Sunshine
4.6k words exactly on a glowing fem!reader and Harry Styles finally realizing they're more than friends. A few bad words but no other warnings I can think of. Happy reading!!!
Harry always said that you glowed.
He liked to say you were a star: in your actions, in your words, in your very being. He loved to gush compliments over you, drowning you in sweet words and affectionate touches and letting you know just how much he loved you. And sure, most of that took place while he was drunk, but hey - drunk words are sober thoughts, right?
Either way, he sure did compare you to a star a lot when he was drunk, and after a while, it even carried over to sober words too when he gave you the nickname of Sunshine. And, despite your tendency to complain and correct him, you weren’t too mad about it.
You’d met him at a bar, late one night after a particularly messy breakup. He’d been positively hammered, and had approached you with the weakest pick up line you’d ever heard in your entire life.
“You, darling,” he’d slurred confidently, “light up my world… like… like nobody else.”
“Really?” you’d replied, just as drunk. “Is that so?”
“That’s so,” he’d said. He bopped your nose. “Right sunshine, you are.”
The whole night was a blur of bad jokes and aggressive flirting that never actually went anywhere. That’s what you always assumed, anyway, because you’d woken up the next morning alone in your bed with only a killer headache and his number in your cell.
It took you two weeks to call him, and, a bit tipsy, you’d given him your address and offered a night in. You had a few ideas in mind, ones that included quite a different morning after than the previous time you’d seen him, but him coming over in the softest blue jumper you’d ever seen and carrying bags of Chinese take away was not on the list.
“Tell me, Sunshine,” he’d said by way of greeting, “do you have anything fun to drink?”
“Plenty of Capri Sun,” you’d answered.
“Well,” Harry laughed, “with Capri Sun and take away, how could we go wrong?”
That morning after was, technically, quite different than the last, but - again - not in the way you’d expected. You’d traded favorite movies, talking over every scene of Love Actually with snarky commentary and shushing him when he tried to do the same with yours, and fell asleep on the couch hours after the sun rose.
Another drunken night brought another drunken phone call, and another and another, until the phone calls became sober and the random drunken nights became consistent Friday afternoons. You were making a decent headway on classic movies - movies the two of you deemed classic, anyway - and celebrated the first anniversary of your meeting at the bar where you’d met.
It was that night, one year since you’d met Harry Styles, staring at your ceiling fan and listening to him snore, that you’d realized two things at once. One, that you hadn’t dated anyone in a year, and two, that you didn’t care - you were perfectly content as it was. And, you’d thought vaguely, Harry had never mentioned a girlfriend, either.
Strange.
☀️☀️☀️
That lasted another month, and then you met your boyfriend.
His name was Oliver, and he was sweet. Smart. Cute. You really liked him. Of course you did. You’d met him at some party and hit it off almost immediately, and he took you out to dinner a few days after you met. He brought you flowers, and paid for the meal, and at the end of the night, he gave you a soft kiss on the cheek.
Harry was a bit skeptical about the lad, and he wasn’t afraid to voice his concerns.
“Sounds like a prick,” he’d said casually, mouth full of popcorn, when you’d told him all about your new boyfriend and his various hopes and dreams. Your jaw dropped. “What?” you’d said incredulously.
“Dunno,” Harry replied. “Just giving me the wrong vibes.”
And, when you’d shown him a picture, all he had to say was, “Those shoes are weird.”
You only scoffed, and he shrugged, looking at you like you were the one who was crazy. “What?” he said. “Can’t have a man without a fashion sense - don’t want him to be buying you rubbish gifts, hm?”
Despite all the slander, Harry had been adamant about meeting him.
“I need to meet this guy, Sunshine,” he’d insisted.
“Yeah, sure,” was your constant reply, “maybe some time.”
But for some reason, you’d procrastinated with the whole meetup thing. You weren’t quite sure of the exact reason why, although Harry’s skepticism on him probably didn’t help. Harry finally took it into his own hands and sent him a message on Instagram, which led to a very strange, awkward movie night.
“He seems nice,” Oliver said at the end of the night as he walked you home, and you nodded. “Mhm,” you hummed softly. “I don’t know about his taste in movies, though,” he’d gone on with a teasing smile, nudging your shoulder with his own. “Ten Things I Hate About You? A bit sappy, huh?”
You laughed a bit, shrugging your shoulders. “Yeah, he’s a… sappy guy.”
The conversation fizzled out after that, but it was a comfortable silence, and you didn’t mind too much. You seemed to have a lot of comfortable silence with him. He walked you home, and kissed you goodnight, and never came to another movie night again.
☀️☀️☀️
“Heya!” you exclaimed as Harry opened the door of his flat, already scooting past him before he’d stepped back. “Hey, Sunny,” Harry replied, and you corrected him with your name as you plopped four bags of take away on his table.
“Did you invite somebody?” Harry asked, and you frowned. “What?”
Harry grinned, nodding at the food. “That’s food enough for four, love.”
You stuck your tongue out at him and kept taking boxes out of the bags. “I’m just doing my duties,” you told him. “You’re a growing boy, Styles.” Harry raised an eyebrow. “Growing horizontally if you keep this up, Sunshine.”
You handed him a pair of chopsticks. “So have at it, growing-horizontally boy.”
“If you insist.”
You collapsed on the couch next to him with a box of lo maine, but when he didn’t say anything and just stared thoughtfully at his food, you asked, “Penny for your thoughts?” He glanced at you, and smiled. “I found a girl,” he said.
Your jaw dropped, your eyes going comically wide. “You found a girl?”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Don’t sound so surprised.”
“Well, fuck, H, my bad, but it’s been so long I -” You cut yourself off when Harry shot you a glare. A beat of silence, and then, still grinning, you dragged out, “Soooooooooooo…” and asked, “What’s her name?” Harry smiled. “Astrid.”
“Astrid,” you echoed, pulling a face. “Sounds like a pink haired anime character.”
“You don’t even watch anime,” Harry muttered.
“Still,” you said. “Is she nice? What’s she look like? If she has pink hair I’m gonna -”
“She’s blonde, Sunny,” Harry interrupted, ignoring your glare at the nickname. “And she’s very nice. Proper smart, too - going to med school at the mo’.” You pursed your lips. “Sounds snobby.”
“She’s not.”
You shrugged, spinning noodles round your fork. “Where’d you meet her?”
Harry hesitated, and then, “Starbucks.”
You paused, looked up at him, raised a brow. “Starbucks?”
“Yeah. She’s barista-ing ‘till she gets her degree.”
“When’s your date?”
Harry hesitated, again, and told her, “Last night.”
You scoffed. “Last night?”
“Woulda gone to a pet store if I wanted a parrot, Sunshine.”
“Sunshine, my ass!” you exclaimed. “When’d you meet her?”
“Monday.”
“Monday?” you practically shrieked, talking over him when he murmured something about parrots and asking, “And you didn’t tell me this Wednesday because?” Harry shrugged. “Didn’t wanta tell you ‘bout something that would go south.”
A pause. “So it went north?”
Harry grinned. “To the stars, Sunny, she’s wonderful.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really, she’s amazing.”
A pause, again, and Harry glanced over at you, and you were smiling, just a bit, and Harry raised an eyebrow. “You’re looking at me funny, Sunshine.” You shrugged. “It’s just weird, is all.” You frowned. “When was the last time you went on a date?”
Harry flushed. “Not important.”
“Riiiiight,” you laughed, nudging him with your elbow. You settled against the couch, twirling noodles around your fork before slurping a noodle into your mouth. “So,” you went on, running your tongue over your lips, “tell me about it!”
“What?” Harry asked distractedly, his eyes flicking up to meet yours.
“The date, moron.”
Harry’s smile faded, and he shrugged, his enthusiasm suddenly lost. He looked at his food. “Erm - it was good. She’s brilliant.” You laughed, prodding him with your foot. “Gotta give me more than that, Styles. What happened to ‘to the stars’?”
“She’s really into astrology,” Harry mumbled.
You raised an eyebrow. “Hm.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “You’re not giving her a chance.”
“You’re not giving me a proper picture!” you insisted. “Give me details, dude, c’mon.”
He bit his lip, studying you for a second before looking away. “She’s… she’s perfect, Sunny. She just - she glows. And she’s so funny. She always knows what to say, too, like she can read my mind. And Christ, Sunshine, she’s gorgeous. Her smile’s brighter than the sun and…” He looked up, meeting your gaze with a lopsided smile. “And she’s got the most beautiful eyes you’ve ever seen,” he finished, his voice going quiet.
“That’s more like it!” you cheered. “Maybe I’ll give this girl a chance!”
“Yeah,” he said softly.
“Where’d you guys go?”
“Some little restaurant by the river…”
“Ooh, by the river - you walked with her, right? All romantic?”
Harry nodded. “Mhm. Saw some stars, too.
You snickered. “Did she tell you your future from the constellations?”
Harry groaned, tossing a pillow at you. “Stop itttt,” he dragged.
“Sorry, sorry,” you giggled, “please continue.”
“It was fantastic. She -”
“Wait a minute,” you interrupted. “Wait a minute, you called me this morning. At, like, eight o’clock!” Harry nodded. “Yup,” he said, and you frowned. “So you… didn’t get laid?” Harry scoffed. “Mr. Checkered Shoes over there didn’t shag you the first date, now did he?”
“Yeah, well, he’s a gentleman, and you’re a dick, so -”
“I am not!” Harry exclaimed. He smiled smugly. “Ask Astrid.”
“Oh, I will,” you replied, just as smugly. “Wanna invite her over for a movie night?”
“Abso -” He paused, frowning slightly. “Maybe later.”
You raised an eyebrow. “Later, huh? Should I send her a dm?”
“Don’t even think about it,” Harry warned, and you laughed.“Sure, sure,” you told him, wondering what a girl named Astrid would have as her Instagram handle and whether or not she’d reply to a perfect stranger’s message.
☀️☀️☀️
Harry missed the next week’s movie night because of Astrid.
You didn’t mind.
You’d been wanting to spend more time with your boyfriend, anyway.
And if you kept your phone by your side the whole night through, waiting for a heartbroken text from Harry saying it didn’t quite work out with Astrid the pink haired barista, nobody had to know.
☀️☀️☀️
Astrid’s timing was perfect. She met Harry Styles at the end of January, on a cold winter’s day just begging for a warm cup of coffee. She wasn’t even supposed to be there that day; she was supposed to take off, but the guy who was supposed to cover for her couldn’t make it because of the snow. She’d never been more miserable to live walking distance from her work than that morning.
Her mood had lifted, however, when a new face had stepped into the coffee shop. A new, dangerously gorgeous face that was grinning a swoon-worthy smile down at his cell phone when he walked in. Astrid didn’t even get annoyed when he took a call in line. Hearing him greet somebody named Sunshine with that deep, accented voice of his practically made her melt on the spot.
She felt a bit of a twinge when the man said the name of the person he was talking to, which sounded a bit feminine, but didn’t think on it too much. She managed to take his order and hand him his coffee without making a fool of herself, and the worrying started after he walked out the door.
He called the girl on the phone darling. And Sunshine. Who nicknames a friend or sister Sunshine? And the way he was grinning while he was talking to that girl - there’s no way that much fondness could be for a friend. He looked like he was walking on… well, sunshine, as he talked, and that laugh…
Well.
So her hopes fizzled out, and she was certain that was the last she’d see of him.
Until the next day, when he came back.
And this time, since Astrid wasn’t even worried about impressing a potential boyfriend, they actually had a conversation. His name was Harry, she learned that day, and he was the dorkiest, funniest man she’d ever met. Even just after a two minute conversation, Astrid wanted to be friends with this guy.
The next day, Astrid learned something even more interesting. Surprisingly, it turned out that that Sunshine girl really was just a friend, and Astrid had a date with this Harry guy that Thursday night.
The date went magnificently (of course), and he asked her out again the next week. He was like something out of a fairy tale, this guy, and Astrid was absolutely charmed. She just couldn’t wait to see him again.
☀️☀️☀️
Oliver broke up with you.
It came out of nowhere, a whispered, “I think we should take a break,” after a night out, and despite everything, you were upset. It was just weird not having him around. He was one of those guys that gave you good morning and goodnight texts and called you every night (except Fridays) just to see how you were doing.
He was pretty much the perfect boyfriend, and all you could think was that it was your fault. You just were never really into him. You loved him as a friend, but he just didn’t seem like boyfriend material. You never felt that connection.
So really, all you could do was be thankful that he’d been so civil about the break up. He hadn’t seemed too angry about anything, hadn’t made a whole big scene, just did it quietly and politely and told you he hoped you could still be friends.
Which you couldn’t be, kind of, but at least the thought was there.
Regardless, you were a single woman once again, and you had a best friend to rant to.
☀️☀️☀️
That best friend you were supposed to rant to was MIA.
The week before was fine. You understood. He wanted to be with Astrid, he had a girlfriend, whatever. And really, this week shouldn’t be any different, since - as far as you knew, anyway - the girlfriend situation was still the same.
Only difference was that he told you.
The week before, he’d sent you an emoji laden text message apologizing profusely for the fact that he wouldn’t be able to make it. This week was radio silence. After spamming his phone with text messages and calling four or five times, you’d pretty much given up. You were waiting in your apartment, forty minutes after he was supposed to come, and feeling like a loser with a capital L.
After an hour of boredom and no Harry, you decided to take things into your own hands. He’d probably forgotten (not that he’d forgotten once in all the weeks you’d been doing this) and was sitting at home, scrolling through Twitter or playing the guitar or doing whatever Harry Styles did with his free time.
So you got into your car, and drove.
☀️☀️☀️
Harry grinned when he finally shifted his key right in the door, and he pushed it open as Astrid giggled and pushed him back against it, closing it again, kissing him like there was no tomorrow. Harry kissed her back and tried not to think about how her perfume was just a bit too strong, or how she was being just a tad too aggressive with her tongue, or how he didn’t really want to go anywhere past a bit of a snog but she didn’t seem to be on the same page.
Vaguely, Harry realized the light was on, and then slightly less vaguely, he realized he hadn’t left them on, and then not vaguely at all, he heard a clink and realized there was somebody else in his flat.
He pulled away from Astrid, who whined and tried to pull him back, and turned around to see you sat on his sofa with a bowl of cereal and a pair of earbuds. Harry groaned and muttered, “One sec,” to Astrid before walking over to you and pulling the earbuds out of your ears.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he hissed.
“Eating cereal,” you replied all too casually, holding up your bowl.
“Fuck’s sake, you’re not supposed to be here!”
You sighed. “Look, I’m sorry, but -”
Harry groaned your name, shaking his head. “No, no, no, you can’t just do this! You -”
“You know what? You didn’t show up!” you interrupted. “You didn’t show up, and ignored all my texts, and Olly broke up with me, and I was sad!” You scowled. “I was sad, and I thought you’d be here, and I wouldn’t have come over if you’d just” - you glanced behind him at Astrid who was still standing by the door - “told me you had a date!”
Harry paused. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, and shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I just -”
“Hey, Harry?” Astrid cut in from the door. “I think I’m gonna… take off…”
“No!” Harry exclaimed, spinning around. “No, no, she’s leaving! We can -”
Astrid gave an awkward laugh and shook her head. “It’s fine. I’ll see you later, Styles.”
She left, and Harry felt a bit of shame for the flash of relief he felt. He sighed and turned to you. “Happy?” he asked. You scoffed. “Happy?” you echoed. “What, you think I did this on purpose?”
Harry rolled his eyes. “You never come in unless I’m here too.”
“That’s not true.”
Harry pursed his lips, grabbing a bowl from the cabinet and pouring himself some cereal from the bag you’d so thoughtfully neglected to put back in the cabinet. He poured some milk and grabbed a spoon, and sat on the sofa next to you. “Look,” he said. “I’m sorry about Olly, alright? I just wish you would text me before coming over.”
“Never told me to before,” you grumbled. “Well, now I have a girlfriend,” Harry snapped, and then frowned, looking at the door a bit forlornly. “I did, anyway, although I’m not so sure she’ll come back after -”
“You guys’ll be fine, H, calm down,” you interrupted, rolling your eyes as you chased a fruit loop around your bowl. “You’re too damn pretty to be dumped ‘cause of - what, a failed hook up session?”
Harry didn’t reply, and you looked up. He was smiling at you. Looked almost smug.
You frowned. “What?”
“You called me pretty.”
You groaned and tossed a pillow at him, which he dodged, but not without spilling a splash of milk onto the couch. “Please,” you muttered. “Have some dignity.” Harry smirked. “Oh, I’ve plenty of dignity, ‘specially after the first compliment I’ve gotten from you in years.”
“Oh, please!” you said again. “That’s just not fair.”
There was a beat of silence before Harry cleared his throat. “So, Oliver broke up with you?” You shrugged. “Yeah.” Harry nudged your foot with his. “‘m sorry,” he murmured, and you shrugged again. “Yeah,” you repeated.
“Do you want to… talk about it?” Harry asked hesitantly.
You shook your head. “Not really.”
“Wanna watch a movie?”
“Sure.”
You stirred your milk around your bowl, deep in thought, as Harry flicked on the TV and found a movie, but you looked up when you heard the beginnings of your favorite movie. You smiled, glancing over at Harry. “Thanks, H,” you said softly.
Harry grinned, putting an arm around your shoulders. “‘f course, Sunshine.”
☀️☀️☀️
“Astrid broke up with me,” Harry announced as he walked into your apartment.
You looked up from your couch, startled. It was only two days after you’d interrupted their date, and you’d been watching a TV show before he’d walked in. “Wow,” you replied, unsure what to say. “Um… I’m sorry, H.”
“Yeah,” he said, standing in front of you with his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket. He gave a lopsided smile. “Guess I’m not too pretty to be broken up with, hm?” You laughed a bit uneasily. “Yeah, yeah, I guess not. Are you… okay?”
“I dunno. But I - I want to get out of here.”
You frowned. “And go… where?”
“Dunno,” he repeated, shrugging slightly.
“Well…”
“Christ, Sunny, c’mon,” Harry laughed, green eyes bright as he pulled you up and gently pulled you towards the door. You raised an eyebrow but let him lead you outside and into his car. “Are you sure you’re okay?” you asked as you slid into the passenger seat.
“I’m fine, Sunshine. Just wanta drive. Want some music?” he asked, already pulling out his phone. He clicked around for a second, making you frown and mutter, “If we get pulled over…”
Finally, he picked a song, and when the music poured through his speakers, you felt yourself smile as you recognized your favorite song. Harry grinned, poking you and making you giggle as he screamed out the lyrics.
Before you knew it, you were laughing and mumbling along with the song, and you were almost disappointed when the car slowed and Harry turned off the engine. You hadn’t even thought about where he’d been taking you, and you were surprised to step out of the car and onto soft grass.
You were looking up at some trees, feeling a bit intimidated by their enormous branches that towered over you in the dark night. The moon was barely visible through the leaves, and something about the whole scene felt a bit ominous.
You jumped when Harry gently touched your arm.
“Sorry,” he murmured, giving you a lopsided smile as his hand slid down to meet yours. You shivered in the cool air, letting Harry guide you through the trees. “If your way of cheering yourself up after a breakup is murdering me in a forest,” you began softly, and Harry grinned, nudging your shoulder with his. “Shoulda frisked me, Sunshine.”
You looked up to meet his eye, smiling despite yourself. “Maybe later.”
There was a beat of silence, and then Harry looked away. You continued to walk with him in silence, trying not to stress too much over the fact that you were walking hand in hand with him at night.
Your breath caught as you came to a clearing, and you felt Harry grinning as he watched your reaction. He’d brought you to a small clearing in the woods, and the scene was nothing less than magical.
The moon shone down onto the leafy ground, sparkling on the little stream that ran through the shrubs and bushes. Butterflies floated gracefully around the blooming flowers that rose from the grass, their wings iridescent in the light of the moon. Instead of ominous, the scene was calming, the humming of the insects comforting rather than scary.
“‘s pretty, isn’t it?” Harry said quietly.
“It’s gorgeous.”
He sat down in the grass, and you looked at him skeptically. “Is it wet?”
He shrugged. “Nah.”
“I’ll bite you if you’re lying,” you said.
“Is that a threat or a promise?” he said back, smirking at you.
“Christ,” you muttered, crouching down next to him a bit hesitantly before deeming it appropriately dry and plopping down next to him. “So, uh… do you want to talk about it?” you asked after a moment of quiet.
He shook his head. “No, I… I don’t.”
You let your gaze linger on his face even as he looked away, and then sighed and asked, “How’d you even find this place?” Harry shrugged. “Dunno.” You grinned, nudging him with your shoulder. “Are you walking alone in the woods a lot, H?” you said teasingly. “Should I be worried?”
“Only for yourself,” he told you with a smirk.
You frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”
Harry grinned at you and leaned in, giving you a whiff of sweet cologne and mint. “You forgot to frisk me, Sunny,” he said lowly, and he was so close that you were momentarily flustered before you laughed and gently pushed him away from you.
Silence came back, settling comfortably between the two of you, and after a minute, you yawned, resting your head on his shoulder. “This is nice,” you murmured. Harry nodded. “Yeah,” he said.
You looked up, keeping your chin on his shoulder. He looked positively ethereal, his profile glowing in the soft moonlight. He glanced at you after a second and smiled a bit. “You’re staring, Sunshine.”
“Did you really like Astrid?” you whispered.
His smile faded. “What kind of question is that?”
“You, um… Well, you’re awful chirpy for someone who just got broken up with.”
He looked down. “I dunno.”
“Don’t think you’ve ever had a serious girlfriend since I’ve known you.”
He still didn’t meet your eye. “Just haven’t found the right girl yet.”
A beat of silence, and then you spoke, your voice coming out barely a whisper.
“Are you sure?”
That was when he looked at you.
“No,” he said.
You sat up, swallowing thickly. “Hey, H?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I kiss you?”
A slow smile grew on Harry’s face. “Yeah,” he murmured.
It was like a dam broke, then, and everything came rushing out, because you felt like you’d about die if you didn’t kiss him that very second. So you did. You kissed him, and the world stopped, and everything felt like it went frozen.
Time came to a grinding halt as your lips met his, and you swore you stopped breathing.
And then Harry pulled back. He was grinning. “Yeah,” he laughed, and you shifted into his lap as he kissed you again, and that was when the world slammed back into motion. It was a damn Disney movie in your mind, the world spinning around the two of you as butterflies appeared out of nowhere and blue birds flew in dizzying circles around your head.
You were both laughing, smiling against each other as you kissed each other breathless.
You never ever wanted to leave his side again.
☀️☀️☀️
Harry always says that you glow.
He likes to say you’re a star; in your actions, in your words, in your very being. He loves to gush compliments over you, drowning you in sweet words and affectionate touches and letting you know just how much he loves you. And sure, most of that takes place through drowsy giggles in the wee hours of the morning, but hey - still counts, right?
Either way, he sure does compare you to a star a lot, but at least now you can prove it to him. Now, you can kiss him back and drown him in sweet words and affectionate touches. Now, you can whisper I love yous as he presses featherlight kisses against your cheeks and eyelashes. Now, you can hold him and love him and do whatever you damn well please, because now, you’re not just any sunshine - you’re his Sunshine.
☀️☀️☀️
la fin ❤️
thanks for reading!!!
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