Harry Styles One Shots

A Cheat - Extras - Photos

prompt: could you do like a blurb of him seeing y/n and her new boyfriend on instagram or seeing them in real life and regretting his decision? or having irene cheat on him?

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Harry whips his phone out from his striped pant pocket. The boredom of the day finally getting to him two hours after he woke up. Usually, he'd be hustling and bustling around the city going to meetings, talking to producers, or having lunch with one of his friends whom he hasn't seen recently from one side of town to another. His second album was almost done, he just needs to fine-tune some songs in order to make sure they're as perfect as they can be. Thus, he's left with a rather empty and definitely not busy schedule for the rest of the week.

Harry uses his fingerprint, unlocking the phone. He huffs at his current lock screen. Irene had changed it to a selfie she took a few days ago, he doesn't really know how to feel about it since he prefers having sceneries to calm his mind. Nonetheless, he swipes through and clicks on the 'Instagram' icon.

His user newsfeed loads for a bit, only showcasing a white page and the first glimpse of the stories his friends had put up to share. Once the pictures load, he swipes up, eyes squinting to see the pictures. Harry taps on the heart shape, he gets a surge of satisfaction watching it fill up instead of double-tapping. Mindlessly, he swiftly passes all the pictures and even went as far back as a few days ago. Maybe I should follow more people, he thought. He taps the topmost bar, flicking straight up. He refreshes his feed again.

And when it does, Harry wishes he'd just exited the app and maybe busied himself reading tweets instead because now, he curses at himself for forgetting to unfollow Y/N. Not that he wanted to unfollow her, but Irene threatened that she'll break up with him if he didn't—he forgot. So there it is now, Y/N had just posted the photo five minutes ago. In the picture, she was dressed in a black dress reaching her mid-thigh—the shortness of the fabric showcasing her toned legs that had Harry's heart thumping. The low-cut style showed ample cleavage and her hair was styled to perfection. She was holding a drink with her right hand —a Malibu bay breeze —Harry remembers because it was her favourite beverage to drink whenever they went out. He recalls the last few good months of their relationship before he single-handedly decided that they broke up because his disloyalty ate him up inside and it was much easier for him to say that it was over instead of talking to her about it.

What cracked his heart just a teensy bit was that Y/N's left hand wrapped around the back of Alan's neck, pulling him in for a sweet kiss. Both of them are smiling into it, genuinely enjoying each other's company. Giving him that gentle, but a loving kiss that Harry always wanted to receive from her. Alan's hands were wrapped around her waist carefully holding her as if she was the most ethereal thing in the world like Harry did.

He swipes to the next photo. In this one, Y/N was smiling brightly to Alan, looking proud of herself. And Alan was, well, he was laughing; the camera 'probably captured the moment when Y/N told one of her silly jokes', as Harry did. Harry laughed at her jokes because they were so bad that he felt empathic for her, he never wanted to see a pout on her face, so he made sure to at least chuckle regardless of how cringy it was. He was glad to see her smiling especially after what he did to her. He was teetering on the edge of regret and pridefulness because his life right now is kind of sullen without her, but his ego wouldn't let himself fall through the emotional stage. The one where he cried over his stupidity.

While he overlooks the rest of her post, he realizes how happy she looked in each one of them whereas he always had to muster a fake or not-so-genuine smile for his own photos. Her eyes glimmered brightly indicating that she's probably moved on from his ass, while his life spiralled downhill with Irene. Alan was making her smile like Harry did before he decided that she wasn't worth the self-satisfaction of a successful career. Taking her out, like Harry did before he decided that it was too much of a hassle on that day and he'd thought that she was always gonna be around at the end of the day anyway, scampering for his attention. He was dancing with her like Harry did before his image clouded his love for her and thought that being seen with her lowered the chances of his popularity. Alan was there for her when Harry wasn't; when all she needs were a few back rubs to relieve her of the stress of schoolwork weighing on her shoulders or encouraging words that made her believe in herself and what she could do. When all she needed were a few notes scribbled hastily to reassure her that he still cared enough to alert her of where he went. When he still kissed her softly because he was too afraid to bother her sleeping figure while he smiled delicately.

Slowly, Harry figures it out himself: why his heart was achey all of a sudden, why his stomach twisted and turned from the events he was seeing, why something deep inside of him wanted to knock on Alan's door and tell him to stay away from Y/N because the only person who she should be with was him. And maybe she doesn't deserve to be with his head ass, jerk-self, but Harry can't help but feel possessive over his ex, regardless if they broke up eight months ago. Was he allowed to feel this way?

It had been three hours after his moment of realization. His brain hurt from thinking, wondering, and ruminating if his heart fluttering meant that he still held something for her or if his brain hurt because of Y/N running around his mind constantly. He remembers the remnants left in their relationship, he remembers the happiest moments, but what's highlighted was probably the worst. If he tried hard enough—which wasn't hard at all since it's embedded in his mind, Harry could see Y/N's face crumbling from catching him and Irene fucking in that washroom. It hurts him personally to even think about it.

Seeing Y/N enjoying life without him had him dizzy. A complete 180. He wanted it back, he wanted it all back because he didn't know what their love meant before, how joyful they both were with each other, but now he does. The love of his life; Y/N.

Alan was loving her—like Harry still does.

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