Monthly Reads | August 2019
Oh, look, it’s the 28th again!
Celebrating the launch of Gucci’s new fragrance and the fantastic new pics I had to reread Landslide. Other than that there are 21 fics in this list - and like always: so many thanks go out to all the amazing authors in this fandom who share their stories with us! ♥
Landslide | aimmyarrowshigh , spibsy (lucy_and_ramona) | historical - 1970s - cults - undercover - psychological drama - racism - period typical attitudes - internalized homophobia - PTSD - and more…please read all the tags carefully - 143k
The year is 1976. In November, Jimmy Carter will take control of the White House. Americans are meeting Laverne & Shirley at their apartment in Milwaukee. Hotel California diverges from the reign of Kool & the Gang. And the FBI is still reeling from the repercussions of Watergate, the tragedy at Wounded Knee, Operation Family Secrets, and the strategic terrors of the anti-cult movement.
That’s what Special Agent Harry Styles has been told is the basis of his mission to an abandoned farmhouse in rural New Hampshire.
With his hair grown out long and his shirt untucked, he’s going undercover to do reconnaissance on suspected cult leader Louis Tomlinson, who has led a group of people out into the middle of nowhere, leaving no record of the life he’d had before. All Harry knows is what the agency gave him: Tomlinson’s name, and instructions to figure out what he’s doing with the eleven people he brought with him.
In the year that Harry spends undercover and under Louis Tomlinson’s wing, he learns more than he ever expected.
I Drove All Night (To Get To You) | lovelarry10 | famous/not famous - strangers to lovers - pining - fluff - 23k
Harry’s job as a chauffeur for the rich and famous was not as flashy as he’d thought. Late nights having to listen to the ridiculous demands and whims of these high profile clients leaves him disheartened with the world he thought was all glitz and glamour.
One night his boss asks him a favour. To collect one last client before he clocks off. Only problem is when that client gets into the car it’s Louis Tomlinson. As in Harry’s all time crush. As in future husband and father of all his children Louis Tomlinson.
He can be cool and professional, right?
Traffic Light | dinosaursmate | Traffic Light Party - smut - friends with benefits - 7k
Harry, a university student fresh out of a relationship, attends a Traffic Light Party. He knew all about the red, yellow and green cups, but the blue one confuses him. What does DTF mean, anyway?
Down On the Farm | kingsofeverything (FullOnLarrie) | bonfires - farm/ranch - smut - 5k
Every Friday night there’s a steady cloud of dust
That leads back to a field filled with pickup trucks
Got old Hank crankin’, way up loud
Got coolers in the back, tailgates down
There’s a big fire burnin’ but don’t be alarmed
It’s just country boys and girls gettin’ down on the farm
— “Down On the Farm” by Tim McGraw
Driving On The Wrong Side, Thinking Of You | dinosaursmate | Marcel AU - implied/ referenced homophobia - High School AU - friends to lovers - promiscuity - 25k
Louis is the most popular guy in sixth form. Don’t get the wrong idea, he’s a good guy, and he absolutely won’t stand for his friends teasing his neighbour, Marcel.
Restless Lane | jaerie | a/b/o - secret identity - childhood friends - secrets - friends to lovers - angst - 14k
Louis had grown used to his boring life back in Mississippi as a stand-in father figure to his siblings. He never expected his childhood friend to show up on his lawn with the heat of summer or that he would remind Louis how much of himself he’d tucked away and neglected. He also never expected to find himself caught up in a tangled web of feelings or secrets that just might break him. Maybe he had never known Harry at all.
Waiting for the tides to meet | nauticalleeds (metamorphosis) | soulmates - pining - miscommunication - angst - fluff - friends to lovers - slow burn - 60k
Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate’s. It’s only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he’ll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis’ workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis’ heart.
Featuring a lovely cup of OT5, a road trip down the coast, and a scene where Harry eats a whole head of lettuce. Don’t ask why.
If I Stay | Rearviewdreamer | Walk In The Clouds AU - fake/pretend relationship - mpreg - slow burn - 37k
Harry and Louis agree to a temporary arrangement that Harry can’t seem to walk away from no matter how many times he tries.
Mirror Touch | pinky_heaven19 | Synesthesia - hurt/comfort - fluff - pining - strangers to lovers - 58k
The one where Harry owns a second-hand clothing store, and Louis is a radio host. Louis has mirror-touch synesthesia, which makes him experience what people around him feel. He feels a lot around Harry.
In Your Black Heart (Is Where You’ll Find Me) | graceling_in_a_suit | a/b/o - omega/omega - pirates - historical - 36k
Louis Tomlinson has been lying for five years. His crew sees him as a pirate, a Captain, and an alpha; only two of those are the truth. He was content to let the illusion go on forever, but an omega named Harry Styles just had to join his crew and get his warm-vanilla stink all over Louis’ best laid plans.
Or: the story of The Captain and The Carpenter.
Supposed to Be | kikikryslee | High School - stereotypes - enemies to friends to lovers - slow burn - hate to love - 26k
The Geek Charming AU where Harry’s a film geek, Louis’ a popular jock, and they both need each other to get what they want.
When i’m set alight | mixedfandomfics | teacher AU - hate to love - misunderstandings - 14k
Louis and Harry hate each other. Always have, always will. No one is quite sure how they will handle it when their favorite students ask them to lead a new LGBT club at their school.
Breathe In, Breathe Out | dinosaursmate | friends to lovers - pining - 12k
Louis Tomlinson begins visiting a new pub on his lunch break, mostly because he really fancies Harry, the cute, curly-haired barman. As Louis gears up to ask him out, he doesn’t realise that there is a huge stumbling block in his way: Harry is taken, and by someone rather familiar.
I am mad all about you | godslut | med students - coffe shop - 5k
Harry is a pre-med student trying to quit coffee. louis pretends to be spider-man to make kids laugh.
Welcome Back From The Friend Zone | 2tiedships2 | a/b/o - friends to lovers - fake/pretend relationship - mutual pining - 32k
The one where an idea to create a fake wedding with the sole intent to receive gifts from billionaires took a turn no one, but also everyone, saw coming.
A Life That’s Good (series) | lovelarry10 | fluff - kid fic - adoption - light angst - 66k
Harry and Louis were married young, but always knew that they wanted a family together.
Soon, through adoption, Hope came into their lives, and was later joined by her younger brother Oscar.
Join the Tomlinsons on their journey in family life.
① You’re My Only Hope
Harry and Louis have been hoping to start a family for a while, but it hasn’t happened for them just yet. With the surprise arrival of a newborn baby on the doorstep at work, are their family dreams about to become reality?
② Tiny Dancer
It’s Hope’s first ballet recital, and Harry and Louis are more than excited to watch their four year old daughter perform for the first time.
③ Who You Are
Things are going wonderfully for Harry and Louis. Their family has never been stronger. When a connection to their son’s past appears out of nowhere, it makes them wonder what lies ahead for the future of their family.
④ We Got Love
Harry and Louis thought their family was complete. They were wrong.
⑤ Follow Your Arrow
Hope has a crush, but she’s scared to tell her parents, especially Louis. Harry helps her figure out how to break the news to her other dad, who is ultimately nothing but wonderful.
⑥ Summer Love
The Tomlinsons are off on a summer holiday before it’s time for everything to change…
Night Changes | colourexplosion | soulmates - supernatural elements - werewolves - light angst - 40k
Louis and Harry are soulmates. (With a twist.)
From The Heart | jacaranda_bloom | coffee shop AU - 25k
Every Tuesday, Louis spends his day off holed up in his favorite coffee-come-bookshop, writing his little stories as part of the WordPlay challenge while daydreaming about the resident barista, Harry. Each week a new word prompt is revealed and Louis adds to his series of short stories about Henry, the owner of a B&B in the Cotswolds who has curly hair and dimples, Lewis, his long term guest who just happens to be a writer, and Tigger, Henry’s cat.
As Louis and Harry’s friendship develops, could his fantasy world spill out into real life? And how does that reader who leaves the lovely comments with the teacup emoji seem to be able to read Louis’ mind?
① Henry and Lewis
Louis hangs out in his local coffee shop to work on his weekly WordPlay Prompt, speaks to his beloved muse aka Harry the gorgeous barista, embarrasses himself in front of said muse, and receives a comment on AO3 from his favourite reader.
② Smuturday
Louis struggles with this week’s WordPlay prompt before finding inspiration, and a date, in an unexpected place, and could there be more going on with his favourite reader than he originally thought.
③ Tea For Two
Louis grapples with what to do about his new found suspicions over his favourite readers real-life identity.
④ Life Imitating Art
Louis is taken on a very real journey through his fic back catalogue - life has never imitated art so salaciously.
⑤ Entertain Me
All good things must come to an end, including the WordPlay challenge. But while Louis has mixed emotions about its end, and struggling to make sense of the final prompt, he is relishing every aspect of his newly revitalised personal life.
