#lmlmn

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Y/N woke up with a headache from hell, an overwhelming pain in her ankle, and her mouth so dry it left her tongue feeling like a piece of sandpaper. As soon as she opened her eyes, all the drinks she had consumed the night before rose in the back of her throat. She quickly shut her eyes again, holding her breath, hoping it would block the flood of nausea that rushed through her. 

Her whole body was desperate for water, but whatever force squeezing her skull together made it impossible for her to open her eyes again. She made a lousy attempt to blindly reach out and locate the bottle Harry had given her the night before. The fear of making any sudden moves, or even opening her eyes, made her completely immobile though. Because if she moved too fast or too much; the possibility of her being sick all over Harry’s bed was far too great. 

And that was something she definitely wanted to avoid.  

Especially after all of the events that had unfolded last night. He had already helped her too much. She couldn’t be sick in his bed. Not after he had agreed to go out with her friends, nearly ended up in a fight with Reece, offered to let her stay the night, and they almost kissed.

Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as soon as the memory of their lips brushing flashed before her. 

She had almost kissed Harry last night. 

And the reminder of his stubble scratching against her chin alerted her of the lack of warmth next to her and made the silence surrounding her obnoxiously loud. 

Y/N forced herself to open her eyes again, to confirm her abrupt realization about the empty bed. She wasn’t sure what made her feel more nauseous - her raging hangover or the fact that Harry was nowhere to be seen. The bathroom door was wide open, the spot next to her cold and the room dreadfully calm. 

He was just… gone. 

Her already swirling head started spinning even more. Had she just ruined whatever chance she had of them being friends? He couldn’t be mad at her, could he? 

No, she tried to remind herself, he was as guilty as her of their almost-kiss. She ran a tired hand over her face. He couldn’t be mad at her. They were both drunk. At least she had been. 

But so much had happened last night, and Y/N’s muddled hungover brain couldn’t even begin to comprehend how she had ended up in his small bed again. 

Although, as she tried to move and sit up, the painful reminder of her embarrassing fall swept over her. She hissed in discomfort and moved the duvet out of the way to get a good look at her aching foot. 

”Fuck,” she mumbled to herself as she took in the sight of her swollen and bruised skin. Her ankle had doubled in size compared to what it normally looked like and a nasty purple-looking bruise was slowly spreading out across most of her heel. ”You’re a fucking idiot Y/N…” 

With a small groan, she let her head fall back to the pillow, wishing the bed would just swallow her whole and remove her from the surface of the earth. 

How could so much have gone wrong in just one night? It had to be some sort of record. 

Everything had started out so well. Reece had seemed jealous. He had asked her to be on his team. He had been close, making sure that she was always within arm’s reach, his hand clinging to her lower back and hips. It was the most affectionate she could remember him ever being. 

But then something switched and the night just went downhill from there. 

Harry and Reece sizing each other up had not been on her list of things that could go wrong. It hadn’t even crossed her mind. In her head, the worst-case scenario was Reece not acknowledging her at all. 

Or Harry being annoyed with her the whole night. 

Her biggest concern had been with herself and how she was going to act with Harry in front of Arlo.

She wished it could’ve stayed that way. It would’ve been a lot easier. 

Y/N wasn’t supposed to drink so much, but her nerves had simply gotten the best of her. Downing several shots of tequila seemed like a good idea at the time. The tension between the man of her dreams and her fake lover had been far too hostile for her poor heart to handle. 

Their visit to White Deer had ended with her embarrassing herself in front of the full-packed pub. It should’ve been the only thing weighing her down as she woke up in a crippling hangover. Yet, it was not the thing tormenting her fragile mind.

Because she certainly wasn’t supposed to almost kiss Harry. 

The mere memory of his warm breath on her face, his soft hand pushing a strand of her hair away, made her pathetic little brain nearly combust. No matter how hard she tried to remember how they had gotten themselves into that position - it didn’t make any sense. Had she made the first move? Or had he been the one to instigate it? Both explanations seemed as unlikely as the other. 

But then again, drunk Y/N didn’t always make the best or most reasonable decisions. It wouldn’t actually surprise her if she was the reason behind their almost-kiss. 

No wonder Harry had left. He had probably already filed a report against her for harassment and violation of his privacy. Her stomach twisted in distress, an overwhelming stir of regret washing over her. 

She wasn’t sure how much time passed, her mind and body were too busy wallowing in anguish and self-loath, before the sound of keys jingling outside the door suddenly overtook all of her senses. 

If Y/N had been able to, she would’ve made a quick escape and jumped out the window. But since her body was currently hanging on by a thin thread, trying to survive a hangover from hell and a sprained ankle, that wasn’t an option. 

All she could do was stay put, and watch as Harry slowly made his way back inside the flat. Their eyes met the moment he opened the door. The obnoxious silence she had found herself waking up to turned into an uncomfortable one instead. It was unclear which one was worse, but both undeniably made her nauseated state triple within her.  

He had changed into a pair of blue jeans and a simple white T-shirt, a mint green cardigan casually draped over his shoulder. A pair of black sunglasses sat on top of his head, pushing back his curls and stopping them from falling into his eyes. There was not a single trace of their night out on him. 

Harry, without a doubt, looked ten times better than how she felt.  

Fuck. 

”You’re awake,” he stated after a moment of silence. 

”Yeah…” she breathed out, her voice raspy and low. A lump immediately formed in her throat, pushing its way upward, and she quickly pressed her lips together in an attempt to stop whatever was trying to make its way out of her. Harry gave her a concerned look. She tried to give him a smile. ”Where were you?” 

Her stomach twisted in regret as soon as she let the question escape from her broken mind and out into the uncomfortable mood between them. 

”I just went for a little walk,” Harry cleared his throat awkwardly and then held up the tote bag he was carrying. ”Stopped by the store briefly.” Y/N opened her mouth to say something, but the same lump instantly made itself present again. Harry tilted his head to the side, watching her closely as she tried to swallow it back down. ”How you’re feeling?” 

She took a shaky breath. 

”Not too good,” she admitted and focused on trying to breathe through her nose slowly. Whatever force controlling the universe had to have some sort of vendetta against her. Y/N was sure of it. If she ended up being sick in front of Harry, in his bed, it would surely end whatever friendship she had going on with him. 

And she would be on the next plane over to Svalbard as soon as she could move again. 

”How's your foot?” 

”Hurting,” she told him with another shaky breath. 

”I can imagine,” Harry hummed. He stood still for a brief moment before putting down the tote he was carrying next to the dresser, kicking his shoes off. ”Let me see.” 

Y/N couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth and speak again, so she gave him a small nod, ignoring the the way it left the whole room spinning. 

Harry sat down next to her on the bed, gently lifting the duvet to expose her legs. She took the opportunity to pinch the bridge of her nose, praying and hoping that the small pressure would help her take her mind off of how fucking terrible she felt. 

When his fingers brushed against her ankle she couldn’t stop herself from flinching back in surprise, a low groan slipping out at the discomfort it caused. ”Sorry,” he mumbled and threw a small glance up at her, to make sure she was fine. 

”S’okay,” she replied quickly and nodded towards her foot again, letting him know he could continue what he was doing. 

Harry turned his attention back to her ankle but let his hands rest on top of his thighs. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he looked at the bruised skin with furrowed brows. 

Then he suddenly stood up again and walked over to his tote to retrieve something. The bed shook as he moved and Y/N was sure her soul left her body for a moment. She was not going to make it. 

”We need to wrap your foot,” he said, pulling out a lime-green silk scarf. ”This was the only thing I could find this early. You need to get some proper bandages later, but this will have to do for now.” He came back and sat down next to her. ”If it doesn’t get better in a couple of days, you should probably go see a doctor as well.” 

She wasn’t sure if it was the lump in her throat, still threatening to come up, that left her so speechless… 

Or the fact that he had gone out first thing in the morning to look for some bandages for her foot. 

His fingers were gentle as they wrapped around her ankle, carefully lifting it to put the green scarf underneath her foot. It hurt, but all she could really focus on was his soft touch. Anytime his fingers smoothly brushed against her skin Y/N could feel another part of her body erupt in goosebumps. 

The makeshift bandage was wrapped tightly around her ankle, instantly giving it some much-needed support. Harry never took his eyes off her foot as he worked on it, his tongue poking out in concentration, and Y/N felt like her body was on fire. 

Flashbacks of the night before pushed themselves to the front of her mind. He had been so close. A small tilt of her head and their lips would’ve met. 

Y/N contemplated asking him about it and seeing his reaction but quickly decided it would be a terrible idea. If she was to bring it up it had to be under better circumstances - not when she was already struggling to breathe properly. 

But Harry’s tender hands awakened something in her. Something she couldn’t put her finger on yet. It could, very possibly, still be the aggressive lump in her throat forcing its way up. ”I’ll give you a ride home,” Harry interrupted her wandering thoughts, making her head jerk back at the unexpected sound of his voice. ”Do you think you’ll be able to move?” 

”Yeah, I think so,” she replied slowly, attempting to once again force the lump back down. Unfortunately, it seemed like the lump had gathered more strength after being held back for so long. She covered her mouth with one of her hands. Y/N had lost the struggle. ”Actually, no, I - I think I might be sick.” 

Harry’s eyes widened as he took in her fragile condition. He moved fast, jumping to his feet, his arms wrapping around her as he hauled her out of bed. She didn’t even have time to think of the pain that spread through her foot and up her leg. 

It was astonishing how they actually made it to the bathroom in time. Most of it was just a blur, but she let her body fall into Harry’s as he dragged her to the toilet. He said something to her that she couldn’t understand, the buzzing in her ears was too loud. 

She had never felt more miserable or unattractive in her entire life. 

None of it mattered though, because as soon as she could see the toilet Y/N fell to her knees and unloaded yesterday’s mistakes into the bowl. She wanted to tell him to leave, that he couldn’t see her like that; a coughing sputtering mess. 

But the only thing coming out of her was the tequila from last night. 

So, instead of getting him to leave, he knelt down beside her and pulled her hair away from her face, holding it in a loose grip at the back of her neck. 

And Harry didn’t say anything either, but the comforting hand running up and down her back told her enough. He wasn’t going to leave her, and she accepted it. 

Even if it meant losing the small amount of dignity she had left. 

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”Oh Honey, what happened!?” 

Y/N glanced up to see her mum standing by the doorway leading to their kitchen, looking at her with big frantic eyes. The house was filled with the scent of freshly baked scones and Lizzie wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing. Then her gaze averted over to Harry, who still had his arm wrapped around Y/N to offer his support. And she could see the worry in her mum’s eyes slowly turning into confusion. 

Once Y/N had felt stable enough to get up from the bathroom floor, and she was certain there was nothing left in her to come out, Harry had helped her back to his bed. He made sure she drank some water and gave her some ibuprofen before leaving her alone, full of shame, in his flat again. 

He simply told her to just get some rest while he went to get his car from where it was currently parked, so she wouldn’t have to walk too far on her injured foot. 

Or rather, so he wouldn’t have to carry her too far. 

Because when she was finally feeling good enough to actually leave - they both realized that getting down the steep stairs was going to be twice as hard as getting up had been. 

In the end, Harry ended up giving her a piggyback ride. Of course, she tried to tell him she was fine and could make it on her own, but, in true Harry nature, he wouldn’t listen to her and told her to just let him carry her. 

After some struggle, she ended up on his back, holding onto him tightly as he carried her down the stairs and all the way to his car. His hair tickled her face as she rested her chin on the back of his shoulder. As they made it outside a gust of wind blew past them and she caught a whiff of his cologne, musky and fresh. 

He smelled lovely. 

As always. 

Y/N didn’t even want to think about how horrible she smelled next to him. 

Harry moved fast, with a tight grip on her legs, and her body bobbed with the large strides he was taking. She closed her eyes in hopes to ignore the nausea that slowly started creeping up on her again. 

She felt secure though. 

It was soothing in some ways, to let her body relax against his strong back and feel his muscles move under her. The warmth radiating from him sent an electrifying rush through her and caused the small knot in the pit of her stomach to ignite. 

Y/N could’ve fallen asleep right there, clinging onto him like a small koala, if Harry hadn’t gently tapped her leg to let her know they had reached his car. 

And she realized that it was the first time she actually saw his car, and she wasn’t sure what she had expected… maybe an old Toyota with worn-out seats and a rusty surface? She had no idea, but whatever she had imagined - it surely wasn’t a shiny Aston Martin sports car. While Y/N didn’t know a whole lot about cars, the car in front of her definitely looked like it was worth more than what she would even make in a year. 

Actually, it was probably worth more than what she had ever earned since she started working altogether. 

She instantly felt bad for making him drive her home in her miserable state, and for getting his fancy car dirty with the horrid stench of vomit oozing off of her. 

Under normal circumstances, she would’ve asked how he could afford such a fancy car working at White Deer, but her only aim was to survive the short car trip to her house. The bumpy ride made her feel sick all over again and she let her head fall against the side of the car, her eyes closed as she tried to control her breathing. It was far too hot in that car.

She could not be sick again. 

She refused to be sick again. 

Especially not in a car as expensive as the one she found herself in. 

They didn’t really speak, but Harry noticed her struggling to keep it together. He took his hand off the steering wheel, swiftly pushing a button on his side of the car, and the window next to her slowly went down. Fresh air hit her face as they sped down the crooked roads, and Y/N could feel her nausea gradually easing up. 

At least enough to make her confident she wouldn’t be sick all over the lavish interior. 

When they eventually pulled up outside her house Harry was quick to jump out and jog around the car to help her out. Y/N didn’t even bother trying to object that time and simply just let him give her another piggyback ride to get inside. 

Lizzie had met them in the hallway as he carefully dropped her to the floor again, her foot aching slightly as she accidentally put too much weight on it. 

”I’m fine, Mum,” Y/N groaned. ”I just had a little stumble last night.” 

”Are you hurt?” 

”Only my pride,” Y/N complained with a huff and noticed how Harry stifled a laugh, pulling at his lips carefully, hiding his two dimples behind his hand. Lizzie stayed quiet, cautiously observing the scene in front of her, to make sure Y/N was indeed fine and not in need of immediate care. 

When her mum eventually came to the conclusion that no ambulance needed to be called a cheeky smile fell over her thin lips. 

”And who is this Handsome Gentleman escorting my clumsy daughter home?” 

”Muuum,” Y/N sent her an embarrassed glare, feeling her cheeks getting hotter as Lizzie looked between them with a knowing look. ”This is Harry. He works at White Deer, he helped me last night and just drove me home.” 

”Harry, hm,” Lizzie hummed, and Y/N didn’t like the glimmer of delight she saw in her mum’s eye as she stepped forward to shake his hand. ”Well, I’m Lizzie, Y/N’s mother. Thank you for helping her and getting her home in one piece.” 

”Hello,” Harry cleared his throat awkwardly and shook Lizzie’s hand with a steady grip. ”No need to thank me. I’m happy to help.” 

”Why don’t you come inside for a bit?” Lizzie suggested and Y/N looked at her mum with big eyes. ”I’ll go put the kettle on and you can have some tea with us. I just made some scones and the loaf of sourdough bread is done any minute now.” 

”No, that’s okay. I was just helping Y/N inside and-” 

”Oh, nonsense! Come sit down with us,” Lizzie interrupted quickly, shaking her head. ”It’s the least I can do for you after you took care of my daughter.” 

”Mum, I’m sure Harry has other things he needs to do. I’ve already taken up enough of his time today,” Y/N tried and watched as Pluto suddenly popped up behind her mum. The small poodle immediately noticed Y/N was home again and jumped up and down excitedly before running over. 

”Everyone has time for some scones,” Lizzie insisted with a small laugh and looked at Harry again. ”There is plenty of food and you’re more than welcome to have some.” 

As Lizzie spoke to Harry, Pluto realized they had company, his little tail wiggling happily as he jumped to greet Harry. 

And it wasn’t until Harry took a subtle step to the side, to stand behind Y/N a little bit more, that she remembered he wasn’t a big fan of dogs. She bent down to pull Pluto into her arms, scratching him behind his ear in an effort to calm him down and get him to leave Harry alone. 

A sharp pain shot through her ankle as she crouched down. But seeing Harry uncomfortable, trying to get away from the small poodle, was enough for her to ignore it. He had been so helpful to her all morning, it was the least she could do. 

”I don’t want to intrude,” Harry spoke slowly, keeping one eye on the dog in Y/N’s arms. 

”Don’t be silly,” Lizzie shook her head again. ”A friend of Y/N’s is a friend of mine. You drink tea, right? Or do you want coffee?” 

”Tea is fine,” Harry nodded. ”Thank you.” 

When Lizzie disappeared around the corner, going back to the kitchen Y/N looked up at him with a soft smile. 

”He’s harmless you know,” she told him and nodded towards Pluto who was also looking up at Harry, his tail still wiggling in excitement. ”He won’t bite you.” 

”Mm, you say that now,” Harry muttered and kept a close eye on Pluto, just in case he’d escape Y/N’s arms and attack. ”I don’t trust dogs.”

”He just wants to say Hello,” Y/N continued and gave Pluto a small kiss on top of his head, still scratching him behind his ear. ”He’ll leave you alone after that.” 

When Harry didn’t speak or made any attempts to move, Y/N reached up and took his hand, gently tugging at his arm to get him down to her level. ”Just let him sniff you a little,” she instructed quietly and slowly brought Harry’s hand up to Pluto’s nose. ”There you go. He just wants to say hello,” she said and looked at her dog, her voice turning more high-pitched as she spoke again. ”Isn’t that right, Buddy? You just want a little attention.” 

Pluto let his wet nose sniffle all over his hand. Harry was tense next to her, barely moving a single muscle, and Y/N made sure to keep her hand over his, giving it a light squeeze to assure him everything was fine. 

Pluto pushed his head against his hand, silently demanding Harry to pet him. She threw a quick glance at the grumpy man next to her, a little anxious she was forcing him to do something he genuinely didn’t want to, but was happily surprised to see a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips again.  

Carefully she guided his hand to rest on top of Pluto’s head and told him to give him a small scratch behind his ear. The poodle let out a heavy sigh, happy to finally get the new human’s attention and affection. 

”He’s very soft,” Harry admitted quietly, his fingers running over Pluto's curly coat of hair in small timid circles.  

”I know!” Y/N beamed and felt a rush of excitement run through her. Her hand was still on top of his, and she could sense the tension in him slowly easing up, allowing his body to relax. 

She could understand why some people didn’t necessarily trust dogs. But her little Pluto was the kindest dog she had ever met. 

Granted, she was a bit biased, but he had been a gentle dog ever since they got him as a puppy. He was her best friend in a lot of ways, staying up with her all night when her swirling mind wouldn’t let her rest. Pluto was perhaps the only living being who had truly seen her at her worst. 

And Y/N just wanted people who met him to like him and feel the same comfort she did.  ”He gives the best cuddles.” 

”I’m sure he does,” Harry nodded, giving Pluto one final pat before he pulled his hand back and stood up again. The small dog looked at him, clearly disappointed with the abrupt stop to his cuddles, but didn’t push his luck. 

Instead, Pluto let out a low sneeze, shook his head, and just walked off. No longer interested in Harry and his unfamiliar scent. 

”See,” Y/N grinned up at him. ”I told you he’d leave you alone. He only wants some sniffs and some pats and he’s good for the rest of the day.” 

”Yeah, yeah,” Harry rolled his eyes and then held out his hand to her to help her stand up again. "I see where you get your stubbornness from now.” 

”Huh?” 

”Your mum,” he pointed out. ”Here I thought you were the only one in your family who was so demanding.” 

”Oh… Um, I mean, you don’t have to stay. She just wants to thank you, but I understand if you’re bu-”

”Ducky, I’m joking,” he interrupted her short rambling. 

”Right,” Y/N breathed out, feeling stupid. 

She wasn’t sure if it was still her pathetic brain that made her feel so dizzy, or if it was the strong arm that once again wrapped around her waist, supporting her as she limped across the hallway to the kitchen. ”Well, you’ll be glad you stayed. Once you have a bite of my mum’s sourdough you’ll never want to eat any other type of bread ever again.” 

Seeing Harry in her kitchen, talking and laughing with her mum, certainly didn’t help clear her foggy head. 

It all felt like a fever dream. 

The delicious smell of fresh bread that surrounded them made her mouth water. Yet, Y/N found herself struggling to actually eat anything. With every bite she took there was a dangerous churn in the pit of her stomach. Her sickness still looming over her, even if she felt a lot better than she did when she woke up that morning. 

It just wasn’t worth the humiliating task of trying to get to the toilet in time. 

Harry had already held her hair once that morning, and that was already one too many times. 

Instead, she sipped on her tea, nibbled on a single scone, and tried to understand if the scene in front of her was actually real or if she was still passed out on the floor in Harry’s bathroom. 

Because the Harry in front of her was a completely different version of him compared to what she had seen before. 

And even if he didn’t really share much about himself, Harry listened intently as her mum told him different stories from Y/N’s childhood and talked about the history of their small village town. He asked a couple of follow-up questions, laughing loudly when Lizzie told him about the time Y/N cut her own hair at the age of four. 

And how she later tried to run away from home when they told her she couldn’t glue it back on. 

Y/N didn’t have time to be embarrassed by the stories her mum was sharing though. She was too lost in her own clouded mind, trying to figure out who the man next to her was and if he had always been so ridiculously charming. 

An hour had passed when he announced he had to get back home. Lizzie made sure he got some scones and bread to take with him, giving him two small bags full of her homemade goods. 

Harry shot Y/N a teasing look when Lizzie told him she wouldn’t accept no for an answer. 

And when he eventually left and she watched the door close behind him, Y/N found herself feeling rather empty. 

”I like him,” her mum announced as soon as he was gone. She turned to face her daughter with a big smile on her lips and the same twinkle in her eyes as before. 

”You do?” 

”He’s lovely,” Lizzie continued as she started to clean the table, stacking their used plates on top of each other. 

”I- well, he-” Y/N fumbled with her words, not knowing how to respond. It felt weird to pretend in front of her mum, essentially lying, about her relationship with him. Although, as Lizzie’s words sank in, Y/N realized that agreeing wouldn’t actually be a lie at all. Because underneath his hard exterior, Harry was indeed lovely. ”Yeah.” 

”Am I wrong to assume he is the reason you’ve been so happy lately?” 

”What?” 

Lizzie laughed at the startled expression on her face, and Y/N was just happy her mum couldn’t see how fast her heart was beating. 

”You just seem like yourself again,” Lizzie said. ”You’re smiling more and doing more things. You’ve also spent the night at some mysterious bartender twice now.” Y/N opened her mouth to question how her mum could know she had stayed the night with him once before, but Lizzie explained before she got the chance. ”I ran into Arlo at the supermarket a while ago.” 

Of course. 

”Arlo is just… Arlo,” Y/N scoffed, feeling her cheeks getting a little hotter under her mum’s knowing eyes. 

”Is he wrong though?” 

”I…” 

”Honey, relax,” Lizzie said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder as she walked past on her way to the kitchen sink. ”I’m not interrogating you. I know dating nowadays is a lot more complicated than it was when I was young. I don’t need to know about all of these friendships with benefits type of-” 

”Mum, please stop,” she interrupted with a groan and put a hand up to get her to stop.

Lizzie laughed. 

”I’m just trying to say that I’m happy you’re doing more and hanging out with your friends again,” she told her softly. ”And Harry is definitely not too hard on the eyes is he? You’ve snatched yourself one handsome young man there.”

”Okay, well, this has been fun. But this is done now, I’m too hungover for this,” Y/N said and ran a hand through her tangled hair. 

The whole thing was making her far too uncomfortable. It wasn’t so much the topic of the conversation that made her feel that way, she had always been close to her mum and they could talk about most things. Her relationship with Harry was just… complicated. 

Y/N wasn’t even sure if they had any type of relationship, or if it was all fake. 

She tried to stand up and leave the kitchen but hissed at the pain that shot through her ankle, falling down to her chair again. Maybe she should’ve asked Harry to carry her to her bed before leaving. 

”God, you’re just like your brother sometimes,” Lizzie rolled her eyes, but the fond smile across her lips stayed intact. ”So bloody stubborn. Stay there - I’ll go see if I can find our old crutches in the garage.” 

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Harry was fucked. 

It had been over a week since he last saw Y/N, and no matter how hard he tried; he couldn’t get the silly girl out of his head.

He had let himself get carried away and allowed himself to get caught up in the moment, not realizing what he was actually doing until it was too late. He was supposed to tell Y/N he didn’t want to be part of her stupid scheme anymore, instead, he almost kissed her. 

And had tea with her mother. 

He was fucked. 

Everything reminded him of her. His bedsheets smelled like her, if he closed his eyes he could almost feel her hand in his hair and the warmth that spread through him as she pushed herself closer. It had been so long since he had last shared a bed with someone and actually felt something. 

As soon as he had gotten home from her house he had been overwhelmed by how empty the place he now called home was. 

How lonely he was. 

And the realization sent a flood of panic through him. 

Because he had been more than fine being on his own when he first arrived. He wanted to be left alone. 

It was why he chose the small village to start with. It was the only place he could remember being truly happy and content as a kid. No one would remember him or who he was. His grandma had gotten remarried before she moved to town to live with her new husband, taking the last name Burton. No one would be able to connect his name to hers. It was the perfect place to start over and live a quiet life - a clean slate. He could do whatever he wanted, and not care about anyone else. 

Then Y/N stumbled into his life and made herself a permanent spot in his already troubled head. With her stupid plan, captivating eyes, and adorable presence… he found himself wanting to keep her in his pocket forever and protect her from ever getting her heart broken. 

If only he could make her realize what a stupid prick Reece was. He would feel a lot better about breaking their deal if he knew she had come to her senses. Then he wouldn’t be the bad guy for letting her down, and he wouldn’t have to worry about her getting hurt. 

He was so fucking fucked. 

Therefore, when his phone alerted him of a new text later that night - he decided, for the first time since meeting her, to not reply. 

Y/N 11:39 pm 

thank you for helping me today grumpy… and last night. i appreciate it. my foot already feels a little bit better, so hopefully its just a light sprain. i'm never drinking again x 

He left her on ’read’ for the entire week, going into work with a tight knot in his stomach, fearing she’d show up at the pub and look at him with those big sad eyes. He’d crumble if she did. Just the thought of that happening was excruciating. 

But it was also why he knew he was making the right decision. 

If ignoring one text from her was making him feel so terrible - it was more than enough proof that he had let the chatty girl get too close. His guard was down and he couldn’t let that happen. 

Y/N had asked him for help to make another bloke fall in love with her. That was all it was, even if Reece was completely wrong for her. Harry was nothing but a pawn in her stupid scheme. He couldn’t let himself get lost again. People had told him what to do all his life, how to act, and what to say. Working as a bartender in the small town was the first real thing he had decided for himself. It was what he wanted to do, at least until he could figure out what he was supposed to do with the rest of his life. 

He never should’ve agreed to help her in the first place. He was done doing things for other people and their benefit, and yet it was one of the first things he had gotten himself into. 

It had to stop. 

He needed to get back on track. 

But nothing was helping him to clear his mind. No matter where he went he was always reminded of her in some way. 

His normal running route was where the whole mess began, where he agreed he’d help her with her stupid plan. 

And all he could worry about as he went on his daily run was accidentally running into Y/N. Because even though she was injured and should be resting, she was stubborn enough to ignore her injured foot and go for a walk with Pluto. 

Maybe he should’ve found a new place to go for a run? 

White Deer was where he met her for the first time. 

And Tracy’s coffee shop, where she hid behind the counter, was just across the street from where he worked and lived. 

He craved the lush brownies from Pebble’s that she had gotten for them after spending their first night together.

Or perhaps, what he craved most, was to once again see the ecstatic smile she gave him as they walked to the small bakery. 

The toothbrush he had given her was still next to his in the bathroom. 

Yeah, he definitely shouldn’t have gone for a run around the same trails, tormenting himself with the possibility of potentially seeing her again. Because seeing her again, after ignoring her for a week, meant he would possibly have to see the disappointment the unanswered text had caused. 

As Harry got to know her better, he learned that Y/N was an expert at trying to hide how she was truly feeling, always trying to please the people around her, hoping no one would notice the discouraged look in her eyes. 

He did though. 

He had also learned how to read her, for better or for worse - Harry didn’t know yet. He just knew he didn’t like the way her shoulders slumped when someone dropped a comment about her ideas or made her feel like she was bothering them. 

And Harry really wasn’t sure he could handle being the reason the brightness in her eyes disappeared, even if it was only momentarily. 

It really made no sense for him to still go for a run so close to where she lived. 

Yet, he did. 

When he met her there the last time she had shown up with a runny nose and her hair an unruly mess. He had recognized her immediately as the girl who had tried to pay him for a date at the pub. 

Had he not been so taken aback by the dog running and jumping on him, he would’ve found it endearing how out of breath she was when she finally caught up to her furry little friend.

Logically, Harry knew the small poodle couldn’t really hurt him. 

But a bad experience with his neighbour’s dog, when he was six years old, had left him wary of all dogs. The ugly scar on his forearm, due to the bad stitches he had gotten, was enough to make him stay away from all dogs. 

Patrick had told him to stop being a baby and handle it like a man, despite being so young. It was just another thing he felt he needed to change to finally be accepted. It was easier to avoid all dogs rather than to learn how to deal with the stress and fear that came with them. 

Y/N had been so gentle with him though, when she told him to just give the small dog a little pat. She had looked at him with such a reassurance in her eyes, telling him it was okay. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel so stupid and childish for being apprehensive of a small animal. 

Because it was silly, being afraid of a small dog at his age. But he really appreciated how she hadn’t made fun of him for it. 

Instead, she made him feel at ease. 

And it was another thing about her that had gotten under his skin. There really wasn’t a bad bone in her body. It was just something about her - he truly had never met someone with such a kind heart before. 

Admittedly, a stupid heart.

A heart that was going to break itself if it kept going along with what everyone else wanted; if it didn’t wake up and realize how stupid Reece was. 

”Fuck,” Harry exclaimed loudly to himself, stopping in the middle of the trail, panting heavily from running. A bird flew out from behind a tree, startled by his voice, and he closed his eyes. 

He had to get himself out of the scheme. 

He had to get away from Y/N. He wasn’t ready to have someone else hold his heart in their hands again. There was too much that could go wrong and he was yet to heal. There was no way he could allow himself to get into a position where not even the small town he grew up loving would be a safe place. 

No matter how awful the unanswered text in his phone made him feel. 

However, when he returned to his car and looked at his phone again, there was something else waiting for him. It pulled him right back into the dark hole he had slowly been working his way out of. 

For weeks his mail inbox had been empty. Not a single message. When he left London he deleted every single one of them, not wanting a reminder of anything related to his previous life or work. 

But now there was a small red circle, with a single digit letting him know someone had tried to reach him.  

The blood inside his veins turned to ice as he opened the app. There was only one person Harry knew of that preferred to contact people via email and he hadn’t heard from him since the day he left London. 

A large part of him told him to just delete the e-mail, but an even larger part of him couldn’t ignore it.  

With a deep breath, anxiety already creeping up on him, Harry decided to read it. 

Harry. 

I am reaching out to you to give you one last chance to get your act together and come back. You need to stop this foolishness. I don’t know what you think you will achieve by giving up on your responsibilities like this. I am deeply disappointed by your reckless actions. Your mother is very upset and so are your siblings. What kind of example do you think this sets for them? That it is okay to do as you please and ignore your responsibilities? To disrespect the people who made it possible for you to have the life you have? 

You have let everyone down. 

This whole thing reflects poorly on our entire family, on the empire my great-grandfather created long before you were born. Do you think he just got up and left whenever things didn’t go his way? I can tell you for a fact that he didn’t. He stayed, worked hard, and fought for it. What you have done is unacceptable. People are talking and you have brought embarrassment to both the family and the company. We are a well-established and highly respected corporation. Our employees are hard-working and ambitious. They fought for their positions. You have had an easy ride, I took you on board right after you finished university, trusting you to do a good job despite lacking the experience we demand from our new recruits.

Now, I look stupid. Our company looks stupid. Only the best get an opportunity to work for us and people kept telling me I couldn’t give you a job just because you are Denise’s son. And maybe they were right because you have made us look unprofessional, leaving your coworkers with all your workload as if they are not already working overtime to achieve their goals. If everyone just decided to not show up for work one day none of us would be as successful as we are. 

I expected so much more from you Harry. 

If it were up to me you would never set foot in our building again, but your mother has begged me to give you one last chance to come back. 

So here it is. 

I expect to see you back at the office on Monday, we can move forward and put this whole mess behind us. There will be some changes in your position, as I am sure you can understand, but we will discuss the details when you are back. 

I am positive you can fix things with Tamara as well if you just put some effort in. 

I really hope you will make the right decision. Think about your image. Think about your family. 

If you want to waste the opportunities handed to you and live a life with no self-respect - go ahead. But don’t come crawling back in a couple of months when your money is running out. The choice is yours. 

Kind Regards, 

Patrick Lovell. 

Harry read the e-mail over and over again, feeling his heart drop more each time he finished and let the words written by Patrick fully sink in. He felt empty, and yet at the same time, every little part of him felt like it was falling apart. He wanted to scream out in frustration, throw his phone out of the window and leave it in the woods. But despite the overwhelming need to let everything out, something held the profanities back. 

So instead, he sat in his car, just staring out into nothing for what felt like hours. The phone next to him felt like a threat. The blank screen stared back at him tauntingly, pulling him back down into the darkness. It had been reckless of him to just leave, he knew that much, and he probably wouldn’t have ever done such a thing had he worked somewhere else. His co-workers would be fine though, he made sure to finish up any loose ends before leaving. 

And to be frank, Harry didn’t really care about any of his old co-workers. They were all a bunch of twats. 

The only thing that really left an unsettling feeling in his stomach was the fact that his mother was upset. 

Or, at least, according to Patrick, she was. 

Harry wasn’t really sure his mother was capable of feeling upset over anything other than a failed botox injection. 

Their relationship was a tricky one. Harry knew she loved him, in her own way. His mother had worked hard to provide for them when he was a baby and had set him up with a comfortable life. He couldn’t remember much of their relationship before Patrick came into the picture, but she had done everything in her power to keep him safe and fed. Somewhere, between the expensive lunches and designer handbags, his mother had changed though. And it wasn’t until the twins were born that Harry really saw it. Or maybe he had just been too young to see it before. For many years he had dreamed about being an older brother. His classmates all had siblings and he wanted the same experience they did. As the years passed, and they all grew up, Harry realized how different the three of them were treated and the excitement quickly died down. While he was seen as the black sheep of the Lovell family; Leo and Millie were everyone’s darling angels. Denise was fully accepted into the family, having given Patrick two biological children. Harry was simply just the son of another man. A man with a much lower rank than any of the Lovells. 

There was no doubt that there was a disturbing hierarchy in the family. And it had taken him over two decades to realize that no matter how hard he tried he would never fully be part of it. 

He wasn’t a Lovell, and he didn’t want to be. It still didn’t stop the painful tug at his heart as he read the e-mail over one more time. No matter how many times he convinced himself he was better off alone - the truth of his loneliness hit him hard. 

His mind was still clouded in a thick fog as he eventually started his car back up and sped away from where he had stood parked for over an hour. There was a loud ringing noise in both his ears and he soon realised it was a bad idea to drive in his current state of mind.

The five stupid words that had haunted him all his life were the only thing he could focus on. 

“You have let everyone down”

Harry couldn’t breathe. 

Patrick’s words were slowly squeezing the air out of his lungs as they repeated themselves over and over again. He couldn’t escape them. He had been naive to think he could. All his life he had been told he wasn’t good enough, that he was a disappointment and ungrateful. It was stupid to think that would ever change. 

Then a familiar street sign caught his attention, and without really thinking, he took a left turn when he really should’ve just kept driving.

Harry was fucked. 

✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄✄

Y/N had almost dozed off when she was jolted awake by a sharp knock on her door. 

She sat up groggily, looking around the room in confusion, her vision slightly blurry. The Netflix show she had been watching still playing quietly on the laptop next to her on the bed. Her eyelids felt heavy as she lifted her hand to rub the sleep away. 

Did she have a dream? Or had there actually been a knock on her door? 

Aside from the laptop playing her room was deadly quiet. Though, it was still bright outside so she couldn’t have been asleep for that long. She had spent most of the day in bed, just scrolling on her phone and binge-watching whatever show she could find. 

Actually, since she had stayed home from work because of her foot, it was what she had been doing for most of the week. Luckily, the injury was nothing but a light sprain and she had only been on crutches for a couple of days. 

Still, her mum told her to take the entire week off to rest it properly. Because standing up all day for work was not really an ideal situation to help her ankle heal. 

Instead, she had been in bed for pretty much the entire week, messing up her sleep schedule, sleeping in late, and staying up all night. 

The stupid, unanswered text she had sent Harry didn’t exactly help her go to bed at a reasonable time either. It left a thundering cloud above her head that she couldn’t quite shake off, no matter how hard she tried. 

And spending an entire week alone in her room, in bed, definitely didn’t do her any good when she was trying to reduce her overthinking. Every day that passed with her stuck in her room - the bigger and more lonely her bed felt. 

Rather than having the walls closing in on her the room somehow became a large hollow void. She was no good at being alone for so long. Sure, her mother was home, but the hole she was digging for herself kept her in bed. The quietness surrounding her awakened a lot of thoughts that had been buried deep for some time. 

The fact that she had almost kissed Harry, and had him basically carry her to the bathroom because she had to be sick, only for him to not reply to her message later, just added to her internal crisis.  

But before her mind could catch another train of thought to take her to the overthinking village - there was one more loud knock on her door. 

Y/N blinked the sleep out of her eyes and looked over to the door, only then realizing that behind the curtain covering the big window stood a tall shadow. 

And judging by the broad shoulders and rigid posture - she knew exactly who the person on the other side was. 

“Shit,” she swore quietly to herself and slammed the lid to her laptop shut, jumping out of bed. There was a slight ache in her ankle as she landed a little too harshly on the floor. 

But she didn’t really have any time to worry about it, because a sense of panic flowed through her as she looked around the room. It was a mess in there.

Y/N swiftly gathered the clothes scattered across the floor and shoved them under her bed, along with the dirty plates of food she hadn’t been bothered to wash up. She threw a quick glance to the door to make sure he was still there, he was, and Y/N swore all the organs in her body just stopped worked. 

What the hell was he doing at her house? 

She hadn’t talked to him in over a week, and now he was right there. God, why did he have to show up when she hadn’t showered in days, only wearing her old ragged Barbie pyjamas and worn-out slippers!? 

More importantly; why couldn’t he have just responded to her text? Or at least have let her know beforehand that he was going to come over? 

There was another knock on the door and Y/N glanced at it with wide eyes. Maybe she could just ignore him and pretend she wasn’t in there. 

No. 

No, he had probably already talked to her mum who told him she was in there. 

She couldn’t ignore him. 

With a deep breath, hands flying to her hair in an attempt to flatten down the tousled mess it had turned into from laying in bed all day, Y/N staggered towards the door on light feet. 

And as she opened she was suddenly face to face with the green-eyed man who had been occupying her mind for most of the week. 

“Harry,” she breathed out the breath she had been holding. “Hi.” 

“Um, Hey,” he replied, scratching the back of his neck. “Y’alright?” 

“Yeah,” she nodded, cautiously letting her gaze fall over his features. Though he looked the same as he always did, the same stoic stance and sharp jawline - there was something different about the way his green eyes refused to meet hers. “What are you doing here?” The question slipped from her lips with ease, it didn’t really make any sense for him to show up at her place like that out of the blue.  

Unless… something was wrong. Her heart sank inside her chest as she took in the gloomy mood spread out across his face and the way he somehow looked smaller than she had ever seen him before. “Did something happen? Is everything okay?” 

Harry quickly shook his head, the muscles in his throat moving as he swallowed harshly before speaking up. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, no everything is fine,” he started, his voice strained and brows furrowed. Y/N tilted her head to the side, trying to understand whether or not he was telling the truth.

When he left her house the previous weekend she had been embarrassed and confused. 

And when he didn’t reply later, Y/N simply took that as proof he no longer wanted anything to do with her. But seeing him now, outside her home with a defeated look on his face, a small seed of concern was planted in her belly - a gut feeling something was wrong slowly growing inside her. “I just wanted to… I - can I come in?” 

“What?” She blinked, too wrapped up in what was going on to form another reply at first. His nervous pout made his question repeat itself in her head though. “Oh! Yeah, of course.” 

Y/N stepped to the side to let him enter and found herself once again trying to fix her messy hair, hoping she didn’t look like a complete disaster. 

Although to be fair, he had probably already seen her at her worst when he held her hair as she was throwing up. “Sorry, it’s a bit messy in here. I didn’t expect any visitors,” she mumbled, feeling a little self-conscious, both of her own appearance and the room. 

Harry only hummed a low response, his shoulder bumping against hers lightly as he walked past her, looking around with curious eyes. Y/N closed the door again, pulling the curtains to the side to let some natural light come in and brighten up the dull room. 

The expanding void she had found herself in for the past week suddenly crept in on her within a few seconds. The four walls of the room were so much smaller with him inside. He was standing a good six feet away from her, and yet, she was wrapped up in his presence. The tiny ache inside her chest gradually eased, the loneliness fading, as a warmth spread around her at the mere sight of him.

She ran another hand through her hair, catching a strand to twirl around her fingers nervously as Harry took in her room and personal belongings. 

“It’s cozy,” he spoke eventually, still not looking directly at her. Instead, his eyes landed on the colorful posters that hung across the walls and the mess she had created during her week at home. “Very you.” 

“Thanks…” she mumbled and felt her cheeks flush as he spotted the large teddy bear in the corner of her bed. 

After 15 years, she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of it. It held too many memories. Her dad had gotten it for her when they went to Disneyland in Paris. Hugo had won a big Buzz Lightyear action figure and she got a small consolation prize in the form of a keychain shaped like the Cheshire cat - and she didn’t even like Alice in Wonderland. 

So, 10-year-old Y/N had thrown a fit, and after calming down her dad had slipped away for a moment, only to surprise her with the bear she had been eyeing earlier. Lizzie had scolded him for giving in to her hissy fit, but years later the bear still meant the world to her. No matter how childish it was - there was no way to get rid of it. 

But she really wished she had had time to stuff it away before letting him in. That and her pyjamas really didn’t help her feel less like a loser. 

“How’s your foot?” Harry asked then, cutting off the sweet memory playing in her head. He looked down at her feet with a worried glance

“It’s good,” she told him, her belly fluttering as she noticed the corner of his lips hinting at what could be a small smile. “Almost healed up now! I’m going back to work on Monday.” 

Whatever smile that was threatening to plaster itself across his face immediately dropped. Instead, Y/N swore she saw him flinch at the mention of her going back to work. 

She frowned. 

“Good. That’s good,” he nodded, his chest expanding as he inhaled a deep slow breath. Something was definitely wrong. Almost as if he could sense her picking up on his strange mood, his eyes fell down to her feet again. “Nice slippers.” 

Y/N followed his gaze down to what used to be a pair of fuzzy, purple slippers and curled her toes, trying to hide the sad excuse of footwear from him. The fuzzy fabric, once soft and fluffy, was coated in years of dust and dirt, and several threads had come undone and stuck out loosely around her foot. Underneath, a part of the sole had started to come off as well and it wouldn’t be long until it would come off completely and leave the slipper with a large hole. 

Harry tried to give her a teasing smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and Y/N knew he was trying to distract her from asking any questions. 

“Yeah, well, they’re comfy,” she shrugged and gave him a small chuckle, trying her best to follow suit and make him less uncomfortable. “And my toes are always cold.” 

“Oh, I know,” Harry laughed lightly. “I’ve shared a bed with you.” And for a moment his mood seemed genuine and there was a light sparkle to his green eyes. 

Though, it was short-lived. 

Because as silence filled the space between them, a deep crinkle formed between his brows and he turned around, letting his back face her instead. He focused his attention on the small shelf on the wall, studying the pictures and various items displayed on it. The familiar tension in his shoulders was still apparent, at the same time, it was different from the usual tension that came with the grumpy man. 

It seemed painful almost. 

Y/N’s fingers itched to reach out and comfort the strained muscles in his back but found herself at a loss. Because despite having shared a bed with him twice, and being sick in front of him, it was still unclear whether or not they were actually friends. 

The unanswered text in her phone threw her off. 

Harry wasn’t the most talkative person - that was obvious from the first time she met him. But ever since exchanging numbers, he hadn’t ignored a single text message from her. It didn’t make sense why, after going through the trouble of helping her with her foot and taking her home, he would suddenly go quiet. 

And Y/N really didn’t want to push him by asking a bunch of personal questions again. He had opened up a little bit, and he did so on his own. She couldn’t risk him shutting the small window he had opened for her. 

It was just… she saw him as her friend. 

Even if he didn’t think they were. 

And if any of her other friends had shown up out of the blue, with the same painful tension controlling their bodies, she would’ve asked what was wrong and tried to help. 

“Harry,” she spoke softly and waited for a reaction - for him to turn around and face her again. He didn’t. “Are you sure everything is all right?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied instantly, his voice laced with a deep defensive tone, as he kept his eyes on the shelf in front of him. 

“Hm, okay…” Y/N hummed and gnawed on her lower lip, trying to figure out how to continue. “So, is there a reason for your little visit then?” It struck her then that, even if he had had tea with her mum the other day, it was the first time he was at her place. In her room. Which only reinforced her suspicions that something was wrong. He wouldn’t just show up without a reason. 

“I- not really.” 

“Oh.” 

“I was just out for a run nearby and thought I’d stop by since I was in the neighbourhood…” he trailed off and threw a glance at her over his shoulder, meeting her concerned gaze for only a moment, before turning back to whatever had captured his attention on the shelf. She watched as he reached over to pick something up, though she could not see what. ”To see how you were.” 

“Right,” Y/N nodded, a little taken aback by his strange behaviour. “Well, I’m good. Much better than the last time you saw me,” she let out a forced laugh, hoping it would lighten his mood. 

It did nothing and she sighed. 

Harry kept his focus on the item he had picked up, keeping himself busy by turning it over in his hands. 

It forced her to take a step forward, moving closer to him, and she noticed the small angel made from clay between his fingers. “Hugo made me that,” she told him then, smiling sadly. “I broke my elbow during his first semester at uni and he made me that for Christmas. Told me I needed a guardian angel to keep me safe.” 

“That’s very sweet,” Harry spoke lowly. 

“It is,” Y/N agreed, and found herself smiling at the bittersweet memory that flashed before her. “You know, I meant it when I said that I’m here for you. I know I was drunk, but you really can talk to me if something is bothering you, Harry,” she told him, raising her hand slowly to put on his shoulder, before stopping herself halfway and letting it fall to her side again. “I mean… I mean, we’re friends… right?” 

Despite having his back turned to her, Y/N could sense her own nerves spiralling out of control. It was such a simple question, childish even, but she knew that if he told her that they weren’t - she’d be hurt. After spending so many weeks talking to him, scheming, hanging out, and eventually opening up a little… Y/N couldn’t imagine them not being friends. 

Their whole relationship had started out with her offering to pay him to take her out (she still needed to do that part) and that first night she had had no intention of actually befriending the bartender who turned her down. 

Sure, it hadn’t taken her that long to realise that she perhaps wanted them to be friends. 

But now she was certain she needed them to be friends. 

A whole week had passed and they hadn’t talked, and it had already hurt her in more ways than she ever could’ve expected. 

Harry had gone from being her fake date to someone she considered to be a real friend. 

Or at least, he could be, if he let her.   

“I just…” Harry sighed, putting the small angel back on the shelf. “I heard from home and… I-I don’t know.” 

“Your mum?” Y/N held her breath as the question slipped past her lips. 

“Nah,” he shook his head and then turned around to face her. “Patrick.” 

“Oh,” she faltered, her heart sinking inside her chest as she took in the man standing before her.  The coat of sadness falling over him, his eyes glossy and hands clasped in front of himself, made her own eyes tear up. “What’d he say?” 

In a soft motion, she moved over to sit down on one of the chairs at the small table, gesturing towards the other chair, inviting him to sit down and keep the conversation going. 

“He wants me to come home,” he admitted after a moment of silence, eventually accepting her offer to sit down. His knee bumped into hers underneath the table, and the warmth inside her flared up once again. 

The only reason her body wasn’t fully engulfed by flames was the possibility of Harry returning to London. The thought alone left her mouth dry and she struggled to swallow the lump that immediately formed in her throat, though she tried her best to not let it show. 

“Well, that’s nice,” She said instead. “Isn’t it?” 

“Not really,” he muttered. 

“They probably just miss you,” she tried weakly, knowing she had already suggested that to him before and been turned down. 

“I doubt it,” he swallowed harshly, shaking his head, a curl falling down across his forehead and into his eyes. “I can’t go home.” 

“Why not?” 

“I don’t have a good relationship with them. It’s- It’s not like your family. You and your mum.” 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” She asked warily. 

“I don’t even know what to say,” Harry grumbled and let his head fall into his hands. Y/N stayed quiet, hoping the silence would let him gather his thoughts enough to continue talking to her. 

It was strange to see him so unassertive. It was so far from the Harry she had gotten to know, and maybe that was what made her feel extra protective over him at that moment. “They expect me to be someone I’m not… and I just can’t do it anymore. I’m so tired.” 

“Have you told them that?” 

“I can’t do that.” 

“Why not? I’m sure they’ll understand if you just explain how you’re feeling.” 

Harry laughed dryly, his head still in his hands, making sure to keep his face away from her eyes. 

“It’s not that easy.” 

“It kind of is,” Y/N frowned. 

“It kind of isn’t,” he repeated, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands. “You wouldn’t understand.” 

“Try me,” she offered softly and, at last, she let her fingers dance across the table until she reached him. Harry flinched at her surprising touch and looked up at her with red eyes as she placed a comforting hand on his arm. 

Neither of them spoke or moved for a while after that. The frown on his face disclosing the internal conflict going on inside him about whether he should tell her what had truly driven him to her home or not. 

Y/N desperately wanted him to know that he was more than just a part of her stupid scheme. That he really could talk to her - she was there for him. 

When she woke up that morning she had made a list of the pros and cons of what could happen if she went over to White Deer on Monday during her lunch. 

Pros - she would see Harry again and hopefully come to the conclusion that she had been overthinking the unanswered text. Sometimes people didn’t reply and it didn’t have to mean anything. 

Cons - she would see Harry again and come to the conclusion that he was in fact avoiding her and wanted nothing more to do with her after she was sick all over his bathroom. 

The cons had outweighed the pros.

But she never could’ve imagined he’d show up at her home, and certainly not like this. 

If only she could put him in her pocket and keep him there forever, protect him from whatever demons he was running from. 

“Patrick comes from quite a wealthy family,” Harry spoke again, taking a deep breath before continuing. “It’s such a different world. It’s all so… superficial… ever since my mother got married to him I’ve trying to get accepted into the family and… I’m never gonna be. No matter what I do - it’s never enough. I’m not enough. It’s- I’m never going to be a real part of that family.” 

Unaware of her actions, Y/N’s hand tightened on his arm, subconsciously squeezing every ounce of comfort she could muster out of her fingertips and into him. “If I told them I- they would just tell me to suck it up and move on.” 

“Have you tried?” 

“Mhm, didn’t change anything. When Leo and Millie were born I thought things would be different, that I wouldn’t be alone with all that pressure to be perfect, but they’ve had everything handed to them from the day they were born. I’ve been trying so hard to fit in with them. I turned into someone I didn’t- I don't want to be.”

“So… you left?” She asked carefully, the image of Tamara and her ring popped up again. Her whole body ached for him because it all just made so much sense. Just like that Harry made sense to her. Everything from his stern persona to the expensive car. 

The man, who she thought was just a naturally grumpy guy, had fought all his life to find his place in the world. To find acceptance. His family wouldn’t give it to him. The person he loved couldn’t give it to him. 

He was on his own. 

His guard was not up to keep anyone out, it was simply doing what a guard should do - keep him safe.

And now he had opened up another little crack in his shell, giving her another piece himself.

“Yeah,” he confirmed and leaned back in the chair, causing her hand to fall from his arm. Y/N started to reach for him again, but just like she had earlier, she stopped herself before she could touch him. 

He looked so tired; the dark circles underneath his eyes were a stark contrast against his otherwise washed-out skin. Perhaps if she hadn’t been so self-absorbed about getting with Reece, and forcing Harry to help her, Y/N would’ve seen the stress simmering within him. 

So far, Harry had done a whole lot more for her than she had for him. 

And she decided she needed to change that. 

“You know,” she began and eyed the long curls falling over his face. “You still haven’t used the free haircut I offered you. I could give you a trim now if you’re up for it?” 

“You really don’t have to,” he said. “I never expected anything from you.” 

“Well, I promised you a haircut,” she objected. “And I would feel really bad if you didn’t let me keep my word.” 

“Y/N, you-“ 

“C’mon, it’ll be fun for me!” And a good distraction for you hopefully, she thought. “I haven’t been to work all week. I’m feeling restless and your hair keeps falling into your eyes and it’s annoying me.” 

“Is your foot gonna be okay?” 

“My foot is fine! C’mon, please, I have everything I need here at home. You won’t even have to come into the salon and listen to Arlo and Margot’s bickering!” 

“That’s a pretty good deal,” he mused and Y/N’s heart skipped a beat as she saw his lips turning into a soft smile. 

“I know,” she bit her lip to stop her own grin from getting too big. “I promise you’ll thank me later! I’ve been dying to get my hands on your hair forever now, you have to let me give you a haircut. If not for yourself - you have to do it for me.” 

“You’ve been dying to get your hands on my hair?” Harry teased and her eyes widened. 

“Shut up.” 

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It wasn’t until Harry sat in front of her, with the black cape covered in bleach fastened around his neck, that Y/N realised that she could hear her own heartbeat. The scissors were heavy in her hand. The silence within the four walls around them made her far too aware of every single movement her body made, especially with Harry taking up what felt like the entire room. 

His presence, sitting on the small stool waiting for her to make the first cut, sent an explosion of nerves from the pit of her stomach to the tip of her fingers. It had been over a decade since the first time she cut someone else’s hair, and even back then; she hadn’t been as nervous as she was standing behind Harry - the back of his strong shoulders lightly brushing against her midsection. 

“All right,” she said, more so to herself than him, and placed the scissors down on the tray next to them, not trusting herself and her sweaty palms just yet. “It’s no salon but I’ll try to give you the best non-salon-salon experience you’ve ever had.” 

She wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing, quietly sending a distress signal to Little Y/N inside her head - begging her to reprogram her brain from the inside. 

Harry was a normal client. A normal client, whose existence was creating a wall of butterflies within her, but still just a normal client. She knew how to cut hair. Harry’s hair was no different. It was just hair. There was no need to be nervous. “Do you have any specific preferences?” 

“Not really,” he shrugged and turned his head around to glance back at her. “Not too short, I guess. You can do whatever though,” he paused for a second before continuing. “I trust you.” 

Little Y/N was swarmed by the butterflies then, preventing her from doing any kind of reprogramming on the brain. The butterflies decided to shock her, causing an eruption of goosebumps to spread over her body. 

“Okay, sure,” Y/N tried to smile and wiped her hands on the apron again. “I can definitely do that. I’ll just - I’ll cut your hair.” 

“That’s kind of the point of getting a haircut, yeah?” He said and pressed his lips together to stop a smug smirk. 

Y/N gave him a sarcastic smile in return, and snatched the spray bottle filled with water from the same tray the scissors were on, spraying him once right in the face. “Heey!”

A giggle escaped from her when she saw him pouting back at her, and that was enough to ease the irrational nerves in her belly. 

After instructing him to turn back around and sit up straight, she picked the bottle back up to get his brown locks saturated. A part of her regretted the offer to cut his hair at home since she could not give him the full treatment she would’ve been able to give him back at BLOOM. There was no way for her to wash his hair comfortably without a proper wash station, the spray bottle would have to do. But she would’ve loved to ladder up his hair with a good shampoo, a shampoo that wouldn’t completely dry out his strands, and run her fingers through it; giving his scalp a well-deserved massage to help him relax. 

Though, not having a wash station didn’t actually stop her from doing so, she realized. 

With a slight tremble in her hands, she put the bottle down and buried her fingers into his thick curls, running them gingerly over his scalp, creating small circles as she reached the back of his neck. 

Harry let out a content sigh. 

Using her fingers to comb out any tangles in his hair, Y/N gradually moved her fingers across his scalp again, continuing the pattern of small circles. When she reached his temples she added a little pressure to her motions, gently pressing her thumbs into the skin by his hairline. “Mm, that feels nice,” Harry murmured, and a tingle tickled the insides of her tummy as she caught the low moan that followed. 

When it was time to pick up the scissors again Y/N held the sharp item in her hand with a lot more confidence than before.

The first cut came easy, starting at the base of his neck, and the split ends fell to the floor one by one. It wasn’t until she came to the top of his head that a little doubt started to seep through again, uncertain of how short to make his messy waves. While she had been honest when she told him it annoyed her to see his hair always falling into his eyes, the swirls of hair still looked very pretty falling down his forehead and she didn’t want to cut it too short. 

“Is two inches too much?” She hesitated. 

“Take off whatever you need to,” was all he replied. 

Y/N twirled a curl between her fingers, and even when she realized two inches would probably not be enough to remove all the damage, she found herself continuing to play with his damp hair. 

It was addicting. 

Especially as Harry let another low moan slip from his lips.  

As she continued to turn the locks around in her hand Y/N decided two inches would have to do, and she would simply force him to let her put a hair mask in his hair before he left. 

Said and done, she picked the scissors back up and started cutting off the rest of his damaged hair, leaving the top a little longer than the rest. 

He tried to argue with her that she didn’t need to put any kind of treatment on him. But she ran off, retrieving the small tube from her bathroom, before he could figure out how to get up without stepping in all of the hair around him.

“Don’t be a baby,” she joked. “You just have to keep it in for like 15 minutes and you can use my shower to rinse it out. Your hair will thank you! I promise.” 

“It’s really not necessary.” 

“I’m the professional here,” she argued. “Besides, you kind of smell from your run. A shower would do you good.” He didn’t actually, but she really wanted to moisturize the dry locks. “I still have the clothes you let me borrow, you can put them on when you’re done, and really feel your new look!” 

After putting the mask in his hair, as they waited for the timer to go off, Y/N started sweeping the floors to clean up all the hair. 

Harry sat quietly, just watching her, and she cursed herself for not changing out of her old pyjamas. The once neon-coloured shorts had turned into a dull murky pink, and the bows printed across them no longer looked like bows, having faded so much it left the shorts looking dirty instead. They were also far too short for her to wear around someone else. Her cheeks turned hot as she worried he could see her ill-fitting panties through the thin fabric. 

Although she thought, the childish t-shirt with a large photo of Barbie across the chest was probably worse. 

God, she really should’ve changed. 

But, just like the worn-out slippers, it was far too comfortable. The fabric was so soft it felt like air on her skin. A perfect set of clothes to wear when you were just planning to spend the whole day in bed. 

And rather than explaining her unreasonable compulsion to keep everything that reminded her of her childhood, she told him to follow her into the bathroom. 

Once in there, she pulled out her favourite shampoo and conditioner, ordering him to use both, before roaming through her drawers to find the right gel to help his curls transform. 

Then her phone rang, letting them know the 15 minutes were up, and after pulling out a towel for him, Y/N left him alone to do his thing. 

She fell on her bed with a heavy groan, using one of the pillows to silence the loud noise leaving her. Too many thoughts swimming around in her head to get a clear picture of what had just happened. 

If anyone had told her that morning that Harry would show up at her house, let her cut his hair and then take a shower in her bathroom - Y/N would’ve laughed them right in the face. 

Because what an absurd suggestion. Especially after not having talked to him for a week. Harry was not the type of person to casually show up anywhere, nevertheless, show up to see her. 

Although, he did bring her a brownie at work that one time... 

No! she immediately shut her brain down. Don’t start overthinking now. 

Harry had never even acknowledged the potential friendship between them.  Never confirming, nor denying, their deal had maybe developed into something else. 

For all she knew, he was counting down the days until she wouldn’t show up at White Deer to pester him into another brilliant scheme. 

But then, as soon as she heard the shower running from inside the bathroom, images of Harry getting undressed, water dripping down his tired body, breached her already shattered mind. 

The protective instinct to make him feel better had pushed away the unwanted feelings the unanswered text had left her with. She didn’t like not knowing how he was doing or how his day had been. Even if she was the one to usually text him first- he always replied. Always. 

Until last week, and maybe she wasn’t really ready to admit it yet, but she had genuinely missed him. 

The tingle in her stomach, as she had finally been in the same room as him again, caused a flood of mixed emotions to tear down every wall she had ever put up. 

And she didn’t know which one to hold onto to save herself from completely drowning. 

“Um, Y/N?” Harry’s voice interrupted. She lifted her head, the pillow falling down next to her, to see him peeking out from behind the bathroom door. “I have no idea what you want me to do with this gel.” 

“I told you. You have to like scrunch it into your hair - like this,” she scolded him as she sat up, using her right hand to demonstrate the technique she had explained to him earlier.

“How much?” 

“Hang on.” 

Without really thinking twice about it she was back on her feet and made her way back into the bathroom, pushing the door open and basically forcing him to let her in. 

It wasn’t until they were face to face again that she understood that she should’ve stayed put on the bed.

Because as she looked up at him, and she really did try her best to look up, it became painfully hard to ignore the fact that he stood before her with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. 

A couple drops of water fell from his freshly washed hair. Y/N struggled to not let her gaze follow them as they rolled down his chest, following the outlines of his muscles down the patch of hair below his belly button, until said drops were absorbed by the towel hanging loosely around him. “Ehm, you don’t- um, I didn’t- I- Here, I’ll do it for you.” 

She didn’t bother waiting for his reply and snatched the tube of gel out of his hands, needing something to distract herself from his naked body. 

It wasn’t until she had squirted a blob of the gel into her hand and rubbed them together that the flaw in her plan became apparent. To get the gel into his hair she had to get closer, and there was just no way to ignore the toned man in front of her when he was so close. 

The heat from his body captivated her like a moth to a flame, and it left her lightheaded as she let her fingers sink into the wet locks of his hair. Not a single coherent thought went through her head as she tried to hug his strands of hair into their natural wave pattern. She simply had no idea what she was doing, and it wasn’t until she felt his firm hand on her hip that Y/N caught onto the fact that she had lost her footing, stumbling slightly to the side. 

“Y’okay?” His deep voice shook the floor beneath her feet. 

“Mhm,” she hummed quickly, giving him a shaky smile. “Super.” 

“You sure?” Harry pressed, his hand still burning through the thin fabric of her stupid pyjama shorts. “Is your foot hurting?” 

“I’m fine!” Y/N snapped and pulled her hands close to her chest, imagining they would somehow help suppress the sound of her racing heart. “Sorry, um- I’m fine. I-I think that’s good now.” She had to get out of there.“I’ve got a hairdryer in the bottom of that cabinet.” 

Originally, she had planned to dry his hair herself, but her lungs needed air and the stuffy air inside the bathroom had sucked every ounce of oxygen out of her.  “Use it on low heat and, please, do not put it directly on your hair.” 

The sound of the whirring dryer felt miles away as she sat in her bed, just waiting for him to be done. No matter how hard she tried - she couldn’t get the image of wet shirtless Harry out of her mind. It was burned into her memory now, leaving her body to experience all kinds of emotions at once.  

In a desperate attempt to gather herself before Harry came back out, Y/N pulled her computer back onto her lap. She really, really could not allow herself to even begin trying to figure out what any of the conflicting emotions meant, not when he was right there on the other side of the wall. 

When Harry eventually emerged her racing heart had thankfully gone down to its normal rate. He ran a hand through his new hair, giving it a slight shake. 

It was the first real look she got of her work since her head had been elsewhere as soon as he sat down before her. It looked good. The matted waves already had a new life to them, a new shine. While the sides were much shorter, a thick strand fell down from the top of his head in a gorgeous soft-looking curl. 

Y/N couldn’t hold back a smile as she witnessed the new look. It brought a glow to all of him that hadn’t been there before. The shorter style showed off his prominent jawline even more and the familiar itch to run her fingers through it made another appearance.  

Harry stopped before he could reach her, fidgeting with the strings of his hoodie timidly. 

“Do you like it?” She asked, chewing on the bottom of her lip, afraid he wouldn’t share her excitement. 

“I do, yeah,” he nodded but didn’t make any indications of moving from the spot he stood frozen. 

“I’m glad,” Y/N breathed out a small sigh of relief. “You look really nice.” 

“Thank you.” 

There was a glimmer behind the green as their eyes locked, leaving her heart to start another game of racing in her chest. Harry ran another hand through his hair, hopefully enjoying the unfamiliar softness of his strands, and Y/N couldn’t help but notice how his cheeks flushed in a deep colour of pink. 

“You can take the gel home with you, and the other stuff too,” she offered softly. “I’ll just get some new ones from work on Monday.” 

He thanked her again and the boyish grin he gave her was perhaps the cutest thing she had ever seen, the corner of his eyes crinkled as his lips parted, showcasing a row of sparkling white teeth. In that short moment, he radiated a brightness, a genuine happiness, she didn’t know he had in him. 

The deep dimple on the side of his cheek was just the icing on the cake. It was enough to completely erase the empty void that had occupied the room for the last couple of days. 

She might’ve screwed herself over by giving him a haircut. 

“Can I join you?” Harry surprised her with his question and nodded to where she was still sitting on the bed.

“O-Of course.” 

It was a different experience having him slide down next to her in her own bed, compared to sharing the cramped twin-sized bed at his place. There was plenty of space for them to share, the mattress didn’t creak under their weight, and a sense of security embraced her as his shoulder pressed against hers. 

And despite the fact that he smelled exactly like how she would after a shower - it was the best thing she had ever experienced. 

“Thank you for this,” he told her then. “Truly.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” she waved off his appreciation. “I owe you for helping me with Reece and everything.” 

The mention of the blonde man’s name caused his body to stiffen next to hers and regret immediately soared through her as the mood between them shifted. “I’m just glad you like it,” she added, hoping to save the situation. “I’m also very happy you stopped by. I definitely needed the company. I was worried you had had enough of me after the last time we hung out… I know I annoy you.”  

“Never,” Harry assured her firmly. “It’s just… It’s been a lot. A lot to figure out.” 

Y/N hesitated before speaking again. 

“Are you gonna go back to London?” 

“I don’t know,” he said with a long sigh. 

“Do you want to?” 

“Not really.” 

“Well,” she began and turned her head so she could look him in the eyes again,  feeling the most confident that she had ever been as she prepared her next words. “Screw Patrick and whatever it is he wants you to do then.”

“I’m not so sure it’s that simple.” Harry tilted his head backward, staring up at the ceiling as he let her words sink in. 

“You’re allowed to live your life the way you want to, Harry,” she told him, surprising herself by reaching out and stroking the now shorter lock of hair away, letting her finger linger on his cheek for a moment. “They don’t get to decide what makes you happy. You do.” 

Harry turned to glance at her again, letting himself get a little lost in her touch as she felt him lean into her hand. It was a subtle move on his part, but Y/N didn’t miss it. How could she? When her whole body was filled with wild tremors from his enchanting gaze. 

“Just for the record,” Harry started, his voice no louder than a whisper, and caught her hand in his.  “We are friends, Ducky.” 

And all of a sudden, the stubble across his chin scratched against her face the same way it had the last time she found herself in bed with him. She had no idea how his face had gotten so close to hers. All of her sense had been preoccupied by the way his thumb gently caressed the skin by her knuckles. 

They might not have been drunk, but having him so close again left her head spinning more than tequila ever had. When his warm breath fawned out over her already parted lips, Y/N let her eyes fall shut - determined to not let him slip away from her a second time.

And then he was kissing her, softly at first, only giving her a small taste of himself, his lips grazing hers no more than a light summer breeze would. It didn’t stop the warmth that had been brewing in her belly from boiling over though. 

Her hand fell to the back of his neck and she pushed herself closer, afraid she’d lose the touch of his soft lips if she didn’t. 

It was all it took for him to circle his arm around her, gathering her against his hard chest. He groaned softly, low in his throat, as she clung to him. 

Whatever had held him back as he first took the plunge and let their lips meet in a gentle kiss was gone. His mouth explored hers like he had been starving for the past three months. 

And she kissed him back with the same eagerness, his hair curled around her fingers, now silky and smooth, drawing herself as close as she could. 

The taste of him on her tongue was intoxicating, a delicate whine leaving her when his touch found her skin under her stupid shirt. His fingers digging into her sides, keeping her as close as possible. 

She had been right to think a kiss between them would change everything.

She couldn’t get enough of him, and she knew, knew that she was lost. 

Forever lost in that kiss.

That was until she felt him pull away, heavy breaths mixing between them as he leaned his forehead against hers.

“I’m sorry,” he panted. “I shouldn’t have done that.” 

“It’s okay,” she said breathlessly, still keeping her eyes closed in an attempt to wrap her mind around what had just happened. 

“It’s not,” he grumbled, sliding his hands down from under her shirt, leaving the places he had touched feeling cold. Y/N fell back, and Harry took the opportunity to carefully shove her off him. “I have to go.” 

“What?” She blinked her eyes open and watched him scurry around the room to find his shoes and the clothes he had arrived in. “No, it’s- Harry you don’t have to go.” 

If she hadn’t been so stunned by the turn of events the kiss had taken - Y/N would’ve jumped up and blocked him from leaving. Unfortunately, her body was unable to move from where she was still sitting on the bed. 

Harry ran a hand through his hair, averting his eyes to anywhere but her, his cheeks rosy and chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. 

“Thank you for the haircut eh- we’ll - I’ll see you around.” 

As soon as the door closed behind him, Y/N felt herself getting swallowed by the hollow void once again. 

.

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A/N:  I’M BACK!! and it was a long one!! As always I’m sorry it’s taken a while, but a lot has been going on in my life. My mum was sick for a bit and some other personal stuff. 

BUT!!! What a ride huh? A lot happened here and I’m dying to know what you all think! I think it’s safe to say Harry is a little scared and our little Ducky is definitely confused to say the least, and there is still much more to come!! I’ll be honest I’m a little scared too, to hear what you all thought of this part. I know there was a lot going on but it needed to happen and it didn’t make sense to split it up anymore than it already is. PLEASE drop a little comment with your thoughts, share and like (if you liked it hehe) 

Until next time, be safe and do things that make you happy<3

💏 TAGLIST: TAGLIST: @annesauriol  @boomitsallie1 @caramello-styles @tenaciousperfectionunknown @perfectywrong @behindmygreyeyes @carolina-kiwi  @jessitpwk @sunshinemoonsposts @inlikea-coolway @matildasatellite @duhstyles​ 

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“I can think of at least five reasons why you should come with us!”

Finn pushed Y/N to the side, swaying in his steps, and threw an arm around Harry. 

Harry, in return, reached out to put a hand on the taller boy’s waist to keep him steady. They had all left Margot’s place to venture down to White Deer to continue their night, hollering and giggling loudly, a large amount of alcohol flowing through their veins. 

After finishing their games of beer-pong, Finn had brought out the shots and somehow convinced everyone to take at least one each. Y/N, unfortunately, ended up having four, and as they stumbled along the cobblestone to get to the pub she could feel her head swirling. She ended up leaning into Harry, linking her arm with his to keep herself steady as they walked. 

Harry, who to her surprise, had been coaxed into having a shot of tequila as well, made no objections as he felt her grab a hold of him. 

As the night progressed Finn had taken a liking to the grumpy man. Y/N was not entirely sure when or how it had happened, since Harry hadn’t entertained his rambling conversation all that much. It didn’t stop Finn though and he had been glued to Harry for pretty much the last hour. 

“I’m sure you can,” Harry replied with a chuckle. “But I think it’s time for me to call it quits.” 

“I can’t let you do that I’m afraid,” Finn countered and shook his head. “For one, it’s my birthday. You don’t leave until the birthday boy leaves!” 

While Harry had walked with the group to White Deer, seeing as he lived in the same building, he had made it pretty clear he was not joining them inside the pub. Something Finn was not accepting. 

“I think maybe it’s time for the birthday boy to go home now,” Harry suggested as Finn stumbled and almost fell face-first to the ground. He probably would have too if it wasn’t for the fact that he was using Harry as a human crutch.

“I’ll pretend you never said that,”  Finn faked a gasp, pretending to be upset. “Secondly, you need to come with us so you can take care of this klutz,” he nodded toward Y/N. “She’ll end up in a ditch somewhere on her way home otherwise.” 

“Heey,” Y/N pouted. “If anyone is ending up in a ditch it's you!” 

“Yeah yeah,” Finn waved her off and turned his attention back to the man he was hanging over. “C’mon Harold, you need to let loose. Come with us to the pub!”

“You’ve only given me two reasons so far,” Harry told him, hoping to avoid having to spend more time with the group. 

More specifically the blonde man who kept shooting daggers at him whenever he could. Y/N had tried her best to keep the two of them apart, never leaving Harry’s side, dragging him over to talk to Arlo and Finn throughout the night in an attempt to keep him busy. 

Which, in hindsight, was ultimately a big failure to her original plan. She had hardly said a word to Reece outside of playing beer-pong, but at least he had asked her to be on his team.

That had to count for something. 

Behind them Arlo and Kiara walked together, whispering something between themselves, keeping their distance from the rest of the group. Margot, Ruby, Reece and Jack were all in the front, leading the drunks to the pub, chatting loudly and laughing amongst each other. 

“Well, reason three - reason three is you live right above the pub and won’t be able to go to sleep anyways,” Finn grinned. “It’ll be too rowdy. You won’t get any peace.” 

“No different to any other night,” Harry challenged, surprising Y/N by entertaining her drunk friend’s arguments as much as he was. The permanent frown that had been on his face for most of the night was nowhere to be seen. 

Y/N wasn’t sure if the tingle in her stomach came from seeing Harry kind of getting along with one of her friends, or just the four shots of tequila she had downed.

“It’ll be a blast,” the taller boy continued. “You stand there behind the bar every weekend. Let me - Let me show you what it’s like to be on the other side. We can annoy Max together and order a bunch of like special cocktails - or something. That’s four!” 

“Finn, if Harry wants to go home, let him,” Y/N stepped in, knowing she hadn’t done a very good job with helping him when Arlo and Margot ambushed him at BLOOM yesterday. Harry had been through more than enough already. “He’s probably had enough of you dumb idiots for one night.” 

“Oh hush, you’re only saying that so you can go with him and shag all night.” 

“Finn!” 

“Oh, stop it, I’ve seen you ogling each other all night,” he said and looked between them, wiggling his eyebrows. “You can fuck each other’s brains out later. Right now it’s still my birthday for another-” he paused to check the time. “Another 45 minutes. Aaand that brings me to reason five, you need to come with us so Y/N here won’t leave her good friend on his birthday.” 

“You’re an idiot,” Y/N rolled her eyes and looked at Harry again. “You don’t have to come.” 

“You do, don't listen to her!” 

She shook her head and by doing so, she missed the small dent in the concrete, accidentally stumbling over and dropping her bag to the ground. 

Despite Finn hanging over him, Harry still managed to reach out and keep her from smashing into the ground. His hand wrapped around her upper arm in a firm grip, pulling her back up on her feet. He looked at her with unimpressed eyes and Y/N gave him a weak smile before picking up her bag, her cheeks getting hotter. 

“Hm, well, I’ll stay for 45 minutes then,” Harry complied with a hum, his eyes still on Y/N and her intoxicated state of mind. She regretted every single shot she had taken. “Good enough for you?” 

“Yes!” Finn exclaimed with a jump, making both of them stumble slightly at the sudden motion. The group in front of them had already reached White Deer and with one final pat on Harry’s back, Finn headed off to catch up with them. “I’ll get the shots ready!”

“Just for the record,” Y/N mused as they watched Finn run off to join the four who had already entered the pub. “For once, this was not my fault.”

“Debatable,” Harry remarked, the corner of his lips hinting at a small smirk. 

“Thank you though,” she told him softly.

“For what?” 

Y/N paused for a moment, looking over his shoulder to see Arlo and Kiara catching up to them. There was no time for her to explain everything she wanted to thank him for. Her whole body was screaming at her to just tell him how much she actually appreciated everything he had done for her, even when there was nothing really in it for him. 

She was thankful for him going along with her plan, for letting her stay the night a couple of weeks ago, for bringing her a brownie, for coming with her to Margot’s, for seemingly getting along with Finn and now coming with them to White Deer on his night off. Even if the night had not gone exactly how she had imagined, and it was slowly dawning on her how absurd her whole plan actually was, she was glad Harry had gone along with it all.  

Regardless of the harsh and grumpy facade he was putting up in front of people, Y/N felt like she had gotten a glimpse of the real him. A glimpse that showed her he had a softer side beneath it all. A side that cared about people and wanted to help, even if he wouldn’t admit it out loud. 

Because he was helping her even though she was essentially a stranger to him. 

And she really just hoped he would want to be friends even after her plan was over. 

“I- well, everything I suppose,” Y/N hesitated and glanced down at her shoes to avoid the intense green eyes looking down at her. “I’m glad I met you.” 

“So you could use me for your ludicrous scheme to make an absolute douche fall for you?” Harry commented sarcastically, but Y/N could tell there was some truth behind his words as well. 

“What I- no,” she started and looked back up at him with a frown. “That’s not-”

“What are you two Lovebirds doing just standing around here for?” Arlo’s loud voice interrupted. He squeezed up between them and threw his arms around both of their necks, hanging over them. “C’mon, let’s go get smashed!” 

“Pretty sure most of us are past that point already,” Kiara pointed out with a giggle. She took a hold of Arlo’s arm and pulled him off them. “Let’s leave these cuties to themselves. They’ll catch up, and I desperately need the loo!” 

Y/N watched her pull Arlo with her in the direction of White Deer, leaving her alone with Harry again. She opened her mouth to tell him he was wrong but couldn’t quite find the words. Because in the back of her mind, a small voice was whispering that he was in fact right. She was using him for her own selfish desires. 

The guilt that had been drowned by a sea of alcohol was slowly forcing itself up to the surface again. 

“Harry, I’m-” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Harry interrupted her that time, giving her a tense smile. “Let’s just go before Finn starts counting the minutes and make me stay longer.” 

He offered his arm out to her again, to let her support herself as they walked the last bit to the pub. Y/N looked at him for a moment, desperately trying to ignore the uncomfortable tightness across her chest, before linking her arms with his again. 

And as they walked toward the entrance of the pub, her body pressing up against his, her knees somehow felt weaker than they had been all night.

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It wasn’t until Margot had dragged Y/N into the bathroom that all of the shots really started to catch up to her. While Margot sat down on the toilet to pee Y/N leaned her back against the wall and eventually let herself slide down until she was sitting on the floor. It was terribly unhygienic, but her head was swirling way too much to stand. 

She just needed to sit down and breathe for a moment. 

Margot was talking to her, telling her some story about Ruby. Y/N wasn’t actually sure, most of her friend’s words were drowned out by the ringing in her ears. Why did she take four shots? And why in the world did she let Finn convince her to take another when they finally arrived at the pub? She would’ve been perfectly fine without that last one. 

Stupid. 

Then Margot said something that caught her attention. 

Harry’s name. 

“Huh?” 

“He is so bloody handsome!” Margot gushed. “And I can tell he really cares about you!” 

“I don’t - I don’t think he does,” Y/N admitted and exhaled deeply to focus on the conversation she suddenly found herself in. 

“Oh stop it!” Margot told her and reached over to grab some toilet paper. “The way he got all up in Reece’s face! He definitely didn’t like the way he was coming onto his girl. Dare I say, he was a bit jealous?” 

“Reece?” 

“What?” Margot gave her a funny look. “No! Harry!” 

“He wasn’t jealous,” Y/N cackled and covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from bursting into laughter. The idea of Harry being jealous was absurd. 

The alcohol she had consumed throughout the night rose in the back of her throat when she remembered her hand had been on the floor just moments ago. She quickly removed it and wiped her face with the sleeve of her blazer. 

“Oh, he totally was!” Margot urged and stood up, struggling to pull her tight trousers back up. She lost her footing for a second and caught herself against the wall, giggling. It was clear Y/N wasn’t the only one feeling the effects of the ridiculous amount of alcohol Finn had gotten them all to drink. “You know what, actually - maybe Reece was as well.” 

That got her head spinning even more. 

“You think?” she asked. 

“If I was a guy and Harry showed up out of the blue, all broody and mysterious- Oh, and with that jawline!” Margot closed her eyes, a dreamy smile on her lips. “Ugh, I would be jealous too.” 

For the past 24 hours, Y/N had been telling herself that her plan was working, that bringing Harry tonight would be the last push; what if she was right? What if her plan had actually worked? 

If so, what did that mean? 

“Harry is very pretty,” Y/N agreed without realizing she said it out loud. 

“He is,” Margot beamed and offered her hand to help her get up from the floor. “So let’s get back to them so you can finally lay a big fat smooch on him!” 

With the help of her friend, she got back up on her feet, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath again. Her heart was beating hard inside her chest and the ringing in her ears got louder, every single cell in her body was telling her to sit down again. 

Yet, she followed Margot back out into the pub, her legs wobbly and unsteady. 

There were a lot of things Y/N should’ve done differently that night. For starters, she never should’ve drank as much as she did. She should’ve learned by now that tequila and her did not go well together. It was simply not a good idea. 

And she really should’ve stayed sitting down. 

And she really should’ve been watching where she was going. 

As they exited the bathroom the pub seemed to have gotten even louder. Y/N found herself looking for Harry as soon as the door closed behind them. He was still sitting around the same table she had left him at with Finn, and she had to do a double take as she saw them fully engaged in a conversation. Harry showed no signs of his usual grumpy demeanor, and Y/N could very well be mistaken, but she was sure she even saw him laughing. 

If she hadn’t been so taken aback by the sight taking place in the pub, and if her head hadn’t been so clouded by all the alcohol, she probably would’ve seen the man coming towards her. 

Sadly, she was far too surprised and too unfocused. 

Her body slammed right into the large man carrying two pints of beer, and she lost her balance completely. The man dropped one of the drinks, spilling it all over her top, and as she tried to take a step back she felt her ankle twist. 

It all happened in a matter of a few seconds, but she found herself on the floor. 

Time froze as the whole room turned their eyes to her and Y/N wanted to sink through the floor. 

“Oh man, you okay?” The man she had just bumped into asked, a look of worry on his face. Which was a little bit of a relief, knowing he wasn’t angry with her. 

Although, she would’ve felt a lot better if the whole pub hadn’t just witnessed her falling over. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” she quickly blurted out and gave the man a big smile. “I’m so sorry!” As she tried to stand up again a sharp pain pulsed through her foot and she found herself limping, wincing in discomfort. Her top was cold against her body from the beer and the whiff of the dark lager made her nauseous all over again. 

Then, out of nowhere, she felt a strong arm sneak around her waist and pull her body close, supporting her and allowing her to not put any weight on her left foot. 

Harry. 

“Can you stand?” he asked and tightened his grip around her as he felt her falter again. 

“I’m fine,” she told him quickly, trying to put her foot down and push him off her. A small groan escaped her as she felt another sharp pain shoot through her ankle. She could still feel several eyes on her from around the room. Her heart rate picked up again and she bowed her head down, to let her hair cover most of her face. If it hadn’t been for the pulsating pain in her foot she would’ve ran right out of there. 

The fact that she couldn’t made her rethink her decision to not buy those tickets to Svalbard. 

“You’re not,” Harry told her with a frown. He turned to the man she had bumped into. She heard him say something, but she was far too busy regretting every life choice she had ever made to make out any words they said. 

Then she felt him drag her arm over his shoulders and he moved her body forward. “C’mon, I’ll take you upstairs and get you cleaned up.” 

“What?” she fretted. “No, I’m fine. Honestly, I fall over all the time.” 

“You can’t walk,” Harry told her and rolled his eyes. 

“I can,” she tried to argue weakly, pushing him off her again. Harry let her but still made sure to keep his arm around her loosely. As soon as her foot touched the floor she winced and pulled it back up, leaning against him for support. The pain was evident through her fake smile and Harry raised his brows. 

“You can walk, huh?” 

“I’m fine. We don’t have to leave.” 

“Stop being so stubborn please,” Harry grumbled. “We need to get some ice for your foot and you need a change of clothes.” 

While most of her wanted to run out of there and never return; there was a small piece of her pride that couldn’t accept that Harry was right. The only logical thing was to get out of there and go lie down. 

But accepting defeat made the reality of her little stumble far too real, and Y/N couldn’t quite handle the fact that she had slipped over and hurt herself in front of the whole pub yet. 

However, as she made another attempt to stand on her foot and another wave of pain shot through her foot she finally accepted defeat. 

“Okay then,” she sighed heavily. “Let’s go.” 

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When Harry finally unlocked the door to his flat Y/N was exhausted, her ankle was throbbing in pain with every single step she took. 

Getting up the steep stairs had taken them twice as long as it normally would. It was almost impossible to put any weight on her foot, and she could tell Harry was starting to lose his patience when they were only about halfway up. 

Although, she wasn’t sure whether it was because of her childish whining, him having to basically carry her, or the way she kept apologizing to him. 

Probably all three. 

Once inside, Harry helped her over to his bed and assisted her as she tried to get her shoes off. When she was finally seated he picked up one of the pillows and carefully placed it at the end of the bed, lifting her leg onto it to make sure her foot was elevated. 

“You don’t have to-” 

“Y/N, just- shush,” Harry interrupted her and put a hand up to stop her from talking and going into another round of apologies. “Please.” 

“Sorry.” 

Harry gave her a tired look.  

Y/N wanted to apologize again but managed to stop herself. While she was grateful to finally be able to sit down and rest; she didn’t want to be more of a burden to him than she already was. 

The fact that he had to take care of her after everything that she had forced him into made her feel even more selfish. 

Harry walked over to the small fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He paused for a moment and muttered something to himself before coming back over to her. 

“Here,” he said and handed her the bottle. “Drink.” 

“Thank you,” she mumbled and watched as he walked over to his dresser, pulling out a similar set of sweats she had borrowed from him the last time she was there. “You really don’t have to-” 

“You are covered in beer,” Harry interrupted her again and then glanced down at her legs. “You’ve also ripped your tights.” 

Y/N looked down at her knees and discovered there was a tear in the thin material across her knee and up along her thigh. Her cheeks flushed. 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, and I’d rather not have my sheets reeking of old beer and food from the pub.” 

“That... that makes sense." 

“I know,” Harry said and surprisingly let out a small chuckle before handing her the clothes he had pulled out. “So please, stop being so uncooperative and just… just let me help you.” 

“I don’t think I can get to the bathroom to change,” Y/N admitted and looked down at her foot. She tried to move it again and immediately regretted it. 

“Oh, right,” Harry cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll give you some privacy.” 

“Thanks,” she smiled softly and watched as he turned his back to her and slowly started walking towards the bathroom to let her change in peace. “Wait!” 

“Huh?” 

“Where is my phone?” she asked. “And my bag?” 

Harry frowned. 

“Probably still downstairs in the pub,” he replied after a moment of contemplation. Y/N groaned as she realized neither of them had gotten it from the table before leaving. Before she could complain about having to go back down the stairs though - Harry quickly spoke again. “I’ll go get it while you change.” 

“No, it’s okay, I’ll-” 

“You’ll stay and change,” Harry told her firmly. “Took us long enough to get you up those stairs once. It’ll be quicker if I go.” 

“Rude.” 

“I’ll be back soon,” Harry rolled his eyes. “And you, just rest your foot and drink your water, Ducky. Don’t try to walk anywhere.” 

“Alright, Grumpy,” she mocked and Harry shook his head at her before leaving her alone in the small flat. 

The ringing in her ears intensified once more as soon as she found herself finally sitting in complete silence. She took a big gulp of the water Harry had given her and took a couple of seconds to sit back, gathering some strength to change out of her beer-drenched clothes. "Ugh, fuck," she muttered to herself as a small wave of nausea washed over her.

She was never drinking again. 

At least the calm of Harry's flat was making her feel a little bit better. The stuffy pub had done nothing to help her swirling head. If anything it had only made her feel worse; seeing as she had humiliated herself by tripping over in front of everyone. 

Y/N shivered at the reminder of her fall. 

Getting changed was as much of a struggle as getting up the stairs had been. Her foot hurt and she nearly fell over again as she tried to stand and shimmy out of her clothes. Her skirt and shirt along with her ripped tights ended up in a heap on the floor and she felt a little bad for just leaving them there, making a mess, but she couldn’t find the energy to pick them up. 

But, quite contradictory, as she went to sit down again; her eye caught the small picture frame on the dresser she had seen the first time she was there. 

And despite her body telling her to sit down, the flicker of curiosity sparking up inside her was far too strong for her drunk brain to ignore.  

She stood up again and made her way around the bed, alternating between limping and jumping on one leg, until she reached the dresser. Y/N had promised herself she would stop being so nosey and let Harry decide what he wanted to share with her about his life, but with Little Y/N drowning in a sea of tequila again she had no voice of reason telling her to stop. 

The small picture had been on her mind since she first saw it. With Harry being so reserved, the idea of him having a picture up that related to his past was far too intriguing. 

As she picked up the frame and got a closer look at the memory he had displayed a warmth spread through her. It was a picture of three people. Two women and a small boy. Y/N immediately recognized one of the women, whom she had recently learned was Harry’s grandmother. 

The other woman looked a lot like Ruth. She had the same crooked nose and big lips. Her hair was blond with much darker roots and frizzy ends. The woman had a big smile on her lips as she had an arm around the small boy, despite the rest of her looking tired and worn down.  

But even in the old grainy photo her piercing green eyes were what stood out the most. It was the same deep green she had been getting the know for a couple of weeks now. 

Harry’s mother. 

It had to be. 

Her attention fell on the small boy in Ruth’s lap, which was undoubtedly Harry himself. His hair was much lighter than his current style and he was yet to develop the any sort of pattern to his strands. By just looking at his younger self you never could’ve guessed that his hair would turn into the wavy mess he had as an adult. Similar to the two adults, he had a huge grin on his face as he held a small gift, wrapped in a colorful paper, in his tiny hands. 

He looked like the happiest little boy around, a pair of dimples forming on both sides of his face, surrounded by two people who loved him unconditionally. 

Y/N smiled at the photo. It was heart-warming. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t help her curiosities much. Harry gave the impression he was no longer close to any of his family, and he didn’t seem like he wanted to be. 

Yet, he kept a photo of his mother displayed on his dresser. 

She wanted to ask him about it, to know everything about him and his life, but she knew she couldn’t force him to open up. She shouldn’t even be snooping around like she was. 

And really, she was bound to get caught. 

Which was exactly what happened. 

”First the photo on Instagram and now this,” his voice startled her out of her thoughts. She looked up with big eyes. Harry stood by the door, her jacket and bag hanging from his arm, and shook his head disapprovingly. He didn’t look upset though, his lips were surprisingly turned up in a soft smile. ”I really should be asking for more than just 10 pounds.” 

”Well,” Y/N started and put the frame down again, her cheeks warm and mouth dry. ”You still haven’t used your free haircut.”

Harry gave her a dry chuckle and then turned around to close the front door behind him, making sure it was locked. 

His hair was a tousled mess from constantly running his hands through it all night. And as he stood under the yellow sheen from the light, she noticed for the first time how rosy his cheeks were. 

And Y/N realized, while he was nowhere near her level of drunk, Finn had gotten to him as well. 

The way he carried himself as he walked further into the room, placing her things on the old armchair, was different from his usual rigid stride. His body moved slowly across the small room, his posture slouchy and loose; the tension in his shoulders long gone.

Y/N swore there was even a slight wobble to his steps. 

”I thought I told you to rest,” Harry reminded her and raised one of his brows as he looked back at her. Y/N gave him an innocent smile. ”Go sit down.” 

”Yes, Sir,” she replied and playfully saluted him, immediately regretting the words leaving her mouth. 

Harry pretended like he hadn’t heard her and just offered his hand to her to help her get back into bed. 

The number of times she had held his hand throughout the night was staggering, and Y/N slowly found herself enjoying the familiarity of his strong fingers wrapped around hers. 

When she sat back down on the bed, Harry made sure her foot was elevated once again and picked up what looked like a kitchen towel bundled up into a ball. Carefully, he placed it over her ankle and Y/N hissed at the coldness. 

”Sorry,” Harry apologized quietly, looking down at her ankle and the bundle of ice he had made downstairs in White Deer’s kitchen. 

”Ughh, I’m such a dunce,” she groaned and let her head fall backward, hitting the wall with a small thud. ”Why couldn’t I be born with the grace of like… like a ballerina or something? It’s so unfair.” 

”I’m pretty sure tequila is to blame for this as well,” Harry noted and gently moved the ice to another part of her foot. Y/N glanced at him as he tended to her injury. He sat crouched down next to her beside the bed, doing his best to help ease the pain in her ankle, and she was struck by the same appreciation she had felt earlier. 

Harry was doing so much for her, too much, and he was barely getting anything back in return. She hadn’t even paid him for his troubles yet. So really, he had gotten nothing for taking her out on a date, letting her stay the night, joining her friends, and now taking care of her and her stupid ankle. 

She needed to figure out what she owed him and pay him promptly. 

”Harry,” she started with a soft sigh, getting his attention. He looked away from her ankle and his piercing green eyes sent a shiver down her spine as they met hers. She sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth and broke their eye contact for a brief moment to gather her thoughts. ”Thank you. I really do-” 

”Don’t worry about it,” Harry immediately cut her off again. 

”Can you please just let me finish what I want to say for once?” Y/N huffed in frustration and lightly shoved his shoulder, making him lose his balance for a moment. Harry’s mouth fell open, as if he was about to protest and tell her to be quiet again, but instead, Y/N watched as his tongue poked out to lick his lips. He gave her a short nod. 

”M’sorry,” he murmured. 

”I just- I’m…” Y/N trailed off, unsure of what to actually say to express her gratitude for him without making things weird. She wanted him to know that she still wanted them to be friends when the whole plan was over. That she had somehow grown very fond of the relationship they were building. 

There was a huge possibility he did not feel the same way though. 

She did not want to assume anything and make him uncomfortable, making him feel like he had no say in the matter, especially not when she was pretty much stuck at his place for the night. ”I just- I just wanted to say that I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for me. You really didn’t have to do any of this, and I just want you to know that I’m very thankful for it all. I know you probably don't feel the same, but I’m happy you came tonight. You are a great friend - a great person.” 

Harry didn’t say anything at first, and when he eventually did Y/N found herself staring after him completely dumbfounded. 

”Right, well, I’m gonna go get ready for bed,” he told her awkwardly, and within a couple of seconds, Harry had disappeared into the small bathroom. The bundle of ice slipped off her foot and down to the floor, but Y/N didn’t pay it any attention. She was too busy trying to figure out what had made him walk away so abruptly.

The silent room was soon filled by the sounds of squeaking pipes, the running water from the bathroom sink struggling to flow through. 

Normally, she would worry that the whole building was going to flood over due to a leak from the old pipes. But Y/N’s mind was working overtime, thinking through every word she had just said, trying to figure out if she said anything bad. 

Maybe he didn’t like the fact that she had called him her friend? What if he didn’t think of them as friends? 

And what if when her plan was over he wouldn’t actually talk to her ever again?

She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to ignore her heavy heart, and sank deeper into the bed, hoping it would somehow swallow her whole. 

It had to be the tequila making her feel so strange about the whole thing. It had to be. Her plan was, in her opinion, actually working. There was no reason to start second-guessing everything. 

The goal of her plan was to make Reece jealous enough to finally ask her out.

The goal wasn’t to make a new friend. 

She had plenty of friends already. 

She’d be fine. 

As she repeated that mantra over and over again in her head, her body slowly started to relax and sleep was quickly looming over her. 

The door to the bathroom opened and Harry came out, tiptoeing around the flat to turn the lights off and get himself some water. It wasn’t until she felt the mattress dip and his warm body fall down next to her in the cramped bed that her eyes fluttered open.  

She had forgotten how small his bed actually was; how close they would be sharing it again. He tried his best to give her some space and allowed her to once again have all of the duvet. Both to create a barrier between them and to make sure she stayed warm throughout the night.  

Y/N turned to face him as best as she could, wincing a little as her foot ached with the movement. He had changed into one of his hoodies, the hood pulled up over his head to cover as much of himself as possible. His hair stuck out under the fabric and fell down over his forehead in a single beautiful curl. 

Before she could stop herself she reached over and twirled the lock of hair between her fingers, finally allowing herself to get a feel of his texture. It surprised her how soft it was, even though she could tell he hadn’t gotten it cut in a while. It felt brittle and dry as she let the strands flow through her touch. Her mind immediately went to thinking about different hair masks she could give to him, and hopefully bring his dry curls back to life. 

Harry stopped her, placing his hand over hers and slowly pulled it away from his hair. But he didn’t let it go. He kept her hand in his, resting them on top of his chest as he gingerly let his own fingers run between hers, playing delicately. 

For a moment, Y/N thought that he was asleep, unaware of what he was doing. As her eyes got more used to the dark around them though she saw that he was still wide awake. 

She could feel his heartbeat beneath their hands, slow and steady, and felt her own heart picking up. 

He was so close, yet, she found herself wanting to get closer. Her fingers itched to reach up again and smooth out the deep crinkle between his brows, easing whatever was on his mind. 

Much like the last time she had found herself sharing the cramped bed with him, the darkness made the situation less intimidating. Not having his intense gaze directly on her or the daylight reminding them of reality was reassuring. His fingers playing softly with hers were quickly lulling her right back to her sleep-dazed state. 

And maybe it was the intimacy and comfort of it all that made her confident enough to open her mouth again. 

Or maybe it was still just the tequila. 

”Is that your mum in the picture?” She asked him with a small whisper, not wanting to startle him too much or upset him. 

”It is, yeah,” he replied and inhaled deeply, his chest rising under their hands. 

”She’s very pretty,” Y/N told him and paused for a moment. ”You look a lot like her.” 

”Yeah,” he nodded. ”So I’ve been told.” 

Y/N kept her eyes on him, trying to figure out if she was crossing a line again by talking about his family. 

Then another picture popped up in the back of her mind, and she knew she was not going to be able to ignore it. He had mentioned it before and the reminder had sparked her curiosities right back to life. 

She swallowed nervously before speaking again. 

”The girl in the picture I liked… who is she?” Y/N felt bad for asking and bringing her up, but she had to know.

Because what if Harry was engaged to someone? If he was about to get married to someone else, forcing him to take her out on a date certainly made her already foolish plan seem even stupider, even if it was fake.

Harry let out another deep sigh, almost as if he had been expecting the question to come up. 

”Her name’s Tamara,” he told her and Y/N could feel his body tensing up next to her. 

“Is she your ex or…?” She asked hesitantly, waiting for any signs that he was annoyed. When he didn’t shut her down she quietly added; “I saw a ring.” 

“Yeah,” he mumbled and closed his eyes. “Ex-fiancée.” 

“What happened?” Y/N continued curiously. Harry kept his eyes closed and silence fell between them as the crinkle between his brows deepened. ”You know you can talk to me, right? I won’t tell anyone. I know that you don’t really like me all that mu-” 

”That’s not true,” Harry cut her off abruptly and opened his eyes again to look right at her. He still had her hand in his, unintentionally giving it a light squeeze. ”I just- I don’t really like to talk about it.” 

“Maybe you need to talk about it with someone?” She suggested softly. “Sometimes that helps.” 

“Maybe.” 

Another heavy silence followed after that, crowding the space between them. If she hadn’t seen him staring at the ceiling in deep thought, Y/N would’ve assumed he had fallen asleep again. She gave his hand a small squeeze, hoping it would give him some sort of comfort. “We met after I finished uni. At one of Patrick’s charity events... I thought she was the one.” 

“And she wasn’t?”

“Well, I’m here now aren’t I?” Harry scoffed bitterly, though he seemed to regret it when he noticed the small pout on her face. He pressed his lips together in a firm line, sighing. “She wasn’t.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because I realized she wasn’t who I thought she was,” he admitted and there was a sadness to his voice that she hadn’t heard before. ”Being with me was more about the status it brought her than being with me out of love.” The words leaving him made her heart ache for the small boy she had seen in the photo earlier. “And I caught her cheating on me with one of my co-workers.”  

“Oh, Harry,” she mumbled. ”I’m so sorry.” 

There was still so much she didn’t know about him, but from what little she did know, it was slowly becoming more clear to her why the grumpy man next to her was so reserved.

“It is what it is.” 

“Is that why you’re here?” 

“One of the reasons, yeah,” he admitted with a nod. “Just needed to get away from it all.” 

“So you’re here hiding?” Y/N asked, her mind spinning with all the new information he had just given her instead of the alcohol. 

“No one is really looking.” 

“I’m sure your mum misses you,” Y/N frowned sadly. 

“Who knows,” he shrugged it off with an empty laugh. 

“Have you talked to her since you left?” She wondered and continued when he didn’t reply. “Does she at least know you’re alive?” 

“She does,” he confirmed shortly, and it was all she needed to know he was done with the topic of their conversation. 

“I’m sorry,” she comforted softly and gave his hand another gentle squeeze. It surprised her that he was still keeping her hand in his, allowing himself to be so close to her. Maybe the tequila had gotten to him a lot more than she had first thought. ”I won’t ask more questions. I know it’s not very fun, but if you ever need someone to talk to- I’m here.” 

Harry hummed quietly and Y/N turned to face the ceiling again, focusing on the same dark spot she had the last time she spent the night. The angle of her arm on his chest, her hand in his, was straining and uncomfortable. 

Yet, she didn’t pull back. 

It was far too soothing to have his fingers linked around hers to let go. 

She would’ve fallen asleep like that if it hadn’t been for the fact that Harry suddenly spoke up again. 

”Do you really think Reece will make you happy?” 

The question made her heart drop instantly. When she turned to look at him again he was already looking at her. 

”I don’t- I-” she couldn’t find the right words to say, or rather, the right answer. She had spent so long daydreaming of being with the blonde hunk - she had never questioned it before. 

Because, of course, she’d be happy. 

Why wouldn’t she be? He was everything she wanted. He was good-looking, close to his family, charming and he made her laugh. There had never been any reason for her to doubt her feelings for him. Until now apparently. ”Maybe.” 

”You are too good for him,” Harry murmured quietly, his raspy voice making her skin tingle with goosebumps. 

Y/N tried her best to hide her disappointment when Harry let go of her hand, leaving her with an unsettling sense of emptiness. 

He adjusted his body, the mattress creaking beneath them, and as he eventually stilled he was on his side facing her, and somehow, even closer than before. 

Then, as she felt his warm breath fawn out over her face, her already foggy mind completely evaporated, leaving her unable to give her lungs the air they desperately needed to function. 

He was so close. So so close. 

And her body responded on its own as she lifted her chin and bumped her nose against his.

She couldn’t think. The whole night had been a roller-coaster. From Harry and Reece sizing each other up, to her hurting her ankle and telling Harry how much she appreciated him. Only to have him walk away and then come back to share parts of his life she hadn’t heard before. 

None of it made any sense. Nothing could’ve prepared her for the several turns the night had taken.  

And the only thing her useless brain could think of to blame it on was the tequila. 

Or actually, the only thing her useless brain could really think about was the small distance between her and Harry’s lips. 

When the hand that had been in hers not long ago brushed her cheek, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, her heart decided it no longer had any room left in her chest. It sent an explosion of anticipation through her. 

Her eyes fell shut as she moved to face him, also laying on her side, ignoring the pain in her foot. She heard him swallow harshly when her hips pressed into his, and his nose bumped against hers again.

Suddenly, all of her senses were heightened to their fullest. She could hear her own heavy breathing, feel her own chest rising with every breath and the blood pumping through her veins, making her feel like her whole body was on fire. Her hand was back on his chest, his heartbeat throbbing steadily against her palm, perfectly in sync with her own. 

She lifted her head a little bit more, their warm breaths mixing as one as his upper lip brushed lightly against her mouth. 

All she had to do was tilt her head a little to the left and their lips would meet in an unexpected dance. 

It seemed harmless, but it would change everything. 

Whatever she decided to do it would undoubtedly take their agreement to a whole other level of complicated.

And it was a decision she couldn't think clearly about when his rough stubble scratched against her chin in the most irresistible way. 

But before she could make the choice to close the tiny gap between them; he made the choice for her. 

”We should go to sleep, Ducky.” 

And just like that the fire in her was extinguished. The anticipation simmering in her blood was drowned by six little words, leaving her cold and frozen. 

”Oh,” was all she could say as Harry pulled back and created another barrier between them. ”Right, yeah, of course.” 

She looked at him, trying to make sense of what the hell had just happened, but was left in a breathless mess. Harry refused to meet her gaze, once again keeping his focus straight ahead with a tense jaw. ”Uhm, good night then?” 

”Good night.” 

It had taken her weeks to finally see a crack in his tough shell, and judging by how cold his voice had just sounded, it had only taken a minute for the crack to be sealed shut. 

Y/N didn’t have a good night after that. 

.

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A/N:  As always, please leave a comment, like and share if you enjoyed it! It helps my motivation to get the next part out for you guys massively. I’m dying to know your thoughts on this part so PLEASE let me know. Your support means the world to ME! 

💏 TAGLIST: @annesauriol  @boomitsallie1 @caramello-styles @tenaciousperfectionunknown @perfectywrong​ @behindmygreyeyes @carolina-kiwi  @jessitpwk @sunshinemoonsposts​ @inlikea-coolway​

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Y/N had been distracted lately. Her plan to make Reece fall in love with her was somehow getting further and further down on her to-do list.

And she needed to get back on track.

It had been two weeks since her Sunday with Harry. Two weeks since she told him about her family’s tragic history. Somewhere between texting the grumpy man silly little updates about her days and dealing with Arlos teasing comments about how much she was looking at her phone - Y/N had kind of forgotten about Reece and her plan.

So much so that when the blond hunk of her dreams came stumbling into the salon, his skin glowing and glistening from sweat due to working outside in the spring sun, she was completely stunned. Not because he looked absolutely gorgeous, but because the jitters running through her reminded her of his existence. He had bought her another cup of coffee, and for the first time, it was exactly how she liked it.

She needed to get back on track.

As soon as Reece left she had texted Harry to tell him about the brief encounter, to let him know that the plan needed to keep going. To which he simply replied, “you’re insane.”

She told herself that Reece must be jealous because she hadn’t paid him much attention lately. She had been more focused on Harry and it made Reece jealous enough to finally get her a cup of coffee she could drink.

Unintentionally, her plan had been working.

Because texting Harry silly little updates hadn’t been a part of her original plan. After their day together, eating croissants and brownies, she truly felt like he was starting to open up to her and wasn’t completely opposed to the idea of being friends.

Perhaps calling them friends was a bit strong, but he always replied and had made no indication that he wanted her to stop. His replies were usually short, which was not really a surprise. While he seemingly refused to use any other emoji than the thumbs up, he never ignored her and her excessive use of different emojis. He always made sure to send her a reply, no matter how pointless her text had been.

However, something that very much took her by surprise was when Harry showed up at BLOOM, looking a little uncomfortable and holding a paper bag with Pebble’s logo printed across the front.

Y/N was busy finishing up with a client by the cash register when she heard the bell above the door chime. As soon as she looked up and saw his familiar frame her brain was scrambled. Arlo and Margot’s eyes burning gaze on her definitely didn’t help either. Her cheeks felt hot as she tried to focus on the client in front of her and make sure she put in the right amount they needed to pay for their appointment. 

Harry stood awkwardly by the entrance, scratching the back of his neck while he waited for her to be done. His brown locks were a mess from the wind outside and he was dressed in the same black outfit he usually wore for work.

Suddenly the room felt a lot smaller than it had been just moments ago. Harry’s presence in the salon was astonishingly noticeable, his dark clothing and broody demeanor stood out amongst the soft colorful interior around him. Y/N had to triple-check that she hadn’t messed up on the computer in front of her. She was used to being startled by Reece while at work, but seeing Harry come in was not something she had ever expected. He had never given her the impression that he would willingly put himself in that situation. 

And trying to work while he was right there, his eyes examining her every move was nerve-wracking. It was like her first day at work all over again. When the client was done paying Y/N was nearly exhausted. 

But as the client was leaving, Harry finally moved forward and came up to the front desk, giving her a tight-lipped smile while greeting her with a small nod. 

“Harry,” she tried to not sound as startled as she actually was. Texting him and getting short replies in return wasn’t as daunting as being around him. She found herself being less nervous when his piercing green eyes weren’t right on her. 

Harry showing up unannounced at her work was something else entirely. Something she hadn’t prepared for, especially not when both Arlo and Margot were so close and could eavesdrop on the entire thing. 

Then the memory of his comforting hand on her knee as she told him about her family pushed itself to the center of her mind. It dawned on her that she hadn’t actually seen him since, and she didn’t know what to say. Ideally, her two friends, who knew nothing of her scheme, wouldn’t have been right behind them when she saw him again. 

Y/N leaned forward against the counter in an attempt to act casual and cool. Behind her she could hear her two friends giggling and sniggering between themselves, their eyes still clearly focused on her and the interaction that was about to take place. “Hi, what are you doing here?” 

“Hey,” he spoke with a low, almost reluctant, tone. Y/N watched as the muscles in his throat moved when he paused and swallowed harshly. Her eyes followed the contour of his sharp jawline up to his face and noticed his cheeks flushed in a light color of pink. “I brought you this.” 

He handed her the paper bag over the counter and Y/N raised an eyebrow questioningly as she took it from him. A smile immediately tugged at her lips as she looked inside and saw a single brownie wrapped up in a small plastic container. Harry cleared his throat before speaking again. “You said you were feeling a bit poorly today and I…” he trailed off, scrunching up his nose a little, looking for the right words before speaking again. “Well, I thought maybe you could use one of those.”

Behind her, Margot let out a not-so-subtle squeak. Y/N threw her friends a quick glare over her shoulder to shut them up before turning to Harry again.

“Thank you,” she gave him a small smile. “You didn’t have to.”

“I know,” he mumbled and shrugged lightly. “I was just passing by and got myself something, so...“

A silence fell between them and Harry diverted his eyes away from hers. He had his regular White Deer t-shirt and black trousers on. An outfit she had gotten used to seeing him in behind the bar and associated with his stoic frown, yet, there was a notable difference about him. He came across as far less intimidating in the bright lights of the salon. The way he continued to uncomfortably shift his weight from one foot to the other, not knowing where to put his hands, was a side of him she hadn’t seen before.

Before Y/N could dwell on it though she watched as Harry suddenly tensed up, his gaze landing on something over her shoulder, and without looking back she knew exactly what was happening.

“Aw, look at you two little lovebirds,” Arlo’s sweet voice rang out between the four of them and Y/N felt his arm fall around her shoulders as he squeezed up next to her. “Aren’t you just the cutest.”

“Arlo,” Y/N warned quietly and shoved a light elbow into her friend.

“What?” he said, his body shaking with laughter next to hers. Y/N rolled her eyes.

“Hiya! I’m Margot,” her more sensible friend cut in cheerfully and put her hand out towards Harry to shake. “I don’t think I've had the chance to introduce myself to you yet.”

Harry stood frozen for a bit before eventually reaching out to shake Margot’s hand.

“Harry,” he mumbled and Y/N watched as he took a subtle step back after shaking Margot’s hand.

“It‘s so nice to finally meet you properly,” Margot continued excitedly, not having noticed Harry moving away from them slightly. “It’s always so busy at the pub and I’ve heard so much about you from both Ruby and Y/N!”

Harry glanced at Y/N with a wary look, his green eyes already showing signs of regret about coming into the salon.

And even though his visit had brought her a brownie; a part of her wished he hadn’t shown up either. Harry being in the salon was the first time she would have to fake it right in front of her friends. They had only seen the two of them talk from a distance before. How was she supposed to keep up her scheme without a plan of action?

With no time to prepare it was bound to be a disaster.

“Have you now?” Arlo spoke up again before Y/N could protest the claim being made. “Because this one,” he squeezed Y/N closer to himself. “Won’t say a bloody thing to me. You’d think she made it all up with how secretive she’s being.”

“Well, I’ve only heard good things,” Margot argued and childishly stuck her tongue out. “Maybe if you weren’t so cheeky all the time people would actually tell you things.”

”Okay you two, please stop,” Y/N seized the opportunity to interrupt and shot Harry an apologetic look.

Being alone with Harry and texting him was one thing. They were friends, kind of, when it was only the two of them, and she could be herself. Now she had to play the role she had given herself as his potential girlfriend. Sharing the cramped bed in his flat had been less nerve-wracking than putting up an act right in front of her closest friends. They (Arlo) would see right through her if she acted even slightly suspiciously. “Harry only stopped by to bring me a brownie, not to hear you two bickering and making up lies.”

“Aw, you got her a brownie?” Margot pouted and looked at Harry with big eyes. “That’s so sweet of you! She loves those!”

“Yeah, hopefully she’ll be a bit nicer now,” Arlo started with a teasing tone and chuckled. “She can be a monster at this time of the month. You better get used to it, H-man, if you're planning on sticking around.”

“Arlo!” Y/N hissed, her cheeks getting hotter, as she pushed her friend away from her. “Could you not?”

“Only giving him a heads up Y/N. You’ve been in a grumpy mood all day,” he turned to look at Harry again. “I swear, she makes the evil step-sisters from Cinderella look nice when it’s that time of the month, but chocolate is the way to her heart. Write that down if you wanna live.”

“You’re such a prat.”

“I’m only joking Y/N,” Arlo said, his voice less teasing than it had been when he noticed how she once again rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw tightly.

“Well, it’s not funny,” she huffed and tried her best to not let her annoyance show too much. It was a good thing she wasn’t actually dating Harry. Because had it been real, she did not need the guy she had just started dating to know that the gremlin inside her took over when lady red was on a visit.

It wasn’t like she cared if Harry knew she had her period, it was only natural. But it still got her flustered that Arlo had announced it so casually to him. She just hoped he wasn’t too uncomfortable to find out that was the reason she had texted him that morning. Y/N woke up with the worst cramp in her lower abdomen, feeling bloated and agitated. She had sent him a message telling him to forget everything she said about Thursdays being the best day because she felt like shit and hated the world.

However, after having a cup of tea and a shower she felt a little better and her day had been quite pleasant. Thursdays were still her favorite day.

And she knew Arlo had no ill intentions saying the stuff he did, sometimes she just wished he would think twice about what he said.

“Um, right,” Harry started and cleared his throat. “I better get back to the pub.”

“Oh, ignore Arlo, he is just being a brat,” Margot said in an attempt to keep him in the salon for a bit longer. “Stay and hang out for a while, let us get to know you.”

“I got work,” Harry told her flatly and slowly started backing towards the door to make his escape.

“Yeah, of course, duh,” Margot laughed lightly before letting out a small gasp. “Oh! Everyone is coming over to mine tomorrow night to celebrate our friend Finn’s birthday, you should come!”

Y/N felt her blood run cold at the suggestion coming out of her friend’s mouth. She quickly looked at Harry. As always, his face was set like stone, giving away no clue as to what was going on inside his head.

It felt like hours had passed by before he eventually spoke up.

“Nah, I wouldn’t wanna intrude.”

“You wouldn’t!” Margot argued. “It’ll be fun. The more the merrier!”

“I’m not really a party-person,” Harry told her and shot Y/N a discreet glare, silently pleading for her to step in and help him.

“Nonsense,” Margot continued and waved her hand around as she spoke. “Everyone will be thrilled to see you and get to know you better. You don’t have to be a party-person.”

“Mar,” Y/N spoke up slowly and racked her brain for something to say that would help Harry get out of the situation. “I don’t th-”

“C’mon Y/N,” Arlo interrupted her before she could finish. “Tell your boyfriend to come! It’ll be a blast. We need to get to know the man who have you staring at your phone all day.”

“I don’t do that!” She quickly defended herself firmly and looked at Harry with honest eyes, begging him to not believe her friends. Even if she was sending more texts than she usually would, she wasn’t staring at her phone all day waiting for Harry to reply. Her screen-time statistics were still the same. “It’s his choice whether he wants to come or not.”

Harry gave her a dirty look for her weak attempt to help him get out of Margot’s invitation.

“Harry, I promise you won’t be intruding,” the chirpy girl continued, blind to the tension in the grumpy man’s shoulders. Her dark curls fell across her forehead as she clasped her hands together and gave him a pleading look. “C’mon, it’ll be fun. You won’t have to mix any drinks for anyone and you can just have a good time and get to know some people.”

“Also, if it helps,” Arlo added and gave him a pointed look. “I can already imagine Reece’s face when he sees you show up and I promise you it’ll be worth it.”

Harry stayed quiet and looked between the three friends. Y/N felt a tingle in her stomach at the mention of Reece’s name and realized that, while she had been ambushed by the whole interaction between Harry and her friends, maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea for Harry to come. It could be the final push she needed for her plan to be completed.

“If you’re busy it’s okay,” Y/N still tried to give him another out. Even if a large part of her thought it would be a perfect opportunity to make Reece jealous - Y/N felt bad. Harry wouldn’t exactly be thrilled about the idea of having to spend a whole night with them. There was no doubt in her mind that he could be completely interrogated by her friends.

And she knew how he felt about that better than anyone. She had been both the interrogator and the subject of the interrogation, but she would be there to help him. There was no way she was just gonna throw him to the wolves on his own. “There is no pressure, but you’re more than welcome to join us.”

Harry let his eyes linger on hers for a bit. For a moment, it was as if he saw right through her and into her brain. He knew she thought it would be a golden opportunity for her plan, and judging by the flash of annoyance behind the green in his eyes he was less than impressed with the turn his little visit had taken.

He let out a harsh breath and gave his final answer.

“Alright, I’ll be there.”

Y/N pressed her lips together to restrain the victorious grin that was threatening to take over. Margot clapped her hands together and went into another ramble about how fun it was going to be. Harry’s eyes were still on Y/N though, and she could tell he wasn’t listening to a single word leaving Margot’s mouth.

“Thank you,” Y/N mouthed quietly to him. His face didn’t move as he continued to stare her down.

Suddenly, Margot’s voice was just a faint background noise to her as well. The only thing her brain could register was the deep green color of Harry’s eyes and the clash of emotions behind them. She couldn’t tell whether he was angry with her, upset, or just disappointed.

Either way, it left a sour taste in her mouth, because the way he kept looking at her made her feel like she had betrayed him.

She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from taking back the invitation and apologize. The hole she had dug for herself was already too deep. There was no going back because there was no way she could explain her backtracking without coming clean about the whole scheme.

And that was completely off the table.

“Talk to you later, Ducky,” Harry said eventually and broke the intense eye contact between them. Next to her, Margot let out a flicker of delight, something Harry undoubtedly heard as well, and quickly turned around to leave before getting roped into another question. Y/N opened her mouth to say something to him, but nothing came out.

Instead, she watched as he used his body weight to push the door open and slip out, leaving her feeling a little empty and dumbstruck.

On one hand, she was happy he had agreed to come. It would take her whole plan to another level, and hopefully, it would be the last push Reece needed.

On the other hand, she did not like the way he had looked at her and the hollow hole it left in the pit of her stomach.

The paper bag felt heavy in her hands as guilt started to creep up on her. From her fingertips up to her heart. Harry had, for the first time, been the one to approach her and do something nice for her. And she had only thought about her plan.

“Ducky!?” Margot exclaimed with big eyes after the door fell shut behind Harry. “Gosh, you two are so cute together!”

“Ehm, yeah,” Y/N said and laughed weakly. “He’s just being stupid... It’s just... just a joke we have.”

The guilt inside of her continued to grow, along with the confusion as to why she suddenly felt so stupid about using Harry to get to Reece.

“That’s so adorable,” Margot gushed. “Honestly, I was a bit confused by what you saw in him, but I can totally see it now.”

“How?” Arlo thought out loud. “We only saw him for like five minutes.”

“I know that. He just seems like the type of person who would do anything for the people he actually cares for, you know what I mean? Like once you get to know him. Like you have Y/N.”

“You got all that from that conversation?” Arlo laughed. “He hardly said a word and when he did he was trying to turn down your offer to come hang tomorrow.”

“Ah, don’t act so surprised. I’m good at reading people,” Margot shrugged smugly. “Also, he is absolutely gorgeous! If I didn’t have a girlfriend, one look into those lush eyes would’ve had me on my knees.”

“Jesus Christ,” Arlo burst out and his body shook with his loud laughter.

“Have you kissed him yet Y/N?”

Her eyes widened at the question directed toward her. She tried to mimic her friends and let out another weak laugh to play along with their excitement.

“No, not yet,” she told them.

“You’re telling me you spent the night at his place and nothing happened?” Arlo scoffed and bumped his hips into her. “C’mon, you expect us to believe that?”

“It’s true,” Y/N said and swallowed the lump in her throat, still trying to figure out why she felt so incredibly guilty. Harry had agreed to help her out. He knew the reason she had approached him was to spark Reece into asking her out.

So why did it all of a sudden feel like she was using him? “Um, I’ll be right back,” she muttered and swiftly turned to walk to the backroom of the salon without another word. Arlo called her name, but she ignored him.

Instead, she dumped the paper bag containing the brownie on the table and hastily pulled out her phone to send Harry a text. She had to talk to him. She wasn’t even sure of what to say, she just knew she had to talk to him.

But as she opened her conversation with Harry her breath got stuck in her throat. Because above the small keyboard on her phone were three small bubbles, indicating that he was already typing something for her.

“Hey, you okay?”

Y/N looked up with big eyes, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, and saw Arlo standing by the doorway with a concerned frown.

“What?”

“Is everything okay?” Arlo repeated his question. She looked down at her phone again, the three bubbles still blinking on her screen sending a wave of nervous shivers down her spine.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, locking her screen and looking up at Arlo again. She gave him a small smile. He studied her for a while before sighing lightly.

“Look, I’m sorry if I came on a little strong with Harry,” he apologized.  

“It’s fine,” Y/N shook her head and felt her phone vibrate in her sweaty hands. Harry had sent his message.

“I was a bit of a twat,” Arlo admitted. “I didn't mean to. I just figured you two were like solid now and I could take the piss a bit, but wasn't really fair on you.”

“Honestly, don’t worry about it,” Y/N told him and gave him another smile, wanting the conversation to be over so she could read what Harry had sent her. “Maybe just don’t mention I’m a monster when I’m on my period again.”

“You got it,” Arlo said and ran his fingers across his lips, pretending to lock them. She glanced down at her phone and the screen lit up again, the notification of Harry’s text looking back at her tauntingly.

He had brought her her favorite brownie and she had completely overlooked it and forced him into another part of her scheme. Could it be their growing friendship that made her feel a lot more treacherous about the whole thing than before? Was that the reason for the guilt spreading like wildfire inside her? “I’m happy for you by the way,” Arlo’s voice startled her out of her spiraling thoughts. “You've been happy lately. He seems like a good guy, even if he doesn’t really say much.”

“I-” she faltered and rattled her brain for an appropriate answer to Arlo’s comment. The guilt inside her instantly grew another branch. She had never lied to any of her friends before. The reality of what she was doing was slapping her in the face, and it wasn’t very nice. “...Thank you.”

“Anyways,” Arlo nodded. “I just came to tell you that your four o’clock client is here.”

“Oh, right!” She exhaled deeply as she was reminded of the fact that she was still at work. “Could you get them seated, please? I’ll be right out. Just gotta check something quick.”

Arlo simply nodded and gave her a thumbs-up before he spun around to get back out into the salon. Y/N looked down at her phone, swiping a finger across the screen to finally come face to face with the message Harry had sent her.

Harry Styles 3:59 pm Nothing bad ever happens on a Thursday yeh?

You owe me.

His words immediately added a new layer to her guilt, while simultaneously also lifting a weight off her shoulders, because at least he was still talking to her.

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“For fuck sake,” Harry muttered to himself as he glanced at the clock and realized Y/N was running late.

He never should’ve agreed to help her out. He should’ve known it was going to be a lot more than just one date. Ever since he first laid his eyes on her he knew that she was going to give him a headache. Something about Y/N kept pulling him back, even when he tried his best to keep his distance.  

The silly girl had cast a spell on him. Whether it was the way she would look at him with her big puppy eyes whenever she asked him for a favor or the fact that she seemed to be genuinely interested in getting to know him - Harry didn’t know.

He felt protective over her in a way he couldn’t explain, and he hated it. It only got worse after she told him about the passing of her dad and brother. She’d given him a small glance at who she really was behind that controlled smile and carefree attitude. Harry had let himself get captivated by her pure and innocent nature, and it needed to stop.  

It gnawed on his mind daily. How had he allowed himself to let her get so close? He was beyond frustrated, and yet, he still found himself picking up his phone as soon as he was alerted of a new text from her.

He really should’ve said no. Because one date had turned into letting her spend the night and now he was going to hang out with her friends. Something he had desperately been trying to avoid since arriving in the small town. He wasn’t there to make friends.

So why on earth had he agreed to help her?

Y/N had offered to meet up with him before so he wouldn’t have to arrive at Margot’s place alone. And as he stood waiting for her to show up, Harry decided he was done. He was going to tell her he no longer wanted to be a part of whatever was going on. If she wanted to be with Reece she was going to have to get him herself. The whole thing was ridiculous and he didn’t have the time nor the energy to engage in her stupid scheme anymore.

The whole thing was a mistake.

Perhaps Patrick had been right when he said Harry was a fool. He had a good life in London. A home most people could only dream of, a good job that paid more than enough, and a pretty decent future waiting for him. If he had stayed he would’ve been set for life; he never would’ve had to worry about money and whether he would afford to pay his rent.

London had everything he could ever need.

And yet, he left.

Because there was one thing that growing up in London had taught him; everyone would find a way to betray you. Even the people who were supposed to always have your back.

Any time his mother told him he was acting too much like his father he sank deeper and deeper into the dark he had first been exposed to from a young age.

Harry had never even met his real dad. He had no idea who he was or if he was even alive. As far as he knew, even to this day, his father was nothing but a scumbag. Denise had fallen pregnant with Harry at the age of 15 and his father, being a couple of years older, had left her to deal with it on her own.

His mom remarried when Harry was five and Patrick was the closest thing he had ever had to a father. Although, he couldn’t recall ever calling Patrick 'dad'.  

Patrick came from a different world. A world of privilege and wealth. He was set to take over the family company and inherit millions of pounds. It took a long time for Patrick's family to accept Denise, a young single mother working as a waitress, as their son’s wife.

The Lovell family was a well-known and respected name in the upper class in London. Patrick’s parents had expected him to marry someone from their circle of the world, someone with the same status and money as them.

Whereas they eventually warmed up to Denise, they never truly recognized Harry as a part of their family.

His mother took the name Lovell after getting married, but Harry still had her maiden name. He wasn’t Patrick’s real son, and all of them often liked to remind him of that as he grew up.

The twins were born a couple of years later, and while Harry was struggling to fit in, his siblings got everything handed to them on a silver platter. He did everything he could think of to finally get accepted into the Lovell family. He got the highest grades in school, always kept his room tidy, played tennis (even though he hated it - the Lovells loved it), and spent all his free time reading instead of playing video games.

Eventually, he went to university, got his degree, and started working for Patrick, hoping that would finally earn him the approval he had been chasing for so long.

And it worked, kind of, but in the end, Harry found out it meant nothing. He hated his job and all the pretentious people surrounding him. It was all about who had the biggest house or the fanciest car. He found himself faking it to make his mother proud. He turned into someone he didn’t recognize and slowly started to despite the reflection staring back at him in the mirror as he got ready for work.

Then Tamara came along and for a short while Harry thought he had finally found the love he had been yearning for all those years.

Unfortunately, like most things in his life, it turned out it was too good to be true.

“Harry!”

Y/N’s voice snapped him back to reality and he looked up to see her running towards him frantically. “I’m so sorry I’m late! I had a nap after work and didn’t realize what time it was. Then my bike had a flat tire and I couldn’t find the pump to fix it and I thought I was gonna have to walk all the way into town, but then I-”

“I could’ve picked you up,” He interrupted her rambling with a frown.

Fuck.

Why did he say that?

He couldn’t keep helping her.

“Well, I figured I was already making you do enough,” she said and bit the inside of her cheek. “I’m sorry for this whole thing. I didn’t know Margot was going to invite you.”

“You didn’t exactly stop her,” Harry scoffed, his annoyance about everything accidentally slipping through. He hadn’t meant for it to sound so harsh, and when he noticed the small smile on her lips falter he instantly felt bad.  

Fuck.

“I know,” she mumbled. “I’m really sorry. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Harry sighed, running a hand over his face tiredly. She had that look on her again. The same one that had left a sour taste in his mouth at the restaurant during their “date”.

Before she showed up he had been fully determined to tell her it was the last time he would be helping her. The whole thing was starting to be too much. The quiet life he had pictured for himself did not involve helping some girl he had pretty much just met make another guy jealous.

The phrase ‘I’m done’ was on the tip of his tongue, but as she looked up at him through her dark lashes he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Y/N, with her stupid plan and bewitching smile, had gotten under his skin.

That was what bothered him the most. He had made a promise to himself and he was already failing. He never should’ve had dinner with her or let her stay the night, and he most certainly never should’ve bought her a brownie. What the fuck was he thinking?

“Don’t worry about it,” he ended up telling her and let a multitude of profanities soar through his head.

He had to end the plan.

He would end the plan.

“It’s just one night and there will be a lot of food and drinks and it’s all for free, you just need to pretend you’re having a good time... and maybe hold my hand or something.”

There was no way it could continue. It was stupid. The plan was so incredibly fucking stupid. The only thing stupider than her crush on Reece was Reece himself. Everything Harry had learned about the guy was against his will and he would pay good money to never hear that name ever again. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what it was that bothered him so much, but Reece frankly just reminded him far too much of the people he was trying to leave behind.

Which was another reason why the plan had to end. He had left London to get away from people like Reece and now he was suddenly going to spend an entire evening with him. If Y/N could just remove the rose-colored glasses she saw him through, and see his true colors, Harry would feel a lot better about quitting on her.

Maybe Y/N would give up on her own accord after tonight, Harry thought.

Maybe it was the last push she needed to see that her plan was pointless.

He could only hope.

If she did, Harry would have his hands clean. He wouldn’t have to see the disappointment in her eyes and he could continue pretending nothing had ever happened.

And if she didn’t, he would just tell her that he was done later.

One more night couldn’t hurt, he reassured himself. There was no reason to potentially upset her right before meeting up with her friends. No matter how much he hated the plan, he hated the idea of upsetting her even more.

So he walked with her to Margot’s flat, desperately trying to ignore the small boy inside him still longing for acceptance.

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Y/N’s brain was having a malfunction. Not a single coherent thought was running through her mind as she sat squished between Harry and Arlo on Margot’s small couch. Kiara had squeezed down next to Arlo on the other side, making Y/N scoot over and nearly end up in Harry’s lap. Everyone was talking loudly around her, but the only thing she could think about was the hard muscle of his thigh underneath hers.

To make things worse, Reece was sitting right across from her on a small plastic stool. His blue eyes made her head swirl ten times more whenever they landed on her. Despite wearing a skirt and a short-sleeved bodysuit, Y/N was burning up from the inside. Harry’s body was so hot next to hers.

And when Reece focused his eyes on her thigh resting on top of Harry’s, a flash of resentment flicking by behind the deep blue, Y/N nearly collapsed.

It wasn't until Arlo snapped his fingers in front of her face that she finally came back down to earth.

“Hello?” He mocked and lightly flicked her nose. “Are you in there?”

“What?” she flinched, accidentally jabbing her elbow into Harry’s side, causing him to let out a soft grunt. His hand unintentionally caught the arm that had dug into him. If Y/N hadn’t already been lost in thought, having Harry's long fingers wrapped around her wrist made her last brain cell vanish with the rest of them.

And the blue eyes glaring in their direction didn’t help bring any of them back to life.

“Well, Kiara here just asked you a question,” Arlo told her and nodded his head toward the dark-haired girl to his left. “Have you even been listening?”

“Of course,” she lied and chuckled lightly, hoping it would help her case. As soon as Kiara had sat down and Y/N was forced to mold her body into Harry’s she had stopped hearing a single thing anyone said.

To be fair, she couldn’t remember much from before that either.

On their way up the stairs to Margot’s flat her heart had been beating so fast she thought it was going to pop out of her chest. Everyone, besides Kiara, was already there so they had arrived to everyone staring at them. Most of them had looked at the pair with gaping mouths as if they had just seen a ghost when they noticed Harry hovering behind her.

Y/N tried her best to lighten the mood almost immediately, panic already rising inside her, by telling them all a joke. It didn’t work very well, but, thankfully, Margot’s enthusiastic spirit came to the rescue.

She was on her feet the moment she heard the front door open, welcoming them with open arms and repeating how happy she was that Harry had decided to come. Y/N still couldn’t believe that Harry had agreed to spend an entire evening with them, and as Margot threw herself at him to embrace him in a hug Y/N was sure he would turn right around and leave.

Harry didn’t necessarily hug Margot back. Y/N watched as the usual line between his brows appeared and how his jaw tightened. She had texted him back earlier, before tending to her client, and apologized profusely. She promised she'd meet up with him beforehand and that they wouldn’t have to stay long. Harry had only replied with a simple thumbs up, saying it didn’t matter, and the guilt running through her fizzled out for a moment. She just convinced herself that he wouldn’t have agreed if he truly didn’t want to.

Then she was late and saw him standing, waiting for her, with a tired face and slumped shoulders. The guilt flared back up almost immediately. He told her not to worry about it. She tried not to. But as the shock of Harry showing up had settled, everyone started blasting him with questions about his past life. Y/N felt so bad.

She did her best to change the topic and tell her friends to back off. They did eventually. Not because she attempted to help him though. It was more due to Harry being Harry. He didn’t really answer any of their questions. As soon as they realized he wasn’t interested in talking much, they quickly returned to whatever topic they had discussed before.

Nevertheless, Harry hadn’t pushed Margot away when she hugged him, and most importantly... he hadn’t left.

Instead, he sat squished next to her, quietly sipping his beer, and observed the group of friends as they got drunker by the minute.

“Uh-huh,” Arlo smirked. “Why don’t you go ahead and answer Kiara’s question then.”

“I...” Y/N started, quickly realizing there was no point in lying. She gave Kiara an apologetic smile. “Sorry, could you repeat that, please?”

Arlo laughed and raised his glass in triumph.

“I was just saying you two are quite the unexpected match,” Kiara told her and took a sip from the sparkling wine she was drinking, looking between Y/N and Harry. “I don’t think you ever told me how you two met. Was it at the pub?”

“Oh,” Y/N swallowed the lump in her throat. “Yeah... The pub, yeah.”

“I’m still impressed you’ve gotten enough out of him to go on a date,” Finn winked at Y/N and then shot Harry a quick look. “No offense, Bro.”

Harry only shook his head, completely unfazed by the birthday boy’s words.

“What can I say,” Y/N laughed nervously. “Sometimes it’s just easy.”

And she’s not sure what she was thinking, but the next thing she knew, she was reaching for Harry’s hand. He tried to resist, but Y/N ignored it as she gently lifted his hand from his lap and laced her fingers between his. Y/N didn’t dare to look at him, dreading whatever expression he had on his face. Despite resisting at first, his strong fingers wrapped around hers, warm and strong. The large ring on his index finger pressed firmly into her skin.

“You guys are honestly so adorable,” Margot cooed and cupped her cheeks, staring at the two of them lovingly. “I love Love.”

“God, M,” Reece cringed, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like they’re getting married.”

“Did you guys know he calls her Ducky?!” Margot continued, completely ignoring the comment thrown at her, and pointed a finger at the couple on the couch. “Adorable I say!”

“Alright babe,” Ruby laughed and gave her girlfriend a light pat on her thigh. “Maybe you should have some water.”  

The discussion quickly moved on after that, but Harry’s hand was still in hers. She couldn’t bring herself to let go. Mostly because she didn’t want it to look like she was only holding his hand to convince them they were dating.

The other reason they were still holding hands was more because Y/N felt like she could breathe again. Even with the deep blue eyes watching her closely.

And as the air was finally making it down to her lungs again Y/N found the courage to lift her gaze to the man sitting on the opposite side of the table, only to realize that the blue eyes were not on her.

Instead, blue was meeting green. Reece’s focus was solely on the man sitting next to her. The man whose hand was still currently resting delicately in hers.

Y/N carefully looked around the room to see if anyone else had noticed the two men staring each other down.

Fortunately, they were all busy chatting mindlessly about something new. The topic of her love life was completely left in the dust. Ruby had managed to get her girlfriend to drink a glass of water and was whispering something in her ear that made Margot giggle like a little schoolgirl.

No one had noticed the sneer on Reece’s lips and the way his chest suddenly puffed out. Holding her breath she found the courage to discreetly glance to her right and saw Harry staring back at the blonde man with the same narrowed eyes. Both men refused to accept defeat and be the first ones to look away first.

And Y/N regretted not being the one to run out.

For the first time, she looked at Reece and found herself feeling a little put-off. His usual charismatic demeanor was buried deep beneath the dark that had taken over his bright blue eyes. Harry, on the other hand, looked just like he always did. She had gotten so used to the stoic look on his face and the way his brows would knit together in a scowl. It didn’t surprise her to see him meeting Reece’s harsh glare and staring him down the same way.

The only thing that really took her off guard was the pressure on her hand. Whether it was intentional or not, Harry squeezed her hand in his.

It was Finn who eventually made the two men break.

“Alright, since it’s my birthday I think it’s time for some beer-pong!” The drunk man announced, slurring slightly and throwing his arms up in the air.

“Good luck sinking any of those cups, Mate,” Arlo laughed loudly. “Can you even see straight anymore?”

Finn raised his hand and middle finger.

“First of all, fuck you,” he said, chugging the rest of his beer. “Second, that’s why I’ll be the judge. It’s my birthday and that means I make the rules.”

“Aw, c’mon,” Ruby whined. “I’m not taking a shot every time I miss again. I want to make it home alive.”  

“Yeah, that was rough,” Kiara agreed. “I spent the entire day on the bathroom floor after that.”

“Make sure you don’t miss then,” Jack teased and Finn pointed at him with a large grin.

“Listen to Jacky ladies!”

“Nahh, I’m not playing if that is a rule,” Ruby argued and shrugged. “Sorry, not sorry.”

“Fine,” Finn pouted. “But just know there might be something worse waiting for you.”

“We doing teams of two as always?” Arlo asked and looked at Y/N with a mischievous grin, hoping to team up with his usual partner to protect their winning streak.

“Hmm,” Finn paused for a moment and looked between the two friends, undoubtedly catching the smug glance Arlo had given Y/N. “Yeah, teams of two, but Arlo and Y/N cannot play together.”

“What!?”

“I make the rules,” Finn smiled proudly. “You two are annoying.”

“Try working with them,” Margot giggled and Finn raised his beer, clinking it against her wine glass.

“You guys suck,” Arlo declared and sank further into the couch. “It’s not my fault you don’t know how to play.”

“Yeah yeah, go cry about it.”

“Angel, wanna team up?”

“What?” Y/N blurted out, looking back to the blonde man who had been shooting daggers at her ‘date’ just moments ago.

“Gotta make sure I get the best player when she’s available,” Reece winked at her, seemingly forgetting all about Harry and the staring contest. Y/N found herself not knowing what to say for the hundredth time that evening. It should’ve been an easy yes because it was exactly what she wanted. Reece wanted her to be on his team, just the two of them, playing together as one.

It should’ve been an easy yes, but the warm hand currently wrapped around hers made that yes get stuck in her throat on its way up.

When she didn’t immediately reply Reece continued. “C’mon, make me the happiest man in the room and say yes.”

Her heart skipped a beat. For a moment it was as if the whole room slowed down. Like it was only the two of them still there. She could feel herself getting flustered by his sweet words, her whole body growing hotter all over again.

Unknowingly Y/N let her lips curve into a bright smile.  

However, the warm feeling got an abrupt end when Harry suddenly released her hand. It was done smoothly, without anyone noticing, but she felt a cold shiver run through her as soon as he carefully slid his hand out of hers.

“This is unfair! You can’t just take my partner away from me like this. You all suck at this, how am I supposed to keep my beautiful winning streak with any of you on my team?!” Arlo sulked and shook his head in disbelief. Then his eyes widened, sparkling with enthusiasm, and he looked at the new addition to the group. “Harry, are you any good? I call dibs on the bartender!”

“Ohhhh, yes!” Finn burst out with a big grin and slammed his hand down against the table. A couple of empty bottles fell over. “The two champions against each other, let the game begin! Reece and Y/N against Arlo and Harry - let’s go!”

Y/N looked at Harry, her mouth falling open, ready to apologize for getting him involved in a stupid game of beer-pong. Nothing came out. Because how could she give him an apology in front of all her friends without making it weird?

Instead, she watched as Harry drank the last of his beer and got up to join Arlo, not sparing her a single glance.

Fuck.

“C’mon Angel, let’s go show them losers who are the true champions,” Reece said and stood up, reaching his hand out towards her to help her up.

Y/N stared at the large hand being offered to her before timidly reaching out and taking it. With the memory of Harry’s much softer hand still so vivid in her mind it was hard not to compare the two. Reece’s hand felt rough and cold in comparison to the one that had just been wrapped delicately around hers.

It was obvious Reece’s hand was a lot more calloused due to his tough occupation as a construction worker, and usually, it would light a flicker of arousal in her to have him so close. The only thing her body could pick up on now, as she took his hand in hers, was the lack of warmth.

What had she gotten herself into?

As she waited and watched her friends prepare for the game, Y/N tried to catch Harry’s attention. He kept himself busy by looking down at his phone, avoiding her gaze at all costs. Before she could get a clue as to what was running through his head Finn handed her the small ping-pong ball.

“Ladies first,” he announced and waved his arm towards the table. “Let’s go.”

Y/N really should’ve known that a game of beer-pong between two males who had just been staring each other down fiercely wouldn’t end well.

It started as any other game of the stupid drinking game. She threw the ball across the table and it landed right in the cup in the middle. Finn cheered loudly and announced his first rule; everyone not playing would have to drink as well when someone got the ball in a cup. Ruby protested and said it was unfair. Finn changed it and let everyone place bets on who was winning and had to drink when that team lost a cup.

The game continued and Arlo repeated what Y/N had done, letting the ball fly through the air and gracefully land in the cup in the middle. Reece missed his first shot. Harry too.

Y/N ended up missing her second attempt... and her third... and her fourth. She nearly got it on her fifth, but the ball ended up spinning out of the cup.

On her seventh attempt, she finally managed to score another cup, but it usually didn’t take her that long. She was far too unfocused. Reece was standing far too close behind her, his chest nearly pressing against her back, and whenever it was Arlo and Harry’s turn his hand would linger just beside her hip. Her head was in shambles.

Not only from Reece. No. There was a lot more adding to Little Y/N running around like a maniac inside her. The two men had picked up their staring contest and Reece took every chance he got to throw little digs at the other team, who were currently losing the game.  

“What’s with the frown Henry?” he snickered when Harry got up to take another shot. “Can’t handle losing? You didn’t play beer pong in the big city? Was it not posh enough for you?”

Harry rolled his eyes, it was subtle enough that no one picked up on it, apart from Y/N. It was enough to make her want to call it quits on the game and drag him out of there.

Harry raised his arm and threw the ball across the table and it landed right in one of the cups in the back row. Arlo jumped in excitement, pumping his fists in the air, while Finn and Jack let out a roar of laughter.

“Just trying to go easy on you, Mate,” Harry told him and shrugged casually. While everyone was preoccupied toasting to Harry’s comeback Y/N picked up on the, to her, very obvious hostile tone of his voice.

“Ah, that’s more like it,” Reece countered and clicked his tongue behind his teeth. “Why don’t we make this a little more interesting... how ‘bout a bet?”

“I’m good,” Harry scoffed lightly. Even with a table between them, Y/N could see the tension gradually growing in him.

“C’mon, don’t be a pussy,” Reece continued to taunt him, his chest puffed out and a smirk playing on his lips. “Loser gets the first round for everyone at the pub.”

“He works at the bloody pub,” Finn laughed at the bet. “He can probably get us a round for free!”

“Great, then he has nothing to worry about has he?” Reece replied and looked at Harry with raised brows, waiting for him to accept.

“I’m not playing for a bet,” Harry repeated firmly, the corner of his lips twitching slightly as the lower part of his jaw shifted forward.

“Who the hell put a stick up your arse?” Reece mocked. “Loosen up, Man. It’s only a bit of fun”

“Then play against someone else,” Harry replied coldly. Y/N shared a concerned glance with Arlo, who seemed to have picked up on the bitter direction the conversation was going. “Or are you just desperate to swing your dick around and show off to the new guy?”

“What the fuck did you say?” Reece retorted and pointed an accusing finger right at him after tossing the small ping-pong ball to the side. The playful smirk was long gone, replaced by an angry scowl. The sudden change in his demeanor seemed to alert the rest of the group that the mood between the two men had changed. They all stood by, watching awkwardly, as Harry let out a dry laugh and shook his head.

“What’s your problem, Mate?”

“It’s my boy Finn’s birthday,” Reece began and took a deep breath through his nose. His chest puffed out further as he straightened his posture, taking a step forward to get closer to where Harry was standing.

Ruby reached out to put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to hold her brother back. Reece shrugged his sister's hand off of him and took another step forward. “I’m trying to have a good fucking night and you’re bumming everyone out and ruining the night. What’s your fucking problem?”

“Right now,” Harry started and mimicked Reece’s actions, getting closer. “You are.”

Arlo looked at Y/N again, eyes wide as he nodded his head towards the two men sizing each other up, silently telling her to step in and do something.

“O-okay,” Y/N interrupted with a shaky voice, her hand clutching the glass in her hand tightly. “Let’s just get back to playing, yeah? Like you said, Reece, it’s Finn’s birthday. Let’s just have some fun.”

Her head was swirling and she was sure her knees were going to give out if whatever was happening escalated any further. An awkward silence fell across the room, but Reece and Harry didn’t take a step back from each other.

She had known it was going to be a bit tricky having the two of them in the same room again. Harry had made it clear he wasn’t the biggest fan of the blonde man. Reece had also made it known he didn’t think very highly of the new bartender. She never could’ve imagined things would take the turn that they had. It was the most Harry had spoken all night, and she feared it would only get worse if she didn’t get them to back down.

Her body moved on its own as she rushed past Reece and put a gentle hand on Harry’s chest to push him back. “Ignore him,” she mumbled only loud enough for him to hear. “Please.”

Harry dropped his gaze down to her, his eyes getting softer almost immediately.

When she felt his body relax under her touch her knees finally gave out from the relief running through her. She stumbled a little and Harry was quick to catch her, placing his large hand on her hip to keep her steady.

Instead of getting herself lost in the deep green eyes looking down at her, Y/N quickly spun around and forced a big smile to ease the tension. “First round is on me, everyone,” she announced and tried to stop her regret from shining through. “No need for a bet!”

“See! This is what I want to hear,” Finn boasted. “Y/N automatically wins this round on her own!”

And that was the end of it.

Everyone moved on as if nothing had happened.

Margot and Ruby got up to play against Kiara and Jack. Finn continued making up rules as the game went on and had everyone downing a shot of tequila when Margot and Ruby were crowned as the new champions.

But even though the stand-off between Harry and Reece had been declared over and dealt with by everyone else, Y/N didn’t miss the harsh glances still being exchanged between the two.

It was going to be a long night.

Fuck.  

.

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A/N: IM SORRY! It’s been forever I know!!! Life got in the way of writing unfortunately, but part five is finally here! I hope you liked it and is still interested to follow along on this journey! <3 I’m praying it won’t be as long until part six. Im gonna do my best to get it up soon, but I don’t want to rush anything either and post something I’m not happy with. 

Please do tell me your thoughts on this though! I’m actually so nervous because it’s been so long since I posted something and I’m scared. I hope you all enjoyed it, things are definitely changing with all of them. I can’t tell you enough how much your feedback means to me and your support is what gets me motivated to find time to write. And PLEASE share if you liked it. I LOVE YOU! 

Until next time, be safe and do things that make you happy<3 

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