rb: LostInPappers

Warnings: a swear word or two

Word count: 2,070

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If someone were to ask you to describe Harry in one word, you'd probably say "rude". Or "man-child". Or maybe even "self-centered". See, he hasn't been the prettiest dandelion in the field-- even though he's definitely a ten in your book based purely on looks-- because since day one he's always been mean to you.

Why? Hell, you'd like to know the answer to that question as well. Sure, you and Harry always seemed to rub each other the wrong way but he was the nastiest out of the two of you; always having something to say about your clothes, your hair, and even having something to throw at you. Granted most of the time it was paper but still, it's gotten extremely annoying.

And today was the worst day that Harry could make fun of you. Your apartment had gotten a blackout during the night which meant your alarm clock didn't ring to wake you up. Then you ran out of coffee and hopelessly kept running back inside to grab things that you had forgotten. So not only are you late to class but you're incredibly tired as well.

Harry better keep his trick-ass mouth shut.

Arriving late to class is never a good thing but arriving late to class in college is worse. You hate that heavy feeling in your gut when you walk into a room and everyone stares at you. You were practically cutting off circulation with how tightly you were crossing your fingers-- praying that Harry would leave you the hell alone today. But, of course, luck was never on your side.

As soon as you walked through the door, it was almost as if he had thrown his smirk at you. And to make matters worse, the only available seat was directly in front of him. You try to stifle your groan as you sit down on the chair and quickly set yourself up with your notepads and laptop.

Then, a tap on the shoulder.

Lord, grant me patience.

Tap, tap.

"What?" You whisper, not even turning around.

"Love the new hairstyle." Harry whispers behind you, then he leans forward so that his lips are just beside your ear, "I didn't think bird nest was in style this season."

Your hand swats his face away from you but all that does is earn a breathy chuckle from him. You have to fight the temptation to roll your eyes.

"Now, pay attention." Calls the teacher at the front of the classroom, "I'm going to call out your partner names because, yes, the next assignment must be done with a partner. So listen carefully; Tucker and Jones, Stevens and Eldridge, Styles and (Y/l/n)."

The teacher continues to call out student names but as soon as you hear yours paired with his, you about choke on your own salvia. Another breathy chuckle sounds behind you.

"That excited to be my partner, huh?" Harry says.

You try to ignore him as you gather your things but end up dropping nearly all of it on the floor, making you have to get off of your chair to grab it all.

"Are you always such an idiot," Harry asks, "or do you just show off when I'm around?"

"You know what, Styles." You say, turning around and pressing your palms into his desk, "If I wanted to hear from an asshole, I'd fart."

The student beside Harry-- a friend of his, you think, you've never really payed much attention-- immediately bursts out into laughter. You expect Harry to bite back with some nasty insult or even show a surprised expression, but instead he just keeps his arms crossed at his chest and smiles at you. A thoughtful smile. It puts you on edge.

You try to ignore him for the rest of class but he finds you again when you're walking down the hallway, heading to your next class. He perks up once he sees you and almost jumps into the air to grab your attention.

"Hey, partner!" He calls.

This time you can't hold back your groan.

"What?" You ask, as Harry makes his way over to you.

"Now, now. There's no need to be fiesty. We are partners now, after all."

"Just tell me what you want, Harry."

"You."

His words almost about knock you off of your feet.

"Excuse me?" You ask, hand on your chest.

"You and me." Harry continues, "We have to study for our assignment, so when are you free?"

Oh. Oh, right. Of course. Duh.

"Um, well I have other classes and clubs today." You say.

"So, in the evening?" Harry asks.

"Sure. Whatever."

"Cool. See you at the library then, partner."

Harry winks at you and then he's gone, and you finally let out the breath you hadn't realized you had been holding.

It was the weirdest thing how fast the time flew that day. You had been admiring the time you had to yourself without any snarky comments from Harry, but before you knew it it was the evening and you were standing at the front of the library, glancing around to see if he was already here and seated.

When you don't see him, you decide to choose a table yourself and opt for the one at the far back next to all the bookshelves. It's pretty much hidden from sight of anyone and everyone else, which in hindsight is the absolute worst place you could pick to be alone with your bully, but you don't want anyone gossiping about how you and Harry Styles are studying together. About the whole school knows of his insults towards you.

And then suddenly the time got very slow. A minute felt like a lifetime and you were almost ready to grab your things and run; anxiety creeping up your fingers and into your pulse at the thought of having to spend time with Harry. And you almost did manage to escape before wispy brunette hair came into view.

"Going to make a run for it?" Harry asks with a smile.

"I unfortunately didn't get the chance." You sigh, slowly putting your notebooks back onto the table.

Harry shrugs his backpack off of his shoulder with a chuckle and sits down directly next to you. Typical. Of all the chairs at the table, he had to pick the one closest to you. Oh, this is going to be one hell of a study date. Wait, ew, no. Not a date. Anything but a date!

"You okay?" Harry asks, snapping you back into reality.

"Peachy. Let's just get this over with." You say.

"Fine by me."

That evening was spent with many notes, many crumpled up pieces of paper, and many, many arguments. Harry had to make fun of how your notes are structured and made obvious his humor in regards to how many highlighters you own. Then in return, you had to argue with how disorganized he was and how many sticks of gum he had chewed within the first hour of studying.

It was just as you expected it to be; absolutely horrific. Anything, absolutely anything, would be better than sitting in the library with Harry Styles. And the two of you barely had anything written down for your assignment as every idea turned into an argument. It got to the point where all the lights were turning off and the library was almost completely empty.

"Look, this just isn't working." You say.

"Obviously." Harry speaks.

"We should just ask the teacher for a reassignment of partner."

Quiet. All of the sudden, the whole room was quiet.

"You really hate me that much?" Harry suddenly asks.

That would have been about the tenth time that day the words Harry spoke to you almost knocked you over. It just happened. He just said it out of nowhere and you found it hard to respond.

"Well, no." You sigh, "I don't hate you but I seriously dislike you."

"How come?" Harry asks.

You almost scoff.

"How come? Wow, Harry I'm sure even someone with as low as an IQ as you can figure that one out."

You turn to face him and are met with blank eyes. Harry just stares at you as if he has absolutely no idea what you're talking about. He can't seriously not know, can he?

Then, darkness. All the lights in the library suddenly turn off and you can't see anything for a minute.

"W-wait," You almost shout, standing up from the table, "we're still in here!"

You're met with silence and that's when the panic kicks in. You quickly run over to the front doors of the library and push them to open, but they don't open. With worry, you try pulling them instead. They still won't open. Then you run over to the countertop and try to find any of the librarians but there's no one in sight. No one except you and Harry.

"No, no. This can't be happening." You say.

"It's not that big of a deal." Harry says, having followed you before, "We'll be let out in the morning."

"Harry, I'm not being trapped in the library with you."

"Why? You won't be able to keep your hands off of me?"

"As a matter of fact, no."

Harry's lips snap shut. He wasn't expecting that.

"I won't be able to keep my hands from ringing your neck." You say.

Harry rolls his eyes.

"Kinky." He says loudly.

"Shut the hell up." You groan, walking past him to go back to the table.

You don't get far before his hand reaches out and clasps around your wrist.

"Why do you dislike me?" He asks.

"What?" You say, a bit frustrated at how he's just grabbed you.

"You said that you seriously dislike me. Why?"

"Harry, it's pretty obvious." You mock laugh, "You tease me all the time. You don't hesitate to put me down any chance you get. Now ask yourself why I seriously dislike you."

Harry's eyes divert toward the floor. An uncomfortable silence wraps around you both and you feel like you have to run. You just need to get the hell out of here. You manage to shuffle your wrist free from his hold but just as you turn around, he suddenly calls out to you:

"Maybe it's because I like you."

You stop dead in your tracks. Your brain can't even register what he's just said. Like you? Harry Styles likes you? What kind of sick joke is this? Ashton Kutcher, where the hell are you?

"Can you just stop making fun of me for once in your life?" You call back without turning around.

"I'm being serious." Harry says.

"Sure you are."

"I am."

"Harry, that makes literal to no sense." With a sigh you finally turn around, but then gasp as Harry is now standing in front of you.

You hadn't even heard him move.

"I like you." He says again.

It's hard to pick up on any facial expressions in the dark of the library, but you can hear him fidgeting. It's actually always been a nervous habit of his. The nervous habit? Chewing on his gum.

"Stop chewing. It's gross." You say.

"Would you rather me spit it out?" He asks.

"I'd rather you stop lying to me."

"I've already told you, I'm being serious."

Then he blows out a bubble of gum. Oh, yeah. He's being overly serious.

"Harry," You groan, popping the bubble of gum.

You wanted it to splatter all over his face but it just disappears, and as soon as it does, Harry leans forward and puts his lips on your own.

It's almost unreal, the feel of his lips. They're warm and soft and sticky from the gum. And his eyes are closed. They're shut with a certainty that he knows what he's doing and he doesn't want to stop. And, strangely, you don't want him to.

With a new found confidence in any sort of relation to this absolute jackass who's being teasing you ever since the two of you met, you lean forward and wrap your arms around Harry. Immediately, as if he was waiting for you to make the move, he presses himself to you and deepens the kiss.

Wow. He's a great kisser. This is almost better than the arguing. No. This is definitely better than the arguing.

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A/N: yep. took me forever to figure out how to end this. so there's that.

Next imagine: Bucky Barnes (Marvel)