A/N: y'all really seemed to like Babysitting, and a lot of y'all have asked for something a bit similar, or at least with Hatchi in it (cuz he's my favorite character), and so...well, here ya go. Hopefully it makes sense...
***
The TV drones on, but I don't really pay it much attention. I mean, Instagram isn't at all more interesting in any way, but for some reason I can't stop scrolling through the same pictures I saw five minutes ago.
Hatchi is rolling around beside me, growling and gnawing on the stuffed little toy Leigh-Anne got him a while back. He loves the stupid thing so much, and I have absolutely no idea why, but I don't complain because it keeps him entertained.
I stumble across a usual gloriously cryptic post from Beyoncé when Hatchi suddenly flips himself back onto his belly and goes still, ears perked and tail slowly dragging against the covers of my bed in that special way that tells me our favorite person is home.
Sure enough, a few seconds later I hear the door open, and Hatchi goes diving off the bed, tripping over himself and his short legs in his haste, but nonetheless continuing to stumble on and charge out of my bedroom.
Same. But, ya know, internally.
I hear a voice welcome her home, most likely Leigh-Anne since she's the only other one home, and also she's the only one with a loud enough voice to penetrate through walls even when whispering.
"Yeah, the boss man let me go early. Where's the other two?"
"Pez is upstairs, and I honestly have no idea where Jes is."
"Oh, cool. So, what's for din-HEY BUD!"
I imagine Hatchi flying into the living room by now, tongue out and goofy doggy smile on his face as he launches himself into Jade's open arms. Ugh, it's the cutest fucking thing, and I'm mad at myself for not witnessing it today.
Well, at least I have it on my phone from that one time I secretly recorded it...
It was a huge moment when Jade first warmed up to Hatchi. She never had dogs or pets growing up, so she's never been a huge fan of them, especially their waste-disposing functions. But, after some time, she eventually warmed up to my fur ball and accepted his presence, starting to help take care of him and give him affection. It wasn't long after that that Jade became his absolute favorite, even over Leigh who always sneaks him treats and human food.
We're still waiting on Jesy to warm up to the idea of pets.
It isn't long before I hear the sound of familiar footsteps ascending the stairs, followed by the pitter patter of Hatchi's little paws.
"Are you following me?" Jade asks. I hear her footsteps stop, and Hatchi's stop as well. Then Jade takes two steps, then stops. Hatchi does the equivalent in doggie steps, then stops as well.
Suddenly, Jade runs down the hall, appearing through my open door for a split second before passing it, Hatchi's little body appearing soon after in the same fashion. Then, I see them run past again in the opposite direction, Hatchi right on Jade's heels while she laughs and looks over her shoulder at him, watching him follow.
I hear them stop, and then Jade's footsteps continue while Hatchi's don't.
Then, the angel walks into my room, a small smile on her face as she holds my dog in her arms, said dog licking her face between pants for breath after that short little workout.
So. Fucking. Cute.
"I believe this is yours," she says, letting go of Hatchi and letting him leap down onto my bed, immediately spinning around and jumping around excitedly because he thinks she's going to follow.
She doesn't, and it doesn't just disappoint the dog.
"With how much he fawns over you, I'm not quite sure about that anymore," I say, watching at the ball of fur wags his tail like crazy when Jade reaches her hand out towards him to give pets.
"Well, maybe I can't attract humans, but at least I can attract dogs, eh Hatchi?"
Fake news. You can attract humans. Fucking hell let me show you how attracted I am to you...
But I'm too much of a wimp ("little bitch" in Jesy Nelson speak) to tell her about how I feel.
I snort, kicking her and rolling my eyes as she just giggles. "Stop talking like that, Thirlwall."
She holds her hands up in surrender, and Hatchi practically falls off the bed trying to follow them.
"I know, I know. Jesy would kick my ass if she were here."
"Oi, I can kick your ass, too." I emphasize my point by flexing my foot and trying to hit her on her butt, but she moves and sticks her tongue out at me. "I'm just lazy."
"Sure, Jan," she says, with the exact same expression and attitude as that scene, and I can't help but crack up laughing, as we always do whenever she does that.
"Shut up!" I shout, grabbing my pillow and using it to try and smack her, but she just catches it easily and pushes against it. It turns into a push and shove war, both of us giggling while also being extremely competitive.
I decide to change it up, to win, yes, but also because I'm fucking desperate and I want her closer to me. Instead of pushing like I've been, I turn it around on her and start pulling, causing her to stumble and fall on top of me from all the force she was putting into the pushing. She lets go of the pillow and catches herself just as our faces are about to touch. Breathy giggles still slip past our lips, but something shifts, the air going from light and playful to electrifying and all-encompassing. My eyes can't leave hers, and her eyes can't leave mine, and everything else in the background fades away because I have Jade Thirlwall on top of me and this might just be the moment where I finally-
Hatchi starts barking.
I'm ready to fly him out the window.
"I'M HOME!" a voice calls from downstairs.
"Jesy?" Jade asks, already backing away from me.
I'm ready to fly Jesy out the window as well.
"Is it?" I ask, sitting up and following her lead, trying not to make it obvious that I literally can't breathe and want nothing more than to pull her back on top of me.
"That definitely was her voice," Jade says, peering at Hatchi as he continues to bark and growl, looking very unhappy. "But, Hatchi doesn't usually react like this. He loves trying to chase her around the house before she hides in a room."
"And he knows Harry and doesn't bark at him anymore..."
Jade frowns to herself in thought.
Leigh-Anne screams from downstairs.
Jade and I rush out of the room, Hatchi following quickly, barking even louder now with all the commotion.
"IT'S SO CUTE!" Leigh screams again, and then we're finally at the bottom of the stairs, and Jade stops dead in her tracks when she rounds the corner, almost causing my to bump into her (actually, no, I still do bump into her even though I could've stopped, because...I like touching her).
Oh. My. Fucking. G-
"DOG!" Jade gasps, running over to Jesy to see the small little puppy in her arms, Leigh-Anne already there and crowding around her.
"Girlies, meet Reggie!"
She looks me dead in the eye, that stupid, knowing smile on her face that tells me this is some evil-genius plan of hers. I want nothing to do with it...even though that puppy is super cute.
Jade and Leigh-Anne are enthralled, swooning over the little thing in Jesy's arms. Meanwhile, Hatchi is beside me, growling lowly and looking like a little grump.
A few moments later, Reggie is on the ground, chasing after Jade's hand with uncoordinated baby puppy steps as she plays with him, Leigh-Anne fighting with Jesy over a bag of treats that she's already prepared to spoil the puppy with.
Hatchi goes over, trying to push Reggie out of the way so he can get to Jade's hand, but Leigh-Anne shoos him away, blocking him with her body as she bends down to play with the pup as well (Jesy now putting the bag of treats away).
Reggie continues to roll and run around, but then he trips a little and plops right into Jade's lap. Jade coos, beginning to pet him with Leigh-Anne gushes over him as well. From his spot on her lap, Reggie looks over at Hachi, my dog sitting just behind Jade and glaring at the new addition to the house. The little puppy looks content, and pushes a paw out to try and make contact with Hatchi. Hatchi ignores it, still looking displeased and angry.
"Aw, Jes! Can we take him for a walk?!" Leigh asks, looking at the older girl with pleading eyes.
"Sounds like a great idea! And, you can take Hatchi, too!"
Leigh and Jade get up with excitement, Hatchi hearing the word walk and having already run off to grab his leash and proudly walk it over to Jade. Before she can grab it, though, Reggie barks and stumbles into Jade's calf, pawing at her jeans. The girl turns away from Hatchi, picking up Reggie instead and grabbing his leash from Jesy to put it on him.
Hatchi refuses to start walking when Leigh tugs on his leash.
Somehow they're finally out of the house, Jesy trusting the girls to watch her new puppy, saying that she had to stay back and get some things ready and that she needed my help.
Once the door closes, I turn to Jesy with narrowed eyes.
"What's your angle?"
"What angle?" she asks, smirking as she turns and starts to litter Reggie's new toys all over the place.
"You hate pets."
"But I don't hate my boyfriend."
"Just yesterday you were making fun of Jade for joining the pet-loving side."
"No," she says, smiling like an evil mastermind. "I was teasing her for being whipped, and not just for the dog."
"Jesy," I warn, following her as she walks into the kitchen to start setting up Reggie's food bowl.
"I've had to watch you pine over Jade for the past three years. When Jade started to like Hatchi and spend more time with both of you over that, I thought you might actually be smart enough to make your move. But, I guess not. So, this is a step in my relationship with Harry, and it's also competition for you and Hatchi."
"If you want us together then why would you do something to take away her attention?!"
"Motivation," she says, simply. "I got a cute as fuck dog, and you gotta do something to top that. Oh, idea!" she cheers, clapping and looking at me cheerfully. I know it's mock innocence. "Fuck her!"
"Jesy!"
"Sex will get her attention right off Reggie and back onto Hatchi's side, a.k.a. your side."
"Jesy, I can't just-"
"Why can't you?"
"She's my best friend and roommate! This is a delicate situation."
"Well, then enjoy watching my dog win."
She's definitely getting thrown out the window.
***
"Hey, buddy!" Jade greets, fluffing up Hatchi's fur before turning to the smaller ball of fur that's come to check up on what the commotion is. "Hi, Reggie!" She unknowingly misses Hatchi's sad little face at the lack of attention, only looking down at him when he puts a paw on her thigh, but she's already got the smaller dog in her arms the way she usually holds Hatchi.
I look over at Jesy, catching her sipping her tea and looking at me over the top of the mug.
Jade doesn't stop by my room that night to say goodnight to Hatchi and I, and I curse Jesy's brilliance. Of course her plan is working out exactly the way she knew it would. How dare she be so wickedly smart...
***
Jade is laying on the floor during a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I'm glad to see that Hatchi is next to her, happily snuggled up to her side even though they're not on a comfortable surface. She's lazily petting him, just scrolling through something on her phone as she vegetates.
Until, of course, Jesy just waltzes in with a handful of Reggie, leaning down to plop him atop Jade's chest and continuing on her way out of the room.
Jade brightens up immediately, ignoring Jesy's exit and instead focusing on the new puppy on top of her.
***
I spot Jesy walking past my door, holding Reggie up over her head like the scene from the Lion King.
Jade follows, eyes locked on the little puppy, in some sort of trance. Hatchi follows after her, whining and trying to paw at her calves to get her attention.
***
"What is going on here?"
"We're having a slumber party!" Jesy exclaims, using her hold on Jade to squeeze her closer, also wrapping her legs around her now. Jade goes along with it, closing her eyes in bliss.
"And I wasn't invited?"
"It's just for us two," Jesy continues, as if it was so damn obvious.
"Leigh-Anne is out with Jake right now, so she couldn't join in either," Jade adds.
"Wait, why would Leigh be out with-"
"Can you just get out? We want to be alone," Jesy says, cutting me off.
***
I was suddenly downstairs, though I swear I was just upstairs.
Leigh-Anne is here, sitting with Reggie on the couch.
"Oh, hey, Leigh," I say, walking fully into the living room so that I can be face-to-face with her.
"Hey!" she says.
"Hey!" Jade says, coming out of the bathroom that I don't remember being on that side of the house... She then looks at the couch, gasping with excitement when she sees the little puppy. "Awww, it's baby reggie!"
She walks over to the couch, taking a seat next to Leigh-Anne before climbing on top of her, the two of them now kissing-
***
***
Perrie startles herself awake, jolting against the couch and getting swarmed with the sound of Jesy's cackles and music playing in the background, a blow-dryer on and at full power.
She blinks her eyes, once, twice, trying to get rid of the blur in front of her. Once her eyes focus, she's met with the little face of a very familiar puppy.
Reggie.
Her eyes widen and she jumps back, flailing her arms and causing Reggie to startle as well, stumbling off the couch.
"My baby!" Jesy shouts, and the blonde looks over to see that she's the one with Aaron's blow-dryer working at her hair.
"You okay, Pez?" Leigh asks, and Perrie didn't even realize that she had fallen asleep with her head resting on the older girl's thigh.
"Aww, poor little guy," a familiar voice says next, and Perrie's eyes move to lock on her girlfriend, watching as she walks over to the front of the couch and bends down, arms reaching out to scoop up the little puppy.
"NO!" she shouts, getting flashbacks of something and having a strange fear bubble up in her chest.
"No?" Jade asks, tilting her head much like the little puppy beside her.
"Don't touch him! You're going to leave me and Hatchi!"
Jade blinks. Leigh-Anne makes a 'bitch, what?' expression on her face. The blow-dryer is turned off.
"What the fuck is in your water?" Jesy finally asks, breaking the sudden silence that's fallen upon the room.
"I-...We were just... And Leigh and... What?"
"Babe, are you okay?" Jade asks, fully focused on the blonde rather than the little puppy that was curiously climbing into her lap.
"What?" Perrie asks, confused as to whats going on.
"Where did you just go? That dream must've been wild," Leigh says, chuckling to herself.
"I was sleeping?"
"Hun, we're at the photoshoot. You already finished your shots, so we let you nap. Do you remember?"
"Oh... Oh thank GOD." Perrie sits up, stretching and letting the relief wash over her.
"What'd you dream about?" Jade asks, a curious smile on her face as she gets up from the ground, Jesy making a noise of protest when Reggie's little body goes flopping to the side from the movement. She sits next to the younger girl, letting her attack her in a bear hug that she was not expecting.
"Nothing," Perrie whispers, digging her head into Jade's chest and smiling in content, glad that she could forget about the possibility of that horrible dream coming true.
She turns her head to the side, watching as Reggie sniffs at Hatchi, grinning when her dog soon starts to play with the new puppy.
Everything is alright.
Everyone is happy.
Jade is hers.
She doesn't have to throw Jesy out the window.