#but also i had my turn i got my big trip to europe and it objectively does not matter how i felt during that trip

[reineyday]

just watched bnha world heroes mission and wow they really packed a whole bunch of my favourite tropes into rody soul huh

[camptw1nk]

wont be around today bc i am doing a lil rough mentally but i love u all and will probably b back soon

[faithshouseofchaos]

ELEVATOR CHAOS

Summary— While touring around Europe things take a turn when you get stuck in an elevator with a group of F1 drivers…

I’ll also probably end up rewriting this 🤷‍♀️

Pairing— multi-driver x reader

Drivers mentioned Danny Ric, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Seb Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen

Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz Pierre Gasly

You and your friend should have known not to plan your trip to Italy at the same time as the Italian Grand Prix but your friend instead said “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance you never know what or who you’ll run into” she always says. You truly loved the experience of Monza Italy, but what you didn't love was the Ferrari fans. You had to give them credit, the two drivers were pretty good drivers and easy on the eyes. No matter where you went the drivers were there signing autographs and taking pictures but it was a little too much for you, Formal one was never a big thing in the States so you were just tired and overstimulated and wanting to go to bed but the universe had other plans.

You and your friend finally made it back to your hotel after a long and stressful day. You were ready for bed. “Come on y/n it wasn't that bad. You're being dramatic,” your friend says, turning to look at you while waiting for the elevator. “I beg to differ, I just want to lay down,” you say stepping into the elevator that had arrived. The first time you noticed was the group 8 of men and in that group of 8 men, two of them were the root of all your problems from today. “Great,” you said under your breath and pressed the button for your floor. “Just relax, it's only for a few seconds,” your friend Jay says as you lean against the wall the elevator jolts to a complete stop you stand up waiting for the doors to open which never happens “no no no no oh come open up please” you pleaded under your breath on the verge of tears. “Is your friend alright?” One of the men asked “Oh yeah she’s fine she’s just had a long stressful day I’m Jay” your friend said as you continued to press the button. “Sebastian,” a man with blonde hair, a German accent, and a kind smile says introducing himself

“I’m Charles”

“I'm Pierre”

“Carlos”

“Lando”

“Max”

“Daniel”

The group of men went around introducing themselves. You noticed how Sebastian smacked the bigger blonde on the arm. The big blonde man introduced himself as Kimi before he returned his intense gaze to the floor. Your friend nudges you saying “Are you gonna introduce yourself or are you gonna stand there?” “Do I have to?” You asked “Yes because it’s the polite thing to do,” Jay says lecturing you. Sighing you introduced yourself “I’m y/n,” you say looking back down at the floor “So you one too huh?” Sebastian asked Jay, pointing to get at me as the other guys chuckled. “yeah despite the nasty case of resting bitch face she’s wearing right now she’s a kind lighthearted person but as I said earlier she had a rough day” Jay said, “Oh why the rough day?” Lando asked “Because of your friends in red here,” I said pointing to the culprit “What did we do?” Charles asked, “Well let’s see I got picked up by a mob of fans and carried away I had to walk about an hour back to my car, there was also a bunch of people camped outside of the hotel singing lullabies and Happy Birthday to the both of you, I was forced to get down on my hands and knees today to pray to your face photoshopped onto the body of Jesus Christ and last but not least I’m missing one of my shoes.” I say pointing at my feet “I'm sorry about the fans they can get carried away especially when this is the home race for Ferrari” Carlos says “It's funny because the Ferrari car this year is a piece of shit and not to mention the strategy and pit stops” Max said.

“Well, now that you got that out of your system do you wanna talk about it?” Daniel asked “Oh y/n don't talk about her feelings,” Jay said, speaking up “Yeah if I needed to talk about my feelings they would be called talking,” I said Kimi must have found that funny because he chuckled. “Okay, how about we pass the time and get to know each other?” Pierre asked, wishing to break the tension in the elevator. “Oh yes let's do two truths and a lie,” Jay said excitedly “I'm not playing,” Kimi remarked “We wouldn't have expected you to play,” Sebastian said to his friend. “Okay, I guess I'll go first, 1. I have dual citizenship between America and Italy, 2. I have four younger siblings, and 3. I'm a Sagittarius”. I say to the group “Is the first one a lie?” Lando asks “Yes the first one is a lie although my mom was visiting Italy four months before she had me I was born December 6th and my sibling's names are Jackson Gracie Ellie and Sammy” I say explaining.

45 minutes later

After playing a few rounds of Two Truths and a Lie everyone decided to get comfortable Kimi was using Sebastian as a headrest, Max and Daniel were also resting their heads together taking a nap, Lando was watching something on his phone with Charles, Pierre, and jay were talking in French getting to know each other some more and you were drifting in and out of consciousness using Carlos as a pillow who was also asleep. “Wow this is shocking she never does that,” Jay says “What do you mean Sebastian asks “y/n doesn’t let people get close like that she doesn’t like being touched or having her personal space invaded it must be his puppy dog eyes she always had a weakness for that” Jay says “That’s just Carlos he has that magic touch about him you just can’t help but be pulled in he's a good man” Sebastian says. Eventually, you were woken up by someone shaking you “Hey come on get up we're free the elevator is fixed” Jay said helping you stand up. “Oh thank god I need to piss harder than a racehorse,” you say not realizing that the guys wouldn't understand the analogy “I'm so confused,” Max says “She needs to be badly Max didn’t you read that book of Southern sayings I got for you,” Daniel said shaking his head “oh that makes sense,” max said following his friend by standing up. “You know what this day may have been pretty shitty but y'all are pretty cool, and I apologize for snapping at you two earlier,” I said apologizing to Charles and Carlos “We understand we all have bad days we get it,” Charles says. The doors finally opened up and everyone poured out into the hallway going to their rooms to retire for the night you included but what you didn’t see or hear was your friend giving your number to the Spaniard “Hey Carlos here’s Y/ns number you should use it jay” said handing him a piece of paper with your number on it “oh you sure she didn’t seem that interested in me?” He asked hesitantly “Oh trust me amigo you are her type you're older than her and you got those sad puppy dog eyes that make her weak in the knees like I said there’s her number you should use it I gotta go before she notices” jay said walking away.

Checking your phone or last time before bed you noticed that you had a text from an unknown number.

UNK- so I heard that you have a weakness for older men with sad puppy dog eyes.

You- who is this And who told you that???

UNK- it’s Carlos and your friend told me.

Y/n- 😳😳 she’s not wrong tho…

[pigfacedbitch]

HIIII I'm a big fan of your work and I really love it your writing is amazing , this may be a weird request and if your uncomfortable you don't have to do it , it's fine I completely understand, so it's like merlin and Arthur and the reader and they are all soulmates and it's there first time meeting each other . Thank you in advance

Modern! Reader Gets Transported to Albion

idea : modern world! reader gets transported to Albion and meets Arthur and Merlin. unbeknownst to you and the prince of Camelot, the three of you are soulmates.

type : imagines

word count : 0.7k

pairing/s involved : Arthur x Reader, Merlin x Reader

warning/s : almost drowning, panicking

here is my masterlist!

Note : MY FIRST REQUEST! Whoever you are, thank you for reading my works and I might've changed a little bit in your request. Also, I apologize that it took so long, school has been keeping me busy. I hope you like it! 😊

You've always been a fan of BBC Merlin so when you had the chance to take a trip to Europe, you did.

You went to all the locations where they filmed the series like Château de Pierrefonds and Chislehurst Caves. The last destination is where the Lake of Avalon is; Forest of Dean.

Luckily you are alone, giving you the chance to fully enjoy the beautiful sceneries and serene atmosphere.

It made you feel a deeper sense of nostalgia and melancholy— how the precious characters you loved dearly died and were 'buried' there.

With one last selfie, you were about to walk back to you car when you hear it. A faint voice, filled with sorrow and longing.

"(Y/N)... Save us."

It's coming from the lake.

Something glimmers on it's shore, a sapphire drop necklace with golden chain. When you attempt to pick it up, the world begins to spin.

Suddenly, you were underwater.

Panic builds in your chest not because you can't swim, but an unseen force seems to harshly pull you down no matter how hard you try to stay afloat.

"Help me! Please, someone—"

Air runs out from your lungs when a pair of bulky arms grabs your body and begins to swim you to safety.

"Don't worry, I got you."

I heard that voice before.

The stranger easily carries you to ground, draping a large cloak on your shivering body. Rubbing your eyes for better sight, you look up...

Bradley James?

"Are you alright?"

No. You're certain that Bradley doesn't look that young anymore, keeping up with his latest activities online.

"I told you to be careful, Arthur!"

Turning your head, you see Colin Morgan run towards the two of you with a worried expression on his face.

He looks younger too.

"Ah, Merlin. Fetch the horses, she might need medical attention. May I ask for you name, my lady?"

Arthur? Merlin? Wait... Oh my God.

Realization hits you hard when both men stare at you expectantly, waiting for your answer.

The way they speak, their clothes, their appearances... it's exactly the same in the show you binge-watch every Christmas season.

Am I in the show? That's not possible...right?

"W-Where are we?"

"Camelot."

Shit.

You expect someone to go 'You just got punked!'; that would've been better than two men (who you have a huge crush on) staring at you, confused.

You waited for a moment but nothing happens.

This is real. I'm actually in Albion.

Fear and anxiety creeps into your system, as many questions form in your head. Did I die? What's going on? What season is this? How can I ever get back?

Due to the overwhelming emotions, your breath shortens and keeled over.

Bradley, or Arthur (You have no idea anymore), quickly catches you and gently carries you to his horse.

"We must make haste!" was the last thing you heard before you blacked out.

Merlin, on the hand, knew this would happen. In fact, he dreams of you.

He sees you in vague images, like old memories— happily kissing his cheek, witnessing him use magic, encouraging him to do another trick, etc.

He already etched in his mind your pretty face, your melodious voice, your playful grin— everything about you.

Then Arthur shares the same experience, dreaming about a woman who's description mirrors yours.

Kilgharrah told him that the woman of their dreams will arrive soon from faraway land and will play significant role in the prophecy.

However, the dragon didn't specify how. He only said—

"(Y/N) is your soulmate, Emrys. She sees you and Arthur in a light no one else ever will."

Soulmates are uncommon, even for druids. Only a few were blessed, to have something so wholesome and pure.

So when he heard your cry for help, he is ecstatic. You have finally arrived. His soulmate... and Arthur's.

He wryly smiles at this. Funny how he shares, not only his destiny with the prat, but also you.

The trip to the castle was faster than they anticipated. Arthur told him to call Gaius and meet them in his bedroom.

It caught the attention of everyone. The prince carrying an unconscious woman in his private chambers will surely stir gossip.

But Arthur didn't care, and Merlin didn't know if he should be proud or worried.

The court physician said you are healthy, they only have to wait for you to wake up. He left to attend other matters; leaving the three of you alone.

"This is her." The prince laughs in disbelief, incognizant of what Merlin knows. "The girl in my dreams, I can't believe it!"

Merlin tries to hide his smirk, Arthur can be so adorable when he's clueless.

"Nor can I, sire."

[that1nkyone]

Hang on, I gotta talk about the Platypus for a sec

So it's a pretty well-known fact that once colonialists started invading Australia in the 1700s, they came across a lot of fauna that made them go "what the fuck is this." A lot of the default reaction for England back then was 'shoot it and take it back home,' or 'put aboard a ship and hope it's alive when we get there.'

But I wanna talk a little about the details of that, and how I'm a little cheesed off with the Naturalists of Old when they first saw a platypus.

For one, it was dead. And dismissed because there's no way that beak was real. Those cheeky colonists were definitely playing a prank and wasting their time.

And then a few more come in, this time preserved as well as they can be in spirits. And people start saying "okay, well... what is it? Is it a bird? The bill makes me think it's a bird." "These aren't feathers." "It swims? It's an amphibian, which is a Reptile, as we all know (they didn't think these guys Seperate until quite a bit later)." "This thing is also clearly amongst the Lower Beings of God's Creations (Creationism was still a big thing in scientific circles)."

Paper upon paper was written about this new creature, and suddenly nobody could agree on what to classify it as. Their ideas of the natural order started suddenly collapsing and being thrown into disarray.

Because of this little guy.

The Naturalist Science scene was going berserk halfway across the world because their fundamental understanding of nature was being turned on its head by this tiny mammal - who they were still trying to decide whether it was a mammal.

The English were having arguments with the French, but some were collaborating ideas based on what data they'd gained (some French and English naturalists met up in Australia during the war to share a drink and talk about Platypuses). Because this strange duck-billed creature surely had no place in the Chain of Being, their point of classification for species that they'd used for the past hundreds of years. And if it did, where the heck did it belong?

Did it lay eggs? How did it swim? What was the bill for? They didn't know the answer to any of these questions because all the specimens they got from Australia were Very Deceased, either being shot and put in spirits, or dried out. The poor platypus was being done in a lot for the sake of research.

And look, I know methods were Different back then, and it wasn't easy to transport live specimens or have the technology to preserve specimens over half the planet. With that said, I do want to point something out:

While this huge crisis is happening, in January 1812, a man named Patrick Hill gets the bright idea to like... ask the elder of the local Indigenous tribe about them (my source records him as Cookoogong, but not all sources about First Nations from early colonial texts are accurate.)

And Cookoogong's like "Oh, these guys? Yeah, so, they do lay eggs. They have long, deep burrows. We know how to get to them. There's a spur at the back of their feet. We don't really eat them for food. We call it the mullingong.*"(also malangong, depending on what tribe/dialect) Cool. Mystery solved.

Except:

It took over seventy years for this information to become accepted as scientific fact.

Not just because of the inherent biases of the Colonials being backwater people and prisoners in a funny little land far away, not just out of a need to get more data before confirmation, but because almost nobody in Europe took the word of the native population in Australia.

And in between that 72 year gap between 1812 and 1884, there were so many instances of the First Nations people giving vital and essential pieces of information on correctly identifying the features and habits of this land mammal as European Scientists had a massive meltdown and argument over whether an animal they'd Never Seen Alive gave milk or not.

Hell, Charles Darwin made the trip to Australia, and was inspired by animals like the Platypus to start questioning whether all life was truly static and didn't transition or adapt to changing circumstances.

The platypus made Charles Darwin start questioning his beliefs in Creationism, and going on to begin his steps towards the theory of evolution.

And then there's Harry Burrell, who had the bright idea of like, not killing specimens every time someone wanted to see it up close. He was one of the first recorded people to try and keep platypuses in captivity, and thoroughly learn their preferred lifestyle, diet and breeding habits from careful observation. He would learn how to make platypuses Comfortable, and how to transport them safely.

His protege, David Fleay (pictured below), would go on to ensure the first successfully bred platypus in captivity - 'Corrie' (born to parents Jack and Jill).

what I'm saying is, the story of trying to Classify the Platypus ends in "Nature is just fucking weird, we're going to try understanding it as best we can, and maybe we should ask and respect the opinions of the people who have lived alongside something we don't understand for thousands of years."

The platypus is literally referred to by Mervyn Griffiths, an authority on monotremes, "The animal of all time."

Anyway, in summary: - Colonialism fucking sucks and Sovereignty was never ceded.

- The Platypus is an Amazing Creature and sorta Toppled Creationism in the scientific community??

[twostepstyless]

All Roads Lead To You

Authors Note:

NSFW

Harry and Y/N decide to take an open-ended roadtrip to Italy, they’ve been best friends since school but what changes when they get to run away for a bit and enjoy some overdue, uninterrupted time together under the summer sun as they journey across Europe. This one has been in the works, essentially, since Harry’s House was released. Heavily inspired by the song Keep Driving, the referenced are blatantly obvious LOL. Also wrote this about Harry’s trip to Italy he took during the pandemic when he drove there from England with a friend, in my story the friend happens to be Y/N. Some of the photos they take on the trip are also direct references from the Harry’s House album booklet, see if you can guess which ones! This is my longest fic to date and I hope you enjoy it, it’s been a labour of love. 

As always, reblogs, likes, feedback is appreciated and encouraged !!

Lots of love, G xo 

Pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

Warnings: Recreational drug use and smut. Don’t do drugs kids (but if you do be safe xo) 

Contains: Long drives, crepes in Paris, Coffee in Pisa, Pizza in Naples, Audrey Hepburn in Rome and a whole lotta love in Positano and a lot of blatant references to the song Keep Driving xo OH and Y/N spills food… a LOT

Word Count: 22k (it’s a BIG one, may need to read on desktop, device depending)

***

“Right then, we ready?” Harry asked shutting the driver side door as he got comfortable in the leather seat. 

“Think so, did you lock up?” she asked, not yet looking up from her phone as she scrolled through their carefully curated road trip playlist. 

“No, jus’ left the front door open for a laugh, I’ve stuck a sign up out the front saying everything’s free for the taking as well,” he said, sarcasm dripping around every word. 

“Don’t be a smart arse, or you’ll be in for a long journey, I was jus’ checking. Did you lock the back doors?” She glanced up at him to see him sliding the key to the borrowed car into the ignition, his blue hat backwards on top of his grown-out curls, a pair of yellow tinted sunglasses hanging from the neck of his sweatshirt. 

Harry paused as he was about to turn the key to start the car up, “the back doors weren’t open,” he said slowly, as if trying to convince himself of the fact. 

“H, we ate out there this morning,” Y/N narrowed her eyes at him, baffled to the fact he couldn’t remember they were out there with coffee and pancakes not even an hour ago. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Harry grumbled, pulling the keys back out of the ignition and groaning as he got back out the car with his knees cracking as he stood. Y/N leant out of the open passenger window as Harry made his way back to his front door.

“Oi, try and lose that hat while you’re at it, yeah?” Y/N called out the window to him, a smirk playing at her lips as Harry looked back over his shoulder as he unlocked the door. Before entering he turned back to face her, spun his hat round so the front was facing her so she could read that god awful fisherman quote, and he stuck both his middle fingers up at her as he laughed, walking backwards into his house. 

While he was gone, Y/N took the opportunity to connect her phone to the sound system ready to deep dive into their playlist and then rifled through her bag in the footwell that had all their essentials for the first block of driving, just double checking she had everything to hand. A rough route map, or more so things they could stop to see and interesting places they could spend a night on their open-ended trip as they drove from London to Italy. Y/N had both their passports in a plastic wallet along with every other document they could possibly need and then some. Harry had joked her bag had looked like a police evidence container with everything separated into various wallets and folders. That had earned him a slap in the chest with one of those wallets and her saying, “well say, we get questioned about the car insurance at least I’ll know where it is, instead of you patting at your pockets as if it’s going to appear by magic, eh?” 

She wasn’t wrong either, Harry knew he was making the right decision asking her to come along on this trip with him. Not only was she so well organised it put him to shame but he really couldn’t wait to have some well overdue Harry and Y/N time. The pair had been friends since they started high school, in fact, Harry was of the opinion friends was too basic of a term for what they were to each other. Kindred spirits perhaps, confidante seemed a bit too high and mighty of a phrase. Soulmates. Platonic soulmates, Harry kept telling himself, but the ache in his chest he felt when they were separated by the Atlantic Ocean and every flight grounded for the foreseeable when he got stuck in L.A when the entire world locked down said differently. Their daily FaceTime calls, that happened at all hours of the day and night, when they would confuse their time differences and any semblance of a daily schedule fell by the wayside throughout lockdowns and quarantines, eventually turned into them fantasising what they should do to make up for lost time when they were finally reunited and restrictions allowed them to run away for a bit, and thus the idea to drive to Italy was born. They justified it by saying, well driving would mean they would interact with the least amount of people other than each other, minimising their risk of becoming unwell, it would also mean they could make the trip as long or short as they pleased as neither of the pair had anything they had to rush back for. The only small argument they had got into was which car would be taking them on the journey across the English Channel and Europe, Y/N’s ageing car, that Harry had affectionately named her ‘Doodlebug’ was out of the question, it was a little too small and if Y/N was honest she didn’t think the car would make it through the channel crossing never mind to Italy. That left them Harry’s multiple car options, all of which Y/N shot down as he suggested them, rejecting his classic and vintage cars because, “what if something went wrong H? I doubt some mechanic in the middle of nowhere France can fix a Mercedes from the 60s.” When he suggested his newer, modern cars, they ended up in the reject pile just as quick, “they’re all a bit ostentatious d’you not think? All a bit ‘look at me, I’m a wanker roaring through rural France in a sports car’ or a big, fuck-off Range Rover before you suggest that.” 

That left them drawing a blank, toying the idea of hiring a car until Harry mentioned his and Y/N’s plans while on a call with his Mum.

“Why don’t you take Robin’s?” she had suggested.

“Christ Mum, y’sure y’would be alright with that?” he queried, gnawing on his lip.

“Honestly Harry, please do, it would be a nice full circle moment, I think. We went all over the country in that thing, would be lovely to see you two take it further afield, make some memories like we did,” she had given him a soft smile through the phone screen as Harry gave her one back, feeling his eyes go glassy. 

Which brought them to this moment. The second Harry had found out he was able to get home from L.A, Y/N was taking the quickest trip back up North she’d ever had, to collect the car and give a quick wave through the window to her own parents as that was as close to them as she was willing to risk, and she was back on the road driving the borrowed car to London to await Harry’s arrival. They set their departure date for a little over two weeks after Harry returned, so they could both isolate and not risk each other’s health and safety. 

Just as she was repacking her final documents folder with their passports, Harry’s filled with a lot more stamps and used pages than her own, back into her bag in the footwell, Harry had returned, opening, and sliding into the driver’s seat, popping the key back into the ignition. 

“Well, was the back door unlocked then?” she looked over at him, quirking her eyebrow, a smirk playing at her lips, taking note that the ‘if you ain’t a fisherman, you ain’t shit’ hat was still sat firmly on his head, squashing his soft curls down. 

“Shut up,” he grumbled, deflecting from answering, he couldn’t help but let a smile tug at the corner of his annoyed pout as Y/N giggled from her seat, fastening her belt as Harry started the engine. “Next stop, the Eurotunnel,” he grinned at her as she wriggled excitedly in her seat, the idea of escaping the U.K for at least a little while was really doing a number on her. 

“There’ll be bluebirds over, the white cliffs of Dover,” Y/N warbled as she pressed play on the same song on her phone. 

Harry huffed out a laugh, “the Eurotunnel is in Folkestone, y’idiot,” he said as she continued her slightly off-key tune as the voice of Vera Lynn eased them into the first leg of a journey that would change everything. 

***

“Harry, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Y/N warned as she pulled out the document with their booking reference.

“M’fine,” he grunted, reaching through his window, fingertips just whispering across the touchscreen as he tried to plug in the details

“Jus’ accept you misjudged it and open your bloody door, I’m not popping your shoulder back into place in the car park,” she retaliated. 

Harry sighed before stretching out his seatbelt and popping the door open so he could lean closer to the screen all the while muttering under his breath, “jus’ embarrassing innit,” and “I look like a right knob,” as Y/N snickered and read out the code to him for him to punch in. 

Slamming the door shut and handing her the ticket they had to hang from the rear-view mirror, his eyes met hers as she pressed her lips together to stifle the laugh that was crawling its way up her throat, “not a word,” he cautioned lifting his foot from the clutch as they drove under the raised barrier. “How long’ve we got til our slot?” he asked as he followed the road round into the car park where a selection of shops and world duty free framed the tarmac. 

“Uh, 30-40 minutes, I think,” Y/N glanced at her watch as Harry pulled into a free parking space, “I really need a wee before we go anywhere though,” quickly attaching the ticket with the bold letter E inked on it to the rear-view mirror that would direct the staff to which train they should be on before undoing her seatbelt and reaching for her mask to slip on to enter the rest area. 

Pulling his own mask on, he unbuckled his own seatbelt before getting out the car with her, locking it behind him with the push of a button, “okay, you sort yourself out, I’m away to play ‘Supermarket Sweep’ in the shops, any requests?” he held the door to the concourse open for her. 

“The journey is only a bit over half an hour, but I could go somethin’ tasty,” she paused, mulling over what she could want before the pressure in her bladder interrupted her as she shot off towards the toilets, calling over her shoulder, “surprise me!”

Hands washed and dried and snacks purchased, they met outside the front doors of the concourse, so they weren’t lingering around many people before sauntering back over to the car. 

“Shit, I forgot to put that bloody U.K sticker on the car,” Harry said as he took notice of the white stickers with the bold black letters emblazoned on the car’s parked on either side of their own. “Pass me it out, s’in the glove box,” he passed her the bag filled with their snacks as well to deposit in her passenger side too. Y/N quickly located the sticker handing it to Harry who was stood behind her on the passenger side and just as she was about to close the compartment, she caught sight of something else.

“Oh… H, look at this,” wrapping her hand round the item before pulling herself back out the car round the back to see Harry squatting down, smoothing over the sticker over the bumper. She handed him the polaroid she found, one of Anne and Robin, perched on the bonnet of this very car, clearly taken before one of their many road trips. Harry’s fingers held onto the edges of the image as to not taint it with his fingerprints as he took in their beaming faces, Y/N watched smiling softly as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat before he cleared it. 

“I’ve got m’film camera in my backpack, we should take one too… like they did,” he glanced up at her timidly.

“That sounds like a great idea, let me put this back where it belongs and we’ll take one before we go, yeah?” she gave him a warm smile and a squeeze of his hand, taking the polaroid from him and putting it back in its home in the glove box so it would be on their journey with them. Harry was opening the boot, scouring through his large backpack that Y/N frequently teased him about, saying he looked like an 11-year-old on their first day of high school wearing it. Pulling out the camera and setting it up as he closed the boot again, Y/N sidled up to him as he held out the camera in front of them, trying to get the newly placed U.K sticker in the shot. Her hand came up to block the sun from her eyes as she beamed into the camera lens, a broad grin across Harry’s face too, as one eye squinted closed as he battled the golden rays shining in his face as he took their photo. 

“S’black an’ white film in it just now, that’s the only thing,” Harry said taking the camera and its accompanying bag, stuffed full of accessories and new rolls of film and cannisters into the front seats so they could take some pictures on their journey.

“Even better,” she smiled, sliding back into her seat, and fastening her belt, “should we get out of here then?”

“Let’s do this,” Harry reached over to squeeze her knee in excitement as he started the car and drove towards the Eurotunnel. 

***

Harry was adamant he was doing the first portion of driving from his home until they stopped overnight in Paris, one of the locations they decided to stop off at along the way to Italy, wanting to make it a ‘proper road trip.’ He was adamant he was doing that first portion of driving even when they got into a little scuffle next to the car while stretching their legs as the train hurtled under the English Channel. When Y/N tried to wrestle the keys from his grip and force herself into the driver’s seat. 

“Move your arse, it’s not happening,” he had said taking the keys out of her grip holding them up above both their heads and out of reach. 

“You’re the one that said we were splitting the driving,” she shot back as she reached up on the tips of her toes, her fingers just ghosting the keys, if only she could just hook a finger through the keyring.

Harry whipped the keys back down and stuck them in his back pocket before spinning Y/N round so he was closer to the open driver’s door, “and we’ll split it with you driving for a bit tomorrow, jus’ let me get us to Paris,” he stated as he sat down in seat and shut the door behind him before seeing Y/N’s furrowed brow through the open window, “oi, get in and buckled up, grumpy, we’ll be driving off soon.” 

Her grumpiness didn’t last long as they were on the road from Calais to Paris, with them competing in the car of who could remember more from high school French which was really just the numbers from 1 to 20, some greetings and how to say you were going to the cinema with your mates, all completed with their dodgy attempt at an accent. 

“Pass me a piggy,” he asked, looking out the corner of his eyes through his yellow sunglasses to see Y/N had burst into their snack haul.

“Um..” she began, feeling the heat rise on her face. 

“You’ve not tanked an entire bag of Percy Pigs, have you?” Harry asked whipping his head round at her quickly, mouth open, before his eyes shot back to the road, “and didn’t even offer me one.”  “No, no, not all of them, there’s some left, honest,” she giggled clutching onto the pink packaging that she had torn open.

“Then cough up,” he held out his left palm that had previously been resting on the gear stick. Y/N begrudgingly placed the pig-shaped confection in his hand. 

“I love Percy Pigs, they’re my favourites,” she said softly to herself mostly, as she ate the second to last sweet before handing Harry the last one in the bag. 

“I know y’do, there’s a second bag in there for the very reason I knew you would put that first bag away in record time,” he mumbled, chewing round a mouthful of fruit-flavoured pig.

“Shit, is there actually? You’re my second favourite after Percy now” she squeaked as she tore through the bag for life Harry had filled with her favourites while he played Supermarket Sweep earlier that day. Harry grinned at her joy of finding the second bag as he took a swig of water from the bottle that she had taken the lid off for him as he drove. 

***

She had played the opening song from Beauty and the Beast as they drove into Paris as Harry snorted at her choice before joining in her singalong and pointing towards himself during the line about the baker. They did a quick driving tour of Paris as night fell over the city, both too exhausted for anything more. They parked up to enjoy the glittering light show of the Eiffel Tower while they ate the crêpes Y/N had purchased from an overpriced stand while she said something about this being a trip to play up the tourist stereotype. Harry watched her eyes sparkle in the twinkling light as drip of Nutella landed on her chin and a slice of strawberry fell out her dessert onto the pavement below their feet. As the sparkling faded out to darkness, Y/N looked up at Harry, who laughed in her face as he wiped away the Nutella with his scrunched-up napkin while she played it off saying she was saving that bit for later. 

Harry had called in a favour with some friends in Paris and had managed to borrow an apartment for a night while his friend was out of town, gathering their overnight bags from the car and Y/N’s bag with all their important bits that she didn’t want to leave unattended in the car overnight, they shuffled into the quiet of the apartment to see Harry’s friend had made up their sofa bed in addition to their own bedroom for the pair.

“Bedrooms through there, Y/N/N, I’ll be out here,” he grunted out, his tiredness starting to become more evident in his voice. 

“Don’t be ridiculous c’mere,” she tugged him alongside her into the bedroom, “I also don’t want t’hear you whine about a sore back in the car all day tomorrow,” she stated before sitting him down on the bed and kicking her shoes off and grabbing her sleepwear from her bag, “I baggsy the bathroom first, though,” she said through a yawn as she walked away from him. Harry quickly got himself changed while she was out of the room and was swiping through the pictures they had taken at the Eiffel Tower, and quick shots of other sights through the window on their driving tour, on his phone, in addition to the ones on his film camera. He barely noticed her enter the room again and shuffle into the bed next to him until the mumbled, “bathrooms all yours.” Harry was quick in sorting himself out in the bathroom, doing his business, washing his face, and brushing his teeth as he felt his body succumbing to sleep. He stumbled back into the bedroom to see her already out, soft puffs of air leaving her, her hair covering her face. Slipping under the sheets next to her, he reached over, pushed her hair back and smiled softly, eyes blinking heavily as he took in her softened features before turning out the bedside light and letting his body fall under the sleep it so desperately needed. 

***

“H, I’m so hungry I’m hurtling towards taking a bite out the steering wheel,” she announced, looking over at him with a deadpan expression from her spot in the driver’s seat as he took a quick picture of her grimace on his camera. They had set off from Paris early with a long driving day in front of them with and Y/N was taking on the first stint of the drive to give Harry a break after his turn yesterday. 

“Percy not cutting it any longer?” Harry questioned, lowering his camera from his face, a teasing smirk plaguing his mouth.

“Not even a little bit,” she sighed looking down at the packet of sweets jammed into one of the cup holders, not in the slightest bit tempted as she was yesterday. 

“I’m already googling, I’ll find somewhere,” he reassured pulling his phone out of the pocket of his hoodie before pausing, “here, drink up, it’ll hold you over a bit before we stop,” he unscrewed lid of the water before passing it to her as she drank up gratefully keeping her right hand on the steering wheel. 

They drove for another 45 minutes before Harry instructed her to pull into a rest stop that apparently served a great breakfast, according to TripAdvisor anyway. Y/N parked up and unbuckled and as she reached for a fresh mask Harry gripped her wrist and deposited it back into her lap, “no point in both of us going in, we’ll eat in the car, yeah?” 

“Well, let me go then, don’t want you to get, y’know,” she spoke as she gestured her hands in the air as if to create some sort of fanfare symbolising Harry getting mobbed. 

“Considering we’re in the middle of nowhere France and there’s only a lorry, us, and a car from 1982 parked up,” he nodded towards the car, “I think I’ll be jus’ fine. Got m’mask and m’sunnies on as well,” he said as he donned both, nodding his head down quickly to knock his sunglasses from their perch in his hair to cover his eyes as he looped the elastic of his mask over his ears. 

“Take my wallet then, s’in the top of my bag, got some cash in there,” she reached over to adjust his sunglasses that sat squint on his face while he scrunched his nose up.

“Fuck off,” he scoffed at her suggestion of offering him money, unbuckling his seatbelt, and opening his door to get out.

“Harry just tak-” she was cut off by the slamming of his door as she rolled her eyes at his behaviour. 

He returned about 20 minutes later as she watched him through the front windscreen as he crossed the car park with a coffee carrier and a brown paper bag that the handles seemed to be straining on as he shook it in the air and wiggled his hips when he came to a stop in front of the car. She could see his eyes crinkle through his yellow lenses as he came back round to his passenger door. He passed her the coffee carrier in and balanced the paper bag on top of the centre console as he situated himself back in his seat. Y/N had rolled her own seat back as far as it could go to give herself a bit more room.

“That smells amazing,” Y/N sighed dreamily taking a whiff of the hot food coming from the paper bag as she took their coffees from the carrier and settled them in the two-remaining cupholders. 

“Oh, we hit the jackpot in there, I come bearing a bag of fresh, home-made, assorted pastries,” he pulled out a white paper bag that seemed to be filled to bursting with buttery, flaky goodness, “we also have- oops there’s the forks,” he distracted himself pulling out a bundle of wooden cutlery wrapped in some paper napkins. “We also have toast,” he pulled out a white cardboard box and placed it on the dashboard between them, balancing some butter packages and jams on top, “and finally, hash browns an’ fried eggs,” he grinned handing over a polystyrene container she could feel the heat radiating through and placing his own container in his lap. 

“Oh my god, aw I could kiss you,” she smiled patting her grumbling stomach, “did y’get knives though ‘cause I don’t like the egg whi-”

“Already dealt with,” he cut her off with a smile then taking a sip from his coffee, and sure enough it was. She popped open the lid of her food and saw her hash browns with two fried egg yolks sat next to them, the whites cut off from around them. Looking over at Harry, she saw him already wolfing into his yolkless egg whites in their chopped-up glory. 

They ate and drank with their music playing quietly in the background until their bellies were full and Y/N was feeling a lot less grouchy. She packed up their rubbish into the paper bag and went to get out the car to take it to the bin across the carpark, “wait hang on lovie,” Harry stopped her before taking his thumb and swiping it across her bottom lip and chin before holding it in her eyeline, “some stray strawberry jam this time, are y’planning on spilling down your chin at every stop?” he smiled before wiping his thumb clean on a spare napkin before putting that in the top of their rubbish too.

***

Y/N continued driving the next portion of the journey with Harry deciding he’d take over just before the Mont Blanc tunnel. Insisting even when Y/N fought him on it. 

“Why don’t we just swap the other side of the tunnel, seems a bit more logical to do it tha’ way.”

“No, no we’ll swap before,” his most reassuring tone evident in his voice. 

She paused, thinking, before it dawned on her, “you just want to say you drove through the big tunnel, don’t you?” she mused. Harry’s silence and the redness that coloured his cheeks and the tips of his ears gave him away in an instant. “Y’so silly, we’ll swap before the tunnel,” she said as he beamed to himself.

So, they did. Y/N pulled into the last rest stop before the Mont Blanc tunnel where it was her turn to fill up the tank anyway as Harry got himself comfortable in the driver’s seat, moving it into position and adjusting his mirrors. Petrol paid for; they were on their way again. Y/N was fiddling around with Harry’s camera changing the film from the black and white reel they had finished to a colour film instead. As they paid the toll for the tunnel through the Alps and waited on their turn to go through, she caught his attention, “right, look at me,” he turned his head as he drove up to the entrance of the tunnel as Y/N took his picture, catching him unawares. “There we go, Harry’s big moment driving through the tunnel captured on film to remember forever,” she teased. 

“You’ve got a real cheek, y’know, could’ve at least told me y’were taking m’photo, I would’ve posed an’ got a better shot,” he pulled his hat off leaving it on the dash, which she then took a photo of, while it was lit by the afternoon sun coming in the front window. 

“Nah, my photography is all about catching real, genuine emotions,” she said in her best serious voice. 

“Your photography,” he snorted, “right Annie Leibovitz, calm yourself down.”

“Oh, fuck off Harry, c’mon it’s our turn,” she said pointing towards the tunnel entrance. 

As he drove into the tunnel with a smile on his face, he mentioned the silly superstition they used to do as children, “I’d say hold your breath and make a wish til the end of the tunnel but it’s 7 and a bit miles long and I could be doing with y’not passing out halfway.” 

They decided to keep driving. Originally planning on having a rest night on the other side of the tunnel once they crossed into Italy, but Harry was feeling good and hadn’t driven much so was up for getting them to Pisa early so they could spend two nights rather than the one and get to see the city properly the next day. 

The highway hypnosis and gentle rumble of the car paired with their early morning start, rocked Y/N to sleep for a little while nearly two hours into their journey, and Harry couldn’t help himself by continuously taking shy glances over at her. Constantly worried that the next time she’s going to be awake and catch him looking, but he just couldn’t stop himself, her softened, relaxed features were just so endearing to him. It comforted him to know she felt safe, secure, and relaxed enough to fall asleep while he drove. He let her sleep as long as he could before he became wary about her not being able to sleep tonight if she slept all the way until Pisa. He considered reaching over and gently shaking her awake. Considered it, then swiftly moved on from that because at heart, Harry was a little shit to Y/N. A menace, and always had been over the nearly fifteen years they knew each other, and that wasn’t about to change now. He pulled over at a quiet part of the road and grabbed her phone that was still connected to the speakers, playing soft instrumental and orchestral music. He signed in with her passcode and entered her Apple Music tab, quickly finding the song he wanted and queuing it to play next before starting off down the road again. As the previous song faded into nothing, Harry quickly spun the volume dial and thought to himself, when in Italy. As the rousing opening to ‘Volare’ blasted through the car speakers, so loud the car 100 metres in front of them could probably hear it. Y/N shrieked awake and jumped so high her head brushed the roof of the car as Harry cackled. 

“What in the actual fuck, Harry?!” she clutched her chest as Harry kept laughing. 

“Y’needed to wake up or you’re not going to sleep t’night, so I woke you up,” he kept laughing, turning the music down to a volume that wasn’t threatening to burst their eardrums.

“So, you decided to do that by nearly giving me a heart attack?” she asked dumbfounded her heartrate slowly ticking back down to a more sensible rhythm. “You’re an actual dickhead, Harry Styles.”

“Shut up and singalong, y’love this song,” he grinned wickedly at her. 

“Where are we, anyway?” she asked stretching her arms above her head, finally adjusting to being awake again. 

“Just passed Genoa, f’you look out my window we might be able to see the water in a second,” Harry glanced out trying to see the sparkling blue of the Ligurian Sea as he began softly humming along to the song. 

***

As they reached Pisa, things were going the same way they had went in Paris. Agreeing they were far too exhausted to do anything that night, at least they had an entire day and night tomorrow to explore and see the city. It was really beneficial for Y/N to be friends with Harry, who had friends, everywhere. They were staying in another borrowed apartment from one of his friends for the next two nights, this one slightly more extravagant with a large balcony and two bedrooms so they wouldn’t be squished in together, Harry didn’t know if this was a positive or a negative, but it also meant that one of them didn’t have to be banished to a pull-out either. They were picking up the keys from Harry’s mate in the centre of town near a restaurant his friend had also recommended so they opted to get take-out from there, after Harry pulled out some awful joke about them having a ‘Pisa Pizza’ to take back and eat to settle down for the night. 

Harry pulled up and parked in a space a few down from the restaurant, and before Y/N even reached for her belt to undo it, he stopped her. “Jus’ you wait here, sleepy, I won’t be too long,” he uttered before reaching across and tucking strands of her hair behind her ear. 

“Hmm, okay,” Y/N yawned before reaching down to her bag, “take this though, an’ I mean it this time, H, don’t even try and give it back or you’ll be spoiling for a fight,” she ordered before shoving a few folded-up Euros into his palm to pay for dinner. Rolling his eyes, he pocketed the cash and got out the car. 

She had been scrolling her phone when Harry returned with a set of keys between his teeth and carrying two pizza boxes in his hands, a plastic bag balanced on top, and a paper bag tucked under his arm. Y/N reached over and popped open the driver’s door, so he didn’t have to struggle, and he handed her the boxes and plastic bag, filled with their food, in for her to hold. 

“What’s with the other bag,” she looked over as Harry kept hold of the paper bag before reaching back over the seats and depositing it into his backpack that had made its way into the backseat rather than the boot. 

“Jus’ somethin’ for tomorrow night and maybe something else for another night,” he had a knowing smirk plastered on his face as she quirked an eyebrow at him but was far too tired to push it any further. She’d find out eventually.

The rest of their evening passed in a sleepy sort of haze, having got into the apartment, eating their dinner, taking turns showering and completing their night-time routines. With full bellies, they bade each other goodnight and slunk away into their respective bedrooms. Although they both admitted to themselves that they missed the closeness of each other through the brick wall that now separated them. They had been in each other’s pockets the last few days and now not having the option to reach out and touch or feel the other’s warmth was missed, but they’ll keep those thoughts to themselves. 

***

Their day in Pisa had started off busy and got lazier as it progressed which was perfect for them and exactly what they wanted out of the trip. They felt they had to go and see the tower in all its leaning glory and made the move to go first thing in the morning to avoid the most amount of people as they could. They took the classic tourist snapshots of pushing and pulling the tower before handing Harry’s camera to an older man to take a photo of the pair of them. They smiled and said ‘Grazie’ generously to the gentleman before giving the camera to a woman who passed them a few moments later to try again, as the older man’s fingertip was definitely, at least partially, covering the lens. 

They spent the rest of the morning wandering piazzas and side streets, in shops and taking photos. A new pair of sandals for Y/N later, as the strap snapped on her own as they walked, and pictures of Harry posed with a bottle of balsamic vinegar he had purchased, they decided they needed a pick me up. Walking into a trattoria, Harry ordered coffees and food for them to share in the best Italian that he had learnt from his friends and the Duolingo subscription he raved about to her. 

“This is weird, y’know,” he noted, sipping on his coffee as they sat outside on metal chairs that never sat quite level on the ground and a matching bistro table that wobbled if you so much as brushed against it. 

“What’s that?” she questioned, peering at him through the yellow of his sunglasses he had placed on her face as she sat down in the seat that the sun was glaring onto as Harry sat with his back to it. 

“Sitting down and having a coffee,” he hummed before tearing off a corner of bread and dipping it into the oil and balsamic mixture and popping it into his mouth. 

“How’s that weird?” she enquired further as she took a drink of her own coffee. 

“Suppose not s’much having the coffee, more the act of being able to sit down and drink it. I don’t really get t’do this much anymore. If I get a coffee, or anything really, it’s like okay, get it to go, move, onto the next place, or the next thing, don’t stop or it could cause a scene,” he rambles. “I’m just happy I can sit here and enjoy this, and we can take our time and we can chat or not chat if we don’t want to, we can spend as long as want,” he paused taking in his surroundings before looking down at his lap and furrowing his eyebrows, “ignore me, it’s stupid,” he tried brushing it off. 

“Hey, look at me,” she said, pushing the sunglasses back into her hair before his eyes met hers. “It’s not stupid, it’s not. You’re just appreciating being able to see the world go by for the first time since you were 16, Har, it’s a big deal,” she responded. “It’s like we’re hiding you in plain sight,” she had a sort of mischievous glint in her eye because they’ve managed this far going undetected. 

“Thank you, Y/N/N, really,” he smiled, “genuinely, I wouldn’t want to do this trip with anyone but you.”

“Thank fuck for that because I’ve made it this far with you, would be a bit shite if you had changed your mind now,” she laughed as his dimples popped in a responding peel of laughter. “We can do this as much as y’want you know,” her tone turning into a mixture of being serious but also reassuring, “if you want to stop for a coffee, or smell the flowers or sit and gorge on pasta on a busy terrace at a restaurant where no one knows it’s you, say the word an’ we’ll stop.” 

That’s what they did the rest of the afternoon, walking aimlessly wherever their feet took them, discovering tourist spots and hidden gems, stopping to read a chapter of their books, they had bought from a second-hand book shop on a tiny side street, while perched on the wall of a fountain in a bustling Piazza and for dinner they had done just what Y/N had suggested, filling themselves up on pasta while sat on a terrace as the evening sun faded around them. 

***

They were sitting on the balcony of the apartment now as Harry poured their wine glasses full of the additional bottle of wine, he had bought from the restaurant for them to share when they got back.

“Cheers,” he raised his glass in the air, gripping it by the stem as he tilted the bowl of the glass to hers. 

“Thought you were supposed to be great at Italian,” she said picking up her own glass but not letting the glass chime together yet, “they say Salute here, so Salute, look me in the eye as well or 7 years of bad sex is coming your way,” she giggled catching his gaze before letting the rim of the glasses clip together in a pleasing, twinkly sound. They both took a swig from the glass and afterwards Harry put his down abruptly on the table and stood up.

“Oh shit, I almost forgot,” and he dashed back through the open doors into the apartment.

“Forgot what?” she called in after him, still cradling her own wine glass, taking another sip letting the alcohol warm her from the inside out. 

Harry came back with a small decorative bowl, placing it in the centre of the table and the brown paper bag from yesterday in his clutches. His eyes gleamed at her as he rustled through the bag, looking for something in particular. Firstly, he pulled out a lighter and placed it down onto the table, the second thing came soon after. A joint, perfectly pre-rolled in pink rolling paper. “This is also why I had to meet to get the keys in person,” he confided.

“Bloody hell, H, we’ve not done this for a while, thought you just got sleepy from smoking?” Y/N took another mouthful of wine before sitting the glass down and scooching her chair closer to his. 

“Mm, I do, most of the time, this is a different strain though, so we’ll see what happens, y’up for it?” he asked sincerely, if she wasn’t, he’d forget all about it. 

“Of course, I’m up for it,” she grinned reaching for the lighter on the table, “what else you got in the bag?” 

“Ah, that’s for me to know and you to find out, Sweetness,” he spoke vaguely, before placing the joint between his lips and leaning forward to let her spark it to life. He inhaled deeply, feeling it catch in his throat ever so slightly from being out of practice. He let the feeling settle in his lungs before steadily exhaling into the cooling summer air before ashing the joint into the bowl he brought with him and passing it to Y/N. Through sips of wine, deep inhales, ashes and exhales they passed their evening with soft conversation and fits of giggles. 

“Can’t believe y’broke y’bloody shoe out walking today,” he tittered before drinking down his wine before topping up his own glass and hers. 

“Aw don’t,” she whined, “I loved those sandals,” the full of her lip pouted before she took another drag. 

“More importantly, can’t believe the way you tripped when it broke,” he was cackling now at the memory of her earlier in the day, “I mean, fuck, y’nearly stacked it into the fountain,” he struggled to get out through his laughter, tapping off the joint she passed him back. 

“Oh, piss off,” she tried to keep her face serious, but Harry’s face lit up with laughter was hard to resist as she fell subject to her own giggling. 

They finished the joint and the wine between the pair of them. Letting the effects settle into their bodies for a little while, feeling more relaxed than euphoric. 

“Well, I better go drink a shit load of water and go sleep to sober up since m’driving in the morning,” Y/N began, standing to her feet, gathering the empty wine bottle and their empty glasses that were stained with lip marks and fingerprints. 

Harry stood to his feet as well, cleaning up everything else and tucking his paper bag back under his arm as they both toddled back into the apartment, shutting the balcony doors behind them. Popping everything they had brought in with them into the kitchen for them to tidy up in the morning before they continued their journey. They met again in the hallway outside the two bedroom doors as they said goodnight to each other. 

Harry couldn’t help himself in wrapping her in a warm hug, “thank you for today, really,” he whispered into her hair. 

“Don’t be silly,” she murmured back, wrapping her arms around his waist, letting her fingers dance on his spine as they swayed on the spot. 

“It meant a lot to me, today is right up there as one of my top 5 days, ever,” Harry kept going giving her a little squeeze.

“God, you’ve turned into a right wet wipe while you’ve been away, eh?” they broke away from their embrace as Y/N snickered. 

“Piss off,” he breathed out a laugh in return. Then he done it, he just couldn’t stop himself, his body already moving before the thought crossed his mind. He placed a delicate kiss upon the corner of her mouth and their eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his lips down. They blinked their eyes open at each other as Harry pulled back, a soft smile playing at their both their lips, then he done it again, just a bit closer to the target this time. He took her bottom lip between his and pressed a slow, lingering kiss to her lips before he stood back to his full height and quietly laughed again as they looked at each other. 

They both turned to enter their rooms for the evening before Y/N said, looking over her shoulder, “Oi, H, I want to hear what the rest of those top 5 days are at one point,” she beamed as they both closed their bedroom doors. The pair of them ghosting their fingertips over their lips where they kissed. 

***

“D’you think the car sounds dodgy?” she asked trying to listen closely to the car, something was definitely making a noise that wasn’t there before. 

Harry reached over and turned the volume of the music right down to listen closely, “eh, there might be something a little off, it’ll be fine though, we’re not driving that long this morning,” he said sincerely turning the volume back up. She glanced over at him, both her hands gripping the steering wheel as she captained them on the drive to Rome. Harry was talking a gulp of his coffee from his to go cup, baring his teeth round the steaming, bitter liquid as it seared down his throat. 

“You’re only saying that, so I won’t get dead concerned, aren’t you?” Y/N uttered softly. 

“Maybe,” Harry drew out the word, a glint in his green eyes, “but maybe not. You’re concerned no matter what I say, correct?” Harry passed her, her own coffee cup so she could take a drink when she made a grabby hand towards it. 

“Just a little bit,” she said handing him the cup back after gulping it down so he could put it down in the cupholder. 

“Let’s just get to Rome and we’ll deal with it if it becomes a problem,” he reached over squeezing her knee in reassurance as she let out a slow breath trying to push the engine noise to the back of her mind and enjoy their route to Rome. 

***

Harry was directing Y/N through the streets of Rome from a map on his phone and as they approached the area they were staying in, Harry spoke. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“Hmm, what’s that?” she muttered, not fully listening as she was focusing on her driving as the cobbled roads were narrow, and they were surrounded by pedestrians. 

“Where we’re staying t’night, y’might recognise it,” a smile evident in his voice, “take a left here, doll and park up, we need to walk a little, not much parking on our street.” Y/N done the best parallel park of her life and killed the engine giving him a bemused smile at Harry’s vagueness. Harry took both their overnight bags after he slipped his backpack on his shoulders. After she grabbed her smaller bag, she reached to take her overnight bag off him, “s’fine Sweets, I’ve got it.” They walked down the road they had parked on as Harry kept an eye on his phone map making sure he took her down the correct street, “ready?” he asked as they stood at the corner of the street they were turning down. She nodded her head eagerly and followed him round, letting a soft gasp leave her mouth as she saw the stone buildings that were covered in sprawling ivy. Catching the street sign above her head, her eyes shot to Harry’s who was stood in front of her, their bags resting on the cobbled road as he took a picture of her face flushed with the heat, eyes bright with excitement a wide grin spread across her lips as a bubble of laughter that he would compare to wind chimes left her. 

“Via Margutta? From ‘Roman Holiday’? You’re actually having a laugh, Harry!” Y/N all but launched herself at Harry who had to catch her quickly before they both landed on the cobbles. 

Harry couldn’t help but laugh as he tried unlatching her vice grip, she had around his neck, “okay, okay, let me look at you,” he pried her hands off and held her by the wrists as they both laughed, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

“How did you do this?” she asked shaking her head as she looked around the street she knew so well from the screen.

“Saw it online when I was looking for a place for us to stay, know ‘Roman Holiday’ is your favourite, so I just had to,” he shrugged. She didn’t quite have the words to say how much it meant to her or even begin to process how thoughtful he had been, so she just hugged him, another bone-crushing hug that she just hoped got across how happy and grateful she was and Y/N assumes it did when she felt his lips pucker against the top of her head and his arms wrap around her as they embraced in the middle of the cobbles. 

***

Just as they left the apartment Harry stopped her and tied a silk neck scarf around her throat that he had been carrying in his pocket. “Now you look the part, Audrey Hepburn,” he booped the end of her nose before positioning her in the middle of the street, taking a couple of pictures of her on his camera, before pulling out his phone to get one of her on there as well. 

“Wait, take one with me,” Y/N reached towards him.

“Nope, this is all you this time, Miss Hepburn,” he took a few extra candid shots before he stretched out his hand to grab hers and be on their way. They had both explored Rome extensively, both separately and together so weren’t rushing to the major tourist hot spots, however on their walk they noticed the Trevi fountain was only about 10 minutes from the apartment and had to stop by for a wish. Y/N dug through her purse to find them both a coin and stood side by side holding hands, fluttered their eyes closed and wished, tossing the coin over their shoulders. 

“Y’know the rules H, so don’t even ask,” Y/N warned him before he even had the chance to open his mouth. 

“Yeah, well, didn’t want to know your wish anyway,” he pouted defiantly. 

“Don’t lie, you so want to know,” she smirked. 

“Whatever,” Harry rolled his eyes playfully before leading them out of the piazza, “right c’mon I’ve got something for us to do tonight.”

“Ooh, what’s that?” Y/N quizzed.

“You’ll just need to follow me and find out, won’t you?” he kept walking. They walked for nearly 40 minutes, they probably could have done it in half that, but Harry just kept stopping her to take pictures of them both, but mostly her, as the summer sun sunk down around them, casting her in a warm glow. “The lightings perfect, just stop for a sec,” and “wait, jus’ one more f’me,” and utterances of “so beautiful,” as he looked through his viewfinder and at the screen of his phone as he clicked away happily. Y/N had to agree, the lighting and backdrop of the city was beautiful, she didn’t know that Harry was more so calling his subject matter beautiful.

“Fun fact, this is the oldest bridge in Rome,” Harry said stopping in front of it. 

“Yeah?” she replied looking up at him as he took in the area. 

“Mhm, according to google, the Ponte Fabrico,” he put on his best accent, which to be fair, was actually pretty good.

“Where does said old bridge, lead us to?” she toyed with her neck scarf.

“Isola Tiberina, or Tiber Island,” Harry pointed towards the opposite end of the bridge as they began walking over it, “there’s a couple of mad myths about the island but we’re not here for that, they do a film festival every summer, while we’re not seeing a film, they have like pop-up bars and restaurants, thought we could just take a wander round, eat, drink, be merry y’know,” he smiled letting her loop her arm in his as she stumbled over a cobblestone that was raised higher than the surrounding ones. 

“It’s so beautiful,” Y/N sighed while noticing the tents that lined the island along the river as they made their way onto the island. 

They ate and drank their way around the island, rating each of their samples of food on a scale of 1 to 5 but nothing really scoring under a 3.5. Y/N eventually had Harry help her untie the neck scarf that was beginning to feel claustrophobic in the evening heat and after the couple of cocktails they had been drinking began to affect her. He gripped her wrist and tied it around there instead in a pretty bow for her as they finished up their evening on the island and began to walk back to the apartment. Slowly, with no intention of rushing themselves back. Stumbling over each other, not in drunkenness but more of a happy daze. 

“You tired?” Harry asked opening the door to the apartment and going towards his backpack.

“Not really,” Y/N responded undoing the silk scarf from her wrist and taking her earrings out, a move that always made her feel more comfortable when coming home.

“Great, I’ve got something else for us,” and Harry shook the paper bag that had held their shared joint from the previous evening, before dropping it into another tote bag he had prepared that seemed to be stuffed with something soft. 

“I don’t think we can smoke in here, H, even with the windows open,” she said. 

“We’re not smoking, thought we could go up to the roof as well, there’s a deck up there and they have a rooftop pool, as he popped the front door open again for her. They got up to the roof and sat down at the little table and chairs they had there, the rest of the terrace was filled up by the pool sunken into the ground and the tiles were spilling over with potted plants tucked in every nook and cranny around it. Y/N was enamoured looking out over the city and the rooftops of Rome before them. 

“It’s so beautiful,” she said softly.

“Yeah,” Harry breathed and when she turned round, he had been watching her, before blinking and shaking himself out of his reverie. Reaching for the paper bag he turned it upside down and a thin block wrapped in foil fell into his hand. He quickly peeled back the foil and placed the block of chocolate onto the wrought-iron table in front of them. 

“You brought me up here, t’eat chocolate?” She deadpanned, quirking an eyebrow at him. 

“Well, I also thought we could take a dip, I brought towels,” he nodded towards his overfilled tote bag, “it’s not just normal chocolate though.”

“Right Willy Wonka, what d’you mean it’s not normal chocolate?” She grabbed the bar and realised the second she brought it closer to her face when she could smell it, “y’got us edibles?” and he nodded. “Cannabis is a gateway drug, you should know,” she smirked as she snapped the bar into squares. 

“Gateway to what?” Harry snorted, “having fun, relaxing, and enjoying our holiday? Plus, I’m pretty sure we’ve done worse,” Harry laughed as they both picked up a square and let it melt on their tongues before eating. Harry wasn’t sure how strong it was, so they decided to cut themselves off after a few squares each, just to see how it hit them before overindulging. 

It was around 45 minutes later when the pair started to feel it, Harry began quietly giggling to himself as his eyes were drawn to the lights that cast a glow over the landmarks of the city which caused Y/N to start giggling at his giggling. 

“We should swim, I wanna swim, can we swim?” she asked him, standing up grabbing his tote and pulling out the two large yellow and white striped towels he had shoved in there, and she lay them flat on the terrace next to the pool. 

“Mhmm,” he mumbled, grabbing her hand to pull himself from his seat as he emptied his pocket of his phone and the key to the apartment and left it with the remaining chocolate on the table. They both kicked off their shoes before Y/N stopped. “What’s wrong?” he looked over at her, still playing with her hand in his grip, enjoying the feeling of her warm fingers, entwined with his own.

“Don’t have m’swimsuit on, do I?” Y/N grumbled. 

“That’s never stopped you, c’mon let’s just jump in,” he tugged on her hand, “sort of like we’re jumping off the roof innit, like we’re on the roof right now and we’re about to jump in a pool.”

“But the pools still on the roof,” she countered, “you’re so high,” giggling, Y/N kicked off her trousers anyway, leaving her in her underwear and t-shirt, as Harry quickly peeled off his own jeans, the idea of wet denim clinging his skin enough to put him off wearing them in the water. 

“Shh, let me have this, we’re jumping, in 3..2..1,” and with that, Harry quickly plugged his nose with his free hand and they leapt from the pool edge, the warm water splashing up around them. As they resurfaced Harry had a wild-eyed look as he felt the material of his blue Mickey Mouse t-shirt cling to his torso as it became soaked in water. “Y’look like Cousin Itt,” he laughed looking at his best friend, helping her scrape back all her hair that had covered her face, upon the impact in the water, with clumsy hands. 

“My feet don’t reach the bottom, will y’help me?” Harry doesn’t know why she asked, not that he would have said no, but she didn’t really give him the option or time to reject her either as she latched her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and gripped him like she was a koala. They waded around like that for a while, giggling at the feeling of the water tickling against their skin, every now and again, Harry would squat down and dip both their heads under the water and they would come back up gasping when they forgot to take deep enough breaths. 

As their high was peaking, they decided to get out the water and lie down on the towels and let the warm evening air dry their skin a bit. As Y/N joined Harry lying down on their backs, she felt every bone in her back click and pop as she lay against the flat tile ground.

“Jesus Christ, was tha’ you’re back?” he looked over open-mouthed in shock at the loud crack. 

“Mhm, think my spines just, like, moving everything back in place from the driving,” she sighed, feeling immensely relaxed from the satisfying bone pop, the weed as well mellowing her out. They lay there for a while, taking in the inky swirls of the night sky that was littered with tiny, glittery dots of stars. 

“It’s big, innit?” Harry whispered into the night. 

“Hm?” she mused.

“The sky, s’big.” 

“Yeah, there’s a fair bit of it,” she huffed a laugh through her nose. 

“Makes me feel tiny, insignificant,” he kept his eyes trained on the sky. Y/N furrowed her brow and rolled on her side to look at his side profile. He glanced down to look at her and seen her furrowed brow before his view went back to the stars, “not insignificant in the way you’re thinking, more in a broader sense. Like me and you are just little specks aren’t we, in the grand scheme of things, nothing we do matters in comparison to the universe.” 

“Yeah, I guess, but what we do now in our lifetimes matters now and affects stuff around us now, and that’s significant enough,” Y/N mused, “and if we’re just little specks, then you’re my favourite speck an’ everything you do matters to me, promise,” she prodded his side before he finally rolled over to face her. 

“You’re my favourite speck too,” Harry mused before leaning forward and nudging his nose against her cheek as they both fell into fits of giggles again. “I really missed you,” Harry finalised as Y/N reached up to tuck his hair back that had begun to curl as the pool water dried from his locks. 

“I missed you, too, an insane amount really. Which is weird because we’ve been apart longer when you’ve been on the road, but think it was, like, ‘cause I had zero option to see you an’ there was nothing we could do to change it,” she kept carding her fingers through his soft hair, her heightened senses making it seem like she could feel every single strand as it passed over her skin. 

“Mmm, let’s never do that again, yeah? Our daily calls really got me through it, no matter how late they were sometimes,” he smiled at her, leaning into her touch.

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, the time difference thing still fucks me up,” she giggled, her mouth splitting into a wide grin. 

“Your smile is something else,” Harry complimented, thumb coming up to caress her cheek before running along her bottom lip. “Brightest star in the sky is right in front of me,” he whispered again. Then he was kissing her, and she was kissing him back. It was different than the kiss shared in Pisa. This one was more charged, and both felt a tingling under their melded lips and shocks under every touch and brush of skin. They broke away to catch their breath before blinking at each other and attaching their lips again, their tongues brushing against one another’s as Harry’s hand landed on her waist and her body shuddered forward to tuck herself in his hold, her hand in a fist, scrunching the still damp fabric of his t-shirt in its grip. Harry needed her closer, he gripped her hip and hitched it over his own, pressing their fronts together as they kissed deeply, Harry licking into her mouth, tasting sweet remnants of chocolate. Y/N still clutched the fabric of his t-shirt in one hand, the other reaching around to hold the back of his head, nails scratching at his scalp and the nape of his neck, causing Harry’s skin to erupt in goosebumps and a prickle of pleasure began to manifest in them both. They broke away properly this time, both rolling back onto their backs, staring back up at the night sky again and falling into bursts of laughter. 

“I think we should go to bed, Harry,” she said through her airy laughter. They packed up, and eventually made their way back to the apartment where they both took quick showers to wash the pool water from them and changed for bed. The bed that they were sharing again tonight. 

As they lay facing each other, Harry began to fall over the other side of his high, thankfully, considering he was driving in the morning again. Y/N however was still flushed and feeling the effects of the chocolate. 

“Your eyes are like, crazy,” as she stared into them, “crazy good,” she quickly affirmed. “Like crazy pretty, they’re green but not, they also look clear which is mental, feel like y’can tell a lot by someone’s eyes,” she murmured. 

“Yeah? What can y’tell from mine?” he entertained her thoughts. 

“That you’re like an angel that walks among us,” she said seriously as Harry cackled into the quiet of the bedroom, “nooo, m’dead serious. Your eyes show that your kind, and lovely and that you never mean any harm and they show when you’re happy, they’re even prettier when you get all emotional, the tears make them look all sparkly, like… like glitter eyes,” she rambled out as Harry smiled and tried to stifle another laugh. 

“Thank you, Sweetness, that’s nice of you to say, I think your eyes are super pretty too,” he said as she subconsciously batted her lashes at him in response, “but I think you should close them now and sleep, yeah?” 

“Mhmm,” she mumbled out before reaching out and attaching their lips together again, slower this time but no less passionate, with languid strokes of their tongues and soft hums coming from each other’s throats. Harry broke them apart as they both breathed deeply.

He uttered one final, “sleep,” before she fell under. 

***

“You’re lying to me, if you don’t think the car definitely sounds a bit dodgy now,” Y/N piped up from the passenger seat.

“I don’t know if dodgy is the right word, different maybe? There’s definitely something different,” and with that he took a glance at her. She looks beautiful he thought, comfortable and so beautiful. She wore a t-shirt of his she had filched from him years ago, so worn and washed you could barely make out the graphic, it more so looking like it was covered in paint chips in varying tones and shades than any sort of image. Over that she had a soft cotton set of overalls or dungarees as she had corrected them when he complimented them this morning. “They’re fucking dungarees, Harry,” she had griped as he rolled his eyes. They had wandered round and took some more pictures this morning, a quick visit back up to the roof terrace where another occupant of the building took a picture of the two of them leaning over the railing before getting back in the car for the drive to their next destination. 

“I don’t think I like it being different,” Y/N scrunched her nose.

“Different can be good,” Harry mused, last night and the night before that’s kisses going unmentioned but hanging and colouring the air around them. 

“Yeah… but I don’t think that applies to cars, gorgeous,” she was right, he didn’t mean different good about the car. The pet name she called him was pealing in his head like a bell, reverberating against the sides of his skull. She had called him that before, but it felt different now, good different.

“No probably not, listen just turn the music up, Sweetness, drown it out, there’s no lights on the dashboard saying something’s wrong. The car’s not been used for long distances in a hot minute s’probably just not used to it, I promise you, we’ll be fine,” Harry reassured her, knowing sometimes she just needed him to tell her it was all going to be fine when her mind started to run too fast for her to catch up with, he was her pause, her reprieve. 

***

They had decided to make one pit stop on their route to their destination. Y/N’s uncle had engrained the phrase ‘see Naples and die,’ in her from a young age, as long as she could remember actually and neither of the pair of them had ever actually stopped in the city before and sure enough it was beautiful. She couldn’t help but take multiple photos of the colourful buildings that lined the port, like little houses made of sweets, while boats bobbed in the water that lapped at the brick surround. Y/N stopped Harry every few paces taking photos of him against the technicolour backdrop and then asked someone to take one of the duo on her phone that was immediately used as her lockscreen, a house of turquoise and pink sat next to one of a tangerine orange behind them and Harry’s arm over her shoulder and her own hand against his waist. The pose they continued to hold as they walked along the waterfront before Harry pulled them into a restaurant, he had found online in his 2-minute search for traditional Neapolitan pizza.

“Genuinely, I think that’s the best pizza I’ve ever eaten,” Harry said dreamily as he rubbed the little food-baby pooch that had appeared at his stomach as they settled back in the car for Harry to finish the drive. 

“I think I’ll be thinking about that sauce and cheese for the rest of my life, y’sure y’don’t want me to drive?” she asked as Harry was fastening his seatbelt. 

“Postive,” he grinned at her, starting the car, “you’ve seen Naples then, reckon you’re happy to die now?” 

“Mmm, maybe not right this second, we’ve got a few more places to see and things to do first H, but I get what my uncle meant now, it’s so beautiful,” she grabbed her phone beginning to swipe through the dozens of pictures that had been added to her camera roll from their visit, including one of Harry with the biggest cheese pull, connecting his mouth and the pizza he was eating, she had ever seen along with the dribble of tomato sauce down his chin, proving it wasn’t just her who was the messy eater. 

“I think I’d be a bit gutted if you croaked it now, Y/N/N,” Harry huffed a soft laugh.

“Yeah?” she glanced over at him.

He quickly glanced over at her, catching her gaze as he furrowed his brow. “Devastated,” he said seriously, nodding, before leaving it at that as he re-joined the main road out of Naples.

***

“Buongiorno Amalfi!!!” Harry shouted with the windows rolled down letting the warm coastal breeze blow their hair around as he gave some rendition of the big crescendo of ‘Nessun Dorma,’ that was more shrieking than anything remotely related to opera as Y/N doubled over in fits of giggles. 

“Catch yourself on, Pavarotti,” she laughed as she scraped her hair off her face that had covered it as the wind blew it around. 

“You’re going to love it here, Y/N/N,” Harry looked delighted as he drove the coastal road to the town of Positano. “Don’t shout at me, though.”

“Why would I shout at you?” she queried, turning in her seat to face him. 

“I’ve, uh, booked us somewhere a bit nicer to stay rather than the apartment I sent you,” his face flushed. 

“H, we agreed on flats and apartments,” Y/N whined slightly, she hated when he did extravagant things for her, she never wanted him to feel like she expected it. 

“No, I know, but we’re stopping here for a little while, thought we would want something a bit more comfortable an’ I feel like we deserve it, you definitely do for putting up with me,” Harry smiled as he pulled up to a private gate before pulling out his phone and his notes app for the gate code, managing to put it in by reaching through the window this time rather than having to pop the door open. As the gate swung open, they were confronted with the large villa, the walls painted a cream colour, with teal shutters and sprawling pink bougainvillea flowers blooming across the walls and terraces. 

Harry let out a low whistle as they took in the sight, “shit, I’m trying my best to be so angry at you for this but it’s so pretty,” Y/N sighed as Harry brought the car to a stop in front of the house. 

Harry let her into the villa to explore with another code from his notes app and leaves her to it while he collects their luggage from the car bringing in their bigger bags as well as their over-nights as this was going to be their base for the next while. Harry left their bags at the front door and was on his way to find Y/N who had vanished by the time he returned, he let the air conditioning of the property soothe his clammy skin as he meandered from room to room on the lookout for his favourite person. 

He found her eventually, out on the tiny balcony of one of the guest bedrooms, small enough that only one person could stand on it with no room for any seating, he watched her from his place against the bedroom door frame, as the gossamer curtains of the balcony doors swathed around her back as she leant against the railing, leaning out, taking in the view. He walked quietly up behind her before placing his hands on either side of her, gripping the railing she was leant on, she didn’t even flinch as she felt his warm body sidle up behind her. 

“See something you like?” he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder as they looked out, able to catch a glimpse of the sea and the pebbled beach below.

“This is ridiculous,” she hummed, “places like this aren’t supposed to exist in real life.”

“Well, f’you like this one, I can do you one better,” Harry gripped her wrist and pulled her back through the guest bedroom and into another bedroom, apparently the master going by its size and grandeur in comparison. He pulled back similar gossamer curtains and opened the double doors out onto a terrace with tiled flooring and a pergola roof that had more of the perfumed bougainvillea flowers sprawled across the gaps. The terrace was equipped with a table and chairs for two at one end and a day bed at the other, but the real prize was the view. A full unobstructed sea view, where they could see how the waves sparkled as they crashed into each other under the bright sun, watching bodies mull around in the water, letting it cool their sun-soaked skin. 

“Fucking hell, Harry,” Y/N breathed out, seemingly astounded by the view and the place they got to call home for the next little while. 

“Pretty, innit?” he grinned at her. 

“Understatement of the century, Har,” her eyes were wide as saucers trying to take it all in while letting the soft perfume of the bougainvillea flowers wash over her senses, the salt-air of the sea below them mixing into the fragrance. 

“Thought we could take a walk this afternoon, explore a bit, take a walk along the beach, dip our toes in the water,” Harry dreamed up their afternoons plans as he took up place beside Y/N as she leant against the balcony, bumping his hip against hers. “Then on the way back up, do a bit of shopping to stock up the house for our stay, we could stay in and cook together tonight, eat out here, enjoy the view,” he plucked one of the paper-like pink flowers from the trailing plants and placed it in her hair by her ear before he bumped her hip again, “what d’ya think of that, sweets?” She nodded her head eagerly as she spun to face him as she stared into his face, watching how his dimples carved their way into his face, leaving perfect little pockets in which she would like to leave a kiss. Admiring the smattering of freckles that had begun to appear across the high planes of his face from where the warm sun has brushed his skin. His bright eyes glittering at Y/N’s obvious excitement for their plans. 

Harry’s plans came to fruition in record time, finishing a quick tour around the house they were quick to grab what they would need for the afternoon, not before Harry was ensuring Y/N’s shoelaces were tied tight because there were a lot of steps and hills and the last thing he needs is her tripping and cracking her head like it was an egg and he wouldn’t put it past his clumsy girl. Sorry, the clumsy girl, she wasn’t his, much to Harry’s disdain. They were staying a 5-minute walk from Fornillo Beach so made their way there first, where they could kick their shoes off and walk through the sand of this particular beach as the others were pebbled. They let the warm water of the Tyrrhenian Sea wash over their feet and lap at their ankles as Y/N’s dungarees were cropped and Harry had changed into a pair of striped shorts for the occasion. They kicked splashes of the salty spray at each other as they frolicked in the surf, Y/N nearly dropping her tote bag into the water as she dodged one of his splashes. They took a tonne more photos, Harry getting very snap happy with his camera, taking an obscene number of candid shots of her as she took in everything around them, to the point he had to put a new reel of film in as they left the beach. Y/N wasn’t slick though, Harry kept catching her taking sly photos of him on her phone in his peripheral and would see her smile softly down at the screen as she reviewed them. He kept his mouth shut though and approached a couple on the beach to take a photo of the pair, ankle-deep in the water for them. 

“I can’t wait to scrapbook the shit out of all these photos,” Y/N bubbled as they climbed the steps away from the beach finally. 

“I’m going to be a bloody fortune getting all these film photos printed,” Harry muttered as he tucked his camera away into its bag and squeezing that into his own tote bag. 

“I’m sure it won’t break the bank, H,” she teased as she pinched his arm before looping her free arm through his as they climbed the steps carefully, making their way to the little market Harry had visited when he was last here where they could stock up the villa for their stay. 

Y/N’s favourite version of Harry was this one, and those that could fall into the same category, and that was him doing seemingly mundane tasks, in this case doing his weekly food shop. She was back out with her phone camera in an instant, taking pictures of him reading the back packaging of pastas, photos of him bathed in the fluorescent lighting of the refrigerators as he picked out meats and cheeses and even a little video of him in the produce section holding out a tomato to her like he just couldn’t contain himself, “I mean, Jesus,  just give this a whiff, you can smell how fresh it is, Y/N/N.” 

Harry was glad he tucked an extra tote in his own because across the three bags they carried now, they were all fit to bursting. Bottles of wine shoved down the sides, fish and meat wrapped up, blocks of cheese in crinkly paper, their fresh produce balancing on top as not to get squished. Harry nearly had a heart attack and all the fresh bread options in the bakery and was going back with an additional loaf with a crisp crust tucked under his arm that he couldn’t fit in the bags with the other ones they just had to try. Before they walked back to the villa, they found themselves sitting on the step outside the market splitting the Amalfi speciality ‘Delizia al Limone’, that they made fresh in store. They moaned around bites of the sponge and custard dessert, the lemony glaze being so refreshingly tart. 

“It’s only been a few hours, and I reckon I could stay here forever, y’know,” Y/N gushed as she licked a stray glob of the lemon glaze off her fingertip. Harry had to blink hard to stop staring at her sucking the digit into her mouth.

“We could always jus’ run away here forever, we’d have a ball I think,” Harry said as he pulled himself to his feet taking two of the tote bags and slinging them over his shoulders before reaching down to pull her up by the hand as she held onto the final bag. 

“Hmm, just you n’me?” she contemplated, beginning their walk back to the villa. 

“Mhm, just us,” Harry reiterated trying to reach for the bag she was carrying for him to carry as well but she just swatted her hand away and placed the strap on her shoulder furthest from him.

“An’ I’ll be the woman who stole Harry Styles away and locked him up in her villa in the quiet streets of Italy, never to return, m’not sure about that one,” she dramatised. 

“You make it sound like somethin’ out of Beauty and the Beast,” Harry tittered turning them up another set of stairs. 

“You’re for sure the beast then, ‘specially with that Stache you’ve got brewing, keep that up and it’ll maybe be a real, full moustache by the time we go back to England,” Y/N taunted him. 

“Oi, I resent that…” Harry began, “you’re definitely all beauty anyway,” he murmured the last part, Y/N not quite hearing them as a tour group passed them down the steps. 

***

They made it back to the villa shortly after and packed away their shopping before deciding to start on their dinner for the evening, deciding on a pasta full of all the fresh vegetables they had bought earlier. They split the chopping and stirring between them as they snacked on antipasti they had bought while dancing around the kitchen to the playlist of instrumental and orchestral music he had been listening to recently. Just before everything was ready, Y/N opted on them dining on the balcony attached to the larger bedroom as Harry had suggested earlier so was taking everything they could need or want out there, setting up the little table that overlooked the sea. She uncorked a bottle of wine and filled their glasses full, and placed cutlery and napkins at their table along with some of the bread Harry so desperately needed. As she was about to turn back in to see if Harry needed any help, he was already walking out towards her with a steaming pasta bowl in each hand and a dish towel lazily thrown over his shoulder. He nudged her with his hip into her seat and presented her dinner in front of her as she groaned at how good it smelt. 

“Bloody hell, H, you’ve outdone yourself here,” she said as he cracked some black pepper over the top of her plate for her. 

“You helped,” he smiled as he took his own seat.

“I chopped some peppers and stirred the sauce, wouldn’t call myself a chef,” she laughed. 

“Hey, every chef needs his sous-chef,” Harry raised his wine glass to hers letting them clink softly together as they both took a sip before reaching for their forks to dig in. 

“You’re too good to me,” Y/N sighed around her first bite, letting her eyes flutter shut at the taste as Harry watched with a shit-eating grin, overjoyed she was liking what he made. 

Over dinner they discussed what they wanted to do while they were there, Y/N wanted to go to a museum she had seen on tripadvisor, as well as time on the beach with their books, and visits to all the little shops and some more time splashing in the water together. Harry mentioned something about a private boat trip to Capri he had seen advertised, that he had most definitely already booked for them before coming on the trip, but she didn’t need to know that. Something triggered the telling of an old story, and they began reminiscing about growing up together in fits of laughter at something that happened in their Year 10 science class and remembering when Y/N bumped off college for a week and a half to visit Harry while he was touring and they both realised that each of their favourite stories to tell people seemed to involve each other in every single one of them. 

“Aw Y/N/N,” Harry sighed as he ate his last forkful, “y’were doing so well,” he nodded towards her t-shirt which now had a forkful of food that had fell off her own last bite. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she whined at herself, scraping most of the food off back into her plate, leaving behind a reddish-orange stain in its wake.

“D’you want me to go get you a cloth or wipe or somethin’?” he chuckled. 

“No, s’fine, I can jus-” she wriggled her right arm free of the t-shirt sleeve and then the left arm following that as Harry quirked an eyebrow at what she was doing, “what? It’s cool, the dungarees cover all m’bits and pieces,” and she pulled the t-shirt over her head without having to unclip her dungarees at all. Seemingly a professional at that move she’s had to do it so many times as she dumped the soiled t-shirt on the tiled terrace. Harry gulped as the top swell of her braless breasts became visible, it’s nothing he hadn’t seen of her before over the years, but after how he’s been feeling over this trip, he’s struggling to keep himself in check. 

“Dance with me for a sec?” she questioned; they could still hear Harry’s playlist floating through the open balcony doors. 

“Uh… yeah, mhm, sounds good,” Harry babbled, scraping his chair back, quickly lifting his wine glass to his lips and draining its contents as she followed suit. Y/N was the braver of the two, reaching up first to wrap her arms around his neck and lean her head against his chest, she could feel his warm skin radiate through the thin button-up shirt he wore and the pitter-patter of his heart thud in his chest. Harry’s arms tentatively wrapped around her waist, settling, for the time being, on the small of her back as they swayed in time to the quiet music in the background. 

“This is m’favourite,” she whispered against his chest, he smelt of summer, a hint of citrus, sun cream and warm skin. 

“It’s Tchaikovsky, I think, sweets” Harry replied, letting his nose run along the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her fruity shampoo.

“Not the song, H,” she breathed out a light laugh from her nose, “although it is pretty. Just being here, no in fact it’s not even here, it’s being with you, could be anywhere, being with you is my favourite, today’s location is just a bonus,” she said letting her eyes flutter and Harry could just about feel her eyelashes blink against his chest and then he felt her lips press a kiss onto his chest. His breath caught and his hands came back to her sides, thumbs rubbing careful circles as they climbed higher. The fabric of her dungarees dipped quite low on her sides and Harry’s hands continued climbing until they found purchase where the seam of fabric met her skin. His thumbs resting on the side of her breasts, the swell visible from the dip in the fabric. Her skin was soft under Harry’s touch as he kept rubbing and squeezing at her sides as she tilted her head back to investigate his face, her eyes as wide as saucers as Harry seemed to snap back into his body and realise what he was doing. 

“Y/N, I-I…” he stammered out, lifting his hands off her sides leaving them hovering there, just not touching. 

“No, s’okay, s’okay,” she unlatched her hands from around his neck gripping his wrists and putting his hands back where they were. “You can touch, it’s okay, you’re okay,” she reassured nodding her head before she reached up and placed a kiss on his jawline. Harry’s eyes slipped closed, his lashes brushing his cheeks as he breathed deeply at the sensation of her plush lips that continued placing kisses and light sucks to his cheek, jaw, and neck. 

“Y/N/N,” Harry sighed lifting his head away from her lips immediate reach. 

“Mhm?” she asked, their eyes searching each other’s, pupils becoming more blown out by the second. 

“I- I jus’-” Harry tried to speak but it proved futile, they had no need for words anymore as Y/N began nodding her head at Harry’s unspoken question and he leant down and pressed their lips together. Their lips rolled and moulded together, Harry’s hands still pressing firmly at her sides, thumbs skimming the supple flesh of her side boob, as if he was trying to commit every ripple of skin, every pore and indentation to memory. He could eulogise her skin. Their kisses became hungrier, tongues meeting and licking the seam of each other’s lips, desperate for a taste. Stumbling towards the day bed, drunk on each other as Harry fell on his back as Y/N crawled over him, situating herself on his lap, feeling him growing beneath her as she gave an experimental roll of her hips against his own as he gasped into her mouth as they continued to kiss, breaking only to breathe as their lips still brushed. Her fingers began to play with the buttons of his shirt, waiting for his permission to begin undoing them. Harry’s hand came away from her side to latch onto her wandering hand to help her deftly undo the top button. After being allowed to do one, she quickly unfastened the rest on her own, pushing his shirt from his shoulders so it became a crumpled mess under his back. She giggled as she took in his bare torso and arms, the black ink of his tattoos hugging his skin, looking like he was born with them rather than something that was added later. 

“What’re you giggling at, Sweetness?” Harry panted as their hips still rolled and grinded together. 

“You’ve got a farmers tan, gorgeous,” she giggled again before leaning down and pressing a kiss to the tan line that wrapped around his bicep from the t-shirts he had been wearing, she nosed up his arm and across his shoulder, kissing her away across. “I like you all sun-kissed, look so healthy and glowy,” she kept kissing down his chest before feeling brave and licking across his nipple before biting softly into his pec. 

“Y/N,” he groaned out before sitting up right with her still straddling him as she gasped at his movement, it bumped their pelvises together as they moved, and she had to bite down on her lip to silence the moan that crawled its way up her throat at the sensation. His hands came to her front and quickly undone the fastenings of her jumpsuit, flipping the straps backwards over her shoulders and letting the fabric cascade down her body to pool at her waist, keeping her bottom half covered but completely exposing her from the waist up. Harry felt his eyes widen, the curvature of her waist and breasts as they swelled as she breathed deep was doing a number on him, so soft, supple, and inviting. Her nipples hardening with the exposure to the fresh air had Harry leaning in, wrapping his lips around one, laving his tongue over the peak and sucking it into his mouth, his hand coming up to toy with the other, squeezing the swell of her breast in his hand, rolling her nipple between his fingers as she gasped and keened under his touch. 

“More H, need more, gorgeous,” she huffed out as Harry broke away from his assault on her breasts, a string of saliva connecting him to her. His hands slid down to grip the fullness of her bum and he rolled them over so he was hovering between her legs as she laid on her back, her hands immediately going to the waistband of his shorts, pulling the tie undone and shoving them down as best she could. Harry helped her out when the fabric became caught up around the tops of his thighs and he kicked his legs free. Harry was visibly hard in his underwear, the bump hard to ignore, especially as he gave another roll of his hips towards Y/N’s as he moaned lowly in his throat at the friction. He gripped the bunched fabric of her overalls from around her waist and began to tug them down, becoming irritated when she refused to lift her hips to help him slide them down, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. He leant back up her lips, kissing her deeply, pulling her bottom lip between his teeth, biting softly, and letting it snap back into place. 

“Please,” he requested against her lips and Y/N lifted her hips immediately as he rolled her clothes down her body. Leaving her in her full coverage, orange striped underwear, Harry’s hands came down to play with the tiny piece of lace that wrapped around the waistline before toying with the satin bow that adorned the front. 

“Sorry ‘bout the knickers, didn’t think I’d be getting them out to show off an’ impress anyone,” she said shyly, focusing on the feeling of Harry’s fingertips dancing at her lower stomach. 

“God, believe me Y/N, m’impressed no matter what,” he groaned as he lifted the elastic waistline and let it snap back against her skin in a sharp bite. He stopped all ministrations and that point and let his eyes do the work, taking her in as she lay atop the day bed, hair splayed in a halo around her while her chest rose and fell in quick succession as she heaved in deep breaths. 

“What’re you doing?” she breathed, reaching for his hands to interlock their fingers. 

“Jus’ admiring, you’re so beautiful, Y/N/N,” Harry said sincerely, coming back to catch her gaze in his as his thumb rubbed the back of her knuckles of the hand that was gripping his. 

Y/N felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she gave a bashful laugh before she latched her hands arms around his neck to pull him down towards her lips in a searing kiss. Well, what would’ve been a searing kiss if they hadn’t both dived into it open-mouthed.

“Ow! Jesus, m’fuckin tooth,” Harry groaned his hand coming up to check he hadn’t gone all bloody gummed when they’re teeth clashed in their plight to kiss one another. 

“Oh my god,” she laughed, showing zero remorse. 

“Don’t laugh, Y/N,” he whined.

“I’m so sorry, H,” Y/N tried to be serious, “open up and lemme see,” she managed to get out before she loudly cackled in his face slapping her hands over her mouth to contain her ringing laughter. 

“Can’t believe I’m going t’need to go to the emergency dentist with toothache ‘cause I was that desperate to kiss you,” as they both laughed at the situation, “okay, be cool,” he pecked her lips, “s’fine, it didn’t happen,” he pecked her lips again. 

“It did happen,” she muffled out lips pressing against his in more short pecks.

“Shh, no it didn’t, just act normal, we’re all good,” and he leant down and pulled her into the passionate kiss they had been aiming for before. They were separated only by the thin cotton of each of their underwear’s and they could feel everything as Harry worked his hips in slow rolls against hers. The heat radiating from their crotches as Y/N moaned and gasped at the firmness hidden in Harrys briefs ticking against her, him aiming perfectly so the little damp patch on her knickers was just transferring to his own. His kisses began to wander from her plush lips, across her cheek, sucking and leaving a blooming mark on the patch of skin just below her ear as she writhed at the sensation, Harry forcing his hips down against hers to keep her from wriggling away from the assault across her collarbones and décolletage, licking and biting more of his marks like a trail of breadcrumbs to lead him back to her lips that he was sure he would need as he got lost in his heaven between her legs. Y/N’s hands came down to card through his hair, giving light tugs when he would pinch another patch of skin on her lower tummy between his teeth. Harry’s own hands were busy too, running lengths up and down her legs, letting his fingertips coast under the elastic of her panties that sat around each leg before they breezed back down her legs, his blunt nails lightly scratching her skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. When his fingers made it back up through the legs of her underwear again, Harry’s eyes flickered up to catch her own gaze in a silent question as Y/N rapidly nodded her head. 

“Take ‘em off, please gorgeous, want them off,” Y/N gulped, lifting her hips to aid the process as he stretched the fabric taught over his hands and wrinkled them down and over her legs. Instead of letting them fall to the terrace floor, like she expected, she watched Harry through her hazy, hooded eyes, sit back on his knees, scrunch her panties in his fist and bring the bundled fabric up to his face where he breathed them in deeply, moaning and letting his eyes close. Y/N’s legs snapped closed at the sight, thighs pressing together to try and give herself some form of release from the pressure that was building in her abdomen, teeth sinking into her lip to withhold the moan that so desperately wanted to make itself known. 

“Fuck, Y/N/N, baby, y’smell so good, I need t’taste you, just a little one, please,” Harry all but begged, prying her legs back open. 

“Go ahead, s’yours, take what you want, Harry,” Y/N let her hips tick forward towards his face to get the message across. Harry’s head dipped down as he lay between her spread legs, kissing her hipbones and the flesh of her inner thighs as she watched his every action. Nose skimming her lower stomach, he trailed it further, through the thatch of hair that decorated the apex of her thighs, breathing her in. She felt his shoulders quake as a shiver of pleasure ran through him as he flattened his tongue and painted it along the length of her soaking heat. “Shit,” she gasped, pressing herself up to balance on one of her elbows as one hand flew to Harry’s hair, scrunching the locks between her fingers. 

“Now I know why I’ve been calling you sweetness,” Harry murmured between flicks of his tongue, “Y/N/N, you taste…” he trailed off, his tongue delving into where she wept for him before tantalisingly teasing the tip of his tongue up to roll against her clit, evoking the most sinful noises from her. 

Y/N’s hips wriggled under his constant assault and her breath was coming out in pants as she succumbed to the intense pleasure. “H, more, baby, need it,” she whined through her struggling breaths, her grip on his curls tugging him as close as he could be as his lips suctioned round her clit, nose resting on her mound. Harry placed his left arm across her lower stomach, effectively pinning her against the day bed. 

“Still, stay still for me, baby and I’ll give you what you want,” Harry said breaking away from her centre briefly and leaning up to kiss her deeply. “D’you taste it? Can you taste how sweet you are for me?” he questioned as Y/N nodded her head limply before he made his way back down. “Y’gonna come for me an’ let me taste you properly, baby?” He didn’t wait for her response and if anything, Y/N was too fucked out to harbour one. He lingered over her pussy, opening his mouth, and letting the spit he had collected land on her heat before he flattened his tongue against the mess he made and shook his head in place to get in deeper. Harry’s right hand was wandering again, tracing patterns on her leg as he ghosted his fingertips up to join his tongue, his middle finger sinking into her with no resistance as her body tried to fight against his forearm that was pinning her in place as she felt the digit slide out and back into her at agonising pace. Harry was beginning to rut his own hips into the pillowy surface of the day bed, desperately needing to feel some friction against his solid cock. The mixture of Y/N’s taste, the glazed-over look in her eyes and the little whimpers and moans that would escape her was causing Harry to balance dangerously on the edge of finishing in his underwear. “Can you take another?” he grunted against her. 

“Uh-huh” she mewled. Honestly not really hearing what he was asking but would have said yes to anything in that moment she was so wound up. The next time Harry’s middle finger slid out, his ring finger joined it as they drove back in, reaching and curling to find that special spot of hers as his lips began suctioning around her little pearl of nerves again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, Harry, oh my god,” she moaned loudly, both hands flopping down to her sides, fingers digging into the mattress of the day bed.

“Found it,” she could feel him grinning against her as his fingers focused on repeatedly tapping away at her g-spot to send her teetering towards her end. 

After a few minutes of that, Y/N was hanging precariously on the edge.  “M’gonna… m-gonn-” she cut off as Harry removed his fingers from her weeping hole, bringing them up to rub tight little circles against her clit, his tongue delving inside, feeling her walls flutter and pulse around the wet muscle as she found her release. She ripped the arm that was pinning her down off her, latching her fingers into his as her body curled in on itself as she shook her way through her orgasm, Harry moaning in delight at her taste, pushing his hips down to keep himself from exploding, his own fingers gripping hers just as tightly as his preoccupied hand began to let up on her clit. She tugged his hand so he became level with her face again, breathing deeply as she watched him take his fingers that had been inside her and suck them into his mouth to savour every taste he could get. “Fucking hell, H,” she said lowly as a low grumble of a laugh left his chest as he pulled their lips back together in a messy kiss, the wetness on his chin transferring to her own as he sucked on her bottom lip. “You’re turn, wanna taste you now,” Y/N expressed as they broke away from their kiss. 

“As much as I would love that, I can’t, I want to be inside you so bad and I won’t last,” Harry disclosed and when Y/N pouted at his response he couldn’t help the lazy, soft smile that graced his features. “Let’s save that for later, darling,” he nipped her pouted lip. 

“Fuck me, then. Want you inside, I want to feel you, Harry,” she nuzzled her face into his neck, hands running up and down, squeezing his biceps before looping over his shoulders and dragging her nails over the skin of his back lightly. 

“I want it too, baby, so bad. I don’t have any condoms though, didn’t exactly think I’d be shagging anyone this trip, let alone you,” Harry chuckled, slightly in disbelief that this was all happening, no matter how long he had craved it. 

“I’m still on my birth control, gorgeous. Please, I want y’so bad, m’aching, I trust you,” she said sincerely, kissing his neck, sucking on the skin leaving her own mark on him as her hands gripped the waistband of his briefs, shucking them down his thighs quickly. Harry gasped as the cool air reached his cock that was now free of its confinements, standing to attention and the precome seeping out painting his slit shiny. Y/N looked down, widening her eyes at his impressive length, her lips reattaching to his throat, biting and licking with more fervour she was so desperate to feel him slip inside of her.  

“I trust you too, more than anyone,” Harry said gripping her chin to look into her eyes, “how d’you wanna…” he tailed off. 

“Oh, uh, let me just,” Y/N untangled herself from their cluster of limbs rolling herself over til she was presented to him on all fours, her hips wiggling teasingly as she looked over her shoulder at him, seeing him gazing at the fullness of her hips and bum, lightly palming himself as her teeth sunk into her lip at the sight. Harry shuffled himself up behind her taking a grip of himself at his base, ticking his hips forward slightly so he could paint his tip through her folds, letting the wetness that was pooled there coat him. 

“You’re sure, Y/N?” he clarified. 

“Never been s’sure, I want it, gorgeous, I want you,” Y/N pushed back against him, feeling his tip applying pressure at her entrance. 

“Impatient little thing, aren’t you?” Harry began guiding himself into her tight channel, groaning at the feeling as one of Y/N’s hands shot back to spread herself open for him to bury into. He groaned at the vision of her hands dimpling the skin of her behind as she moaned at the pleasure-pain of him entering her. 

“Stretching me so good, Harry, feels so good,” their eyes met as she looked back over her shoulder. Once he bottomed out, he paused, letting her get used to him filling her, and taking a few steadying breaths of his own to calm himself. He grasped her hand that she had been using to spread open for him, holding it tight against her lower back, their fingers knotted together. “Fuck, you’re so big. Y’can move,” she whined, ready to rock her hips back against him if he wasn’t planning on moving. Harry reared his hips back, and was sliding back in within an instant, creating a slow but deep pace as both their breaths caught at the feeling. 

“Fuck, Y/N/N, you’re so warm an’ wet,” Harry groaned, Y/N clenched at his commentary, squeezing around his cock as he plunged back in, “fuckin’ tight as well, so tight, but made to take me, weren’t you?” Harry panted, their fingers still tangled together as his other hand gripped onto the plush at the side of her hip, squeezing, thinking to himself he would quite like to take a bite of the fullness of her hips, given the opportunity. 

“H, you’re so big, made for you, made to take your dick,” she whined, the hand that was holding her up collapsing under the rocking motion, so her cheek was pressed against the bed, bum still presented to him in the air. They were both already covered in a sheen of sweat from their activities and the warm evening air of Positano that lingered heavily around them. They were a mess of shivers, gasps, and moans as they fell into a rhythm with each other’s body’s. “Harder, can y’go harder, H? M’not going to break,” she asked as she began to push back against his thrusts. 

“Whatever you want, baby, but I’ll decide if you’re going to break or not,” his grip on her hip and hand tightened as he began to thrust into her with more vigour, loud smacking as their skin collided echoed around the open terrace, Harry was sure they were going to bruise, but he wasn’t opposed to seeing the bruised back of her thighs peeking out from one of her little sundresses she had packed, the idea made him slam his hips into her harder. 

Y/N pulled her arm, the one buckled under the pressure as Harry rocked into her, out from under her holding it behind her back to clutch onto Harry’s arm that held onto the other, desperate to feel his skin. Harry realising what she wanted, released his grip on her hip, holding both her hands in his behind her back.

“Jus’ needed to feel you, wanna feel you so bad, H,” she whimpered, fingers splaying over his forearms. 

“Yeah?” he panted, his thrusts sending shockwaves through the pair of them. 

“Mhm, so bad, skins so warm,” she babbled and if she wanted to feel his skin, who was he to refuse. He pulled her up to her knees, so her back was firmly against his chest, basically seated on his lap and as they fell into sync in their new position, she could feel him so much deeper than before. “Shit, shit, shit, Harry, you’re so deep,” her moans rising in volume. Harry released the grip on her hands and his own began to trail a path round to her front cupping a breast in each hand, rolling and pinching her nipples between his fingers as he kissed and licked over her neck, that the new position gave him access to, but he wanted her lips. Releasing one of her boobs from his grip he took his free hand and grasped her chin turning it to the side so he could kiss her deeply, her eyes had fallen shut at the deeper penetration she was feeling.

Breaking away from the kiss, he whispered against her lips, “open your eyes for me, pretty, and keep them open, need to see you,” her eyes fluttered open, seemingly with a little bit of a struggle as Harry bounced her on his lap, and bore into his own green ones. The hand he had gripped her chin with was off on an exploration again, dipping down her front, applying a little pressure to her lower abdomen, “feel me right here, baby?” Y/N could only nod in response before her lips were searching for his again. 

The hand that had been busy tweaking at her nipple came up to rest on the base of her throat, thumb placed on one side and the remainder of his fingers wrapping delicately round the other side as he turned her head to look out over the balcony of the terrace, they had made their bedroom for the evening. She could see the twinkling of the water from their upright position, the evening light dwindling and the glow from the moon beginning to paint everything with a silvery hue. “Look how pretty it is,” Harry murmured into the shell of her ear, his hot breath fanning over her. “We’re so lucky to have such a pretty view aren’t we, Y/N/N?” he sounded almost condescending as he pulled her earlobe between his teeth and nibbled. Y/N’s own hands had begun exploring, one reaching over behind her shoulder to find its grip in the hair at the nape of Harry’s neck, fingers twirling the strands he had let dry in their natural curls. The other hand came to rest atop Harry’s that he had around her throat and urged him to apply pressure by flexing her fingers against his. Harry’s eyes were searching the side of her face to make sure this is what she was wanting from him and with a subtle nod of her head her hand fell away to grip his thigh as his grip around her throat tightened, restricting her airflow, and sending a pleasurable buzz to her brain. 

“Fucking hell, Y/N, you’re so filthy,” Harry gasped as their hips moved in synchronicity, they were both teetering on the edge of bliss. “Tomorrow, we’ll go splash around in the water,” Harry kept her head tilted towards the view, “won’t that be fun, look how pretty the sea is,” his fingers flexed again, tightening against her throat once more. “Not as pretty as you, you’re so fucking beautiful, nothing could compare,” Harry whimpered out, the vice like grip around his cock was becoming overwhelming, he took his other hand and let it find it’s home on her clit as he began rubbing tight little circles there. Y/N’s cries were increasing in frequency as she bucked against the stimulation. “Louder, baby, let everyone hear how pretty you sound,” he panted

“Harry, m’gonna come,” she cried out when Harry gave her a second to gulp lungfuls of air into her system. 

“Me too, me too,” Harry babbled, “fuck, where d’you want me?” he asked quickly, if she wanted him to pull out it would have to be now as the elastic of his orgasm was stretched to its limit, just waiting for it to snap. 

“M’on my pill, inside, want it inside so bad, wanna feel all o’you,” Y/N was grinding her hips down to meet his thrusts as they increased in pace as they chased their high. That was all Harry needed to hear, and he was sent over the edge, ropes of sticky release pouring into her, Harry’s fingers tightened around her neck as his orgasm shattered through his body, hips slamming into hers, triggering Y/N’s orgasm as they came together. Her walls quivered and pulsed as she collapsed forward into the bed, Harry following, quickly rotating her onto her side so he wouldn’t crush her, still not pulling out.

“Shit,” they both breathed in unison, as they tried catching their breath, quickly the pair falling into giggles.

“Jinx,” Y/N whispered as Harry hummed a laugh, before placing three kisses on the back of her neck. They rested in silence for a few minutes, catching their breath and processing what had just happened, before Y/N opened her mouth again. “Think I need t’go clean up, things are feeling a little…sticky and not in a fun way,” Y/N said looking over her shoulder as Harry eyed her carefully before he leant forward and caught her lips in a kiss again. 

“Suppose so,” Harry sighed as he started to pull out, both hissing at the sensation. As Y/N stood and went to make her way across the terrace, he stopped her, “come stay with me tonight? Meet me in bed?” he asked softly, Y/N would say he even seemed shy or nervous to ask, as a flush painted his cheeks either from their activities or the embarrassment, he felt asking her to sleep with him in bed. 

 “Obviously, do you really think I’m letting you stay in the big posh bedroom without me? Dream on Harry,” she giggled, her tone light and airy, speaking to him as she always did as if their romp on the day bed never happened. She made her way back through the open doors, the gossamer curtains parting in billowy clouds around her as Harry flopped onto his back, running his hand through his hair, trying to piece together what the hell he and his best friend of nearly 15 years had just done.

***

Bedtime was easy. By the time they had both got cleaned up and dressed, them both in a fresh set of underwear and Y/N wearing another years old stolen t-shirt, any hint of awkwardness had completely dissipated. Harry was already in bed, the sheet pooling at his waist as he sat against the headboard typing a list of all the things they wanted to do while they were in town in his notes app. Moments later, Y/N was slipping under the sheets with him, a sleepy sort of smile gracing her features. Once she had wriggled around a little finding her spot, Harry put his phone down on the bedside table and was shrugging himself down the bed until he was lying on his side staring at his best friend in the darkened room. 

“Y’got some toothpaste,” he whispered, his thumb coming up to wipe away the white stain around her lip as she hummed softly in thanks. They stared at each other for a beat, tired eyes blinking heavily, muscles slightly achy from their endeavours on the day bed on the terrace. Just as they were about to fall over, they shuffled closer to each other until they were wrapped in each other’s warmth, legs tangled beneath the sheets, and they let their lips pucker together in a soft kiss, Harry taking her bottom lip between his own and suckling just a little bit. They broke away with a contented hum and let their eyes slip shut. 

“Minty fresh,” Harry whispered causing Y/N to let out a soft, twinkly giggle into the night mixing with the sound of the sea crashing into the rocks on the beach below. 

***

Harry awoke with a groan as the sun shone through the windows causing him to screw his eyes shut to protect them from the bright rays. He starfished his limbs across the bed, flexing his fingers and his toes to gain some feeling back in his sleep-drunk body. When his hands could reach either side of the bed, he realised he was alone in the nest of sheets and feathered pillows and sat up abruptly letting his eyes flit around the room and peer out the windows of the double doors for any sign of Y/N. With no immediate signs of her, he sat and took stock of how he was feeling after last night. Thrilled, to say the least, at first anyway. Harry had realised a while ago he cared for her much more than the average best friend does, and his want and need for her had only grown after being separated for so long, and now, having spent however many days constantly in her company, his feelings for her were undeniable now. He loved her. He was in love with her, and he could only hope she felt the same. Surely all their little kisses and especially last night meant something. Christ, what if it didn’t? What if it was just some fun while high or drunk? No, they weren’t drunk last night, they had a glass of wine each, both perfectly with their wits about them so that wasn’t an excuse. God, he hoped things weren’t going to be awkward. Where was she anyway? Shit, what if she’s done a runner? Harry thought to himself, his mind running at a mile a minute, barely registering the scent of brewing coffee floating through the air. 

“Oh, you fucker, ouch!” being shouted from outside the bedroom was the only thing that brought Harry back down to reality and the sound of gushing, running water seconds later as he found himself pulling off the sheets and stumbling blindly out of the bedroom to the kitchen where he heard a constant, “ow, ow, ow, ow,” being sing-songed. 

“Y/N/N, you alrigh’?” Harry rasped out; his voice hoarse from being asleep. 

“Was trying to make coffee in that stupid feckin’ pot I found in the cupboard and burnt my finger on it,” she whined, nodding towards the stove while running her finger under tepid water, a trick from her high school art teacher when she frequently burnt herself with the hot wax pot and the glue guns. Harry looked over to the stove top to see the stainless steel Moka pot steaming away on the hot plate, the smell of hot coffee much more intense and inviting in the kitchen. 

“Let me see,” Harry said. 

“It’s right there on the stove,” Y/N looked at him as if he had grown a second head, had she not just pointed out the pot to him?

“Your finger, thicko,” Harry rolled his eyes in faux annoyance as he reached towards her hand as she pulled it out of the stream of water holding it between their faces. Harry’s fingers clutched and twisted her hand delicately to see every angle. “Don’t think it’ll blister, but I’ve got some antiseptic cream in a first aid kit in m’bag,” he still held onto her hand, even though Dr. Styles was finished his examination. 

“Y’brought a first aid kit? Who are you?” Y/N smiled at Harry’s preparedness. 

“Y/N, sweets, you’re a bit of a liability, of course I brought a first aid kit.” Y/N paused her eyes path of taking in Harry’s shirtless form as her gaze shot back to his, mouth agape, seemingly appalled.

“…okay, that’s fair,” she eventually agreed, that yeah, she probably was a liability. Harry’s eyes flickered down to where he still held her injured finger between his own.

Without thinking, he brought the finger up to his lips and placed a kiss the pad of her fingertip, “there, all healed.” 

“Harry,” she whispered, feeling his lips pucker against her digit.

“Hmm,” he asked, post-verbally with a contented hum.

“Uh… um… d’you think you could reach the espresso cups from that cupboard,” she pointed towards an overhead cupboard and when Harry’s back was turned, she felt all the blood heating her face as she tried to calm her racing heart down. Her own mind had been whirring when she woke that morning so had to get out of bed to occupy herself, in her mad half hour she had managed to gather their discarded clothes from the terrace as well as clean up their mess from dinner both in the kitchen and where their finished meal had been abandoned at the table on the terrace. She had been flitting in and out the bedroom repeatedly, taking trips to tidy the balcony but each time she paused to look at Harry who was lying on his stomach in the bed, his arm reaching across to where she had been laying, his fingers scrunching the sheets that had been swathed around her body. She admired is sleep-softened features where his cheek was smushed against his pillow, puffs of air escaping his raspberry tinted lips. It would have been easy to crawl back in beside him and cuddle up to him but what if he didn’t want that from her? What if last night was just a bit of fun? Before she could dwell on it too much, she found herself in the kitchen scrubbing plates and starting on their breakfast and subsequently burning herself on the coffee pot.

Harry poured their espresso and turned back round to hand Y/N’s off to her to see her pacing round the kitchen trying to distract herself but moving manically. 

“Hey, hey, hey, stop, what’s wrong?” Harry questioned; his voice tainted with concern as he followed her round.

“Nothing, m’fine just trying to sort breakfast,” she was slicing bread and chopping fruit a little too fiercely to be considered ‘fine’, Harry wasn’t buying it. 

“Look at me, Y/N/N,” he said softly, and after a beat she spun round to face him, and Harry was confronted with her gnawing into her lip and a dampness glittering at her waterlines as tears threatened to spill. “Oh, sweetness,” Harry sighed sadly, “c’mon let’s go sit outside, we should, uh, we should have a chat, I think,” Harry gave her a smile, trying to reassure her, but he couldn’t help but notice the nagging feeling that her tears were his fault, they should’ve spoken before falling asleep, they should have spoken after Harry kissed her in Pisa, he just didn’t want to ruin the trip so early on if she wasn’t interested. He guided them out to the garden, still clutching both their coffees, he didn’t think sitting on the bedroom terrace was a good idea considering the memories of what happened there last night coloured the air out there. He handed her the coffee when they contented themselves on either end of the painted wooden bench. She took a sip of the searing coffee and let her teary eyes slip closed and tilted her head back to let the morning sun warm her face breathing out a heavy sigh. Silence fell between them, only the sound of the morning bird song and the light breeze rustling through the leaves of the trees disrupted them as they drank their coffee. Almost perfectly in sync, they drained the miniature ceramic mugs and placed them on the ground. Harry kept an eye on her out of the corner of his eye as she played with her fingers mindlessly, not sure who was supposed to speak first. 

“Why’re you s’far away?” he asked turning to face her, a light airy tone to his voice. He stretched the arm closest to her across the back of the bench, beckoning her under it. She looked at him, shyly at first, before that radiant smile he knew so well burst across her face as she shuffled along the bench, cuddling into his side, legs coming up to rest on the bench as his arm wrapped around her shoulder, holding her close. 

“I’m sorry,” they spoke in unison. 

“Jinx,” Y/N said quietly as they both let out an amused exhalation through their noses remembering Y/N saying the same thing last night. She took Harry’s hand that wasn’t around her shoulder, in hers, toying with his fingers in her grip.

“What’ve you got to be sorry about?” he asked bemused. “I’m sorry, I uh, came onto you I guess, that wasn’t fair of me to put you in that position. I- I don’t want things to be, to be awkward or uncomfortable with us, Y/N, but I understand if- f’you think d-different of me,” Harry was stumbling over his words, honestly not sure what he was trying to say, he just needed her to know he never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable or be the reason for her sadness. 

“Wait-what?” Y/N shot up from his side, turning her body to face him properly, he looked so upset. “Harry, no, I wanted you too, what we did last night, I wanted you to do, I asked you to, you didn’t like corner me or anything so, get that idea in the bin immediately,” she took both his hands in hers, thumbs rubbing across his knuckles in a soothing pattern. 

“You looked so sad this morning, Y/N/N, I thought you regretted it or were upset with me if I like coerced you into anything,” Harry’s voice was thick as he tried to reel his emotions in. 

“Christ, no, gorgeous, I was sad because I started overthinking everything, you know what I’m like. I just thought you would’ve wanted to ignore it like we did with the kisses, and I don’t think I could’ve done that, Harry, I just couldn’t,” she slumped against his chest as they both sighed in relief that neither of the pair seemed to regret their actions. 

“I didn’t want to ignore the kisses, I just didn’t want to ruin the trip so early on by telling you I liked you,” he was playing with the ends of her hair as she remained close to his chest. 

“I sure hope you like me; you’ve known me since we were 11,” she snorted against his chest. 

“No, Y/N,” he sat her up so they were looking at each other as she furrowed her eyebrows, “like you, like you,” Harry said, surprised at his own conviction, he always thought when this moment came it would be a lot more of stammering, nervous, voice that sort of shouted his confession at her. “Fuck, I’d use the love word, but I’d rather do that when we’re less snotty nosed and teary,” he chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear before thumbing away a stray tear that trickled down her face. 

“Thank Christ,” Y/N heaved out before throwing her arms around Harry’s neck and laying her lips on his, catching him off-guard, a muffled hmph escaping as their lips worked against each other’s. He tasted of the bitter coffee, but she didn’t mind, his lips were soft and attentive as he grasped her cheeks in the palms of his hands. His tongue splitting her lips as he licked into her mouth wanting to feel all of her. 

“Wai-wait… what?” Harry gasped for breath as they broke apart, Y/N’s hands carding through Harry’s fluffy curls he had been letting dry naturally. 

“I don’t care if we’re snotty, fuck Harry, I bloody love you, love you, love you,” she giggled wiping the tears from her face. 

“Yeah?” He asked, smiling bright.

“Well, I didn’t shag my best mate of 15 years for a laugh, gorgeous,” she joked nuzzling into his neck breathing in his warmth. 

“Look at me, Sweetness,” there was that nickname, the one that had stuck all these years as Y/N tilted her head up, “I love you,” she could feel his smile as he whispered the words against her lips. 

***

They spent about two weeks in Positano, days filled on the beaches, strolls in the afternoons, cooking in the evening and wrapped up together in the sheets through the night. Well apart from that one night they went to one of the quieter beaches in the area and took a middle of the night dip sans any clothing. Quick pecks in the morning, lazy kisses over lunch and fingers intertwined on their walks. They were leaving Positano in a different place as when they arrived. 

Y/N was in the passenger seat, digging through her bag in the footwell making sure they had packed up all their important bits again as Harry locked the front door of the villa, she peered up through the front windscreen to see him walking back over with that bloody blue hat sat atop his grown-out curls, yellow sunglasses tinting his vision, shooting her a sly grin when he caught her staring. He got himself comfortable in the driver’s seat, belt fastened and turned the ignition on, immediately handing Y/N the cable to plug her phone in to play their shared playlist, turning to look at her. “Where to next, my love?” he asked reaching over to caress the side of her face. 

“Mmm,” she hummed, leaning into his touch, “let’s just keep driving for a bit and see where we end up.”

“Sounds good to me,” he leaned over the centre console and took her bottom lip between his own and kissed her deeply before breaking away and putting the car in reverse to drive them away from Positano and onto their next stop. 

“Wait! Shit, did you lock the balcony doors?” Y/N cried out as Harry slammed the breaks, getting a fright from her exclamation. His eyes narrowed, searching her face as if she was going to tell him the answer to that. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he groaned, pulling up on the hand break before killing the engine and getting back out the car as Y/N giggled away in her seat. Just before he slammed the driver’s door shut to go check he leant back down and was calling into her, “by the way, you’ve got chocolate and jam down your chin this time,” and he tossed a napkin at her that he had tucked away in his pocket for the exact purpose of having to clean up his messy girl. 

***

MASTERLIST

[lovvecherrymotion]

everyone has been posting about their 2023 and how much jere and joker out have impacted their lives and i guess it's my turn now

this is pretty long and all over the place but... i have a lot to say, i guess

i'm a big eurovision fan but not to the point of watching all the national finals or preparties or anything. i'm pretty invested in it during may but prior to this year i haven't really gotten invested in any artists (at least not to this extent)

anyway, this year, for some reason, i ended up watching cha cha cha the day after the umk final and i was in love. i didn't even need to listen to any other songs - i knew right away käärijä was my 2023 winner. i decided to check other songs that were already out and... guess what other song i liked right away? yeah, carpe diem

and then the universe decided it'd be lovely if bojan and jere met and it fundamentally changed the trajectory of my year. their friendship made me so happy at a time of my life i was struggling so much in terms of mental health - and with their friendship, their music, their interviews, and the rest of the kä crew and joker out

i started lurking around tumblr again. i didn't feel comfortable enough to participate in fandom, but i did love seeing all the content and all the discussions everyone was having. i hadn't felt this excited joining a new fandom in... years, literally. and despite all the shitty moments i've had in 2023, both jere and joker out have helped me a lot and i've felt so happy thanks to them

when i got the ticket for the tavastia show, i spoke to non fandom friends, expecting them to tell me it was a silly idea to fly to the other side of europe just to see joker out (and potentially experience the next bojere reunion), but they all said the same - we haven't seen you this happy about anything in a long time. you should go. and it was one of the best concert experiences of my life

then i also booked an entire trip to dublin to see jere AND I GOT TO MEET HIM? and now i'm getting my first tattoo ever? and, sure, i also got covid for the first time in my life, but it was yet another AMAZING concert experience and one i'll never forget, both thanks to jere and everyone else i met in line. dublin will forever be in my heart. it's one of those experiences that seemed straight out of a fanfic and i can't believe it all happened to me

and finally, it was time to see joker out in madrid, which was a little bit of a birthday gift to myself. i was awake for 30 hours straight and i don't even know how i survived, but it was PHENOMENAL. i truly loved every second of it

after dublin, i made the decision to start being a bit more active around here and got to meet some more lovely people and... while i still feel a bit weird, because i'm not exactly the best at interacting with others and i often feel like i'm the kid who transferred schools mid school year and is still trying to figure out exactly how to fit in, i do love how wonderful this community is. our silly joint fandom has brought me so much joy and i can't wait to see how it'll be in 2024

i'm not exactly ending this year feeling great, in terms of mental health, and i've been feeling quite down about certain things both jere and joker out had helped me feel a bit better about - body image and my own writing being the two main ones - but i seriously believe the positive impact they've had on me will influence how i deal with this during 2024 and i do hope to get to a better place

i wish you all the very best and thank you for being a part of my wonderful fandom experience and making my days a little brighter 💖 and i guess this is a good moment to say that my messages/inbox are always open and i'm always more than happy to make new fandom friends! also, if any of you are going to milan, just let me know (and, yes, i'm still deciding on some more joker out dates for next year because i can't resist spending money on them, it seems 💀)

[motsimages]

The first drag queen show I ever saw in my life was in Russia. It was 2008. They hired a group of drag queens from Moscow and brought them to a local disco in some lost Ural city. It was an spectacular show and I only regret having a poor level of Russian because I missed many jokes. This does not mean that gay people were happily out in the open, but in 2009 there was a movie about drag queens in Moscow, so it was still better allowed to do these things.

That year, I also met a gay man in his 40s. He was friends with a group of 40-50 year-old swingers and one of them happened to be my student of French. This gay man was the most interesting one in this party and I always regretted not being able to get his contact details, we got along immediately.

4 years later, in that same city, a friend of mine who had a gay friend invited us all out to the gay bar. It was far from the city centre, in some building with no lights outside. Compared to the very decorated and aesthetic bars, cafes and discos I had been in Russia, this one felt temporary. It had almost no decoration and no light work. Chairs were swimming pool chairs. It was half empty, and amongst the small vibrant young community there, a couple of man and woman in their forties caught my eye. They were quiet, just having some drinks looking at the ambiance. They looked like neighbours who decided to take a drink before going home in the closest bar, and it happened to be this one, they probably had a shared story with the rest of the clientele.

That same year, I went to Kazan and people knew there was a gay bar near a very recognisable place in the city center. I could never find it on my own and I knew I could only enter with an invitation. I have visited friends in the area later on, in one of my last trips to Kazan, around 2017? I was surprised to see two young lesbians hugging and snuggling in a hipster bar of the city center. A Russian gay roommate I had in Madrid around that time, where I also shared a flat with a very out Spanish lesbian girl, took months to even mention he liked boys. In Madrid. He was surprised that men would just hold hands in the street with their boyfriends.

From what a friend of mine has shown me from music in her teenage years, there was some possible turning point in the early 2000s where some gay men and some lesbian women made music and were relatively out in the public eye. Outside of Russia, we know of T.a.t.u., but there were many others. Several of the men casually married to women around 2010 and said that they were only gay for marketing purposes, not really gay. I particularly think of Shura (after min 1:15).

I was in Russia for the elections in, I think it was 2012. There were demonstrations and the Dean of the university where I worked gathered many teachers and told us that we should forbid our students to go demonstrate (it took him a long while because he started of saying "we must look out for them, let them know it's dangerous and they could end up in prison" but professors wouldn't agree, students were old enough to make their own decisions).

Over the past ten-fifteen years, many things have been happening in Russia, little by little. I think the last drop has been the war. Up until that moment, it was tiny changes here and there, but the war has been a big distraction so no need to hide anything anymore.

I have interpreted for Russian asylum seekers who left the country because they oposed the war and didn't want to go to the front. They were in associations agains the war and so, they were deemed not only desertors but extremists.

This past year, every month we have received Russian asylum seekers who were gay and/or opposed to the war. Many are going to Kazakhstan, Turkey or any other countries where no visa is needed. Many need to go through Georgia to be able to open a bank account that they can use in Europe while not being tracked by Russia.

I worry about my friends too. A mother of three with a son who soon will be 18, of age to go to the army and probably not the means to stop it. I worry about the friends who don't know what it means that so many people are being labeled extremists, those who are doing things "right", but how right can you do them until they're not right anymore because they're single or divorced or childless or working or unemployed or too young or too old?

I may have noticed these changes more than my friends because I have not been living in Russia in the long term, I came back every couple of years and things were harder. Moscow looks like a modern city, every couple of years looks more and more like Europe. But some things were never open to begin with and the window where they could have changed was a very small one.

[distantlaughter]

"Poker always works"

by Christian Von Hocke, originally written 24 July 2009 for Zeit Online (x)

Formula 1 pro Nico Rosberg talks in an interview about his life as a globetrotter, exotic food and his preferences for other sports.

Question: Mr. Rosberg, like right now in Budapest, you're on the road all year round with Formula 1 around the world. Don't you sometimes get homesick?

Nico Rosberg: I've had nine hotels in four weeks, which is exhausting. But homesick? No. I really enjoy traveling, it's very educational and very interesting. That's what I would also do in my free time: get to know new countries, discover new people, the way they live.

Question: So you've turned a hobby into a profession right alongside driving.

Rosberg: Yes, there are many places in the world that I would like to see and that excite me. I'm also planning a big trip during the winter break. I'm interested in India, for example, with its spirituality, or South America, Patagonia, a safari in South Africa. Even just hiking. That's not something I would normally do, but it's good for the body's regeneration. There's so much I can do, I'm just afraid that I'll take on too much and it will end up being too stressful.

Question: Michael Schumacher has regretted that he never saw anything of the Grand Prix venues apart from the airport and the track. Do you also explore the cities where you race?

Rosberg: Yes, especially at the overseas races. I have a bit more time there because we always arrive a bit earlier due to the time change. But even so, there's always the Saturday evening before or the Monday after the race. We have great races in interesting cities like Melbourne or Singapore or Shanghai.

Question: And what do you do there?

Rosberg: I go into town. I have a nice meal in a restaurant or go out for a drink or shopping in the evening, or I go to the beach and go surfing. Or I look at the special features of the city. I'm also very interested in photography and always have my big camera with me.

Question: But traveling can also be quite stressful. Can you sleep on the plane?

Rosberg: No, very badly. I have to lie horizontally and need rest so that I can concentrate on falling asleep, otherwise it doesn't work. For that reason alone, I have to fly business class. That's not a problem in Europe, where I always have my camper van to take me to the tracks.

Question: There are 17 Formula 1 races in 2009 alone. Have you ever woken up and not known which city you were in?

Rosberg: Not that, but I was once at the airport at check-in, and the woman asked me: Where are you flying to? And I didn't know. I'd been to four or five different countries that week, I was tired and unfocused, and I just couldn't think of it. She looked at me like I was stupid (laughs).

Question: Do you sometimes wish you had an office job from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., where you could throw your coat over the hook and stretch your legs in front of the TV when you're done working?

Rosberg: No. Whether it's a nine-to-five job or a Formula 1 racing driver isn't that important. I don't know if it would make anyone else happier if they led my life. My friends all have nine-to-five jobs, and they're no less happy than I am. It's always what you make of it that matters.

Question: But you also need a bit of home, don't you? Many people always have their music player with them to simulate a feeling of home wherever they go.

Rosberg: I'm not a music fan. I got an iPod as a gift, but I haven't really used it yet. For me, it's the cell phone. It connects me with friends and family. That's cool, I can also use it to go on the Internet. When I don't have it with me, I feel very naked. Like today, I don't even know what's going on anymore.

Question: Anyone who travels so much must have acquaintances all over the world.

Rosberg: That's true - wherever I go in the world, there are my best friends. I know them either through racing or from the past. I grew up in Monaco, and nobody stays there. Today, my old friends are everywhere, in Australia, China, America or South Africa. I can call them up and ask if we want to have a drink.

Question: Can you maintain hobbies while traveling?

Rosberg: I like to play football, but I rarely do that when I'm traveling. Poker is always on. I'm not very proud of it, actually it's nonsense to sit in front of a computer and play poker. But it's fun. Otherwise: eating. Does that count? I already see it as a hobby, I love to eat for my life, delicacies, creative, new things, especially country-related. I was in Marrakech with my girlfriend the other day, they have gigantic food there.

Question: In your travels, do you notice how places in the world change from year to year, and not just in terms of cuisine?

Rosberg: Yes. My parents have a country house in Aix-en-Provence. At first it was quite isolated, but now it's become a huge settlement with an industrial area.

Question: Let's be honest: What is your least favorite place in the world?

Rosberg: Kuala Lumpur. We're always just sitting around at the airport there (laughs).

[lotusunset]

Far too many pics of the Palais Garnier! (Part Four!)

In October of 2022, I had the extraordinary experience of getting to complete an 15+ year old dream of mine to visit the Palais Garnier. I took a metric fuckton of pictures and now I want to share them with you all, the PotO community!

Before I start dumping, a few things:

Please reblog this post. I usually don’t post a lot, therefore I don’t have a big following. I’d really appreciate people sharing these as much as they can. When I was a dumb kid in ye olden days of the internet, finding a post like this was the sort of thing I would have been hyped up on for weeks. Help spread that kind of joy!

Feel free to use these photos for any sorts of graphics, artistic reference or any other fandom related projects, as long as it’s not for profit. Please just credit me in some way. In fact, I'd love to be tagged to see whatever creations come from sharing all this!

This is Part 4, which will be pictures of the stage, things that were on display and a few extra pics from my Paris trip.

Part 1 (Exterior) | Part 2 (Staircase) | Part 3 (Foyer) | Part 4 (HERE)

Honestly, we were shocked we were even allowed to see the stage at all! The day we took our tour, it was closed for rehearsals. When we came back the next just to have more time to wander around, it was closed again. Right as we were about to leave though, rehearsals finished and we got to see it! This was the view from box 25.

There were lots of costumes from past productions on display throughout the halls. These were a few of my favorites.

The very impressive Opera Library!

There were a few halls that have been turned into museum spaces. This painting was part of the series of concept art that was eventually turned into the ceiling paintings in the grand foyer.

The outside balcony area, the grand foyer is right inside.

Extra Stuff!

The interior of La Madeleine. We couldn't get any good pictures of the exterior, as it is currently going through extensive renovations. This church was about a 15 minute walk from the Opera. In the Kay adaptation, I remember Erik making a sarcastic comment about marrying Christine here.

A few shots from the Paris catacombs. If there was interest, I could also make a photo dump of this place. It was pretty extraordinary. It was very easy to imagine our favorite sewer goblin hanging out down here.

Notre Dame! She is doing well after the devastating fire in 2019. Not open to the public yet, but it was very neat getting to see construction work happening while we were there! Under the scaffolding, we could see parts of the roof starting to take shape once more. Hopefully, it will be finished in time for the 2024 Olympics.

While in Europe, I also stopped to see Phantom in London! This wasn't originally part of our plans but knowing I wouldn't likely be able to make it to New York to see it on Broadway before it closed, I made a priority to see it here!

This concludes my epic photo dump. If anyone has questions about anything, please ask! I will try to answer to the best of my ability. I absolutely can't wait to see how the community uses these!

Part 1 (Exterior) | Part 2 (Staircase) | Part 3 (Foyer) | Part 4 (HERE)

[solradguy]

Mr! I hope you’re having a good day on this Friday! It’s January, but it’s raining a lot for me. I had a grilled cheese with fried tomatoes! I hope you’re having a good day!

Hello!! Grilled cheese with fried tomatoes is SUPER GOOD!! I always put tomatoes in my grilled cheeses :-) A little trick I learned from a garlic bread recipe is putting just a very thin layer of mayonnaise on the inside where the cheese goes. So little you can't even really taste it. It makes the inside of the sandwich kinda soft/chewy while the outside is still crunchy!!

My Friday went really good!! My sister took my mom and I out for BBQ at a local family-run Korean place. We got bulgolgi and brisket. Idk if it's part of the bulgolgi experience or not, but the meat wrapped in one of the big lettuce leaves, a bit of kimchi, and then dipped in this sort of salted oil dressing they serve in a dish alongside sriracha is 10/10 I go nuts for that stuff. Below the restaurant was an Asian market and I got stuff to make onigiri!! And some gummy snacks. They had lychee ones mmmmmmm

After BBQ, we went to the art museum. My sister and mom wanted to check out the contemporary gallery so we went there after browsing through the Chinese and Indian galleries. There's a ~7ft tall wooden carving of Guanyin that my mom absolutely loves that we have to go see every time haha It's right next to two statues of monstrous Chinese tomb guardians that I really like so we both win going through there.

In the contemporary gallery the other year, my mom took a picture of my sister looking at one of the pieces that my sister really liked and wanted to recreate. The gallery manager took the picture for us and then we got into a conversation about how unrelated art forms can influence our perceptions of other works of art. He also said something along the lines of, "I think it's a more interesting conversation when there's some disagreement instead of everyone agreeing all of the time. This is my honest opinion as a French man" and I don't know if recreational disagreement is part of French culture or not, but it was a good point and said with some humor so I thought it was funny.

Tastes in music were brought up in this conversation too and he laughed when I said I liked heavy metal because, a few years ago, he had been on a trip through Europe with his girlfriend when the train broke. The repairs were going to take the entire night so they told the passengers to go enjoy themselves while they were stuck there in Germany. The gallery manager said that he wasn't really fond of heavy metal, but that Iron Maiden was touring in that city that very night and all the train passengers went and saw them together haha He said they changed his opinion on metal. I think the moral of the story there was "It's good to expose yourself to things you think you might hate because it could turn out that you do enjoy them after all."

I've been big into knights again lately so after this I went through the armor gallery to see if they'd gotten anything new in. They didn't, but they DO have this sword that's almost as long as I am tall (6'5"). It was funny though because it's significantly larger than the Outrage but it's two entire pounds lighter lol 8lbs versus the Outrage's 10lbs.

After this we got tea and cookies and then went back home. It was fun!!

[eulcgizeme]

eulcgizeme's new soundtrack for plots aka its 1989 release day and blondie popped off

I tried to do all of the songs, but then I wasn't getting bored so these are plots I really wanna do that can be brand new, or a new AU/Thread for existing pairings. They're also a plug for plots I've been talking about all week, lol. Give this a like and I'll come to you. All of these could end in burning flames or paradise. Anything with a link I will actually get on my knees for. I have some suggested characters in there for a couple of them.

WELCOME TO NEW YORK : Someone's small town best friend or long distance partner finally moves to the Big Apple to live together. It's all shiny and new but they do blind them. It turns out that they were never meant for a small town, and the one who was desperate to get out who's suddenly losing their place to them.

BLANK SPACE : A matchmaker gets paired with a Fortune 500's heir to clean up their act. The thing is they've got a roster for ex-lovers and reckless behavior. They learn about each other's victories and scars, and the matchmaker falls for them. This is most definitely for my muse, Acelin Reids (Barry Keoghan FC).

STYLE : The classic corruption trope, but twist it. Bonnie and Clyde aren't lovers, but instead two people at the wrong place at the wrong time. They escape together and have to figure out how to survive it. In an attempt to blend in and put the money that nearly cost them their lives worth it, their newfound company might not be so bad.

OUT OF THE WOODS : Holiday season comes in full swing for a couple that had slowly broken up. It's time to come home for the holidays, and its becomes apparent that they've broken up but they haven't told anyone. They decide to go home and pretend they're still together, only to fall for each other all over again. The trouble is that in their hometown they become different people, but they can't tell if they've been faking it the entire winter break or faking it ever since they moved away to fit in.

SHAKE IT OFF : Muse A is famous and getting ripped apart by the media, and their number one offender is Muse B. A scandal leaves Muse A's reputation in the hands of the other, and Muse B reveals that the only reason they've been able to rip them apart is because they're far from authentic. An enemy becomes a teacher on how to be fearless.

I WISH YOU WOULD : An old flame reunites when they crash into each other on a trip in Europe, and they become each other's company on what was suppose to be a solo trip. A summer fling turns cruel real' quick, and one begs them to do everything they promised they wouldn't to just be able to keep them around long enough to have the greatest love of their life even if it breaks them. Muse A can't commit and can't submit, and Muse B falls head over heels and tells them to treat them the way they're so scared to if it means they can have real love just once even if it's short.

BAD BLOOD : A couple divorced in their youth, and they find themselves years later at a gala as the hottest divorcee of two neighboring towns. Turns out infidelity wasn't just a one time offense. Yet, their former love is now clearly defined with their boundaries. One night can't hurt.. and then neither can another... and what if we got married again?

HOW YOU GET THE GIRL : Standing at her door at 3 AM in the pouring rain, shivering, after a six month break that should ended things... just to say "It's been a while" and give her the grand gesture she said would make or break your relationship.

THIS LOVE : This love came back from the grave when a former lover was resurrected. Muse A has to set limits on Muse B to help them live the life they took from them as they played a hand in their death, but they can't tell them they're just a ghost. They have to tell them, but will they come back to them? This is definitely a plug for Dorian Sykes (DOB FC).

NEW ROMANTICS : Enemies to lovers, but make it fun when they have to pretend to be a couple head over heels for the other for the sake of one shared goal. The only problem? When Muse A leans close and pressed their knee between their legs, they can't seem to pay attention anymore. When Muse B moves their hair that way, they can't help but look at the way their shirt lifts up and their collar bones are suddenly on display. Hate turns to lust, and it burns bright.

SAY DON'T GO : Set the scene when Muse A doesn't say "don't go"— and Muse B complies, staying away but they keep running into each other at their old haunts. Muse B belongs to them, but Muse A isn't theirs as Muse B already moved on even if it's serious. Hands brush in the dark in clubs, shoulders bump into each other in the same apartment hallway and they sometimes meet up only for one to leave in the middle of the night. Finally, Muse B tells them to say it and damns them for making them want so bad but gives them nothing at all in return.

NOW THAT WE DON'T TALK : Give me the bitter aftermath of platonic love. One pays the price of what they lost, and Muse A tells them that they can't be friends anymore.

SUBURBAN LEGENDS : And Muse A kissed in a way that was gonna screw Muse B up forever, and it does. They're trying to not think much about it but they're falling for them hard and they can't pretend like it's nothing, The girls and the guys can't be friends because Muse A puts the stars in the sky, and they won't go beyond kissing in a crowded room where everyone else laughs and Muse B dies a little inside. They decide to spare them the pain of it meaning nothing, they ruin the relationship all together so they're not even friends. It's only at the thought of losing Muse B, that Muse A realizes they can't live without them, can they?

IS IT OVER NOW? : The platonic couple breaks up, but they didn't really talk about it. Some how, they ended up on the other side the room every time they were together— alone or with friends. On a boat with their rich friends on Rhode Island, they don't stay in the same cabin. Someone's taking off her blue blouse, and someone lies in her couch and he doesn't lie in the bed. They run into each other in the hallway and they can't help but think if the other did it even if they have no leg to stand on if they did or not. They have to ask, is it over?

IS IT OVER NOW? PART TWO: Two best friends who were almost something more get torn apart by a friend group that splits them apart, pulling them out of their comfort zone with each other and pushing them back. She stands on a table to get his attention at a party, but it does nothing. He doesn't take in her hips and thighs like all she is, so she jumps off a very-tall-something vintage table so he catches her. Literally. Let's say they have some champagne problems

[thehoneybuzz]

I got my first tattoo when I was 22 years old. My big brother came for a visit - we’d been best friends living on opposite coasts for 2 years by then. A giant Samoan gentleman named Buffalo kept the shop open late to bestow my first ink - a small elephant on my rib cage. Elephants communicate across continents, and it felt good to capture that kind of forever with my brother by my side. We’d always be there for each other - even if just through rumblings. My first tattoo meant “I love you” to my brother.

Just a year later I’d get the country of Iceland tattooed on my calf. I wanted to memorialize the trip I’d taken there. I had traveled by myself to a foreign country and scuba dived between the earth's tectonic plates in a glacial lake. I put the Icelandic word for love - “elska” in the outline of the continent because Iceland wasn’t just the setting of my first solo adventure. A boy named Ian Tanzer would show up 5 days into that trip and bend what he could of his broken knees. He proposed behind a waterfall. We celebrated in hot springs and by feeding Oreos to Icelandic horses. I felt I found my whole heart in Iceland. I found myself and my soul mate on its shores. My second tattoo meant “I love you” to me and the man I’d marry.

My third tattoo was a symbol from the Harry Potter series - the Deathly Hallows. I got it at 24 when my best friend, Reece, and I found ourselves back home together. Reece and I became best friends in the fifth grade when he was told to clean the chalkboard at recess. I offered to stay behind and help, a real Hermione Granger. Somehow our board cleaning devolved into a 409 war. We shot the cleaning material across the entire classroom, and when class resumed we were all but doused in bleach. Our friendship was born of mischief. He and I would wait in line together at every midnight release of the Potter series - at bookstores and movie theaters, alike. We’d be in Europe together, as sophomores in high school, for the release of the 5th movie. Not to spoil it for you - but Sirius Black dies. I sobbed into Reece’s shoulder outside the London theater. It wouldn’t be the last time I’d need that shoulder. My third tattoo - which later grew to read “mischief managed” meant “I love you” to my best friend.

That’s when it happened.

About 6 months later I was marrying my husband, and I couldn’t keep the secret anymore. I couldn’t walk into that next phase of my life without being honest. So. 3 days before my wedding I told my dad I had tattoos. I knew he wouldn’t like it. My brother's tattoos had strained their relationship - but my brother was also living under my fathers roof. I reasoned that since I was independent and doing well on my own (at 22, 23, and 24) that his usual arguments wouldn’t apply. I knew he’d be mad. I didn’t know it would be our last real conversation - that he wouldn’t attend my wedding. At 30 we are fully estranged.

And today is his birthday.

And five years after he’s turned his heart from me I still wish I could wish him a happy birthday. That’s grief.

I’ve got more tattoos now then I did five years ago. I added the flowers of my wedding bouquet to my rib cage. I covered my Iceland tattoo, but I love that it’s still almost there. It sits beneath Mount Rainier, a compass that points NorthWest, and a triangle outlined by lilacs. I missed my home more than I loved Iceland. Now I’ve climbed the mountain I honored on my skin. I got a bee on my ass that reminds me to “live one life” as an homage to a spirit quest taken solo in Peru. Not to mention the pilot I’ve got on my quad - I think that one might be more of a self-portrait than any of ‘em. Who I see myself as when I fly. The color wheel on my forearm is my favorite and most useful. Oh - and a few stars on my wrist as another nod to Harry Potter. I know. One Harry Potter tattoo is enough, but two felt better. Reece got a matching one within a week of mine, of course.

I wear myself on my skin, and at the site of it my creator turned from me. That hurts. It also gives you superpowers. I have been made stronger for this - so I have to be grateful for it. The last words I said to my father were this.

He asked if I would do it differently now. Knowing what I know - knowing how hurt he was - knowing that it would lead to (at that point) a year of not speaking - would I do it all the same?

I looked him in the eye and said, “I would not change the tenets of my character for you or anyone.” And that was that.

If someone turns from you in your power - they are not meant for you. And it’s not wrong for you to let them go. That’s the lesson I learned from my father. I don’t know why - but he could not see me. He likely never will. And that’s okay.

Because I am okay. I am healing and grieving. But - also - creating something beautiful.

So Happy Birthday, Dad. And fuck you

[umichenginabroad]

Madrid Week 3: Flashbacks

Hola a todxs! It’s Niko back with week 3 of studying abroad in Madrid. Time is STILL passing by really fast and slow at the same time, so I'll talk about it again — I’ve been here less than a month and it’s felt like half a year, but the days go by quickly. I don’t think that will stop anytime soon, but I’m here for it. More perceived time = more life lived, and I hope that my weeks don't start blending together anytime soon.

As promised in week 2, I wanted to spend this blog talking about my trip to Granada last weekend. Granada is a small Spanish town in the southern region of Spain called Andalucía. It’s got a population of around 230,000 people — nearly the exact same as my hometown of Arlington, VA, which is a suburb outside of Washington, DC. However, in place of tree lined residential neighborhoods and modern office buildings, Granada is filled with narrow cobblestone streets bordered by low, densely packed buildings and intensely intricate churches/palaces built hundreds of years ago.

That palace — La Alhambra — is the largest tourist attraction in Granada, and was one of the main reasons I wanted to visit it (also, a big shout out to Emma for hosting me, a friend of mine from high school doing her semester in Granada!!). It’s a massive Moorish palace on a hill that overlooks the entire city. The Moors, who were North African Muslims, conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century. La Alhambra was slowly built between the years 1238 and 1358, during the reigns of Ibn al-Aḥmar and his successors. 

With that said, my trip to Granada last weekend was not my first time seeing La Alhambra. As I mentioned briefly in week 0's blog, I took a trip to Spain with my 8th grade Spanish class for a week. That was 7 years ago. We hit most of the main touristic Spanish cities within that time, Granada included.

So, walking through the palace last weekend triggered a slow trickle of distant memories, fuzzy enough that I couldn’t remember details, but potent enough that I could remember how I felt. Some things had changed about the palace, many things stayed the same. I still felt the same sense of awe I did 7 years ago witnessing the incredible detail hand-carved into every surface, or seeing the palace perfectly reflected in a courtyard’s pool. The difference was that this time, I was exploring alone.

I think that during this trip, I really gained an appreciation — and curiosity — of solo travel. Although I was with my friend Emma much of the time, I felt a great deal of peace in exploring La Alhambra at my own pace. Without anyone else to turn to, I was forced to be present and attuned to my surroundings, and that enabled me to appreciate them that much more.

I think that part of that appreciation, however, was derived from the sense of independence and freedom I had existing alone in Granada. Going into college, being alone terrified me. I would step into the dining hall for lunch and wander through the common spaces, looking for a familiar face I could share a meal with. Now, I try my best to cherish the moments in which I can connect more to myself, whether that be during a meal, practicing a hobby, or exploring an ancient Moorish palace. That’s only something I've been able to move towards through consistent practice -- AKA, spending deliberate time alone. I hope to continue deepening that connection throughout this semester solo-exploring Spain and Europe, which I know is something I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.

Aside from La Alhambra, Emma and I explored the city and its various landmarks (El Albaicin, a predominantly Muslim neighborhood, the Granada Cathedral, the Monastery of San Jeronimo, the Mirador de San Miguel Alto [and an epic sunset], and even a jazz-esque show with Spanish flair from a band at a local music club). More pictures below.

On the way back home, we stopped at a rest stop for the bus, and I couldn’t help but notice how familiar it seemed. It conjured up a nostalgic feeling that could have only come from my first trip in Spain — I realized we had stopped at the same station.

For old time’s sake, I bought a Kinder Egg Sorpresa. These things were a huge deal to me in 8th grade, as they are banned in the USA for being a ‘choking hazard’.  Inside the chocolate exterior was a little plastic goat toy that will now serve as the centerpiece of our dining room table.

It’s funny to think how much of a different person I am from the 13 year old on vacation with his school friends and Spanish teachers. But it’s also comforting to know that all of these memories I carry with me explain the person I am today.

This week, I got a little more into school groove, took a rollerblading route, visited the Reina Sofia museum and went to see some amazing techno DJs over the weekend. Per usual, check out the photo captions for more info on the content this week :).

Hasta luego,

Niko Economos

Aerospace Engineering

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Madrid, Spain

[0nlythrowharrybeaux]

Young American - Part 15**

This part is super, super happy and fluffy and funny and just basically a big ball of joy. I hope you guys like it!

Fic Masterlist

Warnings: unprotected sex

WC: 6.1k

Things had been looking up for Y/N. After her mom’s visit she felt a little lighter all around and it was good to know that at least one of her parents was willing to work through their points of disagreement to pursue a relationship with her. From what her mother was telling her, her dad wasn’t all that happy that she had caved and came to visit Y/N. So they were in a bit of a tiff over that, but Marcia didn’t regret her decision in the slightest and she made that very evident to Y/N.

And well, things with Harry had been taking off rather nicely. He was planning on going back to England for a week or so for his cousin’s wedding in the summer and he had asked Y/N to come along and she was thinking about it. Of course she wanted to meet his family, but she wasn’t making nearly as much money as he was and traveling to Europe was expensive. She didn’t even have a passport yet! She had just applied actually and was waiting to get it issued. 

LA was all gloomy again and as much as she loved being in the shop, this was stay at home weather and it seemed like the clientele felt the same way because it was after lunch and the shop was dead, the phone hadn’t even rung today. Vy and G had taken to working on some new designs as they hadn’t really updated their portfolio in some time. Auree was in her office and Rosa was up front watching some TV on the couches, waiting for anything to happen. Y/N took to doing some inventory and naturally, this meant Harry was also stuffed into the little storage room nearly back to back with Y/N counting boxes of ink cups.

“Have you given any more thought to the trip to England?” Harry asked and she sighed.

“Baby yeah, of course I want to go. I’m just…broke.” She sighed as she put her clipboard down on the shelf before her and turned to see him already turned towards her.

“Well, how about I get our tickets and you don’t have to worry about anything.” He offered and she sighed.

“I don’t want to owe you.”

“You won’t be owing me. I want you to come, I’m inviting you! Besides, we’re gonna stay at my mum’s house, so lodging is free. It’s just the flights, you can save up for spending money and whatever else you want to do, but I’ve got the flights.”

“The $700 flights?” She asked with a small smile and he rolled his eyes.

“Money is meant to be spent, especially on things that matter. You coming to England and meeting my family matters to me.” He said and she sighed.

“I will think about it.” She said and he smiled.

“I don’t know why you think that’s gonna deter me from just buying the tickets.” He said reaching for her waist and she rolled her eyes. He was leaning in, just about to kiss her when her phone started ringing and startled them a bit. She fished it out from her back pocket and saw it was Julie and she felt nervous. “What’s wrong?” Harry asked as soon as Y/N’s smile faded.

“She had a check-up with her oncologist this morning.” She explained nervously and Harry frowned.

“Oh, is something wrong?” He asked with concern.

“They do check-in’s every couple of months since she had responded well to treatment and has been cancer free for a little while now.” She explained and he nodded. The phone stopped ringing and she looked up to Harry with glossy eyes and so much anxiety. Harry went over to the door and shut it before just pulling her into his arms, “I’m so scared.” She confessed with a shaky voice.

“Whatever it is, I’m here for you. I know that doesn’t really mean anything but-”

“Hey, no.” she frowned as she looked up at him, “That means everything to me.” She assured with a softness in her eyes that spoke volumes. Harry smiled at her as he grabbed her free hand and brought it up to kiss the back of it. “I love you.” She said quietly.

“Love you.” He reciprocated and then looked into her eyes, “Do you want me to go while you call back? Give you a little space?”

“No, stay. Please.” She said and he nodded as she opened up her phone and called back. She was squeezing Harry’s hand so tight as the line rang and it stopped. Sh held her breath and immediately frowned when she heard Julie sobbing Harry pulled Y/N into his chest as she too started to cry.

“Julie, what did they say?” Y/N asked, trying to sound composed.

“I’m officially in remission!” She sobbed, “I can’t believe this.” She cried and Y/N was relived to know that they were tears of joy. And she and Harry just cheered loudly and were jumping up and down at this incredible news.

“Fuck yes!” Harry shouted with the biggest smile as Y/N cried as well. Julie had gone through it quite bad during the worst point of her breast cancer so it was reliving to know that technically, medically, she had been cancer free long enough to be in remission or cured basically. 

“We are celebrating tonight!” Julie sniffled and Y/N nodded as she looked to Harry.

“Yeah, let’s do it! We can pick something up to eat at the house?” She suggested and they ended up making a little plan and Julie said she would contact her friends to come over as  well. “Thank you for calling, I’m so happy for you Julie. So fucking happy.” Y/N assured with a sniffle, “Love you.”

“Love you too, hon. I’ll see you at home later.”

“See you later.” She hummed happily before they hung up. Harry was smiling so wide that his cheeks hurt and when Y/N hugged him tight he squeezed back, his own eyes starting to tear up with joy. Julie was an exceptional person and she deserved to have a good and healthy life, she deserved to be free of this burden she’d been carrying for so long. Yeah, she wasn’t necessarily his family, but he almost felt like she was part of it. “Baby, I have an idea.” He said and she looked up at him and nodded, urging him to say it, “How about as a surprise you perfect her tattoo? I’m sure if we talk to Auree she’ll let you do it on her.” Harry suggested and Y/N smiled.

“Yeah, that’s actually a brilliant idea and I might need your help a bit.” She smiled and he nodded.

“Yeah, fuck this. Let’s go work on that.” He grinned.

The rest of the day flew by despite how slow everything else was going, but they were just both so happy about Julie’s news. Julie had wanted one of those “flower of life” tattoos, but Y/N wanted to add some more special elements to it that would make it more ethereal and Harry was giving great input. Finally, it was time for them to go and when they got to Julie’s there were already a few cars parked out front and as they walked up they could hear music coming from inside and Y/N grinned at Harry and he was smiling already as they walked up the front steps. She unlocked the door and as soon as they made it inside it smelled amazing and Julie and a good group of her friends were already at the table chatting and eating.

“Hello everyone!” Harry greeted them first as he toed off his shoes and Y/N smiled as she did the same and called out a greeting. Everyone was smiling enthusiastically and greeting them with waves or words as they approached.

“Congrats. I’m so happy for you.” Y/N hummed as Julie stood and Y/N hugged her tight. It was expected that they both cried together, obviously tears of joy, but also of relief. Harry didn’t know exactly what Y/N had been there for, but he knew that she had helped Julie a lot, especially when things got really bad. So if anyone understood her victory over this, it was Y/N. The person who had seen it and helped her and held her hand through it all.

“Thank you.” Julie sniffled, “I love you. Thank you for everything you did, you didn’t have to stay and you sti-”

“I wanted to.” Y/N assured as she drew back a bit, “You’re like a mother to me.” Y/N sniffled, “I would never leave you. I love you so much too.” She assured and Julie smiled and nodded through her tears as they hugged tight once more. The air in the room had shifted as the other guests just observed this little interaction with them for a few moments. When they let go Harry was a few steps behind Y/N, gently rubbing at her back as Julie finished saying something to her, but their hands were clasped together. Then it was his turn to greet Julie with a big, warm hug and a kiss on her cheek. She was so thrilled he had joined and she was so keen on Harry being around because she felt like Y/N deserved someone like him, who basically worshipped the ground she walked on. It made her happy to see Y/N happy after everything she had to endure with her. She always knew that Y/N didn’t mind helping, but she was just a kid when she came over to live with her and she dealt with a lot.

“Alright, enough tears! Go get some food.” Julie insisted and Y/N grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him along into the kitchen. As soon as they got in Y/N leaned on the counter and let out a slow breath.

“You alright, baby?” Harry asked and she glanced up to his eyes and nodded.

“I just need a moment to process.” She said and he hummed as he grabbed her hands in his.

“Tell me what’s on your mind.” He said coming a bit closer and she sighed.

“It’s nothing bad.” She assured, “Quite the opposite actually, it just feels like everything is as it should be and getting better and it’s a bit overwhelming, like a lot of big feelings and I just need to sit with them for a sec.” She explained and he smiled at her, “What?”

“Nothing, I just love you a lot.” He shrugged and she grinned and then huffed.

“One more feeling to sit with, thanks.” She said with a playful little pout and he chuckled and tutted as he pulled her body into his own and held her for a bit until she was feeling better. 

As soon as they served themselves some food they joined everyone else and had a great time chatting and getting to know each other better. A few of Julie’s friends had met Harry in passing, but now they were seeing why he was such a wonderful addition. He tended to be on the more quiet side, but he just felt so safe and comfortable in Julie and Y/N’s home that he knew they would never bring people in that would cause him harm in any way. When he had that realization in the middle of a story someone was telling he had an urge to cry. It felt like he finally found a place that felt like home and it did make him emotional. There was just this feeling of happiness in his chest that kept growing and growing the more time everyone was together, it almost hurt. But finally, around 11pm people started to leave and Y/N and Harry were just finishing up with washing dishes while softly singing along to the music still playing in the living room. 

“Finally.” Harry said as he handed Y/N the last dish. He was sweet, she had an aversion to wet/soggy food and so he took it upon himself to do the washing while she dried.

“I know. Thank you for taking over, I was about to throw up.” She giggled.

“Yeah, I couldn’t tell from your gagging.” He said and she giggled.

“Sorry, I was really trying not to.” She assured and he smirked.

“Y’don’t need t’apologize to me. It reminded me of something entirely different actually-”

“Oh, shut up…” she scoffed through a laugh and he sniggered as she put down the last dish and he dragged her body into his.

“You pervert, it wasn’t that.”

“Sure…” Y/N said with a smirk.

“It wasn’t! It was domestic bliss.” He said with a giggle, “Like say I came home to find you struggling to do the dishes because there's lots to scrape off of a pot and so I just jump in and take over.” He shrugged and she smiled.

“That’s very sweet.” She said and he nodded.

“Yeah, I know.” He assured. “Now, should we get ready for bed?” He asked and she nodded. They said their goodnights to Julie and the last of her friends who were in the living room before they headed back.

“Want a shower?” Y/N asked Harry and he nodded. “You can go first then, I need to shave.” She said. Harry had a drawer in her room now so he was grabbing some sleeping clothes as she headed off to grab him a towel. Harry had already gone inside the shower when she came back with his towel, so she knocked and he told her to come in. “Towel’s on the rack. Baby, m’gonna get my make up off, OK?” She informed as she clicked the lock and then she saw him peek his head out of the curtain and she giggled at his sudsy hair, “What?”

“Are you gonna join me?”

“No, I need to shave my legs.”

“And?”

“And I need space.” She explained.

“I’ll do it for you.” He smiled.

“Only if you let me shave you next time.” She said and he nodded.

“Yeah, of course you can.” He assured and she grinned and proceeded with tucking her hair behind her ears before grabbing her makeup balm to get started. Harry rinsed out his hair and put in some of her conditioner before he started cleaning his body - he even had his own washcloth here, it was Cars themed and Y/N had given it to him as a little gag gift randomly and he just kept it here as he had no need for it at home. Harry was just wringing out the little washcloth when the curtain opened and he shivered. “A warning woulda been nice.” He hissed and she giggled as pressed a gentle kiss to the back of his shoulder.

“Sorry. Switch with me.” She said and he moved back to let her get under the stream of water and she let herself get drenched before reaching for her shampoo bottle.

“Let me do it.” He said and she nodded. He quickly rinsed his own hair and then grabbed her shampoo to wash her hair. She hummed at the way his fingers felt against her scalp; something about someone else doing this was extremely soothing. It was her favorite part of going to the hairdresser, “Rinse and then one more.” He said switching them positions and he held her hips as she rinsed out her hair and they repeated the step once more. Each time she rinsed he just took the time to admire her body. He loved every single inch of her. He then helped lather her hair in conditioner and she moved on to washing her body.

“-but close your eyes or turn around.” She said and he chuckled.

“Why?” He asked as she lathered up her washcloth with body wash.

“Because! I don’t want you to see me getting all up in my nooks and crannies!” She said as if it were obvious.

“Baby, in case you haven’t thought of this before, I’ve been all up in all your nooks and crannies.” He said with a grin and his arms wrapped around her waist now. “I just want to see you go over your boobs.” He confessed and she rolled her eyes.

“That’s rather quick.” She said and he shrugged, “Such a boy.” She teased and then he bit his lip and she felt his cock twitch a bit between their bodies, “SUCH. A. BOY!” Y/N laughed, flicking his chest with each word.

“I thought about it for a second too long.” He excused and after so much fuss Harry was wrapped around her waist from behind as she scrubbed her body clean. 

She had no idea what had gotten into him or why he was being so lovey and clingy, but it was new and as much as she was acting a little bit stand-offish she loved this so much until…

“Harry.” Y/N’s body shook with laughter.

“What?” 

“You don’t need to hold my ass open for easy cleaning access.” She said with a red face, for sure.

“Don’t worry, m’not even looking like you told me.” He said and she could handle this anymore, he was such a dork. She turned around and he was pouting. “Baby!”

“Stop it.” She laughed and reached behind herself to wash her behind, “Or we’re never doing this together again.” She warned and he rolled his eyes.

“Fine.” He huffed.

“You’re already gonna shave my legs.” She said as she rinsed her body off, “Now, if you want to be helpful open up the scrub on the little ledge up there.” She said. For space-sake she put her body scrub and razor up on the ledge of the little window. It was a bit of a risk for her to tip-toe in the wet shower and grab it, and she knew Harry would freak out if he saw that, so she just asked him to do it for her, “I need to exfoliate first.” She explained as Harry got on his knees without her even asking him to and he started to go over her leg that was hiked up on the edge of the tub now. He was gentle as he melted the scrub into her skin. It smelled like peaches and it made his mouth water. She then switched legs and he did that one as well.

“What about right here?” He asked as he placed a kiss to her mound.

“I don’t shave there.” She explained and he frowned. “I wax and if I shave it’ll ruin everything.” She explained.

“Can’t hurt to exfoliate though. Said it prevents ingrowns, right?” He asked and she laughed softly.

“Only if you’re very careful. Can’t risk t’get that inside.” She said and he nodded.

Harry grabbed only two fingers worth of the scrub before going over the top of her mound. She wasn’t waxed hairless, she did have a tasteful little patch of hair which Harry really liked, so she kept that same thing going. She saw it coming from a mile off as he leaned in and licked at her clit a couple times which made her gasp, and then he delved in further and really started going for it. Harry couldn’t help it, her pussy was so pretty and that fucking peach scented scrub was divine. He had an intrusive thought to lick her clean, the jar said “sugar scrub”, so he just went for it and immediately  pulled away to spit it out and Y/N glanced down and started cackling as he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand and continued spitting at the shower floor with a scowl on his face as he looked up to her.

“Why would you eat it?!” She laughed, gasping for air, moving aside to let Harry crawl under the scream of water to swish it around his mouth.

“It smells like peach rings and says sugar scrub!” He defended and she continued laughing.

“Baby, it’s still soap!” She shook her head.

“Well now I know.” He huffed as he pushed himself up to stand and she continued giggling as he grabbed her razor from the ledge of the window as well. “This too?” He asked of a little bottle of soap and she nodded.

“Yeah. And fair warning, it smells the same as the scrub, so please don’t eat it.” She joked and Harry rolled his eyes as he sat on the edge of the tub now. Y/N started giggling again and he glanced up to her. “What now?” He asked with a smile.

“I’m laughing at your penis. I’m sorry.” She giggled.

“What? Why?” He pouted.

“It’s just bobbing around and it’s funny.” She reasoned and he shook his head as he pumped some of her deliciously scented soap into his hand.

“F’you keep laughing at it, s’gonna have a hard time getting hard for you.” He warned and she smirked.

“Challenge accepted.”

“Yeah, alright.” He scoffed, “Foot on my thigh.” He ordered and she did just that and let him lather her legs with the soap and then he carefully started to shave her. He went over twice. The first time with the grain and the next time against and he placed a kiss on her knee before she switched legs. After he finished he helped her rinse out the conditioner from her hair and then they were drying off as best as they could in the shower to avoid making a mess and then they stepped out.

“I didn’t bring my clothes.” Y/N’s teeth chattered as she spoke.

“S’alright. You won’t need it.” He assured with a smirk and she chuckled as he leaned in to kiss her deep. While in there they brushed their teeth and before they stepped out of the bathroom he let her throw on his shirt so that she wouldn’t have to rush out in a towel.

“Way to finish all the hot water you sex fiends!” They heard Julie shout faintly as they walked across the hall.

“We didn’t fuck in the shower!” Harry shouted back and Y/N groaned in mortification.

“Oh my god…”

“S’fine, she’s fine.” He assured as he locked Y/N’s door. 

Y/N proceeded to get some panties on under Harry’s shirt while he turned down the bed. Soon enough they were snuggled up in the dark, slightly trembling as they adjusted to the temperature beneath the sheets. Y/N smiled as he pulled her bottom flush with his front, he was still hard and it made her moan as he ground himself against her ass and his breathing grew ragged as his pleasure started to increase. The fingers from his right hand were digging hard into her hip, while the ones on his left hand squeezed her fingers that were intertwined with his own. His low groans of satisfaction made her grow wet quickly and she was soon throbbing with need.

“Fuck baby, can I put it in?” He asked desperately and she nodded.

“Yeah, please.” She panted.

Harry was quick to free up his hands and drag his shirt up  her body to expose her breasts and then he felt around her panties before pulling the crotch bit to the side as Y/N raised one of her legs for him. Harry tugged his sweats down just enough to free up his cock before he started to thrust against her wet and warm labia, soaking himself in her arousal. After slicking himself up with a few thrusts his tip was pushing at her entrance. Harry moaned as he very gently pushed against the tight ring of muscles and as soon as the tip of his cock breached the entrance they both let out satisfied moans of relief. He eased the rest of his cock in over the span of a few thrusts and once he was in all the way he started to give slow and deep thrusts in and out of her. He held one of her legs up as he got in deep. She was whimpering as he got in from this angle. He whispered praises into her ear as he fucked her, making her feel on top of the world in every sense of the word. Her mind was empty as he pumped in and out of her, all she could feel was pleasure as he instructed her to rub her clit.

“Oh! I’m gonna cum!” She gasped quietly and he groaned and started going faster and harder. He guided her lifted leg down to wrap over his right leg, so that she could still stay a bit open and he just hugged her body before letting his hand roam up to her breast.

“So beautiful, babe.” He panted, “So perfect f’me. I can’t get over how much I love you.” His words were pushing her even closer to the edge, “Fuck, I’m gonna love you forever.” He mumbled against her ear and her skin immediately broke out in goosebumps and her heart nearly exploded in her chest.

“Me too, baby. Gonna love you forever.” She whimpered as the pleasure started to peak.

“Fuck, can feel you throbbing. Come for me, all over my cock, baby.” His words persuaded her into her orgasm and he moaned as her pussy grew slicker and warmer and tighter as she came undone with soft gasps and quiet, frustrated grunts as she tried to hold in her sounds. Harry’s cock sliding in and out of her was dragging her pleasure on, her body was buzzing. She could could feel her legs tensing up as she slowly got overstimulated and started to rub at her clit again, “Fuck yes, baby. I want you to come with me.” He panted and she nodded.

“OK, OK, OK.” She whispered her little chant as she searched for the pleasure in the overstimulation. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Their bodies were starting to get hot now and everything was feeling much more sensitive. Her walls started to tighten up and Harry moaned lowly.

“I’m right there. Fuck. Just hold it a little longer.” He pleaded and she was doing the most to wait for him and she was relieved when his thrusting started to slow down but his force was harder as he plunged deep into her, “Oh fuck, m’coming!” He gasped and she started to wither along with him. He squeezed her body even tighter as he shot his load into her with each gut-wrenchingly deep thrust he delivered, she could feel his warmth start to fill her up to the extent that he was leaking out. He was breathing so hard, fighting his hardest to keep quiet, he swore his head might explode from how good this all felt. He slowly came to a stop and kissed Y/N’s shoulder as they both waited the nice tingly feeling out silently, just their ragged breaths were the sounds exchanged between them now. He smiled when she brought one of his hands to her mouth and kissed the top of it as she placed it over her chest. He could feel her heart pounding and also as it slowly started to decrease in pace as it returned back to it’s normal beating pattern. “M’gonna get something to clean you up.” He whispered and she nodded. Soon he was back and had cleaned her up with a bit of toilet paper before he settled back into the bed and she turned to face him and she kissed him deeply.

“I love you so much.” he whispered.

“I love you too.” she smiled, “What’s gotten into you today?” She asked quietly and he shrugged.

“I don’t know, I just love how I feel around everyone here. I feel safe and like I’m at home with you. I don’t know, today was just a really good day. I’m just really, really happy today and I was just thinking about how I hadn’t really been happy in a long time and then you came into my life and I just…couldn’t help but be happy again.” He explained and she kissed his lips with a smile and combed his curls back a bit as he smiled bashfully. If it weren’t so dark she was sure she’d be able to see his cheeks stained all pink.

“You make me really happy too.” She whispered with a lump in her throat. She felt so much love for him that she had no idea how she was even alive to tell the tale. Harry felt a lump in his throat as well as he considered asking her something that he was thinking when they were washing dishes. He hadn’t lied, he was thinking about domesticity, but he had been picturing something much more complex than just doing chores together.

“Baby?” he started his question.

“Yes, my love?” She whispered back tiredly and he leaned in to kiss her lips quickly and she smiled against his own lips.

“H-have you-or actually, d-do you like…believe in…in marriage?” He asked and she felt her throat go dry and she wanted to answer but she was freaking out so she nodded, but it was dark and he couldn’t see. So he was starting to get nervous at her lack of response.

“Y-yes. Yes I do.” She finally got the words out and he felt like he could breathe again, “Do you?” She asked back into the darkness.

“Yeah, I do.” He hummed, “That’s what I was thinking about earlier…in the kitchen.” He admitted quietly, “Being married.” He sighed in relief as he got it out.

“T-to me?” She asked nervously and Harry let out a nervous chuckle.

“Yeah, baby. Who else would I be thinking about?” He asked and she grinned.

“Oh…I mean, could just be like a blank face. I don’t know.” She reasoned and he hummed, “Do you know what I mean?” She asked.

“Yeah, I do.” He agreed. He knew exactly what she meant, he had thought of marriage seriously a  few times through out his life. The first time was when he was 14 and his grandad had talked to him about his wedding to his nan when Harry found a few old pictures of them. The second time was when he was 20 and went to a wedding and he imagined himself up on the altar in the future. The other time was when he turned 26, in his mind he would always be married by 25 - so that time was more of a solemn contemplation of it, but what all of these times had in common was what Y/N said. He would picture himself at the altar and then just a blank face before him. He had no idea who would be on the other side, but this time he had a face in mind and as scary as it was, it seemed like the picture was finally perfect, “And ummm, this is the first time that I didn’t see a blank face.” He shared, still feeling so nervous and vulnerable sharing this with her. The person that was literally the star of his hopes and dreams. 

“Oh.” She whispered and he nodded, “Are you freaked out?” She asked and he shook his head.

“Not at all. That’s more because I was scared to tell you.” He confessed, “Are you freaked out?” He asked and she exhaled.

“A little bit, but not in a bad way. More in a way of…excitement?” She said and he chuckled, “Yeah. I mean… I’m one for daydreaming and after I fell in love with you my mind just wanted to put a face to the fantasy and I just wasn’t letting myself go there with you because I…I’m scared I guess, to put your face there and then we…” she trailed off and he hummed in understanding. She didn’t need to say it, he was scared too, but he found that facing his fears was not as terrifying when he had her by his side, “So it was just exciting a bit because I feel safe to do that now.” She confessed and he was smiling now.

“Does it feel good to see my face when you think of that?” He asked and she leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips and they both smiled against each others’ mouths.

“Yeah, you’re a perfect fit.” She whispered to him.

“So are you.” He assured her with a smile, “That’s why I want you to meet my family.” He brought up again and well, in light of this conversation she felt that yeah, she should go meet his family.

“OK, lets do it.” She said and he kissed her.

“Yeah?”

“Yes.” She hummed and he searched for her hand and intertwined their fingers.

“You’re gonna love everyone so much!” He said excitedly, “They already like what they’ve heard about you, but having you there in the flesh? God, they’re gonna love you. I bet you right now that my mum and nan will cry when we go.” He said and she laughed quietly, “So… would you want a little wedding or a big wedding?” He asked and she smiled.

“Little. In the last few years I’ve even just considered eloping…just ‘cause things haven’t been great with my parents, you know?”

“Yeah.” He responded, “That’d be nice though. Just us. In a little corner at the beach we went to? That’d be nice.”

“Yeah.” She whispered with a smile, “I’d get married anywhere you want as long as you’re the one I’m exchanging vows with.” She said without really thinking about it too hard, it was just the truth. When Harry kissed her so passionately it did catch her by surprise, but she easily melted into it and into the mattress as he hovered over her and ground himself, already hard against her center. She whimpered against his mouth as he rubbed into her clit that was still a bit sensitive from before.

“Sorry, baby. I’ve got a raging love-boner.” He mumbled and she smiled.

“S’alright. Just go slow.” She said and he nodded and slowed down the roll of his hips to work her up again.

“I-is there like a time frame you have in mind for when you want to be married by? Or like are there things you want to accomplish before?” He asked before kissing her and then they split up to allow her to respond.

“Not really. I just wanted to be a bit more independent, you know, financially? What about you?”

“Well at this point, at least by the time I’m 30.” He said and she smiled, “So…soon-ish?” He smiled.

“Oh, ok.” She giggled.

“And well I do want to see your ugly side first, just to know what I’m getting into.” He teased and she giggled.

“I don’t have an ugly side. I’m a god-damn delight! You should know that by now.” She joked and he chuckled.

“Sure…”

“Baby, don’t you think you would’ve seen it by now if it was worse? I mean, the worst I am was like our valentine’s day fiasco. Where I was just really rash and avoidant.” She explained.

“That’s true… and well, you’ve seen my worst.” He mumbled with a little embarrassment and she cupped his face and kissed his lips gently.

“Yeah, and I still fell in love with you, so whatever. Right?” She hummed and he smiled.

“Right.” He agreed.

Harry felt right now what Y/N had said earlier, that everything was falling into place. He was just excited to see how everything would develop. He was so hesitant about love and soulmates after everything he had endured, but she shone so fucking bright that it made him hopeful that things could be really, really great if he just let the past go. Harry had never been in love like this before. He just knew that when they went to England and his family got to meet YN, he’d be leaving with the intention to ask her to marry him. But now he just knew that when they got to meet Y/N and saw how perfect they were together they would be encouraging him to take the next step. It was important to him that his family loved her as much as he did and he was completely confident that, that wasn’t going to be a problem.

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[my-castles-crumbling]

Helloooo!!! I haven’t had tumblr for super long and you’re my first and only so far which makes me very happy :) I love your writing!

Anywho, I’m in Europe for the first time rn!!! I’m studying abroad with my university and I’m having so much fun. However, I’m feeling a little weird about a new friend I made and I definitely need to tell someone unrelated but also am very willing to accept advise or comments if you have anything to share lol. On the first night of my trip, I was hanging out with one of my trip mates (just the two of us) and we talked for a few hours on the roof of our hotel. It was really nice and we just kind of clicked. We’ve been sticking together since then and have both talked about our sexualities (she’s gay and I, a female, am queer but like women). She’s talked about how she platonically kisses her best friend when they’re drunk and I’ve talked about how I think friends can kiss friends.

So the other night we’re at a pub and she’s drinking a bit but I’m not drinking much at all. One of her fends back home was talking to her about how they think they like someone but feel like since they don’t think about kissing them often that they don’t actually like them. I am offered the idea that it’s all about how you view kissing because for me it’s not a strictly romantic thing so sometimes I like people but don’t think about kissing them because that’s not a huge factor for me. Like just because I don’t have to have romantic feelings to kiss someone and vice versa. My friend relayed this to her friend and then we pretty much moved on from it. There was a few times when she was texting her friend and obviously turning her phone away from me but I was trying not to think about it too hard.

When we got back to our hotel a few hours later, and she sent me a text while I was in the shower that said “hey I have a question about what you said to me friend. Do you have romantic feelings for me?” We’re currently in the same room with two other girls so it wasn’t like I could go over and talk to her about it and figure out why. But I just got so uncomfortable in the moment and ignored it until we all went to bed. In the morning, I didn’t really know what to do so I kept ignoring it and avoided her a little bit which is easy to do because we’re in a large group but also we’ve been spending so much time together that I think she could tell. Eventually, we hung out a bit while we were walking around the city but still not as much. I’m not sure how I feel about the situation and I’m also just not sure where she was going with that line of questioning. She was definitely drunk when she texted me so I don’t even know if I should have acknowledged it or not. I feel like it’ll be okay if we just never talk about it.

Additional possibly important information: we are both physically affectionate people so on your two hour plane ride and one hour bus ride she was laying on my shoulder and holding onto my arm. She held my hand during the plane ride. She’s pretty much initiated any physical contact we’ve had because I never do with anyone but always return it as soon as the option has been presented to me. She also always tends to find me. She’s always standing near me even if I’m talking to other people. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not but she also always ends up with going where I go when our big group splits up. I think this makes me a little uneasy but I also don’t think it’s that big of a deal because I enjoy hanging out with her.

I’m just not sure what to do but talking about this to her sounds absolute horrible. If you have nothing to add then that’s just fine, I think I might have just needed to tell someone. Thanks for reading if you did :) I love how much you interact with all of us and I know we all greatly appreciate it <3

Hi!!

This definitely is confusing and I can understand why you’re probably confused as well. I guess my question is- what do YOU want? How do YOU feel? Because I think that really affects how you should go from here, you know?

Naming you studying abroad anon!