#Sam has an only fans and wears a cheerleading outfit

[love-geeky-fangirl]

Ranking every Teen Drama I have ever watched

(Updated)

The Secret Life of the American Teenager

+ young Shailene Woodley and Molly Ringwald I guess

- everything else. Even Shailene Woodley's and Molly Ringwald's performances weren't that great because the writing is just oh so bad. The background music is bland and repetative and it sounds like out of some teenager's YouTube chanel. The plotlines are ridiculous and convoluted, which isn't neccessarily such a bad thing, because it is a teen drama show after all, the problem is the show seems to take itself too seriously. Other entries on this list also have ridiculously convoluted plotlines, but I'm ranking them highed because they don't take themselves too seriously and don't claim to be realistic like this show does. Seriously, from the title it suggests like this was going to be a real, uncensored look into high school but it's the furthest thing from it. Not to mention how problematic it is- God forbid someone suggests that a 14-year-old pregnant girl gets an abortion or gives the baby up for adoption without being seen as a terrible and despicable person.

Otp: Marc Molina x a job somewhere far, far away from these kids

Notps: every single pairing on this show

Best moment: literally none

Weirdest moment: "I'm such a whore!" "Well, you're my whore." What were the writers thinking??? Was this supposed to be romantic??

We Children From Zoo Station

+the aesthetic, the casting of Christiane, Detlef and Axel

-this was such a letdown. Honestly I was so hyped for it after seeing the trailer since I've read the book and didn't particularly like the movie- I feel like it's hard to fit all of Christiane's story into 90 minutes. That's why I was so excited about this show. Christiane's story covers so much, so it's easier to make it into a TV show when you don't want to ommit anything and butcher the story. But they somehow managed to do it anyway. They changed so much for no reason and completely erased Christiane's childhood trauma, which was important in the book. Now, I know you can say that it's just a loose adaptation, so it doesn't have to follow the book word for word. But I feel like if you already decided to tell her- a real person's story- you should at least do it authentically. Imo they shouldn't have tried to make the setting vague. It worked with Sex Education because the story of Sex Education is timeless. However, Christiane's story is not timeless. It's a true story set in the 1970s. If they were making a new show from scratch, I would have liked it. But this is an already existing story and they’re supposed to be just retelling it. My last issue is a nit pick but I wish the actresses playing Stella and Babsi were reversed. It just would've fit better.

Otps: all those kids x sobriety

Notp: Christiane x Detlef

Best moment: Christiane's first time in Sound was pretty true to the book

Weirdest moment: when Detlef became a gigolo because he needed money for his dog. Who tf thought of that?

Pretty Little Liars

+ makeup, style, the theme song, the drama and mystery that always kept me guessing, the cliffhangers at the end of each episode that made it so addictive, Emily's coming out story, Hanna and Spencer had some good lines

- the mishandling of some serious issues (namely eating disorders), romantization of student-teacher relationship, the timeline not making much sense, these writers seem to put more thought into the characters' outfits than the storylines

Otps: Emily x Maya, Hanna x Caleb

Notp: Ezria

Best moment: Hanna and Caleb in the shower (the sexual tension was cuttable with a knife)

Weirdest moments: Aria asking Ezra out in the middle of a make-up test (it was supposed to be cute but it was just cringy), Spencer trying to block A's text messages on a laptop, in the middle of a park (what? Spencer, you were supposed to be the smart one!)

One Tree Hill

+ Brooke, the theme song, Chad Michael Murray

- the casual drinking and driving (I mean seriously these kids play a drinking game at a party and then casually hop into a car and drive home??), too much basketball and cheerleading (that's not a bad thing per se but I just don't really care about neither of these things), it just seems too stereotypical and kinda bland?? I couldn't really get into it

Otp: Naley

Notp: Peyton x Nathan

Best moment: Naley by the dock

Weirdest moment: "I guess I'm just a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside a bitch." It's not really a bad moment but a cringy line. I guess the writers though they were being clever but it just sounded bad.

Dawson's Creek

+ the clothes, the 90s aesthetic, the 90s soundtrack, many movie references, Pacey is a sweetheart, Jen is a feminist icon, dealing with mental health issues through Andie (it's rare to see in shows as old as this)

- the slutshaming of Jen really hasn't aged well, the storyline of Pacey being statury raped by his much older teacher was mishandled (it was either treated as scandalous, cool or in Andie’s case somehow shameful), same goes for Jen’s backstory- it was mentioned she was raped at 12 by an older man and then never brought up again, Dawson is the most unlikable protagonist ever and his friendship/relationship with Joey is codependent and possessive, the dialogue is sometimes pretentious and unrealistic, the timeline doesn't really add up- I can never tell what time of the year it's supposed to be, because it looks like it's always fall for some reason. And how did they sophomore year have two homecomings?

Otps: Pacey x Andie, Pacey x Joey (yes, both at the same time)

Notp: Dawson x Joey

Best moments: Jen helping Joey when that jerk was spreading rumours about her and then Jen and Joey locking Abby in the closet together (I love it when they stick together instead of tearing each other down), Pacey and Joey bickering

Weirdest moments: when Joey was upset because Dawson didn’t want to tell her how often he “walks his dog”, when Jen was about to have a treesome at a party and Dawson walked into the room and carried her out despite her kicking and screaming

Glee

+ funny, Sue Sylvester's iconic, great covers and a way to find new songs, the performances are aesthetically pleasing, lgbtq+ representation, tackling of serious issues, coming out story, a father who’s accepting of his son’s sexuality right away despite not really understanding it (it’s so rare to see, that’s why it’s so refreshing), the plotlines are ridiculous but at least the show doesn't take itself too seriously

-as I already said the 1st season was great but after that it just seemed like the writers made up a checklist of hard issues they should tackle and tried to tackle every single one of them while covering every single song and it just fell flat. Prime example- Quinn ending up in a wheelchair getting into a car crash to warn us from drinking and driving, singing I’m Still Standing and then suddenly being able to walk normally after. a few episodes Rachel and Finn got almost all songs, while other characters were criminally underrated and underused (Tina, Quinn, Mercedes). The teachers are questionable to put it mildly. Cringy moments- Finn singing You're Having My Baby to Quinn in front of her parents when it wasn't even his baby! Also no one except of Kurt looks like they could be in high school. And why are these cheerleaders wearing their uniforms 24/7??

Otps: Brittana, Sam x Quinn, Tina x Artie (unpopular opinion, I know), Mr Schue x unemployment

Notp: Quinn x Finn

Best moments: Quinn giving birth to Bohemian Rhapsody

Weirdest moment: Rachel's gross and painfully awkward crush on Mr Schue, Mr Schue joining the Glee club on the stage for a performance of Toxic and girls in the audience cat calling him (Ewww)

Euphoria

+ Zendaya's and Jacob Elordi's performances, tackling of serious issues such as drug addiction and overdose, anxiety and depression, abusive relationships and abortion in a better manner than most (if not all) teen dramas, the aesthetics, makeup and wardrobe, the musical number in the finale, the special episodes giving us insight into the characters' psychology, toxic relationships not being romanticized (which is sadly rare), teenagers sounding like actual real life teens (no "I reject reality" crap)

- lack of comic relief (why so serious all the time), sexualization of teen characters (I know this is something many teen dramas are guilty of but it's the most evident here), too much nudity (I know some of you are going to come at me with: "But it's realistic!" So what? It is realitic that teenagers get naked when they go into shower but does it mean we have to see it?? It seems to me like this show is trying too hard to be "boundary pushing" at times and ends up being scandalous just for the sake of being scandalous), these characters just aren't believable as high school juniors to me (they sound like high schoolers but they certainly don’t act, look or dress that way). There's no reason this show couldn't have been set in college.

Otps: Rue x sobriety, Nate x prison

Notps: Nate x Maddy, Cassie x McKay

Best moments: "You did this to me!" and the musical number in the season 1 finale

Weirdest moment: the fact that Maddy lost her virginity at 14 to a 40-year-old man being mentioned so casually because apparently she was "totally in control". Excuse me what??

Skins

+ style and makeup- each character has a signature trademark (Sid and his beanie, Effy's eyeliner, Cassie's soft eyeshadow), their British accents, I'm pretty sure this is the only teen drama that follows multiple classes, teenage characters being played by actual teen actors, the characters looking like average people you meet in high school and not as if they just walked off the runway, dealing with serious issues such as drug abuse, eating disorder, parental abandonment etc (yes, some people claim the show romanticized it, but I disagree. It's not the show that romanticized it- it's the fans. The show tried to portray the dangers of drugs as well as possible. Think about it- every time characters used drugs it ended in a disaster. In the pilot they thought that Cassie overdosed and ended up crashing a car while rushing into the hospital. In later season Effy hit her friend in the head with a rock because she was having a bad trip. That's not romanticizing drugs.), Effy is iconic and honestly the first episode was enough to get me hooked

- every single teacher being a creep and having a thing for a student at some point, the show can get too dark and unncessarily dramatic at times. Did that many people have to die? Did Chris's death really have to be this graphic? Timeline doesn't really add up- are 8 episodes supposed to cover the whole year? It would've made more sense if there were more episodes in a season.

Otps: Chris x Jal, Emily x Naomi

Notps: Sid x Michelle

Best moment: ooh baby it's a wild world

Weirdest moment: Chris's graphic death

The OC

+ more grounded in reality than many others on this list, the theme song, the love stories, Seth and Summer are funny, the friendships are believable and the whole group has great chemistry

- too many unneccessary fights, Luke is the worst, everyone is way too casual about drunk driving, these parents are WAAAY too chill (I know this can be said about many teen dramas but it's the most obvious here. How did the Roberts and the Coopers let two 16-year-old girls go to Mexico alone?? With no supervision?? What?)

Otps: Seth x Summer, Ryan x Marissa

Notp: Luke x Marissa

Best moments: the “oh no, there’s only one bed” in the Mexico episode, Seth and Summer's first kiss and that kiss at the yacht, Ryan and Marissa's first date by the pool

Weirdest moment: these parents letting their teenage kids go to Mexico alone. It's irresponsible when they're 16 but apparently they let them go there and party every year. What?

Gossip Girl

+ every episode having a clever title, the style, the makeup, the 00s soundtrack, the glamour of it all (it feels like reading a very gossipy magazine!), all the scandals, this show never pretends to portray the realitic teenage experience so it can pretty much be as far-fetched as it wants to and you can’t question it, it gives you a chance to live the fantasy of being super rich, living with a penthouse, riding a limo to school and going to parties in New York City every night

- the final reveal doesn't make any sense, just like with PLL these writers seemed to have put more thought into the outfits and makeup than into the plotlines, romantization of a toxic relationship, having every two straight characters date or hook up at some point, which just felt forced, mishandling of serious issues (Blair's eating disorder, Eric's suicide attempt and Serena and Jenny's sexual assault from the pilot being brought up when it's convenient but not really dealt with and brushed off at other times), sexualization of teen characters

Otps: Dan x Blair, Serena x Nate

Notps: Chuck x Blair

Best moments: the Thanksgiving flashbacks, Blair and Serena running around New York and taking selfies in stolen dresses, Nate and Serena’s first time (although it was better in the books) and then their kiss at the white party, the sheer scandal of "I killed someone", Dan giving Blair a plastic tiara to make her feel like a princess

Weirdest moments: Chuck's father returning from the death and then dying again, by yeeting himself off the roof

Freaks and Geeks

+ probably the most realistic teen drama there is, the characters dress the way I can see actual teens dressing, funny, but also heatbreaking at times, probably the only teen show that included an intersex character, the characters being a little stereotypical but self-aware at least, young James Franco and Jason Segel

- the bullying being a bit too much at times and it's a bit unrealistic that the teachers would do literally nothing about it, too short- I will never understand why this got cancelled

Otps: Daniel x Kim, Lindsay x Nick, Amy x Ken

Notps: Sam x Cindy

Best moments: Sam breaking down at the end of Garage Door, Daniel and Kim getting back together in the rain

Weirdest moment: Cindy doing a 180 and becoming super mean when she started dating Sam.

Gilmore Girls

+ so many movie, literary and music references, the quotable lines (what a great way to learn about new movies, books and bands! It’s so unique for a TV show to make you smarter), the witty banter, the comfort of the first few seasons (it really feels like wrapping a warm blanket around yourself while holding a hot cup of coffee, I can’t explain why, but it’s such a comfort show), the quirky small town with many unique festivals, many entertaining and snappy fights where everyone has a point, characters dealing with real world problems (seriously, how often do you see a storyline about termites? Or a teenager with zit cream on a teen drama show?), this is also one of the few shows where teenagers are shown to have rules and restrictions and curfews (finally some kids growing up with strict parents representation) and doing homework and studying and not just partying and drinking and having sex all the time and that’s so refreshing

- but while it is refreshing to see teenagers waiting to have sex and not doing it behind every corner, the show is kind of sex negative. Every single time a (female) character loses her virginity it ends in a disaster. Even when she loses it after she’s married! It doesn’t make any sense, unless the writers just really hated women. Also slutshaming (”I got the good kid!”) ewww. The money and budget doesn’t make much sense on the show either and the girls seem immune to calories. I know some people might come at me for this with: “But it’s just a show!” but I think it’s harmful to show beautiful, thin women eat nothing but tons of junkfood all the time and never excersize and then fatshame people who do excersize but aren’t fortunate enough to be blessed with amazing Gilmore genes, and then throw around tactless references to eating disorders.

Otps: Lane x Dave, Jess x Rory

Notps: Lane x Zach, Rory x Dean, Lorelai x Christopher

Best moments: Then She Appeared, Rory’s valedictorian speech, Lorelai’s graduation

Weirdest moment: Lorelai and Christopher getting married in Paris at 4am. That’s not how it works in Europe. Do Americans think every single Europian country works like Las Vegas, where you can just get married whenever you decide??

[hazzasgayvodka]

8 * ROCK THE CASBAH * 8

Impact: Chapter 8

Chapter title song: Rock the Casbah - The Clash 

JESS

I wake up incredibly late due to it being Wednesday, my day off from classes. I roll over expecting to see Harry beside me, but his side of the bed is already empty. I look down to see a burgundy blanket draped across me that I definitely didn't place there myself. I shove off the comforter and drag myself out of bed, stopping at his mirror only to grab a small yellow sticky note that wasn't there when I went to bed.

Morning dollface,

I'm working at the shop today, try not to die of boredom without me

I shake my head and stick it back to the mirror, trudging out of his room and into the living room where both Niall and Louis are stood on chairs, hanging up blue and red ribbons.

"What's going on out here?" I ask as I pour myself yet another bowl of cocoa pebbles.

"It's Ryland's birthday and we're throwing him a surprise party." Louis explains, ripping a piece of tape with his teeth.

I look over at Niall to see him looking equally as excited. When I open the fridge to grab the milk I see that it's stocked full of real food rather than the countless boxes of takeout and the occasional apple.

"Actual groceries too?" I tease, "It's a miracle."

"Yeah, Harry went this morning before work." Niall nods, struggling to adequately secure the disco ball to the ceiling fan.

I shake my head just as Sam appears around the corner, already fully dressed with her hair tied up in a bandana.

"Morning sleepyhead," She laughs, "I've never seen you sleep that long in your life."

I shrug, glancing at the clock to see it already reading one o'clock. I finish my bowl of cocoa pebbles and briefly listen to Niall and Louis's recounting of the day's plans before Ryland's birthday party. Apparently, they've put a lot of thought into it.

"Oh, Harry also wanted me to tell you good luck on your job interview." Niall smiles, reading over the list of alcohol they need to buy one last time.

As soon as the words come out of his mouth I can't breathe, that's what today is, that's why I didn't make any plans for my day off, I have an interview with one of the biggest publishing corporations in the country.

"Oh my god! My interview! I totally forgot!" I screech, tossing my bowl into the sink and running back to Harry's room.

I shut the door behind me and start tearing through my suitcase to find my good bra to go under one of the many dresses hanging in Harry's closet. The door opens and I brace myself for one of the boys, holding a shirt over my undressed self.

"It's just me." Sam laughs, shutting the door behind her and collapsing onto Harry's unmade bed.

I huff out a sigh in exasperation as I shuffle through my suitcase, grabbing my black heels and my makeup bag and tossing them onto his bed. I wobbly stand up and shuffle to the closet, flipping through the three dresses I brought, each of them stupidly similar to each other.

"Fuck, I should have brought the red one, it's okay I'll just swing by the dorm and-"

"Jess, calm down," Sam sighs, cutting me off and standing from the bed to grab me by the shoulders, "it doesn't matter what you dress you wear, you're totally going to smash this interview out of the park."

"But what if I don't? What if I just keep working at that shitty flower shop for the rest of my life where Harry has free reign to come in and be his fucking annoying self every goddamn day."

She pulls away from me with wide eyes and a smirk on her lips. I want to shout at her and ask her what the hell is so funny right now when I'm running so late for this interview.

"So, this is about him." She sighs and I finally allow myself to sit back on his bed, "Well it sure seems his potty mouth might be rubbing off on you a bit, Jessy," She laughs, desperately trying to lighten the mood but I stay somber, letting myself fall back into the mattress and rub my eyes with the backs of my hands.

She collapses next to me with a purple flouncy blouse and the black pencil skirt in hand, looking them over before proudly laying them out for me to wear. She turns to me and I just barely peak at her through my hands covering my eyes.

"Oh, come on Jess, who is this girl bumming around because of a stupid boy? He's an idiot sweetheart, I promise, don't waste your time letting him get under your skin, babe." She says profoundly, shaking my shoulders to really get the message across.

I finally pull myself into a sitting position, my head still hung low but feeling better nonetheless. She slings her arm around my shoulder, gesturing to the amazing outfit she's put together and I can't help but finally break into a smile.

"There she is!" She laughs, "You're Jess fucking Lawson! A total fucking babe! Who cares about crazy stupid boys? You have an interview for an internship with one of the biggest names in publishing! You've got it in the bag girl!" She shouts, jostling me about until I'm laughing with her and finally standing from my bed with my head on straight.

"Thanks, Sam." I smile, taking the adorable outfit from her and moving towards the bathroom.

I wish I could just take her with me as I get ready for what could be the first step at any chance of me ever having an amazing job in publishing. I could take on this entire world with Sam beside me being the personal cheerleader she always has been. But sadly, I don't get that luxury, instead I get to take on this world by myself and this interview is the first step.

HARRY

I pull up in front of the big glass building with the overwhelming want to be anywhere else but walking up those stupid steps. As soon as I throw open the door and walk inside, every muscle in my body gets tighter. Just being here puts me on edge. I pass the front desk to clock in and of course the wandering eyes of resident secretary, Tabitha, follow me wherever I go.

"Afternoon, Mr. Styles." She smiles, leaning on her elbow against her desk.

I give her a swift nod, shoving my card back into my slot before walking towards the elevators and hoping there's one there waiting so I don't have to endure small talk with her. Instead of an elevator dinging right away and rescuing me, the voice of none other than Lex echoes across the lobby.

"Harry? Is that you?" He asks, jogging up next to me.

I turn to look at him with rolling eyes as I pull my suit jacket up on my shoulders. He eyes me with surprise, surely shocked that I've come in more than twice this week already.

"You're coming in again?" He asks shockingly.

"You did ask me to make an appearance at least twice a week, so yeah, I'm here." I huff just as the elevator dings and I slip inside quickly hoping he doesn't follow me.

"I know I asked I just didn't think you'd actually...do it." He wonders aloud, of course following me into the empty elevator and causing me to outwardly sigh.

"Well I did, let's not ruin it, alright, Lex?" I say curtly, pressing the button for the tenth floor and hoping this elevator ride moves quickly.

"Lex? No, Uncle Lex, anymore? You too old for that now?" He chuckles, leaning against the wall of the elevator behind him.

"I'm twenty four years old, and we're business partners, do you really want me walking around the office calling you Uncle Lex?" I quip, resisting every urge to roll my eyes.

"Well, no, I guess not." He shrugs, his damn near perfect, fake smile never faltering.

Finally, the elevator comes to a stop and the doors peel open, releasing me from this personal hell where I can lock myself in my office and edit for the next two hours. Lex calls my name once again, something about new employee interviews and how he needs help with them, but I just keep walking. Soon enough I'm standing in my office, looking at my lovely view of the roof of the building next door, cracking a window and lighting a cigarette.

I take a seat in my chair, resting my cigarette in my ash tray and propping my feet up on the desk. The stack of manuscripts staring at me from my file cabinet has me swallowing hard knowing that it's far too many to get through only coming in twice a week. I would just take it home but there's nowhere in my house that she's not. The desk in my room is covered with bottles of makeup and lip gloss; the living room coffee table littered with textbooks and pages upon pages of notes.

By the time I finish my first full manuscript of the day I've smoked through three cigarettes and chewed the ends of two pens to bits. My shoes and suit jacket are strewn to the floor, the top four buttons of my shirt now unbuttoned too. I see the reflection of my face in my computer screen, a disheveled mess of hair and lines between my eyebrows from straining my eyes to read the tiny print due to refusing to ever wear my glasses.

I stand from my desk, shoving my feet back into my shoes and rubbing my eyes with the backs of my hands. Looking out the window I realize how dark it's gotten in just the time I've been here. I reach for the lamp on my desk and flip it on, illuminating my now cave-like office. I need to get out of here for a bit.

I shove open my door and escape my prison, heading towards the break room hoping that no one else is there and I can simply grab a bottle of water in peace. Before I can get there, Lex's voice comes booming from the elevators followed by his famous hyena laugh. But it's not until I hear the voice of the person he's speaking to that I become interested.

As soon as I round the corner I see her, a ruffled blouse and tight black skirt adorning her body. Her hair is pulled up into a bun and there's shiny black heels on her feet. She's standing up impossibly straight as Lex tells her one of his hilarious stories I'm sure and she laughs perfectly on cue every time. I realize I don't want her to see me here and suddenly reality is crashing on me and I'm jumping back around the corner and only peaking around the side to catch a glimpse of her ass in that skirt.

"Who are we spying on?" Audrie's voice behind me asks, causing me to jump about two feet in the air.

I turn around with a murderous glare but she only laughs, leaning around the corner herself to get a glance at whatever I was looking at. She shoves me out of the way, straining to listen to the conversation just as I was.

"Oh, it's a girl, shocker," She says uninterestingly, "can't believe I thought a Styles man would be looking at anything else."

She rolls her eyes easily as she walks away, seemingly disinterested with the exchange now that she's seen just what I was spying on. I grab her arm as she turns away and tug her back to me.

"What is she doing here? What do you know?" I ask in a hushed voice hoping her and Lex can't hear me.

"What? She applied for an entry level position," She shrugs, "why do you care?"

"I um," I start, turning back to glance at her still talking to Lex, "I don't."

"Maybe she'll take over my old job." Audrie laughs.

"What? No, definitely not, not her, I don't even need a fucking assistant." I huff, shoving Audrie out of the way of my viewing area.

"Oh whatever, what would you do without me? I'm the only person that keeps you sane in this office, Harry," She quips, smacking me in the arm, "despite you only being here like maybe once a week."

I shush her immediately, shoving her away and hoping to god, Lex doesn't hear us. She can't work here, I already have a hard enough time keeping my secret job from Louis and Ryland, if she finds out, everything will fall to shit. Before I can lean over to catch another glimpse of her, Audrie is shoving me out into the middle of the hallway, in clear view. I glare at her, pushing her out of my way so I can go back to my office and pretend none of this happened.

"Oh my gosh, hey, Harry, what are you doing here?" She shouts obnoxiously, immediately grabbing Jess and Lex's attention.

As soon as her eyes land on me, she goes stone cold. I can tell that she's already in denial in her head, already unable to believe, like me, that our wires have been crossed again.

"Oh, Harry!" Lex smiles brightly, gesturing for me to walk over and introduce myself, "This is Jess, our new intern. Jess, this is Harry."  

She looks at me with daggers for eyes as she takes my hand in hers and gives it a shake. She's trying to read the situation, asking me a million questions with her eyes. I'm sure she's wondering how I could possibly work here since I'm such a horrible and volatile person.  

"I'm glad you two have met already because I was thinking that Jess could fill Audrie's position as she's moving up to marketing." Lex says, turning my greatest nightmare into a reality.

"Audrie's position?" She asks, still optimistic as she turns to Lex asking what that means.

"Harry's assistant," He explains, "he's the chief editor here and therefore needs just a little bit of help when he's not totally cooped up in his office all day."

Lex cracks up at his previous comment but Jess is stone cold, her perfectly timed laughs now forgotten as she realizes what she actually just signed up for. She turns to me with narrowed eyes and I can already hear her annoyed voice, 'Chief editor? How? I bet you don't know the first thing about editing, Harry.' When I realize that she's just as discouraged as I am by the arrangement, I finally grasp the fact that I have the upper hand.

Jess Lawson as my assistant; having to do whatever I ask no matter how annoying or ludicrous, the constant ability to piss her off and make her snap in all the right ways. Every day a perfect view of her in a tight skirt and heels. Suddenly the idea sounds miraculous.

"Wonderful, I can't wait." I smile, sending her a wink to which she rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

"I'm glad to hear it!" Lex smiles, clearly not recognizing the tension ever-present in the air, "I have a meeting to attend but I will see you tomorrow, Jess. Have a good night."

With that he waves goodbye and turns towards the conference rooms with his manila folder under his arm. Jess leans forward and presses the button for the elevator without daring to look up at me or say a word.

"Jess," I say, grabbing her arm but she rips it from my grasp, "come on, we need to talk."

"I'm sure we can do that later since every aspect of my life seems to revolve around you lately!" She huffs, running a hand through the few small pieces of hair that have fallen from her bun.

I grab her arm and tug her towards me to which she rolls her eyes and mumbles about me not touching her ever again. I drag her to my office and close the door behind us, turning to face her angry eyes.

"You can't tell anyone about this." I say carefully, releasing her from my grip.

She turns her face up at me, folding her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes as she tries to understand.

"I um, no one knows that I work here." I say gingerly, not meeting her eyes.

"Why?" She asks simply but it comes out sounding interrogative.

"Well, I'm not sure how they'd take it, it's not really who I am." I shrug.

"Oh yes, how could I forget? You couldn't possibly ruin your reputation as a tattooed asshole who thinks he's a badass." She huffs, shoving past me to get to the door.

I grab her at the last second and stand between her and the door. She groans, shoving at me and reaching for the door knob but I put my hand over hers to stop her.

"I'm serious Jess, please, this has to stay between us."

Her face relaxes, and her eyes finally meet mine, warm and brown despite her cold demeanor towards me. Her hand releases the door knob and I let out a breath of relief.

"Fine," She breathes, "but if I'm agreeing to this, you're agreeing to some things too."

I nod, shoving my hands in my pockets and awaiting the onslaught of demands sure to come out of her mouth any second.

"You need to be nice," She starts, and I laugh at her stupid introductory, "I'm serious, Harry! To Jace and Miles, you're so rude to both of them."

I nod my head, sealing my fate to be nice to both of those sons of bitches. Jace is just a tank with a temper, I can keep myself in check, but Miles has a lot more riding on his ass. I have hundreds of reasons to kick that kid's ass.

"And I think both of us just need to set aside our differences and chill out. We said we were going to be friends but here we are yelling at each other again." She sighs, her head falling on her shoulders.

"You're right." I breathe, collapsing into my desk chair.

She looks up from the ground to meet my eyes as I prop my feet back up on my desk as I always do. She rolls her eyes and sits in the chair on the other side, doing the same.

"You've really taken to decorating in here." She laughs sarcastically, eyeing the barren walls all around us.

"Yeah, I mean, I only come in a few times a week and all I do is sit here and read books." I shrug, gesturing to my messy desk and open manuscript.

"Well, I guess I should let you get back to it." She shrugs, standing from her chair all too soon.

She waves as she walks back out the door, her hips still looking great as ever in that skirt. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and turn back to my desk, regretfully opening the next manuscript and getting to reading.

JESS

I walk back in the door of Harry's apartment with Sam by my side, both of us shivering as we collapse on the couch and turn on the TV.

"Thanks for picking me up," I smile, "and dropping me off for that matter."

"It's what friends are for." She grins, hugging me for warmth as she grabs blankets for both of us from the recliner.

"Did I hear some girls come in?" Louis asks, flopping on top of both of us.

We both squeal and attempt to shove him off of us, to which we succeed, making him land flat on the carpet and groaning. Sam falls on top of him on the floor, still giggling as she kisses his cheeks and finally locks her lips to his.

"Hey! PDA!" Niall shouts as he appears around the corner from his bedroom.

He collapses on the couch next to me too and tugs some of the blanket away from me, which I protest against. He sighs heavily, looking around at all the decorations littering the walls as well as the balloons floating around the room.

"We did good, buddy." He smiles, turning to Louis who's now sat with his arm around Sam.

"Hell yeah we did!" Louis shouts, "This party is gonna rock!"

"What time did you tell everyone to get here?" Niall asks, turning to Louis who's already back to making out with Sam.

"Around seven." He mumbles, barely pulling away from Sam.

Niall shakes his head, eyeing the clock on the wall behind us to see what time it is. When he looks to see it's only two hours till seven he jumps up from the couch excitedly.

"I'm gonna go hop in the shower because we have to leave at six to go get Ryland!" He grins, running to his bathroom at the back of the apartment.

I shake my head and get up from the couch, making my way to Harry's room and just wishing I had somewhere to go that was actually mine. God, I miss my dorm.

"Where are you going, Jess?" Sam asks, turning to look at me over the back of the couch, "Are you getting ready too?"

"I don't think I'll be attending tonight, I'll just go to the library or something." I shrug.

"What? No!" She shouts, stumbling up from the couch to meet me in the hall, "You have to be here! It's going to be great! They bought decorations and everything, Jess."

I look over to see Louis also sitting up on the couch awaiting my reply. I hate when Sam guilt trips me like this but funnily enough it always works.

"It is going to be fun," Louis shrugs, "why don't you just go with us to get Ryland and hang out for the first hour, if you're not having fun then leave and you won't hurt our feelings, promise."

I laugh at his compromise and nod my head, reluctantly agreeing. Sam squeals, jostling me about as she shoves me into Harry's room to get dressed in time to go get Ryland.

After loading a blind folded Ryland into the car was a much harder task than anticipated, I'm glad when I can see the apartment come into view. Cars are parked all down the side of the street and laser lights pour out of the windows along with the faded pumping of music inside the walls thanks to Niall staying behind to finish setting up.

"Where are we? What is that noise?" Ryland asks, nearly smacking his head into the roof of the car as he stands up outside.

"Just wait, you're gonna love it bro." Louis assures him, grabbing him by the shoulders and walking him up the driveway.

As we reach the door, I can see Niall inside getting everyone ready to yell surprise as soon as Sam rips off the blindfold. Despite most of the partygoers being extremely intoxicated, a good bit of them comply and shout an eardrum shattering "surprise!" as Sam removes the blindfold.

"Oh my god! Yes! Thank you guys!" Ryland shouts, instantly grabbing Louis for a hug and being offered a large shot from one of his other friends.

I find myself alone all too fast. I look around but spot no familiar faces other than my obvious friends who happen to be working hard and fast at getting Ryland absolutely smashed drunk in the next hour.

"Jess! Come on! Your turn!" Niall shouts from the kitchen, gesturing for me to come and take a shot.

"No way, Niall!" I laugh, "I didn't agree to come to get falling down drunk."

He rolls his eyes, taking the vodka bottle from Louis's hands and taking a huge gulp, gritting his jaw as he swallows it down. A loud bit of shouting comes from all around the house egging him on and he goes for another one as soon as he's downed the first.

I end up taking a seat on the striped couch and I try not to think of how many barely-clothed bodies have inhabited this sofa tonight. Once I've been sitting on the couch unmoving and only observing for about half an hour I realize I've made quite the mistake agreeing to this.

"Jess? What are you doing? Come on! You're supposed to be having fun with us!" Sam shouts, grabbing at my hands to drag me off the couch.

"I don't know, Sam, I might just walk to the library or something-"

"What? No! No you will not!" She shrieks, slinging her arm around my shoulders and walking me to the kitchen, "Niall! Get this girl a shot of tequila, stat!"

He's laughing as he grabs a plastic shot glass and pours a nearly overflowing shot of tequila and slides it towards me on the counter. He pours another for himself and holds it up offering for us to cheers before we take our shots.

"Hey now, there better not be any shot taking without the birthday boy!" Ryland's voice calls as he runs into the kitchen, grabbing the shot glass from Niall's hand, "I wasn't expecting to see you here tonight, babe."

I realize he's talking to me when his eyes meet mine from over the rim of his shot glass as he readies himself to take it.

"I wasn't expecting to be here I promise you." I laugh, reaching my pathetic plastic shot glass to his and bumping them together.

We meet eyes again before throwing our heads back and letting the liquid burn down our throats. I squint my eyes as I put the shot glass back on the counter, momentarily forgetting how horrible bottom shelf tequila tastes.

He smiles as he meets my eyes again and leans against the counter behind him. His eyes are wildly light, a mix of blue and green that's so pale I don't know how he goes in the sun without burning them. They're striking in contrast to his jet black, shaggy hair.

"Are you feeling like staying a little longer?" He smirks.

"Pour me another shot and I'll let you know."

HARRY

As soon as I pull up in front of the apartment I'm rolling my eyes when I can barely park in my own garage thanks to the influx of cars parked in every fucking direction on the grass. What the fuck is going on and why did nobody ask me? I enter the house through the garage to a blast of screaming loud music and the unmistakable scent of marijuana.

Just as I'm entering the living room with careful steps, my eyes meet Louis's across the room. In seconds he's beside me, slinging his arm around my shoulders and leading me to the kitchen with a beer in his free hand.

"I can't believe you're just getting here! You have so much catching up to do come on!" He slurs, dragging me along with him.

"What the fuck is going on here?" I shout, shoving his hand off me and standing apart from him.

His eyes are a bit wider as he stands back, trying to comprehend what's wrong with me but he's too wasted to be able to tell.

"What? It's Ryland's birthday, we told you we were doing this." He says confusedly.

"No, you definitely did not because I would have told you no!" I huff, running my hands through my hair.

I look around at the countless girls throughout the room and suddenly I remember her, she's here, where is she? Hopefully she's in my room staying away from Ryland and all of his deadbeat friends blazing up my whole fucking house like one goddamn hotbox.

As I glance towards the kitchen my eyes land on her. I'm beside her in seconds, butting my way into a conversation I was anything but invited to. Her eyes are beyond bloodshot, her pupils swimming as she turns her head to look at me, her expression instantly becoming sour. Ryland is laughing, sat at my kitchen table and shoving drinks at her.

"What the hell are you doing? Can't you see she's already wasted?" I shout, shoving him in his seat and pushing the bottle of tequila away from her.

He stands from his seat right away, his lifeless eyes meeting mine as he challenges me to fuck up his night he was planning. I already know he was betting on getting Jess drunk and trying to take her to bed.

"We're just having some fun, Harry, she said she wanted another." He slurs, pointing a crooked finger in my direction.

"Yeah, another," I huff, "singular, Ryland, not another ten."

He rolls his eyes, telling me I'm too wound up about this and if I would just mellow out he would even share her with me. The words make me sick to my stomach. Any other night of the week I'd have no problem helping him. Why the hell do I even care? Something about the way she's swaying just standing there makes me nauseous. How could he think this was okay?

"Hey, Jess, come on, let's get you some water." I say, wrapping my arm around her and grabbing her a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"I'm-I said I'm fine, Harry." She slurs, her voice slowly coming back to itself.

"You are most definitely not fine, dollface," I laugh, letting her lean herself against the counter as I pass her the water, "now drink up."

She continues complaining but complies with my request and chugs down half the bottle of water in a few gulps. I'm surprised when she looks back up to meet my eyes to see hers significantly less glassed over and more alert.

"You feel okay?" I ask her cautiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I hold my liquor, Styles," She smirks, taking another sip of the water and I decide she must be doing pretty good to already be back to snapping at me, "I didn't even want to come to this stupid party."

"Then why did you? You could have gone somewhere." I say, leaning on the counter next to her.

"Peer pressure, Styles. College is a bitch." She says, her voice still slurring.

I laugh, gesturing for her to drink more of the water in the bottle and she sighs as she takes another sip, eyeing me the whole time.

"You want to get out of here?" I ask suddenly, the words coming out of my mouth before I can process them.

She looks at me in surprise, lowering the water bottle from her lips and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Yeah, I mean, where do you want to-"

"Finish that water and then fill it up again, I'll be back in like two minutes," I say quickly, gesturing to the fridge tap, "I'm serious, Jess."

She nods her head despite rolling her eyes as she finishes the last few sips of water in the bottle before moving over to the tap and filling it back up, flicking me off with her free hand.

I shake my head at her, laughing as I walk to my bedroom to grab her a jacket. I throw it over my shoulder along with a pair of boots from her suitcase and walk back out into the party. As soon as I turn around from closing my door behind me, Ashlyn is in front of my face with heavily hooded eyes already grabbing at my tshirt.

"Ashlyn, fuck off would you? I'm not in the fucking mood," I groan, shoving her off me and continuing in my path back to the kitchen, "I've got to drive Jess somewhere."

"Are you joking? You're blowing me off for that little bitch?" She asks, her voice malicious as she grabs me again and pulls me back to her.

"Don't talk about her like that, she's drunk and she's not staying around here any longer," I huff, removing her hands from my shoulders and gesturing for her to get out of my way, "I'll be back later."

She speaks up to protest once again but when I hear her voice sounding from the kitchen I'm pushing Ashlyn out of my way completely and bounding around the counter to find her.

"I said get off of me you fucking creep!" She shrieks.

It takes me a second to believe the sight I'm seeing. Ryland has Jess' wrist in one hand, his other arm wrapped around her waist as he leans over to talk in her ear. She's shoving at him and stomping at his foot to get him off, but he doesn't let up. As soon as the scene plays out in front of me I'm shoving Ryland up against the wall by the collar of his tshirt. He's choking instantly, the fabric brandished too tight against his throat to breathe. My vision is red as I picture him grabbing her wrist in one hand and her ass in the other, cornering her against a counter.

"Harry-" He gasps, "What the fuck man? Let me go!"

"Who the fuck do you think you are, Ryland? She said to get off!" I shout in his face, my jaw pulled tight as I spit the words in his face and send my fist at his nose.

Niall's behind me in seconds, grabbing me by the shoulders and yanking me off of Ryland who's now gushing blood down his face. He asks me if I'm okay about a hundred times, but I don't hear him, I don't take my eyes off Ryland as he reaches his tshirt to his nose, holding it to stop the blood and sends me a glare.

"Dude, what the fuck are you doing? Come on, let's get you some air-"

"Shut up, Niall." I sigh, shoving past him so I can get to her.  

She looks at me with terrified eyes, her entire demeanor completely sober as she stares at me in shock of the events that just took place. I hold my hand out to her and she takes it carefully, her worried eyes never leaving mine as I lead her to the front door, so we can get the fuck out of here.

I slam the door behind me and she's shivering as soon as we're outside in the cold, autumn air. I can tell she's afraid to speak after what's happened. I never meant to let it get out of hand like that. As soon as I saw him with his hands on her I wanted to shove him through the window.

"Are you okay?" I speak up eventually.

"Yeah," She sighs, her breath coming out like she was holding it in, "yeah, I'm okay, thank you for um, that back there."

She averts her eyes from me as we stand in silence, both of us pretending we're looking at the streetlights when we just want to look at each other.

"Dammit, I forgot your shoes and your jacket, I dropped them in the kitchen." I sigh, walking back to the door but she grabs my arm, stopping me.

"It's fine Harry, it's not even that cold." She assures me despite her wobbling legs.

I laugh and shrug my jacket off my shoulders, handing it to her instead. She doesn't even protest this time, shoving her arms through the sleeves and tugging it close around her. I barely trust myself to speak as I swallow thickly, I've never had the air knocked out of me over a girl before but damn, Jess standing here in my jacket is the closest I've come.

"Hey, can you grab my cigarettes out of the pocket." I nod, gesturing to the jean jacket around her shoulders.

Instantly she's digging around in the pockets, determinedly looking for the paper carton. She produces the pack and takes one out, offering it to me and I lean down, taking it from her with my teeth. She laughs as I lean forward awaiting her to light it.

As soon as I inhale I feel calmer, the buzzing nerves and cells of my body full of adrenaline from shoving Ryland against the wall finally slowing down to a dull roar. I look back to see her eyes still trained on me, blatantly staring as I remove the cigarette from the corner of my mouth and exhale the smoke into the night air.

"Alright, Lawson, come on." I say, turning around and walking back towards the open garage where my car sits parked.

"What? What are you-"

"Just get in the car, Jess, I'm trying to be a gentleman here."