse. “Let’s go then.”

He went over all the final details on the Uber ride to the restaurant. Things about his ex he thought Y/N should know about. And he made sure she knew, for about the hundredth time, that she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to. And she reminded him for an equal amount of times that she never did anything she didn’t want to do. So, settling that, he helped her out of the back of the Uber when they arrived and opened the door to the restraint for her as well. Everything that she’d expect from a normal date, which only left her disappointed when she reminded herself it wasn’t.

She waited quietly, and tried to catch her nerves, while Adam talked to the hostess and gave her his ex’s name for the reservation. The place was packed and anyone who didn’t call ahead surely would not be getting a table tonight. She’d never been out on Valentine’s Day, though, so it was like stepping into a brand new world for her. And as she followed both the hostess and Adam, she paid more attention to all the couples enjoying their meals than anything else.

Except for when he reached back and grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers just before they came to a stop. She blinked her eyes at their hands for just a moment before he gently pulled her around next to him. And whatever way she’d felt about holding Adam’s hand went right out the window when she locked eyes with Harry.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

The last thing she expected to find, while Laura, the gorgeous blonde ex-girlfriend, stood to hug Adam, was Harry fucking Styles. And what a fucking coincidence it was, almost as if this was her karma for feeling the need to constantly help people.

Adam’s hand slipped from hers but she didn’t even notice it anyway. She and Harry still stared each other down and neither of them moved a muscle either. Well, besides the one in his jaw as it tightened. Then he did move, glancing over at Adam with a blank expression before landing his gaze back on her again. And then his eyes fell to the glass of water in front of him and she felt like she’d been released from chains he’d tied around her wrists.

“This is Y/N,” Adam’s hand went to the small of her back, guiding her forward to meet his ex-girlfriend and Harry’s current… whatever they were.

Laura held out her hand, her smile a little too forced. “Laura. It’s nice to meet you. Please, sit.” She ushered them to the table as she took her spot beside Harry again. Adam, of course, took the chair opposite Laura, which left Y/N in the one opposite Harry.

This would be a long, hellish night.

She couldn’t help but wonder what Harry was thinking. That maybe she’d come to crash his date. Or, even worse, that he’d already figured the whole thing out. That Adam was paying her to be here. She really hoped he’d never find out because it was just embarrassing enough to make her want to change her name and move across the country, thousands of miles away from him. Harry finding out that she couldn’t get a real date to save her life… beyond humiliating.

“This is Harry.” Laura motioned to him and he just barely lifted his gaze, nodding at Adam and ignoring Y/N entirely. “You know,” the blonde went on, glancing between Adam and Y/N, “I was a little shocked when you told me you were seeing someone again.”

Adam just shrugged.

“How did you guys meet?”

Y/N left all the talking to him. Mostly because she was still in shock that she was sitting across from Harry. And she hadn’t even taken the time to properly take him in and realized he’d also changed his clothes since work. Swapping his wardrobe out for a fitted black button-up, that wasn’t buttoned all the way to the top as his shirts normally were. The sleeves were already rolled to his elbows. He’d shaved off the scruff along his jaw as well and fixed his hair so that it was combed back out of his face, although a a couple rebellious strands hung down onto his forehead. He looked… like absolute perfection. And he was being forced to be on a date with the ex-boyfriend of the girl he was seeing and his annoying co-worker. She felt terrible for him.

“Oh, uh, well we live on the same floor.”

Laura nodded, clearly anticipating more. “Is that it?”

Y/N felt Adam tense up beside her and so she took over, easily spinning a lie. “I ran out of milk one night a few weeks ago. He’s the only one who answered the door.”

She noticed a flash of movement in her peripheral and turned to find Harry’s gaze on her again, one eyebrow lifted curiously. He was either wondering how she hid it so well, or trying to figure out what to ask in order to reveal their ploy. He never said anything, though.

“Sorry, um,” Laura’s tone changed as she glanced between Harry and Y/N, both of them looking away when the other girl interrupted. “Do you two know each other?”

Harry grinned, sitting back against his seat and folding his hands in his lap. “Something like that.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “We work together.”

“Really?” Although her tone said otherwise, Laura’s face said everything about how she felt upon hearing that bit of information.

Adam twisted his worrisome gaze to Y/N, but she ignored it. Harry, however, did not.

“Don’t worry, mate. I was under the impression she was celibate up until now.” With that, Y/N kicked him under the table and he sat forward to swallow the groan that very nearly left his lips after she’d jabbed him in the shin with the toe of her heels. “Guess she’s really good at hiding things, though.”

Adam just chuckled nervously and Y/N shot him an apologetic smile, trying to reassure him that this date would still work out despite Harry.

“What a small world.” Laura laughed, trying to break the tension but dinner hadn’t even started yet.

Sometime during the main course, Laura excused herself to the bathroom and Y/N almost, in a desperate attempt to flee both Adam and Harry, invited herself along. But she figured it’d be worse to be alone with Laura than with them. Laura might ask questions she wasn’t prepared for. So, she stayed put, as much as it pained her to do so.

“So, Adam, what do you do for a living?” Harry asked suddenly and she wanted to kick him again. Mostly because his tone was that of a jealous teenager and he’d waited until Laura was gone to pester her ex-boyfriend who most certainly did not deserve Harry’s pestering.

“Oh, uh, I’m an artist. I work for an animation studio at the moment but I’m trying to get into freelance.”

Harry’s eyes shot to the suspiciously quiet girl sitting across from him. “So is Y/N.”

Adam turned to look at her, but she just glared at Harry. “Oh, I didn’t know that.”

Harry titled his head as he narrowed his attention in on Adam again. “So you’ve known her for a few weeks and you never asked what she did?”

“Harry.” Y/N warned, trying to kick him under the table again but he dodged out of the way.

“Well… she said she was in graphic design… not art.” She had told him that, during their crash course yesterday while they got to know as much as they could about each other in a span of a couple hours.

“I think it’s the same thing.”

Adam just shrugged. “I guess. I don’t think I could be a designer, though. Most artists make what they think looks good, designers create things to appeal to customers.”

“Just ignore him.” Y/N advised and Harry was the one shooting her daggers and attempting to stomp his foot on top of hers under the table this time.

“You and Laura used to date then? She never told me how you split up.” Harry moved on.

Adam swallowed nervously. “She broke up with me.”

“Why?” Harry pushed and Y/N looked at him like she wanted to kill him, which he ignored.

“I, uh… I had a drug problem for a while. I was not the best person to be around sometimes. But after we broke up, she helped me with rehab and everything.”

“Guess that explains why you’re on such good terms.”

Now Y/N really wanted to do more than just kick him.

Adam grabbed Y/N’s hand under the table and pulled her straight from her violent thoughts about Harry. And he didn’t lace his fingers between hers, instead, it felt as if he had just been looking for something to ground himself with. And her hand resting on her lap was the closest thing he could find. It didn’t, however, go unnoticed by Harry and his jaw clenched as he stared at the point in the table where, just below, there their hands met almost as if he was trying to set everything on fire.

Laura returned shortly after that.

As promised, Adam paid the entirety of both his and Y/N’s bill, even though she attempted to snag it from him, seeing as the date had gone to shit and it was all her fault. Well… maybe it was also Harry’s fault a little bit too. But she definitely did nothing to make Laura jealous. Adam, on the other hand, did a great job at making Harry jealous just by existing and being Laura’s ex, whom she was still friends with.

The four of them stood outside on the curb awaiting their Uber after dinner was over, agreeing upon splitting one car to get to the party instead of taking two. Laura was apparently very cautious about fossil fuel consumption.

Y/N shivered as she stood between Adam and Laura, wishing she’d bright a jacket instead of relying on a long-sleeve dress to keep her warm. Then an arm wrapped around her shoulders and Adam pulled her close, running his hand up and down her arm to form heat. She tensed up, though, forming into an immovable brick. She had no idea the last time she’d been that close to another person, let alone a member of the opposite sex. When he felt her go rigid, he leaned down until his lips were at her ear. “Is this okay?”

She just nodded and tried to relax. Which turned out to be quite easy because Adam was warm and he smelled nice. She, of course, didn’t let her mind wander off too far. He was still in love with his ex. He’d still shove cash into her hand at the end of the night for her troubles and go on with his life.

Adam let go of her when the car pulled up and quickly went to the passenger door to confirm with the driver. Then he opened the back door for the three of them to climb in, Laura going first, then Harry, and, at last, Y/N, while Adam slipped into the front seat beside the driver.

While the car took off, Y/N was shoved into the corner when Harry moved closer to her in order to find both his and Laura’s seat buckles in the dark. Eventually, he settled back into the middle and gave her some space again. When she made no move to do the same as them, Harry turned to look down at her.

“Put your seatbelt on.” He whispered.

Her eyes whirled up to his. Wordlessly, and of course after rolling her eyes, she grabbed her seatbelt and he made room for her to buckle it in. Then she sat back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest while she stared out at the traffic through her window.

She would have stayed in that exact position the entire trip, too, if Harry’s knee didn’t insist on bumping into hers constantly. And she couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose or not.

When she glanced up at him, and found the corner of his lips curl upward, she figured it was, in fact, purposeful. So, with the hand closest to him as her arms were still crossed, she poked him in the side, right against his ribs, hoping it hurt.

“Ouch.” He whined, covering the spot with his hand dramatically. Everyone in the car glanced at Harry, all except for Y/N who snickered as she returned to staring out the window.

Harry wasn’t giving up, though. This time, with his arms crossed in his lap, and glancing at Laura to be sure she wasn’t watching, he walked his pointer and middle finger up the outside of Y/N’s thigh, close enough to her hip to make her squirm slightly when his touch tickled her. And as soon as he got her attention, he looked down at what he was doing and pressed his middle finger against her, meeting her gaze with a smirk.

In the same moment, the driver turned up the music in the car as they waited tirelessly at a red light. It was better than silence or listening to his passengers breathing. But Harry mentally thanked him and turned his attention back to Y/N, leaning into her slightly until his lips were at her ear and she shivered for an all new reason.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress before.” He whispered for her ears only. The music was especially loud in the back and he wasn’t sure Y/N had even heard him.

Especially since she didn’t respond right away. But how could she? Harry’s fingertips were still grazing her thigh, as if trying to emphasize the dress she had on. And his stupid knee was pressed right up against hers. She couldn’t think straight.

Though when she finally turned to him and whispered back, “Don’t get used to it,” he knew she had, in fact, heard him well enough.

He leaned again, “Afraid I already am.”

She hated that there were butterflies in her stomach. That he was saying such odd things to her when his date was sitting just on the other side of him. The date who most definitely met all Harry’s standards.

Huddling away from him, she stuck her eyes out the window and kept them there the rest of the trip.

It was just past eight when they arrived, a fifteen-minute trip up through the city taking half an hour due to all the Valentine’s Day traffic. Another reason she hated this holiday.

The party was being held by Laura’s best friend, who’s name Y/N did not care to commit to memory. In the elevator ride up to the penthouse, though, Harry stood close to Laura, his arm wrapped around her waist and Adam to Y/N, although he didn’t touch her. She wouldn’t have minded if he did, but she figured it was best to keep those boundaries in place anyway.

Pink and golden balloons littered the ceilings of the penthouse. The drink cups were also pink, as was the communal punch bowl that Y/N steered clear of, having no idea what was in it, or who had already spiked it. She knew nobody at the party besides who she’d come with, though she assumed both Adam and Harry were somewhat acquainted with Laura’s friends.

It was most definitely not someplace Y/N ever saw herself being at, not only because it was a Valentine’s themed party, but also because she wasn’t exactly comfortable around so many people. Especially when those people were all so unfamiliar to her.

“Here,” Adam handed her a drink and then grabbed one for himself. She downed the thing in one go, needing to take the edge off. It might’ve been a slight mistake when the alcohol burned the back of her throat, but she didn’t care too much when she grabbed another.

Then he was leading her into the dancing pit of bodies where they huddled close enough so that his lips were at her ear. “Is it alright if I touch you?”

She glanced over at where Laura and Harry had been left, finding both her hazel eyes and Harry’s green ones glued to the both of them. She wasn’t sure what Harry’s deal was, but this was her moment to fix things and make Laura jealous, so, turning back to Adam, she nodded.

He eased his hands onto her waist as they began swaying to the music. And then he pulled her closer, his hands slipping to the small of her back as her arms wrapped around his neck, being careful with her own movements even though she desperately wanted to sink her hands in his hair.

And, god, he smelled so good as her head rested in the crook of his neck. And he felt good, too, as he moved against her body. She knew it wasn’t real, and that the alcohol was making skewing her perception of things, but it was still nice. Nice to be held and to just let go for a change.

Over Adam’s shoulder, Y/N caught Harry’s eyes again. His jaw clenched and he looked the same as he did back at the restaurant. Angry. And then she realized that maybe she wasn’t really trying to make Laura jealous anymore at all, but rather Harry.

It was dumb, she knew that. He’d have to like her in order for her to make him jealous. But… the way he was looking at her. The way he had looked at her. His eyes lingering too long on her lips. What he’d done in the car ride here.

She heard Adam in her ear again. “I think it’s working. She just stormed off into the kitchen.” Then he pulled away and she realized she hadn’t even seen Laura. Just Harry. Harry and his stupid, obnoxious green eyes.

“You owe me more than just dinner.” Y/N teased but Adam grew serious.

“I know. And since you refuse to accept my money, I’ll have to figure out another way to repay you.” He smiled and then twirled her around so that she no longer had any line of sight toward Harry. He pulled her close again, one hand going to her waist while the other stayed locked to one of hers. “Suppose I could start with making your coworker just as jealous… although I think he already is.”

Confusion flooded her features as she peered up at him.

“Oh, come on! He was ready to rip my head off when he realized I’d grabbed your hand. And when I put my arm around you? I thought I might be better off just giving you my jacket and freezing to death instead.”

“I don’t…” she shook her head in disbelief. It was one thing for her to be pretending to make Harry jealous in some delusional hope that it’d work. But this… this was a whole other thing.

“I’m actually quite interested to see what he does if I kissed you.”

She was shocked at first and then, possibly due to the alcohol, just as interested. “Are you asking my permission?”

“Are you saying yes?”

Y/N hesitated. “Is she back?”

Adam’s eyes scanned the room and Y/N realized he hadn’t asked to kiss her for Laura’s sake at all.

“She is.” He finally announced.

Without any more second guessing, Y/N’s hand slipped to the back of his neck and pulled him in. As soon as their lips collided and she tasted the alcohol on him, she knew that she’d never agreed to this without it. Or maybe she would. Adam spun them back around again, deepening the kiss as her eyes opened and fell into the direction she’d last seen Harry.

He was still there.

Still watching.

His hands in fists. His jaw tightened into a crisp line. His nostrils flared. His eyes… sad.

She pulled away. Adam steadied her, grabbing her shoulders when she swayed. But, as she caught her breath, the dizziness went away.

“I’m going to find the bathroom.” She told him and after he nodded, she left, forming a rift for herself through the bodies that danced all around them until she was in the clear. Then she was avoiding Harry as she walked past him, not so sure his gaze was still set on her. Maybe she’d gone too far. She didn’t often just kiss people for no good reason and that’s exactly what she’d just done with Adam. She barely even knew him.

She didn’t exactly need the bathroom, just an open, empty and quiet place. And so, she fell back against a wall in the foyer and ran a hand through her hair.

“That was quite the show.”

She startled at the sound of his familiar voice and looked up just as he stopped a few feet away from her. “What are you talking about?”

He lifted a brow. “You expect me to believe that that you, anti everything to do with this holiday and with relationships and romance, are actually dating that guy?”

“Is it that hard to believe?” She crossed her arms, willing to go as far as she needed to before she let Harry see the truth. That she was that pathetic.

“Yes.” He didn’t even hesitate to respond and she flinched.

“Well, I’m sorry that you have a hard time believing that someone may actually like me.” She had no reason to nearly be shouting at him and no reason to be saying what she was because Adam didn’t like her.

“That’s not what I said. It’s hard for me to believe you just dropped all your ideas about relationships for some guy with obnoxious blue eyes.”

“I didn’t.”

“So then what is this?”

Y/N hesitated. Hating that the truth was about to boil over out of her mouth for him to see all the embarrassing bits of it, but she had no other way of convincing him. And it didn’t really help that Adam was so far out of her league that it wasn’t even convincing to begin with. Nor did she want to convince Harry of anything either. It was clear now that he hadn’t been jealous, he was just trying to figure out when she stopped hating relationships so much.

And the truth of that was she never really hated them. It was just easier telling herself she didn’t want it than admitting no one ever actually wanted her.

She trembled, not even sure why, but he was making her incredibly nervous, so much that she wished she could rewind and stay squished next to him in the back of the car forever. Being that close to him... his stupid fingers on her thigh, whispering things in her ear that made her head spin. She’d much prefer that than standing in front of him now, seeing every ounce of judgment he was about to throw her way.

“What do you want me to say, Harry?” She shrugged and dropped her eyes to the white marble floors between them, focusing on calming her anxiety while she was no longer looking at him. “He needed a date and I felt bad for him.”

“What does that mean?”

Letting her head fall back against the wall, she stared up at the ceiling this time as her eyes burned with embarrassment. “He paid me to be his date so his ex-girlfriend didn’t find out he wasn’t actually seeing anyone. That’s what it means.”

Harry didn’t say anything.

“So, yeah.” She folded her arms, looking down at the floor again, still unable to meet Harry’s eyes and see the look that would be on his face. A smirk of amusement at her expense. Even probably his dimples, taunting her and turning her into the joke she already was. “You were right. I can’t find anyone to tolerate me, which is why I’m on this stupid date that isn’t even real.”

“Him kissing you seemed quite real to me.”

There was more exasperation than humor to her laugh. “It wasn’t.”

Harry seemed to finally understand. “He’s trying to make Laura jealous.”

Y/N just nodded. “I promise I didn’t know you were going to be there, that he was trying to get her back from you.”

“You still kissed him though.”

She couldn’t argue that, nor could she tell him the real reason she’d agreed to the kiss. That it wasn’t exactly Laura she was trying to make jealous. She’d never live that one down, if she ever managed to live any other aspect of this night down.

When she didn’t say anything, he stepped closer. “Why did you kiss him?”

“I’m sorry, Harry I just... I don’t know.”

He shook his head and took another step, making her eyes widen when he was close enough that she had to crane her head back to meet his gaze. “Seemed like you were trying to make me jealous.”

She swallowed, not exactly in the position to laugh it off and argue with him when he was this close and all she could feel were the traces of his fingertips on her thigh. Her voice was quiet when it finally came out. “Making you jealous would mean I assumed you liked me in the first place... which I’m definitely not stupid enough to assume.”

A crease formed between his brow and his stupidly perfect jaw hardened as if he was biting his tongue from saying something. And fuck him for choosing then to finally stop opening his mouth.

Just then, a pair of drunk guys, one on the other’s back, came racing through the foyer, screaming at the top of their lungs while a few others followed quickly after them. It was enough to force Harry away from Y/N again, enough for the both of them to step out of the little bubble they’d been in together the past ten minutes.

Once they were alone again, their eyes gravitated toward each other and just when she thought Harry might say something after all, he flipped around on his heel and left. And she watched as he turned the corner and mixed back into the party.

After a few moments to gather herself, she followed him, not exactly sure what she was going to do now that Harry wouldn’t talk to her and it felt weird being with Adam while Harry knew everything. But, whatever plans to keep herself occupied no longer matted when she spotted Laura.

Making out with Adam in the middle of the room.

Without even thinking, she turned to locate Harry and he might as well have been a source of gravity because her eyes fell right to him within a second. And he was watching them too. He knew.

He met Y/N’s eyes and she wasn’t quite sure if he was upset or not. She couldn’t really read anything on his face, and stopped attempting to when he moved towards her and she had other things on her mind, like where he was going and if he was going to bother taking her with him.

Shortly after he stormed past Y/N she made sure he wasn’t going to leave her behind and chased after him. She didn’t know Adam very well and definitely not Laura to want to stay with them. And everyone else in the room were complete strangers to her. Adam had promised he’d take her home, but he probably hadn’t expected to be making out with his ex by the end of the night, either.

Harry didn’t say anything, not even when they’d reached the foyer and Y/N asked where he was going. He just located his jacket and slipped it on before making his way out the front door.

And right when she thought he really was going to leave her behind, since she was the reason he’d just lost Laura to her ex, he held the door open and glanced over his shoulder at her while she still stood on the other side of the threshold.

“Are you staying?”

Without a word, she sprung into motion and trailed right behind him into the hallway like a lost puppy, letting the door shut behind her that cut them off from the music as it faded into the background behind them.

It was a silent trip down the elevator, mostly because she had no idea what to say that would sound sincere and he didn’t say anything at all. At least not until she followed him through the lobby until he stopped on the curb just outside the main doors.

She took up the spot next to him, eyes glued to the side of his face as he took in a deep breath of fresh air, or at least as fresh as traffic allowed it to be.

Then he spoke, and it seemed like the first time she’d heard his voice all night. “I’m the one who gave you the chocolates and the frog.”

She narrowed her eyes, both not exactly sure why he’d just said that or if he was even being serious. “What?”

He looked down at her. “It wasn’t Andrew, it was me.”

“Why?” She breathed and while she was positive she’d be freezing cold soon, the fresh air after being surrounded by so many people felt good. It felt freeing and she wondered if he felt that way too.

His eyes scanned hers before he looked away. “Well partly to apologize for what I said.”

“What’s the other part?”

Sighing, he turned his entire body to face her now. “Something else entirely…” He trailed off, only confusing her more as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at his feet. “I didn’t tell you because I know you don’t like all this stuff, but seeing you with him tonight... I wish I had.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a frog.”

He shook his head, grinning. “It’s not just a frog, Y/N... because the thing is,” he paused to catch his breath, “I’ve been in love with you for... a really long time… since last spring. But with you being the way that you are, I never thought you’d feel the same way.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it.

“And then you come in with that guy and...” He pulled his fingers through his hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more jealous in my life... because all this time I thought you weren’t interested in relationships, but you just weren’t interested in me.”

Inhaling, she summoned every ounce of courage she could fathom. “You were right about why I kissed Adam.” He lifted a brow, waiting for her elaboration which never came. “You were right about other things, too. I wish I had someone to come home to almost every single night I got to bed alone. No one—“ She cut herself off, trembling again as tears stung her eyes. “I pretend not to be interested so I can ignore the fact that no one’s ever wanted me.”

“That’s not true.” He had that same look on his face as before, when she’d told him she wasn’t stupid enough to think he liked her.

She just nodded. “And I’m sorry but... why would you want me when you could have someone like Laura?”

“Y/N...” He huffed and stepped closer to her, the heat from his body making her shiver. “This is not the first time I started seeing someone to get over you... in fact, all my relationships since I met you have been shit.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Well you’re very anti-relationships so I think I was justified in wanting to avoid you rejecting me… especially since we work together and it would have been really awkward.”

“I don’t, uh... I...” She stammered, not really sure what to say to him even though her heart was screaming at her in full volume.

He held his breath and then, in almost a whisper, “Is this the inevitable rejection?”

“No.” She didn’t even hesitate that time and at this point, her mind no longer controlled the words coming out of her mouth as she let another organ finally speak for itself. “No, I liked you the second I saw you, Harry... and at no point tonight was I ever trying to make Laura jealous.”

The corners of his mouth began to curl into a smile. “That was very cruel of you to do to me.”

“I didn’t think you liked me at all twenty minutes ago, Harry.”

“Twenty minutes ago,” he fully invaded all of her space now, leaving the smallest gap between their bodies as he could get away with, lifting his hand to her jaw and rubbing his thumb over her cheek. “I was still on this date with the wrong person.”

“I think the date is over now.”

“No,” his eyes fell to her lips just like they had before. “It’s not.”

“You’re looking at me like that again.” She mumbled, out of breath.

He lifted a brow and didn’t once remove his eyes from her lips. “Like what?”

“Like…” she trailed off, not having the courage to say it in case she wasn’t right.

“Like I’ve wanted to kiss you for a very long time and I’m tired of pretending?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

He grinned, both of his dimples making an appearance just before he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. And once her brain realized what was happening, she sunk right into him, letting his arm wrap around her waist as his other hand tangled its way into her hair to bring her closer. She threw her arms over his shoulders and he hunched lower to meet her. She staggered back a step when he did, nearly losing her balance but he caught her instantly and then drew his lips back as he laughed.

“This is not how I expected tonight to end.” She couldn’t help but think the way he struggled to catch his breath was possibly the hottest he’d ever been. Not to mention the tiny bit of her lipstick smeared on his face. She could look at him just the way he was right there and then for days and be perfectly satisfied.

“It doesn’t have to end yet.” She fully blamed her sudden burst of confidence on the cold, but refreshing February night. And maybe she also just wanted to get out of it before it caught up to her and she would, yet again, regret not having a jacket.

“Oh?” She wanted to smack the mischievous smirk off his face and leave him there on the curb. “And here I thought you were a prude.”

“You thought a lot of things about me that weren’t true, Harry.”

He thought about that for a moment and after realizing she was right, he then wondered just how wrong he was when he’d called her celibate. “I suppose… I’d quite like to find out just how wrong I was.” He slipped a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear, which is where his lips ended up as he whispered softly, “And I’d also quite like to show you just how wrong you were about me not liking you.”

They stumbled into her bedroom in the dark, Pretzel racing out between their twisted feet in a hurry, screeching at them in the process. Harry giggled against her lips, “Your cat sounds friendly.”

“Well, since I was supposed to be spending tonight with her, and chocolate, and anti-romantic movies…” She pulled away from him, watching as his smile spread further. Maybe she could actually believe he’d been in love all this time.

“Right… I’d be upset too.”

She shook her head and kissed him again, then pulled back a second later. “You know that’s not actually what I do on Valentine’s Day.”

He lifted a brow and waited for her to explain but she didn’t.

“And what is it that you do, then?” He finally asked, curiosity getting the best of him, although he had some inkling as to what she was talking about.

Her smile was devoid of innocence as her hands fell to his belt. Harry’s shirt had already been lost to the kitchen floor. Her dress hardly covering what it was supposed to once Harry had gotten his hands on it.

“Maybe you’ll get to find out.”

When she brought her lips back to his, after undoing the buckle just under his navel, he spun them around and led her backwards to the bed. He wasn’t sure how far it was, but hoped he was headed in the right direction. And because of that, when her knees did finally bend over the mattress, he practically came flying down on top of her.

She squirmed out from under him, crawling back towards the pillows as she watched him at the end of the bed while he stood and removed his belt completely, trying not to drool at the sight of him. At the sight of Harry, her fucking annoying ass, perfect, beautiful, coworker standing shirtless at the end of her bed where he was also about to be…

He pushed his trousers down off his hips and they fell to the floor with ease, almost with the same amount of ease that her eyes fell to the tight boxer-briefs he wore underneath. She swallowed as he adjusted the waistband back into place, quite certain that, even in the low light, her eyes were not deceiving her.

The bed shifted at her feet as he joined her, and then it took all her willpower to not fling herself at him as he crawled up the length of her. As he settled himself between her thighs and she felt every last, very hard, inch of him pressed against her. She couldn’t be blamed for the whining moan that she let out in his ear as his lips became familiar with the shape and taste of her neck. She also couldn’t be blamed when her hips instinctively collided with his.

He just giggled again and shook his head, the loose strands of his curls tickling her forehead. “Easy now.” He warned in a hushed mumble, his lips vibrating right against the vein in her neck that pulsed so much faster the more his free hand began to wander up underneath her dress.

He left her speechless for multiple reasons, but the main one was when she felt his fingers tracing down her thigh and then, moments later, after he shifted his weight and used his knees to keep her legs open, she sucked in a breath of air as she felt him pressed against her clit, forcing her nails to dig into his back but he didn’t seem to mind.

Coming back down to kiss her, he began moving his hand in expert little circles, grinning against her mouth every time her body begged him for more. It wasn’t long that he complied, either, when he sat back on his knees between her legs and tugged her underwear off for good, throwing it to the depths of her bedroom floor. He wouldn’t have known where they landed even if he tried because his gaze belong to her only as he lowered himself to his elbows before her, kissing his way up her thighs until he reached her center.

When she squirmed away from him, he wrapped his arms around her thighs and pressed his hands into her hips after gently moving her dress out of the way.

“You know when we used to stay late at the office working?” He asked suddenly and the heat of his voice against her made her squirm again, but he held on tight. “And you would get sick of sitting in an office chair and made me promise not to tell Jim when you sat on his desk instead?” She had no clue where he was going with it, but still, she nodded. “Every single time I turned to look at you, I thought about doing this.” Before she could get words out or even a coherent thought, she felt his tongue on her. And this time when she jerked against him, she nearly slipped out of his hold until he grabbed her again and pulled her back down, digging himself further into her as she struggled to breathe properly.

She dug her fingers into his hair when he brought her close to the edge and showed no mercy. And somehow, she’d managed to get the sole of her foot up onto his shoulder in order to kick him away, but it didn’t matter much because he never budged. Not that she wanted him to, but he just felt so good…

“Harry!” She shouted, pulling at his hair and making matters worse for herself when he moaned against her sensitive bundle of nerves. He let her come, never once lifting his mouth from her even as her hips jerked off the mattress and she very nearly pulled his hair out. When she stopped screaming, her voice caught in her throat because she was lost to her own orgasm, is when he lifted his mouth, replaced it with his fingers and watched her as she came down. As her eyes fluttered shut and her chest heaved, her lungs struggling to get oxygen back into her system. Her hold on him loosened as she came undone around him, melting into his hands it seemed like.

And when he began rubbing his index and middle finger into her, once she was far and beyond overstimulated, and he knew that, she reached down with a whine and grabbed his wrist with what little strength she had in her and pulled him away. His hand fell to the other side of her hip, which he used to his advantage to pull himself up over her again, his other hand taking her dress with it until he was able to tug it over her head and toss it. Then he came back down to kiss her, letting her taste herself on her lips. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek and when he pulled away, found her looking at him finally. Although it was with heavy lids as she still struggled to regain her bearings.

Before they could get much further, a loud crashing sound from the other room made both of them nearly jump out of their skin. She shot up instantly, grabbing hold of Harry’s bicep before moving him out of the way and sliding off the edge of the bed.

“It’s just the cat.” Harry would have probably said the same thing even if it was not just the cat, he’d say anything just to get her to stay with him.

“I know but it sounded like…” her voice trailed off as her feet hit the floor and the moment she went to stand on her own two legs, her knees buckled. He reached to grab her waist but she righted herself before he could. She didn’t see the way he hid his cheeky smirk at the fact that he’d been so good, she was still dizzy.

“You good?” He asked as she stumbled her way into a shirt. With only a groan in response, and what he was sure was her middle finger, she left him alone in her bed to investigate the noise. Sighing, he laid on his back and got comfortable amongst her pillows. And after about three minutes, decided to locate the remote to her TV to entertain himself.

He flipped onto his side and felt around her bedside table, but his fingers never landed on anything remote-like. So, frustrated, he reached up and switched the lamp on. Again, he found nothing. Looking further, he realized the table had a drawer and so he pulled it open in hopes of finding the damned remote before she got back.

But what he found instead was so much better than turning on late night news.

“Fucking cat knocked over my vase.” Y/N was back within ten minutes. Harry had left the light on, but made sure it wasn’t obvious he’d gone snooping into her drawer, at least not yet anyway. She crawled back into bed beside him and it was then he noticed the bandage on her thumb.

“Are you alright?” He forgot all about what he planned to tease her with when he gently grabbed her hand to inspect the damage.

“Yeah. I was in a bit of hurry trying to clean up the glass…”

Harry rolled his eyes and dropped her hand. “I would have come help you.”

She just smiled up at him as he fit his arm around her shoulders, his bicep under her neck. “That’s alright.”

He shrugged. “It was for the best anyways that I didn’t.” When he smirked, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

“And why’s that?”

She followed his other hand as he reached for something and then, moments later, it reappeared with a very familiar pink object clutched in his grasp. “Because then I wouldn’t have found this.”

Her first reaction was to pry it from his snooping fingers, but when she reached across him to grab it, he way too easily held her back and, at the same time, held it far out of her reach.

“So this is what you do on Valentine’s Day, then?” He flicked his wrist back and forth, waving her vibrator in the air as he taunted her.

“If you don’t give that back to me,” she reached for it again to no prevail, “you won’t be doing anything, least of all, me.”

He clicked his tongue. “Why would I give it back when I plan on using it?”

She froze and he chuckled at her reaction.

“Would be rude of me to break your traditions, wouldn’t it?”

She swallowed, her eyes slowly meeting his again. The appearance of his right dimple told her he wasn’t playing any games. She had no idea how many times he planned to make her come tonight or whether or not she’d even be able to walk tomorrow at work. But, given the stupid look on his face, she almost began making plans to call out sick instead.

“Do you actually know how to use that thing?” She finally asked, glancing at the wand still held very firmly in his hand.

He looked at her like she was crazy moments before he pivoted and pinned her onto her back, settling himself into the position they’d been in before the interruption of the cat.

Just, this time… he was clicking on her vibrator and watching her face as she began to regret her words.

“‘Course I know how to use it. The real question is,” he brought his lips to her ear, the soft vibrations and the sound of his voice mixing together like sin itself. Even more so when he nipped at her earlobe. “Do you know how to handle it?”

#1dffvalentine #harry styles fic #harry styles smut #harry styles x reader #harry styles writing #harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagine

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havethetimeofyourstyles · 4 years

Text

in which a new relationship sparks up in the restaurant.

a/n: hi loves! i’m back with a new story, and this is for nat’s @harrystylescherry playlist fic challenge! the song i chose is ‘say it’ by maggie rogers, which is one of my absolute favorite songs! hope you all like it, please reblog and leave feedback!

WORD COUNT: 13.8k words of waiter!harry x waitress!yn

WARNINGS: angst and some smut

COME INTO MY INBOX AND LETS TALK ABOUT ‘SAY IT’ i’d love to know your thoughts!

pls rb to share <3

It was eleven in the morning when Harry walked through the back door of ‘Spring,’ ready to start his long day of being on his feet while waiting tables.

He walked to the staff��s lounge that held their lockers and a bench before looking around to see if anyone else was in the locker room; he turned the dial of his lock pad to open his blue locker. His coworkers would always tease him about being so secretive when he knows that no one would actually steal from him, but better to be safe than sorry, and he couldn’t imagine how awkward that would be confronting one of his coworkers if they actually had stolen from him.

He put his white canvas tote bag that was printed in a brown text that said ‘Celestial Natural Foods’—a store in Hawaii—in his locker and hanging it on one out of the two hooks before grabbing his black waist apron and tying it around his waist.

The restaurant’s attire was a simple white or black button down with black trousers. The manager of the restaurant, Irene, told the staff that they could choose either color shirt whenever they pleased. As for jewelry, she didn’t mind when her waiters and waitresses wore jewelry, as long as it wasn’t interfering with how they held the plates of food, causing them to drop it. Harry was glad to hear that Irene allowed jewelry because his rings and necklaces made him Harry. Twisting his rings and fixing his necklaces, he took a quick glance at the small mirror that was stuck on the inside of the door with a magnet, and combed his hair back with his hands before closing his locker shut and locking it.

He washed his hands at the sink next to the locker room, and he smiled at the commotion and noise from behind him that came from the kitchen crew. They were prepping for the dinner hour, chopping up various vegetables, making the restaurant’s famous dressing and sauces, and baking the side dishes that usually took a while in the oven.

“Hey, Harry!” Jet, one of the sous chefs, greeted as he looked up at Harry with a big smile as he continued chopping up cabbage like the professional chef that he was.

Harry chuckled, amazed at his knife skills. “Hey, Jet. How are you today?” He leaned against the stainless steel countertop as he talked to Jet through the open space of the shelves, where the food rested under the heated and dim light when it was ready to be served.

“I’m doing great! How was your three day vacation?”

“It was okay. It went by fast, but I missed it here anyways,” Harry responded with a smile. Jet laughed, nodding.

“Well, we missed you too. Anyways, Irene told me to tell you that she’s looking for you.” Harry squinted his eyes slightly, not knowing whether Irene looking for him was a good or bad thing, and Jet seemed to notice what he was thinking. “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure it’s nothing bad.”

Harry nodded, feeling somewhat relieved. Jet was his closest friend at Spring, ever since Harry started working as a waiter three years ago. He desperately needed a job because being his own boss and freelancing as a photographer could be difficult sometimes; and building up a client list when he first started out was even harder. But three years later, he was able to get his name around through his clients, and he earned enough where he could technically quit his job at Spring and focused purely on photography; however, Harry liked the restaurant too much to just quit—he liked serving people, believe it or not. His charms go a long way for respectful and kind customers, and of course, a great tip. Most of his friends always worked here as well, as he didn’t have quite a lot of friends since he moved from London, but his coworkers had become his very own friends, and he loved them too much to leave.

“Thanks, I’ll see you when we open!” Harry said as Jet waved to him, watching him walk around the counter to find Irene who was talking to a woman he’s never seen before.

He’s always loved walking through the restaurant because it had such a friendly and open vibe with white painted walls, trees planted in a line in the middle of the floor, and a big glass ceiling for a solarium ambience. His favorite part was that there were no walls to separate the dining area from the kitchen, so customers could see straight through the kitchen and watch the chefs work on their food with just a turn of their heads.

“Ah, there he is,” Irene said once Harry was close enough. “I’m glad you’re early.”

“Irene, I’m always early, what do you mean?” Harry breathed out a chuckle.

“I know you are. I’m just glad you’re extra early today because I need you to train this lovely woman next to me.” Irene stepped out of the way to reveal you to the waiter that was going to train you today.

Harry looked at you, and immediately, his breath was caught in his throat. The light that was provided through the glass ceiling cast down at you, giving you a glow that was ethereal, and he mentally thanked the interior designer of the restaurant from so many years ago for insisting on putting a glass ceiling instead of a regular, covered one. There you were, standing in the open light as you flashed him a smile that almost made him collapse due to how weak his knees were, and he physically had to place a hand on the brown wooden table next to him to keep himself up. You were stunning, to say the least.

“Hi, I’m Y/N,” you offered him a hand, smiling softly at him. He shook your hand, feeling the softness of your small hand and how it contrasted to his large and somewhat rough hand.

“I’m Harry. It’s lovely to meet you.” He smiled, two dimples indenting his cheeks. You noticed that his left dimple was more prominent than his right, but either way, you thought he was a gorgeous man.

Yours and Harry’s eyes had lingered a bit longer, and once you had caught yourself staring, you forced yourself to take your eyes off him, even though it was difficult to. And that’s when you knew it was going to be a slight problem working around him.

“Now that introductions are out of the way,” Irene interrupted. She turned towards Harry. “Harry, this is our newest addition to our waiting staff. You’ve been here long enough and it seems like you’re here everyday, so I’m going to leave her with you to train.” Once she was down, Irene turned towards you. “Y/N, you’re going to train with Harry for the rest of the week. It’s usually two weeks that are required for training, but since you’ve had waiting experience before, I’ll knock it down to one, and by the end of the week, we’ll see how you’re doing and where you are with everything. Sounds good?”

You nodded excitedly, giving her a bright smile before she clapped her hands and said ‘great.’ Harry looked at you the entire time, and he just knew that you were the type of person that could light up a room with your beautiful and bright smile.

Irene turned towards Harry once more. “Show her the ropes, introduce her to people, and just make her comfortable, yeah?” Harry nodded, teasingly saluting at his boss as he earned a laugh from her.

Irene left, leaving the two of you, but your attention was preoccupied with the restaurant as you eagerly looked around, getting familiar with the place you’d hoped to be stable at for a while.

Harry cleared his throat, to which you immediately looked at him. He gave you a smile before he said, “So, ready for your first day?”

“Ready!” You exclaimed, tone a bit too excited, making you slightly embarrassed, so you curled your lips into your mouth and looked around the restaurant again to hide your slight embarrassment.

Harry giggled. “Don’t look around too much—you might get tired of this place before you even start,” he teased, completely forgetting how shy and embarrassed you looked.

“I think I’m gonna like it here,” you confessed immediately, feeling a certain comfort once you walked into the restaurant. Hell, the moment you researched the restaurant, you loved the place.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” Harry led you around the counter where customers could watch the chefs in action as they cooked their meals. “This is where you could get all the supplies needed—napkins, extra plates, utensils, place mats, everything should be here. If not, then it’ll usually be in the kitchen, right over here.” He walked over to the kitchen where there were more supplies under the table, and pointed below the table. “Here’s more if the ones behind the counter run out, and if they do run out and you just so happen to be there, please make sure to refill it.” You nodded understandingly.

Harry walked you through the steps of how the system of the restaurants worked as he imputed a demo order into the system on the touchable screen. There were five order screens, one in each corner of the restaurant, one behind the counter, and one in the kitchen; there shouldn’t be any collision or anyone waiting for one of the severs to finish with the screen because there were only about four to five servers working every shift considering it was a small restaurant. Harry then walked you along on where to pick up the order as every dish had its receipt with the order printed on the paper along with the table number. He told you that the table numbers are in order of how the tables are set up—number one starts with the countertops since it’s closest to the entrance, following along the walls, and the tables in the middle were numbered last.

You liked how easy their routine and system was that you were sure you’d have it down by the end of the week. Harry made sure to introduce you to the staff that you two passed by as he led you throughout the restaurant; he made you feel comfortable right from the bat, making sure to make a few jokes here and there that certainly released some tension in your shoulders from nerves. You were grateful that he made you laugh--you were worried that you wouldn’t like your coworkers or they would be mean and snarky because you’re the newbie, but with Harry, it seemed like you two were getting along quite well; he was polite, helpful, and kind.

“So, that’s pretty much it.” He looked at the time on his Apple Watch, reading a quarter to six in the evening, 15 minutes until Spring opened for dinner. “Do you have any questions?”

You tried thinking of anything that you could ask, but your mind seemed to have collected all the information Harry had told you and retained it quite well. “No, nothing I can think of at the moment.”

“Great. For now, do you mind checking the placemats and the table decor for me?” You nodded helpfully. “And then if you have any remaining time left, just chill out and take a breather for a second, and then come find me when we open.”

“Okay. Sounds good.” You smiled at him sweetly, making him smile back before he walked away and towards the kitchen.

You headed towards the dining room, making sure the woven placements were symmetrical and even; you also straightened out the utensils that made their way out of line or off the tablemats. You did this for the rest of the ten minutes you had of peace before you made your way through the restaurant to find Harry.

The entire time you were in the dining room, Harry was in the locker room, mindlessly on his phone to waste time. He was lucky that he didn’t have to do anything before the restaurant opened, so he had some spare time to relax for a bit. He tried cooling down to get the pink flush that painted his cheeks off, but that’s what happened when he was around you; immediately, you had already had this effect on him, making him blush and nervous around you, and he didn’t know what it was. Maybe it was the way you brightly smiled at him, practically gleaming; or the way you laughed at his jokes, which even he could admit are a bit corny and bad—a very dad-like joke, but you still laughed.

Whatever it was, he knew that he was fucked.

Dinner time was a rush. Spring was busy and full; the reservation booklet was booked with no space to cater to walk-ins.

You were shadowing Harry as you followed him around like a lost puppy, watching him interact with the customers, occasionally pulling out his charm so he would get a big tip. You couldn’t imagine if you were a customer and Harry was your server because your face would heat up instantly, and it would be difficult to contain a smile on your face. He had such a natural charm to him, making him naturally flirty as he flashed customers his smile and laughing at their horribly made jokes.

For half of the night, you simply followed him around, watched the paths he took when he got the customers’ food and his overall routine of things. With every table he got assigned to, he made sure to introduce you to the party, always glancing over at you once he said your name as you greeted the customers with a bright smile. Harry nearly had to stop every time he glanced over at you as it seemed like your beauty always distracted him.

You helped him with dealing with the plates, beverages, and getting extra necessities such as cheese, hot sauce, or extra utensils and plates for the table.

Once the restaurant died down a bit, you and Harry were able to walk a bit slower, relaxing each time a party leaves. When there was about an hour and a half left of your shift and till the restaurant closes, Harry asked you if you’d like to take orders, saying it’ll be best if he observed how you would talk and serve the customers, and you excitedly said ‘yes.’ Harry was only assigned to five to six tables during his shift, and since it was near closing time, there were only two that had just arrived.

Harry politely introduced himself, telling the parties that you were new and shadowing him, but you were going to take over for the rest of their stay at Spring. He watched you kindly talk to them, occasionally making small talk as you laughed with them; you talked about your favorite items on the menu, along with your favorite selection of wine. This time, Harry helped you with your tasks that you had done before you two switched off, and he immediately admitted to himself that the two of you made such a great team. It was only your first day here, and he already saw how naturally the both of you moved around one another, along with communicating so well with each other.

You were bidding the last party in the restaurant goodbye with a wave and telling them to enjoy the rest of their evening before you grabbed the mason jar that held the bill, along with the tips. You walked over to the kitchen where Irene was counting all the money and placed the mason jar besides her, giving her a smile before walking over to the locker room.

Harry was sitting on the bench with his phone in his hands, and looked up once you entered the room.

“How was your first day?” He smiled.

“It was actually really great. The energy here is amazing.”

“Well, I’m glad. You’re a natural, and it helps both of us that you already have restaurant experience.” Harry completely put his phone away into his tote bag, giving you his attention, which you really admired. Some people would make small talk and quickly end the conversation to go back on their phones. “Where did you work before, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I actually moved here from NorCal—San Francisco—just two weeks ago. But I worked at one of the restaurants at Pier 49. The restaurant was pretty small and we weren’t as busy as it was here, only on the weekends we would get a bit busy. So, this is definitely completely different than being outside and smelling the fresh ocean a few feet away,” you explained, chuckling.

“Wow, SF, that’s quite the trip. But we’re glad to have you. I think you’re fitting right in.”

“Thank you. I already like it here.” Harry gave you a warm smile, grateful that you had a great first day, and that Spring gave you a good first impression for you to stay.

The two of you chatted a bit, talking about the customers you had and laughing at the jokes they made or the conversations they talked about. It was kind-hearted and fun, and a conversation that made you feel light; it wasn’t anything serious. It ended when it was time for closing, cleaning up and making sure everything was in order for tomorrow afternoon’s shift.

Irene handed the staff their tips for the night, which you amounted for $120 for a Sunday night. It wasn’t bad for your first night of tips, and you knew you would be working a lot more since this was your only job and you weren’t doing anything else.

As everyone walked outside into the staff parking lot, everyone said their goodbyes to one another, spreading apart and walking out to their vehicles.

Once you opened your car door, Harry called out for you from the opposite side of where you parked.

“Yeah?” You raised your brows.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He offered a smile before getting into his car and starting it, but he waited until you were safely inside of your car and out of the parking garage, and then he would leave.

He couldn’t help but notice the smile that appeared onto your face before you got inside your car, and he couldn’t help but think about how incredibly beautiful you are.

The entire week went on just like your first day. You were getting more comfortable with the flow of the restaurant, and where everything was. You continued shadowing Harry, but some days, he would let you serve your customers for the entire shift.

Now that it was Friday evening, you couldn’t wait to relax the next day. You had told Irene that you were available all days of the week, and since you were new and still needed to complete training, she scheduled you for Sunday to Friday, getting Saturday off, which you appreciated. When you told yourself that you were able to work all day, you didn’t realize how exhausting and tiring that was until it came down to the end of the week as your feet ached, telling you to sit down for at least an entire day.

Once it was closing time, you were finally able to catch a breath as you cleaned up part of the dining room. Chatter and laughter was heard from the kitchen quite loud as it echoed against the walls; you smiled, enjoying the sound of laughter, especially when it came from people you knew.

As you were mindlessly wiping down tables, Harry walked up to you with two cocktails in his hands, smiling as he handed you one. You raised your brows, hesitant to take it from him as you wondered if it was allowed to drink since you were technically still on the clock.

“Irene made them for us, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he said as if he read your mind. You breathed out a chuckle, taking a glass before thanking him and clinking your glass with his before taking a sip of the cold tequila drink. You sighed in relief, and Harry giggled. “Do you have any plans for tonight? I know it’s almost midnight, but I mean…you could still.” He felt his ears heat up, feeling a tad bit nervous when he was around you.

“No, I don’t. I don’t really have any friends in SoCal, but I can't wait to go home and sleep.”

“O-Oh okay, I was just gonna ask if you’d like to stay for a bit longer.”

“Here? For what?” You asked curiously.

“Well, the lot of us get together after night shifts to do a mini celebration at the end of the long and busy week. We only do it Fridays since that’s when most of us are working all together,” he said referring to the bunch laughing and talking in the kitchen. You did notice now that you had been working with the same group of people, and partially that was because you only mostly worked night shifts and so did the rest. “We usually stay for an hour—drink, eat, talk. It made us closer, actually, so I’d thought you might like to join since you’re new,” he invited.

You didn’t take long to think of an answer—to weigh out your choices of wanting to go to bed at a somewhat reasonable time or stay an extra hour and hang out with your coworkers.

“I’d actually really love that, thank you,” you accepted his invitation with a sweet smile, making Harry’s heart pound just a tad bit harder against his chest.

“Great! Well, come on into the kitchen when you’re done. The chefs are cooking up some food,” he said before he walked away, leaving you to finish up your tasks for the night, which didn’t take you any more than ten minutes to finish up.

You walked into the kitchen and Harry immediately handed you a plate that you gladly took. Jet excitedly waved to you to go over to the stove so he could serve you.

“Allergic to anything?” He asked to make sure you weren’t going into the emergency room tonight.

“Uh, shellfish when it’s consumed. I’m okay to be around it, though.”

“Oh shit, this would not be good for you.” His eyes widened as he immediately dropped the large silver serving spoon of the lobster risotto; it looked absolutely delicious. “Good thing I’m prepared. Do you like spaghetti and meatballs?”

“Love.”

“Great!” He started plating your plate with the food before handing it back to you with an ‘enjoy!’ as you thanked him.

Once everyone was satisfied, you all headed out to the dining table, settling on a large rectangle table comfortably. There were about twelve of you, and it seemed like everyone had assigned seats since they immediately went straight to their spot and placed their table or drink in front of it.

You were a bit lost, not knowing where to sit, and the only person you’re reasonably close to was Harry, but it seemed like he was a bit preoccupied chatting with Quinn, another chef.

“Y/N! Sit next to me, yeah?” Ivy, one of the waitresses called out for you. You smiled, thankful she was the one to ask you, and you gladly took a seat next to her.

Harry took the seat in front of Ivy, diagonal from you, and he really wished he was the one sitting next to you.

“Damn, I really should get a large circle table for all of us so we could see each other’s faces,” Irene suggested, and the group agreed, but everyone wondered where it would be placed since the restaurant had no space for another large table.

Everyone broke out into their own conversations, chatting with one another freely and as loud as they wanted.

“How was your first week here, Y/N?” Ivy asked.

“It was great! I really love this place.” Harry looked at you as you talked with Ivy. He really could get lost just looking at your beauty, and sometimes, he would have to knock himself out of his glare to prevent him from getting caught. He was just so captivated by you, and it didn’t take a lot of effort for him to be so drawn to you.

Ivy had definitely noticed Harry’s stare from the corner of her eye, and admittingly, she got jealous because she’s had a small crush on Harry ever since she started working at Spring four months ago. But it wasn’t like she was going to do anything about it because it seemed like he didn’t take interest in her, so she wasn’t going to force it. However, it didn’t slip past her that you occasionally glanced over at Harry as well—briefly averting your eyes towards him once he took a sip of his water or someone had pulled him out of his attention on you to make conversation.

Gently pulling you by the arm, Ivy leaned over to whisper into your ear. “Harry’s totally crushing on you.”

You pulled back, shocked. “What?” You mouthed.

“He can’t stop looking at you—it’s so obvious.” You simply chuckled, shaking your head slightly as your cheeks felt warm, not from the alcohol or how close everyone was sitting, but because you couldn’t even believe that Harry would have a crush on you. Sure, you two had spent the entirety of your shifts together, but you didn’t think that he would have a crush on you.

You tried not to think of Ivy’s words for the rest of the night, and you tried even harder to not look at Harry to catch it he was staring at you. Your thoughts seemed to make you more drunk when you were trying to sober up to drive back home. You only had three cocktails, which was quite mindless of you to be drinking when you had to drive home, but you simply wanted to have fun because you deserved it, and you were comfortable and making friends. And everyone seemed to be drinking as well as they were getting a ride from the more responsible ones who were driving and leaving their car in the parking garage during the night.

Once everyone was all out of their social battery with their plates and glasses empty, you all started to clean up, helping one another to make the process of going home quicke; there were two people washing the dishes and two people drying as the rest put those dishes away and cleaned the table.

Just like every single night, everyone said their goodbyes in the parking lot before going to their cars to head home for a good night's rest.

You were sober, but you didn’t feel safe enough to drive, and you don’t know if that’s the alcohol or the thoughts of Harry making you dizzy. So, instead of walking to your car, you took out your phone and opened the Uber app, knowing you’d be able to get a ride home quickly since it was past midnight on a Friday night.

“Hey, whatcha doing?” Harry asked, walking up to you once he noticed that you weren’t going to your car. He made it a habit to watch you get inside your car and leave the parking garage safely because anything could happen in the few minutes if he left before you.

“I’m calling an Uber. I don’t wanna drive back…” you replied before looking down at your phone again.

“Oh, I could drive you home, if you’d like?” He offered politely.

“Really? You don’t have to do that.”

“I insist. I would feel better knowing that I was the one that got you home safely.” The corners of your lips couldn’t help but turn up into a smile as your heart fluttered against your ribcage.

“That’s really sweet, Harry, I’d like that,” you accepted. Harry grinned, leading you to his car as you followed; he walked over to the passenger seat, opening the door for you, which easily almost made your knees buckle in. How is he such a gentleman and so incredibly kind? You wondered, thinking about how rare it was to meet a man without anything leading to more than a conversation.

You thanked him before getting into his car; his car was very clean and he had a Saturn air freshener that hung on his rearview mirror, admitting a fresh lemon scent throughout his vehicle. Harry got in, handing you his phone to play some music and to enter your address before starting the car and driving out of the parking garage. You played Daniel Caesar, which you thought was the perfect kind of music for a night drive since your place was fifteen minutes away from the restaurant. The two of you sang along to ‘Hold Me Down’ as he watched you from the corner of his eye, adorably swaying in your seat to the song as you muttered the lyrics.

The sunroof cover was open, giving you an orange glow every time the car passed by a lamppost. Unconsciously, you both looked at one another every time the car stopped at a red light, both smiling at one another. You were thankful that it was dark out as it hid your big smile from how much you were giddy just looking at Harry.

Once the navigation told him that your place was on the right, he parked against the curb in front of your apartment complex. You unbuckled your seatbelt before turning towards him in your seat as he turned towards you as well.

“Thank you for the ride, Harry. It was really kind of you to offer.”

“Not a problem. Don’t be hesitant to ask again. I rarely drink when we have our after-hours dinners, so you’re free to drink all you want and I’ll be glad to take you home,” he told you, and you smiled, nodding your head.

“I’ll keep that in mind. It’s just been a while since I drank and hung out with friends,” you explained.

“No worries. I’m glad you had fun, I assumed?”

“Yeah, lots of fun! I really like it there, and you made it bearable and fun as well as my trainer,” you admitted. Harry felt his cheeks slightly redden, and just as you were thinking, he was grateful it was dark out.

He cleared his throat. “Well, I’m glad. You’ll be on your own now. No need for me anymore since you’ve pretty much gotten everything done so quickly,” he chuckled, a dimple indenting his left cheek, making you hold in your breath.

“Can I still ask you for help if I need you?” You asked innocently, leaning your elbow against the middle console as you rested your chin against your fist. Harry pursed in his lips as his mind focused on the last three words that slipped out of your mouth--I need you. It was merely an innocent question relating to work that he shouldn’t think too much about, but he couldn’t help it.

“Of course. I’m always gonna be here if you need me,” he responded, keeping it friendly. At that, you smiled, nodding your head in acceptance. You gathered your belongings that rested at your feet before turning to face him again. Leaning forward, Harry thought you were leaning in to kiss him, which he wouldn’t mind whatsoever, but that dream was crushed when you wrapped your arm around his shoulder, giving him a hug. He hugged you back, placing his hand against your back and slightly rubbing his hand up and down, hoping you couldn’t feel his heart hammering against his chest at the feel of your upper body slightly pressed against him.

You pulled away, giving him a shy smile. “I’ll see you on Sunday. Drive safe, okay?”

“Always do. Sleep well.” He bid you goodbye as you got out of his car, walking over to the entrance of your apartment complex. You turned around before you opened the door, waving at him before heading inside.

Harry drove off to his place, the opposite direction of your apartment, passing Spring. He could’ve honestly been home already in the comfort of his bed, but he didn’t mind taking you home at all. That only meant he got to spend a bit of more time together, but he noticed that with every passing second, minute, and hour, he felt himself falling for you just a bit more.

You’ve been at Spring for almost a month, and you couldn’t believe how fast the days went by. The more you worked, the more you started to feel a place at home with the restaurant. It was welcoming and fun, and all the credit was due to the people that you surrounded yourself with. You felt a difference in your attitude, your mood, and you liked the change that it brought you--you felt happy.

Being in San Francisco your entire life was great up until it wasn’t. It was a toxic place for you simply because of the people that you were surrounded with. You noticed that you were always on fight-or-flight mode, ready for someone to make one comment at you so you could snap at them. You hated being and thinking like that, so the best thing you did for yourself was to move away from the toxicity of your hometown, and you were glad that you did.

It was another usual Friday evening, after hours at Spring as you sat in your usual seat next to Ivy as the two of you and Harry were laughing about a story Ivy was telling about her ex-boyfriend in college.

Harry looked over at you, heart swooning as he watched you laugh, wiping your under eyes from the tears that had slipped out. It was a beautiful sight, he’d say; you had such a beautiful smile and contagious laugh that he loved hearing, whether it’d be from the kitchen as he was in the dining room or in the locker room—wherever it was, he always smiled to himself when he heard it.

The two of you had gotten quite close, making the work environment bearable and fun. When you would be in the same area at the same time, you had this thing where you would bump his hip with yours lightly, and he would bump yours right back—of course, when there weren’t any food or drink handling. There would always be light conversations within those hip bumps, comfortably getting to know one another, whether it would be asking quick-fire questions or a random story about one another’s lives that would come to mind. It wasn’t an ordinary setting or time to get to know each other, but it made things fun because the two of you would come up with more questions to come up with the next time he bumped into you. It was nice having a thing with you, he thought.

There would be moments during those little meetings when your fingers would brush delicately against his, sending shivers to his body. It was simply overwhelming in the best way possible.

Everyone called it a night, doing the nightly routine of tidying and cleaning everything up. Despite the long shift and being on your feet, you still had quite a bit of energy that you would like to use up so you could get a night’s rest. You looked at your friends, seeing if anyone was up for a late night adventure just based off of their posture and how often they yawned, and it seemed like everyone was exhausted, for obvious reasons. But you’d ask one person before you decide to go alone.

Once everything was clean and ready for the Saturday’s brunch, everyone walked out of the restaurant, walking over to their cars.

“Hey, Harry?” You called out, making him instantly turn around at the sound of your voice.

“Yeah, love?” The pet name had merely slipped out, and you felt your face getting warm, shyly smiling.

“Uh, you could totally say no and I would completely understand why because it’s Friday night, and we had a long shift, and you must be tired-”

“Y/N?” You stopped talking, raising your brows. “Breath, yeah? Take your time,” he interrupted the rambling that you hadn’t known you were doing.

Nodding, you took a deep breath. You didn’t know why you were nervous, but every time you were around Harry, he just made you feel a certain swarm of butterflies entering your stomach.

“I’m not as tired as I thought, and I wanna end tonight with some sweets. So, would you like to come with me to get some dessert? Again, you could say no.”

Harry smiled. “I’d love to,” he replied with no second thought.

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course. Plus, we could finally talk properly. Hate always walking away from our unfinished conversations.” He breathed out a chuckle, running his clad ring hand through his curls.

“Great! Oh, uh, do you mind if we take your car? I took an Uber here, but I’ll compensate with buying you cookies and paying for your gas,” you suggested, keeping your excitement at bay.

“No worries, c’mon. But I might take you up on the cookie offer.” He smiled, opening your door for you, which never failed to make you swoon.

As he started the car, warming up the engine and turning the heater on, you two debated on where to go. You suggested going to Insomnia Cookies in Santa Monica, which was a twenty minute drive from Downtown LA, and it closed at two In the morning, but only if he was down to drive the opposite direction of where you two lived. And luckily, he didn’t mind the drive because he was always down for a late night drive and adventure, especially if it was with you.

The car speakers played Frank Ocean, he merged on the 101, tapping his fingers along with the beat against the steering wheel. You subtly studied him as he drove, just as you did when you would glance at him across the restaurant. He always mindlessly curled his pink lips into his mouth, a habit that he, assumingly, had for years. You noticed how he would always play with his rings; his thumb would reach over to his other fingers to play with the heavy, metal rings; not helping that your mind would instantly go to what else his hands could do, especially to you, to your body, but you had to immediately snap yourself out of your thoughts to prevent them from going any further. Not to mention, the way his eyes always lit up; they had a natural gleam to them, making them incredibly irresistible to not look in his green eyes.

He was captivating in all the right ways, and you felt yourself falling for him quite quickly, making that fear inside of you light up, inflaming your body with anxiousness.

Your thoughts soon vanished when Harry pulled into a parking space in front of your destination, and he turned off the car. He turned to look at you, giving you a small smile before getting out. You decided to buy Harry anything he’d like, which he got the same six pack of cookies as you.

Harry suggested eating in his car, which you agreed. Although the cold in SoCal wasn’t the same coldness as it was in NorCal, you didn’t want to stand around and freeze. The two of you make light conversation, talking about social media and enjoying the warmth of the fresh baked cookies. You then realized that you hadn’t followed him on Instagram, so you asked for his username, which was just his first and last name.

“Your pictures are amazing,” you complimented.

“Stalking me already?” He teased. A smirk on his face present, making you roll your eyes as you didn’t know if you wanted to slap or kiss the smirk off—always wanting to go for the latter. “But thank you. I, uh, I actually took those myself.” Your eyes brightened. The photographs posted on his Instagram were mostly portraits of beautiful people, some of them were landscapes of a field or the mountains, but most of them were portraits. You knew very little about photography, thanks to the ‘Beginning of Photography 1’ class that you took in college, but you could see the depth of the picture and the way they’re taken; the emotion was clearly there, making you feel intensity through the picture.

“Wow, you’re really talented, Harry.”

He blushed, looking down at his lap for a moment before looking back up at you again. “Thank you so much. I’m a freelance photographer.”

“Do you plan on leaving Spring to focus solely on photography?” You asked curiously. He softly smiled; he could hear the genuine tone in your voice, and he really appreciated that.

“I’m not sure. I’ll have an appointment, maybe, three or four times a month? But the restaurant brings in more money, especially the tips,” he explained.

You nodded. “Well, for what it’s worth, you’re extremely talented, and one day, you’ll be at the place you want to be. Everything will work out.” Harry smiled in appreciation of your words, not saying anything else.

Taking another bite of his cookie, he changed the subject. “So, do you miss any of your friends in SF?”

You raised your brows, not expecting that question, but you answered honestly. “To tell you the truth, I really don’t. A month before moving here,” you began to open up vulnerably; you hadn’t spoken to anyone about this. “I got out of a long relationship—quite toxic, honestly,” you said, looking at him. He had this look on his face that was so comforting, not a word coming out of his mouth, asking for details; it didn’t tell you that he was nosy or pressing you to tell him more. It simply told you that he was there to listen, whenever you were ready to tell him, and you really appreciated that.

You hadn’t realized how hard it was talking about your past relationship because it had been all bottled up until now. A deep breath came out of your mouth, and Harry immediately realized that it must’ve been a hard subject to speak about. Unexpected to you, he reached over to grab your hand, holding it gently as his thumb caressed your skin. He hoped he masked his nervousness well, making the smallest physical touch with you when, really, his pulse was hammering against his veins, heart pounding through his chest as his breathing began to feel erratic, but outside he remained cool, calm, and collected as if the touch didn’t drive him insane.

You tried not letting Harry’s thumb, caressing the back of your hand, affect your ability to speak a coherent sentence, so you continued. “Uh, my ex was cheating on me with someone in our friend group. He told me not to worry about her, but you know how that goes when you hear that phrase. It was with a girl that I used to date—my first relationship, actually. The worst part of it was when I found out, I took him back when he promised he wouldn’t do it again and claimed that he loved me, and then I took him back again, and again and again.”

Harry inhaled deeply, trying to not let the hand holding yours squeeze tightly so the blood circulation cuts off because he felt angry. He was so mad because how could anyone do that to you? Sweet, kind, and lovely you?

“When I told him I couldn’t handle it anymore—all the lies, cheating, and betrayal—I broke up with him. Our friend group turned against me, completely ignored me. Now that I think about it, I noticed they started to be cold and rude towards me once they started sneaking around, and I have no clue why because I didn’t do anything to them. Guess they were just covering up for them because everyone knew except me, and I just felt so stupid because I was so clueless to think he ever loved me to forgive him so many times.”

You started to sniffle as the bad memories that you lived through for the few months of the betrayal started to come up again. You were doing a good job not thinking about it when you started working at the restaurant, and you didn’t plan on telling Harry tonight, but you trusted him to let go of all the agony that you bottled up inside your mind.

“Hey, come here,” he said, opening his arms up. You gladly rested your head against his shoulders, wishing the middle console wasn’t there so you could press your body against his. He hands rubbed your back just as it did when you first hugged him, and to say that you hadn’t been craving for his touch was a complete lie. “You’re not stupid whatsoever. I understand why you did what you did, but that doesn’t make you stupid. It makes them stupid for betraying your trust and forgiveness over and over again. You’re not in the wrong here nor was it your fault, love.”

You nodded against his shoulder, and you felt him place the side of his face against the top of your head, cuddling up to you, which immediately put a smile on your face. Harry’s comfort had immediately made you feel better—it made you feel safe. You hadn’t felt so comfortable in someone else’s arms in a very long time, and considering that you’ve only known him for a month, you’d say it’s quite unbelievable how comfortable you are in his hold, especially opening up to him like you did.

Pulling back from his hold, you looked up at him, giving him a smile. The weight on your shoulders suddenly felt lighter once you opened the bottle and poured out the contents in it. Talking to Harry was refreshing, a fresh breath of air, and you inhaled the crisp oxygen gratefully, knowing that being vulnerable and opening up had changed your friendship.

It was Sunday evening, and you were cleaning up to prepare for closing. It had been a long day, even though you only worked for four hours; it just seemed that you were running around more than usual.

But you were glad that the day was over, and you could take a long nice shower to end your night. Throughout cleaning, your coworkers had said goodbye, leaving through the back door, which you found odd because everyone usually heads out at the same time, but you didn’t think too much of it.

Once you were done in the dining room, you looked around, finding the restaurant completely empty, but everything seemed to be in order, so you headed over to the locker room.

When you rounded around the counter top and into the kitchen, Harry jumped up from his crouched position, startling you as you took a step back, gasping with your hand over your heart.

“Holy shit, you scared me,” you said breathlessly.

Harry chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, I thought you still knew I was here.”

“I thought I was completely alone, and hiding behind the counter doesn’t help.” You and Harry laughed. You hadn’t noticed the two plates of food and wine glasses that were filled with sparkling soda sitting next to him on the stainless steel counter, and you wondered for a moment if that was for you and him. “What’s that for?”

“For us, if you’d like. I made it quickly once everything was slow and we were starting to close,” he said shyly, rubbing his tattooed forearm.

Your brows raised, eyes widening slightly. “You made this? For us?”

“Yeah. Today marks one month being here, so I decided to make dinner to celebrate.” You were quite speechless at the thought; it was so incredibly sweet and thoughtful that Harry went through that trouble of making a meal to celebrate a somewhat significant date. Tears started to well up in your eyes, making the man in front of you blurry. “Oh, wait, no. Please don’t cry. You could definitely take this to-go, if you want! I know you’re probably tired, but-”

Harry was cut off by your arms wrapping around his shoulders. He was taken back at first from the impact of your body crashing against his, but once he regained his balance, he immediately wrapped his arms around your waist, holding you tightly.

Your scent was impeccable—quite alluring for running around for a few hours. He knew he smelled like food, the smoke from garlic and onions sautéing, and vegetables cooking. He buried his head into your shoulder, holding you close. This had been the first time you two were ever hugging outside of the comfort and safety of his car—no middle console to interfere, no awkwardness in trying to figure out how to give a proper hug in a confined space. He enjoyed it a lot—the way your body was pressed up against his. It made him happy, it made him feel safe.

The intimate moment lasted for a few minutes, simply just hugging one another in relief in the kitchen, swaying slightly as complete silence surrounded the two of you.

Once you were satisfied (although you think you would never be satisfied enough if you’re not in his arms), you pulled away, coming face-to-face with him. Your cheeks were slightly damped from the few tears that had fallen out, but weirdly, it gave you a natural and happy glow, and you were feeling exactly that.

“Harry, thank you so much. This is the sweetest and most thoughtful thing someone has ever done for me.” You looked up at him through your wet lashes, warmly smiling at him.

“You’re welcome. Shall we eat?” You nodded, and he unwrapped his arms from around your waist, letting you go, which he wished he hadn’t. He grabbed the two heavy plates that were filled with honey garlic chicken with sautéed spinach and mushroom on a bed of rice, and you grabbed the glasses, reaching over to place them onto the countertop before the two of you walked around to sit on the high stools.

The two of you ate in comfortable silence, and you thanked and complimented him for the lovely meal. There was light conversation, asking questions about each other’s childhood. Listening to Harry talk about his life in England was so fascinating to you, and you wished that you had grown up with him because he seemed like such a fun and kind kid to play with. You learned that his sister and mom were back home in London, and they visited every six months, and he would occasionally go back home as well, if the bills weren’t stacking up and he was good with money. His words and mind seemed to get the best of him, slipping out about how much they would love you and that he’ll invite you to lunch whenever they visit to meet them; and he hoped he didn’t freak you out. You simply blushed, nodding your head, and not saying anything else.

The more you talked to him, the more you found yourself staring at him as you listened to what he had to say. You’d come to terms a few weeks ago that you really liked his eyes—how green they were, and how they stare into you, giving you his full attention. You liked his hands, his hair, his nose, his cheeks, and most of all, you liked his lips. You couldn’t blame alcohol for these thoughts because Harry replaced wine with sparkling soda, so these were completely sober thoughts racing your mind. His lips were something you glanced at often, trying not to glare at them too much as he talked as you didn’t want to get caught for admiring them. They were so pink, and he occasionally bit them and curled them into his mouth, making them pinker. You liked when he would take his fingers and pinch his bottom lip, a habit that he seemed to form throughout his life. You suddenly wanted to kiss him—really, really bad.

You shook off the thought immediately, being completely sidetracked with your infatuation with Harry. Was it an infatuation? No, you knew the feelings you felt for him felt much stronger than a simple admiration for your coworker.

Once the talking had died down and the plates were empty, you and Harry decided to clean up. You quickly took both of your plates, beating Harry to the sink to wash the dishes. He chuckled as he watched you fast walk towards the sink; he soon followed with the glasses, placing them carefully into the sink. He decided to dry the dishes, finding the dish rag on your right side. So, he leaned over, placing his left hand on your waist, chest slightly pressed against your back as he grabbed the rag. You turned your head to the right, dropping your shoulder to turn more of your body towards him. He was close and it made you feel flushed; you felt your cheeks heating up once he looked down at you, faces inches away from each other.

You turned back around, quickly placing the last dish on the counter before you turned off the water. Harry was still close in proximity, not making any effort to move away from you. Turning around, your back was now pressed up against the edge of the sink. Harry rested his hands against the edge, trapping you with his arms. Your breath began to deepen, heart beating quite harshly against your chest as Harry looked into your eyes, briefly glancing at your lips, and slowly trailing them back up into your eyes. He brought one hand to graze the side of your face gently, skin prickling with goosebumps.

“You’re so beautiful,” he complimented honestly.

“Thank you, you are too.”

“I mean it. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met. Listen, I-I really like you, and we haven’t known each other for long but I just…can’t get enough of you,” You smiled, averting your eyes to his lips before looking back up; your cheeks and neck felt incredibly warm from his confession. Bodily, you placed your hands on his waist, pulling him towards you to close the gap between you two; Harry smirked at your action, liking the way your bodies were pressed up against each other.

“Are you gonna do anything about it?” You raised your brows curiously.

“What would you like me to do?” His hands were rubbing up and down your back soothingly.

“Hmm…a few things actually,” you muttered—more to yourself but Harry definitely heard from how close you two physically were. Your fingertips were mindlessly drawing circles on his lower back where his slightly wrinkled white shirt was tucked into his black jeans.

“Care to share?”

You took a deep breath, looking him in the eyes that captivated you quite clearly. “Want you to kiss me.”

The corner of his lip turned up as he curled his lips into his mouth. “Can I please? Been wanting to for so long.”

“Tell me.” Harry raised his brows. “Tell me how long you’ve been wanting to kiss me.”

He curled his lips into his mouth, looking down at your soft lips before back up at your eyes. “Ever since I saw you for the first time. So, please let me kiss you. Do you want me to?”

Harry quite literally took your breath away, breath stuck in your throat before you cleared it. Nodding your head quite eagerly, you softly said, “Yeah, want you to.”

With that, he trailed his hands from your waist, up your spine, to your shoulders, and up to your face where he placed his hands on both sides, gently holding your face delicately as if it were a piece of art that was crafted for months, years; he didn’t want to drop or break the precious masterpiece that he cradled with his hands.

His thumb caressed your soft cheek, giving your lips one last look before he leaned in and connected your lips with his. You sighed deeply once you felt his soft lips touch yours, and your shoulder visibly relaxed, letting go of everyone that may have held you back.

You wrapped your arms tightly around his neck, pulling him in closer. A spark ran through your body as your lips molded together so perfectly in sync, making the firework inside of you pop into a beautiful and magical scene.

Whimpering against his mouth, you suddenly wanted more of him; he was, in all ways, addicting. You unconsciously lifted your right leg, bringing it up to his hip, making Harry press himself against your core, holding your thigh. He started to feel himself harden inside of his pants from the way you’re kissing him, the way your hands gripped his hair, and the way your tongue effortlessly swiveled against his.

You pulled away from his lips quite breathlessly, lips swollen. “Want you.”

“Me too—want you so bad.” He leaned forward to kiss you again, and once he did, you pulled away, only leaving him with a small kiss to his lips. Harry pouted, making you chuckle.

“That was the best kiss I’ve ever had,” you confessed.

Harry smirked. “Well, I’ll be glad to do it again.”

“Wanna get out of here? C-Can we go to yours?” You asked shyly.

“Yeah?” You nodded. “You sure?”

“Absolutely positive.”

Harry gave you a smile and another kiss before he backed away, grabbing your hand to lead you to the locker room where the two of you grabbed your belongings from your lockers. Quickly after, you two were out the door of Spring; Harry locked up, and walked you two over to his car where he, yet again, opened the passenger door for you.

The entire ten minute drive to his apartment, his hand never left yours. It delicately sat on your thigh with your hand on top of his, palm against the back of his hand as your fingers intertwined with his. Harry found it difficult to drive properly because all he ever wanted to do was either kiss you or look at you, and since it was just a bit after midnight, he hit all the green lights, so there was continuous driving and less kissing and looking. But that just made it quicker for him to get to his place.

His apartment was on the second floor, which didn’t take long to get to, but catching up to Harry’s long strides as he practically dragged you up the stairs—no patience to wait for the elevator—was tiring you out.

Once his front door closed, he immediately pushed you up against it, cradling your face in his hands as he kissed you feverishly. You practically could feel him smiling into the kiss, happy to have his lips on yours, and it completely tied your stomach into knots as the familiar flutter you felt in your chest made itself present.

You’d come to realize, in the kitchen, that kissing Harry was everything you ever imagined. His soft lips molding and connecting with yours so perfectly made all of your dreams and realities come true. He just had a way with how he worked his lips as well as where to put his hands. But you were eager to find out what else he could do.

Harry was the one to pull away first, which he even surprised himself with, but he led you to his bedroom, which you were too excited about. He closed his bedroom door, taking your lips in with his again, backing you up against his bed as he gently placed you on top of it, hovering over you.

His lips trailed to your cheek, your jaw, and down to your neck where he lightly nibbled and sucked on your soft skin. You felt him lick your skin, soothing out the small love bite that he left on your skin before he pulled his head from your neck.

“You sure you want to do this? I’d be happy just kissing you.”

You smiled. “I’m sure, wanna touch you. You’re sure too?” You asked consent from him as well, making his cock twitch in his pants.

“Very sure, love. You have no idea.” He sat on his knees as you laid below him, and he’s sure he’s never seen someone look so beautiful as you do; he was completely enthralled by your beauty. “Can I take this off?” He referred to your shirt, playing with the buttons on the front. You nodded, biting your lip.

He leaned his weight on one side of you, placing one arm behind your head as you rested against it. He took your mouth in with his as his other hand began unbuttoning your white shirt, impressively with one hand. Once he got to the bottom, he sat up again, as did you to take off your shirt and your sports bra. You didn’t wear anything sexy to work because you wanted to be comfortable while waiting tables.

Harry looked at your bare torso, licking his lips before he wrapped his lips around your nipple, sucking and licking the pebbled bud before switching to the other. His lips then placed small kisses down your body and to the hem of your pants, where he looked up to see you flushed from just his kisses.

“Harry…” you whined.

“What is it, beautiful?” He smirked.

“Please, take it off.”

“I’m getting there, love, don’t worry.” A breathy chuckle came out of his mouth before he unbuttoned your trousers. Your hips raised off the bed, and he swiftly took them off, leaving you in your nude seamless underwear. “Fuck, you’re so stunning, Y/N, I swear.” You looked at him and smiled; you were clearly at loss for words because of how Harry was looking at you. He wasn’t looking at you with complete admiration, like he was so lost in his daze of his sight. And that thought made you even more aroused.

He gave you another kiss to your stomach before taking off your underwear, situating himself in between your legs, lying on his stomach. Harry looked up once more to find you staring at him, eager to watch what he’s about to do; he placed a kiss to your inner thighs, gently nibbling on your flesh, making you squirm.

“Harry, please. Need to feel you,” you pleaded, brows crinkling.

“Tell me what you need,” he teased, earning an impatient scoff from you, but Harry chuckled at your frustration.

“Need your mouth on me. Please, want you to eat me out already.”

Now, who was he to deny that request? So, that’s what he did—he slowly licked your clit multiple times before licking into your hole, collecting your arousal on his tongue. He used your wetness to lubricate your clit, completely assaulting your sensitive bud. Your back arched as the sensations ran through your body, hands gripping the sheets below you tightly that they practically wrinkled. Harry moaned against your clit, making you buck your hips into his face.

“Fuck, Harry…” you dragged out, throwing your head back into the pillows.

For a few minutes, Harry continued devouring your taste, not stopping until you came all over his mouth and you were completely shocked by his will to not stop until you’ve had your orgasm from his tongue.

He replaced his tongue with his fingers, slowly entering your wet hole as he fingered you. You moaned louder; the tips of his fingers curling up to meet the softness of your upper walls. His unoccupied thumb rubbed your clit in slow circles, something that he noticed you really liked based on your hips thrusting upwards and your hand gripping his hair harder that it felt like you were going to rip out his locks.

“So pretty, love. So wet for me.” The simplicity of his words had made you feel the familiar bubble in your lower stomach, and you wanted to release it so bad.

“Harry, I’m gonna…cum,” you groaned out, biting your lips.

He continued his pace on your clit, but added a tad bit more pressure, causing you to jolt a little. His fingers that were inside of you repeatedly brushed your g-spot, making you close your legs, but Harry pried them open, encouraging you to release.

“C’mon, baby. Want you—need you to cum for me. Can you do that? Can you give me what I want?”

“Mhm,” you nodded, mouth ajar as your voice was hitched in your throat. A few more thrust and rubs from his fingers, and you hit your high, releasing around his long fingers as he slowed his movements, riding out your orgasm while praising you for your peak.

“That’s it. There you go.” One of his hands rubbed your stomach, calming you down while the other hand gently played and cupped your pussy as you unconsciously and slightly thrusted your hips into his hand.

Once you had relaxed, you opened your eyes; Harry was kissing up your body before he kissed your lips so sweetly.

“Hmm, you’re so good at that.” He smiled, kissing your neck as he started to rut his hips on your thigh. You felt his hard on through his pants, and you knew that wasn’t comfortable whatsoever.

“Can I touch you?” You asked. He pulled his head from your neck, facing you as he was about to say it was completely fine if you didn’t, but you spoke up first. “That can’t be comfortable, and I wanna touch you—if you’d let me.” You were looking at him with innocent eyes, even though he knew what you were about to do was going against anything innocent. Plus, the way you were looking at him only made him more aroused.

“Course, let me just get out of these.” He got off the bed, but stayed closed; he was about to unbutton his shirt, but you stopped him quickly, replacing his hands with yours. Harry dropped his arms to his side once your lips were attached to his neck, giving him a small hickey on the underside of his jaw. The feel of just your lips on his skin made him bite his lips as a chill ran through him. You sat on your knees and started unbuttoning his white shirt, and with every button you undid, you gave him a kiss to every bit of his skin that was left exposed until you reached the hem of his pants.

You looked up at him on all fours, and he watched you press another kiss to his tattooed torso. “Mind if I take these off?” You toyed with the hem of his pants.

“No, please, don’t mind at all.” You smiled, looking back at his bulge, which outlined through the fabric of his pants. You palmed him, making him hiss through his teeth. He hadn’t felt another person’s touch in so long, so your lips and touch felt overwhelming in the best way.

You unbuttoned his pants, which he was fast to get out of, leaving him in his black briefs. You positioned yourself to lay flat on your stomach, thankful that Harry’s bed was the perfect height to where you don’t have to strain your neck to suck on him. Kissing down his happy trail, you left a prominent love bite in between his tattooed leaves that were so perfectly inked on his lower abdomen. You then kissed his hard length through his briefs, making Harry breathe heavily. He’s never felt so teased in his life, but you were making it all worth it because nobody had ever made him feel so aroused.

Finally, your fingers gripped the hem of his briefs and tugged them down so his cock could departure from the strained material. He was big, and you knew that from when he was driving to his place earlier as his cock was pushing against his pants, making you excited and eager. But seeing it right in front of you made you salivate.

“Holy shit, you’re so big.” All he did was smirk at your words, knowing that fact quite clearly. You grabbed a hold of him as you held his dick upwards before you licked the underside from base to tip. Harry breathed in through his nose once he felt the smallest bit of contact from your mouth.

Your mouth began to work on his tip, sucking and licking up the precum that had spilled out of his tip before you started to take more and more of him in your mouth. It was Harry’s turn to fill the room with his raspy and deep moan, and the noise he was making was triggering your arousal. Harry had a full view of your mouth on him as well as a great view of your entire backside, not missing the way he noticed how you started to subtly move your hips into the sheets.

As you sucked on him, taking him further into your mouth, Harry dragged his fingers from your shoulders, down your spine, and to your ass that was out in the open with no shame whatsoever. His hands kneaded your flesh before slapping on cheek, which made you moan around him.

“Like that?” He went back to his standing position, leaning back a tad bit to get a good look at you. “Tell me, do you like that?” You looked up at him, making direct eye contact with him as your cheeks hollowed and you sucked hard around him before letting out a ‘mhm.’ Your mouth was working wonders on him while your hand was fondling and playing with his balls, making him throw his head back and accidentally bucking his hips up into your mouth, hitting the back of your throat. “Fuck, sorry, baby.” He moved your hair to check up on you, but all you did was place your hands on his ass and pulled him towards you until your nose touched his pubic bone. Harry let out a throaty moan, and your hands pushed and pulled his lower body until he understood what you were doing.

So, he took control, holding your head steady before he slowly started to thrust into your mouth; the tip of his cock brushed against the back of your throat. There was a string of spit that was dangling from your mouth and connecting to his balls—a sight so filthy but helped him get right on the edge.

“I’m gonna cum. Love your mouth so much. So beautiful for me, so perfect.” Harry’s hips began to jerk sloppily, indicating that he was close. With just a few more thrusts into your perfect mouth, he spilled down your throat as he stopped thrusting, keeping you halfway on him. A series of curses and your name came from his lips as he shut his eyes. You took every drop that he offered, trying to swallow every bit of content as best as you could, but some of it had spilled out of your mouth due to how much he overfilled your mouth with his cum.

Harry seemed to be in the middle of calming down from his intense orgasm, so you took the time to clean up. Pulling back, you wiped your mouth and licked your fingers as well as cleaning his cock with your mouth. What you didn’t notice was that Harry was watching you the entire time; he lowered his head, neck straining from looking up too much, and saw you eagerly cleaning and licking every last drop that had fallen from your pretty lips. The sight was enough to make him hard again if he wasn’t too spent.

He collapsed on his bed next to you, his head was next to your ass, to which he pressed a small kiss to your hip in gratitude. You moved to lay your head on his stomach, looking at him and giving him a small smile.

“Come here. What are you looking at me like that for?” He reached out for you, and you moved again, resting your elbow next to his head before giving him a kiss. The kiss didn’t deepen any further, just molding your lips with one another as he tasted himself on your tongue.

“Nothing. You seemed to have enjoyed yourself.”

“Very much did, thank you. Did you? You could be honest with me.”

You giggled. “Honestly…I had a really great time. You made me feel really good. The best I’ve felt in a really long time,” you told him honestly, and Harry smiled at that.

“Do you want to stay the night? I’m always in a cuddly mood after anything sexual—well, I’m always in a cuddly mood, period.” You laughed, nodding your head before kissing his cheek.

“I’d love to. Can I use your restroom, and do you have a spare toothbrush?”

Harry nodded, getting off the bed before leading you to his bathroom where he gave you a toothbrush and some of his face wash. He left you to do your business and told you that he would have a change of clothes.

Once you were done, you walked out of his bathroom, still naked, and was met with Harry in a pair of gray briefs and a change of his clothes in his hands, handing them to you. He gave you a kiss to your forehead before going off to the bathroom and leaving you to change.

You replayed the evening in your mind over and over again as you changed—you really enjoyed his company and him as a person. Harry was a more than nice guy, who seemed to like you for whatever reason, and you liked him too. Maybe a bit too much, and you felt like you liked him more than you projected—dare, you say that you were falling in love. But you couldn’t let yourself feel that way; you were beating yourself up for it. In all honesty, you were scared, so you had a habit of not portraying the entirety of your feelings out on the table so people could perceive it.

Your mind was racing with so many thoughts in your head, repeating and spitting out every insecurity that your previous ‘friends’ had told you in the past—calling you a slut and how you couldn’t keep anyone around because they both ended up cheating on you. Your head was telling you Harry would do the same, and as hard as you were trying to deny that because Harry was the kindest person you’ve ever met, it was all you could hear. You couldn’t do this, no, you couldn’t feel like this, you thought. You felt like you needed to protect yourself before you were in too deep.

Without even knowing, you were frantically grabbing your clothes and shoes that were all thrown across Harry’s floor. Your heart was racing, mind telling you to ‘leave’ and that ‘nobody is going to love you,’ so that’s what you were doing, leaving.

You made it out of his bedroom, so close to the front door until you realized you had forgotten your purse. Turning around to go back, you were met with Harry leaning against the frame of the hallway entry, holding your purse in his hands.

“Not planning on saying goodbye?” His voice sounded defeated, the complete opposite as to what it was prior. He looked down at his feet, not even able to make eye contact with you when he was always keen on making direct eye contact when talking to someone, but seeing you walk out his bedroom door when you were supposed to be waiting for him in his bed to cuddle was heartbreaking.

“Harry…”

“That’s all it was to you, I’m guessing? You know you could’ve said no to staying the night, I would’ve understood. But to say yes after we’ve been intimate, and getting my hopes up? I-I thought you liked me, that’s all, and I’m stupid for falling for it,” he ended with a scoff. He felt extremely vulnerable; he laid his feelings out on the table, let you see his body, and it seemed like you just picked and chose your cards straight from the deck to only have Harry fold.

“No, that’s not it-”

“Then please tell me what it is before I drive myself into the wall thinking what I’ve done wrong!” He raised his voice—not too loud where it startled you, but enough to where he simply let out his frustrations.

“I like you, Harry, I do. But we can’t be together.” You didn’t know how to put it into words, so that was the best you could come up with.

“And why’s that?” He furrowed his brows, walking towards you, but keeping a safe distance. “Give me a good reason why, and I’ll let you go—I’ll leave you alone. We’ll simply be coworkers who don’t talk to each other. I’ll-”

“I’m scared, okay! I’m scared because I cannot fall in love with you, even though I’m already in too deep. I’ve done it once and i-it hurt me.” You were on the verge of bawling, maintaining your emotions. “I-I cannot feel this way so soon—fresh out of a relationship…I’ve only known you for, what? A month? We barely even know each other, Harry-”

“See, now, that’s where you’re wrong. You think I don’t know you, but I bet that you know I know you quite well. Probably more than all of your bitchy friends back home who you’ve known for years.” You stayed silent, not knowing how to respond, but he was right, he did know you better than anyone you knew back in SF. “If I didn’t know you then I wouldn’t know that your favorite thing to eat while you were growing up was chocolate croissants. Your favorite color often switches every few days, but some of them are, and specifically: maroon, evergreen, mustard yellow, burnt orange, and beige. You love watching kids cooking competitions in your free time and often root for the one who is doing miserably and knows who won’t make it to the next round. You’re learning how to bake, which is what you said that you’ve always wanted to learn out to make proper pastries, and based on what you bring to work for us to try, you’re on the right path to being a baker.”

“I’m…” you were at a loss for words, tears lining your eyes. All of the questions and playful conversation you and Harry had during work had come around in his words; it showed that Harry really listened, and when he did, he didn’t forget every detail you’ve told him. Your heart felt like it was in your stomach, making your stomach flutter in giddiness and shock.

“I could go on, honestly, but it would be an entire list of things that I’ve remembered about you.” Harry softly smiled down at his feet. “All I’m saying is this: I like to think I know the basics of you, and I still have a lot to learn about you. But don’t run away from me, please. If you want to and you don’t want anything to do with me, that’s fine, but I can’t let you walk out without trying not to stop you.” He sighed, completely putting himself out there as he was practically begging you to stay. “I really like you, Y/N, I mean it. I don’t care if we’ve only known each other for a month. I don’t care that you just got out of a relationship. I mean if you’re still in love with him or have a bit of interest in him still, then that’s different-”

“I don’t,” you interrupted, shaking your head no. It was the truth; you hadn’t felt love for your ex in a really long time, and you simply stayed with him and kept forgiving him just because it was comfortable.

“Okay…”

“It’s just…I don’t want people to think I’m some kind of person who moves on from relationships so quickly. I-I mean, I didn’t come here just to find myself in another relationship, y’know?” Your tone was concerning, like all of your worries were piling up into one big stack that made your head hurt from thinking too much.

“No one’s gonna think that—I don’t think that. Besides, it isn’t any of their business.” Harry walked even closer to you, inches away as his hands grazed your upper arms. “Let me ask you something, does this feel right? Being with me?” You nodded with no hesitation. “Say it,” he instructed, wanting to hear the words come out of your mouth.

“This feels right.”

Harry smiled at you comfortingly. “Okay, then let it be right.”

“I’m scared,” you admitted, looking down. He lifted your chin up with the soft touch of his fingertips, goosebumps littered your skin with just his simple touch.

“Me too, but I’m doing surprisingly well at hiding it. We’ll go slow, okay? No pressure into labeling; let’s just go with the flow, alright?” He suggested, and you softly muttered an ‘okay,’ reaching up to wrap your arms around his shoulders, giving him a warm and grateful hug.

“I’m so sorry-” you said into his shoulder, but he quickly cut you off.

“No need to be sorry, I understand.” His understanding makes you even more soft as you hugged him tighter; a few tears slipped your eyes, streaming down Harry’s shoulder.

After a moment, the two of you pulled away, feeling so much relief from the hug and conversation.

“Is your offer on staying the night still up?” You asked hesitantly.

He smiled. “Yeah, it always is. C’mon.” He took you by the hand, leading you to his room and into his bed—not for the actions of pleasure, but for a nice and comforting cuddle.

You situated yourself on his chest, comfortably trailing your fingers up and down his skin as his arm was wrapped around your shoulder.

Lifting your head up to meet his face, he smiled at you before you gave him a sweet kiss to his lips. It didn’t lead to anything, it didn’t even deepen; just the feel of his soft, pink lips on yours was enough to make you feel bliss.

You pulled away. “Slow?” Harry chuckled, nodding his head.

“Slow.”

Your face warmed up as you smiled, cheeks aching; you positioned yourself back onto his chest for the night, taking up all of his space on the bed when your side was completely empty as you held him close. Even though you’ve only known him for a month, you felt yourself falling; because ultimately, it felt right.

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