#I was gonna add stars to her stockings
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“Is your girl shopping for small sizes?”
Let her! Because Girls look better in a real tight sweater!
“🎶Girls look better in a real tight sweater🎶“
#danganronpa#maki harukawa#I swear I was practicing anatomy and:#HOLY SHIT????#paper drawing#Girls look better in a real tight sweater 🎶#I was gonna add stars to her stockings
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not a hc but can you rank lucy's stardresses?
A fit rank huh? Sure I can do that. Just gonna preface n say that obviously this is my opinion and whatevs and that I won't be includin any of the ones introduced in 100yr because I don't care about the sequel :]
Alrightie lets get into it! This gonna get long tho, so imma put it under read more so I don't murder ppl who are scrolling.
Aquarius Stardress
This one honestly might be on the lower tiers for me. Like for the first stardress shown its rather, boring. The colour choice of green and yellow is weird, and visually disconnects it from Aquarius (like seriously? No blue anywhere?). The wrap skirt is cute and I do love how she has Aquarius' collarbone tattoo. That's fire. But the basic bikini top is meh. Overall its serviceable, 6/10 on the Phoenix scale.
Leo Stardress
Honestly can't go wrong with a nice black dress. I really would've preferred a pants suit for this one but the dress regardless is fun. I has a nice shape with the asymmetrical skirt and I like the ruffles all over. I also like how the anime gave her stockings
If I had nitpicks i'd say to get rid of the center line down the middle of the chest, the two under the bust are enough and get rid of the purple hair clip, it feels tacked on and just tosses in a random colour to the palette. I'd also maybe change the yellow to something more orange so it pops more (maybe even make the interior of the dress something eyecatching to add some extra oomph visually when she's kicking.)
But good fit, 8/10
Virgo Stardress
Well, it's about what you'd expect tbh. It's a maid outfit lol. There ain't much here to say cept that its cute. 6/10
Tauros Stardress
Oh hell fuckin yea. HELL YEAH
Unabashedly this one is one of my favourites solely because of the uneven pants. It's so fun and stupid. I also like how she and Tauros have matching belt buckles.
The basic ass bikini top does bring it down though (sorry i'm a bikini top hater. If you're gonna put a character in a bikini top at least make it a different style! There's different types of tops that can be both sexy and interesting!!!!). It also looks wack at certain angles.
My chest hurts lookin at this.
Apart from that I don't think the double buns works best with this dress, I think it'd work better if swapped with the double braids of the capricorn dress. Also I just think it'd be cool if this dress gave her an axe, like how the cancer dress gave her weapons.
but because of how much joy the stupid pants give me, 9/10.
Sagittarius Stardress
Another banger stardress despite a glaringly obvious issue.
This shit's great to me. Good colours, fun patterns, i fuckin love that its backless and the high ponytail is great here. The issue?
That deep ass coochie cut.
On god it just looks so uncomfortable. The anime tried to even it out by giving her tights but that just tossed in another colour to the palette and just unbalances it. A simple fix would've been just to make it white leggings under there. Skin tight, sexy and still practical. Apart from the coochie cut the only nitpick I have is that I think the boob window should've been star shaped and i wish her sleeves also doubled as archery gloves.
Apart from that and how much the coochie cut haunts me, its a 9/10
Aires Stardress
Now I have no idea why, but I was never exactly big on this one. Like it's not awful, all the stardresses have a baseline cuteness to them. The alternating pink and white tiers on the dress is nice, but the cut under the bust kinda kills the uniform pattern it had goin on. Likewise the leggings don't feel coherent to the rest of the fit. Like still cute, but the stripes and the introduction of black makes the whole thing feel busy and plain all at once. Though ironically when it's in the manga and purely black and white i think it looks better.
But I dunno, i think this one actually might be my least favourite. 4/10
Gemini Stardress
Ok. I like the alternating blue and white all over. That's cool. But, that headdress on top of the already busy outfit feels like its a lil too much on top. Also the random gold baubles on the outfit itself feels sorta thrown on. The belt can stay I suppose but nix the tassels near the collar and trade in the boob window for a deeper neckline.
We can just get rid of the headdress altogether and change her hairstyle to like, crown braid with a hanging blue and white ribbon on either side to keep with the alternating colours and we golden. 5/10
Scorpio Stardress
Gonna start this off to say, not a big fan of the bottom (the leather panty thing with the chain on it? Dawg idk i don't like it lol). and the chain on it looks so silly and not in a fun way. If anything I think she should have a bigger tail, not as big as scorpio's but defs something bigger that what she has currently. And as much as I like backless fits I don't think it works here, the deep cut boob window can stay though. I do like the headband and how her hair frames her face but overall its another 5/10.
Also here's a scorpio stardress redesign that I like. Doesn't fix all my issues with the og but it's still pretty dope.
Cancer Stardress
I like this because it looks cool and gives Lucy weapons. I don't like it because it doesn't connect well with Cancer the spirit visually. But Cancer's design sucks and I like this better than Cancer himself. Truly a design with conundrums for me. 6/10
Capricorn Stardress
I don't like this dress! Not one bit! Why is it a bdsm tit dress! The hair is cute and I like the shades and the horn clips with the bows but the dress!!!!!!!! Why is it so visually disconnected from Capricorn the spirit! Why isn't it a skirt suit with sexy fishnet leggings like in the concept art!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why isn't this the canon design!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tragic/10
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Deuce Info Compilation Part 1: Deuce's Mom
Deuce first references his mother during Book 1 when it is revealed that he was “the only man of the house”, so he would help her with the heavy lifting that resulted from when she would “stock up” during sales.
Deuce references helping his mother during sales again in his PE vignette, where he uses the skills he learned as a child to help Sebek acquire pudding for Lilia (“I can’t tell you how many times I was barreled down over a single carton of eggs.”)
Deuce reveals that he had been able to shop for Trey and others at the dorm during the chaos of Sam’s sale, and Sebek compliments him as “a gifted human indeed”.
We get the story of Deuce’s past for the first time during Book 1 when he explains that he had been “wild” when he was younger (“yobisute” was changed to “I called my teachers names” as English does not have honorifics)
He says his change of heart was inspired by overhearing his mother crying about “how she must have been a horrible mom, and that maybe she never should have tried to raise me by herself.” Deuce insists on taking responsibility for his past actions, saying “She hadn’t done anything wrong. It was all me.” When he was accepted to NRC, he “decided then and there that this time, I wouldn’t do anything to make her cry. This time, I’d become an honor student—someone she could be proud of.”
The topic of his mother arises during Wish Upon a Star, as well, with Deuce saying that he once heard her wish for him to stop fighting and live a healthy life.
Deuce’s mother calls him twice during the Wish Upon a Star event, and the first time leads to a conversation with Silver where he says that his old friends used to make fun of him for being so close to her. Silver says, “It’s only natural you’d want to talk regularly with someone you care about.”
Deuce shares a summarized version of his past with Silver and we learn that, due to his poor reputation, Deuce would get accused of things that he’d had nothing to do with.
He says, “Of course I got a huge attitude when people wouldn’t believe me. Looking back, though, they had every reason not to.” We learn that the only people who ever believed him were his mother and a neighborhood police officer who would always insist on hearing his side of a story and prove that he had an alibi when people tried to frame Deuce for things he hadn’t done.
Deuce says that, “If I could be like that, maybe my mom wouldn’t worry for much”. Deuce explains that this is why he wants to be a police officer when he is older: more specifically, a part of an agency that handles magical crimes, referred to as “magic marshals”.
Deuce’s mother calls him again at the end of Wish Upon a Star to tell him that “Even Night Raven College couldn’t have asked for a finer Stargazer than you” and “You know I’m very proud of you”, which nearly makes Deuce cry. He says, “One of these days, I’m gonna make my mom happy by making an even bigger wish come true.”
Deuce brings up his dream of joining the police force again in his birthday vignette, saying that he he has put most of his effort into “media research”, watching movies and TV and memorizing “intense-looking running styles” and “cool-sounding one-liners to use when making an arrest”.
Deuce mentions his mother often: in the Culinary Crucible he talks about wanting to “learn how to cook good meals for when I’m at home”, saying that his mother would “always cook egg dishes for my birthday” and “now I know what mom means when she says she adds a pinch of love to her cooking”.
We learn that Deuce would help his mother cook as a child. He says that he recently learned that she’d had a cold, but she didn’t let him know until after she had fully recovered. Deuce says “I kinda wish she’d lean on me more when she’s struggling” and “the next time I visit, I want to cook for her and show that I’m more dependable than ever!”
When Crowley and Ortho threaten to expose the students for not going to rescue Idia from Eliza during the Phantom Bride event Deuce’s reaction is “my mom would cry if she saw me on the news like that”.
He also mentions his mother waiting for him during Winter Holidays, something he wants to buy but cannot afford and how he does not want to ask him mom for money, the curry she would make, sending her a picture of his halloween costume, helping her with household appliances and more.
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January 1, Day 1
1 day 2015
I've stared at that card for the past 7 months wishing the new year would get here already & it finally has. I have kind of a big resolution that will probably take all year but I want to get off all the medications I'm on, get myself healthy & back to living and enjoying life! #wishmeluck #newyears #resolution #goodbye2014 #hello2015 #project365 #day1
I started project 365 because I needed something to keep me going. I was bed ridden at the time due to medication induced vertigo. It was awful and I wanted to die. It lasted months and my doctor was no help. I was hopeless. I starred at this card that a friend of my mom had made her for months just wishing for a change. That change was me.
1 day 2016
Today was a nice chill day! (January's theme is blue!) #shadesofblue #chill #relaxed #january #hello2016 #picoftheday #project365 #day1
By the time I hit the second year I was ready to mix things up and add a theme each month. Each month in 2016 had a different color scheme, starting with blue!
1 day 2017
Happy New Year!
#newyear #2017 #hello2017 #mayancalendar #january #circleoflife #picoftheday #project365 #day1
1 day 2018
#keyhole #cutout #klaus #dog #pup #bassethound #hound #lazyday #rest #newtheme #differentview #january #picoftheday #project365 #day1
Klaus isn't with us anymore but he was such a good boy!
1 day 2019
I remember last year like it was yesterday...Happy New Year!
This year I’m going to try a new challenge. I’m going to attempt to photograph the National Day calendar for my 5th year of #project365 Should be fun!
#hello2019 #2019 #timeflies #justme #happynewyear #yearfive #letsdothis #create #challenge #live #experience #share #learn #january #newyearday #nationalday #nationaldaycalendar #picoftheday #project365 #day1 #hereigoagain
I did different monthly themes until 2019 and then I did the National Day Calendar. I was so excited for this year!
1 day 2020
The next year I did a weekly theme to recover from the previous year!
It is Time to start year 6! This Time I’m aiming for a weekly theme! Try to guess
#glitter #sparkle #pocketwatch #watch #clock #timeywimey #time #year6 #week1 #january #january1 #2020 #picoftheday #project365 #day1 #herewegoagain
1 day 2021
The 2 years after that were whatever the heck I wanted!
One day I’m not gonna do this anymore but I guess this is not the day! Year 7! No themes! No restrictions! Whatever the hell I want! This is the only picture I took today! Cheers to less stress and more fun!
#nature #outdoors #bug #insect #grass #pecanshell #morningdew #year7 #herewego #nothemes #lessstressmorefun #whateverthehelliwant #january #january1 #2021 #picoftheday #project365 #day1
1 day 2022
The purrfect way to start the year!
#Leo #kitty #cat #furbaby #snuggles #create #artsy #color #fun #january #january1 #2022 #picoftheday #project365 #day1 #year8
This past year I was ready to try monthly themes again.
1 day 2023
A great start to the new year with an early morning hike with Dad, Dana, sister, fam & friends. Then a delicious meal made by Dana and our little christmas celebration together. Love family time so much!
#grateful #aloha2023 #litebrite #january #january1 #2023 #objectofthemonth #picoftheday #project365 #day1 #startofyear9
I got this mini lite brite as a stocking stuffer from Santa! It is so cute!
1 day 2024
It's a new year and the start of my 10th year doing a picture every day! This year I've partnered with my mom, we'll be drawing themes each day. I will continue photographing while she will be working in her mixed media journal. Today was "stones". Which one speaks to you?
#hello2024 #year10 #dailytheme #stones #color #create #art #january #january1 #2024 #picoftheday #project365 #day1
Alright! That is day one of this year. I officially can't stop now!
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Seinfeld/Queen mash-up
(this is the first scene of my Seinfeld mash-up. What do you think? Should I continue?)
[location: Monk's. Jerry and George are sitting in their usual both.]
JERRY: Well, today’s the day, Georgie-boy. Today, I pick up Queen from the airport.
GEORGE: Queen Elizabeth!?
JERRY: No, no. Queen. The band. You know, Freddie Mercury. I told you this!
GEORGE: Oh, yeah, right. Wow, Queen. How’d you get to do that again?
JERRY: My father used to sell raincoats with a guy who ended up being the father of the manager of the band.
GEORGE: Small world.
JERRY: Speaking of small, my apartment is—kind of small.
GEORGE: Yeah?
JERRY: How would you feel about hosting a real life rock star?
GEORGE: (sighing) Oh, Jerry, don’t ask me this. That’s a lot of pressure! Besides, they’re a world famous rock band. Can’t they stay at some expensive hotel?
JERRY: They want the authentic New York experience. In fact, Kramer agreed to host one of them.
GEORGE: (sarcastically) Well, then they’ll definitely get the New York experience.
JERRY: Come on, George. It’ll be fun.
GEORGE: Fun? How will this be fun, Jerry? I’ll be worried if my apartment is good enough. I’ll have to entertain them the whole time. Not fun.
Elaine enters and approaches the booth.
ELAINE: (claps her hands excitedly) So, where are they?
JERRY: They arrive this evening.
ELAINE: (squeals) Oh, this is exciting! I’m excited! I’ve already set up my bedroom. I’ll sleep on the couch. Oh, Jerry, this is great. (slides into the booth)
JERRY: Tell that to George, here. He’s not so enthusiastic.
ELAINE: (picks up a menu) What do you care? It’s not like you have anything better to do.
GEORGE: As a matter of fact, I’m supposed to go on a date this evening.
JERRY: The college student?
GEORGE: (nods) Yes, Jerry. I’ve finally got a date with a college woman.
ELAINE: (rolls her eyes)
JERRY: Hey, George, wouldn’t a college girl be impressed that you’re going to have a member of Queen in your house?
GEORGE: (perks up) Oh my God! You’re right.
ELAINE: (scoffs) Oh, brother.
GEORGE: No, no, this is perfect. I’ll casually mention that I’ve got a world famous rock star in my house, and bada-boom, I’m not so much of a loser anymore.
ELAINE: Oh, you’re still a loser. Anyway, Queen isn’t necessarily cool, is it? I mean, it’s not like Guns N’ Roses or anything.
GEORGE: Guns N’ Roses? Elaine, you have to be kidding. Where do you get off comparing Freddie Mercury to Axel Rose?
ELAINE: I’m not comparing! I’m just saying, a college student is probably into something other than Queen…
GEORGE: (not paying attention, claps his hands) I gotta get down to the record store and stock up on Queen albums!
JERRY: I take it you’re going to host one of the guys after all.
GEORGE: Absolutely, Jerry. Anything for a friend.
JERRY: (shakes his head) Oh, by the way, Elaine. I figured you’d host Roger Taylor, the drummer.
ELAINE: (Looks up) Oh, no, I don’t think so. He’s too good-looking. I’d be uncomfortable.
JERRY: Uncomfortable because he’s too good looking?
ELAINE: Yeah, what if he tries to make a move?
JERRY: I’d figure you’d enjoy that.
ELAINE: No, Jerry. I am a lot of things, but I’m not a groupie.
JERRY: (sighs) Okay, then George, you take Roger.
GEORGE: Perfect! He’s a drummer. They’re always the coolest. This is really coming together. (rubs his hands together)
JERRY: Kramer requested John Deacon.
GEORGE: Who’s he?
JERRY: The bassist. Kramer wants some pointers on the bass guitar.
ELAINE: Kramer plays bass?
JERRY: No. (takes a sip of coffee)
GEORGE: So I assume Freddie is staying with you?
JERRY: Naturally.
GEORGE: Aren’t you afraid he’ll…
JERRY: What?
GEORGE: You know…(makes face)
ELAINE: Yeah, George, what?
GEORGE: Oh, you know. Make a move? (Adds quickly) Not that there’s anything wrong with that!
JERRY: Oh, no. I didn’t even think of that.
ELAINE: God, George. That was a dumb thing to say. He’s a rock star. He’s not gonna want Jerry.
GEORGE: Good point.
JERRY: Hey! He might want me.
GEORGE: You wish.
[scene]
#seinfeld#queen#queen band#mash up#crossover#Freddie Mercury#Roger Taylor#John Deacon#Brian May#Jerry Seinfeld#Elaine Benes#Cosmo Kramer#George Costanza
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Bakers Dozen: Canon Ships I want to see in Star Trek Online
I love Star Trek Online, and one of my favorite features is the sheer number of ships you can fly from in the shows. From the 22nd century to the 32nd century, there are literally hundreds of choices. But there are still many canon starships I’ve have not had the chance to make poor finacial decisions for. So what better choice for the first round of Baker’s Dozen.
Here’s 12 canon Starships (and one honorable mention) I want in Star Trek Online.
Lets start with the Honorable mention:
The Consitution III Class
Picard Season III’s hero ship, the affectionatly dubbed NeoConnie bears the distiction of being both the Titan A and Enteprise G. Those who read my Enteprise F headcanon also encountered the USS Riptide, an early command of my Captain. Why then is she only an honorable mention? Because the developers have already announced they are working on her. *sighs* shes gonna be a promo ships isn’t she?
1. The Federation Class
First appearing in Franz Joseph's Technical Manual, this design first appeared on screen as background display’s in The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock. More recently, Star Trek Picard saw model’s of this legendary starship in Ten Forward, alonside ships such as voyager and Enterprise D. Considering my flagship is a Gal-X, this would be a wonderful predecessor. Plus TOS ships are always welsome
2. The Romulan Bomber
In Picard Season 1 we were introduced to the Romulan ships with this beauty. An elegant design with blade like wings, it instantly caught my heart. Instantly recogniable as a Romulan vessel while being a new and distinctive shape, it was a perfect evolution of what came before.More Romulan rep is always appreciated. C-Store? Please?
3.The Niagra Class
One of my favorite ships in all of Star Trek, the Niagra class is a three nacelled cruiser blending elements of the ambassador and galaxy lines. Perhaps uniquely, the third nacelle is underslung. She has only appeared as wreckage, most notably the USS Princeton, lost at the Battle of Wolf 359, nut several other STO ships have the same origin. The Cheyenne and New Orleans both come from the same boneyard fleet. Also a updated Princeton Class to match the Lafeyette and Andromeda would be gorgeous.
4. Lower Decks BackGround Ship
This unamed Ship class from Lower Decks is beggin for someone to realize her full potential, maybe a desendant of the Crossfeild Class? I loved her from the moment I saw her, and desperatly want to know more.
5.The Yeager Class
No this is not a meme, its one of my favorite background ships. She has an isane amount of screentime, as shes in stock footage used alot in DS9. She served throughout the Dominion War. Why the weird hull? In my headcanon, she was built as a proof of concept for a tactical sister class to the Intrepid. (This will eventually be a full headcanon post). Once she proved succesful (for what she was), the go ahead was given to desgin a production version with a properly designed secondary hull. The outbreak of hostilities saw the Yeagar pushed into service, as she was a fully combat capable vessel. Also, the amazing Pundus already designed the 2412 variant.
6.The Mayflower class
A ship from the Kelvin timeline, the namesake of this ADORABLE starship was lost at the Battle of Vulcan in 2258. We need more Kelvin ships, and it is a crime this sweet gal isn’t in game already.
7.The Duderstadt class
You knew. I knew. The Pakleds knew. A modified Bill Krause design, much like the Titan/Enterprise herself, the USS Intrepid made a daring, intimidating, and awe inpiring debut in Star Trek Picard Season 3. Its rare to see a new ship so univserally loved today. But she deserves it. The only bad thing is she’s prolly gonna be the lockbox ships.
8.Jupp Class
This Gal appears waaayyy in the back of a DS9 episode according to the art deparment. Good enough for me. Shes a clear member of the refit family, and is an obvious choice to add to the Miranda/Clarke/Light Cruiser Frame. Always could use TMP rep
9. The Intrepid Type
Really? This isn’t in game already? How?!? Please? Enterpise Era Rep? I haven’t even watched Enterprise yet (oops) and I know this ship!
10.Springfeild Class
Another ship lost at Wolf 359, common, pretty small science ship? Complete the fleet? It could literally be the Chekov class.
11.Curry Class
This class appears in Deep Space 9, and features tow variants with different Nacelles arrangements. TMP Carrier anyone?
12. Block 2 Constitution Class (Kelvin Timeline)
I just want to talk. Its been 7 years since this beautiful ships arrived, and theres no offical models, and no STO Release...WWWHWHHHHYYYYY????
I love this ship. Its my favorite lettered Enteprise. I need her. Shes the only canon Enterprise besides the G not in game, and they’re working on the G. Best design in the Kelvin Timeline, and we don’t have her. I would totally spend stupid money on her, but I can’t.
Please STO, show mercy.
Hope yall enjoyed this first Baker’s Dozen, see you next week!
#star trek#star trek online#Alternate History#Hazel's Baker's Dozen#Consitution III Class#Federation Class#Curry Class#Yeager Class#Niagra Class#Springfeild Class#Constituion Class (Kelvin Timeline)#Enterprise G#Titan A#Enteprrise A#Intrepid Type#Jupp Class#Duderstadt class#Mayflower class#romulan bomber#star trek the next generation#star trek picard#star trek deep space 9#star trek lower decks#star trek kelvin timeline
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Put the tree up last night 🌲🧝🏻♀️⛪️❄️☃️🛷🎁🎅🏻🧑🏻🎄🎄
Gotta fluff her out a bit on the top and then I ordered a set of jewel tone bulbs (like ruby, emerald, sapphire, amber, amethyst, etc), a new star, a big rectangle 40 oz Christmas candle and cute little stocking hooks for the fireplace mantle w/ my bed bath and beyond wallet (I remembered I had like $50 in reward points- love when that happens lol) last night and they’ll be ready for pick up today, so I’ll finish decorating it tonight ❤️
I also decided to go with coloured lights & decorations on the tree this year as I think it goes well with my living room vibes- more “vintage”
I’m also gonna break out the Christmas lights for the front of the house today and break out the miscellaneous decorations for the kitchen and rest of the living room. Add my Christmas couch pillows & runners for the coffee table and kitchen table too & put the candelabras in the window 🥰
I freaking LOVE Christmas decorations lol
#mine#me#my post#personal#my life#myself#my photos#selfie#newfoundland#tree#xmas#christmas#christmas tree#xmas tree#holidays#happy holidays#merry christmas#christmas lights#decor#home decor
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🥧 pie: let’s talk about food in your wip. are there any special recipes or traditional meals? do any of your OCs cook or bake?
Porch Talk || Accepting
Okay, hun, I'm gonna be honest. Beth cannot cook to save her life. It's almost like she has a permanent paradox flaw: kitchen-disaster. She can prep/chop/measure anything one needs like a champ, but once she applies any actual cooking method, whether she follows a recipe exactly or experiments? What comes out is...non edible on the scale of biological hazards. She cannot explain this or understand why it happens.
Riley on the other hand, can walk by a Michelin star restaurant, glance at a menu or a dish, and walk away with something as good or better when he finally gets around to making it. He started cooking as a teenager, when Beth's mom left the family, and his dad was pulling duty aboard the USS Mercy. Something he'd snort about if it is ever brought up.
Because of his background and growing up where he did, Riley has learned how to make traditional poi, and will sometimes, if Beth is having a hard time, pull out his wooden board and his basalt pestle and pound it by hand, so as to provide her with a 'taste of home'. He can bake, but he prefers cooking. In another life, I imagine he would have been an excellent celebrity chef.
Riley's Irish Stew recipe
{{all measurements are US. If you need UK/European measurements, feel free to send me an ask.}}
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
4 slices thick bacon, chopped
1/2 cup all purpose flour {I use King Arthur Unbleached AP}
2 lbs. lamb stew meat or beef chuck roast/stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup Alien stout or dry red wine {actual wine, not the 'cooking wine' they sell in the grocery section. Trust me on this.}
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper {2-3 if using fresh ground}
Leaves of 2 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried/ground thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 1/2 cups beef broth or stock, plus more as needed
3 large onions, red or white, chopped
4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 lbs new potatoes, quartered, or use russets that have been peeled and large diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish
~*~
Instructions:
In a large oven-safe pot or Dutch oven, sauté bacon in butter over medium heat until crisp and browned (about 3-5 minutes). Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Pat lamb (or beef) dry with a paper towel.
Place the flour in a bowl or large Ziploc bag and season with about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Add the meat and toss to coat well.
Remove coated meat from the bowl and discard any extra flour.
Sear meat in the butter/bacon fat until browned on all sides (about 5 minutes).
Depending on the size of your pot, you may need to work in batches so that the meat can brown without overcrowding.
Remove the meat from the pot and add the stout (or wine) and vinegar. Cook over medium-high heat, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. The browned bits and residue is called fond and it is beautiful.
Add bacon and meat back to the pot, along with the tomato paste, garlic, remaining 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, remaining ½ teaspoon of pepper, thyme, bay leaf, paprika, and broth. Stir really well to completely combine. Bring to a boil; then reduce to a low simmer.
Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender, about 1 ½ hours.
Add the onions and carrots and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes more. Add more broth at the end to thin the stew, if necessary.
Discard bay leaf; stir in parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread fresh from the oven or you know, the cupboard you keep your regular bread in.
Remember Turtle loves you.
Garnish with additional fresh parsley, if desired.
Notes:
If you don't have Alien stout, I mean...Guinness could work. It will only kill my soul but you do you, bunny.
You can add mushrooms if you like but really why not ask me for my burgundy wine mushrooms instead?
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Here are some of the major (and minor but interesting) ‘Teen Mom’-related things that happened over the last few days…
‘Teen Mom Family Reunion’ Season 3 Ratings Are Shockingly Bad
The Teen Mom numbers are in….and, much like “the school in West Virginia”…they are “not well.”
The second episode of Teen Mom Family Reunion Season 3 aired on Wednesday and, despite the cast heavily promoting the show on social media, the ratings were abysmal. The Ashley can reveal that only 135,000 same-day viewers tuned in to see the ‘Teen Mom’ gals and guys drink and slaughter the Spanish language for Episode 2. The episodes’ rating for the coveted viewers ages 18-49 was a measly 0.05.
(To give perspective on just how bad those numbers are: Married At First Sight— which ran in the same 8:00-9:00 p.m. timeslot that ‘TMFR’ did— garnered 520,000 same-day viewers and had a 0.08 rating for viewers ages 18-49. Even Guy’s Grocery Games beat ‘TMFR,’ bringing in 379,000 same-day viewers on Wednesday and getting a 0.07 rating for 18-49 aged viewers.)
Last week, the show premiered to record-low ratings, coming in with only 170,000 same-day viewers, and a 0.07 rating for viewers ages 18-49.
Teen Mom Family Reunion’ has never really been a ratings magnet for MTV, but the show is now bringing in less than a third of what its ratings were for Season 1. (To compare, the second episode of Season 1 had 420,000 same-day viewers.)
Kail Lowry Announces She’s Building Another New House, Two Years After Moving Into Her Current Custom-Built Home
The former ‘Teen Mom 2’ star revealed on TikTok on Thursday that, despite the fact that she has only lived in her current home for two years, she is planning on moving yet again, this time to a even bigger custom built house.
“I’m building a new house,” Kail said in the video. “I know that I’ve only been in this build for two years, but I had three more kids!”
(As The Ashley previously reported, Kail welcomed twins Verse and Valley in November with her current live-in boo, Elijah Scott. One year earlier, the couple had son Rio, bringing Kail’s total kid count to a whopping seven.)
Kail has previously said that she was planning to add onto her current Delaware mansion; however, in the TikTok video, she talked about how that’s unlikely to work for her needs.
“I met with an architect today and I basically said that, what we need needs to stay under this budget, and if we start to exceed that with exactly what I need, it’s just time to rebuild,” Kail said.
“With that being said, I think it’s just best that we move forward [with building],” she said. “We have a lot of different needs, we need more functionality, we need storage space, we need closet space. And I want everyone to continue to have their own rooms.
“I want my kids to have the best that they can because, part of the reason I’m here today is because of them,” Kail added.
“We’re gonna go on the hunt for land and hope for the best,” Kail said.
Kail recently revealed that she had her tubes tied, and Elijah had a vasectomy, so they have no plans to add to the family again. Still, Kail will need an eight-bedroom home in order to give herself and all of her kids their own bedroom.
Chelsea Houska & Cole DeBoer’s Home Décor Store Is Officially Open for Business
Get ready to stock up on cow-print rugs and all the neutral-hued home accessories your heart desires–- Down Home by DeBoers is officially open.
The brick-and-mortar store– located in Tea, South Dakota, and founded by former ‘Teen Mom 2’ stars turned HGTV hosts Chelsea Houska and Cole DeBoer— opened its doors on Friday, with a grand opening event slated for later this summer.
“Explore our carefully curated selection of rustic décor and charming furnishings, designed to bring comfort and style to every corner of your home,” the Down Home Fab duo shared with fans in their announcement. “To celebrate this special occasion, the first 50 customers to spend $50+ will receive a FREE GIFT as our way of saying thank you for being a part of our journey.”
As The Ashley previously told you, Chelsea and Cole announced in October that they were opening a storefront in 2024, that would feature a “collection of home décor, accents and furniture, as well as an exclusive section for Aubree Says.”
“It’s ALWAYS been a dream of ours to have a place of our own, and we are so excited to bring this store to our community & beyond!” Chelsea added. “We cannot wait to meet everyone who walks through our doors.”
The couple plan to launch an online store soon, giving fans from all over the U.S. an opportunity to purchase Down Home by DeBoers décor from the comfort of their respective farmhouse-chic abodes.
In addition to the soft opening of Down Home by DeBoers, this week also marks the premiere of ‘Down Home Fab’ Season 2. The first of the eight hour-long episodes premiered Thursday on HGTV.
Mackenzie McKee Shades Baby Daddy Josh While Talking About Boyfriend Khessy Hall
Mackenzie McKee took to social media Friday for an Instagram Q&A, during which she dished about her time on ‘Teen Mom Family Reunion’ and her relationship with boyfriend Khessy Hall.
As The Ashley previously told you, Mackenzie will be making her return to the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise on Season 3 of the spin-off, with Khessy joining her for the MTV-funded vacay in Cartagena, Colombia.
When asked by a fan how it was getting to film again, Mackenzie revealed that her recent on-camera experience went a lot smoother than those in the past, thanks in large part to who she was filming with.
“A lot easier with a partner that talks,” she replied, presumably shading her ex-husband Josh McKee, who was a man of few words and many mumbles.
Mackenzie went on to tell fans that, despite Khessy never appearing on reality TV before, they entered ‘Teen Mom: Family Reunion’ with an agreement to remain authentic once the cameras began rolling, as well as when they stopped.
“We were together almost a year before tv became apart of our lives,” she wrote. “We simply promised each other that it would not change anything and nothing will come in between us!"
"We just share our story authentically and when the cameras stop, we continue our day to day lives just how they were before,” she added.
Mackenzie–- who has previously spoken about her ex-husband’s lack of involvement in their children’s lives following the couple’s split–- also shared with fans that although Khessy does not have any kids, he treats her two sons and daughter like his own.
“He did not have kids until he met me,” she wrote. “Now he’s the best parent I’ve ever met.”
#teen mom#teen mom 2#mtv#news#hgtv#teen mom family reunion#mackenzie douthit#chelsea houska#cole deboer#Chelsea DeBoer
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OOC: The Test of Time Challenge modified challenge rules
So I finally decided to modify the rules for myself. For the actual rules scroll down. Now I'm gonna be talking about the why. Why do I wanna have my version of the challenge?
Well, first of all, I have my own ideas that I think would add to this challenge, while I also have some rebalancing ideas I thought of while playing/playtesting the challenge. I really do love this challenge, and I feel like I could improve it.
The other reason is that I'd prefer removing the skin tone related restrictions in this challenge (that's why I started playing with the Pleasantsims modifications). I'd also like to use some different language while refering to some aspects.
While I generally think the Pleasantsims version is fine, due to recent events with the owner of the site, I no longer want to link to her and I try to find alternative resources to the site.
Now... Onto the actual rules. Disclaimer: I'll only write the rules for the current stage I'm playing. This post will be updated slowly!
I strongly reccomend you to bend and break these rules for your likings.
What is the Test of Time Challenge about?
The general idea of the challenge, is starting out at the beginning of time, with a few couples, and following their descendants throughout all the major stages of history. The rules change according to time periods, but there are some general rules that apply to every period, unless specified otherwise. This challenge is built on the rotational playstyle, as you will be switching between multiple households from the start.
General Rules:
You can only add new sims to your hood at the beginning of a new stage. Only one sim can be added at a time. This sim could look any way and they can be any class. They could also be supernatural sims like vampires or witches or whatever you want.
All your families must have a method of choosing the heir. You could have a family where the heir is always the oldest man, you could have a family where the heir is always the oldest woman. You could also have a family where the heir is chosen through ritualistic battle, or some kind of test.
The sim marrying into the family always has to take the family name.
If anyone gets into a fight, the loser must die. They can take some time to succumb to their wounds, but do it quickly, with whatever method you choose.
When sims Woohoo, they always must try for baby. Sorry, reliable contraception took some time to develop.
Switch stages after the first grandchild of the "stage starting" adult becomes an adult.
You can add any amount of pets at any time. However you have to be able to feed them just like you feed your sims. (Refer to rule number 9.)
Try to remain logical and period approriate with the items and CC. However you do not have to be perfect historically accurate, I'm not here to give you sleepless nights of researching the lives of people in the middle ages, and desperately trying to find that one perfectly approriate undergarment for your sims.
Food must come from a source. This source could be gathering, farming, fishing or buying it from other sims who did the hard part for you. Food must be made by stocking the ingredient or ingredients used into the fridge first. You can make up your own recipes.
The technology and living enviroment of your sims can change gradually throughout the stage. No need to play for 50 hours with the same basic stuff, that would become boring. It would also be unrealistic to just flip a switch and suddenly go from sleeping under the stars to having a palace.
If the given period has no way of keeping the food items from going wrong, you have to sell every food item in your sim's inventory after an X amount of time. I personally do this every 3 days, cause that's how long my rounds are and leave enough for only one portion. The exception are non heir teens and children, cause they'll gather the food that will be immediately sold if they move out so they can start their adult life easier, or can give it as a marriage gift in the form of funds.
You're not allowed to dig for treasure.
Optional:
Sims from the same family must all dress in their assigned family colors. This just helps with quickly identifying and separating your families. Heirs can have something identifying them through their clothing.
Roleplay. If you wanna do something, think about how that would be possible. For example: you have a lot of money in one family, and think about building a bigger and more complex house for them. Would that be possible or period appropriate? You could say that it's a family with a lot of people in it, and the family members are in good connection with each other, so it could be possible for them to do bigger projects like that.
Use sim hobbies to introduce new items, like a sim with Music & Dance hobby could invent instruments. A sim with the Science hobby could invent the telescope, etc.
Tribal Stage Rules:
This is where the challenge starts. I decided to rename this stage, from "Neanderthal Stage" cause I feel like this one captures the feel of the stage better for me.
First of all, you need a place for your sims to live in. Create a neighbourhood with all time Summer. They're blessed with a perfect weather for farming, but they're cursed by getting roasted while being outside.
You can reset the sims temperature at night. Technically this is not a Tribal Stage exclusive rule, but I think it's gonna be the most relevant here. Your sims can cool off, since the air cools off when the sun is gone. If you wanna be extra realistic you could wait a few hours after night falls.
Sims can only interact with sims that are considered to be part of the challenge. So I strongly recommend you to get the Visitor Controller mod if you don't already have it, or you could just pretend that the random walkbys don't exist.
Couples must Woohoo at least once every 24 hours. However mothers who just gave birth can take a day off, unless they decide to do it anyway with your ACR on.
Sims can't get jobs.
Your sims can visit community lots, but more on those later.
When a sim grows up into an adult, and they're not the heir, they need to move out. They'll get the default 3000 simoleons for moving into the same sized lot as their parents, plus they'll take their belongings if they have any, and the plants and food they gathered.
Graves need to stay on their original lots. Exception are child graves, more on that later.
Your sims can't read. Writing, and especially books haven't been invented yet. Of course this means you can't put down any bookcases and you must cancel any autonomous reading.
How to start the Tribal Stage:
First and foremost create a neighbourhood and gather up your preferred amount of CC. Now you have to populate your place.
Create 5 pairs of adults. You'll need to create them according to these characteristics:
2 couples with Skin 4
2 couples with Skin 1
1 mixed couple with one of them being Skin 2 and the other one being Skin 3
Feel free to ignore this part if you're using custom skin colors, but if you're sticking to basegame, this will ensure you to have pretty varied genetics. Everyone is just gonna end up having black hair and Skin 2 and 3 anyway, lol.
You can freely choose your hair and eye colors.
Optional: Create a story for your couples to know where they came from, why did they move to this new place and how they met each other.
Now it's time to move in everyone. Keep in mind that after you move in your families, you need to set their funds to 3000 simoleons.
Lots in Tribal Stage:
Family lots:
These must be 2x2 lots.
These lots must contain a water source.
These lots must contain the following items (or CC that functions the same way): a stove, a fridge, a table with at least 2 chairs, a counter, a sink, a dresser, a loveseat, a double bed/tent, something for trash collecting, and a toilet.
These plots must have plants or gardening plots for farming.
Everything listed above must be purchised with the starting money of 3000 simoleons.
Community Lots:
You can have any community lot that you like, but you have to keep them natural and you can't have "sim buildings" on it. No one owns these places, so no one wants to build here, they just come here to hang out or gather something.
Examples for lots: forest, hot springs, waterfall, cave, meadow, etc. If you really want some buildings you could have some ruins from an unknown civilization before humanity or whatever you can come up with.
Regarding the cemetery: by the rules of the stage, you need to let the graves stay on their original lot, however, I'd personally recommend you to have a cemetery for the sole reason of ghost children. If by any chance you get one, I would rather send them to an outside burial side, cause I never had children ghosts and I don't know how bad they get with the glitching.
Now everything is ready to play. Don't stress on the rules, go, modify what you want, cause what's important is that you have fun with it.
Finishing the Tribal Stage:
Congratulations, you reached the time of change. Or you're just reading this in advance.
What you have to do now, is some cool **math**, and gather all your families with the same names, and add up how much money they have in total.
This is gonna be important, cause the next stage will introduce the following classes:
Ruling Class (includes the Emperor)
Upper Class/Patricians
Lower Class/Plebeians
Servants
Obviously, the family with the most amount of money will be the ruling class, the next one with the most money will be the patricians and so forth. Keep in mind, that the ruling class is just one family, and there should be less families in higher classes than in the lower classes.
The rest should be taken care of in the Ancient Stage.
Ancient Stage Rules:
I renamed this stage from "Roman Stage" cause I'd like to explore more than just the Roman Empire. I also like to keep my Sims game away from references to the real world.
WARNING: This section is not playtested yet, and I will probably change it in the future. For now this is how I'm planning to play.
The weather has changed. Now your sims will live in changing seasons consisting of a humid and a dry period. (Set the weather to Summer -> Summer -> Spring -> Spring.)
A broad range of new objects have been unlocked for you to use. This is rather straighforward on what you can use or not, but if you're not sure if something specific has been invented yet, then you can freely consult your search engine.
Class Specific Rules:
Ruling Class:
Allowed Lot Size: Large.
The heir of your Ruling Class family becomes the Emperor/Empress.
Ruling Class are only allowed to marry Upper Class. If there aren't any Upper Class avaliable, then you can use the Lower Class for pairing.
Your Emperor/Empress will hire two servants, who will live at the palace. They'll do the housework, and in return they'll get a salary that they can send back home to their families. (I don't have a specified amount for it yet.) You can build them their own living space.
The teens of the Ruling Class can attend school. (You can also choose someone from the Ruling-Upper Class to be a teacher.)
The heir teen of the Emperor/Empress can take a job in Politics.
Sims who're not the heir must move out when they become adults.
Upper Class:
Allowed Lot Size: Large-Medium
Jobs Allowed: Politics, Medicine, Military, Law Enforcement, Science, Education.
Upper Class is able to marry up into Ruling Class. Requirements for this: sim must have a good relationship with the parents/guardians of their desired mate and they must have a $3,000 worth of gift in their inventory. To marry the Emperor/Empress, the same applies, but they must have a gift equaling $5,000.
Upper Class can marry Lower Class.
They can hire 1 servant per household.
Teens may go to school, however they can't take jobs. They can work on some profession at home.
Can own community businesses.
Lower Class:
Allowed Lot Size: Medium
Jobs Allowed: Military, Education, Architecture, Artist (may take lower ranks only).
Lower Class can marry up in rank to Upper Class. Requirements: sim must have a good relationship with the parents/guardians of the desired mate and they must have a $1,000 worth of gift in their inventory.
Can't hire servants.
Teens may go to school, however they can't take jobs. They can work on some profession at home. Lower Class teens can be hired as servants only by the Ruling Class.
Servants:
Allowed Lot Size: Small
Jobs Allowed: Criminal, hired by a family.
If a Servant Class is hired to work at a family, they can't take a job.
Servant Class can marry up into Lower Class. Requirements: none, however if they don't have a good relationship with their desired mate's parents/guardians, they won't be welcome in the family, and won't get into higher class, instead, their spouse will rank down.
Just before a Servant gets married, they have to move out onto their own lot from the family's house they're hired by. Therefore they won't be employed by them anymore.
Servants are not allowed to own anything that costs more than $1,000, as it would seem suspicious. If a member of the Ruling Family or someone who works in Military/Law Enforcement walks by, they'll be charged with stealing. More on that later.
Crime:
With a structured society there came laws. The following are now punishable:
killing someone (severe)
fighting someone outside of an agreed duel (severe)
stealing (moderate)
working in the Criminal career (lol) (moderate)
not paying taxes (moderate)
gossiping about a Ruling Class member (minor)
Sims will only get punished if their crime is witnessed. You can also say that the witness present might not report them for some reason. Feel free to play around with this.
Punisments:
For severe crime: prison with variable sentence (can be lifelong)
For moderate crime: prison with shorter sentence
For minor crime: 1 day of "communal work" at the mine (or any place you can think of)
On the case of the Criminal career:
Sims who work in the Criminal career have a starting chance of "getting caught" at 3% per each day they go to work. With every level they gain in the Criminal career, this chance goes up by 3% per level. (This number is subject to change.)
To be continued.
-----------------------
Thank you for reading this far. If you're interested in the challenge, and updates to my rule modifications, be sure to not lose this post in the unending vortex of the internet. Also feel free to give me any feedback. See you next time!
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day 1 of being a camp counselor
i’ve been here for about 24 hours with campers. here are somethings i’ve learned about my kids aged 6-8:
- they hate listening to you when you’re telling them they can’t do something they find fun. these girls wanted to roll down a hill. in the middle of the woods. known for having ticks. they wanted to swing between their metal bunk beds. they were running at 10pm in the dark, not caring about falling and breaking something. and they won’t stop.
- they will believe anything you tell them. they think my name is toaster, that i’m 190 years old, and my parent’s names are tree and rock.
- E N E R G Y . they didn’t want to go to bed until 11:30pm last night. i get staying up late, but we are staying up until at least 10:30 tonight and i reminded them that at least 5 times before going to bed, we still had to yell at them.
- they love swimming. for our entire activity before pool, they would not shut up about going to the pool. every five minutes, it’d be like, “when can we go to the pool?” “are we going to the pool now?” “can we leave for the pool now?” mind you these are BABIES wanting to go swim in chlorinated water. why? i do not know. i also just hate pools.
- sensitive. little. beings. one of my littles failed the swim test because they kept grabbing onto the wall while taking it (whats the point of the test if we know you can just hold onto the walls?), and they would not. stop. crying. for what was probably only 5 minutes but it felt like forever. they kept saying “i hate shallow!” or “i like swimming!” even after telling them many times that i have never swam in that side of the pool (true, i’ve been going here since i was her age and still have never gone on the deep end). they eventually gave up and got their wristband because their friends got out of the water. i am so happy i will not be with them the next time they go to the pool. my break is scheduled then!
- super touchy. completely unaware of personal space. while i was working with a HOT GLUE GUN, these kids were literally, like legit, breathing down my neck. i could feel their sticky little warm bodies next to me while i was glueing these ribbons onto their little popsicle stick stars. i had to say multiple times to get into a line. they keep coming up behind me and hugging me while i’m sitting. if it happens again, i am 100% going to tell them about boundaries.
- they forget. EVERYTHING. before leaving this morning, i reminded them we were going to the pool. at least 10 times. mentioning that you need a change of clothes. guess how many kids forgot something? only two, but one kid forgot their towel, one forgot their underwear, another forgot their hair stuff, another forgot their hairbrush, etc. and none of them brought dry clothes to change into. none. we remind them to grab their water bottles every time we leave our quarters, since it’s summer in the midwest and it’s easy to get dehydrated. theres always at least two that leave them on their beds. some didn’t even bring a water bottle to camp. we have to give them leftover stock from last year. and those kids that get new water bottles? still forget them wherever they go. its wild to me how they can be thirsty, complain about being thirsty, and yet still forget to grab them.
- they don’t understand wastefulness yet. at opening fire last night, they all reapplied bug spray at least 5 times each. after being reminded that once or twice was enough. they spray it for fun sometimes. they spray it on their friends. they’re gonna run out of bug spray halfway through the week and we won’t be able to help them. they also waste food. at breakfast, only two of my campers finished their plates. there were half full or full bowls of cereal. a semi-touched bowl of oatmeal. an entire plate of just bacon. these kids want to eat it all, but they physically can’t. and they know it. but they still want to grab all of the bacon they can just because they wanna.
i will add more onto this post tomorrow on my break, because why not. i love typing out my days instead of writing them, so i might just turn this into a camp counselor blog. if, y’know, tumblr still is active lmao
#campers#kids#summer camp#i love/hate my job#its fun but i also really hate yelling at these children#two of them remind me of when i was a camper#this is hell#but also not
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ALL IS FAIR
a/n: woohoo!! finally a harry fic! lol sorry i got very into marvel these past weeks but im finally bringing you some harry content! this one was originally requested by an anon sometime and then we kept talking about it until i actually got around to write it! hopefully you’ll like it and if you do, please like and reblog!
pairing: ceo!Harry x ceo!plussize!reader
warning: sexual content
word count: 16.7k
masterlist
“Stop being such a stuck up dick, it’s your birthday, bro!”
Harry rolls his eyes at his friend who walks into his penthouse as if he owned. Niall Horan was so well-known in Harry’s building that he could have easily walked into any homes in the tower and people would still welcome him warmly. It might have a few things to do with the fact that half of the residents in the Compass Tower are women who are hopelessly in love with either Niall or Harry, hoping for a chance to drag either of them into their bed one day. They have a lot more chance to do that with the Irish bloke than with Mr. Styles. Not that Harry doesn’t find them attractive, but he is not the type to have one night stands, something his friend gives him quite a lot of shit for.
“Would you fuck off for twenty more minutes?” Harry sighs, shooting him a look as he covers the speaker of his phone, in the middle of a call.
“You have ten minutes and we are leaving. I’m not letting you work on the night of your thirtieth birthday!” Niall warns him before walking into the kitchen to roam the always full, neatly stocked fridge.
As much as Niall Horan comes off as an irresponsible cocky child, he is quite the businessman himself as well. As the Lawyer of one third of New York’s most influential people, he surely doesn’t have to worry about making a living, enjoying his luxurious apartment a few streets away from Harry’s place on the Upper East Side. It’s not as expensive and impressive as Harry’s penthouse on the top of the tower his father built in the heart of the posh neighborhood most people only know from TV shows, but he couldn’t complain.
“Another designer refused to sign with us, H. We are running out of options,” Lambert’s voice rings through the phone as Harry turns to the floor to ceiling window, staring out to the city skyline in front of him.
“We have quite a few left, right?” Harry asks clenching his jaw.
“Yeah, but I heard that Cometa is planning on announcing something big next week so I think a lot of them are waiting for that to happen.”
“Do you think it’s another collab? But they just had fucking Chanel have a line sold through them!” Harry growls, his blood boiling at even just the thought.
When it comes to fashion in the virtual world, there are two businesses that totally dominate the industry. In the men’s wear, Twisted is definitely the number one selling place. The idea started off as just a freshman school project that originally wanted to sell tech stuff, but a few years into the project Harry met Lambert who was already a rising star in the fashion industry and they joined forces, creating the most classic yet affordable and user friendly online empire: Twisted. Though Twisted mostly features men’s clothing, they’ve been trying to venture to the field of women’s fashion, but it hasn’t been as easy as they thought it to be. And the reason for that is Cometa.
Cometa was originally a website where anyone could sell their own clothes, make their online wardrobe sale. But eventually the business grew itself out and stepped up a few levels, collaborating with various designers and brands, selling exclusive lines and a highly praised seasonal variety four times a year, earning a well-deserved top spot in the online fashion industry. It’s hard to compete with what Julia Bianchi built up through sweat and blood and Harry Styles has been working on stepping up to be a major competition for Cometa in women’s fashion, with not much luck so far.
To top the cake with a delicious looking cherry, Cometa has been trying to set feet into men’s fashion as well in the recent years, bringing out several lines with some mentionable designers, but they never made it be as big as Twisted. The two businesses have been trying to outdo each other for about a decade now, with not much luck so far and Harry’s patience is running low by now.
“I don’t know what it is, but keep an eye out. I’ll call you on Monday, alright?” Lambert sighs through the line.
“Okay, thank you,” Harry nods, feeling a little defeated.
“And happy birthday, man. Go and celebrate!” he chuckles, making Harry’s lips curl up as well.
“Thanks, have a good weekend,” Harry bids his goodbye before the call ends.
Wandering into the kitchen Harry finds Niall with the thickest ham and cheese sandwich between his hands, sitting at the kitchen island.
“So where exactly are we going tonight?” he asks, grabbing himself a granola bar as he joins the Irish lad on the stool next to him.
“Oh, that’s a surprise,” he grins, mouth full as he chews mercilessly. Harry grimaces, not sure how this is the same man who can convince a judge about basically anything, wearing his designer suits, putting on an intimidating and serious act for his cases.
“I have a switch,” Niall once told him when he asked how he does it. “I just turn it off when I’m off the clock.”
“You know I hate surprises,” Harry informs him matter-of-factly, but Niall doesn’t seem to be bothered by his comment.
“You’re thirty now, no one cares what you hate.”
“Says who?” Harry huffs.
“Me,” he grins, making Harry roll his eyes.
The bass is throbbing, red tinted lights illuminating the exclusive bar in the heart of Manhattan where Niall chose to gather some of Harry’s close friends to celebrate his thirtieth birthday. Sitting in the leather couches at a restricted area at the back of the place, they are hidden enough not to draw too much attention to themselves but still feel like they are part of the party.
“Cheers to three decades of this cocky motherfucker!” Niall beams as their glasses meet in the middle, everyone laughing and wishing Harry a happy birthday before they all chug their drinks.
Harry is not necessarily the type of person to enjoy going out too often, but he admits it’s been a while since the last time he let loose. It feels nice to have the evening to himself, leaving the business behind for just a couple of hours before he returns to his busy everydays.
Though the occasion is Harry’s birthday, Niall is surely enjoying the evening a tad bit more than his friend. After Harry sees him send down three tequilas in a row he realizes it’s not gonna end well if he doesn’t get some water into his system as well. Excusing himself from the group he heads to the bar, pushing his way through the dancing bodies until he finally reaches his destination.
Given how it’s a Friday evening, the place is packed and he waits in the line patiently while the bartender is fixing up the order of a group of girls a few stools down from Harry. Leaning onto the counter Harry runs his gaze over the dancing crowd, tapping his fingers against the surface to the beat, even bopping his head a little when he feels a push from behind him.
“Oh, sorry!” A female voice calls out and as he turns around he spots the owner of it, a young woman, her curvy body wrapped in a tight mini dress that leaves very little to Harry’s imagination as his eyes run up and down her figure. He has never seen a curvy girl as confident as her, she is radiating, drawing every male’s attention to herself like she is feeding off the hungry stares and dirty thoughts birthed by her.
Her eyes meet Harry’s gaze and the sly smirk that tugs on her perfectly shaped lips gives it away that she is not that sorry to be bumping into him.
“No worries,” is all he manages to say, the urge to drop to his knees right then and there stronger than anything he has ever had to fight.
“He won’t notice you,” she tells him and his eyebrows knit together in confusion. “The bartender. If you just stand there like that… he will never come here,” she explains.
“I’m not sure I have what catches his eyes,” he jokes, making her laugh and he swears his stomach drops at the heavenly sound.
“May I?” she arches an eyebrow and Harry nods, letting her step in front of him. He stands tall above her, eyes fixed on her figure as she leans onto the counter, the marble pushing her breasts up just enough to spark the bartender’s fantasies when he glances in her way. She waves at him with a charming smile and a moment later the guy is standing in front of her, ready to please her in any way she desires.
“Three vodka sodas and…” she turns in Harry’s way, her lips slightly parted and his breath hitches in his throat. “What did you want, handsome?”
“Just, uhh—Just two water, please.”
Her eyebrows rise, but she doesn’t comment on it, just adds the two water to her order. The bartender nods and disappears to fix up her drinks. Harry takes a deep breath and sticking his hand out to her he introduces himself.
“I’m Harry, by the way.” She takes his hand, shaking it firmly.
“Y/N. Nice to meet you, Harry. Are you here alone?”
“Um, no. I’m here with a few friends,” he replies nodding towards the back of the place. “Are you here with someone?”
Please don’t say your boyfriend, please!
“A few of my girlfriends,” she smiles, brushing her hair over her shoulder, flaunting a better look at her naked neck and just one glimpse is sending a whirl of dirty thoughts into Harry’s mind. He wonders how soft her skin would feel under his lips, what her moans would sound as he sucks on it, leaving a mark on her, letting every man in the house know that he made her feel good.
“Are you guys celebrating something?” Y/N asks, a knowing smile on her lips as she most definitely saw Harry staring at her.
“Actually, yeah,” he chuckles a little nervously. “It’s my birthday.” Y/N’s eyes brighten up as she beams at him.
“Really? Happy birthday then!”
“Thank you,” he smiles shyly. “Are you guys celebrating something too?”
“Well, I…” she starts, her thoughts wandering off for a second before she continues. “I kind of got promoted,” she explains and Harry smiles down at her warmly.
“Congrats then!”
The bartender returns with the drinks and she is already about to get her card from her little clutch when Harry pulls his card out, handing it over to the guy behind the bar.
“Birthday boys shouldn’t pay for others,” she smirks, but doesn’t try to fight him that hard.
“You can pay me back later,” Harry shrugs with a suggestive smirk on his lips. He doesn’t want to part ways with her, but she is obviously expected to be back with her friends and he needs to get back to Niall as well before he absolutely loses control. Stepping closer to him, Y/N slides a hand up his chest, her palm resting at the base of his neck as she leans to his ear.
“Save me a dance, birthday boy?” she murmurs into his ear, her lips brushing against him for a split second before she steps back, grabs her drinks and winking at him one last time she disappears from the bar. Harry stands there for a few more seconds before the bartender hands him back his card and snatching the waters from the bar he heads back to his friends.
Luckily, Niall is slowing down a little, The water does him well and Harry finally doesn’t feel like he’ll have to take care of him, dragging him home once the night is over. Sitting by the table Harry is trying to focus on the conversation, but his gaze keeps wandering over to the dance floor, looking for one particular curvy figure in the sea of dancing bodies.
It takes him some time to spot her, but when he does, he is not able to tear his eyes away from her.
She is almost perfectly in the middle with her friends surrounding her, lips and shoulders swaying to the rhythm perfectly. He catches her chug down the last sips of her drink before she disregards the glass and gets back to dancing. Watching her every move intently, Harry feels his lips slightly part at the sight of this angel who is for sure a devil in the sheets. He can’t stop himself fantasizing about what it would feel like to dig his fingers into her thighs, kiss her neck, her cleavage that’s on show now, how her curves would fit into his hands perfectly. He wants to praise this woman, make her feel good and not just because he wants to be selfless and please her, but also because seeing this woman reach her high because of him would be the biggest ego boost for him and he just needs that.
“Go dance with her!” Niall wiggles his eyebrows at him when he catches Harry staring at her.
“What? No, I’m not a dancer,” he shakes his head, shifting his eyes away from the dancing goddess on the dance floor.
“Oh come on, don’t be a pussy!”
“I’m not a pussy, I just—“
“You’re a pussy. I saw her looking in your way as well, she wants your dick!”
“Jesus, Niall!” Harry whines rolling his eyes. He doesn’t like it when he gets so vulgar, but luckily no one heard their conversation. Glancing back in Y/N’s way Harry sees how men are eyeing him, probably building up the courage to go up to her and that has his blood boiling. He needs to be the one to touch her.
Chugging down the rest of his drink he snaps the glass on the table before standing from his seat, ignoring Niall’s cheering as he makes his way into the crowd.
Harry didn’t lie when he said he is not a dancer, he feels uncomfortable, awkward and uncoordinated most of the times he tries to dance, but he is pushing all of those to the back of his mind for now as his eyes are set on one person in the crowd.
When Y/N spots the man approaching her, she can’t push a pleased smile off her lips, slowing her movements down as Harry finally reaches her, leaning closer to her ear so she can hear his voice over the music.
“Here to collect that dance,” he smugly tells her, making her laugh, though the music is too loud to let him hear her. She just nods and turning around she presses herself up against him, her backside fitting his front perfectly. Harry’s hand snake around her waist, his large palm smoothly moving through the silky fabric of her dress as they start moving together.
She is intoxicating, makes Harry feel like he is some kind of horny teenager, like he hasn’t dealt with women before, but in a way, she makes all of his past flings appear to be only girls. Her confidence in her own body is easily one of her best traits, the way she handles herself, moves her body, the look in her eyes, Harry is getting drunk on just watching her and now he is able to touch her as well.
When he feels himself getting hard in his pants, he knows he should be at least a slightly bit embarrassed by himself, but as Y/N turns around in his arms and he sees the pleased smirk on her lips, the feeling vanishes in a heartbeat. She wraps her arms around his neck as she pulls him close, her lips brushing against his lips.
“Enjoying yourself, birthday boy?” she prompts before pressing a kiss to the soft skin under his ear and he can’t hold a growl back. The friction is almost unbearable, as his hands slide lower on her back, stopping on her ass, he knows he won’t be able to control himself any longer. Luckily, he is not the only one having this inner fight.
Snapping around Y/N grabs his hand and starts pulling him through the crowd towards the hallway of the bathrooms. He follows her eagerly, lucky for them, the club doesn’t have restrooms with several stalls, but single bathrooms with a lot more comfort and privacy. Just what they need right now.
They find the third bathroom empty, pushing their way inside and locking the door before Harry pushes her up against it the moment it’s just the two of them, their mouths hungrily meeting in the middle. He almost grunts against her lips, she tastes even better than he imagined and the way her tongue is the first one to come into action has got his mind blown. His hands roam up her body, running up all her curves until they reach her face and he cups it in his palms, pressing his hips against her. She moans against his mouth when his hard cock pokes against her, both of them desperate to take it further.
Tumbling further into the small bathroom, he helps her up to the counter next to the sing, her legs instantly opening for him, her tiny dress rolling up her thighs, revealing her clothed sex. Harry eagerly kisses his way down her neck and chest, her skin feeling so smooth under his lips. His fingers hook under the thin straps of her dress, tugging them down so he can push the dress past her full breasts and thank God she is not wearing a bra underneath!
“Fuck me, you are so hot!” he breathes out, making her chuckle at his reaction.
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” she cockily answers before Harry’s mouth attaches to her nipple, his hand working on her other breasts before he switches.
He quickly gets down on his knees, pushing her underwear to the side before his lips and tongue meet her sensitive clit.
“Oh shit!” she moans, a hand coming to tangle in his hair while she tries to hold herself steady with leaning on the other one behind her. There’s no time for teasing now and they both know that.
She is so lost in the experience, Harry is licking and sucking just the right spots and she tries to close her legs, locking his head between her thighs. His arms come to curl around them, ring clad fingers digging into her flesh and the situation might be a little suffocating for him, but he doesn’t mind it a bit. In fact, if he died this way, he would die a happy man.
She doesn’t let him finish what he started, pulling him up, his lips still glistening from her own juices as she kisses him messily, wiggling herself out of her underwear while he undoes his pants as well.
“Shit, do you have a condom?” he breathes out when his palm wraps around his throbbing cock. She nods, reaching for her clutch she dropped to the counter and digging into it she grabs the package, smacking it against his chest playfully. “Were you planning to do this tonight?” he grins cockily as he rips the package open and starts rolling it down his hard length.
“No, I’m just smart, unlike you,” she retorts, her sass dripping from her tone and it just riles him up even more.
Grabbing her thighs he yanks her to the edge of the counter, a gasp leaving her plump lips as she tries to find her balance quickly.
“Don’t be a brat,” he growl against her lips before kissing her, while he lines himself up with her, the head already pushing in.
“Then fuck me, birthday boy,” she challenges him again and it’s the last straw.
Harry slams into her, both of them moaning at the sensation before he starts thrusting in a fast pace, needing all the friction he can make to get them to finish as soon as possible. Y/N’s head falls back as she holds onto the back of his neck, her other hand on the counter behind her again and Harry glances down, watching her breasts bounce every time he rails into her, slamming his whole length into her every time their hips meet.
She reaches for one of his hands that’s holding her thigh and she boldly brings it to her core, tapping his fingers to her clit, letting him know that she wants some extra effort. Harry doesn’t say it, but he is blown how she didn’t just do it herself, she made him do it. It’s got to be one of the hottest things he has ever seen.
“Fuck, go harder!” she gasps, wrapping her legs around his waist as he picks the pace up, feeling his orgasm building rapidly with each thrust.
They both are a whimpering, moaning mess, the bass of the music is thumping outside and for a moment, Harry feels like he is finally living his life to the fullest.
“I’m gonna cum!” she breathes out, his name falling from her lips moaning after that and when she pulls him down to kiss him, biting into his bottom lip and tugging it, he loses himself.
He feels himself jerking inside her, still sliding in and out of her as he grunts, releasing himself into the condom. He flicks his fingers on her clit at the same time, creating just enough friction to push her over the edge as well. He is coming off his own high when her walls tighten around his cock, dragging his orgasm out even longer as she basically screams, gasping for air, riding her orgasm out to the last bit.
Leaning down he kisses her again though they are still panting, this time making it a lot less rushed than the time their lips met for the first time. Her legs fall from around his waist and he pulls out, both of them cleaning themselves up in the aftermath of their little session.
“I know this was quite rushed and all that, but can I have your number?” he asks, even feeling a little nervous. She puts her underwear back on, smoothing her dress down as she smiles up at him, cupping his face in her palm.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to skip on that,” she tells him simply, shocking him for sure.
“D-Do you have a boyfriend or something?”
“No,” she shakes her head and now Harry is confused.
“You didn’t enjoy it?” he then asks, trying his best to figure out the reason behind the rejection.
“I did. But it was a one time thing. If it’s supposed to turn into more…” she sighs, grabbing her clutch from the counter. “Then I’ll leave it to fate if we ever meet again,” she shrugs before turning around she just unlocks the door and walks out, leaving Harry stand there in complete and utter shock.
This is definitely a first for him, a woman who doesn’t want to see him again. He is not that egoistic to think that everyone is in love with him, but he never had an encounter similar to this. Not after the most amazing sex ever.
Harry fixes himself up, still not believing she walked out that easily, but there’s not much he can do now. Walking back to his table, he acts like nothing happened and when his eyes scan over the crowd again, he can’t see her anymore.
Harry lets out a tired sigh when Zayn, head of the graphic design department walks into his office with a familiar brown paper bag with the logo of Harry’s favorite Chinese restaurant.
“Has it started already?” Zayn asks, though glancing at the big screen on the wall he can see the stream is still waiting to be started.
“No, I’ve been staring at it for like twenty minutes,” Harry grumbles, pushing himself away from his desk to join Zayn on the couch in front of the screen as he unpacks the food. “What do you think it’s going to be?”
Today is the day of Cometa’s big press conference and no one knows what they are about to announce. It’s been keeping Harry on the edge for the past few days, because whatever it is, it has got to be major. Julia Bianchi is not the type of person to hold press conferences, she is a private person who has managed to keep most of her life behind closed doors. That’s something Harry admires in the woman even though they are competitors in the business. He can relate to wanting to keep her life just for herself, he has been doing the same thing. No public appearances, no lengthy interviews, no photoshoots. He likes to let his work talk for himself and it’s proved to be a successful move so far.
“I don’t know, but I hope they don’t suddenly announce a full graphic makeover right before our update,” Zayn chuckles. He has been working on an entirely new appearance for the website these past weeks and it’s supposed to go live sometime later in the month. A change for Cometa would totally throw their attempt off, making them look like they are just copying Julia’s move.
They eat and wait for the stream to start when the screen finally comes alive. There’s an empty stage shown with just two mic stands in the middle and nothing really happens for a few minutes before clapping is heard from behind the camera and Julia finally walks on the stage.
The woman is a real diva. Wearing a matching pant suit with bold floral print all over it, her short hair is neatly straightened into a bob cut, her red lips smiling lightly as she waves around in the room. Julia has been in the fashion industry for almost three decades now and she surely made a name for herself, sitting front row in every fashion show she attends, her words on any new trend being basically the standard.
Stepping to one of the mics, she clears her throat as the clapping dies down and her calm, gentle voice rings through the speakers.
“Welcome, everyone, thank you for coming, as you might already know I’m Julia Bianchi, head of Cometa, the world’s best online women’s fashion house.”
Harry leans back in his seat, eyes fixed on the woman on the screen as he is patiently waiting to hear what she’s got for the people this time.
“I’ve spent twenty-seven wonderful years in the business, building my own one for the past two decades. I fell in love with fashion as a child and moved to Milan to study designing from the bests. Though designing has always and will always hold a special place in my heart, I saw an opportunity in the early years for a brand that would hold together every other brand in the industry, bringing it to everyone’s home thanks to the rapidly developing technology. Cometa has always been my little baby and I’m proud of everything I achieved as head of such a great company.”
Harry realizes what it’s about before Julia could even say the words herself. The phrasing, the nostalgic tone, it’s all adding up to the obvious: Julia is about to announce her retirement.
“I gave the best years of my life for this company and I regret nothing, but recently I’ve realized that it is time for me to slow down for a little bit and enjoy a life that’s not filled with work anymore, and spend more time with my beloved husband, Fabio and my family who supported me on my long way here. Therefore, I am now announcing it with an aching heart and a lot of excitement as well that I am stepping down from my role as CEO of Cometa. I might be leaving now, but my business will not. So it is a pleasure to introduce you the person who will carry my legacy on, my amazing niece, the absolutely most perfect woman to carry on the work I started, Y/N Y/L/N.”
The moment another woman comes into the picture Harry almost chokes on his own saliva, seeing the same curves he had his fingers dug into last Friday. Y/N smiles and waves around as she steps to the other mic next to her aunt, exchanging a short look with her before turning towards the people in the room and the camera that’s streaming the event.
“Dude, you alright?” Zayn asks, patting Harry’s back a few times as he is still struggling to breathe normally.
He refuses to accept that the woman he fucked in a bathroom on his birthday, the one that made him moan like never before, is the same woman who is going to take over his biggest competitor.
“This has got to be a joke,” he breathes out with teary eyes from all the coughing.
“It is an honor to be here,” Y/N starts speaking as the clapping dies down once again and the two men are staring at the screen. “Just like to be the one to step into the perfectly stylish shoes of my aunt. I hope to live up to not just her and everyone else’s expectations, but also to mine as well. I grew up watching my aunt build up this empire with basically dust so to be the person to take her place is a dream come true. I promise to keep the quality the same and work on improving Cometa to its possible best while being in charge.”
As she finishes talking, questions are thrown in her way, but Harry doesn’t pay attention any longer. Standing up he walks to the window, staring out to the city as he chews on his bottom lip anxiously.
“What the fuck is your problem, H? It wasn’t as bad as we expected, right?” Zayn questions.
“It’s fucking worse!” he snaps turning around. “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”
“Would you just tell me what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong is that… I told you about what… happened on my birthday.”
“The bathroom fuck, oh yeah,” Zayn chuckles with a playful shine in his eyes.
“Well, that woman… the woman I fucked was her.” Zayn stays silent for a moment before he turns towards the screen, eyeing the woman on the stage as she is still answering questions, standing confidently in her tight, black dress and red heels.
“You fucked Julia Bianchi’s niece? And she is now taking over Cometa?” he raises his eyebrows at Harry who just nods, pressing his lips together into a thin line. “And she is also the one who didn’t give you her number?”
“Don’t… bring that up. But yes, it’s her.”
Zayn starts laughing, clearly finding Harry’s misery entertaining, but Harry doesn’t feel like taking it that easy. He wonders if she knew who he was, if she did it on purpose or it was fate’s horrible joke on both of them.
“Ah man, that charity event on Saturday will be one hell of a show then!” Zayn points it out and Harry’s face falls. He totally forgot about the charity event he was invited to, one that would have the biggest names in the fashion industry together in a ball room to raise money for a chosen good cause. It happens every year and it’s a major event, the perfect place to network and also to see your biggest enemies. That means that Harry will see Y/N again in a few short days and if he is being honest… he is not ready to face her, not after the information he learned today. Sighing he steps to the minibar he insisted on having in his office and though he never drinks during the day, he now thinks that now might be an exception. He pours himself some whiskey and before he chugs it down at one go, he lets out a long, tired sigh.
“That’s just my luck…”
Leslie helps you with the zipper of your dress, the silky, red fabric hugging your body like a second skin. She smoothes the wrinkles out while you fix the straps, staring back at yourself in the mirror with judgment. You need to look perfect, this is going to be your first time appearing at an event as CEO of Cometa, your big entrance into the industry, you can’t let anything go wrong.
“You look gorgeous, babe,” Leslie smiles at you, bringing your hair behind your shoulders as her eyes meet yours in the mirror. Leslie might be your assistant, but she is a lot more than that. You’ve been friends for almost a decade and when she lost her job a few years ago you didn’t hesitate to offer her a spot next to you. You wouldn’t be here without her, she doesn’t try to use her privilege of being your friend to not do the work, she is always on top of her game and you’ll always be grateful for her to not make it awkward at all.
“I think you need some diamonds though,” she winks at you, stepping to the table where all kinds of jewelry is sprawled out. She reaches for a simple one, not too much, quite elegant and you nod as she holds it up for you. Walking behind you she brings it around your neck, the diamond brilliantly sitting on your chest now, giving that little extra shine to your outfit.
“You’ll make every man fall in love with you,” she smiles at you and breathing out you nod, hoping to believe that everything will go perfectly.
While you make a few last minute calls she gets dressed as well before the car arrives for the two of you. She is wearing a less daring but still beautiful black dress, her curly hair pinned up into a loose bun at the nape of her neck, her heavily freckled face bright from her happy smile as the two of you make your way to the event.
“I know it’s ridiculous, but I tried to memorize the faces and names from the guest list,” she grins at you, earning an eyeroll.
“Les, I told you, this is not The Devil Wears Prada,” you chuckle softly. She is obsessed with that movie and hasn’t shut up about feeling like she is literally living in it since your aunt has shared her plans with you about your future position last year.
“I know, but it might be impressive if you already knew everyone!”
You have to give that to her, it would earn you a few good points if you knew the names already, you’re just still nervous about the whole thing. So many things could go wrong and you want it to be perfect.
At first you feel intimidated by all the influential people around you. Everyone here is one of the bests in their own field and you feel like an impostor, but then you remind yourself that you earned your spot. Your aunt wouldn’t have given you the company if she didn’t trust you entirely with it. You worth no less than anyone else in this ball room and that reminds you that… you’re that bitch.
Leslie’s knowledge of names actually comes handy. You love seeing people get shocked when they try to introduce themselves to you, but you already greet them saying their names. It earns you some appreciative looks as you make your way around the room. Everything is going smooth, right until you spot one particular man in the crowd.
You’re in a little circle with a few designers when your gaze falls on Harry who is standing across the room, talking to two men. The champagne almost slips from your hand when you realize it’s him.
“Leslie,” you grab her wrist catching her attention. “Les, who’s the man in the blue Gucci suit?” you ask in a whisper and she follows your gaze, finding the man in talk.
“Oh, that’s Harry Styles, head of Twisted.”
“Fuck,” you mumble under your breath as you quickly excuse yourself from the conversation and head out to the balcony to get some fresh air before you faint right on the spot.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Leslie follows you.
“I messed up,” you squeak as you step outside, the chilly evening air hitting your uncovered skin immediately. “I messed up big time!”
“What? Why? What happened?”
Stepping to the edge, you wrap your hands around the railing, staring out into the void for a moment. Leslie Stands beside you, quite puzzled about your sudden panic.
“Remember the guy I told you about from Friday night?” you ask, keeping your voice down even though there’s no one really around. Leslie nods. “Well… he was the guy.”
Leslie glances back inside and then at you before her eyes widen and lips part in shock.
“You fucked Harry Styles at a club’s bathroom?!” she whisper-yells at you and you feel like a teenager who is getting scolded.
“I didn’t know who he was! And I genuinely think he didn’t know me either, how could he?! But now he is here and… Oh God, this is so bad,” you whine, your head dropping backwards as you let out a frustrated growl.
“Okay, don’t panic. Maybe… maybe he doesn’t remember you.”
“You can’t make me believe he doesn’t remember me after fucking me on a counter,” you tell her giving her a look.
“Alright, alright. Then… you just have to suck it up. It’s not like you can unfuck him,” she shrugs and though you know she is right, you just wish you could leave right now.
You never planned on seeing him again. Your bullshit speech about letting fate decide it was just an excuse to not give him your number. You didn’t want to because you thought he is not the kind of man that would be good for you. From his look you thought that he was either a fuckboy, not willing to commit to anything serious, or the kind of man that seems all nice and respectful at first but then turns out to be a total asshole and you’ve had enough of those in your twenty-eight years.
Soon enough you head back as the auction is about to start. Luckily, your seat is far away from Harry and it seems like he hasn’t noticed you yet. Though you wish to keep it that way, you can feel it coming already.
The auction goes by fast, you buy a new painting that will look amazing in your living room and almost twice as much money is raised through the evening that was the goal. You leave Leslie behind at the table as you go to the bar to get yourself another drink, probably your last one of the evening if you don’t want to end up making a fool out of yourself.
Patiently waiting at the bar you’re already thinking about watching Grey’s Anatomy when you get back and out of this tight dress. You look hot, but it’s not the comfiest look, if you’re being honest. There’s only one more person in front of you when you feel a little tap on your shoulder and turning around your stomach drops when you see the man you’ve been trying to avoid all evening.
“Fancy seeing you here, Y/N,” he nods shortly, his expression is quite blank, but he is definitely not shocked to see you. You tighten your jaw before looking away from him, squinting your eyes a bit.
“You don’t seem surprised,” you point out.
“I was kind of expecting to see you here tonight.”
“So you knew who I was all along?” you snap at him, but he shakes his head.
“Not until the stream this week. I was pretty shocked when you walked on stage.”
Nodding shortly you brush your hair over your shoulder and you catch Harry glimpsing down your body, but decide not to comment on it.
“Did you know who I was?” he then asks, digging his hands into his pockets.
“No, I wouldn’t sleep with my biggest competitor willingly.”
“Just from the abrupt ending I had a feeling that you might have known me.”
“Just because a woman doesn’t throws herself into your arms after a fuck, doesn’t mean she had ulterior motives,” you scoff. “Get off your high horse,” you add before turning back towards the bar so you can order your drink. Unfortunately, Harry doesn’t want the conversation to end just yet. His hand is laid flat on the counter in front of you as he stands on your right, a little too close to your liking. You can smell the expensive cologne on him, the same that hit your nose on Friday as well and suddenly your body is betraying you.
However crazy the situation is, you can’t deny that he gave you one of the best times last Friday. Men you dealt with were more concerned about their own pleasure and most of them didn’t even get you to finish. But Harry made it happen so fast and didn’t even bitch about it when you made him rub your clit. He just obeyed like a grownup man who is willingly take care of his partner. That almost made you change your mind about leaving, but once you came down from cloud nine, you returned to your original plan.
But not as he is standing in front of you and you can smell him, your senses trick you into thinking that you’re in that bathroom again, almost aching for him to touch you the way he did then. He leans closer to your ear as he speaks up again.
“Leave the drink, dance with me,” he tells you as the bartender places your drink in front of you. You debate what to do before grabbing the drink and chugging it down in one go. You’ll need the alcohol if you are about to dance with your enemy.
Harry takes you to the dance floor in the middle of the ball room, one of his hands finds the small of your back while the other takes your hand as the two of you start swaying to the gentle music played by the band.
“Your aunt set my company back in women’s fashion every time I tried to take a step forward. Are you going to do the same?”
“She didn’t do anything to set you back but to build her own company. Not everything is about you.”
“You sound a little naïve, Love. It’s pretty clear you are new in the business.” This statement riles you up big time. How dare he degrade you like that? He knows nothing about you, yet he assumes things that are not at all real.
Smirking to yourself you lean back enough so your gazes can meet. Your hand slides up from his shoulders to the base of his neck so your fingers can gently brush against his skin and you notice the shudder than runs down his spine. He is not the only one having flashbacks from your last encounter.
“Wanna know what I know about business?” you purr, his eyes glued to your red lips as you speak. “I know that… Twisted was one of the last sites to participate in personalized ads on online platforms, failing to reach it’s targeted audience as fast as literally everyone else. I know that your company and my company use the same security system in our server rooms yet I can assure you that it cost me twenty percent less because we waited a month before installing it and got a huge last minute discount because the security company was trying to boost their numbers for their end of year closing. And I also happen to know that you are working on a new design for your website that could easily be outshone if I just did the same before you could do it.”
Harry’s lips part, probably mostly at the last information. He has no idea how you know these stuff, but you have a wide circle of connections in the city, you have an insider at every big companies in the industry without them even knowing. You’ve given countless tips to your aunt through the years, that’s how she managed to stay on top of her games.
Leaning closer your lips almost brush against him and you see how he weakens, he is expecting you to kiss him and he wants it. But you just smile at him, your eyes snapping down to his lips before up to his eyes.
“I will not do the same as my aunt, Harry,” you softly speak, your fingers grazing the back of his neck. “I will do way worse things.”
And with that, you slip out of his arms and walk back to your table, leaving him standing there alone at a complete loss of words.
“What the fuck had gotten into you?” Niall grimaces upon hearing everything he told you on the evening of the charity event. And quite frankly, Harry has no answer to that. He has absolutely no idea what had gotten into him to act like such a dick when you didn’t do anything against him.
The situation just messed with his head, seeing you in that breathtaking dress, mingling with everyone, smiling and laughing, oh how he wished you were laughing on his jokes! But then you seemed so tensed when he came up to you and something just switched in him. He wanted to take dominance, to somehow get out of it on top, but he miserably failed. When you brought up their plans to change the design he completely froze.
“No idea, okay? I just…lost it,” he growls, sinking into the couch. When Niall found out that Harry met the woman from the club again he insisted on coming over with some wine to talk it out, but he was not expecting this kind of story at all.
“Dude, you just put yourself on her radar big time, maybe she wouldn’t have even bothered to compete with you like her aunt did, but you surely changed her mind now.”
“I know, Niall!” Harry growls, not in the mood to be scolded like a little child. “Do you think she’ll change their design before we do?” he peeks at his friend, but Niall just shrugs.
“No idea, but I would try to speed it up before she actually does it.”
Harry made you into a ticking bomb and you successfully got under his skin about the whole design project so first thing the next morning he went to Zayn to discuss a possible earlier debut for the new designs. Though it would be a close stretch, they agreed that it would go live by the end of the week and that got Harry somehow a little relieved, but in the middle of that he failed to put the right amount of effort into finding designers for their female lines.
When he meets up with Lambert a few days later he is not there to deliver great news. Apparently, three out of the four designers they were negotiating with recently pulled out of their deal and signed a contract with Cometa.
“We have one last designer on the list, but then… we are out of the bigger names,” Lambert sighs as Harry chews on his bottom lip anxiously. He feels like he has fallen into a hole a while ago and instead of climbing out he is just digging it deeper underneath him.
“Okay, do we have an appointment with them?” Harry asks.
“Yeah, I’m meeting her this afternoon.”
“I’m going with you,” he nods before standing from his chair and opening the door he calls out for his assistant. “Rebecca, please clear my schedule for this afternoon, I’ll be out of the office.”
Rebecca nods behind her desk, already starting to make calls about Harry’s meetings and appointments.
It’s obvious he is anxious about the meeting, because if it falls through they are forced to look for less known designers and that won’t bring the change for the company they’ve been seeking for a long time. Arriving to the showroom where the designer is working, Harry is setting his thoughts straight, determined to convince her to sign a contract with them. The two men are let into the building by the nice assistant working at the front desk and she shows the way to the showroom where Kennedy, the designer is waiting for them.
Harry is confident, he trusts his skills to make this happen, but when they walk inside he instantly freezes upon seeing an all too familiar figure standing with Kennedy
A maroon colored pantsuit is hugging your curves, a Hermés handbag hanging from your arm, your hair falling in loose curls. As if you could sense his presence, you peek over your shoulder, a devilish smirk on your lips when you see the shocked expression on Harry’s face.
“What a great surprise!” you beam, selling how happy you are to see him and in a way, you are. You wanted to see his face drop when he realizes you snatched yet another designer from him.
“Oh, Mr. Styles!” Kennedy smiles nicely at him and he finally snaps out of his trance, shaking hands with her and then turning to you, doing the same but in a lot colder manner.
“Y/N, nice to see you again,” he fakes a smile as your hand falls from his palm.
“I could say the same. But I’m heading out now. Great talk, Kennedy. I’ll be waiting for your call,” you wink at the young designer who seems to be thrilled by your words as she walks you to the exit.
“Fucking hell,” Harry mumbles under his breath and Lambert shoots him a look before Kennedy returns.
The three of them take a seat on the couches in the corner of the room and Harry is quick to get down to business, trying his best to make his offer appear more appealing than anything you told her right before their arrival. Kennedy listens intently, even takes notes and then she shows him some examples of what she was thinking about for her next line and Harry is beyond thrilled.
Unfortunately, soon comes the painful part.
“Harry, I’m gonna be honest with you,” Kennedy starts and Harry already knows what she is about to say. “Your offer is very tempting and it would be an honor to design a line for Twisted, but in my situation it would be more beneficial if I collaborated with Cometa. It is nothing against your company, it’s more about my personal path and growth.”
Harry can feel his stomach dropping and he clenches his jaw as he listens to Kennedy’s worth. He understands, of course he understands, she has the right to selfishly look at her own benefits upon signing with a new company, but he wished she would take the risk and chose his company instead of yours.
“I’m keeping the offer open for you still,” he forces a smile on his face. “If you change your mind, Twisted would be more than happy to work with you.”
Kennedy walks the two men out and the fake smile quickly vanishes from Harry’s face upon stepping out of the building.
“What are we going to do now?” Lambert asks, clearly worried about how they’re gonna move forward with their last chance falling.
“If Y/N wants a war, that’s what she’ll get,” Harry growls, revenge burning in the greens of his eyes.
It’s a quiet Friday afternoon, only hours left from the day before you are headed home finally. You’re sitting in your office with Leslie, going over next week’s schedule to make sure everything is set and clear.
It’s been almost an entire month since you stepped into your aunt’s shoes as head of the company and though the start was a little rough, especially with finding out who Harry was, but you feel like you have everything under your control by now. After all, you didn’t learn business for years from the bests for nothing, right?
Harry’s comment on you knowing nothing about the industry made you bitter, because he knows nothing about you and the struggle you went through your life to get to this point. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbow, being Julia’s niece might have been a hugely influencing aspect of you taking over, but you worked your ass off to be the best leader you can and not just ruin everything she built up through her whole life.
Though you didn’t always want to be the one following her, but you like to think that things worked out to your favor and you are where you should be.
“Alright, everything is looking fine,” Leslie smiles at you over her laptop. “I’ll send you the notes from today’s meeting.”
“Thank you. Can you call in with the delivery company about next month’s transactions?” you ask her and she nods, already adding it to her list of tasks for the rest of the day. “Alright. I’ll do the rest of the signings and then we can head out,” you smile at her.
Leslie is grabbing her things from the table when there’s a soft knock on the door. You give your permission and one of the tech support guys walk in with a worried look on his face.
“Miss Y/L/N? I’m afraid we have a problem,” he clears his throat and you can already feel your anxiety crawl up on your spine.
“What is it?” you ask firmly. The guy steps farther inside, fumbling with his fingers as he presents the issue.
“There’s been an attempt to break our software’s security system where we keep our data about the sellings. A-And I’m afraid it wasn’t just an attempt, they succeeded.”
You take a deep breath, glancing over at Leslie for a moment before you follow the man to the tech department to investigate the issue further. You don’t know shit about these stuff, but from what he said you know the trouble is huge and if you don’t solve it as soon as possible, valuable data could leak out to the public. They try to explain you what they are working on as of right now and that there’s not much you can actually help with.
“Make sure to put your extra hours on your attendance sheets and let me know when you are able to restore the system,” you tell them and you earn quite a few thank yous on your way out for actually paying the overtime. Then you turn to the guy that first came to your office. “Do you have any information about who it could have been?”
“We weren’t able to track them back, but whoever it was, they’re surely professionals and they might know the system from the inside.”
“What do you mean from the inside? Someone did it from the company?” you ask, eyebrows knitting together as you fold your arms on your chest.
“No,” he shakes his head. “We would have been able to track that back. I mean that they know the system, maybe they worked somewhere where the same one was used and they could see into it.”
It takes you a few moments before you realize what this really is and it has your blood boiling right away. Nodding shortly you exhale sharply through your nose.
“Thank you, please call me when it’s up and running again, I’ll take care of the rest,” you tell him before turning around you walk away.
When Leslie sees you approaching your office with a head practically turning red she is quick to jump to her feet, following you into the office.
“What’s happening?”
“Harry Styles, that’s what happening,” you snap as you grab your phone, purse and coat before heading out, not wasting another minute.
“What? Where are you going now?”
“To the devil himself,” you growl back and enter the elevator, leaving her alone with her questions.
Sitting in your car on your way to the headquarters of Twisted, you imagine every scenario you want to make happen when you arrive, most of them including hitting the man across his ridiculously handsome yet annoying face. He crossed a line with breaking into your system and stealing valuable data. Though you’re sure he wouldn’t dare to sell or publish it, because he would be in a big legal trouble if he did, he still had a glimpse into your numbers and that’s already an advantage. He is playing dirty and you’re not having any of it.
Arriving you burst through the doors and demand to see him. Though the woman behind the front desk tells you that you can’t see him without an appointment, you still get her to make a call up and naturally, Harry allows you to see him. The fucker might already have been waiting for you to show up. As you stand in the all glass elevator, on your way up to meet him you take a few deep breaths to keep your cool and not snap like a maniac, however it all vanishes when you see him waiting for you with that shit-eating grin on his face when you step out of the elevator.
“You’re lucky I didn’t go straight to the police with your little stunt, you fucker!” you snap, not able to hold back your swearing any longer.
“Do you have any evidence?” he tilts his head to the side and you don’t miss how his gaze runs down your body as you march towards him. You’d find it flattering in another situation, but right now you just want to punch him in the face.
“I’ll show some evidence down your throat, Styles, if you don’t stop messing with my security system,” you growl back, standing so close to him now that you see every tiny freckle and blemish on his face and the way how he clenches his jaw, holding his gaze on yours.
Without a word or invitation, you walk into the room that you suppose is his office and he follows with a soft chuckle.
“Did you hire a hacker just to mess with me?” you throw the question at him as he closes the door so his employees don’t hear everything.
“What if I did?” he shrugs, stepping to the tray on his desk that already has a glass of whiskey on it. He grabs the glass and simply lifts it to his lips, taking a tiny sip from it. “Oh, excuse my manners. Would you like a drink?”
“I’m driving,” you answer shortly. “You crossed a line, Harry,” you warn him.
“What line?” he chuckles, rather entertained by your rage. “After what you pulled with Kennedy, I think I went easy on you.”
“I didn’t pull anything, I just gave her a better offer! It’s not my fault she has better chances with my company!” you snap back, feeling your heartbeat fastening from the anger that’s boiling in your veins.
“You knew I wanted her to design for me, why couldn’t you just let one person out of your endless list? You already have everyone else, she was my last fucking chance!” Harry barks back, clearly having some built up tension in him as well.
“If you didn’t act like an arrogant asshole at the charity gala, I would have happily let you work with her, but then you felt the need to fucking degrade me! That’s why I didn’t let you get away with it!”
Harry opens his mouth to answer, but he quickly closes his mouth, probably knowing well you’re right. He did act shitty towards you that evening and he has no excuse for his behavior. You walk closer until there are just a few feet between the two of you, your eyes glued to his burning green gaze that’s staring back at you, but before you could speak up, he cuts you off.
“Well, you know. All is fair in… war and business,” he shrugs and you honestly barely can stop yourself from laughing at how stupid that just sounded. You can’t miss the twitch in the corner of his mouth as well and you can’t believe how easily he made you break out of your rage.
“Don’t try to make money out of writing slogans,” you huff shaking your head and now he is grinning widely. “Do you have the data?”
“I don’t,” he answers and you narrow your eyes at him.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not,” he chuckles. “I had it, but I already deleted it. I know it wasn’t ethical so as soon as it was handed to me I deleted it. I didn’t even look into it. I just wanted to scare you.”
“And how do I know your hacker doesn’t have it either?”
“Because he signed a contract that would cost him millions to break and I don’t think a junior in college who is still living in a dorm can afford that,” he points out and now you are somewhat convinced. You stare back at him for a few more seconds before nodding.
“Stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours, how does that sound?” you offer generously.
“Where’s the fun in that?” he questions with a smug smirk that makes your arch an eyebrow at him. “What are you doing tomorrow evening?” he then asks and you can’t mask your surprise in front of him.
“That does not concern you, Styles,” you scoff, though it boosts your ego that even through all the hate you’ve been targeting at each other, he still wants you the same way he did at the club that evening. You can’t deny, this rivalry has sparked a few thoughts in you as well, but you are not going to fall into the same mistake you made that evening. You pay him another smirk before turning around and heading towards the door. “Stay out of my way, Styles!” you call back without looking at him, but you just know he is grinning at you, a growing sexual tension thickening the atmosphere in the room.
“Or what?” he smugly questions and you stop at the door, glancing back at him over your shoulder.
“Or… You said it yourself. All is fair in war and business,” you smirk before walking out of the office.
Following your visit to Harry’s office things take a… playful turn in your rivalry. The attempts and competing don’t stop, both of you are on each other’s radar, ruining and messing with each other’s projects and works whenever and wherever it’s possible, but it’s not as hateful as it was at the beginning. If something, it even helps you to always be on your toes and watch out for possible threats, not just from Harry but from everyone else.
Neither of you succeeds in evolving in each other’s field, Cometa keeps thriving in women’s fashion with a quite small variety offered for the gentlemen while Twisted fails to grow out of men’s fashion and venture to the ladies, but somehow it’s not as frustrating as it used to be before.
Harry keeps up his flirty acts and tries to ask you out every time your paths cross each other, but you relentlessly turn him down every time, only fueling him to keep chasing after you more the next time. It’s a thrilling and flattering little game, knowing that even with all the rivalry between the two of you, being the biggest competitors in the business… he still wants you.
New York fashion week rolls around and it’s by far one of your favorite times in the year. You managed to snatch an exclusive deal with YSL to release a special line just for the fashion week and it sold out in the first two hours, now waiting to be restocked in a few days. Cometa is thriving and your aunt has expressed her pride towards the work you’ve been doing at the company, so things are heading the right direction.
You knew Harry would be attending the same shows as you, but it’s fate or just luck that you are seated next to each other at one of the shows, giving you the chance to talk without any of you attempting to corrupt the other this time.
Harry is already sitting in his seat when you arrive wearing a custom made Gucci dress, something that immediately catches his eyes since he is a huge fan of the brand himself.
“Your fashion sense never disappoints, Y/N,” he beams up at you as you take the seat next to him.
“Hope that’s not surprising, Styles,” You smirk at him, taking a glance at his own Gucci outfit, the checkered pants fitting him perfectly while the pussy bow adds some spice to the whole outfit, you have to admit. He looks good, he always does.
“Any plans after the show?” he asks right before the lights go out and the show starts. You leave him without an answer, just let out a soft chuckle as you glue your eyes to the first model who walks the runway.
Once the show is over you head out with Harry by your side, having an actually entertaining discussion about the designs you just saw. He might not be an expert in fashion, but he has developed a good sense through his years.
As you make your way out of the venue you are stopped by an interviewer and Harry remains on your side as the woman asks you a few questions about the show.
“I’ve always wondered, does it bother you that you couldn’t be on the runway yourself? You’ve been sitting front row the past years, but you once had aspirations of being a model yourself, is that right?”
The question makes you tense up and you can feel Harry’s puzzled look on you from the side.
“It’s not like it was my fault for not making it up there,” you sass back, forcing a smile to your face.
“Well, that’s not entirely true,” the woman chuckles and it has your blood boiling, because you know the real meaning behind her words.
It’s your fault you didn’t become a model because you were never thin enough to be one. It was your fault and not the industry’s to hold impossible standards to women who wanted to succeed as a model.
The smile falters from your face and you take a long, judgmental look at the woman in front of you. Because if she is brave enough to talk like that to you, you’re not gonna shy away from bringing her spirits down either.
“Judging from your appearance and attitude you wouldn’t make it either,” you spitefully reply and her smile quickly fades, clearly shocked at your answer. You open your mouth again, ready to continue, but then you feel a hand on the small of your back and you realize Harry is still standing next to you.
“Come on, we have somewhere to be, right?” he smiles kindly as you just simply nod and walk away from the woman before she could offend you again.
Harry senses your tension as the two of you leave the venue but doesn’t try to talk to you and that’s a wise choice from him. As you step out of the building you realize that if you went home now you’d probably get drunk on your own and let that comment get to you more than you should. So instead of doing that you turn to Harry.
“So, what are our plans?” you ask and you don’t miss the small smile on his lips as he stares back at you.
Not in the mood to stay around people at a bar you accept Harry’s invitation to his place, since it’s also close. The contrast between his extravagant penthouse and your cozy but still quite modern townhouse in Park Slope is major, but you didn’t expect anything less from the man.
You’ve managed to calm down since you left the venue, but you’re still quite bitter about the comment the woman made. Harry hasn’t tried to ask you about it, but you can tell he is dying to know more about the situation that’s behind the madness.
He fixes you a drink and you find yourself sinking into his comfortable and probably ridiculously expensive couch in his living room area.
“I used to want to be a model,” you start, breaking the silence that settled between the two of you. “When I was a teen. I was a lot thinner, I was a competitive dancer until I was seventeen, but I had a knee injury, so I had to quit.”
Harry sits on the other end of the couch, listening to you with patience as he sips on his own drink.
“I was never as thin as the other models at the agency I was trying to get into, but I definitely wasn’t overweight. Yet, they labelled me as a plus size model. I was a healthy, strong young girl with a perfectly good body, yet they told me that I was too fat to be a model.”
Glancing at Harry, you can tell that he is surprised at the information he just learned. He is probably picturing you thinner now, going to model castings and if you’re being honest you enjoyed that part. The trouble came when you got rejection after rejection, telling you to lose weight and come back after that.
“I quit my whole plan to be a model and studied fashion and business instead, consciously working my way towards this point. But I never got over how the industry made me feel less of a person because I wasn’t a size zero.”
For a few long moments Harry just stares at you and it’s actually nice that he doesn’t try to make you feel better right away, praising you how you are perfect just the way you are. Because you’re not, but that’s fine because no one is.
“I’ve honestly never seen a more cruel industry than fashion before,” he then speaks up. “I didn’t grow up in it and still don’t really have that much and deep connection with it, but I know how fucked up it is. And it’s nice to see that you know your worth even after everything that happened.”
Your gaze meets his and you’re looking for any sign that gives away that he is just messing with you, but it’s all genuine. You just shoot him a small smile before lifting your drink to your lips. It’s the most intimate moment you’ve shared with him, including the ones you had in that bathroom.
“Okay, now you tell me something about your life,” you prompt, wanting to divert the conversation on him a little bit.
“What do you want to know?” he asks with a soft chuckle.
“Why did you name your brand Twisted?” you ask. The question has been on your mind for a while.
“It’s coming from my mum’s name. Anne Twist.”
Your eyebrows shoot up, you weren’t expecting such a deep and personal reason behind the name, connected to a family member.
“Why her?”
“Why not?” he smirks shrugging his shoulders. “She raised me and my sister up, I wouldn’t be here without her. It was obvious I would make her be part of it in some kind of way.”
“That’s actually very nice. Who knew that you could be something other than an egoistic asshole!” you joke, making him laugh as well.
“Okay, what’s the meaning behind your brand?” he then turns it back around.
“Well, my aunt met her husband when they were very young, maybe eighteen. She fell in love with Fabio on her trip to Italy and being the impulsive and adventurous woman that she is, she stayed for a month there just because of Fabio. He is a very passionate man and he was always ready to bring the stars down for Julia. He always used to tell her that he would even catch a comet for her, if that’s what she wanted. And that was my aunt’s favorite saying from him. Cometa is comet in Italian. It’s her tribute to the love of her life.”
“That’s easily the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” Harry hums and you just smile nodding at him. It really is like a fairytale and it’s also one of the reasons why you were so happy to take her place at Cometa. Julia is still just as in love with Fabio as she was at eighteen and she deserves to spend more time with her beloved husband. She earned the time off after all the sacrifices she made for the company and all through them Fabio stayed by her side. It’s their well-earned happy ending now.
“You know a lot about romantic things?” you cock an eyebrow at him, finishing up your drink.
“Actually, I’m a quite romantic guy.”
“Are you now?”
“Yeah, you just never gave me the chance to show it to you.”
“Oh, so now I’m the bad guy?” you chuckle, handing him your glass when he stands from the couch to get you a refill.
“Exactly!” he chuckles holding up your empty glass on his way. “I hope you know you absolutely broke my heart when you didn’t give me your number that night.”
“Oh, you poor little thing,” you chuckle, resting your head in your palm, your elbow on the back of the couch. “I’m not sorry though. You didn’t give out the right vibes.”
“The right vibes?” he huffs as he returns with your drink and now sits a little closer to you. “What vibe did I give you?”
“The vibe that told me I shouldn’t mess with you,” you simply answer as you take a sip from your refilled drink.
“You were so keen on hating me even before you knew who I was, I can’t believe you,” he chuckles shaking his head.
“I’m just cautious!” you protest. “I’ve dealt with some problematic men in the past, I can’t let myself walk right into another one that easily.”
“What did they do?”
“Some men just can’t treat women right. Especially confident ones with a body like mine,” you simply shrug.
Men like to think that bigger girls are so terribly insecure about their body that they need the validation of a male to feel good about themselves. But when you’re confident and feel good in your own skin without needing them to praise you, they think that you’re egoistic, so full of yourself and they are quick to try to drag you down. That’s something you can’t tolerate. You don’t need a man to feel good about yourself, you don’t need anyone for that. You know your worth and that’s all that matters.
Harry’s eyes travel down your body, taking his time on your curves and you smile shaking your head as you reach out and cupping his chin you pull his head up so he is looking into your eyes.
“I honestly can’t see what problem anyone could have with your body. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since our bathroom fiasco,” he bluntly comments making you chuckle, even flattered by his words.
“You are such a flirt,” you grin at him and he doesn’t try to protest.
You stay for a couple more drinks and you drop the heavier topics, venturing over to music, fashion and any funny stories that come to your mind. Harry is actually amazing company when you’re not trying to jump at each other’s throat and for a few short hours you forget that he is supposed to be your competitor.
You’re a little tipsy, but you are definitely not drunk, so when Harry offers you to stay the night you turn it down, calling yourself a car since you are not in the right state to drive.
“I’ll come and pick my car up in the morning,” you breathe out as you put your heels back on that came off your feet sometime during the evening, making yourself home in his place.
“I’ll text you the security number to the garage,” he nods, walking you to the elevator.
“Thank you. And… I guess thank you for the evening,” you smile at him, turning to face him. He is standing close, but still takes a step closer, one of his hands finding your waist as he pulls you against his chest. Your palms lie flat on his chest as you try to get yourself to the right mindset to leave now before you regret doing something. Leaning down his nose nudges against your cheek, before he presses a soft kiss under below your ear, a sigh escaping your lips.
“I should go, the car is here,” you breathe out, but don’t move.
“Mm, okay,” he hums, his lips peppering kisses on your jaw and your cheek, as if you didn’t say a word. You want to continue it, not just because of the alcohol but because the sexual tension between the two of you has been growing since that charity gala, but the remainder of your rationality stops you before your lips could meet.
“Bye Harry,” you smile at him softly as you push him away and you walk into the elevator, leaving him hanging. Again.
“Bye Y/N. I’m still going to try to ruin your company!” he calls after you as you turn around to face him, the sliding doors slowly closing between the two of you.
“Same back at you, Styles,” you smirk before the door closes and you are taken down.
Well, that was a lie. Following your evening at his place neither of you really tries to work against the other, leaving each other be without any fuss. It might also have something to do with how you kept in touch after that day. You’ve been texting occasionally, attending some events together, even had a business dinner together with a few other peers from the industry. Things have been quiet and you’ve been feeling content with the current state you’ve managed to reach. Or so you thought.
It was a silent agreement between the two of you. You both put your projects aside that targeted the other’s profile. Harry stopped looking for designers for his women lines and you put your men department to the side as well. There were a lot to work on beside these fields so you felt like you were in peace. Right until Leslie bursts into your office on a casual Tuesday.
“Have you seen this?” she asks, placing a tablet in front of you with an Instagram account open on it.
You want to ask what you’re supposed to look at, but then you realize what it really is. A shiny new account for a new brand that promises to take online shopping to the next level; female and male as well.
“You think it could be…?” you ask, not quite convinced that Harry is behind this.
“Well, the wording is similar to theirs and creating a new brand might be a solution to their gap in women’s fashion,” she points it out, though you don’t want to believe he could have been working on this all along, basically in front of your face.
But it’s a possibility and you have to consider this option before jumping into defending him without any proof.
“Men can’t be trusted,” you grumble under your breath before jumping into work.
What you didn’t know is that an eerily similar situation goes down in Harry’s office as well when Zayn bursts in, showing him the ad he found for the new brand called Farfalla.
Harry immediately digs up everything about the company, though there’s not much other than their new Instagram account and heavy marketing that started just yesterday.
“What is Farfalla even?” he grimaces leaning back in his chair.
“It means butterfly in Italian,” Zayn explains and Harry’s eyes flicker up to him.
“Italian? You think it’s her?”
“It’s possible,” Zayn nods. “Starting a new brand to finally reach men’s fashion is a good idea.”
“She wouldn’t have done this,” Harry shakes his head in disbelief. Could you be working on this all along? Was this your plan from the start? To make him fall for you and forget about business while you built up your new empire to ruin him?
“What if she did?” Zayn prompts and in a way his suspicion is valid, but Harry is having a hard time believing it. You would never play him this dirty, not after how the two of you have grown closer in the past weeks, almost became friends.
“What are you going to do?” Zayn asks him as he pushes himself away from the desk and quite obviously starts getting ready to leave.
“She is not getting away from this,” Harry mumbles under his breath as he grabs his coat and phone before storming out of the office.
It’s past six when Harry gets to Cometa’s building and he is informed that you’ve already went home. He could have just come back in the morning, but he knew he would just stew in his own anger if he didn’t talk to you as soon as possible. So using his charm he gets the woman sitting behind the front desk to share your address with him, saying that he needs to talk to you urgently. That’s how he finds himself heading to Park Slope, slightly surprised you are not living somewhere in the heart of Manhattan.
As the scenery around his changes, skyscrapers turning into brick buildings and townhouses, Harry tries to figure out what he even wants to say to you. Should he just get straight down to business and accuse you? Snap at you? Or should he give you the chance to explain yourself? He can’t really make up his mind, mostly because he still feels like you betrayed him even though he can’t be sure Farfalla is yours.
Parking down at the address he got from the woman, he stares up at the deep red brick townhouse, a simple, black door at the top of the stairs that’s lined with a few potted plants and flowers. This is not what he would have imagined your home like, but now that he is standing on your doormat, he realizes it kind of suits you.
Ringing the bell he hopes that you’re home and not out and about somewhere in the city, but when he hears the familiar sound of heels clicking on the floor he knows you are on the other side. When the front door flings open and you come into his sight, for a split second he forgets why he is here and his anger vanishes. As always, you look amazing, a tight, black dress hugging your curves, the middle part appearing like it’s a corset, emphasizing the dip of your waist. Your hair is let down in loose curls and your feet are bare, but he knows you probably wore heels all day. You must have gotten home not long ago and as your eyes fall on the man at the door, your expression hardens on him.
“You really had the balls to come her, huh?” you cock your head to the side, keeping your eyes on his green ones for a moment before you let him inside.
“Did you think you could get away with it?” he huffs walking into the hallway and stopping as you close the door and turn to him.
“Me? I could say the same! You thought I would just ignore it or what? I proved you a few times that I’m not stupid, Harry,” you retort, folding your arms on your chest as you walk past him, into the kitchen and he follows.
“You surely are not stupid, playing me so dirty behind my back!” Harry spats standing his ground. “Playing all friendly and nice and then make a fool out of me!”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” you question narrowing your eyes at him as you lean against the kitchen island’s counter. “If anyone played dirty it’s you! And you have the balls to come here and talk like this to me in my own fucking home?!” you snap, walking closer to him, keeping your deathly glare on him.
“What the fuck did I do?!” he scoffs throwing his hands into the air.
“You created a whole new brand just to fuck with me! Or did you think I wouldn’t find out about it?!”
“Me? You made a new brand! And you didn’t do a great job hiding the fact that it was your work, even the name is Italian, like your current one!”
You stare back at him, tilting your head to the side as you process what he is talking about. All along, the two of you were accusing each other of something neither of you did.
“Harry,” you breathe out, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Farfalla is not my brand.”
“And I’m supposed to believe it?!”
“Well you better be because it’s the fucking truth!”
“Prove it!” he hisses at you, taking a step closer, his face only inches away from yours now.
“Until about twenty seconds ago I thought that it was your new brand, Harry. I thought that you were the one who backstabbed me!” you snap back, standing up for yourself in this giant misunderstanding you fell into, accusing each other without any proof.
Harry stares back at you, his gaze burning into yours as he stands his ground and you can almost see the gears turning in his head as he processes your words.
“So… it’s not yours? You didn’t do it to fuck me up?”
“Of course not!” you breathe out, suddenly quite tired of all the anger that’s been eating you away through the afternoon. “I thought that we had a kind of silent agreement not to mess with each other so I wasn’t planning anything anytime soon. That’s why I got so mad when I thought you did it!”
“I thought the same!” he growls shaking his head. “I thought you did it all to just make me look stupid, that the friendly act was just so I wouldn’t notice a thing and I fell right into your trap.”
“There was no trap,” you simply tell him and you hope he senses the hidden meaning behind your words.
Luckily he does. But for your biggest surprise there’s no snarky comment or smug smirking, he just steps closer and before you could even protest, his hands find your waist and he pulls you against his hard chest, lips hungry attacking yours. He makes you back until you bump against the kitchen island, his hips pressing against yours as he pushes you against the hard surface, his hands wandering on your sides and back, up and down, exploring every curve of your body while his kisses never slow down, your tongues meeting in the middle.
Bringing up a leg you curl it around his hips, your heel digging into his round ass as he leans forward, making you arch your back, leaning onto the counter as his lips move from your lips to your jawline and neck, his fingers digging into your waist and the thigh that’s lifted by his side. He nibbles on the soft skin of your neck, definitely leaving a mark, but you just comb your fingers through his hair, letting yourself get lost in the sensation.
“As much as I would love to fuck you on a counter again, can we take this to a bedroom?” he mumbles as he kisses his way back up to your lips, smirking against them as he captures them again.
You don’t answer, just grab his hand and pull him upstairs with you, right into your bedroom. He is all over you, lips, hands, tongue, pressed up against you as the two of you stumble your way to your king sized bed. Harry’s fingers fidget with the corset on your dress, but he soon realizes it’s a little trickier than he expected, so leaning back he furrows his eyebrows as he glances down at the dress, still trying to figure out how to get you out of it.
“Harry,” you smile at him softly. “It’s faux. There’s a zipper at the back,” you inform him and he sighs in defeat as he kisses you again, his fingers quickly finding the zipper. The dress pools at your feet and you rid him from his jacket and shirt, revealing his inked chest, a sight you’ve been thinking about way too much lately.
By the time the two of you fall to your bed, neither of you are dressed in more than just your underwear. Because both of you like to be in charge, you roll around for a while, trying to get on top of each other but eventually Harry stays up when he starts going down on you, kissing his way through your heated skin. You don’t shy away when his hands snake under your back and easily unclasps your bra, being bare in front of him is not something that makes you feel uncomfortable or insecure. The way he looks at you, the way he makes you feel brings you so much confidence, you have absolutely no problem being nude.
When your bra flies to the floor, Harry leans back a little to admire you lying there, before his lips find their way over the curve of your breasts, down your stomach. Hooking his fingers into the elastic of your panties he tugs them down easily as you lift your hips, your thighs parting as you bare yourself in front of him.
“Don’t be shy about screaming my name,” he smugly tells you before his lips and tongue meet your clit. Your fingers lace through his hair immediately as you gasp out at the sensation, his tongue drawing the whole fucking alphabet to your bundle of nerves. His arms curl around your thighs, ring clad fingers digging into your flesh as he sucks on the sensitive skin.
“Fuck, Harry! Yes!” you moan out, tugging on his locks when he teases his tongue around your hole, your walls tightening around nothing as you are growing desperate to feel something inside of you.
You pull on his hair, signaling him that you want to get it on with, Hands reaching down to get rid of his boxer briefs before you blindly pull out the drawer of your nightstand, grabbing a condom. His lips eagerly meet yours as he wraps his erected cock and though you would love to have a taste of him like he did with you, you just want to feel him inside you.
“Tell me how bad you want it,” he growls against your lips, teasing you with running just the head up and down your slit.
“If you don’t fuck me right now I’m gonna rip your guts out,” you warn him, earning a soft chuckle as he kisses you again, tongue pushing into your mouth as he finally pushes inside you, his long, thick cock filling you up perfectly and it somehow feels even better than the first time.
“Go hard,” you gasp, a hand coming to grab his ass as you push him even further into you. He doesn’t need more, he starts slamming into you, his hips meeting yours roughly with each thrust, his whole length disappearing inside you every time.
He buries his head into the crook of your neck, licking and sucking on the soft skin. You almost think about telling him not to mark you, but it just turns you on even more so you let him do whatever he wants.
“I want to see you on top,” he pants, lifting his head so his gaze could meet yours. You nod, before the two of you turn around and you straddle his hips, guiding him back inside you as you sink down his length. Your hands are sprawled out on his hard chest as you find your balance in the position, Harry’s eyes roaming your body up and down, not able to get enough of how blissful you look, sitting with his cock buried inside of you, enjoying yourself to the fullest. His hands run up your thighs and upper body until they find your breasts, kneading them as you start moving your hips up and down, back and forth. When you moan his name or gasp because his cock reaches that one particular spot inside you, those are the moments he wishes he could capture on camera and watch whenever he wants.
“I want it from back,” you pant as you lean down and kiss him roughly. That’s all he needs, he helps you get off of him before you get on all four, pushing your butt up in the air while Harry kneels behind you, the sight in front of him hardening his cock even more, if that’s possible. His hands grab onto your waist as he pushes inside you, making you both let out a satisfied moan before he starts moving again.
“Fuck, you look so good like this, Y/N. I love your ass,” he growls, giving it a smack that surprises you, but you absolutely love it.
“Harry, go faster!” you whimper, feeling your orgasm nearing as you grip the comforter on the bed, desperate to reach your climax. You’re just about to reach down between your legs to play with your clit when Harry not only picks his pace up but also reaches around you, two of his fingers starting the circling motions on the bundle of nerves, making your legs shake from the pleasure.
“Come on, baby. Cum for me, cum all over my cock,” he growls, railing you from behind without missing a beat.
“Harry!” you scream when he thrusts into you so harshly, your whole body rocking in the motion.
“Come on, angel. Cum for me,” he murmurs and leaning down he wraps his arms around you, bringing you up straight, your back pressing against his sweaty chest, his hands coming to cup your breasts as he keeps thrusting up into you, pushing you over the edge.
You moan and gasp and scream his name as your walls tighten around his length, riding out your bliss and it helps him reach his own high, his hot breath hitting the back of your neck and shoulder, grunting and cursing under his breath as he fills the condom.
As his thrusts come to a halt, he sinks into a sitting position, bringing you with him, you lean against him feeling like jelly as you’re still just trying to catch your breath. Harry peppers your shoulder with small kisses before you muster the energy to break the position and lie down on the bed.
“Towel is in the bathroom,” you tell him knowing that’s what he’ll look for as he stands from the bed and you point at the door that leads to the joined bathroom. Harry nods and pads his way in there, cleaning himself up before he returns with a small damp towel, doing the same for you. He drops it to the floor next to the bed before joining you, cradling you into his arms as you take a breather together.
One hand is on your shoulder, fingers dancing on the naked skin, the other one is holding your thigh that’s across his lap while your head is resting on his chest.
“You really thought I would backstab you like that?” he hums after a while, breaking the comfortable silence.
“You did the same,” you answer, lifting your head, resting your chin on his chest.
“Touché,” he chuckles, before leaning down he kisses you shortly. “So, if neither of us did it, then we have a quite major problem on our hands.”
“I know,” you hum. “That shit looks promising and they can easily ruin both of us.”
Harry stays silent for a little, but you can see the gears turning in his head. When his gaze snaps back at you, you know he has an idea.
“Unless… we join forces.” Your eyebrows arch as you stare back at him. “I know it’s a risky move, but this is the only way to stay on the top.”
“How much you want to be joined?”
“We could start with just one line, the men part designed by someone from me and the women by someone from you. And if it presents well we can just figure out where to go from there. Obviously, the men part would be sold by us and the women by you, but we could join the pages and direct users to each other’s sites in connection with the lines.”
“That could… actually work,” you nod shortly, thinking about the idea. It needs a lot of planning, but it could actually be a big hit if you do it right. “And you’re willing to partner with me?” you ask cheekily as you push yourself up into a sitting position, Harry doing the same.
“If you haven’t noticed, I’m willing to do about anything with you,” he chuckles, making you smile at his playful answer. “I hope you know I’m not talking about just business,” he then adds with a meaningful look.
“You are still so keen on this?” you sigh, tugging your hair behind your ear.
“Do you not like being with me?”
“I do, surprisingly,” you roll your eyes, making him laugh.
“Do you not like having sex with me?”
“I think the answer is pretty obvious to that,” you give him a look as he smirks back at you.
“Yeah, but I want to hear it.”
“I enjoy having sex with you, Harry,” you roll your eyes again, but he just kisses you short but hard before leaning back.
“So then why shouldn’t we date?”
“Because we are competitors?”
“We just agreed that we should join forces. We are partners now.”
“You are running a little ahead, Harry,” you cock an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know, I haven’t been in a relationship in ages. I probably suck at it at this point,” you shrug, but it’s just a lame excuse and you both know that. Leaning closer Harry smirks at you smugly.
“I have something else you can suck.” You smack his chest at his nasty remark, but can’t push a smile back. His hand finds the back of your head as he pulls you in for another kiss. “I want you, Y/N. I really do. You are all I think about even when you are an annoying piece of shit, getting under my skin. I still want you.”
“Wow, so romantic,” you chuckle shaking your head. “What if we can’t get over our differences in the business? That can easily poison any relationship.”
“Then we’ll have a lot of mind-blowing angry and makeup sex. Those are the best. We can put all our frustration into sex, I think that’s just perfect.”
“What are you, a horny teenager? Sex is all you can think about?” you chuckle.
“It is when I’m lying in a bed with you naked. You can’t blame me,” he grins smugly and you want to hate him, you want to hate him so badly, but you can’t. You want him just as much as he wants you.
“So… partners?” he prompts, tilting his head to the side with a sweet smile as he waits for your answer.
“Partners in business and life?”
“Mhm, that’s the plan,” he nods, his smile growing wider with each passing second.
“Alright,” you breathe out. “So… it’s not—All is fair in war and business?” you ask teasingly, using his own words from earlier.
“Just shut up and kiss me,” he laughs, pulling you in for another kiss.
Thank you for reading! Please like/reblog if you enjoyed!
#harry#styles#harry styles#harry styles imagine#harry styles au#harry styles oneshot#harry styles one shot#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles fanfic#harry styles x you#harry styles x y/n#harry styles x reader#ceo!harry#harry styles fluff#harry styles angst#harry styles smut
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Plum tarts and red carnations
Pairing: Florist! Bucky Barnes x F! Reader
Summary: Bucky is enamored with one of the employees of the bakery in front of his store.
Category: Fluff
Warning:s some self-doubting thoughts and cursing .
Word count: 2.5k
Author’s note: I have been thinking about this since that one anon and thank you @buckycuddlebuddy because you helped to inspire me further with this. Also think of Bucky as Beefy because I'm a softy for a gentle giant. Comment and reblog pls and thank you!
“Damn Jerry. You’ve been growing nicely. A little bit more, and you will be ready to find a new home, bud.” Bucky whispered to the little sprout he was watering. Bucky loved his morning routine.
Before opening up his shop, he would check on his nursery. Water the plants in his greenhouse, checking them to see how they have grown. He liked talking to them; they never judged him or ignored him. He even named them. Sam would help, too, though he treated it more as a joke.
After checking on the nursery, he would focus on making bouquets and arrangements for the store. Nobody knew he was the one who made those beautiful arrangements, and he liked it.
It was like therapy for him. Matching the flowers and creating bouquets with meaning was a talent Bucky didn’t know he had. By this point, the shop was opened and ready for business.
While preparing a rose bouquet, he saw a woman in an apron running out of the new coffee shop from the table next to the cash register. Oh shit, she’s pretty. He thought. He kept staring at her and forgot the fresh roses next to him, grabbed one carelessly.
“Fuck.” He accidentally pricked his finger with a thorn. He applied pressure to his wounded finger.
“Oh, are you okay, sir?” The pretty woman from the bakery asked. Bucky didn’t notice her entering the shop, and now she was here. Looking disheveled but incredibly beautiful.
“Yeah, happens all the time. What can I help you with?” He said, trying to sound as composed as possible. He could hear Sam’s voice in his head. “Play it cool, Buck.”The woman let out a sigh.
“I’m co-owner of the coffee shop, and it’s our opening day. I was encharged of the decorations, and I ordered some flowers from this other place, but when they got here, they were horrible. Like really bad. And oh god, I’m rambling, but I need a brand new arrangement.” She said all in one breath. Bucky had to fight a smile from appearing. Adorable.
“It’s okay. What colors did you want?” Bucky asked. The woman smiled at him.
“We wanted white and purples. Something simple. But honestly, I know nothing of flowers. I don’t understand why Wanda put me up with this? Now we are late, and I still have to finish decorating the cupcakes.” She explained while Bucky started to search for the flowers in his shop.
“Lilacs, with white peonies and lavender roses, would make a nice bouquet. How does that sound?” Bucky showed her the flowers he was referring to. The woman gasped.
“Oh, they are so pretty! You, sir, are a genius.” She gushed, still looking at the flowers. Bucky felt his cheeks getting red from receiving praise.
“I can bring it to you,” Buckywhispered, afraid that she might not like that idea. “You know, because you still have some stuff to finish, so you can do it, and I’ll bring it to you in less than 10 minutes.” She looked at him and went to hug him. Bucky tensed, not expecting the hug, but soon relaxed.
“You are literally my hero. Just ask for Y/N,” She said, walking towards the exit. “Wait, what’s your name?” She added, opening the door to leave.
“Bucky.” Y/N smiled at him. “See you later, Bucky.”
Bucky has never worked on an arrangement as hard as this one. He was already meticulous, but he really wanted to impress Y/N. Can you blame him? The pretty girl needed his help, and he wanted her to be happy. He even added some baby’s breath and this new white ribbon that had come in for weddings. He was very proud of it but also very nervous.
With a deep breath, Bucky entered the coffee shop. A brunette was at the door, cleaning the tables.
“Sorry, Sir. We are still aren’t open.” She said. Bucky gulped.
“Uhm. I’m looking for Y/N.” He told her; she looked at the flowers in his hands and understood. She yelled for Y/N, who came out of the kitchen with icing on her check, giving him the brightest smile.
“Hey, Bucky! That’s beautiful! How did you make such a pretty arrangement in less than 20 minutes?” She grabbed the vase out of his hands and set it on the counter. Bucky blushed and scratched his neck, shying away.
“It’s nothing.. I’m just happy you liked it.”
“How much do I owe you?” She asked. Bucky put his hands up.
“Oh, it’s on the house. Don’t worry. Call it a welcome gift.” He explained; Y/N jumped and gave him another hug. This time Bucky wrapped his arms around her.
“You are the nicest person on this fucking planet. I have to make it up to you. What’s your favorite fruit?” She pulled away from him and looked at Bucky in the eye. Bucky felt his breath hitch, and his palms get sweaty.
“I-I like plums.” He stuttered. She gave him a big smile and handed him a cookie.
“Hmm, I can make something with that.” She winked at him.
-
“I still haven’t named you, but honestly, I don’t know. You look like a Janelle, but also, I feel like that doesn’t fit.” Bucky said to the new cactus that arrived yesterday, in the afternoon.
“I think she looks like a Lucille.” Bucky turned around and saw Y/N with a box in hand.
“Oh, hi.” He felt embarrassed. She had heard him talk to his plants. Not even Steve had seen that. It was his private thing.
“She’s cute. What type of cactus is it?” She looked at it, not looking weirded out or anything.
“It’s called a Bishop’s cap. They grow to be very pretty and sprout a yellow flower. Not very popular in the shop, but there’s this new cactus crazy going on, and I thought to stock up.” Bucky explained, putting the cactus down next to the others.
“Do you name all your plants?” Bucky gulped and turned around to face her.
“Yeah, and talk to them too.” Bucky fought the urge to punch himself. Why would he say that? Fuck, now she is gonna think he is a fucking weirdo.
Much to his surprise, she smiled at him. She suddenly remembered the box she brought and opened it.
“For saving me yesterday, I made you a plum tart.” She opened it and pulled out the tart. Bucky felt his heart beating faster, and his hands get clammy.
“You didn’t have to.” “Ah! I beg to differ. Everyone that walked into our shop loved the flowers. They were really something. Like I couldn’t stop looking at them. So I had to show you my gratitude the only way I know how. With treats.”
“I couldn’t possibly eat that all alone. Want to share?” Bucky asked, giving her puppy eyes so she wouldn’t say no.
“You drive a hard bargain, Bucky. Has anyone ever told you can get away with murder with those eyes?” Y/N joked.
“I think my grandma’ probably said it. I have some silverware in the shop’s kitchen. When you have to be at your shop?” Bucky said, signaling her to follow him.
“I’m on break—perks of being the boss.” She explained while Bucky grabbed a few paper plates, forks, and a knife. She grabbed the knife and cut a big piece, and gave it to Bucky. Then she cut a piece for herself.
Bucky took a bite and accidentally let out a moan.
“I take it; you like it.” She winked at Bucky. He diverted his gaze from her. Why the fuck did I do that? Bucky screamed internally.
“It’s delicious. I can see why your shop has been packed since yesterday. Reminds me of my ma’s.” Bucky admitted.
“I’m glad, but I can’t take all the credit. You should see the coffee mixes Wanda came up with. They are the real star.” Bucky smiled at her. Nice and pretty… She let out a cough.
“How did you get really good with plants? Like sorry for the personal question, but you have a talent.” She inquired.
“Well, uhm. After getting discharged, my friend Sam suggested that I take classes to handle stress and PTSD. One of the classes was gardening, and I just found it so calming. So I started taking more courses and learning ‘till I decided to start my own business. I don’t think I could ever work anywhere else.” Bucky noticed her staring at him. “What?” He said, smiling awkwardly at her.
“Nothing. Just thinking about how you are the nicest man I’ve ever meet.” She said nonchalantly. Bucky chuckled.
“It’s nothing major. I just found my calling.” Bucky stated.
“I feel the same. I baked a lot in college, and then suddenly I was like fuck, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” She recalled. Her eyes glowed under the light of the kitchen.
“I felt the same way when I started this shop.” Bucky admitted, she bit back a smile.
“By the way, I like the name—Howling’s flowers. Oh, and how pretty this store is, it looks like I walked in a magical forest.” She complimented.
“I- thanks. I named my store after my squad and the decor well; that’s kind of an embarrassing story.” Bucky chuckled nervously. She rolled her eyes.
“Oh, please. I own a coffee shop named Magic café, and all of our items are named after magical things. I am the last person to judge.” Bucky bit his lip nervously while listening to her.
“I based it on The Hobbit. It was my favorite book when I was younger, and I just couldn’t imagine decoring this store anyway else.” Y/N looked at him with an open mouth.
“Okay, are you government android? Because you are friendly, great with plants and well-read. You are too good to be true.” She laughed. Bucky needs to find a way to blush less in her presence because this is like the fourth or fifth time it has happened.
They finished eating their pieces of tart and talking for a while. Y/N decided to go back to the shop, not realizing how much time she spent there. Before leaving, Bucky gave her some more lavender roses.
“Oh, Bucky, you don’t have to.” She protested.
“It’s just to add to the arrangement. I feel like it was missing a few more roses. You’ll be doing me a favor.” He assured. She grabbed the flowers and smelt them before smiling and giving him a small thanks.
Little did she know that lavender Roses mean love at first sight.
They played that little game for weeks, almost 2 months. Y/N would take her lunch break at Bucky’s shop. Feed him some food and pastries that she was experimenting with, and he would give her flowers.
“To put on the counter. Your store deserves fresh flowers every day.” Bucky claimed. But in actuality, all the flowers meant something. The white camellias? He was telling her that he admired her. The amaryllis? That he found you beautiful. The white and purple stocks? A silent plea for bonds of affection from your part. But he couldn’t bring himself to say these things out loud.
Speaking to Y/N in flowers was much easier. Maybe because she didn’t know and couldn’t reject him.
“Bucky, you gotta tell her, man.” Steve would try to reason with him. “She likes you; you like her. Just tell her that you like her or ask her out on a date.”
“You don’t get it, Steve.” Bucky would argue, which led to an entire discussion on how Bucky is being a coward that ended with him telling Steve and Sam to fuck off.
But they were right; it was simple. She has been an absolute doll with him. She doesn’t mind hearing his rants about the new book he read and helped him water his plants. She even bought waterproof labels to put their names on their planters. She even asked (more like demanded) Bucky to send her the pictures of every bouquet and arrangement he made. She loved seen his creations.
And he loved being her test subject. She would bring him new pastries to try. He was her official taste tester. Anything new in the store, Bucky had already tried it in every one of its variations. Y/N would speak to him of all of her special interests and all of her new hobbies. He had even met all her friends, and they loved him.
So why was this so difficult? Bucky groaned while arranging the flowers at the front of the shop.
“What’s got you all groaning and gloomy, Bucky-bear?” Y/N asked him. She looked radiant in her work clothes. Ugh, Bucky had it bad.
“Nothing, j-just thinking.” He nervously replied.
“Don’t overthink. You might over-heat your brain, bubs.” She joked, entering Bucky’s shop. And like the hopeless romantic he is, he followed.
“Soooooooo I have been trying out this new pasta recipe, and you are the only one I trust to give me the truth.” She said, opening the Tupperware she brought. Bucky’s heart fluttered at her words. He felt light-headed; maybe that’s why he couldn’t stop himself from opening his mouth.
“I like you.” He blurted out. He slapped his hand over his mouth. Y/N turned to him, widen eyes, and mouth gaped.
“Bucky, do you mean that? Because if you are playing with me, I will fight you with this.” She warned Bucky, threatening with a spoon.
“I like you a lot. Actually love you. I- that’s what those flowers meant.” Bucky explained. Y/N put down the spoon.
“What flowers?” She asked, in the softest tone he has ever heard her speak in. Bucky turned his gaze to the floor, embarrassed that this was his confession.
“All of them. They all meant love in one form or the other.” He admitted. Y/N stood in front of him and put her hand on his cheek. He felt his heart do backflips.
“What flower means I’m in love with you, Bucky?” She asked, caressing his cheek.
“Maybe red carnations.” He joked, leaning into her touch.
“I’ll ask this handsome florist with a heart of gold to make me a bouquet to give you.” Bucky chuckled while she let out a little giggle.
“I would love a bouquet, but I would much rather have a plum tart from the sexy baker on the store out front.” Y/N hummed.
“I think I can make that happen.” She said, pulling him closer. “Can I kiss you, Bucky?” She asked; Bucky could only nod.
She grabbed his face and pressed her lips against his. Bucky wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer, molding her body against him. Their lips gliding over each other smoothly, as if they were made for each other.
They pulled away to take a breath, and they both had the same dopey smile. Tarts and carnations. Who knew they mixed so well?
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A Christmas to remember
Word Count: 1,648 Jane x reader Oneshot Warning: Fluff
Hello! I just found your Christmas list and I would like to ask you please 4, 8, and 19 with Jane Volturi, my beautiful sadic also needs love, thank you very much in advance 😙😙😚😚. For @volturicullen
Jane and Y/N had been together for nearly a year and despite a rocky start they had a strong, loving relationship. Jane was very protective of her human mate and the fact that her gift scared most of the lower guards, noone messed with Y/N which meant she got along with most of the vampires in the castle.
The Volturi celebrate Christmas as it marks the end of another year of their rule and Y/N was amazed by the size of the Christmas tree situated in the throne room. It was 8 feet tall and Felix had to use a ladder to put the silver star on the top of the tree, this amused Y/N greatly. Demetri and Santiago put the warm white lights on the tree before Jane, Alec and Y/N decorated it with red and silver decorations.
Y/N woke up the next morning to discover the vampires had decorated the rest of the castle in red and silver decorations, tinsel and stockings. A small Christmas tree sat in reception, which was also decorated in the castle’s colour theme.
Y/N discovered the ballroom was decorated for Christmas too despite the room not being used very often. A 6-foot tree sat in one corner of the room which was also decorated in the Volturi’s red and silver theme. “We tend to have Christmas ‘dinner’ in here together” Demetri explained “You guys don’t eat food though” Y/N replied looking confused and Demetri chuckled “Heidi and I ensure we have a supply of blood bags that we then pour into wine glasses and celebrate with our secretary, which in recent years has been Gianna” Demetri said with a smile “That’s so nice of you and this year Gianna won’t be the only human celebrating Christmas with you” Y/N smiled at him and he nods at her.
Y/N was sitting in the kitchen baking some cupcakes with Jane when Heidi entered “What are you baking?” Heidi asked “Vanilla and Cranberry cupcakes” Y/N replied “I’m gonna ice them once they’re cooled” Jane added with a smile “Sounds nice, hope you and Gianna enjoy them” Heidi responds with a smile of her own “Thank you” Y/N replied. “I love how festive it feels around the castle now the decorations are up and even your cupcakes smell festive” Heidi says still smiling “Oooh talking of feeling festive, I have an idea about Christmas...Let’s do a Secret Santa. That way everyone is guaranteed at least one gift this season” Y/N suggested and Jane and Heidi nodded in agreement “I like that idea” Jane smiled at her mate “Me too” Heidi added with a smile of her own. “Yay!” Y/N replied, excitement clearly shown her eyes.
Y/N, Jane and Heidi organised Secret Santa for the castle, even the Kings and Queens joined in. “I think it’s a brilliant idea” Aro smiled wide when Jane and Y/N spoke to the Kings about the idea. Caius and Marcus smiled and nodded in agreement too.
Athenodora and Sulpicia joined Heidi and Corin on a shopping trip to buy their Secret Santa gifts. Dora had Jane and bought her a new china doll to add to her collection, Sia had Marcus and bought him a new puzzle, a 3D Hogwarts castle. Heidi bought Demetri some bath products and a new book and Corin bought Santiago a new pair of boots as he had recently complained that his favourite ones were ruined during the last ‘tour’.
Y/N was curled up on the sofa in front of the library fireplace reading when Jane entered following her guard duty shift. “What are you eating?” Jane asked Y/N, looking at her with curious eyes “Peppermint Candy Cane. Want some?” “No thank you sweetie but thank you for offering” “You’re welcome” Y/N replied smiling and watched as Jane took a seat beside her on the sofa “Read to me please, sweetie” Jane shifted closer to Y/N who lifted her arm up and wrapped it around Jane’s shoulder holding her close and began reading aloud to her mate. Jane purred, content with being snuggled up with her mate.
Y/N and Felix were sitting in his room wrapping their Secret Santa gifts, Y/N agreeing to help him by tying the ribbons on the gifts. “You know, the idea of Santa Claus is pretty messed up. It’s a fat man who breaks into your house with presents made by tiny people who know if you’re bad or good. How do they know?” Felix said to Y/N “You’re ruining Christmas for me. Stop” Y/N replied, her voice held a firm tone despite her warm smile and he nodded at her. “You know I heard Jane telling Alec that you still believe in Santa Claus...” “And your point Fe” Y/N cut him off “You’re a grown-up…kinda, definitely too old to believe in Santa” “Says who? You?...” She stared at him for a moment and he said nothing so she continued “If you don’t believe in Santa, you don’t get gifts on Christmas Day…Secret Santa gifts are the exception obviously” Felix shrugged before mumbling “It’s still weird.”
Y/N woke up on Christmas Day to discover the grounds of the castle were covered in a thick layer of snow and it was still snowing. “Happy Christmas hunny” Y/N said as she hugged her mate “Merry Christmas sweetie” Jane replied before pressing her lips to Y/N’s for a sweet kiss.
Jane, Y/N and Alec sat on the floor in front of the Christmas tree in Jane and Y/N’s shared room ready to open their presents. “Merry Christmas sisters” Alec said smiling and handed them both a gift “Merry Christmas brother” The girls replied with a smile of their own as they handed him their gift. Alec had bought Jane and Y/N a ‘Special Sister’ necklace each and they had bought him a ‘World’s number one Brother’ mug and a first edition copy of Romeo and Juliet. “I think I’ll have Christmas dinner in my new mug rather than a wine glass this year” Alec said smiling with pride.
Jane handed Y/N a small gift bag and she looked inside discovering a small blue box, Alec smiled at Jane knowingly but said nothing. Y/N opened the blue box and her mouth fell open at the sight of the silver diamond ring “It-it-it’s beautiful” Y/N struggled to get the words out causing Alec to laugh “I think you broke your mate, sister” “Oh sush, she’s fine” Jane replied and took Y/N’s hand in hers. “Y/N, I know we had a rocky start when we met but we worked through it together and I’m so glad we did because I love you more than I ever thought possible. I know we can’t get married as such, but I still want to make that commitment to you…so will you agree to be my wife for eternity?” Y/N nodded as tears slipped down her cheeks “Yes, I will and I love you too.” Jane slipped the ring onto Y/N’s finger and pulled her in for a hug. “Congratulations sisters” Alec said, his smile wider than before.
Jane opened her gift from Y/N to find a silver ruby ring sitting inside a black box “Looks like we had the same idea hunny” Y/N chuckled and Jane nodded smiling “You two really are soulmates” Alec mused aloud as Y/N slipped the ring onto Jane’s finger. “I love you so very much, will you do me the honour of agreeing to be wife forever too?” “YES!” Jane cried out, excited and again Alec laughed, shaking his head. “I love you” Jane said before leaning forward and kissing Y/N softly on the mouth.
A few hours later the three of them made their way down to the Ballroom for dinner and the Secret Santa exchange. Aro and Jane handed out the Secret Santa gifts and everyone took turns opening their gifts and tried to guess who it was from, some more successful than others.
Y/N opened her gift and Demetri watched as her face lit up “Oh my god! A spa day for two” Demetri couldn’t hide his smile at seeing her reaction “That’s a little over the limit we set” Heidi whispered, a soft chuckle escaping her lips “I know but it’s her first one with us and likely to be her last as a human and I wanted it to be special and this way she and Jane can a have a nice day together away from the castle” He replied. “Thank you Demetri” Y/N said as she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, leaving a kiss on his cheek “You’re welcome darling” He replied, turning his head slightly to see her as she was standing behind his chair.
Afton opened his gift to reveal a book of pranks – ‘365 pranks, 1 for every day of the year’ “Thank you to whoever got me this” He smiled and Demetri noticed Y/N’s smile “Why did you buy him that?” “I thought it may give him some ideas on how to prank Felix back every once in a while, considering his usual attempts are quite sad” She replied and he chuckled “Helping the ‘enemy’” “Well maybe a little, but you can’t tell Felix” “Oh, my lips are sealed darling. I’m curious if he’ll actually be able to pull off pranking Felix in the new year” Demetri replied.
Once all the gifts were opened Gianna and Y/N ate their Christmas dinner whilst the vampires drank their blood, conversations flowing easily among them. After dinner Dora turned up the volume on her Alexa speaker before pulling her husband onto the dancefloor, other couples following them, including Jane and Y/N.
“This will definitely be a Christmas to remember for Jane and Y/N” Alec said to Demetri as they watched the newly engaged couple dance around the Ballroom “For sure” Demetri replied smiling, pleased that Jane was finally getting the happy ending she deserved.
#jane volturi#alec volturi#demetri volturi#felix volturi#aro volturi#marcus volturi#caius volturi#heidi volturi#athenodora volturi#sulpicia volturi#volturi#twilight#christmas
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come swim in my ocean
For @efkgirldetective ‘s second week of summer of jily 🌊🌊🌊 with some minor wolfstar thrown in there
swimming with friends + today we're younger than we're ever gonna be (✨vibes✨)
Lily didn’t think they would actually do it.
Sure, it was a fun concept to joke about with your friends, but that’s all it was supposed to be — a dare everybody laughs at but does not try to execute.
She tries to gauge whether it’s too late to chicken out without losing her dignity. She can hear clothes hitting the sand as they’re thrown over carelessly between laughter.
Welp. No turning back now.
She realizes her mistake when she’s the only one left standing with clothes on.
“Well, c’mon Evans. This was your brilliant plan.”
“A plan that made me reevaluate all my previous assessments of you. Who knew Evans had it in her?” She can’t see his face in the dark, but she knows Sirius just winked at her.
She pathetically tries one more time to bring them back from this terrible decision. “You know, I’m starting to think this isn’t such a good idea after all.”
“Ah, come off it Lily,” Marlene yells from… somewhere. “What? You can talk the talk but won’t strip for the walk?”
“It’s not the skinny-dipping part that’s the problem,” she insists unconvincingly, “it’s the night part. The water is probably freezing right now.”
“I’m happy to do this with you again in the morning, Evans.” She tries to resist the usual urge of looking at James when he talks. “But if that’s your only excuse, the water is just fine.”
Peter helpfully flicks some water to Lily to prove James’ point.
Damn it. The water is actually rather nice.
Feeling ganged up on, she sighs deeply to show her displeasure with the turn of events, and starts to work on her clothes quickly. She won’t give them the satisfaction of turning her back while doing it though or acknowledge Mary’s loud whoop – which she shouted in the wrong direction.
Finally out of her last piece of clothing, she grabs the closest hand she can find, and tugs on it once before running into the water.
The loud splashing they make alerts the others to their new location. One by one they come into the sea, sometimes with shrieks and sometimes with swears.
Her companion laughs when the last two dark figures dip into the water as well, it was Remus after all, and turns to her general direction. “I gotta hand it to you, Lily. You’re really committed to cause maximum damage to James’ brain.”
Before Lily can answer him, they are interrupted by Sirius’ loud bellowing, “Wherefore art thou, Moony? Tell that red headed wench it’s not nice to steal my boyfriend for herself.”
“Tell it to the wench yourself,” Lily shouts back before realizing her mistake. Now located by the others, loud splashes fill her ear from everywhere as they all swim to their direction. She makes an honorable attempt to escape with Remus before giving up, not feeling ready for a swimming race with five people on their tail.
James and Sirius are the first ones to reach them, because of course they are, and she leaves Remus to his boyfriend before Sirius starts yelling more Shakespeare quotes. She is just about to swim towards Mary and Marlene to meet them halfway when a hand on her ankle stops her.
“You’re not cruel enough to leave me alone with them when they are naked, are you Evans?”
“Hate to break it to you but I’m very much naked as well, Potter,” she grins cheekily.
“Oh, believe me, I’m aware of that.”
She curses the new moon once more for although providing a very nice opportunity to look at the stars, doesn’t let her see James’ expression.
She can hear the girls catching up to them slowly with Peter not far behind. “Let me save you then, Potter. Are you up for a little swimming?”
Not waiting for his answer, which she can only guess is an enthusiastic nod, she starts to swim away from the upcoming party, knowing he’ll follow.
They are careful not to go deeper, only sideways, until they leave their friends’ earshot. With an unspoken agreement they stop, Lily finally allowing herself to gaze at the sky. She assumes that’s what James is doing too until he interrupts her thoughts.
“I’d hoped it would be brighter.”
She doesn’t answer him, her silence prompting James to explain himself. “The starlight, I mean. Don’t get me wrong, it's beautiful, but it’s not the scenery I want to be looking at right now.”
“Yeah, it’s jarring not to see your face when you’re speaking. Who knows how idiotic you actually look right now?”
James takes her right hand without speaking, bringing it to the edge of his brow. She doesn’t understand what he’s doing until he passes it over the slight lines of his forehead – he's letting her feel his facial expression.
Emboldened by his explicit permission, she lets her fingers rake through the hairs that have stuck on his forehead with water, combing them back with care. She follows the line of his brows, paying special attention to smooth the furrow in between. Her fingers fall dawn to his nose next, and it feels like his breathing had stopped a long time ago. She lovingly touches the cheekbones, wiping drops of water from them slowly. Careful not to skip a line, she trails the arch until she reaches his jaw, feeling it tense and ripple beneath her hand. When her thumb finally touches his lips, she finds them slightly open, just like how she envisioned, and she swears neither of them are breathing in that moment.
But Lily doesn’t want to stop there. She didn’t get James naked to touch his face. She lowers her hand.
If he had stopped breathing before, he certainly starts back when he gasps as her hand passes over his neck. She adds her other hand to grip both of his shoulders, their feet touching every once in a while as they try to stay afloat by just kicking them back and forward. That’s when she realizes James is not using his arms either, standing stock still, afraid to move.
Feeling bolder than ever, she glides her hand until she reaches his, placing it somewhere above her waist, sliding it upwards to encourage him. He practically chokes.
She goes back to outlining his collarbones with her fingers, feeling him shiver underneath her. Or is that her shivering when he slightly caresses the skin over her ribs? She doesn’t know where she ends and he starts under the water.
Which is why she doesn’t react immediately when she feels something touching her foot. A head emerges out of the sea, causing both of them to splash apart. She doesn’t see who it is, but the devilish voice tells her it’s Mary soon enough.
“Oi, lovebirds, pack it up. We’re going back to the house, and we’re leaving no man behind.”
More splashing comes behind Mary, causing all heads to turn that way. “Peter and I lost the water fight, pulling the metaphorical short stick in a sense.”
Peter finally reaches them, and they wait for him to stop his wheezing. “Sirius wanted me to tell you that he and Remus have dibs on the shower first because they are a superior couple who can keep it in their pants while swimming with friends.” An uncomfortable beat. “His words.”
They swim back to the shore soon after that, but she can still hear James grumbling about what pants as they make good use of their time waiting for their turn to shower.
#summerofjily#jily#jily fic#lily evans#james potter#james x lily#minor wolfstar#jily fanfiction#senem writes#i'd like to thank daddy communism for helping me finish my final paper in time to post this today
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Acceptance
Summary: You find the love of your life in the middle of a highway.
Warnings: violence, soulmate, fluff, angst?, implied smut
Reader: Female Reader
Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader
Word Count: 3,680
A/n: This was requested by @fyeahtaylorp : Could you please do a Bucky Barnes x plus size female reader imagine where you see black and white until you meet your soulmate and they meet during the winter solider when he’s not really him and he’s protective of her and she works along side Steve and she has weather manipulation powers and they meet again and he’s still protective and there is smut please. - I am so freaking sorry that it took me forever to get this written and published and I didn’t get to the smut, so sorry. I also changed it just a little bit so I hope you still like it!
Masterlist
“Hey, are you Sam Wilson?” You question, standing on the man's front doorstep. He frowns his eyebrows, crosses his arms, and sizes you up. You know you don’t look like much, but your mother always said that looks were deceiving. “Can I come in?”
“And who are you?” He asks, standing tall in the doorway.
“She’s backup,” Natasha states, coming into view. You instantly send a smile her way. “We can trust her,” She reassures him. Sam presses his lips together but nods and moves to let you in.
“You look good... All things considered,” You compliment her. She looked like her naturally beautiful self with only a couple of scratches and bruises on her skin.
“It’s been a rough few days,” Natasha tells you. “We could use your help,” You smirk and cock your head to the side.
“That’s what I’m here for. Where’s Cap?” Once the question leaves your lips, the golden boy comes into the room. “Heard you were in a tight spot,” You state when he looks at you with arched eyebrows. His eyes move from you to Natasha, who gives an innocent shrug.
“We could use her help,” Natasha states. “We can trust her,” She vouches. Steve looks hesitant but nods before giving you a polite smile.
“Rough few days, huh?” You mutter, looking at Natasha, sensing that her words were a bit of an understatement. “What exactly are we up against?”
Natasha and Steve both begin to fill you and Sam in on what’s been going on. You weren’t surprised Shield had been compromised. You didn’t trust anybody outside your small group. You preferred being on your own in a secluded area.
However, Natasha is one of the select few that has your complete trust. Therefore, when she called, saying she needed help, you came without hesitation.
“So, the question is: who in Shield could launch a domestic missile strike?” Natasha questions.
“Pierce,” Steve realizes.
“Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world,” Natasha sighs.
“But he’s not working alone. Zola’s algorithm was on the Lemurian Star,”
“So was Jasper Sitwell,”
“So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a Shield officer in broad daylight?”
“The answer is: you don’t,” Sam states, dropping a military file on the table. Natasha pulls it toward her.
“What’s this?”
“Call it a resume,”
“Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you,” Natasha states. “You didn’t say he was a para-rescue,” She mumbles, looking at Steve.
“Is this Riley?” He asks, and Sam nods.
“I heard they couldn’t bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?”
“No. These,” Sam corrects Natasha. Steve flips through the file.
“I thought you said you were a pilot,”
“I never said pilot,” Sam smirks with a hint of smugness. It’s enough to get you grinning. You decide that you like him.
“I can’t ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason,”
“Dude, Captain America needs my help. There’s no better reason to get back in,”
“So, where can we get one of those?” You wonder, peaking at the pictures. “I don’t think Walmart has those in stock,”
“The last one is at Fort Meade,” Sam answers, an amused grin on his lips. “Behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall,”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Steve assures him.
“I’m assuming you have a plan?” You ask, Steve. “Or is this a wing-it kind of mission?” Natasha grins a bit before they start laying out the plan.
Your part of the plan was to keep them from dying, basically. Nobody knew that you were involved. You were to stay in the background and only intervene if needed. Knowing Natasha, you would need to step in sooner rather than later.
You watched them from a distance. You smirked when you saw Sam flying around with his wings. They were a cool contraption; you weren’t going to lie.
Borrowing someone’s car, you followed them from a distance. You watched for anyone suspicious. Everything seemed normal until someone caught your eye.
This, someone, was dressed in black, but he stood out from everything around you. Like everyone else who had yet to meet the one they’re destined to be with, the world is dull and colorless. Only after meeting and accepting your soulmate could you see the world the way it’s supposed to be seen, full of color.
So, while his attire is completely black, his pale skin and silver arm stand out. You knew this was the man, The Winter Soldier, that Natasha and Steve had warned you about. You knew you should have warned them, but you were frozen by the revelation.
When he leaped from the car he was on and onto the one with your friends, you snapped out of your daze. Cursing, you sped up to try and get to them, but by the time you were able to weave around traffic and catch up, their car had crashed.
“Some backup you are, Y/n,” You mutter to yourself. You slam on the breaks and put the car in park before climbing out. You race down the highway and toward the men shooting at Natasha and Sam.
You stop a few paces away from the shooters and begin to conjure fog to cover their escape. Before long, Natasha can get away, and the attention is on you instead of Sam.
Able to see through your fog clearly, your search for your soulmate. When you find him, you send a powerful gust of wind in his direction. The force sends him flying back and through a car. You wince, but at least he’s not within the fog’s grasp any longer.
You move around as bullets come flying your way. You had given up your position, but it had been necessary. Once you find a safer place to stand, you begin to manipulate the fog once more. Your breath is now visible as the air around you drops rapidly in temperature.
To add to the cold, you begin to make the air thinner in their area. You see them shivering, and some drop to the ground due to the lack of oxygen.
In the corner of your eye, you notice one of the men had escaped the fog’s perimeter. He aims his gun at you but forces the fog to become thicker as you slip into its protective cover. Within the fog, you notice that more than one man has escaped.
You huff in annoyance, but at least you have eliminated a couple of the problem people. You see a few people standing at the edge of the highway shooting down where you assume Natasha, Steve, and Sam are.
Before you deal with them, you turn to the one that continues to hunt you just outside of the fog. Giving him an annoyed glare, one he doesn’t see, you point your hand at him. Like Palpatine, you release streams of lightning from your fingertips.
The man screams in pain and drops to the floor. You continue your ministrations until his screams stop. By then, however, the fog has dissipated, allowing the others to see you. Their guns turn to you, but before you can defend yourself, a stream of bullets lodge into their heads.
Your eyes snap to the source and notice the Soldier standing there. You both stare at each other before he stalks to the edge of the bridge and jobs down to the lower level. You race to the edge to watch him stomp off a crushed car and continue onward as nothing happened.
“Oh, no, you’re not getting away that easily,” You mutter. Lifting your hands, you manipulate the air around yourself. It lifts you off the ground and gently sets you down beside the car the Soldier had crushed when he landed.
You run in the direction the Soldier had gone. You see him locked in a fight with Steve. It looks like Cap finally met his match.
A groan catches your attention. Your breath catches in your throat. You jog over to Natasha and inspect her bullet wound.
“This is gonna hurt,” You warn her. She looks at you before closing her eyes. When she nods, you place your hands on either side of her wounded shoulder. You conjure enough heat to cauterize the wound.
“I hate it when you do that,” She mumbles. You smile at her.
“Well, stop getting shot, and I won’t have to do it,” You wink at her. “You’ll be alright,” You assure her before standing up. You turn back toward the Soldier and Steve. For the first time, you see him without his mask.
“Who the hell is Bucky?” He asks Steve before aiming a pistol at Steve. Your breath hitches again when Sam comes in and kicks the Soldier away from Steve. When he regains his footing, you notice Natasha aiming a grenade launcher at him.
“No!” You shout, shoving Natasha, forcing her to miss her target. When you look back, you notice the Soldier is gone. Before you can react, a collar is locked around your neck, preventing your mutation from working.
“It was him... He looked right at me like he didn’t even know me,” Steve mutters.
“How’s that even possible? It was like 70 years ago,” Sam states as Natasha stares at you intently. You avoid her gaze and continue to stare at Steve, wanting to know as much about him as possible.
“Zola. Bucky’s whole unit was captured n ‘43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and...”
“None of that's your fault, Steve,” Natasha assures him.
“Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky,” Steve whispers.
Great, my soulmate is a ninety-something supersoldier that’s in Hydra. You think sarcastically. Although, if he doesn’t even know who he is, how can he willingly work for Hydra? He protected me from his own men. Hydra soldiers don’t do that. There’s hope for him.
“Oh, you’re on our side?” You ask when one of the masked persons beats the sit out of the other two. “Oh, hey Maria,” You greet when she takes her helmet off.
“Ah, that thing was squeezing my brain... Who’s this guy?”
After making the grand escape, you’re all lead towards a hideout. There you find Nick Fury, who’s apparently not dead. After an argument on how to go about things, you prepare to take on Shield/Hydra once again.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or am I going to have to start guessing?” Natasha questions. You glance up at her before looking back down at your feet.
“You’re smart, Nat... I’m sure you’ve already figured it out,” You whispers. Natasha doesn’t say anything for a minute. She then comes toward you and sits down.
“Can you stop him?” Nat asks. You meet her look.
“If I can... You won’t be seeing me for a while,” You tell her. She sends you a small smile.
“Do what you have to do... Just be careful,” She advises. You smile, bumping your shoulder with hers.
“You’re the one who should be careful... Once I find him, I’m going to get him to leave with me. You’ll be in the fight the whole time,” You remind her.
“I’ll be fine,’ Natasha whispers. “Just get him and go,” You smile and slowly nod.
With those words said, the two of you leave the room. You approach Shield with Steve and Sam. The two of them go their separate ways while you start your search for the Solider... For Bucky.
During your search, you take down as many Hydra agents as possible. You wanted to help the cause, but finding Bucky was more important.
It wasn’t long before you were officially labeled a major threat. This meant that their focus shifted toward you. Things were slowly getting out of hand, but you continue to literally take the air from their lungs and the warmth from their bodies until they died. You offered a foggy cover for the Shield agents that were your allies while shooting your enemies down with bolts of lightning.
When you began to get surrounded, someone came to your aid. He had found you before you found him. He didn’t waste ammo—a single bullet to the head of those around you.
You two shared another look. Instead of looking into sunglasses, this time, you were looking in his eyes. Everything around him would continue to be black and white until he accepted you. You wondered if he could see in color. Despite not knowing him and him working for Hydra, you accepted him. You wanted him. You hoped that he would trust you.
You got lost in the beautiful color of his eyes that you forgot what was happening around you. When he moved to leave you and continue with his mission, you shouted his name. He froze, and you moved a few steps closer.
“Look at me... please,” You whisper to him. He remains motionless. “Your name is Bucky. You were friends with Steve Rogers,” His head turns slightly to you. “I don’t know what’s happened to you, nor do I know what you’ve been through, but I can tell you that things don’t have to be like this. You don’t have to be their weapon, their machine,” You risk a few steps closer to him. “I’m your soulmate. I will never hurt you. I only want you to be happy... To keep you safe,”
He stays still for a moment. He’s so still it’s as if he’s a statue. Then, he moves forward as if the words you just said didn’t matter to him. They probably didn’t. You weren’t going to give up that easily.
“Bucky,” You say again, latching your hand around his wrist. He whips around and wraps your throat in his metallic hand. You tense but don’t move. He’s not cutting off your air; it’s a warning. Your free hand lifts and covers his metal wrist. I won’t hurt you... and I won’t ever let them hurt you again,” You promise him. “Who cares about what’s going on here? It’s not our fight,” You tell him. “Come with me,”
“They’ll find us,” He whispers. You smile brightly.
“They’ve been looking for me for over a decade and haven’t come close,” You tell him. “They couldn’t find me then, and they certainly won’t find us now,” You assure him. “Please, come with me,”
Miraculously, he listens. The two of your leave the battle fairly easily. Anybody who gets in your way ends up dead. You switch your methods between sucking the air from his lungs to overheating or sudden frostbite. Bucky, while amazed by your abilities, settles for a simple bullet to the head. You two work with each other fluently.
You both stay away from populated areas. It’s harder within the city, but once you borrow another car and head into the countryside, it gets easier. You tell Bucky to stay in the car while you quickly buy him some comfortable clothes. Then, you drive him to your home. With your abilities, it’s impossible for anybody else to find, let alone get into, your home.
There’s an intense fog almost a mile thick around your property. Within the fog are intense temperatures. Some temperatures are too high or too low for a human to survive. Outside the fog, everything is normal and up to mother nature.
“Welcome to my home,” You say before climbing out of the car. He hesitantly follows you. “Nobody can come in without my consent,” You tell him. You walk to the house before slowing and turning back to him. “If you really want to leave, let me know... You may be a super soldier, but I’d be surprised if you could survive out there,” Bucky looks at the woods. “Come on; you must be hungry,”
You and Bucky live in silence for a long time. He doesn’t want to talk, and you don’t make him. You try to fill the silence with your ramblings, but it doesn’t always work to make him relax. He has nightmares at night, during the day as well. You want to help, but it’s a complicated situation.
It doesn’t help that he continues to be the only thing in color. He hasn’t accepted you yet. It hurts, but you don’t give up on him.
It takes a month for him to start conversations. It takes him even longer to hold those conversations for more than a few seconds. At this point, he’s knows everything about you while he’s still a mystery. To be fair, he’s still a mystery to himself.
You introduce him to the internet. There he can research himself and Steve. He learns a lot, and you find him behind the screen more often than not.
Around the end of the second month, Bucky seems to be relaxing even more. He still has his nightmares, he still is trying to find himself, but at the same time, it’s like he knows he’s safe. He knows nothing can’t get to him while he’s here. Yet he still won’t let you in.
In an attempt to get him to accept you, you try to do more for him. The meals you cook get more complicated, and you try to be more romantic and supportive. He entertains you but still keeps his distance.
It isn’t until the fourth month you begin to lose hope. You’ve done everything you can to get him to accept you. You’ve given him space, you’ve set him free, you’ve protected him and supported him. You have given him clothes and home, yet still, you get nothing.
You sit on the front porch. You’re thinking through everything. You know, four months, in retrospect, isn’t that long. It’ll take years for Bucky to recover. You had just hoped that he would want you. He’s taken your help, but you wanted him to want you.
When he comes back from his midafternoon run, he pauses right before the porch. He can tell something is bothering you but hasn’t a clue what to do.
“Do you know what soulmates are?” You wonder. Bucky stares at you for a moment before slowly nodding his head. You get a bit frustrated. “Do you trust me?” He hesitates again but ultimately nods. “Do you not want me then?” You whisper. It’s subtle, but Bucky tenses. You read his posture wrong. “Alright,” You whisper, standing up.
“Wait,” He says, jumping up onto the porch. His hand grabs your wrist. You stop, look at his hand, and then up into his eyes. “You’re beautiful. You’re strong. You’re everything I could ever want,”
“Then why haven’t you accepted me?” You whisper. He sighs slowly. As if giving into a desire, he caresses your cheek with his hand.
“For decades, all I’ve known is fighting. I went from one to another. Before that, I never thought I’d see in color. Then you come out of nowhere and turn my world upside-down. As perfect as you are, that doesn’t change who I am. I’m haunted every day, and I know Hydra is hunting me. Just being here will endanger you, but I can’t find it in myself to leave. I don’t want to get to the point of no return. I don’t want you to get attached to me because one day I’ll have to leave, and I don’t know if I’ll come back,”
“That just won’t do for me,” You shake your head. “You see, Buck, I’m in this for life whether you accept me or not. If you leave, I’m just going to follow. Whether you go to Steve or Hydra or even Hell, I will follow you,” You tell him. “You distancing yourself is hurting us more than the potential of you leaving. I’m not going to let you go, Buck... You’ll realize that eventually.”
Things continued the same for a while as Bucky digested your words. Eventually, however, there was a change. It was a slow change, but it was progress nonetheless.
Bucky began to open up to you more. There were subtle touches and lingering gazes. He sat closer and spent more time with you. As the weeks passed, everything began to amplify. The subtle touches turned into handholding that eventually turned into cuddle sessions. The words exchanged turned into flirtatious whispers.
The day you could see everything in color was the day you pulled him into a kiss. You both were the happiest you’ve ever been. The kiss made you both feel as if you had been touch-starved. Neither of you could get enough of each other.
The kiss had started in the kitchen. You were making breakfast when everything turned from black and white to various vibrant colors. You whipped around to him. He had this lopsided grin on his face as he stared at you.
You marched up to him and kissed him without a second thought. He had been leaning on the wall the separated the kitchen from the living room, but he switched positions so that you were pressed between that wall and him.
“I love you,” Bucky whispers. You begin to smile even wider, your heart hammering in your chest. “You’re-”
“I love you too,” You whisper back to him before kissing him once more. Bucky smiles into the kiss and leans into you even more.
You breathe in deeply when he picks you up. He doesn’t hesitate to take you back to your room. The room he’s spent the last few nights cuddling you in. He lays you down on the bed with a tenderness that has your heart fluttering.
“I love you,” He whispers again. He would tell you that all night. He didn’t want to stop kissing you, stop touching, nor stop telling you how much you meant to him. You changed his world, and you became his world.
#soulmate au#soulmate#bucky#Bucky Barnes#bucky x reader#female!reader#x fem!reader#x female reader#Female reader#plus sized reader#mcu#request#one shot#mutant#mutant!reader#enhanced
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