Ignite.

The rest of March and most of April flew by in a haze of too many homework assignments and tests and papers, as it seemed all my teachers had finally remembered that we’d be graduating in a little over a month. So while I was busy with school and work, Harry had also been slammed with a huge wave of new customers recently. Which was great, I was extremely happy that things were going well for both of us, but it also meant that we hadn’t seen a ton of each other. And quite frankly, that was new for us. It made seeing each other that much nicer though, which is why when my mother informed me that we’d be going to a family reunion on the 25th of April and suggested inviting Harry, I’d practically jumped at the offer.

And Harry had also seemed quite enthused, which was why we were driving a little over an hour away from my house on that sunny April afternoon. The trip was filled with the usual: Harry’s bad jokes, the occasional banter, and another random mix. I’d been helping to lead him with the GPS and all too soon we were pulling up to the sprawling estate. Surprisingly, my Aunt Rebecca’s house was even larger than ours, with a huge swimming pool and tennis court in the backyard.

“I seriously cannot wait for you to meet my grandma, she is literally the cutest woman on the face of the planet. Watch out though, she gets a little handsy when she’s had too much to drink,” I told Harry with a wink as I grabbed my bag and hopped out of the car, taking his outstretched hand.

“Ooh, that always sounds like a good time. Think she’ll touch my bum?” he shot back with a wicked grin, causing me to jab his side lightly with my elbow as we travelled around to the back of the house. A large tent was set up with maybe ten large, circular tables and a few long ones for all the food.

“Maybe if you’re lucky!”

My parents spotted us then and met us by one of the entrances to the tent. They’d come up earlier that morning to help my aunt finish setting everything up.

“Did you find it alright?” my mother asked she pulled Harry into a hug and placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Yep, it was no problem! Jude’s an excellent navigator,” he told her with a wide smile, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. My parents then took us around the tent, introducing Harry to a lot of my family, and consequently reintroducing me to distant aunts and uncles who I rarely saw and had mostly forgotten. My mother was one of six children, and their family lived pretty spread around the country, so it was only fair that I wasn’t obscenely close with all of them. Once we’d made our rounds through the tent, my mother finally told me that my grandparents were helping finish a few things up in the kitchen, so that was our next stop.

“Grandma!” I cried as soon as she was in my sight.

“Oh, is that my Jude?” she called as she spun around, a wide smile taking over her face. My grandmother had lived in California for the past five years, but we’d always been very close. “How are you, Sweetheart?” she cooed as she hugged me tightly before holding me at arm’s length to get a good look at me. “Oh, you look fantastic!”

“Awh, thanks, Grandma! I’m really good, how are you? Still loving Wine Country?” I asked, giving her a scandalous look which she quickly returned.

“Well, what’s not to love, honey? Your grandfather and I actually brought some wine that we made. You’ll have to try it! Oh, and who’s this?” she asked with a raised brow as her eyes drifted over my shoulder to Harry.

“This is my boyfriend, Harry,” I boasted, stepping aside so that she could hug him. He held out his hand for her to shake, but she just shook her head with a small wink before pulling him into a hug and leaving a small kiss on his cheek.

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Harry.”

“It’s lovely to meet you as well,” he chirped, a genuine smile on his face as they pulled apart.

“Look at you, with those dimples, and that hair! You know, Jude’s grandfather used to have a head of hair like yours,” she told him conspiratorially as she nodded over to my grandfather, who was nearly bald at that point. “That’s what hooked me, let me tell you. But anyway, how long have you two been together?” She asked, stepping back and clapping her hands together.

“Erm, officially, I think two months, yeah?” Harry asked, looking to me for confirmation.

“A little over two months, yeah,” I confirmed with a smile, my fingers subconsciously tangling with his again. My grandma was still smiling, her eyes looking knowingly between the two of us.

“Well, that’s lovely! We’re very happy to have you here, Harry. Now, I’ve got to finish helping your grandfather, so why don’t you two go mingle outside, alright?” She shooed us away with a wink, and soon we were headed back into the expansive backyard.

“Jude, Jude!” Two small voices were suddenly shouting, and we both spun around to see two small girls with blonde hair near identical to mine toddling across the yard toward us. Something that probably shouldn’t have taken me by such surprise was the way Harry’s face lit up as the two girls finally reached us and barreled into my arms as I bent down to meet them.

“My girls!” I cheered, holding the twins tightly and placing kisses to the tops of their heads. “How are you, my little dumplings?” And then they both began talking over each other, telling me about an art project that Isabelle was doing in school and some boy who pushed Hanna on the swings during recess. By then they had disentangled themselves from me and Isabelle took notice all the tall, tattooed boy at my side.

“Jude,” the five year old whispered to me, pulling on the end of my dress just a little.

“Yes, Issy?” I whispered back, glancing up to see Harry beaming down at us.

“Who’s that?” she asked rather bluntly, as only five year olds do.

“That’s Harry.” She glanced back and forth between the two of us for a few seconds, trying to figure him out. Then she took a step toward him, but stopped and looked to me again nervously. “You can hug him. He’s very nice,” I encouraged quietly with a small nod. Is looked back to Harry then, her eyes widening as she took another step toward him. He shot her a comforting smile, extending his arms to her a little. And then something flipped in her, and she practically threw herself into his arms, giggling while he pulled her up onto his hip.

“Hi! I’m Isabelle!” she chirped happily, tracing a finger over the large anchor tattooed onto Harry’s wrist.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Isabelle. I’m Harry. And how old are you?”

“I’m five!” she proclaimed loudly, causing Harry to let out an exaggerated gasp.

“Five? You’re practically a dinosaur!” And she just shook her head and giggled, shoving her face into his chest for a second.

“You’re much older than me, so you must be the dinosaur!”

“That is true. You’re quite clever, aren’t you?”

“My teacher says I’m one of the smartest girls in the class!”

“Well see there, I knew it!”

“You have springy hair!” Isabelle called then, her attention always all over the place.

“It is quite springy, isn’t it?”

“Can I touch it?” she asked in awe, her eyes going wide. And Harry was just eating this up.

“Of course you can!” he chirped, tilting his head a little so she could run her tiny fingers through the curls.

“It’s so soft!” she gasped, and soon Hanna had had enough.

“I want to touch it! When’s it going to be my turn?” she huffed, crossing her little arms over her chest. Harry nodded quickly then, crouching down to set Is back on the ground and then beckoning Hanna over. Hanna then did the same as Isabelle, running her hands through his hair a few times and happily agreeing that it was indeed “so soft”. “Can we braid it, Harry?” Hanna asked excitedly, and I couldn’t help but laugh at that one. Because I would have loved to see them braid his hair.

“Maybe later, yeah, girls? Still have to meet a few people and I don’t think they’d take me very seriously with braids in my hair.” They seemed to find this a viable excuse though, and then they were distracted as Alfie, the family golden retriever, tore out of the house and bounded all around the backyard. So naturally, it didn’t take them long to go after him.

“Well, well, well. Harry Styles likes kids,” I joked as he turned to me, a hopeful smile on his face.

“Are you kidding? I love kids. And those two are absolutely adorable!”

“Not to mention in love with you already.”

“What can I say? It’s the curls, really,” he said with shrug before taking my hand and asking where we should go next. So I suggested we take a look at the pool and see who was hiding out in the cabana. As expected, as we rounded into the pool area, I found that the only people in the cabana were my three cousins who were in their late twenties. It seemed Christian, Mark, and Tyler only used the family reunions as an excuse to sit and drink in the cabana, ignoring the rest of the family.

“Knew I’d find you three back here pretending the rest of us don’t exist,” I jeered as Harry and I stepped into the cabana.

“Jelly Bean!” the oldest, Christian, called as he hopped up from his seat and pulled me into his arms, spinning me around a few times. The other two were also quick to say hello, and then all eyes were on Harry.

“And who are you?” Mark asked, his arms crossing over his chest. I rolled my eyes a little at the looks they were all giving him, and I was quick to smack Mark’s arm.

“Play nice. This is Harry, my boyfriend,” I told them proudly.

“Oh, boyfriend? Byron’s letting you date finally?” Tyler jeered, a smirk on his lips, to which I simply shrugged.

“I’m eighteen now, he can’t keep me in the tower forever.” Everyone laughed and they shook Harry’s hand, offering him smiles, but there was still that air of protectiveness around them.

“I’ll go grab you guys drinks. Stella okay, Harry?” Christian offered, already heading out of the cabana.

“Yeah, that’s great, thanks,” Harry called to him before I took his hand again and led him to one of the large chairs. I pushed him down onto one before settling in his lap, hoping the closeness would help calm his nerves. And it seemed to work as he let out a small relieved sigh, placing one hand lightly on my waist and the other on the arm of the chair. The other boys asked me questions about how school was going, waiting to grill Harry until Christian got back.

“You are old enough, right?” Christian asked once he returned, holding the Stella out to Harry and handing me a Solo cup full of something.

“‘M twenty-one, yeah,” Harry replied with a nod as he took the bottle. I nearly choked on my first sip, the back of my throat burning as I forced the liquid down.

“Jesus, Christian, what the hell is that, straight rubbing alcohol?” I gasped, holding the cup away from me. But Christian just barked out a laugh, telling me to man up. I held the cup out to Harry for his opinion and while he didn’t choke on it like I had, there was a deep grimace on his face as he swallowed. So my cup was set on the table and Harry gave me a sip of his Stella to help get the taste out of my mouth.

“So what do you do, Harry?” Mark asked, his look challenging as he eyed the two of us, and I could already feel my smile beginning to form.

“I own a record store with my mate, Noah,” Harry came back confidently. And well, that always got a nice reaction from people.

“You own it? That’s so sick. Where’d you go to school?” Tyler fired off.

“I didn’t, actually. Just erm, took a year off after I graduated high school and then we decided to open the shop.” I placed my hand on Harry’s, which had slowly moved from my waist to my thigh without my cousins noticing, and gave it a small, reassuring squeeze.

“Whoa, how’d your parents take that one, Jude?” Tyler asked, his eyes falling to me, but I simply shrugged.

“My dad was a little ‘meh’ about it until he heard that Harry had a business and then he did the whole ‘I’m impressed’ thing, so-“

“You’re set then,” Christian cut in a with a small chuckle, and Harry had to bite back a grin as he tangled his fingers with mine.

The five of us ended up staying in the cabana for a few hours, chatting aimlessly about this and that in between the boys getting to know Harry. Christian never offered to go make me another drink and frankly, I was far too comfortable in Harry’s lap, so he just kept sharing his Stella with me. Soon enough though, we were being beckoned to the tent for dinner, and that was where I found Henry, a beautiful brunette in tow. The beautiful brunette turned out to be Alina, Henry’s secret girlfriend. Throughout the course of dinner we all got to know her pretty well and found out that she was also going to Drexel, though she was on scholarship for their Business program. And then once dinner was over, my cousins immediately wanted to go back to the cabana, no surprise, and they’d insisted that Harry and Henry come along with them. Unfortunately, just as Alina and I were getting into a conversation, my parents were calling me over to regale some relatives with the story of my near perfect grades. Alina and I promised we’d find each other later though, and before I could even begin to feel bad for leaving her alone, my grandmother had swooped in to speak with her.

—

My grandmother and I were sitting at a corner table in the tent as the sun was going down, sipping slowly on some of the wine she’d brought with her — which was amazing, by the way — as Harry chased Isabelle and Hanna around the yard. Squeals of delight were coming from the two girls as they scrambled away from him, and he stomped around making dinosaur noises.

“He’s a very charming young man,” my grandmother spoke, her eyes trained to the three of them out in the yard. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as I took another sip of my wine.

“He really is,” I murmured dreamily.

“Quite good with children, too. How’s his relationship with his mother?” I quirked a brow at the question, but shook my head a little before answering.

“It’s amazing. They’re so, so close and he treats her like a queen. Much better than that of my own,” I replied, and she let out a small chuckle.

“Yes, well, your mother’s always been very…high-strung,” she chuckled and I couldn’t help but join her because that was definitely one word for it. “That’s good though. I’ve always thought that a good judge of character is how they are with children and how they are with their mothers. And he treats you well?” she asked, her eyes falling to me expectantly.

“He treats me amazingly, really. Always makes sure I have what I need, always takes care of me.” I could feel the blush creeping onto my cheeks as I continued to grin.

“And he makes you happy?” Hanna let out a shriek then as Harry scooped her into his arms, rolling gently to the grass so that she was left sitting on his stomach as he began tickling her sides.

“Unbelievably happy.”

“Don’t let him go then.” I turned to face her then because honestly, that was kind of a bold statement to make to an eighteen year old. “I know you’re young still, but I knew with your grandfather when I was that young. There’s so much love that’s been wasted and if you’re lucky enough to find it, you should hold onto it.” We sat in silence for a few minutes after that and I let the words sink in. I was extremely lucky to have someone like Harry in my life, and I knew I didn’t want to let him go. But I was still eighteen, and that was terrifying.

“Jude, help me!” Harry wailed suddenly, and my eyes snapped back over to where he was now being attacked by the two small girls and I couldn’t help but shake my head with a smirk.

“I suppose I should go take care of that,” I said with a sigh as I stood up, brushing off the front of my dress.

“I suppose you should. Oh, and Jude?” she called as I started out of the tent, causing me to turn back to her with raised eyebrows. “Do what makes you happy, don’t worry about everyone else.” I nodded back with a smile before striding over to the three on the ground. Harry was still sprawled out on his back, but both girls were on top of him now, throwing tiny, weak punches to his chest. But of course, ever the dramatic, Harry was letting out big whooshes of breath and flailing around like they were actually doing damage, and that had the two of them in a fit of giggles. I was just about to help him out when I spotted Alina sitting alone at the pool, her legs swinging idly back and forth in the water. And well, that called on my attention more than Harry at that moment.

“Sorry, babe, you got yourself into this one!” I chirped as I bypassed the scuffle and headed for the pool.

“Oh, thanks!” Harry called, but then he got his second wind and sprung up into a sitting position, effectively knocking the girls to the ground before he lurched for Isabelle and began ticking her as Hanna tried to climb on his back. I shook my head with a smirk at all the noise behind me as I slipped my shoes off and sat down next to Alina.

“What’re you doing out here by yourself?” I asked, swishing the wine around in my glass. She flashed me a polite smile as she gave a small shrug.

“Just a bit overwhelming, y’know?” I gave her a curious look because yeah, family reunions could be overwhelming sometimes, but I hadn’t thought ours was. “It’s just, I didn’t come from a very wealthy family, and then coming here everything is so lavish and everyone’s all decked out. I mean, everyone’s been absolutely lovely! It’s just a little intimidating. Kinda feel like I don’t measure up,” she said softly, her eyes falling back to the water in front of us. I felt sort of bad then, because I’d never really felt intimidated by anyone from my family, and Harry seemed to handle everybody extremely well. But then again, Harry was well off too.

“Alina, you absolutely measure up. Seriously, one of the biggest factors for accepting new people in my family is how they treat others. And I know Henry really, really likes you. He talks about you all the time, and my family knows that. Plus, my grandmother thinks you’re amazing, and she really runs this ship, so you’re in the clear. I promise you, they don’t think any less of you because of your financial status.”

“Thanks, Jude. That means a lot,” she said with a soft smile, bumping her shoulder into mine. “Henry doesn’t talk about me that much, does he?”

“Oh god, all the time, it’s adorable! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this into a girl before! Agh, and just the way he looks at you. He kept stealing all these cute little glances during dinner-“

“Oh please, that’s nothing on Harry,” she laughed as I gave her a confused look.

“What’re you talking about?”

“That boy looks at you like you’re his world. Oh, and he’s constantly checking to make sure you’re alright and everything, it was adorable!” And as if on cue, Harry stumbled into the pool area, a lazy smile on his lips.

“You alright, babe?” he asked, and Alina shot me a smirk and a look as if to say ‘I told you so’.

“Yeah, I’m good, thanks,” I told him with a grin.

“You look a little chilly. Did you want your sweater?” And I swear to god, I thought Alina was gonna start cooing at him.

“Uhm, I am a little chilly actually, yeah. My sweater’s all the way out in the car though, you don’t-“

“No, I’ll go grab it. It’s no trouble. Back in two ticks.” And then he placed a quick kiss on my cheek and headed off before I could protest.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Alina choked out between giggles once he was out of earshot. “That boy is wrapped around your finger! Oh my god, Jude, that was so cute,” she gushed and I tucked my chin down as I felt a blush creeping onto my cheeks. I guess I’d never really noticed all the little things Harry did to make sure I was happy. “If I told Henry I was cold, he’d probably go all Kelso on me-“

“Well damn, Jackie, I can’t control the weather!” we both called in unison before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Yes, that is absolutely Henry!” I cried, wiping at my eyes a bit.

“You know, we should really do lunch sometime back in the city. Let me get your number!” Alina chirped, pulling her phone out of the pocket of her cardigan. As I was handing it back to her, Harry came bounding back into the pool area.

“Your parents stopped me on my way back, they said everyone’s starting to dance and we should be participating,” Harry said as he offered me a hand to get up. He helped me slip on the chunky black sweater I’d brought with me and then Alina was scuttling off to collect Henry for dancing as well.

We spent the better part of a half hour dancing around with a lot of my family, and I was always surprised how good Harry was on his feet. But soon he was claiming fatigue, wanting to go sit and have a drink for a little. However, the song switched over to ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ and I was quickly pulling Harry back into the crowd.

“Please, just one more, this is one of my favorite songs,” I pleaded, holding onto his hand with both of mine. His eyes lit up at the song though and he nodded with a bright grin, pulling me into his arms again. So we swayed around for the duration of the song, Harry twirling me when he saw fit, and singing the lyrics to me the entire time. And Christ, I was swooning hard by the time the song was over.

“Harry, you’ve got to give me a dance!” my grandmother called as she weaved her way over to us, and it was clear that she was just a bit tipsy. I shot Harry a knowing look and a wink and I pushed him toward her and he couldn’t help but laugh as she grabbed his hand and his shoulder. A slower song started playing then so I headed to the outskirts of all the dancing to just watch. She seemed to be saying something to him, and Harry had this sort of fond look in his eyes as he nodded. He caught my eye a little later and shot me a small grin and wink, but soon he face twisted in surprise as my grandmother’s hand slipped off his shoulder and was now pinching at his ass.

“Margaret, you cheeky little minx!” Harry cried jokingly as he tried to shoo her hand away, but that only encouraged her to chase him with her other hand as she giggled. This went on for another twenty seconds before my grandfather showed up and started hounding him for “stealing his woman!” Harry was jokingly shooed away then and soon he was wrapped around me, whispering into my ear about how much he loved my family. What more could I really ask for?

—

A few days had passed since the family reunion, and I found myself dozing off on Harry’s couch while I waited for him to get home from work. I didn’t have work myself that day, so I’d headed over to his place after school, changing into some of his clothes and curling up on the couch to watch Will & Grace reruns. My eyes were feeling heavy though, so I shut off the TV and slouched down more and more until I was nearly sprawled down the length of the couch, my head resting heavily on the arm of the couch. However, upon hearing the key in the lock, my eyes sprang open. I didn’t have time to sit up though, as Harry was soon collapsing on top of me, digging his face into my shoulder as he let out a long sigh.

“‘M exhausted,” he moaned, shifting so that his cheek was resting by my collarbone as his arms curled around my waist. “You wearing my jumper?” he asked, fingering the back of the sweater I was wearing.

“Mm, your sweatpants, too,” I murmured, running a hand idly through his hair.

“New rule: always wear my clothes.” I let out a small giggle and then he sighed again, nuzzling into me. We laid in silence for a few minutes, the steady ticking of his cat clock the only noise in the apartment as I continued to run my hand through his curls. “Hey, I just wanted to apologize again for everything with my dad.” My entire body froze at that, but I tried to play it off.

“What’s brought that up? It’s fine, really.”

“Just like, after spending all day with your family over the weekend. It was really nice, and I’m sorry my family’s so fucked up.”

“Hey, no, it’s okay. You’ve got issues with your dad, that’s not your fault.”

“I know, I just- he worries me. And I didn’t like how he was looking at you. That worried me.” And I tried, I really tried not to stiffen up again, but apparently I didn’t try hard enough because Harry picked his head up to look me in the eye then. “What? What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Nothing, what’re you talking about?” I asked with a small chuckle, brushing some hair out of his face and shooting him a small smile.

“No, you tensed, something’s wrong. What’s wrong?” he asked again, lifting himself up on his elbows so he could see me even better. But I just shook my head a little, hooking my arms behind his neck.

“I’m fine, I promise,” I mumbled, pulling his down and crashing our lips together, hoping to distract him. And it worked at first, but then he was pulling back with a small groan.

“No, you can’t do that. You can’t- something’s wrong.”

“Harry, really, I promise-“

“Judith.” And we all knew that meant business. I let out a low sigh, trying to prepare myself for how he was going to react to this.

“Hold me?” I asked quietly, staring up at him as his eyebrows knit further together.

“What?”

“I need you to hold me, and you can’t let me go until we finish this conversation.”

“Why?”

“So I know that you won’t like, throw something or break anything.”

“Well that sounds fucking promising,” he huffed, rolling his eyes a little.

“Harry-“

“Alright, okay.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise,” he murmured, settling back down on top of my and wrapping me up in his arms again. He rested his cheek back onto my collarbone before speaking again. “Tell me what happened.” So I took a deep breath, slowly running my fingers through his hair again.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“Jude-“

“Okay, okay. Uhm, right, so…after you’d gotten arrested your dad kind of- tried to pick me up?” I spoke hesitantly, feeling him tense in my arms immediately.

“What did he say,” Harry spoke lowly, nothing but anger and hatred in his voice.

“He, uhm, asked me back to his apartment for a drink- Harry, I’m sorry, I-“

“I’m gonna fucking kill him-“ he spat, moving to hoist himself up, but I quickly wrapped my arms around him, trying to pull him back down.

“Harry, you promised!”

“Damnit, Jude, this isn’t-“

“You promised, please.” He paused for a second, and I could feel him shaking a little as he lowered himself back down. He let out a shaky sigh before placing a kiss to my collarbone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked rather pathetically, his eyes all stormy.

“I just- you were acting weird for a bit when we got back- which I now know was from the prom proposal. And then things have been so good, I just- I didn’t want to upset you.”

“Jude, you have to tell me about stuff like that though, that’s not okay.”

“I know, I’m sorry-“

“It’s not your fault. I just- ugh, I hate him. And I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Another kiss was dropped to my collarbone before he sighed again. “So what did you do?” he finally asked, and I let out a small snort.

“I slapped him across the face and told him to leave us the hell alone.” Harry lurched up to look at me again, his eyes bright and a smirk on his lips.

“You did that?” he asked incredulously, and I could only nod bashfully in response. “When did you get so ferocious?”

“Probably when I started dating you,” I answered with a shrug as his smirk widened.

“God, I love you,” he breathed out before surging forward and crashing our lips together. One of my hands came up to cup his jaw while the other found his waist and pulled him closer to me. His lips trailed down my jaw and neck as his hands began to roam under the sweater, one of his hands cupping over my breast. He pulled back for a second, slightly out of breath to tell me, “Another new rule: no more bras. Ever.” A loud laugh escaped me as I pulled his face back up to mine, capturing his lips again. “I want this off, off off off,” he whined, leaning up and pushing at the bottom of the sweater. He sat up then to give me more room as I tried to wriggle out of it, but in my haste I ended up somehow getting tangled in it and the next thing I knew, I was toppling to the floor. “Oh my god, are you-?” But he was cut off as I burst out laughing, finally getting the sweater over my head. Because yeah, I’d just fallen off a couch in my haste to have sex. Seeing that I was okay, Harry let himself laugh then, too for a bit.

“Well, are you gonna join me or what?” And that was all the encouragement he needed, quickly pulling off his own shirt before covering my body with his once again.

Later, while we were sprawled out next to each other panting and coming down from our orgasms, Harry said something that both shocked me and made me concerned about what he was thinking about while we had sex.

“We should get a kitten.” I huffed out a laugh as I rolled to my side to face him.

“Where the hell did that come from?”

“I don’t-“

“Do you normally think about adopting kittens when we have sex?” I teased, laughing again when he started pouting.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while, shut up. Or we’re never having sex again,” he huffed, but I just rolled my eyes.

“Please, like you’d give up sex with this goddess,” I scoffed, and he immediately rolled back over to kiss me.

“Absolutely not,” he murmured, pulling back with a grin on his face. “But I’m serious. You’re always talking about how much you want one but your parents don’t want one in the house. And you spend a majority of your time here, so you’d see it often enough anyway. Plus, I like cats. I haven’t had a cat since I was little. It’d be nice, y’know?” he asked, his fingers tangling with mine. I mulled it over for a minute, trying to figure everything out. I mean, a kitten was a big responsibility. Plus, it would be ours. Getting a pet together was some pretty heavy stuff. But I mean, c’mon. Kittens.

“We’re naming it Goobie, though.”

“You were serious about that?” Harry choked out with a laugh, but I just nodded eagerly. The whole Goobie thing started about a month beforehand when Harry had texted me one night saying “come over and watch the goobies with me”, to which I’d promptly replied, “what the fuck is the goobies.” I’d later find out that autocorrect was a bitch and he had meant the classic movie The Goonies. But then I just became obsessed with the word goobie and I’d decided that if and when I ever got a pet, I would name it Goobie.

“I was absolutely serious about that.” Harry hummed in acknowledgment before falling silent for a moment, thinking it over.

“I mean, it is pretty cute.”

“It’s incredibly cute! We’re naming him Goobie. When can we start looking?” I asked excitedly, sitting up finally and looking to him expectantly.

“You’re sure you wanna do this?”

“Are you sure?” And he paused for a moment, but then nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Then let’s do this.”

So yeah, we were getting a kitten.