Bite My Tongue (Harry Styles AU)

"Harry, do you even know what we're lookin' for?" Zayn asked me as we walked down the windy streets of Detroit.

We here here for a final appointment with David Lange, co-founder and CEO of Mid-City Records. We were going to be signing the recording contract and meet our manager, who was from a smaller branch off the company, ran by the other co-founder, Misty Price. Misty spent most of her time running Price Management, but worked together with David to select managers from both companies to work with the bands.

I had been in Detroit numerous times on small US tours with my last band, Atmosphere. I left to pursue a different sound since the way the other lads were going towards harder rock wasn't what I wanted. Liam and Lou are still extremely close friends of mine, though. Despite all those times in the city, I had never been in this part of downtown.

I looked down the street at all the grey buildings and snow-covered pavement. It was nearing the end of February, but it was still freezing cold. On the streets, you could see people scraping ice off their windows and exhaust swirling out of the tail pipes. Up beyond the skyscrapers, the sky was a dark grey, but down below at eye level, the snow was so bright that it reflected everywhere you looked. As the white turned darker and darker as it went up, much like an ombre effect, it wasn't a stark contrast, but never the less, all I had to do was find the neon sign of the tattoo shop the record company was by.

I looked back at Zayn to see Perrie huddled up at his side, rubbing her hands together. Why she wore shorts when this weather was worse than back home, I had no idea. "David said it was right beside a shop with a neon sign, to the left of it, I believe."
"Well, when the bloody hell are we gonna get there, then?" Perrie asked. I could hear the aggravation in her voice and the jolt of her movement as she punched her fish towards the ground.
"We're on Smith, which is the street. We just have to find- aha!" I exclaimed, taking a sharp turn to my right to open the door to the building. I let my mates walk into the lobby before I did, to which Perrie marched right up to the desk in the center of the room and stated our business. She liked to take control when she was irritated.

"Jacoby, could I have you up here at reception please? To take a band back to Mr. Lange. Just hurry up." Sophie, as her tag read, said into the receiver of the telephone that sat on her desk. "Our intern will be right up to bring you back."
"Thanks," I mumbled as I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets and looked around the room at the trendy decor. It didn't appeal to me much. I was more into a randomly put together, earthy, minimalistic kind of vibe than all the vibrant, stand-out colors that were used in the scheme. I was assuming that I wouldn't be too at peace with the rest of the building if it was anything remotely similar to what the lobby looked like.

After having signed a significant amount of paper work with David, we were all sat on the couch, rather closely I might add, and waited on the manager. David left to go fetch her from somewhere else in the building, but beyond the matte, opaque glass that walled his office, the four of us watched as he took a right out of the door and walked along the wall until he got to the very end and stood still, his posture changing as he leaned against something.

I could see the top of someone's head just over a cubicle wall through a three inch clear stripe in the glass, but I couldn't hear anything, not that it was any of my business, but people interested me. When Jacoby walked us in here, I definitely didn't expect for him to be working in a place like this, but then again, neither did Perrie because she asked about his appearance. That girl didn't know the meaning of the word "boundaries", I swear.

He had told her that he had worked in a shop across town tattooing since he was nineteen. He said that after eight years, he wanted to switch it up for awhile and get into the music industry before going back to it full-throttle at a later date, although he still did appointments on weekends and Wednesdays, when he had off since he was pretty renowned around the area.

Jacoby had long dreadlocks that went down to the middle of his back, but had them tied back with a large band. He was tall and lanky, but tan, like he'd just gotten out of the sun after a long day at the beach. He had freckles on his cheekbones and his eyes were a bright blue that caught all of our attention because they looked like contacts, but somehow, we knew they weren't. He was wearing a regular old white t-shirt with a pair of tan jeans that hugged his legs, much like what Niall wore half the time. On his feet were a pair of TOMS and Perrie couldn't help but whisper to Zayn that he should get a scarf like the one Jacoby was wearing; it was looped around his neck in a large ring and was a dark olive green color that was knitted tightly together.

After David had come into the office, once again, a few moments later, a woman came in and stood awkwardly by the door. Her looks were unmistakable. If you were to see her on the street one day and then see her in a coffee shop three weeks later, you'd recognize her almost instantly, even if you hadn't paid much attention to her the first time you saw her, as if she was just a passer by.

I watched as her eyes danced over each of us, starting with Perrie at the other end of the sofa. I took this time to examine her from head to toe, to admire her simplistic beauty. She had dark chocolate hair with bits of blonde in it that went down to right below her clavicle. Her lips were plump and full, but no lipstick rested on them; even so, the light red complimented the pale pigment of her skin. Her bright blue eyes were lined with dark makeup, but it didn't look bad. In fact, it made them stand out implicitly. In the middle of her nose, there was a black captive ring through the small flap of skin between her two nostrils. Her build was small, but she wasn't stick thin or frail looking. She had meat on her bones, but as if she worked out and ran a lot. She looked like she'd come to right below my shoulder if I was standing next to her.

My eyes were immediately drawn to her toned thighs where a pair of distressed jeans hugged the limb. They were tight all the way down her legs, leading to a pair of ruggedy, old grey sneakers that were undoubtedly made by Converse. Her top was a knitted lace blouse that buttoned up the back, but was loose. It was shorter in the front, showing off a bit of her stomach, but longer in the back, covering her bum. It had a scoop neck, much like the shirt Niall was wearing beside me, and the sleeves were quarter-length, looking like loose, cloth bells hanging from her shoulders. There was what looked like a cropped tank top beneath it that stopped right at the bottom of her ribcage. She had a long leather loop hanging around her neck. At the bottom of the loop, there was an owl pendant with a black stone that I didn't recognize and a turquoise bead. Her fingers were adorned with small rings.

I noticed the tattoos on her arms. From just looking at her, she didn't strike me as one to have tattoos, but everything comes with surprises, right? There was what looked like a black and grey fox on the inside of her right forearm and some brightly colored piece on her right shoulder and bicep, but I couldn't make out what it was. I saw a portrait of a young girl's face on her left forearm. I wondered how many more she had.

When she looked at me, I saw her face go blank for a few moments before she studied me the same way I had her. Her facial expressions changed as she went from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. She reached her arm across her chest to the spot right below her elbow on the back side of her forearm. She rubbed her skin with her fingertips and there was a slight crinkle noise as she did, like there was plastic or paper covering it.

I felt this overwhelming feeling inside me, lust almost. But it wasn't a lust that needed to be sated by sexual nature. It was a lust and a longing to be a part of her life. I knew she was going to be our manager and there were limits and that just fueled the desire further. I wanted her to yell at me when I did something foolish or wrong after an interview. I wanted her to sit down with me and tell me what I could do to improve my performances. I wanted to please her and cherish every moment I had with her.

It was an attraction that I couldn't explain. It was like a fire that was ignited deep in my belly that deemed impossible to extinguish. I winked at her and I knew at that moment that I was in for trouble, a lot of trouble.

Notes