#i wish my mum would understand that this is my last summer break with my parents | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thatgirlwholikestowritestories · 2 years

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The Summer I Fucked Up (Ch 7)

A Conrad predominant retelling of The Summer I Turned Pretty TV show and book series.

Did you read the books and want to understand what was going on in that little noggin of his? Read my fic to find out that this man has zero thoughts

Chapter list

CONRAD

Susannah mentioned it in passing the next morning. Jeremiah was going to be Belly’s partner to the ball. Belly must have told Susannah before she’d gone to bed for the night, before they had met up on the pier. Conrad had to push down the icy sensation that spread across his chest and made him suck in a breath and hope his mother didn’t notice his reaction.

Of course, it made sense—after his mum spilled the beans about asking her to the ball, after what Nicole did to her because of him, after their whole interaction on the pier last night. It made sense why she’d pick Jeremiah. At least Jere was consistent. All summer Conrad had been pushing her away when he wanted to pull her closer. They’d only been able to get in a couple of blissful moments before he went and ruined everything each time.

As much as it hurt that she was choosing Jeremiah over him of all people, it also gave Conrad some small comfort. Jeremiah would look after her, Conrad could believe that much. Hadn’t they all been doing that for their whole lives? But still, thinking about the fact that she hopped into Jeremiah’s car last night instead of his made Conrad rub his neck. She must have asked then. He just didn’t want to think about what else, if anything, happened between them.

Conrad couldn’t help but feel he’d created this massive canyon between he and Belly. It was one of the worst feelings he’d had all summer—but not the worst unfortunately. He had no idea how to bridge the gap, how to scrape back some semblance of the relationship, the friendship, that they’d had before because, by God, was it important to him. Conrad could accept a lot of things in this world, but a world where Belly Conklin despised him was not one of them.

So, he started out simple. The good muffins. An olive branch.

“Hey, good morning. I, um...” He was nervous when she came bounding down the stairs into the kitchen. Jere was in the kitchen with them, already slurping up some milk. Conrad placed the box of sugar covered muffins in front of her. “I picked up some of those good muffins.”

“I...” Her fingers inched towards the box and Conrad felt a little hopeful. The muffins were a safe bet, she’d never turned these muffins before, so he was surprised when she said, “I'm good. Thanks, though.”

“Okay.” That was all Conrad could manage. He swallowed back the lump in his throat. Surely, he was just reading too much into this. They could still salvage this. This wasn’t a big deal. But, at the same time, Conrad could feel the sands of summer slipping through the hourglass. He hadn’t realised how few grains were left.

Conrad sat back on the counter, thinking this over and listening as his mum talked about the portraits and how Laurel was going to let Belly drive herself over tonight.

Belly was so excited, he only just caught her as she was bounding out the kitchen. “Hey.”

“Yeah?” She turned on her heel to face him.

What could he even say to her? How could he fix this? “Break a leg.”

“That'd be bad.” She gave him a small, joking smile, “I'm supposed to be dancing all night.”

He felt so disorientated. “I just... I just mean good luck. It's, like, a thing people say.”

For a beat, there was silence between them.

“Um... For what it's worth, Jere was the right choice.” It was, wasn’t it? After all Conrad had put her through, Jere was the right choice. Except, if it was true, why was it so hard for Conrad to say?

She nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I know.”

Conrad smiled at her, and then she was gone. He wanted to be happy for them for sure. He probably was, deep down. Except now, every time he spoke with Belly or about Belly, it felt like someone was punching in the stomach. Hard. He found himself wishing that she hadn’t agreed with him.

Steven came through Conrad’s bedroom door a little while later, barely knocking before. Conrad was sitting on his bed, just strumming on his guitar with no real purpose or tune in mind. Steve had his garment bag and shoes in his hands.

“Dude, please don’t tell me that you knew Belly and Jeremiah were a thing and didn’t tell me either?” Steven looked thoroughly disgusted.

Conrad couldn’t help but, at least partially, feel the same. He looked away from Steven as he answered, voice quiet, “No, I only just found out recently.”

Steven sat on his bed with a sigh. “You know I always thought…” He looked over at Conrad, searching his face for something. He did it in a way that was so un-Steven-like that Conrad waited for him to finish.

Instead, Steven let out a puff of air and shook his head and returning to the Steven they all knew. “I better get going. Shayla will have my ass if I’m late, especially since I’m wearing a suit that’s two inches too short for me. I’ll see you there right bro?”

“I’ll see you there.” Conrad responded.

When they arrived, Conrad took his mother on his arm. Again, Conrad found himself nearly able to believe that she wasn’t sick. That cancer was a long, distant, painful memory from the past and not the reoccurring nightmare it was threatening to become. She was radiant, even in black.

They stood at the front with Jere and Steven who weren’t dressed yet.

“Look at us.” She was already a little choked up. “It's perfect.”

Jere rolled his eyes with equal amount indulgence and love. “Mom, you're not gonna cry, are you?”

His mother didn’t waste a second. “What, and ruin my makeup? No way. It's just... Everything's gonna be different next year. Conrad's going off to college. It may be the last summer we're all together.”

Not for the first time, Conrad felt like crying. He didn’t want to think of the possible trueness of that statement. He didn’t want to think that there could ever be a summer where she was not here, in Cousins, with them all. He kept his jaw clenched tight, maybe the only thing holding back the sea of emotions he was feeling.

Unaware of it all, Jere swooped in, taking their mother into a dance hold. “Just don't forget I get a dance from you tonight.”

They did a little movement and Susannah’s laugh was rich. Jere dipped her and brought her up, but they all watched as Susannah stumbled on her feet a little bit.

“Oh, Mom, you okay?” Jere’s voice was full of concern which his mother dismissed instantly.

“Yeah, no, it's just, uh... it's been way too long since I danced. I, um, must be out of practice.”

Conrad had to get them out of here, get her sitting down. “Come on, um, we should go inside.”

She took his arm again and agreed, and they went inside.

Conrad was glad he caught the guys before they were ready and onstage. This summer had started and was nearly over and Conrad felt like, even though so much had happened, he missed it. Missed them.

“Hey, you guys ready for the escort dance?”

Steven turned to hit Jeremiah mildly, “Dude, I-I actually still can't believe you roped me into this.”

“Oh, come on, dude. The girls are gonna love it.”

“Kind of wish we were all doing it together, you know?” And, Conrad meant it.

Steven and Jere looked at each other, surprised but also trying to hold back a laugh. “Uh, you wish you were doing a dance routine?” Steven asked him.

Okay, maybe Conrad hadn’t meant that. “No, no. No. I didn't mean that literally. I just, you know, we haven't hung out much this summer, so...”

“Yeah, you've been pretty M.I.A.” Jere wasn’t wrong.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know. I know. That's on, that's on me. But I was thinking about it. We have, like, a week or so left of summer. What if we all went on an overnight fishing trip?” It was something that that’d always done together, usually they’d go at least 3 or 4 times a summer and they hadn’t even been once this summer yet. They’d all had something else going on, but it mostly had to do with him being so all over the place.

Steven jumped on the offer first. “Dude, yeah, I'm in.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Jere was quick to follow.

“All right.” Conrad nodded, smiling. He looked them up and down again and felt excited. “Man, you guys are gonna kill this.”

He reached in and gave Steven a hug. “Thanks, man.”

Then he hugged Jeremiah. Despite all the Belly stuff that hung between them, they were brothers and they loved each other. “Thanks, Connie.”

“You guys look good.” As Conrad left the room, he couldn’t help but add, “Kill it.”

Conrad sat and listened and clapped politely as each girl was presented. Based on last year’s experience, Conrad wasn’t sure if he preferred sitting on the sidelines or actually being in it. He figured that he was happy on the sidelines. There was no pressure, no one watching you, no worry that you’d fuck up in front of everyone.

Then they called her name. Isabel Conklin. Calling her Isabel had never seemed right, she was Belly through and through. They’d called her that for so long that they had kind of forgotten that it wasn’t her real name. Conrad remembered that when she was 11 she had pulled out her copy of her birth certificate and waved it around and trying to tell them her name was Isabel.

“You’ll always be Belly to us, Belly.” Conrad had replied, tussling her hair which only resulted in her turning red and stomping away.

The girl who stepped out onto the stage looked like an Isabel though. Her arm was linked through Jeremiah’s, but Conrad couldn’t stop looking at her.

It was a different dress than what he’d seen around the house. It was more her, that’s for sure. She looked stunning and her smile, by God, her smile. She tried to look into the cameras as their lights flashed and her eyes met his from across the room. Conrad smiled at her, and he was so happy when she smiled back, a little smile for him.

As they walked over together, arms linked, Conrad was forced to remember that Jeremiah also existed in this moment too. Of all the emotions that seeing Belly tonight, in her dress, smiling at him, had brought up, Conrad had forgotten that jealousy was there too, and a little sadness. He’d stuffed up and it wasn’t him up there with her, it was Jeremiah.

Conrad swallowed the emotions down. Jeremiah is good. He’s a good person. He’s good for Belly. Better than I am.

Conrad was right, Jere and Steven absolutely killed the escort dance. Their whole table was cheering and hollering as they danced. Even Conrad was smiling and laughing harder than he had in a while. It was nice to see the boys having a good time and making a fool of themselves, like they’d always done. After they’d finished, everyone stood up and applauded.

When the applause died down, there was a little time after that for guests to get drinks before the big dance. All of the tables, including their own, chatted amongst themselves. Conrad half listened to John talk next to him before John and went and got a beer.

Conrad was watching Belly. She was talking with Susannah about something or another when the organiser clinked on their glass to signal for the debutantes and their partners to get into position.

Before she stood, Belly said, “I don't know where Jeremiah is.”

His mother waved off her concern, ushering her towards the dancefloor. “He'll be here in a minute, I'm sure. Go, get ready.”

Belly looked concerned but said, “okay” anyways.

Conrad watched her look around the room for him, for Jeremiah. She was talking quietly to some other debs asking if they’d seen him, if they knew where he was.

Whispers sounded off through the other debutantes as most of them were with their partners and were almost ready to get into position and start.

“Where is Jeremiah?” they all seemed to ask.

Conrad was wondering the same thing. Apparently so was his mother.

Concerned, she turned to him. “Connie. Connie, have you seen your brother?”

Conrad shook his head. “He was just here a second ago.”

Jere had been at the table and then he wasn’t. Conrad assumed he’d gone to the bathroom, or to talk to one of his mates at another table, but Conrad couldn’t see him now.

What Conrad could see, however, was Belly. Alone. On the surface she only looked a little confused, maybe embarrassed, but he knew that this would be shaking her to her core. All the nerves leading up to the day, and now, she was alone in front of everyone with all the other debutantes and their partners ready to go. No Jeremiah in sight.

Belly’s face was starting to give way to the anxiety he knew she must be feeling. She rubbed at her hands, to give them something to do.

That’s when Conrad stood up. There was no space for thinking. All he knew was that Jeremiah was not here, and he was and as long as he was here, Belly wouldn’t have to dance alone.

She turned in his direction then and their eyes locked. This was another one of those glass moments, that if Conrad wasn’t careful, he would break. So, his eyes didn’t leave hers as he approached her.

When he reached her, time stopped. Conrad felt like it was only them in the room. Just him and Belly. Like it had always been. Like it always should have been. There was only a breath of space between them. He wasn’t sure he was breathing. It didn’t feel like it. It didn’t look like she was breathing either. But she was smiling at him, and he was smiling back.

His voice was quiet when he spoke. It was only meant for her. “I think I remember most of the steps.”

Slowly, he reached and grabbed her gloved hand. She squeezed it back. The warmth of this small touch, radiated through him instantly.

She hadn’t said anything, so he led her into the line.

He was disappointed when he had to drop her hand, despite knowing he’d be holding it again in a matter of seconds.

Then they were dancing. Belly had become a lot more graceful than when he’d taught her how to do the shag those summers ago. She’d grown up right in front of him and he missed it.

Their eyes barely left each other’s unless a twist or a turn deemed it necessary. Conrad felt like he was holding her close, much closer than was supposed to but not as close as he wanted. Hands were in hands, on shoulders, on waists, on backs.

Conrad was on his knees as she walked around him. He was elated. His heart felt like it might burst. It was just this moment. This moment was for them.

Conrad found that the final dip came too soon. He held her there for a split second longer than the other partners did. He watched as her eyes flickered across her face. From his eyes to his lips to his eyes, and repeat. What he wouldn’t give to kiss her right in this second.

But then, they were both up on two feet—her standing in front of him, both of them still so close.

“Thank you.” It was the first time she’d said anything since he stood up.

“I think I messed up some of the steps.” He almost needed to look away from her to take a little bit of the edge off all these emotions that were coursing through him. Suddenly he was so, so nervous.

She was still looking at him, right in his eyes. “You were great.” She whispered.

“I'm glad.” He looked right back and for once, let himself say something he meant, something he knew was right. “Glad that it was me.”

She gave him a small smile, not the huge ones that light up her face, but one that was still genuine, still touched his heart in someplace he often forgot how to reach, because Conrad knew it was a smile just for him. It was private, but it was theirs.

He grabbed both her hands, and swung them a little, holding onto the moment as long as he could.

Naturally, Jeremiah interrupted them then and real life fell back into place around them. “Hey.”

“Hey, Jeremiah, where were you?” Belly’s voice was filled with concern as she dropped Conrad’s hands and turned to him. Conrad’s hands felt so cold now.

Jere ignored her question and turned to him instead. “Conrad, we need to talk, all right? It's important. It's about Mom. I found something out.”

Conrad could see it in Jere’s eyes. He knew about the cancer. For one more time tonight, Conrad’s heart stopped in his chest. Not here. Not now. This is not how his mum wanted it— not how she wanted the summer to go, not how she wanted Belly’s debutante night to go. “Um... Yeah... We'll-we'll talk about this later, okay?”

“No, it's important.”

“It's okay.” Conrad placed a hand on his brother’s chest, lightly, placating.

Jere just looked down at it, processing, when he looked up there was an accusation in his eyes. “You already know, don't you? You've known this whole fucking time and didn't tell me?”

“Jere...” Conrad didn’t have time to say much more before Jere’s fist connected with his face and he fell to the floor.

Jere was on top of him, trying to hurt him, and Conrad just tried to hold him back. He knew how angry he would be, could he blame him? Wasn’t Conrad just as angry when he found out? All summer even. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. His mum was supposed to tell him. He wasn’t supposed to find out on his own. Neither was Conrad. Hell, their mum wasn’t supposed to even have cancer. She’d already beaten it. She was in remission. None of this was fair.

“Stop it.” Susannah’s voice rang out above the rest, angry and chastising. “Both of you, stop it. What is going on?”

Flinging apart from each other, they both pulled themselves off the floor.

Jere was the first to speak, but it was broken. “Mom...”

Jere didn’t say anything else know, probably couldn’t, so he turned and looked at Conrad instead. Looked at his big brother for help.

“We know, Mom. We both know.”

Conrad could tell that his mum was shocked, speechless in a way she’d never been before. She looked at Laurel for support, but she, too, looked like she had no words.

When no one said anything, Belly chimed in, confused at everyone’s reactions. “Know what?”

Conrad’s heart broke again in that moment. It broke for his mother who was dying of cancer and wanted one final happy summer, all for it to be ruined at the event she’d been looking forward to the most. It broke for his brother who had just found out, for a second time in his life, that his mother was dying and this time there might not be anything they could do about it. And it broke for Belly. Belly who loved Susannah so fiercely and was just as loved by her back. Susannah’s secret daughter who was destined for one of her sons. Conrad’s heart broke for Belly because there might not be anyone else in the world that loved Susannah like her. It wasn’t more or less than what Susannah had with him and Jeremiah, or between her and Laurel, or even her and Steven. But whatever it was between Belly and Susannah was unique and special and Conrad’s heart broke because he knew Belly’s would too.

However, amongst the overwhelming sadness, Conrad felt something else. Relief. It wasn’t his burden to carry anymore. He didn’t have to keep this secret anymore.

They were all sitting on the couch, Susannah was holding Jere’s hand but Conrad sat with his arms around himself, as if physically trying to hold himself together.

Her voice was low and cracked from crying. “I'm so sorry the night turned out like this. It's not how I wanted you to find out.”

“Mom, you're gonna do the trial, right?” Jere asked, his eyes red from crying and holding back tears.

Conrad knew she didn’t intend to. If she had, she would have told them, they wouldn’t have had to find out on their own. This would be an entirely different conversation, one with hope.

His mother let the silence sit for a moment, knowing how her response would devastate Jeremiah. “Uh... No, honey. I'm not. I can't. Chances are very slight. Uh, nonexistent, really, and... I just can't go through that again. It was too hard the first time.”

Conrad felt like his throat had swollen up, like any second, he’d stop breathing.

“Mom, but you could try. You have to try.” Jere was begging.

“I just want to be me when I go. Does that make sense?”

“No. No, it doesn't make sense. None of this makes any sense.” Conrad agreed. It’s exactly like what he said to Cleveland. Now that it’s been said out loud, it’s real. Her cancer is real. The possibility of her dying is real. How could any of that make sense.”

“I know, I know. I'm not good at this. Okay? Mommy's not good at this.” She finally turned to Conrad then, putting a hand on his knee. Her voice as sad as her eyes. “I should've known that you knew. I just didn't want to believe it.”

Conrad choked a little, wet tears slicking down his face, bending over his knees. He felt like he could throw up.

“Mom, if there's any chance, you have to. I mean, you have to. Come on, tell her, Conrad.” Jere’s voice was hard and accusing. Conrad tried to say something, anything, but his grief swollen throat would not allow him. “Why aren't you saying anything? Mom, this is crazy. You have to try. You can't give up on us.”

Conrad found his words then.“Mom? Can't you just... I mean, can't you just try? For us, Mom? I need you.”

“Come here.” Susannah took them both in her arms and they cried like they were children again. Then, barely louder than a whisper, she said. “I’ll do it, I’ll try.”

Conrad felt that little glimmer of hope flicker in his chest.

Just like that first day, Belly found him on the beach. Conrad hadn’t even bothered to get completely out of his suit. He’d just unbuttoned it and ditched the bowtie. They sat in the sand, together.

“I can't believe she said yes.” Conrad shook his head in disbelief. He was smiling again. At the start of the summer, he’d been sure he never would smile again but look what had happened.

Belly gave him a small smile in return. “You did it. You changed her mind.”

“Oh, it wasn't me. It was Jere. He did it.” He looked at her, but she was looking away at the sand, at the beach. When she didn’t say anything, he took the opportunity. “Belly, I'm sorry for being so shitty all summer.”

“I mean, you were going through all this alone. I wish you had told me so you didn't have to.”

“I wanted to.” He thought about all the times he nearly let the words tumble out to her. “I almost did a couple of times.”

Again, Conrad found himself staring into her eyes and found her staring back in his. He hadn’t forgotten last night. Hadn’t forgotten the Fourth of July either.

His head moved a fraction, but then she looked away. “Um, we should go in.”

“There's so many things I want to say to you.” If he would just let her. If she would just give him a moment to, so he could do it in a way that was right, in a way he wouldn’t mess up.

“Don't. Not now.” Her tone was firm, and she started standing up.

Conrad was quick to his feet too, he didn’t want to let this get away—let her get away. “Why?”

“'Cause you really, really, really need somebody right now, and... I don't want to be the kind of person who takes advantage of that.” She wasn’t looking at him fully. She kept looking at his face and looking away, carefully avoiding his eyes.

“I don't just need somebody.” Their eyes were meeting now. “I need you.”

She shook her head smally, without breaking eye contact. “I don't want you to need me. I want you to want me.”

“I do want you.” Ah, there it was, the truth at last.

Neither of them could look away. Conrad tentatively reached out his hand, tucking her hand behind her ear and leaving it on her cheek. Just like last night, it was a breathless moment. Conrad’s lungs and heart stopped working in his chest and gravity tightened the rope around them, pulling them in for a kiss.

His heart restarted when his lips met Belly’s. It was everything.

He pulled away to look at her, just for a moment, to take in this scene to make sure he wasn’t imagining it and found that her eyes were still closed, she was smiling and taking it in too. He thought his heart might burst but instead he smiled, and he kissed her again, his hand lightly grabbing the side of her neck and the other snaking around the small of her back while hers held onto his arms.

Belly Conklin. His girl.

Next Chapter

#conrad fisher #conrad pov #belly x conrad #belly conklin #conrad fic #conrad fisher fic #The Summer I Turned Pretty #TSITP #tsitp fanfic #tsitp conrad #the summer i fucked up

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justmesadgirl · 4 years

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I Wish I Were Heather - George’s Sweater (part2)

Pairing: George Weasley x reader & (platonic) Fred Weasley x reader

Warnings: angst

Words: 3.1k

Summary: After seeing Heather and George together you try to avoid your friends but it doesn't work as well as you think it would.

a/n: this turned into series, hope you like it! English isn’t my first laungage so sorry for all the mistakes!

requests are open!

Part 2 to I Wish I Were Heather first part:

part one

You had been avoiding George which led to you avoiding Fred and Lee as well. They were almost always together unless George was somewhere with Heather. It had been almost a week since George gave you his sweater. It was easy to stay away from him on school days because you had only one class together where you sat on the other side of the class. You didn’t even go to eat in the Great Hall anymore. You would sneak into the kitchen and the house elves were happy to give you some food.

George tried to talk to you but every time he was close to you, you would turn around and hide. Not ready to face your best friend and especially after the rumor started to spread that George and Heather were officially dating now.

Luckily it was a week and a half until Christmas which meant that the Weasleys were all going back to the Burrow in a couple of days.

It was Friday and your last class had finally finished. You picked up all your things and were thinking about going to the kitchen, you had skipped lunch again, it had become normal for you to skip eating because you didn’t want to bother the house elves too much. Making your way out of class and your eyes meet with familiar brown eyes and ginger hair but luckily it was Fred.

“y/n.” Fred didn’t sound happy at all and you give him a smile as you walk up to him.

“Hello Freddie. How is Angelina?” You try to take the conversation elsewhere. You knew that he wanted to talk about the fact that you had been avoiding him and your other two friends.

“Don’t you even try y/l/n.” Fred said wrapping his arm around you. He started walking pulling you along with him.

“I’m sorry. I hate it when you call me by my last name and you know it.” You whine to him trying to get away from his strong grip.

“Don’t even try to run away from me again. I miss my best friend and we are going to dinner and talk.” You stop walking as you hear him mention dinner. You really didn’t want to see George and going to dinner at Great Hall meant you would have to sit with him.

“Oh, I’m not hungry.” You tell him but he looks at you with an annoyed look.

“You haven’t been to the Great Hall for days. You need to eat woman.” He raises his voice a little. “Sorry, I’m just worried about you as all of us, especially George.” He lowers his voice as he apologizes. He takes your hand into his. “Please just come to dinner with me. You don’t have to talk to my stupid git of a brother but please don’t push me away as well.” You could hear the pain in his voice and you knew that he knew why you had been avoiding them all.

“Okay.” You breathe out and start walking again with him. “It's just hard to see him and her together.” You didn’t want to use their names, Fred would know who you were talking about.

“I knew that you liked him and you tried to hide it from me!” He joked but when he saw the way you looked at him he whispered out a small “sorry.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you and Angelina or not?” You wanted to change the subject.

“Well we aren’t dating yet but we might have snogged a couple of times.” You let out a gasp at his words.

“Finally!” You laugh happily. He had tried to make a move on her since Yule Ball.

”I knew you would be proud of me. I will ask her on a date this weekend, hoping to make it official before Christmas.” He tells you as you two walk into the Great Hall. You are surprised to see Lee sitting alone at the Gryffindor table. Looking around the Great Hall you find George Weasley sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Heather and her friends.

“Speaking of Christmas. Mum wants you to come to the Burrow.” Fred lets you know as you two sit down to the opposite side of Lee.

“Nice to see you y/n!” Lee speaks up but you are still shocked by Fred's words.

“She wants me to come to the Burrow with you? Why?” You choke out. Lee lets out a groan when you ignore him. “Sorry. Hi Lee. Fred continues.” You give a quick wave and nod to Lee before turning to face your best friend again. You had been at the Burrow for a couple of weeks each summer since you met Fred and George but never for Christmas. You loved the place it felt like home more than your parents house had ever felt but with the whole George situation, you didn’t want to ruin their family Christmas because you felt weird being around George.

“Yes mum wants you to come. She doesn’t want you to spend another Christmas here alone.” He tells you as he starts putting food on your plate.

“I can take my own food, Fred.” You tell him as you push his hands away from your plate and start to pick your own food. “But I always spend my Christmas here. I really don’t mind.” You let him know as you start to eat. You missed eating with your friends but it felt weird to be here without George. You look over to the Ravenclaw table where you last saw him. Your eyes meet with his but you quickly turn to look at your plate. His hands were around her and it made your heart drop to your stomach. “I like to spend my Christmas here.” You try to convince Fred.

“Wasn’t it last Christmas when we came back and you told us how you hated to be here alone at Christmas?” Lee speaks up and you give him an angry glare.

“Mum will kill us if we don’t bring you with us. So I will not take no for an answer!” Fred lets you know before shoveling more food on his plate. “Don’t even try to fight me on this.” He continues this time with a mouth full of food.

“You are disgusting Fred Weasley.” You tell him not wanting to talk about Christmas any longer. There was no way that you would go to the Burrow. Suddenly someone sits down next to you and wraps an arm around your shoulder, that someone smelled just like George’s sweater that had lost its scent a couple of nights ago.

“We are friends again?” George asks happily as you turn to look at him, forcing a smile on your lips.

“When weren’t we friends?” You ask as you turn back to your food feeling uncomfortable with him being so close to you so you push his hand off of you. George is shocked and hurt by your action, you never pushed him away before.

“I guess not then…” He mumbles as he turns to his brother. “Did you tell her the happy news that she is coming to the Burrow for Christmas?” You stand up after hearing his words, who did he think he was? You had your own mind and you could choose yourself where you would spend your damn Christmas.

“I’m not coming! You two can’t choose for me! Say thank you to Molly but I will not come for Christmas!” You raised your voice at the twins, turning around and walking out of the Great Hall.

“What’s wrong with her? She usually loves to visit?” George asks his brother. You always told them how much you loved to spend time with them at the Burrow and how it felt like home. The twins were so happy when their mother had asked them to bring you with them to celebrate Christmas with the family because you were family to them. George hated how you had been avoiding them, it hurt him. He wanted you next to him, you were his best friend, his other half besides Fred.

“I don’t know, I will go talk to her.” Fred tells George brother before getting up and walking after you. There were a couple of places he knew where you could be but the closest place was the kitchen so he headed down there. Finding you curled up by the fire with a mug of tea in your right hand and a cookie in the other. “I knew I would find you from here.” He smiles as he sits down next to you. Turning to face you to see tears running down your cheeks ”Oh y/n come here.” He wraps his hands around you and you put down the mug and hug Fred back crying.

“I hate fighting with you guys.” You whisper to him as you sob against his chest. It had been one of the hardest weeks of your life, you had spent almost every minute with them since you three met each other and a week avoiding them was hard on you.

“You don’t need to come with us if you really don’t want to. Mum will understand.” He whispers into your hair. “I just wanted you to come because I love to spend time with you. I don’t want you to be here alone for another Christmas when my whole family loves you and wants you there.”

“I want to come.” You sob out to him, pulling away from him wiping your tears away. “I would love to come but I don’t think it’s the best idea. I think I need some time to myself and Christmas break will give it to me.” You tell him, giving him a sad smile.

“I would mean the world to me and George if you did! Even Harry and Hermione are coming!” he explains to you. Hoping to change your mind. “Just think about it, we still have a couple of days to go. Okay?”

“I will but you promise to me you won’t be mad if I don’t.”

“I promise.” He promises before hugging you again. “I will be sad but not mad.” You let out a small giggle at his words.

“You really want me to come don’t you?” He nods his head before kissing your forehead.

“Now let’s go back to the common room, it's getting late and we have a quidditch match tomorrow, I need you to be there cheering for me.” He tells you as he gets up and pulls you with him.

The next morning you got up early and made your way to the library wanting to study before going to watch the quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. You didn’t even know what time it was when Hermione walked up to you, too focused in your potions essay.

“y/n! We will be late to the game! get up, let's go!” She hurriedly helped you to gather all your things into your bag. “You need something warmer to wear! Go quickly I will save you a seat.”

“Thanks Mione.” You give the younger girl a quick hug before running to the common room. Running up the stairs throwing your bag on your bed and getting the nearest sweater you see and pulling it over your head and grabbing your jacket before making your way to the quidditch pitch. As you climb up the stairs to the stands you hear people yelling, the match has already started. Finally finding Hermione in the sea of people.

“Thank you so much for saving me a seat, Fred would have hexed me if I wouldn’t have shown up.” You tell the girl as you turn to watch the game. “Did I miss much?”

“Not really it just started.” she tells you. The Gryffindors are in the lead when Harry catches the snitch and you can hear Lee roar “Harry Potter catches the snitch and Gryffindor has won the game!”

You happily cheer for your house as you and Hermione make your way to the pitch to congratulate the team.

“Well done Harry!” You yell to your friend when you and Hermione reach the team. Hermione wrapping Ron into a happy hug when she realises what she has done she awkwardly pulls away from the boy whose cheeks are as red as his hair.

“y/n!” You hear someone yell as someone picks you up and spins you around before placing you back down. George is looking at you with a goofy grin. “We won!”

“Y-yeah you won.” You let out a giggle as he hugs you again. It felt so good to be in his arms once again. “You played great Georgie.” You tell him as he pulls away from you, not letting his hands fall from you.

“Of course I did when my lucky charm was watching me!” He laughs, his words make you blush like crazy and you are sure you look just like Ron did a couple of seconds ago.

“Really hope you are talking about me.” someone says behind George and as he pulls away you can see that Heather is standing there with a beautiful dark blue sweater with a big yellow G on it.

“Oh hi Heather.” George smiles as he kisses her cheek. Heather's eyes don’t leave you and that's when you realise that she isn't looking at you but the sweater that you are wearing. That moment you realise that in your hurry to get to the match in time you had accidentally put on the sweater George had given you.

“Nice sweater y/l/n.” Heather says with a smile on her lips, but the tone of her voice told you that she wasn’t happy to see you in her boyfriend's sweater. George was looking between you two about to say something, but luckily Fred ran up to you guys.

“We won y/n, we won!” He laughs as he hugs you. “We are having a party at the common room so it’s time for us to bring out our hidden firewhiskey!” he tells you excitedly.

“Go clean yourselves up. I will go get the firewhiskey out of its hiding place then.” You tell your best friend, wanting to get away from there because you could feel Heather's eyes burning a hole into you.

“Okay we will see you in 30 minutes at the common room!” Fred tells you before he and George make their way to get cleaned. You made your way to a hidden passage where you and the twins usually hide your alcohol. Before you know it a full on party is happening in the Gryffindor common room celebrating the quidditch win. You had changed out of George's sweater and drowned yourself into shots of firewhiskey with Fred, not even able to count how many shots you had taken.

You were dancing happily on a table with Fred, Lee and Angelina when George walked up to you four. You were clearly the most drunk because Lee had to keep you steady so you wouldn’t fall off the table.

“Hey George having fun?” Fred asked his twin happily. Fred gives you the firewhiskey bottle so you could take another shot from it, but before your lips could meet the bottle it was cone from your hands.

“Hey!” You yell out to see where it had gone to be met with a serious looking George looking up to you. “I wanted to take a shot, Georgie give it back.” You whine at him as you try to grab the bottle from him but you lose your balance and fall straight into his arms.

“I think you have had enough drinks for tonight.” He laughs as he gives the firewhiskey back to his brother and picks you up bridal style and starts taking you to the dormitories.

“Hey where are you taking me! I still wanna dance. The party is still going!” You try to get out of his strong grip but George doesn't let you.

“I think it is time for us to go to sleep darling. We can party another night.” He tells you as he places you on a bed, you look around the room to see that this wasn’t your bed or not even your dormitory.

“Where am I?” You ask him confused.

“In my room you are too drunk to sleep without someone keeping an eye on you darling.” George tells you as he is looking for something. “Here change into these.” He throws a pair of his pajama pants and a t-shirt, you look down at the clothes in your hand.

“Heather won’t like me wearing these.” You turn to face him and see that he himself has already changed into pajamas.

“Do you need help changing?” He ignores your comment completely.

“No, I can do it myself.” You tell him and he nods his head before turning to around so you could change in private. It takes you a couple of tries but you finally manage to get them on correctly. “You can turn around now.”

George turns around and takes in the way you look dressed in his pajamas, smile on his lips as he pulls the covers from his bed. “In you go so I can tuck you in.” He tells you and you lay down on his bed, his smell surrounding you.

“Where are you going to sleep?” You ask him as he tucks you into his bed.

“I’m going to take the chair over there.” He tells you before kissing your forehead before starting to make his way to the char but you stop him by taking his hand in yours.

“Can you cuddle me?” You whisper, not sure if it was okay to ask him to sleep next to you. You were drunk but not drunk enough not to know what you were doing.

“Sure.” He whispers back as you pull the covers up so he can lay down next to you. He wraps one of his arms around you and you place your head on his chest. “I really hope that you will come spend Christmas with us. I really want you there y/n.” You turn to look at him and you two smile at each other.

“Maybe I will.” You tell him before placing your head back on his chest.

“Goodnight darling.” He whispers against your hair.

“Goodnight Georgie.” You whisper back to him before falling asleep in his arms.

A/N: There will be a part3 to this! Let me know what you think and if you want to be tagged!

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atlafan · 4 years

Text

Office Neighbors - Part Ten

a/n: okay A LOT happens in this part, lots of tension, please don’t be mad at me (reblogs and feedback are super helpful!)

warnings: angst, fluff, and smut

words: 17K

masterpost

“They’re gonna know.” You say as you frantically try to fix your smudged makeup on the car ride back to the cabin.

“They’re not gonna know.” Harry chuckles.

“They’re gonna know!”

“How would they know?”

You make a scoffing noise at him.

“Let’s see, my mascara has run down my cheeks, and my hair looks awfully fucked up. We’re also later than we said we’d be.” You look at him and reach your hand out to smooth out some of his hair.

“We’ll just tell them we got a bite to eat. Just go straight to our room. The lights will probably be dimmed when we get in anyways.” He takes your hand and kisses it. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s embarrassing, I don’t want them to know.”

“What’s embarrassing about having a quickie in the car?”

“It’s like we were teenagers with no self-control.” You mutter.

“Was kind of nice to do something so spontaneous. Suppose it was my fault for making things difficult in the gondola. If Mum and Dad scold us, I’ll take the blame.” He smirks.

“But if you do that, they’ll never let me see you again! You’ll have to start sneaking in through the window.”

“It’ll be worth if it means I get to see you.” He winks and you start laughing. “Oh! Just say you laughed so hard you cried if they ask.”

“They’ll never believe that! You really are a narcissist if you think you’re that funny.” You smirk. Harry glares at you and it makes you laugh harder.

“Yeah, I’m not funny at all.” He says facetiously.

You take a deep breath once you’re back at the house. The lights were definitely dimmed, so maybe no one would really notice how fucked up you looked.

“Hey, you two.” Paige smiles. She was all snuggled up with Noah on the couch. “The kids are in bed already, they were exhausted. You should have seen it, Harry.” She pouts. “Noah had to carry both of them off to bed, and Andy even let me tuck him in, it was so sweet.”

“He sure is cute when he’s drowsy.” Harry agrees. “Well, we’re gonna go to sleep to, so-“

“How was the gondola ride?” Noah asks.

“It was great, I would highly recommend it.”

“Maybe we should take everyone tomorrow night since it’s our last night.” Noah says to Paige.

“Yeah!” She squints over at you. “Are you feeling alright, Y/N?”

“You know,” Harry puts his arm around you, “she got a little nauseous on the way down, it’s why we’re a little late coming back, I had to drive slower. So we’re gonna head to bed now.” He smiles and starts walking with you to your room.

“Hmm.” Paige says. “She goes to bed early a lot and now she’s nauseous.”

“You think she’s pregnant?”

“Maybe.” She shrugs. “We’re all going out for dinner tomorrow, we could see if she orders a drink or something.”

You and Harry scurry into your room, and you feel like you can breathe again.

“Nice save.” You say to him as you start to get undressed. “Mind if I use the bathroom first? I have to pee so bad.”

“Go for it.” He chuckles.

Once you’re both settled in bed you lay your head on Harry’s chest with a sigh. He rubs your back as you both slowly drift off.

After getting some skiing in, and taking the kids tubing, you all get ready for a nice dinner in the small resort town. It was a Chinese food place that offered buffet, so it was perfect for everyone. The kids loved piling up their plates. You did order a cocktail, so that squashed any thoughts Paige and Noah had of you being pregnant.

The kids talk about what they liked most about their week away, as do all of the adults. The food is excellent, and everyone has a good time.

“Andy, did you wanna come back with us tomorrow, or go with Dad and Y/N?” Paige asks as Harry and Noah quietly squabble over the check.

“Um, well, I think Brandon wanted to hang out tomorrow night, so I’ll go with Dad.”

“Alright, honey. What did Brandon do over break?”

“His family goes skiing at Loon.”

“What about Caroline?”

“Mum, why is this turning into twenty questions?”

“It’s not, baby, I was just-“

“Well, stop.” He picks around at the peas on his fork.

“Andy…” You put your hand on his shoulder. “She was just asking you a question.”

“She doesn’t need to know every little thing.” You give him a look, and he rolls his eyes before he looks at Paige again. “She stayed home, went sledding a few times, and her sisters drove her down to the mall, okay?”

“There’s a boy at Hebrew school that thinks I’m cute.” Rachel says. This catches Noah’s attention, which means Harry wins the bill, just like he wanted.

“What?”

“Yeah, you know David? He told me so.”

“Rachel, you’re way too young for boys to be telling you that you’re cute.” Noah frowns.

“But it’s okay for Andy to have a girlfriend? He’s only a year older than I am.” She huffs.

“Okay, what do you say we head out, yeah?” Harry says. “Everything’s all set.” You and Harry stand up as does everyone else.

“You get everything you want.” Rachel mumbles to Andy as they leave the restaurant.

“What are you talking about?”

“Everyone’s extra nice to you, and then when it comes to me I have a ton of rules to follow. It’s not fair.”

“Sorry your dad is more strict than mine, that’s not my fault.”

“No, it’s because I’m a girl and you’re a boy, and boys get whatever they want.”

“Rach, I-“

“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes.

Everyone gets in their cars to head back to the cabin, and Andy follows Rachel into the bunk room.

“Do you really think I get whatever I want?”

“What does it matter what I think?” She sits down on her bed and looks at him. “You know, I’m glad you’re going back with your dad for the rest of the weekend. It’s better when you’re not around.”

“Do you really mean that?” He sits down next to her.

“You don’t care.” She looks away. “You don’t even like me, Andy.”

“That’s not true…I like you.” She looks at him and gives him an unconvinced face. “I do! Look, I know when you and your dad first moved into my mum’s house, I wasn’t-“

“You literally asked to move out a month later. I was excited to not be the only kid around because my dad works so much, and you just left! You’re not the only one that feels sad sometimes, you know? And I hate it when you say ‘my mum’, guess what? She’s mine too.” She crosses her arms and Andy’s eyebrows raise. “You can be such a brat sometimes.”

“You sure are just letting it all out…”

“Yeah, I’m gonna keep letting it all out. You’re not even nice to my dad half the time, do you know how much that bothers me? He tries so hard to make sure you’re happy, and you don’t even care.”

“Maybe he should try less then. I don’t need him trying to impress me.”

“No, but it makes Mom happy to see you happy, so that’s why he does it. Y/N does the same exact thing.”

“No she doesn’t.” Andy scoffs. “Y/N’s my friend, she understands me.”

“You just like her because you like your dad better.”

“That’s not true!”

“Yes it is! It’s so obvious, and you don’t even care how much it kills Mom!” Rachel stands up and so does Andy.

“Stop calling her that! She’s not your mum and she never will be!”

“Newsflash, this summer she officially will be and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

The two of them stare at each other angrily. Rachel had never really spoken up to Andy like this before. Guess she was sick of his shit.

“You’re a spoiled brat.” She spits. “You never speak to Mom nicely, or it’s rare if you do.” She starts tearing up. “You have no idea how lucky you are to have a mom that loves you as much as she does, and now you have Y/N. I may have been little when my mom died, but I miss her every single day, and your mom…well…she takes a lot of that way.”

“Shit…it was around this time of year…wasn’t it? When your mum-“

“I don’t wanna talk about.” She wipes a few tears away. “You know what’s really annoying? I still feel like that you’re basically my brother. I just wish you felt the same way about me.”

She goes into her dresser, grabs her things for bed, and goes into the bathroom to do her thing.

“Kids! We have ice cream for you!” Paige shouts.

Rachel comes out in her pj’s and looks at Andy.

“Well? Are we having ice cream?” She says.

“Wait…” He puts his hand on her shoulder. “I’m really sorry.”

“No you’re not.”

“I am…I…guess I don’t always realize when I’m being rude. I’ve been coming around to things a lot more. I’m happy that Mum is marrying your dad because he makes her happy. That’s all I want for her, for both my parents. I know how lucky I am…and…maybe I didn’t want a sister at first. When you both started coming around more, I felt like I was being replaced. Like Mum liked you better because she finally had a daughter or something, and then when you moved in…I took the easy way out and ran to my dad instead of dealing with everything. But…it’s the best thing I could have done. I’m a lot happier with him.” He smiles at her. “Isn’t this what brothers and sister do? They fight sometimes…”

“You don’t see me as a sister…”

“Sure I do.” He shrugs. “You’re my annoying little sister, and I’m your bratty older brother. It’s perfect.” He throws an arm around her. “Come on, let’s go get some ice cream.”

“Okay.” She smiles and walks with him. “Sometimes you need to remember that we’re on the same side.”

“Yeah…we are, aren’t we?”

“Was everything okay in there?” Harry asks. “Thought I heard shouting…” He sizes the both of them up.

“Oh! We were just fighting over who could use the bathroom first, Uncle Harry.” Rachel giggles. “I won, though.”

The kids smile at each other and sit down at the table to make up their bowls of ice cream. After everyone’s done, Andy helps Paige clean up in the kitchen.

“Mum?”

“Yes, honey?”

“I’m sorry for being rude at the table earlier…”

“Oh…well, I’m not going to say it’s alright because I really don’t like it when you speak to me that way. You do it your father too, and I really don’t like that.”

“I know…I don’t know why I do it, it just happens. I feel really bad about it…” He looks up at her, and she smiles at his sweet face. “I…I love you, Mum.”

“Oh, baby, I love you too.” They throw their arms around each other. “I hate that you’re getting older. Your attitude is only going to get worse.” She chuckles.

“And you’ll still love me?”

“Of course I will, do you promise to still love me?”

“Yeah.” He smiles up at her. “I promise.”

It was a great week away, and you enjoyed bonding with everyone, but you were happy to be heading home.

“Har, just drop me off at my place, yeah?” You say as he takes the exit for your town.

“Oh…really?”

“Yeah, I wanna do laundry, and I need to go grocery shopping, and then I need to get some work done.”

“You can literally do all of that back at my place.”

“Harry, I’d like to go back to my place.”

“Okay.”

Harry gets out of the car to help you with your things once he’s pulled up to your complex. He walks you up to the door.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“What?! No, babe, I just, you know, it was a really social week. I’m tired and I have things to do. It’s nothing personal.”

“Alright.”

“I love you.” You smile. “I had such a good time. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?” He nods and lets you kiss him goodbye, but you knew he wasn’t thrilled you weren’t coming back over. “Please don’t be upset.”

“I’m not.” He kicks some rocks on the ground. “Was just sort of hoping to be alone since Andy’s going to the movies with Brandon later.”

“Come over later then.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” You smile. “We can, uh, finally use that candle.” You wink at him and go into your building, leaving him completely flustered.

Harry smiles and gets back in the car.

��Dad, I’m gonna need some extra money tonight…”

“Oh? Gonna load up on snacks at the movies?” He chuckles.

“No…we’re going on a double date, and I’d like to offer to pay for Caroline like how you do for Y/N.”

“A double date at the movies?! You can have the money, but there better not be any funny business. I want a full synopsis from start to finish, and-“

“I’m not going to make out with her, no worries there.”

“Good…it’s not nice to swap spit like that in such a public space.”

“So, you’ve never made out at the movies?”

“Uhh, well, I was a little older than you so-“

“Enough said, I don’t need to know.”

Harry and Andy get into the house and put some of their things away. Harry ends up laying down on his bed for a bit to read and relax, and Andy comes in lay down next to him, twiddling his thumbs.

“What’s up, buddy?”

“Nothing…does something have to be up?”

“No, but you don’t exactly come in to snuggle with me anymore.” He smirks.

“You can read me like a book, Dad.” Andy sighs. “I’m nervous for my date…”

“Why?”

“What if Brandon and Molly start kissing, and then Caroline expects me to kiss her?”

“You could tell B beforehand to maybe cool it with that stuff. Kids your age really shouldn’t be doing that as it is. Do you want me to talk with his parents?”

“No, that would be so embarrassing!”

“What movie are you even seeing?”

“The newest Pixar movie…”

“Alright, I bet it’ll be fine. If it gets weird at all, just call me, and I’ll come get you.”

“Thanks.” Andy says with relief. “I’ll probably sleepover at B’s after the movie, is that okay?”

“Sure.” Harry shrugs. “Just text me and let me know for sure. I’m gonna go to Y/N’s after I drop you off.”

“How come she didn’t just come here?”

“She just needed a little alone time. She gets tired when she’s been really social.”

“Have you talked with her about moving in at all?”

“I have, yeah…we talked about a lot of things a couple of weeks ago. She was thinking maybe July when her lease is up, how would you feel about that?”

“Yeah…why would she wanna wait that long?”

“She has a lot of work to do on her PhD. You may not remember when I was working on mine, but it’s a lot of hard work, and sometimes she needs her own space to get that work done. She’ll be done next May, though. We’re gonna paint together during our spring break, and we’re gonna go furniture shopping soon. Oh! She even wants to take you on a little day trip to Boston sometime soon.”

“Really? That would be so much fun! We haven’t been to Boston in forever.”

“I know! See, it’s all working out. She just needs some time and I wanna make sure I don’t put too pressure on her.”

“I’m really glad she came with us this week. She was so much fun when we went tubing.”

“Yeah, thought she was nearly gonna bounce outta that thing.” He laughs.

“Were you just reading in here?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do you mind if I just lay in here for a bit? Forgot how comfy your bed is.” Andy yawns and pulls one of the quilts up over himself.

“Course.” Harry smiles and smooths some hair away from Andy’s face.

“Andy, thank you so much for paying for my ticket, that was so sweet of you.” Caroline tells him. “At least let me pay for the popcorn.”

“No worries, I got it.” He smiles. “Do you want to, um, share a slushie?”

“Sure.” She blushes. “I like getting the blue and red mixed.”

“Me too! It tastes like grape.”

“Yeah!”

They both giggle as they get into the snack line. Brandon and Molly were just getting their snacks. Brandon’s parents were off seeing a movie that was for adults. They all go in and grab their seats. The boys sit next to each other, and the girls sit on their other sides. Brandon almost immediately puts his arm around Molly and she giggles. Andy rolls his eyes and tries to get comfortable. Caroline reaches for his hand and he smiles as he takes it.

“You have a little tan from skiing.” Caroline points out. “It’s cute.”

“Oh, uh, thanks. The goggles will do that.” He leans forward to take a sip of the slushie. “I…missed you while I was gone. I’m sorry I didn’t get to call you much.”

“Oh! That’s okay. I know you were busy. I missed you too.” She smiles and leans in to give him a kiss on the cheek. “How were things with your…do you call her your step-sister?”

“Yeah, and her name’s Rachel.”

“Since when do you refer to her as your step-sister?” Brandon butts in.

“We had a heart to heart.” Andy shrugs. “She’s not a baby to me anymore, she’s pretty cool, actually.”

“Oh, well, that’s good, I guess.” Brandon says. “I’m glad you guys are doing better.”

“Me too.”

The theater gets darker as the previews come on, and they all pay attention to the screen. Andy felt at peace, he wasn’t sure why he was so worked up before. This was totally chill.

Harry shows up to your place with a bottle of wine and pizza. He lets himself in, and is very confused when he sees all the lights off.

“Y/N?!” He flips the lights on and sets everything down in the kitchen. “Baby?!” He goes down the hall and sees the light on in your office. “Babe?” You were passed out with your face in a book and a highlighter in your hand. Harry sighs and comes over to lift you up.

“Huh?!”

“It’s just me!”

“You nearly made me shit myself, Harry, Christ. You can just so easily pick me up?”

“You’re not that heavy.” He chuckles and sets you down. “I was just gonna tuck you in.”

“Well, I’m awake now. Sorry, I was working and I must have fallen asleep.”

“I brought pizza…and wine, but we don’t have to-mph!”

You tugged Harry close to you by his collar, and slotted your mouth over his.

“Pizza and wine sounds incredible.” You grin. “You always know exactly what I need.” You walk out of the office and he follows you. “Oh, and you got the white, you must really wanna get busy.”

“Why do you always think I have an ulterior motive?” He grabs two plates and two glasses.

“Because all men do. Sex is always on your minds?”

“And it’s not on yours?”

“Well, it wasn’t until I started dating you. Now I just always feel absolutely feral.” You smirk as you bite into a slice of pizza.

“Feral, huh?”

“Mhm, although, as a woman I can hide it much easier. I don’t have to worry about an appendage getting excited.” You take a sip of wine and so does Harry.

“No, but…” He comes over to stand behind you to speak into your ear. “You do have to worry about your panties getting wet.” His fingers trail down your body and up under your shirt. They skim the waistline of your sweatpants.

“That would involve me having to wear panties.”

“How do you feel about cold pizza?”

“Love it.”

“Fantastic.” Harry takes the pizza box and shoves it in the fridge, and then grabs you to throw you over his shoulder.

“Harry!” You squeal.

“You know me, I get a little excited.” He chuckles as he carries you into your room. “Babe…” He puts you down. Your room was a fucking mess.

“Okay, before you say anything, it looks like this because I’ve been going through my stuff.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t wanna do it last minute when we eventually move in together. Plus, I have a ton of clothes I don’t wear anymore that I can donate…I’m sorry, you must think I’m so messy.”

“I don’t.” He tucks some hair behind your ear. “I just hate that you’re basically staying here for your home office. You have no problem using mine at the house.”

“But what if we both need to work at the same time?”

“Plenty of room for your desk up there, baby.”

“I feel like we’re rushing and it kind of scares me a little.”

“There’s still no rush…move when you’re ready.”

“You say that, but I know you hate it when I’m here…and I sort of hate it too. I prefer sleeping next to you.” You bite your bottom lip.

“So do I.” He sighs. “What about…over spring break?”

“We’re supposed to paint, moving will take so much work. I don’t know what I wanna do with all my furniture yet…I was thinking of bringing some of it to the consignment shop.”

“What if we put your living room furniture up in the loft? It could look really nice up there, and the TV could go into the basement.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I want you there, and so does Andy. I know it’s stressful and scary, I’m a little scared too, but I want this. I just want you around.”

You pout up at him and wrap your arms around his neck. You hug him close to you.

“I’ll think about it, okay?”

“Sounds good to me.” He kisses you. “Now, I think we came in here for a reason.”

“We sure did.” You peck his lips and let him go. “Take your clothes off.” You go over to your side table and take out a candle and a lighter. “Feel like getting a little freaky?”

“Will it hurt?” He asks, already taking his shirt off.

“Harry, you have a fuck ton of tattoos and you’re scared of a little wax?”

“What kind of wax is it?”

“It’s, like, rose oil. It doesn’t hurt, it’ll just feel warm. You can use it for massages and stuff too.”

“Are you telling me you’re offering to rub my back?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, I’m in.” He smiles and strips down to his boxers. He gets on the bed and lays on his stomach. He puts his glasses on the night table.

You sit on top of his bum and let the candle burn while you get some lotion on your hands. You knead Harry’s shoulders and work your hands down his back.

“Feels so good, baby.”

“Are you ready for the wax?”

“Yeah, go for it.”

“Okay.” You feel giddy. You get off him and take your clothes off. “Flip onto your back, and get your underwear off. If I’m naked, you’re naked.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He smirks and does as you say.

You straddle him and grab the candle. His hands grip your hips, and he squeezes you in anticipation. Your pour the wax, carefully, onto your chest and let it drip down onto his. His mouth hangs open as he watches. It sort of mimicked his come dripping down your body, and that pleased him very much.

“Do it again.” He says.

“You liked it?”

“Yeah…it’s really sexy.”

You smile and pour a little more over your chest and watch it drip onto his. You stick your hand in the wax and let the droplets fall from your fingertips onto his torso. You watch as his stomach tightens.

“Not too hot?”

“No it just feels like warm water…I thought the point of these were for them to hurt a little.”

“That’s what some people use them for. I just like how warm it feels on my skin.”

“Yeah, it does feel kind of good. Do a little more.”

You pour just a little more onto him and set the candle down. You lean down and kiss him, and his hands slide up your back. You suck on his bottom lip and grind yourself against him, making him groan.

“Gotta get a condom.” He mumbles against your mouth.

“Yeah, we probably should.” You say into his ear as you kiss on his neck. “Or…you could pull out and come on back.”

He smiles and nods at you. You get off him and lay on your side, looking over your shoulder. He gets on his side behind you, and lines himself up with you so he can slide in.

“You wanted it like this, huh?” He asks as he grips your hip and rocks in and out of you.

“Yes, Harry.” You hook arm around his head so you can grip his hair.

His hand on your hip slides to your clit, and he rubs slow circles on you. You moan out from the feeling. He sponges his lips on your neck, biting and sucking on your tender skin. You both were grunting and panting. Feel Harry raw was like nothing else, and this angle was sending you.

“Fuck, oh my god.” You moan and your head rolls back against his shoulder. “Say it, Harry, please.”

“You’re such a good girl, Y/N.” He says right into your ear.

“Whose good girl am I?”

“Mine, you’re my good girl.”

“Fuck, yes, I’m yours, I’m all yours.” You start panting more as he rubs your clit faster. “Fuck, I’m gonna!” You arch into him as you release around him.

“Y/N, I need to pull out, I can’t hold it much longer, baby.”

“Okay.” You breathe.

He pulls out and you roll onto your stomach for him. You hear him grunt and groan and you gasp when you feel his warm come shoot onto your back. You look over your shoulder and smile at him.

“Better than the candle?”

“Way better.”

“Let me go get a rag, be right back.”

“I have a better idea.” You say as you get up. “Let’s go take a bath together.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” You peck his lips. “Let’s just enjoy each other tonight.”

The movie was great, and Brandon’s parents let Andy and Brandon wait with Molly and Caroline to be picked up from the theater before driving them home. Once they’re at Brandon’s, they get settled into their pj’s and with some video games.

“That was a good movie.” Andy says.

“Yeah, it was really funny. We’ll have to all do it again.”

“Definitely. Would you ever wanna go to the pottery painting place? Y/N said she would take Caroline and I there.”

“You know, not everything needs to be a double date, Andy.” Brandon rolls his eyes.

“I thought you liked double dates.”

“I do, but…I don’t know, I don’t always need to hang out with Molly. I like when just you and I hang out.”

“Me too, I feel like we haven’t done anything just the two of us in a while.”

Brandon pauses the game and looks at Andy.

“Yeah, it’s like…girls have taken over.”

“I don’t even wanna hear it.” Andy laughs. “When you first dated Molly she was all you talked about, and you wanted me to go out with Alexis!”

“I just wanted you to feel included, and I missed you.” He shrugs.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

“How come you guys broke up in the first place? Couldn’t have been that bad if she wanted to go back out with you.”

“She…she thought I liked spending time with you better, and she wanted me to basically not be friends with you anymore, and I chose to be friends with you instead of being her boyfriend. When I asked her to the dance I didn’t think we’d be full on back together, but I guess we are.”

“And does she still have a problem with me?”

“We haven’t talked about it.”

“I can’t believe you chose me over her.”

“I always will, Andy. You’re my best friend.” Andy blushes at that. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

“Why haven’t you and Caroline kissed yet? I know you said you didn’t want it to be public, but…”

“Y/N said it was okay not to rush into things.” He shrugs. “I just don’t feel ready for that.”

“You two act like you’re just friends…”

“Friends don’t hold hands and kiss on the cheek. I wanna kiss her, it just hasn’t felt right. Like…I feel like I wouldn’t even know what I was doing.”

“It’s not difficult.” Brandon laughs. “You just sort of smoosh your lips to hers, stay there for a few seconds and then pull away.”

“No way, I’ve seen enough movies to at least know you have to move your lips a little. What if she wants to open mouth kiss or something?”

“Like with tongue? It’s not that gross.”

“You tongue kiss with Molly?!”

“Sometimes.” Brandon shrugs. “It’s nice.”

“I feel like you know everything.” Andy rolls his eyes.

“Well, Andy, when you’re twelve you sort of just figure it all out.” He smirks.

“You’ve been twelve for a month, get over yourself.” Andy laughs.

“Seriously, though, kissing isn’t that scary.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“You know…if you ever wanna, like, know how to do it so it’s good for her, I could show you how.”

“Like…practice?”

“Sure.” Brandon shrugs. “Only if you wanted.”

“Wouldn’t it be like cheating on her, though?”

“Not really, it’s not like it would count.”

“So…you’d show me how to kiss?”

“Yeah, what else are friends for?”

Andy’s heart was racing. Deep down he sort of knew he shouldn’t be doing this behind Caroline’s back, but Brandon was offering something he really wanted on a silver platter and he wasn’t sure he wanted to pass it up.

“Okay, show me what to do.” Brandon scoots closer to him, and furrows his brows. “What?”

“Your hair is just kinda in the way, here.” Brandon reaches forward and pushes Andy’s hair back. “There.” He was blushing and so was Andy.

“Thanks.” He swallows.

“You’re sure about this?”

“Yeah, I wanna know how to do this right.”

“Okay…so…basically, you just sort of…” Brandon cups Andy’s cheeks and leans in closer. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah.”

Brandon nods.

“So, you close your eyes and pucker your lips, but not too tight.”

Andy closes his eyes.

“Like this?”

“Yeah.” Brandon smile, but Andy obviously doesn’t see it. “I’m gonna do it now.”

“Okay.”

Just as Brandon’s about to press his lips to Andy’s, there’s a knock on the door, they both scoot away immediately.

“Boys, it’s getting late.” Mrs. Stewart comes in. “Time for bed.” She smiles and closes the door.

Both boys start laughing.

“I think we should go to sleep like your mum said.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah…I mean…I guess Caroline and I will just figure it out together when it happens, but thanks anyways.” Andy rolls out his sleeping bag.

“You know you can sleep on the bed with me…”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because…one morning when I slept over I woke up, like, ugh, see I do this thing when I sleep where I hold onto something. Like, I have a body pillow at home, you’ve seen it. The same thing happens to my dad, I don’t know why. So one time when I was here I woke up holding onto you and I don’t wanna do it and make you uncomfortable.”

“It didn’t.”

“Wait, you…you knew that happened?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t say anything because I didn’t wanna make you uncomfortable.”

“It didn’t weird you out?”

“No…should it have?”

“I don’t know.”

“Girls do that and share beds all the time. Molly told me that her and Alexis do it all the time.”

“Oh.”

“Sleep on the floor if you want, but you can share my bed with me.”

“Well…I guess if you really don’t care if it happens…”

“Andy I was willing to kiss you, I don’t really care if you accidentally hold me in your sleep.”

“Okay, then, uh, I’ll sleep on the bed then, but I’m gonna use my sleeping bag still.”

“Whatever works.” He shrugs. The boys both get into bed, and lay there staring at the ceiling. “What we did, well, what we almost did…that should probably stay between us…”

“I agree.”

“Pinky promise?” Brandon raises his pinky.

“Pinky promise.” Andy locks his pinky with Brandon’s and they rest their hands together on the bed, neither of them letting go.

You and Harry enjoyed a nice, long bath together, and then went to bed. You felt unbelievably cozy in his arms. Yeah, you were definitely going to be moving in sooner rather than later. This is what you wanted every single night, and he felt the same way.

The next morning you wake up with Harry’s hard-on pressing into your ass. You know he’s awake when he starts grinding into you, and groping at your breast. You smile as he kisses on your shoulder.

“Someone’s awake.” You giggle and he hums his response.

“Very much so. Is this alright?”

“Very much so.” You say his words back at him.

“What do you say we-“ Harry’s cut off by the sound of his phone going off. He groans and grabs it. “What’s up, Andy?”

“Dad…you were supposed to pick me up, like, fifteen minutes ago.”

“Oh, shit!” Harry sits up immediately. “I’m so sorry, I’ll be there soon, just hang tight.”

“Where are you?”

“I had a sleepover of my own…I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Fuck, I’m late picking Andy up. I never set an alarm, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, baby, go get him.”

“Are you staying here today?”

“Yeah, but I’ll come over to sleep tonight. I wanna finish up the work I was doing last night.”

“Okay.” He smiles and kisses you quick before throwing some clothes on. “Text me later, I can have dinner made.”

“Sounds good.” You smile and watch him walk out.

Harry picks Andy up, and Andy gets into the car.

“I’m so sorry I was late, you know that never happens.”

“It’s okay, where’s Y/N?”

“She’s at her place, she’ll be over later though. She said she may move in during spring break instead of waiting until July.”

“Really? That’s great! Um…do you think if I called Mum…like would you care if I go to her place?”

“Not at all, I’m sure she’d love to have you home. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just feel like being with her, I guess.”

When they get inside, Andy goes to his room to call Paige.

“Hi, honey, how was Brandon’s?”

“Good…are you busy today?”

“Not really, why?”

“Could you come get me? I wanna stay with you tonight.”

“Yeah! Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine, I just feel like I miss you, Mum.” Andy had spent an entire week with his mother, and he really didn’t want to wait another week to see her again. “Got used to being around you and now you’re not here, so-“

“I can be over in a few hours, does that work?”

“Yeah.” Andy sighs. “That’s fine.”

“And you’re sure everything’s fine?”

“Yeah, I just wanna come hang out with you…”

“Okay, baby.”

Andy hangs up and gets up to close his door. There was one more call he needed to make before going out to the living room with his father.

“Andy?”

“Hi, Y/N.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

“Well…it’s a bit odd for you to call me…oh my god, is your dad okay?!”

“He’s fine, chill! I just needed to talk to you about something and I’m going to Mum’s later.”

“Oh, you are? I’m coming over for dinner…”

“I know, I just feel like being with her.”

“Alright, well, I’m glad you’ll see her then…so, what’s up?”

“Something happened last night.”

“At the movies?”

“No, after, at Brandon’s…”

“What happened?”

“We almost kissed.” Andy groans.

“What?!”

“Yeah! We were talking about kissing, and I told him I was nervous about kissing Caroline because I don’t know what I’m doing, and he…he offered to show me how.”

That sly son of a bitch. You think to yourself.

“Andy…you’re dating Caroline.”

“I know! We didn’t kiss, his mom knocked on the door and told us to go to bed. And when we went to bed we fell asleep holding hands.”

“How do you think Caroline would feel if she knew about that?”

“She’d probably feel bad.”

“Right.”

“I really like her, Y/N…but maybe I just like her as a friend, and Brandon as more than a friend. I like having Caroline around, we have a lot in common, and we have fun together.”

“Maybe now just isn’t a good time for you to be dating anyone. It’s not fair to anyone involved, you know?”

“I guess so…but I don’t wanna hurt her feelings.”

“You’ll hurt her more if you do something behind her back with Brandon.” You sigh. “Think things over at Mum’s…maybe you could even talk to her about it. She may have better advice than me, your dad could too.”

“No, they won’t understand.”

“They could if you tried talking to them.”

“But I like just talking to you about this stuff.”

“And I feel so honored that you feel comfortable with me, Andy, I really do…I just think this is starting to get heavy, and you have so many people that love you and care about you that just want to help. I’m one of those people, but so are your parents.”

“It’s just awkward to talk about…”

“I know, sweetheart. None of this is easy. Could you just try? For me?”

“Yeah…I’ll try…thanks Y/N.”

“You’re welcome.”

Andy hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath. Harry was up in his loft, and Andy goes up to join him.

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Mum said she could be here in a few hours.”

“Okay.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” Harry turns around and gives Andy his full attention while Andy sits down on the loveseat, pressing a pillow to his chest.

“How do you breakup with someone?”

“Oh no, you don’t like Caroline anymore?”

“It’s not that I don’t…I just think I…Dad, Brandon and I almost kissed last night, and I don’t wanna do anything behind her back because I like her and I don’t wanna hurt her feelings.”

Harry gets up and sits down next to Andy. He puts his arm around his and rubs his shoulder. He wasn’t entirely sure what to say.

“Have you and Brandon talked at all about how you both might feel about each other?”

“Not really.”

“I know it can be awkward, but it seems like he may like you the way you like him.”

“The times Caroline and I have almost kissed I’ve felt really scared, but I didn’t feel scared with him.”

“I think you’re right to end things with her, I’d hate for your first kiss to be a dishonest one.”

“So…you don’t care that it was almost with Brandon?”

“Of course not! We’ve talked about this, Andy. No matter who you are or who you wanna be with, I’ll still love you. I just want you to be happy.”

“What does it mean when you like boys and girls?”

“Um, well, the term is called bi-sexual.”

“Is it normal? I feel like such a freak.”

“It’s very normal! A lot of people like boys and girls. You’re not a freak, Andy. You also don’t have to have it all figured out right now.”

“Everyone keeps saying that, but it doesn’t make me feel better.” He sighs and leans into Harry more.

“I know…but I promise, at some point, it will get better.” Harry smooths some hair away from Andy’s face.

“It will?”

“Yeah.” Harry smiles. “You know when I was younger, I used to be afraid to paint my nails, or wear things that were seen as girly, and then when I got to uni I just stopped caring. I grew my hair out really long, and just did what made me comfortable, and it helped me really realize who I was. Now I don’t care what people think when they look at me. I do what makes me happy and comfortable, and I want the same for you. I don’t know if you kids have easier or worse nowadays. Things are more accepted, but you also have all that social media and cyber-bullying.”

“There are plenty of other kids in the school that know who they are already. There’s even a trans kid in my class. No one cares, she’s really nice. I guess I just wish I could have it figured out like them.”

“These things take time. I know it’s not exactly the answer you wanna hear, but…”

“No, I get it.” Andy sighs. “I’m sorry I haven’t really been talking to you about all of this, it’s just so awkward to tell my dad I like boys…”

“I suppose.” Harry chuckles. “But just know I’m never gonna judge you, and neither will your mother. She’s just as understanding and accepting as I am. If she wasn’t we never would’ve gotten together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she needed help with her nails one night and I helped her. Next day she kissed me.”

“Wow…Mum made the first move?”

“Technically, yeah, but I used to flirt with her all the time. She knew I liked her, but she had just broken up with someone else so she was taking some time before jumping into something else. I know it seems like Mum sort of stands in the shadows, but she’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.”

“And what about Y/N?”

“She’s very brave and strong too. It take a lot of courage to move somewhere new and start over just to get another degree. I tell her all the time how proud I am of her.”

“Is she your person?”

“Have you been watching Grey’s with Mum again?” Harry groans.

“No! Okay, sometimes we watch it together when I’m home, but I wasn’t thinking of that when I asked the question.”

“Yeah, Y/N’s my person.” Harry nods. “I think we complement each other nicely, and she’s great with you. That’s the most important thing to me.”

“I like her a lot. Sometimes I wish I could have the relationship I have with her that I have with Noah…”

“You can, you just have to work at it. Meet him halfway a little more.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Andy, I’m always gonna be your father, your dad, Noah’s not going to replace me in any way, but I think it would be good to let him in a little more. He’s not going anywhere, you know?”

“Right. Maybe I could ask him to watch a movie with me this weekend.”

“I bet he’d really like that.”

Paige picks Andy up, and he’s quiet in the car at first. He was drained from all the talking, but he knew he needed to fill her in on things.

“Mum?”

“Yes, honey?”

“I don’t really wanna talk about it anymore, but I like boys and girls, and I think I like Brandon more than Caroline, so I need to break up with her, and I’m scared, but I know it’s the right things to do, so I’ll do it.”

“Oh…oh my, um, okay.”

“Do you…do you still love me?” Andy’s voice cracks just as Paige pulls into her driveway. She turns around to look at him.

“Of course I still love you! You never have to worry about that.”

Andy nods and gets out of the car. Paige hugs him immediately before going inside. Once Andy’s put his things away in his room he comes down to the kitchen and smells something delicious.

“What’s for dinner?” He asks.

“Well, since we knew you were coming we decided to get some of those spinach raviolis you like, and Rachel requested garlic bread.” Noah says.

“You did that for me?”

“Course, buddy.” Noah smiles.

“Thanks, Noah, that was really nice of you.” Andy sits down at the table next to Rachel. “Hey.”

“Hi.” She raises an eyebrow at him. “I thought you wanted to stay with your dad this weekend.”

“I did, but…I sort of missed Mum, so…”

“Must be nice to do that when you can.” She mumbles.

“I was gonna ask your dad if he wanted to watch a movie together tonight, would you wanna join?”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, sure, but why?”

“I’m trying to make more of effort. I’ve been acting like a baby.”

“I believe I said spoiled brat, but baby works too.” She smiles. “I think a movie is a great idea.”

“Hi, precious.” Lydia comes to the table and gives Andy a kiss on the top of his head.

“Hi, Gram.”

“Alright.” Paige says as she puts everything on the table. “Everybody dig in.”

“This looks really good.” Andy says. “Thank you.”

“More than welcome.” Noah says.

“Would everyone be up for watching a movie tonight?” Andy asks.

“Sure, honey, what do you feel like watching?” Paige says.

“It doesn’t matter.” He shrugs.

“How about Ratatouille?” Rachel says.

“Oh, I like that one.” Andy says.

“Ratatouille it is then.” Noah smiles.

“Andy, after dinner, there’s something I wanna talk to you about. Noah can set up the movie.”

“Okay.”

“What is Ratatouille about?” Lydia asks.

“It’s about this rat named Remy who’s really good at cooking, and then he hides under the hat of this guy who isn’t good at cooking, and he helps him cook in this fancy restaurant.” Rachel explains.

“Perhaps I’ll read something instead.” Lydia chuckles.

After dinner Paige goes into Andy’s room with him, and sits on his bed.

“So, what’s up?” He asks her.

“Well, the wedding’s going to be in July, as you know.” Andy nods. “And I’ve been fleshing out some of the details. There’s something I’d like you to do.”

“What, Mum?”

“If you felt comfortable with it, I’d like you to walk me down the aisle and give me away.”

“I…I thought you wanted me to walk Gram down the aisle.”

“I did at first, but Uncle Ned is gonna do it.”

“You really want me to do it?”

“I can’t think of anyone else I would want to give me away at my wedding, baby.” She smiles at him.

Andy’s eyes well up. This was the breakthrough he had been needing. He knows his mother loves him, but for a while he felt like she was moving on without him.

“Okay, Mummy.” He says and they throw their arms around each other. “I’d be happy to.” He snuggles into her and she holds him close, rocking him gently.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me.” She kisses his cheek. “I love you so much, Andy.”

“I love you too.” He looks up at her. “I’m really sorry Gramp won’t be there to do it, but he’ll sort of be with us, right?”

“Right, baby.” She blinks a few tears away. “Well, I think Noah said something about ice cream sandwiches, so we better get down there.”

Everyone gets comfortable on the couch to watch the movie.

Paige: I asked Andy to walk me down the aisle, and he said yes! Thanks for sharing him this weekend

Harry was knuckle deep fingering you when Paige texted him, so it took him a bit to respond.

“Oh! Andy’s gonna walk Paige down the aisle at her wedding.” Harry shows you his phone as you both get settled into bed.

“That’s great! I’m glad he went over there.”

“Me too. Let me just text her back.”

Harry: Amazing! And no worries, he really wanted to hang out with you

Paige: I can bring him back to you tomorrow so you don’t have to

Harry: you sure?

Paige: yeah, it’s no trouble :)

Harry: alright, thanks

“Okay, putting this on do not disturb.” Harry sighs.

“Are we, um, going to the wedding?”

“Slow down, we?” Your face drops and he starts laughing. You smack his shoulder and he laughs harder. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. We’ve been invited, but I haven’t made up my mind yet. It’s going to be a little tough for me. Maybe we’ll just go to the reception, skip the ceremony.”

“Whatever you wanna do is fine with me.” You give his hand a squeeze. “It would be cute to see Andy walk her down the aisle.”

“You know I was nervous Paige was gonna ask me to do it when she was still a little vulnerable after Nathan died. I’m really glad she didn’t.”

“I feel like that would be crossing a line.”

“Just a wee bit.” He takes your hand to kiss it. “I think she forgets where the line is sometimes, but it’s hard to correct her.”

“If she had asked you to do it, would you?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I would have told her to ask Andy. I’m glad she thought of it on her own.” You both slide down in the bed and you rest your head on his chest while he cards his fingers through your hair. “So, you wanna get married at some point.”

“Correct.” You giggle.

“What kind of wedding do you think you’d want?”

“Something small, honestly. Just close friends and family.”

“I like the sound of that. No sense in blowing an arm and a leg on it.”

“Exactly! I’d love for it be in the fall so it’s not too hot, like, at a nice gazeebo in a park. Oh! And I could really see myself in, like, a white pair of slacks and a blouse.”

“You wouldn’t wanna wear a dress?”

“Not really.” You shrug. “I mean, I could change my mind, but I like the idea of doing something a little different. I’d do the veil and all that.”

“You’d look lovely no matter what you’d wear, baby.”

“Thanks.” You kiss his chest. “What would you want?”

“Pretty much everything you described, something simple with close friends and family. I love the idea of having it in a park. We probably wouldn’t be able to do it in the fall because of school, but maybe in the late spring when the weather feels the same? We could have a nice reception at a local hall so people could dance, or we could rent a tent or something? Lots of really good food, buffet style so people can just take what they want.”

“And we could get assorted cupcakes, I like when weddings have those.”

“Me too, it’s just enough dessert.” He looks down at you and tilts your chin up, pressing his lips to yours. “When do you want to get married, Y/N?”

“Oh, god, I don’t know, baby. Probably after I get my doctorate. As simple as things would be, it would still be a lot to plan along with my work, you know?”

“Mm, definitely. Although, you wouldn’t be planning it on your own. It would be our wedding, so we’d both plan it.”

“You’d really wanna help with all that?”

“Sure! Seems like it could be fun.” He smiles. “And then…I mean, when do you think you’d wanna start having kids? I know I’m still young, but I wanna be too old that I can’t even play with them. That was the most fun part about being young with Andy. I had all the energy in the world when we’d go to the playground and stuff.”

“I’d say by the time I’m thirty would be good, but I mean, if it happens sooner I wouldn’t be mad.”

“Even if we weren’t married yet?”

“Yeah, I mean, ideally I’d at least like to be engaged, but if I got pregnant before we got married it would be fine. Is it weird that I’m not really worried about it?”

“So if you missed your period you wouldn’t freak out?”

“I mean right now I would, I’m way too busy for a baby, but once I’m done with my work I could definitely handle it.”

“I love hearing you talk about wanting to have a baby with me.” He kisses your forehead.

“It’ll be so nice to feel you come inside me.” You bite your bottom lip as you look up at him.

“I’m sorry, did I not make you come enough times earlier? Are you still in the mood?” He smirks.

“Mmm, maybe?” You slide your leg over his and lightly grind against it. “I wouldn’t mind if we went another round…we need all the practice we can get if we’re gonna make a baby at some point.”

“I like the way you think, darling.”

During the beginning of March, you and Harry work to get the living room ready for painting. Andy was a big help, and it was fun to watch how serious he took painting. You played music and had a pretty good time getting it all done. Many hands make light work.

Noah came over to help move some of the furniture. The couch and love seat needed to be moved to the basement to make room for the new furniture you had ordered. That was a fun day too, Andy had a ball flopping down onto the different couches. You found a set that had recliners. You also went a curtain and blind store to update some other things.

Then came yours and Harry’s spring break, it was time for you to officially move. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to your apartment. It had been an excellent place to live, but Harry’s house was home now. You set up the loft to have both of your desks and you both loved that no matter what you’d be office neighbors. Andy was a huge help with moving too. He honestly needed the distraction. Things with Caroline…weren’t great.

“Andy, it’s sweet you wanted to go for a walk after school, but it’s a little chilly.” She laughed.

“Sorry, I just wanted to talk privately. Wanna go sit on the swings?”

“Sure.” She shrugged and they walked over to the school playground. “So, what’s up?”

“Caroline, I’m really glad you’re here, and I’m happy we’ve gotten so close, but I don’t think I can be your boyfriend anymore…”

“Wh-what?” Her eyes welled up and her bottom lip quivered.

“Please, don’t cry.” He reached for her hand, and she let him hold it.

“I thought we were having fun…”

“We were! I…I’m really confused about things right now, and it wouldn’t be fair to keep dating when I’m not one-hundred percent sure.”

“What are you confused about? Do you like someone else?”

“I really like you, a lot, Caroline, but there is someone else I also really like, and I liked them before you came here, and I thought that feeling went away, but it didn’t. I’m really sorry.”

“Who is it?”

“I don’t wanna say…I haven’t talked to them yet.”

“Well, this isn’t what I thought we’d be talking about at all…”

“I…don’t wanna stop hanging out with you, though. I like when we do stuff together, you’re so much fun, and-“

“So you just wanna be friends?”

“If you’re okay with that.”

“Um…I think it’s gonna take me some time to wanna be friends, Andy. I feel…really blindsided.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you, I feel terrible.” She nodded at him and stood up, so did he. “Will you think about it? Being friends?”

“Yeah…I mean, I don’t wanna lose you. You were the first person that talked to me here and made me feel welcome.”

“I don’t wanna lose you either.”

She threw her arms around him and they hugged.

“I hope things work out with the other person.” She whispered.

“Me too.”

Things were awkward at school for a bit, especially since people wanted to know why, but Caroline was coming back around slowly to Andy. Anyways, he was just thankful for the creative distractions of painting and rearranging furniture. It made him happy to see his dad so happy too. He could tell Harry was trying to contain his excitement of you moving in.

Things with Brandon were…a tad strained too. It was a little awkward after the almost kissing thing, and even though Brandon was there for Andy after breaking things off with Caroline, he still seemed to be with Molly, and Andy was more confused and annoyed than ever.

The topic of Andy’s April vacation had come up, and Harry and Paige agreed to split the week so that both of them would only have to take a few days off from work. That’s when you and Harry decide it would be good to take Andy to Boston for a little trip. You could spend a few days at Julian’s hotel for next to nothing, and Andy could meet your parents. Harry could meet your friends too, maybe not in the bar atmosphere you were hoping for, but they could meet him nonetheless.

Things were going really well. You were able to get more work done than you thought at the house, and your classes were going incredibly well. Living with Harry was a breeze. He was such a chill and easy going person. You never had a relationship where you could communicate with someone so easily. You rarely fought, and it made for a really happy and healthy environment for everyone.

You were having a peaceful Saturday morning, working away up in the loft while Harry was downstairs reading on your new couch. He loved the recliners.

“Hey, Dad.” Andy plops down next to him.

“What’s up?” Harry closes his book to give his son his full attention.

“So, um, my birthday is a month away, as you know.” Harry hums his response. “My grades have been really good again this year, don’t you think?”

“They’ve been exceptional, I’m really proud of you.”

“Thanks…so…you know how you and Mum usually get me something?” Harry nods at him. “Well, there’s really only thing I want this year.”

“Oh? And what might that be?” Harry sits his chair up straight so he can turn to face Andy.

“A smart phone.” Andy mumbles.

“Hmm, are you turning thirteen this year?”

“No…I’m turning twelve.”

“Right, that’s what I thought. So, no smart phone, Andy.”

“Dad, please?”

“We had an agreement. Your mum feels the same way, I’m sorry, my hands are tied.”

“What’s the difference between now and one more year?”

“If a year doesn’t make a difference, then you can continue to wait.”

“Ugh, you’re being so unfair!”

“Don’t raise your voice at me, I’m being perfectly reasonable. There must be something else you want?”

“No, that’s literally all I want.” Andy huffs. “All of my friends have them, why can’t I?!”

“First of all, smart phones are very expensive, your phone now only costs thirty dollars a month. I’d have to add your line to mine, and that could be over one hundred extra a month. Second of all, I don’t care what your friends have, it’s not happening.”

“You get paid like ninety grand a year!” Andy stands up. “No way money is the issue. I’ll get a paper route or something to help pay for it.”

“That’s really not a lot of money to make when you own a home and have a child. You can wait another year. What do you even need one for right now? You have your own laptop, you have all the internet you could need.”

“I wanna be able to go on Instagram like my friends can!”

“Instagram?!” Now Harry’ standing up, and you can’t concentrate on your work anymore, so you stand up and lean against the banister to see what’s going on. “Who said you’d even be allowed to download all of those apps when you get a smart phone?!”

“Are you kidding me?! That’s the whole point!”

“You won’t be allowed to have any of that until you go to high school!”

“You’re living under a rock, Dad! Everyone my age uses this stuff! I wanna be able to see what my friends are posting, I’m always left out of the loop! I can’t even group text properly!”

“Who do you need to group text with?!”

“My fucking friends!”

Harry was fuming now. You had never seen him like this. You creep down the stairs to maybe see how you could help. You had never seen them fight like this before. Usually it was playful. This was very serious.

“Give me your phone, now.”

“What, why?”

“Because I said so.” Harry holds out his hand for it, and Andy reluctantly gives it to him. “You want a phone so badly for your birthday? You can have this back next month.”

“What?!”

“You heard me.” Harry puts the phone in his pocket and crosses his arms. “You can use the landline if you need make calls.”

“What if Mum needs to text me or-“

“I’ll tell her what’s going on, and she’ll either call me or she’ll call the landline if she needs to speak with you.”

“I can’t believe you’re getting upset over a simple question! I just asked for a phone!”

“We’ve been over this a million times! You’ll get one when you’re thirteen, and that’s final.”

“And you’re really going to take my other phone away until my birthday next month.”

“That’s right.”

Andy was fuming now. He looks at you, almost pleading to say something to his father, but you bite your inner cheek and look away.

“You’re being unfair!”

“I think I’m being plenty fair! This phone isn’t even yours, it’s mine! I pay for it, don’t I?”

“Harry.” You finally step in. “That’s enough.” He turns to look at you with raised eyebrows. “Andy, you shouldn’t talk to your father like that…I don’t like hearing you use cuss words. Also, the rules have been pretty clear, you need to wait another year for a smart phone. Try to think of something else you may like for your birthday, yeah?”

“But-“

“I think you should go cool off in your room for a bit.” You nod in that direction.

“You can’t tell me to go to my room, Y/N.” He scoffs.

“Actually, she can, so go.” Harry says.

“Everyone’s against me! Jesus Christ.” He grumbles and storms off to his room, slamming the door shut.

“I wish you had stayed upstairs, I was handling it.” Harry says to you.

“Were you? Because it seemed like you were throwing daggers at him. You can’t say that to a kid.”

“What?”

“That his property isn’t really his because you pay for it. That’s like saying his room isn’t really his because this is your house. My dad used to say shit like that when he’d get really mad at Phil and I. It doesn’t exactly make for a safe environment when you don’t think anything is yours.” You bite your bottom lip. “Did you really need to take his phone away?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he was acting like a spoiled brat, and I can’t stand it when he does that. Maybe that’s on Paige and I for rarely saying no, but I’m saying no now and he needs to respect that.”

“And you’re really not going to give it back to him until his birthday?”

“That’s right. It won’t kill him to be a little unplugged. If I need to get in touch with him at school I’ll just call the office, and he knows he can do the same. The secretary has a community phone for the kids to use.”

“You didn’t flip out until he mentioned Instagram, why?”

“Because he’s too young for all that. If he gets one then I’ll need to get one.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll need to monitor what he’s posting.”

“Oh my god.” You shake your head. “You know what that leads to? Him just making a finsta that’s private and all his friends will follow him on there, and he’ll post whatever he wants and have the real fun, and then he’ll post what he thinks won’t get him in trouble on whatever account you follow him on. Come on, Harry, only helicopter parents do shit like that.”

“What in the fuck is a finsta…?”

“It’s a fake Instagram. Look, instead of doing that, we could just talk to him about the importance of privacy settings, and what’s appropriate to post. Instagram can be a lot of fun for kids, you can post aesthetically pleasing photos, although it’s not as fun as it used to be. I remember when I got mine, like, god almost ten years ago, people just used to post cool pictures of food, now it’s a place for influencers and models, which is really annoying, but-“

“Y/N, please, you’re giving me a headache.” Harry sighs. “I’m his dad, so what I say goes.”

“Right, and I’m just the woman who lives here that fucks you, is that it?”

“Don’t twist this into an argument between the two of us, it’s not necessary.”

“You picked a fight with him for no fucking reason, Harry.”

“He started getting-“

“I don’t care! You’re the parent, like you said, act like the adult you are. You could have handled that ten times better, but instead you chose to be petty, and for what? I know it’s scary that he’s growing up, and maybe right now you can protect him by not getting him the phone, but you can’t protect him from every little thing. What you should do is teach him how to properly use all of that stuff so he doesn’t get hurt. Don’t talk to strangers applies in the real world as it does virtually, stuff like that.”

“Wow, been living here a month and you’re an expert on parenting, that’s incredible. You should really write a book on it.”

You narrow your eyes at him. Harry had never, not once, spoke to you like that. Something had really crawled up his ass today, and you clearly hit a trigger for him. This had to be about Andy growing up, and Harry being sad about it. You look him up and down and smirk before going back upstairs to your work. If he didn’t want you to be involved, then you wouldn’t be involved.

After a couple of hours, Harry knocks on Andy’s door.

“Come in…” He mutters as Harry enters.

“Hey.”

“Can we chat?”

“Are you gonna yell at me again?”

“Are you gonna yell at me?”

“No.” He mumbles, and Harry nods. He sits down with Andy on his bed.

“I know I was harsh earlier, and I know it seems unfair that I’m being so firm about this, but I’d appreciate a little trust here. You do not need a smart phone yet, trust me. All of those apps and stuff just rot your brain. Right now you read before you go to bed, and you’re able to relax. Smart phones are really tempting and can keep you up for hours if you’re not careful. I just think you could handle it better a little later on.”

“My friends are able to take pictures and post them, and then someone always has to show them to me. It’s embarrassing.”

“I’m sure you’re not the only one in your grade that doesn’t have one.”

“You’re probably right, but it’s still annoying.”

“I know.” Harry sighs. “Here.” Harry gives Andy back his little phone. It was the kind that slides open to have a keyboard to text. “You have no reason to really be punished, you didn’t do anything that would warrant not having your phone.”

“Thanks.” Andy sets it down on his bed.

“Social media can be really scary, and I know you think it’s fun, but it can turn to not so fun fast, and my biggest fear is that something could happen to you because of it.”

“Dad, I’m not gonna talk to anyone I don’t know…”

“Well, I should hope not.”

“Is Y/N mad at me? I shouldn’t have said that to her…”

“No, she’s mad at me actually for how I handled things. I’m sorry I said that too about the phone being mine. It’s not, it’s yours…and I don’t mind footing the bill.”

“It’s okay…is she still working, can I go see her?”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind the visit from you.” Harry smiles. “Can we agree that you’ll get the phone next May? Please, I don’t want to keep having this same fight.”

“Okay.” Andy nods. “But there’s something else I want then.”

“Name it.”

“Ariana Grande is touring again soon, and I’d like to go to her concert.”

“Do you wanna bring a friend?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Harry sighs. “I’ll see what I can do, alright?”

“Really?!”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my god!” Andy squeals and lunges himself onto Harry for a hug. Harry chuckles and hugs his son back. “And don’t worry about having to chaperone, Y/N told me if Ari ever toured here again she’d take me.”

“Thank god, I really don’t think I could sit through it.”

Andy rolls his eyes to get up and go see you.

“Y/N?”

“Hey.” You smile at him.

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Oh, please.” You scoff. “It’s fine, I would have said the same thing. Did you and Dad figure things out?”

“Mhm.” Andy grins. “He’s gonna try to get tickets to see Ariana Grande for us!”

“That’s great! Better than a phone, huh?”

“Way better.” He comes over to you to hug you, and then he heads back downstairs. The Styles men, you were starting to notice, are a special breed.

You don’t’ say much to Harry for the rest of the day, although you could tell he trying to butter you up. He made lasagna for dinner, one of your favorites. You mostly spoke with Andy at the table. You wanted a formal apology for what he said to you, that was it. When you had still barely spoken to him by the time you both got into bed, he sighs heavily and looks at you. You raise an eyebrow at him.

“What do you want to hear, that you were right?”

“No, I want to hear you say you’re sorry for being a facetious little shit when I was just trying to help. I’m fully aware that I don’t have as much experience parenting as you do, but don’t discount me like that. I’ve been in that kid’s life long enough now, also I’ve read a few parenting books since we started dating so-“

“You have?”

“Of course I have! I went into this blind, I had to do some research, Harry.”

“I’m sorry I said what I said to you, I was frustrated that you…that you just read the situation to a T. I’m petrified of him growing up, it sucks. I hate it and there’s nothing I can do to stop it, and I have control of the phone thing, so I flipped out when he challenged me on it.”

“I didn’t like hearing you yell. You never get that mad.”

“I have my moments, you’re just more privy to them now.” He sighs. “It’s hard for to stay calm sometimes when he starts yelling at me. It’s only going to get worse, so I know it need work on keeping my cool.” You nod your head. “I gave him his phone back.”

“You did?” You features soften.

“Yeah, it was stupid of me to have taken it in the first place. He didn’t really do anything wrong.”

“I’ll always respect your decisions, I mean, you’ve been doing this alone, sort of. But I want you to remember I’m your partner in this, we’re a team, babe.”

“Yeah, we are.” He smiles. “I really am sorry for speaking to you like that.”

“It’s okay.” You shrug. “You backed me up while he was still in the room.”

“I’m glad you butted in, who knows what else I would have said if you hadn’t. I feel like for so long, like, because he wanted to be with me, and I got used to it, I didn’t really discipline him as much. I wanted to keep him happy so he’d want to stay. It was so hard for years only seeing him for small chunks of time. I’ve been trying to form better habits.”

“And you’re doing a great job, I think you’re doing as best as you can. I just want you to know it’s not all on your shoulders anymore.”

“Thanks, baby.” He kisses your cheek. “So…we’re good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“Good, I couldn’t stand the silent treatment.”

“I just didn’t really know what to say to you, honestly. Upside is I got a fuck ton of work done.” You chuckle.

“Oh, well, thank god for that.” He laughs. “So, you’re not gonna deprive me of the booty tonight, then?”

“No, you can still have some booty.” You giggle and shift down in the bed, and turn over so he can wrap himself around you. The sound of his sigh makes me you smile. “I feel like even if I was so mad at you that I didn’t want you to hold me, you would in your sleep anyways.”

“My plan is to never make you that mad, so we don’t have to worry about that.”

“Oh good, I’m glad you have a plan.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He kisses your cheek again before really getting cozy with you.

“Goodnight, Harry.”

Since you were going for a few days, you decide to drive down to Boston. You were a little worried that it might be awkward sharing a room with both Harry and Andy, but neither of them seemed all that concerned. Julian said he’d hook you up with a good size room, so that put you at ease.

“What are we doing first, Y/N?” Andy asks excitedly from the back seat.

“Well, first we’re going to check in to the hotel to drop all of our things off, and then I was thinking we could go to the aquarium, would you like that?”

“Yeah! I haven’t been there in forever. Can we do the touch tank?”

“Of course.”

Harry puts his hand on your thigh as you drive. He was over the moon about doing something just the three of you. Even though you all lived together now, a trip would be a good bonding experience.

“Holy shit.” You say to yourself when you go inside the room. “He gave us a full suite! Look, there’s two bedrooms.”

“Sick!” Andy says as he runs in, and claims one of the rooms.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise.” Harry says. “We’ll have to make sure to say thank you.”

“Definitely.” You text Julian immediately to tell him how amazing he is. “Okay, bathroom break and then we’ll head to the train?”

Andy didn’t get to go on the train very often, so hopping on and off was really exciting. He got to use the tube in London, but this was still fun for him. His eyes light up when you get the aquarium. He waits for you and Harry to get your tickets before going up to the touch tank that was on the outside of the building.

“They brought us here for a class trip when I was in the fourth grade, I think this and the penguins were my favorite part.” He tells you as he gently touches the various animals in the tanks. “It’s so cool.”

Once Andy’s had his fill, you all head inside. He nearly squeals when he sees the penguins, and Harry takes his phone out to take some pictures, chuckling to himself.

“What?” You smile at him.

“Nothing, he’s just gonna sleep so well tonight.” He kisses your cheek. “I’m really glad we’re doing this.”

“Me too. I thought this trip could be sort of educational for him, so I got us tickets for the museum of science tomorrow.”

“I thought your friends were meeting us tomorrow?”

“They are.” You grin. “It’s going to be fantastic.”

You and Harry hold hands as you walk through the aquarium with an enthralled Andy. You stop off for a quick snack in the small food court, and keep going.

“What are we doing for dinner tonight?” Andy asks.

“Bud, you just had a bag of chips and a candy bar…” Harry says. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hungry for more?”

“I’m not, it just got me thinking about food later.”

“Happens to the best of us.” You chuckle. “We’re going to have dinner at my brother’s place so you can meet my family, how does that sound?”

“Wow, really?” Andy asks with wide eyes.

“Mhm, and brother is a really good cook, so you’re gonna eat well tonight.”

“Are your parents gonna be there too?” He asks.

“Yup.” You smile and so does he.

After the aquarium, you all go back to the hotel to freshen up before hopping in the car to go to Phil and Julian’s. You were happy it was a Sunday evening so Phil didn’t have to physically be at the restaurant. Andy gets a little shy as you walk into the complex, sticking to Harry’s side.

“Hello?” You say as you key in.

“Hey!” Julian says as he greets you. “Come on in, hi, Harry.” He smiles. “And oh my goodness, you must be Andy! Hi, I’m Julian.”

“Hello.” Andy says, politely shaking Julian’s hand.

“Phil’s made so much food, you’d think it was Thanksgiving all over again. A little birdy told us you like pasta, Andy.”

Andy’s smile grows as you all come into the kitchen. Phil had made homemade raviolis and bolognaise, along with a meatless option for you and Harry.

“Hey, everyone.” Phil smiles as he strains the raviolis. “Mum and Dad should be here any minute, think they got stuck in traffic.” He looks at Andy. “Hi, I’m Phil, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Hello.” Andy shakes his hand as well. “So…you’re Y/N’s big brother.”

“That’s right.” He throws an arm around you. “She drove me nuts growing up, but now I don’t know what I would do without her.” He kisses your temple and lets you go. “You’re on April vacation, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Must be nice to just have an entire week off, enjoy it while you can.” Phil chuckles.

“Babe, do you want me to get the table set?” Julian asks.

“Please, that would be great. Garlic bread’s almost done and then we can put it in that nice basket you got.”

Julian nods and gets to work. A knock on the door signals that your parents have arrived, and you go to open it for them. It’s hugs and kisses all around, and then they say hello to Harry.

“Good to see you both again.” Harry says to them.

“Same to you.” Your dad says.

“Andy, c’mere, I want you to meet my parents.” You say to him and he stands in front of you. “Mum, Dad, this is Harry’s son, Andy.”

“Well are you’re you just the most precious thing!” Your mom says. “Y/N’s sent us some pictures of you, but they don’t do you justice. Look at those curls!”

“Oh, thanks…I use a special mousse for them.” Andy says shyly. It makes both of your parents laugh.

“Andy, we heard you enjoy painting.” Your dad says to him and Andy nods. “Well, we couldn’t help ourselves, especially since we also heard your birthday was coming up soon.” He takes a bag from behind his back and hands it to Andy. “Go ahead and open it if you like.”

Andy looks up at you and you nod. He opens the bag and gasps.

“Whoa! It’s that washable paint stuff! Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.” Your mom says. “We saw it and just had to get it.”

“Okay, dinner’s ready, let’s sit.” Phil says.

Everyone sits down at the table, and the conversation stays around Andy. He answers questions about school, friends, what his favorite subject is, what he does for fun (other than painting), and he talks about how much he likes living with Harry.

“Sometimes I miss my mum, but I like living with Dad more. It’s just calmer.” Andy shrugs. He was thoroughly enjoying the food as well.

“Can’t be much calmer with Y/N there now.” Your dad chuckles. “With the way she’s always running around like a chicken with their head cut off.”

“I do not do that…” You mumble.

“Sure you do honey, you always used to run around the house never able to find anything, and we’d tell you not to run because you always had socks on too, and one time you completely wiped out!”

“Wow, I didn’t realize we’d be telling embarrassing stories about me tonight.” You roll your eyes.

Andy thought it was interesting seeing you interact with your parents. You sort of did what Harry did, in that you acted like a kid again. He also liked observing Phil and Julian. Maybe things would get better.

The next day, after enjoying a nice breakfast at the hotel, you all head to the Museum of Science. Claudia, Nora, Darcy, and Mark would all be meeting you there. The three of you wait inside for them.

“Y/N!” Nora squeals and runs over to you. You open your arms and you hug each other. Everyone else comes following from behind.

“I swear she turns into a cheetah when she sees you.” Claudia says.

“Oh, shut up.” Nora says, letting go of you. She looks at Harry grins. “Well, well, well, look who have here.”

“It’s so nice to meet you all.” Harry says.

“Oo, boy, that accent.” Mark giggles to Darcy.

“This is my son, Andy. We’re both excited to spend the day with you.”

“Hello.” Andy says. He was feeling a little shy, but less so than last night.

“He’s so handsome!” Nora says to Harry. “Not surprised though.” She looks Harry up and down.

“Okay, enough flirting with my boyfriend.” You say. “Harry, Andy, this is Nora, Darcy, Claudia, and Mark, my best friends in the world.”

Everyone gets properly introduced, and you all head inside to the main area. Nora and Mark loop arms with Harry, and it makes you giggle as they walk with him, and talk his ears off. Claudia and Darcy do the same with Andy, and he loves it. Everyone helped make all of the science and exhibits extra fun for Andy. His favorite part was the lightning show.

You all were pooped by the time you got to the planetarium. Andy sits in the middle of you and Harry, and Nora sits on your other side. You two giggle and she makes you laugh so hard you cry while trying to be quiet during the show, which makes your other friends laugh too. Harry enjoys all of it.

“Okay, we were thinking Mexican for dinner, does that work for everyone?” Mark says.

“I love tacos.” Andy says. “Sounds good to me.”

“Yeah, we eat Mexican all the time.” Harry says.

“Great! You’ll love this place. They have the best margaritas.” Claudia says.

Andy was eating good this weekend. He wondered if you did this a lot when you used to live here. All of the adults order drinks, and Harry lets Andy get a virgin pina colada for his drink. Everyone got all different types of food. Luckily the restaurant had a kids menu with more traditional Tex-Mex that he was used to.

“So, Harry, talk to us about this cabin. Is it used in the summer?” Darcy asks.

“Yeah, it’s great for all seasons.” The friends all look at each other. “You all will have to come up some time this summer.”

“Oh, well, we wouldn’t want to impose.” Nora scoffs. “But I have to say, we’re incredible house guests.”

“Good to know.” Harry smiles. “So, what do you all do for work?”

“I’m a preschool teacher.” Claudia says.

“I’m an executive assistant to this CEO downtown.” Mark says. “At a marketing firm.”

“I’m an insurance agent.” Darcy says.

“And I also work in higher ed, but I work in Alumni Relations.” Nora says.

“Did you all go to school together?” Andy asks.

“Nora and I became friends in high school, and went to the same undergrad, that’s where we met Darcy and Mark, and then Claudia and I met in grad school, and she and Darcy, um, saw each other for bit…”

“But we realized friendship was the way to go.” Claudia says.

“That’s right.” Darcy says. “And we’ve all just been a little group ever since.”

“That’s kind of how my friend group is. My best friend is Brandon, and we have this other friend Tyler. And then Caroline became friends with us because she and I were boyfriend and girlfriend, but now we’re just friends.” Andy explains. “It was awkward at first, but everything’s normal again.”

“It can definitely be awkward.” Mark agrees. “You’re in sixth grade, right?”

“Mhm.”

“My god, the drama.” Claudia snickers to Darcy.

The group asks Harry questions about how he got into academia and how he ended up in New England. It was a great conversation all around. The food was excellent and everyone seemed to be meshing well. You and Nora had got up to go to the bathroom together, it was a chance to consult.

“Well?” You say to her as you both wash your hands.

“I can’t find a single flaw, Y/N.” She says. “I mean, on the outside, ten out of ten, that man is gorgeous, but he can also carry a conversation. He’s not one of those condescending know-it-alls, you can tell he’s really listening. God, and that Andy…so adorable.”

“Right? Sweetest kid ever.”

“You can tell how comfortable he is with you too by how comfortable he already is with us. He was shy at first, but he opened up. Living together has been going well so far?”

“Yeah, for the most part it was seamless. I’ve never felt this sure in a relationship before.”

“Clearly! I don’t think you’ve ever lasted this long in one.” She jokes and you roll your eyes. “I like them both a lot, well done.”

“Thanks.” You smile and walk back to the table with her.

“Well, this has been fun, but every night as to come to an end at some point.” Darcy says.

“Yeah, not all of us have a week off.” Mark says.

“Hey, I’m using vacation time same as you.” You say. “But I appreciate you all coming out today.”

“It was so nice to finally meet all of you.” Harry says.

“You both better come back down soon. We can show you a really good time nightlife wise.” Nora says.

Harry nods, and Andy says goodbye to everyone before you all go to your separate trains. Andy can barely keep his eyes open as he sits on the train between you and Harry. His head falls to Harry’s shoulder, and Harry pouts down at him.

“M’gonna have to carry him.” He says to you. “What a treat.” He puts his arm around Andy to keep him comfortable.

“I didn’t realize just how much walking we did today.” You chuckle and run your fingers through Andy’s hair.

“Think that big meal we just had did him in. It’s alright, he’s having a great time.”

“Are you going to be able to carry him?”

“Oh, sure. He’s not that heavy.”

“I know…he’s just getting lanky.”

“He’s due for a growth spurt, that’s for sure.”

Once you reach your stop, Harry’s able to pick Andy up bridal style and carry him out cuddled to his chest. It was one of the sweetest things you had ever seen. You weren’t always pricy to the more tender moments between them, and you were living for this one.

“I’m just gonna get him settled into his bed.” Harry whispers to you once you’re in the hotel room. You nod and go start your nightly routine.

Harry’s able to get Andy changed, and tucked into bed. Just as Harry kisses his forehead, Andy fidgets.

“Dad?” He mumbles.

“Shh, go back to sleep, buddy.” Harry coos.

“M’having a lot of fun with you and Mum.” He yawns and rolls over. “Goodnight.” He mumbles again before passing out.

Harry’s eyes widen and his mouth falls open. Did Andy mean to say that? Why were people always making confessions to him while they were half asleep? He slowly leaves the room and heads into yours. You were just sliding into bed.

“He all set?”

“Yeah, I’m just gonna go do my thing.” He points to the bathroom and you nod. You had gotten your period yesterday, and you were sort of thankful so that there would be minimal funny business. It wasn’t necessary on a family trip.

“Are you alright?” You ask as Harry gets into bed.

“Yeah…he just…he mumbled something in his sleep, that’s all.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he was having a lot of fun with us, um, just made me happy to hear.”

“Aw, he’s so sweet.” You peck Harry’s lips and settle down into bed. “Love you, baby.” You yawn.

“Love you too.” He says as he spoons you.

On your last day in the city, you and Harry decide it would be fun to bring Andy to the Quincy Market Place so he could do a little shopping. He nearly sprinted when he saw the Newbury Comics. You spent quite a bit of time in there, and Harry let Andy pick out a couple of things he wanted.

“Do you guys mind if I go into The Loft?”

“I thought you didn’t really shop for clothes.” Harry says to you.

“I don’t, but they’re having a sale, and I’d like to go check it out.”

“We can go with you, Y/N.” Andy says.

“So, I’m really annoying to shop with.” You laugh. “Go on to another store. I can meet you in, like, fifteen minutes?”

“Sure, let’s meet outside The Loft.” Harry says and you nod.

You really did hate to shop for clothes, especially with other people around. You were extremely picky and indecisive.

“Alright, where should we go? Need a bathroom break?” Harry asks Andy.

“No, I think we should go into one of these jewelry stores.”

“Why?”

“So you can look at rings, duh.” Andy scoffs.

“Oh, Andy…I…”

“Rip the band aid, Dad, come on, let’s just go look.” He tugs on Harry’s arms towards a jewelry store and they start looking around. “She only has, like, two rings she always wears, so this one definitely needs to be good.”

“Are you telling me you want me to propose to her already?”

“She’s living with us, why not?”

“It’s a big deal to marry someone.”

“But you both want to, right?”

“Well, yeah, we talk about it enough.”

“Okay, then. No harm in looking.” Andy shrugs. “She likes wearing silver…”

“I know.” Harry nudges him. “I have no idea what style she even would want…”

“She wears that necklace you got her every day, I don’t think she’ll care that much.”

“True, I got lucky with that one.”

Harry’s eyes scan over the various rings as the women behind the counter watch him. Nothing was really catching his eye until he saw a silver band with small diamonds studded in it, and large square diamond in the middle.

“Hey, what about this?” Harry asks Andy. “It’s…elegant, like her.” Andy tugs Harry’s shirt down so he can whisper in his ear.

“Take a sneaky picture of it so you can just order a similar one online.” Harry nods and does so swiftly before leaving the store. They both walk over to The Loft where you were standing already.

“No luck?” Harry asks when he doesn’t see any bags.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” You shake your head. “Trying clothes on while bloated was not a good idea, let’s just leave it at that.”

After a bit more walking, and a quick lunch, you all decide it’s time to hit the road. Just like last time, you drive through the city, and pull over at the rest area to let Harry drive the rest of the way. Andy was conked out in the back seat. You hold Harry’s hand as both of your arms rest on the console.

“This was a great few days.” Harry says.

“I know, I almost wish we just took the whole week off from work.” Harry chuckles at that and nods his head. “Is Paige coming to get him tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna let him sleep in, and then she’ll come grab him while we’re at school.”

“Alright, sounds good. My family loved meeting him by the way, so did my friends. I got a ton of text messages saying so.”

“Ah, so you have all the official approval you could need then?”

“I’d say so.” You nod. “I think my parents are still a little uneasy about it, but they’ll get used to it.”

“It was really nice of them to get him that paint.”

“They’ve been dying to become grand-parents, so I’m not surprised that they jumped on the schmooze train.”

“Still, they didn’t have to do that.” He squeezes your hand. “It’s not easy to just treat someone as your own right away.”

“He doesn’t make it difficult, trust me.” You bring Harry’s hand up to your lip to press a kiss to his knuckles and he sighs.

With Andy at Paige’s for a few days that guaranteed no one just walking in, as soon as your period was over, it was like Harry went feral. It reminded you of that first weekend you actually slept over where he just wouldn’t let you leave the bedroom. He tried to be subtle about it, but he wasn’t very good at it.

“Feel like taking a break?” He says to you one night as you’re working.

“Do to what?” You say to him without looking.

“Me.” Your hands freeze over your keyboard, and you slowly turn to look at him. “You looked so pretty today, and I barely had time to tell you with all my advisees coming in and out.” He tils your chin up so you can look at him easier. “What do you say?”

You look at your computer quickly to save whatever you’re working and then you reach for the button on his jeans, but he backs away.

“Let’s get comfortable, darling.”

“You know, a break implies that this will be quick.”

“I meant break as in you’re done for the night, was I not clear?”

“Harry…”

“You’re going to burn out if you keep coming home and working until an ungodly hour.”

“I can’t help it.” You pout up at him.

“Come on, come down to the bedroom with me. We don’t have to worry about being quiet tonight…”

“Alright.” You sigh and get up to go downstairs with him.

Once you’re in the bedroom he cups your jaw and starts kissing you. It’s slow at first; soft. Your hands splay on his chest as he licks into your mouth. Before you can meet his tongue with yours he pulls away and nuzzles his nose to yours.

“Baby.” He whispers with a smile, and that all about melts you into a puddle.

He kisses from your cheek to your jaw to your neck, feather light, causing goosebumps to grow on your covered skin. You tug at the hem of his shirt, and he steps back so he can take it off. He reaches for yours and you lift your arms up. He cups your bare breasts (who wears a bra at home?), and kneads them as his lips find yours again. He gets you on the bed, and kisses down your chest. He tugs at your leggings and wriggles them down your legs along with your panties.

“Yours too.” You toe at his jeans and he smirks at you. He does as you say and gets rid of his jeans, leaving him in his boxers.

“Happy?”

“Yes.”

He goes back to kissing on your body, nipping where he feels like before sucking a bruise into your inner thigh. You grit your teeth and try not to buck your hips towards him. You gasp when you feel his tongue on you, sucking and swirling around your folds before he makes his way to your clit. He moans into you and your hands grasp at his hair. You bite your bottom lip as two fingers slide inside you, and you grind against them.

“Feels so good, don’t stop.” You say to him as he sucks on your clit and curls his fingers inside you. Your legs were starting to shake around him. “H-Harry.” You groan as your head rolls back. He keeps his pace steady, not changing a thing so you can get there. “Oh, fuck!” Your chest heaves as you release around his fingers.

He sucks his fingers into his mouth and looks at you with a smirk.

“What?” You breathe.

“Can I put the handcuffs on your for a change?”

Your eyes widen as you look at him. You really didn’t like being the one restrained, and it just looked better on Harry the times he’d let you cuff him.

“Um…maybe use one of the scarves, I don’t like the handcuffs on me.”

“But you’re okay with the scarf, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He nods and goes into the drawer to get it.

“I’m not even gonna tie to you to bed, I’m just gonna put your wrists together.”

“Alright.”

“Sit up for me so I can tie them behind your back.”

“Oh?” Your eyebrows raise as you do as he says. He ties your wrists together and sits on the edge of the bed. “What do you want me to do, ride you?”

“Please.” He puts his arms out for you to help you. “Can I just come on your stomach?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

He helps get you lined up, and you sink down on him. You use your knees on either side of his thighs to help you move up and down. You could feel yourself trying to reach for him, but you couldn’t. He sits back with the palms of his hands flat behind him on the bed as you bounce up and down on him. He watches how the features on your face change as you basically use him.

“Harry, please put your hands on me.” You groan.

“Only because you asked so nicely.” He reaches for you but stops when you speak.

“Don’t be cute with me.” You smirk at him. “Or next time I’ll just have to tie you to each bed post again and ride you like this. Remember how much fun that was for you?” Your lean forward and ghost your lips over his, making him shudder.

“Okay, sorry, I’ll touch you.” He pouts slightly. His hands slide down to your ass and he helps you move on him.

You slot your mouth over his and lick into him. He moves you so you’re grinding back and forth on him and you moan into his mouth.

“Like that, baby?” He says to you as he sponges kisses to your collar bone.

“Yes, fuck, keep going.”

He looks up at you as you squeeze your eyes shut and bite your bottom lip. Your head rolls back, and you squeeze around him.

“That’s it, baby, be a good girl and come for me.”

Your mouth falls open, and you cry out as you reach your high. Those were the magic words, and they worked every single time. Harry pecks your lips before lifting you off of him and settling you on your back. He has you place your arms comfortably above your head, your wrists still tied together. He throws both of your legs over his shoulders, and thrusts back into you. He looks down to make sure you’re alright, and you nod at him to let him know he can keep going. Both of your moans and groans fill the room, along with the sound of his skin slapping against yours. Your clit was throbbing, and you need to give it some friction, but you knew Harry wanted your hands to stay put.

“H-Harry, please, could you, ah!” His tip your g-spot. “Fuck, please, rub my clit.” You groan.

He drops one of your legs so he can do so properly, and you moan out with relief. He thrusts were fast and deep, and it was going to send you over the edge any second with him rubbing you as well. Your eyes roll into back of your head when your orgasm reaches.

“Harry.” You whimper as you come down from your high.

He lets your other leg drop, and he comes down to you, chest to chest. He sucks on your bottom lip as he rocks in and out of you, and you wrap your legs around his waist. His hands come to yours, and he pushes down on your wrists as he continues to fuck you. You were breathing heavily underneath him, and you couldn’t help but look up at him and just watch. He looks down at you too, and it’s insanely intense, but neither of you can think to look anywhere else.

Harry keeps one hand on your wrists as the other snakes between the two of you. He rubs circles into your clit, and moves his hips in the same motion. Your mouth falls open and the whiniest moan comes out. He smirks at you.

“Harry, fuck, I’m gonna come again.” You groan.

“Yeah? Just feels that good, huh?”

“So good, baby, so good.” You start panting. “You treat me so well, Harry. I love you so much.”

“Fuck, I love you too.” He kisses you sloppily, teeth clanking and everything.

You moan into each other’s mouths as you come to your fourth release. You squeeze him a little too tightly, and he nearly loses control.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit.” He says as he pulls out, coming immediately onto your stomach. You were in such a daze you almost told him he could just come inside you, but that was the orgasm talking. “Fuck, baby.” He breathes and kisses your forehead. “Let me go get a rag.” Harry comes back with a warm washcloth to clean you up. “Feel like watching a movie, darling?”

“Sure.” You giggle as he cleans between your legs. “I can do that you know?”

“I know, I just feel like it’s the gentlemanly thing to do. I made a mess, I should clean it up.”

“Remind me to thank your mother some time for raising your right.”

Harry chuckles at that and tosses you one of his shirts before putting on a pair of boxers. He opens up his armoire and grabs the remote for the TV, and gets into bed while you go properly clean yourself up.

“What do you feel like watching?” He asks as you get back into bed.

“Something funny. Hmm, how about Step Brothers?” He scrunches his face at you. “Come on! It’s funny.”

“It’s mind numbingly stupid…”

“That’s the point.” You rolls your eyes at him. “I’m not watching another documentary, Harry, I’m just not.”

“But you learn so much from them, and they’re fascinating.”

“Maybe to you, I find them to be boring as all hell.”

“You can’t tell me the documentary we watched about prohibition was boring!”

“The only interesting part was when they got into the speak-easies.”

“You said you enjoyed the whole thing, you even laughed at certain parts.”

“Faked it.” You smirk and he gasps.

“You didn’t.”

“I did. Faked the whole thing.”

“Why would do that?”

“To keep you happy of course.” Your grin grows as he glares at you.

“Better be the only thing you’ve faked.” He says as he puts Netflix on to watch Step Brothers.

“Harry, you’re nuts if you think I would fake an orgasm with you. I’m not in the business of doing that anymore.”

“Anymore?” He raises an eyebrow at you.

“Did it a lot when I was younger, it’s the fastest way to get someone else to finish when you’re not super into it. I used to not be as vocal as I am now. Sometimes it takes a girl a while to feel comfortable enough to find her voice in the bedroom.”

“Fair enough.” He says as he puts his arm around you, pressing his lips to your hair line for a few kisses. “I love how vocal you are.”

“I know you do because you like hearing how good of a job you’re doing.” You look up at him and start laughing.

“What?”

“Do you get a stiffy when you read your good course evaluations?”

“No, I do not!” He starts laughing. “Why would you even ask me that?”

“Because it just seems like something that would happen to you. All of that praise must go right to that big head of yours.”

“Do you wanna watch this fucking movie or not?”

You burst out laughing as he holds you closer to him, pressing play on the movie. You kiss his cheek and settle down.

“And by the way”, he starts, “I enjoy American documentaries because there’s a lot I didn’t learn in school growing up, and it helps me know what some of the students are talking about. I get a few history majors now and then and I can happily say I can carry on a conversation with them.”

“Harry, it’s okay to be a nerd all on your own, you don’t to blame it on your students.” You give his chest a little pat, and gives your hip a pinch. “Aw, I’m just teasing, sweetheart.”

“Teasing is my thing, get your own.”

#harry styles #office neighbors #harry styles imagine #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #harry styles series #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles y/n #harry styles smut #harry styles angst #harry styles fluff #singledad!Harry #professor!Harry

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official-weasley · 3 years

Text

Love, William (Bill Weasley x OC) - Chapter 4

WARNINGS: I would say none. Maybe fluffy fluff! Beware of Bill having a crush 🤭

Chapter 4 - Bill's Night

Bill hurried into his room, closing the door behind him, never being so happy about having the whole room to himself. He sat on his bed and buried his face in his hands. Will he be able to do this? Will he be able to be around Theodora for the rest of the summer?

Why did he have to be so attracted to her? It was wrong. It was so wrong but he couldn’t stop. She was so nice and didn’t make fun out of him or teased him as his brothers did. He genuinely had fun degnoming the garden for the first time ever, just because he did it with her.

He could even say that he was grateful that Charlie made him work with her but that would be taking it too far. First of all, admitting that Charlie was right about something – even if just in his head – was too much, and second of all, he can’t feel like this about her.

Perhaps, it was because he hasn’t had a girlfriend in such a long time and she was nice to him. Or maybe because she didn’t idolize him like most women he has met upon telling them what his job is. She doesn’t strike him as a person who puts a lot of thought into looks and genuinely enjoys his company not because she thinks he’s hot or something, so perhaps it’s that.

Bill sighed and pushed himself backward, bouncing on the bed. He stared at the ceiling for what seemed like an hour, trying not to think about her, trying not to wish she was his age, trying not to picture himself with her.

“Hey, Bill, you in here?”

Bill lifted his head as he heard Charlie come in. The second he saw his face, his brows furrowed, remembering that he was still mad at them for throwing him and Theodora into the pond.

“What do you want?” He snapped at him, looking back at the ceiling.

“Listen, we are sorry for before. We took it too far.” Charlie cleared his throat. “Let me make it up to you by letting you beat me in some Exploding Snap.”

Bill lifted his body, his elbows supporting his weight, and looked at his brother with his eyes narrowed. He hated Charlie’s stupid apologetic grin but he couldn’t deny that playing a game with his siblings would be a good distraction.

“I will only forgive you if I win.” He glared at him, bumping into his shoulder as he exited the room.

Charlie went to the cupboard where the family had their board games to find the cards, while Bill and Ron moved the coffee table in the living room to make space for them to play on the floor.

—

“You’re really bad at this game, Charles.” Bill laughed at his brother.

He wasn’t sure if Charlie was losing on purpose just because he promised him to win or if he actually sucked at the game.

“I told you I’ll let you win.” Charlie tried acting annoyed but he couldn’t deny that it was nice seeing his older brother relax a little.

“Ha! Another one for me!”

It didn’t matter how well Bill was doing or how bad Charlie was losing, Ron was still better than both of them. The cards didn’t explode in his face once and at this point he was having too much fun winning something against his two eldest brothers.

“Hi, Ron, Bill, Charlie.”

The trio was so busy having fun playing the game that they didn’t hear Theodora come downstairs. They all turned their heads to her when she greeted them.

“Hi,” Ron mumbled, being too busy winning.

“Hey, Theo.” Charlie grinned at her. “Hi, Theodora.” Bill bestowed her with a quick smile, trying to get back to the game as soon as possible.

“You call her Theodora?” Charlie chuckled, mocking Bill.

“That’s her name, isn’t it?” Bill said through his teeth.

He went without teasing him for a full hour and a half. Before Charlie could say anything back, the cards exploded in his face again, not getting the right pair. Bill laughed – that made him feel better.

“Mrs. Weasley, can I help you with anything?” Theodora sat down at the kitchen table and observed what Molly was doing.

“Oh, that’s quite alright, dear, you’ve been of great help in the afternoon.” She smiled at her.

“I want to make it up to you for this morning.” Theodora bit her lip.

She still felt guilty hearing Mrs. Weasley shout so much and seeing her so angry. It might’ve been George’s fault for letting the fireworks loose in their room but that wasn’t an excuse. She was right there and was equally guilty.

“Oh,” Molly’s smile grew larger, “I told you I don’t blame you. You don’t have to be so harsh on yourself.”

“But –” Theodora didn’t know how to reply.

She wasn’t used to someone being so nice to her. She knew her mother would blame her either way – being it her fault or not – and she would’ve punished her and bring it up for days.

“Listen, Theo,” Mrs. Weasley turned away from the counter and sat next to Theodora, “I know your mother is strict and I know what she wrote in that letter. I understand that you got detention in school but I also know you wouldn’t get in trouble if it wasn’t for my boys.” She sighed, looking at the ceiling as if she was trying to telepathically find out what they were doing in their room.

“I promised her to take care of you this summer and make you behave but you have been nothing but an angel so far so you have nothing to worry about.” Molly pulled Theodora into a hug and she was more than happy to return it.

Mrs. Weasley might have frightened her this morning a little bit with how angry she was but she couldn’t stop wishing for her mother to be more like her. Shouting when your children do something wrong is entirely different than not showing any affection to your child.

She knew Mrs. Weasley only did so because she loved her children and even if they behaved badly, she still showed them how much she loves them – something Theodora’s mother never did. Not with her nor her brother.

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley.” Theodora pulled away and smiled at her.

“Any time, dear. Now go and play Exploding Snap with the boys.” She rubbed Theodora’s shoulder with her hand and nodded her head to her three sons.

“I think I’ll get some fresh air instead.” Theodora stood up and walked past the boys.

She tried hard not to look at them but in the end, she couldn’t stop her eyes from escaping to Bill who was looking back at her until a pair of cards exploded in his face. She giggled and walked outside.

Not only didn’t she want to play the game with the boys because Bill was there and she tried to avoid him as much as possible but she honestly wanted some alone time. She has never been surrounded by so many people before – except at Hogwarts but that was different – as her mother didn’t allow her to go anywhere.

While at school, she sometimes wanted a break from the twins as they could be too energetic for her taste at times, especially during that time of the month. She was grateful that they always understood when she wanted to be alone and never bothered her but waited for her to come to them instead.

“Bill, I thought you were better than Charlie.” Ron bestowed his older brother with a confused look.

He wasn’t doing as bad as Charlie did but the cards exploded in his face 4 times in the last 5 minutes.

“Oh, I know, why he suddenly sucks.” Charlie winked at Bill, leaving Ron oblivious.

Bill frowned and punched his brother in the arm. Playing Exploding Snap didn’t help him anymore. He wanted to hex Charlie now.

“Why don’t you join her outside?” Charlie kept pushing it.

“Will you give it a rest!” Bill raised his voice but then quickly looked towards where their mum was, hoping she couldn’t hear him.

“Is this about Theo?” Ron finally caught on and joined the conversation.

“Bill fancies her.” Charlie sang.

“I do not. It’s not like that at all.” Bill scoffed.

“How is it then?” Charlie asked with his eyebrows raised high.

“Oh, bugger off, Charles!”

“Sorry to interrupt your bromance but she is way out of your league, Bill.”

Bill stopped his staring war with Charlie and turned his head to his little brother, his mouth open. Ron was always the quiet one among the boys in the house and he has never heard him talk like that to him before.

He rolled his eyes, wanting to throw a pillow at both of them. Now, Ron was on Charlie’s side too. This day kept getting worse and worse.

“Oh, don’t listen to Ronald, William.” Charlie tried putting his hand on Bill’s shoulder but the glare his older brother gave him made him change his mind.

“Charlie, seriously stop.” Bill hissed. “This isn’t funny anymore.”

“Why are you so uptight?” Charlie’s expression turned into a serious one. “We’re just trying to help you.”

“You still don’t get it.” Bill pressed his fingers against his forehead and shook his head. “She’s still at school, she’s too young for me.”

“She’s more mature than both of you idiots.” Ron chortled.

“She’s 17,” Charlie said, ignoring Ron’s comment.

“Exactly, do you know how wrong that is?” Bill tried explaining.

Perhaps if he can make them see how wrong it would be for them to date, they are going to leave him alone and he can finally start enjoying his summer.

“Why?” Ron looked puzzled. “We become of age when we’re 17. She’s an adult, she can apparate and she can use magic out of school.”

“See, how is Ron making more sense than you right now?” Charlie raised an eyebrow at Bill.

“It’s...no...that’s not the point.” He didn’t know what to say.

Was he putting too much thought into this? Was he the only one seeing this as a big deal? They had an 8-year gap between them. No, they can’t be right. It would be weird. In a few years maybe but it was strange to think that she was the same age as his two mischievous brothers.

“It doesn’t matter, in the normal world, she is still underage.” Bill tried defending himself, crossing his arms on his chest.

“What are you, a Muggle?” Charlie furrowed his brows.

“There’s this girl in my Potions class, meaning she’s 15 and she is dating someone that just finished his seventh year and I know for a fact that he already celebrated his 18th birthday,” Ron said matter of factly.

“See and if people don’t see that as wrong, why should you?” Charlie supported Ron’s statement.

“They still don’t have an 8-year gap between them.” Bill stuck to his side.

“Is that what this is about? Because she’s so much younger?” Ron looked confused.

“Bill,” Charlie sighed, tired of fighting with his brother, “it’s clear that you like each other. Will you stop fighting yourself and just see what happens? What if you hit it off and it turns out to be the best decision you have ever made?”

Bill stared at Charlie as if he just told him he doesn’t care about dragons anymore. He couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth. That had to be the most mature thing he has ever said.

Charlie was very hard working when it came to his job and it was just about the only time he was serious. He was a goofball and liked to laugh and not take things seriously in any other situation.

“So?” Bill turned his head to Ron as he spoke, still looking astounded.

“So, what?”

“Are you going to argue with us some more and miss your opportunity to be alone with her or are you going to gather up some courage and join her outside?” Charlie nodded his head toward the door.

“I –”

Bill was speechless. He didn’t know what to do or how to answer the question. It was like a never-ending battle inside his head. He wanted to stand up at once, grab the blanket from the sofa and walk outside. But the voice inside his head was still telling him that it’s a bad idea and that they simply can’t be together.

“Bill, if you don’t go out right now, I’ll go and I’ll tell her you have a crush on her!” Charlie said with a serious voice.

“Fine!”

Bill stood up angrily, feeling as if he was being blackmailed. He snatched the blanket from the sofa and went outside, slamming the door hard behind him.

He found Theodora sitting on a stump in the garden, looking at the stars. She looked ravishing in the moonlight and it seemed as if she was deep in her thoughts.

He knew this was a bad idea. He was ready to turn around and go back inside. He can’t do this. He doesn’t care if Charlie’s going to tell her how he feels. He’s an adult. He can just go back to Egypt!

“Bill?” He stopped walking back towards the house when he heard Theodora speak.

“Hi,” he turned to her and waved awkwardly, “want some company?”

Her face lit up at his words but she didn’t like the fact that her heart started beating faster against her ribcage.

“Would love to.” She said with a rusty voice.

“Come with me.” Bill smiled at her gently and waved his hand for her to stand up.

He has to stop smiling at her like this, her head was losing it. Was this a bad idea? Where was he taking her? She probably shouldn’t be alone with him.

As if she didn’t hear the voice inside her head at all, she stood up and walked toward Bill. He gently took her hand and started walking down the path.

His touch took her breath away. What was he doing? Why were they holding hands and why couldn’t she take her eyes off their entwined fingers? She wasn’t sure how she felt about this sudden change in Bill’s behavior.

She shook her head. She was reading too much into this. He just wanted to make sure she followed him, that’s all.

They stopped by the edge of the orchard, where the tournament is going to take place in a few weeks.

“This is a better place to look at the stars,” Bill explained, looking at the sky.

He let go of her hand and Theodora’s heart leaped as he did. She had to try hard not to grab it again. It was soft and warm and the feeling it gave her was so nice.

Bill unfolded the blanket and placed it on the ground. He gestured to Theodora to sit down and she did.

She leaned on her hands behind her back and lifted her head to look at the sky.

“Wow.” The sight took her breath away.

There wasn’t a cloud in sight and she has never seen so many stars before. What a difference the complete darkness makes.

“I told you.” Bill chuckled and sat down next to her.

As he was positioning himself their fingers brushed together, making them look at each other. Bill quickly pulled his hand closer to his side of the blanket and was thankful it was so dark that Theodora couldn’t see his cheeks turning scarlet.

He doesn’t know how he mustered the courage to grab her hand before and he was sure she could tell how nervous he was, as his hands were shaking while they were walking. He was mad at himself because he couldn’t deny how good it felt holding her hand but he still couldn’t agree with Charlie and Ron that this was okay.

“Do you know any constellations, Theodora?” Bill asked her after a few minutes of them stargazing in silence.

“You know you can call me Theo, right?”

Bill turned his head to her, grateful that he moved a bit further away before, otherwise their noses would be touching right now. Despite sitting in complete darkness, he could still see her lips curving when she spoke due to the faint moonlight.

“I love your full name.” He blurted out, too busy gazing into her eyes to think straight.

His eyes widened when he realized that he shouldn’t have told her that. He knew he could call her Theo. Everybody in his family did and he knew she wouldn’t mind if he did the same. But he liked her full name. It suited her so well and he would be lying if he would say that he didn’t like how it sounded when he said her name out loud.

“Oh.” Theodora bit her lip, a bit taken aback by his words.

Nobody ever complimented her name before and everyone she knew always tried shortening it in any way. Theo. Dora. Odie. She never liked her name much. She always thought it was too long and wrong for her but now that Bill said – so genuinely – that he likes it, perhaps it wasn’t that bad.

“Thank you.” She managed to add.

The last thing she wanted was to make Bill uncomfortable and leave. She knew it would be better if he did as this was too romantic and she knew that she will only start crushing on him harder because of it but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to let go and just enjoy his company while it lasts.

“So what made you run away from Fred and George?” Bill tried desperately to find something to talk about.

“I just needed a break,” Theodora answered honestly. “We have been working on a product together for the past 3 hours and sometimes I want some alone time.”

“They can be a bit much sometimes, yes.” Bill chuckled.

“They are amazing friends. Sadly, they don’t show their good side to most people. They like to hide their true personality behind pranks and mischief.” Theodora defended her two best friends.

It was true, she wanted to get away so she could relax a bit after working and thinking hard without a break for such a long time. But she wouldn’t trade the twins for anyone in the world. They were the best friends she could ever ask for.

“How did you become friends?” Bill asked her.

“Well, we’re schoolmates, being in the same year but I was pretty much alone in our first year. I’m not big on making friends.” She giggled. “But then in our second year, George was trying to sabotage someone’s potion in Snape’s class by making it explode, but instead of throwing something into their potion, he threw it in mine. Snape gave me detention and didn’t want to hear any of the twins’ excuses.” Theodora laughed at the memory.

“So when I came out of detention that night, Fred and George waited for me in the common room and started apologizing, promising they will make it up to me.” She finished her story.

“And did they make it up to you?” Bill was curious.

“Yeah. They helped with my detention and brought me candy every day for 14 days before I asked them where are they getting it from and they showed me how to get to the kitchen. Their adventures intrigued me and before I knew it I didn’t have a choice whether I would like to go or not.” Theodora smiled.

“So you’re like them?” Bill tried not to be judgemental but he really couldn’t see how she could like pranks as much as they do.

“Nah. I’m more there for the fun. It’s nice to see them brainstorming and it’s nice to do something else than studying.”

“When you put it that way...” Bill rubbed his chin, thinking.

“As I said,” Theodora hugged her knees, looking up at the stars again, “they’re smart and can be serious, they just don’t show it to everyone.”

“They do seem pretty serious about that joke shop idea of theirs.” Bill thought out loud.

“Oh, they are. I can’t wait until we graduate and we open the shop.” Theodora clapped.

“We?” Bill looked at her puzzled.

“Oh, I thought they told you.” She smiled apologetically at him. “We’re opening the shop together.”

“No, they didn’t tell me.” Bill suddenly felt left out. “Charlie told me about it. I guess he’s easier to talk to about these things.”

He shrugged his shoulders, hoping it would come across as if it doesn’t bother him that the twins tell more to Charlie than him, even though he is the eldest. Perhaps he was too strict and they felt like he wouldn’t understand. But they were wrong — he does understand.

Mum would be against it, but when wasn’t she against something one of her children wanted to do? She wanted Bill to stay closer to home and Charlie to pick a less dangerous job. Maybe she was proud of Percy for working for the Ministry but he wasn’t home that often either.

He decided then and there that he has to loosen up a bit. He has to stop being such a parent, stop being so similar to mum and just enjoy life more. He couldn’t deny that their idea of a joke shop sounded brilliant. There weren’t many shops like that, come to think of it, there wasn’t any in Diagon Alley and not only kids love that stuff.

“What about being a Curse Breaker?” He wanted to know why she changed her mind, hoping that Fred and George didn’t drag her into it.

“I was excited about it, especially,” she took a deep breath, “especially when you told me so much about it all those years ago.”

She wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to tell him that but she was enjoying talking to him so much. She felt as if she could tell him anything and he would listen.

“I do have good marks at school, I am more than qualified for the job, I did great on my O.W.L.s but I fell in love with coming up with ideas to make joke products and then brainstorming about how we are going to create them and when they are fully tested and you can give them to a kid...” Theodora gently shook her head. “...the joy it brings them is pure happiness.”

Bill didn’t know what to say. He didn’t expect her to say that. He loved that she was opening his eyes to so many things – he always felt as if he was too narrow-minded and the way she explained it to him made so much sense.

“That is an amazing job to have.” Bill grinned. “So you want to do it for the joy of others?”

“Yes, I love kids.”

She said that so genuinely that Bill’s heart skipped a beat. He has never heard a 17-year-old say that before.

“You’re really mature for your age, do you know that.” The words escaped his mouth.

“So I have been told.” Theodora giggled but the smile quickly faded away from her face.

“Did I say something wrong?” Bill sat closer to her, not sure what changed her mood so quickly.

“No,” Theodora reassured him with a smile, “it’s just the reason for me being that way is rather bitter for me.”

“Want to talk about it?” Bill tilted his head, now sitting so close to her that their shoulders were touching.

He could see that something was bothering her and they have been having such a nice time he didn’t want anything ruining it for her. He wanted to hug her so badly but thought better of it.

“It’s my mum,” Theodora started, “Fred and George are the only ones who know what a monster she is.”

Bill’s eyes widened with her choice of words to describe her mother.

“She’s the reason my brother moved to America instead of taking an Auror job here, she’s the reason dad left because she didn’t support him. She wants me to be just like Eric and doesn’t let me breathe without criticizing me.” Theodora rolled her eyes. “That’s why I am so close to Fred and George, they make me feel so welcomed and that’s why I correspond with Charlie so much.” She smiled.

“I hope you know how lucky you are to have such a loving family, Bill.”

Bill just nodded. She was right. He couldn’t complain. Yes, it was crowded and they didn’t have a lot of money growing up but they were loved and they had each other.

He understood why she was so independent now, why she thought the way she did – she was on her own, she didn’t have a choice. She was a fighter.

Something ignited in Bill’s chest with those thoughts. He didn’t think she could grow on him more but she did and he couldn’t deny it anymore. He couldn’t tell himself anymore that he doesn’t fancy her, because he does – a lot.

For the first time, he forgot all about their age gap, forgot about how young she was, and started seeing the situation from the perspective of his brothers.

He didn’t even care who was right and who was wrong anymore as she continued to talk about her mother and with every story she told him about her, he felt a bigger urge to protect her, to defend her, to keep her away from that woman – and not just as a friend – wishing for nothing else that she could join him in Egypt.

But he could never do that to her. He would never ask something that big of her. His heart sank as he realized that it doesn’t matter if he would be okay with their age difference – they simply couldn’t work out.

Knowing that they will never happen and even if he lets his guard and morals down and would give in to his feelings they can’t be together. He was in Egypt and was going to stay there for the foreseeable future and she was going to run a successful shop with his brothers.

A smile painted Bill’s face and his chest felt lighter when he realized that they might not end up together but at least she will have Fred and George and if he can’t be there for her – stand by her side as her partner – he knew that the twins won’t disappoint him because he knew how much she meant to them.

They ended up laying on the blanket, observing the sky, almost until the morning. Theodora couldn’t believe how much they had to talk about. She felt so vulnerable when she told him about her mother but Bill was so understanding and his presence made the memories she relived so much easier to bear.

Bill talked about his job and told her all about the tomb he is currently working in. He told her stories of when the twins were little and made her laugh so much that she shed a couple of tears.

She has never seen Bill in such a way. He seemed so much more relaxed around her than with the others and she liked that a lot. He opened up and got more talkative and as much as she loved that he did as much she didn’t like the fact that her crush was turning into something more serious.

She has only been at the Burrow for a few days and her feelings for him started growing already. She didn’t want to know how she will be able to contain them and what will happen to her when the summer ends.

She took a deep breath, careful not to startle Bill as he just started to tell her how Charlie fell off a broom when he was 9, as she tried calming herself down.

She knew that they were just friends, Bill will never be able to see more in her than that. She came to terms with that and decided to relax and enjoy being his friend as he made her laugh once again, imitating Charlie’s screams when he barely scratched his knee when he fell off the broom.

#harry potter fanfiction #the weasleys #weasley family #hp imagine #the burrow #harry potter imagine #weasley fanfiction #bill weasley #harry potter #wizarding world #bill weasley fluff #bill weasley fanfiction #bill weasley x oc #bill weasley imagine #summer at the burrow #bill weasley romance #fred weasley #george weasley #charlie weasley

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purple-dahlias · 3 years

Text

Birthdays

🎈 six

She remembers that one, clearly, even now. The last one her father was there for.

At six Sarah is considerably a lot more perceptive than other children her age. She notices her mother’s pinched expression, the fraught looks that pass between her parents. The way her father walks about in a silent rage and her mother purses her lips, as though trying to stop herself from saying something.

That’s how she ends up sitting quietly, trying her best to pretend she isn’t there, a new copy of The Secret Garden open in her lap, legs carefully crossed at the ankles. She’s trying to lose herself in the words. She imagines herself taken away to somewhere strange, somewhere new, just like Mary was.

It seems to be working for her, that is, until she hears Aunt Louise from across the room.

“Poor soul,” she remarks lowly, but loud enough that Sarah hears, and knows she means her. Looking up, curls half obscuring her face, Sarah is just in time to see Aunt Louise lean across and whisper something to Uncle Henry. Something that she knows is about her parents, who, she is sure are both somewhere at opposite ends of the house being mad at each other. That was always the way now.

And then It’s a few weeks later and suddenly, well, not so, if you thought about it like Sarah did, her father is gone. Not coming back, according to her mother. And maybe, Sarah thinks, maybe if she had been better, he would have stayed and things could have changed.

🎈 thirteen

A birthday’s not about things. It’s not about presents or decorations or balloons. At least, that’s supposed to be the sentiment. But for Sarah’s mother, it’s a different story.

Sarah comes home to banners and giant helium balloons, a huge expense, but empty. She knows her mother had no personal hand in the matter. It had just been a call to her assistant and an exchange of money. Empty Gestures, like it always was with her mother.

A store bought cake, perfectly piped with lettering ‘happy thirteenth Sarah’. It is anything but. Maybe it’s selfish but she wishes for a homemade cake, one like she’d heard her classmates talk about. Complain about, even. What she would give for something like that, something that’s not just empty. That would take time and effort and care. Not just a phone call. Because these are all just things. Not the stuff that makes treasured memories.

There aren’t even people to share it all with. That would require friends. And middle school was lonely.

So it’s just Sarah, alone at home, her mother didn’t even have it in her to take the time off work for her only daughter. Instead she sits there, at the table in the spotless kitchen, reading and rereading the typed card left for her, hoping somewhere to discern something more from it. Some hidden feelings in the black and white. But there aren’t.

Maybe one day, she thinks, though it’s probably wishful thinking. She’s not six anymore, holding onto hope for change.

🎈 fifteen

High school is a little different, a little brighter. She’s changed schools, there are girls who it seems actually like her. Ones she can count as friends. And that’s how she finds herself in the cinema with Harriett and Grace and Marya the evening of her fifteenth birthday.

She’s sat on the end of the row, beside Grace, sharing her popcorn with her and a fizzy drink that’s just a little too sweet for her liking. But Sarah doesn’t care because Grace holds her hand practically throughout the whole of the film. Sarah doesn’t really think the film is that scary but she’s willing to pretend as Grace holds her hand tightly, leaning close to her in her seat so that Sarah can smell the floral scent of the perfume she’s started wearing, the one that smells of jasmine and bergamot, coincidently two of Sarah’s favourite scents, though she can’t quite remember if she ever told Grace that.

Grace laughs quietly at something on screen beside her, and Sarah thinks it’s a wonderful sound, like music. She loves knowing when she makes her laugh like that. Wouldn’t mind being able to do that more often.

But it’s all a little bittersweet, because Grace will be gone by September, by the time the new school term starts. She’s moving with her family to Seattle, so if something ever could have come of them, neither will ever know.

🎈 nineteen

Sarah feels freer now. She’s in college, out in the world, never mind that her world mainly consists of campus, her dorm, the little cafe down on Elm and the library.

People are still hard, and her circle of people is ridiculously small, but not for lack of trying. There isn’t much time for friends, anyhow she tells herself. Her goal here is to do well. She has to do well. She is, and that’s her consolation.

But it’s her birthday and she’s tired and her heart is heavy and she just wants to not feel so alone. So it’s probably a poor decision but it’s summer and she’s alone in her dorm, most other people having left for the holidays; she just can’t stomach going back, and in any case doesn’t think her mum would even miss her presence. There are no calls or messages from the few friends she’d had in high school. Nothing. Which hurts, because she always remembers their birthdays. But maybe they didn’t feel the same way. They’d moved on, probably; she should too.

It’s just her in her dorm, alone that Monday night.

It’s impulsive, and she’ll regret it later, she knows, but the bottle is right there in her cupboard and even if it’s for a little bit, she just wants to forget, to not think, to lose focus. Even if it’s only temporary.

The one and only time she allows herself to do this, truly let go of herself like this. And it’s not one of those wild stories to be told later and made light of, it’s not a party or surrounded by friends. It’s just her, alone with the bottle, trying to rid herself of her thoughts.

🎈 twenty-six

Sarah is exhausted. Her rotation in the ED is taking its toll on her. The shifts, the long days and nights. But this is everything she had been working towards. What practically everything she had done since she was sixteen had been for.

So that evening, all she wants to do is to go home, order some takeout from the ramen place she likes and maybe watch a movie. Just something quiet with herself.

She’s just home and showered, hair still damp and hanging loose when her phone rings. Unusual. Hardly anyone ever called her. What’s even more unusual is that it’s Natalie from Med calling her, and Sarah wonders what on earth she could want at this time of the evening, especially when neither of them have a night shift that day.

She picks up, to hear Natalie asking if she could come round and watch Owen because she needed to run out to the grocery store and there was no one else to.

Sarah sighs inwardly. So much for her quiet night. But she goes. It’s not like she had any real plans tonight. If anything, watching Owen might be a help. She knows sitting in front of the TV, especially tonight, would lead her mind to wander. To places and thoughts she didn’t want it to go. It was probably for the best. So she pulls on jeans and a sweater and goes.

Natalie answers the door, pulling Sarah inside. “Thank you so much for coming, honestly I don’t know what else I would have done,” she gushes.

“Don’t mention it—“ Sarah begins, but the words die on her lips as Natalie leads her into the kitchen.

April is there, holding Owen, and Maggie is beside her with Noah and Ethan and Connor and Will and a few of the others.

“Happy Birthday!” They all call out in unison, smiles on their faces and Owen waving his small fists, not quite understanding, but knowing something good is happening.

Sarah is completely taken aback. She hadn’t been expecting anything, let alone this. She didn’t even think they all knew when her birthday was.

“You didn’t think we were gonna leave you all on your one, did you?” Maggie asks, pulling her into a tight embrace.

This, Sarah thinks, is what a family must feel like.

🎈 twenty-seven

So much has changed. For one thing, Sarah’s a psych resident now. Something she never thought she would be, but she’s enjoying it. For another, and this is the biggest one, there’s Ava. And that is amazing and terrifying in equal parts all at the same time.

Ava wouldn’t tell her where they were going. Only that it required Sarah to dress up. It turned out to be a fancy Italian restaurant, one that apparently Ava had had her eyes on for months for this very occasion. Sarah had never really been one for grand gestures, considering her mother’s track record with them; they’d always felt empty. But with Ava, it is completely, entirely different. The way Ava is excited about it probably more than Sarah, because she loves surprising her, seeing her happy. And that, for Sarah, makes the day. Because it is so genuine and heartfelt.

Sarah can’t think of a time where she’s felt lighter than she does now.

But that’s not even everything. They get home, and Ava leads Sarah to the couch, telling her to sit, and disappears off into the kitchen. She’s only gone for a short time, and when she returns, she’s bearing a decadent chocolate cake on a platter, iced with ‘happy birthday Sarah,’ in Ava’s familiar, looping script, candles flickering in the dim light. Ava made this. For her.

It’s perfect, and she tells her so as Ava sets the platter down on the coffee table in front of her.

“Blow out the candles,” Ava says softly, and Sarah does, as her girlfriend snaps a photo of her, smiles etched on both their faces.

“Thank you,” Sarah tells her quietly as Ava comes to sit beside her, placing a kiss to her lips.

“Happy birthday, my love,” whispers Ava when they break apart. And it is. Completely.

#sarah reese #my writing #reesker #chicago med #the title is really not creative i know #i wrote this at like 11 last night because i was being sad and its completely unedited but posting it anyway

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aggresivelyfriendly · 3 years

Text

‘Tis the Damn Season- Chapter 7 Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Author’s Note- anybody still with me? If not, totally understand. This one is self edited- sorry I’m advance. Reblogs are still and always love!

“Are you sure I can't convince you to come home this Christmas?" Her mother's voice had just a tinge of loneliness, but Emma was set and certain.

"I think I would really like to have a Scandi Christmas this year mum! And I think the best present you could give me is to come and do it with me!"

They'd had this conversation eleventy million times. Emma knew her mum was doing so much better, and that her being in Holmes Chapel, even alone, would be ok, she'd be ok. Emma just knew they'd have so much fun in her newly reclaimed life abroad fusing old traditions with the ones they would make. Her mum was just resistant, she loved her home, was a certified home body, and now that it didn't hurt quite so bad, she loved the reminders of all the Christmases before. She was bathing in nostalgia with a smile on her face and a sweet ache inside.

Emma didn't feel the same. She'd had a fair few wonderful holidays in Holmes Chapel, but to many revolved around Harry Styles, and well, Emma's life did not revolve around Harry. Had never and didn't even have the axis centered around December 26 for a once a year moment any more.

She'd just really gotten back into her own life. Well, Emma patted herself on the back, she'd been living her way for 8 months now, that was almost as long as the 9 months she'd stayed in Holmes Chapel.

When her mother had assured her she was well enough that Emma could go to Iceland, the thought of ice capped fjords in summer thrilled her as though she was climbing them, not just studying them.

So she did.

She felt so much better, and her mother was better and she'd climbed to the top of her trail back to her own life, the one she'd made out of choice and ambition and only been sorry for in brief, lonely morning afters.

Emma wanted to share her life with her mother more than anything, certainly more than she wanted to spend a holiday in a place she now almost entirely associated with hurt. Heartache takes many forms, deep and abiding grief, the kind like she imagines phantom limbs give amputees years on. It also can hurt like a quick sharp mishap, a slip of the knife, full of crimson pain and stitches.

She'd had both together and then his deep cut on top of the other last Christmas. The wound was too fresh to go back at the moment. The good memories were still colored crimson. She needed to wait until her lover's memory flashed with true colors instead of red or blue. Her father's memory was cozier and longer, it was wrapped around the warm pink of her mother, but even it was still too tender.

She needed time.

Emma also had no idea where Harry was these days. She'd cut off all methods of inquiry. She wasn't staying up late googling even, ever, not anything. Not his naked or Camille's. They'd be going on well into their second trip round the sun by now. Probably more deeply in love than he openly confessed to her. Emma didn't need evidence of it. It just opened the stitches she'd sewn herself.

So, no Holmes Chapel, no Google alerts or text messages. She'd blocked his number.

"Well, I suppose if you insist, we can try Amsterdam for Christmas." Her mother covered the sigh at the end of that sentence and Emma appreciated it. She suppressed a wry smile. Her mother could also still hear it in her reply she was sure.

"Oh mum! You won't regret it. It will be so lovely! I can't wait. I'll meet you at the airport, then we will go to my favorite cafe and take a snow walk. It will be picturesque. You'll fall in love, you'll see."

"Alright, darling. I'll give it a chance. I just hate to miss Anne's party two years in a row." Emma cringed and was happy this was not a video chat. She almost gasped and blew her cover when her mum said. "Won't you miss Anne's party? You're close with Gemma, and" she breathed while her mother hesitated, "and Harry?"

God, did everyone know?

"It'll be fine mum. I'll call Gemma. She'll understand."

She would, after they'd had that conversation the last time they'd spoken.

Gem had not really cornered her so much as insisted they get out of the house as often as possible from the day after Boxing Day until she'd left to head back to London.

She, the lovely friend that she was, didn't actually bring it up until she was back for Mother's Day. And she waited until Emma told her she was headed back to her program in the fall with a twinkle in her eyes even Emma knew had been long gone for too long.

Ever the blunt one, Gemma didn't even cozy up to the subject, "so did you break his heart or did he break yours?" She took a big sip of her cider and leveled her state over the rim at Emma.

Emma could feel her face blanching or heating or giving some indication who's heart was broken. Her elegant side step to that mine field was, "huh?" Then a moment later. "Who are you talking about?" To Gemma's patient silence.

"Alright, if that's how you want to be." Gemma playfully rolled her eyes. "You and my brother are not stealth, at all. You would make eyes at each other all night at my mum's and then disappear for the same amount of time. Remember I live with him."

"Do not." Emma didn't bother to deny it.

"I suppose not really, but as much as any one "lives"with him, I do over Christmas, and did for most of my life. I know when he's smitten with someone, and when he's got them around his little finger too." Gemma snorted and ate a chip. "His stupid walk even changes, all of a sudden he swaggers and walks hip first. It's gross!" Her face screwed up.

Emma tried to remember if she had ever seen this hip walk. She supposed she had when he'd walk towards her at the Boar's Head. Or occasionally when he'd corner her by the mistletoe.

"It's not gross." Slipped out.

"That right there," Gemma pointed. "Is gross. Your face all soft and flushed for my little brother. Bleach!" She sighed mixed with a bit of good humor. "But I suppose that means he broke your heart. I can't believe he just turned up with another lady. Did you at least know? I feel like I always know way to much about my brother's sex life."

"Huh?" Emma laughed.

"I just feel like I know way too much about his sex life, due to blind items and pap shots. Thought you might feel the same."

"It's not so simple as that, really. I knew because of that, about his girlfriend." Still couldn't say her name. "But I think he felt like I'd broken his heart, if I'm honest. And That's why he turned up with her. To hurt me back, in case I hadn't seen."

"Did you."

"Certainly not on purpose. My heart and head and life were in shambles, still are, and he made an assumption, and never let me explain."

"Why don't you explain to me."

So she did, haltingly, Emma talked about it all, tears on her cheeks about her dad and then her mum, and even Harry. The sad footnote of loss in a story of grief.

"Why didn't you just tell him?" Gemma asked the question Emma asked herself a lot.

"I guess, I couldn't say it and I couldn't text it. And it confirmed to me that he really only knew me so little, that he could think I'd take advantage of him."

"Did you ever think that was more to do with how other people have treated him than you? he's had to learn to expect the worst of people he wants to trust?"

"Don't make me feel bad for him. Remember? He broke my heart and found someone new. Had the audacity to move on before me!" Emma tried to joke.

"I think, I think you guys got into a mess and never bothered to clean it up until it was so unkempt you couldn't find the good parts." Gemma said after a quiet, mirthless moment.

"Oh no!" Emma tapped her head. "I kept all the good parts."

"Firstly, blech, I wish I could bleach that smile from my head, but 2nd-Is that enough?" Gemma asked.

"It'll have to be, I suppose." She swallowed the moisture in her eyes, "he told me he loves her. Straight to my broken face. Then piled on how he never got the time to love me."

Gem looked curious, then cautious, "I think he does. But it's cuz he wants to. Wants that desperately, to be in love. It may be some leftovers from you."

"Yeah?" Her eyes really pooled then and she bat her cheek to stop more from swarming. "Well I'll have to take that as cold comfort then, that she gets the seed of love he wanted to grow with me."

"I'm sorry. Sure he is too." Gemma sighed. "I'm so sorry for all of it."

"Yeah, yeah." Emma leaned on her friend, her only real one right then. "Me too."

And they left it at that. Emma's eyes were swimming and Gemma blinked a few times too rapidly. They hoisted their glasses. "To almosts!" Emma said.

"To dad's!" Gemma said. Then they both did cry. Talked about Robin's diagnoses. Then it was Emma's turn to be the shoulder, to bolster.

Life went on, the way it always seems to do. Emma and her mom laughed more and then her mum even laughed on her own. By that summer, they both stood on their own two feet, without leaning on each other, except when they wanted to.

By June, there was no reason to stay.

"So, are your roommates excited to have you back?"

Her mum was making tea and packing her sandwiches.

"Mum, I actually had to find mew roommates. The others had to fill the room I was in." She could see the down turn of her mum's lips from the side. Guilt was heavy. "It's not a big deal. The people I'm rooming with are other grad students, I know them. And it's works for the budget. Mum, you know I'm not riding the bus to camp right? I don't need a sandwich. There will be food at the airport and on the plane?"

"Won't be home cooked." Was all she said.

This wasn't for her then. It was some sort of amends, or a thank you. Like the tea she had taken to bringing to her to her room when she woke up, and before bed.

"That's true." Emma kissed her cheek, "I'm gonna go finish packing." She ate the sandwich on the plane later.

Counting bags, she frowned. She'd acquired a lot. She sincerely hoped the bag wasn't as heavy as her heart.

Emma was going to miss Holmes Chapel.

She did, surprisingly as much as she missed school the first 6 months she was home. Maybe, those feelings were tangled up in other events, the other missing pieces of her former puzzle.

I'm any case, she found herself better at keeping in touch

"So, any cute boys in Amsterdam?" Gemma chuckled over the phone one mid December afternoon.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Was Emma's laughing response.

"I do, I really do." And Gemma, the blunt tongued, fierce hearted girl sounded suspiciously like a woman in love. Then she pretended to complain, because she was Gemma, about how They were both a little spoon, pretending to be annoyed about it.

"I'm really happy for you." Emma interrupted, meant it, even though she still didn't know if there were any cute boys in Amsterdam because she was still hung up on the cute boy who spent Christmas in Holmes Chapel.

Gemma must have picked up the stain of blue in her voice, "Hey, Emma, I think maybe I should tell you something-"

The buzz from her hallway door went then, and Gemma didn't get to finish.

"Hey Gem, my flat mate lost her key. I'll have to ring you back. Tell me then?"

And then it was Christmas, well Christmas Eve and she was at Schipol with a giant sign that said, "Katherine the great( est mum)!"

"Oh, bless you! Could you have made a bigger sign?"

"I'm sure I could have tried. Maybe found some glitter. Think a flat mate has the body sort somewhere." Her mum narrowed her eyes and pinched her cheek.

"Well, if you've finished embarrassing me, show me this dreadful country that's not England and all it has in terms of festive cheer."

"Let's go get some nuts then!" Emma laughed.

"I beg your pardon?" Her mum put on the prude and Emma laughed at her over the top expression as they made their way to the train to the city center.

Her famous Danish bakery was the first stop. "I thought we would have a taste test. We can rate them."

"Do you already have a favorite?" Her mum asked.

"Yeah." Emma thought about the trifle Harry's mum made and that he'd sneak to the boar's head to feed her in bed. It had only taken him watching her eat it once for him to recognize her glee. It was his favorite too. "But, I want to know what yours is!" Emma brought her memory and watering mouth to the present moment.

They ate their way through Christmas Eve And decorated her Kerstbomen. "Sorry the tree is already up. They were starting to disappear for purchase, but reappear in everyone else's windows! I had to grab one."

"Oh, no dear, it's alright. And actually, I brought a gift from Anne. I saw her the other day and had been complaining about you making me come all the way over here-"

"It's an hour flight!"

"Well, I suppose it will do, but it's not home."

Thank god.

"Anywho, she came by the day after and brought a present for your tree." Her smile was so expectant, Emma was expecting the worst. "It's so important to have good friends." Her smile was cryptic. What friends- Anne to her mum or Gemma to her? Who was the present actually from.

The box was festive. And wrapped beautifully just like Anne's house was always decorated so well. Emma set it aside, "I'll open it tomorrow mum, On christmas, at the proper time."

"Oh no! You must open it now. Gemma told her mom it was for your tree." Ah, mystery solved. Gemma was great at wrapping. When Emma opened it, her heart stopped a full beat.

At first she thought it was the frog, the one she'd gotten for him. That he was giving it back to her like a seal on their relationship that never was. But when she picked it up, she realized it was a proper ornament, not just ornamental. It was a frog, holding a heart.

What Did that mean, whose heart was it?

His for her? Or hers back where he decided it belonged.

"Where will you put it?" Her mother interrupted her train of thought.

"Um, dunno," she moved around the tree to an inconspicuous place. "I guess here." She shrugged.

"Oh no, dear. It's by far the cutest one we have." Her hand scanned over the other ornaments, a hodge podge of beloved ones and ones from Christmas markets. "It goes here." Her Mum stood and took the ornament from its hidden place, placed it front and center. "Let's get the rest up and take a picture."

She'd gotten her mother an aura frame for Mother's Day and she was now obsessed with adding to the Revolving cue of photos.

"Course, ok." Emma ripped her eyes from the frog, but they kept drifting back to it.

It was an hour of a little too much wine and her mother's cheer. It lightened her spirit and got her mind off it's wandery at Harry's intentions, until after silly smiley photos and teary eyed huggy ones, her mum said, "now let's take one for Anne and Gemma. Show them how nice it looks.

Emma thought she'd done a good job at the photo, at arranging her face the way it was supposed to look.

She must have been wrong.

Later, a number she knew by heart but had no current contact for came through. "Your smiles fake. Do you not like it at all?"

She didn't answer it on Boxing Day, or the day after, it wasn't until New Year's Day that she realized she'd blown her resolutions to Smithereens before they could even uphold their name.

All she'd texted back to his cold question was, "how come you're the only person who can always tell."

She may have never noticed she'd done it, with the way her group chats were going off, except he replied before her hangover even subsided.

#harry styles #Harry styles fanfiction #Harry styles fanfic #tis the damn season #song fic #ttds #chapter 7 #christmas (baby please come home)

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outofsstyles · 4 years

Text

WHEN IN ROME - part 1

a/n: Ciao ragazzi!! So this is the part 1 of my friends to lovers featuring italy!Harry. Also a special thanks to my dear friend Giorgia for helping me with this, love her very much!! Hope everyone enjoys it!! Pease feel more than welcome to leave feedback (or just chat if you’d like) :)

Word count: 7k Rated: M,mature

You visit your best friend in Rome and some old feeling may start to resurface.

You struggle with your luggage after one of the wheels got caught on a loose tile, making it jerk across the airport floor.

The other passengers from your flight stroll along the illuminated hallway, towards the arrival gate exit. Looking around, you notice their tired faces; half-open eyelids and pouted lips, often opening in small yawns. You probably didn’t look much different, considering flying always tends to make you sleepy, which is why you preferred the night ones.

This one, in particular, was supposed to have landed around sunset, giving you enough time to enjoy your Harry’s company before settling in the hotel room. What no one was expecting, however, was to hear a muffled voice announce through the speakers that your flight was expected to be delayed for about 3 hours. The news was annoying, sure, but you knew there was not much to be done about it. So you simply snuggled further on the uncomfortable metal seat as you rolled your eyes at some angry man who was trying to argue with the poor attendant.

The warm Italian weather was a refreshing change of settings when you finally got to step out of the aircraft, making you take off your cardigan and tie it firmly around your waist. It sent a sparkle of energy down your spine, knowing you arrived after what felt like such a dragged-out flight. But despite your tired state, you feel a warm feeling settling itself in your tummy. One that makes you fight back a smile and jump on your heels in excitement as you walk maybe a bit faster than you should.

Going through the exit doors, it almost feels as if your heart wants to escape from your ribcage. The nervous anticipation filling every inch of your mind.

You walk past the group of people gathered around the gate, politely declining the ones who approached you offering taxi rides in a strong accent. Peering around the busy area, it doesn’t take long until you spot the curly mop you were looking for, as he calls out your name.

You don’t hold back the smile that breaks into your face as you watch him approach you with open arms, his dimples marking his cheeks. Not giving a second thought, you let go of the handle of your suitcase, rushing to his direction. You find your place between his arms as he pulled you into a tight hug, arching his back a bit to make your feet leave the ground just barely.

The scent of his cologne makes your eyes water just slightly, not realizing how much you had missed his presence until that moment. You nuzzle your face deeper into his neck, his arms tightening around you once more.

“Missed you so much, love,” he blurts, his voice muffled as his face squishes into your shoulder blades.

Placing a quick kiss to the side of your face he pulls away, allowing you to take in his appearance up close for the first time in months. His hair was still short, but longer than it was the last time you’d seen him in person, some locks falling charmingly along with his face.

You place your hands on his smooth face, rubbing it lightly, “you shaved!” You exclaim, referencing the last picture he had sent you, which showed a scruff growing along his upper lip and jawline. At the time, you were quick to text him to playfully let him know you were not the biggest fan of it.

He rolls his eyes at you, shaking his head slightly as he pushes your hands away from his face. “‘m very happy to see you too, knobhead,” he mumbles, moving to retrieve your forgotten bag lying on the floor behind you.

“I’m just teasing, silly,” you pinch his chin jokingly as he comes back by your side, guiding you through the airport, “You know I support all your decisions, even the bad ones.”

“Okay, I get it, it’s a no for the beard,” he chuckles, “mum hated it too.”

“I’ve always trusted Anne’s good taste,” you provoke, making him poke you playfully before reaching to put his arm over your shoulder, pulling you into a side hug as you two walk.

“‘S too bad your flight got delayed,” he says, “was planning on grabbing a bite and show you around fo’ a bit.”

Your heart grows a bit at his words, you reach your arm around his waist as to hug him back. “Yeah, it’s too bad,” you gaze up at him, meeting his eyes for a moment before he looked up again, “sorry for making you wait so long.”

“Stop that, don’t have to apologize,” he assures, “‘s not your fault.” He squeezes you against him gently, “‘sides we have the entire week to make it up fo’ it.”

When Harry broke in the news that he would be moving to Rome to pursue a photography degree you obviously felt heartbroken. You two were inseparable at the time and knowing you wouldn’t be able to see him every day anymore made your heartache. It couldn’t have come at a worse time either, you had just broken up with your boyfriend, and suddenly it felt like you were losing everyone you loved the most at the same time.

But still you swallowed back your selfish feelings to show him your support, promising to visit as soon as possible.

In your ideal world, you would drop everything and pack your bags with him to start a fresh life somewhere else. But realistically speaking, you had too much tying you up to your home, and not nearly enough money to pay for tickets to Italy every weekend so you could visit your best friend as regularly as you wish.

So you hugged him goodbye with tearful eyes and shaky hands, watching him walk towards the departure gate as he waved back one last time.

That had been eight months ago.

You never expected to take this long to finally be able to see him again, but life sometimes just doesn’t line up the way you want it to. Harry never let you lose contact, though, and for that, you were eternally grateful. He always made sure to call you at least once a week to catch up on each other’s lives.

It was the highlight of your weeks if you were honest. Getting the comfort of seeing his face even if it was just to talk about trivial things like his recipe of vegan brownies or a new boutique shop that opened on the corner of your street.

But now you don’t have a screen separating the two of you anymore. You can see his smile without it being a pixelated image. You can hear his voice clear next to you. You can hug him back and feel his arms squeezing your waist. You can smell the faint lavender scent on his shirt, mixing with his cologne.

You definitely missed him much more than you’d realized.

The sound of your alarm clock rang softly through the compact hotel room. You sigh contentedly, reaching to turn it off before rolling on your back and blinking your eyes open with little internal fight.

It wasn’t often you could feel this well-rested, especially after sleeping on a strange bed. But thinking about how tired you were the previous night, it didn’t take long for you to fall into a deep slumber as soon as you finally got to lie down.

The sunlight invaded your small room through the cracks of the nearly closed curtains, making you realize you might’ve been too sleepy to bother on closing them all the way the previous night. Usually, in regular days, you’d lay back in bed and steal a few more minutes of sleep, which would eventually lead to maybe another hour or two of snoozing your alarm clock. But this wasn’t just a regular day, you were in Italy, and Harry would probably be waiting for you down in the lobby in just a few minutes.

He had revealed none of the plans he made for the day, wanting to keep most of the trip a surprise for you. This habit of his of trying to keep a mysterious front usually makes you tease him with a roll of your eyes, but on this occasion you accepted it. You didn’t really care about what activities you’d do on your stay, as long as you can do it with him.

You check your bag to make sure you hadn’t forgotten anything as you wait for the elevator to go down. Running your hands over your summer dress as the doors opened.

Walking into the lobby, you expected Harry to be late, considering he would always be the last one to arrive on any kind of social gathering you’d go before he moved. But to your surprise, you find him leaning against the reception counter, speaking excitedly to the sweet old lady that had welcomed you when you checked in.

As you get closer to them, you can identify that they’re speaking Italian, making you smile softly at how easily the words flew through Harry’s lips as he speaks.

The lady notices you first, smiling at you as you approach the counter, making Harry check over his shoulder to find you standing behind him. His smile grows, his eyes traveling down your body so subtly it almost felt like your mind was making it up. He greets you with a small hug, looking back at the woman behind the counter one last time and saying something you don’t understand.

“She looks beautiful!” she speaks, her word flowing with a strong accent, “bellissima!”

You feel a blush creeping to your cheeks as you thank her, wishing her a nice day before Harry and you make your way to leave through the front door. The hotel you’re staying in isn’t the fanciest, but it makes up with the cozy feel and charm you could only find in a small, old building. You chose it specifically for being located just a block away from Harry’s apartment, allowing you two to be closer to him.

“She seems nice,” you say once you turn into the street.

“She’s lovely,” he agrees, shooting you a quick look with a smirk on his face, “was telling me about her husband.”

“Oh,” you say, “What did she tell you?”

“Told me about how they met and all that, they’ve been married fo’ forty years!”

“You love those stories, don’t you?” You chuckle.

He rolls his eyes, “they’re sweet, okay?” he argues. “Not my fault you have a cold heart.”

You gasp, poking him playfully. “I don’t!” you exclaim, earning a knowingly look from him.

You walk a few more blocks along on the small sidewalk; the closeness making your hands brush slightly every so often. The day was nice, ideal for staying outside and enjoying the clear sky. A morning breeze messes up your hair a bit and the sounds of birds singing take over the empty street, along with Harry’s low hums to a tune you’re not familiar with.

He guides you to a small bakery, barely noticeable amongst the surrounding buildings. As you approach the entrance he explains how it’s one of his favorite places to go for what he says is “the best Italian breakfast in Rome!”

Walking inside you are met with the delicious smell of fresh-baked bread. The place is filled with quiet chatter as a few people sit on a long couch located by the back. An older man wearing an apron with various spots of flour on it greets Harry happily as you come in, pulling him into a small conversation you, once again, can’t really pick much of.

Soon, you two are sitting at a small table by one of the large windows that overlook the street you came from. You bite into the sandwich as a pair of green irises watches you carefully, trying to catch a glimpse of your reaction.

“So, what are we doing today?” You ask as you pick a few crumbles of bread left on your plate.

“You’re very impatient, haven’t changed a bit,” Harry replies, taking one last sip of his coffee.

You roll your eyes at him, “you say that as if we haven’t talked in eight months.”

He chuckles lightly as he leans back on his chair, his arms reaching over his head in a stretch. You try not to notice how his shirt rides up just barely, but enough for your eyes to wander a bit lower than you should’ve. When you meet his gaze again, he has a smirk adorning his face, knowing he just caught you not-so-subtly checking him out.

You clear your throat, praying the warmth you feel creeping on your cheeks isn’t noticeable as you try to think of how to cover up.

“Nice fit, by the way,” you motion towards his blue shirt with an imprint of Mickey Mouse on it, to which he matched with floral shorts.

This was the kind of clothing combination that would most definitely look silly on anyone else, but Harry was the kind of person who could pull off wearing a potato sack. He just looked good in anything, it was almost aggravating if it wasn’t also endearing in a way. But you’d never say that out loud.

“D’you like it?” He asks as he moved his hands to pull at the hem, looking down at it before meeting your eyes with a smug look on his face. “‘S my tourist outfit.”

“Is it now?” You chuckled, “does that mean we’re being tourists today?”

“I mean, you are a tourist, but yes,” he said, “we’re sightseeing, baby.”

Walking around the historical neighborhood in Rome was an overwhelming feeling in every sense of the word. You knew choosing to visit the city at the peak of summer would come with tourist-filled streets so it didn’t surprise you to be met with congested crowds as you got closer to the historical sites.

But as much as you were not the biggest fan of crowds, you couldn’t even feel bothered in the slightest by the masses of people surrounding you. The feeling of the city itself was ethereal, something that seemed right out of a movie screen. Timeless buildings stood tall above you, with the perfect combination of old-fashioned and modern.

Harry is having fun with his camera, teasing you at the amazed expressions you made at every corner you turned. But you couldn’t help but feel like that.

The day only helped to enhance the enchanting feeling of the place. With the sun shining proudly in the clear blue sky, but still catching a light breeze that relieved the heat that formed a light coat of sweat on your body, making you take big gulps out of your water bottle every so often.

Even the air around you feels different. Something you couldn’t really explain, it was lighter. Harry said it was Italy’s perfect mixture of great food and great people - to which you can’t deny - but you know having him with you is also a big factor.

“Harry, please, I’m scared I’ll bump into someone,” you say, moving your hands blindly in front of you.

“You won’t,” he replied, keeping his hand firmly above your eyes as he guides you.

“What if I run over a child?”

“I find your lack of trust incredibly hurtful,” he says from behind, pulling you closer to him. “We’re almost there.”

“Do we really have to do this?” You chuckle.

“Yes, now shush.”

You walk a bit more before he stops. His chest meets your back as he leans in, the ends of his hair tickling your ear slightly. You mindlessly hold your breath, grabbing his wrists anxiously as you wait for him to remove his hands.

“Ready?” He asks. His low voice causing goosebumps to form on the back of your neck.

You nod quickly into his hands, bouncing on your feet slightly as you wait for him to pull out his hands from your eyes.

It takes a second until your vision can get used to the sunlight after being in the dark, but as soon as you focus on the sight in front of you, it’s like all the air escapes from your lungs. The colosseum stands in all its glory, centered in the open area. A place you have only seen in pages of history books or through a screen. You bring your hand to cover your mouth mindlessly as you gasp at the gigantic monument.

“How does it feel?” Harry bites his lip, grinning as he gazes quickly at the construction before looking back at you. “Seeing it fo’ the first time?”

“It’s incredible,” you gasp, your eyes still wandering around the sight in front of you.

“It’s two thousand years old, you know,” he explains. “‘S why it kinda looks like a swiss cheese f’you look at it closely.”

“Oh my god,” you giggle, shaking your head at him. “Did you just compare one of humanity’s most historical monuments to cheese?”

Harry rolls his eyes playfully, “‘s a metaphor, darling, you wouldn’t get it.”

“Of course, I’m sorry for being so illiterate.” You joke, bumping your hip against his.

“‘S fine I’m used to it,” he provokes back. “So, are you just gonna stand there with your mouth open or are we going in?”

Your eyes widen at his question. “Wait.” you grab his arm as he looks at you with the most amused expression.”So we actually get to go inside?”

“Course we get to go inside, love.” He throws an arm above your shoulder, squeezing it gently. “What kind of tour guide d’you think I am?”

It warms your heart how much thought he clearly put into planning this trip for you. Not just planning it, but also making sure you’re enjoying all the aspects that Italy has to offer in your limited time here. Truthfully, the biggest reason that brought you here was him. Getting to visit one of the grandest cities in the world is just a bonus. A wonderful bonus. And you are glad to do it with him.

Okay, maybe you finally realize what people meant when they described Rome as “enchanting, yet congested” on the many traveling websites you had researched before packing your bags.

Harry warned you about it before you entered the small square - that isn’t even that small but the packed crowd makes it seem much enclosed. He keeps his hand holding securely onto your waist, pulling you close as you walk towards the fountain.

The fountain, yes, the whole reason you are here. Fontana di Trevi. One of Rome’s most prized monuments, and just taking one look at it you could see why. It’s gorgeous, not like any other fountain you’ve ever seen in your life.

That seems to be a repeating theme in this place, finding the beauty in the most minimal details, like the flowers blooming on a building’s wall, but also on the obvious ones, like the carefully crafted statues posing forever on top of the marble stones.

As you get closer, your eyes never leave the artwork standing in front of you. You’re thankful for Harry’s grip on your waist, otherwise, you’d probably trip down the steps as you make your way through the crowd.

You find a spot by the edge of the fountain surprisingly easily. Harry lets go of your waist to reach into his back pocket, retrieving a few coins and offering to you.

“Here.”

“Do I make a wish?” you asked, picking a couple from his palm.

“No, there’s this whole thing,” he began, “f’you throw one means you’ll return to Rome,” he held up a coin as he explained, “two, means you’ll get married, and three, s’to get a divorce.”

“Oh,” you chuckled, “that’s a nice way to break the news, I guess.”

You looked down at your palm, quickly picking up a cent and throwing it at the fountain, watching it descend slowly into the clear water.

“There.”

“Just one, love?” Harry asked, making you look up at him to meet his gaze.

“Don’t really have anyone to get married to, do I?” you joked, “What about you?”

“Already made my wish when I first got here,” he replied, “not gonna risk throwing more.”

“How many did you throw?”

He simply grins down at you, letting your question linger in the air for a moment. You can feel his hand making its way on your waist again, pulling you closer to him.

You’re received at the bar table with excited cheers from the small group already gathered there.

There’s an already annoying knot settling at the pit of your stomach. It’s something that has been bothering you throughout the day from the moment Harry mentioned you’d be meeting his friends for dinner. Even with his assurance that you’d be fine, telling you how excited they are to meet you, it still makes you a bit anxious. Of course you want to make a good impression, they are his friends after all. His new friends.

What helps with your nerves a bit, is the fact that it’s not a massive amount of people, in fact, you are a bit surprised to see there’s only four of them.

They all seem like they’ve just walked right out of a Vogue issue photoshoot, which makes you fidget with the fabric of your dress nervously. Harry keeps his hand placed on your lower back soothingly as he introduces you to everyone.

The two girls don’t even bat an eye in his direction, getting up to make their way directly to you. The first one pulls you into a tight hug immediately, the unexpected gesture causes you to take a second before hugging her back. She’s shorter than you, but she gives you a big smile as she introduces herself as Giorgia with an excited voice. Her look is very classy which stands out from the more laid-back outfits of the rest of the group.

You barely have time to separate from her before you’re being pulled into another hug.

“I’m Francesca!” She says before pulling back, her blonde hair a bit messy on top of her head. “It’s very nice to finally meet you!”

You laugh softly at the warm welcome, “It’s lovely to meet you too.”

“We were all so excited to meet you,” Giorgia says, as you sit on the chair across from her. “Harry talks about you all the time.”

You glance at Harry who’s pulling the chair next to yours, arching your eyebrows at him. “Oh, does he now?”

“Alright, alright.” He scratches the tip of his nose, letting out a light chuckle. “Knew she’d do that as soon as you got here.”

“It’s my personal job to tease you at any given opportunity, H.” She reaches for the wine bottle, pouring it into a glass and handing it to you.

You give her a slight smile. “Think we’ll get along then.” You chuckle, moving the wine glass to your lips.

“Wait!” Giorgia stops you, “there’s a saying here in Italy that if you drink without toasting, you have seven years of bad sex, so.”

“Oh,” you move the glass away from your mouth, raising it. “We don’t want that.”

“No, we don’t.” You hear Harry say from his spot next to you, moving his own glass to meet yours in a light click.

The night progresses bringing a warm feeling in all the pleasant ways.

A light chatter fills the table, mixing with the sound of the other loud conversations from other young groups surrounding you. You risk learning a bit of Italian from the girls, as they tell excitedly stories about Harry’s first months not knowing the language. It makes you feel silly for ever thinking they wouldn’t welcome you, seeing how they are treating you as if you are friends for years.

But what makes your heart swell is seeing Harry so comfortable and laid-back amongst them.

It may be the effect of the alcohol settling itself on your bloodstream, but as time passes, you find it harder to keep your eyes off of him.

The crinkle in his eyes as he throws his head back with laughter brings an inevitable smile to your face. His hand squeezing your knee reassuringly, every so often, makes your breath catch in your throat. His eyes never leaving yours as you ramble about something you don’t even pay much attention to.

He’s listening closely to the words coming out of your mouth, his own lips forming a soft grin. You can feel your words start to get confusing as you become much aware of the distance between the two of you. It was close enough so you can notice the cloudy look in his eyes, but till not as close as you wish.

Your mind seems to erase everything around you as you can see his eyes moving down, so quickly it almost seems like it’s part of your imagination.

“You two look so cute together.” You hear Francesca’s sudden voice from the other side of the table, reminding that you’re not alone. “You’d make such a cute couple”

It catches you off guard, making you glance over to Harry before shaking your head. “Oh, I mean, I- Well- We’re not- We’ve never-”

“Francie!” Giorgia - thankfully - interrupts your nervous stutter, poking her friend gently in the arm. “You don’t just say stuff like that.”

“What? But it’s true!” Francesca says defensively, “they must get this all the time.” She turns back to you.”Right?”

You quickly bring your glass to your lips, taking a long sip as you decide to let Harry deal with the situation. You feel grateful for the dim lighting of the place, knowing it will cover the undeniable blush that you can tell is already covering your cheeks.

“I mean, yeah, we used to,” he begins, wrapping an arm over your shoulder. “But that’s just cause we slept together.”

You choke on your wine at his words, making him laugh at your clear affected state. “Harry!” You exclaim, hitting his chest lightly before gazing at the amused expressions watching the two of you. “We just slept together, literally. As in just sleep. And that was years ago!”

“I feel like I should take offense at your horror,” he teases.

“Wait- No! I- I didn’t mean it like that-” you try to explain.

“I enjoyed sleeping with you. Thought it was special.” He throws his head back dramatically.

You shake your head at him. “You’re having way too much fun with this.”

He looks back at you with a smug look on his face, “maybe I’m just flattered.”

You look away from him, taking a sip of your wine as you hear laughter taking over the table.

“Told you, you are cute!” Francesca says once again.

The walk back to the hotel was filled with giggles and rushed whispers as to not disturb anyone, considering Harry’s warning about the loud acoustic of the narrow streets. Your minds were hazy and your chests warm as you stumbled along the way.

“Madame, you’re home.” He says, motioning dramatically towards the entrance door.

“Well, sir thank you for your company on this dark night,” you giggle, bowing slightly. “Seems like you’re a proper gentleman now, aren’t you?”

“Now?” he questions, an offended look taking over his face, making you giggle again. “Was I not before?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Of course you were!” you bring a hand over your mouth as an attempt to quiet your laughter.

“Well on that note, I’ll leave.” He turns on his heels.

You reach for his arms pulling him back to you. “No! Stop! I’m sorry, come back.”

He glances over his shoulder, allowing you to drag him towards you. His grin was visible on his face, dimples deep on his cheeks, as he wraps his arms around your waist, drawing you in. Your laugh stops on your throat when you gaze up to meet his eyes, realizing how close you were.

Even in the poor lighting, you can still see the green of his irises as he brings his hand up to cup your cheek. The alcohol dancing in your mind making it seem like you were watching it from the outside, as you hold your breath, too afraid to make any kind of movement.

Your heart was loud on your chest. You wish you could read his mind, know his next move. His eyes looked at you almost as if they wanted to tell you something, but your head was too blurry to understand it.

You swallow dryly, “thank you for today, H.” You break the silence. “Was really nice.”

“‘F course, love.” He whispers, caressing his thumb gently over your cheekbone. “Should get some rest,” he says, “got another early day tomorrow.”

“Sure,” you breathe. “Good night, Harry.”

He leans in, your breath catching on your throat as he places a soft kiss on your forehead before pulling away completely.

“Buonanotte.”

“Gelatto!” You hold up the two ice cream cups before handing one to Harry and moving down to sit next to him on the steps, carefully avoiding the handlebar of your bike laying on the ground.

“Look at you!” He giggles, “by the end of the week you’ll be a proper Italian.”

You chuckle, “I mean, it’s not like this word is not written all over the store or anything.” you lick the ice cream off your spoon. “But I do have the best tour guide in Rome, so that helps a lot.”

“Is that so?”

You hum with your spoon between your lips, nodding at him.

“Should get his number then, heard he’s a pretty cool bloke.” He smirks, “heard he’s quite handsome as well.”

You roll your eyes at him, “he’s got a big head too.”

He scoffs, nuzzling you as you giggle. “You’re a pest.”

“I am?” You raise your eyebrows.

“Yes, you are.” He shakes his head, playing with the spoon on his ice cream before scooping a bit.

You fall into a comfortable silence enjoying each other’s company with the soft sound of nature surrounding you.

The day was thankfully cooler than the ones before, allowing you to sit underneath the sun without feeling like your skin was boiling. The light breeze helped to chill your hot skin, caused by all the cycling you did to get to the island.

“Y’know,” Harry’s voice breaks into the silence. “I’m very happy that you’re here.”

You gaze up at him, smiling softly. “I’m very happy that I’m here too.”

“No, like really I-” he begins, meeting your eyes. “Thank you fo’ coming.”

“Of course I’d come, silly.” You say, “promised I would.”

“Yeah, I know but-” he looks down at his shoes, a frown forming between his eyebrows. “‘S just,” he sighs, almost in frustration, as if he doesn’t know how to say it. “Missed you.”

“I missed you too, H.” Your eyebrows knit together - you can tell there’s something on his mind. “Where’s this coming from?”

“‘S nothing,” he brushes off, still not meeting your eyes.

“Almost fooled me there,” you say, bumping your shoulder on his softly. “You can talk to me, you know?”

“I know.” He looks at you, “was just thinking back to right before I moved. When I told you about it.” He shakes his head, gazing up to the river in front of you. “Felt like the worst friend in the world.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighs, “‘s just-” he begins, his eyebrow still in a frown - as if he’s searching for the right word to say. “You just were in a bad place back then, felt so bad fo’ just leaving you like that.” He admits, glancing at you. “I’m sorry.”

You can feel your heart sink as the words come out of his mouth, knowing what he’s referencing to. Your breakup.

It’s something you don’t really enjoy thinking about but still seems to come back to your mind occasionally, as if to haunt you.

The entire relationship was a mess, to begin with, and it’s something you can only look back now and realize. From the start, you only accepted going out with him as a form of distraction from your genuine feelings - to which you assume now it’s incredibly unfair not only to him but to yourself. Truth to be told, you never loved him the way you were supposed to.

But as the months went by you learned to get used to it, telling yourself that maybe with time you would forget about who your heart yearned for. So you swallowed back that ache.

When it finally happened, it didn’t come as a surprise to you. You felt like it was inevitable that you wouldn’t last. What did surprise you were how harder the aftermath would be when you learned your biggest support was leaving.

So you look at Harry apologizing for it, not knowing how to express in words that the primary reason you were a mess back then, wasn’t because of the breakup at all.

“I’m sorry, shouldn’t have brought it up.” He apologizes after your lack of response.

“No, it’s fine.” You reassure, “just haven’t thought about it for a while.”

You can feel him watching you from the side of your vision.

“It killed me to see you with him.”

The sentence makes you freeze a bit. You’ve always known Harry wasn’t a big fan of ex. It wasn’t something explicit, considering he never spoke about his dislike of him. But you know Harry. You could tell from his dry words and uninterested eyes every time your boyfriend came up, that he disapproved. So hearing him admit it straightforwardly shocked you a bit, to say the least.

“I-” You begin, but stop, not knowing how to end the sentence.

“‘m sorry, shouldn't’ve said that.”

“No. Harry-” you pause for a moment, his eyes never leaving you as you think how to say it. “He was a dick.”

“Yeah.” He agrees. “He really was, love.” His gaze moves forward, breaking the eye contact. “You deserve much better than that.”

Like who? You want to ask. Even if you already know the answer. Well, you think you know the answer.

The words get caught in your throat, screaming so loud inside your mind you physically shake your head, trying to stop thinking them. It’s that unsaid confession. The one you’ve been meaning to say long before you even dated your ex..

There’s an awkward pause in the air. One you created without even realizing, because of your lack of response. Harry clears his throat, getting up before offering one hand to help you do the same which you take it.

“We should go,” he says, his eyes still not meeting yours. “Still got to return the bikes.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

You let out a content hum as the orangy taste hits your tongue, scrunching your nose slightly at the bitter aftertaste, due to the alcohol in it.

“You don’t like it? Harry chuckles at your expression, pulling his glass back to his side of the table.

“It’s good,” you say, “Just looks like orange soda.”

Harry wraps his lips around the straw, taking a sip. “Suppose it does.”

The sound of a small boat passing by the river next you call your attention, making you gaze at it as it moved lazily across the water. You take a moment to appreciate the view from your table, feeling grateful for finding one right by the edge of the sidewalk, allowing you to look at it without lots of people serving as obstacles.

A pinkish and golden tone paints the sky, as the sun goes down to give space for the nighttime. The sound of someone playing the piano took over as background noise. The lights are already turned on though, reflecting beautifully by the water. You can see the masses of people strolling on the other edge where the expo was set up.

You were there earlier in the day, going through the small businesses and gazing at the artworks exposed on the tents.

There was a particular rose necklace that caught your eye, making you run your finger through the delicate piece for a moment before deciding it was best to leave it be. To your surprise, a few minutes later, as you stopped to watch someone plays a ukulele version of Riptide, you feel a cold chain being wrapped around your neck.

You looked back to find Harry smiling at you, muttering a shy “Surprise,” as you reach to your neck, only to find the same necklace you had been eyeing before.

The recent thought brings a smile to your face, causing you to play with the pendant.

“D’you remember,” Harry’s voice breaks you from your thoughts. “When we went to that friend of yours birthday party.”

“Alice?”

“I think so,” he says. “That party was shit.”

You laugh, “God, it really was.” You shake your head slightly at the memory. “We left after, like, ten minutes.”

“We did, yeah,” he says fondly. “Went to that petrol station at midnight to get those awful chips you like and ate them at that empty parking lot.”

“The one with the broken sign.”

“The one with the broken sign,” he smiles. “‘S one of my favorite memories.”

“Really?” You incline.

“Really.” He says, “can still picture you laughing at my terrible attempt at making jokes.” He looks down, poking his finger at the tablecloth. “Almost kissed you that day.”

You blink at him. Feeling your heart skip a beat at his confession. His eyes moving up to meet yours with a gleam to them.

Maybe it was the ethereal feeling that had settled into your mind from the first moment you got here. The one that made it seem like you were in one of those cheesy romcoms Harry loves so much. One where you found yourself in a breathtaking place along with your best friend, where you two slowly would come to the realization that maybe you felt like being more than just friends.

You tried your best to keep those thoughts away. Locking them down in the back of your mind and trying to forget they even exist. But like an annoying ich you can’t quite seem to reach, they would come back to you, almost in a provoking way, to remind you you couldn’t get rid of old feelings. No matter how hard you tried.

It was in the small moments when those thoughts came back to life. When he holds onto your waist in a crowded space so you wouldn’t get lost. Or how he always found a way to compliment you.

Or even when he’s not even doing anything, but the string of lights above you just hit his face perfectly as he looks at you with the most affectionate eyes. His thumb finding your hand over the table, caressing it so gently that brought the most beautiful butterflies on your stomach.

Maybe the wine has gotten to your head but those unspoken words weigh so heavily on your tongue you can almost taste them.

But it was a little voice inside your head that makes you swallow them back. One that screams that this has become something too important to be thrown away in a failed attempt at a relationship. Whatever window that was of becoming more than friends had already been closed years ago.

And with one look at his glistening eyes, you take a sip of your wine, deciding that those past feelings should stay in the past.

~*~

{PART 2}

#harry styles #harry styles one shot #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfic #harry styles smut #harry styles fan fic #harry styles fan fiction #harry styles fic #harry styles writing #my writing

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nebulablakemurphy · 4 years

Text

Safe House

Fred Weasley x Muggleborn!Reader

Requested by the lovely @wand3ringr0s3 I hope you like it! 💕

Summary: Y/N goes into hiding with the Weasleys and misses the life you had before.

Request: Hello! I love your fics so much. I saw your thing about comfort fics and honestly I’m really not doing to great recently. If you don’t mind could I request a Fred Weasley x reader fic with mental/emotional comfort. This whole COVID situation has caused me a lot of stress lol. Also family and school ain’t helping. You can decide what the plot is :) Thank you so much <3

Words: 1k+

You can’t recall the hour, it must have been sometime in the early evening. Fred had insisted you two be the last on the dance floor at Bill and Fleur’s wedding. You remember the feeling, the crisp summer air. You remember where you were standing, who you were looking at, the champagne flute you were holding in your hands. The day that life as you knew it, skittered to a halt.

News that the ministry had fallen didn’t come as a total surprise. There’d been corruption within it for years. Mr. Weasley entrusted you with that information, once you were of age. They’d always treated you like family, even after a rather short lived break up between Fred and yourself.

Ron, Harry and Hermione disappeared, into thin air. Death eaters materializing, from all directions. Fred pushing you behind him, prepared for battle. Eventually abandoning the burrow.

You remember the dress, your favorite color; the dress that took his breath away. The material tattered and torn, when you finally reach the designated safe house.

Now, everyday is nearly the same. You wake up, in the bed you share with Fred. He’s either fast asleep, or some nights, you suspect he hasn’t slept at all. If you’re both feeling up to it, you’ll make love. Taking the small bit of comfort the other has to offer. You shower and ready for the day, then head down for breakfast, going through the motions.

The radio stays on, the only assurance that life exists, outside your tiny bubble. Mr. Weasley listens to the static, crackling, voices nonstop. Mrs. Weasley doesn’t like to hear it at all. That was the difference between them, the one who wants to know, and the one who can’t bear to.

Ginny leaves for Hogwarts in the fall, part of you envies her. The larger part is worried, it’s supposed to be safer there. You pray it is.

Your parents are muggles, they don’t understand, not really. You tell yourself it’s best that they don’t. Even when your extended family voices their concern because you ‘dropped out of school.’ In their minds, you’d run off to live with your boyfriend and work a dead end job.

Fred keeps your spirits up, keeps you grounded, centered and safe. Although he’s clearly struggling himself. His mind is beautiful; bursting with ideas, that have no where to go.

You want to help, but it’s impossible when you’re drowning in...this. Whatever this is.

“Good morning.” Fred greets you, snuggling against your back. His cool feet brush over the arch of your own.

“Good morning,” you yawn, lazily toying with the fingers that are draped over your waist.

“Planning on getting up anytime soon, lazy bones?” He hums.

“What’s the point?” You murmur, turning your face farther into the pillow.

“Hey now, don’t go talking like that!” Fred shifts his weight to his elbow. Trying to get a better look at you. “You’ll bruise my ego. Spending time with me is the point.”

“But I can spend time with you here.” You point out.

“The family driving you mental, after all?” He presses a kiss to your shoulder.

“It’s hard to explain.” You purse your lips. “My body is rested, my mind is tired, and it makes me feel like I’m going to come out of my skin.”

Fred nods, “here I thought it was just me.”

“Do you...feel it too?” You wonder, turning over to face him.

“Every bloody day!” His wide eyes find yours. “We’re locked up here, Gin and Ron are out there. Your family’s out there, Hermione, Harry, all of our friends. Diagon Alley‘s been taken over by death eaters, the ministry has it out for muggleborns; and Mum! I love the woman dearly, but all she does nowadays is feed us. I’m trying to keep my figure here.”

“Your figure is fine,” you manage a smile. “Mine on the other hand-“

“You’re beautiful, just as you are,” Fred quiets you. “Truth is, it’s you that’s keeping me going. Not knowing how long we’ll be here is the worst of it. Can’t even count down properly, there’s no end in sight.”

That was part of it, the uncertainty of when it would be safe to leave. The yearning for what was; what might never be. “I just want to wake up the morning before Bill and Fleur’s wedding. I want to have that feeling again. I want to have hope.”

He sighs, deeply, “you will have that feeling again. You’ll be surrounded by your family, all of our friends. The sun will shine so brightly, you’ll need to block it from your eyes. The wind rustles the tree branches, and all the birds fly low, chirping just for you.”

“They better not poo on me.” You crack a grin.

“It’s good luck, sweetheart.” Fred laughs. “I only wish you told me sooner.”

“Seems wrong to complain when people are dying.” You confess, twisting a lock of red hair around your finger.

“It’s never wrong to feel the way you feel. Suffering isn’t a contest,” Fred mutters.

“I couldn’t manage this without you.” You sigh, he always knows what to say.

“You give me too much credit. You can weather any storm, all on your own. You’re resilient and brilliant and strong. When you put your mind to it, anything you want is as good as yours.” His eyes shine brightly, full of renewed enthusiasm.

“I want you.” You still can’t imagine going it alone.

“You have me. So long as I live, it’s me and you.” He kisses the tip of your nose.

“That doesn’t sound half bad.” You grin.

“Half bad?” Fred gawks, rolling you onto your back. “Not half bad?” He repeats, ticking your sides.

“I’m sorry! It sounds good.” You amend, howling with laughter. “So good!”

“That’s what I thought you said.” Fred joins in, you’ve missed that sound.

You stop fighting, when his teasing turns to kisses. Letting Fred bring you to life, the way that only he can. Reminding you what it feels like to be filled with passion. The way things used to be...before. Perhaps he was the only bit of that life you get to keep; somehow that‘s alright. Things can still be good here, if you allow them to be.

Taglist: @bforbroadway @summer-writes @lupins-sweater @chaotic-fae-queen @a-mexican-waffle @obsessedwithrandomthings @siriusly-addicted-to-writing @firewhisky-kisses @haphazardhufflepuff @peachesandpinks @iliveiloveiwrite @the-hufflefluffwriter @masterofthedarkness @fific7 @poppin-potter

Twins Taglist: @susceptible-but-siriusexual

#comfortficfriday #harry potter #harry potter imagine #fred weasley request #fred weasley reader insert #fred weasley x y/n #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley fanfiction #fred weasley x you #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley #fred weasley fluff

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soukokuwu · 4 years

Text

➤ genre: angst, fluff

➤ pairing: chuuya x reader

➤ synopsis: breaking up with the love of your life is never easy.

➤ word count: 1.6k

➤ a/n: inspiration? “Lose” by NIKI. i just couldn’t get the song out of my head and decided to just vibe with this. ^.^

We only meet at the intersect

You were eighteen when Chuuya’s azure orbs caught your eye.

He was rough around the edges, always the fiery, hot-headed brute in any room, with the crimson hair to match. Exceptionally violent when his temper takes over, like asteroids slamming into a planet, and like a star exploding when he’s forced to use corruption.

Yet his fingers were able to dance across your skin as gentle as a soft summer breeze, and the hot temper gave way to subtle, fleeting signals of affection. The way his usually loud, boisterous voice cascaded into soft hushed tones when he spoke to you. Chuuya was a workaholic, all of his hours usually went into slaving away for the Port Mafia. But even that yielded to making time to find you, even if it was for no particular reason at all. Luckily he wasn’t one to nitpick about the details — because he never could for the life of him figure out what made you so entirely different from anyone else.

But you were.

You were nineteen when Chuuya took the leap of faith, showing you the gravity of his love.

He kept mum about his work, until he couldn’t anymore. Every instant he had to shy away from talking about what he did, every instant he denied you access into his real life, his mind — it felt like he was pushing you away, like he was allowing other people a chance to swoop in once you were pushed far enough.

And once you find out, your reaction was understandable. Horrified, confused and without any words uttered, you left him behind in the restaurant, alone with the doubts of whether he should have come clean at all. Was it worth losing what little of your friendship there was? Was it better to have made a clean breast of it and lose what was dear to him or would it have been smarter to keep you in the dark, keep you close?

But a ray of light came a month later in the form of liquid courage.

Chuuya wasn’t the one who came forth, no. He had considered himself burned from being honest, he thought you hated him. No, if anyone needed to do or say anything it would have to be you. He knew that nothing could make up for what he’s done or what he’s going to do as a Port Mafia executive. It was his family. And he would never give that up. A hard thing it was, for civilians to accept. The murders, the frauds, the sacrifices.

Which is why he didn’t know what possessed you to knock on his door at 2am in the morning, an open bottle of Romanee-Conti in one hand and his heart in the other.

You were twenty-one when you two started cohabitating.

It was a step in the right direction — you two barely met due to his busy schedule. You used to always have your phone on hand, desperate to know whether your boyfriend was safe after a long day’s work. To which he oftentimes forgot to account for; he was too tired. That, and he wasn’t used to being responsible for someone else’s feelings.

But this alleviated your insecurities, and it satisfied his wishes to spend more time with you.

The mornings were sunlight streaming through the cracks in satin curtains, cups of black coffee with occasional breakfasts of toast and eggs and fleeting kisses goodbye. The afternoons were distances, unavoidable work calls, meetings and ‘I miss you’ texts. The nights were hugs welcoming each other home, spills of crimson locks over his bare shoulders, bodies melding into one and ‘I love you’s by midnight.

Closets were full, black coats and grey waistcoats sharing vacancies with flowery dresses and black poly skirts. The pantry was more filled than ever before, now that Chuuya had someone living with him to eat with, to enjoy with. Bathrooms now had two sets of everything, toothbrushes, towels, cups. Walls were now occupied, the dull white paint masked by colourful memories framed in gold and black.

The collection grew and grew.

You were twenty two when you spotted the embers fading.

When sunlight cracked through the curtains and there was nobody in bed next to you. Either one of you always woke up earlier than the other. Time was not made during the busy of the afternoon, with either of you choosing to take a siesta during unoccupied minutes. The eventides of passion turned into nights of sex. You found yourself wishing he’d touch you like he did in the beginning. And he found himself wishing he was as into it as he used to be.

And one night, in the dead silence, as you two stared up at the ceiling in bed — it was the first time in a long time that you two shared the same thought.

Chuuya remembered when you taught him how to love, how you filled the void in his heart, helped him get over his insecurities, healed the numbness he felt about his humanity. The subtle efforts he had put forth because he deemed you worth it — and he still did. But that didn’t change facts: this wasn’t working out anymore.

He broke your heart each time he had to go away on long missions. He broke your heart each time he came back with bruises and a hardened expression. He broke your heart each time he had to keep a secret from you in the name of work. He broke your heart whenever you had to mask your true feelings to take care of his. And he hated hurting you.

You remembered when Chuuya taught you the importance of accepting someone for who they are, how he always tried his best to put you before himself in each decision he made, how he put aside his temper and his ego in every argument you had, how the two of you would always work them out. The two of you were made for each other, but it was painfully obvious: the end was awfully near.

You broke his heart each time he saw through the fake smiles. You broke his heart each time you didn’t bear to check in on him because you didn’t want to hear tomorrow’s headlines early. You broke his heart by giving him everything he wanted, but never could convince himself he deserved. And you hated disappointing him.

Neither of you wanted to do this. But it was a ticking time bomb. Both of you had been dragging this on for far too long — to decide to escape from this only to find yourselves running back to familiarity. It was a too-small house. Either one of you left, or you both stayed cramped in there until neither of you could take it anymore. Two options, but only one outcome.

This time, in the dead of the night, enveloped in the darkness, you took the first step.

“This isn’t working out.” A slight crack in your voice, but a very apparent ache in your heart.

“I know.” Quivering lips and the same gaping hole he had before he met you.

“I still love you.” Your confession.

“I will never stop loving you.” And his.

Chuuya is twenty-four when he finally lets himself consume an off day.

Life has been empty again since the day you moved out. He still remembers hugging you to sleep for the last time that night. And can still remember the overwhelming desire to pull you back in his arms as you walked out the door the next morning, to tell you that you didn’t have to go, that the both of you could work it out — but you both know he’d be lying. Some things you can never come back from. When something dies, they should remain that way. At least his memories of you remain sweet, and only because you left before things could take a turn for the worse.

This is a fire that he doesn’t see could possibly rekindle.

It’s life.

It’s been two years.

Waking up in an empty bed still sucks. Chuuya eyes your toothbrush by the sink. He can’t bear to remove it. It raked confusion in his one night stands. Not that he cares. They never mattered. They weren’t you. And there is still two of everything in the bathroom, but he never lets anyone use the other set. Doesn’t even know why, he just keeps it this way.

But the walls are empty again, all the memories tucked away in a box in the corner of his now emptier closet. He’s never opened them once. He’s afraid of the emotions if he ever does.

In the kitchen he eyes the barrenness. Since you left he hasn’t bought much of anything for himself. Takeouts are his best friend. Besides, he can’t cook as well as you. Something bugs him to make a grocery run though. He listens to it.

Chuuya scoffs looking in his basket, something tugging a subtle smile on his lips. You’ve even managed to keep your influence on him — everything inside is food you’d like. Your favourites, in fact. Love is weird.

And so is life. It has a way of disrupting your journey; it can pull two people together only to force them apart, leaving their hearts in a silent call for each other. But it’s also weird in the sense that it can bring the two people so close to each other yet again, but at the same time offer no further assistance.

Because in the opposite aisle, there you are, shopping for food that happened to remind you of him.

tags: @yokelish @gogolparadise @fyowyn-writes

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startanewdream · 4 years

Text

Enough nerve

Summary: “For nearly five years the thought of his father had been a source of comfort, of inspiration. Whenever someone had told him he was like James he had glowed with pride inside. And now . . . now he felt cold and miserable at the thought of him”. - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Harry deals with the effects of what he saw on the Pensieve - this time, with his parent's help.

Part of my Jily Lives AU because I just love the idea of Harry having time with his parents.

Read on AO3 or below the cut.

----------------------------

The house is quiet. There is one more person there than usual and still the house is so quiet that James can hear the sound of his own heartbeat. It’s disconcerting, actually.

Something is wrong and he knows it. Lily knows it too; she had glanced worriedly at him before leaving hurriedly for a mission for the Order, and then they had both looked in Harry’s direction - his head was bent down, playing dismayingly with the eggs in his plate, barely whispering a bye for his mother when she waved to him.

Not hungry and quiet. That is a bad sign.

The thing about Harry is that he is usually very easy to read, especially because he always looks out for his parents when he has a problem - except if it involves doing some saving-people thing, when Harry jumps first into danger and thinks later of warning his parents. Harry never had any problem talking about things before.

He certainly said loudly and with very colourful words what was on his mind during last Summer, when James and Lily were once again involved with the Order and then they had to keep secrets from Harry. It had not been pleasant, but then again that could be Harry behaving like a teenager - a scared, traumatized, full of nightmares teenager that had dealt with things an adult wouldn't dream of, but still. Teenage rebellion phase is something they can deal with.

And when Harry had been angry, at least they knew what his problem was, but now he is… apathetic? He didn’t say anything to his parents - not even to discuss school, complain again about Umbridge or comment anything about Dumbledore leaving school. He spent all week locked in the library, saying something about studying for his OWL, only coming out for meals he wasn’t even eating and refusing to meet either parents' eyes.

In fact, James doesn’t know why Harry even bothered to come home for the Easter Holiday, because it is evident that Harry’s mind is elsewhere, in a place where, for the first time, Harry doesn't seem to want to talk to his parents.

Except Harry usually shares with him and Lily what’s bothering him, so this new silence treatment is different. Maybe it is also part of his teenage rebellion phase? He thinks Moony had been like that - no, Remus was always the quiet one anyway, the one who least wanted to talk about his problems as if he didn't want to burden others. Maybe Harry is like that…?

The fireplace in the living room burns brightly green and he raises his head just in time to see a redhead coming out of the fireplace.

‘Oh, hi, Mr. Potter!’, Ginny says brightly and slightly out of breath. She looks windswept as if crossing fireplaces has been a challenge. ‘Sorry to burst in unannounced like that’.

‘No problem, and it’s James’, he says in a false chastening, making her grin. No matter how many times he asks, Ginny always calls him Mr. Potter, even though she has no problem calling Lily by her name. ‘What’s up?’

‘Mum forgot to send our Easter eggs, so I volunteered to bring them here, though I may have crushed them a little in the way. Your fireplace is hard to find now'.

James nods gravely. Ever since Voldemort came back, their house has been overly protected. The only magical way to enter is through the Floo Network, whose access is limited to a few houses, and owls can’t find the place. It's annoying, but if it helps keep Harry safer, he doesn't mind.

‘Also’, Ginny adds, smiling unabashedly, ‘any excuse to be away from Aunt Muriel is valid. We are at her house for the holidays and it’s been a nightmare’.

‘Oh, dear Aunt Muriel. I’ve met her once. “Thought you’ll be more handsome”, she said. “Your wife is much prettier than you”, which it's not false, but still -'

‘Unkind, I know. She always tells me that I should be taller, as if I could control it’, Ginny agrees, rolling her eyes. ‘Anyway, Ron left with Dad for a trip to the market down the village, leaving me alone, that bastard, and I grabbed the first opportunity to get five minutes off. So…’

She delivers him three boxes, and points to the biggest one.

‘That’s Harry’s, of course’, she says fondly. ‘Ron told Mum he seemed down lately, so she thought he could appreciate more chocolate’.

‘Kind of her… so Harry’s been down?’

Ginny bits her lips, suddenly unsure.

‘I don’t know. Hermione said something like that too, but it may be just the exams or -’, she stops herself, her face flushed.

‘Ginny?’, James asks quietly. ‘What's wrong?'

She raises her eyebrows and crosses her arms.

‘I think that’s Harry’s business’, she says loyally, and James wishes she had spoken in a different way.

He can argue with a lot of things, but not with someone wanting to be loyal to Harry, no matter how much he is dying to understand what’s going on with his son.

He watches Ginny more carefully now. There is a stubborn expression on her face and he knows she won’t tell him anything, but maybe her stubbornness could help Harry in some way. He remembers Harry confessing to him how he’d been confused and worried after overhearing people discussing how he might be possessed by Voldemort (that’s the thing about Harry, he does the wrong thing but he eventually tells), and how Ginny had helped him see things clearly.

Harry also told him guiltily of completely forgetting Ginny had been once possessed by Voldemort, and James thinks he understands why Harry forgot it. Ginny is so bright and lively, especially now she is not quiet around Harry, that it would be easy for Harry to forget she had been involved with dark arts when she was younger. Harry never thinks less of anyone for their worst - he only sees their best.

But maybe Ginny can tell him off again - or, as Harry put it, talk some sense into him.

‘Why don’t you deliver the Easter eggs to Harry?’, James suggests casually, returning the biggest box to her. ‘He’s in the library. He’s been there all week’.

‘Oh’, Ginny whispers, her eyes big, and he can see she understands that something is really off with Harry. ‘Like when he barely talks to anyone and just has that look like someone ate the last piece of treacle tart?'

'And he refused my invitation to fly also', James adds and they both share a grimace.

Harry had been absolutely crushed for being forbidden of playing Quidditch and the fact that he had refused any chance to fly, especially when they were allowing some time off the house (which had been mainly off-limits ever since dementors almost got him during Summer), clearly was a sign of how bad things were.

'I will just give him those Easter eggs then', Ginny says. There is a determined look on her face that almost makes James feel sorry for his son.

‘Whatever gets you out of Aunt Muriel’s way, right?’, he asks teasingly, and Ginny grins, both knowing that is not really the reason she is staying a bit longer.

She goes to the library and, when she is at the door, she turns back to him.

‘I won’t tell you anything he says’, she warns, and James nods respectfully, watching her vanish inside the library with the Easter egg in her hand.

-------------------------------

If Ginny was able to tell Harry off so easily during Christmas, James expects her to help solve things with Harry quickly. Instead, she doesn't come out of the library for thirty-five minutes, all of which James keeps stealing glances to the door instead of reading the Alchemy Manual he was supposed to study.

Lily comes home in the meantime and she just blinks when he tells her what had happened.

'Hope she is luckier than us', she says, and James can hear the hurt in her voice. She is worried about Harry, and she is also sad that he isn't confiding in any of them this time.

It's a feeling James shares. How can he be there for Harry if his son doesn't want him?

'I'll take a quick shower, ok?', she adds, her hand touching his hair fondly and James can’t help but smirk at her.

‘Is that an invitation?’, he teases, making her chuckle.

‘For a quick shower? I deserve more time, you know’.

‘Oh, I know’, he agrees, pulling Lily into his lap to kiss her on the lips. He is feeling more and more inclined to offer her a long shower when the doors of the library open.

They break apart in time to see Harry and Ginny coming out, both looking serious. But James watches Harry's expression: he is frowning at his parents together as if somehow that bothers him.

'Hi, Lily', Ginny says with forced joy after there is an awkward moment of silence. 'Mum sent you Easter eggs. I'll just be going now, she is probably wondering where I am'.

'Thank Molly for us, Ginny', Lily says, raising up, her eyes going from James to Harry and back again.

'Yeah', says Harry, his voice hoarse. 'And anytime you want to escape your Aunt, you can come here'.

It's the most complete sentence James has heard Harry say all week.

Ginny smiles more naturally at him now - a smile that Harry almost returns - before waving around and vanishing in the fireplace.

There is another moment of silence, before Lily says in a voice too casual to be natural: 'I'll take a shower. Why don't you two start dinner?'

They both nod. James watches Lily go, before turning to Harry, with a forced smile.

'What do you think? Chicken pasta and salad?'

Harry shrugs, agreeing, as they go to the kitchen.

'I'm not really hungry', he says in a small voice, taking potatoes to chop without really paying attention. When James looks in his direction, thinking that Harry hasn't been hungry all week, he sees Harry is blushing faintly. 'Ginny and I ate all the Easter egg'.

'Chocolate in the library? You know you are not -'

'I know, no food in the library rule. It just happened'.

'Okay', James says slowly, taking more time than reasonable to say these two syllables. 'At least you ate something'.

His eyes meet Harry's then. This is the first time James is openly acknowledging he knows something is wrong, and this is also the first time Harry is looking at him directly with the most peculiar expression James has ever seen on his son.

He has already seen Harry’s green eyes shining with anger, desperation and hurt, but the emotion there is something new.

Disappointment.

As if James let him down somehow.

'Harry -', he begins, just as Harry starts talking too.

'There is something I need to tell you', he whispers, sounding miserable. 'I broke the mirror'.

'What mirror? The two-way mirror?'

'Yeah. About a week ago. I thought of calling you, but I was so mad that… I just broke into my hands'.

James just watches him with concern.

'We can fix later', he assures, but that still doesn't seem the reason Harry has been upset. ‘Were you hurt?’ Harry shakes his head. 'Why were you mad, Harry?'

Harry closes his fist and takes a deep breath as if gathering courage

'Because of what I saw on Snape's pensieve'.

James raises his eyebrows, but he doesn't say anything as Harry recounts exactly what memory of Snape he has seen. There is a heavy feeling on his chest that just increases with every word Harry says.

But he feels at his worst when Harry finishes his tale and he looks at James with a kind of desperation that seems to beg for an explanation, an alternative point of view of those events, any reason at all for the fact that his father was just as arrogant bullying toerag as Lily had called him then.

And he knows there isn’t.

'I wish you wouldn't judge me for what you saw, Harry', whispers James at least. 'I was young -'

'You were my age!', Harry cries, angry tears shining in his eyes.

'And still I was younger than you', James counters quietly. 'You faced too many things for a fifteen-years-old whereas… I was stupid and young and didn't think of anyone else other than myself'.

'But…', Harry blinks at him, as if even when he is upset he can't hear criticism against his father. 'You were good, I mean, you always told me how you became an animagus for Uncle Moony and how you were Head Boy -'

'It was for Remus, yes, but back then I thought of him already as part of my family. And that was my problem. Anything that was out of my own personal bubble… I didn't care. I wasn't selfless like you'.

'I am not -'

'You literally stayed behind last year during the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament because you couldn't think of leaving a young girl alone in the Black Lake'.

'I was just stupid enough to -'

'You care for others. You are so much like your mother in that'.

This compliment doesn't make Harry smile, and James understands another problem Harry had with watching that memory.

Things with Lily had been so complicated then.

'I know that doesn't excuse me, Harry, and I am not trying to defend myself. I was everything your mother complained I was back then, but only because I didn't know better. I had the perfect life. My parents loved me and always gave me anything I wanted. My friends loved me and they trusted me. I was good at school without much effort. I was amazing at Quidditch and I knew it. People admired me. I never had any concern at all'.

Harry blinks at him, and James knows his son cannot fathom how it's like to live a life without any worry.

'So I was a bit conceived, yes, I thought the world revolved around me'.

'You… you and Sirius, you both… Snape…'

'Things with Snape were always difficult’, James admits, his hand messing up his hair nervously. His relationship with Snape was one he never wanted to fully disclose to Harry, even when Harry asked him once why Snape disliked them so much. 'We hated each other from the beginning and our ways were very different. But, yeah, it was four of us and Snape was mostly alone, so he almost never won'.

'Almost?'

James hesitates.

'Snape was - and he was also young, Harry, so I try to not hold against him - he was too invested in dark things, in dark spells, in… the wrong company. And I promise you, no matter what you saw, I always hated Dark Arts, always despised those who would use it. And in the few times he managed to get the upper hand… things got ugly'.

'So he did get back to you? He wasn't just…'

'Harry', James cuts him off, hating to crush the small hope that is glistening in Harry's eyes. 'Whatever happened other times between me and Snape, I can't say it justifies what you saw. That time, that day, I jinxed him for no other reason than I was bothered and…', James takes a deep breath. 'I wanted to call your mother's attention'.

'Mum was decent', Harry says in a small voice.

'She was. She never complied with injustice'.

'Mum - she said she would never... She disliked you so much'.

'Yes'.

'How could - did you somehow - she hated you'.

'Nah, she didn't. Not really. She just thought I could be better and I did become better, Harry'.

'You told me you had asked her out and she had refused you'.

'Yeah, she did. Twice. We only started going out in our seventh year'.

'But - why?'

'Why?'

‘Why did she accept to go out with you?’

There is a sigh from behind them.

‘I think that’s better if you ask me, Harry’, Lily says softly, and James turns to see his wife.

She is fresh from her shower, her auburn wet hair falling dark over her shoulders, and as always when he sees her James' heart skips a beat.

Their eyes meet and James can see she understands partly what has been bothering Harry all week. She approaches him, taking his hand and entwining their fingers, so they can stand side by side. Lily has a soothing presence no one else has for James and he breathes easier now.

Harry frowns, but he stays silent as he looks at Lily. James can easily read his son’s need for a sense for everything.

‘A lot of people were idiots when they were fifteen’, says Lily. James chuckles fondly.

‘You weren’t’, he says. Lily shrugs.

‘I was, just differently. I refused to see things that were in front of my nose and I thought only my opinion mattered. But I grew out of it, just as you did. Sirius grew up. Remus did too. We all did’.

‘Come on, Moony was fine’, James defends. She shakes her head.

‘He never said anything, right? I was more friendly with him than with any of you, and still he would never say a word against you. He worshipped you too much’.

‘Well - he made me and Sirius feel guilty - kind of at least, more than anyone else’. James looks back at Harry. ‘But, yeah, that stopped. Remus doesn’t have any problem saying what he feels now’.

‘Of course not’, Lily agrees. ‘People change, Harry. Sometimes for worse, sometimes for the better, and that was definitely your father’s case. Do you know how we told you we were friends before we dated?’

Harry nods, thoughtfully. Back at Christmas, when Harry had let slip something about the fact he had kissed someone, Lily had reminded him of the importance of getting to know someone better before getting into any relationship.

‘Well, things between us started rocky, but when we were in our sixth year… the world was changing and so were we. We became friends over shared concerns, shared beliefs and shared night talks. Your dad had his problems, but… his heart was always in the right place’.

When Harry looks confused, Lily grimaces as if she wishes she doesn’t have to continue this conversation too.

‘If I got it right, you saw -’

‘That day over the lake’, James says, his hand messing up his hair once more. ‘After the defense OWL’.

Lily nods gravely.

‘Well, then you know what - you heard what Snape called me’, she says in a low voice, and James wonders if Harry can hear the pain in Lily’s voice. Twenty years later and it’s clear that day still bothers her. He puts his arms around her shoulder, in comfort, and Lily throws him a grateful look. ‘Well, whatever faults your father had, he would never say what Severus… James was good. He was not prejudiced. That thing he does of seeing the best in people, no matter what - like with Remus and Sirius and…’

‘Peter’, James adds heavily when she stops herself, and now it’s Lily that is embracing him for support.

‘You helped people’, she says, looking at him with only affection on her bright green eyes. ‘And when you deflated your head a little, that became obvious. You didn’t care just for you or for those around you. You care for everyone. You cared about doing the right thing. And that’s one of the things that drew me to you’.

‘And here I thought it was my incredible ability to make you laugh’, he murmurs in a fake self-confident voice, and just as he expects, that makes Lily let out one of the amused giggles, accepting the kiss that James gives warmly on her forehead.

Lily sighs then turns to Harry, who looks at them still thoughtfully. ‘So, you see, I fell in love with your dad when that fifteen years old boy you saw had evolved into a very nice man. When he became Head Boy, I wasn’t even much surprised’.

James throws an incredulous look at her.

‘You are so lying, Evans’, he says. Lily chuckles.

‘I said "much", Potter. Come on, I saw you being all responsible the year before, helping young students and protecting people and not standing up to prejudice and bigotry. You deserved that badge', she paused before giving him a sly smile. 'It matched your eyes nicely too’.

‘I always knew you were only interested in my good looks’.

‘In how good you looked next to me, you mean?’, she teases, and James can’t help but to pull her towards him, kissing her softly on the lips.

When they break apart, Harry is avoiding looking at them, but James recognizes his embarrassment at his parents in the gesture, more than any kind of nuisance.

‘It’s safe to look now’, he tells Harry playfully, and Harry rolls his eyes at him, but he seems more at ease than James has seen him all week.

‘You love each other’, Harry says and the certainty and relief in his voice arepalpable.

‘Of course we do, Harry’, Lily says, exchanging a glance with James. ‘You know that’.

‘I just thought -’. He shakes his head. ‘Nothing. Ginny said I was being stupid, and she was right'.

'What did you talk about anyway? You stayed there for a long time'.

'She told me you were going to ask and that I should tell you it's my business', Harry replies grinning. 'But I don't mind... She just helped me remember something important. I was - afraid, I guess, of talking to you. She helped me remember anything is possible if you got enough nerve, so -'

'I am sorry, Harry', says James earnestly. 'That what you saw made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me. I just want you to know - it's important you know this - that you can always say anything to me - to us, no matter what'.

Harry nods quietly; the dark cloud that had hung over his head seems to have vanished.

'Now, what about a pizza? Since dinner hasn't even started?', Lily asks brightly, glancing at Harry. He smiles.

'From that old place in Main Street? Can we go there?'

This makes Lily's smile falters and Harry adds hurriedly: 'We can just order, no problem'.

'No, I think we will survive one night out. But take your wand with you, just in case'. Harry nods seriously. 'Go on'.

'Actually, Harry', James calls before Harry leaves, as a thought crosses his mind. 'Did Snape say anything about what you saw?'

Harry blinks at him.

'Snape wasn't happy', he says neutrally.

'Professor Snape, Harry… How is your occlumency?', asks Lily, exchanging a concerned look with James. After what happened over Christmas…

'The same. But -', Harry sighs as if he wishes he were saying anything else. 'I don't think we will continue the classes. He was really upset because of the pensieve'.

'What?', James cries just as Lily jumps.

'I will talk to him', she says. 'He can't possibly -'

'I don't mind, it is a relief actually -,

'This is really important, Harry, if -'

'Dad', Harry cuts him off, his hand going automatically to his scar as if it's bothering him. 'Can't we talk about this tomorrow? The holidays are almost over, and I was already too much a prat for most of it… can we just have a nice dinner?'

There is a pleading look on Harry’s eyes. James bits his lips, but after a second Lily nods with a small smile.

'Ok, but don't think we will forget it. Go take your wand'.

Harry smiles gratefully. Lily turns to James, touching his face softly when she sees he is frowning.

'We'll talk to Dumbledore', she says quietly when Harry is gone. 'He will intervene with Severus. Let's just have a nice dinner with our teenage son tonight, shall we?'

James sighs.

'Ok... I'm going to change then'.

When he is at the door, he turns to her with a smirk already on his lips.

'Do you know where our old school things are?'

Lily looks curiously at him.

'At the attic, I think, why?'

'Thought of using my old Head Boy badge. See if it still goes with my eyes'.

------------------------------

If you enjoyed, I have this oneshot of James and Lily finding out Harry’s a champion in the Triwizard Tournament, and Harry asking James’s help for inviting someone for the Yule Ball.

#Jily lives #James Potter #Lily Evans #Harry Potter #Jily Fanfiction #Eyes glistening #James Potter is a Good Parent #Lily Potter is a good parent #t: fanfiction

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kalimagik · 4 years

Text

Pretty Gryffindor I Didn’t Know

Fred Weasley x Gryffindor!Reader

~4,900

Warnings: Talks of a rough home life (not too bad), but there is a lot of fluff!

A/N: So, I can write fics that don’t have a song as my inspiration. This one came from a dream that I had and I altered it to fit the Harry Potter Universe a little better! Enjoy the fluff and the sweet, thoughtfulness of Fred Weasley! If you enjoyed reading it, please like, reblog, comment, or even follow! <3 I love hearing what you guys think! (Also, I swear I write for more than Fred, but I just have a lot of him that I love)

*Not my GIF! Credit to owner

Y/N breathed in the London air. Her family moved around a lot and currently, they were in Greater Manchester, so they needed to stay in London a few days in order to get her new school things from Diagon Alley. Her parents were a little hands off, so most of Y/N’s life had been her raising and looking after her little brother. However, when she went to school, she was on her own.

Oh yeah, Y/N was a half-blood with who went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She would be starting her 4th year, so luckily she didn’t need to worry about the O.W.L.s just yet. She was in Gryffindor, but tended to stick with her friends from childhood, most of whom were in Ravenclaw, so she hadn’t gotten too close to her house in the past 3 years. But, it being a new year, her parents were pushing her to do this.

Y/N woke up in her bed in the Leaky Cauldron, sun shining outside and sounds of the cars from the muggle side of the hotel streaming in her window.

“Y/N! Are you ready to go to Diagon Alley for our things?” Y/N’s younger brother asked. He was beginning his first year at Hogwarts and could not wait to get started with his magical education.

“Give me 20 minutes to get ready and then I’ll be good to go,” Y/N yawned, getting out of bed after already being awake for about an hour.

Coming down the stairs, she found a breakfast plate for her with her family and noticed a loud family not too far away who seemed to be finishing up breakfast. She recognized the boy who lived, who was a year below her, and the strew of redheads. They were all in her house, but she’d never really gotten to know them.

“Y/N!? Are you ready?” Oliver asked excitedly about 10 minutes after she came down.

“Yeah, let’s go,” she smiled, ushering her brother from the Leaky Cauldron to the entrance of the magical alley. “Did you get our lists from mum and dad?”

“Yep! They’re getting us some surprises or something before we leave. You know it’s only tomorrow that we go, right?”

“Oliver, I’m very familiar with how going to school works,” Y/N laughed, tapping the brick wall to reveal an extremely crowded Diagon Alley. “You need to stay close to me, understand? Mum and dad would kill me if I lost you here. So don’t go wandering off!”

“Yes, MUM!” Oliver emphasized.

Starting at Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, Oliver got new school robes and Y/N updated her ones that were too small. They then headed to Ollivanders where Oliver was able to pick out his first wand. Y/N had never seen her brother so excited.

Next was Flourish and Botts. Y/N had never seen it so crowded. She managed to get in with her brother and find their books, but getting back to the entryway was proving difficult. Oliver had gone out before her, but when she tried to squeeze out the door, another witch was coming in and her foot caught Y/N’s.

Y/N felt her balance go completely off center. She was free falling towards the cobble stone street and down the few steps in front of the shop. Y/N braced herself for impact when she felt her momentum stop. Her fall just stopped. She turned her head to make eye contact with a tall red head. And, he was pretty handsome too.

“You alright there, love?” he asked, standing her up right on the road. “It’s pretty crowded out here, you gotta watch where you’re going.”

Y/N felt a blush creep onto her face. She knew he was a Weasley twin. He was infamous at school and she’d been around a time or two for their pranks.

“I’m Fred by the way,” he smiled as Y/N straightened up to meet his deep brown eyes.

“Uh– umm, I’m Y/N. I actually think you’re in m-my house,” she stupidly pointed out.

“A cute girl like you in Gryffindor? Ridiculous! I would’ve definitely seen you,” he flirted.

Y/N felt the blush deepen and butterflies rise in her stomach. Oh how she wished she wasn’t in such a bright and public spot.

“Freddie, who are we talking to over here?” the other Weasley twin joined.

“Apparently this pretty girl is in our house. Can you believe it?” Fred quipped.

“Blimey! How did we miss her?” George countered.

“Y/N, we told Mum and Dad that we would meet them at Florean’s soon,” he urged, pointing at his watch.

Y/N turned from the twins remembering that her little brother was with her.

“Right, sorry, Oliver.”

“Can’t keep the little man waiting, now can you?” Fred smiled widely at Y/N. “Need anyone to accompany you to make sure that you don’t fall again?” he joked.

“Uhhh, I should be able to stay on my feet now. Thank you,” she blushed again, not used to the attention. Y/N quickly pushed her little brother and hushed his questions about who the boys were. Although, while she was walking towards the ice cream parlor, she swore that she could feel someone’s gaze burning into the back of her head. Not wanting to look any more like a tomato, she kept her eyes forward.

_______________________________________________________________________

Pushing the short encounter with the elder Weasley twin to the back of her mind, Y/N finished packing her trunk for school. Her parents would drop her and her brother off at King’s Cross Station and she’d have to get them through the barrier. Most years it was just Y/N who had to go through the wall, but this year she got to show her brother how to do it for the first time. She’d always loved him so much that his excitement about the new experience made it seem like her first time all over again.

“Bye Mum. Bye Dad. Get home safely,” Y/N said, hugging and kissing each before leading her brother through all the muggles at the busy station.

She stood back as they gave her brother some last minute advice and then their parents retreated to a more secluded spot to apparate back home. It was just Y/N and Oliver once again.

“Common, we don’t want to be late!” Y/N smiled as she pushed her cart, urging Oliver to follow.

Once they loaded their things onto the train, Y/N asked Oliver if he wanted to share a compartment with her and her friends, but he opted against it.

“I can’t make any friends myself if I’m with you all the time, Y/N,” he rolled his eyes.

She laughed at his antics. He really was growing up and it was weird. Y/N felt as though she had always been an adult, but Oliver had stayed a little kid for as long as she could remember.

“Okay. Make sure you put on your robes before we arrive. I’ll see you at the feast after the sorting ceremony, okay?”

He nodded and ran with his trunk down the corridor of the train. Y/N headed in the opposite direction, hoping to find some of her friends.

“Oh, hello, Y/N,” a girl the year below her waved. Y/N didn’t spend much time with her, but they’d often be the last two in the Common Room at night finishing homework. Most of Y/N’s friends were Ravenclaw after all, so she refused to fall behind in school.

“Hello, Hermione. Did you have a nice holiday?”

“Wonderful! My family traveled to France. It was just brilliant! How was your summer?”

“We moved again, but I got to help my brother prepare for Hogwarts,” she smiled sweetly.

“Excellent! I have to go find Ron and Harry, but I’ll see you at Hogwarts!”

Y/N waved as the girl ran towards the end of the train. She went back to her search for her friends, but when the train lurched, she settled for the emptiest compartment. Her friends would have to find her.

Struggling to get her trunk into the compartment, she was finally in enough to shut the door. Now she had to get it up on the luggage rails. Why was this part always so difficult?

“Need a hand there, Y/N, pretty girl who I didn’t know was in Gryffindor?”

Y/N jumped as she hadn’t even noticed who was in the compartment to begin with.

Turning, she was once again face to face with that boy that had caught her from falling.

“Fred,” she smiled, “Thank you. I guess you’re just going to keep coming to my rescue, huh?”

“I could definitely get used to that. After watching you, you seem to be pretty accident prone. You could use a strong guy like me looking out for ya.”

Once again, Y/N felt the heat rise to her cheeks and those dang butterflies moving around her stomach. Not really knowing what to say, she stood there, biting her lip and looked around. It seemed that the compartment she chose held Fred, his twin, and Lee Jordan, the boy who commentated the quidditch matches.

“Sorry, the train started and I couldn’t find my friends, so I just stumbled into a compartment. I can leave if you all need the seats,” Y/N apologized.

“Nonsense!” Fred waved his hand, “We’ve always got a spot for the pretty Gryffindor girl, right Georgie?”

Y/N’s blush deepened. It did not help that boys rarely flirted with her and Fred doing so, so freely messed with her.

“Oi, Freddie. Isn’t this the girl you saved from imminent death in Diagon Alley yesterday?”

“Just the one, Georgie!” Fred replied, not breaking his focus from Y/N’s face.

“You haven’t shut up about her since we saw her last!” George burst out laughing.

Fred dove at his twin, shoving a hand over his mouth to quiet him. Y/N couldn’t help but giggle. It was amusing after all. The sound of her laugh made Fred stop immediately, taking in the angelic sound. How had he not met this girl before?

“Why don’t you have a seat,” Lee suggested, “they may be at this for a while.”

Y/N sat, enjoying the company of the boys she happened to stumble upon. It really was a happy accident. She was making friends in her house like her parents wanted her to. Eventually, her friends did find her and ask her to come join them in their compartment. Y/N didn’t want to leave Lee and the twins, but she finally gave in.

“I’ll save you a spot at the sorting ceremony,” Fred called before the compartment door slid shut.

In the other compartment, they mostly did last minute studying before arriving at school, but when the train slowed and became icy cold, Y/N lost all motivation she had. She forgot about the butterflies that Fred gave her. She forgot about the excitement she felt for her brother to be starting at Hogwarts. All she could feel was sadness. She felt as though no one in her life loved her. She felt as though her parents regretted having children. She felt alone. It was horrible.

When the lights turned back on and the train started moving, Y/N didn’t recover immediately. She sat there, immobilized, but her friends didn’t notice. It wasn’t until a familiar redhead peaked into the compartment that she could move.

“Hello ladies, just checking in on everyone after that massive mood dropper. Y/N, are you okay? Need anything?”

The special attention returned those silly butterflies and warmth to her cheeks. Her only response was a head shake with little to no eye contact. Fred wanted to say more, but George called his attention. Apparently Draco was giving Harry a hard time for fainting from the dementors.

When asked about the reappearance of Fred Weasley by her friends, Y/N just denied anything. Responding that she had only just met the boy the other day. Luckily, they didn’t think too much of it. Realizing what had just happened, Y/N rushed around in search of her brother.

“Oliver, are you alright?” she asked when she finally found him towards the front of the train.

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” he spit back. That wasn’t like him, but she did see he was with a bunch of other soon to be first years, so he probably wanted to look cool.

“Okay. I’m just checking. Don’t forget to put your robes on, we’re almost to school…”

_______________________________________________________________________

The whole student body was a buzz with what happened on the Hogwarts Express. As she rode in the carriages, Y/N blocked out the conversations. Her mind was stuck on her brother’s attitude. What was wrong with him?

Everyone filed into the castle and Y/N made her way to the Gryffindor table. Meals were always the worst for her. She didn’t really have anyone to sit with at the large house table normally, so she’d read or work on homework. She wasn’t sure where’d she’d sit when her name was called.

“Oi! Y/N! Pretty Gryffindor I didn’t know, come over here.”

Y/N couldn’t stop the smile from growing across her face. She’d forgotten that Fred said he’d save her a seat. Plus, she could get used to the ‘Pretty Gryffindor’ nickname, but maybe not the ‘I didn’t know’ part.

“Have an entertaining rest of your train ride?” he asked as she sat down, George chuckling under his breath across the table. With one small glare from Fred, George turned to pick on their younger brother.

“Pretty uneventful. Just did some reading.”

“Love, we have got to get you some more entertaining friends. I think you ought to hang out with Georgie and I a bit. We could use your brains if you’re as smart as I’ve heard people say you are on the train.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow. Who was talking about her intelligence? Catching her confusion, Fred stuttered on, “I mean, Hermione mentioned how you’re usually up late with her. You sometimes even go to bed after her. That shows brains.”

Y/N finally found her voice and was able to quip back, “oh, you’ve been asking about me have you?”

Even if the tops of Fred’s ears began to redden, he was quick to reply. “Seeing as you’re a fourth year and I didn’t know you, I had to do my research!”

Y/N laughed as the doors to the Great Hall opened, the first years all shuffling in nervously. She couldn’t help but point her brother out to Fred. “He’s that one. I’ve been waiting for him to come to Hogwarts. It’s so exciting to have a sibling at school,” she beamed.

“I’ve never been at Hogwarts without a sibling and I can say that it’s not that exciting, sorry to burst your bubble.”

Y/N laughed, but was quickly silenced by the entrance of the sorting hat. It sang its song and talked about the four houses. Y/N silently hoped that Oliver would be placed in Gryffindor, but she wasn’t sure if that was really his personality. But, no matter where he was placed, she’d be proud of him. Her father was a Ravenclaw and her mother a Hufflepuff, so intense house pride didn’t quite matter to the family.

The sorting ceremony went on and the last names were rolling through, once Professor McGonagall reached ‘R,’ Y/N began to listen again.

“Remington, Oliver!”

Y/N watched as her little brother climbed the stairs to the three legged stool and put the hat on. He seemed to sit there for forever. Much longer than the rest of the other first years. Thinking back to her sorting ceremony, Y/N realized that her sorting had taken a long time too. The hat rambled between three houses and read her thoughts and memories. It was very set on the fact that she was strong-willed, a leader, a caregiver, intelligent, but also resourceful. But obviously, it ultimately placed her in Gryffindor.

“and it will be…SLYTHERIN!”

Y/N’s jaw unintentionally dropped. She figured maybe he’d be placed in Hufflepuff because of his light hearted nature, but Slytherin? Loud cheers came from the table at the far end of the hall and Oliver jumped down the stairs to join his new house. This was weird.

“You okay, love?” Fred turned, looking concerned as McGonagall continued to read through the names.

She just nodded, looking down at the empty dishes in front of her. Had she missed something in her brother’s personality? She looked over to the table doused in green and silver. He sat there with a few other first years and the prefects nearby. However, he was sitting, facing the Gryffindor table. When she managed to make eye contact with him, he waved excitedly. That slowed the pounding heart beat in her chest. He would still be the same boy she knew, she was sure of it.

Still pondering how her brother was sorted into Slytherin, Y/N didn’t listen to what Dumbledore said about the dementors and she played with the food that appeared on her plate. She certainly didn’t notice Fred Weasley watching her every move.

_______________________________________________________________________

A few weeks had passed, classes began, and Y/N had settled her emotions surrounding the sorting of her brother. They’d eat meals together at least three times a week and would study together on Wednesday and Sunday evenings. Oliver had even introduced her to some of his new friends. They were all nice and a mix of kids from all the houses. She was extremely pleased that they weren’t all Slytherins who believed in blood-status hierarchy.

Another new constant was Fred and George as well, but mostly Fred. He would catch up with her in between catches, start to ask her opinion on pranks, and even study with her when she was up late. When he was around, the butterflies never went away. At this point, she was pretty sure that he didn’t know what she looked like without flushed cheeks. He still called her ‘Pretty Gryffindor I didn’t know,’ but the ‘I didn’t know’ part seemed to be dropped more and more often.

“Good evening!” Fred elongated as he sat at the same table as Y/N in the Common Room. “I noticed you weren’t at dinner this evening. Why’s that?”

“Snape assigned our class a 5 length essay and I have potions two days in a row, so I had to finish it on top of the History of Magic assignment that I have,” she sighed, pulling out a new ink bottle.

“He can’t give you so much work that you miss dinner!”

“It’s fine. Really. I had a large lunch. Plus, I’m used to not having every meal every day.” Y/N explained without thinking about what she was saying.

“Why do you say that?” He asked, now concerned.

Shit. Y/N realized she was about to open a bag of worms that she had never opened with anyone else. She normally kept her home life and her parents ‘hand off approach’ to herself.

“You can tell me, you know…” Fred encouraged gently.

Y/N bit her lip, deciding if she should or not, but it was Fred and he’d already made her school life so much more than school and studying with her friends.

“Really.” With this last bit of encouragement, he placed a hand on her arm that rested on the table and didn’t hold a quill.

Sighing once more, Y/N explained the situation simply. “Growing up, my parents have always focused on other things. Where to travel. How to continue hanging out with their friends. They had me pretty young and I don’t know if they ever grew up. My grandmother was around a lot when I was little, but then she died when I was about 5, so I didn’t have her anymore. And then I had my one year old brother to worry about too. Breakfast is easy enough for a 5 year old to handle, but it wasn’t until I was 8 that I could actually cook things, simple things. We always got lunch or dinner, but rarely both. My parents do love my brother and I, but they just may not have been cut out for parenthood…”

Fred sat there silently. Y/N had learned enough about his family to know that he never had to deal with anything like this. But what surprised Y/N the most, was that he stood up without a word. Before he left through the portrait hole, he turned and said, “don’t move, okay?”

Y/N sat confused, not entirely sure what was happening. She heard the portrait open again and spun quickly, hoping it was Fred. It wasn’t, but it was the closest thing to him.

“Hey, Y/N!” George said, making his way to her.

“Hi, George.”

“How do you know I’m George?”

“I’ve got my ways,” she smirked, “Plus, Fred just left.”

“Where’d he go? I was meant to meet him in here after he talked to–” George cut himself off quickly.

“After he talked to who? I’m the only one who’s been in here.”

Y/N watched as George sat there, hitting himself mentally. She could tell he was struggling with something.

“George?” she pushed again.

“Okay, Y/N. I’m going to tell you something and my brother might kill me. Do you really want that on your conscience?”

“What?”

“UGH! Fine. Fred may or may not fancy this girl he met this year who’s apparently a Gryffindor from the first day that he met her,” George blurted in the most roundabout way.

Before Y/N could respond, let alone process, the portrait hole opened again. In walked Fred with all types of food piled up. What was this boy doing?

“Pretty Gryffindor, I’ve brought you the dinner that you missed! Oh, Georgie,” Fred paused in front of the fire.

“What have you got there, Fred? You’ve brought a whole feast!” George exclaimed.

“Well, Y/N here didn’t make it to dinner as you noticed earlier, so I figured I’d bring her some,” he told his twin, sitting the food onto the table. It filled the whole table. Y/N even had to put her potions essay to the side.

Y/N hadn’t yet said anything, but stared in disbelief. This had to be the nicest and most thoughtful thing that anyone had ever done for her. Not to mention, George had just told her that Fred maybe or maybe not fancied someone who may or may not be her.

“See anything you’d like to eat?” Fred asked, turning his attention to her.

“Fred. This is amazing. How– how did you get all of this?”

“Georgie and I may be some favorites of the house elves in the kitchen and know how to get there. They’ll normally load us up with anything we need,” he grinned ear to ear. “You need to eat something. Hogwarts has 3 meals a day and that means that you get 3 meals a day.”

“You didn’t need to do this,” she stammered on, looking from Fred to George. George was not helping this situation. The boy had his face hidden from Fred and was winking as well as making kissy faces towards Y/N. Real mature.

“Yes, I did. I told you, you’re rolling with us now. We keep things entertaining.”

“Fred, I had nothing to do with this,” George threw his hands up, pushing his chair back and standing up from the table. He now made his way behind Y/N’s chair so that only Fred could see him. He made hand motions for his brother to talk to the girl sitting down at the table, mouthing “if you don’t do it now, you never will!”

Then, the twin spoke up. “AHHH! Man, I’m tired. I’m going to go up and catch up on some sleep,” George animated.

“Georgie, it’s only 7:30?” Y/N questioned.

“What can I say, carrying out brilliant pranks makes me bloody tired! Good night!”

Y/N waved and turned to look at the plates and plates of food in front of her.

“So, where shall we begin?” Fred asks, rubbing his hands together.

The girl could only shrug and begin eating until she was truly full. Fred also sat next to her eating despite the fact that he already had dinner. He didn’t want her to have to pig out on her own.

“Freddie, you may have fed me into a food coma,” Y/N giggled, leaning her head on the back of her chair. “How am I going to finish this potions essay now?”

“Seeing as how it's only 8:15, I’m certain you’ll be up until 2 AM anyways,” Fred smirked.

“You’re not wrong, but I could do with a nap now and that fireplace is looking super inviting.” Y/N’s mind wandering to a million things besides her potions essay as she looked at Fred for a witty response. Without thinking about it, she stood up from the table and laid on the couch in front of the fire. Fred sat on the floor so that their heads were essentially in the same place. Her mind went back to her thoughts about him. He couldn’t possibly fancy her, her. She didn’t think that any boy in Hogwarts had ever fancied her.

To fill the silence, she spoke again. “Thank you for doing this, by the way. It was really, really sweet.”

However, Fred looked nervous. A look that Y/N was not used to seeing on his face.

“Freddie? Is everything okay?” She was forgetting all about what George said to her just earlier.

“I want to ask you something…” Fred eased.

“Okay? You can ask me anything,” she smiled, hoping it would comfort him.

“So, you know how there’s the first Hogsmeade trip this Saturday? Well, I was just wondering if you would want to maybe go with me?”

“I’d love to,” Y/N beamed. “I thought you, George, and Lee told me you were going to make me come,” she chuckled, being oblivious to the fact that he was asking her in a different aspect.

“Well, yeah, but um, I was actually wondering if maybe you’d like to go with just me, not George and Lee too. Kind of like a date because well, Y/N, I kind of fancy you.” Fred paused before looking up from the table to meet Y/N’s piercing E/C eyes. Merlin’s beard, they were pretty.

Then that red color that was ever present rose into her cheeks as a wide smile formed on her mouth. “A date you say?”

Fred nodded, unintentionally holding his breath as he waited for her response.

“Of course I want to go on a date with you, Freddie,” she replied, turning on her side so that she was facing him.

Fred’s eyes lit up to his normal level with a little extra twinkle.

“Although, if I’m going on a date with you, I should probably tell you something…”

Fred waited in anticipation.

“Before you brought all of that food, George sat and had a chat with me. What were his words? He said that ‘Fred may or may not fancy this girl he met this year who’s apparently a Gryffindor from the first day that he met her.’ Please don’t kill him though, I think he was trying to help you out, but is that Gryffindor by chance me?” she asked almost timidly at the end.

Fred’s face became beet red and was illuminated by the bright fire behind his head. Honestly, it was redder than the hair on his head if that was even possible.

“Freddie?”

Her saying his name like that, softly and airy, really did him in. “Sheisdefinitelyyou. YouwerejustsocutewhenwefirstmetandIcouldn’tbelievethatIhadnevermetyouandthatmyluckhadchangedintheabsolutelybestway!” Fred spit out in one breath.

“What was that?” Y/N released a laugh from the back of her throat, coaxing him to say it slower.

“That day you fell into my arms and I caught you, there was just something in your eyes that stuck with me. I bloody well think it was love at first sight. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Then, imagine my luck when you backed into our compartment. George has used silencio on me too many times when I can’t stop talking about you. It’s really becoming a problem. You’re just so sweet and wonderful and caring and perfect!” he rambled, but slightly slower this time.

Y/N’s smile grew larger, if that was even possible as she reacted in the only way she thought would fit. She slid her head forward on the couch so that her lips met his. Sparks seemed to jump from between them in the blissful moment.

Well, it was blissful until George, a little too loudly, said, “Merlin! Finally! Took you long enough Freddie!” from the stairwell.

Fred clenched his eyes shut as he flicked his middle finger towards his brother, refusing to separate from the kiss, but Y/N couldn’t help but laugh hysterically. She rolled to her back, clutching her stomach. Only a twin would spy on a moment like this for nearly an hour after saying he was going to bed.

“Ignore that git!” Fred shot towards his brother as he got onto the couch, pulling Y/N into him. “I guess you can’t be the ‘Pretty Gryffindor I don’t know’ anymore,” he whispered in her ear.

“Well, you could just make a variation. You’re pretty good at coming up with those.”

“Alright, Pretty Gryffindor I get to date,” he beamed as he cupped her cheek to pull her in for another kiss.

#fred weasley x reader #fred weasley #fred weasley x gryffindor!reader #harry potter #harry potter x reader #george weasley x reader #gryffindor #fluff fics #fluff #kalimagik #happy reading

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