liability | larry stylinson

chapter 1. another day

The vibrations of Harry's phone against his nightstand combined with the ringing is enough to jolt him awake Monday morning. It takes him a minute to flutter his eyes open and groan at the thought of another taxing day. The only thing that can motivate him enough to leave the warmth and comfort of his bed is the thought of not living in his apartment complex anymore. It isn't so bad, the pipes drip and the floor creaks with every step but it's a roof over his head, and with his hectic schedule its as if he spends no time here at all.

Harry makes his way to the bathroom, the cold wooden floor against his feet once again convincing him that maybe sleeping in socks isn't the unspoken deadly sin that society has made it out to be on social media. He turns the knob for the hot water on his shower and waits for the water to turn lukewarm before stepping inside. The water pelts against his chest enough to remind him that the water pressure is less than desirable, but it rinses the suds of his coconut smelling shampoo enough for him to not care too much about the matter.

With a towel wrapped around his waist when he's done, he scrummages his closet to find an outfit that looks like he spent more than thirty dollars at a thrift store. After a minute or two of consideration he decides on the black dress pants that clings to his legs fittingly with a light blue button up collard long sleeve shirt. He'd never be caught dead trying to dress this posh on a night out, but impressions matter. Harry used to be naive a few years ago, thinking only first impressions matter, but damn, it turned into an everyday occurrence since he walked into his first day at his internship.

He remembers the words his mother tells him every time he can mutter up the time to call her, "one more day towards living your dreams." And that suppresses any challenging hill he has been made to climb, so far at least.

The subway per usual, is busy, crowded and loud. There's a mother holding her child's hand, guys discussing the latest basketball game, teenage girls looking at whatever the hell is trending on Twitter, and Harry who is blasting Hard Times by Paramore to drown out the sounds of all of that noise.

And damn it, if it wasn't hard times for Harry. He's exhausted, stressed and every other synonym for tired or burnt out. Who knew making your dreams come true meant you don't ever sleep enough to dream about anything at all. Luckily coffee, a killer taste in music and concealer can keep him awake long enough to get him to his internship venue.

The building stands tall, among all of those parallel to it doing the same. Green's Publishing Firm. Founded by a rich asshole named Richard Green in 2004 and ran by his great grandson, Landon Green, who arguably to Harry is a bigger and richer asshole than his predecessor.

He walks in, immediate making his way to his desk adjacent to the mentor supervisor assigned to him by NYU's communications department. If it wasn't for her guidance that Harry is appreciative of, he probably would have dropped out and moved to a farmland in North Carolina to farm cows or something. Paula is about twenty seven and just got married to her husband, her marriage is typical but from what Harry hears is full of love. He sometimes wonders if Paula has any friends outside of work or if she's just one of those people that have to talk about anything and everything to get through the day. It caught Harry off guard his first day working with her because she went into full detail about how certain she was that she was pregnant. On his first day. They barely knew each other. Harry did ultimately decide that her warm personality combined with how much she did know about the publishing industry he's so desperate to be apart of was endearing, thus making their mentor relationship a pleasant dynamic.

The last thing Harry needed was a stone cold entry level executive who yells, kicks or screams when there's a mistake or misunderstanding. She always repeats the mantra, "treat people with kindness," which is good advice, and he does take it to heart with everyone. Well...almost everyone. Comedic timing puts him riding in the same elevator to the copy room for Paula with the last person he'd want to be around. Enter, Louis Tomlinson.