November 13, 2020.
"Rory knows you're picking her up right?" Drew says, shutting the shop door.
I shove my hands in my pockets, shifting awkwardly on my feet, "M' gonna text her before we leave here."
Drew hums, nodding his head slowly.
He was supposed to keep Ivy today while Rory went to set and I went to the studio, but those plans have changed.
I decided that I wanted to take Ivy shopping for some new clothes, so I texted Drew asking if it was okay for me to come pick up Ivy.
He has her at his shop today, so after throwing on some clothes I headed up here.
"Ivy! Look who's here to see you!" Drew opens the door to the employee break room and Ivy gasps, hopping off the couch and running towards me.
"Bestest 'arry!" She wraps her arms around my legs and I smile, patting the top of her head.
I love this little girl so much.
"He came to pick you up so you don't have to sit here and complain about my smelly records anymore." Drew teases, raising his brows and looking at Ivy who erupts into a fit of giggles.
"What are we doin?" Ivy asks softly, circling around my legs. "We gettin' Ice cream?"
"No ice cream today." I sigh, putting my hands on my hips, "I think mumma would kill me if I brought you home on a sugar high like DeDe did."
"I'm never letting her talk me into getting her two scoops ever again." He mutters, shaking his head.
"Where we goin' then?" Ivy furrows her brows and pouts, not liking the fact that I'm not taking her to get ice cream.
"We're going shopping." I smile and Drew snorts, "Clothes shopping." I narrow my eyes at him and shake my head.
"You're literally a dad." Drew chuckles, "I've never heard of a man casually taking his girlfriend's three year old daughter shopping for clothes."
"I love shopping." I shrug, "Sometimes when I go with my mates I look at baby clothes."
"Well, you two have fun. I have a shop to run!" Drew pats me on the back and says goodbye to Ivy before walking out of the break room to tend to customers.
I pull out my phone to text Rory and Ivy starts pulling on my leg, "Can we go now?!"
"One second Ives." I chuckle, typing out a quick message to Rory.
lover boy.
I picked up Ivy from Drew's shop.
I'm gonna take her to get some clothes.
I love you pretty mumma.
"Bestest 'arry!" Ivy whines, pulling on my arm, I sigh and quickly hit send before shoving my phone back into my pocket and grabbing Ivy's hand.
lover boy.
These messages failed to send.
I get Ivy buckled into her booster seat, making sure the straps aren't too tight before shutting the door and hopping into the drivers seat.
Once we get to the mall, I take Ivy's hand to make sure she can't run off. God, could you imagine if I lost her? Rory would kill me.
"Can I get a tutu?" Ivy gasps, pointing to a window display for Justice.
"You can get a tutu." I chuckle, walking her over to the store. We head to the back where the tutu's are displayed and she picks out three different colors. A blue one, a pink one and a yellow one.
"Is that all?" I take the tutu's from her as she hands them to me, "Get as many as you want bug, there's no limit."
Ivy shakes her head, "I'm good."
"Are you sure?"
"Mhm. I got one for you, me and mama." I smile and nod, taking Ivy's hand as we go to the checkout.
The woman behind the counter looks at Ivy and I and smiles, scanning the tutus and putting them into a bag. "That'll be 21.08."
I hand her a fifty dollar bill, "Keep the change."
She thanks me, handing me the bag before Ivy and I leave the store. "Can I hold the bag?" Ivy looks up at me and I nod, handing the bag to her.
We go to a few more stores like The Children's Place, Claire's, Nordstrom and Gucci.
I bought Ivy a couple pairs of pants, shorts and a few cute t-shirts that she can mix and match with them. At Gucci, I got her a checkered wool coat for the short winter here and a blue velvet dress with gold detailing.
Rory is definitely going to have a fit seeing as at Gucci alone, I spent almost three thousand dollars on Ivy for two things.
That doesn't count any of the items that were bought at the other stores, along with the smoothie she begged me for then was done with after three sips.
"Do you want to go anywhere else before we leave?" Ivy swings our hands and thinks for a minute.
"Indoor park?" She pouts and I sigh, smiling lightly. I can't tell her no with those eyes.
"Only for a little bit okay?" Ivy's eyes widen with excitement and she nods. "Okay!"
We head to the indoor park in the mall and I take all of the bags Ivy said she was tough enough to carry.
She runs off and begins playing with a little girl she ran into and I sit on the bench right outside the play area and watch her.
I take a few photos of her for memories before my phone shuts off, Shit. I forgot to charge it.
"Which one is yours?" An older woman leans over to me and smiles. I look at her blankly, trying to find the right words.
"Pink bow." Is all that comes out of my mouth. The woman nods, pointing to the little girl Ivy is currently playing with.
"Looks like they get along well." She smirks, "Is her mom around?"
Oh hell no.
"Yes." I try and my tone as nice as possible.
"Did she leave you to babysit?"
"No," I stand up and call Ivy's name. I am not doing this today. "It's not babysitting if it's your child."
"Oh I wasn't- that's not-"
"You were insinuating it." I spit, grabbing Ivy's hand and walking to the exit. "Maybe you should let your partner babysit. You clearly need a break."
Ivy and I walk to the car. I throw the bags into the passenger seat and get Ivy buckled into her booster.
She asks for Golden to be played on the drive home and talks about how excited she is to wear her new clothes.
"Thank ya' for takin' me shoppin' today." Ivy says sweetly from the backseat. I smile up at her through the rear view mirror.
"Anytime bug, did you have fun?" I ask as I pull into the neighborhood.
"So much!" Ivy giggles, kicking her feet against the seat, I turn into the driveway and smile when I see Rory is home.
I'm so excited to show her everything that I bought.
"Mumma is home!" I get Ivy out of the car, grabbing the bags of clothes I got her and head into the house.
"Mommy!" Ivy squeals, running into Rory's arms when we step inside. She kisses Ivy's head and stands from her spot on the floor.
I set the bags of clothes onto the counter and lean over to peck Rory on the lips. Instead of leaning in, she turns away from me and I frown.
"Ivy, can you go to your room for a minute baby?" Rory says softly, Ivy nods and runs off to her room.
I stand there confused for a moment before Rory turns to look at me. Her eyes narrowed and her lips straight.
"Where the hell were you?" She spits out, throwing her hands in air. I stand there in shock.
"I took Ivy to get some clothes." I look at her with a frown on my face. I don't get why she's bringing this up, I texted her and told her I was taking Ivy shopping hours ago.
"Why didn't you tell me." Rory raises her voice and I flinch, "You can't just run off with my daughter, Harry!"
"I texted you!" I respond, running a hand through my hair, "I told you I was picking her up from Drew's shop and taking her shopping."
"No, you didn't." Rory pulls out her phone and shoves it towards my face and lo and behold, the text I was sure I sent her isn't there.
"I did not get a single text from you or a phone call for that matter." Rory tosses her phone onto the counter, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I thought I texted you." I breathe, "I- I guess I didn't hit send but I would never take her anywhere without telling you first."
"That doesn't matter, Harry." She scoffs, "Just because you told me doesn't change the fact that you still ran off with her without my permission."
"Why are you yelling at me?" I sigh, trying to keep my composure. I'm not about to yell at her. It isn't right.
"Because, Harry! I was scared out of my mind! You weren't returning my calls and I didn't know where you had taken my daughter!"
"My phone died." I sigh stepping closer to her, "I don't know what you want me to say. I didn't think it would be a big deal." Rory backs away from me and I gulp.
She doesn't want me near her.
"You overstepped your boundaries today." Rory shakes her head, chuckling coldly. "You promised me you wouldn't."
Tears start welling up in my eyes. I never meant to overstep any boundaries, and the fact I did has me sick to my stomach.
"Drew knew where I was!" I throw my hands up in the air and let them fall to my sides with a smack. "Why didn't you call him?"
I put my hands on my hips and waited for Rory's response. "He wasn't the one with my child! I thought you were responsible, Harry. But I guess I was wrong." Rory scoffs and turns to walk away from me.
Shit.
All I wanted to do was take Ivy out and do something with her and now I've screwed everything up.
Fuck.
"Do you not trust me?" My voice comes out small. Rory looks over at me and gulps, shaking her head.
"Right now? No, I don't."
She doesn't trust me.
"I'm sorry." I whisper. Tears start to roll down my cheeks and I sniffle. "Overstepping boundaries was one of my biggest fears, a-and now I've done it. I-" A sob escapes my lips and I turn away from Rory, dropping my head.
"I-I swear I thought I hit send. Ivy was yelling at me to hurry up so I was a bit distracted. I know that's not an excuse but I'm sorry."
"And the fact you don't trust me fucking hurts. I would never put her in danger, I thought you knew that." I'm a wreck. I never meant for any of this happen. I was so excited to come home and show her everything I had bought.
I feel a small hand grasp my bicep and turn to see Rory standing there with a soft look on her face.
"Harry-" She starts but I shake my head and cut her off.
"I'm s-so sorry." I choke out between sobs. "I just wanted t-to do something with her. I didn't mean to upset you."
"Harry, look at me." She lifts my chin up to look at her and wipes the tears off my cheeks with the padding of her thumb. "Breathe."
I gulp and take a few deep breaths, nodding when I feel like I'm stable enough to stop.
"Are you mad at me?" I say quietly, Rory's face falls and she cups my face in her hands.
"Baby I'm not mad. I'm a little upset, but not mad."
"You promise?" I sniffle, holding out my pinky finger and she wraps hers around mine.
"I promise." Rory nods, smiling up at me softly, "Next time just call me okay? That way we know for sure I'm told what's happening."
"Okay." I breathe, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Rory smiles sadly, "Just don't beat yourself up over it."
"It's hard not to." I look down at my feet and play with a loose string hanging down from my shirt. "You don't trust me, Rory."
"I do trust you, for the most part." Rory sighs, "My trust issues have nothing to do with you, I promise."
Then stop projecting them onto me.
"Are you sure?" I sniffle, "Don't lie to me."
"I'm sure." She nods, "I'm sorry."
I shove my face into her neck, "I'm sorry too."
We hug each other for a moment before I pull away and I gently place my hand on her cheek.
"Was that our first fight?" I chuckle wetly. Rory shakes her head and lets out a small laugh.
"I think it was." I kiss her temple and hold her close, feeling the warm of her on my body.
That fight was rough.
"Can I come out now?!" Ivy shouts, sighing dramatically, "It's borin' in here!"
Rory and I look at each and laugh. "Let's go get our girl, yeah?" Rory slings her arm around my shoulder and I smile.
"Can I show you everything I bought her?" Rory laughs, nodding her head
"of course baby."
"Love was never meant to be easy, people fight, people make mistakes, people walk out and then run back, but when it comes to love, there is no limit to what you would do for one another. To protect, to provide, to profess. It's a lot harder to stay together then to fall apart, but with your love for one another being unconditional will make it worth every second."
ꕤ ꕤ ꕤ
HIII CINEMA
this was... rough.
I AM ON A ROLE YOU GUYS
<3