Heartbeats || H.S. [ONGOING]

{forty}

Niko had to do a double take, thinking her eyes and brain were trying to play a trick on her. Was it really Harry standing in front of her now? Or just another look-alike?

"Nope. I didn't forget anything," Harry said awkwardly.

"Oh. Harry," she choked out.

"You'll never guess who I just ran into. But then again, I'm sure you already know," Harry said, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"He came to get a book he left here," she told Harry, fearing he might take her ex's presence at her apartment the wrong way.

"I saw that," Harry said as the two of them walked into the apartment together.

"He didn't hit you with it, did he?" Niko asked, horrified.

"No. But he did say 'she's all yours'. So that was nice of him," Harry said with a sarcastic smirk.

"Oh, did he?" Niko asked, smirking back at him.

"Mm-hmm," he hummed, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"What are you doing here?" Niko asked, furrowing her brows in question.

"Well, jeez... would you like me to leave?" He scoffed with a laugh.

"No, no. I didn't mean it like that. I just... I thought you had stuff to do today," she pointed out.

"I got it done. Besides, you and I need to talk," he told her.

"Oh. Okay," she said, hating hearing those words. Even if it wasn't something bad, she always thought it was. Those words were quite ominous.

"Don't look so frightened," Harry laughed as he flopped down on the couch and patted the seat next to him.

"I just... uh... what do we need to talk about?" She asked, sitting down with him.

"First of all, I would appreciate a kiss. I missed you," he insisted, smiling at her as he moved in for one.

"I missed you too," she laughed, pressing a kiss to his lips before letting herself relax a little.

"We need to talk about what is going to happen," he went on to say.

"What do you mean?" She asked, even more confused.

"Well, a lot of big things happened lately, and well... there are two little people involved that are still in the dark when it comes to those things," Harry explained.

Jackson and Avery. Shit. Yeah. They still needed to tell them about the baby and the fact that they were getting married. She let herself gloss over that in her brain because she figured Harry was going to tell them. But sitting there thinking about it, it only made sense that they would tell them together.

They were going to be a family sooner rather than later. They practically were already a family. She would do anything for those kids.

"Yeah. How... how do you want to tell them?" Niko asked carefully.

"I don't know. I figured we should do it soon since you'll be moving in," Harry said with a shrug.

"Moving in?" She choked out. Where was she for that conversation?

"Yeah. I mean, I only assumed that was the plan after we talked about the baby's room last night," Harry pointed out, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Oh, right," she said awkwardly.

"Do you... do you not want to move in?" Harry asked, looking a little terrified of her answer.

"No, that's not it. I do. I really do. I was just a little... taken aback. My life is just being completely flipped upside down right now. Everything is changing and it just keeps moving faster and faster," she explained, taking a deep breath.

"We can slow down if you want. You don't have to move in right away," Harry told her, running his palm up and down her thigh.

"Harry, the last thing I want is to slow down with you. I'm fine. I just needed a second to wrap my head around all these changes," she told him.

"Okay. Are you sure?" He questioned, looking a little disheartened.

"I'm positive, baby. Really," she assured him.

"Okay," he said as he looked down at his hand on her leg as his fingers slipped to her inner thigh.

"Harry," Niko cooed, getting his attention and he quickly looked up to meet their eyes.

"Smile. We're getting married and having a baby, and moving in together," she told him as she grabbed his face in her hands. His expression lit up at the mention.

"We found each other again, Harry, and nothing is going to stop us from living the life we always wanted with each other," she explained, looking into his beautiful green eyes.

"You promise?" He asked and she couldn't help but smile. His insecurities were endearing.

"I do. And besides..." She continued, letting her hands fall from his face. Harry cocked a questioning eyebrow at her.

"My clothes are going to look amazing in that empty closet in your bedroom," she giggled.

"Ohh! I see what your intentions are. You want to move in for the closet space, not me," Harry laughed as he reached out to tickle her.

"You got me, you got me," she giggled and squirmed away from him.

"You brat," he said as he continued tickling her.

"Harry, stop! Harry!" She shrieked and he finally let up.

"You better kiss me right now to make up for hurting my feelings," he pouted playfully.

"Oh, sure," she giggled as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

"Mm, baby. I love you," Harry breathed against her lips.

"Ditto," she told him, meaning it wholeheartedly.