Rating: E
WC: ~10k
Summary: In which Louis has spent twenty-nine years trying to wrangle his aggressive feline familiar, Zayn has spent twenty-eight years trying to discover how to live a familiar-less existence in a world built on soulmate-familiar principles, and a coffee shop encounter might solve both of their problems.
(Based on Prompt 96: soulmate au where everyone has a familiar and your familiar has to find their soulmate in order for you to be able to find yours. too bad yours happens to hate all other animals and leaves the room as soon as another familiar enters it.)
After the devastating attack that left him the sole member of what was once an ancient and powerful pack, Louis has sworn his life to protecting those facing the same threat. He could never have predicted his devotion to the last of his kind would lead him falling bloody and exhausted into arms of the most enigmatic omega to exist.
There is something about Harry Styles and the way the moon sings his name, but will it be enough to convince Louis to face the misbegotten power latent in his veins? Through the throes of battle and passion, it’s a test of will-power for Louis to keep himself from doing the unimaginable and following his heart.
“When I saw you on the sidewalk that day, I couldn’t believe it. It was like getting another chance or something.”
“Another chance?”
“Yeah, I think I liked you from the minute I met you in Ms. Conrad’s kindergarten class. It just took me a while to realize that’s what it was. A crush.”
Louis blinks. “You had a crush on me? The whole time we knew each other?”
“The whole time,” Niall says, not looking embarrassed or upset at all. “I don’t want to mess anything up for you, but I really like you and I really like spending time with you, and I just… hope that’s okay.”
When Louis moves from her small hometown to the city, she runs into her childhood friend Niall. Despite her surprise at learning that Niall presented as an alpha, she’s immediately drawn to her. As their relationship progresses and Louis settles into life in the city, she learns that love, sex and identity aren’t always as simple as she’d been taught growing up.
On a familiar, empty stretch of road, she turns to sneak a look at Harry. Her head’s leaned back, loose curls dancing wildly in the wind, arm extended out the window, her palm slicing serenely through the air.
Zayn can just make out the hint of a dimple in her cheek, and suddenly she understands her nerves.
She’s never liked someone like this.
A tiny slice of Girl!Zarry fluff inspired by the Chuck Berry song, “No Particular Place to Go” and written for the 2022 1D @wordplayfics Challenge week 2 prompt: particular.
“Up for it, Harold? We can go over the rundown when we get back. If you’re not busy then.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Harry says, closing his laptop and setting it on Louis’ desk. “It’s just Harry, though.”
“You look like a Harold,” Louis says, standing up and brushing some brownie crumbs off his t-shirt. Harry briefly wonders how he’s still hungry for lunch after demolishing half the plate of brownies as he stands and moves into the hallway. “It’s the cardigan, I think.”
“You guys can flirt on the way,” Niall says over his shoulder, beckoning for them to follow him as he strides down the row of cubicles. “Come on, I’m starving.”
Harry looks at Louis, but he just laughs as they follow Niall. Oh. He thought he’d been picking up a vibe while they hung out, but apparently not. Well, it’s better to know how Louis feels now, so he can nip his growing crush in the bud. Louis is a great guy, at least they can be friends as well as coworkers.
In which Harry courts Louis. Entirely by accident.
Additional tags: American AU, Advertising AU, Friends to Lovers, Pining, Fluff, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Harry Styles, Omega Louis Tomlinson, Courting, Accidental Courting, Scenting, Scent Marking, Protective Harry, Misogyny (see author’s note), Smut, Knotting, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Barebacking, Power Bottom Louis Tomlinson, mentions of Mating Cycles/In Heat
“Sorry,” Nick says at last, a crooked grin replacing her usual friendly, but not too friendly, customer service smile. “It’s my second double this week, so I’m kind of out of it. What can I get you, pretty?”
“No, I know you,” the girl insists, her green eyes wide as she leans over the counter. “I have known you so many times, in so many different forms, in so many different lives.”
“Uh…” Nick blinks, speechless for maybe the first time in her life. The thing is, the girl looks totally sincere. Kind of awestruck really, her pretty pink lips parted slightly as she takes Nick in. Like she can’t believe her luck or something. It’s not Nick’s fault that she has no idea how to act; no one has ever looked at her like this before. “Okay?”
Harry isn’t like anyone Nick has ever met before. Maybe that’s why they work.
