#fun fact: tha label under tha art is actually a part of tha first song | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rfsak2 · 6 years

Text

Cactus, Part XI

I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter. Hope you enjoy this too!! Drop me a line and hit that little heart on the bottom. I need your love and affection...

Cactus, Part XI Summary: Support. Harry/Jamie Warnings: A jerk who says jerk things.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. She’d had a migraine all day.

She appreciated rock. She loved it in all it’s many forms: soft, glam, indie, grunge, she even veered into the land of 80s hard rock every once and awhile. She loved music.

But as with everything in life, she was allowed to have a preference and screamo just wasn’t hers. Especially when the bloody band’s guitarist didn’t know the first thing about writing melodies or playing them for them for that matter.

Hence why she was brought in.

Not that the guitarist appreciated it.

He didn’t. Loudly and obviously.

“I don’t need help from some upgraded groupie.”

The producer grit his teeth and frowned. “You do if you want to make a debut album that does anything, if you want to make music that someone will listen to. You need a melody. Right now all you have is a mush of noise that doesn’t make any s-”

“That’s what it’s supposed to sound like.”

“Well right now, it doesn’t sound like anything. Even your average screamo fan isn’t going to be into this.”

“Good!” He threw his hands in the air. “It’s not for public consumption. It’s art.”

The producer rolled his eyes. “You dumbass, welcome to being signed to a major label. There is no such thing as ‘not for public consumption’. If you’d wanted that you should’ve stayed with your indie label.”

She sighed. “Look, I’m not here to do your job or change-”

“No you’re just here to steal my place in the band.”

She rolled her eyes. “I have two bands, I don’t need another one, promise. I just-”

“Want to find another man to-”

The lead singer stepped forward. “Hey, man that’s not necessary.”

“Don’t need another one of those either.”

“Look, bitch, just because you suck some fam-

The producer shoved to his feet. “That is out of line! The-”

She held her hand up and stood, setting her guitar in its stand. “Look, dude. I don’t give a fuck about your opinion my relationship. Couldn’t really careless and it’s none of your bloody business. Also has absolutely nothing to do with this. I’m a guitarist and a fuckin’ good one. I can help you, but I won’t if you don’t want it. It’s fine. No skin off my nose. I get paid either way.”

The lead singer nodded. “I want her help.”

She looked at the guitarist, who shrugged. “Don’t want any watered down fake-psychedelics on this record. Don’t want none of that pop shit.”

“C’mon, man, even you were busting a nut over some of the solos she wrote for Styles.”

“Co-wrote, with our friend Mitch, by the way.” She shrugged. “It’s up to you though. I can help. Write ya a couple melodies and get right back out of your hair. But it’s up to you.”

The guitarist made a noise in his throat. “Fine. I don’t like whammy though. And I play exclusively on heavy strings. Like the sound better.”

She turned away to grab her guitar and rolled her eyes, who did this fucker think he was? The next Slash? She shot a look at the producer who gave her an apologetic shrug. “Duly noted. Let’s do this shit.”

Later, migraine still sitting heavily behind her eyes, she stopped at the Whole Foods. Harry was due back today after a week in New York for a photo shoot. The only food they had in the house currently was junk food and the poor boy would be exhausted, she should get some real food in him.

She was was trying to decide if the broccoli looked fresher than the zucchini when her phone rang. FaceTime audio, meant he was still on the plane’s wifi.

“‘ello, beautiful monster.”

She smiled. Two years and she still couldn’t get enough of him. His voice still made the center of her chest warm, still made her want to bury her face in his shoulder, let him wrap himself completely around her. The way she was currently feeling, mutual bathtime was on the list tonight. “Hey gorgeous boyfriend of mine.”

He chuckled. “God I miss yeh, woman. Need yeh… badly. Gonna bury myself so deep in yeh when I get home…”

“I missed ya too.” She felt her cheeks heat and she turned her phone down. “But you need to be careful with all that, baby. Don’t need PhoneSex-gate part two.”

She could practically hear the one-hundred watt stunner on his face. “No one around te hear, love. Promise.”

“You’re in a flying metal tube. Not really anywhere to not hear ya.” She smiled. “So cool your jets and we’ll follow up on that suggestion when ya get home.”

“They are never cool when it comes to you, y’know that. But, I’m gonna hold yeh to that… and to me.”

She snorted. “Was that a pun? Not your best work, Hazza.”

He sighed. “I’m tired and horny for yeh, love, give me a break. Still in studio?”

She shook her head forgetting that he couldn’t see her. “No. I’m at Whole Foods. Any requests for welcome home dinner?”

“You.”

She flushed again. “Haz… I’m serious.”

He chuckled again, the sound deeper and a little more stimulating. “So am I, love. Just wantcha. Don’t much care about what else happens tonight.”

She smiled. “Should I just get take-out then? I’ll grab some breakfast stuff and I can make breakfast in the morning.”

“What time d’yeh have to be in studio tomorrow?”

“Don’t. The guitarist is an asshole and the producer’s givin’ him a day to cool off.” She sucked her tongue. “Not gonna help much. Can’t cure bein’ a prick.”

He was quiet for a minute and she knew her very astute boy was putting two and two together from past conversations. “What did he do?”

“Don’t worry about it, baby. It’s handled. What do you want for breakfast?”

“What did he do, Jamie?”

She sighed. “Hazza-”

“Don’t Hazza me. What did he do and how long has he been doin’ it?”

She fought against the migraine and the exhaustion that tempted her with snapping something rude at him. She knew he was just trying to help. “He’s just… just bein’ a twat, y’know? Doesn’t want help obviously and his only response to that is to-”

“Harass you?”

“Not physically.”

“What did he say?”

“Just bitchy comments about our relationship, Hazza. I swear, it’s not a big deal.”

He huffed. “Because if it was, you’d tell me, right, pretty girl? You’d tell me.”

“Of course. If I didn’t feel like it was under cont-”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s under control or not, love. I want te know.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t like it when you give in so easily, monster. Don’t trust it. Just means you’re not planning on doin’ it.”

She laughed. “It’s just not a-”

“Don’t say it again, love. It is a big deal. It’s a big deal that yer being harassed in yer workplace because of yer relationship with me. It’s a very big deal. To me, at least.”

“It’s just…” She sighed.

“Just what, love?”

“There’s not much that can be done. If someone wants to be a pig-headed jackass and comment on somethin’ that isn’t his business, he’s gonna do it. All I can do is defend myself.” She shrugged.

“I can defend you, love. And if they’re not willing to listen to you, they will definitely listen to me. Why else was I blessed with height and a deep, scary voice, if not to knock some sense into chauvinists?

“That is a valid point and you know that I appreciate your chauvinist-knocking skills. But I can’t have my rich, famous boyfriend steppin’ in to fight all my battles, baby. Ruins my street cred.”

He laughed and she felt like the conversation was back on track. “Fine. Okay. I want waffles and bananas and bacon, British bacon, none of that crunchy American shite.”

She chuckled. “Okay. That I can do. When do you land?”

“Within the hour at this point.”

“Okay, we left your Rover in its normal spot. What do you want for dinner, gorgeous?”

“Thank you, love. Chinese?” He yawned. “From that one really good place in Chinatown?”

She smiled. “Yeah, I can do that-”

“Excuse me…?”

She jumped, almost dropping her phone, and turned toward the girl. “Yeah?”

“Who’s tha’, love?”

“You’re Jamie Schwartz, right? Harry Styles’ girlfriend?”

She nodded sort of dumbly. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the fact that people, people who were not related to the music industry at all, knew her name.

“Jamie?”

“Are you on the phone with him?” The girl edged closer and Jamie took a step back, almost tripping over the low shelf of the vegetable aisle.

“Jaime? Are yeh okay?”

She nodded and then remembered, he couldn’t see her. “Yeah… I’m fine, baby. Just a fan. Just a second.” She smiled at the girl. “Yeah. I’m Jamie. What’s your name?”

“Candace.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” She shook the girl’s hand. “Sorry about that. I’ve a bit of a migraine. Makes me a little slow on the uptake.”

The girl shrugged. “I just wanted to say that the BTS of the tour is fantastic and you all looked like you had a blast.”

“BTS?”

“Behind the Scenes.”

The video of all the random shit they did to keep busy on the tour. She smiled. Harry had sent it out via youtube and twitter not long ago. Twitter fuckin’ imploded.

He hadn’t even really intended to ever release something like that, in fact most of it was shot on someone or another’s iPhone, not by his professional photography team, but so much of it had been legitimate comedic gold and it just seemed unfair to keep it to themselves.

It had everything from dance numbers (chiefly from The Best Song Ever music video complete with everyone wearing one of Harry’s big cheesy grins) and compilations of her and Mitch’s Riff-Offs, band members falling asleep in random places (shot mostly by Harry) and of her saying ‘Let’s do this shit’ over and over again… set to a sick drum beat laid down by Sarah.

It really was great.

Jaime smiled. “Oh. Yeah, we did have a blast. Fun group to tour with.”

“I think Harry may be the most extra person alive.”

“He has his moments.” Jamie smiled. “He can be dramatic but it keeps life interesting.”

“I am not dramatic!”

She grinned at the girl who probably couldn’t hear Harry and spoke into the phone. “Yes, you are, baby. But I do love you anyways.”

Candace smiled. “I also wanted to tell you that… I know you’ve gotten some hate from the fand- from his fans, that some people have said some really horrible things about you, but most of us love you and think you’re great and we want you two to be happy.” She took a deep breath. “We all, the normal fans, we all think he seems like he’s the happiest we’ve ever seen him. I want to thank you for that.”

Jamie smiled and set the broccoli that she’d been holding this whole time down. She held her arms out and wrapped Candace up in a hug. “Thank you, Candace. That is very much appreciated.”

She nodded and waved before quietly excusing herself.

“What did she say, love?”

Jamie smiled. “She said that they think you’re the happiest you’ve ever been. And then she thanked me for it. Sweet girl.”

She placed the take-out order as soon as Harry had to hang up to land. She made it home maybe ten minutes before he did, popping the cork on a bottle of wine and letting it breathe almost as soon as the grocery bags hit the counter.

She had just put the groceries away when she heard the door open. She smiled and made for the foyer, pausing in the archway to watch him toe off a boot. He was holding their take-out, plastic bag containing those distinctive cartons and he smiled at her.

“Come ‘ere, gorgeous woman.” He set the bag down and opened his arms. He caught her as she all but threw herself at him. Wrapping her legs around him, she sighed into his neck.

“I missed you, baby.”

He grinned and squeezed her tighter. “Ah… my pretty, little monster. I missed yeh too.”

“Even though it’s only been a week?” She leaned back and cupped his face in her hands.

Pursing his lips for a kiss, he nodded. “After the first five minutes, darling.”

She smiled and leaned in for the kiss. “I love you.”

“Love yeh too.” He carried her into the kitchen and set her on the counter, almost knocking over to open wine bottle and the glasses she’d set out.

She just managed to catch one of the glasses before it rolled away and cackled. “You are a menace. I swear, I just want to wrap you up in bubble wrap.”

He grinned. “I didn’t see them, love. Didn’t expect them to be there. Too busy suckin’ on yer neck.”

Leaning forward, she cupped his jaw and leaned in to slip her tongue into his mouth. He groaned, pulling her forward on the counter so she had to lean against him to stay upright.

She drew back and he followed her tongue, drawing her bottom lip between his as he started tugging rather incessantly at her flannel button-up. He tugged it down her shoulders until it got stuck in her elbows and pulled away from her lips to rasp, “Need yeh naked, love. Please.”

He reached down to unbutton her jeans and paused. “Wait, monster. Is your head still hurting?”

“Huh?”

He grinned. “You told the girl that you had a migraine. Are you okay now?”

“I love you.” She smiled up at him and kissed him. “Yes I’m fine. Please don’t ever stop being you, Haz.”

He blushed and kissed her again, his hands unbuttoning her jeans.

Shrugging the shirt off, and started at his buttons, not that there were many to undo, God bless him. She was working a hickey into his jaw, when she remembered. “Dinner, baby.”

His shirt dropped behind him and she ran her hands over his chest. He shook his head. “Need yeh naked. Now. Been hard for yeh since I called yeh. Love, I need yeh.”

She groaned and leaned forward to suck harshly on his collarbone, hands smoothing up his chest to bury in his hair. “Okay… We’ll eat later, we’ll eat... “ She moaned against his skin as he shimmied one large hand into her jeans, cupping her intimately.

Later, laying on the couch after a long, hot bath and reheated Chinese food, they settled in to Netflix binge, each sporting a nourishing layer of her Oatifix face mask and a glass of wine. He laid back against her, head against her breasts, his weight pleasant and comforting against her.

She ran her hands through his fringe, keeping the unruly hair from drifting into the sticky paste.

“Still no studio tomorrow?”

“Nope.” She shrugged. “It won’t do anything. You just can’t fix fucktard.”

He smiled softly. “What did he say, love? Tell me the truth.”

She sighed and ran her fingers through his fringe. “I knew you wouldn’t let this go.”

“Monster, I could tell yeh were still angry when I talked to yeh on the phone. Yeh never hold onto to things like that. So how bad was it?”

Jamie smiled. “Well, apparently I make ‘pop shit’ and I’m after his job.”

He looked rather amused. “In a screamo band? Yeh want his job in a screamo band?”

“Evidently. I also have a nefarious plan to contaminate his ‘art’ with my fake-psychedelics.”

“Oh?”

She chuckled and carded through his hair again. “Also, I think I have a right to do this… because I suck your dick. I mean he didn’t really get to finish that thought, Benny shut him down pretty quickly, but that is where it was going.”

Harry glowered at her over his shoulder, the expression a bit softened by the paste on his face. “Oh really?”

She shrugged. “It pissed me off for sure but I was going to let it go. I know the truth, this asshole clearly doesn’t. Also I suck your dick and I enjoy it, so why shouldn’t I?” Harry laid back against her chest and chuckled. “But then he finally ‘agreed’ to let me help and told me that he hated whammy and only liked heavy guitar strings. Like who the fuck are you? You don’t pay me, the studio pays me to help you sound your best. I don’t care what you like. If what you liked was good, they wouldn’t have brought me in.”

He snorted but arched to watch her face. She smiled and kissed his hair.

“That’s why all their shit sounds so muddy, they need at least one person not just strumming to some indiscernible beat.” She rolled her eyes. “So I tried to introduce a subtle melody, nothing crazy, just something to break up the constant wha-wha-wha. I ruined it by mentioning that he’d be able to play it on heavy strings if he wanted but that it’d be easier and more comfortable to play them on mediums.”

Harry turned to face her fully, pulling her legs into his lap. “And then wha’?”

She ran a hand over her face and sipped at her forgotten wine. “I shouldn’t have said anything. In the back of my mind, I knew I was poking at him-”

“You were offering your professional opinion which is part of your job. You’d be remiss not to mention it.” Harry shrugged. “He’s the fuckwit that let it hurt his feelings.”

She went to kiss his cheek but remembered that his face, like hers was covered in an oat-y, gritty mask. “We need to get this stuff off our faces.”

He nodded and let her up, throwing an arm over her shoulder. “And then what happened?”

She sighed. “He just lost it, ranted about me trying to change his style, the whole style of the band, called me some names, made some insinuations. His bandmates tried to check him but then he hollered at them for a bit and stormed off.” Jamie huffed.

He frowned and motioned her into the en suite before him. They took up position at their respective sinks and he sighed, washing his face. “I like the way this stuff smells.”

She nodded. “It makes me think of how warm and sweet your mom’s house always smells.”

“Yes! That’s what it is!” Harry grinned. “I couldn’t place it.”

She threw a towel at him. “You’re drippin’.”

He grinned. “So were yeh… not three hours ago.”

She let him pull her into his arms and kissed at his jaw. “You and your dirty puns…”

“Nothing dirty here, love. I am so fresh… so clean, clean. Took a bath, washed my face.”

She laughed, throwing her head back. “Very true.”

He kissed her head. “What’re yeh planning te do then, love?”

“About that guitarist?” He nodded and she shrugged. “I’ve already written the melodies for the songs that needed it most. I’ll deliver them to Benny. I get paid anyways. He’ll just have to figure it out for himself.”

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

She kissed his chest, right next to the little monster charm she gave him almost a year ago. “Thank you for listening. I appreciate it.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Harry buried his face in her hair. “I just want te support yeh the way yeh support me.”

She smiled against his skin. “How do you mean?”

“Love, whenever I’m with you, I’m allowed to just be me. I can be goofy and stupid. I can be sensitive and intelligent. I can like football and candles and take baths in rose-scented water and do face masks with you. You don’t judge. You won’t judge. I don’t feel like I’m being edited at all. None of that will turn you off…”

She made a face. “I don’t know, baby… the Packers though…”

He put his hand over her mouth. “Shh… woman, don’t ruin the moment.”

She smiled under his palm and kissed it. “I love you. For you. That includes but is not limited to those suits I’m not as fond of as your other suits, your candles, your god-awful taste in NFL teams and everything else. I love you.”

“Which suits?”

She mimed zipping her lips.

“But no, love. Really. Which suits?”

Part X Up Next: Part XII

#harry styles #harry styles/reader #harry styles/oc #harry styles fanfiction

14 notes · View notes