to be soft is to be powerful

You turned back to her eyes wide open, “Oh my gosh I could never!” 

You laughed, swirling your finger on the top of the pink cocktail you had in front of you. Vicki blew raspberry at you. 

“Tell you what, if you can go and at least ask him for the tattoo without falling into a fit of giggles I will let you wear-- no I will let you have the purple high heels you always steal from me whenever we go to the bar downtown”. 

At that, you immediately stood from your stool, “All right I will be back ladies! Maybe with a tattoo and maybe a bruised ego, we don't know, we shall see.” 

The girls giggled as you finished one of the many drinks on the table before heading over, a little liquid courage helping your nerves. You were pleasantly drunk at the moment so this might have not been your best idea but you were halfway over, no turning back now. 

Just as you reach the man you realize that he looked a little familiar, his side profile looked out of this world, immortal, like Zeus had sculpted it for himself or something.

You push that thought aside, thinking that it was just the alcohol and tapped him on the shoulder. A look flashed through his eyes that seemed a little anxiety-ridden but it was soon gone when you started out your next sentence. 

“Hey, I know I'm a total stranger but will you go get a matching tattoo with me?”

You swayed a little in your spot and reached out to grab his forearm to put a steady hold on yourself. Instinctively, he wrapped his arm around your waist to keep you from falling over.

“Wait what?”

He responded while sizing you up, wondering if you were insane. 

You nodded eagerly, “yeah I've always wanted one but I'm kind of a pussy and so I've never been able to finally go in with a sketch I like and my friends over at that table bet for me to come ask a stranger if I would get a tattoo with them because it be the only way I could get one cause I would have someone else to decide with and they pointed you out so I'm here now.” 

The man fully turned to you and damn you were so happy that Vicki had a 6th sense because this man was gorgeous. He had so many little tattoos from your glance to his arm still wrapped around you that somehow all worked together seamlessly on his skin. 

His eyes were just so sparkly; the green in them made you mesmerized. He really did look familiar so you're asked.  

“Hey do I know you from somewhere?” 

The man in front of you seemed to straighten out a little, tensing under the scrutiny of your eyes scanning him. 

He reached up to rub the back of neck, “maybe you've seen me… I don't know I could have just one of those faces.” You were still not convinced but it didn't really matter. 

“All right, but you better not be a serial killer or something shady like that,” you clasped your hands together in front of you, “Tattoo with me; yes or no.” You asked again. 

The man looked back to his group slightly, the eyes of a couple of his friends there subtly watching the situation play out. They all looked very amused and you couldn't blame them, you probably looked like a lunatic. But, the boy in front of you turned back with a smile and cackled. 

“Why not!” 

He stated and you threw your hands up and cheered, “Great! Do you by any chance know a tattoo shop anywhere?” You questioned him as he put money on the table, and started walking with you through the crowded club. 

“Yeah we're really close to Sunset Boulevard, I think I know a place.” You reached for his hand as he pushed through the crowded dance floor, afraid you might lose the handsome stranger in front of you. 

Right as y'all got to the door, you waved back your friends who hollered out in their excitement. 

You were gobsmacked at the crazy situation. 

The handsome man in front of you was going to get a matching tattoo with you. 

A tattoo. 

Once you made it outside, you realized that trusting the man in front of you might not be the safest idea but your brain was still a little fuzzy and he looked kind so... you just went with that. 

You crossed the intersection and started walking down Sunset Boulevard, the man next to you shying away from any glazing eyes that came upon his face as you walked. Thankfully it was dark enough that no one seemed to stop and chat with either of you but you wouldn't even know why they would want to. Maybe they just thought he was hot like you did. 

“Hey, so what's your name?” You asked, realizing that calling him gorgeous in your head wasn't going to solve many problems. 

“Oh I'm Harry.” He answered. 

“Y/N, nice to meet you!” 

“You too.” 

“I swear though, are you like a Walmart clothing model of sorts, I swear I feel like I've seen your face... I don't think I could forget your face, it's pretty perfect.” You stuttered once you realized what you had said. Harry just chuckled and squeezed your hand that he was still holding. 

In no time, he was opening a door and leading you into a tattoo parlor that had a giant Shamrock on the door sign. The people in there seemed very important, all either drinking out of diamond encrusted glasses or smoking huge cigars, the farther back in the bar you went, the more like you felt you shouldn't have been there. 

He led you through a couple doors making you realize he probably knew the place better than he led you to believe. 

He knocked on a door in the back; a man opened the door a few moments later and looked up at you and Harry. His eyes lit up and he pulled Harry into a hug. 

“Hey H, been a long time! How are you?” 

“I'm doing well. We want to get a tattoo,” Harry said to the tattoo artist as you both walked into the room. 

The artist nodded his head, “sure, sure, what's your name love?” You realized he was talking to you after a moment as you had been mesmerized with all the pretty designs on the wall. 

“My name is Y/N and this will be my first tattoo so I'm very excited!” 

He chuckled slightly at your enthusiasm and introduced himself, “My name’s Freddy.”

The walk sobered you up a little bit so you decided while the boys were chatting to go through a couple of the designs. There were flowers, arrows, boats, people, eyes, names; basically anything you could ask for. 

As you flipped through the tattoo sheets, H set his phone down on the counter to help his friend grab something from a top shelf. You looked over to his phone case and something on the cover caught your eye. Glancing over your shoulder, the two men were engrossed in a quiet conversation. Your curiosity got the better of you and you reached out to slide the phone closer. 

Upon further inspection, you could see that between the phone and the clear case was a slightly wrinkled piece of paper with a small poem scribbled out on it. 

She fell so naturally into my arms

Like a flower to the sun. 

~ Atticus

“Harry?” 

“Hm?” He turned back to you, one eyebrow raised slightly when he noticed his phone in your hands. 

“What about this?” 

Harry walked over and took the phone back, looking at the small poem and then back to you. 

“Are you sure?” He asked hesitantly, you nodded while you rang your hands together, teetering back and forth on the balls of your heels. 

“Unless it’s too important to you, I totally respect that.” 

H shook his head when you said that. “No, it’s actually kind of perfect.” 

You smiled his response, both of you taking a moment to relish in the fact that you were actually doing this. Harry popped the phone case off and pulled the small note out, handing it to the tattoo artist. 

Freddy looked down at it, “Do you guys want it typed out? Or written like this?”

 “Maybe typed out would be nice, like a subtle cursive.” You nodded along with Harry’s comment. 

Freddy walked over to the computer to type it out on the poem for the pre-ink outline. 

“So how do you want this?” Harry asked you as you both sat down on the small couch in the corner of the room. 

Taking a hold of his arm, you turned it, examining all his tattoos and spaces left unmarked. You looked at his right arm and pointed to the inside of his forearm. 

“We could each get a line of the poem right here?” 

Harry and you looked at each other with grins on your faces. 

“Well you did drunkenly stumble into me at the bar so it’s only right I have the first one.” You rolled your eyes and chuckled, “Then I’ll get the second one.” 

A quiet beep! alerted both of you to Freddy who held two small sheets in his hand. 

“Who’d like to go first?” 

You raised your hand and let out a quick breath, “I’m gonna go before I second guess myself.” Both of the men chucked at your statement while you hopped up onto the tattoo chair in the center of the room. 

Freddy pulled your right arm over onto a small table he lowered to the perfect height and wiped it down with an alcohol wipe before applying the outline. 

“You like it?” He asked, checking for your approval. 

You gave him a thumbs up and he got the tattoo gun fired up. You tensed at the noise, becoming more aware that this would probably be pretty painful. Leaning your head back, you squeezed your eyes shut and tried to breathe normally. 

A gentle hand rested on your thigh, “Hey,” Harry said quietly, causing you to open your eyes and turn to him. 

“I’m a little bit scared, needles aren’t my thing.” 

You whispered, eyes flitting over to Freddy who now was testing the gun out before holding your arm down. 

Another hand turned your chin away from the tattoo artist and your eyes rested upon a much closer Harry. 

“Just look at me the whole okay? It’ll feel like a long pinch but I promise it will be over before you know it. Just squeeze my hand when it hurts okay?” 

You swallowed and nodded and heard a small ‘3,2,1’ and then a weird tingling sensation on your forearm. You gasped slightly and Harry went to wrap his arm over you so you wouldn’t move. He smiled and nodded encouragingly, maintaining eye contact with you the whole time. 

It was nice and… a lot more of an intimate gesture than you’d experience with someone in months. 

You looked at his face, seeing the stubble that hadn’t broken through the surface of the skin, the small mole by his lip, the bit of blue at the bottom of his left iris. 

He was remarkably captivating to say the least. A sweet blush appeared on his cheeks, “Thank you.” 

“Oh, did I say that out-loud? Oops.” 

You both giggled slightly, trying not to move too much for Freddy’s sake.

 “You’re pretty captivating too.” 

Now it was your turn to blush. 

After what seemed like only 10 minutes, Freddy was giving you the “all done!” You finally looked over to your arm and grinned like a maniac. 

“I love it!” You showed H and he nodded approvingly. 

“Now, up! It’s my turn.” He whined, you laughed while Freddy wrapped your forearm and re-cleaned his tools. Harry didn’t even flinch at the needle but you still held his hand for moral support. 

While his thumb rubbed your hand back and forth, you used your available hand to lightly trace his other tattoos with your finger tip. 

“Do any of these have special meaning to you?” You questioned, scrunching your brow with you saw Late Late scribbled into his skin. 

He shrugged, “I mean some of them do but others I just really liked.” 

You sighed, “I think tattoos are really interesting but I never can pick something I really like… I’m always afraid I’d hate it later.” 

“What about the one you just got then?” Harry asked, a bit of concern filling his features. 

You gave him a small smile, looking down as if you’d become more bashful. 

“No uh, I’m quite happy with it. I’m glad I was able to get it with someone.” 

You cleared your throat and looked into his eyes more intently, “Harry-- Thank you for doing this, you didn’t have to at all but I appreciate it.” 

“Honestly, I’m glad you fell into my arms, I needed some more ink and this seemed like fate.” 

The buzzing suddenly stopped so you looked over to the complete tattoo. 

“There you go H, another tattoo in the bag!” Harry got up from the chair and you both went to compare tattoos under the big light in the corner. 

“You want a photo?” Freddy asked as he put the final piece of machinery back. Harry handed his phone over to him and you took the wrapping off for the picture. 

Harry set a hand on your waist to move you in front of him and stretched your arm out with his to show off the full poem on both of your right arms. 

“You ready?” He mumbled into your hair and you let out a shaky, “yea”. 

I mean, who’s gonna blame you? A fine-ass man had just pressed you into his front and spoke to you like you were a diamond. Freddy snapped a few pictures and handed the phone back, note now back in its original home. 

Your eyebrows shot up in realization, “Oh! Who do I pay for this?” You asked Freddy, but he just looked to Harry who stuck his hands up in surrender when you frowned a bit. 

“I may or may not have already taken care of it?” 

“Harry!” 

“I know, I know! Don’t worry it’s not that big of an expense for me I promise.” 

You lightly smacked him on the chest, eyes widening guess a bit from the feeling of a very toned pec. 

“Well still, I owe you big time! I made you get a tattoo with me and now you’ve paid for it, literally. Lets go get food or something!” 

You didn’t let him get a word in before you were waving by to Freddy and tugging him out of the bar and down the street to your favorite diner on the strip. 

You opened the door and gallantly gestured for him to enter, “After you.” 

He tipped a pretend hat to you and entered. It was nearly empty since it was around midnight but there were a few stragglers at the counter, probably nursing the pre-headache of a major night out. 

Harry did the thing again of tucking his head down and led you to a booth in the corner, sitting down in the seat facing the wall. You slid in onto the worn red leather seat and turned the menu to H, pointing on one of the meal choices. 

“I always get this one and a chocolate milkshake, but you can get anything.” 

“Nope that sounds good, an All American Burger is always appreciated even if I’m not a big meat eater.” 

You put the menu to the side and flagged the one waitress in the room, “Are you a vegetarian?” 

“No I’m a pescatarian but not for allergy reasons so I can easily cheat the diet.” 

You chuckled at that and turned when the waitress made it over to your table. She looked to be around your age and very tired judging by the ketchup stain on her apron and the state of her bun. 

Upon her glance to Harry, her eyes lit up with recognition but she kept a professional nature and stuttered out, “W-What can I get you?” 

“Two number 4’s please and two chocolate shakes.” 

You answered, looking back and forth between a strangely bashful Harry and amazed waitress. 

“Uh, yeah of course.” She mumbled and left, but not before taking a double look at H.

You quietly slammed your hands onto the table, “Okay, what’s up? That reaction was super bizarre.” 

You leaned back against the booth and crossed your arms (being careful to not hurt your new tattoo) and raised an eyebrow, “You definitely are more important than you led me to believe. So what are you? A Tom Ford model or something?” 

Harry met your eyes with a small smirk, dimples popping through. 

“Well, I do use Tom Ford cologne.” 

You rolled your eyes, “Oh come on, so you are a model! What do you model for?” 

“I--uh, have modeled for Gucci a bit but not a lot.” 

“No shit that's pretty cool.” You leaned forward across the table closing the space between y’all considerably. 

“Does this mean that our waitress will probably ask for your autograph before we leave?” You asked in a whisper. 

He did the neck rub tick again, “Maybe a picture, I don’t know.” 

“Wow so you are a hit! What else have you modeled for?” 

“Um well--” 

“Here’s your food,” the waitress interrupted, setting down your plates and the two shakes, you lit up like a kid at Christmas and took a big slip of your shake before giving a thumbs up to the girl in front of you who was still not-so-subtly staring at H. 

You fake-coughed and that seem to snap her out of the trance she was in. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry it’s just-- I wanted to say I was at the Greek Theatre last Wednesday and you were amazing!” 

Harry’s posture released and he smiled, “Thank you so much darling, that’s very nice of you.” 

“Would you mind signing something for me? Only if thats okay!” 

Harry nodded and she quickly fumbled her phone out and-- 

“Harry, your face is on her phone cover?!” 

You sudden exclamation of this caused the girl to go bright red but Harry just kept smiling that scribbled below himself on the pink border as if to not cover up the face. 

“Here you go.” 

“Thank you!” She swiftly skittered away and you looked at H with an explain right now look. 

“I may or may not have undersold myself?” 

“You think? What did she mean about the theatre? Are you a performer as well?” 

You picked up your burger and took a bite, still watching and waiting for the answer. Harry let out a breath and took a couple fries from the plate, popping them into his mouth and chewing, giving him a couple second to figure out how to tell you. 

“Did you ever listen to boy bands in high-school?” 

“Uh, not necessarily, I do remember a few radio songs that the band would always play at pep rallies and football games.” 

“Okay, do you think you could name those songs?” 

You took a sip of your shake and nodded, “Yeah, um, there was Roar by Katy Perry, uh-- Royals by Lorde, and Oh! Best Song Ever by--” 

“One Direction.” He answered for you. 

“I’m still not following, are you one of the boys in the band or something?” 

Harry just took a bite of his burger. 

“Oh damn, are you serious?” 

He nodded, you were pretty surprised and a little disappointed in yourself cause of course you knew 1D, Eve had been obsessed with them in high-school. Maybe you didn’t connect the two is because you were used to seeing the sweet 16 year old face on the Eve’s cover of J-14 instead of this fine-ass man in front of you. 

You laughed as a thought hit you, “Wait, so I remember a little about the band... You guys separated right? Does this mean you were performing solo on Wednesday?!” 

“Oh, uh, yeah.” 

You smiled brightly and squeezed his hand resting on the table, “That must be so cool, how are you feeling about it? Everything fun? I bet being on stage is great... All your fans singing with you!” 

He grinned, “Actually it’s been so different but still amazing, it was only my second show by myself but the same adrenaline rush from the first one. I miss the lads but honestly it’s great to be singing my writings now.” 

“Do you think I’d know any of your music?” You asked, pulling your phone out of your back pocket and typing in his name to Spotify. 

Embarrassment flooded your system when you realized you only knew his first name. Begrudging you asked, “Hey, can I get a last name for the search?” 

His eyes widened a bit but not in a judging way but more of a please way. 

“Styles.” 

“Oh wow, you really are a rock star with that name.” 

You scrolled through his page and clicked the first one in the album. 

“Meet Me In The Hallway… no way, I think I’ve got this on a chill playlist.” 

You both ate while listening to a couple of his songs play from your phone on the sticky table. It was nice, just enjoying each others presence. It could’ve been weird since you’d only met a few hours ago but getting a tattoo together had bonded y’all in more ways than you’d thought. 

“Oh shit, is it okay that you got a new tattoo? Is twitter gonna break or something now that you have half a poem with a weird girl from a club?” 

Harry let out a big laugh that had your insides feeling warm. 

“It’s alright, I don’t think they’ll freak out too badly.” 

You swirled your straw around, slurping up the leftovers, “You underestimate fangirls Mister Styles.” 

He hummed in agreement and finished his food. Right before you went to the counter to pay, your phone buzzed a couple times.

the girls!

Vic: Y/N you didn’t die did you?

Nope! No kidnapping victim here!

I got the tattoo!

Christy: WHAT

Eve: OMG YOU DID!!!

Christy: VICKI LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE

Vic: i’m proud

Lol y’all are too much

Eve: We’re gonna leave the club and head home, did you need a ride back with us?

Nah, I’m just hanging with my tattoo buddy so I’;; text y’all when i’m heading home.

Eve: Okay we love you!

Christy: love u

Vic: are you gonna get some?!!?

Lydia: WAIT WHAT HAVE I MISSED?

You blushed at Vicky’s crude comment and stuck your phone back in your pocket. It was easy slipping out of the dinner and onto the street. 

“Where’s your next show?” You asked. 

“I’m off to Nashville the day after tomorrow.” 

“Wow, so your tour is revving up isn’t it?” 

He nodded. 

“Where do you think your favorite place is scheduled on the tour?” 

“I’m quite excited for the O2 Arena in England.” 

“Fun, when you get back we could catch up if you wanted, I mean we are tattoo buddies now so it only seems right.” 

Harry agreed happily and you put your number in and your nickname as ‘tattoo soulmate’ with a stupid profile picture taken quickly on the street. 

“Do you think you could send me those picture of the tattoos? I won’t post them or anything cause I don’t really want your PR hunting me down but I’d like to have them for the memory.” 

“Yeah no problem, it’s not that big of a deal if you post it, but you just need to know that you might get harassed by noisy fans and as much as I hate to say it, stalked by paparazzi just for being a new friend of mine.” 

Harry’s face had shifted into something ridden with guilt so you just gave him a comforting smile and rested your hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry, a friend of mine is studying in Public Relations and Media so I understand.” 

A few seconds later, an unknown number bing!ed your phone and the pictures came rolling in. 

“Say cheese!” You called out suddenly, catching Harry with a surprised expression for his profile picture. 

You looked at the small clock at the top and scrunched your nose at the late time displayed on the LED screen. 

You looked up at Harry, “Do you happen to know where I could get a taxi that’s not gonna murder me at this time in this section of LA?” 

“I’ll take you home.” 

Waving your arms in denial, you said, “No I couldn’t let you do that. I’d only be putting you out of your way.” 

“Nonsense, my car is back at the club and trust me, I’m your safest driver tonight.” 

Well, he did have a point. 

“Ugh, I’m gonna end up owning you my first born if this keeps up like this aren’t I?” 

You got back to his car in pretty good time, thanks to his long legs and your naturally fast pace. 

“Oh course it’s a Range Rover.” You mumbled, earning a laugh for the rockstar getting into the driver’s seat. You gave him your address and off you both went.

You lived in a house with the girls. It was close to UCLA where you all went. The house had been this horrible tan color when you all first got there but quickly painted it a light blue that always looked so pretty against the sunset skies of Los Angeles. 

Your room was the last one on the left upstairs and throughout your college years it had been re-decorated many a times. Right now there was a calm blue on the walls, queen bed in the corner by the window and various art pieces and magazine cutouts taped on the wall above your desk. 

You had a dresser against the wall by the door and then pictures. Lots of pictures on the wall to the right, many of them where some you’d taken with friends and others were landscapes and stranger shots in LA. It was a fun hobby to have and it helped that you’d been able to sell a lot of them to shutter shock for some extra cash. 

Harry pulled in next to the curb and you unblocked yourself, turning towards him fully. 

“Thank you so much for the ride, it would have been a bitch to find transportation tonight.” 

“Don’t worry darling, not a problem.” 

You grinned, “Let me know when you’re back in town and we can catch up if you want.” 

Harry let out a content sigh, “I’d like that.” 

You hopped out of the car and ran up the steps. He waited for you to unlock the door and step through the threshold before driving off. You giggled to yourself quietly and closed the door, re-locking it. 

With heels in one hand, you crept up the stairs quickly and into your room. After getting ready for bed, you heard a small bing! from your phone you had plugged in on your night stand. 

You crawled under the covers before grabbing it. 

tattoo buddy

H: you got inside alright? x

yup! thanks for the ride btw

H: of course x

good luck at your next show!!

H: :) x

night tattoo buddy 

H: night x

And with that, you turned off the light.

masterlist

“I’m engaged.”

Harry could’ve sworn a few light bulbs popped from the sound in the studio. The sound could probably be heard outside the building, maybe even a few blocks further.

James grabbed onto Harrys jacket and pulled the boy into a hug, the surprise on his face overwhelmed by the joy of hearing the news one of his closest friends was getting married.

The audience calmed slightly as James quickly lead Harry to the couch, hopefully to get the bride to be’s name.

“Harry! I can’t believe this! Congratulations!” 

“Thank you, I’m very happy as well.” 

The host shook his hands before planting them down on his lap as he had said on the couch with H.

“Who’s the girl? I didn’t even know you dating someone!”

The boy’s cheeks warmed a sweet pink, he rubbed the back of his neck, accidentally bringing forth a small chain that had a ring hanging on it.

Harry’s engagement ring.

“Well, we didn’t want the media breathing down our necks so we might’ve devised a plan to keep everyone on a different trail.”

“Do I know her? Have I met her?”

The singer chuckled, “Oh yeah, probably talked to her a bunch as well.”

James brow furrowed as he tried to go through anyone he’d talked to that could be associated with Harry in the past year or so. 

Then it seemed like a lightbulb went off.

He looked up at Harry with a shocked expression, “No, wait, is it,” the host took a pause, waiting for Harry confirmation that it was okay to say the name. 

With a glint in his eye he turned  to a crewman off stage. “Can we please have Harry’s PA come to the couch?”

The audience chatted loudly amongst themselves, looking towards every person with a head set, wondering if they’d be the one to step up onto the stage.

Not detected yet, a girl with h/c hair cautiously approached James from his back. She wore black jeans, a slightly to large rolling stones t-shirt, a headset, and converse that had been colored in the rainbow along the edge.

She poked James in the shoulder, giving him a small wave when he turned around. 

“Y/N! Congrats! I can’t believe you kept it under wraps so well.” 

Y/N crossed over to Harry, sitting down next to him, a little finicky under the gaze of so many eyes.

Harry spoke up, “We thought this would be the best way to be able to stay close but not have to be nervous for anyone with a camera seeing us together, we kept the PDA to a zero in public but it was great to have that sense of safety the cover provided.

“No longer though, eh?” James grinned. Harry turned his head and smile softly at his fiancé, “Nope, no more hiding.”

That earn a round of applause from the audience, seemly in awe of the sweet couple before them.

James laughed, “You realize though that now every celebrity and PA are gonna be looked at as secret lovers from now right?”