Criminal

7.

I'm so sorry for the delay.

It wasn't long, really, until Harry and Con moved in together. They lived in a charming little town home that had a window seat and garden and was aesthetically pleasing. Zayn paid for the home, of course, just as he paid for all his employees' homes. 

Con found herself giggling softly at the news report that ran on the little television set in the kitchen. They could never catch him. No matter how hard they tried, no one could ever catch him. Harry was too quick for that. He was too smart for that. He approached his art differently than most. He always used the same mo. He'd steal, fight, shoot, and flee. He was at his best after a heist. His muscles would tighten, clenching at each breath, his curls had more bounce, his smile was cockier, his kisses more addicting.

As Con waited for his return, the doorbell rang. Her heart skipping slightly, Harry wouldn't be home yet. Cautiously, she approached the front door reaching for the baseball bat he had her keep for safety. Peeking into the peephole she was met with her parents.

This was quite the disastrous turn of events. In her lust filled fantasy of Harry coming home all sweaty, Con slipped the thought of her parents visiting. It couldn't possibly end well. They hated Harry and Harry hated them. Harry would also be coming home with a gun...and cash. Wonderful, she thought, just fantastic.

"Connie." Her mother ordered muffled by the wooden barrier, "We know you're in there."

"You better not be hiding that thing." Her dad snarled.

"I've told you, I prefer Con." She mumbled just shy of hissing at her parents. Harry was not a thing. He was a human. A living being that deserved the world.

"And we've said that we don't approve of Harry, and yet we're here." Con's mother was smug, she raised two children, and she knew how to play.

"So what do you want?" Crossing her arms was Con's only attempt to look threatening.

"Well, you remember Alex?" Her mother coyly asked, rubbing her wedding band.

Alex. Yes, she remembered Alex vividly. He was the grandson of this lady Mrs. Simpson worked with. He was never all that cute, but apparently his looks were just a different form of handsome. He was rather annoying, but the two had shy personalities which forced a comradery. "Yes."

"He's in town this weekend, and we thought it would be good for you to get together."

Giggling, Con translated what she said. She didn't mean, "Go catch up with a friend." She meant, "Go out with him, you could get married, and our grandkids wouldn't be raised by a criminal and the girl we think he's holding hostage."

"Mom! No!" she shouted, running a hand through her brunette curls.

"Connie, just go out and see-"

"Con!"

"if you feel something. I think you will." She continued not acknowledging Con's interruption.

"Mom! Get this through your head, I'm dating Harry. I'm in love with him, okay? I don't need you trying to break us up."

"That's not what we're doing is it," but before she could drag her father into this, which his input wasn't needed because she already knew of his distaste for Harry.

"YES! IT IS!" Con screamed right as the back door creaked open, soft boot clicks entering the cottage.

Great, the young girl thought, just fantastic. Harry's deep chuckled entered the room, dying off at the sight of the older couple. He pulled his gun out of his baseball shirt causing a shifty glance between the older Simpsons. "Hello Mr. and Mrs.-" But he was cut off by the other alpha in the room.

"Don't "Hello" us. I'd like for you to put the gun away."

Harry stepped forward, chewing on his lips, "Listen, I'm not going to use it, though I know you'd like for me to so you could lock me up." His green eyes pierced through the aging man's soul. Con wished they were focused on her instead.

Her parents had one line left in their arsenal. "Stay away from our daughter."

"Has it ever occurred to you, that maybe she wants this? She says it all the time, you just don't hear!"

"IS IT?" Mrs. Simpson screamed, "IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?" she violently pointed at Harry, her hand falling limp at her side with a thick slap.

Harry glanced at Con for a fraction of a second. Just a glace long enough for her to see how much he cares, how what he does. Gulping, she nodded. But then, with a sudden loudness said, "Yes. He is."

Her parents left in a huff of anger and defeat. It hurt Con, hearing her parents disown her. Brad was in for a lovely phone call. She curled one hand to his chest, gripping his t-shirt tighter and tighter, the other hesitantly reaching out for his lips. The metal of his piercings were cool against her fingertips. "You realize," he mumbled against my small, dainty fingers, a small smile dancing in his eyes, "you're mine forever right?"

Con knew this. Con embraced this. Con loved this. She and Harry were one.