Harrison Osterfield Imagines

New Year, New Problems

1st Person POV

I have never been so alone on New Year's before.

All my friends went out to some crazy party hosted by rich people. Literally, their house is huge. There would also be tons of alcohol and sweaty people. Not fun for a Monday night.

My parents and siblings all left me too. So tonight is just me, Netflix, and ice cream. I should have bought a cookie cake though, a cookie cake all for myself.

I really need friends. Better friends. Better friends that don't drink. I need a dog.

The local animal shelter was only a couple miles away, and I was not about to walk there in the cold. I grabbed my keys and wallet, started my car, and sat in it. England is always really cold in the winter, and that meant my car was cold.

After five minutes, my car warmed up and I was on my way to the shelter. There were so many people on the sidewalk with drinks in their hands, stumbling and walking at an angle. They aren't going to be well in the morning.

There were only six other cars in the parking lot, not including mine. These people probably got stuck working on New Year's Eve like I got stuck at home.

Inside the building was a lot warmer than my car. Plus there were tons of dogs barking and cats meowing all over the place. A couple people who were working gave me a small smile, but they went right back to taking care of the animals.

Most of the dogs in the shelter were either sleeping or hiding in the corner of their cages. The fireworks for counting down the New Year's is probably scaring them.

"Hi, Little Guy," I coo down at the dog in front of me. The plaque near his cage said his name is Jay. He also likes tennis balls and bacon.

Jay came up to the bars of the cage, sniffed my hand, and nuzzled his face against the bars. I stuck my fingers through the cage to pat his little head, which he liked for a couple minutes. The golden retriever shook his head, turned around, and laid back down on his bed. So much for Jay the golden retriever.

I went down the whole row of cages before I found the dog. The dog. Her name is Daisy, and she's a four year old pug. Daisy's little tail kept wagging and she kept snorting at me.

"Why are you the cutest ever?" I tell the pug in front of me. She gives me a little yelp, then continues to lick my fingers.

"Do you want to play with her?" a quite voice asks behind me. I turn my focus around to see a boy dressed in very nice clothing with his hands deep in his pocket.

My first instinct was to nod my head, and I did, but I also let out a whimper. Then Daisy did too. God, I'm so embarrassing.

He laughed out loud, pulling his hand out of his pocket to unlock the kennel door. Daisy attempted to escape, but I pushed her back into the enclosed fence.

"So," the guy behind me said, "what are you doing here alone, with dogs, on New Year's Eve?" He rests his arms on top of the metal, glancing down at me and Daisy. The hat on his head began to slip off his head.

I scooped up the pug into my arms, then began to pet her furry head. "I'm not much of a party person, but I also don't like being alone. What about you, Blue Eyes?"

A very wide grin appeared on his face from the nickname I gave him. "I don't really know. I got my dog from here a couple years ago, and I guess I felt the need to come back." He stops talking for a minute, staring down at me as I continued to play with Daisy. Of course I knew he was staring at me, but I didn't want to ruin this moment for him. "Are you thinking about adopting her?"

I shook my head, looking down at the dog in my arms. "No, I don't have the money or time for Daisy. She's so cute though!"

"Can I . . . Can I come in and play with you? I-I mean with the dog, Daisy, of course." The boy asked, flustered and embarrassed.

The pug squirms in my arms with excitement, so I nod my head at him and scoot down. He carefully lifts the door open and slides into the cage with me. When he finally sits down, Daisy jumps out of my arms and attacks him.

Daisy runs in between me and the other guy multiple times before she finally got tired. Her small head laid down in my lap while her feet touched the boy's leg. He didn't seem to mind though.

"I'm Y/N by the way," I tell the boy quietly. We have had comfortable silence for two minutes and I had to ruin it.

"Harrison," he says quietly back, petting Daisy's back. She stretched her back legs, kicking Harrison's shoe and grumbling a bit.

I took my phone out of my back pocket and see that the time is eleven o'clock. "The new year is in an hour, shouldn't you be going somewhere in your fancy clothes?"

He glances down at his clothes, mostly covered in dog hair now, and shrugs his shoulders. "Not really, I'm having a great time here with you. Unless you want me to leave, then-then I can."

"No-no!" I tell him, a little too quickly. Daisy stirs a bit, then proceeds to roll on her back and sneezes. "I just don't want to rob you if your evening of celebrations."

"I'm not being robbed of anything," Harrison smiles, reaching down and scratching the dog's tummy.

"Well, I have to be going soon, and I know saying Good-Bye to Daisy won't be fun."

Harrison's head snaps up from the pug below him. "You're not adopting her? I thought you two were getting along so well!"

A sad smile forms on my lips, "oh no, we are. I don't know where I'd get the money for her and she'd be alone all day without me." The pug's ears sink down, like she understands what the humans are talking about, but not really. It just made me even more sad.

"What if I help you pay for her, and take care of her!"

"What?"

Harrison scratches the back of his neck, "I mean, yeah. The three of us have been getting along well and Daisy is practically in love with you." Daisy snorts in agreement, then licks my open palm.

The boy in front of me begins to stand up from the ground, patting his legs to get Daisy's attention. She stops licking my hand, running over to Harrison and his shiny, expensive shoes.

He opens the cage's door, letting Daisy run freely into the hallway. The two of them walk down the hall together with Harrison talking to the dog the entire time. I manage to scramble up off the floor, quickly following him to the front of the shelter.

"Hello, we would like to adopt Daisy here—"

"We would?" I softly ask, standing right behind Harrison and the checkout desk.

"Yes, go take Daisy around and find some food, a bed, and toys to buy too." Harrison says all smoothly, like he's been practicing this speech the entire time we were together. If he was, damn, he has game.

While Harrison paid for Daisy, I found her a yellow collar, yellow bowls, food, squeaky toys, and treats. I had to stop him from buying all the other stuff for me, he can't just buy everything for me.

On our way outside, we put the collar on Daisy and sketched out a name tag in case she got lost. Harrison put all the supplies in the back of my car, then picked up Daisy off the cold ground to give her little kisses.

"Do you . . . do you want to come back to my apartment and 'play' some more with me and Daisy?" I ask him.

"I'd be honored to come play with you and Daisy."