"Don't you think this is a bit premature?"
I glanced over my shoulder at Harry who was still standing at the top of the aisle whilst I was already in by the cat litter.
"Why would it be?" I asked, a frown on my forehead.
I watched as Harry slowly made his way down towards me with a smirk on his lips and I bit my lip as he raised an eyebrow at me as he came to a stop beside me and my hand was immediately wrapped up by his.
"Because we don't have a cat yet, Sunshine." Harry said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But we're going to see them tomorrow." I smiled up at him.
"But what if we don't like any of them?"
"That doesn't matter, it's always better to be prepared." I said seriously, pouting as Harry smirked and I knew a laugh was imminent. "And it's if they like us."
"I don't like how you said they Sunshine." Harry hummed and I rolled my eyes. "I said one."
"What if they come as a pair?" I asked innocently as I went back to looking at the cat litter, I had done a lot of research on this and I still wasn't sure what the best type was to get.
"Then we get a different single cat."
"No fun." I mumbled making Harry raise an eyebrow at me and I squealed as his long fingers suddenly dug into my sides and I tried to get away from him making Harry laugh in turn.
"Why is this such a big deal anyway?" Harry asked once I'd finally got him to leave me alone, although now he'd decided he wanted to start pressing kisses to my cheek anytime I ignored him for an amount of time he determined 'too long'.
I'd never had so many dirty looks directed at me in a pet store before.
"There's a lot of different types."
"Let's just get this one and look its scented so we don't have to smell its piss." Harry pointed at a bag of gel litter.
"No, gel litter is bad." I said seriously and I shook my head at Harry's raised eyebrow. "It's silica gel and if they eat too much of it, it can make them really sick."
"Why would a cat eat the stuff it pisses in?"
I looked up at Harry as if he had three heads making his eyes widen.
"Wot? Tha's' what you said!"
"It's not going to eat it as if it's some tasty treat!" I laughed, "The litter gets stuck to their claws after they've been in there and then they clean themselves and their feet with their tongues."
"So it's going to be dropping shit stones all over the flat?" Harry raised an eyebrow at me and I rolled my lips together before looking away. "Sunshine."
"Yeah, it might happen."
The words left my mouth quickly as I kept my eyes on the litter and decided on a bag of wood pellet litter in front of me. I heard Harry mumble under his breath but I didn't address it as I moved our trolley out of the way slightly so I could get to the self and reached for the bag.
I huffed as Harry simply reached up over me and grabbed the bag before giving me a pointed look and putting it into the trolley.
"I could have done that." I muttered quietly making him roll his eyes and squeeze my hip making me jump and him smirk. "It's pine scented. I'd rather that than lavender, is that okay?"
"Sunshine I have exactly zero opinions on the smell of cat litter."
I looked at Harry for a long moment before I shook my head at him and he cracked a crooked smile at me making my cheeks heat.
I was glad that I'd taken the time to research the different types of cat litter, I had to admit I'd never realised that there would be so many to choose from. I licked my lip as I glanced at the light purple litter tray in the trolley and thought about what else we needed.
"Can we get some toys?" I asked Harry as we walked slowly through the aisles and Harry shrugged.
"If yeh' want."
"No, it's if you want to as well." I said quietly making Harry shake his head as he squeezed my hand. "Are you sure you're okay with getting a cat?"
"Yes, Sunshine." Harry stressed making me press my lips together as he steered us into the next row of cat items. "I said we could, like cats."
I knew he liked cats, in fact, Harry liked every animal but I was still worried that I was forcing him to get a cat. And I mean I felt bad because I still didn't have a job, although it wasn't like I wasn't trying to get one.
I was pretty sure Harry had something to do with the fact that I wasn't getting any interviews because I knew he didn't want me going back to work but I needed the money.
And that was something he didn't understand either, just like I didn't understand how or why he didn't want me going to work, I didn't want to have to rely on him and his money all the time.
I didn't want him to think I was just using him.
"Oh tha's' cool."
I looked up to see Harry holding a pack of fluffy toy worms and I laughed a bit as he dropped them into the trolley.
"Do they have other colours?" I teased making Harry half-heartedly glare at me and I laughed.
"Shut up Sunshine."
I simply rolled my lips together before I looked back at the toys, now he knew how stupid he sounded when he'd made a fuss over the fact the litter tray I wanted only came in purple.
As if cats even know what colours are!
I added a couple of packs of brightly coloured mice and fish to the trolley before we headed towards the treat area, stopping by to grab a scratching post and I simply stood there watching as Harry went mad dropping multiple bags of treats into the trolley.
"I think that's enough." I advised as Harry dropped the eighth bag of Dreamies treats in the cart. I was pretty sure we had a pack in every flavour.
"But this one is BBQ turkey!"
"Last one then." I gave in making Harry smile at me and I shook my head, who knew he'd take over? "I think we're done."
"What about a bed?"
I looked up at Harry who was looking down at me and I bit my lip before nodding slowly.
"I guess, although I thought cats slept on the furniture."
"I feel like we should get it a bed." Harry hummed before he steered us in the direction of the beds and I laughed. "Oh! And a bowl!"
I flushed as I realised I'd forgotten arguably the two most important things for a cat.
A water bowl and a food bowl.
"I like this one." I said as I pointed at a brown spotty bed, it was very soft too.
"What if we got more then one?" Harry countered as he held up a big hooded grey bed and I sighed.
"Do we need more than one?"
Who knew I'd be the sensible adult here?
"Yes."
I laughed as Harry took a hold of the one I'd been looking at and dropped them both into the basket and made a show of walking away making me laugh even harder, his head turning over his shoulder with a grin.
"Love it when you laugh." Harry hummed as I pushed the trolley towards the bowls.
"Love you."
"Love you too Sunshine." Harry hummed before he squeezed my hand. "A food dish and a water dish, yeh'."
"That comes to seventy four fifty eight please."
I bit my lip as Harry simply tapped his card on the machine without batting an eye, the girl behind the till giving him a once over and I stood up a bit straighter as I wrapped my hand around his arm making Harry glance down at me with a smirk.
"Sorry." I breathed once we out in the car park, Harry pushing the trolley still as we headed towards his car.
"What for?"
"Making you spend so much money."
"Didn't make me do anything Sunshine, besides you can apologise tomorrow if we end up not getting a bloody cat."
+
"Jesus Christ Sunshine v'never seen you so bloody excited."
I flushed as I glanced at Harry as we sat at a red light, according to the GPS on his phone we weren't even five minutes away but it still seemed too long.
"Sorry." I mumbled as I sat back in the seat of the Range Rover and tried to control myself. "I just like cats."
"No need to apologise Angel." Harry squeezed my hand that was currently resting in my lap and I squeezed back.
I stayed quiet as The Who burbled through the car radio until Harry found an empty parking space just down from the building and I was out of the car like lightning.
I knew I needed to calm down, it might turn out none of the cats would even like us and I knew that was a real possibility that we might not even get a cat today.
"Hi, you must be the Styles's, here for the one o'clock adoption meeting?" The girl at reception who's name tag read Jill asked and both Harry and I nodded. "Excellent, if you'll follow me."
Harry nudged me to go first and I followed behind Jill until we came to a stop at the door and I looked around, seeing lots of different cats bouncing about and sleeping in the opposite room and I felt my heart clench.
"Mandy, these are the Styles's, they're here for the cats." Jill introduced us before gesturing for us to go into the office and I thanked her quietly.
I also hadn't realised how Harry had just referred to us as the Styles' when he'd booked. But I couldn't deny the way it made my heart flutter.
"Hi, I'm Mandy, if you two would like to take a seat."
I did as I was told, Harry taking the seat closest the door.
"I'm May and this is Harry." I introduced us politely. "Nice to meet you."
"Now we always like to have a little chat before just to get an idea of what kind of animal you're looking for, where you live, what kind of lifestyles you live etc." Mandy smiled. "There's no wrong answers or anything like that so please don't be worried. We just want to make sure we find the best fit for you.
"For both you guys and the cat, all of them have their individual needs and preferences, just like humans you know? So where do you guys live?"
"Hampstead."
I glanced at Harry as we both answered at the same time making Mandy laugh and I flushed as Harry gestured for me to speak.
"Uh we have a flat in Hampstead, so there isn't outdoor space and personally we'd prefer an indoor cat anyway. Just to eliminate that worry of it being by a road or getting lost." I explained, Mandy nodding.
"I understand that. Some of our cats come from homes that they had outdoor space and time by themselves outside which although they'd probably be able to adjust to being indoor cats, I mean cats are pretty adjustable, we try to place them somewhere they'd be comfortable. Do you have any other pets?"
"No," I shook my head, glancing at Harry who smiled at me. "This would be our first, we talked about either a cat or a dog but we decided you shouldn't really have a dog in a flat."
"Would you want other pets, another cat, in the future?"
"Maybe?" I said as I licked my lips. "I mean it all depends I guess."
"Yeah that's fair, it's a tricky question to answer sorry. We just try to match animals that don't mind others in the first place, you know just in case. We find a lot of people get one cat and then before a year's up they love them so much they want another."
"That makes sense." I laughed, Harry squeezing my knee and I knew that was a silent, we'll talk about another cat Sunshine.
"Now do you both work? Or studying? Are you at home a lot, or do you have an active outdoors lifestyle?"
I bit my tongue as not to laugh at loud the suggestion of having an 'active outdoors lifestyle' but Harry snorted and I looked at him with my eyebrows raised, Mandy laughing a bit and I felt my face heat.
"Um, no." I said, fiddling with my fingers. "Harry works but um I'm currently not working so I'm at home pretty much all day."
"Will you be going back to work?" Mandy asked politely and I opened my mouth to answer.
"No." Harry cut in making me look at him in shock. "She won't be."
"I might be." I told Mandy, nudging Harry's foot with mine. "Jobs are just tough right now."
"I get that, I have a teenage daughter who's trying to find a job for after school and even that's challenging. I mean it's a fourteen year, who doesn't want to make her do manual labour and pay her below minimum wage?"
I stifled my laugh as Mandy rolled her eyes but I knew what she meant, you'd think employees would jump at a chance to employ a teenager considering they had almost no working rights compared to full-time adults.
"Anyway," Mandy waved her hand, "I can think of a few cats that would be good for you two. They're all sociable and in fact, are all in a room together, there's a good age range and a mixture of sexes. Did you have a preference?"
"Not at all," I smiled, "Whatever likes us."
"That's a good way to be." Mandy smiled before she pushed away from her desk, "If you wanna follow me."
Harry and I trailed out of the office behind the middle-aged woman and I nudged Harry as we walked made me him look down at me curiously.
"'I won't be going back to work'?" I questioned making him shrug.
"Don't have too, y'know v'got more than enough money."
"What if I wanted to?" I asked quietly.
"What if I wanted you to be at home every day doing something you enjoy rather than stuck in a cafe somewhere?"
"At home waiting for you?" I raised an eyebrow just as Mandy came to a stop outside a large windowed room and my attention was immediately taken from Harry.
"We'll talk about it later." Harry mumbled before he pressed a kiss to my head and I followed Mandy inside.
I gasped as the mixture of cats, some were running about and playing and others were laying around in the sunshine and I felt my eyes start to water.
"Are you alright May?" Mandy asked quietly and I flushed nodding.
"She just really likes cats." Harry explained making Mandy laugh and nod.
"Me too May, me too. Oh, this is Jasper, he's blind in one eye." Mandy said as a pretty ginger cat made his way over to us.
I bent down and held my hand out instinctively for him to sniff, a head butt coming just moments after.
"Hi, Jasper." I spoke quietly as I gently ran my hand down his back before he moved on to Harry and started rubbing all around his legs making me smile.
"Jasper's about thirteen and he's a quite a clingy boy. He was born with a very small pupil in his right eye and that's why we think he's blind but it hasn't stopped him from doing anything." Mandy explained.
"Oh hi, baby."
I cooed and bent down again as a couple of cats made their way over to me, one was a short-haired black cat and the other was a black and white cat and I glanced up, the majority of them were black in here.
Sad.
"Oh, this is Nutmeg." Mandy introduced as she picked up the completely black cat and I held my hand out towards her, "She's ten and she was a stray, so she's quite independent. Likes other cats no problem though, but she's not really a lap cat."
I laughed as Nutmeg struggled to get out of Mandy's arms making her look at me pointedly and I glanced at Harry to find him still stroking Jasper, although the tall brunette boy was now knelt down and I bit my lip.
"Oh hi, Rupert." Mandy smiled as I fussed the black and white cat that was rubbing all over my jeans and I could already see a nice coating of white hair on them.
"Hi Rupert," I smiled, "What a lovely name."
"He's not even a year yet, he was born outside so probably a stray but he's been fostered since we got him and as you can see it's paid off." Mandy laughed and I hummed in agreement, picking Rupert up gently.
"He likes dogs, other cats and he's been pretty good with children."
I flushed as I saw Harry glance up at me instinctively at the sound of the word children and I knew immediately what he was thinking.
"He has been in and outdoors but he as long as you can give him enough mental stimulation and playtime I think he'd be really happy indoors. He's like Jasper there, he's a lover."
"Me too Rupert." I hummed as I stroked his little black head, the cat happily sitting in my arms and I looked at Harry who was now sitting on the floor with Jasper climbing all over his denim-clad legs.
"I want both."
Harry looked up at me with a raised eyebrow and I shrugged the best I could with Rupert in my arms.
"I like them both, H." I said, watching as Harry stood, a squeaky meow coming from Jasper in protest making me laugh and Harry patted his head one last time before he looked at Rupert and stroked him.
I smiled as the black and white cat reached his head out to reach Harry's hand better making him hum and I looked at him pleadingly.
"I know you said one but they both like us." I tried, making Harry look at me for a long moment. "Please, H?"
"When can you come to assess the home?" Harry asked Mandy making me grin widely as she laughed.
"Tuesday?" Mandy asked and I glanced at Harry.
"Do you need both of us to be there? I'll be there but Harry has work." I worried.
"I'll be there." Harry spoke over me making me bite my lip at him.
"We can make it in the morning so it's easier, how about ten o'clock?" Mandy asked looking up from her phone and Harry nodded. "Would you like to put a reserve on the two of them?"
"Yes." Harry answered without missing a beat and I bit my lip, he was too good to me.
"Alright, Jill can sort that all out for you, just let her know it's Jasper and Rupert and I'll see you both on Tuesday morning. Don't be nervous, it's just making sure you have a good space and there's nothing outright dangerous."
"Thank you." I smiled at Mandy before she bid us goodbye and I returned it quietly as Harry and I made our way back towards reception.
"Thank you." I repeated my words but to Harry this time once we were outside and Harry was a hundred pounds lighter.
"Wha' for?"
Harry swung our hands in between us as we walked and I felt my entire face grow red at the action, he was the sweetest.
"For agreeing to get a cat, and then two of them. I know you said one and I'm sorry, if you change your mind we can just pick one of them."
"Sunshine," Harry rolled his eyes and I licked my lip, "I liked them too. It's fine, I always knew we'd end up with more than one pet anyway."
"You did?"
"Course I did, it's you." Harry said pointedly as he held the black car door open for me to get in and I looked up at him curiously. "And when have I ever said no to you?"
Harry stole a quick kiss before he pulled the seatbelt across me and shut the door, leaving me red-faced and happy as he rounded the front of the car. Once he was in and had put his own seatbelt on I lent over to press our lips together properly.
"I love you."
"I love you too Sunshine, now aren't you happy I got two beds?"
+
"We had all this before we even saw any of the cats."
I nudged Harry as he spoke lazily, the hand of the arm thrown around my shoulder giving it a squeeze in response as Mandy laughed.
"It's always better to be prepared." Mandy nodded at me knowingly and I smiled brightly back at her as my cheeks flushed and I glanced at Harry who pulled a sneaky face at me.
"There's no outdoor access upstairs, so it's just the front door and this balcony door to be wary of." I explained as Mandy looked at the bag of cat litter we'd bought.
"That's fine, I mean I think they'd be okay if they did go out on the balcony but it's really not a hassle. I'd recommend getting another scratching post just to be on the safe side, some cats don't like sharing them."
"Okay," I nodded biting my lip, I'd buy the second one I decided. Harry had already spent enough money on all this.
"I can't see anything that would cause any concern, is your landlord okay with pets?" Mandy asked.
"We own." Harry said easily, his fingers squeezing my arm again and I felt my cheeks grow red once more, the thought of us owning anything together made me want to burst into flames.
"Oh even better." Mandy smiled, "You two have a lovely home and I'd be more than happy to have Jasper and Rupert live here."
"Thank you so much." I grinned as I gripped Harry's fingers, Mandy just as smiley as I was as she jotted a couple of things down on her clipboard.
"The boys are available whenever you are, is there a specific time or date you'd like to pick them up?"
I looked up at Harry to find him already looking back down at me and I saw his lips twitch upwards slightly before he looked back at Mandy.
"Now?"
I bit my lip to contain my grin as Mandy laughed and nodded and I couldn't believe how easily Harry read my mind, I really was an open book for him.
"That's more than perfect. I'll head back down and sort out their paperwork for you both. You do need your own carriers, do you have those?" Mandy asked as she clicked her pen off and I balked.
"No," I mumbled, "How did we forget them?"
"S'alright we'll pick them up now on the way to get the cats." Harry shushed me as Mandy smiled at us and nodded.
"Good, I'll see you both in a little while with your new babies."
Harry and I bid Mandy goodbye quietly before I left my place from under his arm and headed to pull on my pair of boots.
"How did you know I wanted them today?" I asked Harry as we rode the lift downstairs, a hum and a shrug being thrown my way in response.
"I know yeh' Sunshine."
"I don't like the fact you can read me like a book you know." I mumbled, licking my lips.
"Oh like you don't know me better than anyone else, hm?"
"I can't read your face though." I pouted making Harry squeeze my knee.
"Guess you'll need to spend longer looking at me."
I was practically bouncing off my feet once we'd arrived back at the building, two brand new carriers complete with a little fish toy and a soft blanket to line the bottom of them in our hands.
They'd been an extra fifty-five pounds because even though I was happy with the simple plastic carriers that cost about ten pounds Harry had demanded he wanted "the best", and then, of course, we stopped by a homewares store for the towels.
And the extra fishy toys to go in the carriers.
"Hi! We're here to pick up Jasper and Rupert." I grinned at Jill behind the counter who was already rising to stand, a smile on her face as she nodded.
"Of course. We're all so happy you guys are taking them, they're such lovely boys and they deserve lovely people like you both. Do you have your transport?"
Harry handed over both the boxes and Jill thanked him before letting us know she'd be back out with our cats in a few minutes whilst Harry and I waited in the reception area.
"Paul O'Grady got two of his dogs here."
I looked over at Harry to find him looking at the wall with lots of pictures and I smiled as I joined him, his arm raising immediately for me to fit against his side nicely as I looked at the picture of the TV star and his dogs.
"That's cute." I hummed before I raised Harry's hand and pressed a kiss to the palm.
"Wot's that for Sunshine?"
"Just happy." I smiled up at him, "And I love you."
Harry hummed as he traced along my cheek and I knew he was absentmindedly tracing the scar left on my cheek from those few months ago and I licked my lips.
"Love you too, yeh' know that don't yeh' Sunshine?"
"Forever." I nodded, repeating the word he'd said to me after we'd gotten home and we'd accepted that we were both safe.
Harry nodded at me, his face hard but soft at the same time in only a way I knew Harry could be and I wouldn't have changed it for the world. I looked over my shoulder at the sound of a door opening to find Jill and Mandy with two now full cat carriers.
I bit my lip to control myself as Mandy smiled as they put the two baskets on the floor and I immediately bent down to stick my fingers in the cages whilst Harry dealt with paying for them.
"We're gunna miss these boys, they really are such sweethearts." Mandy sighed as she watched me and I returned to my full height in slight embarrassment.
"I'm sure we'll be back." I said pleasantly, "And I'll let you know how they're doing."
"They're going to love having a home."
"I'm going to love them being in my home." I said honestly, Mandy giving my arm a pat just as Harry appeared next to me and I smiled up at him.
"Ready Sunshine?"
I nodded as I picked up Jasper's box whilst Harry grabbed Ruperts and Mandy held the front door open for us before bidding us goodbye.
I held Harry's free hand as we headed outside and back towards the car, which thankfully was parked a bit closer than the last time we'd been here. My joy and happiness never-ceasing inside of me and I was sure if I could I would have been bright yellow.
Harry and I gently set the cats on the back seats of the Range Rover and Harry even went one further by pulling the seatbelts across the cages and I smiled at him behind his back.
I couldn't stop myself from turning around in my seat to look at the two cats, their little feet sticking out of the doors, Jasper squeaking every so often making my heart clench.
"I love you both so much." I cooed making Harry squeeze my hand before he pulled it to his lips and pressed a kiss on the back of it.
"Welcome to our family."