dreamy | harry styles one-shots

i. the year of magical thinking

featuring college!harry :) 

CWs: grief/death, NSFW content

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Eloise loves coffee. 

She also needs some money flowing into her bank account, because she hates having to ring up her dad every two weeks when she can't afford to pay for gas or go out to dinner with friends. It's not that her dad ever takes issue when she asks—his primary goal for her was to be a student first and get good grades—but she's the one who hates it, so she decides to apply for a few jobs near campus. She has little work experience (she was a camp counselor for two months in the summer before college, and took a waitressing job to make some cash before returning for her sophomore year), but just enough to snag her a barista job at her favorite cafe, Beans on Central. 

It's kind of ideal, really, because the owner primarily hires college students as a way to help them out and keep the spot popular, so her shifts are never too long. The pay is decent, but even if it wasn't, Eloise would still be pleased with a small inflow of cash. She's able to make herself cappuccinos and lattes to get through her shifts and chat with her co-workers, and sometimes even her friends come in and they all joke and laugh and it makes Eloise's day. 

In fact, the first time he comes in is with Eloise's friend, Phoebe. Eloise and Phoebe met in their freshman year of college at one of those annoying, awkward mandatory all-dorm-floor meetings. Phoebe complimented Eloise's tee-shirt and they halfway giggled at their RA's attempt at making the new students feel comfortable. When it came to ice breakers and Phoebe shared a fun fact about herself—"um, I don't know... I named my car after Stevie Nicks?"—Eloise knew she'd found a good friend in the blonde beside her. 

Phoebe was a linguistics major with a minor in humanities, while Eloise studied English, concentrating in creative writing. Eloise didn't exactly get Phoebe's major, but if there's one thing college taught her, it was that everyone has a niche, and linguistics happened to be Phoebe's. Meanwhile, English and creative writing had been a given for Eloise—she'd worked on her high school's newspaper for all four years and found solace in reading. Her college entrance essay had even been a creative piece she'd penned about the difficulties of grieving her mother, who had passed away just a year prior. Thanks to Eloise's glowing recommendations from her teachers and emotional essay, clearly written with passion, she'd been accepted to their university's English program without a second doubt. She just wished her mother could've been there to see her soar.

But most days, Eloise is able to pass the time without dwelling on the major loss of her mother. Her father reminds her frequently that mourning is a process and some days are harder than others, but Eloise works hard to keep her mind occupied, even if it's not always in the best places. 

(That's not to say that she doesn't have healthy coping mechanisms. She does, truly; many of which she learned from the grief counselor her father got her 3 months after her mother passed. She reads and writes and goes on runs and throws herself into her schoolwork and really does her best. But she's also been known to have a few too many beers at the party or go home with a random frat boy who will fuck her hard enough to where she can just focus on the sound of skin slapping on skin. The lucky boy of the night will rarely make her feel good—it's just a distraction, a mediocre one at best, that she's never proud of.) 

Eloise is reading Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking when Phoebe walks up to the cash register, smacking her hands against the surface of the table. 

"El, what did your boss say about reading on the job?" Phoebe teases, making Eloise's head snap up. She rolls her eyes once she realizes who it is, then sticks her bookmark in the spine of the book so she doesn't lose her place.