Warnings: fluff, angst, a bit of violence, scrapes and assault, cute Dodger
A/N: I'm sorry for not being able to post too much! I'm working on your requests and I promise I'm trying my best!
———
Offering to take care of Dodger while Chris filmed out of the country was the best thing you ever did. At least that's what it felt like. Chris had stared at you like you had solved climate change. Chris was thankful and wanted to show it so he had proposed the idea for you to stay at his house for the time he was gone. It wasn't like you weren't comfortable with his place, being there almost everyday and sleeping over a couple of times, but you agreed and went along, knowing that Dodger would feel a bit out of place in your neighbourhood. Plus, it would be even more difficult for Dodger to move back into Chris' after six months.
"Thank you so much again, darling," Chris sighed, sounding drained out and tired. You giggled and muttered out a 'it was nothing', expecting Chris to let the topic go and continue to tell you about how his shoot was going. But Chris added, "No, Y/N. I mean it. Taking care of Dodger isn't easy, and I speak from experience, so it's not nothing."
"Alright, alright," you mumbled, cheeks and ears heating up from his kind words. You heard his airy chuckle at your embarrassment. You rolled your eyes, hand scratching Dodger's head as he jumped onto the couch and laid his head in your lap. "Speaking of the angel..."
"He's laying his head on your lap, isn't he?" Chris guessed. You made a 'ding-ding-ding' sound and listened to Chris' genuine laugh. "Just like his dad, ain't he?"
"Sure is," you teased. "Gets the troublemaker abilities too, you know?"
Chris groaned, "What did he do this time?"
"Someone bumped into me and Dodger started to growl at him," you explained, watching Dodger's eyes dart to you before he let out a huff. "It was nice to see he had my back, though."
"Yeah, but still, Y/N," Chris sighed. You could imagine him running a hand over his face and scratching his scruff. "He was on a leash, wasn't he?"
You hummed and replied, "It's okay, Chris. I was only joking. I meant it when I said he's an angel." The two of you talked for a bit more, occasionally hearing people from Chris' end or Dodger's barks. When Chris yawned for the third time, you finally told him to go to sleep.
"But it's only, what? Seven there?" Chris argued, wanting to spend more time talking to you. He had made it pretty obvious from early on in your relationship that he loved your voice. He told you it was soothing and reminded him of being home. He had made you completely fall into the ditch of love at that point.
"Yeah and it's almost, what? Midnight there?" You countered lightheartedly with giggles.
"Alright, smart ass. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight. Love you and miss you," Chris slurred out, shuffling noises making their way to your ears.
"Goodnight, Chris. We miss you and love you too." With that you hung the call, knowing that Chris would refuse to be the one to cut it. You looked down at Dodger and tilted your head, eyes flickering up to note the time. "Wanna go on a walk, bud?"
At the question, Dodger jumped up and sprinted to his room—Chris insisted that Dodger deserved his own room and you happened to agree with that—coming back with his leash in his mouth. You chuckled and took it from him, easily putting it on him and watching him trot to the door. You followed his lead, slipping your feet into your shoes and checking your reflection quickly and grabbing your crossover. Once you were done, you let the door open and Dodger ran down the stairs, waiting at the sidewalk for you.
You grabbed the leash when he offered it to you, earning a good boy scratch behind his ear. He led the way he had memorised to the dog park, letting you take a few jogs when he playfully walked faster. You reached the dog park and took his leash off, giving him a few minutes to play with familiar dogs. You sat down on a nearby bench, scrolling through your phone and answering some respectful questions about your relationship with Chris. Chris and you had a pact about answering some questions that fans asked, but left the ones that you both found too prying or disrespectful.
"Dodger!" You called out after a few more minutes, easily spending about an hour just sitting around and keeping an eye on him. The sun was starting to set and you knew it was going to take about half an hour to get back with a tired Dodger. Dodger started running towards you at full speed, but you stood still and smiled, knowing that he would stop just in time. And he did, digging his paws into the ground close to your feet after taking a leap at you. You chuckled and crouched down to put his leash back on.
You started walking off, Dodger trotting beside you at your pace, seemingly tired out with the day's activities. You turned into an alleyway, wanting to take a shorter path home as Dodger started to fall behind. You slowed down, taking another turn into a quiet street and looked down at Dodger in concern. He was slowing down even more.
Just as you were about to crouch down, two pairs of hands grabbed your shoulders and shoved you to the floor, grabbing your purse harshly from your shoulders. The strap dug into your head, the leather burning your ear as the two men ran away. You gasped and yelled Dodger's name, seeing that he was starting to run after them. Dodger, on your call, came running back and nuzzled his nose into your shoulder as if he knew exactly what was hurting.
"Oh, Dodger," you said, scratching his ear and ignoring the blood pouring from your scraped hands. You were more concerned about Dodger being alright, noticing the slight limp in his trot back to you. "Are you okay?"
Dodger just walked around you and nudged your back with his head, telling you to get up. You bit your lip, inhaling and exhaling as you really felt the scraps start to sting. You looked down at your knees, noting the ripped leggings and the blood trailing down your shins. Dodger didn't let you study yourself more, opting to put his leash into his mouth and start going home again.
"Dodger," you sighed, but followed him, knowing that he knew exactly where home was.
———
You had cleaned your cuts and applied some ice on your bruises after seeing that Dodger was completely fine. You had debated calling up Chris, but ultimately decided against it. Chris would leave everything to make sure Dodger and you were alright. So you cancelled your credit cards and tried to remember how much money you had in your purse. You knew it couldn't have been too much since you had gotten some things for Dodger yesterday.
You had called the police, letting them know what had happened and they told you about the similarities between other cases. You weren't the two muggers' first victim and the police had assured you that they were trying their best to get everything back. You changed out of your clothes and reapplied bandages to your knees.
Dodger didn't stray far from you and you were grateful. What you didn't expect was the knock at the door. You were deciding not to open it—you hadn't ordered anything—but then realised it could be the police. So you went to open the door, Dodger staying protectively beside you, ready to attack.
"Hi, darling," Chris greeted with a huge smile. It faltered when his eyes saw the bandages on your hands. He threw his duffel bag behind you somewhere and gently grabbed them, pushing you back into the house carefully. He kicked the door close.
"Chris," you said finally, getting out of your initial shock. He wasn't supposed to be back for another few weeks. The pinch in his eyebrows told you that he was confused and concerned. You wanted nothing more than to kiss his worry away, but that scene was playing out in front of you and, as much as you didn't want to admit it, you were scared that you weren't going to see Chris again.
"What happened?" He asked sternly, looking down at Dodger who whined and nudged Chris's leg. Chris looked down at Dodger, his eyes darting back up to you and asking the question that he dreaded. "Did he..."
"No! No! No, Chris. Dodger would never do anything to hurt me," you assured him, shaking your head and looking down at Dodger. "He tried to help. It was—there were these two muggers and they, uh, they got me. I was so scared that Dodger was hurt, you know? He was running after them and—" you inhaled sharply, a sob racking out, and you let Chris hug you. His embrace was more than welcome and you relaxed against him.
"It's okay, darling. He's okay. You're okay. You both are okay." Chris continued to whisper sweet nothings into your ear while starting to pick you up. His hands travelled to your thighs and made you wrap them around his waist so that he didn't need to let you go. He was more worried about you than Dodger, but it seemed like you were thinking the opposite.
It warmed his heart so much to see you interact with Dodger. Every time you and Dodger cuddled on the sofa or on his bed, he felt his heart speed up. The warm feeling would spread when you entered the house and Dodger would immediately run towards you, licking your hands when you went to scratch his head. He was sure that none of his exes had been able to make a bond with Dodger, never one like you had fairly quickly.
Chris laid on his back on the couch, your legs straightening out on top of his, and looked over at Dodger with a small smile. He shifted so that he was laying on his side and your back was against his chest and a bit of space was left for Dodger.
"Dodger," Chris said, waving him over and patting the spot in front of you. Dodger happily cuddled against you, letting your hands rake through his fur. "Darling, he's okay and so are you."
There was a special reason for Chris to come back and this was sort of his reason for an extra stay. Chris was sure that he was going to spend the rest of his life with you and he was going to use the week to try and tell you that.