#i heard from my dash gucci was gonna show up but i did Not expect ali to play her with such gusto

[leahsfiction]

palisade 44

this is the most riveting workplace meeting drama/council of war i've heard in a while

[itsnothesameasitwas]

hiii! this month I’ve read a lot of great fics, so I decided is time to start my monthly fic rec… that means I’ll be doing a short fic rec and recap every month with my favorite fics of the month

note: the fics I’ll be mentioning weren't necessarily posted recently

!!! - please be careful and read all the tags and/or warnings before start reading and left kudos and nice messages to the authors <33

❀ Divinely Blessed by thinlines @thinlinez  | 17k | Explicit | ABO | fic post

“I heard you, Ni. But what do you mean?”

“What do you mean what I mean?”

Harry rolled his eyes as he shoved his alpha friend down onto a seat. “Did you mean you lick someone out or…?”

“Nah, mate! It was me! I got licked out!” Harry could only stare at Niall in horror.

Alpha Harry prides himself on having the bravest and most caring omega who might or might not just fulfill his sudden curiosity.

note: for some reason i don’t know i fell in love with the ABO and found this fic someway and WOW! it’s really fluffy and sweet and while i was reading all i could think about was “god! i really want someone who love me like Harry loves Lou and viceversa” and also has a great smut scene, funny and well writen (cliff ily babe)

❀ Promise me you won’t run away by thinlines | 23k | Explicit | ABO | Español

“Does kissing me stop you from having bad thoughts?” Harry asked, voice muffled into the collar of Louis’ dress shirt. Louis chuckled at this. He trailed a hand down Harry’s back, feeling the muscles tensing along with his touch.

“I guess you can say that. You’re a good distraction.”

“Then I will be the best distraction.” Harry answered, pulling back and watched Louis’ lips unashamedly.

“Come distract me, then.”

Or the Prince/ Knight AU in which Harry left Louis, but the omega never once gave up on them.

note: this fic is beautiful and really REALLY well written, i need to say i cried and im the most cold person in the world but this caught me and I LOVED IT! but also when i finished it i got mad because in the end notes was the spanish translation and i read it in english lmao; anyway i love it!!!... summing this up, the fic made me thought about that LOVE ALWAYS WIN <33

❀ Twist the knife by jishler @jishlerfics | 6k | Explicit | Angst / Smut | fic post

Infuriating, but Louis missed it. Louis missed him. His thighs and his chest and breath and warmth and toothbrush next to Louis’. He missed sex with Harry but he missed his presence more: Louis would settle for watching Harry get himself off if it meant he got to see him; hear the voice that was like a soothing balm over all his wounds.

Two weeks after their breakup, Harry wants his toys back.

note: i definetely don’t read smut in purpose and the reason i’ve read this was because i love the moodboard BUT i need to thank the person who put it on my dash because i liked it so much!! was fun to read and the smut is pretty well written :))

❀  Hold you now by solvetheminourdreams @solvetheminourdreams | 131k | Angst with happy ending | fic post | playlist

The string within Harry's own sweatpants is now dangling outside of his pocket, stretched so far out that the seams of his pants have tightened. His eyes remain hyper focused on Louis, how oblivious he is—scrolling through his phone without a care in the world, while Harry feels his tilt on its axis.

Three years ago, Harry Styles said goodbye to communications consultancy firm McQuiston Worldwide, leaving a life of travel and agency PR behind. When he accompanies his best friend to a family wedding across the Atlantic, he'll be forced to reopen old wounds and face his past—one that no one wants to hash out, but may just have to.

note: at the end of the first chapter i was emotional, is the kind of fic that you feel every single emotion, the one you literally feel are part of it... it’s perfectly well written and please give it a chance and  check all the stef’s works because she’s a super talented writer... if i say something else i’ll probably do spoilers so, shut up ana.

❀ The money mark by brightgolden @brightgolden | 52k | Explicit | ABO | fic post

Harry's heart beats faster in his chest as the name sinks in. The Tomlinson name is awfully familiar, and he isn’t sure how many rich Tomlinsons are out here in London, but he knew one. Seven years ago.

Like all fine things in the world, Louis Tomlinson ages exceptionally well.

OR

Where Louis is Harry’s first sugar daddy who dumped him over text and their paths cross, seven years later.

note: THIS IS MY FAVORITE FIC OF THE YEAR. sorry, but this fic is super well written, is omega harry + alpha louis and find smth like this is almost impossible! but i loved the fact that harry could be an omega and a sugar baby but he’s independant and strong and wow! it’s amazing; everyone should read it because it’s really good!! (ps. louis is the alpha of my dreams, he’s a complete gentlemen)

❀ Sweet like candy by neodiamond @neondiamond | 4k | General Audiences | ABO | fic post

Louis is an Alpha with an odd obsession for gummy bears. Harry is an Omega who makes friends a little too easily. They meet on the bus.

note: this is the cutest fluffy fic I have ever read! strangers to friends to lovers <333

❀ Literally making love by Brooklyn_babylon @twopoppies | 30k | Explicit | Robot/Human Relationship | fic post

Holding up one of the android's eyes to the workshop’s windows, he smiled as the light picked up the gold flecks in the pale green of his irises. Louis had always paid attention to even the tiniest details.

--

All Louis intended to do was rescue someone in need from loneliness. He had no idea it would be himself.

note: science + me = signal error BUT this fic. OMG. how to say this is one of the fics would be in my recap at the end of the year; i have read another fic by Gina and was really good but this is probably my favorite between both of them... all i know and want now is to create my perfect partner lmao. 

❀ I’m gonna keep this love, if you let me by pixies @tomlinbuns | 26k | Explicit | ABO | fic post

Louis makes Harry pretend to be his boyfriend one night out. The rest is history.

note: this one is simple to discribe... the best of the best. one of my favorites abo fics, funny, teasing and very romantic. i enjoyed so much read how these two guys fell in love with each other. god bless this fic <33

❀ Beautiful stranger by lovelarry10 @chloehl10 | 66k | Explicit | ABO / Mpreg | fic post

“Did you want to- oh. Uh, sorry, I-” Harry stuttered, licking his lips as he looked over Louis’ bare torso, not focusing on the ocean ahead of him. “You’re very distracting, Lou.”

“Trying to tell me you haven’t seen a topless Omega before?” Louis asked, walking back to his rucksack and grabbing a bottle of suncream out of it before returning to stand by Harry.

“Not one as stunning as you,” he thought he heard Harry mutter as he started to rub the cream into his shoulders.

*****

When Alpha Harry Styles attends the Gucci Cruise 2020 show, he knows what to expect: clothes, clutch bags, and a few too many pretentious people. What he doesn’t expect, however, is to run into an Omega who is more beautiful than anything on the runway.

note: this fic is from 2019 but who cares, i loved it so much and i want to thank/blame @justalarryblog​ because she unintentionally recommended it to me in her abo fic rec post and now i want someone like this harry in my life... is it too much to ask? because is one of the most beautiful abo fics i’ve read this month and wow. if you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for??

❀ Waiting on you by beckywritesthings @beckydoesthings  | 21k | Mature | Mpreg | fic post

“Do you want to touch?” Harry asks, taking one of his hands off to tangle with Louis’. His open invitation finally drags Louis’ attention away from his baby and up to his face, blue eyes wobbly with emotions. It’s clear that he’s too taken to really form words, so Harry takes the initiative to press their laced hands against his shirt fabric, warmth from the skin radiating through.

Louis pushes his shirt up to his chest, taking Harry’s hand and pressing it to hold the fabric in place. His hands return to warm skin, palms even more scalding now that there’s nothing in between them. And then, as if that wasn’t enough for Harry’s heart to handle, Louis leans in, pressing his lips right above his belly button.

“Hi, baby,” he says, lips moving across his skin softly. “I’m your… I’m Louis.”

Or Harry is pregnant with a stranger’s baby and Louis doesn’t know. It’s a minor detail that Harry’s both living with Louis and in love with him. No big deal.

note: this fic is really new, someone reblogged the fic post and when i saw it first i was like ‘huh?’ and then suddendly (in less than a minute) decided it was the next thing i’ll be reading and now i’m completely in love with it. Lou i need to say you’re the kind of guy everyone wants in their life <3 

-----------

❀ all the love, ana. xx

[full-of-jams]

Good Riddance #2

Pairing: Jimin x Reader

Summary: There were two things life taught you. Money bought comfort, not happiness. And love was always a gateway to pain. When your former best friend Jimin suddenly returns into your life, he challenges your belief and rips open the past you tried so hard to forget.

Genre: heirs au, girl boss, e2l, angst, mutual pining, eventual smut, feat. OT7

Warnings: hints of booty call Tae, uwus!

Word Count: 5k

A/N: And we’re back up to date! The last bit literally made my heart melt. Please feel free to leave me a comment or send an ask! I would love to hear your thoughts, good or bad!

Read: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | [ongoing]

°°°°°°°

[10:13 PM] You: come get me @ cygnus bar

“Here you go miss, our Cygnus signature sake martini. Junmai Daiginjô sake mixed with dry gin and a dash of extra dry vermouth. Crisp and clean with a slight hint of sweetness. And another Old Fashioned for the sir.”

You briefly looked up from your phone and gave the bartender a quick smile, “Thanks, just put the Old Fashioned right here. My guest will be back in a sec.”

The hotel bar of The Cygnus was bustling on a Thursday night. You were dressed in a close-fitted black cocktail dress, embroidered with elegant gold and silver flowers. A demure little thing if it weren’t for the slit that went up your thigh. A freshwater pearl necklace rested daintily around your neck, aptly showing off your collarbones. You were actually quite proud of your outfit for tonight, although if you’d known the evening would progress in this way you may have decided on something more prude.

Business dinners. Always a fine balance between being charming but not overpowering, personable yet professional. Usually an easy balance to strike if your partner didn’t decide to get plastered and become an insufferable flirt.

You really couldn’t remember the last time you had dinner with a friend just for the heck of it. It was always either business, networking or the occasional ‘date’ which was nothing more than an ill-disguised excuse to end the night in someone’s bed.

You loved your job, but sometimes you wondered if living and breathing your work and drowning yourself in the company was just a way to fill a void. You immediately shied away from exploring that thought. Let’s first get through the evening without killing Gerard, you could psychoanalyse yourself some other time.

“The restrooms here are really divine! I tell you, D-I-V-I-N-E! Almost as divine as you tonight! I need to know the interior designer!” Gerard proclaimed as he slid clumsily back into his seat.

[10:18 PM] You: now.

“Did you just compare me to a toilet?” you asked incredulously as you finished typing and closed your phone.

Gerard gave you a toothy grin before he took a long sip from his Old Fashioned.

I should’ve started ordering him water after drink number two.

“Not the toilets! Their wallpaper is exquisite! Just like you!” he said happily.   

“Now I’m wallpaper?” you mused and looked down on your dress. You really should’ve worn something else.

Gerard’s eyes crossed in concentration as he realized what he just said. “What I meant was I could definitely use someone like their designer to stage the condos downtown. They’d sell like hot cakes!” he rectified with a snicker.

“I know who designed this hotel. If you want, I can introduce you to them.” You picked up your drink and gave it a taste. It was pleasant and neat. Unlike the drunk real estate broker sitting next to you at the bar. “But in return I expect you to send me a first draft of the listing proposal by Monday.”

“Y/N! Always on the job. You know I’ll do my magic. Here’s to our new listing contract. The Plumeria Offices! Drinks are on me!” Gerard giggled into himself.

You clinked your glass and laughed quietly, “And who’s commissioning your sorry ass? So technically drinks are still on me. You’re lucky you’re good at your job.”

It was time to end this night. You made a mental note to never go out for drinks with Gerard again.

“Then let me take you out to dinner! Not like this, but a real date. C’mon, don’t you ever get tired refusing me? It’s not easy to find an eligible bachelor like me, rawwr!” Gerard winked and clawed the air in front of you.

He was very lucky he was good at his job.

Your phone lit up.

[10:21 PM] Gucci Boy: The Cygnus?

[10:21 PM] Gucci Boy: That’s all the way across town! Ugh -_-;

Plan A seemed to be a dead end; it was time to start thinking about a plan B.

[10:23 PM] You: i’ll blow you

“How about we talk about your feline bachelorness tomorrow? Tonight we should celebrate our contract and the divine restrooms,” you said distractedly as you scanned the room for an escape.

Gerard unexpectedly inched closer and yelled directly into your ear, “To the Plumeria Offices, the divine restrooms and the divine Y/N!” You winced as a hot waft of alcoholic exhale hit your face.

Your patience was waning. You had to get away before you made dead broker meat out him.

Just in that moment you recognized a familiar figure at the hotel bar entrance. You couldn’t even believe you were actually considering this.

It had been a very long and painful past hour. Your rational brain tried hard to convince yourself that you preferred your real estate broker alive and making you money over the instant gratification of nailing his balls against the wall.

What your brain didn’t tell you was how choosing the devil made this situation any better. Here went nothing.

You abruptly stood up and waved, “Jimin! Babe!”

Jimin’s head turned when he heard his name. His eyes briefly widened with surprise and confusion as he recognized you. He started coming over to your spot at the bar and you could see a flash of understanding cross his face as he took in the scene.

“Cheers to my divine Y/N!” Gerard howled as he lifted his glass with one hand and tried to sling his other around your shoulder. You nimbly dodged his arm and moved right next to Jimin as he reached the bar. Your arm slid loosely around his waist.

“Jimin, babe, what are you doing here?” You looked up at him and gave him your most innocent smile.

Just play along.

His eyes narrowed slightly, but otherwise he showed no sign of surprise at your unusual behavior. After a brief moment he simply smiled back, pulled you closer into his side and rested his hand at the small of your back. You suppressed a startled yelp.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. I had a meeting at the Suthora Lounge. It just finished, so I thought I’d grab a drink before I turn in for the night.” His smile turned into a mischievous smirk. “You didn’t tell me you were coming to this bar tonight, sweetheart. Otherwise I would’ve dropped by sooner.” His term of endearment caught you off guard. There was a teasing glint in his eyes as his thumb gently stroked across your back. You tried to ignore the zing it sent through your body.

“Sorry, where are my manners! Jimin, this is Gerard, a business partner of mine. Gerard, this is Jimin, my…,” you paused for a millisecond as you debated which word to use. For lack of a better idea you lamely ended on, “Jimin.” Jimin shifted slightly next to you.

Gerard stood up and gave the both of you a confused look. Slowly the situation dawned on him and a slight flush of embarrassment crossed his cheeks. He tried to collect himself and stuck out his hand. “Ah yes of course, it’s nice to meet you.”

Jimin shook his hand. “Likewise, Gerard was it? Y/N has already told me so much about you. She often says it’s rare to find true professionals nowadays, but she holds you in very high regard.”

You gave him a quick, annoyed glance. Don’t lay it on too thick, boy. He was trying to hold back his laughter as he quirked his eyebrow in response. What are you gonna do about it?

It reminded you of the days when you used to pull pranks like this all the time.

Gerard’s face turned red like a tomato. Jimin’s words seemed to sober him up a bit. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and replied, “Yes, working with Y/N is great. She’s truly talented and… uh... attractive.” His face blanched. “I mean, not that I find her attractive! I m-mean, not that I find her unattractive…”

Jimin laughed at the man’s flustered state. “Don’t worry, I know exactly what you mean. She’s clever and absolutely stunning. It’s hard to resist.” His eyes crinkled as he gave you another mirthful smile.

Your stomach twisted. He was playing the loving boyfriend part a little too well. If you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought he actually meant it. You immediately dismissed that ludicrous thought.

You could already tell this little stunt was going to cost you.

Gerard downed his drink and started searching for his wallet. “I better get going now, it’s getting late. It was a really good evening Y/N. I’ll give you a call next week when all the listings are sorted out.”

“Monday,” you said with a big smile and a voice that brooked no argument.

“Y-yes, of course. Monday. I hope you don’t mind if I don’t take you home. You’re in better hands with your boyfriend anyway,” he sputtered.   You fought your urge to correct him and just gave him a friendly hum of confirmation. Gerard nodded to Jimin and you without making eye contact, put some bills on the counter and quickly shuffled towards the exit.

Once he was out of sight you immediately stepped out from under Jimin’s arm. Your skin tingled where his palm had rested a second before. You sat back down and let out a deep sigh. Jimin slipped into the seat next to you.

The bartender immediately came up to him, “Good evening sir, what can I get you?”

“The usual please. Thanks Paul.”

The bartender left and you both sat in silence as you nursed your drink.

“Don’t ask.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

You heaved another small sigh, turned towards Jimin and took in his appearance for the first time this evening. He was wearing a slightly rumpled dress shirt with the top unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up. He almost looked a bit out-of-place and tired. You wondered if the project was putting him under too much pressure.

What was wrong with you? Why did your stubborn heart still have a tender spot for him?

“What are you doing here?”

This time it was his turn to let out a sigh. “Do you realize you always ask me the same question?”

“Are you following me? Is this some weird game of yours where you’re just trying to prove a point again?” you tried hard to sound unaffected.

Irritation and hurt flashed across his eyes.

Good.

But then it was gone in a blink, replaced by an unreadable smile, “Get over yourself, not everything in life is about you. I live here.” He took the glass of whiskey Paul set in front of him and clinked it against your martini glass. “Cheers.”

You were about to retort as your phone blinked.

[10:35 PM] Gucci Boy: Fine, will be there in 30.

[10:35 PM] You: don’t bother. matter’s settled

[10:35 PM] Gucci Boy: TT-TT dinner tomorrow?

You decided to ignore his question.

“Is Gucci Boy your boyfriend?” Jimin asked with a skeptical snort.

You glanced up and realized he was looking into your phone. “What Taehyung? No, he’s just whatever.”

Jimin’s brows shot up. “Just whatever? And here I thought you were the biggest romantic on the planet.” You couldn’t tell if he was mocking you or not.

There used to be times when you believed in the love of a friend and the love of a mother. Those times were long in the past.

“No Jimin, you’re the biggest romantic sap on the planet. I’m a person who believes relationships are overrated. What do you mean with you live here?” You didn’t want to talk about your love life anymore, so you decided to not-so-subtly change the topic.

You could tell he wanted to push further but then he decided to let it go. “This is our hotel, did you forget? I needed a place to stay when I moved back to the City. I’m temporarily staying in the penthouse suite while I’m looking for a new place.”

“I know this is one of your hotels. That’s not what I meant. Why aren’t you just tiding over at your parents’ or at Jihyun’s? They all live like three blocks from here.“

The edges of his mouth twitched up, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He took another swig of whiskey. “For someone who doesn’t want to be asked any questions, you sure ask a lot of your own.”

There was nothing you could argue against that.

You turned your attention back to your drink. “Thanks Jimin,” you said in a quiet voice. No matter how wary you were of him, you weren’t ungrateful.

He didn’t respond. You looked up to see his reaction. This time his eyes were creased in amusement. “I think this is the first nice thing you said to me since I’m back.”

You rolled your eyes. “Don’t get used to it.”

His smile grew wider. Your heart skipped a beat as your friend of your past peeked through.

The moment passed as he responded, “Don’t worry. You owe me one, sweetheart.”

***

The next morning your phone rang. You absentmindedly answered the call while you flipped through some blueprints, “L/N speaking.”

“Y/N, I have a great idea how you can repay me for last night,” a familiar voice purred on the other end of the line.

You did a double take and looked at the caller ID on your screen. Shit.

“Jimin? What do you want?” You muted your phone and let out a loud groan. You knew this was going to happen.

“You know, your work and private persona are really different. Is there a reason why you’re so cold to everyone all the time? Maybe you should go consult a therapist, this could be a serious case of disassocia…”

“Park. Cut to the chase. What do you want?” you tried not to sound annoyed.

The boy on the phone clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “Now I am hurt. And here I thought you’d be endlessly grateful after I rescued you from your horrible date last night!” he wailed dramatically over the phone. You forgot how childish he could be sometimes.

You took in a deep breath and gathered all your patience in your voice, “First, it wasn’t a date. Second, fine. Let me hear your great idea. What can I do for you?”

“I told you I’m looking for a place, right?” excitement now laced his tone.

“Yes?”

“I want you to find me a new home.”

You were a bit surprised and relieved by his request. “Oh, well that’s easy. I can refer you to one of our brokerage partners…”

“No Y/N, I want you to find me a new home. I want you to go house shopping with me.”

You should’ve known he wasn’t going to let you off the hook that easily.

You let out an exasperated breath, “You want me to play your realtor? Jimin, I don’t have time for this, you know we don’t broker. Besides, my team focuses on commercial real estates. If you insist on us finding you a new place, I can get you in touch with our residential development team. They know everything that’s happening in the City.”

Jimin laughed across the phone, “Don’t give me lame excuses. This request is off the clock. You know this town like the back of your hand, and you know my taste. You’re the best personal shopper I could want. I won’t take no for an answer. Impress me.”

There was an unsaid threat in his words. Take this deal while I’m still playing nice. My next request will be much worse.

Sometimes you hated this game of give-and-take. Sometimes you hated savvy business people. Sometimes you hated yourself because you relished in all of the above.

“Fine. I don’t have time this weekend. Give me the week to pull together some listings and then let’s meet next Saturday. I’ll give you one weekend of my time. Either you take it or you leave it and go find yourself someone else to bother.”

“Deal.” his old eagerness shined through, “Oh, and put some effort into it. If I notice you’re doing this half-assed just because it’s me, I won’t let it count.”

You bristled at his remark, “Don’t insult me, Park.”

Another laugh chimed through the line, “See you next Saturday.”

***

It was Saturday morning and you were late for your appointment. You rushed past your stepmother into the kitchen to grab a piece of fruit and some water.

“Honey, is this your breakfast?” she asked, “I’m making pancakes, you can have some now if you can’t stay for breakfast.”

You quickly scarfed down your banana. “Sorry Ave, I’m in a hurry. I fell asleep last night while reviewing the bid proposal and forgot to set an alarm.”

Your stepmom crossed the kitchen and looked at you with worried eyes, “You seem stressed these days. I have a facial appointment this afternoon for my shoot on Monday. You can take the slot if you want.”

“I’ll probably be out all day, so enjoy your facial.” You finished your last bite of banana, grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and headed towards the kitchen door.

“We could do a girls night in tomorrow? Eri’s off, I can prepare some things for a nice pamper session for the three of us?” she tried again.

You didn’t know why she was fussing. You weren’t even her daughter. “I’m good.”

In that moment your father entered the kitchen. “Bye dad, bye Aveline.” You gave him a quick peck on the cheek and rushed out the door.

The traffic gods showed mercy, you miraculously made it 5 minutes before the appointed time. Your development manager Julia was already waiting, coffee in hand.

“Have I told you, that I love you and I want to marry you?” you said as she handed the coffee and the listing portfolio to you.

Julia chuckled at your remark, “Ah, if only you were my boyfriend. I’ll just have to imagine it was him saying that right now.”

“I take it, he’s still being dense?” you asked.

“Super dense,” Julia agreed. “So who are we meeting on a Saturday morning and why the hell are we showing them apartments?”

“Don’t ask. It’s just an acquaintance of mine and unfortunately I owe him a favor,” you said miserably.

In that moment Jimin arrived. “Good morning Y/N, what’s with the long face? We haven’t even started yet,” he said cheerfully until his eyes landed on Julia. A small frown settled on his face.

“It’s 8.30 am on a Saturday morning and we’re in the middle of downtown. The real question should be why are you in such a good mood?” you commented with a scowl.

“You said we had one weekend. Gotta make the most of it. Who’s this?” he asked with a nod.

You realized you forgot to introduce Julia. Why were you so easily distracted by him? “This is Julia, she’s one of our residential development managers. Julia this is Jimin, a friend of the family.”

Julia eagerly held out her hand, “It’s great to make your acquaintance. Y/N never mentioned she had such a handsome friend.”

Jimin dropped his frown and took her hand, “Nice to meet you too. May I ask why you’re here today?” Julia visibly swooned as he gave her a smile. You wanted to kick them both.

“She’s here to assist with the contract. Once you’ve decided on an object, she’ll close the deal for you,” you answered in an irritated tone.

Jimin’s cheery mood returned, “Great, so that means we don’t need her for the actual touring? Apologies to have hauled you out of bed this early in the morning Julia. If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to visit the properties in private. I have some catching up to do with Y/N.” Jimin gave Julia another bright smile.

“N-no, not at all. I hope you find something to your liking,” she responded weakly. Julia turned to you with a knowing smile and muttered, “Call me if you need something.” She winked and scurried off before you could protest.

Great. You glared at Jimin, “This was completely unnecessary. We need her!”

“Why? Didn’t you do your homework?” he teased.

You huffed at him, “When did you become so insufferable?”

“When did you become so uptight?” he countered. “We can just call her back when I’ve picked something, okay?”

You refused to respond.

Jimin tried to appease your agitated mood, “Look, I know you don’t like me. But you’ve agreed to this and I need a new place. So why don’t we both stop bickering and act like two civilized human beings for the day?” As an afterthought he added, “I’ll buy you lunch. Your choice.” He knew you couldn’t say no to good food.

It was going to be a long day. And you really didn’t have the energy to stay angry all the time.

“There’s this new seafood place close to the pier that I’ve been meaning to try. It’s on the way to the Spirea Tower,” you considered until you saw Jimin’s grimace. You forgot; he didn’t like seafood. “We don’t have to go there…”

Jimin hastily shook his head and said, “No it’s fine. Let’s go there. If it’s on the way, then even better.” You had to smile at his eagerness.

You cleared your throat and put on your best sales pitch voice, “Very well Mr. Park., welcome to 230 Beech. If you’d like to follow me inside.” You gestured and entered the building behind you.

***

“The highlight of this penthouse is of course the 360° view over the city. You have plenty of terrace space to host outdoor events and the glass windowpanes give you that highly sought after indoor/outdoor living experience. This building has all the amenities you can ask for. 24h valet, fully equipped gym, indoor swimming pool, library, conference rooms, a 100-seat screening room, lounges for hosting events, it even has its own residential barber shop, grocer and coffee bar. It really is a great investment property.”

Three penthouses, three condos and two townhouses later, you finally arrived at the last stop of the day. Your day with Jimin was oddly pleasant yet frustrating at the same time. True to your agreement you both stopped bickering and focused on the task at hand. He took his time inspecting each property, attentively listening to your explanations, asking interested questions and openly admiring features that he liked. Nevertheless, nine properties later, he still hadn’t settled for any of them.

“So what do you think?” you asked him, as you presented him the breathtaking sunset view.

Jimin stood next to you and looked out over the city. “It’s really an extraordinary space, but I don’t think it’s what I’m looking for.”

You were tired, your feet hurt, and you really didn’t want to repeat this procedure again tomorrow. “What do you mean it’s not what you’re looking for? It has everything you can possibly ask for and this district has a forecasted value increase of 20% in the next 5 years. Heck even I bought a unit in this building.”

Jimin turned to you and asked curiously, “You live here?”

You shook your head. “No,” you replied, “I still live at home. There’s no point in moving into my own place when I’m barely ever there anyway. Doesn’t mean I can’t own property around town. Are you sure you don’t want this penthouse? Julia told me there’s already two offers up for it, but I’m sure we can strike a deal with the seller. It’s really a great investment.”

“Y/N.” He sounded strangely solemn. “I had fun today and I feel like this is the only way I can get you to talk to me in a normal way, but I meant it when I said I’m looking for a home.”

You spent your entire spare time of the past week pouring over different listings and registries, trying to find something which you thought suited his taste. No chance in hell was Park Jimin going to walk away at the end of this weekend without a contract.

“And what? None of these caught your eye?” you asked defensively.

Jimin looked at you pensively before he said, “They’re all really amazing, but as you said, they’re investment properties. That’s not what I’m looking for.”

Oh.

He continued in a quiet voice, “You know what I’m looking for, right?”

He was looking for a home.  Somehow this realization made your heart clench.

You contemplated for a moment until you made up your mind, ripped a corner off your portfolio and wrote an address on the paper.

“Meet me here tomorrow at 11.”

***

“This is a deli.”

“Shush. Just follow me.”

You entered the store and headed straight for the counter.

“Y/N!” exclaimed the man behind the register. “You really need to come by more often!” He came around and gave you a warm hug.

“Hi Bodo,” you said in a muffled voice as you awkwardly tried to extract yourself from his embrace.

Bodo finally let go of you and gave Jimin an appraising look. “This is the young man you’re showing around?”

“Yeah, do you have the keys?” you asked.

Bodo grinned happily, grabbed a basket from behind the counter and headed out the door. ”Of course young lady! Everything ready and prepped as soon as you called this morning. Let’s go!”

Jimin gave you a puzzled look, you shrugged noncommittally. Just follow me.

The three of you walked down the street and arrived at an old building which had ‘Cali Soap Co.’ written across its brick wall. You walked up a flight of metal stairs and ended up in front of an insignificant-looking set of double doors. Bodo fumbled briefly with the keys until he unlocked the entrance and held open one side for you. “Voilá! Welcome, welcome!”

A beautiful two-story loft unfolded before your eyes. Light streamed in from the large industrial windows. Plants hung from the ceiling and the window frames. To the left a giant bookcase spanned across the entire height of the loft. The kitchen was situated in a winter garden at the back of the building which opened up to a small courtyard patio.

Bodo put the keys and the basket on the coffee table and turned back towards the entrance. “I’ll leave you two to it. I packed you guys some lunch in case you’re hungry. Take your time. You can come by the shop and drop everything off once you’re done.”

You gave Bodo a small smile, “Thanks.”

As Bodo left you stood uneasily in the middle of the loft. “I don’t know much about this building. It used to be an old soap factory which shut down in the 80s and got repurposed into a living space. The winter garden got added later on, they removed the air vents, cemented it shut and turned it into a patio. The old delivery area is on the ground floor below us. It can be used for storage or you can put in automatic doors and convert it into a garage. The previous owner didn’t have a car, so nothing was ever installed.”

You turned to check Jimin’s reaction.

His eyes were comically wide as he took in the loft. “What is this place?” he asked in wonder.

“It’s a home,” you simply answered. You remembered the first time you entered this place. You expected the sadness, but you didn’t expect the amazement. It was hard to ignore the love and care that was put into it. An eclectic array of furniture decorated the entire space. The bookcase was nothing short of imposing, filled with books over books over books. In every nook and cranny you could either find an ardently displayed old typewriter or some trinket brought back from faraway. This place was well loved and showed the story of a life. A life which you were never a part of.

I never wanted to be your mother. I don’t even want to be your friend.

Jimin walked around and ran his hands over everything. “I didn’t even know a place like this existed in this city,” he said in a hushed voice.

“I didn’t either,” you responded dejectedly.

Jimin shifted his attention away from the loft back to you. He gently asked, “How did you find this place?”

You hesitated, but then you decided to say, “It belonged to my mom - I mean Celia.”

Jimin moved back to your side, eyes soft. “Celia? Did she get back in touch with you? Where is she living now if she’s selling this place?”

“No, I haven’t seen her since the last time,” you said as you quietly shook your head. “She died last year of breast cancer. I guess she didn’t have any family, Bodo was actually her boyfriend. Isn’t it ironic? I inherited everything, including this loft.”

You’ve never talked about her passing until today; not even to your dad or Bodo. You’ve also never shown anyone this place. Not because you didn’t want to, but simply because you couldn’t think of anyone who could appreciate and understand it. You didn’t know why it felt so easy to share those things with Jimin. It always used to be easy with him.

Jimin was stunned, “Bodo was her boyfriend?

“Yeah, why? He comes by from time to time to take care of this place. He’s actually a pretty nice guy.”

Suddenly Jimin bent over and burst into laughter, “Exactly! How did someone so nice end up with someone so horrible like Celia?”

You could see how it was funny. You started to laugh as well.

“Poor Bodo!” Jimin sprawled on the floor and continued laughing. A warm feeling coursed through your heart as you slowly started to see a glimpse of your old friend again.

After a while he calmed down and stared up at the beamed ceiling. “This place is really beautiful. Are you sure you want to sell it?” he asked carefully.

This place was truly beautiful, but somehow it never felt like it belonged to you in the first place. Maybe because you knew it was never intended for you. It would be a shame to let something so precious go to waste. 

You gave the boy lying on the floor a tender smile. “Does that mean you want to buy it?”

Next >>

°°°°°°° 13/04/20

Copyright © 2020 full-of-jams. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy, repost or translate without permission.

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@l4life​

[heyyyharry]

In Another Life Series: Chapter 10 - The Sidekicks

…in which the protagonists aren’t always the only heroes.

Series description: Y/N and Harry are soulmates and destined to meet in every lifetime, but no matter how many times they reincarnate and find each other again, they never seem to get it right.

AU: reincarnation, soulmate!harry, prince!harry, assistant!y/n, witch!y/n.

Chapter 9 - The Witch: Y/N and Harry both have to choose.

Warning: This is the first time I’ve killed off a character guys. HOW DO WRITERS DO THIS?!!! Also this is about 6.5k word long so probably a ton of unedited mistakes in here.

wattpad link

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“Hi, I’m here for the job interview?”

“Name?”

“Forman. Jason Forman.”

The hotel receptionist gave the young man a smile then told him to wait until the manager was done interviewing the other candidate as it would take around ten to fifteen minutes more. Being anxious as he was in job interviews, Jason would always arrive this early to mentally prepare himself. So he asked her where the toilet was and took the free time he had to go fix up and release his burden.

Jason followed the lady’s instruction, heading down the long hall and making a left turn; and as he was checking his phone while walking, he bumped into a girl. She immediately screamed at him to watch where he was going and as a habit he repeatedly apologizing for it. 

It took him a while to calm down but eventually he recognized that face. He wouldn’t have known who she was had it not been for his best friend spooky relationship with her boss. He’d done a lot of research on Harry Styles to know the girl he had just bumped into was no other than Harry’s ex-girlfriend, singer/songwriter/demon in the form of a pretty girl, Lillie Xander.

“You’re lucky my Gucci shirt is not crinkled! You obviously couldn’t pay for it!” She snarled at him and dusted off her shirt to storm off without one second look back. 

Jason had heard a lot about this woman from his best friend, but she was even worse than he’d imagined. He wondered how Harry Styles had gone through two years in a relationship with such an awful person, she was either a very good actress, or Harry was just really dumb, or maybe it was the curse that linked him to someone like her so as to match his previous lives’ storyline, whatever it was, Jason truly felt sorry for him.

When Lillie was finally out of sight, Jason proceeded to the toilet. Unexpectedly, another girl bumped into him for the second time!

“I’m sorry!” This one blurted out before he could, which surprised him for he expected the same attitude as Lillie. 

Not everyone is the devil, Jason! Said the voice inside his head.

“It’s okay, it was my fault…I’m really sorry…” he apologized, yet the girl seemed too distracted to pay attention to his words. “Are you alright, miss?”

“Have you seen Lillie Xander?” She blurted out, catching him off-guard. 

“I have, yeah…She just left. Why?” Jason’s eyes grew wide. “You know her?”

“Yeah, I was her assistant.”

Well, what are the odds…

“Was?”

“Yup, the bitch fired me for leaking her ‘private information’.” The girl did an air quote as she sticked out her tongue mockingly. “As if the whole world hadn’t already know about her constantly cheating on Harry Styles.”

“Cheating?! Is that true?!”

Judging by Jason’s weird reaction, the girl paused a bit to study his facial expression. She squinted her eyes, scanning him from head to toes, before taking a wild guess, “are you working for those tabloids who write shit about celebrities to ruin their lives?”

It took Jason a while to think of an answer. He rarely lied, especially about his identity, moreover he’d got a job interview in ten minutes or less, he didn’t have time for gossip, but he knew this girl hated her old boss and she would be willing to spill everything about Lillie, which might be able to help his best friend or at least his best friend’s soulmate (it was still weird for him to use that word). He just knew he couldn’t walk away from this opportunity, so he nodded his head quick.

“Y-Yeah? I am…” He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Was it very obvious?”

“You just asked a lot of questions,” she told him then locked her fingers around his wrist. “Come with me, I have a lot to tell you about Lillie Xander.”

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“Your Highness, you’re not allowed!” 

“Let me in! I need to see her! Mother!”

The armored guards turned a deaf ear to the prince despite how loud he was shouting and how hard he fought to break free from their grips. They only took commands of the Queen and the Queen only, they weren’t afraid of Edward’s empty threats. 

“I need to speak to my mother!”

“Your Highness, you need to calm down. Her Majesty doesn’t want to see anyone at the moment.”

Just as the servant finished his sentence, the door to the Queen’s chamber was unlocked and the Queen herself appeared, looking serene, she always was no matter the situation. She waved her hand telling her guards to let go of the young prince and giving him the permission to enter before retreating inside. Her son quickly followed. He was enraged and she knew exactly why he was here, in fact, she’d been expecting him to show up and make a scene.

“What have you done?!” He shouted at her when the doors were finally closed. “You’re gonna have her executed?!”

“Yes, that evil young girl is going to be burnt at the stake at sunrise.”

“No! Ann deserves a fair trial like all prisoners!”

“She’s not just any prisoner!” Argued the Queen. “She’s a witch. Your father would—“

“Father is still unconscious! This is your decision!”

The Queen took a deep breath then turned around to glared at her child, eyebrows knitted together as she asserted, “he would’ve done the same thing to the person who set him on fire!”

“I’m going to speak to her myself,” Edward declared then turned to leave. But before he made it out of the door, his mother raised her voice and stopped him in his tracks. 

“You’re forbidden!”

“Forbidden?” He turned around, eyes broadened in shock. “You can’t forbid me!”

“Your father is not dead yet so don’t speak like a King when you aren’t one. I am still your mother and your Queen.” 

He didn’t say anything else but he didn’t move either. So the mother marched towards her beloved son and laid a hand on his cheek, causing Edward to step away from her reach immediately. This wasn’t the loving mother he’d always adored. Every single one of her words was full of hatred, he didn’t recognize this woman. 

“Trust me, my dear…That girl is dangerous!”

Unfortunately, that one reason wasn’t enough to convince the young prince.

“That’s not why you don’t want me to see her…” he said, it was more of a realization than an assumption. “Does she…know father is still alive?”

For this question, Edward didn’t receive an answer or a reaction. However, he didn’t need one to know what he feared was true.

“She doesn’t, does she?” He nearly choked on his own words. “You had her think she’d killed the King!”

The Queen kept silent. The less she spoke, the more he was afraid of her. She had gradually turned into this monster in those bedtime stories she used to tell him when he was a kid, a cold-hearted monster, and he didn’t want to believe it, he needed to hear it from her.

“Or…you wanted her to think it was me who was responsible for her execution.”

“She’s a distraction, Edward! She clearly put a spell on you, don’t you see?!” 

That was a ‘yes’, and Edward quickly extended his arms to keep her from taking a step closer. His hands were trembling and his breathing became ragged. He just couldn’t believe that his own mother was capable of doing something so cruel.

“Did you…plan everything? Ann being in that room when father was set on fire!”

“You’re accusing me of plotting against my husband?” 

“You’ve always hated him and Ann! You have every reason to do that!” 

Edward’s screaming caused the Queen to instantly backed away. The look of fright on her face, however, did soften the devastated son as she was still his mother, and despite all the things she’d done, he still loved her. Nevertheless, he was broken to pieces for he didn’t know who else to trust, not even himself. That was why he needed to speak to Ann, and the thought of her being put away for something she didn’t do deeply wounded him as he stormed out of her room, dashing past the guards, neglecting his mother’s pleading for him not to go. 

Up in the highest tower, Ann was waiting for her death. She hadn’t eaten for days, she wished she could die of hunger, or be eaten by the rats. Any death would be better than being burnt by those spiteful people who was ruling this rotten country. 

The moonlight snuck through the small gap high on the wall and formed a bright line on the floor in front of her. She had been staring at it for a very long time, and judging by this light she assumed it was a full moon, just like the night she met Edward. Maybe it was all the work of fate. She was meant to meet him that night, fall in love with him, and receive her devastating ending. They said when you were approaching your death, you began to reflect your entire life, and she did. Ann had faced death once, she was very young and the King’s army burnt down her entire village, she had to watch her mother and sisters burnt alive in front of her eyes. If it hadn’t been for Madam Maggie, she probably couldn’t escape and lived until today. She had escaped death once, now it was coming back for her, and she knew she couldn’t run anymore, she had to accept it. The truth was, she didn’t regret anything, not even her decision to stay, not even loving Edward, not even believing his love for her was true. Nothing. 

Now as she was waiting for the sun to rise so as to end her misery at once, she thought about him. Maybe in another, when he wasn’t who he was now, they could be together at last.

“Ann, my love!”

When she heard that voice, she thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She thought she missed him too much so she started imagining things. But when the door was opened and he rushed into the room, her heart nearly flew out of her chest. It took her less than a second to burst into tears.

He shushed her and dropped down on his knees to pull her into his arms. They were both sobbing. 

“H-How did you—“

“I paid the guards…I…I had to see you…” he said, holding her face, tracing his fingertips across her features as if to take every single detail into his memory. “Did they hurt you, my love?”

She shook her head no, smiling sadly to him. It was obviously a lie, but he didn’t have to know. She didn’t want to worry him some more.

“I’m so happy to see you again…” She rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes and breathing heavily. “I thought you didn’t want to see me anymore…”

“No, no, no…” He had never shaken his head so fast. “I’m sorry love…I’m so sorry…” The words spilled out endlessly even though he knew they were all useless now, they wouldn’t be able to save her. 

“I don’t blame you…I…killed your father…”

“You didn’t, love, you didn’t. He’s alive.”

She squinted her tear-filled eyes in confusion and shock.

“My mother…She wanted you to believe he was dead, and that I was the one who…” He couldn’t say it, he couldn’t even say it. “I would never want you to get hurt…Never…”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

She was smiling. He had no idea why she was smiling, still he did too. Knowing these were probably the last few minutes they had together, at least he got to see that smile again.

“What are you thinking of, love?” He asked hoarsely for he’d been crying too much. She touched his face gently, the magic on her fingertips warmed up his skin in this dark cold room as her presence had done to his heart. Without her, he would probably break like ice, he wasn’t ready to let her go.

“Your eyes glow in the dark,” she said after a while, holding his gaze still as if to record the image into her memory and taking it with her to a place far away from here. “The first time we met they also glowed in the dark…I’ve never told you this, have I?”

“No, love.” He laughed in tears. “You hated me then.”

“Yes, and I didn’t even know you.” She giggled but that was the saddest sound he’d ever heard. “I’m glad you fell into that hole.”

“I’m glad I did…” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

“I’ll never forget you, Edward.”

“Don’t say that…Don’t—” The Prince pulled her back to his chest and laid gentle kisses all over her face. Ann could feel his heart beating, and this was all she needed right now, to feel his heart before hers burnt to ashes. She knew their time together was running out, so she asked him for a little favor.

“Edward, darling…Can you give me one last kiss?”

He nodded, watery eyes shut tight as he pressed his lips to hers, feeling everything at once, it was bitter sweet to know it was their last. Ann was the first to break away, holding tightly onto his shoulders as she looked straight into his green eyes.

“When…When I’m gone…” She struggled to release those words, yet there was no other way. “You have to move on with your life…”

“Don’t say that!”

“Listen to me! You have to promise me to move on with your life! You’re gonna be a great King, and you’re gonna love again, you’re gonna have a family, you’re not gonna be like your father and mother, you’re gonna have a happy marriage and many children.”

“No…”

“Edward!” She was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, still she held onto him because he was all she had left. “You have to! But please be careful. The people around you aren’t who you think they are…”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have time to explain, just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will love. I will…” He nodded fast. “But I won’t love anyone else…Just you.”

“I know…” She snorted in tears while caressing his face. “It may be over for us in this life but we’ll meet again.” She took a deep breath to steady her breathing and looked at him in the eye to make sure he paid attention to her each and every word.

“Find me in another life. Only when you’ve found me, then we can be together…”

“I will.”

“Promise me?”

The prince nodded rapidly. He wasn’t sure what she actually meant, still he gave her his words, swearing on his own life that no matter how many lifetimes it would take, he wouldn’t give up until he’d found her.

Just as they managed to hold onto each other for the very last time, a big tall man in armor kicked the door open. Without waiting for a reaction from Edward and Ann, the King’s guards grabbed each of them then forced them apart by violence. They did as they’d been told, they didn’t care who might get hurt, they showed up by their Queen’s command. 

“Don’t you dare hurt her!” Edward roared as he kicked and punched and tried everything he could to escape from the men twice his size who were holding him up like a rag doll. He threatened to take their lives if they refused to let go of Ann, but none of those men seemed bothered.

“I’m so sorry Your Highness,” said one of the guards as two others held each of his arms. “We only take command of His and Her Majesty.”

“It’s okay, Edward…I’ll be okay,” Ann assured him as she got up on her knees after one of the men had tossed her into the corner of the room. She was frightened on the inside but calm on the outside because she needed to be strong in order for him to be strong. If she broke now, he would give up on everything else that mattered to him, and she didn’t want that.

So they took him away, the heartless men wearing steel didn’t feel sympathy for the couple who had barely spoken their goodbyes. Before the door was closed between them, Ann saw Edward mouthing “I love you” to her and his beautiful green eyes like two little flames shining in the dark, just like the first time they met. To hear that he loved her, to know that he did, Ann couldn’t have asked for anything more.

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Lisa knocked a couple times on her flatmate’s bedroom door and gave Jason a look as she raised her voice, “Y/N, Jason is here!”

“Tell him to go away!” was the answer they received.

Lisa released a heavy sigh as she kept trying to convince the heartbroken girl. “Honey, you’ve been in there for an entire day.”

“Just let me be, Lisa!”

Jason huffed in frustration then pushed Lisa aside so he could step nearer to the door and speak for himself, “Y/N, I have something I think you’d like to hear!”

There was no answer.

“Y/N?”

“Why is she so quiet?” Lisa looked nervous. “Should we break the door down?”

“Jesus, no!” Jason rolled his eyes in response to the girl’s crazy idea. “She always stays silent when she wants to end the conversation with someone, it’s fine, I think we should respect her wish to be alone.”

Lisa nodded understandingly as she followed Jason away from Y/N’s room. “So what are we gonna do with that recording? You’re gonna publish it online and end the little bitch’s life? I have multi fan accounts, I can—“

“No! God, would you calm down?!” Jason blew up his cheeks and gave out his hand. “Give me your phone. You have Harry’s contact right? In case something bad happened to Y/N on tour?”

“No, she gave me Jeff Azoff’s number though.”

Jason raised an eyebrow at her. “Who’s that?!”

“He’s Harry Styles’ manager, you old-fashioned baby!” Lisa scoffed as she handed the phone to Jason and let him go through the contact list to look for Jeff’s. 

“I can’t believe I trusted Harry Styles and he ended up breaking her heart,” Lisa spoke while looking at her phone in the younger man’s hand. 

Even though he didn’t look up at her, he still replied by saying, “he didn’t.”

“Are you actually defending him right now? Your best friend is crying her eyes out in her room, Jason!”

“Look, I can’t tell you what happened, not yet at least, but trust me, Harry loves Y/N as much as she loves him.”

Lisa shook her head. “I wouldn’t call it love, they barely know each other.”

Jason didn’t give any further comment, he knew Harry and Y/N knew each other very well, and had been for centuries. It was tragical how they would repeat the same ending until…eternity, if only he could find the cure and give her the happy ever after she deserved. Unfortunately, he didn’t have that power.

Jason dialed the number and put the phone to his ear, inhaling deeply while waiting for the voice on the other end of the line. 

“Hello, Mr. Azoff…No! Y/N is fine, I’m her best friend, my name’s Jason. I need to speak to you about something.”

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Edward didn’t come to witness Ann’s execution. 

Ever since he was brought back to his room, he sat by his window until sunrise, like a dead corpse, ironically he really did wish he could be one. His life had had no meaning before she arrived, and now that she was gone, he’d lost his will to continue living.

Hours had passed, there was a knock on the door. Edward didn’t speak up, didn’t tell the person to come in or to leave, but said person entered the room anyway. It couldn’t be his father who was still unconscious, couldn’t be his mother either, she never left the King’s side, Edward knew no matter how much she’d said she hated him, she loved him much more than that; the only person left who could get pass his guards was his betrothed, Princess Emilie.

“The execution was just over…” she spoke up, and he didn’t even bother to bat an eye to her. He kept staring out at the window, at the lower roofs, at the skyline, at the clouds, anything that would take him away from this reality, even for just a moment.

Emilie shouldn’t have come here. She knew it herself, but she felt bad, yes, she felt bad for what she’d done. Ann was dead, and she should be glad, but all there was left in her heart was guilt. 

“Her Majesty asked me to come check on you, my dear…” Emilie carried on as she gulped down her fear. She’d never seen him like this before, he was so quiet, so intimidating. Who knew what he could and would do? She stood there for a while, waiting for a reply from the Prince, and when she was sure he would continue with his silence, she turned to leave. But it was not until then did he speak to her.

“Did you do it?”

“What?” She released a soft chuckle, yet anyone could tell she was scared because she was caught. She couldn’t play dumb for too long, she’d just witnessed a woman burnt alive, it wasn’t just something a normal person could get over easily.

“Did you—“ Edward finally stood up from the seat by his window and the look on his face as he turned to her could slit her throat open. “—or did you not give that note to Ann?”

“N-Note? What…What note?” She started stuttering now. A person who was telling the truth would never stutter.

“They found a note at the crime scene,” said Edward as he took a step towards the trembling girl and backed her up against the wooden door, eyes burning with anger, one of his hand tightened into a fist as he raised the other and showed her one finger. “I’m going to ask you one last chance to be honest to me. Did you, or did you not, give that note to Ann?”

“I—“

“Answer me!” 

He slammed his fist against the door beside her head and the words jumped right out of Emilie’s mouth before she could stop herself. 

“It was the Queen!”

“What?”

“The Queen…Her Majesty…told me to…I…I didn’t…I gave the note to one of your guards, I…”

“Did you know what was written inside that note?” She opened her mouth to answer, not knowing it wasn’t really a question until he cut her off by shouting at her. “Did you know what could’ve happened to Ann if she hadn’t defended herself against my father?! Did you know that note took away a person’s life?! Did you…” He had to pause to control himself, his voice was shaking, nearly breaking, and she didn’t know whether he was going to cry or hit her or scream or go insane. She just knew he was completely destroyed. Edward continued after closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. There was a lump in his throat and the next questions got out in pain.

“Have you ever thought about how it’d make me feel?” He questioned, eyes glued to hers, the agony was etched on his face. “To know that every single person around me, my mother, my father, my betrothed, had destroyed my only chance of ever being happy. To let people take away the only person I’ve ever loved. Are you happy to see me like this?”

“N-No…Your Highness…I—“

“If you’re going to apologize, don’t…Meaningless apologies won’t bring her back…” 

He backed away, and she could finally breathe again. He stood with his head hung low and hands on his hips, looking defeated. Then he called in his guards, leaving Ann bewildered when they barged into the room, ready to take his command.

“Make sure Princess Emilie is kept away from me from now on. I don’t care what my mother says, she is not allowed to speak to me, never again.”

“You can’t do that! I am going to be your wife!”

“I let you live because you are going to be my wife.” He pointed to her face and shut her right up, then turned to his men, nodding his head towards the door. “Now get her out of my sight.”

“You can’t do this!” Emilie cried out, choking on her own words as she fought to get away from the guards, but they had already grabbed her by the arms. “Please, Edward, please! I love you! Give me another chance please!”

Edward shook his head as he said to her, “I’m sorry, I can’t love you, and I never will.”

Then he signaled his men to drag her out of the room. Her screaming and crying didn’t bother him, he was tired; no, he was exhausted. Once he was left alone again, he went back to the window where he found peace and kept sitting there until sunset.

When Edward woke up, it was already night. He found himself lying in his bed, there was an old woman, a stranger sitting in a chair by his side, giving him a sweet smile. She had a gold front tooth, he knew every single one of the servants in this palace and he’d never seen this woman before, he would’ve remembered someone with such a unique appearance.

“What happened to me?” He asked her, and she answered by saying he had fainted.

“It’s okay, Your Highness. You’ll be alright.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name…”

“Because I don’t work in this castle.”

The Prince sat up right away, widening his eyes at the woman and was about to call for his guards when she shushed him and clicked her fingers to slam the windows by his bed shut, causing him to jump.

“Wait, you—“

“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m a witch, darling. I’m a friend of Ann’s.” The name of his lover got his stomach to twist. Her composure was in contrast with the shock in his eyes as he stared at her. And so she introduced herself, telling him to call her Madam Maggie.

.

.

.

Jeff turned off the voice recording on his phone and the hospital room sank back to silence. Harry, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, still in his hospital gown, didn’t say a single word. He stared at his feet, eyebrows pulled together leaving an uneasy grimace on his face. Jeff tried to guess what was on his mind but eventually gave up for he couldn’t decode that facial expression.

“I’m sorry,” was all he managed to say. He couldn’t come up with something better, what to tell your friend when he received the news his ex-girlfriend was pregnant only to find out it wasn’t his just two days later? Harry’s health was getting better (for some reason the doctors couldn’t explain) still it wasn’t good, Jeff could only hope this news wouldn’t be detrimental to his heart condition, which was the reason why he ended up in the hospital in the first place.

“Who sent this to you again?” Harry finally lifted his eyes to look at his manager, who was leaning his back against the edge of the table facing his bed, arms crossed as he gave Harry a shrug.

“Y/N’s friend, Jackson or something.”

“Jason,” Harry corrected him then asked fast, “did you…did you speak to Y/N?”

Jeff shook his head, leaving Harry disappointed.

“Sorry mate, she’s changed her number, I’ve tried contacted her a couple of times. She really doesn’t want to have anything to do with us anymore.”

Harry said nothing, but the frown he was wearing said it all. Jeff asked him what he would like to do with this news of Lillie’s baby being someone else’s because releasing this recording of her assistant confessing to all the bad things she’d ever done would save Harry’s reputation, even though it would do the opposite to Lillie’s and might even sabotage her career. Harry, of course, took the high road and asked Jeff to speak to Lillie’s team first, tell them to release their own apology statement and clarify Harry’s name, then get rid of the recording to save the little amount of dignity she had left. 

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Jeff nodded, pursing his lips, it’d be a lie to say he wasn’t disappointed because he’d been wanting Lillie to pay for everything she’d done, however he respected his friend’s decision. “You should get some rest. I’ll be right back in a bit, yeah?”

Harry replied by thanking Jeff then lied back down with his back facing the entrance. He was clearly acting out of character, he hadn’t spoken much since the day Y/N left, Jeff knew there was something going on between them, everyone in his team knew. They just decided to not bring her up, it was the only way for Harry to move on. He wasn’t so unfamiliar with heartbreaks since most of his songs were about them. However, nobody, not even himself knew, this could be a heartbreak that he would never recover from, not in this life, not even in the next. 

Jeff exited the room and walked out into the hallway, ready to make a phone call to Lillie’s management team to end this all at once. But things just wasn’t that easy, by the lift, he found the main star herself. Lillie was trying to get to Harry’s room but was stopped by Sarah.

“Get out of my way I need to speak to H!”

“He doesn’t want to speak to you! Leave!” Sarah held her by the arm when she intended to pass. Lillie immediately shrugged her hand away.

“Touch me again and I’ll sue every single one of you!” She growled at her, eyes squinted. “I am the mother of his baby, I need to speak to him!”

“No you’re not!” Jeff’s voice caught the two women’s attention. Sarah sighed as she stepped aside, leaving Jeff to handle Lillie.

“What do you mean I’m not?” She scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest, then received an eye-roll from Jeff who was so done with her tricks and lies already.

He didn’t say another word, instead pulled out his phone and played the voice recording, all the three people in that hallway could hear loud and clear the voice of her assistant, and every single word she was saying. Jeff stopped the recording halfway through, after the girl had done talking about Lillie’s affair with a guy named Jake.

“I think that answered your question, Lillie.”

Lillie reached out to grab the phone but Jeff was quick to put it back into his jacket’s inner pocket.

“Has Harry heard this?” She frantically asked. Jeff just said a word “yes” and she immediately pushed him aside and ran straight to Harry’s room. Jeff and Sarah chased after to stop her but she already managed to burst right through the door, causing Harry to rise from his bed and slowly opening his sleepy eyes.

The second he saw her face, his expression altered and Lillie spoke quickly before he could yell at her to go, “please let me explain! Please, H!”

“Why is she here?!”

“I’m going to call security,” said Jeff as he turned away but Harry told him to hold on before switching his eyes back to Lillie, who seemed hopeful, probably thinking she might have another chance to fix this. Little did she knew, she’d already run out of trials.

“You have five seconds to say whatever the fuck you want to say to me before getting out of my sight,” he said to the girl, then gave Jeff and Sarah a look. His friends took the cue to leave, closing the door on their way out.

“Whatever you heard on that recording, she was definitely lying!”

Harry couldn’t take it anymore. He gave her another chance to come clean, and that was what he got, more lies. He was tired, exhausted, so he turned his face away from her and waved his hand to the door.

“Just fucking leave.”

“Baby, please I—“

“If you don’t go now, I’m gonna have to call my bodyguard,” Harry said as he reached for his phone but Lillie took hold of his wrist to stop him just in time. She dropped down on her knees by his bed, crying while pleading for forgiveness, she went on and on about how sorry she was and that she shouldn’t have done what she’d done to him, the same old shit he’d heard a thousand times before. She had put up an act for so long now it was impossible for him to feel any sympathy seeing her like this. He knew she never meant it, because if you were really sorry, you wouldn’t keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

“Leave.” He shrugged her hands away, pointing to the door, lips quivering as he said what he should have many times before, “I don’t want to see you…or hear from you…ever again. You stay away from me and my friends, okay? That’s all I ask of you.”

The girl started shaking her head, so fast it could fall off and it’d still be the last thing she cared about. She knew this was hopeless and desperate but what else could she do? She had a baby, a damaged reputation, and Harry was the only good thing left, now he was leaving her too.

“I’m sorry…” She repeated those two words for the millionth time despite knowing it was pointless. “Please…I’m very sorry…”

“For cheating on me?” Harry scoffed, furrowing his eyebrows. “Or for lying that the baby’s mine? Or for using me as promotion for your songs and albums?”

“For everything…”

“Then an apology won’t be enough,” he mumbled, eyes turned away from her since he was unable to look at her for too long without thinking about all the shit she’d put him through.

“But maybe it’s also my fault…” he trailed off, leaving her surprised. “I actually believed people couldn’t change that much. But you…I don’t recognize you anymore.”

The look on his face said it all, now Lillie feared it was really over this time.

“I’m still me…I’m still the same Lillie you met two years ago. Please don’t give up on me…you’re the only thing I’ve ever loved, please don’t do this…”

Hearing that from her made him laugh, in a bitter tone. He looked down, slowly shaking his head. “No. The only thing you’ve ever loved is yourself…”

Lillie parted her lips, yet Harry didn’t want to give her another chance to feed him with more of her lies. He took her hands and forced it off his knees, slightly pushing her away as he finally looked at her in the eyes.

“I hope that baby is going to change that…but I can’t forgive you, not anymore,” he straightforward told her and watched streams of tears running down her face. The sad thing about this was that he honestly couldn’t tell whether she was faking it or she was genuinely heartbroken, and he honestly didn’t even want to know.

Harry picked up the phone and called his bodyguard, leaving Lillie no choice but to send herself out of the room. Once she was finally out of sight, he secretly hoped this would be the last time he spoke to her, he hoped it was really over. He was more disappointed in himself than hurt over the fact that she’d done those things behind his back. It was him who had decided to give her plenty of chances she didn’t deserve, and as a result he received his own punishment. He guessed everything in this world happened for a reason then. 

A nurse arrived not so long after Lillie had left to do her daily checkup on Harry’s health improvement. The old woman probably had just run into that girl on her way to Harry’s room, so the first thing she did when she entered was to ask him, “why was that young lady crying?”

“She was probably faking it, I don’t really know anymore.” Harry scoffed as he found humor in his own bitter words. “She won’t be back though.”

“Was she your girlfriend?”

“Ex.” He didn’t know why he was telling this to a stranger, maybe it made his chest feel lighter as he could finally release these thoughts and feelings. “She cheated on me, and had a baby with someone else then she lied and said it was mine…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay…I guess I deserve that.” 

“Why?” She asked, furrowing her brows at him questioningly. “Nobody deserves that, sweetie.”

“I don’t know but bad things happen to me very often.” He lifted his shoulders, sticking out his bottom lip. “I’m starting to think I might have been a very bad person in my previous life and now I’m paying for it.”

His comment made the woman smile. She proceeded to sort out his medications for the day as he kept the conversation going. 

“I’m sorry to bother you with my life problems when you don’t even know me,” he said, smiling a bit. “But I can’t really talk about these matters with people who already know me. I’ve troubled them enough…Not that I wanna trouble you too though!”

“It’s okay, sweetie, I’m all ears.” The old woman chuckled. That was when he noticed her gold front tooth, which at first he thought was pretty cool, then he started having a feeling that he’d seen her somewhere before, he wasn’t sure exactly where. Maybe it was just a hunch. 

“So all the bad things that you said were all related to love I suppose.”

“Not really…but yeah.” He groaned, watching her placing the pills on a tray and once she was done she pulled a chair to sit down by his bed, and so he began, “there was this girl…”

“There was always one, wasn’t there?” She smiled and told him to continue.

“I’ve never met someone like her before,” he said with a smile. He always smiled when he talked about her and he never realized it. “She’s like everything I’ve ever wanted, it’s like I’ve known her all my life. We have a lot in common, she cares about the things I care about, she cares about my thoughts and expectations and dreams, sometimes I actually believed she could be my soulmate.”

“But?”

“But she doesn’t want to be with me.”

“She doesn’t want to?” The old nurse raised an eyebrow with a mystery beam on her face. “Or she cannot even if she wants to.”

“Maybe a bit of both.” He shrugged. “Maybe she’s scared of being involved with someone with a complicated career like mine.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I…mostly…sing…I’m a singer.”

“That’s understandable, but I’m sure that’s not the real reason.” She reached out to touch Harry’s shoulder, and he literally flinched for he felt a sense of familiarity, like they’d had this same conversation before. 

“Look sweetie, I have to go now. I’ll be back in a bit and we’ll continue this talk about this special girl of yours, alright?” She told him before rising from her seat. 

As she made her way to the door, he suddenly remembered something so he called to stop her before she was gone. “What’s your name, ma’am?”

“It’s Margaret,” she replied with a friendly grin, her special front tooth sparkled under the light of the room. “You can call me Maggie.”

“I’m Harry.”

“Nice to meet you, Harry.” 

And just like that she walked away.