#that doesn’t involve any falling out with louis and/or his team

[dreamings-free]

Hi, do you know if this true? https://www.tumblr.com/awesomefringey/736084928800964608/hmmm-do-you-know-anything-about-this-some-says?source=share

hmm I don’t know.. just like op of that post, I have no knowledge of who he did or didn’t (un)follow. and most of louis’ band and management still follow him.. but I agree it is weird how he seems to have left very suddenly. I think the last time we saw him with louis was lisbon.. and then he was just.. not there for the rest of europe? he wasn’t even there for louis’ huge milestone moments on the uk tour leg which seemed very strange after how long they’ve been working together 🙁

[comphy-and-cozy]

the guy on the team - jt compher

Pairing: JT Compher x Reader (f) - A Dream Come True universe

Word Count: 4.2K

Author’s Note: rediscovered the three paragraphs of filth i wrote after seeing this dude play (and score) in his first ever home game as a detroit red wing, then went buck wild writing about it. that's all you really need to know. 🎶 karma is the guy on the wings coming straight home to me... 🎶

Warnings: Smut (18+ ONLY). Unprotected sex, oral sex (f + m receiving), fingering (f receiving), brief masturbation (f), very minor spanking, creampie, me being a huge fucking simp series masterlist

October 2024

The goal horn—restored from the glory days at Joe Louis Arena, reminiscent of legends and lore and well-decorated history—blares through the arena, the sound nearly swallowed by the roar of the crowd. Don’t Stop Believing plays over the speakers, the “born and raised in South Detroit” chant almost deafening as 19,000 of Hockeytown’s finest pay a proud homage to the city.

The energy is palpable, infectious, and your eyes fall to the sea of red jerseys at center ice, sticks raised in appreciation and celebration of their first win and first home game of the season. They’re smiling, a few of them clapping each other on the back or tapping padded knees with their stick, circling around as they soak in the joy and promises of a strong season.

The 37 on his back stands out proudly, the bright white stark against the rich red. He offered to get you a jersey, identical to the one he’s wearing right now, but you’d declined and opted for an old sweatshirt from 2002; wearing his name still felt a little too cheeky. Your eyes follow his movements, almost subconsciously, and your gaze slides to the winged wheel embroidered on his chest when he circles around.

There’s a burn in your cheeks as you shamelessly check him out, anonymous in the sea of fans who are starting to make their way out of the arena. No one there knows you from any other admirer, that you know what he looks like beneath his pads and his gear, underneath the delicious slate gray suit that the Red Wings’ socials posted. 

You’ve barely made it to your front door when the text buzzes your phone in your pocket. 

[JT:] You free tonight? [JT:] Feel like celebrating [You:] Why, did something happen?

You don’t have to see his face to know he’s smirking at your comment. The text bubble pops back up, and you do your best to summon the chill, cool girl and not squeal when you see the response.

[JT:] You want to come over later?

Despite the effort, you can’t help the smile that emerges on your face. His next text informs you that he’s out getting post-game drinks and dinner with his family who came to town to see his debut in Detroit. You’re not offended that you didn’t receive an invite—just excited to have received a text. The status of your relationship is still up in the air, floating somewhere between casually dating and something with benefits. Meeting his family is far from your bucket list. At this point, anyway.

Though your makeup was already done for the game, you decide to reset in the shower. You exfoliate, shave, and take your time moisturizing until you’re squeaky clean and your skin is smooth. Your pre-dick appointment ritual is practiced, having perfected it in the last six weeks that you’ve been involved with JT Compher. He doesn’t expect perfection, has told you on multiple occasions in so many words, but the routine makes you feel like you’re worth his time, his affection, his attention—that’s something you’ll deal with in therapy, though. 

After the body prep comes a quick blow dry, a light layer of fresh makeup (you learned your lesson with too much makeup after JT made sure that the entire sultry eye you’d worked so hard on ended up smeared all over the sheets), and then the undergarment selection. By no means do you have an expansive luxury lingerie collection, but you’ve found yourself glancing at the intimate wear section when you’re out, anticipating the reaction of a certain redhead as you run your fingers over the various pieces on display. 

Tonight does feel special, you admit, with plenty to celebrate: a debut, a win, and two points for JT. The lacy red bralette feels fitting, perfect for a little ‘wow’ factor without feeling like you’re trying too hard—and, of course, a nod to his (and your) team. Cheeky red panties finish your look, hidden by a pair of yoga pants and a cropped zip-up hoodie: the quintessential dick appointment outfit.

By the time you’re spritzing on your perfume, the come over text comes through. Slinging a small overnight bag over your shoulder with a few essentials, you lock up your apartment and head on your way. Nerves flutter in your chest the way they always do, anticipation building as you pull into the parking lot of his apartment complex.

JT hasn’t changed out of his pregame suit, the takeout box sitting on the counter an indicator he hasn’t been home for long. Your heart flutters at the realization that he must’ve texted you before he’d even left dinner, that he was thinking of you even while sitting and celebrating with his family. 

After closing the door behind you, he moves in to greet you with a kiss, and once his lips touch yours, it’s like the floodgates of desire have opened up and you lose all self control. Without warning, your hands tug at his neck to kiss him fervently, quickly pressing your body against his and sighing at the warmth. 

He groans, returning the kiss with equal ardor as his hands find their home on your hips. As you’re turning your attention to his belt, pulling your lips away from him for a moment, he murmurs, “Not that I’m not really, really appreciating this welcome home, but is there a reason for the extra enthusiasm?”

Clink. The belt’s hit the floor, and you waste no time getting your mouth back on his. Your hand slinks up his thigh, palming the half-hard appendage in his slacks eagerly. Involuntarily, you feel a needy throb between your thighs, the low thrum in his chest adding fuel to the fire.

“Really liked you in that jersey,” you purr. 

“Oh yeah?”

Your bottom lip slips between your teeth and you nod, glancing up at him. “Yeah.”

JT smirks, allowing his ego to inflate just a bit. He doesn’t say it, but you know it drives him wild how much of an impact he has on you. How little he has to work to have you desperate for him. “Anything else?”

“I really liked it when you scored,” you say, wistfully recalling the way it sounded hearing his name announced over the loudspeaker at Little Caesars Arena. “You should do that some more.”

“How much did you like it?” 

With just one sentence, he’s managed to increase the temperature in the room by at least 20 degrees; the words themselves are innocent, but the rumble behind them offers a filthy, sinful promise. His gaze is hot, predatory even, following the movement of your hand as you unzip your hoodie in response to his question. You don’t miss the way his breath hitches at the peek of red lace, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat when you shrug off the fleece.

Tension is thick in the air as you stand before him, heart pulsing in your throat. With a blink, he seemingly regains his composure, though his eyes linger on your cleavage between the lace cups. “That much, huh?”

Another nod, shivering under the heated way he watches you sink to your knees in front of him. Breaking eye contact with him is difficult, but you’re met with an equally pleasing view of his firm length pressed against the rich material of his dress pants. 

Your hand works at the zipper of his slacks, the other slipping between the metal teeth to press your palm against him. He’s throbbing under your touch, growing more and more solid as your hand strokes him through his boxer briefs. 

Words aren’t necessary—or capable, for that matter—once you finally fish out his length and lap at the tip. The only thing exiting his mouth are strangled curses mingled with the sigh of your name, hand slipping into your hair when he slides further into the hot cavern of your mouth. He’s fully hard now, resting heavy on your tongue as you trace the vein that throbs on the underside of his shaft.

JT grunts, tilting his head down to watch the way his cock slides between your lips. Your hands hold yourself steady against his strong, muscular thighs—one of the more underrated parts of his body, in your opinion—as you bob your head back and forth, wetting every inch of him with your mouth. You wrap your fingers around the base, twisting and setting a cruel rhythm that earns a loud whine from his throat, followed quickly by a long, “Fuuuuuuuck.”

Nails scratch lightly at your scalp, like maybe he’s searching for purchase, his chest starting to heave a little more frantically the more you work him to a state of dizzy bliss. It’s the least you can do, you think, to congratulate him on his first ever home game in Detroit. And, maybe, there’s a little piece of you that wants to reward him, because you still haven’t quite thanked him thoroughly enough for selecting your city as his final destination in free agency. For coming home to you.

A wet, frothy mixture of spit and precum coats your chin when he finally tugs you back with a groan. His eyes are dark pools of umber, arousal seeping out of them as he drinks in the sight of you on your knees, lips shining with the lewd evidence of your worship.

“Bedroom,” he husks, helping you onto your feet and pressing his groin against the swell of your ass as he gently nudges you down the hall toward his room. 

Falling forward onto the mattress, you glance at him over your shoulder and catch him admiring the view before his fingers are digging into the hem of your pants and tugging down. The sharp intake of breath tells you he likes your choice of panties, left as a sneaky surprise for him to unwrap as his reward. “Oh, she really likes it when I score goals.”

A wiggle of your hips earns a slap to your ass. Soon enough, you’re flipped onto your back, feeling the weight of him settled between your legs and his mouth slotting over yours. His lips are sure, certain, plush against yours, lazily commandeering control. Kissing him never gets old, not even when his erection is bumping against your lace-shrouded pelvis, silently begging for entry. 

One of his hands runs over your neck, down your chest, palming your breast through the bralette. He toys with the scalloped hem, admiring the feel of it beneath his fingers. The low rumble of his hum vibrates against the spot on your jaw that he’s paused to mouth at while his hands explore, hot breath cascading down the sensitive skin of your neck. “Y’look so pretty, I almost don’t want to take it off.”

“You like me in red, too, hm?” 

“I like you in anything,” he muses, allowing his tongue to trail along the thin strap that rests on your collarbone. It’s a sweet comment that you don’t have time to dwell on when his attention moves to the swell of your breast, then flicks at your taut nipple through the lace. “But red definitely suits you.”

JT punctuates his statement with a gentle nibble, tracing the floral pattern with the tip of his tongue until the fabric is damp with his saliva and your back is arched off of his sheets. Your fingers are threaded through his hair, knees pressed into his sides when your hips start to roll against his thigh that’s slotted between your legs. 

“Can’t decide if I want to taste you or fuck you first,” he murmurs against your breast. A hand slinks down your body, eventually settling on the fabric between your thighs; a pleased hum leaves his throat, presumably at the moisture he finds there. The breath in your throat catches when he brings two fingers to his lips. “A taste can’t hurt, right?”

The sight of JT Compher gazing lustfully at you from between your legs is one you’ll never take for granted, nor is the feeling of his hot breath against the inside of your thighs. Even better than that is the sound of his groan when he tugs the lace panties down your legs, eyes never leaving the dripping heat in front of him.

His hand draws to the apex of your thighs, and you brace yourself to feel a finger slipping past your lips; instead, you only receive the ghost of his touch, drawing up the slick that’s dribbled out of you.

“J,” you whine, hips bucking impatiently. You’re not sure you’ll survive his teasing antics—not tonight.

“Jus’ wanna enjoy my treat,” he says, cheeky, popping the finger in his mouth with a groan. “I love when your pussy drools like this.”

Soft, pillowy lips press against your core, and you aren’t sure who moans louder: you, from the feeling of his mouth finally touching you where you need, or him, at the taste of you on his tongue. He sets to work, devouring your cunt with his usual practiced precision; long laves of his tongue paired perfectly with gentle sucking of your clit. It isn’t until he pauses for just a moment to wrap your legs around his head that you realize he’s grinding himself against the mattress.

“JT, let me—”

“No, baby,” he pants, barely parting his mouth from you, his voice muffled by your skin. “Y’taste way too fucking good.”

You’re in the process of wondering what you did to deserve a man who enjoys eating your pussy more than you do when his hand slips between your legs, joining his tongue to aid in his quest to bring you to climax. He alternates between dipping his finger into your heat and using it to circle your clit while his mouth continues its sinful magic. 

“Fuck,” you gasp, spine peeling off the mattress when he curls his finger, striking at the spongy spot inside of you. The pleasure is blinding, radiating from the place where he strokes diligently. “Don’t stop.”

For being a man, JT is good at following instructions, especially when it comes to making you come. It doesn’t take long for your legs to quiver and a loud moan to rip from your throat; he hums in encouragement, fingers pumping relentlessly until you’re spent, slumped back against his pillow. You’re pretty sure your bones have disappeared and your body is now just a floating, ethereal being. You know, status quo with him.

“One for the assist,” he murmurs, pressing a wet kiss to the inside of your thigh. His lips are glistening with your slick and his spit, coating the auburn whiskers of his beard, and you draw him up to taste it.

His contented hum that vibrates against your lips when you kiss him makes your heart warm, like he could kiss you all day and not get sick of it. The feeling is mutual, you think, savoring the way his mouth fits perfectly against yours along with the heady taste of you on his tongue. His hand moves to cup your jaw, thumb rubbing gently as he swallows your sighs and comedown whimpers eagerly.

“You gonna fuck me now?” you ask into his mouth, once you regain the ability to speak. Sometimes, he has a habit of kissing the thoughts straight out of your brain. You love it more each time.

JT’s smile curls up against your lips. “Greedy girl, aren’t you?”

The sense of satisfaction watching his smile falter when your hand reaches between your bodies to stroke his erection is unmatched. Anything to render him speechless, too; the guttural moan is just a bonus. “Been waiting for this since warmups, when I saw you skating around in the winged wheel.”

“That’s a long time,” he says smugly, sitting up with a grunt and urging you to follow. When you turn your back to him, he pushes you down onto your elbows playfully, then offers a slap on your ass. “Your poor, poor pussy. So deprived.”

Turning your head, you watch him discard the rest of his clothes before his fist wraps around his cock, dragging up and down a few times. It’s a struggle to resist the whimper that threatens to bubble up in your throat. He runs the tip through your folds, coating it in your slick with a tsk. “So pretty. Should I give her what she wants?”

Instead of giving in, begging him the way you know he wants you to, you lean forward, ensuring he has an even better view of everything you have to offer. Your hand slithers between your thighs, fingers flattening as they rub at your clit. You part your folds before allowing your finger to dip into your entrance. 

“Fuck, baby,” he groans, voice dripping with a mixture of desire and awe. You swear you can feel the heat from where his eyes are burning a hole in you, staring at the way you touch yourself. “You’re so fuckin’ hot.”

Preening under his praise, your marriage joins your middle finger, moaning loudly when the two plunge into your heat. The sound of your slick is audible, harmonizing with your soft sighs and his deep, ragged breathing behind you. You muse, “I’ve always wanted to fuck a Red Wing. Doesn’t really matter who. Just want to say I did, you know?”

JT’s dark chuckle behind you sends shivers down your spine. He probes the head of his dick—still positioned at your entrance, waiting patiently for its turn—against your fingers, teasing you before nudging your hand out of the way. It falls to the mattress, and you return to leaning on both elbows. “You know how much I like making your dreams come true.”

The huffed laughter that falls out of your mouth is quickly usurped by a gasp when he pushes his hips forward. Pausing halfway, he hums at the way you squeeze him tightly before he sheaths himself completely. It’s a feeling you’re not sure you’ll ever get used to; so perfect and satisfying and full. Just the touch of his skin to yours is enough to ignite a flame deeper than you’ve ever experienced with anyone else—the intimate feeling of him inside of you is nothing short of euphoric. 

You push yourself back onto him, body acting on its own and greedily taking what it wants. He makes a sound behind you, somewhere between a laugh and a grunt; whatever it is, it’s followed by a firm slap against your ass that has you moaning.

“That’s it, baby,” he murmurs, voice low and raspy. “Fuck yourself on it.”

As if to accentuate his point, his fingertips trail up your spine before his hand fists into the lace strings displayed on your back. Once his hold is firm, he uses the material to drag you back against him and set a rhythmic slapping of your ass against his hips. 

JT fucks you until you’re a babbling, sweating mess, only capable of incoherent whimpers and crying out a semblance of his name. He’s steady and consistent, confidence rolling off of him even despite the way his voice falters when he’s murmuring filth in your ear, using your bralette to tug you backwards against his chest.

“You gonna come for me, pretty girl?” he whispers, beard scratching deliciously against the curve of your jaw. You nod, desperate, even your thoughts echoing the rhythm of his length driving in and out of you.

Teeth sink into the meat of your shoulder at the same time the universe explodes. Eyes squeezed shut, legs clenched tight, the air wrenched from your lungs as your body goes rigid in his arms. He hums lowly, working you through it, soft praises whispered against your skin.

“One for the goal,” he says, cheeky. You don’t have the brainpower to even roll your eyes at his hubris. Given the way your legs are still shaking, you’d say he has a right to be cocky.

Strong arms help you back down to your stomach, and you’re thankful for the soft mattress beneath you, no longer needing to hold yourself up; you’re not sure your limbs have the strength to. JT’s hands gently pull your hips back, lifting them up slightly to slide a pillow beneath them before he’s diving in face first with a groan. “Fucking love the way your cunt tastes after it’s been fucked.”

His tongue laps at you, and you squirm under his attention. Grabbing at your ass with both hands, he kneads the globes and offers a hearty smack that earns a squeal from you. “JT!”

“Sorry, baby,” he says, but the nip on your ass tells you he isn’t. You feel him shift before he’s helping to flip you over onto your back, and the sight of him smiling down at you makes your heart flutter. “Can’t help it.”

Something you’ve learned over the last few weeks with JT is that he is a thorough, meticulous lover. He worships at your altar until he’s completely absolved and your thoughts are wiped clean, pulling prayers from your throat with easy, intentional thrusts. With your legs resting in the crook of his elbows, he drives into you, solid, steady, watching the union of your bodies with a hunger that might intimidate you if it wasn’t the same one consuming you entirely.

“Look so good like this,” he murmurs, eyes roving over your body, admiring each curve as if he sculpted them himself. His gaze holds the sway of your breasts, testing the way you respond to different pulses of his hips. “Y’take dick like a fuckin’ pro, sweetheart. You know that?”

You hope the question is rhetorical, for when you go to attempt an answer, all that comes out is a garbled whimper. The praise makes your skin hot, heightens the flutter in your belly, and when he tells you to touch yourself, you blink dumbly at him. It garners a smile on his pretty lips—so fucking handsome—perhaps pleased with the way he’s fucked you stupid on his cock.

“Won’t last much longer,” he purrs. He swallows thickly, and if your brain wasn’t complete mush, you’d be very satisfied that he’s losing control, too. “Make yourself come for me. Jus’ one more, baby, please.”

And when he asks so nicely, how can you disobey?

Your hand snakes its way between your legs, rubbing at your tender clit; the action enhances the delicious, soul-altering feeling of JT’s dick delivering pleasure and promise. His eyes are glued to your movements, but your eyes are watching him.

JT Compher has always been beautiful. Handsome. Exquisite, even. But the sight of him, eyes shut, lashes kissing the tops of his cheeks, mouth open as his head falls back in ecstasy? No words. Truly, indescribable. 

It’s enough that you try to stave off your own orgasm just to prolong your view—that is, until the force of it absorbs you and then shatters you, seizing every last cell and filling them with euphoria. When the fuzziness fades from your eyes, JT’s panting body is on top of you, planting kisses along your collarbone. “And finally, one for the win.”

A dreamy smile slides onto your face. Weakly, your arms wrap around him, grazing the skin on his back lightly. He feels good in your arms. Safe. Comfortable. Natural. 

“Can I take you to breakfast tomorrow?” 

There’s a pause as you try to process what he said, sure that he fucked you so good, your hearing’s gone out, too. He nudges your jaw with his nose.

“B–breakfast?” Your voice comes out way shakier than you intended. You feel the short exhale from his huffed laugh against your skin.

“Don’t want you to think you’re just a booty call,” he says, like it’s obvious, like he’s not still half-hard buried inside of you, his cum seeping out onto the wrinkled sheets beneath you.

“That’s what you’re thinking about right now?”

“Can’t think about anything else about you or I’ll get hard again,” he admits wryly. The confession strokes your ego, something he manages to do without even trying. As you debate if you should, in fact, rouse a round two, your pussy flutters weakly in protest—dick too good. Need break.

JT’s hands never leave your body as he helps you walk to the bathroom, laughing at the way you waddle to avoid spilling cum all over his floor. Once you’re cleaned up, you slip on the t-shirt you packed, joining him at the sink to brush your teeth. He bumps your hip affectionately with his, and the domesticity of it all contrasted with the filthy aura from 5 minutes prior is astonishing—in a good way.

Back in his room, he eyes the bag that you place on the floor. “You can keep some things here, you know. I cleared out a drawer.”

It’s a simple statement, but one that strikes you hard; symbolic and heavy in its meaning: a place carved out for you in his home. 

In his life. 

JT sees you standing, gaping at him, and closes the gap between you before he’s tilting your jaw upward to look at him. His lips hover over yours, the ghost of his touch lingering in a way that makes your heart stop.

His voice is low, almost a whisper, like he doesn’t want to burst the bubble surrounding you. “If I’m coming on too strong, let me know.”

“You aren’t,” you breathe, surprised that your voice even works. His lips curl into a smile against yours before he presses forward to kiss you. It’s slow, ardent, sweet. Dizzying.

“Let’s go to bed. You can fill the drawer tomorrow.”

Tag list: @somuchf4rstardust @tpwkstiles @smileysvech @senditcolton @robindrake13 @laurenairay

[blouisparadise]

Upon request, here is a rec list of bottom Louis fics where Louis is pining for Harry. We hope you’ll enjoy this list. We also have a mutual pining rec list here and we will have a pining Harry rec list eventually. Happy reading!

1) Down On Your Knees, You Don’t Look So Tall | Explicit | 3445 words

Louis and Harry are friends, and best ones at that. Louis loves Harry more fiercely more than he's ever loved anyone, so he doesn't really have a problem with it when they start doing this thing. this wonderful, wonderful thing.

2) You Had Me At Hello | Explicit | 4529 words

Louis works in the shop next to Harry's cupcake shop.   Louis pines after Harry until he goes into a heat and Harry finally catches up.

3) Just Like Live Wires | Explicit | 5427 words

Harry climbs into Louis’ bed when he’s cold. Louis pines.

4) Something To Live For | Mature | 5535 words

After over a century of waiting for Harry to realize they're mates,  Louis gets his heart broken when his friend announces he's found his 'one' in a human girl named Teresa. Wanting only happiness for Harry, Louis accepts that it just wasn't meant to be and decides it's time to let go of the immortal life.

5) Five Times Harry Styles Was Jealous | Mature | 6184 words

Harry's jealous all the time but there were five times that definitely stand out. Five times that changed Louis and Harry's relationship.

6) On My Mind All The Time, Say You're Mine | Explicit | 9261 words

“Dude, we’re inside, and it’s night time. Those don’t look as cool as you think they do.” Louis could kick himself, he sounded so stupid, but it certainly got the guy’s attention.

It was at that unfortunate moment that he noticed several other things about this hot asshole, that he hadn’t noticed just staring from afar. First, when Louis spoke to him, his gaze was kind of unfocused behind his sunglasses, and secondly, that he had a red and white cane folded up under his arm.

“I’m… Blind,” the man chuckled, awkwardly.  

Louis wanted to melt into a puddle out of pure embarrassment.

“I— am so sorry. I have to go.”

“Hey, wait, wait,” the man soothed, grabbing at Louis’ shoulders before he could get away.

“I’m sorry,” Louis repeated, looking down at his shoes.

“It’s alright,” He cackled. “I get it a lot. More than you know.”

7) Let The Beating Waves Come Drag Me Down | Explicit | 9447 words

“Just try it, the worst thing that could ever happen it’s that you won’t like it” Niall had told him. And there he was, on the way to one of these pubs created for perverts, willing to break up the routine to try something new, something that terrified as much as excited him.

One night to get swept up in passion, one night to let the devil get in.

"Tonight, I’m going to make you scream of ecstasy Louis,” he said with a raspy voice full of control, making him tremble with anticipation.

8) Got It Right Such A Long Time Ago | Explicit | 9699

There are a lot of people Harry might expect to find on his doorstep at three o’clock in the afternoon these days.

It could be the delivery man, come to drop off the pair of boots Harry impulsively ordered online last week. It could be one of his neighbors, dropping by to complain about how a party he’d thrown weeks ago had clogged up the street. It could also be any number of his friends in L.A., who stop by unannounced most days to mooch off Harry’s food or whisk him away to try some new yogurt shop.

As a rule, it definitely cannot be Louis Tomlinson, although Harry’s blinked at least three times now, and it’s still Louis standing there, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a duffel bag at his feet.

9) You Know What They Say | Explicit | 10232 words

Nice guys always finish last.

10) Call If You Need Me | Explicit | 10770 words

If anyone asks later on, Louis plans to tell them that it’s all Niall’s fault.

11) Love Is Like This; Not A Heartbeat, But A Moan | Explicit | 13150 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

In which Harry loves Louis, but Louis has been cold to him ever since he presented as an omega at age fifteen.

Eight years later, Louis approaches Harry with a request, and who is Harry to deny him?

12) Just Let Me | Mature | 14714 words

The party was going well. So well, Niall had already sworn undying love to one multi-tiered chocolate cake, two friendly corgi-poodle mixes, Zayn’s hair, and the entire population of Los Angeles. So well, Zayn had only laughed and ruffled Niall’s hair and not even twitched towards a cigarette. So well, nearly everyone had spilled far past the boundaries of the night’s original plans, extracting bottles of vodka from the cabinets and losing a lot of clothes. Harry had proclaimed that he was finally going to throw a small and very grownup dinner party and of course here they were three hours later, fifty people half-naked in the pool. Soon to be full-naked, if Louis had to guess. Everybody in LA loved a heated pool. Everybody loved Harry.

13) We’re the New Romantics | Explicit | 16054 words

Alternatively, a high school au where Louis pines and Harry is not who he seems to be. Featuring peanut butter banana milkshakes, motorcycles, and first times.

14) Wait For Me (To Come Home) | Explicit | 16066 words

A future fic of time stamps where Louis finally comes to grips with a love he'd denied for too long.

15) Deflower Me | Explicit | 20154 words

Louis is a proud virgin, and no matter how much society tries to make him feel like a freak for not acting on his natural urges, he doesn't suffer from his lack of experience. He has never felt drawn to someone in a way that made him want to get involved sexually with them, and he isn't planning on rushing himself so he can get some because people think it's what he should do.

In walks Fratboy, the Serial Haunter of His (wet) Dreams, who thankfully has a little business going on that might be just what Louis needs.

16) I Wanna Be More Than Friends | Not Rated | 20721 words

The one where Harry’s an alpha with no sense of smell, Louis’ an omega who isn’t allowed to scent his best friend, and that’s all they’ll ever be. Obviously.

17) The Way The Storm Blows | Explicit | 21649 words

Louis doesn’t have a habit of thinking about Harry’s dick.

That would be weird, seeing as they’re best mates, and they share a flat, and they’ve spent holidays at each other’s family homes. Their friendship hasn’t ever risen to a point where Louis should want to see his mate’s dick, and he��s happy to keep it that way.

Except, all that Louis can think about is exactly that. The size of it. The shape. The amount of people it’s been in.

Maybe it’s the tequila talking, or the fact that Louis’ just recently walked in to an eyeful of Harry taking turns on some slags that he’s never seen before, but. Louis’ mind can’t stop obsessing over the idea.

18) Ours Are The Moments I Play In The Dark | Mature | 30830 words

Jane Austen's Persuasion AU. Nine years ago Louis Tomlinson was persuaded to break off his engagement to Harry Styles, a poor sailor. Since then Louis has come to regret being so easily convinced to give up his one chance of happiness. Now Louis' family is in debt and his childhood home is being sold. In a complete reversal of fortune, Harry has returned to England a wealthy bachelor looking to settle down. Events conspire to bring them together once more though Louis is- must surely be- the last man on earth that Captain Styles would think of now.

19) If Ignorance Be Bliss | Mature | 30429 words

Uni AU: Harry is too experienced, and Louis just wants to get to experience him.

20) Where The Lights Are Beautiful | Mature | 31170 words

The accidental bonding a/b/o fic.

21) Mark My Word (We Gon’ Be Alright) | Explicit | 35524 words

"He’s always known that there would come a time when Harry would bond with some beautiful, quiet omega, and they would have lots of curly-haired pups and live happily ever after.

Knowing it and living it are two very different things, though. Watching the object of your affection desperately search for a mate and completely disregard you as an option is all sorts of painful, but it is what it is, and Louis is just going to have to learn to live with that."

22) Before We Knew | Explicit | 39831 words

Louis has been skeptical of soulmates for years so it seems like fate when he finally bumps into the owner of the obnoxiously large signature printed into his skin since age sixteen: Harry Styles, a human rights attorney who is firmly against soulmates.

23) Eyes Off You I Explicit | 39396 words

A Charlie’s Angels inspired fic where Louis is the brains, Harry is the charm, Liam is the muscle, and Niall drives the getaway car - and Zayn is there, too. sometimes.

24) Kiss Me On The Mouth And Set Me Free (Nut Please Don't Bite) | Mature | 42074 words

Harry is the CEO of Flora Corp, Louis is his new secretary.

"...Louis wanted him so badly. Wanted Harry to pick him up, bite him, and break him. Make Louis his, make Louis cry, make Louis a beautiful, plump, pregnant omega..."

25) Let Me Touch You Where Your Heart Aches | Explicit | 46625 words

A Friends with Benefits AU, in which Louis falls in love and Harry is jealous. There is some Karaoke singing somewhere in there, because how do you write a romantic comedy without a Karaoke scene?

26) Underneath The Moon | Mature | 46927 words

In five years’ time, Louis would be the one saying to his students about how he knew the great Harry Styles, in a time before he had ever put out an album or performed on a real stage. Harry fucking Styles had been his best friend and he still loved him, he always would. But they couldn’t stay that way.

27) The Sidelines | Explicit | 47078 words

Note: There are mentions of Top Louis.

Or Harry and Louis play hockey for Penn state and can’t stand one another, since they can’t keep their hatred off the ice their coach and team do what they can to keep their hard earned spot in the playoffs and their two star players from killing each other.

28) Waiting For The Tides To Meet | Explicit | 59873 words

Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he'll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis' workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis' heart.

29) Pinkies Never Lie | Explicit | 83615 words | Sequel

AU in which Louis hates his job and loves Harry, Harry just wants a distraction, everyone else wants them to get their shit together, and Louis learns the hard way that new beginnings are only possible when something ends.

30) Inevitable | Explicit | 185917 words

AU where Louis and Harry used to be more than friends, but everything had to change the day Harry introduces Louis to his new girlfriend.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

[coolnerdyandalone]

on FIMQ deleting her content and COVID-19 (and a gratuitous larry fic rec)

@freddiesmyqueen first of all queen i hope you’re doing ok although i know some shit must have gone down for you to delete/private list all your videos and i hope you know that the larry community supports you always. Also your talent is TRULY unmatched in the world of video editing - no one makes edits quite like you and that’s why your loss impacts the community so profoundly. 

secondly, i know at least i was hoping to turn to rewatching all of FIMQ’s videos while i’m being quarantined due to the coronavirus. and i’m willing to bet that i’m not the only one. this is a scary time and for people like me who feel profoundly alone right now, the only way for me to calm my nerves and fears is by reverting to the content and community that helped me feel not so alone when i was in middle and high school. For me, that looks like watching FIMQ videos and reading my favorite larry fanfics (which i will also link below).  because of this i thought it might be helpful to repost some links that were posted by @bluemoonlarryandkaylor for a signal boost (if my teeny-tiny account can be called a signal boost). 

link to a google drive with FIMQ videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ONwfLOd_IYvAL5OUDqDb_LLgQsDpd9il

link to an acct with some FIMQ re-uploads: https://www.youtube.com/user/Joana3961/videos

link to FIMQ vids with spanish subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIouodFhArMkQhOHxv2t2NgxTwl6KvXAT

and now if you want to look at some good old fashioned larry fics that are my ABSOLUTE faves and could 100% be actual novels/movies, keep reading:

And Then A Bit** by @infinitelymint aka the best fanfic ever written (basically larry fakes a relationship for publicity with each other and it could be cannon if you really wanted to hope upon hopes): https://archiveofourown.org/works/1415272/chapters/2972746 (159k)

“We’d like to give the fans what they want.” Magee states, placing his hand on the table in front of him and leaning forward. “We want to give them Larry Stylinson.”

Or, take a parallel universe where Louis and Harry were never together, mix in a two year hiatus and an impending comeback, pour in a dash of lost fans, two tablespoons of strong friendship and a Modest! employee with a good idea. Add a squeeze of pretending to be a couple, lots of kisses and a tattoo or two. Stir. Serve: the mother of all publicity stunts.

(aka Harry and Louis fake a relationship for publicity. Eventually it becomes a lot less fake and a lot more real.)

Escapade** by @haydolce aka the Jack McQueen fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4034197/chapters/9071932 (146k)

In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He's rich. He's handsome. He's reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.

California Sold** by @isthatyoularry​ : https://archiveofourown.org/works/5157680/chapters/11877494 (123k)

Notoriously closeted boyband member Harry Styles is famous on a global scale, meanwhile Louis, as his best friend, is back home in Manchester, living the typical life of a 24 year old. When Harry needs Louis with him in LA, a publicity stunt gone wrong changes their friendship forever.

A fake-relationship AU between two lifelong best friends.

Bring Your Body Baby (I Could Bring You Fame) by @theboyfriendstagram : https://archiveofourown.org/works/4263903/chapters/9652944 (84k)

Eighteen year old Harry Styles just graduated high school and landed a summer job as a waterboy for his favorite football team. His job description is simple: be ready to hand water and towels to players if needed. That didn’t seem to include Louis Tomlinson though, a twenty-three year old, recently transferred Paris Saint-German player, who seems to like making Harry’s job much more difficult than it has to be.

OR  

A self-indulgent AU that takes place over the summer of 2015. 18 year old Harry hates pining after people he can't have, and 23 year old footballer Louis loves flirting with people even though it never means anything.

Pull Me Under** by @zarah5 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/870766/chapters/1672104 (140k)

AU. As the first British footballer to come out at the prime of his career, it helps that Louis Tomlinson is in a long-term, committed relationship. Even if that relationship is fake. (Featuring Niall as Louis' favourite teammate, Liam as Louis' agent, and Zayn as Liam's boyfriend, who just happens to be good friends with one Harry Styles.) 

You You You** by @isthatyoularry : https://archiveofourown.org/works/846690/chapters/1617212 (137k)

“Infamous boybander leaves club together with unknown,” read the headline. Underneath were pictures of a boy with dark curls, green eyes and very tight pants. They both studied the article for a moment, reading it through quickly. “Is that…?” Louis frowned. That guy almost looked exactly like... "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" "Louis," Niall said, looking absolutely fucked over. "You just fucked the most wanted guy on earth. You just fucked Harry Styles of One Direction."

Or, the one where Harry and Louis meet at a club and Louis takes Harry home, only for him to realize that the boy who just made him breakfast half naked is Harry Styles from One Direction.

Like an Endless Summer by @horsegirlharry : https://archiveofourown.org/works/11365494/chapters/25442085 (87k)

“You just wanna go fawn over Styles as soon as possible,” Zayn grumbles.

“I do not. Plus, he probably got ugly this year. Eighteen is an awkward time...I bet he’s got acne and one of those terrible fuckboy haircuts all the hipsters are getting these days, with the shaved sides? Just watch, the first year we’re gonna get any time together is gonna be the first year I don’t have a stupid crush on him.”

---

Or, Louis is a riding instructor at a summer camp, and Harry is a fellow counselor who he’s been successfully managing his crush on for the last two summers. That is, until Harry shows up this year leveled up and lethal, and all Louis’s formerly perfected veneer of nonchalance melts like a popsicle in the sun.

Three French Hems by @100percentsassy and @gloriaandrews : https://archiveofourown.org/works/3064493 (20k)

In which Louis is a designer at Burberry and Harry spends December wearing Lanvin… and Lanvin… and Lanvin.

The Dead of July aka the Marvel Fic by @whimsicule  : https://archiveofourown.org/works/3594570/chapters/7928520 (117k)

Being an Avenger means continuing to be Captain America and smiling and being honorable for the public and Harry does his best. But it doesn’t give him time to figure out who he is supposed to be once he takes off his uniform and puts the shield to the side. Just being Harry had always involved Louis, and Harry fears he doesn’t know how to exist without him.

or: Harry is Captain America, and Louis’ been dead for 70 years.

Gods & Monsters by  @mizzwilde : https://archiveofourown.org/works/2090982/chapters/4550871 (201k)

The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that's exactly what he did.

Love is a Rebellious Bird aka LIARB aka the orchestra fic aka dont hum bolero by @100percentsassy and @gloriaandrews : https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162438/chapters/2362331 (135k)

AU in which the boys still make music. Louis is the concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, Harry is the New! and Exciting! interim conductor/ex-cello prodigy who "has made Mozart cool again" according to Esquire Magazine (Louis hates him immediately, which is definitely why he internet stalked him in his dark bedroom late at night that one time), and Niall is the best. Zayn and Liam are around too.

Don't hum Bolero.

My English Love Affair** by @isthatyoularry​ : https://archiveofourown.org/works/1873962 (19k)

The thing about sleeping with a member of a famous indie band is that the inevitability of having a song written about you is most likely a hundred percent. The second thing is that in the end, nobody's supposed to find out it's about you.

The one where Harry writes a song about his English love affair and Louis sleeps with someone in White Eskimo and all he gets is a stupid song written about him.

Soft Hands, Fast Feet, Can’t Lose by @haydolce : https://archiveofourown.org/works/5799241/chapters/13366498 (113k)

American Uni AU. Harry Styles is a frat boy football star from the wealthy Styles Family athletic dynasty. A celebrity among football fans, he knows how to play, he knows how to party, and he knows how to fuck (all of which is well known among his legion of admirers).

Louis Tomlinson is a student and an athlete, but his similarities to Harry end there. Intelligent, focused, independent, and completely uninterested in Harry’s charms, Louis is an anomaly in a world ruled by football.

A bet about the pair, who might be more similar than they originally thought, brings them together. Shakespeare, ballet, Disney, football, library chats, running, accidental spooning, Daredevil and Domino’s Pizza all blend into one big friendship Frappucino, but who will win in the end?

Wild and Unruly aka the Cowboy fic by @100percentsassy and @gloriaandrews : https://archiveofourown.org/works/2723093/chapters/6099611 (124k)

Harry is a cowboy sitting on the biggest oil reservoir in Wyoming, and Louis is the paralegal assigned to pressure him into selling his land.

For As Long As I Can Remember (It’s Been December)** by @greenfeelings​ : https://archiveofourown.org/works/15051122/chapters/34892210 (128k)

After recovering from a severe accident that causes Harry to lose his memory of three years, he moves to London to start his life over as a star chef. Little does he know that when he falls in love with Louis at first sight, it’s not the first time they meet.

Featuring an unintentional game of hot and cold, Harry chasing memories that won’t come back, Louis burying himself in work to try and forget what he can’t forget, Liam being torn between two of his best friends, Zayn as a moral compass and Niall saving the day with good music and brutal honesty.

the boys of fall** aka the american football fic by @godgavemelou​ : https://archiveofourown.org/works/5443037 (21k)

“And everyone, this is Harry Styles. He’s going to be our starting quarterback this year.”

Louis looks at him, the tall and lanky Harry Styles, and takes it all in. He’s got hair to his shoulders that curls at the ends, tattoos all down his arms, and a bright smile on his face as the team cheers him on. He’s lean and fit, and absolutely beautiful, and Louis hates him to the core.

OR an american football au where the boys play for the university of tennessee, and harry and louis quite hate each other.

** indicates that the fic is a log-in required fic, but if you want the pdf i can send it to you

[lovelylou]

since 2020 is almost over, i thought i’d share (some of) my favorite fics that made my 2020 a lot better.

[note: not all of these fics were written/published in 2020, although most of them are, there are some that are older, but that i’ve read or re-read this year]

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tastes like summer, smiles like may by outropeace

“Is this true?” Harry grabbed the beta by the shoulders. “Bryce, where did you hear that?”

“There’s rumors going around the castle,” he smirked. “stories about his beauty and his cold attitude. They know he is an omega only because of his scent, but he has never had a heat.”

“Do you know what this means?”

Bryce smirk grew into a big smile. “He can’t give you an heir.”

A cold prince, an alpha with nothing left to lose and a kingdom with a secret.

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But It's Useless by thinlines

“Hey.”

Louis was even hallucinating now. He closed his eyes.

“Hey, you.”

He chuckled wetly, head still leaning against the door.

“Can you get out of the way? You're blocking the door.”

He exhaled sharply before slowly turning around. His eyes fixed onto muddy Nike trainers before it traveled up to impossibly short jogging shorts. The yellow color was atrocious, simply ghastly.

“What happened to being polite, Harold?”

OR Omega Louis would never guess that he would be trying to hack into Alpha Harry's Wifi. That is until everything changes when he tries to get to know his enemy.

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haunted by the ghost of you by missandrogyny

He’s tall—that’s the first thing that registers in Louis’ head when he spots him, standing with his hands behind his back. Tall, with curly hair, staring at them with the widest, greenest eyes Louis has ever seen. And wait, are those dimples? Louis didn’t know ghosts could have dimples.

Because he’s definitely a ghost, this boy. At first glance he looks normal, standing there pigeon-toed in a band shirt (The Ramones, Louis can’t help but note incredulously), dark jeans, and some boots, with rings on both hands, and tattoos littering his left arm—a sleeve made of anchors and names and roses and other completely unrelated things. But he’s also a little bit translucent; if Louis focuses, he can see the outline of the furniture, the design of the wallpaper through him.

“Hi,” the boy—the ghost—says to Louis. His face shifts; somehow his dimples dig deeper into his cheeks. His eyes flit from Louis, to Niall, to Liam, and finally to Zayn, and his face goes from shocked to elated. “I’m Harry.”

At in that exact moment, standing between three of his best friends and staring at a (quite handsome) ghost, Louis can only think one thing.

Nick Grimshaw was right.

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On the Edge by zanni_scaramouche

Figure skating is as vital to Louis’ identity as his DNA, so when his skates go missing right before the last Olympics of his career there may be a meltdown only vanilla bath salts can fix. Well, that and the stupidly charming hockey player he met on the plane.

Harry’s too old to be the wonder kid and too young to be taken seriously in the NHL. As an alternate thrown in at the last second, he fights to prove himself on the national team at the largest sporting event known to man. Or he will, once he gets off this flight and can focus on something other than the fussy figure skater and his stunningly blue eyes.

A baggage mix-up skews both of their perfectly laid plans for gold, forcing the two to work together as the clock clicks towards the minute they’re expected to shine on centre ice.

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even the best laid plans by falsegoodnight

“Anyways,” Louis stresses, narrowing his eyes, “just let me say it and then rate how terrible of an idea it is on a scale from one to ten.”

“Alright,” Zayn agrees, sitting up expectantly.

“I want to ask Harry Styles to take my virginity,” Louis blurts, holding his hands out for emphasis.

The way Zayn’s eyes bulge is almost comical. “Negative infinity,” he says, voice choked. “Negative infinity times negative infinity.”

“Technically, a negative times a negative is -”

“Really negative infinity,” Zayn corrects himself, shaking his head wildly. “Louis, what the fuck?”

-

Or, Louis wants to have sex with someone and decides Harry is the perfect alpha for the job.

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The Compulsion to Find Love by Toomanytears

The most prestigious English third-level institution, Candling University, accepts omega students for the first time and Louis Tomlinson applies with bright eyes and brighter ambitions. There he encounters personal obstacles, traditional mindsets and a beautiful boy who inverts every prejudice Louis has ever known.

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Mine Would Be You by crinkle-eyed-boo (KimmieRocks)

Louis blinks his eyes open, his eyelids fluttering as the room swims around him. He takes several gulps of beer once he confirms that he’s definitely not hallucinating, that the very first portrait Harry Styles ever painted of him is hanging on that wall.

Louis stares at the wall, his heart jackrabbiting in his chest as he realizes that there’s not just one painting of him, there’s five, the portraits lined up like they’re some sort of storyboard depicting the rise and fall of his deepest love. His greatest heartache. A pain that cut him so deep that he left the fucking country, severing all ties with his life in New York, now suddenly surrounding him as if he’d never left.

Fucking shit motherfucker fuck.

Louis returns to New York City five years after he left it – and the love of his life – behind. He didn't intend to see Harry again, but fate has a funny way of pulling them together, whether they like it or not. After making a begrudging truce, they both start to wonder: Would it be so bad if history repeated itself?

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UN(RE)SO LVED. by daddyharrie

The ghoul boys are back, but this time around there are some unresolved feelings involved. Harry is a skeptic, Louis is not. Watch them go on their ongoing investigation into the question: are ghosts real?

Or, BuzzFeed Unsolved AU.

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Hate to Smoke (Without Me) by louhazpride

“For fuck’s sake,” he huffs, grabbing the pillow and pulling it on top of his head in an attempt to block out the banging coming from the other side of the wall.

It’s the third time this week that his neighbour has woken him up in the middle of the night with his little ‘rendezvous.’ Honestly, he's quite sick of it. There’s only so much sex he can bear to hear in one week and he has already hit his limit. If he wanted to listen to someone having sex, he’d turn to porn.

As if the noises weren’t enough, Harry immediately becomes aware of the faint aroma of weed filling his flat.

“I’m going to murder him.”

Sleep. Harry just wants one good night of sleep. However, his neighbour has a thing for headboard-banging-against-the-wall-sex every night. After a secret set-up and a bet, Harry may finally get the sleep he so much desires.

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Three Days in February by writing_practice

“We have to get out of here, outside,” Harry whispered, turning his hand in Louis’s grip to hold on and pull them both to their feet.

“And how do we fucking do that?” Louis hissed, carefully rising and pulling Harry to his feet before Harry could do it. His gaze darted to the front then back of the arena. “None of the doors are where they’re supposed to be.”

“What?” Harry looked around again too, couldn’t see any doors, only knew that they must be there, somewhere. “How do you know?”

Confusion slid over Louis's features.

“Because we’ve been here before, Haz. It’s the O2.”

The show. It must be the first night of their tour. They were too late; they were out of time.

Louis is cursed after a night out with the lads and the five have just three days to figure out what happened and how to break it before Harry and Louis both lose their sanity and maybe something more. Louis can hear everything Harry thinks and Harry isn’t sure he can keep his feelings for Louis a secret from his own mind.

Ridiculous amounts of banter and angst, a lot of Harry and Louis alone together, a healthy dose of OT5 friendship, and one very magical weekend.

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Coming Up For Air by stylinsoncity

It's a long plane ride to LA but sitting beside Harry makes time fly.

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I'd Give Up Everything Just Ask Me To by Rearviewdreamer

They don't usually exchange Christmas gifts, but this year is different. This year, Louis knows exactly what he wants to put under the tree to make his boyfriend smile. He just doesn't know how he's going to get it.

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bruise you like a peach by falsegoodnight

There’s two reasons Harry despises Econ.

The first is that it’s boring as fuck. The second reason is a bit more personal, a bit more focused in a way. As in it’s focused on one specific thing, or in his case, person.

His name is Louis Tomlinson.

-

Alternatively titled 'the peach fic.'

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Sometimes You Just Know by 2tiedships2

“Dear diary. Today is going to be a good day, and here’s why...”

“What are you doing?” Louis mumbled as he bit into a piece of toast.

“It’s been almost two years and today Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson reunite. Louis is very excited about…”

Louis’ chair screeched along the kitchen floor as he flew up out of his seat, quickly grabbing the paper from Niall’s grasp. As he scanned the page he found it amounted to lines of nothing.

“What is this?” Louis asked again. “We’ve discussed how Harry Styles will never be spoken of in this flat. I don’t care how long it’s been.”

Niall snatched the paper from Louis and proceeded to draw a line across the page before writing.

“Today is the day that he-who-shall-not-be-named is coming to dinner.”

Or the one where Harry and Louis don’t believe in soulmates… until they do.

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eyes off you by soldouthaz

“Just promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to keep us all safe while we’re in there,” Liam says.

Through the crack in the door, Louis can just barely make out the broad curve of Harry’s back, the slope of his curls as they tumble down all sleep-soft and lazy, and the sharp twist of his arm - all leading down to where he’s got his pointer and middle finger crossed over each other behind his back.

“I promise,” he tells Liam firmly, “I promise.”

--

or; a charlie’s angels inspired fic where louis is the brains, harry is the charm, liam is the muscle, and niall drives the getaway car - and zayn is there, too. sometimes.

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Welcome to The Rivalry by 2tiedships2

“Welcome home!” Niall yelled, clapping his hands in excitement. “Isn’t it great?”

Louis looked between Niall and the house, unsure how to respond.

“I don’t understand,” Louis finally managed to say. “Aren’t we a little old to be living so close to campus?”

Niall scoffed. “You’re only twenty-four for fuck’s sake. There is still plenty of partying left for us to do. What better place than one street over from where a car was set on fire after the Michigan game last year?”

“Is there proof of that? Did the car have Michigan plates or something? Is there a photo I can send in a DM to Wolfie?”

As if on cue, a Twitter notification popped up on Louis’ Apple watch. He had tweeted again.

Or a reverse You’ve Got Mail au inspired by the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry. Featuring duplex neighbors, (kind of) enemies to lovers, and an anonymous Twitter feud between omega Louis and alpha Harry.

⋆*+･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*･ﾟ+.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ⋆*+･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*･ﾟ+.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Cold Little Heart by seducedbycurls

Louis is a soft omega with an abusive past and an alpha child

A few months after getting a divorce, Louis meets Harry, an ex-military alpha wolf that offers him something -odd.

In exchange for teaching him how to cook, Harry will babysit his son, Abraham

Louis really could use the help.

⋆*+･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*･ﾟ+.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ⋆*+･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*･ﾟ+.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

[girldirectionsource]

hey!! could you recommend any long wlw fics?? preferably more than 70k words. thanks:)

Hi! Unfortunately, there aren’t that many longer girl direction fics but I do have two amazing ones to rec you that are both over 100k:

You Make Lovin’ Fun by @homosociallyyours

Harry is a 28 year old travel writer at a gay magazine who gets the assignment to go a lesbian cruise. She figures it's a nice chance to have some fun in the sun, but she's not expecting much else-- even if her partner and best friend are both encouraging her to hook up with someone while she's there.

When she locks eyes with a gorgeous silver fox from across the room, she starts to think she could've been wrong. There are lots of things standing in the way of anything real happening with her and Louis, but that doesn't stop them from falling for one another. True love isn't always easy, but they do make lovin' fun.

Crazy and Infectious by @star55

“Y’know,” Louis starts. “While we’ve got our phones out, you should give me your number. In case they ask who referred them.” “Oh, they don’t do that,” Harry replies as she locks her phone. “They’re not the kind of company who keeps tabs on who refers who.” Louis raises her eyebrows and smiles at this beautiful girl. “Harry,” she says slowly. “I’m hitting on you.”

A Shades of Pink story in which we flash back to find out just how Louis and Harry actually got together.

(If you haven’t read it yet, the entire Shades of Pink (Crazy in Love) series is over 400k at this point and I highly recommend checking it out!)

more under the cut!

And then here are some recs between 50k and 70k:

I love your demons (like devils can) by ariadne_odair

"I am right here," she says loudly, and she can almost hear the crack when Louis' head whips around to stare at her.

"Why?" Louis asks, and Harry feels her insides shrivel up and die.

Harry didn’t plan to join the football team. She didn’t plan to sleep with the captain of the football team. She definitely didn’t plan to sleep with the closeted captain of the football team, who promptly acted as if nothing happened and left Harry a pathetic, pining mess.

The Changer and the Changed by @homosociallyyours

It’s the spring of 1977 and Harry Styles has just moved to New York City after graduating college. She knows she’s a lesbian. She just needs to figure out how to meet other lesbians.

Louis Tomlinson works at a popular women’s bookstore in the Lower East Side, Womon’s Direction, where she spends her days reading feminist literature, writing poetry, exchanging friendly barbs with her boss Niall, and dreaming of finding someone to love.

When Harry and Louis meet, their connection is instantaneous. Slowly but surely, Louis welcomes Harry into her community of women. Stonewall veteran and old school butch Niall; Liam, a land dyke who’s moved to the city for love; and Zayn, a lesbian musician who’s been ostracized by a vocal part of women’s community for being trans, welcome Harry with open arms, ready to help her find her place in New York City’s bustling lesbian scene.

It’s a time of growth for everyone involved.

If I Was Stronger by @haloeverlasting

Harry’s fingers find her lips, in a silent moment of wonder and reverie, and her knees wobble as she’s assaulted with the image of Louis, right here in her bedroom, with her light blue eyes, and her gentle hands, and Harry feels an overwhelming rush and longing to reach out and touch. She imagines Louis stepping towards her slowly, treading lightly with her fingers on her cheek, where Harry’s dimple may appear, and whether Harry would like it if Louis’ thin lips found hers.

With her eyes closed, she imagines Louis standing very close, and she finds the wait to be agonizing, but when she goes to close the distance, there’s no one besides herself in her bedroom.

Harry lets out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. She feels tingly, and hot, and absolutely terrified, but the next time she looks in the mirror, she sees someone she knows intimately. She sees that girl with bright green eyes, and unruly hair, and parted lips, and she loses her breath a moment, because while she knows that girl inside and out, she hasn’t been honest with herself until… well, now.

“I might be gay.”

A Girl Direction AU where Louis holds universes inside her, and Harry just wants to hold her.

That Smile and That Midnight Laugh by @uhoh-but-yeah-alright

Harry’s never noticed how lovely Louis really is. Maybe it’s just that she’s usually so guarded – a little tense, a little irritated, a little put out. At least when she’s at school, and also usually when she’s around Nick, which are the only times Harry has really seen her. Until tonight. Tonight Harry’s seen her with her guard completely down. Too busy laughing and enjoying herself to remember to be prickly, maybe. She seems different.

It feels different.

A Ferris Bueller's Day Off AU that picks up right where the movie leaves off, and imagines what might happen if Ferris' girlfriend and sister become friends. And maybe something more, too.

Sea Asunder by @cupcakentea 

It’s only then, as Anne elegantly sits at the other end of the table, that Louis realises there’s a third set of cutlery and plate laid out on the side between them. She feels something twist in her belly, right when the sound of small heels coming closer echoes from the drawing room. She looks at Anne’s side, where the door she came from remains ajar. But she realises, as the steps slow down, that the one on hers is wide open. She feels the hair on her neck standing up slightly with what feels like a shift in the very atmosphere of the room. A gravitational pull that passes right by her side with no words, no sound, just a disturbance of the air. There she is.

A Portrait of a Lady on Fire AU

i must admit i thought i’d like to make you mine by @disgruntledkittenface

Louis fell apart when her ex broke up with her and moved across the country. Just as she’s starting to move on, Zayn comes back to town for their mutual friends’ wedding – with a new girlfriend as her plus one.

Blindsided and scrambling to save face, Louis lets herself get talked into a fake relationship with her new friend Harry. Their arrangement makes Louis feel pathetic and embarrassed, but it’s only going to last a few weeks. She just has to get through the wedding – what could happen?

And here some fics I found while putting this together that I haven’t read yet but which look good!

into the great wide open by @ficshl

It only took a week or so for Harry to truly get into the routine of life on the road. They woke before dawn each morning, ate a small meal, packed up the tent and rounded up the livestock, all before setting out. On a good day, they could make it twenty miles. There hadn’t been many bad ones, but Louis confessed that on a previous trip there had been a solid week where they hadn’t made it more than five miles a day. Soon, Louis promised, animals would start going lame, and wheels would start breaking, and people would start going hungry. The beginning was the easiest, and the end was doable only because the hope of finishing the trek fueled everyone. It was the middle bit, with the tedious marching hundreds of miles from any settlement, that people succumbed to the journey.

Safe and warm in your coat of arms by frenchkiss

If she's being completely honest with herself, Louis didn't want a girlfriend. She had fully intended to head off to university, fuck around a bit, and be the lesbian that her hometown hadn't let her be.

Too bad fate wanted to throw a spanner in the works. A tall, curly haired cherub of a spanner who tends to answer to the name Harry, to be exact.

Me, Her, And The Moon by star55

All Louis wants to do is survive secondary school and her A Levels, be the best sister that she can possibly be to her five sisters, and train as hard as possible to be her family’s future alpha. She doesn’t expect to meet her mate on the first day of school and have her entire world changed.

[sweetsubharry]

hey ! sorry to bother you but could you reccomend me some fics of footballer louis?? thank you !! love your acc

Hiya!!  💖you can never bother me!! ^-^ ohmgosh I’m so glad you like my blog! I love footballer louis djskasdhjag tysm(sorry it took soooo long!)

please make sure you read the tags and stay safe everyone!💖

Also these are not in any particular order, however I will say the first two are probably my favourites ;) I have to read them again right after this!

freeze this moment in a frame and stay like this by rosesau

Harry (not so) secretly crushes on the cute footie player and fills pages with sketches of him.

Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by 1Diamondinthesun

Harry spends most of his time in an empty house or a lonely darkroom, dreaming of leaving his small town for art school. He's invisible to most people. And then Louis Tomlinson sees him. Life will never be the same.

Or, the American high school AU loosely inspired by She's All That.

Definition of Beauty by zanni_scaramouche

“Your book is upside down.” Harry nods at Louis’ book, his history text now that he sees it too.

“I’d rather study you.”

They both blink, startled by the slip.

“With you. Study with you,” Louis rushes to say. “Liam says I’m shite at history, can you help?”

Louis’ caught off guard by an omega he nearly takes out with an errant footie ball. It’s not that Louis’ never seen Harry before, it’s that he can’t stop looking, and he’s desperate to figure him out.

Coffee Cups and Football Boots by kimtaedumb

Harry’s stood behind the counter again, but this time he’s painting his nails. Louis strolls up to the counter and, thanks to his no brain-to-mouth filter, blurts out, “Isn’t that a little girlish, Haz?” leaning closer to inspect.

Harry lets out a little huff as his hand slips, “Oh, damn, now I’ve messed it up,” he pouts and turns to Louis, “Why should making myself feel pretty be girly?”

Louis holds up his hands in surrender, “’M not judging, jus’ curious is all.”

(The entirely cheesy and cliché Christmas AU, in which Harry doesn’t give a damn what people think about him – mostly – and Louis may be a little bit in love.

Alternatively, the one in which Harry owns a café that’s barely scraping by and Louis is a footballer and he takes Harry away for Christmas.

Featuring Zayn as a cocky little shit that most definitely needs to be put back in his place, Niall as the loveable Irish dude who drinks too much and flirts with Zayn more than the average girl, and Liam who loves everyone but hates them all at the same time.)

Way in the World by flowsque

When Louis Tomlinson enters the waiting room, Harry can distinctly feel his heart sinking to his stomach. The man's hair is ruffled and dishevelled and his red jersey, damp with sweat from training, clings to his perfect and chiseled body. He stands there, almost unreal, against the glass door, peering inside the office. Harry knew this would’ve happened, sooner or later. That he would have bumped into him. They play for the same club after all, even if they’re in different leagues. It’s not weird. It is not. Except it totally is. - Or, the one where Harry has a knee injury and an embarrassing crush on Manchester United's pretty number ten.

I Long For You by AnotherAnonymousWriter

Thirty minutes later, he's sat on a bench in Hyde Park with a book in his lap and a travel mug with hot tea in his hand. Not far from where he's sat, a group of boys are playing football and a bunch of children are chasing each other. Life is good.

Or at least, life is good until he hears a familiar “LOOK OUT!” and sees a football flying in the direction of his face.

And then everything is black.

(Harry gets hit in the head by various objects and falls for a boy with blue eyes.)

ease the quiet and talk me down by cabinbythesea

Harry's a model and Louis' a footie player.

(Louis teaches Harry some football and Harry is insanely good at giving a lapdance).

Baby, It's You by Bearandleonardwrite

"Oh, yeah. Um..” Harry lets his hands fall to his sides. His brows furrow, face full of concern, and he asks, “You’re not, like, stalking me, are you?”

Louis can’t help the loud cackle that escapes his lips and immediately slaps one of his hands over his mouth to muffle the sound. “Oh my god, Harry, no!” Louis tells him, a little breathlessly, giggles still bubbling out of his chest. “Lottie’s one of the makeup artists here today and she somehow got me to agree to come. I had no idea you modeled for, uh.. this brand until I saw you walk.”

“Oh,” Harry says dumbly, eyebrows still pinched. He lets what Louis just said sink in before a bright grin takes over his face and he goes back to doing up the buttons on his shirt. “Well, that’s alright, then. I’m glad you could make it.

(Basically, Louis' a footie player for Man U and Harry's a YSL model. They meet at a masquerade.)

Touch by kotabear24

Harry's shy and virginal with a past, new on the football team; Louis' the (experienced) popular star of the team and Harry's new mentor.

Come In and Change My Life by lightswoodmagic (sarah_writes)

He’d had the same neighbours since he’d moved into the building, a lovely, wealthy couple in their late sixties who had always invited him around for tea on Sundays. Martha had dropped off homemade biscuits the day he’d moved in, so Harry figured he may as well repeat the sentiment. He could hear someone getting closer to the door just as a flush ran through his body; oh fuck. His heat was close, too close to be knocking on a potentially unknown alpha’s door, but it was too late. The door swung open, and Harry’s mouth dropped. He’d never been overly interested in football, couldn’t find the fascination in watching men run around after a ball for hours aside from their uniforms, but he knew who this was. Louis Tomlinson, alpha, captain of Manchester United, star in a number of Harry’s heat addled fantasies, was his new next-door neighbour.

Or, Harry and Louis become friends when Harry looks after Louis' cat during away games, until one night at a party changes everything between them. It's just a shame Louis' going to be away for the FIFA World Cup for three months.

see the truth (it's me for you) by orphan_account

If you asked Louis the first day of his French Literature class what he’d be doing on the last, he’d probably never have guessed it would involve helping a poorly Harry Styles study for the final exam. Good thing he’s not a betting man.

(Or the one where Louis and Harry spend an entire semester ignoring each other after a one-night stand, only to come face to face when Harry manages to catch the stomach flu during finals week. Sometimes fate is funny like that.)

Use Your Words by zedi

based off this prompt: collage au where jock!harry always serenades flowercrown!louis with love songs in their music class. what nobody knows is that harry actually kinda means the words he sings.

But instead it's Louis as the jock and Harry as the flowerchild because I do what I want.

Stop The World (I Wanna Get Off With You) by ilikepianos

"You like this, don't you?", he asks breathlessly.

What? Sucking cock? Being dominated? Yes, all of that. A big fat yes.

Harry nods, lips still wrapped around Louis' throbbing dick.

Louis' lips curl into a smirk. "Keep going then. You're doing amazing, love."

OR: The uni-football AU where Harry may or may not have a minor crush on the captain of the team and suddenly discovers that the feeling is very much mutual.

Picture Perfect by LittleBubbleStyles

an AU where Louis Tomlinson is a misunderstood football player, and Harry Styles is a misunderstood photographer. Somehow, they're understood together.

I just think about my baby; I'm so full of love I could barely eat by mercutionotromeo

Harry and Louis are six hundred miles apart, but they have the same solutions to the same problem.

Or: a masturbation drabble featuring pillow humping, locker rooms, and copious amounts of dirty talk.

into another (another) serotonin overflow by mercutionotromeo

Harry wants this year to be different - wants it to be the year that he finally gets over this stupid crush. He’s going to uni, he needs to decide what he wants to do with his life.

Instead, he’s deciding what he wants to do to Louis Tomlinson.

Or: Sweet first time sex wherein Harry's adorably awkward, Louis is achingly cool, and Harry rides Louis wearing his jersey.

note: it says it in the tag but this is the edited version written in 2019, rather than the 2017 original- so there’s two put I put the link for the newest one :)

need a little sweetness in my life by mercutionotromeo

Harry's always liked feeling desperate and small when Louis touches him, but when he sucks Harry off...it’s fucking otherworldly. Desperate’s not really the word at that point - it’s helpless. Like… like the fucking world could stop spinning and Harry wouldn’t be able to do anything about it until Louis finished him off with his lips and his tongue.

Or, Harry and Louis go to university together. Harry really likes it when Louis sucks him off, and Louis really likes it when Harry calls him Daddy.

(Sequel to "into another serotonin overflow")

I made a map of your stars by brightbluelou

Harry does not have a crush on Louis Tomlinson. Yes, Louis is very pretty and funny, and Harry may have had more than a few inappropriate thoughts about him, but he certainly doesn’t like him. (Except for the fact that he totally does.) or, Harry is the shy boy in the back of the class that no one really notices. Louis is the loud, outgoing football player that everybody likes.

We Made These Memories for Ourselves by supernope

Breath held, Harry squints his eyes open and focuses on the first stick. A blue line. Harry breathes out an unsteady breath. He’s pretty sure he read that one blue line is a negative, but he fishes the box from the bottom of the pile just to make sure.

“Negative,” he confirms, voice echoing around the small room. “Next.”

Now that he’s feeling a little less shaky, he scans the rest of the tests at once, is met with a headache-inducing mixture of pink plus signs and blue double lines. His heart rate picks up until it’s pounding triple-time in the base of his throat and the pit of his stomach, thundering in his ears and throbbing in his temples. He flips over the rest of the boxes slowly, but he knows what they’re going to say before he even looks.

[or, Louis is a footballer, Harry owns a bakery, and they're having a baby.]

Kiss Me on the Mouth and Set Me Free by ls2k14   

Louis has his head thrown back in a laugh, his wet fringe hanging in front of his eyes, and a beautiful flush to his cheeks. From this angle, the sun hits his face just right to where the beams of light are shining in between the spaces of each individual clump of watered down eyelashes. His chest is showing through the soaked material of his white jersey and it seems that his biceps are attempting to break free from the sleeves that are clinging to his skin.

And Harry can do nothing except take it all in. He doesn’t even think he’s breathing at this point. He is literally stuck in place, admiring the true beauty of Louis Tomlinson, while being surrounded by fit footballers and generally attractive people. He doesn’t think he’s ever been in love before, but if Louis let him, he’s pretty damn sure he could change that in the matter of a few nanoseconds.

[anythingandeverything1d]

The tape

Your pov:

“H, do you have anything on Monday?”

Harry walked out of the bathroom, towel low on his waist, water dripping from his hair. “No..” he paused and looked down at his feet before shaking his head and smiling. “No I don’t think so. Maybe a FaceTime call with the boys but that should be it. And thats only if we decide to do that. You know how Louis has been lately with the reunion project.”

You nodded and smiled, rolling out of bed and walking over to him. You raised an eyebrow as he tugged you against his chest. His lips pressed to yours and your arms wrapped around his neck. You pulled away slightly and grinned. “Good. Because you and I have plans.”

“Oh yeah?” Harry’s lips pressed to your neck. 

“Mhm.” you laughed softly. “We have things to do. Places to be.”

“There are things we need to do now.” Harry growled, his lips touching your ear. He lightly bit your earlobe and tugged. You could feel his length pressing up against the towel and into your waist. Harry’s hands tugged at his shirt on your body. “Starting with this coming off...” Harry had the shirt pulled over your head when the phone rang. He sighed loudly and looked at you. “Don’t move.” 

You laughed and raised an eyebrow. “Yes sir.” you said laying back on the bed. Harry took one more look at you while standing in the bedroom doorway and turned back with a devious smile.

“Fuck it, they will eventually hang up.” He walked back over to you, his body falling in between your legs, the towel falling to the floor. Harry’s lips tugged at yours. His tongue flooded into your mouth and his hands moved their way down your bare chest. His fingers were rolling around your now hardened nipples when the doorbell rang again. Harry ignored it, his tongue slowly making its way down your body. He sucked and gently bit the sensitive skin on your boob, smiling knowing the mark would be there for the next few days. His tongue was at your belly button when his phone rang again, along with several other text notifications. He stood up with a groan, walking over to the phone.

“Harryyy” you whined, your heat dripping between your thighs from the anticipation. 

“Hello?” he answered holding up a finger to wait.. “What do you mean? No, there shouldn’t be any stories out, I’ve been with (y/n) all weekend....Fuck okay I’m coming.” Harry looked at you and and you sighed as he dug through his drawers. You stood up and walked into the bathroom to clean up since this didn't seem to be going anywhere now. Harry was now getting angry. You could hear him yelling into his phone frustrated with whoever was on the other side. You jumped in the shower and once you were done, Harry seemed to be finished with his call. He had gotten fully dressed and smiled softly when you walked back into the room. 

“Where are you going?” you asked confused. He was dressed for some kind of meeting it looked like.

“I have to go talk to my management team...”

“Why? Wait, no. We were supposed to go out...Harry we've had this date night planned for weeks and the guys are all expecting us....”

Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry...I don't have a choice here...”

“Babe-”

“(y/n) look I can’t go anymore okay? I’m sorry but thats just how its going to be tonight.”

Your mouth dropped. Harry rarely got angry at you and when he did it was normally your fault. This was out of line. “Whatever.” you turned and walked back into the bathroom, locking the door.

“Babe I’m sorry..” He knocked softly on the door. “I didn't mean to yell...”

You didn’t answer but you heard him leave. You sighed and rolled your eyes annoyed he had ruined the moment and gotten angry. You were also annoyed he was putting management above you. You were supposed to be the most important thing in his life. At least that’s what he had told you when you had argued last time about him not being home enough.

Niall’s pov:

Niall was sat around a table with Louis and Liam. They were all joking about how Harry and (y/n) never got the time or date right when they had planned an outing. They also joked about how Harry had to bring (y/n) to everything. Not that they didn’t love her, but it kind of defeated the point about a guys night. She had gone through so much with them though...from One Direction days to solo albums. She had been there through it all, making sure all of the guys stayed in touch during the hiatus. The waitress was just setting drinks down when everyone’s phones started blowing up. No one seemed bothered by the fact their phones were all blowing up. Liam was flirting with the waitress and Louis was backing him up. Niall picked up his phone, read the first message, and reads aloud mocking the article title, “HARRY STYLES SEX TAPE LEAKED!”

“Give it a rest.” Louis laughs. “Harry is more careful with that kind of stuff than anyone I have ever met.”

“It’s just a hoax like the rest of them, made to get views and people talking. Management probably leaked it.” Liam added winking at the waitress across the room.

Niall hasn’t looked up, he’s scrolling through the article and clicking play on the video. Niall’s face pales and his mouth drops. The guys all look at him concerned that he hasn’t joked back. “What is it?” Louis asks trying to take the phone. 

Niall places the phone down on the table for everyone to see. ‘It’s not fake.....”

“Shi-” Louis starts but Niall shakes his head.

“It’s also not (y/n).” he finishes looking up at them. 

“No way. There’s no way.” Liam shakes his head. 

“What do we do?” Niall asks laughing uncomfortably.

“We need to call Harry. What if they don't know.”

“It’s trending on Twitter, there’s absolutely no fucking way he doesn’t know. The real question is...does (y/n) know?” Louis shakes his head.

“She’s probably pissed.” Liam adds taking a sip of his drink.

“No she’s probably upset. No wonder they didn’t come.” Niall stands up. “We should go check on her. Make sure she’s okay..she what happened when they found out. They’ve been dating for years, this is going to kill her.”

The guys nodded, leaving money on the table and standing up. Louis laughs, “Niall the hero, saving (y/n) from her despair.”

“Shut up Louis.” Niall shakes his head. “This isn't about me.”

“Oh yeah, didn't you have a crush on her like when they first started dating?” Liam laughs.

“Yeah, but clearly that’s been over. She’s just my friend. I want to make sure she’s okay.” He led the guys from the restaurant and jumped in the car, map questing directions to Harry’s house.

Your pov:

Harry had been gone almost an hour and you had yet to hear anything from him. You were just laying on the couch watching reruns of friends when someone knocked at your door. You sighed and stood up, running to answer it. You smiled as the door opened. “Niall!” You hugged him tightly and then moved on to the others. “Lou!” Louis laughed uncomfortably and you gave him a confused look before moving to Liam. “Liam...” Liam was shifting nervously not looking at you and you stepped back. Paparazzi were rushing towards the gate so you moved the party inside. “What’s wrong?” you asked. They all looked like they were going to be sick...Niall kept looking like he was sorry. Liam looked away every time you looked at him and Louis just had his lips pressed together.

“Did you forget about lunch?” Louis asked grabbing your arm and pulling you to the couch.

You sighed. “Lunch? I thought we were doing dinner...is that why you are all upset. I’m sorry about not showing up...Harry just got a call and left without even saying anything.”

“A call about what?” Liam asked sitting across from you on the couch.

“I’m not sure....management called but he didn’t say where he was going. Why? What do you guys know that I don't?”

They all looked away. Niall sighed and pulled out his phone. “Have ya checked Twitter at all today?”

“No....why?” You grabbed your phone and unlocked it. Louis pulled it from your hands. “What the hell Louis?”

Louis looked at the guys and shook his head. “This isn’t our fight. Harry should talk to her about it...not us. He’s going to be pissed we got involved.”

“It revolves around her though. She’s tagged in it all. She has a right to know.” Niall argued. “Harry shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

“Done what?” you felt sick. What was going on? What was Harry hiding? Why were the guys acting like this? You looked at Liam. He had been like an older brother to you for years. “Liam.”

Liam sighed and nodded to Louis. “She needs to know. When we leave she’s going to figure it out. We need to be here for her when she does.” Louis nodded and handed your phone back. You stared at all of them confused.

“Why are you treating me like I’m not sitting right next to you?”

“Just look at the phone...” Niall sighed.

You pulled up Twitter. You have over 4,000 notifications which was never a good sign. You clicked on the first one reading out loud, “Harry doesn’t deserve (y/n). She’s too good for this.” You clicked another. “I feel so sorry for (y/n)...Maybe there's an explanation.” The last one you clicked had your mind spinning. “Imagine just waking up and finding out that not only has your boyfriends sex tape been leaked but also that its not featuring you. Here for you (y/n).” Tears were flooding your eyes when you looked up at Niall. “It’s not true....right? Tell me it’s not true....” Louis scooted closer to you and draped an arm over your shoulder.

“I mean technically we don’t really know...”

“What the hell do you mean Louis. We all watched the video at lunch.” Niall was pissed he was pacing back and forth between the two couches.

You shook your head. You were now crying. Louis was rubbing your back and you fell into his lap. “No. It can’t be real.” Liam moved over and sat next to you. He held your hand and gently squeezed. “I want to see it.” You looked up, tears flowing down your cheeks. “I want to see proof.”

Niall sighed and clicked on the original link before handing you the phone. You carefully read every line and clicked the video. Your stomach flipped. Harry was in his room, your room. He was naked, his tattoos clearly visible. There was a girl. It wasn’t you. He was kissing her, she was stripping, he was pulling his pants down. He didn’t seem to be drunk. He was talking dirty to her. He called her beautiful. He had sex with her. You flew up from the couch, running to the bathroom. Niall was at your side. You threw up, the video you had just watched had physically made you ill. Harry had cheated on you. He had filmed it. It was out in the public now. Niall held back your hair and Louis brought a cup of water. “(y/n)...” Liam started.

You sank to the floor, your back against the toilet. You were sobbing. You couldn’t breathe. The boys looked like they were contemplating how to handle this. “When did this come out?” you asked looking at him.

“We aren't sure exactly...we saw the notifications at lunch-”

“So Harry was having sex with me or trying to when all of this was happening. He was trying to fuck me when his fucking sex tape was released to the public.”

“Uh-” Louis tried interrupting but you kept going.

“Harry cheated on me. After 7 years. He just decided to fuck someone else?” you were processing everything in your head out loud to the boys who had no idea what to say. “What did I do?” you cried harder. Louis sighed and pulled you into a tight hug.

“You didn’t do anything love. Harry’s mistakes are his own. They don't revolve around you. He’s a fucking idiot for doing it.”

“We don’t know the full story either...I mean we all know how media twists stories...”

“Liam, he’s having sex with-with another girl. What full story is there that makes that okay?” Liam closed his mouth and sighed. You let Louis pull you to your feet. “I want to leave.”

“What?” Louis asked confused.

“I want out of this house. I don’t want to be here when Harry gets back either. I want to leave.” Louis handed you a tissue and nodded. 

“You can come to my place love, I’ll wait with ya.”

“We all will.” Niall added and Liam nodded. Niall grabbed an extra pair of clothes and some toiletries while Louis helped you out to the car. The paparazzi were all shouting questions asking what the story was. You wished you knew. Liam handed you your phone but you shook your head. 

“I don’t want it. I don’t want to see anymore.” He nodded sadly and sat in the drivers seat. Niall joined with a bag of your things and you all drove to Louis’. L

ouis set you up in his guest bedroom and asked if you needed anything. You shook your head and pulled off your shirt. Louis turned around but you didn’t care at this point. You threw on a pair of comfy sweatpants that Niall had grabbed you along with a crop top. You wiped your tears and snot on your old shirt and crawled into bed. You had finally stopped crying but you were exhausted. 

“We are going to order some food...anything sound good?”

You shook your head no, not trusting any words that might come out of your mouth. Louis nodded and closed the door softly, not wanting anymore tears to begin. Your mind was moving a hundred miles a minute and it made you feel sick. You closed your eyes and tugged the blanket to your chin. Images of Harry and that girl flashed through your mind as you drifted off to sleep.

Eventually, you didn’t know how long it had been, you woke up. You heard doors slamming, Niall shouting, Liam trying to diffuse the situation, but overall you heard one very loud and clear deep voice. “Where is she? Louis tell me where the fuck my girlfriend is!” 

---

So I got this as a request and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. I actually was planning on using the first part of this as a similar story but when this request came through I decided to mesh the two together. Hope you enjoy!

Check out part 2 here: The tape (part 2)

xoxo

[falsegoodnight]

part one of my december fic rec! this list encompasses the fics i’ve read from the 1st to the 15th so half of this month! (mostly just the first week and a half though because FINALS!) 

there’s still twenty fics/ficlets on here though which is insane so that’s why i’m splitting my monthly recs into two lists again!

you can find part two here

—

✰ (have yourself a) Merry little Christmas by @defencelesst | G | 1k (so so so soft and sweet and perfect!! lottie’s stories always warm my heart!)

There's a saying in Korean culture about how watching the first snow of the year with someone means you're destined to stay together for a long time.

✰ Still by @allwaswell16 | NR | 2k (a timestamp for this series) (so sweet and heartwarming! the PERFECT end to the series!)

Louis has settled into his life in Colorado with Harry, their horses, and of course, Lacey the goat. And now the day has arrived to finally marry the man who makes this place feel like home.

✰ sugary sweet by @soldouthaz | E | 4k (drabble from this series) (hot, hot, hot! did i mention, hot?)

From the corner of his eye he can see every movement. The fire makes Louis’ skin even more golden than usual, the peaks of his nipples dark pink in pale contrast. His chest is already beginning to rise and fall quicker where a blush has bloomed up near his throat from his excitement. His arm is raised, shaking lightly as he holds up the icing can, his mouth parted as he pants softly.

Louis looks ethereal, and Harry’s having a more difficult time than he thought not being able to touch him.

✰ Thank you, five by @nouies | E | 6k (technically a reread) (so so cute and lovely and hot!!!)

“Harry?” He says as soon as he recognises the other man.

“Louis? Wh-what are you doing here?” Harry asks with a frown.

“Well, I’m here for rehearsal,” Louis announces with a proud smile.

There’s a flash of confusion on Harry’s face. “What do you mean rehearsal? I got the part, you didn’t.”

✰ can you keep me close, can you love me most? by @soldouthaz | G | 6k (a drabble from this series) (made me CRY!! love this world and these characters so so much!!!)

“I’m so sorry, Harry. This was supposed to be our night and we were going to eat and then walk around the city and-”

“Lou, it’s alright,” Harry says, “seriously. We can always make another reservation. Don’t worry about it, love.”

“I know, just -” Louis cuts himself off with a sigh.

He knows they can reschedule. It’s not so much that he cares about the reservation, really, or any of the food. His students are so important to him and he’d always drop anything to help them, except that he sort of - well, Louis sort of thought Harry would propose tonight.

✰ singing your praises by @loubellies | E | 6k (really hot and sexy but also cute!)

Prompt 86: Louis rides Harry while wearing his packer’s jersey/sweater and gets his ass ate.

✰ You’ll wait for me only by @tired-eyes-lou | T | 9k (love accidental bonding fics! cute!)

Harry nips at the bondmark on Louis’ neck, Louis’ hands go to his hips, grounding him. He allows himself this, knowing that his Omega needs it too. Harry pulls back, “Go on a date with me.” He rushes out, looking at Louis’ eyes.

Louis laughs and shakes his head. “No, Louis, I’m serious. We’ve bonded for life anyway, might as well try.” Louis looks at him, “You’ve been thinking about this a lot.” Louis points out, Harry nods. “Okay.” Louis says and walks out leaving Harry. “Okay what?!”

✰ Pretty and Pink by @larryinpantiess | E | 13k (cute and lovely! love trucker harry!)

Harry never lets anyone come on the road with him.

Then, a cute hitchhiker, Louis comes around.

✰ show you the stars in the daylight by @yvesaintlourent | E | 13k (AMAZING INCREDIBLE PERFECT! i love childhood best friends and also !! miscommunication !! idiots in love !!) 

Louis has a type and at sixteen and scrawny, it's definitely not his best friend's little brother Harry...ten years later, he changes his mind.

✰ silver linings by @millsxwriting | T | 14k (so cute and sweet :’) as a big fan of emails, this made my heart happy)

As Louis starts his freshman year of college out of state, Harry finishes his last year of high school back home. The distance between California and Arizona has both of them gripping onto everything they can to make their relationship work.

✰ Won’t Keep You My (Dirty Little) Secret by @lovelykits | M | 16k (wow wow wow i adored this!!! louis and harry were both so lovely!)

Louis and Harry have been together since the end of last year and somehow no one knows about it.

✰ The Boy with the Tin Chest and the Glass Heart by @louloubabys1992 | M | 18k (amazing concept and so cute!! love the inclusion of fairy tales in this one too!)

Alpha Harry Styles, world-renowned author of fairy-tales, is being persuaded by the Beta, Liam Payne, to hire a new illustrator. Since Harry’s own illustrations are too graphic for what is supposed to be children’s stories, Liam feels the need is dire. Omega Louis does not agree with Liam since he believes that Harry’s stories are fine just the way they are. Of course this has nothing to do with Louis being totally biased or totally head over heels for Harry. It certainly has nothing to do with being jealous of the mysterious omega illustrator Liam has in mind to team Harry up with.

Seriously, it has nothing to do with that at all. Nothing, absolutely nothing, zilch, nada.

Yeah...

✰ Across the Grey, Salty Sea by @the-cheshire-pussy-cat | E | 20k (incredible!!! the ending made me so emotional ahh)

Prompt 212: Alex from Dunkirk and French escort/prostitute Louis who ends up in Alex’s quarters more nights than not. Alex gives him his dog tag to wear maybe just a lot of smut and dirty talk with Louis being a pretty princess.

✰ blue songs are like tattoos by @loubellies | E | 31k (berkeley chant!! but so so cute and amazing! loved the playlist that went with it too!)

“Good morning, University of California, you’re listening to KALX 90.7 FM Berkeley, this is DJ Harry Styles. If the owner of the tapes I’ve been finding around the studio doesn’t come forward and introduce himself, I’m going to continue tossing them straight in the trash!”

✰ Freeway of Love (In a Pink Cadillac) by @mizzhydes | E | 33k (the plot twist took me off guard but wow!)

Louis was on his way to Miami to visit an old friend. Harry was going there for a little R&R and take in the sights and sounds. A sudden upgrade in seating brought these polar opposites together. The universe works in mysterious ways and they are unknowingly about to embark on an adventure they will surely remember for a lifetime.

✰ Cold As Ice And Everything Nice by @harriblou | M | 41k (this was so sweet and amazing and tender <333 loved it!)

Louis is a professional ice-skater and he meets Harry, who offers to clean the ice for him.

✰ When Our Worlds They Fall Apart by @holdingthornsandroses | E | 42k (louis as leia??? harry as han solo??? amazing perfect incredible! made my heart happy!)

Harry put his hand over his heart as if Louis had wounded him. “You’re so harsh, my liege! Perhaps you need to relieve some tension…” He let his voice trail off suggestively.

“The day I ask YOU to relieve tension is the day I lose all my wits and join the Imperials,” Louis said. “It will never happen.”

✰ A Place With Skeletons by @crazyupsetter | E | 51k (yet another masterpiece from this author. continues to blow me away <3 that one line (you know if you know) still sticks with me today)

“I would choose anyone other than you,” Louis says, picking up his train of thought again. He feels a lot more cornered and defensive when they’re in Harry’s house, for some reason. It doesn’t really make sense, considering that this time, Louis was the one who couldn’t hack it any longer. He broke first. There’s something about being in Harry’s space, though, the green and earthy feeling of it. It should feel like open space with all the plants, but Louis has never felt more claustrophobic than he does when he’s here.

Harry’s chest moves against his back, a sharp intake of air. Before he can open his mouth to defend himself, Louis keeps going, “If I had a choice in any of this, I would have been saved by that elderly security guard over you. I wouldn’t mind having to have the occasional cuddle with her.”

✰ through the wheatfields and the coastlines by @thepolourryexpress | E | 53k (ni was right. i definitely fell in love with cowboy harry but i’m not complaining! this fic had it all and i’ll definitely be rereading this in the future - so so amazing!)

Louis needs inspiration, and a certain cowboy and his lamb are the perfect distraction.

✰ Know I Think You’re Awesome, Right? by @princesshalo​ | E | 60k (amazing amazing amazing! loved the conflict between louis and harry and their dynamic!)

A college AU where Louis is a hippie, very good vibes activist and Harry is a punk, anarchist that always gets involved in violent protests.

If you read any of these lovely fics, remember to leave kudos and comment to show your appreciation!

*if i made any errors, please let me know :)

enjoy!

[gil-estel]

~✨gil-estel’s long-promised spn rec list✨~

the general criteria:

(all fic will fit at least one, many will fit most)

✓ long (10k+)

✓ published after 2017

✓ canon-verse

✓ plotty and/or casefic

✓ nuanced exploration of dean winchester’s bisexuality

the fics:

Bender by vipjuly (destiel, 13k, rated E)

In order to protect a sorority from a vampire, Dean allows Rowena to transform him into a girl so he can go undercover.

He's still Dean. Just in a female body.

This is surprisingly easy.

Build a Home by domesticadventures (destiel, 20k, rated T)

After they save the world, Dean expects Cas to come back to the bunker with them.

He doesn’t.

Everything Comes Back to You by VioletHaze (destiel, 33k, rated E)

Dean knew better. Of course he did. But Cas seemed so charmed by the antique-filled bed and breakfast that Dean went along with it when the proprietor mistook them for a couple. Telling himself it gave them a strategic advantage to be so close to the crime scene, he agreed to the weekend special she offered them. When the case ended up being a bust, they stuck around anyhow because hey, the second night was free…

it never gets dark by vaudelin (destiel, 30k, rated E)

Normally Dean wouldn't get out of bed for a run-of-the-mill kidnapping, even without the hangover, but when Sam can't even write out the missing kid's name, he has to admit something's up.

Helping Sam, Patience, and Claire figure out who (or what) erased all traces of the kid is as good a distraction as any to get over Cas bailing from an abortive love confession. But when finding answers comes at a terrible physical price, the team is left with no choice but to call in any help they can get.

Like it or not, Dean and Cas have some uncomfortable truths to confront, and when worst comes to worst they'll discover what truly matters in the end.

Kelp! I Need Somebody by andimeanittosting (destiel, 27k, rated E)

It’s been a week since Michael was defeated and Dean freed, but Castiel can’t seem to get back on the horse. Dean, on the other hand appears to have bounced back completely, with one small exception: he no longer dares touch the now-human Cas at all.

When they receive a call from Jesse and Cesar to come investigate a series of mysterious drownings near their New Mexico ranch, Dean jumps on the job, much to Cas and Sam’s dismay. But more challenging than the kelpie they encounter, Jesse and Cesar’s relationship holds up a mirror, showing Dean and Cas the future they wish they could have. When Rowena and Charlie get involved, a shake-up is inevitable.

let me lay here so slow (i need never get old) by vaudelin (gen & bg destiel, 10k, rated G)

The day of Dean's fortieth birthday, told from Lebanon's point of view.

like moses and batman and james dean by saltyfeathers (destiel, 31k, rated E)

dean used to turn tricks. over a decade later, he met cas.

One Cold Night by xylodemon (destiel, 16k, rated E)

"Dean, are you all right?"

"Yeah. I'm just —" Dean shivers again. His teeth clack together. "Jesus Christ, it's cold."

So Goes the Song by aeli_kindara (dean/lee webb, 21k, rated E)

The first time Lee meets Dean Winchester, it’s courtesy of a chokehold.

Someone Who’s Feeling For Me by ellispark (destiel, 46k, rated M)

Dean sees her for the first time in nearly six years in some no-name town in Idaho, and it's panic at first sight.

Lisa Braeden, the one woman Dean ever actually had a shot at a real life with, back from where he buried her in his mind. And her hand is on Cas's arm like it's no big deal, like it belongs there. Cas, Dean's dorky, sweet, badass, angelic best friend, and he's just standing there next to Lisa and not moving her hand away.

Dean feels the jealousy rising, and it's not directed where he expected it to be. Because it takes this exact moment for Dean to realize he's in love with his best friend. He's in love with his best friend, and Lisa is looking at Cas like he's the best thing since automatic rifles, and Dean is utterly fucked.

Suck It, Judy Garland by midrashic (destiel, 20k, rated M)

It had to be St. Louis. Or, the one where Sam and Cas get fake married for a case, and Dean loses his mind.

Superheroes by aeli_kindara (dean/omc, 4k, rated T)

"I fuckin' hate group projects."

Dylan gives Dean a wary glance. He gets it — he’s not the biggest fan of these things himself. But when you’re a group of two, “I fuckin’ hate group projects” is awful close to “I fuckin’ hate working with you.”

In which a teenage Dean Winchester makes a friend and leaves something behind, and Sammy doesn't know when to shut up.

Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic by MittenWraith (destiel, 41k, rated E)

Strange things were happening in a small town in Northern Maine that had gained a reputation as the most honest town in the world in only a matter of weeks. Residents were going out of their way to confess their sins-- everything from jaywalking to murder, infidelity to true love. Sam, Dean and Cas all have their own reasons for wanting to stay far away from an honesty curse, but with Jack and his natural bluntness serving as their last line of defense, they decide to investigate. The last thing they need is another Veritas situation on their hands. The honest little town might be enjoying their newfound liberty to speak their minds, but the cause of this particular curse might prove to be Dean and Cas’s undoing.

The Thirty Six Questions That Lead to Love by aeli_kindara (destiel, 13k, rated M)

“So I need you to be my gay dads,” says Claire.

Though The Course May Change by imogenbynight (destiel, 51k, rated E)

After a couple who went missing several years ago from an Oregon couples retreat are mysteriously returned on the same night that another disappears, Dean and Charlie plan to go undercover to find the cause--until Dean's foot meets his mouth, and he finds himself fake-engaged to Castiel instead.

The Tunnel of Love by xylodemon (destiel, 21k, rated E)

"We might," Cas starts slowly, pausing like he's choosing his words. "We might have to kiss."  

Dean just stares at him.

You Start to Grow Wings by FagurFiskur (dean/omc & destiel, 11k, rated T)

Dean feels his face warm up, suddenly all too aware that he’s sitting right next to his very male friend. He can’t make himself look over, too nervous that he’ll catch Eli’s eye and make this whole experience even more excruciatingly awkward. He wants to leave, but he also doesn’t wanna call attention to how uncomfortable he is.

He’s known gay people exist of course, but he’s never seen them outside of Very Special Episodes on sitcoms. Never seen something so explicitly, in-your-face gay.

At seventeen, Dean falls for another man for the first time. Twenty years later they happen to meet again and things are somehow much more complicated.

[atruththatyoudeny]

Monthly Reads | September 2020

Happy 28th! All the love for all the authors in this fandom. Thank you for making my days better with your work! ♥ Here are all the fics I read and loved this month: 🍂 Remember Me Fondly | kiddle | enemies to friends to lovers - 1990s - historical - angst - humor - closets - 74k “You’ve told the beginning of the story so many times. I want to hear the end.” Louis laughed, scratching at his chin. “I can’t say I really know when the end happened.” “How about the tour of ninety-five?” “Alright.” Louis took a deep breath. “But it took a few steps to get there. What would you like to know?” Penny cleared her throat. “How did you first meet Harry Styles?” Grunge legends Fearless Doe topped the rock charts in the ‘90s, but they spent the decade kicking Smudge off their heels. From lawsuits to jaw-dropping scandals and a surprising joint world tour, the two bands share a complicated history. Twenty-five years later, frontmen Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are finally ready to sit down and tell the world their two sides of the same story. Truth may vary.

🍂 you came into my life | disgruntledkittenface | Queer Eye AU - american AU - closeted character - Coming Out - pining - fluff - angst - implied/referenced homophobia - 57k They stand around talking for a minute and then Jonathan starts to ramble, “Has there ever been, like, an unrequited gay love story in here? Like a Brokeback Mountain moment where, like, someone just fell in love and they didn’t mean to?” Louis feels bile rise in his throat as Jonathan’s eyes sparkle, pleading for a yes. He manages to look around and see thoughtful looks on his coworkers’ faces before their heads shake no. “Not here,” Liam says finally. When the Queer Eye cast and crew sweep into Louis’ small town and fire station to make over his best friend and coworker Liam, Louis’ carefully constructed walls start to fall down and he has to face his fears – and the only guy he’s ever been able to see a future with.

🍂 Everything I need I get from you | jaerie | a/b/o - mpreg - strangers to lovers - emotional/ psychological abuse - sexism - unplanned pregnancy - 10k In a world where music and sound are just as vital to health as food, Harry is stuck in a town that thinks professional music is a scam and a relationship he never wanted. One chance event changes his life.

🍂 at last, at last | suspendrs | post-apocalypse - dystopia - cult - mentions of violence - mentions of death - homophobia - internalized homophobia - 41k “Come with us,” Tommo says, stopping at the other end of the gymnasium, near the doors. “Don’t let them make you suffer any longer. Come with us, and be human.” Before Harry has even finished thinking it through, he’s on his feet, gaining the attention of every single person in the gymnasium. What has he got to lose, anyway? Or, Harry is born into a cult in a post-apocalyptic world, and Louis is the leader of the rebel group tasked with the mission of shutting them down. Together, they make a rather effective team.

🍂 give me love | falsegoodnight and soldouthaz | a/b/o - past relationship trauma - past abusive relationship - slow burn - touch deprivation - touch starvation - nesting - angst - fluff - 41k Despite being an omega, Louis’ always had a blatant dislike of alphas. - Or, Louis doesn't feel like a good omega, Harry doesn't remember how to be an alpha, and they figure it out together.

🍂 You, Who Never Arrived | abrighteryellow | Only You AU - strangers to lovers - 90s AU - world travel - soulmates - fluff - angst - Fate & Destiny - 42k “That was him, Niall.” He claps a hand over a disbelieving laugh. “My soulmate – the person I’ve been waiting for since I was nine years old. That was him on the other end of the phone.” “But it can’t–” Niall stutters, unsure of what to do, how to put a stop to this. “That wasn’t real.” “Wasn’t it?” Louis rushes past him, zipping up his fly. He grabs a black denim jacket from a hook near the door. “Then who did I just talk to?” “Where are you going?” Niall demands as Louis pockets his keys and swings his front door open. “I just have to get a look at him. I just have to see, that’s all!” “You’re not serious. Louis, it’s already late.” “He’s at the airport. Fifteen years I’ve been expecting him around every corner, and now he’s half an hour away. I can’t just sit here.” “Bu–” “I’m not going to do anything crazy, I promise. I just–I have to see him. This is my chance. Maybe my only chance.” Louis Tomlinson is days away from marrying a perfectly nice podiatrist when he gets a phone call that changes everything. Or, the Only You AU in which Louis has a soulmate and it's definitely not Harry Styles.

🍂 Shall we sleep, my love? | givelourrylove | angst - emotional hurt/comfort - kid fic - 15k There is so much sincerity in Harry’s voice. So much that says you, Louis, I look forward to seeing you, you and your soft eyes and your petite body, just you, you, you, but Louis forces himself to ignore that. To gulp it down again, sizing up the lump that had formed beneath his lungs, possibly reappearing any time and choking him with everything he decided not to think about for the past year. or Louis loses his job as a teacher, has to move out and find somewhere to live. A certain someone named Harry offers his home to Louis and his son. Pining, crying and reading bedtime stories involved.

🍂 so much I could live for I could die | louisnights | dystopia - trans character - sexual harrassment - friends to lovers - strangers to friends to lovers - no smut - 15k “Sometimes I wonder what’s out there,” Louis confesses, tucking into his second biscuit. “I wonder if what they’re saying is true, about the Thieves, about the other compounds. Why are we not allowed to leave? Go to other compounds?” Lottie gets up, letting out a sigh as she squeezes his shoulder. “You shouldn’t think like that, Lou, it will get you killed.” “They can’t take away my thoughts,” Louis answers defiantly. Lottie pats his shoulder before she disappears to her room, closing the door behind her with a quiet click. or: Louis is a transgender man who escapes his compound after extenuating circumstances, and meets the Thieves, who show him what freedom really is.

🍂 A Road To Hope | he_wants_to_write | historical - World War II - 1940s - farm/ranch - PTSD - emotional hurt - hurt/comfort - angst - mental instability - internalized homophobia - 18k “We’re far from the people and their issues, don’t hold back. Please.” It’s true. They are far away from anything that could stop them, the middle of nowhere being the safest place on Earth for them to fall in love. The sacred land where sacred love is created. However, Louis is certain that even if they weren’t safe, he wouldn’t resist the sight of Harry, his pleading eyes, his warm skin beneath his touch. or In the heat of April, 1944, an escapee soldier lost in a dirt-road stumbles upon a small farm and finds himself recovering from the traumas of World War II in the simplicity of a frugal life, with the help of a little boy's innocent soul, and a farmer's hopeful green eyes.

🍂 With Love's Light Wings | 4ureyesonly28 and reminiscingintherain | Rome and Juliet AU - a/b/o - 1920s - marriage proposals - 12k Two households, both alike in dignity, / In fair London town, where we lay our scene... — Or something like that, anyway. On either side of the River Thames live Louis Montague and Harry Capulet, their noble packs entangled in a feud so old, nobody even remembers what caused it. As fate will have it, against all odds, they fall in love. Harder than the bricks that make up their families’ estates and faster than a Duesenberg car. AKA The 1920s ABO Romeo & Juliet AU that we desperately wanted to write.

🍂 The Very First Words of a Lifelong Love Letter | LiveLaughLoveLarry | first meetings - friends to lovers - weddings - no smut - 9.5k The prompt I picked was (lightly edited): "Harry and Louis have been best friends ever since they met through fandom (I picked Critical Role) twitter. Person A (I picked Louis) lives in New York City and Person B (Harry) lives in the UK. They’ve never met in person but they FaceTime and text daily. Person B’s cousin is getting married to a rich American who’s paying for the entire family to travel to The Hamptons for a summer wedding. Are Harry and Louis ready to meet?" ~*~ Harry thought he was just imagining things when the flower girl looked like one of the twins, but -- he’s almost certain that groomsman is Louis. The pictures he's seen haven't been the best quality, granted, but he knows Louis. He does. Harry stares wide-eyed as he walks down the aisle in step with the bridesmaid, taking their places on either side of the stage. As they turn to look out into the audience, Harry’s strong suspicion solidifies into certainty. That’s Louis. He’d bet his life on it. But Louis doesn’t look at him, and it’s not like Harry can wave. He can only stare, mouth still hanging half-open. Suddenly, as much as he loves weddings, he can’t wait for this one to be over.

🍂 promise you'll remember (when the sky is grey) | Anonymous | american AU - summer - 33k "Once you come to this town, you find that it's not so easy to leave," Niall spoke with a fond tone in his voice. "Canyon isn't a place that one leaves behind easily." "I guess we'll be able to test your theory come August," Harry spoke with a small grin, "because I'm set to leave on the twenty-ninth to get back to work in LA." Niall smirked back in reply, "I guess we will, but mark my words, you'll end up finding something to make you stay. We all did." Harry laughed, surprised at the man’s unwavering confidence in his statement. "We'll see." - a summer spent in small town Maine, filled with trips to the farmer’s market, lemonade tailgating, taylor swift, and falling in love at quite possibly the most inconvenient time ever (not necessarily in that order).

[horansqueen]

Stuck With You - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 : Suffocate (it’s 3am i’m drunk again)

🡪chapter 1

College Enemies To Lovers AU

characters // masterlist // instagrams // mood board 

So when you think you're all alone No one's help to come around Drop like flies and improvise And I know now that I will someday And I know that I will suffocate

                       I felt extremely lucky that we had a window. Not only was the sight interesting, but sticking my head out to feel the cool air from the night always made me feel better. I kept the lights closed, even if I normally don't particularly like to be in the dark, and lighted a vanilla and rose candle, making the smell invade the whole room. I didn't know if it would bother Niall or not, but he said he would probably not sleep here so I didn't worry for too long and just enjoyed my alone time until I heard a knock at the door. It was soft, almost timid, and the thought that it could be Niall's girlfriend, the girl that I had met a few hours before, made me hold my breath. I didn't want to answer but I finally got up and unlocked the door, opening it only slightly. I met Louis' eyes and my lips immediately curled.  He dived his hands in his pockets and moved his shoulders up in an embarrassed but cute way.

"Hey, you." he just said in a gentle tone. "Am I disturbing?"

He was, but I didn't care. Suddenly, the will to be alone all evening was replaced with the need to be with someone, someone like Louis. I had no idea why but somehow, I felt connected to him even if I had met him only a few hours ago.

"Mm no," I admitted, letting the right corner of my lips move up. "Are you drunk?"

His face scrunched up in grimace and I chuckled low. "Tipsy, more like." he confessed. "I was about to get in my room, saw your door, and here I am. I don't know why I knocked."

I let my eyes roam down on him then back up in his eyes. "Wanna come in? I'm alone."

He nodded and I moved away to let him in before closing the door behind him and locking it. I felt safer now that he was there but I was so used to lock the doors that I didn't even think about it. I showed my bed with a hand movement and he sat on it as I sat in front of him, leaning my back on my pillow. We stared at each other for a while and I licked my lips.

"So, how was the party?" I finally asked in a low tone, tilting my head a bit.

"Meh, boring." he admitted with a chuckle, turning around and leaning his back on the wall. "I knew you were alone, I saw Niall with his hands in some girl's pants. Can't remember her name to save me life. Hell he probably doesn't know her name either."

For some reason, his words made me laugh. "Why am I not surprised? He sounds like a total jerk."

Louis' smile turned into a sad one and he looked away, the back of his head pressed on the wall, and then looked back at me. "He's not a bad guy, trust me."

i didn't know Louis much but I did trust him... except with it came to my new roommate. Okay, maybe Niall was a good guy, I honestly had no idea. All I knew was that he irritated me to the point of wanting to jump on it and hit him in the face. The thought was violent and I would never do something like that, but Niall made something stir in my stomach, and not in the good way. I didn't hate him, I just wanted him to be as far as possible from me at all times.

"How did you two meet?" I just asked, making Louis' eyebrows raise. "He's your friend, isn't he? You seem to know him quite well."

The truth was, I could hear the affection he had for Niall in the tone of his voice and in the choice of his words. I was normally quite good to know how people felt. Was it nostalgia?

"We met when we were teenagers, became inseparable and both played for the football team of our school." he finally admitted, before sighing. "Then he busted his knee and I went professional. Sort of. That brought us apart, I guess."

I stared at Louis, a bit shocked that he would spill all of this to me because after all, he barely knew me, but somehow, it made me think that perhaps, he felt the same connection for me that I felt for him. Or maybe he was just drunker than he wanted to admit.

"Why are you here if you could make a career out of it?" I asked gently, trying not to be rude about it.

"Got in a bad place mentally." he replied after a while, staring in front of him without really looking at anything. "Then literally hurt myself physically."

I remained quiet, knowing it was probably a touchy subject, and waited until he blinked a few times and turned his head to me again, leaning it back on the wall.

"I'm sorry." I just whispered, making him smile sadly again.

"Don't be, love." he quickly replied in a low tone. "I'm good now, and I've always wanted to be a teacher anyway. Kids are cool. I have plenty of younger siblings so I know how kids work."

"Let me guess, P.E. teacher?"

He laughed and nodded, making me nod too and lick my lips. If there was one thing I hated in school, it was the gym class. I've never faked sick more than to miss this class and I didn't regret it one second.

"I hate sports." I admitted, raising my nose up. "Are you the type to work out and eat healthy and go to the gym 6 days a week?"

His face twisted in a grimace and I laughed louder than intended.

"No fucking way. I sort of had to when I played but now I just... no." I chuckled and we remained silent for a while before his lips curled into an other smile. "What about you, love? What are you studying in?"

"Art." I replied. "I pretty much do everything but painting is what I prefer. I know I won't be able to be a great artist and pay the bills with it but, I guess I'd like to work in museums. If you can't become an artist you can at least live surrounded by art."

"Why so defeatist?" he frowned, playing with the cigarette behind his ear. "You could as well live from it."

How could I tell him that I lost all hope and that I was too tired and scared to get back on my feet and try again? How could I tell him that I felt like a failure so obviously, everything I created felt like failures, too?

"Do you know many painters that made a living out of it?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, a bit amused. "Before their death I mean."

"To be honest, love, I don't know any painter." he laughed, making me laugh too.

"And I don't know any footballer."

His face lighted up and I pressed my lips together. "Well, I guess we have a lot to teach each other, don't we?"

I nodded and chuckled, still looking at him. It was weird to think fate had put Louis on my path and I felt so lucky that a sensation of warmth grew in my stomach. I've never thought that I could have a sister soul ever in my life but if I had to guess. i would say Louis really fitted the description. Of course, it seemed pre-matured to feel something like that for someone, but isn't that what sister souls were all about?

"So tell me darling, why did you change school in the middle of the year?" he said, asking the question I dreaded and making me look down immediately. I started playing with my fingers and licked my lips but he kept talking before I could answer. "You have to expect that question a lot, you know."

I looked up in his eyes, knowing he was right, but I just raised my shoulders. "It's a long story."

"You don't have to tell me." he quickly added, moving his upper body a bit closer to me.

"No, I don't mind, it's just-"

I could feel my heart beat harder knowing I was about to tell someone I barely knew everything that had happened to me in the past two years, as embarassing and pathetic asit was, but I didn't have time to talk : the door opened so roughly that it ended up hitting the wall in a light thud despite the doorstop. Louis and I both quickly looked up as Niall staggered in, pushing the door again to close it. He walked in the room slowly, lurching until his legs hit the side of his bed, and let himself fall on it before a laughter boomed out of his lips.

"Neil, you okay?"

"Stop fucking calling me that!" my new roommate let out.

Louis got up and walked to his friend as I watched, trying not to move at all. I didn't want to get involved in this and mostly, I didn't want Niall to notice me, I knew he was not happy to share his room with someone, especially not a girl, and I felt like getting his attention would remind him of how annoyed he was.

"Niall, come on, let me help you." Louis argued, trying to take off his friend's shoes as Niall moved one of his legs.

"Mommy Louis, I can do this myself." he groaned low, grabbing one of his pillows and throwing it. It passed between Louis and I, not even close to hit either of us, and Niall started laughing again. "What are you doing here anyway, Lou?"

I was surprised at how well he could express himself despite being so intoxicated but I remained silent as I watched Louis take Niall's shoes off and let them fall on the floor next to his bed.

"I was keeping company to your new roommate."

I held my breath as Niall turned his head to look at me. We stared in each other's eyes for a few seconds and once again, I felt like he could read me in a way no one else could and it made me swallow hard.

"Oh yea, I almost forgot about her." he let out with a chuckle. "Hello Devon, how was your evening?"

In his mouth, my name sounded dirty, almost smutty, and I felt a shiver run up my spine. This guy clearly knew what he was doing, even when he was drunk, and it bothered me.

"Did my best friend Louis make you feel better about yourself? Less alone? Did he mend your little broken heart? Did he-"

"Niall, shut up." Louis cut him with a sigh.

"Did that stupid girl you were with enjoy your tiny cock?" I just threw at him.

A silence fell as they both stared at me, eyes wide and an expression of surprise on their face, and at the same time, Louis' lips curled and Niall burst into laughter.

"Told you she was a cheeky little thing!" Niall let out, glancing at his best friend before laughing some more.

He finally sat up and I frowned as I looked at him and after a few seconds, he got up, wobbling slightly on his feet. It's only when he undid his belt that I realized what he was trying to do and so did Louis who simply pushed him back on the bed, making Niall laugh even harder.

"She doesn't want to see your willy, mate."

"Maybe she needs to see it." Niall argued, making Louis shake his head.

"Sleep." Louis replied, ignoring his comment. "You need it. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

Niall groaned and moved his hand near Louis' face to tell him to leave before turning around on the bed, now facing the wall. I watched the scene and when my eyes met Louis, he was rolling his. He walked up to me, bending down in front of me and licked his lips.

"Are you gonna be okay, love?" he asked in a whisper. "I can bring him in my room if you prefer."

I breathed in and stared at him for a few seconds. I had no idea why Louis was so nice with me but it was such a good change that I decided to just take it all in. I decided to accept his kindness and let it get to me, even if I knew it could easily turn against me and hurt me.

"No, it's cool. It's his room, too." I finally breathed, licking my lips. "I'll be alright."

Louis nodded a few times. "If you need anything, i'm not too far, don't hesitate."

I nodded and he sent me a smile before getting up and walking to the door. My gaze followed him and when he turned around, he winked at me and closed the door behind himself. I spent a few minutes just watching Niall's back and finally got up to lock the door and get changed. I tried to be quiet but when I finally lied down in bed in my sweatpants, Niall had turned around and was smiling at me. I felt my heart skip a beat, anticipating what he could say to me and I just pressed my lips, holding my breath.

"What?" I finally asked in a low tone after a few intense seconds of staring.

"Nothing. You're just... intriguing."

My eyebrows raised and my heart twisted in my chest at his words. Intriguing? What did that even mean? I always felt like a pretty ordinary person. An average girl who was not really good at anything. At some point in my life, I thought I was good at painting and not so bad at photography but then everything changed and the truth hit me right in the face. I was average and I would always be.

"Intriguing?"

"Yea. Why are you here? Who the hell are you?" he let out with a small frown. "And why do you..." he stopped himself and shook his head, leaving me wondering what he was going to say.

After a while, I filled my lungs with air again and blinked a few times. I was getting used to the darkness and could see the traits of his face quite well, even from so far.

"You're not gonna throw up, are you?" I just asked.

For some reason, I didn't want this discussion to end. Niall was right, I was lonely, and the presence of someone, even someone as annoying as him, was comforting. At least for tonight.

"Don't worry darling, I can hold my liquor. I'm irish."

"Oh yea. It shows." I let out sarcastically.

"Oh babe, you have no idea how much I drank." he chuckled. "Plus, I'm not even that drunk."

"You could barely stand on your feet when you walked in."

His nose raised up and he groaned. "I could walk on a straight line, want me to show you?"

"No!"

He laughed a bit and finally, his smirk turned into a small smile.

"Welcome to your new school and your new room, Devon Eaton."

---

I groaned when I woke up the next day and rubbed my eyes, turning around in my bed and throwing the covers over my head. I had forgotten to close the curtain and now. the sun was invading the whole room. It was sunday and I had planned to visit around if only to make sure I could find where I needed to go for my classes and not be late on the first few days. Now that it was time to do it, I didn't really feel like it anymore.

After a few minutes and a long sigh, I pushed the covers and sat up but when I turned around, I jumped, noticing Niall was staring at me. He started laughing again and I closed my eyes, trying to get my heart to beat at a normal speed again.

"That's fucking creepy."

"You snore." he pointed out with an amused smile. "Not very loudly but it's still quite disturbing. Has anyone ever tell you that you're annoying?"

"Me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "Unbelievable." I added under my breath.

"What's your plan for today?"

I looked up at him as he kept his eyebrows raised, waiting for my answer. I didn't want to tell him what I had really planned and I had no idea why he even asked me. There was no way in hell that he really cared. I thought about the conversation we had only a few hours earlier, when he was drunk, and it made me realize that he didn't even seem hungover.

"Staying as far as possible from you." I just replied, getting up and grabbing some clothes.

I could still hear him laugh after I closed the door to the bathroom and leaned my forehead against it to calm myself. I knew having a roommate wouldn't be easy but I didn't think it would be that bad.

I dressed up quickly, hoping that he would be gone when I was done, but when I opened the door again, he was still sitting on his bed, holding himself with his arms behind him and once again, that position made my eyes linger on him for a bit too long. I was expecting him to mention it but he didn't. Instead, he got up and walked up closer to me, passing his hand in his hair.

"Look, I'm sorry for almost showing you my cock last night."

"It's okay, no harm." I just replied, a bit taken aback that he would actually apologize.

He let his eyes roam on my face, studying me and I couldn't help but do the same. The blue around his pupils was so light I couldn't help but admit to myself that he was pretty, and I hated it.

"Perhaps, having you as a roommate will be entertaining." he added with a low chuckle. "More than I expected at first."

His lips curled more and he took a few steps back to reach the door. I wanted to answer something but nothing came up. My mind was blank. I didn't want to be entertaining to him or to anybody, really. I just wanted to stay under the radar, the way I couldn't seem to stay at my old uni.

"I'll see you tonight, maybe?"

He didn't wait for my answer and just left. That was the good thing about this : i knew I would have to put up with him only at night time, at least, most days, and I could completely forget about him when I was in class or with friends, if I could just make some. The thought started stressing me and Louis' face came to mind.

I stared at the door, staying in the silent room for a few more minutes before grabbing my phone. I didn't want to be annoying but I decided to just text Louis and ask him what he was doing today. Quickly, his answer popped up and made me smile.

'Spending the day with you, f'course!'

[destieltropecollection]

Destiel Trope Collection 2020 Day 5: Case Fic

Fearful | @deansrightfulangerissue

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1430 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Universe, IT Crossover, Angst Summary: It comes for children, it feeds on their fears. Dean and Cas arrive to end its reign of terror.

He Wanted More (WIP) | @becky-srs

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1621 Main Tags/Warnings: #HeWantedMore #Destiel Summary: After years of self-denying and depressing Dean realized he's in love with Cas. Cas loves him too but this two morons won't see it, until Sam takes of with Eileen to a romantic vacation and put Dean and Cas on a case with a monster who kills gay couples what takes them to be an undercover couple... may the cover fall and revel their true feelings?

Curse me | @notfunnydean

Rating: General Word Count: 3099 Main Tags/Warnings: Dean loves balett!! Summary: Dean had always loved ballet, even though he never told anyone about that. When he and Sam find cursed ballet shoes, Dean can’t resist and tries them on anyway. He gets surprised in more than just one way.

Lost and Found | @unforth & @deansrightfulangerissue

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 4885 Main Tags/Warnings: Horror, Ambiguous Ending, Memory Alteration Summary: Dean and Sam's hunt in a haunted forest was bullshit from the moment the fog rolled in. And then the ghost silenced the world.

On This Night | @mittensmorgul

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 5688 Main Tags/Warnings: case fic, djinn, fluff, dean knows his tropes Summary: Something goes terribly wrong while hunting a djinn. Newly-human Cas had never considered what the effects of djinn poison could be for a human, and struggles to remember why everything seems just so slightly off when he wakes up back at the cabin he and Dean had been staying in during the hunt. The cabin has been transformed with holiday decorations, and Cas wonders just how long he'd been unconscious. Only when he tries to get answers from Dean, reality comes crashing back in on them both, in the best of all possible ways.

Heavenly Flavor | @songbird211

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 7190 Main Tags/Warnings: First Time/Fluff/lust monster/Sam Ships It/Anal/Blowjobs/Nipple Play/Top Dean/Top Cas/Bottom Dean/Bottom Cas/Voyeurism/Wing Kink/Love Confession Summary: During a case involving college men going missing Dean and Cas are taken by the creature responsible. This creature loves having sex with humans, hence the kidnappings, but this time she wants to fulfill her fantasy of watching two men have sex and she thinks Dean and Cas will do nicely.

The Unexpected Consequences of Amnesia | @pray4jensen

Rating: Mature Word Count: 10539 Main Tags/Warnings: Casefic, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Jealousy, Secret Relationship, Miscommunication, Dubious Consent Summary: When a spell backfires and results in Sam losing a year’s worth of memories, Sam’s really not that worried. After all, Dean reassures him that he hasn’t missed much and for the first time in a long time, the supernatural world’s at peace. Except then Dean and Cas exchange a look. Except then Sam keeps seeing them sneak around at night, into each other’s bedrooms, or whispering stealthily into each other’s ears whenever they think that he’s not looking. So naturally, Sam just has to investigate. Or the one where Sam obliviously and almost single-handedly brings about the collapse of Dean and Cas’ marriage in the span of one week.

Angeleech | @noiproksa

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 14457 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Compliant, Team Free Will, Hugs, Family Feels, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Castiel, Banter, Platonic Cuddling, Sharing a Bed, Case Fic Summary: It was supposed to be an easy hunt, but then everything goes sideways. Dean and Sam have to take care of an injured Cas and find out what is going on with the angel before it is too late. (Intended as gen, but can be read as Destiel pre-slash.)

Ten Inch Hero | @banshee1013

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 16689 Main Tags/Warnings: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Canon Compliant, Case Fic, Season/Series 15 Spoilers, Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Hurt Dean Winchester, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Minor Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Witch Curses, Castiel/Dean Winchester in the Men of Letters Bunker, Researching Sam Winchester, No Archive Warnings Summary: After returning from Purgatory the second time, Castiel and Dean were just beginning to explore the new direction of their relationship, when on a case involving missing hunters, Dean is struck by a witch's curse and turned into a ten-inch plastic figurine. Can Sam find a way to revert the effects of the curse and return Dean to himself before the tiny spark of life Cas detects in him fades away? Or will Cas lose Dean just as their relationship has begun?

Trouble in Paradise | @its-funnier-in-klingon

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 1746 Main Tags/Warnings: canon divergence, human!Cas, post 14x09, Hawaii, case fic, bed-sharing, ghosts, mutual pining Summary: Sam finds a case where gay couples are being tormented by a ghost in a resort in Kauai, Hawaii. Sam, Dean, Cas, and Jack embark to the resort where Dean and Cas must go undercover to take down the ghost, all while trying to sort through all their own personal issues.

Unthought Known | @noiproksa

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 18337 Main Tags/Warnings: Temporary Amnesia, Profound Bond, Team Free Will, Banter, Canon Compliant, Hugs, Case Fic, Soul Bond Summary: Dean wakes up in an abandoned mental institution with no memories and two strange guys, ‘Sam’ and ‘Castiel.’ They have to work together if they want to find out who they are and what happened to them. And what the hell is this profound bond he seems to share with Castiel? * Dean woke up with a pounding headache on the floor of a bright white, windowless room and no recollection of how he got there. What the hell was he doing in what looked like some sort of psych ward? Before he could get his bearings, he heard moaning coming from behind him and got to his feet, swiveling around, ready to fight whoever was in the room with him. ‘Whoever’ turned out to be two someones. One man with abnormally long hair and one guy in a trench coat who had a ‘tax accountant’ vibe to him. Who were these clowns? (Intended as gen, but can be read as Destiel pre-slash.)

Suck It, Judy Garland | @midrashic

Rating: Mature Word Count: 20116 Main Tags/Warnings: N/A Summary: It had to be St. Louis. Or, the one where Sam and Cas get fake married for a case, and Dean loses his mind.

Making it Up as We Go | @Foxymoley

Rating: Mature Word Count: 24439 Main Tags/Warnings: Case fic, ghost, Angel!Cas, choose your own adventure Summary: A choose your own adventure story! The Winchester's catch a case—an ordinary salt and burn—but Dean's decisions along the way are up to you!

The Memory Remains | FriendofCarlotta (AO3)

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 28408 Main Tags/Warnings: Case fic, post-canon, POV Dean Winchester Summary: With Chuck defeated, Dean's trying hard to get his head back in the game. What he needs is a bit of peace and quiet, and maybe a nice, straightforward hunt. What he most definitely doesn't need is this thing about monsters trying to summon some kind of hermaphroditic goat person. Or dealing with Cas, whose powers are still failing and who is acting more human in increasingly disconcerting ways.

Human Error | @jemariel

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 33435 Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate season 9, case fic, wendigos, human Castiel, Cas in the bunker, miscommunication, drunk sex, top!Dean, bottom!Cas, 69 (sex position), bedsharing Summary: Cas is human now, and things aren't going to plan. (Not that Dean had a plan. Nope. No plans of any kind.) Anyway, what's a Winchester to do when everything he tries seems to blow up in his face? Go hunting. Obviously.

Fade to Hell | @alisuwink **Also in English**

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 37549 Main Tags/Warnings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel, Sam Winchester,Alastair (Supernatural), Bobby Singer, Slow Burn, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Universe, Season/Series 05, Fanart, Action/Adventure, Violence, Dark, Humor, Hell, Tortured Dean Winchester, Madness, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester Summary: It didn’t seem to be enough with Lucifer wandering free and the Apocalypse up our asses. Of course not! Now, Sammy’s soul has ended in fucking Hell, and I have no choice but to go down to that fucking hole with Castiel. When we rescue Sam, he is going to be buying me beers for the rest of his damn life. *Note: the fic is finished in Spanish, I'll have it in English by June.

Highway 9 | @ellis-park

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 38909 Main Tags/Warnings: Angst with a happy ending, mutual pining, suicide attempt Summary: Dean Winchester is a private investigator working what should be an open-and-shut vandalism case on an isolated stretch of rural highway. Except it’s not an open-and-shut case, because whatever is happening on Highway 9 isn’t vandalism — it’s something far more sinister and unnatural. And if Dean is going to get to the bottom of this case, he’s going to have to rely on the one person he’s learned he can’t rely on for anything — his ex-best friend, Cas Novak.

Someone Who’s Feeling for Me | @ellis-park

Rating: Mature Word Count: 45876 Main Tags/Warnings: Mutual pining, case fic, canon universe Summary: Dean sees her for the first time in nearly six years in some no-name town in Idaho, and it's panic at first sight. Lisa Braeden, the one woman Dean ever actually had a shot at a real life with, back from where he buried her in his mind. And her hand is on Cas's arm like it's no big deal, like it belongs there. Cas, Dean's dorky, sweet, badass, angelic best friend, and he's just standing there next to Lisa and not moving her hand away. Dean feels the jealousy rising, and it's not directed where he expected it to be. Because it takes this exact moment for Dean to realize he's in love with his best friend. He's in love with his best friend, and Lisa is looking at Cas like he's the best thing since automatic rifles, and Dean is utterly fucked.

Silver and Cold | @pomegranatedaffodil

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 64851 Main Tags/Warnings: Case Fic, Hunter Castiel, Small Town Setting, Religious Themes, Canon-Typical Violence, Minor Injuries, Minor Character Death,Tragic Backstory, Nightmares, Angst with a Happy Ending, Switching Summary: The death of a young man in an apparent animal attack brings hunter Cas Novak to the small town of Sydnam, Maine. It doesn’t take long for him to realize he’s tracking a werewolf, but discovering the killer’s identity is no easy task. All signs point towards Dean Winchester, a lonely recluse who lives in the middle of the woods and whose antagonistic behaviour does little to lessen Cas’ suspicions. As the investigation drags on, their mutual distrust gives way to a wary alliance. Cas’ instincts warn him that Dean is hiding something, but as he uncovers the man beneath the mystery, his professional interest becomes far more personal. Praying his faith in Dean isn’t misplaced, Cas races to catch the killer before the next full moon rises and another life is abruptly cut short.

[letterboxd]

The Eyes of TIFF.

Programmers for the 46th Toronto International Film Festival chat about the degrees of intensity they look for in a festival film, and help us zoom in on the gems from TIFF’s 2021 program, by genre and region.

“Intensity can be achieved in so many different ways. I know it when I feel it. You feel it in your gut.” —Cameron Bailey

It’s almost business as usual for TIFF this year. In-person events and red carpets return, but a healthy virtual program is also available for Canadian-based folk unable to travel, as the Covid-19 pandemic continues its onslaught.

TIFF co-head and artistic director Cameron Bailey has been with the festival for just over half its life, and says while some of the technology has changed in that time—“you’re no longer sitting in front of a TV monitor with VHS tapes… or waiting for 35mm prints to be spooled up and projected for you”—the “basic process of falling in love with movies” has not.

It’s a challenge, Bailey says, to winnow down the films he falls in love with for the final TIFF lineup. And even then, it is an annual challenge for film lovers tight on time to narrow down their own selections. So, ahead of the fest, Bailey joined fellow TIFF programmers for a Twitter Spaces conversation with our editor in chief Gemma Gracewood, in order to help Letterboxd members make some watchlist decisions.

Joining Bailey were Thom Powers (TIFF Docs), Peter Kuplowsky (Midnight Madness), Robyn Citizen (senior programming manager), Diana Sanchez (Special Presentations, Spain, Latin America, Portugal and the Caribbean), Diana Cadavid (International Cinema) and Nataleah Hunter-Young (Africa, “the Middle East” and the Black Diaspora).

Edited highlights of the conversation follow, so have your watchlists close at hand.

‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’, written by Abe Sylvia and directed by Michael Showalter.

Thank you all for joining me today. You watch a lot of films as you’re going through the selection process. How does one make itself stand out to you? Cameron Bailey: For every programmer it’s going to be something different. For me, it comes down to an intangible quality of intensity. That can be emotional intensity, it can be the intensity of formal elements, the cinematography, the performances, the writing. Some sense of concentrated emotion and momentum, where you get the sense that a filmmaker is trying to find a way to distill the essence of what they’re trying to do and communicate it to an audience through all of the tools that cinema provides. That doesn’t mean the movie has to be fast-paced or have a lot of dramatic jolts, as intensity can be achieved in so many different ways. I know it when I feel it. You feel it in your gut.

What would you say are some of the performances that have struck you the most this year? CB: Jessica Chastain is the lead in a film we’re premiering called The Eyes of Tammy Faye, directed by Michael Showalter. If you were watching TV in the ’80s and ’90s, you will remember Tammy Faye Bakker, and her husband, Jim Bakker, who were TV televangelists. You couldn’t miss Tammy, as she had these giant eyes and makeup with giant eyelashes, and this is essentially her story. It’s hard to know at first that it’s Jessica Chastain underneath all of that makeup, but she gives a performance that’s not just about the exterior. It’s about a woman who is shaped by a difficult upbringing, shaped by this incredibly deep need she has for affirmation, to be on TV, to be in front of the camera, and that guides her decisions into extremes. She’s fantastic in it.

Benedict Cumberbatch is back with two films. He is the lead in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. It’s an understated, slow-burn performance in some ways, which he can do so well. He’s also in a film that’s on the opposite end of the dramatic spectrum, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. It’s based on a real person, and when you watch the film you will be amazed that this person actually existed. Wain, in the early part of the twentieth century, was a prodigious painter who turned his talent towards painting thousands of cats. Cute cats, big eyed cats, fuzzy, adorable cats. He’s largely responsible for cats becoming as big as they are as domesticated pets. It’s a wild story.

I’m still recovering from watching The Power of the Dog’s trailer earlier today, and had to promise myself that I wouldn’t take up this entire time talking about Jane Campion’s obsession with hands. The Spencer trailer dropped as well, which has a lot of buzz around it. CB: Yes, Spencer is a remarkable portrait. Some of us remember Princess Diana, some of us have watched The Crown, and so have a very recent image, but this is a completely different performance that Kristen Stewart gives. She’s remarkable in it. I think everybody’s going to want to see this film.

‘Charlotte’, written by David Bezmozgis and Erik Rutherford, directed by Tahir Rana and Éric Warin.

Are there any other titles you’d like to get the buzz started for, Cameron? CB: On the animation side, I would say people should look out for a film called Charlotte, by Tahir Rana and Éric Warin. It’s a Canadian film telling a story based in World War II Europe about a woman in a Jewish family [exiled] in France during the occupation of France by the Nazis. She can feel what is coming. She decides to paint everything about her life, and her family’s life, trying to document what she feels is going to be very fragile, and what she might lose altogether.

As it turns out, before the end of the war she was taken away to a death camp by the Nazi regime, and she didn’t survive, but her paintings have survived and they were turned into a book, along with the story of her family. The animation is just gorgeous. I think that’s one that awards bodies are going to be paying attention to. It’s one of the best animated films I’ve seen in quite a while.

Thom, what are some of the documentary titles that you and the team think those awards bodies will have their eyes on? Thom Powers: A big one to pay attention to is The Rescue, by Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, who won the Oscar for their last film, Free Solo. Their new film is looking at the Thai cave rescue [in 2018], when a group of young soccer players and their coach got trapped by monsoon floods in a cave. When we were watching the news, we were seeing the journalists reporting from outside the cave. What this film does is bring you inside that rescue using footage that’s never been seen before. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are masters at the documentary adventure genre, and also [at] bringing a real human side to the people involved, which they do again here.

I’ll also mention Becoming Cousteau, by Liz Garbus, and Julia, a film about Julia Child, directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, who made the Oscar-nominated documentary RBG a few years ago. So many of us during the pandemic had to rediscover ourselves in the kitchen, and Julia Child’s life was about making people feel more comfortable in the kitchen, which makes it a terrific film to watch at this time.

‘Saloum’, directed by Jean Luc Herbulot.

Peter, what’s a movie from this year’s Midnight Madness lineup you’d love to recommend? Peter Kuplowsky: We’ve got a lot of firsts at Midnight this year. We have Saloum, the first time a West African film has ever been in Midnight. We’ve also got Zalava, which is the first Iranian film to play in Midnight. Our opening film for Midnight Madness is Julia Ducournau’s Titane, which is playing at the Princess of Wales theater, and will be a spectacle to behold. When I’m looking for Midnight Madness, I like hearing the audience make certain noises in the room, whether that’s a gasp or screams or laughter. I feel that every note on the scale is going to be played during Titane by the audience.

Brilliant. Now, we’re going to bring in some audience questions. First up is Vincent, who says that one of their favorite films is Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face, and asks if there are any films in this year’s TIFF lineup you could recommend for a fan of that film? PK: I’ve really been encouraging people to check out the films I just mentioned, Zalava and Saloum, and I think Zalava especially would fit here, as it’s more of a horror-drama. It begins as something that is steeped in the supernatural, but as it escalates it becomes something of a pitch-black comedy while still maintaining a gravitas to it. I think it’s one of the most fascinating discoveries in the genre space this year.

CB: I’d also add Good Madam, by Jenna Bass, from South Africa. It is a chilling movie, with a bit of an Eyes Without a Face vibe. If you like that sort of approach to cinema, I think you’ll like that.

PK: Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash just won the Golden Leopard at Locarno. With a title like that, this is a film that feels like it’s going to be sort of a strictly pulp crime film, but it’s so much more. It’s deeply romantic, incredibly eclectic, and beautifully shot on 16mm film. It feels like a film that was hidden away, shot in the late ’70s or early ’80s. It’s a throwback to 1980s Hong Kong action films, while also, I can’t stress this enough, being one of the most romantic films in the festival. You’ll fall in love with this relationship while it’s also working in fight sequences and magical realism.

Nataleah, what’s something you would recommend from your TIFF selections from Africa, “the Middle East” and the Black Diaspora? Nataleah Hunter-Young: One I’d highly recommend is Costa Brava, directed by Mounia Akl, from Lebanon. Even amidst what’s going on in Lebanon right now, the film offers a beautiful and engrossing portrait of a family that includes a grandmother who’s a non-actor, but has impeccable comedic timing (that travels through the subtitles if you don’t speak Arabic).

‘Snakehead’, written and directed by Evan Leong.

Robyn, what’s a movie that surprised you most during your selections this year? Robyn Citizen: I always recommend that people check out our Discovery section because that’s where we find new talent and nurture new voices. The film that really surprised me this year was Snakehead, by Evan Jackson Leong. Some people will know him from a documentary called Linsanity, and he did another documentary about evangelism in Korea. Snakehead has been a ten-year labor of love for him. He had to do a Kickstarter for the film, which is loosely based on the life of a woman named Sister Ping, who had a human trafficking ring that was the biggest trafficking ring for about 20 years.

The film tackles what’s going on now with vulnerable populations being trafficked into America, in particular Chinatown in the US, and the main character, played by Shuya Chang, has to fight to find her daughter. It’s an exciting film, and very moving. It’s extremely tightly edited, and it looks fantastic.

We’ve got our next question here from a member who says their favorite genre is science-fiction. While Dune is at the top of their watchlist, are there any other sci-fi selections you could recommend? PK: I would recommend After Blue (Dirty Paradise), which is a perverse science-fiction by Bertrand Mandico. It reminds me a lot of the French animated film Fantastic Planet. This one is about a planet which is inhospitable to men because of the way hair grows. The plot follows a young teenage girl who accidentally unleashes a notorious criminal that she and her hairdresser mother have to stalk through the alien landscape that is full of bizarre creatures and liquids and gases. I feel it’s kind of like the inverse of Dune, and an opportunity to explore a bizarre ecosystem.

NHY: I would totally insist that this member see Neptune Frost, from Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman. It’s a difficult film to put into words, but I’ve been summing it up by calling it an Afro-sonic sci-fi musical.

Whoa, that sounds like a whole new subgenre. NHY: That’s just the beginning. There’s a lot to experience in this film. It’s a cosmic romance that follows an intersex hacker and a coltan miner who make their way to this kind of dream space where they connect with others as they travel through these lush mountainous regions of Rwanda and Burundi. It’s a beautiful anti-narrative that is impeccably colored and totally consuming. It’s a must-see for anybody who loves cinema.

Diana, what would you say is the best debut feature that you’ve seen among this year’s international selections? Diana Cadavid: There are so many wonderful new talents, but I think I’ll go with an Argentinian filmmaker named Agustina San Martín. Her film, To Kill the Beast, is a co-production between Argentina, Brazil and Chile, and she worked for nine years to put this all together. She started working on it when she was 21, and we were actually having a conversation yesterday about her process, and how it’s a film that deals with the growth of a woman, and female desire. There’s this idea of the beast, something that’s either from inside or from outside forces, trying to control the human mind and body. It’s a very interesting film, gorgeously shot and very atmospheric.

‘Yuni’, written by Prima Rusdi and Kamila Andini, directed by Andini.

We’ve got another question here from David, who says their favorite films are humanistic dramas, citing Hirokazu Kore-eda as one of their favorite directors. Would anybody have any recommendations for David? CB: I can recommend at least one film, called Yuni, an Indonesian film from Kamila Andini. This is a naturalist drama about a high-school girl who is one of the top students in her class, and has a great group of friends. We slowly begin to see that her life is being constrained by one man after another, and then something happens at school, which begins to narrow her possibilities for her future. She’s trying to figure out things like sexuality and romance and what she wants to do with her future, and all of these obstacles keep getting placed in her path. It’s told in a very gentle way, but very incisive as well. Each scene really matters, taking you deeper inside this girl’s life.

RC: Our senior programmer Giovanna Fulvi programmed a film called Aloners, a South Korean film by Hong Sung-eun. This is her first feature, and it’s very much a film of our time. It is about a woman who works in the gig economy at a credit-card customer-service call center. It’s a very transient existence. She doesn’t talk to anybody, she eats by herself, she doesn’t really want to associate with the people in her apartment building. One day, one of her neighbors who has tried to talk to her many times passes away, and she has to re-interrogate the way that she’s been living her life, and figure out if it’s worth starting to form some human connections.

Next up is a question from Matt Neglia, from the Next Best Picture podcast. Matt says that he’s a massive fan of epics, whether they’re three hours long or just telling an expansive story with lots of world-building. Apart from Dune, are there any other films in the lineup that you would describe as epic? CB: While Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World might not strike you on reading its synopsis as an epic, I think it actually is an emotional epic. It’s the story of a young woman who’s trying to figure out her life. Her romance with one boyfriend doesn’t quite fit the bill for her, and she begins this looking and exploring. Trier and his writer and lead actor do remarkable work, blowing open the idea of a person trying to define who they are at this turning point in their life. They make these stakes massive and they have all kinds of interesting, innovative, formal elements in [the film] as well. It’s incredibly cinematic. If you’ve seen Joachim Trier’s other films, this is kind of the conclusion of a trilogy that he’s made.

‘Listening to Kenny G’, directed by Penny Lane.

Next up, we have Sarah, who is looking for movies about music, and also some body horror. CB: We’ve got a number of great music docs this year. I have to mention Dionne Warwick, the queen of Twitter, who is the subject of Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over. It tells the story of this incredibly talented, determined and glamorous musician who broke so many barriers. She toured in the south during the Jim Crow era, making gains as a Black woman in the music industry and in the pop-music industry, not the so-called race-record or Black-music industry, which simply wasn’t done at the time. This documentary tells that story, and also shows her later work in the ’80s contributing to the fight against stigma and hysteria during the AIDS crisis.

PK: I’ll follow up Cameron by mentioning the Alanis Morissette film Jagged. We’ve also got a film about the great jazz pianist, Oscar Peterson, called Oscar Peterson: Black + White. Lastly, there’s a film about Kenny G, called Listening to Kenny G.

Diana Sanchez: For the body horror, I’d like to mention the debut film by Ruth Paxton, titled A Banquet. It’s about a young woman who insists her body is no longer her own, and is a service to a higher power. Her mother has no idea what to think. She stops eating, and her mother doesn’t know [whether] to believe her or not. I love Ruth Paxton’s work, the way she shoots the film, the way she shoots the food. It’s almost, as she refers to it, pornographic. It looks delicious and gross all at the same time.

I’d also like to flip to comedy quickly to mention Official Competition. The film stars Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez. Cruz plays a filmmaker who puts together a well-known theater actor and a well-known box-office glamor guy, played by Banderas. The film speaks to the tension between high art and more popular art, testing those boundaries. It’s incredibly funny.

We’d love to squeeze a few more films out of everyone for our watchlists. Could you each recommend one film and try to sell it in ten words or less? CB: Let me try. Sundown, by Michel Franco. Tim Roth falls apart beautifully in Mexico.

TP: I’m going to go with the Mexican documentary, Comala. Filmmaker Gian Cassini explores the legacy of his father, who was a Tijuana hitman.

PK: I’ll go with Saloum, which is basically From Dusk Till Dawn in West Africa.

RC: I’m going to say The Wheel, a movie by Steve Pink. If you like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, this is like that with a younger couple in a much more humane, intimate key.

DS: I’ll say I’m Your Man, a sci-fi where Maren Eggert dates a robotic Dan Stevens.

PK: I know Diana has been recommending a film called OUT OF SYNC, about an artist who begins to experience the sound of the world going out of sync. She starts hearing sounds from the past because people and things are out of sync with their surroundings.

NHY: I’ll go with The Gravedigger’s Wife, directed by Khadar Ahmed. It showcases the horn of Africa unlike you’ve ever seen it on screen.

Finally, for Cameron: with fall coming, what is the best TIFF 2021 movie to watch under a blanket, either because it’s cozy or because you’re terrified, or both? CB: Great question, which gives me a chance to talk about Earwig, the new film by Lucile Hadžihalilović. If you’ve seen Innocence or Evolution, her two most recent films, you’re prepared in terms of tone, but you’ve not even seen Lucille make a film quite like this. It’s eerie, disturbing, hypnotic, mesmerizing. You can’t stop watching, but you’re always afraid that something awful and horrifying is about to happen… and maybe it might.

‘Night Raiders’, written and directed by Danis Goulet.

To bring it all back home, what would you say is the Canadian film of 2021? CB: It’s always hard to say, but I think in a year where we have Danis Goulet’s feature Night Raiders, that’s got to be the one. Danis has made some exceptional short films over the last few years that people might know. Her feature takes on the horrific, devastating story of residential schools and children torn from Indigenous families and put in institutions where the goal was to erase their Indigenous identity. She takes that terrible, real history that we’re grappling with right now in Canada, and turns it into a piece of speculative fiction, a kind of propulsive thriller.

By turning it into fiction rather than reality she can use all of the tools of cinema to tell a terrific story that’s exciting and has high stakes, but also has this deep resonance of a truth that we are, I hope, coming to terms with in this country.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 9 to 18. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Follow TIFF on Letterboxd, and follow our Festiville HQ for regular festival updates.

[wrestlingisfake]

NWA 73 preview

This is the NWA's 73rd anniversary show, which kicks off at 8pm EDT from the Chase Hotel in St. Louis. It'll be streaming live on Fite.tv for $24.99. However, if you can still get the $39.99 bundle for this show and last night's Empowerrr, I'd recommend doing that.

Nick Aldis vs. Trevor Murdoch - For the third time, Murdoch is challenging Aldis for the NWA men's world heavyweight title. After coming up short on June 6 and July 24, Murdoch put his career on the line for this match; if he doesn't win, he will retire from pro wrestling.

Aldis has been champion for over 1,000 days. To put that into perspective, he won the title from Cody Rhodes at the NWA's 70th anniversary show, in October 2018. Prior to Cody's brief title reign, Aldis held the ten pounds of gold for an additional 266 days. In short, he's been the champion for most of the last four years. He's been so utterly dominant that I seriously think Murdoch may retire.

Murdoch is the embodiment of a wrestling journeyman. He got his first big break in the last days of ECW. Then in 2005 he debuted in WWE as a tag team with Lance Cade. This was at the peak of WWE's mentality of recruiting handsome muscle-y guys like Cade, so Murdoch's flabby, white-trash trucker look immediately made him stand out. He was different, which made him interesting, but WWE released him almost as soon as they broke up the team in 2008. At the time, getting cut from WWE usually meant no chance of getting back in, and few alternatives to make good money at wrestling. So he fell off the radar in the 2010s, only to re-emerge on Billy Corgan's version of the NWA, which seemed tailor-made for him.

The big question here is whether the NWA would actually take the world title off of their one heavily-protected superstar and put it on a guy who would be (and has been) a midcard also-ran in any other promotion. The other question is what happens with Aldis if he drops the belt--it's possible his contract is coming due, and that may be forcing the issue of a title change. If Aldis is on his way out, Murdoch is the best guy they have left to take over as champion. If not...well, I don't know how you book Aldis underneath Murdoch. I wouldn't mind finding out, though.

I'm leaning towards Murdoch winning the title. But it's a credit to how well they've protected Aldis that I can't shake the feeling that he'll win yet again and hold the title another 1,000 days.

Chris Adonis vs. James Storm - Adonis (better known as "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters in WWE) is defending the NWA national championship. Storm was a regular with the NWA up until January 2020. Other than coming in for some tapings where he dropped the tag title, he hasn't been around since then. So maybe this is a one-off or maybe he's back for good. The finish will probably depend on that. I'm sort of thinking Storm wins the title, but I could be wrong.

Kamille vs. Chelsea Green - Green won the NWA Women's Invitiational Cup last night to earn this shot at Kamille's NWA women's world title. I'm still kinda sore that Tootie Lynn didn't win after that huge hometown pop she got. It'll be worth it if they have something good planned for this match, but I'm not expecting a lot. Green is a free agent that could end up anywhere, but I don't think she'll end up in the NWA, so I don't think she's going to win the title.

Mickie James vs. Kylie Rae - When James was announced as the producer of the Empowerrr show, she vowed that she would not book herself to wrestle on the show, so this is her big chance to compete in an NWA ring this weekend. Kylie, meanwhile, is coming off a loss last night. It feels like Mickie needs to go over to establish her as the big star coming into the territory, but for all I know she's not sticking around, or she might prefer to put over the younger talent. This another match where I just can't be sure who wins, which is good for this card.

Aron Stevens & JR Kratos vs. Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf 450 - Stevens and Kratos are defending the NWA men's tag team title against representatives of AAA's faction La Rebelion. The last time I really kept up with the NWA, Stevens was doing a comedy karate gimmick with Jocephus dressed up as The Question Mark. Somewhere along the way (prior to Jocephus's death), Stevens ended up with Kratos instead. On paper you'd expect the team with Stevens on it to get clobbered, because he's the Wile E. Coyote of pro wrestling. But I doubt Bestia and Mecha Wolf are sticking around, so a tag title change wouldn't make a lot of sense. So look for Stevens to pull some kind of chicanery.

Thom Latimer vs. Tim Storm vs. Crimson - This is being billed as the "Brawl in the Lou" (i.e., St. Louis), which I assume means there are no disqualifications or count-outs, and falls count anywhere. Latimer is part of Nick Aldis's stable Strictly Business (along with Chris Adonis and Kamille). Tim Storm is 57 years old and sort of plays the role of an NWA legend without actually having been around when the NWA was really legendary. Crimson had been teaming with Jax Dane over the past few years but I'm not sure if that's still a thing. I have no idea why these three are fighting, and it may be just because there was nothing else for them to do on this show. I don't know who should win and I'm not sure it matters.

Tyrus & Jordan Clearwater & The Masked Man vs. Da Pope & Odinson & Parrow - Tyrus used to be Brodus Clay in WWE; currently he's the NWA television champion, with Austin Idol as his manager. Clearwater is part of Idol's stable. The Masked Man seems to be an x-factor in this match, and I don't know enough about the story to venture a guess as to why he's involved here. Pope appeared in WWE as Elijah Burke, and even though that's his real name he's tended to just go by "Da Pope" ever since. Odinson and Parrow are a tag team called The End.

The only storyline I can discern is that Tyrus won the TV title from Pope. I'm not sure what the Masked Man and The End have to do with anything. I tried looking for a promo on Youtube to explain things but I just ended up listening to a long, go-nowhere Austin Idol promo that reminded me why I don't watch NWA Powerrr much. I guess Pope's team wins, maybe?

12-man battle royale - This appears to be a standard battle royale, with everyone in the ring at the start, and eliminations occurring when the participants leave the ring over the top rope. The last competitor left in the ring wins the match and receives a future match for the NWA men's world title. No participants have been announced, and I'm real curious if the NWA even has twelve men available that aren't already booked for the other matches. For all I know the undercard guys may be doing double duty tonight.

This feels like a good place to have a surprise wrestler debut to win the whole thing and shake up the main event scene. Whether the NWA has anyone like that lined up remains to be seen. But WWE did lay off a lot of men who haven't shown up anywhere else yet, so maybe it could happen.

[ourplaceinthecosmosphff]

Chapter 18. Three’s a Party

‘Sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you've been ruined.' Ovean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

I don’t know how long we stayed in the bathtub, but it felt quick. Harry held me until I stopped crying, his hand caressing my hair, his smell bringing me peace – it was almost easy to allow my breath to slow. When it did, while he still held me to his chest, I told him everything.

I told him that there were days I barely said anything to anyone that wasn’t ‘good morning’ or ‘good night’. I told him about feeling bursts of anger towards everyone and everything. I told him about the many attempts to clarify with multiple people what I was supposed to be doing and receiving condescending dismissals. I told him about my mother’s general apathy, about my sister having swollen, bloodshot eyes so constantly I stopped thinking it was unusual, about her sudden parting with her lifelong dream. I told him things I hadn’t even realized I felt before I said it aloud.

Like the guilt of being alive when Louis was gone, like the guilt of sometimes forgetting he was, or feeling boredom, or even the slightest joy, when he wasn’t around anymore for any of it. Like feeling so guilty about inheriting his title that sometimes I googled myself to see the negative stories in the press as punishment.

Afterwards, I had a shower and when I stepped outside, there was a fresh glass of water in the nightstand on the side I had slept in the night before.

I had a few sips, feeling my eyes heavy – they were swollen from crying. It was early at night, but I had no desire for dinner or doing anything at all. So I just laid in bed, on my side, feeling the kind of tired sleep doesn’t cure, but still I closed my eyes, letting his smell in the pillow lull me to sleep.

I woke up – God only knows how long after – with his hand on my shoulder, warm and firm, slowly running down my arm almost until my elbow and back up, delicately.

I took in a deep breath and let it go, then I turned around in bed, to face him. His other arm was under his pillow. I didn’t look at his face, just laid my head on his pillow, over his shoulder, eyes closed to go back to sleep. A little thrown, it took him a second or two, but eventually he let his arm relax as it embraced me, before starting to caress my back.

I didn’t let the guilt in. I refused to. I was just… broken, an open wound, and he made me feel at peace. That was all that mattered.

In the night, I woke up to use the bathroom and when I returned, Harry, still in deep sleep, was facing the other side of the room. I laid next to him, and tentatively dropped my arm down his waist. When I raised up my knees, my legs fit into his, and I let it. I touched my nose to his back, letting his smell calm me again, and brought my hand across his chest to his heart. Feeling it beat, I was so close to sleep I didn’t hear or feel when he moved his hand until it was over mine. He interlaced our fingers together and sighed, content. With his fingers caressing mine, I fell asleep easily.

— ---- —

We slept in the following day. By the time I gave up trying to go back to sleep, it was almost noon. I turned in bed to find Harry scrolling through his phone, his face still slightly swollen from sleep.

“Morning.” I said, my voice lower than usual.

He smiled at me, letting his phone fall to the mattress and hugging his pillow to look at me upclose.

“Good morning.” He reached out with a hand to brush my hair out of my face. “Or should I say good afternoon.”

“Afternoon?!”

“It’s almost two.”

“What?!” I asked, slightly exasperated. “Why didn’t you wake me up?!”

“What for?” He asked, shrugging. It was a good point. “Sometimes it’s good to sleep the day away… healthy.”

“I… I have been sleeping the day away a lot.” I confessed.

“I know.” He replied. I did tell him that the previous night. “It’s okay. Emotionally tired is still tired.”

I smiled, feeling less embarrassed than a second ago.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt. Go back to…” I gestured vaguely with my eyes to his phone.

“I was just making some decisions for work. Nothing more for the rest of the day, though. Free to binge Orange is the New Black if you want.”

I let out a small, excited gasp. “Yay.” He laughed.

“Should we get something to eat first?” He asked. “I had breakfast earlier, but I was waiting for you for lunch.”

Faster than I could try to stop it, I felt my heart fill with affection for him.

Sighing, I smiled. “Sure. How about that indian place you mentioned?”

“Nice!” He smiled, picking up his phone.

He pulled up the menu and we chose our favorite kind of naan and chicken, so he sent a request to his security, who would then, apparently, order it themselves and receive it at the gate.

We stayed in bed for a while longer, talking about a lot of nothings, before he got a notification that the delivery guy had exited the restaurant. I then got up and went to the bathroom as he went downstairs to set the table.

When I got down, he was gone, though I quickly realized he was just outside picking up our food from one of his protection officers. He’d set up the coffee table in the TV room with plates, cutlery and cups over a white linen tablecloth with a small glass bottle in the center filled with colorful wildflowers I guessed he must have gotten from the garden outside.

I sat down on the floor with a smile on my face, biting my lip as my cheeks reddened.

We ate while Orange is the New Black played on the TV in front; the chicken was good, but the garlic naan was the best part of the meal. When we were done, I felt so satisfied I just stretched across the floor with one of the couch cushions as a pillow to watch the rest of the episode. Harry pushed the table to the side, pulled another cushion down and laid by my side, one arm under his head, closer to me than strictly necessary. I had issues paying attention to the plot.

Two, three, four episodes later we were still laying on the floor when I got up and told him I had to pee, so we decided to continue watching it upstairs. He took the dishes to the sink while I went to the bathroom. When I came back, I realized he’d brought the blanket and pillows from his bed so we could be more comfortable.

“Do you not have to work today?” I asked, just as he happily jumped into place.

“Nope!” He smiled. “I cleared my schedule to do nothing else today.”

“Nice.”

“Though I do have an engagement tomorrow.”

“Oh, what is it?”

“It’s something for the Endeavor Fund.” He explained. “I’m going to the tracks, in Sussex. Goodwood Motor Circuit. Some other servicemen and women will be there, that’s who the Fund works to help, you know?”

“Veterans?”

“Wounded, sick, injured…” He nodded. “So we’re having a bit of the day in the tracks and I think,” He grinned, “they’ll let me drive a jaguar.”

“Exciting.” I laughed.

“It is!” He nodded, enthusiastically.

“…that’s what you like to do more, isn’t it?” I asked. “Helping military personel… you look… energized when you talk about them.”

He sighed, smiling. “I guess I– I guess I feel I am one of them. Even if in a very different, much smaller way.”

“We’ve talked about this.” I corrected. “You were there, you’re one of them. Stop downplaying it.”

He smiled at me, before looking down, biting his lower lip. He opened his mouth and closed it again.

“What?”

“…I’ve been working on something. Something cool, that I’m excited about… It’s… It’s not ready yet… but we’re so close to announcing it…”

“God, you sound so excited.” I noticed, chuckling. “What is it?!”

He seemed to consider me for a few seconds before getting up, quickly, and jumping over me to go to the kitchen, where he picked up his laptop from the table and brought it back, along with a thick, black, plastic folder.

“So, have you ever heard of the Warrior Games?!” He started. “It’s this military sports event in America, for injured military personnel… I was there last year and it just… it was amazing!”

“Okay?”

“So I kept thinking about it, and about how it should really be for everybody, not just the Americans, you know? It should be like the Olympics, global. I mean, it just makes sense, the benefits that it brings to them… it puts them back in a mindspace of self-worth, you know? And at the same time it inspires other people, too, civilians, I mean. It teaches them how impressive they are.”

“Sure.” I nodded.

“Well,” he opened his laptop and put in my lap, opening a slideshow with a couple of clicks of his finger. “So I… I am doing it. Well, we are. Me and my team. We’re creating a global military sports event for injured personnel.”

He clicked through the slides in his presentation summarizing his main idea – essentially, a military paralympics –, and the contacts he had made to get the event to happen in London. His connections involved everyone from the Mayor to the Obamas, as well as millions in investment from Jaguar Land Rover.

He smiled as he spoke with pride about every decision, showing me rejected design ideas for the logo, to the newest t-shirt mockup, which he had a printed version of in a chart on his folder. Eventually, his cheeks reddened as he realized he spoke for so long Netflix was asking if we were still watching Orange is the New Black.

“Sorry.” He chuckled. “I’ve just been so anxious about announcing it next month… And then they want us to plan it for September, which seems so close!”

“Well, it is. But it’s okay! You can totally pull it off.”

“You think?”

“Of course!” I smiled. “The secret is finding passionate, competent people and delegating so you don’t lose your mind, because, Harry… the idea is really good. You can totally pull it off.”

He smiled, sheepishly. “…I’m actually really excited.”

“You should be.” I told him, honest. “It’s a great idea, and you’ve clearly done your homework. I like everything about it.”

He looked at me. “Thanks, Mary.”

“…who knows? Maybe we’ll get some Savoy veterans in here, too.”

“That’d be cool!” He nodded. “You’d have to come support them, though. I mean,” he fixed his features into a serious expression, leaning in to me, conspiratorially, “as the Crown Princess, you would have to. Right?”

I smiled. “Makes sense. Duty is duty.” I shrugged.

“That’s right…” He agreed, closer still.

“Are you scared?”

“Of what?” His playful smile disappeared.

I shrugged. “All of it.”

He sighed. “I’m terrified. I mean, the amount of people I’ve managed to convince… the amount of people this would impact… the amount of money we need… Sometimes I’m—Well, most of the time I’m just so confused as to how no one has stopped me yet?!”

I giggled. “Because you’re good at this. You… care. You have talent and passion and you care. People see it.”

His cheeks were reddening again.

“Honestly?” I asked, with a sigh, “I wish I had this type of… connection to the work. Maybe I would feel less lost about giving up the only career I’ve ever wanted to be Crown Princess.”

We were silent for a while, as my words echoed in our minds.

“You know…” he started, carefully, his tone soft. “It wasn’t that easy… Getting to this... point. This… Place where I’m actually kind of okay at it.”

“We’ve established you are brilliant at it.” I corrected, making him blush as he tried to bite down a smile.

He closed the laptop and put it behind us, on the couch, before pulling his pillow closer to me.

“I spent most of my life feeling out of place.” He started slowly. “I mean, you know what is like. Being born into this, but not really having a place in it. I felt… useless and used. Being a soldier is the only thing I ever felt I earned and was actually good at… and even that I couldn’t do.”

“Too risky, right?”

He nodded. “It’s just… not a risk to my life, but I become a risk to others… I felt… robbed of the only thing I liked doing.”

I nodded. “I know what that’s like.”

“Yes, but you see, that’s not your case anymore.” He sat up, looking at me intently.

I scoffed, humorlessly laughing at the thought. “It doesn’t feel that different.” Harry sighed. “Would you rather go back to Litchfield?”

I smiled. “Yes.”

While Piper struggled with her soap business and navigating her own newfound identity, I laid closer to him until it was his shoulder and not the pillow I was resting my head on. The moment felt soft and fragile, but risky all the same. Having him around felt… powerful in ways that were scary and impossible to ignore at the same time. And although I felt moving away would be the smart thing to do, I couldn’t.

I was almost falling asleep when Mr. Healy ignored Pennsatucky threatening Piper, so I had to wake up to yell at the TV. We went from seasons one to two with Harry smiling at my reaction. When Piper was finally back at Litchfield, I started falling asleep again, so he said we should go upstairs, “just in case”.

On his bed, we seemed to drop all pretenses. He stretched his arm over me and I just laid my head inside his embrace with no preamble. It was getting harder to deny or try to rationalize it – that homecoming feeling that threatened to knock me out whenever I touched him.

— ---- —

Harry’s phone rang hours later, waking me up from a nap. He whispered an apology, and picked it up quickly, before telling me it was work and was going to take a while. So he went downstairs and I started paying attention to the show again. When I saw Piper out of prison and the mustache asshole back I replayed the previous episode from the start as it was clear I had missed a lot.

Three episodes later, there was a big storm brewing in Litchfield and I am not saying it was a sign, but it was in the middle of that episode that I decided Harry had been on the phone for a long time, and thought I should check on him.

Downstairs, he was on the kitchen table typing away on his laptop with a focused look over his eyes. Quietly, I watched him for a few seconds, half envious for his passion for the work, half appreciative of the way his jaw locked when he looked pensive.

I was smiling when I heard a knock on the door. Harry rose from his chair, closed the laptop, and made his way to it while I took two steps back into the stairs, to hide.

“Hi.”

There was a moment of shock while the house remained silent before I felt my legs move. I cut the distance through the kitchen and living room until I had one hand on a mouth-agape-Harry’s back, gently pulling him out of the way. He opened the door more as he did and soon both him and my sister were staring at me.

“Lourdes?!” I asked, in shock. “What are you doing here?!”

My sister was standing before him, still in her school uniform. She had no shock in her face, just an obnoxious looking smile. “Hey, Maggie.”

I looked at Harry, who couldn’t seem to decide where to look.

“Hey, would you mind–?” I started, but he didn’t need me to finish.

“Sure, yeah.” He nodded, hurriedly walking inside again.

I stepped out and closed the door behind me.

“Are you sure you don’t want your bodyguard to talk to me first?” Lourdes asked. “Maybe frisk me? I could be hiding a gun. What if I force you to follow me into the car and take you home by force?!”

Beyond her, I saw in the small, brick street of Kensington Palace a black SUV parked with the windows rolled down. The driver was Lourdes’ own security officer, who seemed to be accompanied by mine.

“What are you talking about?! What are you doing here?!”

“Well, from what I hear he’s been watching you like a guard dog.” She said. “Maman made it sound like she wasn’t even sure you were real anymore… ‘No one’s seen Marie-Margueritte in three days! She could have died and we wouldn’t know!’”, she mocked.

“That’s ridiculous.” I shook my head, almost amused. “She’s so dramatic.”

“That’s rich coming from you.” Lourdes said, one brow perked up higher than the other. “Did you really run away from your security?”

“I didn’t–!” I started, choking on my words. “…run.”

“Wow, Maggie.” She laughed. “That’s insane.”

“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes. “Lourdes, why are you here?!”

“Why do you think? Mom seems to think I would be better at dragging you home. I guess maybe she thought I would be faster at sneaking upstairs to find you… I don’t think she planned on you coming out of your own will.”

I rolled my eyes. “Look, I’m fine. Go home, and tell mom and dad I’ll be home soon, okay?”

“Oh, no.” She shrugged. “I’m staying.”

Quicker than I was able to follow, she reached behind me, opened the door and walked in. When I followed her, I realized she had a large weekend bag hanging from her shoulder, the one she usually used for weekend trips home.

“Woah, this place is… small.” She remarked, walking around as she took everything in, as if in a museum. “You live here?”

From the couch, Harry got to his feet and shrugged. “I live on my own, don’t need much space.”

“Bet you never thought you’d have to offer sanctuary to poor, runaway princesses, huh?”

“Lourdes, you’re not staying.”

She looked at me, one brow corked up in defiance. “What are you going to do, call your security in here to drag me out? Who’s to say they won’t take you with me?”

Harry interjected. “Okay, why don’t we all take a deep breath and–?”

“You need to relax.” She dropped her bag on the floor and walked by Harry to inspect the living room. “I’m on your side.”

I sighed. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Seriously, Maggie, running away?! Badass. Never thought you had it in you.” She laughed.

“I did not run away!”

“Yeah, she calmly walked off the train.” Harry added, looking slightly more amused than felt appropriate.

“Regardless,” Lourdes shrugged, “amazing.”

“Lourdes, this isn’t–”, I sighed, unsure what to even say anymore. “This isn’t a game.”

“Everything’s a game if you’re having fun.” She returned, not even looking at me. “

As she approached Harry’s bookcase, I looked at him, lost for words. He had a grin on his lips, but his eyes reflected my own confusion.

I walked past him, towards Lourdes as she grabbed one of the picture frames to inspect it closely.

“You can’t stay here.” I told her.

She turned around and looked at Harry, a pitiful, sad expression on her face. “…I can’t?”

Harry’s mouth dropped open and he looked at me, pure despair in his eyes.

“Oh, please.” I stepped in front of her to block Harry’s view. “Don’t.”

“I mean, I get it, I should have called, I guess.” She told him, leaning around me. “I wouldn’t want to impose. I’m sorry, Harry–”

“Of course you can stay.” Harry said, making me turn to give him a wide-eyed, questioning look. “There’s enough space, it’s not a big deal.”

“She has school!” I argued. “It’s monday! You have to go to school.”

“Actually, I do not.” She said, placing Harry’s picture of himself as a baby on a pony with his mother by his side back on the shelf. “I am all yours.”

“Why–? Of course, mom… Look, Lou, mom thinks there’s something very dramatic happening here, but there isn’t. I’ll be home in no time. Until then, she’ll soon regret taking you away from school to involve you in this.”

“She didn’t.”

“Didn’t what?”

“Take me away from school.” She shrugged. “I was suspended.”

“I’m sorry, what?!”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not a big deal, it was totally unfair.”

“Suspended? As in, the administration sent you away?!”

“Yes, Maggie, relax. It was a mistake.” She removed her navy blue blazer, throwing it on me. “I didn’t do anything. Wrong place, wrong time.”

“That explanation is gonna need a lot more words.”

She folded her sleeves up to her elbows. “Sounds like we’re gonna need time. Good thing I’m staying.”

I looked at Harry, exasperated. He sighed, and gave me the quickest and smallest of shrugs.

“Well, that’s decided.” He said. “Lourdes, right? Harry.”

She smiled at him. “Oh, I know who you are.”

“Okay–” I tried.

“We did meet in Savoy. Last October.”

“Yes. And you were the guy sexting my sister after the Royal tour.”

Mortified, I sighed, looking at the ground.

Harry merely stuttered. “I–I don’t think I–Well, I–Would you call that sext–?”

“Louis thought you liked her.” Lourdes added. “Did you?”

“Okay!” I shouted, throwing her blazer over her head. “How about pizza for dinner? Harry, do you know a place?”

His cheeks were red. “I–I do. Yes.”

“Good. Lourdes likes pepperoni. I like marguerita, but I’m open to anything, really.” I grabbed her bag with one hand and her elbow with the other. “I’m going to show her to the guest room and let her have a nice, much needed shower in your bathroom if that’s okay–”

“Are you implying I stink?” She asked, holding her blazer awkwardly above her eyes.

“Towels on the closet in the hall, right?” I asked him, already on the stairs. “No mushrooms, please, I’m allergic!”

Then I marched her into the guest bedroom, the only room in the house I hadn’t yet seen. It was smaller than Harry’s room, and had a stuffy smell, but it was nice enough. I put Lourdes’ bag on the floor trying to look as though I had been there before. 

“Why were you suspended?”

“Why are you here?” She returned.

“Why are you here?!”

“To convince you to go home, of course.”

“Well, I’m not going home. Not yet. Now answer my question.”

She seemed to consider the request for a while. Slowly, she dragged the tip of her finger on the surface of the bedside table and stared at it. 

“Some kids were smoking.”

I straightened my back, attentive. “...were you?”

“No.” She rolled her eyes. 

“Well, no need to react like that, it’s a fair question. Why were you suspended then?”

She sighed. “I was with them and I guess my word isn’t enough to clear me.”

“Who was it?! When did your friends start smoking?!”

She circled the bed and opened the curtains, looking out the window. “No one you know. And I didn’t ask.”

“New friends? Why are you hanging out with kids who smoke?!”

“They’re nice. They’re fun. And everyone else I know was in class.”

“What—why weren’t you in class, then?”

She let out a long sigh. “Maggie, it doesn’t matter. It’s done.”

“Yes, it matters, Lourdes. Of course it does. Do mom and dad know?”

“Of course they know. They’re the ones who told the pilot to fly me here from school instead of home.”

“Wait. What came first? You getting suspended or them asking to come get me?”

She thought about it a while, turning around to face me. “I’m not sure. From my end it was the suspension.”

We were silent, both too busy with our own thoughts. I grabbed her blazer and folded it, gently. The school emblem on it still made me sad; she attended the same school I only stayed at for one year.

“...they must be very stupid if they thought they could get away with it. Your friends, I mean. Those nuns are everywhere. They see everything.”

She was quiet. 

“What class were you cutting?”

“...AP English.”

“What?!” I asked, slightly outraged. “You cut one of the best classes?! Man. What a waste. I always fantasized about cutting physics but never did.”

“I don’t mind physics. There’s so much going on that my mind stays busy. But there’s too much thinking in English.” She sat on the bed to start removing her knee high socks. “And it always reminds me of Lou.”

Feeling my heart tighten, I remembered English was always Louis’ favorite subject. 

Lourdes removed her shoes, placed both socks into them — black leather Gucci loafers — and turned around to get her bag. 

“How many?”

“How many what?”

“How many classes did you cut?”

She didn’t look at me. Inside her bag, she found a pair of pajamas, underwear, a toiletries bag, and from inside it, a hair tie she used to put her long blonde hair into a bun. 

“They wouldn’t send the King’s daughter home for skipping one class and not smoking.”

“It’s bullshit.” She complained. “My grades are fine! So what if I skipped a couple classes?!”

“A couple?!”

“A few. Whatever. If my grades are fine that means I don’t need the classes. Ergo, why should I be punished for it?!”

“How many is a few?”

“Maggie, that’s not the point. The point is I don’t have skating anymore, so I have time to study by myself.”

“Sounds like something you could have agreed on with your teacher instead of just... doing it.”

“Again. If my grades are fine—“

“What do you consider fine?” I interrupted, “Because your grades were fine before. By that logic, now they should be better.”

She sighed. “Whatever. It’s done.”

She removed her button down white shirt and folded it carefully. The white tank top she was wearing underneath had stains on it. 

“How long are you suspended for?”

“Until next week. Which gives me plenty of time to stay here with you.” She finished, with a smile. 

I looked at her bag, at the rug, and at the wall in silence 

"Lou, you can't stay here."

"Why not? You are."

"Because you're a kid. You are under age. Mom and dad will want you home. They shouldn't even have sent you here in the first place, what were they thinking?"

"That if you wouldn’t talk to them, you might talk to me." She replied.

"I guess they were right, then."

"But you still won't come home or let me stay."

"It's just... complicated."

"You just want to be alone with your lover." She said, accusatory.

"Lover?!" I asked, disgusted.

"Isn't that what you call someone you're having an affair with?"

"I am not having an affair! God, you and mom, I swear to God! I'm allowed to have friends!"

"It's an interesting friendship..."

"Speaking of which, cut it out with that sexting nonsense. And asking him about all that stuff in the tour. It's not okay."

"I didn't make anything up. I'm just asking about things that happened."

"And I am asking you to stop doing that." I said. "Cut it out. We're friends. You're making it weird."

"Oh, I am?" She asked, crossing her arms. "So, if you found out Chris was staying with a female friend in Canada, who was to him what you are to Harry, whatever that is, you would be okay with it?"

"Yes." I lied, on auto-pilot.

"Right." She rolled her eyes and picked up her toiletries bag and her pajamas. "What did you even tell him? Christopher, I mean. When you said you were staying here? That you were having a mental breakdown and Harry offered you a place to do it?"

"...I haven't spoken to Christopher." I told her, rolling my eyes.

"In three days?! What the hell, Maggie? He might think you died."

"I think he would have heard from someone if I died."

"Well, what if he died? What if his plane crashed?! What if he called the police when he couldn't reach you?!"

"He knows better than that." I explained. "Besides, my phone is still off. I didn't want the staff to be able to track me."

"Well, they know you're here now." She reminded me. “Might as well turn it on and start thinking of a good explanation to give your boyfriend.”

There was a knock on the door, so we both looked at it to find Harry standing in the doorway.

“Hey.” He started, awkwardly. “Your… security detail came over to ask when you’re leaving.” I looked at my sister. “They don’t know you’re staying?!”

“Oops.” She shrugged. “In my defense I don’t remember explicitly saying that I had permission to stay.”

“Lourdes-Abigail!” “So, the lawyer gene runs in the family, I see.” Harry said, grinning. I ignored him. “Lourdes, you can’t stay here if you don’t have permission.” “Harry said I could stay.” “Harry isn’t your parent. You need permission from your parents.” She took in a deep breath, and straightened her back. “I am staying, Maggie. And you know why? Because I don’t have school, which means the only place I’m supposed to be is home. With mom and dad who, as you well know, are a nightmare these days. So, if you don’t have to be home, I don’t either. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to have a shower. I’m assuming it’s the only other door in the hall, right?”

She marched past me and Harry, out of the room, walking confidently into his bedroom and soon I heard the bathroom door close from inside.

I sighed, slumping down into the guest room bed. I risked a look at Harry.

“I’m sorry.” I said. “Now you have two unwanted guests.” “Not unwanted.” He replied. “And I thought we talked about apologies.” I gave him a smile. “She can be a lot.”

“So can you.” He returned. “I like it.”

We exchanged a smile before he turned around to leave.

“Harry?” I called. “If it’s okay, I think it’s best if Lourdes thinks I’ve been sleeping in this room these past couple of nights.”

He gulped, avoiding my eyes. "Sure. Whatever you think is best."

“It’s just…” I started, apologetic. “She wouldn’t… understand.”

He nodded. “I’m not sure I do, either, to be honest.”

Quietly, I tried to think of how to answer that, but I couldn’t think of anything. He smiled, and went back downstairs. In his room, I found my own bag and took it to the guest room. In it, I found my phone. My heart beating rapidly, feeling tight, I turned it on, and while I waited, I tried to think of how to justify to Christopher why I had disappeared off the face of the Earth.

But when my phone finished updating the notifications I had missed, I realized I didn’t have anything to be concerned about. There were a couple texts from my friends, and many missed calls from my parents and Auguste, as well as my protection officers. But Chris had only texted once. A few hours before.

‘Hey babe. Sorry I forgot to text or call! I landed fine, jet lagged though. In and out of a lot of meetings, so I forgot! Bringing you a gift! Talk soon, love you xo’

I tried to think of what to tell him. I tried to look inside my heart and find what I had to say to him. But I was coming up empty. After a few minutes I just turned my phone off again and went back downstairs. 

In the kitchen, Harry was gathering plates and cups to set the table in the living room again.

“Hey. I thought we could eat while watching TV again. Probably not Orange, your sister seems too young for it, but it’s your call--”

I approached him, slowly, taking the cups he was holding from his hand and placing them on the table. Without allowing myself to think too much about it, I then wrapped my arms around him and laid my head in his chest, like it had been when I was sleeping earlier that day. His smell was still as comforting and welcoming as before and his touch when he hugged me back, tightly, felt natural and mind bendingly warm.

Thinking of my boyfriend, I was coming up empty. In Harry’s arms, I felt a lot.

---- --- ----

[A/N: Yall. Tell me what you thiiiiiiink! What do you thiiiiiink????? Please let me know! THANK YOU FOR READING YOU’RE THE BEST!]