Harper's POV.

After a few hours I took Meri, Cadence and Bob back to our house, letting Bob use a spare room for the night and getting a text from Maddy that she wouldn't be home tonight. She had been going on for days about a date that was coming soon, and that she's excited, since she has liked the guy for awhile, I assume it's Nicky since she always blushes when I bring him up, and she casts glances at him. Currently, Nicky and Alex are on the other side of the city with their food truck, so I don't expect them to be coming for dinner tonight, leaving me to only make food for the three of us in the house at the moment. I decide just to make sandwiches since it's only three mouths to feed and Meri doesn't eat much, so around 10 sandwiches should suffice with Bob eating around 6 and Meri 1, leaving me 2 or 3 depending on how many Bob eats.

"Bob! Meri! Are sandwiches okay for dinner tonight?" I call out to the two who are playing out back, the door open so they can hear me and I them.

"Yeah!" They both cheer happily before there is a knock on the front door.

"You two! Come inside and eat, I'll check who's at the door." I say as I place their plates on the table along with mine in my spot and some dog food for Cadence in her dish near Meri's spot. They both wash up first.

"Alright! This looks delicious, Harp!" Bob cheers.

"Yeah Mummy!" Meri agrees, chomping into her sandwich. I pat her head before going to the living room and looking to see who is here before opening the door. I find it's Alex, without Nicky.

"Alex? What are you doing here? Where's Nicky? Is everything okay?" I ask, letting him inside as he smiles sheepishly.

"Well, I just wanted to come by and see you and Meri. Nicky is on a date, and everything is fine..." he trails off, looking at the coat rack where Bob's jacket is placed next to mine and Meri's. "Do you have company?"

"Oh! Yes, Bob is going to be staying the night. He's eating dinner with Meri right now, would you like to join?" I offer politely.

"No, I wouldn't want to intrude on you and... Bob." He says tensely.

"Well... do you want to see Meri?" I ask him, watching him closely. He tensely nods and I lead him to the kitchen where Meri finishes her sandwich and Bob is already on his 4th one. "Meri, look, Alex is here."

"Daddy!" She cheers, jumping from her chair and running into Alex's legs. I'm still not use to her calling him her dad, and I haven't even started referring him as her dad except to Bob. "Daddy! You're back!"

"So, you're Alex?" Bob asks, standing up, towering over Alex by a foot.

"That's right." Alex says, picking Meri up and glaring at Bob. "And you?"

"Bob. Bob Stone. I'm close friends with Harp here, and I'm Meri's 'uncle'." Bob says, holding a hand out to Alex, who shakes it.

"Alright." I clap my hands as I feel tensions rising, mostly on Alex's part. "Alex, are you sure you don't want any sandwiches?"

"Oh!" Bob says, turning back to his last two sandwiches and sitting to scarf them down. "You should really have them, man, Harps' are the best."

"Hmmm." Alex hums as he sets Meri down who runs off to play with Cadence. "Maybe I'll have one or two, Harper, if that's alright with you."

"It's alright." I smile, grabbing the bread and meat, along with the ingredients he likes in his sandwiches. "So how's the food truck business?"

"It's alright." Alex tells me as he stares at Bob, who smirks mischievously.

"Relax, man, I won't be stealing Harper from you. We have a completely brother-sister platonic love for one another." Bob assures. "She's like a baby sister to me."

"And how'd you guys meet?" Alex asks stiffly. I chuckle.

"Bob went to school with me before he disappeared before graduation. Few years later he turns up as my bodyguard on my tour. Been best friends since. If anything, I would assume he still has a thing for this pretty, cross-eyed girl from high school." I tell Alex as Bob blushes.

"Yeah, well..." Bob mumbles as he eats some grapes from a bowl on the table. "I think it's late, I should go upstairs and get some sleep. Night Harp. Alex."

"Night Bob." I say as I place a plate in front of Alex and sit down to eat my own food. "Hey, get Meri ready for bed for me, will ya?"

"Sure thing, Love." He says as he goes into the living room and then up to the guest room beside Meri's. "Princess Merida! Time for slumber!"

"'Princess Merida'? Really?" Alex asks after finishing his first sandwich, two others on his place while I finish my second, getting up to wash the dishes.

"Yeah... she's got the red hair, and the name, and those eyes." I say softly as I scrub the dishes from Bob, Meri and myself. "She loves Princess Merida also... and Bob even bought her a pretty tiara, she won't wear it since Merida doesn't wear one, and she thinks it's too pretty to ruin..."

"Hmm..." Alex hums from behind me as he puts his plate in the sink and goes to my other side to dry the two plates I've finished.

"So... have anything you wanna tell me?" I ask, turning to him as he dries the last plate. I cross my arms as he finishes. "Anything at all?"

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about." He blushes.

"Hmmm..." I hum, putting some things away from the dishwasher, counter and table. "You know, Jackson almost got in trouble."

"Really? What for?" Alex asks nervously. "I mean... was it bad?"

"He almost fought another boy because the kid disrespected me. He says that he was tasked with looking after me. Sure there's nothing?"

"Well..." Alex fiddles with his sleeves slightly. I roll my eyes and raise his head to look at me.

"You should know that I can look after myself. Even without Bob, I was capable of defending myself." I tell him, sighing as I release him. "I'm going to bed, if you stay up watching TV, keep it down so it doesn't wake Meri."

(Sorry I've been absent with this story awhile, this chapters been sorta finished for awhile now, I just didn't know if it was up to my usual amount of words yet. I haven't started on the next chapter yet, so it might be awhile before I update, I'll do my best though)