Aurora Adler
Friday lunchtime.
Just like he has for the last two weeks, Harry texts me to let me know he's downstairs, waiting for me.
I'm wearing a slightly thicker knitted pale green dress today, it being a little longer than the rest of my usual dresses, ending at my calves.
I lock up my door and make my quick way down to the lobby, and through the glass doors, a smile crossing my face as soon as I see him. He's standing outside the car, his own smile widening as I walk over to him.
When I get close enough, he pulls on my right hand, tugging me into a hug, his arms wrapping tightly around me. "You're really living up to your nickname today."
I laugh into his chest, "You like?" I refer to the new item of clothing that I bought myself after the millionaire payed me a little extra.
He loved the piece. And that was all the confirmation I needed after worrying about it.
He pulls back and has me slightly in front of him, looking me up and down, his eyes trained on my outfit, "Love..."
He places his hand on the bump, kissing the belly and whispering his own hello to 'his little one'. When he stands upright again, his vision is set on my bump a little longer than usual, "They've gotten bigger..."
I nod, "Hmm, you should see the side of the bump.. I think I'm in the process of getting my first stretch mark."
He smiles and rubs his hand over the area I just mentioned, "Pretty."
"You think stretch marks are pretty?" I ask with a slightly confused tone to my voice, being surprised that he doesn't find them a turn off like I know Leo did.
His eyes flicker back up to mine, "Why wouldn't I? They're beautiful and a sign of strength– even if they're not from pregnancy."
My brows furrow, simply because I've never heard a man speak like this before, "Who the hell raised you?"
Now it's his turn to look confused, "Why?"
"Because no man I've ever met has said that to me before. Whoever raised you is setting the standard."
He guides me into the car, answering me as he slips into the driver's seat, and starts driving in the direction of the office, "If someone doesn't love every part of you, they don't deserve you. Especially, when it comes to something as normal as stretch marks. My mum's name is Anne and she's the best, we fight sometimes of course, but she's always been on my team. She raised me since my dad left when I was 2, and she then met my stepdad, Robert, when I was 11. He's been my father figure since, I guess."
I smile sadly over to him at the small admission, it being one of the first I've heard from him. We haven't really delved into the realm of childhood stories or anything deeper than... my pregnancy.
"What does your mum do?" I ask softly, wanting to know more about her.
He smiles but his focus is still on the road, "She's a lawyer... and threatened my biological father into never trying to make contact with us.. and it worked. He tried to come back into my life after he heard about Rob, but I hadn't seen him in 10 years, didn't even recognise him."
"I'm sorry.."
He shakes his head and sends me a quick smile of appreciation but not necessity, "Don't be, like you said.. I turned out just fine without him."
I nod in complete understanding, "Your mum is so strong."
He squeezes my thigh, "She is.." he turns his head for a split second, looking at me, "she reminds me a little of you."
My expression falters for a moment before it picks up again. Just as I'm processing his words, his face goes slightly red and he quickly continues, "Fuck, that sounds weird, doesn't it? I swear to you, I'm not in love with my mum."
I laugh loudly and squeeze his hand, "I didn't think for a second you were... but Harry," he turns and looks at me as we hit a stop sign, "don't think I haven't forgotten about you being obsessed with my dead grandma."
His laugh is so loud I wouldn't be surprised if it could be heard from outside the car, "I'm never gonna live this down, am I?"
I shake my head quickly and playfully, "Nope, never."
With another squeeze to my thigh, we settle ourselves in a comfortable silence, my vision settled on the flickering sight of the beach.
I used to love the beach.
But I ruined it for myself.
I have no idea why I thought moving to a beach town would make me fall back in love with it and help me heal from my mistakes... if anything, it's just a daily reminder.
His hand smoothes my leg, "What's wrong? Why have you gone quiet all of a sudden?"
I wave it off, "It's nothing... just thinking about the gala tonight.. I'm pretty nervous for it."
And that wasn't a lie, I really was nervous. But that wasn't what I was thinking about. All I was thinking about was the fact he knows nothing about me pre moving here. What if I tell him everything and he decides he can't stay anymore? My past ruined the chance of us having a future?
He turns his head to me as we hit a stoplight, I guess trying to see if I'm lying or not. I send him a small smile and squeeze his hand that's resting on my thigh. After he looks at me for a few more moments in silence, he turns back and focuses on the road when the lights flick to green.
I breathe in relief when he moves on and believes my excuse, "I can give you a run through of tonight if you'd like?"
I nod quickly, "I'd really, really like that."
With another squeeze to my thigh, he runs through the basic plan of tonight, letting me know he's aiming to get us out quicker, apparently the night being so boring we can't last any more than 2 hours. He had me laughing at the way he was talking about it all, and soon enough my sunken mood had been buried deep, and I was back in the bubble.
But the thing with bubbles.. is that they pop. And you don't know when that'll be.
Like the true gentleman he is, when we make it back to the office, he walks around the front and opens the door for me, giving me his hand. With a smile, he helps me out of the car.
He shuts the door behind me, but instead of leading us into the office, he closes in on me, and holds my hips, whispering words that makes my heart flutter, "I haven't gotten to kiss you yet..."
My hands raise and wrap around his neck, resting in his hair, "Hmm.. you should change that."
With a flirtatious smile, he leans forwards and catches me in a kiss, one that may be described as a little too passionate for taking place in the car park of his workplace.
But then again, it's my best friend's company. We're not going to get in trouble.
When the short-lived but passionate kiss ends, we both pull back, and smile before I'm leaning back in. Kissing Harry is addictive, and I don't want to ever go without it.
The kiss breaks when we hear a whistle, my embarrassment quickly subsiding when I see Deli walking out of the office, wearing some baggy ripped blue jeans and an oversized sweatshirt.
There really is no dress code for this place.
I look up to see Harry with a shy blush over his cheeks, making me squeeze his hand in comfort. Deli may say something– but she'll only be joking. If he knew how much she spoke about him before I agreed to a date, he'd never question anything ever again.
She reaches us and smirks, "Hey lovebirds."
Here we go.
Harry clears his throat, and surprises me when he speaks first, "Hey Delilah..."
She looks at me and back up to him, "Hey Harry... I see you're getting on well with my best friend?"
He blushes and coughs, "Uh– yeah, we're, um, we're good."
I squeeze his hand again, staring at Deli, silently asking her to knock it out. I know she's only kidding but Harry looks like he's about to shit himself. She smiles sweetly at me and the and same smile is sent to Harry, "Hmm, I know... I'm popping out for lunch, but I'll see you both tonight." She walks away and looks back at us, "Remember you're at your workplace, Harry!"
***
"Okay.. okay," I try my hardest to suck in a breath through my heavy laughter, "Would you rather.. be a fox who's in a relationship with a frog... or be a hippo in a relationship with a giraffe."
He laughs and his head falls onto my chest, the pair of us lying on the sofa in his office, a bowl of fruit sitting on my stomach as we pick through it. "What type of question is that! At least mine was somewhat realistic!"
I look at him with a blank expression, "Oh yeah because I'm so going to turn into Barry from the bee movie and develop a relationship with–"
His lips suddenly on mine catches me off guard, a gasp leaving me before I'm settling into it, my hand resting on his cheek in the embrace. He pulls back with another peck, "Don't want to hear anyone's name after that word unless it's mine."
My face reddens, and with the way I'm feeling, I wouldn't be shocked if my entire body resembles a tomato. I lay my head against his chest, Harry chuckling at my reaction. His arms wrap round me, his one hand smoothing up and down my side, as I hide from him and my embarrassment.
I mumble against his body, keeping my eyes cast down, "You could always change that..."
He squeezes me tighter, "Yeah?"
I shrug, "Only if you want to."
The conversation loses its lightweight feel, it suddenly turning into the conversation I feel as if we've both somewhat been avoiding. "Do you see us ending up like that, Aurora?"
I heavy my head and keep it pressed to his chest, my face away from his. "Do you?"
He squeezes my hip through my dress, "If I didn't.. then I wouldn't spend every lunchtime with you, I wouldn't be cuddling you on this sofa right now, and I wouldn't call you every single night."
I smile and I have to fight the feeling away, "So that's a yes?"
He tilts my face up to see him, and I surprisingly let him without a struggle, "That's definitely a yes... I see us ending up like that one day."
One day. How far away is that?
I smile at his answer, whispering out my response, "I see us ending up like that, too."
After he manages to settle his smile, he leans down and presses a lingering kiss to my lips. I turn my head and roll further onto my side, Harry's hand resting on my bump, protecting it as I crawl on top of him.
Nothing more than a kiss is shared, and my intention isn't to take this any further. Not on a couch in his office... could be fun one day though.
When there's a knock at his locked office door, that has us both sighing into the kiss. I open my eyes reluctantly and see Harry already staring at me, his eyes apologetic. "You should get that."
He scrunches his lips up, whispering so I guess whoever is at his door won't hear him, "I don't want to though.."
I kiss his lips a few more times, Harry holding my hips and trying to keep me there. A louder knock has my head falling into his neck, a groan escaping as I hear a woman calling him, "Styles, I know you're in there. I need to talk to you about the gala tonight."
I sigh and roll off his body, straightening my dress as I get off the couch. I pick up the fruit bowl that I placed on the floor earlier, placing the empty bowl on the small table in front of the couch. I make my way over to the door in order to leave and give them privacy, but Harry's hands on my shoulders stop me.
"Don't know where you think you're going, beautiful. You can stay."
I turn round to see him, "Doesn't she want to talk to you?"
He shrugs and walks me back to the couch, motioning me to sit down, so I do. "Just because she wants to talk to me doesn't mean you're cutting our lunch short," he checks his wrist watch, "we still have 15 minutes and I plan on spending every second of those with you."
With a peck to my lips, he straightens out his black trousers which have a singular stripe down the side and the fitted black t-shirt he's wearing– showing off his arm tattoos again. I'm always curious about them whenever I see them... I wonder if he has anymore?
The door swings open as I take another sip from my large bottle, trying to make myself inconspicuous.
"Finally!" The woman barges in, my eyes widening as I take her in.
She is fucking stunning.
She has the most beautiful curvy body, dark curly hair complimenting her dark skin. She's wearing a silk maxi skirt and a t-shirt which is successfully making the outfit look more casual, and I have to physically look away to not make myself feel insecure.
Because, my god, she's perfect.
Her own eyes widen as she sees me, and she sends me a friendly smile, "Oh! Hi!" she walks over to me and extends her hand in a welcoming, I go to stand but she waves me to stay down, "Don't worry about getting up, I know how hard it is when pregnant." I place my hand in hers and introduce myself, "Thank you... I'm Aurora, it's nice to meet you."
She takes her hand back and it's then when I take notice of the massive diamond on her ring finger, "I'm Elaïa, pleasure to meet you, you're beautiful by the way," she looks me up and down, "that colour is literally made for you."
She turns to Harry, "Why haven't you told us all you've got a model for a girlfriend? And you're going to be a dad? I'd be showing her off every day if she was mine."
I blush at her compliment, but the complete unintentional comment about Harry being the dad makes my heart sink just like it did with that man at the carnival. It's not her fault at all, it does appear that way, but it doesn't make me feel any less guilty.
Does he deserve better?
He gently laughs and places his hands in his pant pockets. Looking over to me he says, "She really is perfect, huh?"
My stomach swarms with that now familiar feeling of butterflies– all thanks to Harry.
When she agrees with him, they make their way over to his desk, Harry sitting behind it and Elaïa in the chair on the other side of the desk. Harry talks first, "Are you okay? Is tonight cancelled?"
She laughs and shakes her head, "No, don't get your hopes up.. but I have this form I need you to fill out to be able to register you for–"
He nods, "Yes, yes, thank you. Is it just this one sheet?"
He rolls his chair over to the other side of the wooden desk, grabbing a pen out of the pen pot before using the heels of his feet to make it back to his original position. Why the hell was that attractive?
She nods as she answers him, her hands clasped together and on her lap, "Yes it is, just sign your name and add your details and everything will be in place for tonight."
He does what he's asked, reading over the writing before signing whatever he needs to. He's done within the minute, handing the form back over to Elaïa with a small smile.
She looks over the information before graciously standing, "That's perfect, thank you." Before she walks out of the room, she looks at me again, "Aurora are you coming tonight?"
I nod as I swallow my mouthful of water, the bottle being rested on my lap, "Yeah I am, I'm guessing you'll be there?"
She smiles and shows off her perfect teeth, "I sure will be. Can't wait to see what you're wearing, I can't imagine you ever look anything less than beautiful."
I shake my head with a laugh, "You should see me in the morning."
With her hand on the metal door handle, she just laughs, "It'll only be worse when you're up 10 times in the night with your little one, but trust me, they're so worth it. Soak in every moment of the newborn stage because before you know it, they'll be 4 and climbing on everything– giving you a heart attack."
I laugh at the end of her sentence, nodding, "I will.. thank you."
When she leaves the room, Harry flops back down on the couch, pulling me back into him, he kisses my lips continuously, "We only have 9 minutes."
I hum, turning my head so he has better access to my lips, "You better make the most out of them then."
He places me on his lap, one hand on my hip, fingers against the bump, his other on my cheek, "I plan on kissing you the whole time."
He did exactly as he promised, making the most out of the last few minutes of our lunch break. When he dropped me home, and walked me back up to my apartment, just as I unlocked my door, a thought entered my mind as I thought about Elaïa's comment again.
"Holy shit, Harry, what am I meant to be wearing tonight?"
He smiles and pushes my door open, "I've got you a dress, don't worry."
My mouth drops, "You what!"
He laughs and kisses me, "Don't be mad... Delilah picked it out if it makes you feel any better."
Of course.
I sigh and shake my head, "Please tell me she paid for it."
I don't like Deli spending money on me either, but I'd rather she does than Harry. That would just make me feel too guilty.
He nods, "Mhm, it was all her."
Thank god.
I nod, "Okay, okay... so I'll see you tonight? You're still picking me up at 7?"
"Yes, I'll see you at 7, beautiful girl. That gives you just under 7 hours to do whatever you want before you see me again."
I lean up and kiss him goodbye, "I'll be counting down the hours."
He pecks my lips with a smile, kissing the bump after me, "I'll see you soon little one, be good for your mummy."
***
I'm stressed.
Harry's going to be here any minute, and I'm halfway through my makeup.
I accidentally fell asleep on the sofa, and only woke up 20 minutes ago, meaning I was desperate for a shower, and only had 20 minutes to try and look presentable.
My hair is the same as it was earlier, not a complete mess, but I wanted to straighten it a little more for this semi formal event.
When a knock at the door breaks me from my mind, I run over to the door, eyelash curler still on my one eye. Luckily the rest of my makeup is done.
So... I could be ready in 4 minutes.
I just really wanted to do something nicer with my hair.
As soon as I open the door, I rush out, "Hi, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I fell asleep on my sofa and only just woke up."
He places his hands on my shoulders over the silk robe, and I immediately take notice of the bag in his hand, "Hey, calm down for me. It's okay, I'm early. We've got 40 minutes to get there and the place is only 20 minutes from here. It's all okay."
I breathe out, "I'm not usually late for anything."
He hugs me, and it's then when I see the suit he has on. It's a dark blue with flowers all over it, some pops of a pale yellow complementing the blue. I sigh into him, the warmth of his hug immediately calming me down.
When he pulls back, he leans in for a quick kiss, of which I happily oblige. "Now what can I do to help?"
I take his hand and lead him into my bedroom, sitting back down at the vanity. He stands behind me with his hands on my shoulders, and as I reach for my mascara, I look up at him in the mirror.
Expecting the answer to be no, I jokingly ask, "You don't know how to use a hair straightener do you?"
He gasps with a strong sense of humour, "Are you joking! Of course I do. Where is everything?"
And that's how we ended up here.
Harry having sectioned my hair and 3/4 of it being straightened within 7 minutes, my makeup now fully done. He takes the last clip out and brushes through the section, running the straightener through my hair with ease. I look up at him through the mirror, smiling at his focused face, "So are you gonna tell me how you know what you're doing?"
He smiles but his gaze stays on my hair, "My aunt owns a hair salon. My weekend job was helping her out and during it, I learned basic skills like this.. I'm also great at curling hair as well as braiding..."
"Can you do my hair everyday from now on." I laugh in shock. I can't even braid hair. Not dutch braid, anyway.
He shrugs and smiles at me through the mirror, the straightener now off and on the side, Harry running a brush through my hair to make sure it's all done, "Sure.. I like doing it."
He spins the chair around, pulling me up via my hands after he finishes, "You're all done, pretty girl. We have 10 minutes... so go put your dress on."
I kiss him once in thanks, before walking over to my bed where he's placed the expensive looking shopping bag. I sit on the edge of the bed, and take the item out, gasping as I see the most beautiful pale yellow silk dress. It has long sleeves– which I'm guessing is to make up for the length– it ending at my upper thigh.
I look at Harry's suit and back to the dress, "The yellow matches..."
He smiles, "It does.. thought it was only fitting."
I quickly stand and kiss him hard, and even if he didn't choose out the dress, I know he coordinated with Deli and his suit to make sure our outfits didn't clash.
I walk into the en-suite and mentally thank the last 3 years of waxing my entire body, knowing that if I still relied on shaving, my legs would definitely not be smooth tonight.
I hang the robe up on the back of my bathroom door, and quickly pull the dress on, smiling as I see myself in the mirror. It's different to my usual style, but from what I know about tonight's event, it'll work perfectly.
I walk out the bathroom and smile at Harry sitting on my bed, looking at the stuffed toy in the middle of it. His name is Bear and he's the first man I've ever loved.
When he hears the door click shut behind me, his vision snapping up to me, a grin spreading over his beautiful face. "You look..."
I look myself up and down, "It's not too short is it?"
He shakes his head and walks over to me, "No not at all, it's perfect. You're perfect.. wow." He breathes deeply as he stays staring at me, "How on earth did I find you, huh?"
I shrug, "By being obsessed with my grandma for years, I suppose."
He cackles, "Stop! I am not obsessed with her!"
"Sure, sure... but we need to get going if we want to be on time."
I turn to walk out of my room, but I get turned back round by a gentle grip on my hip. He murmurs, "Not so fast," before he kisses me deeply, his emotion being obvious through the kiss.
When we pull back a few seconds later, I smile, "Bet you're glad I'm not wearing lipstick, huh?"
He shakes his head and pecks my lips again, whispering against them, so quiet I'm not too sure if I was meant to hear or not, "How did I get so lucky?"
We manage to pull ourselves away from each other, and I slip on some small heels, the height only being 1 or 2 inches.
We walk down to his car hand in hand, and like usual, he opens the door for me. I slide in and do my belt up, Harry walking round to his side as I do.
We drive off into the direction of the gala, and out of a nervous habit I've never been able to break, I play with the rings on Harry's hand. My grandma used to wear a ring in almost every finger, and that's where I developed the habit from, and ever since I've just not been able to drop it.
We make causal conversation on the short drive, and with 4 minutes to spare, Harry hands the keys to the valet, his hand being round my waist as we walk into the event.
I breathe deeply as I look around and see hundreds of photos all around, and according to some signs hanging above our heads, the main room with dinner tables set up are to our right, and where we'll all meet in an hour.
As we round the corner a middle aged man dressed in a black suit approaches us, a black circular tray full of champagne flutes being offered to us.
With a notice to the bump he just offers Harry a glass, of which he turns down. We walk over the first piece of art and it's then when I question it, "You can drink tonight.. we can always get a taxi home."
He turns to me, his right hand being in his pant pocket, "I, uh, I can't actually drink.. I'm on antidepressants."
I turn my head to see him, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea."
The arm that is tightly wrapped round me tightens, and his fingers rub small patterns into the side of my bump, "It's okay, really. I'm okay, too. I'll answer any question if you have any."
We move on to the next photo, this one being of more interest to me. It's of a family. Two parents staring at the sky, a rainbow shining down on the adults. With the small inscription at the bottom giving a brief explanation, it's a memorial photo for pregnancy loss. The rainbow signifying hope for their rainbow baby.
I press a kiss to his cheek as we walk onto the next photo, this one being completely different. It's a low exposure, black and white photo of a woman in a lake. The reflection of trees in the water. "If you ever need me, Harry, please know that I'm here. Even if you're okay now, if you're ever not, then please just call me, let me know. Let me be there for you too."
He turns my face and presses a short kiss to my lips, "Thank you, baby. Same goes for you, and your little one.. my little mango."
The rest of the exhibition goes the same, my favourite piece being of a canyon moon. One person, facing away from the camera, standing on the edge. It's a metaphor, of course.
We enter the large dining room, tables set up around the room, it looking a little like a wedding venue. That's the only thing that I've come across being remotely similar.
Harry guides us to our table, Deli and the rest of the company being here tonight. There are around 20 people per table, and each company has 3 tables. We're sitting on the same table as Deli and the other high up bosses of the company.
Harry pulls my chair out for me, and I graciously sit down, placing the cloth napkin on my lap as I do. I don't think I'll be able to eat much tonight, but I wasn't to at least look like I am.
Harry sits next to me, and the next 50 minutes or so is spent with the tables making conversation about each photo, the each of us discussing our favourites.
As expected, I don't eat much, but I had a hot bread roll which was surprisingly good, Harry eating my small dishes for me. I don't want to cause attention to myself, so during the discreet change of our plates, I laugh to myself as Harry subtly eats my dishes too.
The three course meal comes to an end, and I turn to the woman next to me, who's been nice enough to me this evening. She smiles at me and that's when I point to the stage with spotlights starting to highlight specific parts of it, "Do you know what's happening next? Up on that stage?"
She looks at Harry behind my shoulder and back to me, "He hasn't told you?"
I shake my head and she gestures for me to come closer. When I do, she speaks quietly, "Each company has 2 people representing them... typically the CEO, so in our case, Delilah, and one employee. Harry's up for an award for his photography."
She looks over my shoulder again, "Didn't he point out his photos that were on show tonight?"
I shake my head again, words seeming to have escaped me. She laughs and tells me that's typical, him not wanting to draw attention to himself. When she gets pulled into another conversation, I turn back to Harry and fight the urge to not playfully whack his chest.
Having just finished my dessert, he looks at my face and immediately looks confused. "What's wrong? Do you feel sick?"
"N-no.. just trying to figure out why you didn't tell me you were up for an award."
He immediately looks a little guilty, and suddenly everything clicks. The form he had to fill in earlier, the sitting at the main table, being able to bring a plus one.
He brings one of my hands over to his lap, and strokes the back of it, "I didn't want to tell you about it and let you see how excited I was if I lost.. I don't want to let anyone else down."
"Harry you're not going to let anyone down, even if you don't win it's an incredible opportunity and recognition for you to even be up for such an award... you should be proud of yourself."
As he goes to reply, all of the desert dishes start to get taken away, and the lights dim, the spotlights on the stage intensifying.
I squeeze Harry's hand as the main part of the evening starts, the first 7 companies showing off their candidates, but out of all 20 companies, of which has already been whittled down from over 100 in the country, my Harry is one of 40 representatives.
And I couldn't be more proud.
Deli's company and branding is shown next, the 5 minute presentation about what they do being over and just like with everyone else, a round of applause spreads through the room.
I may be biased, but to me, the most interesting company, and the only one being founded and ran by a woman, is my best friends. I had no idea tonight was such a big deal for her.
And I know why she didn't tell me.
She didn't want to stress me out... because she knew I wouldn't be calm from the second she told me about how serious and prestigious this actually is.
"And now it's time to reveal what we've all been eager to know for the last year... who has won the National award for photography and creative design 2021."
The whole room is tense, everyone is on the edge of their seats, desperate to know who has one this year. The gold envelope opens and the tape roiling can be heard through the microphone, a dramatic pause following.
"Harry Styles from Monroe Design."
The room erupts in applause, the shock on his face being clear as day. He pulls me into him, hugging me tight and kissing me quick before he stands with Deli and they walk over to the stage together.
With a short speech from the both of them, they share a hug on stage and walk back down to the table, everyone now being on their feet. He places the plaque on the table and hugs me the tightest he ever has, my arms around his neck, his head on top of mine. "I'm so proud of you, Harry. We knew you would win... no one else's art came anywhere close."
My favourite piece is projected on the wall, and it's just now where I learn the canyon photograph, was Harry's.
He heard me say it was my favourite form the second we stood in front of it.. and yet he said nothing.
We pull back from the hug and he bends down to press a kiss to the bump, followed by a peck to my lips. I'm front of everyone in this room, he doesn't have a second thought when it comes to showing his affection.
The rest of the night slips away quickly, hundreds of people coming up to Harry to congratulate him and ask for more details about the piece– of which he respectfully declines on talking about.
We make our way over to Deli, and she hugs us both, telling Harry how proud of him she is. After we talk for around 20 minutes about work, she tells us we can go, knowing we probably want to get out of here.
Before she lets us leave though, she pulls me away from Harry and hugs me extra tight, "I'll see you in 2 weeks, Rora. I'll answer any calls, any texts, any face times whenever– nothing is as important to me as you and your baby. Be safe, and don't do anything I wouldn't. I love you.. and good luck tomorrow, text me as soon as you get out of the appointment okay?"
I nod and she smiles, hugging me again, "I'm really proud of you and Harry, Deli. I had no idea he was up for an award tonight.. the little shit didn't tell me." She laughs and nods, "He's like that.. very, very modest. He won't brag about any of his work– even though he's without a doubt my most talented employees. Have a fun 2 weeks with him, trust yourself, Rora. You're doing the right thing, he's amazing and so are you. From what I've seen over the last 2 weeks, you deserve each other... don't fuck it up when I'm gone."
I roll my eyes, but nonetheless, a tear escapes from her words, "I won't fuck it up. I love you, too Deli meat. I'm gonna miss you."
She hugs me again, "I'll miss you more." When pulling back she looks at my bump, "I'll see you in two weeks future best friend. Be good for your mommy, and stop making her feel so shit... I'll miss you most."
I laugh at her words and with another emotional hug, me and Harry head out for the night, Deli having the plaque and promising to keep it safe.
With our hands interlocked, we walk outside, the air being brisk and refreshing after the night we've had.
In the middle of the empty street, Harry turns us round and pulls me in for a kiss, "Thank you for being here tonight... it means more to me than you'll ever know..." his serious face turns into small smirk, "And thanks for liking my section the most even when you didn't know it was mine, it was a great confidence boost."
I laugh and peck his lips, "You're very welcome.. but where do you want to go tonight, winner? Your choice."
He smiles, "I want to go somewhere... and spend some time with just you... and then we'll see where the night takes us."
//
i chose not to use robin or des as harry's dad/ stepdads names as i don't want to be disrespectful to either of them. i don't know their story as a family, and therefore chose not to use either of them in this story– hope you understand!
also as i don't have an upload schedule, follow my twitter @/onthedoordying and i'll always let you know what i'm thinking when it comes to updates! i also post teasers when i have some ready!
but anyway!! congratulations to harry, i'm so very proud of him even if i wrote it
*i haven't edited or spell checked either chapters, sorry for any mistakes but it's nearly 4am for me and i'm too tired*