#haow

[booksncoffee]

in which harry has a surprise

Harry's POV

Harry doesn't know how he managed to spend over two decades keeping secrets from Cleo. Because now, he can barely keep anything from her. It's like she has a sixth sense when it comes to him. And on most days, Harry considers it a good thing that she can see right through him, but not this time. Not when he's about to pull the biggest — and the scariest, so much so that he shivers each time he thinks about it — surprise he's ever done.

Harry Styles is going to propose to Cleo Ward tonight.

Harry can feel the weight of the small, rectangular box in his jacket, burning holes in his pocket. For the past two years, that box has made a home in his drawer, buried underneath his socks — the only place he knows where Cleo wouldn't go looking. She knows that his mother has given him the family ring — he's the one who told her that — but she doesn't know what it looks like. And Harry refuses to let her take a peek of it until it's time for him to slide it onto her finger.

"Are you sure she doesn't suspect anything?" Harry asks Adam for the, well, he's lost count already.

Adam lets out a chuckle. "Mate, relax. She doesn't suspect a thing." Before Harry can open his mouth and ask his friend if he's really sure, he beats him to it. "And yes, I'm very sure of that. If you don't trust me, trust Daisy. She's keeping Cleo busy."

Harry exhales. Not that he doesn't trust his best mate, but knowing that Daisy is in on this too makes him feel a lot better. "Okay, good."

"Where are you anyway?" Adam quizzes. "This plan's not gonna work if you're not here."

"Almost there," he replies. Harry can see the building that houses Ward's bookstore and his heart lurches in his throat. "I think I'm gonna throw up."

Adam laughs — loud. "I know that feeling."

"What if she says no?" Harry voices out his biggest fear, feeling his chest getting tighter and tighter as he nears the bookstore.

"Mate—"

"What if she laughs at my face?"

"She does that to you everyday."

Ignoring that remark, Harry voices out another fear, "What if she's not ready for this? What if—"

"Harry," Adam's firm voice shuts him up. "Breathe."

Harry does as told. Within seconds, he can feel his heartbeat returning to its normal rate.

"She's not going to say no," Adam tells him. Harry opens his mouth but like before, he's cut off. "And please don't ask me how I know that. I just know she's going to say yes. Maybe she will laugh at your face first but then she'll say yes."

That does sound like his Cleo — the laughing part, at least. Maybe she'll tell him he's being ridiculous or that he's annoying for keeping this whole thing a secret from her. But after that, maybe she'll say yes. God, he hopes she says yes.

Harry can't imagine spending the rest of his life with someone else. When he imagines his future, he sees Cleo by his side — annoying him, laughing at him and with him, rolling her eyes at him when he says something cheesy. If he's being truly honest with himself, he's had that image in his head ever since he realised that Cleo was his soulmate. And not his enemy. But he's been keeping that to himself, scared that she doesn't want the same future as he does.

"Finally," a voice snaps him back to reality. Adam is standing at the entrance of the bookstore, brows furrowing. Immediately, Harry feels his heartbeat quicken.

"What's wrong?"

"Cleo is on her way back."

"Shit," Harry mutters under his breath as he hurries inside the bookstore. "Everything's set up, right?"

"Yeah," Adam nods. "You have no idea how hard it is to keep her away from that spot."

Harry swallows. "But she doesn't suspect anything?"

"I told her I hid something for Daisy and didn't want her to find out."

"And she backed off?"

"Very reluctantly."

Harry chuckles at that. "Sounds like her."

"Good luck, mate." Adam pats Harry on the back. "I'm a phone call away if you need me."

Harry nods. "Thank you. For helping me with this."

"Hey, you helped me with my proposal. I'm just glad I could return the favour," Adam smiles. "Well, I should go before Cleo gets here."

As soon as Adam leaves, Harry makes his way to the back of the bookstore where everything is set up.

What used to be Beau's secret spot has been turned into his spot. His and Cleo's spot. Adam has helped him arrange some books — all of them are books that he's seen Cleo read — and flowers, and in the middle of all those books are the books that would determine whether he'll be celebrating or drowning in his sorrows: there are fourteen books and they're all arranged in ways so the initials of each book would spell: will you marry me?

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Harry takes out the box from his pocket and opens it up. The sight of his mother's ring takes his breath away and before he knows it, he starts to imagine how beautiful it'll look on Cleo's finger.

"Adam?"

Harry quickly closes the box and shoves it into his pocket. He takes one last look at the arrangement and takes a deep breath.

"Hellooooo? Adam? I swear if you leave this bookstore unattended I'm going to fire you," Cleo says and Harry has to bite back a laugh. "I know I said I'll never fire you but I—"

Cleo's words die in her throat when she comes face to face with Harry.

"Harry?"

"Hi."

"What are you—Where's Adam?"

"He left."

"Oh he's definitely going to get fired."

Harry laughs. "He didn't leave this place unattended. I got here before he left."

"Why?"

"Because..." Harry steps forward and takes Cleo's hands in his. She looks down at their hands, brows furrowing. He can tell she has questions on the tip of her tongue so he breaks the silence before those words could leave her mouth. "I can't have him around for this."

Then Harry leads her to the arrangement. He watches as she takes it all in, her eyes widening.

"What's all this?"

"Those are all the books I've seen you read."

She turns to him. "You remember them?"

"I remember everything about you," he tells her. And it's the truth.

Cleo walks closer to the arrangement. She touches the flowers and picks one up. "And what's this for?"

"It's for..." Harry clears his throat. "You."

"Why?"

"Why don't you look at the books in the middle?"

Cleo does as told. "These are all my favourite books. Well not all of them, I didn't really enjoy that and that—"

"Cleo. Pay attention to the initials of the books."

"Why?" She asks. Harry gives her a pleading look. "Okay, okay."

While Cleo has her focus on the books, Harry takes a deep breath and takes the box out. As quietly as he possibly could, he lowers himself to the floor and gets on one knee. Running his tongue across his lower lip, he rehearses the words one more time in his head.

"Will," Cleo says out loud once she's figured out the first word. Then: "you." And when she gets to the third word, "marry", Harry can tell she's already figured everything out.

But still, when she turns around and finds Harry on his knee, the look on her face is one that will forever be ingrained in his memory.

"Harry."

"Cleo."

"Harry, I'm so confused."

"Cleo," he tries again. "If you know how many times I've rehearsed these lines, you're never going to let it go. You'll taunt me and laugh at me and you'll probably even tell our families about it, and that's what I love about you. I love how you're an absolute pain in the arse."

Cleo shakes her head, laughing. She's probably going to deny it if he points it out but he's pretty sure she has tears in her eyes.

"I love how you always roll your eyes at me when I do or say something cheesy. I love how extra kind you are to me when I'm sick. I love how you're always one step ahead of me, I mean, you didn't even get to "me" before you figured out that I was proposing."

Cleo shoots him a guilty look. "I'm sorry."

Harry waves that off with his free hand. "And most importantly, I love you, Cleo. I love you so much. You've made me the happiest person on earth and I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. You're it for me, Cleo Ward."

"And you're it for me too," she whispers under her breath.

"If you'd let me, I want to keep annoying you, making you smile and laugh and roll your eyes," Harry breathes. "Cleo Ward, will you—"

"Yes," she says. "Wait, finish the question."

Harry smiles. "Cleo Ward, will you marry me?"

"Yes," she nods as she reaches for him. Harry can feel his heart expand in his chest as he takes the ring out of the box. "I will marry the hell out of you, Harry Styles."

Laughing, Harry slides the ring onto Cleo's finger. It fits her perfectly and just as expected, the ring looks beautiful on her.

"Come up here," Cleo says.

Harry doesn't need to be told twice. He gets up to his feet and Cleo crushes his lips with hers.

"God, I love you so much," she tells him. "I can't believe you did all this."

"Adam helped."

"And I can't believe you managed to keep this from me."

"I know," Harry chuckles. "I kept getting nightmares that you'd find out about this."

"That explains why you kept tossing and turning in your sleep."

"I wanted this to be perfect."

Cleo cups his face with her small hands. Looking into his eyes, she smiles and says, "It is."

Harry leans forward and captures her lips for another kiss, pouring all of his emotions into the kiss. And when he pulls away, Cleo rests her hand against his chest, her eyes fixed on the ring.

"It's so beautiful," she says. "I feel like I don't deserve this."

"Don't be ridiculous."

Cleo looks up. "No, really, I feel like I'm not worthy of this ring."

This time, Harry's the one rolling his eyes at her. "Cleo, the ring is made for you."

Cleo gazes at the ring once again. "It does look like it."

"Just like how I'm made for you."

"Oh God," Cleo bursts out laughing. "That's so..."

Harry joins in on the laughter. "I know," he replies. "But hey, you didn't roll your eyes at me."

"Only because you've just made me the happiest woman on earth." Looping her arms around his neck, she adds, "And don't let it get to your head, you've also made me the luckiest woman ever."

"Already gotten to my head," he responds, wrapping his arms around her waist. When Cleo rests her cheek on his chest, he presses a kiss on top of her head. "So we're really doing this?"

"Mhmm," Cleo hums. "You're stuck with me, Styles."

"All part of my plan."

[dekudynamight]

Why is writing so *clenches fists* hard

[booksncoffee]

hate & other words; masterlist

At sixteen, every person on earth is destined to get a tattoo on each arm: one that matches their soulmate and one that matches their worst enemy. The day Harry’s name shows up on Cleo’s arm, she knows straightaway that he’s her worst enemy. He’s been her nemesis for as long as she could remember and the same goes for him. Besides, he has another name on his arm whom he’s sure is his soulmate even though he hasn’t met her. And yet everyone else is convinced that Cleo and Harry are soulmates. After spending years convincing people that they aren’t soulmates, Cleo suddenly decides that maybe it’s not a bad idea if everyone thinks that they are. And surprisingly, Harry agrees with her. a soulmate au with enemies pretending to date

story page || characters index

read on wattpad

read on tumblr:

one

two 

three

four

five

six

seven

eight

nine

ten

eleven

twelve

thirteen

fourteen

epilogue

hate & other words drabbles

[booksncoffee]

[text] I think I’m a mermaid for harry & cleo

harry cleo

harry

i think

i think i’m a mermaid

oh jesus

have you been reading mermaid books? is the female character in the book you’re reading is a mermaid and now you’re convinced you’re a mermaid too?

no

but i’m impressed that you picked up on that

also now that you’ve mentioned it i’m gonna scour the internet for mermaid books cause that sounds cool and we need it in this shop

then why do you think you’re a mermaid?

i’m pretty sure i’m dating human 

(a very annoying human)

i think i’m a mermaid cause i’m pretty sure my legs turn to fins each time they touch water

(careful)

no they don’t

(sorry. love you)

have you seen my legs in water

(love you too)

....

EXACTLY

cleopatra is this one of your elaborate ways to get yourself out of this pool party this weekend?

no...

just so you know beau will be very disappointed if you skip his birthday party

i mean there’s always next year

and hopefully he won’t invite 

d i s a p p o i n t e d

fine i guess i’ll just let everyone know i’m a mermaid

or here’s a thought: maybe your legs won’t turn to fins because you’re not a mermaid

cleo has left the chat.

oh come on babe

you know i love you

fins and all

send me tfln

[booksncoffee]

aka hate & other words by yours truly!!!! 

[booksncoffee]

in which cleo and harry come up with a solution

“We have a problem,” is the first thing I say when Harry opens the door for me. He has an irritated look on his face and it doesn’t bother me because it’s all for shows. He’s just annoyed that I refuse to use the key he gave me and that I choose to knock on the door instead. We’ll talk about this later but for now, “I’m serious. We have a problem.”

“Hello to you too,” he snorts as he steps aside to let me in. Once I’m inside, he closes the door and makes his way to the living room. I follow him. “What’s this problem you’re so worried about?” He asks as he returns to his seat on the couch.

I throw myself onto the couch as well, landing on his side. I grab Harry’s arm and wrap it around me. Harry tightens his hold on me and a smile tugs at my lips. But that’s before I remember why I’m here in the first place and that smile disappears as quickly as it appears. “So when I came downstairs today my mum bombarded me with wedding magazines.”

“Okay, so?”

Harry doesn’t seem to understand the gravity of this situation so I emphasise, “Wedding magazines, Harry, lots of them. She showed me some pictures of dresses, wedding venues, wedding food and drinks, and then she told me that if I wanted to I could wear the dress she wore on her wedding day or your mum’s wedding dress because she told my mum that she’d love to see me wear it, and I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure that’s her way of telling me that she wants us to get married.”

I wait for Harry to say something but he remains quiet so I shift in his arm so I could take a look at his face but it displays nothing. No emotions or whatsoever. I nudge him in the rib and a frown appears between his brows.

“Were you listening?”

“Yes,” he replies. He releases me from his arm as he leans forward and picks up the remote control. He turns off his television and I watch as he turns to face me. He doesn’t look surprised. In fact he looks… collected. The complete opposite of me. I bet I look crazy right now but knowing Harry, he won’t point it out.

“Why aren’t you freaking out?” I frown at him. Harry runs a hand down his face and that only worries me. “Harry.”

“Because my mum gave me her ring last week. It’s a family ring, I guess, and she told me that she wanted I-- you to have it.”

“Oh my God.” I get up from Harry’s couch and start pacing back and forth in front of him. I’m not a commitment-phobe, at least I don’t think I am, but the thought of tying the knot with Harry freaks me out. We agreed to take things slow and hell, it took us a year into the relationship to finally say those three words so a wedding should be way further down the line. Perhaps in another three or four years. Or five. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

“Because I know you’d freak out.”

“And why aren’t you?”

Harry gets up from the couch and places both hands on my shoulders to stop me from boring holes on his living room floor.

"Cleo."

I actively avoid his eyes so he removes one hand from my shoulder and he tilts my chin so I’m looking straight into his eyes.

“I’m not going to propose now.” He tells me. “You don’t have to worry about that. Trust me, I’m not going to do it seconds after telling you that my mum gave me her ring. That wouldn’t be a surprise and where’s the fun in that?”

Laughter escapes my throat. “Right because you love surprises so much.”

“And you act like you don’t but you actually do.” I roll my eyes at him. “You think I don’t know my Cleo?”

I relax into him and wrap my arms around his neck, resting my head on his chest. “Sorry for freaking out on you,” I say. “And I hope I didn’t offend you. It’s not that I don’t wanna marry you but--”

“--You want to take things slow. I get it and I respect that. We can move at our own pace.”

I pull back to look at him. He leans down and presses a kiss on my lips. “God I love you.”

“I know,” he smiles into the kiss. "And I love you too."

“But what’re we going to do about our parents? They’re gonna expect something and we can’t lie to them again, can we?”

“Yeah, no. I do have a solution for that.”

I kink an eyebrow at him. “Do tell.”

“Move in with me,” he says. Those words roll off of his tongue so easily like he’s practiced it plenty of times before. In front of the mirror, I bet, and I can imagine him doing that.

“Are you… Are you sure?”

“I am,” he nods. “It’s usually what couples do, right? The next step in a relationship is usually the move in part and if we move in together, I think it’ll get our parents off of our backs for a year or two.”

“Huh.” That actually makes a lot of sense. I can imagine how happy my parents would be when they find out that their only daughter will finally move out of their house.

“So…?”

“Do I have to move into Adam’s old room or?”

“I mean if you want to.” Harry shrugs. “But something tells me that my room is way, way better. Plus, you’d get a cuddle from yours truly every night.”

“That’s the worst sales pitch I’ve ever heard. Thank God you’re not in sales,” I say to him and he gapes at me, offended. “But you know what, I’m sold.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhmm.”

“So you’d move in with me?”

“Yes, Harry Styles, I’d move in with you. But wait, does this mean I'll have to use the key now?"

"I've wanted you to use the key since I gave it to you."

"Damn it."

"No backing out now, Cleopatra. You've said yes to me."

"Well, I just hope you won’t regret it.”

Harry laughs low in his chest as he pulls me closer, pressing his lips to mine, sending shivers down my spine. His lips drift along my jaw and down, grazing the sensitive skin where my pulse beats fast. Then, he whispers, “Never.”

[booksncoffee]

in which cleo pranks harry

It’s a particularly slow day at Ward’s Bookstore and I’m bored out of my mind. It doesn’t help that I’m alone today (I’m always alone this lately because Adam’s a part timer now so he’s here only three times a week and I can’t seem to find anyone that could replace him because let’s face it, no one comes close to Adam) and I’ve got no one to talk to. But on the bright side, there’s only about an hour left before I can finally close up.

I pick up the book I’ve been reading but put it back down when an idea pops into my mind. More like a devious plan to get back at Harry who threw me under the bus a few weeks ago in front of our parents. We told them that we’re moving in together and as expected, that got our parents off of our backs about getting married. But it brought up the question “why did it take you guys so long to do this?” and instead of telling them that we didn't want to rush into things, Harry told our parents that I was the one who didn’t want to do it, that I wasn’t ready to take the next step forward. Which wasn’t exactly a lie, but still.

I thought as soulmates we were supposed to have each other’s back and lie for the other when needed.

The rest of the night, I had to sit through a lecture from my mum who tried to convince me that I shouldn’t be scared when it comes to my relationship with Harry. We’re soulmates, bound to be together for the rest of our lives, so there’s nothing to be scared of. Easy for her to say because the moment she and my dad found each other, they’ve been inseparable ever since. Unlike Harry and I who spend two decades of our lives hating each other because we thought that’s what our tattoos wanted us to feel towards the other.

Anyway, that’s beside the point.

The point is this: I’m gonna get back at Harry and I’ve just thought of the most brilliant way of doing so. It’s evil, but I want to do it. Harry is never going to see this coming.

I reach for a permanent marker pen, the one with the fine tip, and pull up the sleeve of my shirt to reveal the empty arm. Cautiously, I try to imitate the tattoo on my other arm. Once done, I hold my arm up in front of me, taking in my handiwork.

Alex Montgomery.

I just tattooed the name of the love interest of the book I’m reading on my arm and I can’t wait to see the look on Harry’s face when he sees it.

/////

Harry greets me outside of the bookstore. I have just finished locking up when he appears behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist and pressing a kiss on the back of my head.

“Hey,” he says.

I turn around and loop my arms around his neck, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him on the lips. “Hey,” I whisper back.

“I bought dinner,” Harry holds up a brown paper bag, a familiar logo in front of it.

“My favourite,” I grin.

It’s from the Mexican restaurant that opened a couple of months ago. We’ve been frequenting that place since its opening, as do other people. We haven’t gotten a new restaurant in a hot minute so when one opens up, everyone in town decides to give it a visit. Or two. Or ten, like Harry and I.

“I know,” Harry nods. “I think everyone in town knows how much you love it. The moment I walked into the restaurant, they knew our orders immediately.”

Harry leads me to his car and together, we make our way back to Harry’s -- our -- flat. We have our dinner in the living room in front of the television like we usually do and when we’re done, we leave the plates on the coffee table since we're both feeling extra lazy tonight. Harry leans against the arm of the couch and I lean my body against his side. He wraps an arm around me and I snuggle closer.

I’m about to drift off when I hear Harry say, “Cleo.”

My eyes spring open. The tone of Harry’s voice tells me that I’m in trouble. And so does his suddenly stiff body. “Yes…?”

Harry holds up my arm in front of my face, waving the fake tattoo that I forgot about -- I blame Harry and the Mexican food he got for me. I’m pleasantly surprised that the marker didn’t bleed and the tattoo looks very much real hours later.

“Alex Montgomery,” Harry says the name out loud. There’s an edge to his voice and I almost tell him that this is a prank but you don’t straightaway tell people it’s a prank if you plan on pranking them, do you? “Who… Do you know about this?”

I shift around so I’m facing him. “I--Uh. No, I didn’t know it’s there.” I pretend to eye the tattoo, brows furrowing. “You don’t think… Do you think it could be my soulmate?”

At that, Harry’s eyes widen and his entire body turns immobile. It’s like someone has just dumped a bucket of ice cold water over his head. But then something snaps in him and he gets up from the couch and begins his pacing.

“What kind of name is that,” Harry growls. “Alex Montgomery. Sounds like a douche name if you ask me.”

I fight the urge to laugh. “He didn’t really have much choice with his name, did he?”

Harry’s eyes cut to me and he scowls. He definitely does not appreciate my humour at the moment. “He can’t be… He can’t be your soulmate, can he? He must be your enemy. With a name like that--”

“Cool it with his name, babe.”

“It just… This can’t be happening.” Harry exhales. Shock disappears from his face and I see a mixture of feelings replacing it but one stands out: worry. My heart aches at the sight in front of me. God, I’m the worst soulmate ever.

Before this could go on for a second longer, I get up from the couch and make my way to Harry. I place my hand on his chest, “Hey, look at me.”

He shakes his head, refusing to meet my eyes.

“Harry.”

He reluctantly meets my eyes and raises an eyebrow.

“I’m gonna need you to promise me something.”

“Anything,” he says, desperation evident in his voice.

I place one hand on his neck, my fingers toying with his hair. “Don’t get mad at me.” Harry shoots me a quizzical look. “It’s a prank.”

“A what?”

“I wrote the name down with a permanent marker pen. This tattoo is me getting back at you for what you did a few weeks ago. It was an ass--” hole move I realise that now, is what I wanted to say but I don’t get to finish my sentence as Harry presses his lips against mine. I expect him to push me away, not closer. But I welcome the kiss anyway, deepening it.

When he pulls away, he says, “Fuck, Cleo. I was so scared back there. Fuck. Just don’t do it to me again. You hear me?”

I nod. “You’re not mad?”

“Oh I am, but I’m also relieved.” Harry doesn't talk about it much, but I know it bothers him how I only have one tattoo. He worries that one day another tattoo will pop up and I'll realise that he's not my soulmate after all.

Guilt surges through me and I sigh, “I’m the worst soulmate ever, aren’t I?”

Harry lets out a chuckle. “Nah, you’re still the best but if you pull a prank like that ever again I might have to reconsider that.”

“Deal.”

“Also, Alex Montgomery. Why does that name sound familiar?”

“It’s from the book I’ve been reading.”

Harry takes a step back and curses under his breath. Then he laughs to himself. “Of course, why am I such an idiot?”

“Nah, you’re my idiot.”

Harry rolls his eyes but he wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me until the only thing I can think of is him.

[booksncoffee]

oh dang hate & other words has 50k reads on wattpad now