#oh my god it's DOOOONE | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

denerims-archive · 4 years

Text

otp tag

Tagged by @solasan and @mcousland + definitely someone else who knows the activity page is garbage.

Tagging: whoever wants to! i’m kinda late with this and i think everyone’s been tagged but if you haven’t do this and say i tagged you!

DISAGREEMENTS.

who is more likely to raise their voice?

Naomi. I can’t see Nate ever raising his voice at her out of anger. Maybe out of worry but never anger.

who threatens to leave but never actually does?

Naomi. Better to leave than get left.

who actually keeps their word and leaves?

God, neither of them. I can see maybe Naomi telling Nate she needs to go drive around and cool down but none of them would just outright leave. Naomi might be stubborn about her feelings but she knows that Nate is someone important to her.

who trashes the house?

During an argument? Yikes neither of them. Especially Nate. He’s very conscious of how he positions himself in an argument cause he’s So Big and a vampire compared to Naomi who is very short and human. Day to day? Naomi lmao. She just leaves a trail of mess in the morning.

do either of them get physical?

God no! Naomi has to convince him to spar with her and that usually ends with Nate catching her in his arms and kissing her until she’s out of breath from laughing and has to tap out.

how often do they argue/disagree?

Not often early on but the more feelings get involved the more they have disagreements with things like how much Naomi puts herself in danger. Naomi also pushes Nate away a little out of fear when they start getting so close. Whenever Nate mentions Rebecca/tries to mend their relationship whatever his intentions it always results in a fight and a silent treatment from Naomi. Nate also gets super pissed when she doesn’t tell him things which is a hard habit to break for her.

who is the first to apologize?

Naomi usually. She’s the one who usually gets the angriest/has the most vitriol when she’s angry so once she cools down she feels absolutely awful. Apologizing with Nate is always so easy with him too and he apologizes in return and is so soft in discussing the issue after everything has simmered down.

SEX.

who is on top? who is on bottom?

Uh...Nate is usually the more dominant person but obviously very gentle and servicing in it. He’s the person who gently directs Naomi, slows her down, makes her enjoy it which is So Much. That’s when they have time of course. When Naomi wants a quickie she’s normally the one in charge but that’s pretty rare because Nate can’t seem to grasp the quickie concept. Naomi really likes to be on top and Nate really likes to watch her ride him soooooooo...

any kinks?

Dirty talk!! Specifically Nate! His is...A+. Nothing degrading because he’d never do that for Naomi even if she wanted and honestly I don’t think it’s very healthy for Naomi to get into that since she has History with some of those words and indulging in them would be not good for her. But Nate loves sweet nothings, praising her, asking her if she likes what he’s doing/likes doing what she’s doing/etc. Naomi has also unlocked Nate’s kink of his hands being tied during sex either to each other or to the bed frame. They also really love uhhh when Nate comes inside her and all of the dirty talk that comes with that. Naomi likes to be spanked occasionally - never choked or hit beyond that - and Nate’s not really into it but he indulges her because he loves her. Nipple play, lingerie, blindfolds, etc. UH Nate is a major tease so denial/teasing too which Naomi is happy to return.

who has the strangest desires?

Naomi probably lmao! She’s more kinky than Nate is.

who’s dominant in bed?

Nate normally but they switch it up sometimes.

is head ever in the equation?

Absolutely! Nate is the best at oral in UB and I said what I said. Naomi also really enjoys it because Nate is so loud and moany when she does it. Also he holds her hair back which is sweet.

if so, who is better at performing it?

I gotta give it to Nate.

ever had sex in public?

Nooooo. Most “public” is fooling around in various Warehouse rooms. They’ve definitely had sex like...in a private area where Nate’s pulled her but nah.

who moans the most?

Natey! Naomi takes a bit of work to get going but when she does she’s very enthusiastic but on average it’s Nate.

who leaves the most marks?

Naomi would be if they didn’t heal in like minutes which makes her very sad. Nate only leaves marks on her thighs.

who is the more experienced of the two?

I’m not sure about Nate’s entire experience but Naomi’s got a lot of experience so it’s most likely going to be her.

do they ‘fuck’ or ‘make love’?

MAKE LOVE BABY! But it’s not slow and tender all the time, they’re super passionate and needy when they smash so it’s just up in the air. But the two of them always come from a place of love when having sex sniff. Esp Nate. Naomi sometimes is like I need to not think for a bit/destress.

how long do they usually last?

I feel like Nate’s got some Stamina! Naomi’s usually the one that has to tap out but they can go pretty long like 45min? Obviously on and off not just...straight penetration the whole time.

rough or soft?

Soft! Like I said, they’re very passionate and needy and very desperate to be close to each other but they never really get rough. The roughest I can see them getting is Nate getting a bit enthusiastic esp after being apart or not getting time alone for awhile and going pretty hard? But nothing rough beyond that.

is protection used?

Yes. Naomi’s on the pill but she forgets sometimes...more than she should it just kinda slips her mind. They use condoms but not enough and honestly with Naomi begging him to come inside her every other day it’s a wonder they haven’t had an accident.

does it ever get boring?

Nah! I don’t think so. Maybe it becomes a bit quicker and more routine - they know what gets each other off - when they get married and become parents and get busy but they mix it up once in awhile when they can!

where is the strangest place they’d have sex?

Back of Naomi’s car (they’re eventually successful) and the Warehouse library I guess?

FAMILY.

do they plan on having children / do they have children?

Yes absolutely! Naomi thought it wasn’t ever really in the cards for her but she met Nate and was like Oh I’m GOING to have his babies. Nate has always really wanted kids and he can’t imagine having them with anyone but Naomi anymore.

if so, how many children do they want/have?

They have four! Alice is the first and the two of them are so incredibly excited. Holden is born about three years after Alice - the two of them kind of wanted to settle into parenting before they added another kid to the pile lmao. Their third - Watson - is a surprise! A pleasant surprise but a surprise nonetheless. Naomi’s pregnant with him about a year after Holden is born and then two years after Holden their little baby Josephine is born!

AFFECTION.

who likes to cuddle?

Naomi!! She loves to cuddle him all the time especially when they’re reading/she’s doing work on her laptop/etc. She’s so comfortable and relaxed when they cuddle it’s very sweet. She feels super safe with him.

who gets naughty in the most inappropriate of places?

NATE. He’s the worst and so smooth about it and just looks at Naomi’s exasperation with the warmest, sweetest smile of bemusement.

who struggles to keep their hands to themself?

Nate! Not just in naughty~ terms but just in general he’s so touchy. It takes a bit for Naomi to get used to it but she really loves it because she’s so starved for it. It just makes her AHEM blush when it’s in front of other people which she hates! (the blushing pls Nate give her another kiss in front of everyone)

how long can they cuddle until one becomes uncomfortable?

God, forever. As long as Naomi can play on her phone/read a book and Nate can read too. They loooove cuddling it’s disgusting. Sometimes they gotta shift though if Nate’s arm goes asleep or smth.

what is their favourite non-sexual activity?

Reading together! Cooking together! Nate loves binge-watching shows with Naomi because he gets so invested and he loves Naomi’s shows she introduces him too. They binge a ton of shows for date nights. They also love to go on walks together and possibly even some hikes.

where is their favourite place to cuddle?

Bed! Or anywhere really in Naomi’s place. They’re alone and they can just be themselves and are all safe and warm. Nate and Naomi really love having a place of their own esp Naomi.

SLEEPING.

who snores?

Nate softly snores sometimes!

if both do, who snores the loudest?

Naomi probably only snores when she’s drunk and it’s LOUD.

do they share a bed or sleep separately?

They eventually share a bed (BED SHARING WHEN). Naomi is an insomniac but she sleeps really well with Nate. They help soothe away each other’s nightmares and hold each other.

if they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay far apart?

Cozy together at first but as their relationship progresses they lay what’s comfortable to them but the thing is they always have to be touching even a little bit. They’ll lay back to back and Nate will have his hand behind him on her hip or smth like that.

what do they wear to bed?

Well, we know Nate loves some silky matching pajamas!! (Naomi loves them too) Naomi typically sleeps in sleep shorts and a t-shirt or just a t-shirt and underwear. Naomi won’t sleep in Nate’s t-shirt but she’ll grab them if she’s getting up to go start tea in the morning.

are either of them insomniacs?

Naomi is! She used to take pills for it back when she was first getting over her mental health issues but she stopped taking them because she didn’t like the way they made her feel. Nate just doesn’t sleep as much as normal humans do.

can sleeping pills be found by the bedside?

I’m not sure if Naomi would ever go back on them tbh.

do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side?

Nate wants to hold Naomi ALL the time so he’s like a little octopus. She gets in bed and he’s pulling her close. Like I said, later they lay side by side in a way that’s comfy for each other but they always have to be touching. Sometimes, one of them will wake up and reach out just to make sure the other’s still there.

who wakes up with bed hair?

NATEY! It’s very cute and Naomi idly smooths it over, runs her fingers through it and then messes it up again when they’re waking up and still in bed. One time, Rebecca came to drop something off for Naomi early one morning and Nate came out with bed hair in his pajamas from her bedroom since he didn’t know she was there and that was the most awkward experience of Naomi’s life.

who wakes up first?

Naomi during the weekdays/days she has to work and Nate on the days neither of them have to work! Whoever’s up puts the kettle on and gets the mail/newspaper, waters the plants, etc.

who prepares breakfast in bed for the other?

Nate!! It’s his Thing and he definitely did it the first time they slept together. Naomi teased him about it but kissed him and told him that she loved it and it was very sweet of him. She’s never had someone make her breakfast in bed before so Nate tries to do it as often as he can.

what is their favourite sleeping position?

Nate on his back with Naomi curled into his side is their default! Spooning is also a thing and they flip-flop who spoons who. Sometimes they shift during the night and it changes. When Naomi cuts her hair in Book 3 it makes it 10x easier since Nate isn’t choking on her hair lmao.

do they set an alarm each night?

Yep! Naomi sets one on her phone. Naomi pats him and tells him to turn it off sometimes and honestly that makes sure she gets up because Nate spends like ten minutes trying to turn the alarm off.

who has nightmares?

Both. Naomi’s are more often but Nate’s are more intense and really bad on the rare occasion they happen.

can a television be found in their bedroom?

Nope. I think for Nate that would be a hard no. Naomi reads when she goes to bed instead of watching TV because it helps her fall asleep so I can’t see her really wanting one either.

who has ridiculous dreams?

Nate seems like he’d have weird dreams and loves telling them to Naomi over breakfast. I feel like they love jokingly analyzing each other’s dreams too even if they don’t actually believe in that stuff. Naomi looks up those dream meaning sites on her phone and very seriously tells Nate is prognosis is not good.

who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed?

Nate. Even not sprawled out he takes up so much of their bed dgdskjgg. Luckily, Naomi’s pretty compact so it doesn’t affect her much. His legs will tangle up with hers though while he sleeps or he splays them out.

who makes the bed?

Nate! Naomi just lets him do it because she’s learned whenever she protests him doing stuff for her he insists he loves her and just wants to make things easier on her. Naomi rolls her eyes, Nate gives her a kiss and continues doing what he’s doing. It’s just best not to argue.

what time is bed time?

They get into bed EARLY if they can cause they’re Old People (™), Naomi usually doesn’t fall asleep for hours and sits there reading/working on her laptop/etc. Nate will usually fall asleep first and Naomi follows after at around 11/12.

any routines/rituals before bed?

I guess reading together before bed counts? Nate always kisses Naomi’s forehead or cheek before he goes to bed and tells her he loves her. It’s to the point where smth happens where Nate doesn’t get to kiss her before bed and Naomi’s like….:( wait smth’s not right.

who’s the grumpiest when they wake up?

NAOMI. Nate is a sunshiney morning person and she loves him but that’s the one time she wants to strangle him.

WORK.

who is the busiest?

It depends what’s going on! So much of their work depends on other factors that are out of their control but Naomi is busy most of the time. Nate has more free time than she does and that’s why he likes to help out around her apartment/their house more to carry his share of the load!

who rakes in the highest income?

I assume...Nate might make more since Naomi is new to the Agency?

are any of them unemployed?

Nope!

who takes the most sick days?

Sick days? Water those? Naomi is such a workaholic she’s that dickhead who comes into work sick and gets everyone else sick. Nate has to force her to stay in bed when she’s sick and has even called the station to let them know she’s not coming in (Douglas can hear Naomi telling him to give her the phone in the background before he hands up dlkgjsdkg)

what are their jobs?

Naomi is an Agency Liason and Detective. Nate is an Agent of the Agency!

who sucks up to their boss?

Naomi has 0 patience for sucking up anymore. She used to when she was younger but she’s disillusioned with the Captain and Adam and her don’t get along/disagree on a lot of stuff. She really needs to respect you for her to suck up to you.

who is more likely to turn up late to work?

Neither of them really? Maybe Naomi is slightly more likely to. Naomi loves to try and get Nate to stay in bed just a little bit longer and sometimes those efforts lead to the two of them forgetting they actually have jobs to go to.

who stresses the most?

Both! They both hide it really well too but they’ve both caught onto the signs of them being stressed. Naomi starts smoking a lot and Nate can smell it on her. Nate is a bit more reserved than he normally is and has little tics that Naomi catches on.

do they enjoy or despise their careers/occupations?

Naomi likes it because it challenges her but I don’t think she likes a lot of the bureaucracy and paperwork of either being a detective or agent. She also likes the idea of following in her father’s footsteps and that’s why she joined the force. She originally was going to be a social worker but kinda went the easier path after her bad years. It made her feel connected to her father which she really needed. I think Nate really likes his job! Naomi’s distrust of the Agency might cause a little friction.

are they financially stable?

Naomi isn’t at first just because she’s denied her mother’s financial help for a long time but they eventually are very financially stable together. They’re both good at planning and money...besides Nate’s expensive tastes.

HOME.

who does the washing?

Naomi! She usually just throws a load in when she’s done with a shower or heading to work. Nate folds and puts them away though!

who takes out the trash?

Naomi! She usually takes it on her way out.

who does the ironing?

Nate! He’s very good at it and can do some mean pleats. Naomi hates ironing things so he’s happy to do it.

who does the cooking?

Nate! Like I said he’s a great cook and loves to cook for Naomi. It’s mostly him but they love to cook together. Naomi will occasionally try and make dinner for the two of them but rarely.

who is more likely to burn the house down just trying?

Naomi! She’d forget about it or smth.

who is messier?

Naomi! She leaves shit everywhere and never has time/patience/motivation to clean up. It admittedly drives Nate a little nuts.

who leaves the toilet roll empty?

Neither.

who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor?

Naomi! Specifically in the bathroom because she comes home and just wants to shower some days especially being out on patrol with Bravo. Just shucks off her clothes and goes. They both pick them up when they have a second or remember.

who forgets to flush the toilet?

Uh…..neither lmao.

who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere?

NAOMI. She gets very pissy too and it’s usually somewhere that’s obvious and Nate’s like “...honey?”.

who answers the telephone?

Naomi! She doesn’t have a landline and Nate can’t use his cellphone so she even answers his phone for him.

who mows the lawn?

Nate! He loves doing like...Stereotypical Husband/Dad stuff. (Note: he is very bad at repairing things, that’s Naomi’s job)

who does the vacuuming?

It depends on who has time! Usually Nate.

who does the groceries?

Naomi! They like doing it together though especially when they have a special recipe they’re cooking up that night.

who takes the longest to shower?

Nate. Naomi takes pretty quick showers. Naomi tends to sneak into his showers and makes him take a loooot longer.

who spends the most time in the bathroom?

Both of them take a long time tbh. About the same time normally. Naomi maybe takes a little longer if she’s putting special effort into her hair/makeup for the day.

MISCELLANEOUS.

is money a problem?

Early on for Naomi maybe a little (not terribly so) but later on when they’re together no their combined salaries make them pretty stable.

how many cars do they own?

Just one originally - Naomi’s shitty little baby car. They trade it in eventually for just a regular nice car and when Naomi gets pregnant they buy a second car that’s a Suburban to cram all their kids in.

what’s their song?

Tiny Dancer by Elton John (don’t ask I hear it and I think of them), Beautiful by Bazzi, Love You Like That by Dagny, Without Fear by Dermot Kennedy

do they live in the city or in the country?

Small town, I guess!

do they own their home or do they rent?

Naomi rents an apartment and I think the Agency owns the Warehouse? When the two of them get married, Nate buys a house in Wayhaven for them to fix up! It’s very cute and has a big yard.

do they enjoy their surroundings?

Naomi....hates Wayhaven to say the least. Gossip hound neighbors, uncooperative mayor, bad memories, her stupid ex...she just wants to move anywhere but she’s so attached to this town. Nate really loves Wayhaven and weirdly helps Naomi see the beauty in her town again?

what do they do when they’re away from each other?

God, miss each other so much. Naomi less so, she’s used to being pretty independent but ofc she still misses him. She can at least get shit done. Nate is the worst because he’s mooning over her on a mission and the rest of UB complains about it. Makes one of the others call Naomi on his cell every night so they can Facetime. Naomi flashes him her tits. Nate is okay with this one piece of technology. Though one time Naomi does try to get freaky and Nate very loudly goes “HEY ADAM’S HERE! SAY HI TO ADAM!” Adam: :|

where did they first meet?

Abandoned warehouse in Book 1, babey! She shoots her future husband’s best friend in the shoulder. It takes awhile for those two to like each other obviously.

who spends the most money when out shopping?

NATE. Bougie king. Naomi teases him about it too but she also gets the benefit of his obnoxious thread count sheets, giant bath and him smelling faintly of expensive cologne and body wash all the time. So, Naomi quit complaining.

who’s more likely to flash their assets?

Dkgjsg Naomi does this all the time because it’s too entertaining not to. If it’s when other people are around she’s sending him Signals or doing stuff like that Nate gets all flustered and leans his chin on his hand and tries to cover up the little smirk he has. Raises his eyebrows at her and gets That Look.

any mental issues?

Well, Nate clearly has some kind of PTSD due to his fear of storms/other very obvious factors. Naomi has pretty severe depression and honestly probably a little touch of BPD. She also has some anxiety (not as bad as the depression) but enough that she bites her nails down and has to paint them/get fake ones so she doesn’t ruin her teeth.

who finds it amusing when the other trips over?

Nate usually just catches Naomi and has a little smile that she jokingly glares at him for. Naomi tries...so hard not to laugh but Nate is...so not graceful some times. Like a baby giraffe. He legs too long for he gotdam bodee.

who’s terrified of bugs?

Naomi! DISGOSTHANG.

who kills the spiders around the house?

Nate! But he usually gets a cup and a piece of paper and takes it outside. Naomi usually loves that he’s gentle but also will die if he comes close with that thing. He’s always like, “See, it just wants to go back outside.” And Naomi’s got the most unamused face while she’s standing on the couch sdgsjkg.

do they have any fears for their future?

Uh...yeah definitely. Besides the normal ya know, being kidnapped/murdered for her blood, Naomi is...terrified that Nate will come to his senses and leave her. She has horrible fears of abandonment and not being worthy. She’s just...always waiting for the shoe to drop. Nate is also terrified for her safety but also worried a lot for her mental state the more he learns about her past. He loves her and supports her and wants to stay with her for...eternity if she lets that happen. Of course, that’s also a fear that Naomi might not want to live forever and see all her family and friends die. That it might exacerbate her already lonely, heartbroken, abandoned nature. That he’ll doom her to a life she doesn’t want just because she loves him. Ha ha...anyways.

their favourite place?

They of course both love the Warehouse but they love Naomi’s apartment because it’s just them and they get some privacy. Just a detective and her vampire...playin house.

who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner?

Nate! He cooks for Naomi so much! She offhandedly told him once that she doesn’t usually have time to cook with how busy she is (also...the Depression) so he’s always surprising her when she comes home. It’s very special when he buys all the ingredients and they cook together because Naomi likes to cook it’s just such an effort! Good date nights for them is cooking a new recipe tbh.

who pays the bills?

Nate tries to pay them all but Naomi splits them.

who’s the tallest?

Natey! He teases Naomi about it sometimes. They’ve got a foot height difference.

who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other?

Naomi! She loves sneaking into the shower with Nate not even just for some naughty times but she loves bathing with Nate. He’ll wash her hair for her and she’ll do the same for him. It’s about….the caregiving.

who wanders around in their underwear?

Naomi! But I’m fixated on Nate getting comfortable at her place enough to wander around in his boxers.

who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio?

Naomi!!!!! Nate just sits there and stares at her and lets her sing to him because he’s a big puppy who’s in love.

what do they tease each other about?

Nate’s teasing is so gentle and has no real weight to it. Like teasing Naomi about being such a workaholic and trying to get her to bed. Naomi calls Nate really goofy as hell pet names that are purposefully cringey but shh Nate secretly likes any pet name Naomi calls him. They typically are just pretty flirty teasing esp poking each other when they’re trying to focus on smth or they’ll be reading in the library and Naomi will catch his eyes and wiggle her eyebrows. Nate’ll counter back with something like “You know I can’t concentrate with you looking at me like that.” Naomi also gets a little flirty and competitive when it comes to games or any kind of challenge which makes Nate SWEAT.

who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times?

Well, we all know Nate is the best dressed member of Bravo and Naomi is usually pretty well-dressed if somewhat minimalistic and plain. I don’t think either of them really would unless Naomi was in a slump and clearly like...not practicing self care and Nate noticed. Nate just doesn’t seem like a Judgy person unless it’s a symptom of smth else.

who crushed first?

Natey! Naomi was close behind though it didn’t really hit her for a while.

any alcohol or substance related problems?

Naomi used to rely a lot on alcohol in her teenage years/college days so she’s pretty aware of that dependence and doesn’t really get drunk very much. She also smokes - though she tries to hide it like she’s a teenager still living in her mother’s house lmao. I can’t see Nate having any kind of those problems esp with vampire metabolism.

who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am?

Naomi! When she does drink it’s usually a night out with Tina and Nate is very sweet about. Makes her drink a glass of water and take an aspirin (much to her displeasure) before getting her in bed.

who swears the most?

Naomi, obviously lmao. Usually when she’s exasperated. It’s normally when she’s Tired of Shit and not an angry thing really? I don’t see her cursing when she fights with someone either.

#oh my god it's DOOOONE #this was so fun but SO LONG #i did it in gdocs and it's like #19 pages #emily got tagged #ship: blueberry muffins #nate/naomi brainrot #they invented love

21 notes · View notes

raksh-writes · 3 years

Text

Alriiiight, I actually finished all the rewrites I wanted to do on this scene and I gotta say, I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out ^^ Also, the chap reached 9,3k 😂 And there are still some small lil' parts I wanna sneak in the later part, lmao. But now it's only writing that last part! Max 2-2,5k, I hope 😂

So close to finishing up this baby, damn...

#Raksh posts #Raksh's writing ramblings #LitA ramblings #I think I finally achieved a good balance of feels and horniness #and also humor and weight #and I polished up the style #I can only hope it's gonna be a good read 😂 and polish it up some more in edits #but that comes in a few weeks!#for now I gotta write that last part 👀#maybe I'll even be able to finish this chap in the next few days 😄#but OH MY GOD Im so close to finishing it up?? so close to the END??? 😱😱#I'm---#both so excited and nervous about it at the same time??#oof I can tell its gonna be a powerful funk after it truly ends #after I post that epilogue and there's no more to write #oh goodness grace - dont make yourself tear up over this you idjit 😂😂#yes Im talking to myseld #anyway! yeah - the Mating is basically doooone 👀👀👀👀#and its gonna be gloriouuuus 😄😂

5 notes · View notes

chaos-event-horizon · 2 years

Note

“ i’m gonna take my thick ass back to bed. ”

Flash back time!

Toshinori gave what was supposed to be a sigh, but ended up sounding like a chuckle. "Kitten... Exactly how much did you drink?"

The younger man, only recently trained and hired to the bar as a bartender, was leaning precariously against the hardwood counter as he attempted to wipe things down without moving too much... Presumably because his world was spinning faster than usual. "An... Amount."

"Oh?" The blonde said, delicately taking the rag from Rian's hand. "How very specific."

"Heeeeeeey!~"

"Kitten, you're hilariously drunk. And while it's very cute... It's probably not a good life choice, considering your size and the fact that you haven't really had alcohol before."

Rian, face flushed from said alcohol, quirked his eyebrows at that comment before his eyes pointedly wandered down Toshinori's body. "Size, huh?"

"Hey," the villain said, snapping his fingers, "eyes are up here, kid. You know what I meant."

"Nnnn..." Rian grumbled, hugging his boyfriend around the waist. "But Toshiiiiiiiii~ It tasted good!"

The older man snickered, petting the brunette. "The fuck'd you even drink, Kitten?"

"Peach stuff...?"

"Peach... The Schnapps?" Toshinori said, smirking. "Well, at least it wasn't the vodka or Shochu... Or the overproofed rum. You'd have been on the floor by now..." The blonde pretended to consider it. "Then again, maybe I'll let you have some... Give me a chance to feel you up while I carry you to bed."

"Toshiiii~ That's illegal!~"

"As if you don't let me feel that ass up anyway. Got a nice, thick, juicy little handful for me, Kitten."

"Noooo~ my ass belongs to meeee!"

The blonde smiled fondly. "Until I get you to let me put a ring on your finger, anyway."

Rian apparently didn't hear that, though, as he slowly finished setting glasses up to dry. After a few moments, the younger man turned around and grinned. "Doooone!"

"Good. You need to sleep this off... Painful as it is for me to be chivalrous, you're in no condition for our usual routine."

The brunette sighed dramatically, almost whining.

"None of that, kiddo. Let's get you upstairs and away from... Well, at least some of the temptation."

"Fine!" Rian giggles, voice teasing. "I'm gonna take my thick ass back to bed!~"

The blonde watched as his young boyfriend sashayed said ass up the stairs, taking a long, deep breath before glancing up. "Damn, god... Really doing me like this, huh?" he said, then let out another chuckle-like sigh as he followed the nearly oblivious American up to their apartment.

#smitespace #mature #this counts as lore.

5 notes · View notes

erekiosuncreativeideas · 4 years

Photo

FINALLY DONE WITH THIS REDRAW AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH IT TOOK ME SO LONG BUT IT’S FINALLY DOOOONE WOOHOOOO

The fucking background oh my God, never again (she says, while she knows there will be many more like this)

Here’s the original !

Here’s the next remake to come :

#A Hat In Time #ahit #ahit fanfiction #ahit fanart #Reliving An Old Nightmare #Raon #erekio #erekio raon #erekio reliving an old nightmare #my art #digital art #redraw #snatcher #The snatcher #ahit snatcher #ahit the snatcher #fanfiction #a hat in time fanart

83 notes · View notes

peanut-butter-parkerxx · 3 years

Text

The Unexpected Trip To Disney World part 3

not my gif!

"See you, y/n/n" y/n/n? I looked back at her and it looked like she liked it coz she went up and kissed me in the cheek, and I looked so starstruck that I heard Thor and nat snickering behind us, great. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply

"Would you guys quit it" I snapped turning back to them

"Well great guys, you made Peter angry again" Wanda joked

"YOU WERE KITKATTING AS WELL" Thor retorted, wait what?

"Kitkatting?" I swear I was about to lose my mind

"Well isn't there a word like that from a chocolate name?" He asked rubbing his beard as if what he's thinking is very important "the one with caramel and biscuits of some sorts"

"You mean snickers?" Nat asked on the verge of breaking down from laughter

"YES SNICKERS"

"What does that have to do with laughing?" Wanda said, eyes squinting

"Exact- wait do you mean snickering?" At this point nat was dead on the floor

"YES SNICKERING, YOU WERE SNICKERING TOO" he pointed at Wanda

"What the fuck?"

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

"Oh look you guys cheered up the kid" Mr Stark said eating his ice cream while cleaning Morgan's dirty shirt.

"Well not us, but definitely someone" nat smirked and I sighed in frustration.

"Can we just get back to the hotel I'm tired" Morgan spoke almost whining for the 2928383th time today

"Yes of course let's go, cupcake" I obviously took the opportunity to not talk about what happened. So I held morgan's hand and walked to the hotel.

The rest of the day was spent at the biggest suite I have ever see in my whole entire life. we argued about the monopoly rules which led to steve arguing like a grandma lecturing sam about how he cannot buy two hotels if he didn't have enough houses or dancing to one direction (Scott, Morgan and I suggested it and now Thor is a huge fan) and lastly we watched a movie.

But throughout these activities I haven't been particularly focusing, well I couldn't and I have a reason! *Ding* oh, speaking of the devil- wait, no no not a devil thats wrong, shes an angel ok anywas, Y/n was texting me. yes that y/n, that y/n that made me smile, that y/n that gave me light when I was at my darkest, even if I was at Disney world (and I still am) y/n was the one who made me smile.

Y/n/n: hey you staying till the end of the week, right?

Peter: yeah why?

Y/n/n: meet me at the Disney castle at 9am :)

oh my god

Peter: i'd love to y/n/n

Hhe was exploding inside, fingers shaking from excitement and nervousness. But he also tried to calm down since Morgan was sitting beside him waiting fir him to finish texting 'anonymous girl'

Y/n/n: OH, and tell your friends you'll be back by sunset 🤗

Okay now that made him excited. He's spending the whole day with the girl he potentially liked? His mind was spiralling right now, his spider sense obviously not helping.

"Peter are you doooone? I wanna play monopoly jr with my cinnamon roll!" Morgan whined sending his mind back on earth.

"Yeah yeah I'm done let's go cupcake" peter shook his head from thinking of the thousand possibilities of what could happen tomorrow and walked with Morgan to the dining room to play monopoly jr.

Y/n's POV

I was sitting on couch my phone, my hand lazily scrolling through my apps to find something interesting. No luck.

"Y/n can you come for a second!" I heard a voice calling my name, guess I better help my parents/guardians "ok ok cominggg" I turned off my phone, yeeted it to the couch and jogged to the kitchen in our suite.

"Who was that boy you were with today?" My best friend came out of nowhere scaring the shit out of me.

"AHH" I yelped from the sudden voice then smacked her in the arm "y/BFF/n DONT DO THAT EVER AGAIN" I glared at her, mostly for scaring me but also for talking very loudly about a boy I was with infront of my parents! "And shut up ill tell you later"

I continued helping my family for the dinner and organizing the suite since we'll be staying here for almost two weeks for my best friends birthday. Her family and mine rented a big suite for all of us to stay in, and it's so cool to like, live with my best friend kind of. It felt like it, and it reminded us if our future plans to move in together.

When everything was settled I went back to the couch and took my yeeted phone back to have a message from the boy I was with. Peter, yeah Peter. I smiled warmly just at the thought of him texting me, I was whipped and I don't even know the guy very well, my best friend would kill me! But thank god I'm keeping that detail out.

I quickly typed my password in and opened messages to see his text pop up.

Pete :) : heyy

Aww, ok why am I gushing over a 'heyy' seriously y/n stop it,

Y/n: hiii

Was that too many i's? Did I mess up already? But before I could procrastinate even further peters typing bubble stopped and at that point my Idiotic self thought she missed her chance but turns how he was just sending what he was typing. Maybe someone called him and that why he was late? But I was happy that it wasn't what my dumbass thought.

Pete :) : how have you been :)

Y/n: been good, just finished settling in the suite, what abt u?

Pete :) : oh you're in a suite too? Cool

Y/n: yeahh which one are you in?

Pete: oh the biggest one at the end..because we'd get super crowded 😅

Y/n: no i get it, it must be exhausting to live with the avengers ;)

Pete: yeah

Pete: wait what?

Y/n: oh come on pete! I could recognize Thor anywhere, even with his glittery Mickey Mouse shirt? I don't even know what that was but the point is I can recognize my bae anywhere 😌

Yes, I did have a crush on Thor when I was younger. I mean he is still my superhero crush, but I'm not as obsessed as i was with him when I was 10!

Pete :) : your..bae huh?

Y/n: yuppp

Pete :) : trust me you wouldn't call him bae when he'd eat all the poptarts in the snack bar 🙄

Y/n: are you jealous Pete? 👀

Pete: whaaaaat? Me? Nahhh

Y/n: shut up you are jealous! 💀

Y/n: don't worry Peter , no one can replace you ;)

And so the night went on with us texting and messing around, getting to know eachother more. It was really fun and I really liked him..as a person of course, not the other thi- anyways! I decided to ask him one more thing before going to bed.

Y/n: hey you staying till the end of the week, right?

Pete :) : yeah why?

Y/n: meet me at the Disney castle at 9am :)

Pete :) : i'd love to, y/n/n

#peanutbutter writings #fluff #peter parker #parker #peter #imagines #peter parker x reader #marvel #peter parker fluff #avengers

17 notes · View notes

blackhakumen · 4 years

Text

Mini Fanfic #704: Preparing for the Beauty Pageant (Persona 5 X SSBU)

3:54 p.m. at Shiyuba, Haru's Residence.......

Pit/Dark Pit: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Shiho: (Trying her Hardest Not to Burst Out in Laughter at What is in Front if Her)

Ryuji: (Has Deadpinned Look on.his Face While Wearing Pigtails and School Uniform That Almost Resembles the Same Style Ann is Wearing Beside Him)...........................This was a mistake.......

Ann: (Smiles Proudly While Wrapping her Arm Around his Shoulder) Oh don't be like that, Ryuji. You look great! We're practically like my Siamese twins already~

DarK Pit: (Puts on a Smug Smirk on his Face) ('Heh') Yeah. Expect he's more muscular and stupid looking than any twin I see. (Continues Laughing Some More)

Ryuji: (Glares at the Dark Angel) S-Shuddup, man! You guys can laugh all you want, but at least I'm man enough to do this kind of shit!

Shiho: (Smiles Softly) Ryuji, we were only laughing with you, not at you. You look amazing.

Pit: (Smiles Brightly) Yeah. I really like your pigtails. It matches great with your outfit.

Haru: (Smiles Brightly) You and Ann look so beautiful together that I honestly couldn't tell either of you apart~

Ryuji: ('Sigh') Thanks, guys. (Glares Back at Dark Pit) At least you three appreciate my looks!

Dark Pit: (Rolls his Eyes) Whatever man. You still look dumb.

Makoto: (Glares at Dark Pit) Pitto!

Dark Pit: What? I'm just saying.

'Room Door Opens'

Futuba: We're doooone!~

Lavenza: And on a perfect schedule as well!

Morgana: You guys might wanna see this!

The gang turn and see Yusuke walking to the living room wearing a red kunoichi like uniform, with a beautifully long ponytail.

Yusuke: How do I look?

Ann: (Eyes Widened in Genuine Surprised) Wooooow, Yusuke..... You look amazing!~

Ryuji: (Smiles Brightly) Yeah, man! You look like badass ninja girl!

'Ahem'

Ryuji turns to see Lavenza giving him a very unimpressed look on her face.

Lavenza: He is known as a proper kunoichi. (Glares Intensely at Ryuji) You uncultured swan.

Ryuji: (Eyes and Mouth Widened in Complete Disbelief at the Sudden Burn Lavenza Given Him)

Futuba: Awwwww!~ She's already learning what I taught her. I'm so proud~

Morgana: (Sighs While Facepalming Himself)

Makoto: (Rolled her Eyes a Little) Questionable teaching methods aside.....(Smiles Softly) You look great, Yusuke.

Haru: (Smiles Brightly) I agree wholeheartedly. What makes you want to become a kunoichi in the first place.

Yusuke: It was all Futuba's idea, of course. She has shown the design of this outfit a day before then and convinced me to wear for the tonight's beauty pageant. (Smiles a Little). Needless to say, I believe the outcome in all of this itself has become somewhat impressive. (Turns to Futuba) Thanks to you, of course.

Futuba: (Gives Yusuke a Bright Smile and a Thumbs Up) Anytime, Inari!~ You look like a badass already!..... That's a good thing.

Yusuke: (Simply Nodded) Ah. I see. Thank you.

Dark Pit: Yeah. (Went Back to Smirking Again) You look a million times better than Ann's knockoff twin over there, that's for sure.

Pit: (Starts Chuckling Lightly at Dark Pit's Insult to Ryuji) Knockoff twin!~

Makoto: (Sisterly Glares at the Two Angels). That's enough, you two!

Pit: (Immediately Stops Laughing)

Makoto: You promise me and all of your mothers that you two would behave yourselves once you step foot in our world.

Haru: (Gives the Duo Motherly Yet Disappointed Frown) That's right. What would your mothers think if they were to find out that either of you broke that promise?

Ann: Makoto and Haru are right, you guys. (Have her Arm Around Ryuji's Shoulder Again) Don't make fun of my knockoff twin like that!

Makoto/Haru: Ann!

Ann: Okay! Okay! I was only joking here! Really. (Turns Back to The Angel Duo) But seriously, you know what we're saying here, right?

Pit: (Immediately Feels Bad For What He (May Have) Done) Yeah.....(Turns to Ryuji) We're sorry, Ryuji....

Dark Pit: ('Sighs in Defeat') Yeah....We didn't mean to make fun of you or anything......

Ryuji: Eh. It's fine. Should've saw the insults coming the moment I put on this get-up. (Chuckles Lightly) Hopefully I won't look bad as Renny boy would be.

Haru: Speaking of which, what is taking Ren-Ren so long to getting ready?

Makoto: I'm not sure.....(Gets Up from the Couch) Maybe I should go check on-

'Music Starts to Play'

?????: HOT IN....

Ann: Did.... someone turn on the radio or.......

?????: SO HOT IN HERRE!

Haru: I don't think I ever own a radio in the house.

?????: SO HOT IN......

Ann: So where the heck the music is coming fro-

'DOOR PUSHED OPEN'

Everyone immediately turns to the sound of an opened door. Only to see.....

Ren: (In a Feminine Voice) I'm ready~

Ren Amimaya fashionably walk towards the living room, wearing a black leather police uniform with, high heels, a policemen hat, and black cherry colored lipstick on his lips.

Pit/Dark Pit: (Eyes Widened and Jaws Dropped to the Ground in Complete and Utter Shock at What's in Front of Them)

Ann/Shiho: Oh.....

Haru: My......

Ryuji: Freaking........

Futuba: God..........

Yusuke: Huh. Interesting....

Lavenza: Indeed.

Morgana: (Eyes Widened Along with Everyone Else in this Room) Wow.

Makoto: (Eyes Widened in Genuine Shock as Deep Crimson Blush Appears on her Cheek) R-R-R-Ren!?~

Ren: (Giggles Softly While Gently Holding up Makoto's Hand) Yes, my beautiful lovely Queen?~ (Kiss the Top of Makoto's Hand)

Makoto: (Immediately Pulls her Kissed Hand Away While Blushing Even More Bashfully) Ohhhhmygosh!~ W-W-What are you wearing?~

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly) Police outfit. I thought I could try and blow the crowd away a little. (Went Back to his Seductive Feminine) You guys like?~ (Begins to Wink at his Group of Friends)

Ann: (Already Blushing Herself) Ren....You can't do this to me! (points.at Shiho Over Dramatically) My girlfriend is LITERALLY standing right here!!!

Shiho: (Blushes While Staring at Ren at the Same Time) O-Oh gosh~......

Ann: ('GASPS') SHIHO-KINS!!~

Shiho: I'M SORRY!!~ I can't help it!~ He just.....looks sooooooo hot as a girl right now!!~

Ann: ('Sighs in Utter Defeat') Yeah...... I'm not even going to deny that fact. He's too hot for his own good.......

Ryuji: (Takes a Deep Breath Before Speaking) WELP.......So much for hoping that you would be the laughing stock at school with me, bro. Bet you're gonna win that contest with flying colors too.

Ren: Why, Ryuji~ I am soooo thankful and humble that you have soooo much faith in me-

Ryuji: (Immediately Facepalms Himself) Dude! Just.....('Sigh') Enough with the voice already.....

Ren: (Starts Chuckling Again) Alright. Alright. I'll stop already. But.... seriously though. What do you guys think? Too much?

Haru: (Smiles Brightly) Not at all, Ren-Ren. You look wonderful~

Pit: (Smiles Brightly) Yeah. You rock that dress, Big Bro!

Dark Pit: Can't believe I'm saying this....But Pit-Stain is right. (Smiles a Little) You look great.

Lavenza: (Smiles Brightly) I agree to this statement. You look magnificent, Joker.

Yusuke: (Smiles in an Impressed Manner) Very much so.

Morgana: (Smiles While Shrugging) I can agree to that.

Futuba: (Smiles Softly) Yeah. Not as badass looking as Inari though....

Ann: We love it, Ren-Ren. (Smirks Playfully) And I'm pretty sure that a certain "Queen" in this would say the same~ Right, Makoto?~

Makoto: (Sighs Heavily as She Takes her Hands Away from her Face) Yes......I would. (Smiles Softly) You look amazing, Ren-Ren. (Gives Ren a Loving Hug) And I'm so proud of you for doing this~

Ren: (Softly Smiles While Hugging Makoto Back) Thanks, 'hon. And don't worry. I won't let the audience take me away from you that easily.

Makoto: (Gives Ren a (Cute) Pouty Face) You better not!~ Cause you're mine and mines alone, mister!~

Ryuji: (Starts Snickering) Already getting jealous there, Queen?

Makoto: (Immediately Gives Ryuji a Piercing Glare) SHUT IT, KNOCKOFF ANN!!!

Ryuji: (Eyes and Mouth Widened in Complete Disbelief Again Before Slumping Down on the Floor)

Dark Pit/Pit/Futuba: (Burst Out Laughing at Ryuji's Blantent Dispense) AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Ann/Shiho/Haru: (Starts Snickering at the Poor Man)

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly) Knockoff Ann aside, you really don't have anything to worry about here.

Makoto: ('Sigh') I know...(Smiles Softly at her Boyfriend) I love you, Ren-Ren~

Ren: (Smiles Softly) Love you too, Makoto~ (Gives Makoto a Loving Kiss on the Lips)

Makoto: (Giggles Softly) I love your lipstick color~ It suits you fairly well.

Ren: Thanks. Love yours too~

@princekirijo

@keyenuta

@26shann

@caleb13frede

@ma-lemons

@supergamemaster64

@albion-93

@toriwest

@chompycroc

16 notes · View notes

simp-for-cenobites · 3 years

Photo

Doooone oh my god, i never wanna paint without lineart again jesus

Anyway, i made this for a redbubble mask design, you can find them here if you want one, though i mostly made this for myself.

https://www.redbubble.com/i/mask/Chatterer-cenobite-closeup-by-animecat33/79033363.6BSL1?asc=u

#chatterer #chatterer cenobite #cenobite #hellraiser #rita's originals #artists on tumblr #Rita's art

5 notes · View notes

saiilorstars · 4 years

Text

Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters • Sequel to Stars Dance • Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Ch. 22: Finding Each Other

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x OFC

Chapter summary: The Scream makes his final play against the travelers, leaving them trapped in his own personal world. Only Avalon and the Doctor seem to mildly remember that perhaps the lives they live now aren't correct.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

Disclaimer: The arc is part of an actual comic story that I’ve rewritten to fit the story here! But the essential plot and part of the dialogue belongs to the comics!

Avalon ran as fast as she could through the 'forest' that now was the TARDIS. She could hear it hissing behind her, coming to get her. It was all too much like the…

"AAAH!" She screamed when the Scream itself jumped in front of her, all dressed in a white suit and looking far bigger than the last time they met.

Her eyes widened.

He's what they met shortly after the Silence in 1969. "I...I remember you. It's you. I...I forgot you, just like with the Silence." She stepped away from it. "It's you who's been following us. How could...how could I just forget that!?"

Lena had brought them back to Earth because of a mysterious letter with coordinates. They traveled to the planet where they bumped into the ugly thing who nearly sucked out hers and the Doctor's memories to create the Sapling! She just...she just forgot all about that! She forgot the Scream was still coming for them. How could she forget something like that!?

"I wassss folllowing the Doctor, not hissss pet!"

Avalon frowned. "I am more than a 'pet'. But you would know about that, huh? Your Silence brethren haven't left me the hell alone!"

"I witnessssed your capture...your trrrrrips...Koooovarian…" Avalon swallowed hard as she took a few more steps away. "They arrrrre not doooone with yourrrr family."

"I should've known, you're part of them!"

"Nooooo!" the Silence seemed to shout. "They know noooothing offf meee! They cannot rrrrremmember me!"

Right, it was why he was an special type of Silence. Not even his own kind could remember him.

"That must suck," Avalon could say that honestly. "Not even your own kind can remember you? Must be lonely." The Scream seemed to stop for a moment, staring at her through its hole-eyes.

"Avalon!" Rory stumbled into the clearing. His eyes eyes widened at the sight of the Scream. "I remember you!"

"Yeah, its super power made us forget he was chasing us down the galaxies!" Avalon quickly rushed to his side.

The Scream fired purple electricity at them, forcing them to break into another run. "I ammmm the Screeeeam! I exisssst! Don't turn yourrrr back on meeee!"

The two kept running and running until they could hear Amy's frantic voice paired with the Doctor's. They crashed into them, actually, knocking them to the grassy ground.

"I found you!" Avalon beamed at the Doctor. She had fallen over him but didn't seem to mind the harsh crash.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor sat upright and kept a tight hold around her. After the Sapling sprouted roots, the whole TARDIS went haywire...but at least they were still together, litrealy. The box was still together.

"Yeah, Rory and I were running from…" Avalon trailed off with a curious expression taking her face over. "Never mind."

"Doctor, where are we?" Amy took Rory's hand to stand back up, prompting the other pair to do the same. She had been running from something, or she was just running, and she stumbled into the spot where the Doctor was.

"Still in the TARDIS of course! And good news: the Sapling's mature form is mnemomimetic! It's literally turning our stolen memories into fruit!"

Avalon blinked, her eyes drifting to the funny looking branches hanging from above. Some of them seemed to be shaped like people. "You mean...my memories are...hanging all around us?"

"Yours, but mostly mine! I have a lot!" the Doctor didn't look as bothered by her. He grabbed her hand and motioned for them to follow him. He brought them down the 'forest' into a room resembling their console room, only this one was covered in moss, branches and leaves. "Okay, well I still haven't found a console room with power. My shiny new one's been completely swamped by the Sapling's root system."

"But...but the TARDIS is stable at least, right?" Amy shot him a look. That was the whole point of the Sapling sprouting his roots. Not a minute after asking, the branches around them started to grow more, some of them wrapping around Rory's arms.

"Hey!" he frowned and fought to free himself. Amy quickly hurried to help him.

"No, no! Stop!" the Doctor frantically called as if the Sapling could still hear then. He...wasn't sure if the Sapling could hear him. His hearts sank. He wasn't sure where the Sapling was or if he still was around. "If the Sapling doesn't stop growing then the dimensional dams will break entirely. If that happens then all the 'bigger on the inside' will continue leaking, taking the Sapling - and our memories - with it."

"We can't let that happen," Avalon quickly said, not even speaking for their memories. The Sapling was waiting for them to find him. "We're going to get to him before any of that happens!"

"Of course we are!" the Doctor nodded but then quietly admitted he wasn't sure how to go along with it.

"Uuh...Doctor? There's a corridor," Amy said, making them turn in her direction. She was pointing at a metal corridor that hadn't been there when they first walked in. It was wide open for them.

"But it's new," Avalon said. The metal wasn't covered with any moss or branches.

"If I know my TARDIS, she's desperately trying to contain the Sapling's roots so we can find a clean console room," the Doctor squeezed Avalon's hand still holding his. "She's literally shifting her own internal organs around."

Avalon could literally feel her heart cracking. "The TARDIS is doing that for us?" She pulled him into the corridor and stopped to look around. "She must be in agony."

"She is," the Doctor knew it. He gently touched the walls and thanked the TARDIS for soldiering on for them. They needed to solve this quickly.

The group hurried down the corridor and found a brand new console room...to them. For the Doctor, it brought out a small nostalgic laugh. "I can't quite believe it's still here after all these years." The console room was the very first one he had back in his first incarnation.

"What, this is actually a real console?" Rory looked around without seeming that impressed by it. It didn't really look like the Doctor, but then again there were so many versions of the man. Maybe this one represented whatever version used it.

"She knows me better than I know myself but she didn't back then," the Doctor came up to the console with Avalon. "That's why she gave me this beautiful blank canvas to begin with."

"And then you proceeded to draw all over it with crayons," Avalon innocently said, meeting the Doctor's sarcastic frown with a smirk.

"It was a foundation! A promise! With every regeneration she gets to know me a little bit better! The adventures we had in here though, the ones I can remember anyways. Monoids, Aridians, Voord, Krotons…"

"There are aliens named after stale bread?" Amy raised an eyebrow, genuinely making Avalon and Rory burst into laughter.

"No!" the Doctor huffed. "Well, yes, actually but these are spelled differently. Krotons are nasty, crystalline mental energy vampires! Oh...oh, I'm getting so slow in my old age! I once used the H.A.D.S. to save the TARDIS from the Krotons!"

"H.A.D.S.?" Avalon made a face. "What the hell is that?"

"Hostile Action Dispersal System. It's a defense mechanism which temporarily distributes the TARDIS' atoms over a wide area - or teleports it - when a breach is imminent."

"And why is that useful to us right now?" Rory inquired.

"If I can convince the TARDIS that the breach threat is internal before I activate the H.A.D.S., then it'll dematerialize around the Sapling, effectively separating them!"

"That could work!?" Avalon jumped on the chance.

"Hold on there mister!" Amy suddenly pointed a finger at the man. "If the TARDIS does that then it'll leave all of us outside in space! Last time I checked, none of us are space-proof!"

"I was getting to that!" the Doctor huffed. Honestly, did they think he would forget that detail? He moved around the console, and gently tapped the glass time rotor. 'Hello? I know you're busy trying to contain the Sap...the infection, but I have a plan. If you can give me any manual control, then I promise I'll get all of us out of this in one piece!"

"Did you just call the Sapling an infec-" Avalon was cut off by a strong, glowing white light erupting from the Time Rotor.

If the TARDIS believed it was an infection causing this mess then she would definitely agree to giving some control back to them.

The Doctor cheered. "That's my girl! To think, if it hadn't been for that very timely intervention, I'd have borrowed a crummy old Type 53 instead!"

Avalon raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so somebody helped you steal the TARDIS? You had an accomplice!"

"Doctorrrrr," the Scream emerged from the branches on the wall. "You mmmmemoriesss will keep the wood from ssswallowing my consciousnesss whole! Ssssurender to me or you pets diiiie!"

"He really needs to stop calling me a 'pet' or so help me!" Avalon snapped.

"Oh my God, I remember him," Amy blinked behind them. She and the Doctor were going through the same realization that they'd forgotten all about the Scream coming after them. That was the thing about the Scream, it's what made him extra deadly. All on his own, he had the power to make his enemies forget he was hunting them down.

"You remember evvverything," the Scream came closer to them.

The Doctor jumped in front of Avalon, putting on his best grin. "Hello! I'm the Doctor, lovely day, isn't it? And you are?"

"What!? I ssstole some of your memmmoriesss! I know you, Doctor! Yet you dare mmmock me? You maaaake light of my pain!?"

"Pain?" frowned Rory. "Has he seen what he's caused!?"

The Scream seemed to grow in size. White steam was billowing from its body. "You willll pay for thisss insult, Doctor! I have the your TARDISSSS and the Sssapling, my plan issss complete!"

The Doctor's grin dropped from his face to be replaced by a glower. "You're the Scream. You're part of the religious order. And you're angry because no one remembers you." But if anything, it should be afraid of him. He was part of the Silence and the Doctor still remembered what he promised to do if he ever saw another Silence again.

They would die for hurting his Ava.

"You will know when I have all the endless memmmories of your TARDISSS core. I shall use the Sssapling to ssspread across the universe and all will know mmy nnname!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the Scream. "You want to be remembered? Then earn it. You know what your kind never get?" Avalon watched his hands reach back for the console and she stepped closer to hide his arm movements. "You think by some terrible act or other that your name will go down in infamy. When, really, even if you succeed in whatever plan you've cooked up, people are just going to pity you. They might even despise you, if you give them reason to. The Sapling's an innocent, scared child. He has the potential to be anything, absolutely anything so leave him be!"

The Scream stayed silent for a moment, almost looking like he was considering the Doctor's words, but then…

He struck his white energy towards Avalon. She screamed and fell back with her eyes shut.

"AVALON!" the Doctor turned completely for the console to activate the H.A.D.S.

Amy and Rory wanted to get Avalon up but the energy around her enveloped her. She writhed in pain with her eyes still shut. She was seeing so many images in her mind at the moment, all of them rushing as light speed like a movie. She couldn't tell most of them apart but...some of them were of her time with Kovarian.

Not those. I don't want to see those!

But suddenly, the Scream was forced to stop. The H.A.D.S. was in full motion! The TARDIS was groaning altogether, pushing the Scream away. Avalon sucked in a sharp breath once she was set free, but her mind was far too frazzled to understand what was happening. Amy and Rory quickly snagged up their granddaughter from the ground, keeping her between them.

"Doctor, what's happening!?" Amy exclaimed just before the TARDIS properly exploded.

The last of the TARDIS' energy went into shielding everyone while they drifted in space. The Doctor was barely able to use his sonic to bring everything back together...everyone. And when they joined together again, a certain pair joined together, combining memories and branches and Silence all together.

~ 0 ~

Avalon's eyes snapped open as she woke with a sharp gasp. She sat upright on her bed, her eyes scanning her bedroom like there was something she was going to find…

"Avalon?" She heard Lena knocking on the door. "Avalon! You need to wake up! Mels, Amy and Rory are going to be here in one hour!"

Avalon blinked for a few seconds before slowly getting out of bed. "I'm...I was sleeping…" She whispered and cast a glance at the bed. Why was she repeating that? Yes, of course, she was sleeping. It was night time, so she slept. That's what she always did. She shook her head without thinking.

NO.

She stiffened. "Where'd that come from?"

"Avalon!" Lena knocked, or banged, on the door again. "Seriously! We're going to be late! Mum and Dad are already eating breakfast!"

"Mum?" Avalon whispered. "My...my Mum?"

Lena groaned and Avalon heard her stomping away. Why was she acting so weird? Yes, her parents made breakfast. That's what they always did. And...and she had plans today. Yes, yes, just like always.

She came up to her window to check for the weather. It looked like a lovely day. The sun was shining so brightly, reflecting beautifully on the far-off Citadel's dome. Avalon stared at it for a moment more, wondering why it was only that city that had a dome.

Becausssse it's a higher part of the town.

Avalon gasped at the new sound. She looked around and then a moment later thought herself a fool. Who else could have spoken to her? It was just her in her room.

~ 0 ~

Avalon came into the kitchen to see Emmalina Reynolds coming to the table with a new pile of pancakes that Rylan and Gavin were practically ready to devour. Lena chuckled as her mother smacked Gavin's hand away from the plate until it was set on the table.

"Honestly, you act like I never feed you!" Emmalina sighed until she saw Avalon at the threshold. "Good morning. You slept well!"

"Just like always," Lena added. "Wish we all slept like Avalon."

But Avalon didn't speak, nor move. She was staring at Emmalina with eyes wide. She felt something in her stomach, something like...like she wanted to throw up.

Look!

"Avalon," Emmalina softly called. "Are you alright?"

Avalon blinked and realized there was something on her face. When she touched her cheek, she found a tear. She was crying. Why was she doing that?

From the kitchen window, the Scream silently watched the Reynolds 'family'. The girl was stronger than he anticipated. Her mind was trying to warn her that the setting was fake, but why? He expected such a thing from the Doctor, but this girl? He would just have to keep manipulating all the memories he had, and since he and the Sapling were joined now...he had plenty of memories to draw from.

~ 0 ~

Avalon and Lena came skipping down the front steps of their home to where Amy, Rory and Mels were waiting for them.

"Took you long enough," Mels huffed. "Seriously, what took you so long?" Avalon tilted her head at Mels. Seeing the stare she now claimed, Mels arched an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"She probably recognizes her dress," Amy joked and shared a laugh with Lena and Rory.

"I borrowed it!" Mels exclaimed.

"Right!"

"I...like your hair," Avalon's hand came to rest over her own hair. Mels' hair was as curly as hers, but more ashy brown of course.

Mels smiled like she already knew her hair was good. "Thank you, sweetie. And just so we're clear, this is your dress."

"Avalon, what's the matter with you?" Lena spared her sister a weary glance before talking to the others. "She's been acting so weird today, it's not funny."

"Ah, she's just sad she couldn't find a date for the concert!" Mels came over to put her arm around Avalon's shoulders. "It's alright, I'm sure we'll find you someone to go home with."

"Mels!" Lena, Amy and Rory all chorused with the same groans.

Avalon, however, flinched at the idea of it. "I wouldn't," she said all too certain as well. Something about going home with someone...didn't settle right. It gave her that feeling of throwing up again.

"Let's just go before we're late," Rory motioned them to start walking.

Somewhere along the way, Avalon moved so that she was walking with Amy instead. There was something nagging in the back of her head, making her believe that perhaps Amy could help her out. "Hey Amy, do you ever get the feeling that...that something's kind of off?"

Amy made a face at the question. "Off? Like what?"

"I don't know," Avalon shrugged. "Like...like there's something you're missing?"

"Don't think so…" And yet, as Amy answered she began to look away. Avalon noticed it and thought that maybe she would change her answer. But just like that, Amy shook her head. "Nah! I think you're just tired!"

"No, I...I've been sleeping a lot, actually." Avalon thought that was pretty weird. Sleeping...a lot. She did that a lot, right?

"Yeah, and talking in your sleep from what Lena says," Amy chuckled. "You've been dreaming about someone, huh? Some nice fella out there that's caught your eye?"

Avalon blinked. "What? No I haven't!"

"Yeah, you have!" Lena chimed in from behind. "I bet it was some princess stuff cos you kept saying 'Fairy Tale Man' over and over."

"Oh," Avalon came to an automatic stop, even though she had no idea why. Something was sparking in her mind...a faint image. A man. She saw a man.

"What's wrong now?" Lena groaned.

"I thought I saw someone...in my head," Avalon brought a hand to her forehead. She rubbed her skin in hopes of getting that image back. "A-a man. He…"

"Ha, I knew it!" Mels laughed. "Avalon's thinking of her dream man!"

"Aren't we all?" Amy said, only to have Rory huff at her.

"Husband!"

Amy laughed and went along with him. "Right!"

"I swear Avalon, we'll find you a boyfriend by tonight," Mels promised, never noticing the way Avalon's face crinkled.

Something about the term 'boyfriend' didn't sit well with her.

~ 0 ~

"I can't put my finger on it but something's just not quite right about this place...this city." A homeless man maneuvered himself through the plant matter - er, forest - as best as he could. He was sure that if he kept pulling on one of those branches there would be something underneath it. The forest just didn't look right to him.

You need to ressst, that'ssss all. Too many adventuressss.

The man stopped. He had broken a part of a branch and stared at it, like something was supposed to be coming back to him. "You might be right. Perhaps I've been pushing it a bit." The man allowed for the Scream to take the branch from him. "What would I do without you, old friend?"

The creature was his only friend on the streets. He didn't have anything else, anyone else. Although, it was funny because he kept thinking of this woman...he couldn't quite see her but he could think of her. And he could smell her too if he really concentrated. Lavender. She smelled like lavender. Lovely scent. But she was probably just a dream. He dreamt someone up to make him feel less lonely.

"You would losssse yourssself in the night. Don't you thiiiink you look ttttired? Let'ssss go to the ssshelter? Get a hott meall." the Scream pulled him out his thoughts. That was the problem with the Doctor: he thought too much. The girl, while more aware, was more malleable. He didn't need to physically appear to her, much less the other two travelling with them. Those two were puppets.

The Doctor stopped to look at himself in a reflection. Funny, there was a mirror amongst all the plant matter. His eyes widened. He didn't quite like the beard on him but he liked his hat. Although, maybe it should've be more red and a bit more bowl shaped. What were those things called again?

"Maybe I do feel tired," he realized when his thought once again drifted to the woman. For some reason, he didn't think she would like that red hat he imagined. "I feel like there's a fog in my mind. Like something's just out of reach but you can't recall what. But there's still so much to see out there! I've never seen a Star Whale keening for its mate! I've never seen a sycorax ship deploy its faith coils to pray its way out of a gravitation blizzard!"

Doctorr, weee talked about thisss. You delusssionesss...

The Doctor stopped and exhaled. "I...was making things up again, wasn't I? Maybe Avalon could write them down for stories…" He trailed off, where did that come from?

The Scream ushered the Doctor away from the plant matter. One more pull of a branch and he would've discovered a hidden console underneath it. But now there he went again naming that pet! "All nonsensssse. No one else is hhhhere. It'ssss jussst you and meee, rememberrrr? Besides, every adventurrrer is rrrright heeere where you left it. Out here, on the streets."

The Doctor stared at the city ahead of them. Tears came to his eyes. There was a whole big city and he had no one to see it with. He would wander the streets on his own all day. "Yes, yes, of course. I don't need a home. I never did." He had no home.

Funny, that woman he kept thinking of would be a nice someone to see that city with, but she wasn't real.

~ 0 ~

Music blared, leaving ears ringing but no one cared. The crowd cheered and sang along to the music.

Except for Avalon. She was more preoccupied with the crowd itself. Everyone seemed to be having a good time but she couldn't help think that some of them...were just weird. It wasn't a nice thought at all, she knew, but the more she stared the more she couldn't shake the feeling off.

There was a metal man, for starters, bobbing his head to the music. Avalon felt like she should be afraid and yet...no one else seemed concerned. Then there was this lady who was all gray and her skin seemed kind of hard. For a moment, Avalon thought the woman should be covering her face.

Sssstop looking.

Avalon snapped her head behind her, as if the hissing voice would be right behind her. Where did that keep coming from!?

"Avalon, what are you doing!?" Amy laughed and pulled Avalon closer to her. "Sing along! He's singing your favorite song: Blue Box Blues!"

"Blue box…" Avalon whispered. She wrapped an arm around her stomach. She wanted to throw up again. "Amy...Amy something's not right."

"Yeah! You're not singing!"

"AMY!" Avalon shook the woman. "Just listen to me! Something's not right! All day I've been getting these feelings like...like I know that I've forgotten something but I don't know what it is! Plus...there's just something off!" She brought a hand to her hair, grasping strands as she frantically looked through the crowd...as if there was someone she was supposed to find.

"Okay, geez, Avalon. Just calm down," Amy cautiously grabbed Avalon's arms, keeping her steady. "I'm listening. I'm really listening."

Avalon felt tears in her eyes. Her breath was raggedy like she'd run a marathon just then. "There's...there's a voice inside my head. It keeps...hissing at me…" She scrunched her face. It made her body shiver just thinking about it. "I need help, I need a doct…"

There was a spark of recognition across her eyes for just a brief second, half a second. Though Avalon forgot about it, she knew she had to get out of there. Actually, not just her. "Rory!" She reached past Amy and grabbed Rory's arm. "We have to go!"

"What, hey! The song was just about to end!" Rory complained as Avalon dragged him and Amy out of the concert.

"Avalon, I think we should get you home!" Amy exclaimed just as Avalon brought them to the streets.

"You two need to get a grip and realize that it's not…" Avalon let go of the two when she saw a swirling portal across the street. Her eyes widened as it stretched out to become like a crack in the air. "What's...that's not...this isn't…" She looked around the street with both hesitance and fear. "Is this real?"

"Hey...that looks…" Amy blinked at the crack. She shook her head and that odd feeling she got from just looking at the thing.

"Cracks," Avalon breathed in. "There's cracks in the universe. I...somebody said that. Somebody else said that too, and I…"

"No, it's true! I found three more cracks in the last street!" A man's voice carried over, pulling the trio's attention to the end of the street where a homeless man was running down, excitedly babbling on. "I wonder if there's more!"

"There's one right here!" Avalon found herself blurting and promptly covered her mouth when she realized it.

The Doctor came running down to stop beside them and see the crack proudly scarring the air. "Interesting! Do you know what the crack is?"

"Clearly we don't or else we wouldn't be here, right?" Avalon's sarcasm made the Doctor smile.

"It's a crack!"

"But that we clearly knew!"

"Avalon!" Rory hissed. "Stop fighting with a homeless man!"

Avalon turned around, her hair flipping with her. The Doctor sniffed the air when he got a whiff of...lavender.

"You smell like lavender," he turned the woman around without even thinking it. Avalon looked at him strangely and despite being a homeless man, she didn't really feel scared. Actually, he was kind of cute.

"I don't like your hat," she had to say when she got a look at the ruddy thing.

"Yeah, and you don't like fezzes either!" The Doctor's eyes widened as soon as the words left his mouth.

"...Doctor?" Avalon's hand shakily reached to touch his face and the Doctor just let it happen. There was something quite warm about her hand and her gentle fingers.

"Ava…" He hummed in content.

"Enough!" the Scream hissed as it appeared in front of them. Avalon yelped and jumped back. Amy and Rory did the same from their spots. The Doctor quickly barred the way to Avalon, not even realizing when he did it. "You two togetherrrr againnn! I ssssupose it was inevitable! I tried to make thissss painlesss. The memory transferrrr is ssso much cleaner with a living victimmm, but ssso be it!"

"How did we forget again!?" Amy cried angrily, shooting Rory who was also remembering the real situation.

"What!? Don't look at me! You forgot too!" he shouted back.

But their argument was cut off when the Doctor and Avalon cried in pain. They were disintegrating like Orphan had, only instead of white bits they were releasing small green leaves.

"Everyone thinkssss they want to ffind the truth…" the Scream watched the pair fall to their knees on the ground. Roots sprouted to force them down. "Until the truth findsss themmm. You wanted a home, Doctor? I shall eat you now. A hot meal for the homeless man!"

"Ah, Doctor, how do we help you!?" Amy ran towards them but the Scream fired at her to keep still. Rory yanked her to his side, motioning they would freeze there...at least until they figured out a way to help the Doctor and Avalon.

The roots, which were the Scream's own tendrils, wrapped around each of them. It invaded their minds, intending on taking everything he could find. He just failed to realize that it was a two-way connection. Memories were flowing out from the pair but at the same time memories were flowing in from the Scream, the very memories the Sapling once upon a time took at the time of his birth.

"The Sapling…" the Doctor sucked in a sharp breath, "He's a tree isn't he? That's where we found him...a forest planet?"

Avalon could see the memory he talked about, but she literally felt her insides being crushed. "He's...going to kill us!"

"How sweeeet that you rememberrrr again. You think of the Scream and you knooowwww fffeear! Soon you shall beee entirely consumed. Sooon you shall nottt existtt. You shalll only exisssst in here! In my head! My memoriesss! NOthing will exist, other than the Scream!"

And then the Scream, everyone for that matter, heard the Doctor laugh.

"Are you seriously laughing!?" Amy incredulously stared at the Time Lord.

He was. He truly was even when the branches were wrapping around his body. "I just realized...well, I remembered. This entire world is populated by my and Avalon's memories. You just threw in Amy and Rory cos you had no idea what to do with them yet-"

"Thanks," Rory cut in with the exact flat face his wife had.

"-and because the Sapling wouldn't let you get rid of them. This place is an entirely subjective environment and you're about to kill us! Then Amy, and Rory...so what happens when we're all gone? Who will be here to remember you if it's just you?"

"Ha…" Avalon found strength to laugh for a tiny moment. The branches were squeezing her tight. "If a tree falls in a forest and no one's around…"

"...does anyone know?" the Scream realized.

"Ava, I'm passing a psychic message to you via the root system." the Doctor quickly said before the Scream could enact what promised to be even more outrageous than what he already did, "A plan. Listen to me, Ava. Just listen."

Avalon wanted to point out that she had no idea how to receive such a message, but the Doctor went ahead anyways. She closed her eyes and let whatever happen, happen.

The Scream...screamed. A white light had eradicated his entire world, leaving only him in a white place. Was a room? A world? He didn't know.

"Is anyone there?" he called out. "Can anybody hear me? I...I don't want to be alone!"

"Because it sucks, right?"

The Scream turned around to find Avalon standing a few feet away from him. She was scowling at him. "I know how it feels to be alone. The Doctor does too. And you used that against us. And you know the funny thing is, if you had just asked the Doctor for help...he would've done it. I know he's said that he'd kill any Silence for what they did to me but I know my Doctor. You weren't part of the Silence. You didn't do anything. All you needed to do was ask for help...but you didn't."

"Youuuu will diiiie!" the Scream pointed at her.

Avalon swallowed hard. "You absorbed the Sapling. You took his powers, right? So use them. Why don't you just make copies of yourself? Then you never have to be alone again."

"I...yes…" the Scream realized that would be an even better plan. With thousands of him, he could take over every planet and force everyone to remember him.

Avalon watched the Scream multiply and multiple until there were really near a thousand of them just staring at her, maliciously planning no doubt. She felt her breath leave her. "Is...is the Sapling inside you somewhere? Can...can you release him? You've got what you wanted. There's so many of you, why keep him?" Her eyes teared up as the memories of the Sapling started resurfacing in her mind. "Please...he's...he's my son. I want him back."

The Scream flatly ignored her. "I can make endless copiessss of me! They willlll spread acrossss the universe! With the Sapling'sssss power I caaaan make millionssss...billionsss of me! I will absorb alll life! The universe willll only be the Screammm!"

"Fine," Avalon spat, her eyes narrowing on the Scream.

"Oi! Bighead!" the Doctor's voice hollered, making every copy of the Scream look away from themselves.

And once they looked away from themselves, it forgot that it existed. Each of them faded away into nothing, leaving no trace that it had ever existed in the first place.

Avalon turned around to see the Doctor, Amy and Rory. It was funny, the white room - she decided it was a room - seemed endless. She had to run for a few seconds until she could join them.

She jumped into the Doctor's arms, hugging him tight. "I did it! I got your message! I did it!"

"I know you did," the Doctor hugged her tight, getting that strong scent of sweet lavender. He truly did love it.

"So he just...he just forgot himself?" Rory felt a headache coming along with just that detail.

"We literally used its own weapon against it," the Doctor said to them as he let Avalon go just a bit. He had completely forgotten her for a moment there and he wasn't interested in letting her go anytime soon.

"So then shouldn't we have faded from existence when the Scream did?" Amy gestured to the white room. "We were inside him, after all. He absorbed us."

"You'd think so, the Scream vanished but…" there was a familiar grin on the Doctor's face that Avalon saw first. "Remember that he merged with the Sapling and now the Scream is gone, so that means we're currently inside…"

"The Sapling!" Avalon gasped, soon sporting the same grin as the Doctor's. "He's still alive!"

"That's really great, but how do we get out!?" Rory exclaimed.

"Hello! Hi!" Amy started shouting into the air. "Sapling, if you can hear us...I'm really tired! Can we just go home!?"

There was a light whooshing air, almost like the TARDIS would make. Before they knew it, the outline of a door appeared a few feet away from them.

"Is it really that easy?" Avalon blinked, stepping towards it.

"If he knows that I'm tired then yeah," Amy shot them a smirk and hurried up to it despite Rory's warning call to wait. Amy opened the door and stepped into the console room, their console room. "Aha! Yes!" But she gasped when she saw the Sapling across from them.

Everyone else did too.

The Sapling was back but he was a little different…and not so little anymore...

"Sapling!" Avalon zoomed right past the group to hug the Sapling, although she had to go on her tippy-toes because now the Sapling was as tall as the Doctor.

"What's wrong with him?" Rory whispered to the Doctor.

"Nothing! He's...matured!" the Doctor grinned and hurried over as well.

The Sapling had grown into a man - a tree man. He had lost his brown wooden skin to be replaced by a white, pinkish skin. His eyes had shrunken a bit, stretched out only slightly. Even his head was no longer that pointy!

"I grew up, Mother," the Sapling pulled away from Avalon to hug the Doctor, revealing his lower voice in the process.

"Yes, you did!" Avalon laughed out of surprise.

"We all go through a difficult adolescent phase where a homicidal memory-stealing alien from a strange religious cult wants to use us to take over the entire universe and turn every living thing into them!" the Doctor stepped back beside Avalon and found her glaring at him.

"Please stop talking."

The Sapling laughed. Avalon gave him a strange look for that. "You even laugh like a grown up. When Rory was a kid, his voice broke so much when he laughed!"

"Avalon, shush!" Rory frowned. This was no time to bring up his teenage years!

"You found me," the Sapling breathed out with a nervous smile. "Just like you promised you would."

"You are family," the Doctor reiterated to him. "You're our son."

"Yes," the Sapling nodded, as if only now just coming to terms with it. "You are my Father, you are my Mother…" He looked past the pair to Amy and Rory, "My...aunt and uncle." The two thanked him for not revealing their true relationship. "I wanted to thank you all for believing in me. You saved me. My race, my DNA...it said that I had to destroy and spread across the universe. That I was a weapon."

"But you're not," Avalon shook her head. "You are so incredible! You're my son!"

"Truly," the Doctor agreed.

"Father, you stole this TARDIS, ran from your people, refused to be what you were told to be. You decided to be kind. You are an inspiration!"

"Oh, well..I…" the Doctor stammered as he looked around, making the others laugh.

Avalon threw her arms around him. "I agree! And you made him blush!"

"No, I'm not!"

The Sapling smiled as the two bickered for a few seconds. They didn't even hear him when he pointed out that they both had their memories back.

"Alright you two, break it up!" Amy came marching up to them and physically ripped them away from each other. "Sheesh! Bad influence on your child!"

"Yeah, yeah," the Doctor waved them off. "So, Sapling, where to from here? Would you like to stay or…?"

"Or?" Avalon frowned, her eyes flickering from him and the Sapling. "What do you mean 'or'?"

"Well, it's just...the Sapling is - as he put it - all grown up. Sometimes, typically, that means he might want to go exploring on his own."

Avalon's entire face fell at the idea of the Sapling leaving them. Without realizing it, she'd become so attached to him. She'd gotten used to having the little one around…

But he's not 'little' anymore and that's the point!

"You're all grown up," she said sadly. "Of course you want to leave."

"It's not that I want to leave you, Mother. I'm just curious," the Sapling smiled softly at her. He walked up to her and put his hands over her shoulders. "But it doesn't mean I won't come back. You're my Mother."

"Not a very good one, I'm afraid," Avalon sniffed. "I-I didn't really know what to do half the time. I'm sorry about that."

"You were wonderful, Mother! So much fun! I will always love our movie marathons! And the Heist! That's my favorite memory with Father."

The Doctor grinned. "Don't fret, I'm sure we'll have another one!"

"No, we won't!" Rory huffed. They just didn't understand that heists were wrong, didn't they!?

The Sapling smiled at all of them. "Yes, I won't go away forever. I'll be back to visit!"

The Doctor moved for the console and rummaged through the under compartments until he pulled out a familiar device. "Take this, Sapling. In case you wander to some, uh, not so advanced parts of the galaxies. And Earth."

The Sapling took the device from him. It was what changed his appearance to a human boy when he visited Leadworth. "Thank you, Father."

"Well...can I have another hug before we have to drop you off?" Avalon was already holding her arms out. She felt like she was about to burst into sobs. So, the Sapling hugged her for a little bit longer than the others.

~ 0 ~

Following into his mother's footsteps, the Sapling chose to start his own adventures in the 51st century. With tears in their eyes, the family parted and went their separate ways. As soon as everything was back to normal, Avalon was shipped off to the medbay for a thorough examination. After breathing in the air from Zoline and undergoing the Scream's own personal world, they needed to make sure Avalon hadn't suffered any setbacks in her health.

"I still think this is all just a tad too much," Avalon sighed in her spot. She scooted to the edge of the medbed while the Doctor hurried back to the computers to upload her latest blood samples.

"Nope! You're not getting up from that bed until I'm done with you!"

A smirk played on Avalon's face. "Ooh, I didn't know you were thinking like that, Fairy Tale Man."

The Doctor winced and shot her a look, though as upset as he wanted to seem the bright red blush on his face greatly contradicted it. "Not like that!" Before she could say anything else, he dove his head to the computers instead. She needed to stop playing with him like that because one of these days…

"So, how is everything?" Avalon asked after a moment of listening to computers whizzing.

"Pretty normal...for you," the Doctor was happy to read. He literally felt his hearts returning to their normal beating speed. Her lungs didn't hold on to any of the poisons from Zoline's air and her brain scans showed nothing was damaged from the Scream's attacks. She was perfectly normal.

He could breathe again.

He turned around and went straight to the ginger, pulled her right off the bed to hug her. "I promise there'll be no more invasions into your head." He kissed the top of her head.

"That would be nice," Avalon hummed. "Although, it does feel kind of nice knowing that even when we forgot about each other, we still found each other."

The Doctor smiled and swayed her a bit. "Of course I'd find you, Ava." Because I love you. Oh, those were still too strong words for her. He didn't want to freak her out after everything that already happened.

Avalon hummed for a few seconds until she spoke again, "Well, I just want to make it clear that you do have a home." She raised her head to meet his gaze. The Sapling had heard all the conversations they had in the Scream's world and was fairly good at giving Avalon the quick run-down of the Doctor's most popular thoughts in that world. He felt like he didn't have a home and that could not be. "You said you didn't have a home, but you do. It's me, Amy and Rory. We're not Gallifrey but I can try to make it as best as I can."

The Doctor brought his hands to cup her face. "You are absolutely wonderful," he said, feeling truly touched with her words. Yes, of course you're my home. I was just so alone in that other world...it's actually not that far from what I used to be."

"Well that's never happening again," Avalon was quick to say, "Because I am never leaving you. I'm here until the end..." Those words brought her to the next point she wanted to discuss - she wanted to yell actually but she didn't want to make things worse. "Doctor, is it really true that you don't have any regenerations left?"

The Doctor's expression turned grim fast. He should've figured that was going to come back sooner or later. He dropped his hands from her face and sighed. "Yes..."

"But didn't you say you were in your eleventh incarnation?" Or had she misheard that bit? She was sure that she hadn't.

The Doctor brought a hand up to the back of his neck. "I...this is my last body. My previous incarnation wasted one regeneration."

"How!?"

"He, uh...I...liked that face, a lot. So I kept it." Looking back at it, it truly was a waste of a regeneration.

"That's one, where's the other one?"

The Doctor would prefer not to talk about that incarnation. He didn't even consider it an incarnation but Avalon wasn't going to let it go. She wanted to know the truth and after everything, she deserved some truth. "There's one incarnation that I don't really like to think of, nor remember. It was the one during the War. That's two incarnations there so...this me...is the last one."

"How could you not tell me that?" Avalon thought about Lake Silencio. River had been wrong. The Doctor didn't die 'mid-regeneration'. He had just died. He would die because he was shot, not because he couldn't make it to the next regeneration. Had the astronaut known that?

You're learning it right now. She stiffened. What if the future was cementing right now?

Tears filled Avalon's eyes when her thoughts started spinning with multiple Lake Silencio scenarios. "Oh my God," she covered her mouth.

The Doctor sprang into action when he saw her tears. "N-n-n-n-no, Ava! I'm okay! I'm alright!" He yanked her into another hug, this time holding her as tightly as he could. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you that. I-I didn't know how to bring it up."

Avalon knew there was no way to bring that up into a conversation. If roles were reversed she would probably struggle too. But she knew it wasn't why she was crying. Her tears belonged to the future. She couldn't let that happen to him. If she was the astronaut, then she would make sure she never hurt him. She could do that. She could really do that.

She rested her hands over his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heart beats. "Then I guess we'll have to make sure nothing happens to these hearts." She raised her head to meet his soft smile. "I can take care of them."

"Yeah?" the Doctor wouldn't mind that one bit.

"Mhm, I'll be gentle with them." Avalon watched him near her lips, her own lips curving into a smile. I'll love them. She paused so subtly that the Doctor never saw it. She had no idea where that thought came from but it brought about special butterflies in her stomach. She looked at him in a whole different light and suddenly the only thing she wanted to do was kiss him until she ran out of breath.

"They couldn't be in safer hands," the Doctor murmured just before kissing her, unknowingly fulfilling her current desire. Avalon quickly moved her arms around his neck to bring him closer and leave their bodies firmly pressed against each other's.

Unfortunately, they were interrupted shortly afterwards…

"What kind of exams are you running here, exactly?" The sharp voice of Amy broke them apart.

"P-Ponds!" the Doctor sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of both Amy and Rory at the doorway. This was bad, bad!

"I told you they needed supervision!" Rory huffed at his wife and crossed his arms.

"Shame, I lost a bet because of you two!" Amy pointed at the pair who were frozen in their spots. Glumly, she reached into her pant's pockets to pull out the money.

"You bet on us?" frowned Avalon before it hit her. "Wait! What about!?"

"That you could handle this relationship like adults obviously!"

"You knew!?" Avalon and the Doctor yelled with the same red blush on their faces.

"Since when!?" Avalon demanded.

Amy and Rory looked at each other to make the calculations. They went back and forth for a few minutes until they agreed. "Two weeks ago!"

"What? And you didn't say anything?" The Doctor arched an eyebrow at them, for a brief moment wondering if they were truly the Ponds.

"Well, it was obvious you guys weren't ready to tell us," Amy shrugged then flashed them a smirk. "Course it just seems like you were a lot more busy snogging than anything else."

"Yeah, since this is all out in the air can we just dial it back a bit?" Rory properly shivered. He did not enjoy catching his granddaughter snogging the hell out of the Doctor two weeks ago. That was not a way to start a morning. He would've yelled for them to stop if Amy hadn't pulled him out of the console room in time.

"You're not...you're not mad?" the Doctor's voice was a tad squeaky, much to Amy's amusement. He was clearly nervous of their reactions.

Avalon moved one of her arms over his shoulder and looked at his anxious face. Poor thing really did look scared. It warmed her heart that he truly cared a lot about what Amy and Rory had to say about their relationship, but at the same time she felt the need to point out it didn't matter what they thought. She wondered why he was so fixated on their opinions anyways.

"We were surprised that you started a relationship without letting us in on the secret," Rory was the one to say and for the same reason the Doctor had asked the question in the first place. He made it very clear in the beginning what he thought about the relationship if it ever were to happen. He supposed that even after he apologized to the Doctor and told him that he would really be okay with a relationship between them, the Doctor would still be nervous. "But we're happy for you, really."

Once again, the Doctor felt like he could breathe again. Avalon shook her head at him with a laugh. "I think your hearts were doing the salsa for a moment!" She gave a light pat to his chest.

He rolled his eyes at her. He didn't care. He just heard that her grandparents were okay with their relationship. They didn't want him away from her!

"Avalon, are you happy?" Amy asked her even though the answer was clear as day.

The Doctor still had one arm wrapped around her waist while she adjusted his bowtie. "Like you wouldn't believe it," Avalon hummed contently. She had just made the biggest realization in her life and she wasn't going to let anyone take it away. "My Fairy Tale Man has made me so happy."

"That's great," Amy nodded before clapping her hands together. "So now that we're all in the loop we can implement the rules."

That certainly snapped Avalon out of her moment. "The what now?"

"The rules!" chorused her grandparents.

"One of the most important rules is you are to sleep in separate rooms, young lady!"

"Oh, c'mon-" Avalon was in the middle of rolling her eyes when Amy reached over to yank her away. "Amy!"

"No, you actually do need to rest tonight Ava," the Doctor pointed at her and earned himself a glare. "Goodnight Ava!"

Avalon gasped as Amy dragged her out of the room. "Doctor! I hate you!"

"Yeeeeah," Rory clapped a hand over the Doctor's shoulder, "For your own safety, you're going to always want to agree with Ava. It's survival. She gets that from her grandmother." Of course he winced when he remembered that Amy wasn't that far away and could possibly overhear him.

The Doctor could half-smile now. "Thanks Rory. So...are you really okay?"

"Yes, of course. I told you this, Doctor. I'm really sorry for what I used to think but I know where Avalon is safest and where she's happiest. And even though Amy and I caught you two weeks ago, we knew something was up," Rory crossed his arms and smirked when the Doctor paled for a few seconds.

"Y-you did?"

"Of course. Avalon was a wreck after Berlin. Three months we spent trying to build her health and her mental health...and then one day, poof! She's not grumpy anymore, she didn't cry as much...she was smiling. My granddaughter was laughing again. You made that happen and I will always be thankful for that."

The Doctor was touched to hear Rory's words. To know that Rory, the person who was most against this relationship, was truly thankful for him...it relieved the Doctor of several layers of guilt. "Thank you Rory. Really."

"There's just one thing I'm going to ask of you," Rory warned, his face softening as he spoke again, "Please keep her safe. I lost my daughter, I couldn't keep her safe. I don't want Avalon to keep suffering. Please promise me that you will always keep her safe. When Amy and I are long gone, promise me that you'll put Avalon's safety first."

"Rory, don't talk about that…" the Doctor hated to think that one day he and Amy would...they would...die. It truly hurt his insides, made them churn too.

"No, we have to. Especially now that we know Avalon's lifespan is just like...doubled or tripled, whatever it is...it's a lot longer than what Amy and I are going to live combined. And that's fine. I would never want to bury her or River first. They need to bury us first. So when Amy and I are gone, you promise me that Avalon will come first no matter what."

"I swear Rory," the Doctor ultimately said. He understood where Rory was coming from. He was, after all, a father and grandfather himself (at least he once was). The need to keep one's family safe was a powerful force. It overrode anything else. Rory felt that towards Avalon and he couldn't dismiss it simply because he wasn't comfortable talking about death. "Avalon will always come first. Her safety will be my first priority."

Rory nodded firmly. "Thank you." He wouldn't share with the Doctor, nor Amy for that matter, that there was still a tiny part of him that still felt like there was a moment coming for them; something that would hurt all of them. He just hoped that the Doctor would fulfill his promise if the time ever called for it.

Author's Note:

And that concludes the Sapling's arc but don't fret, he's not gone forever! He'll be making some visits later on! When I first read this arc I thought the ending was SO cool and yet so sad. I mean, all they had to do was get the Scream to look away from itself to defeat him. I don't know, I just got chills when I read that moment. It was written so nicely and so sadly...*Jake Peralta's voice* Chills, literal chills!

#ocappreciation #doctor who #11th doctor #dw imagine #11th doctor imagines #doctor who fics #11th doctor fics #dw fics #amy pond #rory williams #oc: Avalon Reynolds #fic: falling in temptation

19 notes · View notes

destieldisaster · 3 years

Text

13x01 - Lost and Found

MotW: angels

Any Cas? Nope, only his corpse 😭

Damn, that's a good Road So Far with Nothing Else Matters

JAAAAACK. No, he's not your father, not yet anyway..

Oh god, Dean's still kneeling there and staring at Cas 😭

Damn, dude's powerful

They did well at making him seem real creepy

Heyyy, Joaquim Riverdale!

"Cas is.." he can't say it 😭

Why that creepy grin? Jack? Why?

Oh god, seeing Cas lying there with the sheet 😭

"Everyone's normal in their own way" awwww

"I remember when the bad woman burned. I remember the universe screamed." Well damn, Jack..

Okay, he's adorable

Oh Dean, his knuckles 😭

They're eating candybars together 😊

"I like nougat" 🥰

Nooooo, he didn't mean to hurt her :(

"When I get scared things happen. I can't stop them."

Jaaaaaaaack 😭

"MY FATHER IS CASTIEL"

"That's why I chose him to be my father"

JAAACK 😭😭😭😭

Oh, Sam trying to shield Jack..

Well doooone Sammy

Not this angel rubbing Cas's death in Dean's face and telling him it's his fault..

Yeah, that's not gonna kill Jack..

"When have things ever gone right for us"

Of course Dean's tried praying, of course he has..

"We've lost everything. And now you're gonna bring him back."

AND THE PUNCHING

Oh no, Jack seeing Cas

DEAN WRAPPING HIM UP AND BARELY HOLDING BACK TEARS

Dean's dead look at the funeral I can't take this 😭

#i love jack so damn much he's fantastic #but holy hell dean's grief is powerful here it's radiating from him #and both are making me extremely emotional so i pretty much sobbed through this whole episode #gotta hold onto the sweet jack moments to get through the rest of the widower arc..#spn rewatch #13x01 #lost and found #rewatch potential

4 notes · View notes

imfroughtwithjelly-sy · 4 years

Note

OH MY GOD IM SO SORRYYYYYCHVFBV WHAT HAVE I DOOOONE

GTUGYTGU

3 notes · View notes

comfy-whumpee · 5 years

Text

Liam 6

[Liam in order. TW for memories of abuse.]

“Standing here on the floor, outside the bathroom door, singing a song for fun, waiting for you to be doooone.”

Lindsey’s flat, tuneless voice carried through the door to where Liam was sitting on the edge of the bath, staring at the water streaming into the tub from the shower head suspended over the taps. He was holding the hem of his shirt and chewing his lip, teeth gnawing over and over until it chafed.

She had suggested this after the first time, when he’d stripped down, showered, dried and dressed, and the whole time the feeling of Grant’s eyes on him, and the sound of his voice, and the knife on his back, had been filling his body up until he couldn’t breathe. She’d offered to hang out by the door, listening for if he started hyperventilating or called for her.

So far it had worked okay. Today seemed to be difficult.

It was a shame. A lot of the things Lindsey and Cat suggested seemed to work. Cat had told him to answer his own questions where he could, and he’d realised just how many monitoring queries he made through the day, checking on her mood and her generosity, ready at any moment for her to be angry. Now, when he looked at her and opened his mouth to check he could eat dinner, she raised an eyebrow and he realised that yes, of course he could.

Did I fucking say you could eat that? I bought that, how dare you.

Lindsey took him on her morning walk now, and he was getting used to Matilda. He still didn’t like it when she bounded up to him and tried to get him to play, but Lindsey usually caught her in time and distracted her. When she didn’t, she would step in and rescue him instead, hauling her dog off him and laughing all the while to show him that she didn’t mind. She’d hug him, too, if he was upset. She gave nice hugs.

Stop crying. Why are you always crying?

Shut up, Grant.

“Standing here at the door, outside on the landing floooor...”

Cat was teaching him some legal stuff, actions he could take against Grant to reclaim what he’d contributed to the household during the brief periods he’d had a job. Grant had always taken his wages as rent, which Cat said was challengeable. She’d found him a lawyer and was explaining the processes to him before they started proceedings, knowing he needed to hear it more than once to really understand. She was a surprisingly patient teacher, if still terrifyingly serious.

“Singing a song for fun, singing until you are done!”

Lindsey cooked with him sometimes. She was a fast chopper and delicate peeler, but over-seasoned things like he’d never seen. Cat liked the changes he’d made to their dishes, and Lindsey was always chatty and interested to hear his alterrations, no matter how nervously he offered them.

Did anyone ask what you think, huh?

She was always there for him. She’d be there for him now, if he could just make himself move. He felt like his body had set, like clay that needed working soft again. His eyes were fixed on a point on the opposite wall and he couldn’t make them move.

“Standing on, bathroom floor, outside here, door door door.”

He blinked, finding himself smiling at her nonsense parody of her song. His eyes focused again. Lindsey would help.

He got up and opened the door, and Lindsey’s song stopped as she turned to him in surprise. “Didn’t hear the water go off,” she remarked, looking at his dry hair and the hands locked in his jumper hem. “What’s up?”

He swallowed. She was smiling, patient and interested, eyes laser-focused on him. He didn’t need to be scared. She’d never tried to hurt him.

“Don’t feel up to it,” he admitted at last, tucking his chin down to his chest.

“Huh?” she tilted her head, putting herself back into his field of vision. “Why not? Scary today?”

“N-no, it’s...it’s just the, my scars.”

“Your scars?” She almost looked like she didn’t remember. Then she said, “Oh! The mine-mine-mine thing, right?”

He nodded, head shrinking into his shoulders.

She grinned at him. “Wanna try something therapeutic?”

He blinked, and she took his elbow, pulling him along to one of the other rooms on the landing. It was an office, the one Cat often vanished into in the morning. Lindsey left him in the doorway and went to the desk, pulling a drawer open and picking out a marker pen.

“C’mon,” she said, and took him back to the bathroom. She turned off the water, and the room was suddenly silent. Her voice, and her smile, were soft. “Shirt.”

God, you look like shit. Why do you make me do this?

Fuck off, Grant, I didn’t make you do shit.

He pulled the shirt off and tossed it on the floor all at once. He forced his back to straighten, and Lindsey beamed at him.

“You look badass, you know,” she told him, popping the cap off the pen and taking the mirror down from the wall to rest in front of him. He met her gaze in the reflection, and she winked, pen lid in her mouth. “Ready?” she said around it.

He had no idea what she was going to do, but she had a hand on his shoulder, and she wanted to help, so he nodded.

He flinched at the cold touch of the felt tip. Lindsey dragged it across his back in a line.

“One!” she said.

The second time wasn’t such a surprise. It scratched faintly over his skin. “Two!”

“What–” he broke in, apologetically, “what are you doing?”

“Oh!” She spat out the pen lid and he jumped again as it pinged into the bath. She laughed, and picked up the mirror, tilting it to show him.

Across the scar on his shoulder, the deeply-engraved MINE, she had scored a hard black line.

“I’m crossing ‘em out,” she told him.

It was...weird. It looked clumsy, and simplistic, and yet Liam found himself smiling. Maybe it was Lindsey’s affectionate enthusiasm, or the confidence with which she’d proposed the solution. Maybe it felt...kind of good, to do something different.

“Wanna keep going?”

Why not?

“Yeah,” he said. A smile tugged on his lip as she started humming, crossing out scar after scar as if it could make them go away, and maybe, even if it didn’t help - maybe it was good enough, that it was making her happy.

#my fic #whump #angst #tw abuse #comfort #creepy caregiver #scars #recovery #liam #lindsey #look! she's helping!

23 notes · View notes

gravitationallychallengedrabbits · 6 years

Text

A rant so buckle in I can't find the keep reading button

Oh boy internet I came out to my parents and now I'm out on Facebook and my uncle texted me asking if it was a joke (my girlfriend and I came out via relationship status).

FIRST OFF

I'm sorry, but when a person posts a relationship status, do you think it's a joke?? He legit asked me "is this some sort of April fool's prank" like I'm some sort of child.

Second, I don't talk to this guy. I don't like him. That whole side of the family is just... Ugh. I don't want anything to do with him, and he waltzes into my inbox asking if I "had something to tell my uncle" like??? Bitch??

Oh boy I am Angery. I did that because it's MINE and my GIRLFRIENDS to tell, NOT his to take and turn into a warning for his bitchass demon children. Homophobic religious asshole.

MMMM AM SO MAD

I've had to dance around all of my parents bullshit for the past four days. They told me I was a liar and going to hell and a horrible daughter and my mother sobbed through a church service like I was dying or dead.

AAAAAAAQQAQQWWJWJJWHAHSJSNNAJSJJD

I'm so doooone I would like to Scream. And Keep Screaming. My head hurts. My stomach hurts. My body hurts.

I am not a terrible person. I am not a terrible person. I am not, and they will not make me feel like it.

I am not a sinner. I am not dirty in the eyes of God. I am not going to hell. I am not a liar. I did what I did to protect myself from all this fucking bullshit. I'm so hurt.

I didn't even get to choose how and when to come out. I was backed into a corner with no choice but to answer a question I'd been avoiding. I didn't want it to be like this. I wanted to be far away from here.

Now my family is going to ban me from events and shove Religious Propaganda up my ass and tell me just how fucking horrible they think I am. Honestly, I want them to. I want them to leave me alone. I want to scream.

I was shaking when he texted me and I couldn't breathe the way I wanted to. I don't have to defend myself. I don't have to explain away my relationship. I am valid. I am loved. She loves me, and I love her. So fucking much.

Does that make me a bad person? Am I going to hell for that? Fine. I'll accept that. If the god they claim to worship really will treat me the way they're treating me, then I'll gladly go to hell. God. Fuck them.

I came out on Facebook in a house where all the people in it want nothing to do with it and have no support to give.

"we don't condone your lifestyle choice" they say.

"what, like gay couples?" They say.

I'm on the phone with my girlfriend and I'm so happy that I've never had to do this alone. I'm so glad she's right next to me, coming out to her family with me. She is valid. She is valid. We are valid.

We do not have to defend our relationship. Our relationship is valid and healthy and if you can't fuck off with your perverted view of me and my girlfriend then I'll smash your face in. Get out of here.

People are going to comment and demand and yell and I don't have time for that anymore. I'll leave. I'll run away. Buy a one way ticket and leave them to sit up thirty years later wondering whatever happened to me because I refuse to have a thing to do with them.

Okay I feel better now

#personal rant #ugh #homophobia #parents

4 notes · View notes

figureditoutkindalikeit-blog · 6 years

Text

PART TWO - “We try so hard to hide everything we’re really feeling from those who probably need to know our true feelings the most” – Colleen Hoover, Maybe Someday

The sun was peeking through the tree leaves and even that early in the morning it was very bright. Lori was sitting on a bench at Regent’s Park with her camera on her lap. She enjoyed waking up early on the weekend to go to parks and take pictures of the first rays of sun hit the trees. There was always a poetic vibe to the light on those circumstances and being able to walk around before anyone else got in the parks, gave a sense of creative freedom to her. She was taking a sip of her hot chai, watching as the first few people begin to enter the park, when she got a text. She places her cup next to her and grabs her phone to check it. The text read: “’I have such desire to sleep and am so much behind my sleep. A good night, one good night and all this nonsense will be swept away’ - H”. Lori smiles at it and replies “A bit dark, but suitable for a morning note, I guess”. Harry answers with a smiley emoji. Ever since they realized both wanted to keep in touch but that wish got lost in translation – along with the disappearing note – they started talking a lot over the phone, and picked up the habit of sending each other little notes with quotes from authors they knew or liked. It was an almost every day thing, taking turns on who would send that day. Harry was the one that forgot his notes duties more often, but Lori didn’t mind, ‘coz she knew he worked a lot and almost always had busy days. When that happened, she just kept her notes to herself, waiting until he realized it was his turn, which didn’t take long because he’d end up missing hers and realizing why she wasn’t sending any. Today was Harry’s day.

Sometimes the only interaction they would have would be the notes, and that was fine. So Lori placed the phone back in her pocket and grabbed her tea from the bench. It was, truly, a beautiful Sunday morning. She was enjoying her peace and quiet when she heard a shout out behind her. She turns around and sees her friend, Jorge.

- Hey, papi!

- Buenos dias, mama! – he says with a peck on her cheek.

- How are you?

- I’m great, finally a warm morning. I was pretty sure becoming an Eskimo, I’m certain I’d be living in an Igloo if summer didn’t show its face anytime soon.

- You’re the one that decided to leave Argentina, Jorge.

- I do miss my porteño sun.

- Isn’t Argentina pretty cold too, tho?

- In the winter, as it should be! Summer? Hot!

- Hm…well. That’s what you get up north, sweetie.

- Might be true but my latino ass does not appreciate it.

Lori smiles.

- Where have you been taking that latino ass anyway? I haven’t seen you at the gym lately. You still go there, right?

- Yeah…well….sort of….

- You didn’t trade gyms on me, Jorge?! I swear to god…

- No, no. That’s my gym. It’s just…

- Jorge!

- Remember Matt?

- The juice guy?

- Smoothie guy!

- Potato, potato…

- Well…we’ve been seeing each other…

- Oh, you finally agreed to go out with him…

- Yeah, turns out there IS some juice on that smoothie!!!

- Oh…for a minute there I was happy for you.

- Ah, c’mon sourpuss. He’s nice.

- I knew that. I told you that. A million times…you didn’t like his hair, like that’s a good reason for turning someone down.

- Ah, really? Miss “I don’t date curly haired men”.

- Ah, ok, that’s unfair…I never said that I wouldn’t date…

They walk out of the park together, arm in arm, talking about their dating endeavors. Jorge had agreed to take Lori out shopping, because she needed a good outfit for a party tonight. Grimmy was having a early birthday party and that was something she couldn’t get out of, not only because she would never do that to Nick, who was a great friend, but because the reason it was an early celebration was because Lori would be flying Italy next week and wouldn’t be in the UK on the actual date, so he decided to have it earlier so she could attend. But she didn’t have anything to wear, other than things Grim’s already seen her in, and she knew he’d be bitter about her repeating an outfit on his birthday, so she needed to make a good impression.

By 1h30 pm, they had already been to three stores, none had anything Lori liked, so they decided to stop for lunch at Andina, the Peruvian restaurant at Shoreditch, before trying some other stores. Jorge comes back from the loo and sees Lori smiling at her phone, before sitting down.

- Mr. Mystery Man?

- What? – she says, looking up from her phone.

- Who are you talking to?

- What? No one I’m…

- MMM indeed.

- What???

- MMM! Mr. Mystery Man. The guy bringing that smile to your face every time you talk to him.

- What are you talking about? What smile? What man?

- Tú piensas que soy tonto, mama? I Love you, but you’re a bitter bitch. Not many drag a smile out of you that effortlessly. Wanna know who does? Un hombre!!!

- How can you be so sure of that?

Jorge just raises his eyebrows at her. She didn’t even realize she was smiling, but he was right, she was talking to someone that made her happy. Harry had just asked her if she was going to Nick’s party, which meant he was, and that made her very happy. The prospect of seeing Harry live again made her get all sorts of feelings.

She just puts her phone down, looking unfazed at Jorge.

- No point in pretending to be unbothered now, mama. Your teeth sold you out 5 minutes ago. – he says as the waiter brings them their meals.

Later, at a store, Lori was trying a dress she wasn’t sure about.

- I don’t know Jorge…it’s too revealing…

- That’s the whole point.

- It’s a friends party, I don’t want to reveal anything…especially not to him, I’ll never hear the end of it… - she says already picturing Nick’s face when he sees that cleavage.

As Lori looks at herself at the mirror, Jorge takes her phone from her coat and goes through it. He smiles at the sight of what he was looking for, so he takes a picture of her reflection in the mirror, without her seeing it.

- I mean…it’s not me, you know? And I don’t think it would be the right occasion as well…

- To look hot? Every occasion is the right occasion to turn some heads around. Plus, your friend seems to like it.

Lori turns around to find Jorge playing with her phone.

- What?

- Edward? He likes it. – He says showing her her own phone.

- Whaaaaat have you doooone??? – She says grabbing the phone from him.

Jorge sent the picture to Harry, who was listed on her contacts as Edward. He sent the picture with a question mark caption. Harry answered with another question mark.

- What do you think? – Jorge sent as her.

- Uhm. Looks nice?! – Harry answered.

- Do you like it?

- Yeah. Sure.

- Would you like to see it tonight at the party?

- Ha ha. Yeah, sure. Why not? I’ll have to dress up!

Lori could feel her face boiling. Jorge was smiling from ear to ear.

- WHAT…HAVE…YOU….DONE????? – she says throwing every piece of clothing she could grab at him. – Jorge!!! WHY? Why would you do that?????

- Queeee??? Now you know he’ll like it.

- WE’RE NOT DATING YOU MORON! He’s just a friend….oh my god… - she says melting down until she’s completely horizontal on the floor of the fitting room.

- A friend? Cariño, I’m a friend. And I sure as hell know I don’t get a smile out of you the way he does.

- Yeah, you know why??? Because he WOULD NEVER DO THIS!!!! – she says sitting up and throwing more stuff at Jorge.

- Well, it doesn’t matter. What matters is: he likes it…enough for him to want to “dress up”…if you play nice maybe he’ll want to dress down as well later.

- Vete a la mierda, Jorge!!!!

He Just laughs.

Later that night, Lori is sitting in the car, parked in front of the club Nick’s birthday was at.

- Ehm…miss?

Lori looks at the taxi driver.

- Is this the right address?

- Yes

- Are…you……coming in? – he says wondering why it’s been 15 minutes since they’ve arrived and she was still inside the car.

- Ah, yes, sorry. Just….building up the courage.

- Big night?

- Potential horrible night.

- Oh…good luck, then, love.

- Thank you! – She says paying him and exiting the car.

She stays put at the sidewalk, looking at the building, for another good 30 seconds.

- Miss…

She turns around and the car is still there, with the driver by the window.

- I don’t mean to rush ya, love…but I have to keep working for the night…and I can’t just leave you standing there…

- Oh, right, sorry. Thanks!!! I’ll…I’ll get in. Thank you for your concern, sir.

He smiles and watches her go up to the door. She turns around and waves at him, that waves back and drives off. What a nice man, she thought. She turns around to face the door and the pit in her stomach resumes. She considered not going the whole drive there, but every time she almost told the driver to turn around, she remembered Nick, and how annoying he would be Monday at work. So she takes a deep breath and enters the club. The music inside was loud and the place was packed with people drinking, dancing, having a good time. Lori glances at the dance floor and sees a couple of familiar faces. Some from work, some friends Nick introduced her to already. Thankfully, no Harry. Maybe he couldn’t come, that would be a relief. She walks up to the bar, looking for Nick all the way there. She calls the bartender.

- What can I get you, love?

- Anything that gets me drunk. Fast.

- Are ya sure? – he says, laughing.

- Like I’ve never been before!

- Ok. One strong drink coming.

She sits at the stool and looks around for Nick once more. The bartender brings her a glass with a fluorescent liquid inside.

- What the…

- Don’t let the looks fool ya. The pretty ones are always the ones that hits ya the hardest – he says with a wink.

- I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks. – she says taking the glass in her hand.

She looks at the limey orange drink and thinks twice before drinking it. But she really needed something to fill the hole in her stomach; she thought why not something that looked like Homer Simpson concocted. So she takes a sip and is pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted. A few people come up to her to say hi, each time made her jump in her seat thinking it was Harry. But the sips she kept taking from her drink helped her not feel so alarmed anymore, when Nick finally comes up to her.

- There you are!!!

- Niiiiiickkk!!! Heeey baby! – she says throwing herself to hug him.

- Jesus!!! How many of those have you had already? – He says picking her back up on the seat.

- What? This? Erm…JULIO! – she says calling the bartender.

- His name is not Julio – Nick says laughing.

- I don’t care. Julio always seems like a suitable name for a bartender, so for tonight…this is Julio – she says pointing at the bartender arriving to them.

- Hi. Sorry. – Says Nick, smiling.

- How many of those have you made me already, Julio? – she says lifting her almost empty glass.

- Three.

- Three!!! – She says making the number with her fingers to Nick.

- Oh, ok…well…maybe that’s enough?

- What? Why??? It’s goooood….

The bartender laughs, cleaning a glass.

- She asked to get drunk. Sat here and never left. I’m guessing she needed that. – says the bartender to Nick.

- Yeah, well, she doesn’t drink that much…

- What is in this anyway? – she says now looking at the bottom of her glass, examining the content.

- Devil Springs – says the bartender.

- Oh… - says Nick taking the glass out of Lori’s hand. – Three glasses of Devil Springs is enough for you.

- What is Devil Springs?

- Vodka – says the bartender.

- What? I’ve had vodka before…Nick…why are you taking my vodka away from me?

- You’ll be saying goodbye to that vodka into a toilet if you keep this up…and that’s expansive shit, so let’s keep it in as much as we can, yea? – says Nick picking her up.

- Uhh…

He tries carrying her out of the bar, but she insists that she’s not drunk and can walk by herself, thank you very much. So he just walks beside her, guiding her to the upper floor of the club.

- Oh, VIP? – she says as a big security guard takes a rope out of her way. – You bitch, why didn’t you say there was VIP? I would’ve kept looking for you forever…

- I did. I told you to look for me at the upper floor.

- I thought I was at the upper floor.

- Jesus, woman!

They walk up to a couple of couches near a balcony, with a big coffee table at the center. She immediately blushes at the sight of Harry, sitting in one of them. He was talking to another guy and didn’t seem to notice she was there, so she turned around trying to leave but Nick was right behind her.

- What are you doing? – says Nick, serious.

- I’m…going….to take a wee.

Nick raises his eyebrows.

- You’re going to take a wee….

- Yes! That’s right – she says with a sudden confident tone of voice – I had too much vodka, I need to pee. – she says smiling.

- Are you sure you don’t want to throw up?

- What? No!!! I’m NOT drunk!

She realizes her tone of voice was too loud, so she turns around and sees Harry looking at her. Shit!

- You want me to take you to the bathroom? – says Nick behind her.

- I’m…

Harry was just staring at her, taking a dip of his drink.

- I…

- Goddamit woman are you having a stroke or something??? – says Nick losing his patience.

- Heeey, be nice. – Says Harry.

- Are you going to throw up???? Because if you are I beg you not to do it in the middle of the lounge, it will KILL your career, sister! – says Nick, grabbing her by the shoulders.

- Are you feeling sick? – says Harry getting up.

- I’m……

Both Nick and Harry standing in front of her, looking concerned.

- I think she’s short circuiting or something, Harry.

- Stop being mean, Nick. – He says, smiling at his friend. – Lori, are you alright? Do you need us to get someone to take you to the bathroom?

- No, I’m fine. – she says finally snapping out of it. – Sorry, I was…I forgot you would be here.

- Ah – says Harry.

- Ah, great. Of course – Says Nick rolling his eyes and leaving.

Harry looks Lori up and down and goes back up to her eyes.

- What happened to the black dress? – He says putting his non drink-holding-hand in his pocket.

Lori widens her eyes, feeling her skin warm up. Harry had a sarcastic smirk on his face that did not make it easier.

- I…

- Oh, no, no. Forget I asked that. If you’re going back to stutter… - Harry says laughing.

Lori smiles.

- Sorry. I’m not…it’s just…a friend of mine…

- Yeah, I figured that. – he says smiling and taking a sip of his drink. – Wanna sit?

- Yeah, I probably should.

Harry laughs and they both sit at the sofa he was in before.

- This is Rom, by the way. – he says, introducing the man he was talking to before.

- Hi Roman. – She hands out her hand to shake his.

- Hi. Lori, right?

- Yeah.

- Nice to meet you. I’ve heard about you.

- Oh, have you? – she says looking at Harry.

- Don’t flatter yourself – says Harry taking another sip of his drink. She smiles.

- He mentioned you were coming…didn’t say you were so cute, tho. Why don’t you introduce me to your cute friends, Harry?

- I just did. – Says Harry. – You can do better – he whispers to Lori.

- Whoa, thanks, mate. Thank you very much.

- You have a girlfriend.

- Oh, yeah…sorry! – Roman says to Lori.

- Did I do something that made you think I was interested?

- OOH! – Says Harry leaning against Lori, looking at Roman.

- Whoa. Cold! How’s Arendalle doing lately, my queen?

- Pretty good. Thanks for asking. – Says Lori, smiling. – Kristoff’s wondering where you’ve been, however.

- Am I Sven? – Roman looks at Harry – Harry, am I Sven?

- You do like carrots a lot. – Says Harry laughing.

- Jesus! – says Roman leaning back. – I need a drink after that.

Roman leaves to get a drink, leaving Harry alone with Lori. They talk all through the night, until Nick steals Lori to dance with him. Harry stays put, after refusing to join them dancing.

- Sooo… - says Nick dancing. – What’s up with Harry?

- What’s up with him? I don’t know…

- Don’t play dumb. You’re smarter than most people I know. What’s up with you two…you’ve been talking to him all night. I’m not sure I like it… - he says squinting his eyes to her.

- Don’t worry Nick. We’re just friends.

- Uhum…

- We are. We like talking to each other…

- Uh, sexy!

- Ah, shut up!

- Do you have a crush or what?

- What???

- C’mon, everyone’s got a crush on Harry.

- Ah, lovely. That’s exactly what a girl wants to find out…that she has to share her crush with EVERYONE.

- Oh, so you DO have a crush?

- Wh…no!!! I don’t. We’re friends.

- Don’t lie to me.

- I’m not lying, Grim.

- Hm…well, watch out for that. It’s not very healthy having a crush on Mr. Styles. Even as lovely as he is…probably why it’s not a good idea anyway.

- What?

- You know…nice people…they’re like drugs. You go in, just for a taste, because they feel nice…but then getting out is impossible, because…they make you feel nice.

- Are you comparing Harry Styles to cocaine? – she says after a second.

- Fancy you picking cocaine. Why is that?

- Wh…what drug were you thinking of?

- Ecstasy.

- Holy shit, that’s hardcore, Grim.

- Harry Styles is hardcore, love. – He says twirling, holding her hand.

- Oh, I’ll be sure to tell him you said that.

- You better not, you little wanker!

Lori laughs. She dances with Nick for a while, until her feet let her know she needs a chair, so she goes back to the couch right when Rita Ora shows up and Nick turns his attention to her. She finds the couch empty and sits, looking around, trying to find a familiar face in the crowd. After a while looking, she sees Roman with a couple of drinks on his hand. He waves at her from across the lounge.

- Where’s Harry? – she mouths to him.

He frowns trying to understand what she was saying. She repeats and he looks around, before he shrugs.

- I think he left – he mouths back to her.

- Oh, ok! Thanks – she mouths, giving a thumbs up to him.

He lifts his left hand and puts the other over his stomach, asking if she wanted to dance. She felt a bit bummed out about Harry leaving, but she knew she had to stay longer for Nick, so decides to enjoy the night and says yes to Roman, going up to him to dance. He was a terrible dancer, but a fun guy.

It was probably the headache that made her wake up with just the vibration of her phone next to her pillow. She opens her eyes and it felt like there was sand in them, so she blinks a couple of times before grabbing her phone to see what the notification was about. The bright light from the screen almost blinds her, so she turns the brightness down before anything else and, after recovering her vision, she looks up at the phone again to see 50 text messages. 45 of them were drunk texts from Nick, 4 were from Roman and 1 was from Harry. It read “u awake?”. She checks the time stamp and sees that he sent it 5 minutes ago, so she places her phone on her chest, both hands over it, thinking for a bit. Did she really want to reply him? At 4h20 am? Did she want Harry to know she was awake and, apparently, ready to answer his texts whatever hour he felt convenient? She decides to get up and go to the bathroom before anything else. She grunts since the light there almost blinded her too.

Back in bed, she picks up the phone, staring at Harry’s message. She decided to reply.

- Hey – she writes.

He sends a smile after a few seconds.

- Did I wake ya?

- No – she lies.

- Good. I didn’t see how late it was.

- It’s ok. I wasn’t sleeping.

- Sorry I left

- What?

- Tonight?! Sorry I left without saying bye. I ran into an old friend…

- An old…friend?! – She asks, immediately regretting doing it so. He doesn’t reply – You don’t have to answer that, I shouldn’t intrude, sorry. – She rushes to fix her faux pas.

- It’s ok.

Truth be told she always told herself that she didn’t like Harry that way, but the thought of him leaving the party with an “old friend” pinched her stomach harder then she thought. Which made her a bit concern about how she really felt about him.

- You wanna do something tomorrow? – He asks.

- Like what?

- Dunno. Whatever you want to.

- Hm. Late lunch and ice cream?

- Ha. Ok, good! Pick you up?

- Nah, we’ll meet there.

- Ok, cool. See ya tomorrow then.

The next day, Lori is sitting at the table, under the shade, sipping her ice tea, observing people around her, when Harry walks in the restaurant’s yard. He looked very comfy. Looked around for Lori, taking his sunglasses off. She waves and he walks up to her and sits down, after giving her a kiss on the cheek.

- How’s the hangover?

- What? I don’t know what you’re talking about – She says, fixing the sunglasses she was wearing even though she was in the shade. Harry just smiles. – How about you? How are you feeling today?

- Me? I’m great! – He says leaning back on the chair, putting lowering his Gucci sunglasses while he leaned his head into the sunlight.

- Show off!

Harry laughs. He looked very comfy in his baggy clothes, but still very fashionable, as usual. They have lunch, while talking about the night before, transitioning to work and their latest projects. When they finish lunch and decide to walk up to a ice cream shop, Harry starts talking about the new music he’s been working on and Lori tries to get a little preview out of him, but he keeps his mouth shut about it.

- It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone about it…

- I know that.

- Ok, you don’t want to show me, that’s fine, as long as you promise you’ll write something about me.

Harry laughs.

- Yeah. I don’t care what’s about. It can be like “that annoying girl that keeps texting me stupid things and doesn’t leave me alone”…but it has to be about me.

- I can bitch about ya?

- Yeah, as long as I know it’s me you’re bitching about. I just want a Harry Styles song.

- Ha! – he says while holding the door open for Lori to enter the ice cream shop. – What is this place?

- It’s my favorite place in London. They’re an Italian “gelateria” that makes these artisanal fresh gelatos. SO good. I’m obsessed with their Mascarpone and Figs gelato.

- Sounds good.

They get their order and leave again, eating whilst walking through the streets of Notting Hill, which makes Lori pretend to be Hugh Grant, getting a laugh out of Harry. Harry gives Lori his neck scarf to tie up her hair, since the hot sun kept making her hold her hair up, and they sit to rest in front of Kensington Palace. Since the place had a rather high tourist circulation, some people would stop to ask Harry for pictures, which he didn’t mind at all, up until people started to gather around him. So he nudged Lori on the back and advised them to leave. He took the last pictures with some fans that were still waiting for him and politely thanked everyone before leaving towards Lori’s direction.

- You’re so nice. – She says as they walk away from the crowd.

- Thanks?! – He says with a timid smile.

- Sure, but I mean it. Not everyone would be as patient as you are. No wonder everyone loves you so much.

Harry smiles.

- Well you don’t need the money with a face like that, do ya honey? – she says with a big smile.

- What? – he says with a confused frown.

She repeats the line with the Jets song melody this time.

- Ah! Are you saying you want me to be your girl? – He says, smiling.

- A few years ago that song could be about you.

- What? – He says laughing.

- Yeah. The chorus says “big black boots, long brown hair, she’s so sweet with her get-back stare”…that’s you in 2015.

Harry belts out a laugh.

- Oh, really?

- Yeah…”oh I could see, you home with me, but you are with another man, yeah”…you did a photoshoot for Another Man, didn’t ya?

Harry thinks for a second about Lori’s theory.

- You know what…you’re right. That might be about me.

Lori smiles in triumph.

- At least that’s what I’ll be saying from now on – He says, smiling. – You want to grab dinner? – He continues after a few seconds.

- Sure. You don’t have dinner plans?

- I do. But I can cancel them.

- You don’t have to…

- Nah, it’s ok. – he says while texting. – What you want for dinner?

- I don’t know?

- Let’s grab something and go home watch a movie…or do you rather actually going to the cinema? – he says raising his eyes up to look at Lori.

- You go to cinemas?

- Yes?! – he answers laughing.

- Hm…as much as I’d love to go home and watch something in the comfort of my sofa…I’d actually like to go to the cinema. It’s been a while.

- Ok, let’s find something to watch then. – he says stretching his arm so Lori and wrap hers around it.

They finally decide on a film and find a near cinema to go to. They wait after the session starts to enter, after the room is already dark. The cinema wasn’t packed, so at the last row, where they sit, they were the only ones. Lori fixes the popcorn they were sharing on her lap while Harry sits at the very end of the chair, stretching his legs on the back of the chair in front of him. The movie starts and, instead of watching it, Harry and Lori spend the entire time analyzing the few people at the room. Guessing which ones were couples on dates, which ones were friends, which ones were alone; and then making up dialogues every time they saw two people talking. They burst into laughter when they were making up a dialogue for two people that seemed like they were having a heated argument, which inspired their dialogue, and out of the sudden they started making out. For a split second, Harry and Lori were silently surprised by the sudden flame between the couple, before laughing quietly. Two thirds into the movie, Harry decided to look up at the big screen for the first time, while stuffing his mouth with popcorn.

- What is this movie about anyway? – He asks.

- It’s…uhm…

Lori takes her phone out and google the title of the movie.

- It’s the story about a musician that moves to New York in search of his dream of Broadway and ends up involved in a murder during the play…it’s set in the 30’s.

- That sounds interesting – he says after couple of seconds.

- Makes sense, since we picked this movie to watch…

- We should have watched it…d’you think we’ll understand anything if we start watching now?

- I don’t know…

Fifteen minutes in, Lori looks at Harry, almost sleeping.

- I’m guessing that’s a no?

- What?

- Do you understand what’s going on?

- Ah, no, sorry…I was day dreaming…

Lori laughs. They start assuming what’s going on, making up the whole plot of the movie, based on the synopsis Lori read before. The movie, that in the real plot ends with a twist and a romantic ending for the lead, in their version ends with a ridiculous Monty Python “tragedy”, that makes them giggle all through the end credits. Every time someone would pass by them, with an inquisitive look, Harry would hide behind Lori, since they couldn’t stop laughing like idiots. After everyone leaves, they finally do the same. After grabbing a quick dinner, Harry takes her home.

- You want some tea? – she asks, while unlocking her door.

- No, thanks. I have an early meeting...

- Uh, business man.

- Nah, it’s just to check some samples…

Lori widens her eyes, looking at Harry. He laughs.

- You wanna come?

- Really?

- Yeah, sure. I’d like your opinion.

- You said you don’t like outside people listening to your stuff before it’s done.

- I’ll make an exception. Besides, you being there might work nice as inspiration for that song about an annoying girl.

- Whatever works for ya, honey!

Harry smiles.

- You’ll come? – he asks.

- I have to work tomorrow morning, but I’ll try to swing by before I clock in.

- Ok, I’ll text ya the address.

- Ok.

Harry gives Lori a kiss and walks back to his car.

- Today was fun – he says before getting into his car, leaving Lori with a big smile on her face.

She walks inside her apartment feeling giddy. A big fluffy ragdoll cat jumps on the sofa next to her, meowing.

- Today was, indeed, a fun day, Mush! – she says to the cat.

Her phone chirps inside her purse, so she drops Mushroom to get to her phone. She checks her message.

- “I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then”- H – Harry texted – Almost forgot it was my turn.

- It’s not – she texts back

- What?

- You sent one yesterday, but since you’re in a serious red ledger, I’ll add that up to your debt – She texts with a wink. He replies with the same emoticon.

The next few days, Lori and Harry met up a few more times, until the day before he had to travel outside of the UK again, when he invited her to a party he was going to.

“I’ve spent so much time in my mind and in my heart that I forgot to live in my body” – L. Harry answered the note with a picture of a crumbled piece of paper.

- Why are you texting me garbage? – She writes.

- Your post-it – He answers.

- What??

- The disappearing note that you left me the day you slept here.

- OMG! I TOLD YA!!!! Where was it?

- Under my fridge.

- Shit!

- Innit? See ya tonight?

- Yep

That night, Lori dresses up and is quite happy with how she looks, checking herself in the mirror before leaving for the party. A feeling reaffirmed by Harry’s look, when she walks up to him at the club.

- Look at ya.

She twirls before giving him a hug.

- You look great.

- Thanks!

- This is Jeff – he says pointing to the man next to him.

- Hey!

- Hi, nice to meet ya, finally. – Says Jeff.

- Yeah, likewise. I heard a lot about you – she says, shaking Jeff’s hand. – Feels like every story Harry ever tells, you’re in it.

- Lately, likewise. – Says Jeff smiling.

- Ok, stop it you two. – Says Harry splitting them up. – Join me? – He asks lifting his glass.

- Who? – Jeff and Lori answer in unison.

Harry smiles.

- Both? – He asks.

A few drinks in and after Harry gets slightly drunk, he drags his friends to the dance floor. They dance the night away and, by the time the music changes to 80’s pop, Harry and Jeff are already wasted, while Lori maintains a safe level of sobriety as a promise to Jeff, to keep an eye on both of them. Harry leaves to take a wee and Lori keeps dancing with Jeff, holding Harry’s coat like a matador cape.

After what felt like too long, Lori tells Jeff to check up on Harry, since there was no way he’d be taking that long to take a wee. He agrees and leaves Lori at the bar, before going after his friend. She puts Harry’s coat and orders a club soda. After she gets her glass, she sits facing the dance floor and begins to watch people dance, while playing with the straw in her drink. She almost chokes on her cherry as she sees Harry across the other side of the dance floor, talking to a blonde girl. She was clearly flirting with him, playing with her hair and occasionally touching Harry’s shirt. Lori stares at that scene, not sure how it made her feel, but with a dead cold expression. He seemed to enjoy the attention, since even from far away Lori could tell the girl was very attractive. She was tall, had a beautiful smile, and the short skirt made her legs look even longer. No doubt a model, Lori thought. She saw Jeff sneaking up to Harry, what brought a faint smile to her lips. Harry turns to Jeff and whispers something to him, he nods and leaves him to turn his attention back to the blonde girl. Lori frowns at that. A few minutes later Jeff finds her again.

- Hey! – He says, grabbing his drink.

- Hi again…did you find him? – She lied.

- Yeah.

- Did he drown in the toilet?

Jeff smiles.

- No, he ran into a friend on the way back.

- Ah, popular boy. – She pretends to be unbothered by that.

- Yeah, that’s how it usually goes.

- I know, I remember. – She says in an introspective tone.

- Oh?

- Hm? Ah, nothing…that happened last time we went out. So I feel your frustration.

Jeff smiles.

- It’s not frustration, he has a lot of friends…as long as he’s happy.

- You’re a good friend, Jeff.

- I’d like to think I am, yeah. – He laughs. – How about you? Does it bother you when he elopes?

- Me? No. I’m on the same page you are. As long as he’s happy. Harry is probably one of my best friends by now, so I share the feeling. – She says high fiving Jeff.

She knew she was lying to him and to herself. It did bother her. She wasn’t sure why. She didn’t like him that way. She knew she was jealous, but she’s always been jealous of her friends and maybe that’s what she was feeling. She ponders about it and maybe it bothered her that it was Harry’s last night in the country and she thought she’d be able to have the whole night with him and now he was 100% focused on another girl. She looks at Jeff texting and sipping his drink and looks back at Harry. After staring at him flirting back with the girl for a few minutes, she decided to turn backwards to face the bar. That scene made something boil up inside her, a mix of anger and sadness, and it also felt wrong to intrude in Harry’s business like that. That many emotions overwhelmed her, so she decides to have a Mascal instead of her club soda. Jeff just peeks over his phone as she turns the shot glass in a split second. She puts the glass down and Jeff puts his in front of her without saying a word. She looks at it and looks at Jeff, eyes fixed on his phone.

- I’m good – She smiles at him.

- You sure?

- Yeah…

Jeff taps her on the shoulder, which, somehow, comforts her a lot. She turns to talk to him instead of worrying about Harry. After an hour or so, Jeff announces he has to go, so he tries to find Harry in the party. Lori remains at the bar, sipping a drink, until Jeff returns.

- Couldn’t find him…

Lori looks over her shoulder at Jeff, before he leans against the bar, scanning the dance floor another time.

- He might have left…you want a ride home?

- Thanks. – She says smiling, before looking around the room – I think I saw someone I know earlier. I might try to find him…

- Are you sure?

- Yeah. Thanks Jeffie!

He smiles, gives her a kiss and leaves the party. Lori gets up and starts walking around the club.

- Thought I saw ya… - She says with a smile.

- Mamacita!!!! – Says Jorge, clearly a few drinks too many, raising both arms up, spilling a bit of his drink on everyone around him.

- Hey Papi! – She says laughing, pulling his arms down – Put your arms down, man. You’re showering everyone…

- How you doing, mama? Que buena estás, mi preciosa!

- Are you flirting?

- Por qué? Te gusta?

- No, checking your alcohol levels…

- Want a drink? Matty!!! – He screams out of the sudden.

A blonde, lean guy comes up to them from within the crowd.

- Look at that tall drink!!! – Says Jorge wrapping his arm around Matt.

- Juice guy!! – Says Lori, smiling.

- Smoothie!!!!

- Hi! – Says Matt with a big, seemingly sober, smile.

- Nice to see you outside the “SmoothU” uniform.

- You too, without the gym clothes.

- Not half bad, right?

Matt smiles.

- Matty’s an Aussie! – Says Jorge putting his arm around Matt’s neck.

- I know Jorge. I’ve been “Smoothed” by him before.

- Que??? – Says Jorge without understanding the pun.

- I’ve been…...we go to the same gym he works at, remember. We talked before.

- Oh…no sabia…

- Yes you did know.

- He’s very drunk – Says Matt.

- Figures… - Agrees Lori, laughing.

Jorge and Matt were one of those couples you kind of feel jealous of, they were both incredibly handsome. Matt was very tall, blonde, lean and fit. He had grayish eyes and a nice friendly smile, surrounded by a great gingerish scruff. Jorge, however, was very strong – with a bit of belly he named his fanny (pack) – short, caramel skin, dark hair, hazel eyes and a heartthrob smile, defined as such by himself, which Lori did not disagree with. He was clearly in love with Matt, or the vodka made him believe so, and Lori knew Matt had a crush on him for a long time, so seeing them finally together made her very happy. She was thinking about how lucky they were then she felt a nudge on her shoulder. She turns around and is surprised by the sight of a very drunk Harry.

- Hey baby! – He says looking around.

- Harry??? I thought you left…

- Have you seen Jeff? – He slurred out, with heavy eyelids.

- No, he already left, honey. – She says giving him her hands, since his were browsing the air around her, looking for something to hold. – Are you ok?

- Me? Yeah, I’m…oh…there’s my jacket!!! – He slurs out, grabbing the sleeve of his coat while holding her hand.

- Yeah, you gave me to hold when you went to the loo…

- Oh, did I? – He says frowning.

- Yes – Says Lori containing her laugh. – Are you sure you’re ok, Har?

- I’m great. Slightly drunk, yea?

- Slightly?

- Ok, a lot! I’m wasted, that’s it, innit?

Lori was sure the only thing keeping him from swaying around was the tight grip he had on her arms.

- You disappeared, so Jeff left… - She says, getting closer to him, so he could put his arm around her shoulders, giving him more support.

- Fucking wanker! – He says in the most Cheshire accent Lori’s ever heard.

- That’s not fair. You did disappear. He tried texting ya…

- Still a wanker. Should’ve waited for me, yea? Like you did. Aw. You did! – He says suddenly wrapping his other arm around her and throwing himself over her. – You’re a good friend! – he leans back, resting his right elbow on her shoulder while pointing at her with his right hand – You…y-you are not a wanker.

- Good to know – Says Lori giving him a smile.

- I love ya, bub! – He says going back in to hug her.

- Ok Harry. I love you too, puppy!

- Ha! Puppy! – He says without releasing himself from the hug, through hiccups.

She rubs his back and he leans back again.

- Can I ask you a favor? If it’s not…if it’s not impos…what are you laughing at? – He says frowning at Lori’s expression.

- I’m not! – She says biting her lip to avoid it.

He grabs her chin and pulls, down, making her release her bottom lip and letting out a slight puff of air.

- Yeah y’are! Is this funny to ya? – He says with the most fake offended expression ever.

- Not at all, Mr. Styles – She says smiling.

- I’m drunk! I’m fucked up drunk and y’re laughing? At my face? Just like that? – he says one hand firmly grabbing her elbow, the other resting on his waist.

- Maybe I am a wanker! – She says shrugging.

- Nooo. No, no…y’re not! – He goes back into the hug.

- Jesus Christ… - Lori lets out, laughing.

- Ok, I’m s-I’m sorry. I’m annoying ya…I’ll… - He says letting go from her and turning around.

- No!!! Harry get back here. – She says grabbing his waist.

- Oh! Oh…careful there… - he grabs her hands and turns around to face her again – Careful with those handsies…

Lori laughs.

- What do you want, Har?

- What happened to puppy? I liked puppy.

- Ok – says Lori shaking her head – What do you need, puppy?

- I don’t know. What do I need? – He says with very innocent eyes, honestly not knowing what she was talking about.

- I…I don’t know Harry, you said you needed to ask me a favor…

- I did?

- Yeah

- Oh…ehm… - He says with one hand on his chin, trying to remember, the other back on her shoulder, gripping her tight. – OH! I need a ride.

- What?

- I need a ride home…you see…I have to be…careful…

He stops mid sentence, index finger in front of his own face, squinting his eyes, while Lori waits for him to finish. Which he doesn’t.

- I think I’m fucked up. – He says in a defeated tone.

- Oh, honey. You most definitely are. – Says Lori, grabbing both his shoulders.

- Can you take me home, please?

- Of course, pup! I just have to say goodbye to a friend.

- Who? Me?

Lori stares at Harry, considering if he actually asked her that or if he was joking.

- N...no. Another friend…

- You have other friends? – He asks, shocked.

- I do.

- But you like me better, yea?

- Unfortunately that’s also true.

He gives her a big drunk smile. She turns around to look for Jorge and sees him sitting at a sofa with Matt. She walks up to him, with Harry clenched on her arm.

- Papi, I have to go.

- Whaaat? Por qué? We didn’t even get you drunk yet…

- Oh, I’m good. Trust me – Says Lori. She could feel Harry very close behind her, nudging his nose on her shoulder.

Jorge sees Harry behind her and jumps up in a surprising speed. He stays put for a few seconds, clearly waiting for the blood to go back up to his head, and leans in.

- Quién es este?

- Ehm…Edward… - She attempts, since Jorge didn’t seem to recognize Harry.

- Ooooooh…que bandida!! “Solo amigos”, hm?

Surprisingly good memory for someone that drunk, Lori thinks.

- Ok, I need to take him home.

- I bet you do! – Says Jorge pouting his lips.

- You’re very handsome – Suddenly says Harry behind Lori’s shoulder.

- Gracias, cariño. Oh I like him!!

Lori smiles, rolling her eyes, and waves goodbye at Jorge.

- Give Matty a kiss for me.

- I’ll give him more than that, mama!

Lori drags Harry out with her, diverting the crowd, until they finally reach the street and the cold London air. Very fresh air, compared to the stuffed environment they were just in. It makes Lori give a long deep breath, before looking around for a cab. Harry was still attached like a sloth to her arm, when she signals a car. The cab drives up to them, Lori opens the door and helps Harry get in. It crosses her mind how glad she was about how late into the night they were, making the street very deserted, with the exception of the security guard at the club door and a few people going home. It wouldn’t be nice for Harry to be seen this drunk, she knew he’d regret it in the morning.

After Harry is nicely buckled in, Lori lands a kiss on his cheek.

- Please be…

She stops mid sentence, looking at Harry leaning his head against the door, almost sleeping.

- …ugh – She says getting in the cab as well.

They drive up to his house, Harry sleeping on her shoulder the whole ride. When they finally arrive, she wakes him up and helps him get up to his house, as the cab waits for her. Harry takes a few minutes looking for his keys and fails at attempting to fit the key into the keyhole, before giving up and allowing Lori to open the door. They both walk in, Harry throws himself on his stomach on the couch, while Lori puts his keys on the table.

- Are you ok, Harry?

- Yhmnh… - he mumbles through the pillows.

- Harry… - She says crouching next to him, with her hand on his shoulder. – Honey, are you ok? Can I go home and trust you to rehydrate?

- No – He says turning his head to face her.

- No??

- No. Can you stay?

Lori looks at him staring at her with his half closed eyes.

- Please?

- Yeah, ok. I’ll just pay the cab, hang on.

She gets up and walks back to the cab, thanking him and paying for the drive. She goes back inside the house, locks up and finds Harry sleeping on the couch. She considers leaving him to sleep there, but his weird disposition on it could only end with him in pain tomorrow. So she gently taps him on the shoulder and helps him up to his bedroom. He sits on his bed and throws himself back. So Lori leans down to take his shoes off for him. She only hears him attempting to say “thank you” from the bed. She turns around to put his shoes by the closet and when she turns back he’s pulling his pants down with a lot of effort.

- My god, how drunk are you?! – She whispers to herself.

She helps him finish undressing and tucks him in. Then she goes to the kitchen and grabs a bottle of water, goes back to his room and places it on the nightstand, next to him. She sits at the edge of the bed, looking at him sleeping and smiles. Even drunk he had a very childlike quality to him. Before she gets up, his hand searches for hers and, once it finds it, he leans in and lays his head on her lap, making her hold her breath. She stays perfectly still for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. So she decides to stay there for a little bit, as he held her hand tight, with his head resting on her thighs.

She didn’t even know how long she was sitting there, looking at Harry sleeping like a child on her lap, before she decides to carefully slip away from under him and trying her best to put him back on his pillow without waking him up. She manages do to so, and gets up, realizing his hand is still tightly gripped around hers. She looks at it for a few seconds, before trying to untangle his fingers from hers, slowly. She’s halfway through when he grabs her hand firmly again, making her raise her eyes to him.

- Thanks – He mumbles softly, without opening his eyes.

- What? – She whispers.

- Thanks for being here… - He says, still eyes closed, with a hoarse deep voice.

- No problem, puppy. – She smiles, gently rubbing his hand with her other hand.

He smiles, letting go of her hand. She gets up and goes to the guest room. The minute she walks through the door, she realizes she was right the last time she was there, when she thought his bedroom must’ve been much bigger than this one, since now it felt very small, compared to the one she just left. Even knowing that, back then she considered this one to be gigantic.

She wakes up with a gentle tap on her shoulder. It takes a moment before she finally can gather her strength to open her eyes and look up. She sees a very scruffed Harry, clearly hangover, sitting next to her, with a cup of coffee on his hand.

- Hey angel. – He says, giving her a tired smile.

- Hi – She attempts to say, even though barely any sound comes out.

- Don’t worry about waking up, you can go back to sleep…I just wanted to let you know I’m leaving already, but I left breakfast for ya in the kitchen.

- Ok – She says before realizing what he just said – Wait…what?

- I have a plane to catch, so…

- Oh, ok, gimme a second to… - She interrupts him, trying to get up. Harry pushes her back down.

- Stay. Go back to sleep. It’s Sunday, just stay in.

- Wh…it’s your house, Harry.

- Don’t worry. I’ll leave ya the key, so you can lock up after you leave.

She looks up at him, frowning, trying to understand what’s happening.

- You can stay here and rest, and when I come back we can meet up so you can give me the key back. Maybe you can pick me up at the airport – He says smiling.

- I don’t…

- That wasn’t a question. I was just letting ya know how it’s gonna be.

Lori doesn’t necessarily agrees with it, but she’s too tired to fight what seemed to be a very certain Harry. He’s made that decision and it was clear that it would take a lot of effort to convince him otherwise. An effort that Lori knew she didn’t have in herself at that moment.

- I’ll leave the key at the coffee table downstairs, ok?

Lori nods.

- Ok. I’ll see ya when I come back

She nods again, half asleep. Harry leans in, gives her a kiss on her forehead and leaves the room.

After waking up and taking a shower, Lori borrows one of Harry’s shirt, after texting him for permission, so she could go straight to work. Downstairs, as promised, she finds a full breakfast neatly placed on the center island counter in the kitchen. At the center of the counter, there was a vase of flowers with a note attached to it. She takes it to read. “’When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object – H.’ Thanks for being so great last night, angel. I know I was a fucking mess. I’m very happy to have you as a friend I know I can count on. Count on me for anything! Love, H.” She smiles at the note and folds it carefully. Holding it in her hand, looking at the flowers, Lori takes a deep breath. She did have a crush on him. A big one. And it didn’t even cross her mind that there was a chance of him feeling the same way. After all he said he was glad to have her as “a friend” in the note. She places the note in her back pocket and she bags everything to eat at work. She washes the dishes and cleans the kitchen before leaving and locking up as promised. The next few weeks, their conversations weren’t as regular as it used to be, since Harry was busy working on his new album a lot and Lori was running around the UK to cover a bunch of events for BBC, which helped Lori with her crush. It was becoming a usual thing for him to disappear for short periods of time and when Grimmy shared his theory that this time around their mutual friend disappeared because he was seeing someone, Lori felt like she finally got over him. Maybe it was not hearing from him in two weeks, maybe it wasn’t a crush after all, but the idea of Harry with someone else didn’t bothered her. Or so she thought.

It was at a Vanity Fair event in Los Angeles that she saw Harry again, creeping up to her, with a huge smile across his face. He looked completely different since last time they saw each other. His hair was very short; he had a clean shave and was much leaner than she remembered. He was wearing a salmon shirt, few buttons open, revealing his cross necklace. A black suit was over it with a flower printed silk tissue on his pocket. He looked sharp. He wraps his arms around her in a tight grip, just as you’d expect great friends to do after a long time without seeing each other.

- Hey angel! – he says, taking a step back after a long hug.

- Hi Har! How are you, love?

- I’m great. Especially now, I’m so happy to see ya. – He says, grabbing her hand and pressing it against his chest.

- Me too. It feels like forever…

- I know!!! We barely spoke in the last few months…

- Yeah, what’s up with that?

- I know. It’s my fault, innit? I’ve been really busy…

- How’s the album coming up?

- Pretty good, we’re almost done now. I can’t wait for you to hear it…there’s some really awesome songs, I’m really proud of it.

- That’s great Harry…

She smiles, looking at him browsing the crowd around them, still holding her hand up against his chest.

- What you’ve been up to? – He says turning his attention back at her.

- Working like a maniac. I’m convinced that network is trying to kill me.

- About that… - he says getting a bit closer to her, looking down at her hands.

- Yeah?

He holds her hand between both of his, before raising his eyes up to hers.

- I was wondering…if maybe you could take a few days off…

- Hum?

- And take some pictures for me.

- Oh? Of what? – She asked, surprised.

- Of me.

She stares at him without reaction for a couple of seconds.

- What?

- For my album. I’d like it if you could help me with the art…

- Oh!!! Really???

- Yeah, I mean…I love your personal work, it’s very organic and beautiful. I wanted to do something like that for the cover and the rest of the album.

- Really Harry? – She says with a bit of an emotional tone to her voice.

- Absolutely.

- I’d be honored. What’d you have in mind? – She says trying to wipe her teary eyes without him noticing.

- I’m not sure yet. I thought we could brainstorm some ideas, try some stuff out…that’s why I need ya for a few days. I want to create something cool with ya…

Lori smiles, trying her best not to tear up. Harry was an outstanding artist and for him to want to trust her with something as personal as his album made her very happy. And the fact that he seemed so excited about it made it even more special. She knew how important he was to her, but the other way around she could only take a wild guess; however, this meant something for him, she meant something to him. They stay the rest of the event together, talking about the past few months, catching up, even though it didn’t take 5 minutes for them to feel like they were never kept apart by their jobs. Before they leave, they make plans to meet up to talk about their upcoming new project together.

They were talking, drinking ice tea, at the sofa at Harry’s living room, when Lori hands him a bag from Gucci.

- Oh, did you get me something? – He says putting the glass down to take the bag.

- Yeah, I’m 100% sure you’ll like it.

- Confident, eh? – He says reaching in to grab the content out.

He pulls out a pink shirt with white dots and looks at it before frowning a bit.

- I think I have a similar one…

- Yeah, you do. But it’s not similar, it’s exactly like that.

- Ehm…ok, that’s a good method to make sure I’ll like it…

Lori laughs.

- It’s yours. It’s the shirt I borrowed. Your key is also there.

- Ahhh, ok. – He says peeking into the bag and putting the shirt back in. – Nice choice, by the way…

- It’s pink with polka dots, how could I go wrong with that one?!

- True.

- It’s washed and ironed, already.

- Ok, c’mon… - He says getting up, taking the bag with him – Come with me.

- Okey-dokey.

They walk up to his bedroom and into his closet, where he grabs a hanger to put his shirt in. Harry turns around to find Lori jaw-dropped, frozen at the entrance of the walk-in closet.

- Did you have a stroke? – he asks, laughing.

- I think I died and went to heaven.

Harry laughs.

- Look at your closet, my god!! Look at all your clothes…

- I’m even afraid to touch anything…

Harry laughs.

- Can I snoop?

- Yeah, sure, go ahead. – He says putting the hanger back in the rack.

She goes through his shirts folded neatly on the shelves as Harry sits on the bench in the middle of the closet.

- Uh, I like this one… - she says running her hand on a mustard jumper. – What’s this fabric? It’s so soft…

- Dunno… - He says getting up and grabbing the jumper, to check the tag.

- Wait…where are your suits? – She says looking around.

She looks around realizing there were no suits of formal wear on the racks around them. Harry gets up, goes to a slide door next to the shelves they were going through, and opens it. Lori walks toward and peeks in the “secret” room in his closet. All of his formal wear was there, everything from suits, formal shirts, shoes and slim drawers with his jewelry, watches and sunglasses.

- Holy Gucci!

Harry laughs, refolding the jumper. Lori moans running her hand at all the suits neatly hanged at the rack, while Harry leans against the wall, folding his arms over the jumper. Lori takes out of the rack one of the suits. It was black, with a very thin dark red sparkly line all around the trim. The lining was a bright red flower print. She looks at Harry, who was smugly smiling at her, which leads to the wise decision they make to have a fashion show. Harry ends up trying on a bunch of his own suits and walking through the closet making faces and posing, while Lori pretends to be stylists at the audience. After he tried every suit he owned, they end up sitting on the floor of the closet, going through his jewelry. He tries one of Lori’s rings on his pinky.

- Oh. Fits… - He says.

- I’ve had that one for…15 years I think.

- Shit. I was planning on stealing it…

- Were you now? – She says, laughing – It’s ok, you can keep it.

- What? No, I was joking.

- Keep it. I like the idea of you prancing around with my ring.

- I like that in your head I’m always prancing. – Says Harry laughing.

- Yep. In my imagination you don’t even know how to walk. You’re either running or Jaggering.

- Jaggering? – Says Harry through a laugh.

Lori get up mimicking Mick Jagger’s moves. Harry laughs.

- That’s how I walk?

- Yes. Or at least you should…it should be your runway walk.

- I’ll remember that if I ever do a fashion show.

- Like you would ever do that.

- Of course I would. I’ll be getting a call from Victoria’s Secret any minute now…

Lori laughs.

- Oh, I have something for ya. – he says getting up and running to his bedroom.

Lori gets up and follows him.

He grabs out of the drawer in his nightstand a tiny black notepad and gives it to her. She takes it, a bit confused, and opens it. There was a bunch of scribbles with Harry’s handwriting in it. At least 5 pages of it, with the occasional doodles around the edges of the pages.

- Don’t mind the drawings, I tend to doodle when I’m bored…

- Ok… - she says smiling and going through the notepad.

“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful”, “For myself I am too heavy, and for you too light”, “I wish photographs were physical spaces, like tunnels; that you could crawl inside them and go back”, “And remember this, that if you’ve been hated, you’ve also been loved”, “We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered”, “Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now”, “She had wild eyes, slightly insane. She also carried an overload of compassion that was real enough and which obviously cost her something”, “Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss”, “What do you say when the feelings don’t fit into words?”. That was just a few of the dozens of notes Harry had written on the notepad. Lori takes a deep breath before looking up at Harry.

- I didn’t forget, I just didn’t have time to send them…so I just wrote it down every time I remember one or saw a quote I liked, so I could send it to ya later. But it took me so long to do so that I decided it was easier making this for ya.

- This is so sweet.

- I agree. My girlfriend was a bit jealous of it to be frank, but…

Lori feels a familiar punch in the stomach, as she looks up at Harry.

- Your what? – She can’t help but ask him

- Ah, yeah…well…I’ve been seeing someone…I’m not sure if I can call her girlfriend yet…but yeah…

- Oh… - She says without hiding the disappointed tone in her voice.

- What? – He says, noticing the tone.

- N-nothing…I just…why didn’t you tell me? – She lied.

- We didn’t talk that much…and to be honest I didn’t know if that was the kind of thing I could talk to ya about…

- You can talk about anything with me, Harry.

- Oh…yeah? – He says putting both hands in his pockets.

- Yeah…of course… - She says pondering for a bit, looking down at the notepad.

- That’s good to know…

- I can understand why she’d be jealous tho…this is very personal…

- Well you were my friend before we started going out, so…and one thing has nothing to do with the other…I can be personal with my friends.

Lori looks up at him again.

- I mean…right?

- Yeah, sure. So… - She says closing the notepad. She looks at it for a second before looking back at Harry – How is she like? What does she look like? Tell me everything.

Harry laughs.

- Nah, I’m good...you’ll end up meeting her…if I think she’s worth it.

Lori smiles.

- Not everyone deserves being introduced to my friends, you know.

- You introduced me to Jeff… - She says without thinking, regretting immediately.

- Yeah but we weren’t seeing each other…I introduced one friend to another…

- Oh, right, ok. – She says quickly, glad he didn’t catch her faux pas.

The rest of the night, all through dinner, Lori felt a crushing pressure in her stomach, like she had eaten a pound of cement. She struggled to stay as normal as she could with Harry, but when he invited her to stay for a movie, she made up an excuse and left, going back to her hotel. Lying in bed, wrapped in the towel and hair still wet from the shower, she stared at the painting at the wall, above the bed, for a long time. She did not see this coming. She was certain she was over him, but the punch in her stomach finding out he was with someone, serious enough for him to call her girlfriend, told her otherwise. Not only she had a crush on him, she loved him. Realizing that made her eyes water and, as she takes a deep breath, they start to roll down the side of her face, surrounding her ears and finally finding the linen sheets under her. Harry was the best friend she’s had in so long, how could she let this happen? How could she allow herself to feel that way about him? Most importantly, how didn’t she realize that this was happening? She falls asleep with these questions burning in her head.

#little notes #fan fic #harry styles #part two

2 notes · View notes