Harry Styles One Shots

The Other Woman (iii)

Summary: Harry cheat and Y/N sings a song

Warnings: angst

Word Count: 4.2k

Based on: Behind These Hazel Eyes by Kelly Clarkson

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Y/N was a ghost. She stayed at the same hotel as Harry for the next three days, he had a week off. The room she was in was a couple of doors down his own and they'd see each other sometimes. The first time he saw her, he was caught off guard. His thoughts were muddled and he hadn't thought of what to say to her after she visited him that night. Needless to say, he didn't have a speech prepared to woo her back into his life.

The second time it happened, he stopped her by calling out her name. Her feet stayed planted on the carpeted hallway, giving him a few moments to say something—anything, yet he resembled a goldfish, gaping at her red-rimmed eyes. He felt guilty, even more so because she was right there in the same place as he was and he couldn't comfort her, he couldn't do anything to make her feel loved again. The pain he was feeling surely wasn't up to par with hers.

She huffed at him, Harry realizing that he hadn't spoken in a good minute or two. His eyes watched as she turned on her heels heading towards the elevator, away from him. He tried to move, he really did but his legs stayed firm and he couldn't do anything but watch helplessly as she strayed farther and farther away from him. He got the sense to move his dense lower body right as she stepped into the lift, he ran to her when she pressed the 'close' button repeatedly, and the doors shut gently just as he approached them, leaving another barrier between him and his love. He swallowed hard, another missed opportunity on his part.

——

They never officially broke up, but it felt like they did because while Harry was ruminating about getting Y/N back, regretting his actions to the maximum, Y/N was mourning the agony she felt in her heart. He wrote in his journal every day; his thoughts taking form in sentences, songs, and even poems. Harry considered heartbreak as a muse for art. It had a way of bridging the physiological pain to something objectifiable; something people could see. It was a notion that he could mould into something completely his own— no one could tell him how or what to feel because it was out there for people to see. And in his darkest times, maybe he needed a second opinion. Usually, he'd have someone contradicting his point of view just so he could make his work stronger, sturdier. Except he didn't need that now. Everything he thought was true. He was a jerk, he cheated, and now he regretted everything. He didn't appreciate Y/N when she was still his and no matter whom he asked who had knowledge of their relationship; he was sure that not one person would deny his words. No one would say that it wasn't his fault because it was.

It was different for Y/N. The media had targeted her ever since she started her career, ever since she released her first single and when she received positive support from her upcoming fans, the media had countless criticisms about her work. And no, they did not give her the benefit of the doubt that she could grow and mature— that she could evolve into a better artist. She had trouble accepting who she was, what kind of person she wanted to be seen has always influenced her. The media had no mercy, they judged her fiercely with no empathy and through time, she learned to brush it off.

Harry's affair was a heist for the articles and the magazines. While her fans defended her, the news twisted everything to the point where it was ridiculous. The timeline they'd produced said that Y/N was cheating on Harry while he was on tour. That it was the perfect opportunity for her to 'get down and dirty' because he wasn't there to keep a tight leash on her. She scoffed at that part, she could control herself. Then, they created a rumour that Harry found about it because she broke up with him through text, adding a snide comment that she was probably going to use this publicity to hit number one on the charts. When the pictures of the woman came out, she was labelled as Harry's 'new girl', and that Y/N was officially out of the picture; after all, tabloids never really accepted her and Harry as a couple, said that he needed someone living a normal life and Y/N wasn't 'the one'. They made fun of her when she was papped crying outside the studio, snarkily remarking that she was tearful because she couldn't handle seeing him with someone else. It was sick and twisted and she reprimanded herself for being so surprised when she saw it.