#this was my first time opening photoshop in like three months
Text
photopea gif tutorial!
i recently started learning the craft of gifmaking with the free software photopea. when i first started, i had to piece together several different tutorials as well as extrapolate from some photoshop tutorials because-- no one uses photopea.
but they should! it's free! it can run in your browser! it can do most everything photoshop can do and you don't have to deal with adobe or torrenting. so i'm making a tutorial of my photopea gifmaking process because that's what i needed a couple months ago, and i hope it can be of use to some others. let's go!
1: PREPARING
source the scene you want to gif. it's best to download your video when you can, but screen recording can work in a pinch. this is the video downloader software i use.
once the source video is downloaded, i like to pick out the specific moments i'm going to gif and save them as their own files-- this makes future steps easier. an individual gif shouldn't be more than 4ish seconds, so limit your selections to about that. name your files in a way that makes sense to you:
2: CONVERTING TO .JPG
i like to convert my video clips to .jpg format. it is possible to load video clips directly into photopea, but unless it is a very short <30fps clip, it is likely to freeze or crash in my experience. i use this website as it downloads a higher framerate (~25fps) than others i've used.
convert your video files and download the .zip folder containing your frames. make sure to unzip them and name them something helpful if you need to.
3: OPENING YOUR FRAMES IN PHOTOPEA
photopea looks like this when you open it:
select "open from computer" and select only the first frame of your first gif:
your environment should look like this (ignore the other projects i have open, you should just have 0001.psd or similar):
go to file> open and place, and select ALL of the rest of the frames from your first clip:
they'll load in one by one, and your environment should look like this:
notice how all the frames have a little square in the corner? that means they are smart objects, and we need them to not be for our purposes. select all of your frames, right click, and choose rasterize:
in order to make the series of jpgs move as a gif upon download, select all of your frames and go to layer> animation> make frames:
all your layer names should now start with _a_. you can really do this at any point in the process so it's not a big deal if you forget at the beginning.
finally, you want to limit the frames in individual gifs to around 50 or less. if you find you have more, delete some frames off of the beginning or end by right clicking and selecting delete.
4: CROPPING AND RESIZING
select the crop tool on the left hand panel:
at the top bar, select fixed size:
gifs on tumblr are limited to 540px wide for single column gifs, 268px for two columns, and 178px for three columns. the height is up to you; i like to use 350px height with the 540px width.
enter your values into the W and H fields and do not press enter yet. drag the cropped area to where you want it to be-- try to line up the top and bottom edges so as not to lose too much of your image. once you're satisfied with the selection, press enter. your gif is now cropped and resized to tumblr standards.
5: SHARPENING
(if you are working with low-qual video, check out this tutorial by @hellboys before sharpening. basically filter> filter gallery > grain, select soft and play with the settings. then proceed!)
still making sure all of your layers are selected, navigate to filter> sharpen > smart sharpen:
you should see this dialog box:
these are the settings i like to use, but you can play around to see what you like. here's the before and after of my sharpening settings:
the difference will be more noticeable once we complete the next step-- brightening and coloring.
6: BRIGHTENING & COLORING
navigate to layer > new adjustment layer:
at any time, you can edit your adjustment layers by clicking this button in the right hand panel:
for each edit you make to your gif, you will add a new adjustment layer. always make sure they're at the top of your layer stack. i like to start with adjusting the brightness and exposure, which are both pretty straightforward.
additionally ,you can select a curves adjustment layer, choose the RGB channel, and drag the curve just slightly upwards to further brighten your gif, like so:
here's a before and after:
now for coloring-- i mostly use the saturation/vibrance, curves, color balance, and selective color adjustment layers. just play around with all of these until you find a style you like. i like my gifs to look really bright and colorful, so i push the saturation and try to draw out warmer tones in the color balance:
7: CAPTIONS
the font i like to use for captions is arial bold italic. you can download it (or any font of your choosing) from pretty much any free font website. if you choose to download a font not in photopea, go to file> open and select your font; it will now show up in the list of fonts.
navigate to the text button in the left hand panel:
and type in the captions for your gif. i make the font size 20 for 540px gifs.
next, while only your text layer is selected, navigate to layer> layer style > blending options:
click on drop shadow, and play around with the settings until you get something you like. here's mine:
next, click on stroke and do the same thing:
when you're done, make sure your text is your top-most layer.
8: EXPORTING
you're done! head to file> export as> GIF. you'll be prompted with a dialog that looks like this, with your gif playing (you can also do these steps without saving if you want a preview of your gif during editing):
the only thing you should need to adjust is speed. this is the main difference between photopea and photoshop. the only way to specifically adjust the delay in photopea is to manually enter "_05" (or whatever amount of delay) at the end of every layer name. if you're like me you'll agree that is simply too much and settle for the speed slider.
i don't really know what logic governs the speed slider. it doesn't seem to be consistent across gifs, so play with it until it looks right. i've had it on 200% lately which seems insane but looks visually normal.
once the speed is adjusted, hit save and you're done! here's a final before and after of all the work:
BONUS: SAVING .PSD PRESETS
did you think manually creating and editing all those adjustment layers was a lot of work? here's how to streamline it for next time.
at the very bottom of your screen, below your layers, select the icon that looks like a folder (third from the right).
it will create another layer called folder 1. drag your adjustment layers into this folder, making sure they stay in the same order. your layers should look like this when you're done:
ONLY ONCE YOU HAVE SAVED YOUR GIF, delete all other layers that are not in the folder. then select file> save as PSD. save it somewhere convenient.
next time you're making gifs, after you've cropped and sharpened your frames, select file > open and choose your .psd file. it will open as another project. select the layer that says folder 1, and drag it to whatever project you're working on at the top bar. voila! your adjustment layers are applied to your new gif!
i still like to play with the settings, as coloring and brightness needs will differ from gif to gif.
thanks for reading! here's the gifset i made while making this tutorial :-)
#milk post#gif tutorial#doctor who#photopea#i can't tell if i went too detailed or not enough lol. tag me if you use this i want to see ppl's gifs!!
188 notes
·
View notes
Text
It's hard to be nostalgic about Tumblr without remembering my friend Tru.
Truett McGowan.
What a fantastic name.
We met each other because we were both tech geeks following Leo Laporte. He was the very first live streamer. Originally he hosted a TechTV cable show called The Screen Savers. But once G4 took over and focused more on video games, Leo's show was cancelled and he was looking for a new way to broadcast content.
So he built a studio near his home and created his own infrastructure in order to live stream video on the internet. He called his new show "This Week in Tech" or TWiT for short.
Along with his new streaming venture he created a TWiT community using an open source microblogging platform called Laconica. It was a form of Twitter that you could create specifically for a single community. Basically a custom niche Twitter feed. I was trying to be a web designer back then, so I created custom themes for Lacnonica.
This was my own personal theme for a website that I ended up never launching.
Leo called his custom Twitter, "The TWiT Army." And I was his graphic designer and webmaster. I made all of the cute little graphics for the website.
I also did fun holiday themes...
For the Thanksgiving theme, if you hovered over the Turkey it would change to being cooked.
I also took it upon myself to photoshop a little army helmet on the avatar of every single user of the site.
This was the zombie avatar I made for myself during Halloween.
The TWiT Army was also where I started posting my first attempts at Photoshop comedy. Many of them related to The TWiT Army.
And The TWiT Army is where I met Tru. He used a space invader avatar. I made him a couple of different versions.
You may have seen his avatar on the sidebar of my main Tumblr.
We became fast friends. We finished each other's jokes. We talked pretty much all day, every day. He loved Apple back then. I was strictly PC at the time. So we debated about that quite a bit. He would probably be astonished I have a MacBook and that I really love it too.
Our friendship lived in a little text box. We never talked outside of instant messages. But it was one of the most profound friendships of my life. I loved Tru just as much as any friend I've ever known in real life.
Tru started blogging on this brand new site called Tumblr. He reviewed apps for the iPod Touch. Not the iPhone, as that wasn't yet a thing.
I made the banner for his Tumblr.
He kept trying to get me to join Tumblr, but I was busy trying to create my own custom comedy website. But my site kept getting more and more complicated and I could never quite finish it. I was trying to arrange guest authors and create 3 months of content and I was always futzing with the theme and never happy with it.
I was getting frustrated that I could never launch my perfect comedy website and Tru suggested just making a Tumblr and posting funny stuff so I could be creative and have an outlet until my big site was ready to launch.
Little did I know Tumblr would end up being my big comedy website. Eventually I abandoned months of work and just stayed on Tumblr. All of my success here is pretty much because that little space invader pestered me to join when I was being stubborn.
Unfortunately, as some may have figured out already, the story gets sad from there. Tru mentioned briefly that he had a heart defect, but he never said it was serious. He acted like it was no big deal so I never thought too much about it.
We always talked through instant message and email, so we never exchanged phone numbers or addresses or anything like that. Tru was a very private person so he never even published an image of his face online. I only knew him as a space invader.
One day I woke up and sent him a message and got no reply. He usually woke up before me and answered as soon as I said hello. This had been our routine for nearly a year.
An hour went by.
Two hours.
Three hours.
It was odd for him not to respond for that long. I was really worried but all of my TWiT friends told me I was being paranoid. But there was a huge knot in my stomach telling me otherwise.
But then those hours turned into days. Days into weeks. Weeks into months. My worry grew exponentially as more time passed. I didn't know what to do. I tried finding his family. I even looked into hiring a private investigator. I don't know if I have ever felt a combination of depression & anxiety that intense.
In my heart, I knew what had happened. I knew that heart defect took his life. He was only 26 and it just didn't seem fair. But the not knowing for certain ravaged my mental health. Before all of this I had lost nearly 90 pounds and I gained it all back.
I think maybe a year or so later I found a friend of his who knew him in real life. They were finally able to confirm my suspicions. He passed away from his heart condition. That was my first real experience with grief. But I was so thankful for that bit of closure. I was finally able to let go of my anxiety and mourn him properly.
But Tru gave me such a wonderful gift. He pushed me to just start making things. To stop stalling and just create things to make people smile.
And you all probably know the rest from there.
119 notes
·
View notes
Text
Just Us
AN: Miriam is in her groupie era 😌😌😌 and Jack and Miriam found out about something that happened four years ago
Requested? No
Warnings: mentions of Sydney Sweeney and allusions to smut
Word Count: 3.9k words
"I can't believe this is the first time you fly me in first class." Miriam told Jack as she settled in her window seat.
"This isn't first class. We're in business class." He said, sitting next to her in the aisle.
"Oh that explains a lot," she mumbled, unimpressed at the seating.
Jack and Miriam were currently boarding a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. Miriam had finally finished filming and joined Jack down unda for his Australia and New Zealand shows. She had a few weeks off before she went to Atlanta to go film a mini series with Aaron Taylor Johnson. She auditioned for the role back in May and didn't get a response until a few days ago. Her mom was also cast and was going to play her mom. Miriam was excited because she always wanted to work with her mom. Even if their characters don't have the greatest bond.
"I like these." Jack commented, bringing her hand up to inspect her nails. "When did you get them done?"
Miriam gave him an unamused look and pulled her hand back. Jack knew when she got them done, he was on facetime with her the entire time.
After she finished filming, she made a stop in New York before heading to meet up with him in Paris because they were flying from there to Dubai to Perth, Australia. In New York she met up with her nail girl, who apparently was also Jack's nail tech before the couple even met, and got her nails done. She decided on getting a nude almond-shaped nails with black, white and grey swirls. It had been months since she got acrylics. She had a month off before filming and wasn't going to be doing anything too demanding.
She also got some blonde highlights for shits and giggles. What she wasn't expecting for them to cause so much controversy. When she landed in Paris she went straight to where Jack was performing. People filmed them hugging, not knowing it was her, and quickly assumed Jack was cheating. The crowd was split fifty-fifty when it was time for him to go on stage, half getting into his performance and the other half not happy to be there. It wasn't until the following morning that everyone saw why people were upset. All the gossip sites ran with the story so Miriam posted a selfie with 'in my Shakira in the La Tortura mv era' because her hair resembled Shakira's hair in that music video to her Instagram Stories. On her actual Instagram, she posted with Urban, photoshopping them over the Olsen Twins in a picture of their movie 'Passport to Paris' poster because he was the only close to her hair color.
"You swear you haven't seen them wrapped around your dick the last few days." She said, opening her Mrs Fields cookie tin.
She was at a small shop in the airport and bought the largest size box. Those were her favorite cookies, besides the ones Claudia makes for her. In her opinion, they could give Crumbl a run for their money.
"Not gonna lie, I'm still getting used to your hair and I was trying not to think that it reminded me of Urb's hair from a few years ago." He said, biting into a M&Ms cookie.
"You're thinking of your best friend while I'm sucking you off?" Miriam made a grossed out face.
An elderly woman gave them a judgmental scoff as she walked past them after hearing Miriam. Jack snorted, making Miriam roll her eyes at him.
The flight was roughly two hours long. They, Jack and Miriam, The Homies (who were touring with Jack) and their respective teams landed around noon. They waited until the other people in flight got off to get off. They went through a separate way to get to baggage claim. Once they went through airport security and everything else, they were in a shuttle bus en route to the hotel they were staying at for the next three days.
Miriam was texting her parents to check in as her and Jack rode the elevator to their suite. Even after moving out, her parents insisted on knowing wherever she went and needed constant updates from her. She would have called but the time zones still confused her so she sent them a text in case it was the middle of the night.
"You sure you don't wanna go see Aitch right?" Jack asked as the doors opened to their floor.
Like Jack, Aitch, his British rapper friend, was also doing festival shows and concerts down in Australia and New Zealand. He had a show in Melbourne tonight and after his show, Aitch was having an after party. He invited Jack and co a few days ago when they were in Sydney for Splendour in the Grass. Urban and the guys agreed, but Jack was still undecided which meant so was Miriam.
"I'm following you around. If you wanna see him, we can go. If you don't wanna see him, then we don't have to." Miriam said, taking the keycard out from inside her phone case.
"Good because I'm taking you out." He nodded, holding the door open for her to go in first.
He had already booked a private tour at an art museum and a private dinner for them at the hotel's rooftop. The hotel had an igloo dining feature since it was winter time in Australia. It was for them to celebrate their one year anniversary. They never agreed on an exact date, but they became an official couple some time in late July of last year. One thing they agreed on was that they've been exclusive to each other the second they met. Jack wanted to do something nice for Miriam because she deserved it and because they haven't had alone time in a long time.
"Where are we going?" She asked him curiously.
"Damn, I can't surprise you?"
"I mean yeah, but I just wanted to know if we were going to be outside." Miriam said, shrugging off one of Jack's many winter coats.
She had been living off his suitcases because she didn't believe Claudia when she told her that Australia and New Zealand were actually cold between June through September. Miriam genuinely thought it was going to be similar to Florida in the winter and packed a lot of summer clothes. When she landed in Perth she was shocked that it was cold like in San Francisco. Luckily she did some shopping in Sydney and got some basics like leggings, jeans, and a few long sleeves.
"We're gonna be indoors then we'll be outdoors." He said hugging her from behind. He kisser her neck, dry humping her as he said, "Then my dick is gonna be in and outta you."
*
Miriam’s feet were killing her. She had the genius idea of wearing six inch Christian Louboutin strappy heels to a museum where she and Jack got a three hour tour of the entire museum that was the size of a mall. In her defense it was the only pair of shoes that went with her outfit.
She wore a black with clusters of small red flowers bustier and skirt set that had came with fingerless gloves that went up passes her elbows. The set was originally an ill-fitting maxi dress that was very loose in the chest area when Miriam bought it. She altered it herself creating a fitted cropped bustier and maxi skirt that went with her height. With the fabric she cut off, she made the long fingerless gloves.
"This concludes our tour, I hope you enjoyed it." The tour guide told Jack and Miriam.
"We did thanks." Jack smiled at them.
The tour guide led them to the entrance and thanked them once more. Miriam sat in the nearest chair and sighed contently.
"You good?" Jack asked her.
"No, my feet hurt from all that walking." She pouted.
"Who told you to wear them to this?" He asked.
"Certainly not you because you wouldn't even tell me where we were going." She muttered.
"I'mma order an Uber then get our coats." He said, typing away on his phone.
Miriam nodded and handed him the two slips the coat person gave them when they checked in their coats. She was twisting in her seat, cracking her back, when she realized she was sitting in front of the gift shop. She quickly got up and texted Jack that she went inside the gift shop.
She loved buying books from museums or places she's been to. She also collected a bunch of fashion history books. Miriam just loved having them around her house. Not only for aesthetic purposes but also because she loved immersing herself in them and learning.
She found the main one for the museum and several other ones from specific exhibitions. She also grabbed a few books about plants, animals, and flowers. She paid and nearly ran into Jack at the entrance.
"All set?" He asked her, taking the bag so she could put on her giant coat.
"Yeah," she nodded, zipping her coat all the way up to her chin.
"Our uber is three minutes out." Jack said, reaching for her hand.
They exited the museum and stood in the pick up area. Not long after a black SUV pulled up. Jack approached the car and asked who they were here for. When the driver answered with his name, he motioned Miriam to go in.
She leaned her head against his shoulder and read an email her mom sent her while her and Jack were on their tour. She clicked on the attachment. It was a draft of an article Sydney Sweeney did for the Hollywood Reporter for her Emmy nominations. A lot of actors do interviews after getting nominated as part of an Emmy campaign to get the academy to vote for them. Miriam also got nominated for her role in the mini series she did with Jenna Ortega, but she wasn't doing any Emmy campaigns. She was just honored to be nominated.
Miriam skimmed the article, rolling her eyes where Sydney defended Cassie for fucking her best friends abuser. Her eyes landed on a paragraph where Sydney talked about how it's unfair about people having connections being able to walk in while she had been busting her ass for years. She went on talking about how she isn't privileged enough to take six months off from working to travel with her rapper boyfriend like a certain actress who looks like her mom. Sydney went on about this certain actress for a few more paragraphs, shaming her for coming from a rich family, but ended with her being happy that she actually got a role her and the certain actress were auditioning for.
Miriam frowned. There's no way Sydney was talking about her. Sure she fit most of the criteria and they both auditioned for a role that went to the blonde actress. But why did Sydney even mention her? Miriam literally minded her business and knew her place when it came to auditions. She was fully aware and acknowledged the privilege she had because of who her parents are.
She went back to the email and read what her mom sent her. It was a summary of the article, explaining that it was going to be published, but the author had worked with Isabela and sent her a draft of the article as a courtesy. Her mom also asked if she wanted to make a statement regarding what Sydney said. Miriam replied to her mom, asking her to leave it alone. She didn't have the energy to start some unnecessary beef with someone that doesn't affect her life.
She felt Jack shake her shoulder. "Bro, I've been calling your name."
"Huh?" Miriam blinked at him.
"We're back at the hotel." He said.
"Oh shit." She mumbled, scooting to the door. She turned to the driver and thanked them.
Jack placed his arms over shoulders and guided them to their suite. He was dropping off their things before heading to the roof for their private dinner. He could tell something was on Miriam's mind. She never missed a chance to talk about what she bought at places. He deduced it must've had to do with what she was reading on the drive to the hotel.
"You okay?" He asked her gently.
"Not really," she sighed, hugging herself. "My mom got an article sent to her that Sydney Sweeney did and she spent a good chunk of it shading me because of who my parents are."
"What the fuck? Why?" Jack frowned.
"Because I don't need to work and it's unfair that she can't afford a gate around her house and she needs to stay booked to afford it." She said in a snippy tone.
"Come here." He said, opening his arms. Miriam begrudgingly walked to him. He hugged her tightly and kissed her temple. "Fuck her and fuck who else has shit to say about you. You're one of the most hardworking people I've met in the industry. You're actually aware of the privilege you have unlike several people we know who thrive off it and act completely shocked that they and their families have connections. I'm sorry that she came for you unwarranted like that. I can't speak for you, for obvious reasons, but I want you to know that you're a fucking badass, Miriam. Last year you filmed three movies and a tv show and this year you won your first Oscar and Grammy and you just got an Emmy nomination. That shit doesn't come solely for being the daughter of people in the industry. Those awards and nominations are a result of your hard work. Sure your connections helped you out in the beginning but in the end your talent why you deserved it. I don't want you. I don't want you feeling bad. Okay?"
"Okay.” Miriam nodded tearfully.
Jack wiped the tears and leaned down to kiss her. "Let's get going. Our reservation is in fifteen minutes."
They went down to the lobby, there was a separate elevator that led guests to the restaurants and lounges in the hotel, and took the elevator to the rooftop bar. Miriam’s face lit up when she saw the igloos. They were a dozen igloos, each the size of one of those sheds that Costco sold that look like mini homes. Though these were shaped like igloos.
Jack checked in with the hostess and they led him and Miriam to an igloo for two. Inside there was a small velvet couch with a coffee table in the middle. Across from that was a small dining table with two chairs.
"Any drinks to start the night?" They asked Jack and Miriam.
"Water for now." Miriam said.
"I'll take sparkling water." Jack said.
"I'll bring those in a bit. Here are the menus." The hostess said, placing them on the dining table.
"Thank you." Jack and Miriam said in unison.
The hostess nodded and walked out of the igloo. Miriam shrugged off her coat and placed it behind a chair before making her way to the couch. Jack did the same and took the menus so they could look at them. He sat next to her and draped her legs over one of his thighs.
"This is nice." Miriam said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah? Not too cheesy?" Jack asked nervously.
"Oh it's corny as hell," she said, making him laugh. "But that's not a bad thing. I rarely got to do dates like this in the past, so I really appreciate this. And it's also a change of pace. The past few weeks we've been jumping from location to location, going to show after show."
"I know we've been together the past few weeks but I feel like we haven’t spent time together. Just us, you know." He said, placing his hand on Miriam's knee.
"Aw you're a big ol' shoftie." She said, kissing him.
"Don't say that you're gonna ruin my street cred."
"Bro, you're a white guy from the suburbs. You don't have street cred."
"Shut up."
Miriam cackled.
A server came by with their drinks. They took Jack and Miriam's orders. Jack got a steak with a side of veggies and mashed potatoes. Miriam ordered the pan fried chorizo and ricotta gnocchi. They also ordered fish and chips for their appetizers.
"Oh, so my friend Malia is in Auckland and I haven't seen her in a while. Is it okay that I invite her to your show?" Miriam said, dipping a fry in tatar sauce.
"Yeah, what's her full name so I can have Neelam add her to the list. Calum and Claudia are also going, right?"
She nodded, covering her mouth to chew.
"Cal just finished touring and they're meeting Cal's mom there." She took a sip of water and mumbled, "my friend's name is Malia Obama."
Jack choked on his bite of food. "Did you say Malia Obama? You know the president's daughter?"
"Our families go back." She shrugged. "My parents endorsed Barack in both elections and they all became friends sometime in between. My family and I even attended that dinner where Malia gave Sasha a thumbs up when they met Blake Lively's husband."
"Who don't you know?" He asked her genuinely.
"Gabriel Iglesias."
Jack laughed loudly, shaking his head.
The rest of dinner was peaceful. After they ate, a few servers cleared the table and brought out a dessert charcuterie board with a small fondue pot. They also had a drink tray with hot chocolate with things for them to customize their drinks. Despite eating all of that in a span of three hours, that didn't stop them from wanting to fuck.
"Get naked." Jack said, kicking the door shut. "But keep the heels on."
***
"That's too petty, Claudia." Miriam said, taking her phone from her best friend.
"I mean she did spend half of her article talking about you." Malia pointed out. “It was like she was looking for an excuse to mention you without really mentioning you.”
"See, Malia agrees with me." Claudia said, snatching Miriam's phone.
They were backstage at the Trusts Arena where Jack was going to perform. A few days after Sydney Sweeney's article was released, Miriam had received news that she was going to replace the blonde actress in a sapphic romcom starring Hailee Steinfeld as her love interest. It was the role she mentioned in her article that she beat Miriam.
Now Miriam was deciding on what should be her caption for her post. Claudia and Malia were suggesting she take the petty route and caption it with 'I have never ever been happier'. She decided to post a picture of her and Hailee Steinfeld from the 2018 Met Gala with 'Can't wait to work with you Hails <3' to her Instagram Stories.
"You're no fun." Claudia said, reading the caption.
"I'm not risking it. This is probably gonna be the only chance I get to make out with Hailee." Miriam said loud enough for Jack to hear.
"What's this about you making out with people that aren't me?" He arched an eyebrow at her.
"It's for work." She reassured him.
Jack eyed her suspiciously. "If you say so." He turned to Malia and the couple that couldn't keep their hands to themselves. "Y'all good? Is there something you want us to get?"
"I'm good, thank you." Malia said.
"We're good too." Calum answered for him and Claudia.
"When was the last time the three of us hung out?" Claudia asked Malia and Miriam.
"Like four years ago at Outside Lands but Miriam ditched us to hook up with some guy who was making her laugh at Future's after party." Malia said.
"Yesss," Claudia nodded. "Miriam was laughing at everything he was telling her. I remember the guy was obviously trying to get a Miriam but he was nice enough to make small talk with me and Malia. He asked me what I was studying and I was like education then he was like–"
"That's where the money is." Jack finished for her.
"Yeah, how'd you– no!" She exclaimed. Claudia opened Calum's jacket and grabbed her phone from the inside pocket. "There's no way."
"What?" Miriam asked.
"Jack was the guy you fucked." Claudia said, quickly scrolling through her snapchat memories.
"Claudia por favor." She laughed in disbelief. Miriam turned to Jack. "Were you at Outside Lands back in 2018?"
"He performed in the morning and Drama got us into Future's after party." Urban said, opening a bag of chips. He pointed at Jack. "This fucker ended up leaving with some girl who couldn't stop laugh– holy shit! You guys fucked."
"We did not. I would have remembered Jack." Miriam said.
"He didn't look like this." Urban patted Jack's cheek affectionately. "He couldn't grow a beard back then."
"Man fuck off." Jack murmured.
"I have like twenty videos of that party." Claudia said.
She played the first video. Her and Malia were vibing to the music while Miriam filmed them. A voice in the background, clearly Jack, began talking to Miriam. She burst into a fit of giggles after one cheesy joke. The video ended with Claudia taking her phone back because Miriam was filming the ground and laughing. Claudia played another video where Jack, who appeared in the video, was promoting his upcoming mixtape Loose and telling them that it was coming out in a few days. In the background of that video Miriam was swearing up and down that she was going to listen to it. The last video was of Claudia and Malia saying that they were waiting for their designated driver to stop making out and the camera flipped to Jack and Miriam heavily making out.
"Yo, does this look like Jack?" Urban asked Quiiso, who happened to walk past them.
"What do you mean? That is Jack." He said. "He never took off that Generation Now chain back then."
"Now, who does the girl look like?" He asked.
"Miriam." Quiiso answered. He took a double take. "Ain't this the time Jack hooked up with a girl at Outside Lands and he was devastated that he never got her name at Future's after party."
"Aw you were devastated." Miriam gushed, nudging Jack's shoulder.
“Not anymore.” he murmured as his cheeks turned red.
The topic changed and eventually The Homies went on stage. Then it was Jack’s turn to perform. A few hours later Jack and Miriam were back in their suite. Miriam was in bed replying to Claudia because she and Calum dropped Malia back at where she was staying and that they made it to where Calum’s mom’s place was. Jack came out of the bathroom in some pj’s with its accompanying long sleeve, drying his curls with a towel.
“That was Claudia, she said everyone is back home.” Miriam said, rolling to her side to connect her phone to the charger.
Jack hummed in response and climbed in bed. He opened her legs so he could lay in between them. He liked laying on Miriam because she would play with his curls.
“I still can’t believe we hooked up all those years ago.” he said, opening the one button that was fastened on her silk pajama top. He kissed between the valley of her breasts. “I would have remembered your cackle.”
“What cackle?” she asked, pushing him off so she could take off her silk pants.
“‘What cackle?’ You know damn well which one.” Jack said, pulling down his pajama pants. He brought her hips close to his. “Now let me fuck the giggles outta you.”
Taglist: @cherryxcreme @heavyhitterheaux @carma-fanficaddict @youngharleezyxo @youngharleezy @babyharleezy @that-90s-girllll @alinaharlow @whywontyoulovemecami @meyocoko @harlowcomehome @nattinatalia @webinurcloset @gassyandsassy1 @jackharloww @awhore4moree @noescapricho-essentimiento @a-moment-captured
219 notes
·
View notes
Text
1920x1080 / jpg
After the latest upgrade, Photoshop kept throwing up an exception error 😔 It seemed to load okay, but when I tried to create a new file or open an existing image, the error notice appeared and the program shut-down itself automatically. Eventually I rolled back to the previous version and Photoshop is working again! I didn’t look further what could have caused it; my laptop still matches the required specs okay even though Photoshop doesn’t work as smoothly as it used to. At least I got a working version for now!
The other day I realized that it’s going to be 20 years in September since LOST premiered 😲 I refuse to believe it! Wasn’t it only a year ago or so?? I still love it as much as I did when it aired. Evangeline Lilly (Kate) was one of my favorite people the wallpaper in those days, so I’ve made new Evangeline wallies to commemorate the 20 years. I’ve used these photos before too, they’re from a favorite photoshoot of mine.
I really like how these turned out! I haven’t had much of a creative juice the last 12 months and a couple of times when I tried to make a new wallpaper, it felt forced and I hated everything I came up with so scrapped them. I had some problems today too working on the first one (the bottom one), but when I tried that purple/green texture it all suddenly fell into place and the other three came without problems 💖
17 notes
·
View notes
Text
15 Questions
I got tagged by @clouseplayssims and @moyokeansimblr! Thank you both ^^
I'm fairly sure I've answered this at some point before but eh, it wasn't yesterday so it's ancient history on internet.
Are you named after anyone? I have three first names, whatever hell were my parents thinking. The only one I use isn't after anyone
When was the last time you cried? Uh... probably a month or two ago. I don't cry often. The last time likely was because I was dead tired from work
Do you have kids? Nope
Do you use sarcasm a lot? I find the amount tolerable
What sports do you play/have you played? I'm the least competitive person imaginable with zero physical talent, so not really into sports. Downhill skiing is nice
What’s the first thing you notice about other people? Their vibes. I'm bad at paying attention to how people look like
Eye colour? Blue
Scary movies or happy endings? Neither? I like open endings but scary movies are usually boring
Any special talents? I compensate the lack of talent by being incredibly headstrong
Where were you born? Southern Finland
What are your hobbies? Posting here. Listening to music. Photoshop stuff. Video games when I rarely have time
Do you have any pets? Two corn snakes, both of them are old. My mom's dog used to visit more often back when I didn't have my current internship position
How tall are you? 167cm
Fave subject in school? Err... in all honestly, school always sucks. I rather learn at my own pace
Dream job? Would be so much easier if I knew!
I'm a bit late so not tagging anyone this time, sorry!
20 notes
·
View notes
Note
do you have any advice for growing your writeblr?
i don't know how qualified i am to answer this, but here are some of the most helpful things i've learned over the past 3+ years of being on writeblr 🫡
engage with other writeblrs
if you see someone rb an ask game, send an ask ! if you see a tag game with an open tag, do it ! if you see a post actively asking for wips like yours, rb it ! it might seem a little hard to put yourself out there at first, but when people are offering a chance at engagement you should take it. if you find yourself drawn to certain people (and maybe even become mutuals 😳) ask them if they'd like to become critique partners or even just a friend to bounce ideas off of in the dms.
if that still seems a too extreme, here is loml maddie @veneritia's posts on starting your writeblr & writeblr etiquette, as well as hottie @helioselene's crash course for navigating writeblr.
post consistently
by my standards that could mean bimonthly (twice a month or once every other month) but yes, consistent content for consistent projects is the place to start. even if i'm working on multiple projects simultaneously, i only ever post about 1-2 at a time to keep things less confusing. it's also generally a green flag to your taglist that the thing they are interested in is being actively worked on.
post quality
"it's writeblr, not graphicblr" iykyk 😮💨 i'm not saying you have to immediately learn graphic design, digital art, etc. in fact, when i started out, i literally had no idea how to make any fancy graphics. a good moodboard can do just as much, but imho presentation matters. there can be a bit of a learning curve though, so i'll link some of the free resources i use:
photopea - it's like photoshop but on desktop
canva - has a bunch of free assets, fonts, & templates without watermarks. very beginner friendly 💞
unsplash - high quality, free-to-use photos
dafont - tons of free fonts
psds - i've linked @cavalierfou's resource navigation page, since they have a lot of free, beginner friendly templates to help you get started !
but quality content isn't all smoke and mirrors. make sure it has substance to it as well. if i post a last line tag, i am not going to ping my entire taglist just so they can look at three out-of-context lines. if i make a character moodboard on a whim, i'll be sure to add a relevant, decently-sized piece of writing/information to go with it. not every post has to be a party, but it's super important to not abuse your taglist 😤
make friends !!!
yeah ik, my intp ass hates having to say this, but it's really the most important point on this list. join discord servers ! join @welcometowriteblr ! (#notspons) slide into those dms (respectfully) ! it can be hard, it can take time, it can even seem impossible, but having a creative, supportive, & super hot friend group to hype and get hyped by really makes all the difference.
aight, that's all i've got for now. best of luck to you anon 🪄
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Chapter 3: Hitting Rock Bottom
Narrated by Lolory.
~Content Warning: cyberbullying, mention of blood~
Narrator: Three days later, I appear on the cover of the magazine.
Narrator: The backlighting is dim. I’m dressed as a goth punk and holding a skull cane.
Magazine Headline: Ambassador of Elegance Exposed! Rebel at Heart, A Fake Who Cheats Her Fans!
Narrator: The article was incredibly detailed. Every rumor from my high school days was published as if it was true.
Narrator: Cutting classes, getting into fights, smoking, tattoos, running away from home...
Narrator: Hanging out in internet cafes, bars, street stalls...
Narrator: And photos of me before I competed in the Starheaven Swan Pageant.
Narrator: The article went viral. “Lolory” was searched more times in 1 hour than it had been during the previous six months.
Comment: I can’t believe it! It can’t be true! My favorite idol was never like that! Did they photoshop it?
Comment: Are those photos from 20 years ago? How can she call herself a girl? She’s old enough to be my mother!
Comment: Modelling for 20 years and still unpolished. Professional fashion disaster.
Comment: Hey, did you see Girl Idol Chen’s update? She called her “Image-Obsessed Party Grandma.” So apt.
Comment: Hahahahaha! Classic! Party grandma! That’s gonna leave a mark.
Comment: Guess what? I went to the same school as her. I even saw her once!
Narrator: Slam! I close my laptop and throw it onto a pile of clothes.
Choose either “You still doing okay?” or “What are you going to do?”
If “okay,” ...
You: OMG! That’s brutal. Are you okay?
Narrator: I’m okay, thanks. They won’t throw me off my rhythm.
If “going,” ...
You: It looks bad. What are you going to do?
Narrator: Be calm. I won’t let them throw me off my rhythm.
--
Narrator: Like usual, I’ll get up early, put on my face mask, do one hundred facelifts, half an hour of yoga...
Narrator: I can’t show a moment of weakness. This is what it takes to be the Ambassador of Elegance.
Narrator: But what if I lose the title?
Narrator: I do have a bit of a headache.
Lolory: I really have underestimated that old classmate...
Narrator: Withdrawing from an article about Elegance certainly doesn’t deserve a hit piece trying to destroy my reputation.
Narrator: How can he just let it go?
Narrator: I can’t deny it is a picture of me, but it’s in the past, right?
Narrator: I took part in the Starheaven Swan Pageant because I wanted to change. I worked so hard to become elegant.
Narrator: After I won, I left my hometown and worked for many years to achieve the title of Ambassador of Elegance.
Narrator: Even if it is just an image, so what? Isn’t Lolory the first thing people think of when they hear the word “elegant”?
Work Cell: Blip!
Narrator: A new email message. Tomorrow’s shoot has been cancelled. Clients are cancelling all my appointments.
Narrator: I throw my phone and it lands on the sofa. I have lost my composure.
Narrator: I retrieve an old box from the bottom of my closet.
Narrator: It contains the secrets of my past, old things I wanted to throw away but didn’t know where to dump them.
Narrator: At the time, I worried that someone would find them, and use them against me.
Narrator: Now that everyone knows everything, I can get rid of them without worrying.
Narrator: I open it up. Black fishnet stockings with garters, skull ear studs, studded chokers, freakish wigs.
Narrator: And also her e is a lighter with a skull and crossbones on it.
Lolory: ...I used to love this stuff.
Narrator: I shake my head and keep rummaging. Memories of my youth, all the things I tried to forget, start flooding back.
Narrator: ...A textbook, torn in half, then stuck back together.
Narrator: I tore it during a fight with Mom, and then we spent the next evening sticking it back together, sheet by sheet.
Narrator: ...The scooter key. So it was in here.
Narrator: I used to skip class every day, driving a scooter all over town.
Narrator: When I left, I had wanted to sell it for rent money, but couldn’t find the key!
Narrator: It’s probably still in the garage at home.
Narrator: I pull out a crinkled love letter. That haughty tone, as if going out with him was an honor.
Narrator: The weirdo class monitor had shoved it onto my desk. Thinking back, I recall putting a lot of effort into my reply.
Narrator: A threatening letter soaked in fake “blood.”
Lolory: His Valentine’s Day hadn’t really worked out as he had planned. No wonder he wants to destroy my reputation now.
Narrator: I’m grumbling, yet I can’t help but laugh.
Narrator: I remember that class, the class monitor shrieking and jumping up from his seat.
Narrator: I remember getting scolded by the teacher and trying very hard not to laugh.
Narrator: Strangely, these items which once threatened to destroy me now gave me some kind of relief.
Narrator: I put down the letter and go to pull something else out of the box but stop, dumbfounded.
Narrator: Inside is a gothic cane with a skull, lying still. It’s the one that appeared on the cover of the magazine.
Narrator: It is like me... the butt of a joke, being laughed at by millions of people.
Narrator: But all I can think about is the 16-year-old me.
Narrator: I worked so hard to earn the money for the materials.
Narrator: I skipped class and didn’t go home, just to have enough time to work on it.
Narrator: The silver skull glimmers coldly, forebodingly. I did so many trial runs with plaster first.
Narrator: I took it to a fancy dress party and waved it around on a stage. My memory of that night is very clear.
Narrator: I take it out and start to caress the memories.
Choose either “Are they really burdens?” or “You don’t want to shed them, do you?”
If “burdens,” ...
You: Are they really just garbage?
Narrator: Hm. Now that I finally can safely throw them away...
Narrator: But I find I can’t bear to part with them.
If “don’t,” ...
You: You can’t bring yourself to part with them, can you?
Narrator: Is that how it is?
Narrator: That’s how it is...
--
Narrator: After a while, I take a deep breath, and call that old classmate.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
#lolory#shining nikki#ssr designer#chapter 3#hitting rock bottom#transcript#ninir kingdom#ninir#gossip#secrets#content warning#trigger warning#cyberbullying#blood#rumor#gothic
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
KVETCH, kvetch, kvetch!
Paddling Lake Woebegone... again.
Viernes 15 de Marzo, 2024
So where to even BEGIN to catch up with myself?
Back to SF Fev 6 - 20; cut short to make sure I was back to MVD in time for my shit to hit the street here — BUT IT DIDN'T, OF COURSE — SO I spent $200 to cut the last week off my trip*, cut the SFUSD by days**, and SIT AROUND for another ten days. So what to do?
I know : a BIKEWRECK 🤬 23 Fev: the new bikelane down 18 de Julio, impulse to stare to the right at Crespo looking for the "perfect storage space" that wasn't...
WHAM-BAMM!! Ass over teakettle "en media calle" ; hit that big hard black rubber traffic cone with my left shoulder. Knew I'd jacked it good, and left wrist almost sprained, just above the left knee, left ring fingertip crushed.
People ran up to help the old fool... left arm hanging loose "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck..." vision pixellated, like my eyeball was hanging out or somethin. Struggled to see and walk, locked the bike to the closest parking sign, walked home bleeding from three spots on my right hand, and from inside my left ear.
Amazed the bike was unhurt, nor were my sunglasses of Bill's, the OPs I spent hundreds on lenses for, just this left shoulder I'd so carefully trained and strengthened since the 2018 surgery to correct the massive rotocuff tear and 40 year old dislocation from the 1977 wreck of Kent C's Alfa.
No problem: just let go... again... of the wish, the strength, the confidence, the feeling of some small success. Nothing matters in this BEST of "GOD's will" world. HOW do I know God's watching, maybe laughing?
Because the NEXT DAY + 7, Saturday 2 Mar, my stuff arrives at the SimpleBox in Ciudad Viejo 10months and $10K down this road (to ruin). Of COURSE the gold FINALLY shot up past $2100 right after I cashed most of it in to pay off the Aduanas (or Uruvan?) suckers.
Obviously, God wanted to keep me off a bike. Last Friday, 8 Mar, BOTH the blue Retrospec I bought here a year ago, and the newish Trek I just brought from SF were both swiped from just the other side of my door while I was eating my pressure-pot dinner about 9pm.
Not a SOUND. I came out for some reason about 10pm, first noticed the stair's door open, then the clean open space along the tiled wall where the bikes had been.
I ran downstairs and outside, talked to a young man working for CUTSCA the bus company standing at the bustop in front of 2033.
Yes, he'd seen a man and a woman run out the heavy iron front door into 18 de Julio with my bikes "about an hour" before.
The guy almost ran into an oncoming bus in his panic to get away. NO the lobby camera didn't record past 30 minutes before. Pablo, the guy living directly below, turned out to be the building manager.
"We called them to fix the camera system, but they never came."
This is the picture he knocked at the door to offer later, and how I tried to make it usable with Photoshop >>>
Juan Pedro, my host's son, was kind enough to offer to let me put off the rent until month's end, but, honestly...
Aikido says: "take the hit — then redirect"...
that Saturday I spent an hour with a young policewoman taking my theft report with thinly disguised contempt for another clueless old fuck, this one with such lousy Spanish her patience wore out long before her few questions got answered.
"You know something's happening, but you don't know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones?"
0 notes
Note
How’s that line art going broskie
Its been 4??????and a half hours????????
I'm not gon lie stink
I spent the first hour with ramen and started a backyardigans marathon
No cus its literally the fact that you can see photoshop open in the background💀💀
I was tryna convince myself this was multitasking💀
That backyardigans video is 5 hours long too and that's only season 6, the way imma find the others for the other seasons and binge that shit, you literally will not hear from me
n e ways
After that I managed to hyper focus for three straight hours
In silence like I was tunnel visioned bitch
If my lack of sleep didn't start to catch up to me I well would've been all night
Its almost 2am rn
I managed to finish the grueling line art stage and put together the page set up
This what it's looking like
I'm making illustration to make colouring sheets for an event at my college plus preparing actual prints for a sale the following week
It's not for a few weeks still but I have to hit a printing deadline so I can get all my shit together and ya know printed
Since I finally finished all the line art I've started laying on base colours for each character, heres what I got so far
This is not the finished product whatsoever💀
However I've done the hardest part already so really im like three quarters done
I was also preparing other things I've done into printouts/colouring sheets which is really me extracting the line art, some things work better than other tho so it's either trial and error or mild edits
This one I'm debating on including just cus the original has more intricate details than not
and I actually like it alot less without colour so theres that--
but I like the composition so wtv
I'm also gonna start a new drawing as well as digitize some other work for this too...
I like giving myself too much work yall dont @ me if I dont have new sensory stimulati I will kms anyways-
I also have like 20 painting in the studio at the school a few I need to start
It's so crazy how with art I convince mysethat I'm falling behind when the reality is I've got more artwork made in these past 4-5 months than anyone else in my program
I also get new ideas really fast so when I have an idea for a paint I have to stretch the canvas immediately so well now I have to do it and if I dont I cant focus on anything else and I claw at my skin in anticipation cus this will in fact be my best painting ever actually, all of the 19 in counting painting in my corner are not ba in my eyes this will become my favorite thing ever
and then I start painting and I hate it.
Anyway yeah, that is what I've gotten done in this time, I got alot done I think
I think I can get my shit done by the end of the weekend and if I don't well good luck charlie
1 note
·
View note
Text
Rambles About What Happened and What I’m Doing
I left YouTube back in late 2017. Then I slowly quit and pulled away from being “The Romance Scrooge” over 2018, too.
What originally happened was that my laptop died. I didn’t have backups of my videos, my Photoshop and Illustrator files, or any of the assets/footage I was actively using to make videos at the time. It was the topping of a shit cake. I was 2 years out of college with a fine arts degree, but I wasn’t selling art or working in an art studio like I’d hoped. There were no art studios close enough. I had no confidence in myself or my art. I was juggling 5 different part time merchandiser jobs in addition to picking up whatever gigs I could find on freelancer apps. I wanted to be in charge of my schedule, my life, my time, and every detail.
Instead, I was drowning. I had burned out from trying to do too much at once and refusing to acknowledge that I had anxiety and depression among other personal issues that I’m not getting into. Everything was slowly shoved onto the backburner because I was floundering so bad, getting more stressed out, and had no idea how to fix things let alone get help or start rebuilding my life. Then 2020 happened and honestly, it was a downhill slide until the past 6-8 months. I’ve made more progress figuring out who I am, what my limits are, what I want from life, and otherwise this year than in the past 4-5 years. There’s still a lot I want and need to do, but I decided that resurrecting Scrooge and giving things another go is part of that.
I’ve been working on weird, surreal art under the pen name Cosmimarshmello, too. I’m currently workshopping what to do with that, too, but I consider that a separate project from anything I’m doing with Scrooge.
Where to go From Here...
I’ve been fighting with pretty bad writer’s block for the last few years. Cobbling together a coherent thought or something worth posting happened once in a blue moon. It could be once a month or once every 5 months. There’s a few thoughts on here I’m considering about taking another crack at, like my post on April and Donnie between the 2003 TMNT to Rise of the TMNT. I’m leaning towards writing and making something new for now, though. I feel like the proverbial floodgates opened back up and I can work up to what I used to be able to do and eventually better.
For now, I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do now or what my next video will be. I want to ease into things so it’ll be rambly blog posts and shorter thoughts/takes on various topics for awhile while I find my voice again. There’s gonna be more waffling like this since, honestly, stream of thought is a fantastic base for getting thoughts out period. It’s how I used to brainstorm, too. The process would be: dump several paragraphs on a specific idea here, then comb through and sew together what’s relevant, discard what isn’t, put irrelevant ideas in a different draft for later. Some sessions led to a few more video ideas than just the big one I originally had in mind.
Part of it is that I feel like I don’t have anything interesting or meaningful enough to talk about. There’s so many more people in the niche I used to be part of. Every bigger topic has already been covered by three different people and there’s already established reviewers or creators that viewers immediately go to for particular topics or things. That’s before even tackling how beastly YouTube’s algorithm has become, among other potential spaces. The algorithm is exactly why I’m leaning towards starting back up here and branching out to spaces like Mastodon first. At least for the text-based stuff.
They aren’t dominated by an algorithm. People will actually see my posts; even if it’s weeks, months, or years later. That factor helps a lot with how disposable social media can make someone feel.
I still feel like someone with not a lot to say. But I’ve kept tabs on a few different YouTubers that started small or are consistent and getting better every day. Honestly, a big part of starting again now is to remind myself that some projects and journeys are worthwhile; not only will my writing and potential videos get better with time, but hopefully it helps with personal growth, too.
I’ve been especially inspired by someone going through a hard time and showing parts of how she’s working on herself and her life through YouTube. I’m wondering if I can do similar for someone else by chronicling the “behind the scenes” stuff like this.
#rambly#rambly thoughts#talking about getting my shit together#behind the scenes#my thought processes#why i'm back here stuff
0 notes
Text
Lazy nezumi free version
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION FOR FREE
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION HOW TO
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION SERIAL
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION UPDATE
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION FULL
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION FOR FREE
Since, I have Paint Tool Sai & Photoshop CS6 downloaded for free I'll be testing Silky Shark on both of them for you all to see for yourselves. I do believe Silky Shark is compatible with any free art program such as Paint Tool Sai, GIMP, Medibang, FireAlpaca, Adobe Flash 8 (for animation), & many other programs but, with little space left in my laptop storage I can only review very little. There is another alternative BUT, the downfall is that I don't have a Mac PC so I can't download it for you all sadly, one day I hope to download Lazy Nezumi Pro for it's helpful programmer seller cause, I think they deserve more love than hate, I mean $35 for a program isn't a bad price unlike *cough* Photoshop CS6 itself.
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION HOW TO
Like the title of this journal says it's a "free alternative" to Lazy Nezumi Pro for those who can't afford it like me, I'll be doing a YouTube video on how to download & Install it with no hassle.
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION SERIAL
In the Lazy Nezumi Pro iso file you will find in crack folder the Lazy Nezumi Pro Crack, Lazy Nezumi Pro serial and Lazy Nezumi Pro activation. When you create a sketch or draw lines in any image editing software.
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION FULL
It is full installer l for 32/64 Bit independent. Here is the Blog that I found Silky Shark on Lazy Nezumi Pro Download The latest version and fully setup for Windows. The Help/About Lazy Nezumi Pro menu of the app will show you which version you are running. You can also use it on any time frame that suits you best, from the 1 minute through to the 1-month charts.So, earlier this morning I was searching for a free alternative to this program called "Lazy Nezumi" since I won't be able to get paid until at the end of the month I've decided to open up Art Commissions for my Undertale Chibi art, if anyone is interested? If you're running into any trouble with Lazy Nezumi Pro, the first thing you should do is check that you're up to date. If more than one person will be using the software at the same time, such as in a company setting, you should purchase a Multi-User license, by entering more than 1 in the Number of Users box above. System can be used on any Forex currency pair and other assets such as stocks, commodities, cryptos, precious metals, oil, gas, etc. If you are the only person using the software, you can activate your license on up to three (3) machines, for your own personal use. This is helpful as it means you do not need to stare at the charts all day waiting for signals to appear, and you can monitor multiple charts all at once. You can set the LazyHedging indicator to send you a indication by Up and Down with Indication. Lag LazyHedging indicator is a Non-Repaint trading system usually being sold for 199. UDATE:I finally got Lazy Nezumi it was for free but it fully works on my Photoshop CS6.I havent tried it on Adobe Flash 8 but, Im going too for a future video. While traders of all experience levels can use this system, it can be beneficial to practice trading on an MT4 demo account until you become consistent and confident enough to go live. We are uploading EAs Indicators working 100 on real account. There still a few issues reported on the Logitech forums though. G-Hub is now on full release, and the current version seems to be problem free so far for me. I had to do a clean reinstall of Windows 10 to get past that. LazyHedgingindicator can give you trading signals you can take as they are or add your additional chart analysis to filter the signals further, which is recommended. I am pretty sure that an early beta version of Logitech's new G-Hub software stuffed Lazy Nezumi Pro. It catches very fast and profitable price movements and gives you easy BUY/ SELL signals.Įvery trading signal is very carefully verified by the system to produce only the highest probability trades.
LAZY NEZUMI FREE VERSION UPDATE
Just tried it myself and its pretty good so far, with its last update being four days ago, and it works on a couple of programs (Ive tried it with Paint Tool SAI, Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, and. So, if you want really tight, smooth lineart, or just clean lines in general its pretty great. For anyone that liked Lazy Nezumi but cant drop thirty-five dollars for it, this program is pretty similar to it and its free and open-source. This is the complete offline setup of Lazy Nezumi which has excellent compatibility with all latest and famous 32bit and 64bit operating systems. Its called Lazy Nezumi, and its main function is to help smooth your strokes out when youre drawing. Click on the link given below to download Lazy Nezumi Pro free setup. Hey everyone, just wanted to bring to your attention a plugin that might be useful for you. This free forex indicator analyzes the price behavior on the chart every second and determines the ideal entry points based on the built-in algorithm, informing you when you need to open a deal and close it to take profit. Lazy Nezumi stroke smoothing for Photoshop. Lag LazyHedging indicator is a Non-Repaint trading system usually being sold for $199. We are uploading EAs Indicators working 100% on real account.
0 notes
Text
Final 2 DPS
This is my final 2 DPS and I am really happy with it. I really like the design and layout and I think overall it flows really well.
This story I got from my mum during the interview is truly interesting and sad of course because I had no idea this even happened until she told me, and I was basically discovering myself again you know and learning more about myself and my past. And it feels like I don’t know myself in a way because of the secrets that mum kept. I had absolutely no clue that I had 4 surgeries within a month. So there was a lot of discovery and revealing information during the interview when mum talked about it. So it’s really interesting to tell the story from my mums perspective.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like from the first image it shows life and death, each image in different opacity level. (left death, right life) and the red heart monitor line in the middle from no heart beat to a lot heart beat rhythm.
Second image was originally a coloured image but I changed the preset to black and white and adjusted the intensity of the black and white setting.
Last image is a coloured image with a yellow glowing halo around mum and I.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First image making explanation:
In the first image, I didn’t use four images for the image making because where my mum is from they don’t like the number four because it’s considered a unlucky number because the number four and the word in Chinese have similar pronunciation but different tone. When you say the word four in Chinese it sounds like death in Chinese. But originally I wanted to use four images not including the black rectangle.
Different regions in China has their own lucky numbers and unlucky numbers.
Since this story is about life and death I didn’t think it’s appropriate to use the number four in anything. He mentioned theres four images not including the black rectangle, and I thought I should make it five images and one black rectangle so the total of images is 6.
Because where my mum is from the number 6 is also a lucky number in her culture, since each region in China has different cultures and beliefs. In China, there is a Chinese idiom called “六六大顺 (liù liù dà shùn)”, which means “Everything comes in a smooth way.”
I am using a three column grid because 3 is a lucky number where my mums from. 3 (三), pronounced san, is considered lucky due to its similarity in sound to the word that means birth. Connecting to the story since its about life and death situation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second image making explanation:
The get well cards originally was in colour, but I changed it to black and white and adjusted the intensity of the black and white setting on photoshop.
The card was the last get well card my mum ever wrote to me, because later in the future when I did other surgeries my mum didn’t write any cards. Because for my mum she thinks the hardest times of her life which was that month and things got better and better afterwards, so she didn’t think she needs to write more get well cards.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third image making explanation:
The third image I originally wanted to create a double door and light shining below and a photograph cut out of my mums hands, and he said it doesn’t have to be literally. Because theres one part that talks about my mum visually seeing a double door opening and light shining below, so now we’re talking about religion. He said I can use a photo of my mum holding me as a baby and on the outline of mum I can use a light glow affect around her.
So at the end I spent hours looking for a photo of mum holding me and I used the photograph and went on photoshop and added a glowing yellow halo light around mum and I because one part of the story talks mum seeing lighting shining below the glowing light referring to religion specifically christianity.
When light shines below the door it’s like Gods opening a pathway for my mum, and God gave her hope. After mum saw the double doors opening with light shining down she started going to church learning about christianity and the bible and stuff. Yes she became a christian after seeing what she saw in front of her at the hospital while I was in the operating room.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colour:
Overall I think the colours flows very nice through both DPS from a darker colour because in the beginning of the story its very dark time of the events and gradually it turns to colour symbolising that things got better overtime.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layout explanation:
The first DPS layout: I put the first image making nearly in the middle of the DPS, and the text under the image making. The text is like a timeline of events you know in the story because a series of events happened throughout the story.
The text and image acts like hospital rooms you know like the layout of the hospitals thats why the background colour is white for both DPS.
Second DPS layout: the get well card and the cards translation is put on the left side of the DPS because it gives a nice negative space since the first DPS has a lot of texts. The negative space gives it a nice pause and flow for the both DPS. The right side of the second DPS. Because I have a lot of texts I tried to make some negative space around the DPS so it’s not overwhelming to look at.
In the bottom of the DPS theres negative space on the bottom gives a nice space on the DPS. When you look at it the bottom is kind of like a semi circle rising up like a sun, which connects to the story at the end how I got better day by day because each day the sun rises upwards.
The second pull quote in the 2 DPS is in the colour red because it links the colour red in the first DPS but it symbolises healing, while the yellow glowing halo symbolises hope and healing as well which connects to the end story.
Mums personality:
Well structured person - plans and organises things
Straight forward person
Kinda, caring and loving
She always have a smile on her face
She loves helping everyone in anything
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Background colour explanation:
The background colour is white because the colour of the hospital inside is white so thats why both DPS background colour is white.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Typeface choice:
Title: Open Sans ExtraBold - 24 pt size
I used Open Sans ExtraBold for the title because I want it to be big and bold so it stands out on the page.
Body Paragraph: Roboto Regular - 8 pt size
I didn’t want to use a san serif typeface because it’s not a formal story and since the story is about life and death I want the typeface to be opened. The Roboto typeface is not too wide and not too squished together because I want the typeface to fit my mums mood at the time of the story, which was scared, emotionally, stressed. I thought Roboto fits very well with her mood, as well as her personality because she is also a very well organised person, and she like things to be a certain way
Pull Quote: Open Sans Light Italic - 14 pt size
I chose Open Sans Light Italic for the pull quote because I want the pull quote to stand out on the page because its Italics.
Get well card translation: Open Sans Light and Open Sans Light Italic - 8 pt size
Same size as the body paragraph text but in Open Sans typeface.
I put the words “English translation:” in Open Sans Light instead of Italic matching the translation because I’m not translating the “English translation:”
0 notes
Text
Valentino Replica Handbags
Introducing one of Sephora’s bestselling fragrances and one everyone seems to be getting their palms on — Yves Saint Laurent’s Black Opium. Not solely is the packaging enchanting however its heat and rich scent — which is infused with coffee! The middle offers you juniper and black pepper, with a base of three completely different sorts of cedar. It has all of the woody depth you search for in a cologne known as Hero. I’ve been wearing all of it day, and it kept striking me as a rich, dark floral. But all that's to say, they turned the traditional cologne on its head with this one.
Made out of animal leather, undecided what kind. Product was efficiently added to your buying cart. If to be carried across the torso, a flat leather hand carry strap is supplied on the front side. Every replica hand bag accommodates two open compartments, an open flat pocket in the inside and, a zipper pocket.
Props for taking photos of the actual product although, and not just stealing photos from Valentino and Photoshopping their own brand name in like Mavirs and VASHOP LOL. Valentino's unique cool-pink tackle a nude shade, you're probably out of luck. I've seemed through the WeChat moments of many of the trusted sellers and have not seen any really accurate Poudre pairs.
KK, the long-legged supermodel, can’t wait to carry it out of the road. Also sharper is the basic black, very refined and superior fuel subject, it appears to be far more exciting than the common black bag. No, Viktor&Rolf isn’t limited to its bestselling Flowerbomb fragrance . As a special deal with for males, the Spicebomb carries with it a cool spicy scent to break away from the tried-and-true heat woodsy scent. As certainly one of Sephora’s most-shopped-for men’s colognes, Jo Malone London knows what it’s doing with the Wood Sage & Sea Salt.
She is known for being the first and youngest woman in area, having flown a solo mission on the Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent nearly three days in space, and stays the one woman to have been on a solo house mission. The Spike collection has three sizes, giant, medium and small, all designed with Nappa lambskin and durable! The giant size is 30cm x 20cm x 18.5cm, and the capacity is still very large! The colors are extra diverse, the eye-catching purple is the most eye-catching, the classic black, the elegant nude shade is excellent, and we will choose one for every problem. Just in time for the vacations, Sephora is providing 20% off all of its full-sized fragrances until Dec. 24 so you can gift your loved ones a luxe bottle of perfume or cologne for a refreshing begin to the brand new 12 months.
Please remember that there are a quantity of full-size choices available for some fragrances, with some value variations. Please go to the Sephora web page for full particulars. “If you’re undecided what perfume to present someone, and even finding a brand new scent for your self, our Fragrance Finder Quiz on Sephora.com is an efficient way to discover new merchandise,” Solares adds. I don't want to run you thru the notes on this one because the scent is pretty literal. Take the best way brandy smells, then elevate that, and you have got it.
Replica Valentino purses are all the fad, after individuals see the real deal hanging from superstar arms. Recreated in perfect detail, meticulously reproduced, utilizing the finest leather, hardware and materials. Only AAA purses manufacturers “Very Best” replica Valentino purses. They look, really feel and smell precisely like Valentino’s original designer purses.
But, if we were to discuss scents and seasons, then my favourite is winter. valentino bags replica Alice received rave evaluations for her Rockstuds on the Rep Lovers United discussion board -- xcollection is the name of the Taobao retailer that she sourced her greatest Rockstuds from, but it appears like they do not sell Rockstuds anymore . Fang is pretty much universally adored for her top quality items. wikipedia handbags The heel and sole is thicker, and the toebox/vamp doesn’t look as elegant to me. Supposedly made out of “leather”, but trying at the customer pictures I’d be fairly stunned in the occasion that they weren’t faux leather or PVC.
No one can inform the AAA handbags purses are actually replica Valentino luggage. There is nothing phony, faux or faux about them, they are a mirror image of the unique handbags. So affordable, you should buy several for the price of one designer authentic. In quite lots of trend ahead kinds and colours. This sort of design feels excellent to feel, and it makes people really feel satisfied!
Less than a week after her return from space, Moscow hosted the International Women's Congress on 24 June the place Tereshkova and Bykovsky had been greeted by a gathering of about 2,000 ladies from 119 countries. Of all the Russian cosmonauts, Tereshkova acquired probably the most requests to go to international nations. Get the style It Girl’s stars just like the moon, the supermodel Frida Gustavsson took the clutch out of the present when the gorgeous moment has long been classic. Valentino’s rivet bag is delicate and soft, with an eye-catching, heat colour. Even with the tough metallic rivets, the brand’s unique femininity remains to be preserved. Pink rivet bag, cool handsome and young girl, captured a bunch of Han Xing!
If you'll order 10cm Rockstuds from Annie, I urge you to ask Annie for pre-shipment footage and ask this sub that can help you QC. Feel free to send her the pictures of low high quality and prime quality reps I linked above, so she is conscious of what you need and don't desire. If you do not really feel assured ordering from Annie, I would verify with Alice.
#valentino replica#replica valentino bag#valentino bag replica#valentino bags replica#valentino garavani replica
0 notes
Photo
15 locations, 89 cast members, and 1,200 crew members later, The Witcher has officially wrapped production on Season 2!
#thewitcheredit#witcheredit#hencavilledit#henrycavilledit#anyachalotraedit#freyaallanedit#henry cavill#anya chalotra#freya allan#the witcher#the witcher netflix#userava#userbecca#usersvenja#jesus i think i forgot how to make edits?#this was my first time opening photoshop in like three months#but anyway LOOK AT THESE CUTIES#*#*gifs#*witcher
8K notes
·
View notes
Text
Into the Mystic
Pairing: Josh x f!reader
Warning: 18+ MINORS DO NOT ENGAGE, swearing, oral (m receiving), unprotected sex
Word Count: 2.3k
Summary: You lie and tell Josh you don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day hoping to surprise him in the best way
Notes: Part three of my lil V-day series. Sweet romantic song that makes me think of Josh and all I listened to while writing this. Yes I know it’s past Valentine’s Day, just roll with it.
-
“So, I told the guys I wasn’t going to the studio tomorrow and I figured we could see where the day took us!” Josh expressed as he jumped over the back of the couch, plopping down next to you and spilling a few pieces of popcorn from the bowl in his hand.
“What’s so special about tomorrow?” You asked as you picked up the fallen pieces of the salty snack.
“It’s our first Valentine’s Day together!”
Your face fell as you had to pull out your best acting skills. “Josh I’m so sorry, I completely forgot. And it’s too short notice to call into work.” You felt as if someone had punched a hole in your chest as his bright smile fell to a tight-lipped grin. “Plus, if I’m being honest, Valentine’s Day is just a scam created by the government to make couples feel like they’re doing a shitty job at being in love.”
You wanted to punch yourself in the face when his eyes filled with unspoken disappointment. You weren’t necessarily lying, you did think Valentine’s Day was a bogus holiday. However, you had no issues celebrating it if it meant spending the entire day showering Josh with love and affection. He always liked to shine importance on all your ‘firsts’ as a couple. First date, first kiss, first time listening to music together, first impromptu late-night drive, first time. He made sure to make a big deal of it all, no matter how insignificant it may seem to others.
You had met Josh May of last year and began dating in June, so you knew he would be wanting to celebrate February 14th. That’s why you’ve had a plan for months, asking for the day off weeks in advance. The plans were simple, as Josh was a simple man - dinner, music, maybe a romantic bath that would lead to more.
“That’s fine, I’ll just go to the studio. Maybe we can still have dinner?” His voice was strained like he was holding back what he really wanted to say. You nodded, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before turning back to the movie playing on the TV.
You really wanted to punch yourself in the face.
-
When you wake up to the morning sun shining through the window you stretched your limbs, hand landing on the cold sheets that Josh usually kept warm. You rolled on your side, seeing a red envelope with your name scribbled on the front, perched against Josh’s pillow. You giggled quietly to yourself upon opening the envelope. A photo of a dog with a cartoon smile photoshopped over the mouth adorned the front of the card. ‘I Woof You’ written in a text bubble. The inside of the card had a cheesy prewritten sentence, but Josh had written his own words below it.
Y/N,
I know you said you don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, however, I still wanted to give you this card. I say this often, but I love you. I will never turn down an opportunity to tell you that. I thank all the stars in the night sky I was given the privilege to have you in my life. You are the moon to my sun, without you I would not be able to shine another day. I would cross a thousand oceans just to see your smile. You mean more to me than I could ever express. Words fail me whenever I think of you and how much you’ve changed my life for the better. Anyways, I hope you have a lovely day at work and I will see you tonight!
All my love,
Joshua Michael
You placed the card on your nightstand, getting up to start your day with a permanent smile. You planned to clean the house, between Josh constantly being in the studio and you working overtime, the two of you were too exhausted to keep up on daily household chores.
After ridding the fridge of all expired products, you made your way to the grocery store. The plan was to make Josh’s favorite dinner and dessert - without screwing it up - that Karen had told you hasn’t changed in years. You texted him at noon, asking how his day was going and thanking him for the card. He replied quickly, a simple ‘you’re welcome. Be home around 5.’ The frustrated groan you let out in the middle of the baking aisle got a few weird looks. All you could hope is that when Josh got home and saw your surprise, he’d understand.
Before heading back home, you stopped at the local florist because who said you can’t buy men flowers. They were out of almost every flower so you ended up getting him a bouquet of red Amaryllis flowers. Groceries unloaded and flowers in a vase, you had three hours before Josh got home.
-
You went over the checklist in your head one more time, making sure everything was set. The record player in the living room hummed quietly, one of Josh’s Aretha Franklin albums playing. The sound of a car door shutting brought you back to the present, lighting a few candles to help aid in the romantic ambiance. You don’t even wait for him to have both feet through the door before you yelled out.
“Happy Valentine’s Day!”
He looked like a deer caught in headlights, mouth opening and closing as he tried to process what was going on. You watched as his eyes moved all across the room, from the table with two plates of food, the flowers and a card to the kitchen counter where red velvet cupcakes were plated nicely and finally back to you.
“I thought you didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day?”
“I lied.” You shrugged your shoulders casually. “Wanted to surprise you.” His face softened, a gentle smile replaced the open and close motion of his mouth. He closed the distance between the two of you, pulling you into a bone-crushing hug.
“I love you.”
The force of his embrace knocked the air from your lungs. “I love you too bub, but I can’t breathe.” He loosened his grip but didn’t let go. You moved your arms that had been pinned at your side and wrapped them around his neck, running your fingers through his curls.
Josh placed a sweet kiss on your neck, pulling his face back but keeping his hands on your waist. He didn’t hesitate to put his lips on yours, noses gently nudging as you moved to deepen the kiss. A soft hum left you when his tongue licked at your bottom lip. Josh broke the kiss to grip the back of your thighs, lifting you up and wrapping your legs around his waist.
You giggled into his neck as he lead you away from the table and towards your shared bedroom. “Josh, the food is going to get cold!” You truly didn’t care, you just wanted to tease his impatience.
“While I greatly appreciate everything you’ve done, I couldn’t give less of a fuck about food temperature right now. Just want to show you how much you mean to me.” As soon as you felt the soft material of the carpet between your toes your hands were working to get his clothes off, pants bunching at his ankles and shirt being thrown in a random direction.
When he was left completely naked he went to grab the hem of your dress but you stopped him. He tilted his head in confusion as you just smiled and pushed him to sit on the edge of the bed. You usually didn’t care about ‘acting sexy’, knowing Josh found you gorgeous no matter the time of day, but you couldn’t deny the thrill of excitement that ran up your spine knowing what Josh’s reaction would be.
Underneath the simple gray dress, you wore was a lacey baby blue matching set, two pink bows on either strap of the bra. You had only worn lingerie once before, it was the only time you felt as if you held some power over Josh. You delicately ran your fingers from your neck, in between the valley of your breasts, over your stomach, and stopping at the hem of your dress. You took a deep breath before removing the clothing.
A hand covered your mouth to stifle a laugh as Josh’s eyes widened and jaw went slack. The focus of your weight on your toes as you made your way towards your boyfriend. Your hands were placed on the tops of his thighs as you bent down until you were at eye level with him. “You’ve got a little drool there.” Thumb coming up to run along his bottom lip.
“Can you really blame me?” His voice was airy and his chest was covered in a blush. Before you could shift your position down to your knees, he stopped you with a hand cupping your jaw. “Just let me look at you for a second.” He ran his thumb down your neck, over the tops of your breasts, stopping to brush over one of your nipples.
“Let me make it up for lying to you. Can I?”
“Please.” he groaned as his back hit the mattress. With his feet still on the ground, you dropped down to your knees, spreading his thighs so you could move between them. You pressed a kiss to his tip, smiling to yourself when Josh gasped.
He pushed his head further into the mattress when you took the first few inches of him in your mouth, moving your hand along the rest of his cock that wasn’t occupied by your mouth. A mixture of expletives and your name passed through his lips. His right hand tangled in your hair as his left had a tight grip on the sheets.
When you took the rest of him in your mouth he bucked his hips, causing you to gag. He whined when you placed your forearm over his hips, effectively ceasing his movements. “You’re mean.” He breathed out, a moan following close behind when you hummed around him.
You looked up at him through your lashes, seeing his forehead all but adjacent with the headboard and his chest rising and falling quickly. Josh never admitted it out loud, not wanting to give you too much power over him, but your mouth could have him falling apart in seconds if he didn’t actively stop himself from coming. Today was no different as you felt his abdomen flex, signaling he was close.
“Mama, if you don’t get up here this night will be over fairly quick.” You pulled off him with a quiet pop, giving him one last kitten lick at his tip before standing up. Josh sat up then and began sliding the baby blue panties down your legs. “As stunning as you look in this.” He placed a kiss just below your navel. “I want to see all of you, my beloved.”
You removed the bra, letting the soft straps graze down the length of your arms. He pulled you by your hips until you were straddling him. His hands grabbed at the meat of your thighs, giving them a soft squeeze.
“Ride me, mama.” He grinned widely, giving you a quick peck on your lips before mumbling a quiet ‘please.’ You adjusted yourself until you could slowly sink down on his cock. His eyes rolled back and his jaw went slack as you began grinding your hips. Josh reached up to grab your jaw, bringing you down in a bruising kiss.
The kiss was brief before you pulled back, placing your hands on his chest and pushing him back into the mattress. You kept your hands on his chest to use as leverage as you brought your hips up and down on him. His eyes stayed locked on your form as you tilted your head back to look up at the ceiling, his hands reaching up to massage your breasts between his palms, harshly pulling at your nipples whenever you clenched around him.
You had put all your focus on Josh’s pleasure, so when you felt the warmth start to spread throughout your lower stomach you cried out. It seemed Josh could tell as well, the clenching of your walls around him giving you away. He wrapped an arm around your waist, resting his hands on the top of your ass, and pulled himself up. With his feet planted on the bedroom floor, he used his strength to bring you up and down on his cock - his own hips raising to meet yours.
“Fuck, Josh - oh shit.” You moaned above him, fingernails digging into his shoulders for support.
“How does my cock feel? Tell me how it feels mama.” He urged, bouncing you on him harsher now. He felt as your walls drew him in deeper with each thrust.
“So good, always so good.” You whimpered, biting down on his shoulder to muffle your screams, Josh hissing at the sting.
“So close, just hold on a little longer.” He begged. Your knees were pressed into the mattress to help with the movements. Your clit rubbed against his stomach as he ground into you, you’re sure your nails have left scratch marks down his biceps but you’re too blissed out to care.
“Josh I can’t, I’m coming.” He could feel your walls pulsing around him, your arousal coating his cock as you cum around him. The sounds of your moans and the way your pussy pulled him in deeper had him finishing deep inside you, moaning your name loud enough to make you flinch at the volume.
When you had both come down from your highs, he fell back onto the mattress, pulling you down with him. All that could be heard was your deep breathing and the clicking of the ceiling fan.
“I’m hungry.”
“Told you we should eat dinner first.”
“I love you, mama.”
“I love you too, Josh.”
#greta van fic#greta van fleet#josh kiszka fic#greta van fleet imagine#josh kiszka#josh x reader#josh gvf#gvf one shot#gvf fic#gvf imagine#greta van fleet smut#josh kiszka smut
299 notes
·
View notes
Text
Traditions | 17.3k
a/n: it's been a while since I uploaded writing and for some reason I decided to sign up for this challenge and by some miracle actually managed to write something for it 🤯anyways, this is for the Valentine's Day Challenge by @1dffchallenges and it's honestly just a bit of fun, enemies to lovers little bit of angst and some smut! so i hope you enjoy! I'd always love to know your thoughts!! (also pls excuse any errors, I wrote this in a week with little editing lol)
prompt: doube date
dialogue: “So let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date for a Valentine’s Day Party?”
Pink and red were speckled throughout the entire office, whether it was a bouquet of chocolate roses, a banner of hearts, or stuffed bears residing next to bowls full of heart-shaped candies. Every employee’s section of the office had been filled to the brim with decorations as well. Pink and red ribbon taped carefully around the edges of their desktop computer, little store-bought balloons, also heart-shaped, grouped together and tied to desk chairs.
And Y/N, dressed in her typical all black outfit, rolled her eyes as she paced through the office toward the one section in the back that was immune to all things heart-shaped, pink, or stuffed.
She sat down at her desk with a loud sigh, her purse hitting the floor in its usual spot just before she slipped out of her jacket and draped it haphazardly between her back and the chair. It’d be wrinkled by the end of the day, but she didn’t care all that much, nor did she put much thought into the stains on her purse from leaving it on the floor. All she concerned herself with, after settling in, was getting straight to work… which was put on hiatus when she came face-to-face with both a pink and heart-shaped sticky note plastered onto the center of her computer screen.
Groaning, she ripped it off and moved to turn her computer on before she bothered to read whatever was written on the note. She considered three potential suspects while she pulled her keyboard down onto her desk and logged in. There was Kayla, who worked front reception and was one of the main culprits of all the Valentine’s decorations. A strong contender. It could’ve also been Ines or Carmen, her closest work friends whom Y/N knew both owned a pad of pink, heart-shaped sticky notes.
However, when she finally let her eyes fall to the note as her computer loaded up, the handwriting didn’t match any of the women she knew, and she was quite positive that none of them would have written was was sprawled out in black ink either.
Roses are red, violets are blue. I will fill your office with teddy bears and balloons, if you don’t send me your half of the proposal by two.
Harry.
She crumpled the note and tossed it into the bin under her desk. He could go fuck himself for all she cared. Sure, she was nearly done with her portion of the work and would be able to send it to him before then, but now that he’d pestered her about it, he’d be lucky if she even bothered to send it to him at all.
She didn’t doubt the promise, i.e. threat, he made on the note, but being surrounded by teddy bears and balloons would be worth making Harry’s life just a tad miserable.
After opening all the apps she’d need to get her work done, namely Photoshop and Illustrator, she connected her drawing tablet and set up the rest of her work station for the day, both on screen and off.
Harry had worked at the company for about two years longer than her and she’d started off as an intern while she was still in college and, after graduating, was hired as a permanent graphic designer. They had never really gotten along ever since Harry—jokingly—asked her to get him a coffee once… or twice. Unfortunately for her, though, they ended up working well together and their boss had stuck them both on the same projects ever since. Especially after the month-long project last spring that had been their most successful one to date.
While she came up with the design parts of client projects, Harry handled the more technical side of things and they’d never really argued much over each other’s work even though they clashed constantly at a more personal level.
“I see your feeling festive.” Just as she’d gotten into the groove of her typical morning and had forgotten all about Harry’s stupid note, his voice interrupted her entire thought process. So when she swiveled around to find him leaning into her little office space, it was hardly a surprise when she glared at him, even though he feigned offense at her bitterness.
“You got my note, I presume.” He let himself into her space anyway, holding a mug of steaming coffee she was sure he’d just made in the workroom, and leaned up against the opposite side of her desk that housed a much larger, digital drawing tablet for when she needed to do more intricate design pieces.
She just swiveled back around to face her computer again and went back to work as if he was no longer there. Pretending to ignore his existence proved to be quite difficult when the very particular woodsy, vanilla scents of his cologne met her nostrils and filled her entire office. Not to mention, the sight of what he’d been wearing singed the backs of her eyelids so that she still saw him every time she blinked. It was as if her brain refused to let her forget what he looked like in his white button-up, sleeves rolled to the crooks of his elbows, all tucked into his fitted black trousers that tended to get the imaginations going of all the women in the building.
Not her though, of course. She was better than that. Obviously.
He cleared his throat, still very much present in her space and still very much giving her a migraine. “So will it be ready by two?”
“Well, I planned to send it to you before lunch.” She tweaked the spacing between letters of a potential logo for the millionth time. “But now… I think I might need the rest of the day.”
She heard rustling behind her and knew he was shifting his weight impatiently and running a hand through his hair as he often did when he was… displeased. “I told you I’m leaving early tomorrow and I need it no later than two.”
She cocked her head to the side, still staring at her computer screen and not giving him an ounce of satisfaction. “Did you tell me that?” She teased, an amused smirk lifting the corners of her mouth when she heard him groan behind her. “I must’ve forgotten.” Shrugging, she went back to her work.
“Unlike you,” he snapped, “some of us actually have a love life and I’d appreciate you not fucking up mine.”
She froze then, only for a split second, when his words sank in. Two thoughts raced through her head. The first a string of curse words because of his assumption that she didn’t have a love life. But the more prominent and worrisome part of his statement was that he did have one. And that he was leaving early tomorrow—Valentine’s Day—so he could get ready for a date.
Throwing both her prickly exterior and heartbreaking smirk up again, she turned to face him. “I’ve known you for three years now and if anyone has the potential to fuck up your love life, it’s you.”
He narrowed his eyes at her and her gaze fell to the hand that seemed to wrap a bit tighter around his Bugs Bunny mug. His knuckles whitened and she met his heated stare again, pleased with herself for getting him riled up before he’d even finished his morning coffee.
“So,” she continued before he get get a word of retaliation out, and sat back against her chair, crossing her legs confidently as she folded her hands in her lap. “Who’s the poor girl you’ve tricked into going on a date with you this time?”
Harry had a terrible track record. The longest relationship he’d been in lasted for two months, and that was well before she’d known him. Everything else he had was just a one or two night thing and nothing more. Sure, it was all more than she had, but she preferred it that way. Harry seemed to resent the fact that he couldn’t keep a girlfriend to save his life.
“You don’t know her.”
Her smile widened. “How long have you been seeing her?”
“Couple weeks.”
“Ooh, that just might be your second longest relationship, Styles.”
“Well at least I’ve had one.”
His jab didn’t have an affect on her however, and he knew it wouldn’t because it never did. He knew she didn’t give a damn about relationships, or at least that’s what she claimed anyway. He couldn’t think of many twenty-four year old women who actually wanted to be alone. He actually couldn’t think of a mid-twenties anyone who wanted that.
“You’ll have to try harder than that.” She said nonchalantly, which irked him even more than he already was, and then swiveled away from him one last time, picking up her drawing pen and getting back to work.
“What’s your issue with relationships?” He went on and she knew he was headed right down a path intended to hurt her feelings just as much as she had his. So, she tensed slightly and braced for impact. “Is it a commitment thing? Or can you just not find anyone to put up with you for longer than five minutes?”
She let his words sink their teeth in and then smiled to herself. “Hm. Seeing as you’ve been in my office now for,” she checked the time at the top right-hand corner of her screen, “eight minutes, maybe we should date.” She lifted a brow, awaiting his next response.
It felt a bit like a cat-and-mouse chase bickering with Harry and since she was usually the cat, it brought her way too much pleasure fighting with him.
He scoffed. “Like I’d lower my standards for you.”
That one hurt, she had to admit. Not out loud or to Harry, but it still stung because it was true. He’d have to drop his standards to the floor to even consider dating her and she knew it.
“Maybe,” she began, still half focused on her work, and ignored his comment all together, “some of us like being alone.”
“Nobody likes that.” He responded quickly and she heard a shift of his weight again and then his voice once more a few moments later. “It’s nice to be by yourself sometimes, yeah, but you can’t tell me you don’t want someone to come home to at the end of the day.” He crossed one leg over the other as he gripped the edge of her desk for support and just when she thought he was done, he kept going, “Someone you can vent to about your annoying co-worker.”
She glanced at him through the little portable mirror hanging above her desk—mostly used to make sure she looked decent before meeting with clients or, sometimes, Harry—and saw the tight smile on his lips. Almost as if that’s what he wanted, like he was talking about himself and not her.
She’d slowed her progress down while he’d talked until she was no longer working at all. She no longer swiped her pen across the pad or had any idea what she was even doing when she focused solely on his words. Because, once again, whether he was talking about himself or about her, he was right.
“Yeah well,” she quickly hid herself back behind her wall and made her hands function properly again. “Some of us also don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.”
She imagined him smirking at that one because, buried deep within her words was a compliment. That he was handsome enough to actually have anyone he wanted.
Instead, when she glanced at the mirror again and found him, there was the complete opposite of a smirk on his face, and as he stared down into his mug, clearly lost in thought, she wondered what the tightness in his jaw and the frown pulling on his lips meant.
She sighed and stole his attention away from his coffee. “I’ll have it to you before lunch. You can go now, unless you’d like to argue some more and slow me down by another…” she glanced at her clock again, adding up all the time he’d been standing in her office, “fifteen minutes.”
Without another word, she listened to the drag of his footsteps as he finally left her office space. And although she was glad to be rid of his distraction, the room felt so much bigger and so much colder and emptier without him in it. Shivering, she slipped back into her jacket and spent the next few hours doing nothing but staring straight ahead at her screen as she made final adjustments to her designs.
Any other conversations with Harry were had over email as he worked in his own respective office, messaging her with every little concern he had in order to get his work done efficiently so that he wasn’t stressing to finish it tomorrow before he had to leave. Even though Y/N considered not responding to him a few times, just to spite him and slow him down for her own amusement, she found herself feeling guilty after leaving him hanging a couple times. Sure, she hated Valentine’s Day and everything surrounding it, but she’d almost hate even more the idea of both her and Harry being miserable tomorrow, so she inevitably gave in and cooperated with him. She’d probably regret it when he came back on Thursday spreading around the office all the gory details of his date, but at least he wouldn’t also be in a shitty mood. Her days were both boring and slow whenever Harry wasn’t having a good day. And although she’d blame it all on selfish reasons, it did also make her sad to see him frowning around the office and sulking when all she wanted to do was bicker with him and make him smile again, even just a little bit. But it was easier leaving him to his own devices than risk him finding out she cared about him enough to not wish sadness upon him.
She couldn’t say the same for him. Harry probably relished in the days she came into the office in a sour mood. He probably celebrated and threw a party whenever she was upset, and, even so, it didn’t change how she felt about him.
The sun had long set and most of the office was gone by the time she finally called it quits and began packing up her things and giving her computer a rest for the night. There were still quiet murmurs from other workaholic employees, which comforting her knowing she wasn’t completely alone in the building, since the last time she’d done that, it took everything in her not to have a panic attack all the way to her car.
Even though her boss told her countless times not to stay past five o’clock, as he told every other female employee that worked for him that he didn’t wish to see attacked after sunset in the city. Of course, when she was the only one who didn’t listen to him, he hired more guards and one of them rounded the corner into her office space, ready to escort her all the way down to her car.
“Figured you were still here.” He leaned against the walls of her cubicle and watched as she startled, twisting to meet his eyes for a moment before she settled and returned to slipping her belongings into her purse.
“I don’t need you to escort me.” Zipping her purse, she rose from her chair, checking one last time across her desk to make sure she’d grabbed everything she needed to take home with her before turning to him as he still lingered in the opening of her little office.
William had been hired a couple months ago, and was only a year older than her, but even so he was more than a foot taller than her and his biceps were about as big as her head. While the entire office drooled over him, she tended to keep her eyes and her thoughts to herself.
“You say that every night you stay late. Just let me do my job and shut up about it.” He smirked at her and when her eyes met his again, sharply, glaring at him, she groaned and whirled past him toward the elevators. He followed swiftly behind, knowing she’d close the doors on him if he didn’t keep close enough pace with her, mostly because she’d done it before.
As he took his spot beside her and she pressed the button for the parking garage at the basement of the building, a familiar voice rang out through the office.
“Wait!” As if she wasn’t already annoyed enough with William’s presence, his stupidly large arm held the elevator doors open as Harry slipped inside a moment later.
“Thanks, mate.” Harry said exclusively to William as he caught his breath and stood wedged in the middle between the guard and Y/N, who was inching closer and closer into her corner to get away from Harry.
“You have any plans tomorrow?” Harry asked, his attention solely on William again while the elevator took off down through the levels of their building. Not fast enough for Y/N, of course.
William sighed, crossing his arms and trying to resist smiling. “Me and my girlfriend take turns surprising each other every year. And it’s her turn this year… so I guess I have plans, but I don’t know what they are.”
“Damn, way to make us feel incompetent.”
Y/N whirled her head to glare up at the side of Harry’s face. “Speak for yourself.” She warned.
Harry just ignored her though. “What did you guys do last year?”
Again, William stifled a grin. “I had been saving up for a while and took us both to Paris.”
“Shit.” Harry’s eyebrows rose and Y/N rolled her eyes away from him, watching the LED screen above the elevator doors as they neared the bottom levels of the building. She knew Harry and William had become friends, mostly because Harry was annoying and befriended everyone. Except her, of course. She heard his stupid voice again and wished she could just transport herself directly into the front seat of her car and be done with the both of them. “And now she has to do better than Paris.”
Y/N glanced around Harry just in time to see William smirk and she should have known what was about to come out of his mouth before it did. “Well, I don’t consider much better than her mouth ar—“
Y/N cut him off. “Ew! Are you serious?”
Both men eyed her curiously just as the elevator came to a stop and, with a ding, the doors opened. She flew toward them quickly.
“Y/N wait, I have to—“
Again, she cut him off, turning once she was out on solid ground. “I’ll be fine, besides trying to rid my mind of that image you just burned into it.” She turned on her heel and headed off toward her car.
William made a move toward her and Harry grabbed his arm, “I’ll walk her. Forgot she’s a bit of a prude.” They shared an amused look and Harry jogged out onto the concrete and asphalt until he reached her side.
“I heard that, you know… and I know for a fact your car is not parked in this direction.” She seethed and he just smiled to himself, happier than ever that she was in the mood to bicker with him, because he wasn’t quite in the mood to leave yet, where he’d have to wait till tomorrow morning at nine-thirty to see her again. And she wasn’t always the most talkative person on Valentine’s Day, either.
“Why are you the only female in our building not foaming at the mouth over him?” He asked instead, referring to William.
He heard her scoff. “Just because he’s attractive doesn’t mean I have to be interested… or want to hear about his girlfriend sucking his—“
“Cock?” Harry finished for her and within a second she spun around to face him, forcing him to stop in his tracks just inches from her now. His smirk only grew when he saw just how quickly he’d gotten her all flustered.
And then, as they started each other down, the hardness in her face softened and she drew out a breath, forcing his eyes to fall to her lips and his smirk to fall from his mouth. He thought back to last spring, when there were numerous late nights with her just like this one. When he went home and couldn’t stop thinking about…
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked and he blinked a couple times before he lifted his eyes.
“Like what?” He furrowed his brows, trying to track down all the resentment he had for her but he couldn’t find it anywhere anymore. He couldn’t summon it and say something that would save his ass from being caught looking at her like he wanted to kiss her.
Like he wanted to taste her and feel her against him, and hear what she sounded like when he tugged at her hair for more.
“Nevermind.” She shook her head, silencing the chaos going on in his brain. And then she turned, continuing the walk to her car with or without him, but, when she heard the echoing click of his shoes against the asphalt once more, she knew she wasn’t rid of him yet.
“I don’t suppose you’ll give me a ride back to my car, will you?” He easily stepped back into place beside her like nothing had happened.
She didn’t say anything for much longer than he was comfortable with. And then, finally, they reached her car and she sighed. “Get in before I change my mind.”
As she went for the driver’s side, he took quick steps to the opposite side, watching her over the top of her little Honda as she unlocked her door, and then, after clicking the button, his door as well. They both slipped in at the same time and while she fastened her seatbelt and settled in for her drive home, he sat perched with his backpack in his lap, knowing he’d be out of her car within only a couple minutes.
He still glanced around at his surroundings as she backed out of her parking space. “Should’ve guessed your car would be as neat as your desk.”
She didn’t say anything as she drove in the opposite direction of the exit toward the section of the garage Harry always parked in. It was closer to the elevators because he always came in before her and snagged a prime spot. She preferred an extra few minutes of sleep over walking an extra fifty steps.
And he started up again when she continued to not talk to him. “Most artists I know of are super messy.”
“I’m not an artist.” She gritted out through her teeth as she came to a stop once she spotted the rear-end of Harry’s BMW. Although she knew it well enough to distinguish it from the other black BMWs in the garage, it also helped that Harry had an old, faded license plate cover filled with a collage of cute pictures of puppies. He’d said it won him bonus points with women, but she also knew his screensaver at work was a picture of puppies as well, and no women he was interested in ever saw that.
He peeled his eyes off his car and looked over at her. “I know you can draw, too.”
She paused, gripping her steering wheel. She did enjoy both art and design and she knew Harry knew the difference between the two. She just didn’t know why he always insisted on bugging her about it.
“Yeah, well that doesn’t make me an artist.”
When he didn’t say anything, she glanced at him just in time to find him shrugging a shoulder like he was agreeing to disagree. Even if she couldn’t draw, he’d still consider her an artist because the things she managed to design always blew his mind and if that wasn’t art…
She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to get out, or do I have to drag you?”
He grinned, and it was almost as if her eyes refused to see anything else but his dimples and the bright whites of his teeth, and the birthmark to the side of his mouth…
“I’m going.” He assured, and yet he still hadn’t moved an inch. “Even though I’d love to see you try to drag me.” With her knuckles whitening on the steering wheel, he chuckled and unzipped the small pocket on the front of his backpack, withdrawing his keys as he finally swung her door open.
Once he was out, he gripped the top of the door and leaned back in to find her staring straight ahead. “Drive carefully, yeah? Would be quite tragic for your bitter ass to die on Valentine’s Day.”
She reached over and, despite having to brush her knuckles along the side of his thigh, grabbed the handle of the passenger door and yanked. His body remained in her way, however, and he was unfortunately a lot stronger than her.
Then she finally looked up at him, and those thoughts he had earlier surfaced again as much as he’d tried to bury them. This time though, he didn’t fight it as he glanced at her lips once more, then back at her eyes, which had widened slightly just before the dimples reappeared in his cheeks. “And I guess I would miss bickering with you every day.”
With that, he was gone and she retreated back to her seat as he shut the door for her. She had no idea what to think about what had just happened. Why he’d looked at her like that again. What that look even meant.
By the time she reached the freeway, she’d convinced herself she was just seeing things. Harry wasn’t looking at her in any other way he had before when he was intent on pestering her. But, as she took in the scent of him still lingering in the cabin, she allowed a small part of her to hope she was wrong.
Her eyes fell on the man down the hall from her door as she slipped her key into the lock, her brows furrowing as she watched him. It wasn’t unusual for their paths to cross, as they tended to get home around the same time, but it was quite odd to see him sitting on the floor outside his apartment, his head in his hands.
They’d said hi to each other a couple times in the mailroom, but she definitely didn’t know him well enough to go up and ask what his issue was or try to fix it for him. And after it was confirmed that he hadn’t, in fact, lost his keys, as they sat beside him on the floor along with his phone, she figured it best to leave him be.
Turning her key, she pulled her gaze from him and disappeared from the hallway.
The second she was inside her apartment, she felt all the weight lift right off her shoulders, especially when her cat came racing up, screaming at her from the floor while also coaxing her toward the kitchen to fill the food bowl. Whatever was going on with her neighbor still very much on her mind, she tried to focus instead on relaxing and getting both her and the screaming Pretzel some dinner.
She tried to remember his name as she heated up leftover pasta. She knew it started with an A, but her brain was coming up short. So, while Pretzel crunched on his food in his corner of the kitchen, she tried her hardest to remember.
And it was no question why she cared so much. Her neighbor was someone she was actually interested in, and she had been since she first saw him. Of course, she was never foolish enough to think he was into her, but she still let herself fantasize. He was tall, nearly black curly hair atop his head always in a state of disarray, and he had the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen hidden behind his glasses. And, if she was being honest with herself, he was just a darker-haired version of Harry. Maybe that’s why she liked him.
The beeping of her microwave tore her thoughts from the dangerous path they’d been headed down. Harry’s voice rang in her head a moment later.
Like I’d lower my standards for you.
She’d needed to hear him say that, because sometimes her thoughts got carried away when it came to Harry and sometimes she did let herself be a fool who hoped. But after he’d said that one damning phrase, it was enough for her to stop. She didn’t meet a single one of his standards, inside or out.
Still, she tried her hardest not to go back out into the hall and make sure her neighbor was alright. Maybe he just needed someone to talk to and it wasn’t like she was doing anything important. Even if she didn’t have a dumb crush on him, as she did Harry, she still didn’t enjoy seeing him in the state he’d been in.
Before she could work up the nerve, however, a knock sounded through her quiet apartment.
She held her breath as she opened her door, really hoping it wasn’t the boy from across the hall, since she was still blanking on his name, but she couldn’t imagine anyone else knocking on her door this late into the evening.
So when she inevitably found him there, looking down at her through his annoyingly long lashes as she took in the horrible state he was in—red, inflamed eyes and hair that needed to see a brush rather than his hand—she completely lost her breath instead.
“Uh, sorry, I… saw you come in and I know we don’t talk and this is a weird thing for me to ask but…” He ran said hand through said messy hair and she found her breath again while looking up at him like she’d do whatever he’d asked just so he’d stop frowning.
He sighed, glancing down the hall toward his apartment and then met her curious and somewhat concerned gaze. “Can I come in?”
She recoiled. “Um… why?”
“Well, um, I was hoping you could help me with something and I’d rather not have the entire floor know about it.”
She was beyond confused now, but still, she stepped aside and let him pass, assuming that if he was actually a murderer he would have done her in a lot sooner than this. He had plenty of other opportunities. Plus, something in his face just… made her want to trust him.
She closed the door and turned to him, watching as his eyes scanned her kitchen and where her food still sat before he twisted around, eyes wide. “Shit, I’m sorry for interrupting.”
She shook her head. “It’s fine.” And after clearing her throat, she crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you, um… what do you need help with?”
He swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple budge in his throat. “I don’t imagine you’ll like me very much after I ask but… I need a date.”
“What?” Again, she nearly flew out of her skin.
His eyes darted back and forth between hers, gauging her reactions and very obviously on the verge of seeing himself out and pretending this never happened. Instead, he stuffed away his pride and went on. “My ex… she, uh… well we broke up a few months ago and I saw her the other day and she’s seeing someone and we were talking and I… told her I was seeing someone too and so she invited me to go on this stupid double date with her… but the thing is… I’m not actually seeing anyone and I just told her that so she’d be jealous but she didn’t seem jealous at all and I don’t exactly have many friends to ask for help and I saw you and…” He rambled, but she managed to understand his predicament just fine.
“A double date? With your ex?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know either. She’s… she does weird shit but… I still want her back.”
Y/N’s heart ached in her chest. As much as she detested relationships, she was a sucker for other people’s relationships and she was definitely a sucker for her beautiful neighbor, even if he was asking to use her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous.
“Not that I’m saying yes but… when? And where?” She finally asked after thinking things over for a moment.
“Tomorrow night… I can pay you. I will pay you, I mean… but, seriously, you don’t have to do it I just thought I would ask.”
“Where is this date at?” She repeated when he didn’t answer that part of her question.
“At this party… and bef—“
She cut him off. “Okay so let me get this right. You want to hire me as your date to a Valentine’s Day party?”
He lifted a brow, “Well, there’s more… she wants to get dinner before going to the party.”
She shook her head, looking away, “I don’t really do Valentine’s Day…”
“You wouldn’t have to do much. I’ll pay for your dinner, too. Whatever you want. I just… really need your help and you’re my only option.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You realize I’m not exactly…” she waved at her face and his eyebrows screwed together in confusion. “I’m not easy on the eyes and I don’t think taking me will make anyone jealous.”
He didn’t say anything for a while, just stared at her incredulously. She shifted her weight nervously and he finally opened his mouth. “You don’t actually think that, do you?”
Her features scrunched up and she kept her eyes planted on the middle of his chest. And then he realized that she, in fact, did.
“I’m so sorry… I shouldn’t have asked you to do this.” He also realized that using her to make his ex jealous would possibly hurt her more than it would help him and he could no longer fathom putting her through that. “I’ll figure it out. I’m sorry.” He moved to walk past her, back to his apartment but she stopped him before he got far.
“No… I’ll help you.” And then she realized his identity was still somewhat of a mystery to her. “This sounds even worse than what you just asked me to do, but… I completely forgot your name.”
He breathed out a laugh. “It’s Adam.”
She knew it had started with an A!
“Y/N.”
He smiled wider and nodded. “I know.” And then his face grew sad again. “I am really sorry I’m asking you to do this on Valentine’s Day, it’s definitely not my proudest moment.”
She waved him off. “I wasn’t going to do anything anyway. Just tell me what you need me to do.” She didn’t bother brining up the whole payment thing. She didn’t really care about being paid. He was nice, the only nice person she’d encountered in her apartment building and if getting him back together with his ex meant she’d never have to come home and see him in the fetal position on the floor again, she’d suffer through a date and a party on her least favorite holiday.
It was somehow even worse than it’d been yesterday. The decorations seemed to triple in size. Not an inch of the office was untouched by something pink and she prayed whoever had put up even more decorations had spared her little cubicle.
“Oh, hey, Y/N!” One of the receptionists most responsible for the overflowing decor, Kayla, called her over to her desk not even a minute after Y/N had arrived. And she stalked over until she saw the package Kayla pulled out that instantly lifted her spirits.
She stopped in front of Kayla’s desk and took the thin box from from her, already knowing what it was and thanking god for the timing so that her entire day wasn’t completely miserable. It was a new drawing pad she’d ordered, a bigger one that she hoped would be a bit more efficient to use than her current one.
Even with her back turned to the rest of the office, she sensed Harry’s presence long before he stopped beside her with his mug in hand.
He lifted a brow at the package in Y/N’s hands just as she reluctantly turned to look at him. “Getting gifts sent to the office? That’s a first.”
She rolled her eyes and stuffed the box under her arm, holding herself back from running off to her office to set it up. “Jealous?” She cocked her head.
And instead of his condescending smirk and a hateful response to go with it, the sparkle in his eyes seemed to fade as he eyed the box again, genuinely worried now that it was actually a gift from someone.
Before either could say anything, they all turned to find a delivery man walking up to Kayla with a giant bouquet of flowers in tow. And so it began. Although, when Kayla took the vase from the man eagerly, a bright smile on her face because Kayla loved love a little too much, Y/N couldn’t help but think about Adam. About how the only time she’d managed to get a date on Valentine’s Day was when it wasn’t even real. Instead, she’d stupidly agreed to help her cute neighbor win back his ex-girlfriend in exchange for a free dinner.
It was… pathetic. To say the least.
She felt Harry watching her, too, while she eyed the bouquet of flowers as they departed reception with Kayla and made their way to their recipient. As stupid as she found everything about the holiday, she couldn’t help but want someone to send her flowers. To give her anything for that matter. To have thought about her for at least a second of their day. Harry cleared his throat and she tore her eyes away.
“So… what’s in the box?”
“None of your business.” She rounded him, heading to her office, but he grabbed her free arm to stop her short and didn’t speak until she met his gaze again.
“Can we meet up in my office to finish the proposal? Think it’ll be easier to get it done than over email.”
She had every reason to be suspicious of him. They almost never worked in each other’s offices. When they did work together, which was often, it was in one of the empty conference rooms and it was usually at the beginning of the process when they needed the space to plan things out. The last time they’d really been in each other’s offices was last spring. Figuring he just wanted to get things done so he could be out of the office on time, she let it go.
“Give me fifteen minutes.”
He watched her walk away, watched her even as Kayla returned and noticed his gaze and giggled at him as she took her spot back behind her desk.
“It was something she ordered for herself, by the way.”
“What?” Harry whipped around again, not having even realized the other woman until now.
“I know you two pretend to hate each other but I see the way you look at her, Harry.” Kayla lifted a brow at him as she began typing on her keyboard.
He feigned disgust. “I’m seeing someone, you know.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.” He insisted. “I have a date. Tonight.”
She lifted her hands in surrender. “Okay… I’m just saying.”
“I don’t look at her.”
Kayla suppressed a smile and snorted instead. “If you say so. I guess you didn’t also sneak into her office this morning, either.”
“I think all these flowers and stuffed bears and heart-shaped things have gotten to your head.” He pointed around to the decor littering her desk while holding his mug steady.
Kayla met his eyes and her smile slipped off her face. “Harry, please don’t mess with her.”
His face screwed up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“If you don’t like her then don’t lead her on.”
“I don’t think she’s capable of being led on.”
Kayla froze for a moment and then nodded. “You’re right.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant by that either. “Why are you being weird?”
“Because,” Kayla sighed, brushing her curled brunette hair onto one shoulder and then lowered the volume of her voice. “I happen to know she doesn’t think very highly of herself and I’d rather not see her get hurt, especially not by you.”
Now Harry froze. The hand that gripped his mug tightened and he didn’t even flinch as it began to burn his skin. He heard Y/N’s voice in his head then as he drowned out his surroundings.
Some of us don’t have the luxury of choosing whomever we want.
He had instantly regretted what he’d said to her yesterday when she’d told him that. And now hearing Kayla, in a way, confirm what he’d read between the lines of Y/N’s words… his chest tightened in quite possibly the worst way ever. He’d hated himself most of the day after telling her he’d never lower his standards for her and he could say he was just bickering all he wanted, but he knew now for certain she took it the wrong way. And he wished more than ever that he hadn’t said something so horrible to her, especially when it was the farthest thing from the truth.
And the real truth, that he was trying desperately to shove away with stupid remarks like that, was that he didn’t meet her standards. She wasn’t into relationships and he knew he wasn’t good enough to change her mind.
“How do you know that?” He finally asked.
“That Christmas party last year… she’s a really happy drunk until she’s not.”
He flinched. “Did she say something?”
“I don’t want to get into it, mostly because I don’t think she remembers and would probably kill me if I told you but… just leave her be.”
He hardened back up again. “She does’t have any interest in relationships anyway, ‘specially not with me.”
Kayla scoffed. “She’s a really good liar.”
Harry stood there for a few more moments, feeling as if his life had just gotten flipped upside down. He’d been in such a good mood mere minutes ago before his dumbass waltzed into reception all because he’d seen Y/N. Because, despite everything and despite the fact he was already attempting to date someone else, it was Y/N he wanted to be close to all the damn time. Groaning, he turned on his heel and left for his office, hoping she wasn’t there waiting for him so he could have a moment to himself to gather his thoughts.
In a hurry to open her package, Y/N slumped down into her chair tossing her purse on the ground at her feet and pulling out her box cutter in a rush of movements. She was so distracted, in fact, that she didn’t even notice the little stuffed frog, the box of chocolates and envelope sitting on the other side of her desk near her mouse. Instead, she unboxed her new tablet and began setting it up, not noticing the gifts until she went to turn on her computer. And then she froze.
With reluctant hands she grabbed the envelope first, her name printed on it in perfect cursive. She knew nobody in the office who had such good penmanship. Opening the card in hopes of finding out who had placed the items on her desk, instead, she just found it signed as ‘secret admirer.’ Rolling her eyes, she set the card down and realized it had to be from her boss. Sometimes he remembered to go around and give everyone little gifts on the holidays. Obviously he’d remembered this year.
She dug into the chocolates as she set up her tablet and began calibrating it to suit her needs before finally testing it out in the little bit of time she had before she needed to make her way to Harry’s office.
And once that time came, she left everything in its place, besides the box of chocolates, which she continued to pick at while she made her way through the room. What she didn’t notice while stuffing her face with candy was that… no one else had a stuffed frog or chocolates or a cheesy little card on their desks.
She rounded the corner into Harry’s office, which was a real office and not a cubicle that he usually shared with one other person who was thankfully out with clients for the day. She knocked on the doorframe to get his attention after just watching him focus on his screen for a moment. Harry was cute when he was focused.
But then he turned to her and his eyes fell to the box in her hand.
When he didn’t say anything, she held it out toward him. “Do you want some? I think Andrew was feeling generous this year.”
Harry’s eyes quickly panned up to hers and his brows furrowed as if she’d just punched him in the gut. And she couldn’t make out what that expression meant no matter how hard she tried.
“He didn’t give me anything.” Harry motioned around his desk.
“Maybe he doesn’t like you.” She shrugged, setting the chocolates down on his desk while she grabbed his office mate’s chair and pulled it up beside him.
Harry sighed, turning to his computer for a moment and then watching her from his peripheral while she picked out another piece of chocolate. “I didn’t see anyone else with chocolates on their desks this morning.”
Y/N just shrugged. “There was a frog too. And a card.”
“And why do you think he’d give you all of that and no one else?” Harry hoped she’d get the hint but he didn’t hope too hard. She was still Y/N after all. And he really didn’t mean to sound so bitter… well, okay, he did. But he knew she’d misplace his bitterness, crushing what little hope there was to bits.
“Maybe he likes me better than all the rest of you.”
Harry scoffed, shaking his head as he put his attention back on his screen.
“No one else in this office would give me a card signed as a secret admirer so… maybe I did something I don’t remember doing and he’s thanking me?” Now that she really thought about it, and if Harry was right… then it really didn’t make much sense. It’s not like she was Andrew’s favorite employee.
Harry just lifted a brow and then pretended to lose all interest.
Sensing the tension, she slipped the box closer to him. “Here. I think you need a knock-off Snickers if you expect me to work with your grumpy ass.” He made no move to indulge her, however. And so she went on, continuing to poke the bear. “Why are you in a lousy mood anyway? Isn’t this your favorite holiday? And you get to leave early.”
His eyes fell from his screen and he stared at the brick of sticky notes below his monitor before mumbling, “I’m sorry about what I said yesterday.”
Taken aback, she searched what she could see of his face for answers to what he was apologizing for. He’d said a few things she could imagine deserved an apology and yet, so did she. Maybe she should have been the one to apologize to him first.
“I didn’t mean to say what I did.” He finally turned to meet her face on. He’d hoped the frog and the chocolates would have been atonement enough, but considering she thought they were from their boss and not him, he just had to suck it up and actually say what he meant.
She shrugged. “It’s fine. I can be a prude sometimes.”
He searched her eyes for a moment and then shook his head, “No that’s not… I meant what I said earlier in your office… about lowering my standards. It was a stupid thing to say and not true in the slightest.”
But then she smiled and he grew confused. “Yes it is. It’s okay to have standards, you know.”
“I know that. But if we… I wouldn’t have to lower my standards. And it was cruel of me to have said that to you.”
She couldn’t stand looking at him any longer and averted her gaze, clearing her throat. “Well it doesn’t matter so… can we just get this proposal done?”
He’d wanted to spend how ever long it took to convince her that it did, in fact, matter, but Y/N was persistent, more so than him, and so he’d given in and they moved on to being productive with their time. And in less time than he’d anticipated their proposal was finished, being sent off to Andrew for approval before their presentation at the end of the week with their clients.
Harry sat back in his chair and she returned her own to the other desk where it belonged, all while he watched her.
“What do you do on Valentine’s Day?” He asked, just trying to get her to stay longer, knowing that if those were his true intentions, then he was fucked. That he wanted to be around Y/N, even though he was seeing someone else, albeit for just a week so far, even though she’d never want the same from him.
Maybe he was just as terrible with relationships as she claimed if he always chased after what he couldn’t have.
“That is also none of your business.” She grabbed her box of chocolates from his desk, his voice pinning her in place again though.
“Let me guess… it involves chocolate, your cat, and the most anti-romantic movies you can find?”
He would not think her very prudish if he knew what else she did on Valentine’s Day while alone in her apartment, but she figured it was best to keep that to herself. Instead, she smiled at him. “Something like that.”
He narrowed his eyes and threw his arms up behind his head as he laid back in his chair, watching her curiously like he was trying to figure her out. Meanwhile, she was trying to not make it obvious she was staring at his biceps as they just about bulged from underneath the sleeve of his pink button-up. He’d done it on purpose though, so as much as she tried to hide it, he still grinned with satisfaction when she became flustered.
“Well, have fun with that, then.” He nodded, and for a moment while she was lost in his eyes and growing embarrassingly hot, she wondered if he could read her mind. If he knew exactly what not-so-innocent things she did on Valentine’s Day. Then he brought his arms back down to rest his elbows on the edge of his desk, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers and watching as she rolled her eyes, held her chocolates close, and left his office.
Adam arrived right when he said he would at five-thirty. It had given her plenty of time to change out of her work clothes and into one of the few dresses she owned, to at least seem somewhat convincing that this was a real date. She also fixed her makeup and put on a pinkish-nude lipstick before switching out her bulky purse for a smaller crossbody.
When she opened the door to him, he most certainly did not disappoint. She almost let herself get lost in the delusion that it was a real date when she saw him dressed to the nines and cleaned up for the first time since she’d known him. And she especially got a little lost in it when he pulled a small bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to her.
“You didn’t have to—“
“I know.” He gave her a once over when she wasn’t looking. “You didn’t have to do this for me either.”
She quietly accepted the flowers and let him in while she found a vase and filled it with water. He leaned on the counter, watching her as she did so.
“You look… beautiful, by the way.” He blurted out once she had cut and placed the stems into the vase. Her hands froze, though, and when he met her eyes, he knew he’d made a mistake.
“You’re paying me to make your ex-girlfriend jealous. Please don’t flatter me.”
“Sorry.” He muttered, although he was beginning to wonder if the bigger mistake was not taking her out on a proper date that had nothing to do with his ex.
She sighed and adjusted the strap of her purse. “Let’s go then.”
He went over all the final details on the Uber ride to the restaurant. Things about his ex he thought Y/N should know about. And he made sure she knew, for about the hundredth time, that she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to. And she reminded him for an equal amount of times that she never did anything she didn’t want to do. So, settling that, he helped her out of the back of the Uber when they arrived and opened the door to the restraint for her as well. Everything that she’d expect from a normal date, which only left her disappointed when she reminded herself it wasn’t.
She waited quietly, and tried to catch her nerves, while Adam talked to the hostess and gave her his ex’s name for the reservation. The place was packed and anyone who didn’t call ahead surely would not be getting a table tonight. She’d never been out on Valentine’s Day, though, so it was like stepping into a brand new world for her. And as she followed both the hostess and Adam, she paid more attention to all the couples enjoying their meals than anything else.
Except for when he reached back and grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers just before they came to a stop. She blinked her eyes at their hands for just a moment before he gently pulled her around next to him. And whatever way she’d felt about holding Adam’s hand went right out the window when she locked eyes with Harry.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
The last thing she expected to find, while Laura, the gorgeous blonde ex-girlfriend, stood to hug Adam, was Harry fucking Styles. And what a fucking coincidence it was, almost as if this was her karma for feeling the need to constantly help people.
Adam’s hand slipped from hers but she didn’t even notice it anyway. She and Harry still stared each other down and neither of them moved a muscle either. Well, besides the one in his jaw as it tightened. Then he did move, glancing over at Adam with a blank expression before landing his gaze back on her again. And then his eyes fell to the glass of water in front of him and she felt like she’d been released from chains he’d tied around her wrists.
“This is Y/N,” Adam’s hand went to the small of her back, guiding her forward to meet his ex-girlfriend and Harry’s current… whatever they were.
Laura held out her hand, her smile a little too forced. “Laura. It’s nice to meet you. Please, sit.” She ushered them to the table as she took her spot beside Harry again. Adam, of course, took the chair opposite Laura, which left Y/N in the one opposite Harry.
This would be a long, hellish night.
She couldn’t help but wonder what Harry was thinking. That maybe she’d come to crash his date. Or, even worse, that he’d already figured the whole thing out. That Adam was paying her to be here. She really hoped he’d never find out because it was just embarrassing enough to make her want to change her name and move across the country, thousands of miles away from him. Harry finding out that she couldn’t get a real date to save her life… beyond humiliating.
“This is Harry.” Laura motioned to him and he just barely lifted his gaze, nodding at Adam and ignoring Y/N entirely. “You know,” the blonde went on, glancing between Adam and Y/N, “I was a little shocked when you told me you were seeing someone again.”
Adam just shrugged.
“How did you guys meet?”
Y/N left all the talking to him. Mostly because she was still in shock that she was sitting across from Harry. And she hadn’t even taken the time to properly take him in and realized he’d also changed his clothes since work. Swapping his wardrobe out for a fitted black button-up, that wasn’t buttoned all the way to the top as his shirts normally were. The sleeves were already rolled to his elbows. He’d shaved off the scruff along his jaw as well and fixed his hair so that it was combed back out of his face, although a a couple rebellious strands hung down onto his forehead. He looked… like absolute perfection. And he was being forced to be on a date with the ex-boyfriend of the girl he was seeing and his annoying co-worker. She felt terrible for him.
“Oh, uh, well we live on the same floor.”
Laura nodded, clearly anticipating more. “Is that it?”
Y/N felt Adam tense up beside her and so she took over, easily spinning a lie. “I ran out of milk one night a few weeks ago. He’s the only one who answered the door.”
She noticed a flash of movement in her peripheral and turned to find Harry’s gaze on her again, one eyebrow lifted curiously. He was either wondering how she hid it so well, or trying to figure out what to ask in order to reveal their ploy. He never said anything, though.
“Sorry, um,” Laura’s tone changed as she glanced between Harry and Y/N, both of them looking away when the other girl interrupted. “Do you two know each other?”
Harry grinned, sitting back against his seat and folding his hands in his lap. “Something like that.”
Y/N rolled her eyes. “We work together.”
“Really?” Although her tone said otherwise, Laura’s face said everything about how she felt upon hearing that bit of information.
Adam twisted his worrisome gaze to Y/N, but she ignored it. Harry, however, did not.
“Don’t worry, mate. I was under the impression she was celibate up until now.” With that, Y/N kicked him under the table and he sat forward to swallow the groan that very nearly left his lips after she’d jabbed him in the shin with the toe of her heels. “Guess she’s really good at hiding things, though.”
Adam just chuckled nervously and Y/N shot him an apologetic smile, trying to reassure him that this date would still work out despite Harry.
“What a small world.” Laura laughed, trying to break the tension but dinner hadn’t even started yet.
Sometime during the main course, Laura excused herself to the bathroom and Y/N almost, in a desperate attempt to flee both Adam and Harry, invited herself along. But she figured it’d be worse to be alone with Laura than with them. Laura might ask questions she wasn’t prepared for. So, she stayed put, as much as it pained her to do so.
“So, Adam, what do you do for a living?” Harry asked suddenly and she wanted to kick him again. Mostly because his tone was that of a jealous teenager and he’d waited until Laura was gone to pester her ex-boyfriend who most certainly did not deserve Harry’s pestering.
“Oh, uh, I’m an artist. I work for an animation studio at the moment but I’m trying to get into freelance.”
Harry’s eyes shot to the suspiciously quiet girl sitting across from him. “So is Y/N.”
Adam turned to look at her, but she just glared at Harry. “Oh, I didn’t know that.”
Harry titled his head as he narrowed his attention in on Adam again. “So you’ve known her for a few weeks and you never asked what she did?”
“Harry.” Y/N warned, trying to kick him under the table again but he dodged out of the way.
“Well… she said she was in graphic design… not art.” She had told him that, during their crash course yesterday while they got to know as much as they could about each other in a span of a couple hours.
“I think it’s the same thing.”
Adam just shrugged. “I guess. I don’t think I could be a designer, though. Most artists make what they think looks good, designers create things to appeal to customers.”
“Just ignore him.” Y/N advised and Harry was the one shooting her daggers and attempting to stomp his foot on top of hers under the table this time.
“You and Laura used to date then? She never told me how you split up.” Harry moved on.
Adam swallowed nervously. “She broke up with me.”
“Why?” Harry pushed and Y/N looked at him like she wanted to kill him, which he ignored.
“I, uh… I had a drug problem for a while. I was not the best person to be around sometimes. But after we broke up, she helped me with rehab and everything.”
“Guess that explains why you’re on such good terms.”
Now Y/N really wanted to do more than just kick him.
Adam grabbed Y/N’s hand under the table and pulled her straight from her violent thoughts about Harry. And he didn’t lace his fingers between hers, instead, it felt as if he had just been looking for something to ground himself with. And her hand resting on her lap was the closest thing he could find. It didn’t, however, go unnoticed by Harry and his jaw clenched as he stared at the point in the table where, just below, there their hands met almost as if he was trying to set everything on fire.
Laura returned shortly after that.
As promised, Adam paid the entirety of both his and Y/N’s bill, even though she attempted to snag it from him, seeing as the date had gone to shit and it was all her fault. Well… maybe it was also Harry’s fault a little bit too. But she definitely did nothing to make Laura jealous. Adam, on the other hand, did a great job at making Harry jealous just by existing and being Laura’s ex, whom she was still friends with.
The four of them stood outside on the curb awaiting their Uber after dinner was over, agreeing upon splitting one car to get to the party instead of taking two. Laura was apparently very cautious about fossil fuel consumption.
Y/N shivered as she stood between Adam and Laura, wishing she’d bright a jacket instead of relying on a long-sleeve dress to keep her warm. Then an arm wrapped around her shoulders and Adam pulled her close, running his hand up and down her arm to form heat. She tensed up, though, forming into an immovable brick. She had no idea the last time she’d been that close to another person, let alone a member of the opposite sex. When he felt her go rigid, he leaned down until his lips were at her ear. “Is this okay?”
She just nodded and tried to relax. Which turned out to be quite easy because Adam was warm and he smelled nice. She, of course, didn’t let her mind wander off too far. He was still in love with his ex. He’d still shove cash into her hand at the end of the night for her troubles and go on with his life.
Adam let go of her when the car pulled up and quickly went to the passenger door to confirm with the driver. Then he opened the back door for the three of them to climb in, Laura going first, then Harry, and, at last, Y/N, while Adam slipped into the front seat beside the driver.
While the car took off, Y/N was shoved into the corner when Harry moved closer to her in order to find both his and Laura’s seat buckles in the dark. Eventually, he settled back into the middle and gave her some space again. When she made no move to do the same as them, Harry turned to look down at her.
“Put your seatbelt on.” He whispered.
Her eyes whirled up to his. Wordlessly, and of course after rolling her eyes, she grabbed her seatbelt and he made room for her to buckle it in. Then she sat back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest while she stared out at the traffic through her window.
She would have stayed in that exact position the entire trip, too, if Harry’s knee didn’t insist on bumping into hers constantly. And she couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose or not.
When she glanced up at him, and found the corner of his lips curl upward, she figured it was, in fact, purposeful. So, with the hand closest to him as her arms were still crossed, she poked him in the side, right against his ribs, hoping it hurt.
“Ouch.” He whined, covering the spot with his hand dramatically. Everyone in the car glanced at Harry, all except for Y/N who snickered as she returned to staring out the window.
Harry wasn’t giving up, though. This time, with his arms crossed in his lap, and glancing at Laura to be sure she wasn’t watching, he walked his pointer and middle finger up the outside of Y/N’s thigh, close enough to her hip to make her squirm slightly when his touch tickled her. And as soon as he got her attention, he looked down at what he was doing and pressed his middle finger against her, meeting her gaze with a smirk.
In the same moment, the driver turned up the music in the car as they waited tirelessly at a red light. It was better than silence or listening to his passengers breathing. But Harry mentally thanked him and turned his attention back to Y/N, leaning into her slightly until his lips were at her ear and she shivered for an all new reason.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress before.” He whispered for her ears only. The music was especially loud in the back and he wasn’t sure Y/N had even heard him.
Especially since she didn’t respond right away. But how could she? Harry’s fingertips were still grazing her thigh, as if trying to emphasize the dress she had on. And his stupid knee was pressed right up against hers. She couldn’t think straight.
Though when she finally turned to him and whispered back, “Don’t get used to it,” he knew she had, in fact, heard him well enough.
He leaned again, “Afraid I already am.”
She hated that there were butterflies in her stomach. That he was saying such odd things to her when his date was sitting just on the other side of him. The date who most definitely met all Harry’s standards.
Huddling away from him, she stuck her eyes out the window and kept them there the rest of the trip.
It was just past eight when they arrived, a fifteen-minute trip up through the city taking half an hour due to all the Valentine’s Day traffic. Another reason she hated this holiday.
The party was being held by Laura’s best friend, who’s name Y/N did not care to commit to memory. In the elevator ride up to the penthouse, though, Harry stood close to Laura, his arm wrapped around her waist and Adam to Y/N, although he didn’t touch her. She wouldn’t have minded if he did, but she figured it was best to keep those boundaries in place anyway.
Pink and golden balloons littered the ceilings of the penthouse. The drink cups were also pink, as was the communal punch bowl that Y/N steered clear of, having no idea what was in it, or who had already spiked it. She knew nobody at the party besides who she’d come with, though she assumed both Adam and Harry were somewhat acquainted with Laura’s friends.
It was most definitely not someplace Y/N ever saw herself being at, not only because it was a Valentine’s themed party, but also because she wasn’t exactly comfortable around so many people. Especially when those people were all so unfamiliar to her.
“Here,” Adam handed her a drink and then grabbed one for himself. She downed the thing in one go, needing to take the edge off. It might’ve been a slight mistake when the alcohol burned the back of her throat, but she didn’t care too much when she grabbed another.
Then he was leading her into the dancing pit of bodies where they huddled close enough so that his lips were at her ear. “Is it alright if I touch you?”
She glanced over at where Laura and Harry had been left, finding both her hazel eyes and Harry’s green ones glued to the both of them. She wasn’t sure what Harry’s deal was, but this was her moment to fix things and make Laura jealous, so, turning back to Adam, she nodded.
He eased his hands onto her waist as they began swaying to the music. And then he pulled her closer, his hands slipping to the small of her back as her arms wrapped around his neck, being careful with her own movements even though she desperately wanted to sink her hands in his hair.
And, god, he smelled so good as her head rested in the crook of his neck. And he felt good, too, as he moved against her body. She knew it wasn’t real, and that the alcohol was making skewing her perception of things, but it was still nice. Nice to be held and to just let go for a change.
Over Adam’s shoulder, Y/N caught Harry’s eyes again. His jaw clenched and he looked the same as he did back at the restaurant. Angry. And then she realized that maybe she wasn’t really trying to make Laura jealous anymore at all, but rather Harry.
It was dumb, she knew that. He’d have to like her in order for her to make him jealous. But… the way he was looking at her. The way he had looked at her. His eyes lingering too long on her lips. What he’d done in the car ride here.
She heard Adam in her ear again. “I think it’s working. She just stormed off into the kitchen.” Then he pulled away and she realized she hadn’t even seen Laura. Just Harry. Harry and his stupid, obnoxious green eyes.
“You owe me more than just dinner.” Y/N teased but Adam grew serious.
“I know. And since you refuse to accept my money, I’ll have to figure out another way to repay you.” He smiled and then twirled her around so that she no longer had any line of sight toward Harry. He pulled her close again, one hand going to her waist while the other stayed locked to one of hers. “Suppose I could start with making your coworker just as jealous… although I think he already is.”
Confusion flooded her features as she peered up at him.
“Oh, come on! He was ready to rip my head off when he realized I’d grabbed your hand. And when I put my arm around you? I thought I might be better off just giving you my jacket and freezing to death instead.”
“I don’t…” she shook her head in disbelief. It was one thing for her to be pretending to make Harry jealous in some delusional hope that it’d work. But this… this was a whole other thing.
“I’m actually quite interested to see what he does if I kissed you.”
She was shocked at first and then, possibly due to the alcohol, just as interested. “Are you asking my permission?”
“Are you saying yes?”
Y/N hesitated. “Is she back?”
Adam’s eyes scanned the room and Y/N realized he hadn’t asked to kiss her for Laura’s sake at all.
“She is.” He finally announced.
Without any more second guessing, Y/N’s hand slipped to the back of his neck and pulled him in. As soon as their lips collided and she tasted the alcohol on him, she knew that she’d never agreed to this without it. Or maybe she would. Adam spun them back around again, deepening the kiss as her eyes opened and fell into the direction she’d last seen Harry.
He was still there.
Still watching.
His hands in fists. His jaw tightened into a crisp line. His nostrils flared. His eyes… sad.
She pulled away. Adam steadied her, grabbing her shoulders when she swayed. But, as she caught her breath, the dizziness went away.
“I’m going to find the bathroom.” She told him and after he nodded, she left, forming a rift for herself through the bodies that danced all around them until she was in the clear. Then she was avoiding Harry as she walked past him, not so sure his gaze was still set on her. Maybe she’d gone too far. She didn’t often just kiss people for no good reason and that’s exactly what she’d just done with Adam. She barely even knew him.
She didn’t exactly need the bathroom, just an open, empty and quiet place. And so, she fell back against a wall in the foyer and ran a hand through her hair.
“That was quite the show.”
She startled at the sound of his familiar voice and looked up just as he stopped a few feet away from her. “What are you talking about?”
He lifted a brow. “You expect me to believe that that you, anti everything to do with this holiday and with relationships and romance, are actually dating that guy?”
“Is it that hard to believe?” She crossed her arms, willing to go as far as she needed to before she let Harry see the truth. That she was that pathetic.
“Yes.” He didn’t even hesitate to respond and she flinched.
“Well, I’m sorry that you have a hard time believing that someone may actually like me.” She had no reason to nearly be shouting at him and no reason to be saying what she was because Adam didn’t like her.
“That’s not what I said. It’s hard for me to believe you just dropped all your ideas about relationships for some guy with obnoxious blue eyes.”
“I didn’t.”
“So then what is this?”
Y/N hesitated. Hating that the truth was about to boil over out of her mouth for him to see all the embarrassing bits of it, but she had no other way of convincing him. And it didn’t really help that Adam was so far out of her league that it wasn’t even convincing to begin with. Nor did she want to convince Harry of anything either. It was clear now that he hadn’t been jealous, he was just trying to figure out when she stopped hating relationships so much.
And the truth of that was she never really hated them. It was just easier telling herself she didn’t want it than admitting no one ever actually wanted her.
She trembled, not even sure why, but he was making her incredibly nervous, so much that she wished she could rewind and stay squished next to him in the back of the car forever. Being that close to him... his stupid fingers on her thigh, whispering things in her ear that made her head spin. She’d much prefer that than standing in front of him now, seeing every ounce of judgment he was about to throw her way.
“What do you want me to say, Harry?” She shrugged and dropped her eyes to the white marble floors between them, focusing on calming her anxiety while she was no longer looking at him. “He needed a date and I felt bad for him.”
“What does that mean?”
Letting her head fall back against the wall, she stared up at the ceiling this time as her eyes burned with embarrassment. “He paid me to be his date so his ex-girlfriend didn’t find out he wasn’t actually seeing anyone. That’s what it means.”
Harry didn’t say anything.
“So, yeah.” She folded her arms, looking down at the floor again, still unable to meet Harry’s eyes and see the look that would be on his face. A smirk of amusement at her expense. Even probably his dimples, taunting her and turning her into the joke she already was. “You were right. I can’t find anyone to tolerate me, which is why I’m on this stupid date that isn’t even real.”
“Him kissing you seemed quite real to me.”
There was more exasperation than humor to her laugh. “It wasn’t.”
Harry seemed to finally understand. “He’s trying to make Laura jealous.”
Y/N just nodded. “I promise I didn’t know you were going to be there, that he was trying to get her back from you.”
“You still kissed him though.”
She couldn’t argue that, nor could she tell him the real reason she’d agreed to the kiss. That it wasn’t exactly Laura she was trying to make jealous. She’d never live that one down, if she ever managed to live any other aspect of this night down.
When she didn’t say anything, he stepped closer. “Why did you kiss him?”
“I’m sorry, Harry I just... I don’t know.”
He shook his head and took another step, making her eyes widen when he was close enough that she had to crane her head back to meet his gaze. “Seemed like you were trying to make me jealous.”
She swallowed, not exactly in the position to laugh it off and argue with him when he was this close and all she could feel were the traces of his fingertips on her thigh. Her voice was quiet when it finally came out. “Making you jealous would mean I assumed you liked me in the first place... which I’m definitely not stupid enough to assume.”
A crease formed between his brow and his stupidly perfect jaw hardened as if he was biting his tongue from saying something. And fuck him for choosing then to finally stop opening his mouth.
Just then, a pair of drunk guys, one on the other’s back, came racing through the foyer, screaming at the top of their lungs while a few others followed quickly after them. It was enough to force Harry away from Y/N again, enough for the both of them to step out of the little bubble they’d been in together the past ten minutes.
Once they were alone again, their eyes gravitated toward each other and just when she thought Harry might say something after all, he flipped around on his heel and left. And she watched as he turned the corner and mixed back into the party.
After a few moments to gather herself, she followed him, not exactly sure what she was going to do now that Harry wouldn’t talk to her and it felt weird being with Adam while Harry knew everything. But, whatever plans to keep herself occupied no longer matted when she spotted Laura.
Making out with Adam in the middle of the room.
Without even thinking, she turned to locate Harry and he might as well have been a source of gravity because her eyes fell right to him within a second. And he was watching them too. He knew.
He met Y/N’s eyes and she wasn’t quite sure if he was upset or not. She couldn’t really read anything on his face, and stopped attempting to when he moved towards her and she had other things on her mind, like where he was going and if he was going to bother taking her with him.
Shortly after he stormed past Y/N she made sure he wasn’t going to leave her behind and chased after him. She didn’t know Adam very well and definitely not Laura to want to stay with them. And everyone else in the room were complete strangers to her. Adam had promised he’d take her home, but he probably hadn’t expected to be making out with his ex by the end of the night, either.
Harry didn’t say anything, not even when they’d reached the foyer and Y/N asked where he was going. He just located his jacket and slipped it on before making his way out the front door.
And right when she thought he really was going to leave her behind, since she was the reason he’d just lost Laura to her ex, he held the door open and glanced over his shoulder at her while she still stood on the other side of the threshold.
“Are you staying?”
Without a word, she sprung into motion and trailed right behind him into the hallway like a lost puppy, letting the door shut behind her that cut them off from the music as it faded into the background behind them.
It was a silent trip down the elevator, mostly because she had no idea what to say that would sound sincere and he didn’t say anything at all. At least not until she followed him through the lobby until he stopped on the curb just outside the main doors.
She took up the spot next to him, eyes glued to the side of his face as he took in a deep breath of fresh air, or at least as fresh as traffic allowed it to be.
Then he spoke, and it seemed like the first time she’d heard his voice all night. “I’m the one who gave you the chocolates and the frog.”
She narrowed her eyes, both not exactly sure why he’d just said that or if he was even being serious. “What?”
He looked down at her. “It wasn’t Andrew, it was me.”
“Why?” She breathed and while she was positive she’d be freezing cold soon, the fresh air after being surrounded by so many people felt good. It felt freeing and she wondered if he felt that way too.
His eyes scanned hers before he looked away. “Well partly to apologize for what I said.”
“What’s the other part?”
Sighing, he turned his entire body to face her now. “Something else entirely…” He trailed off, only confusing her more as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at his feet. “I didn’t tell you because I know you don’t like all this stuff, but seeing you with him tonight... I wish I had.”
“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a frog.”
He shook his head, grinning. “It’s not just a frog, Y/N... because the thing is,” he paused to catch his breath, “I’ve been in love with you for... a really long time… since last spring. But with you being the way that you are, I never thought you’d feel the same way.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it.
“And then you come in with that guy and...” He pulled his fingers through his hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more jealous in my life... because all this time I thought you weren’t interested in relationships, but you just weren’t interested in me.”
Inhaling, she summoned every ounce of courage she could fathom. “You were right about why I kissed Adam.” He lifted a brow, waiting for her elaboration which never came. “You were right about other things, too. I wish I had someone to come home to almost every single night I got to bed alone. No one—“ She cut herself off, trembling again as tears stung her eyes. “I pretend not to be interested so I can ignore the fact that no one’s ever wanted me.”
“That’s not true.” He had that same look on his face as before, when she’d told him she wasn’t stupid enough to think he liked her.
She just nodded. “And I’m sorry but... why would you want me when you could have someone like Laura?”
“Y/N...” He huffed and stepped closer to her, the heat from his body making her shiver. “This is not the first time I started seeing someone to get over you... in fact, all my relationships since I met you have been shit.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Well you’re very anti-relationships so I think I was justified in wanting to avoid you rejecting me… especially since we work together and it would have been really awkward.”
“I don’t, uh... I...” She stammered, not really sure what to say to him even though her heart was screaming at her in full volume.
He held his breath and then, in almost a whisper, “Is this the inevitable rejection?”
“No.” She didn’t even hesitate that time and at this point, her mind no longer controlled the words coming out of her mouth as she let another organ finally speak for itself. “No, I liked you the second I saw you, Harry... and at no point tonight was I ever trying to make Laura jealous.”
The corners of his mouth began to curl into a smile. “That was very cruel of you to do to me.”
“I didn’t think you liked me at all twenty minutes ago, Harry.”
“Twenty minutes ago,” he fully invaded all of her space now, leaving the smallest gap between their bodies as he could get away with, lifting his hand to her jaw and rubbing his thumb over her cheek. “I was still on this date with the wrong person.”
“I think the date is over now.”
“No,” his eyes fell to her lips just like they had before. “It’s not.”
“You’re looking at me like that again.” She mumbled, out of breath.
He lifted a brow and didn’t once remove his eyes from her lips. “Like what?”
“Like…” she trailed off, not having the courage to say it in case she wasn’t right.
“Like I’ve wanted to kiss you for a very long time and I’m tired of pretending?”
“Something like that, yeah.”
He grinned, both of his dimples making an appearance just before he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. And once her brain realized what was happening, she sunk right into him, letting his arm wrap around her waist as his other hand tangled its way into her hair to bring her closer. She threw her arms over his shoulders and he hunched lower to meet her. She staggered back a step when he did, nearly losing her balance but he caught her instantly and then drew his lips back as he laughed.
“This is not how I expected tonight to end.” She couldn’t help but think the way he struggled to catch his breath was possibly the hottest he’d ever been. Not to mention the tiny bit of her lipstick smeared on his face. She could look at him just the way he was right there and then for days and be perfectly satisfied.
“It doesn’t have to end yet.” She fully blamed her sudden burst of confidence on the cold, but refreshing February night. And maybe she also just wanted to get out of it before it caught up to her and she would, yet again, regret not having a jacket.
“Oh?” She wanted to smack the mischievous smirk off his face and leave him there on the curb. “And here I thought you were a prude.”
“You thought a lot of things about me that weren’t true, Harry.”
He thought about that for a moment and after realizing she was right, he then wondered just how wrong he was when he’d called her celibate. “I suppose… I’d quite like to find out just how wrong I was.” He slipped a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear, which is where his lips ended up as he whispered softly, “And I’d also quite like to show you just how wrong you were about me not liking you.”
They stumbled into her bedroom in the dark, Pretzel racing out between their twisted feet in a hurry, screeching at them in the process. Harry giggled against her lips, “Your cat sounds friendly.”
“Well, since I was supposed to be spending tonight with her, and chocolate, and anti-romantic movies…” She pulled away from him, watching as his smile spread further. Maybe she could actually believe he’d been in love all this time.
“Right… I’d be upset too.”
She shook her head and kissed him again, then pulled back a second later. “You know that’s not actually what I do on Valentine’s Day.”
He lifted a brow and waited for her to explain but she didn’t.
“And what is it that you do, then?” He finally asked, curiosity getting the best of him, although he had some inkling as to what she was talking about.
Her smile was devoid of innocence as her hands fell to his belt. Harry’s shirt had already been lost to the kitchen floor. Her dress hardly covering what it was supposed to once Harry had gotten his hands on it.
“Maybe you’ll get to find out.”
When she brought her lips back to his, after undoing the buckle just under his navel, he spun them around and led her backwards to the bed. He wasn’t sure how far it was, but hoped he was headed in the right direction. And because of that, when her knees did finally bend over the mattress, he practically came flying down on top of her.
She squirmed out from under him, crawling back towards the pillows as she watched him at the end of the bed while he stood and removed his belt completely, trying not to drool at the sight of him. At the sight of Harry, her fucking annoying ass, perfect, beautiful, coworker standing shirtless at the end of her bed where he was also about to be…
He pushed his trousers down off his hips and they fell to the floor with ease, almost with the same amount of ease that her eyes fell to the tight boxer-briefs he wore underneath. She swallowed as he adjusted the waistband back into place, quite certain that, even in the low light, her eyes were not deceiving her.
The bed shifted at her feet as he joined her, and then it took all her willpower to not fling herself at him as he crawled up the length of her. As he settled himself between her thighs and she felt every last, very hard, inch of him pressed against her. She couldn’t be blamed for the whining moan that she let out in his ear as his lips became familiar with the shape and taste of her neck. She also couldn’t be blamed when her hips instinctively collided with his.
He just giggled again and shook his head, the loose strands of his curls tickling her forehead. “Easy now.” He warned in a hushed mumble, his lips vibrating right against the vein in her neck that pulsed so much faster the more his free hand began to wander up underneath her dress.
He left her speechless for multiple reasons, but the main one was when she felt his fingers tracing down her thigh and then, moments later, after he shifted his weight and used his knees to keep her legs open, she sucked in a breath of air as she felt him pressed against her clit, forcing her nails to dig into his back but he didn’t seem to mind.
Coming back down to kiss her, he began moving his hand in expert little circles, grinning against her mouth every time her body begged him for more. It wasn’t long that he complied, either, when he sat back on his knees between her legs and tugged her underwear off for good, throwing it to the depths of her bedroom floor. He wouldn’t have known where they landed even if he tried because his gaze belong to her only as he lowered himself to his elbows before her, kissing his way up her thighs until he reached her center.
When she squirmed away from him, he wrapped his arms around her thighs and pressed his hands into her hips after gently moving her dress out of the way.
“You know when we used to stay late at the office working?” He asked suddenly and the heat of his voice against her made her squirm again, but he held on tight. “And you would get sick of sitting in an office chair and made me promise not to tell Jim when you sat on his desk instead?” She had no clue where he was going with it, but still, she nodded. “Every single time I turned to look at you, I thought about doing this.” Before she could get words out or even a coherent thought, she felt his tongue on her. And this time when she jerked against him, she nearly slipped out of his hold until he grabbed her again and pulled her back down, digging himself further into her as she struggled to breathe properly.
She dug her fingers into his hair when he brought her close to the edge and showed no mercy. And somehow, she’d managed to get the sole of her foot up onto his shoulder in order to kick him away, but it didn’t matter much because he never budged. Not that she wanted him to, but he just felt so good…
“Harry!” She shouted, pulling at his hair and making matters worse for herself when he moaned against her sensitive bundle of nerves. He let her come, never once lifting his mouth from her even as her hips jerked off the mattress and she very nearly pulled his hair out. When she stopped screaming, her voice caught in her throat because she was lost to her own orgasm, is when he lifted his mouth, replaced it with his fingers and watched her as she came down. As her eyes fluttered shut and her chest heaved, her lungs struggling to get oxygen back into her system. Her hold on him loosened as she came undone around him, melting into his hands it seemed like.
And when he began rubbing his index and middle finger into her, once she was far and beyond overstimulated, and he knew that, she reached down with a whine and grabbed his wrist with what little strength she had in her and pulled him away. His hand fell to the other side of her hip, which he used to his advantage to pull himself up over her again, his other hand taking her dress with it until he was able to tug it over her head and toss it. Then he came back down to kiss her, letting her taste herself on her lips. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek and when he pulled away, found her looking at him finally. Although it was with heavy lids as she still struggled to regain her bearings.
Before they could get much further, a loud crashing sound from the other room made both of them nearly jump out of their skin. She shot up instantly, grabbing hold of Harry’s bicep before moving him out of the way and sliding off the edge of the bed.
“It’s just the cat.” Harry would have probably said the same thing even if it was not just the cat, he’d say anything just to get her to stay with him.
“I know but it sounded like…” her voice trailed off as her feet hit the floor and the moment she went to stand on her own two legs, her knees buckled. He reached to grab her waist but she righted herself before he could. She didn’t see the way he hid his cheeky smirk at the fact that he’d been so good, she was still dizzy.
“You good?” He asked as she stumbled her way into a shirt. With only a groan in response, and what he was sure was her middle finger, she left him alone in her bed to investigate the noise. Sighing, he laid on his back and got comfortable amongst her pillows. And after about three minutes, decided to locate the remote to her TV to entertain himself.
He flipped onto his side and felt around her bedside table, but his fingers never landed on anything remote-like. So, frustrated, he reached up and switched the lamp on. Again, he found nothing. Looking further, he realized the table had a drawer and so he pulled it open in hopes of finding the damned remote before she got back.
But what he found instead was so much better than turning on late night news.
“Fucking cat knocked over my vase.” Y/N was back within ten minutes. Harry had left the light on, but made sure it wasn’t obvious he’d gone snooping into her drawer, at least not yet anyway. She crawled back into bed beside him and it was then he noticed the bandage on her thumb.
“Are you alright?” He forgot all about what he planned to tease her with when he gently grabbed her hand to inspect the damage.
“Yeah. I was in a bit of hurry trying to clean up the glass…”
Harry rolled his eyes and dropped her hand. “I would have come help you.”
She just smiled up at him as he fit his arm around her shoulders, his bicep under her neck. “That’s alright.”
He shrugged. “It was for the best anyways that I didn’t.” When he smirked, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.
“And why’s that?”
She followed his other hand as he reached for something and then, moments later, it reappeared with a very familiar pink object clutched in his grasp. “Because then I wouldn’t have found this.”
Her first reaction was to pry it from his snooping fingers, but when she reached across him to grab it, he way too easily held her back and, at the same time, held it far out of her reach.
“So this is what you do on Valentine’s Day, then?” He flicked his wrist back and forth, waving her vibrator in the air as he taunted her.
“If you don’t give that back to me,” she reached for it again to no prevail, “you won’t be doing anything, least of all, me.”
He clicked his tongue. “Why would I give it back when I plan on using it?”
She froze and he chuckled at her reaction.
“Would be rude of me to break your traditions, wouldn’t it?”
She swallowed, her eyes slowly meeting his again. The appearance of his right dimple told her he wasn’t playing any games. She had no idea how many times he planned to make her come tonight or whether or not she’d even be able to walk tomorrow at work. But, given the stupid look on his face, she almost began making plans to call out sick instead.
“Do you actually know how to use that thing?” She finally asked, glancing at the wand still held very firmly in his hand.
He looked at her like she was crazy moments before he pivoted and pinned her onto her back, settling himself into the position they’d been in before the interruption of the cat.
Just, this time… he was clicking on her vibrator and watching her face as she began to regret her words.
“‘Course I know how to use it. The real question is,” he brought his lips to her ear, the soft vibrations and the sound of his voice mixing together like sin itself. Even more so when he nipped at her earlobe. “Do you know how to handle it?”
#1dffvalentine#harry styles fic#harry styles smut#harry styles x reader#harry styles writing#harry styles fanfic#harry styles imagine
1K notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
mairacute
mairacute
omgitstatertot
🔞Bestie I have no clue what to put here 💖🔞
britlikesgirls04
Untitled
billwerstler1-blog
Untitled
