"okay, now can you read it back to me?" kitty adjusted in harry's leg and leaned forward.
"the quick brown fox jumped over the..." kitty leaned in closer to get a better look.
"mhm, keep going princess." kitty nodded and parted his lips.
"... the lazy dog?" harry smiled and ruffled his hair.
"great job. are you ready for another one?" kitty nodded, grabbing the end of his sweater and covering his hands.
"are you cold?" kitty scrunched his nose and shook his head. "alright then. tell hazza if you ever get cold okay? now, do you wanna easy sentence or a hard one?"
kitty rocked in his arms. "hard. a hazza hard one."
harry giggled. "okay, read this one."
he flipped all the way to the back of the learning book he had in his hands to a difficulty 4 sentence. it wasn't all that hard for harry to read, but he wanted kitty to feel good.
"read this one." as he pointed to the last sentence on the page, the doorbell rang.
kitty got up from harry's lap and unhooked his tail from him. harry brushed of his pants from the excess fur from his tail and stood up.
"practice that sentence so we can read it when i get back okay?" kitty nodded and beamed, already focusing on the first few words.
harry walked over to the door and opened it up, the cold breeze swirling around. "niall?"
"jesus mate, you're always late answering the door. at least set up a heater and a magazine for the unnecessarily long wait." niall stormed his way inside, taking off his boots and hanging his coat up. "where's the little one?"
the two walked over to the livingroom and found kitty nose deep in the book he was reading. when he heard niall's loud footsteps, he shot up and ran over towards them.
"niall, i've missed you." niall gasped.
"you talk much more now. i see harry's been teaching you well." when niall mentioned teaching, kitty wiggled from his embrace and dragged them over to the spot he and harry were sitting at earlier.
"hazza, i've learned it." harry smiled and sat down crossed legged on the floor, allowing kitty to reclaim his seat in his lap.
"okay, okay." kitty cleared his throat and began reading. "amber sat in the grass, the leaves tickling her feet, and she laughed."
harry and niall both shared a big, proud look on thier face while kitty basked in the attention. "wonderful job kitty, and you did it all by yourself."
he smiled at niall's compliment. harry looked over at niall with a loving smile before turning back to kitty. "you did so great. you wanna go out to eat with niall tonight to celebrate? my treat."
both niall and kitty nodded and giggled and harry laughed at niall's childish behaviour. "okay, read another one for us while me and niall go talk, okay?"
kitty nodded and began reading. harry carefully moved himself away, standing up and he lead his friend into the kitchen. the first thing niall did was open the refrigerator and grab two juices.
"you're teaching him how to read and talk?" harry opened up his can and swallowed it down.
"mhm."
"that's amazing harry, how long has it been, 2 weeks since i've last spoken to you?" niall stared up to the ceiling with stars in his eyes. "wow that's, that's ridiculous. i remember all he did was purr and frown and look, he's all grown up now."
harry laughed. "you make it seem like he's a baby."
"he is. your baby." harry blushed at his words. "kitty whispered in my ear before i got up that he liked being called princess. he said it makes him feel all tingly on the inside."
harry sipped his juice again, a little less forceful than last time. niall chuckled. "he really said that?"
"leprechauns don't lie." harry's heart fluttered. "on a more serious note, are we still going out to eat? there's this cool pie place i know."
harry nodded. "yeah. i want kitty to feel good. learning how to read and write is like a lifelong goal to him. he once told me last week that he wasn't allowed to."
"what do you mean he wasn't allowed to?" harry shrugged. "oh, okay."
"which reminds me, what made you come over?"
"oh, i was over at zayn's earlier and decided to come over and check on the lonely harry and the star child." harry hummed.
"by the way," niall leaned over and turned to harry. "zayn told me when he, you know, did the stuff with his mate, he had the sudden urge to bite his neck. like something deeper than a hickey, like a mark. but, it might be zayn being overly possessive."
"hmph." harry scratched his face.
"since you're a hybrid master or whatever, i'd thought i'd let you know." niall leaned back over and tossed his juice away.
"we should invite them tonight. then we could talk about—"
"hazza! niall!"
"okay, we're coming." niall turned back to harry. "we should, but let's get going. don't wanna leave princess all alone by himself for too long."
harry rolled his eyes.
____
"and are you sure you're coming to dinner with us?" harry squished the phone in between his neck and ear.
"absolutely. in fact, we're leaving now."
"bring your scent neutralizer." there was a grunt and then the phone hung up.
"ready hazza?" kitty looked at him and smiled, a soft blush tainting his cheeks.
harry could only smile back.
"c'mon, let's get dressed." harry followed the small lad into his room and into their shared closet.
"kitty, uh, we won't be able to show your ears or tail." he stopped in his tracks and frowned.
"why?" his ears were flat on his head and his tail drooped low, causing harry to sigh.
"not everyone ... can be around pretty kitties like you." he expected kitty to at least give a small smile, but he just sat down.
"why? bad kitty?" his voice was soft and sad and gosh did harry not like seeing him sad.
"no, some people are just ... allergic. and it causes them to sneeze and get sick." kitty didn't budge.
"i'll stay." harry rubbed his hand down his face and crawled over to kitty.
"all you have to do is tuck your tail and put a cute beanie on and no one will get sick. then, you can eat all you want." he wrapped his arms around the smaller lad and nuzzled his face into his hair.
kitty played with the bottom of his sweater and after watching him for a little over two weeks, harry learned that meant he was nervous. "what's wrong?"
kitty cleared his throat before blushing. "c-can you call me it?"
harry furrowed his eyebrows. "call you what?"
"princess." and if harry wasn't so close, he probably wouldn't have heard him.
"of course. hazza will do anything for his princess." kitty mewled and harry only chuckled as he pressed a kiss to his temple.
they cuddled for a little while longer, their breathing eventually syncronizing, until they were interrupted with a phone call.
"i bet that's niall. let's get dressed okay?"
"alright."
____
"you're always late no matter what. i can't believe you styles." niall sneered.
"you're right. i was two weeks late coming out of the womb too. guess i've always been late." niall gasped.
"unbelievable, you prick. we've been waiting twenty minutes—"
"i'm here now aren't i? don't use foul language in front of kitty." kitty, who's been fiddling with the infinite amount of napkins, turned and smiled at the sound of his name.
"yeah." zayn looked between the two and smiled.
"nice seeing you again kitty." kitty purred.
"nice to meet you." liam added before turning to harry. "did you name him kitty?"
harry nodded proudly and liam shook his head and laughed. but then he turned serious. "do you have a pen?"
"always." he reached in his pocket and pulled out his ballpoint pen, giving it to liam with hesitation.
"thanks." he grabbed one of the napkins kitty wasn't playing with and scribbled something down.
zayn is an alpha
"what?" harry opened his mouth in shock, bawling up the napkin before anyone else could see.
"hi, can i help you guys to some drinks this evening?"
fin.
word count :: 1,414
completed / unedited