Love is only for the brave
Imagine: After the irrelevant chaos held by Candace Owens of him wearing the dress, Y/N helps him and proves that you have to be brave for each other when you are in love.
A/N - It's an old topic to discuss about. The whole thing is outdated now to talk about but I wrote this months ago but never finished it. Also, even if the whole Candace Owens thing is not there, the toxic masculinity and misinterpretation on feminism is still there which I would like to highlight in this imagine. Hope you enjoy!
Warning - lots of crying, hate and toxic comments, insecure!harry
The door clicks after her as she enters the apartment, her one hand carrying the entire bag of papers, a pile full of script she decided to bring back home to read, too lazy to do it on the set. Other than that, she was missing her boyfriend. The moment her watch showed nine o'clock, indicating she was done with her day at the set, she had rushed out of the set they've been working on.
The third reason being that she quite remember arguing with Harry about the positions she always wants to have sex in. While she wants to do it, Harry is somewhat reluctant about her getting hurt. So, during her lunch break, she'd make sure to question every query through the internet. Luckily enough, there were several opinions about it and she found out the conclusion.
“Baby, I am home!” She shouts happily through the exhaustion. A glimmer of smirk comes on the side of her lip as she shouts again in an amusing tone. “With answers!”
In other, usual days, Harry Styles would never dare to keep quiet when he hears his girl’s voice. Today, Y/N feels something wrong.
The whole place is cascading with silence. For a second she thinks he has gone out. The thought instantly worries her as to why hasn't he texted earlier to tell her that he would be gone out late. She hastily put her bags on the side table beside the entrance and walks in, her eyebrows furrowed together. Where is he?
Passing the hallway attaching the living area and their shared bedroom, she reaches in front of the door, almost lifting her hand to twist the knob when her ears pick on a wet throaty sob, followed by another sound of cry.
No doubt, the other side of the door is Harry. She even can feel the pain in his cry, he’s hurt, badly. She senses outrage as her mind dampens with anxiety not knowing who dares to distress him. The last time she had heard this much pain through his voice was when his stepdad passed away. That time she was in no place to blame anyone and prefer to give Harry every amount of care. But now, the thought of him undergoing the same squirms resentment inside her.
She didn't waste any time to open the door, the only barrier coming between them. Her heart almost tugs into half seeing the love of her life, sitting on the carpet near the bed, his head hidden between his palms. He let out another cry and then silences himself with quiet sniffles.
“H.” His uptight shoulders loosen instantly when he hears her voice.
His arms fall down that was initially wrapped around his body protectively and he automatically speaks. "They are talking stuff about me." Harry murmurs.
"Baby, what are you talking about?" Y/N sits down beside her boyfriend who sniffles, shaking his head while looking down at his lap. She bits her lips clearly not okay how shaky he looks. "Harry, tell me what stuff?"
Harry breathes and stifling a sob he spills. "They didn't like the dress that I wore."
Normally she is the one crying over everything and nothing, every crisis that ever happened to her, Harry's arms always had found her body to wrap, to soak in every sadness from her but now she is the one required to give comfort. Shuffling herself more closer to him, Y/N reaches for him and strokes her thumb on his tear-stained cheek. "You went online?"
With a nod, Harry responds to her. He feels guilty. He was strictly told not to go on social media the moment the photo shoot would be out for the world held by vogue. His manager, PR team, and even his mom asked him to keep his distance as the shoot was controversial enough to affect his career. So, Y/N made him stay away from all the comments being passed for a week. Until she chose to go to work this morning compelling Harry to check Twitter.
Seems like all hell broke loose after that.
"Oh, Harry." Y/N sighs, slumping her shoulders. Harry lays his head swiftly on her shoulder as her fingers started combing his soft curls. They both stay cuddled into each other arms, sitting on the floor of their bedroom.
"There is this woman." Harry begins slowly. "Candace Owens. She criticized the shit out of me." He chuckles softly.
Holding him, she pulls him apart to focus her eyes on him. "Who is she?"
"I don't know much about her but got to know she is an author and activist."
"That's why I told you not to open those apps for few days, didn't I?"
"Curiosity got the best of me, I guess." He whispers. Rubbing his cheeks with the back of his palms, he glances at her taking a long breath. "What should I do?"
"Have you talked to Jeff about this?"
"He said to ignore these comments."
Licking her lips, she asks, tilting her head in familiarity. "Well, can you ignore them?"
Harry's eyes again teared up. "I think I can't."
"Show me," Y/N says. Kissing his forehead, she smiles sadly at him. "If you can't ignore then share it with me. Show me what she had said."
He nods at her words. He feels fortunate to have her. With a lot going on, he always knows he will have Y/N along to support him. At last, she is one of his biggest supporters.
Grabbing his phone from the nightstand, he hesitantly passes it to his girlfriend who gives him a reassuring glance before unlocking his phone to see the first thing that pops on the screen; the twitter statement made by Candice Owens. Harry must have put down the phone after reading this, feeling low enough which made him cry.
"There is no society that can survive without strong men. The East knows this. In the west, the steady feminization of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence. It is an outright attack."
"Clothes don't define how strong a man is. Clothes simply shouldn't define your gender." While she is nodding reading the words, she scrolls down to see the opposite.
"It screams gay to me. What is happening to this world? Men trying to be women? Go out and work. Leave this to women."
It is then when one reply catches her attention. It says. "Wait so Y/N let her boyfriend wears the gown and had no problem with it? Dude, she ain't getting it on the bed then."
Following comments are either of people supporting Harry or standing Candice's statement about how he has influenced the wrong description of masculinity. Disgust crawls upon her, watching the audacity of this woman not only circulating false reality but changing the whole meaning of feminism and masculinity.
"Ugh! What the fuck?" Y/N finally groans, looking up after skimming through the replies under the tweet. Harry sure had predicted an outburst, a hug to comfort but not her walking on him. He stares as she tosses his phone on the bed angrily and dashes out of the room. He doesn't move though, thinking Y/N has left him.
While Harry thinks worst out of the situation, Y/N is fuming. She is seeing red. Digging her phone from her bag, she calls her manager instantly.
"I am posting about Harry on my social media." It isn't her telling the manager but instead making her statement clear.
"Didn't you two determined to keep your relationship private?" Her manager's voice comes in an alerting tone.
"Not after what people is saying about Harry online."
Of course, her manager knows it. Hell, everyone working in the movie with Y/N is dreading to ask her how she feels about her boyfriend wearing a dress but they decided on the contrary.
"Be careful, Y/N. You know you shouldn't be getting into any feud when we are so close to finishing the movie. It can damage the ratings once it get released." Her manager sighs on the other side. "I'm just saying you have to be careful with your words. Protect your boyfriend but don't forget about your reputation."
"I will try to be as polite as I can. Good night." With the last farewell words, Y/N's mind knows what to do next. It has to be done. Not for Harry but to clear the stigma.
The next morning, Harry wakes up with red swollen eyes, hair scrambled with knots, and throat aching from the crying the previous night. But the other thing that comes to his attention is him resting on the bed when he clearly remembers falling asleep on the floor.
That means only one thing. Y/N had helped him to bed. That means one more thing. She is still here. His heart is beating fast. He is unsure whether she now thinks of him as a joke like others.
Taking a deep breath, he walks over to the bathroom and decided to clean himself up good to face the consequences. He's afraid to do so but as long he wishes Y/N to be his side, he can handle anything. He relatively recalls the day, when he came home to her, a contract in one hand telling her about how he got into a Vogue photoshoot. According to him, this was something big for not only him but for the world to face as he would be dressing up in a gown. Not to forgot he was terrified of her reaction too, of what she'd think. His face went priceless when she smiled at him, later dedicating the whole night for the big opportunity landed on him.
"You don't think of me as some mad man wearing dress at all?" Was his trembling words when she had stepped in the kitchen with wine glasses.
"You're only a mad man in bed, baby. In a positive way, of course." Was her answer with a shrug and a proud smile.
So, how can he think of her not supporting him now?
Harry carelessly gets out of the shower, rushing to wear his clothes as he wants to check on her. He is convinced Y/N couldn't just stop supporting him.
When he strolls out of the bedroom, he then smells a delicious aroma filling the whole hallway of their apartment. A smile tugs on his lips, surprisingly a cheerful one that had gotten away since the night.
He finally finds her. Swaying her hips, she is mixing something in a pan as she cooks something while dancing to whatever the radio's been playing.
"Y/N." That makes her turn around and Harry sighs in relief seeing his love happy and not what he was imagining earlier.
"Baby, good morning to you too." She grins radiantly at him.
"I am sorry for yesterday." The words came out faster Y/N could blink. She creases her eyebrows together, very confused as to why he is apologizing to her.
"For crying like a baby yesterday. You came home tired and then you had to babysit me." Y/N sure felt her chest tightens at his words. Does he thinks she feels obliged to take care of the person she is in love with?
"It wasn't me babysitting you, H. You needed comfort yesterday. You've done the same for me too, right?" When Harry nods, she continued. "None was your fault, Harry. You did something which you felt comfortable doing. If few people don't seem to appreciate this then it's on them."
"You don't think of me as a fool?"
"Why will I think of you as a fool, baby?" Y/N walks near him.
"Me wearing dresses, painting nails, and wearing jewelry...you never thought of it as extra?"
She shakes her head and then looks straight into his eyes. "What do you think of yourself when you wear these things? Normal or extra?" She asks calmly.
"And how long it's been since we are together?"
"Three years." His answer comes out fast.
She sighs, glowing. "Yes, three years. So, why the fuck will I feel your dressing sense extra when I never once complained about it."
Silence quoting in the kitchen, she snickers. He watches her while she chuckles at his dumbfounded reaction, returning to her work. His head starts bobbing in understanding. The words of his girlfriend explored his mind further. If someone close to you gets affected by your real normal self then the person is not your loved one.
His mom always loves him, so does his sister and his friends. Y/N loves him.
He smiles to himself. She truly loves him. She would never leave him alone.
Suddenly his phone rings breaking him out of his thoughts. Seeing how gracefully Y/N dances on the song currently playing on the radio he quickly walks out of the kitchen to attend the call. Turns out that the call is from Jeff.
He quickly picks up, thinking what provoked his manager to call him this early in the morning.
"You know you should marry Y/N right now or I'm fretting someone else will."
"What the fuck, Jeff? What are you talking about?" He questions.
"Just open insta and Twitter to find out, mate." With that Jeff quickly ends the call, leaving Harry to do the task. He sits on the couch, glancing over Y/N who is cooking breakfast for them.
Sighing to him, he gathers enough courage as he doesn't want another episode happening like yesterday night, he taps the Instagram icon.
He is left bewildered, as he stares at the photo. With the same rush of excitement, he quickly exits the app, opening twitter where his face gives the same reaction.
His eyes blink back few happy tears. He makes a run towards Y/N and carefully tugs her body around his arms. She squeals at the immediate weight lift and laughs, throwing her head back.
"Yes." He simply replies. Plopping her down, he is quick to taste her lips. He grabs her jaw and pulls her impossibly close enough, relishing her body heat and fragrance.
"Seems like something good happened." She hums, chuckling as she pulls apart.
"You, baby. You happened and it is more than good."
And yes, Jeff's warning of marrying Y/N stays in Harry's mind. He was in rush the next day to find a ring, a perfect fit for his lovie. In their love, she is the brave one and he is glad she is his.
