a/n: trying my best to get back on schedule, May has been a crazy month for me lol. also, the amount of texts i have gotten saying "omg maggie looks so good here" bc of stranger things coming out is insane but i absolutely love it <3

Getting ready for work had been absolutely awful. Or, scratch that. Waking up to Harry climbing out of bed at five in the morning had been awful. Not only had he been the one keeping the bed warm, but I had missed him way more than I wanted to admit. Even if he was certain to bring me medication for my headache, and water to wash the pills down, I still had to say goodbye to him way too early in the morning.

By the time I got to the studio, I was earlier than anticipated to my surprise. Even with a splitting headache, I had managed to get up and ready for the day in a timely manner. Now, I was stuck at work doing goodness knows what. Grenadine greeted me the moment I walked in the door, a grin on her face as she looked at me.

"Good morning!"

"Hi," I said to her.

"You're not as peppy as normal, sweetie. Are you feeling okay?"

I laughed. "Well, my friends all have kids so they agreed to go out last night. Let's just say I had a little too much fun. Maybe even so much I don't remember much of what happened when I got home."

Grenadine raised her eyebrows. "Oh, honey. That is never good to hear. I used to be hungover a lot in my days. Why don't you just head on down to Mr. Watson's office and I'll make sure there is some tea waiting at your desk?"

She was incredibly kind to offer something so nice. Telling her I could never impose, Grenadine assured me that it would be no issue whatsoever. Of course, I wanted to decline the offer, but I knew that ultimately she would do it anyway. Thanking her as I headed down to Mr. Watson's office, I glanced through the glass to see Harry working. He had on a black T-shirt, his leather jacket sitting on the back of the chair. I was about to look away when he glanced up, green eyes burning into my skin immediately.

He sent me a wave as usual, but this time he also held up his index. I stopped at the window, watching as he looked around his desk for what turned out to be a marker. He had a set of notes in his hands, but quickly flipped the paper over, writing on the page. I didn't have a clue as to what he was doing, but it wasn't long until he was pulling his headphones off, my eyes wide when he jogged over to the glass and held his note up.

Come see me after you touch base with Watson (:

The smiley face on the end was cute, my eyes meeting his as he held a thumbs up. He looked overly cheeky, and I nodded, holding a thumbs up back. It left me to walk toward the end of the hall while Harry ran back to his seat to continue the show. I found myself knocking on the door, Mr. Watson telling me to come in.

"Good morning!" he greeted.

"Hi," I smiled.

He gestured for me to sit down in front of him, leaving me to do just that. I set my bag in the chair beside me, watching as he grabbed an envelope off of his desk. At first, I was pretty confused. However, I took it from him, seeing that it had my name addressed on it. At first, I was super confused, but when I glanced at him he told me to open it.

Quickly undoing the wax pressing on the back, I pulled the card out. I didn't understand what it was, but it didn't take long to see that it was a check, my eyebrows pulling in when I noticed that it was for five hundred dollars. I kept staring at it, wondering if it was correct. But, every time I read over it, it said the same exact thing.

"This can't be for me."

"The magazine sent it," Mr. Watson stated. "Five hundred up front, five hundred after it is published."

"I—"

I was at a loss of words was what I was thinking. There was nothing that I could even formulate. A thousand dollars? I didn't even think I was going to get paid any extra for writing this entry in the magazine, and yet here they were, paying me really good money. Sure, I had seen things where I could get paid a small amount of money for publishing in a little magazine here and there, but this was crazy. This was almost more than I made in two months combined, and I made more than minimum wage.

"I don't know what to say."

"Well, you have to take it. It's not like I can," he laughed. "I just wanted to be sure you got it."

Still, I was in shock. I had gotten all of this money for doing what I thought was a simple little interview with Harry. It was crazy to me, and I was now realizing just how much I could really make if I stayed in this line of work. It was insane to me, but I was incredibly excited as well. Before I knew it, I was thanking him profusely again, Mr. Watson simply nodding.

"I told you, you are my best worker after all. Or, one of them. I think you and Mr. Styles are constantly fighting for the place."

The words made me laugh. I thanked Mr. Watson again, putting the check in my bag and making a mental note to deposit it later today at the bank. He told me to have a great day, leaving me to exit his office. It wasn't long until I was quickly walking around the glass, making my way to the opposite hallway before I was standing at the door. I thought it was going to be a while for Harry to answer the door, but it only took about a minute before he pulled it open, a grin on my face as I looked at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I have to tell you something."

"Yeah? I think you have five minutes. You go first."

"Not if you have to tell me something."

"I have nothing to tell you, I just wanted to see your face up close since I had to rush out this morning."

And of course, my face was reddening with his words. He always knew exactly what to say in order to make me a blushing mess in front of him. I found myself grinning as I thought about what I wanted to tell him, Harry glancing over his shoulder at a red clock that was counting down before he glanced back at me.

"So?"

"You know how we are supposed to do that interview?" I asked.

"With Radio Weekly?" he questioned.

"Yeah."

"I do. What's up?"

"Well, I just thought I would be interviewing you and stuff. I didn't think anything of it. Just that I would give your answers to someone and then they would publish them."

"Okay," he nodded, appearing to be uncertain as to where I was going.

"Well, Mr. Watson just told me that I'm getting paid. I didn't know I would, but when I found out the amount it was so crazy because it is more than I make in two months. Can you believe it? They're paying me to write an interview with you?"

Before I knew what was happening, I felt his arms wrap around my waist. He swayed with me side to side, and I was so caught off guard by the hug that it took me a while to wrap my arms around him, my arms securing around his upper body. For being so tall, I thought it was cute that he liked to hug me under instead of over, a giggle leaving my lips as he held me.

"I'm so proud of you," he said to me sweetly. "See, I knew I needed to make sure you were the one interviewing me. I didn't even know you would get paid, I just preferred to keep it secretive because I like my privacy, but you get paid to interview me also? Even better!"

He squeezed me tightly in his arms, and while I knew he hated this, it was the best hug he had ever given me. I smiled when he cuddled into the crook of my neck, the soft scent of lavender, mint, and something cozy enveloping my senses. He continued to hold me for a while, and I knew there was no way I was going to be the one that pulled away. It wasn't often that he wanted to hug, and while it was definitely more recently that he had been trying, I still knew that these weren't frequent so I would hold onto him every last moment. After a few more moments, Harry began to pull away, his hands cupping my cheeks. I smiled up at him, the curly-haired personality shaking his head.

"So proud of you."

"Stop," I laughed.

"Being proud? Absolutely not."

"Harry," I laughed again, his eyes fixed on mine. "Thank you."

"Of course," he nodded, glancing over his shoulder. "Listen, I hate to rush you, doll, but I have thirty seconds."

"Perfect, if I get on my knees now, you'll—"

"Watch it," he grumbled, shaking his head at me. "Take this upstairs with you, yeah?"

He changed the subject quicker than I expected him to, the man in front of me handing me his leather jacket. I was a little bit confused by it, but I nodded, telling him I would keep it safe. He waved a goodbye to me as I walked toward the exit, Harry sitting down at his desk and pulling on his headset. There was barely a second on the clock when he was fully set up, a small smile on my face as I quietly shut the door behind me. Heading upstairs with his jacket over my arm, I found myself quickly walking down the hallway. Once I was in my office, I noticed a package on my desk, raising an eyebrow as I looked at it. There was no name on it to depict who it was from, so I decided I would wait for Harry in case it was from him. However, I smiled at the sight of tea on my desk from Grenadine.

Turning on the radio, I smiled when I heard Harry's voice cascading into the office the way it normally would. It was always such a nice sound, the quiet rasp incredibly calming to me. As I sat down, I placed my bag on the ground beside me, though I found myself placing his jacket over my lap. I had no idea why he wanted me to hold onto it, but I was also not that surprised by it either.

"Good morning, Dawn FM listeners. It is your usual nine-ten catch up. If you are just tuning in, it appears that there has been a body found right in between Lake Eloise and Shell Road in Winter Haven, Florida. That of a twenty-three year old woman. Local Winter Haven authorities have said that this is the same person, considering the tactic of leaving a VHS behind at the scene."

My mind was reeling. My mood very quickly changed. At this point, I knew this was almost a weekly occurrence, if not more than, but to hear someone had been murdered yet again was absolutely horrifying. I hated it. I hated thinking about it—all because they looked like me. My heart was racing in my chest, and I found myself feeling nauseated at the thought of these poor women. What did they go through leading up to their last moments? What was on the VHS? Had it been before she died? After? Worst yet, was it during? All of this was clouding my thoughts and I felt horrible knowing that the killer was still on the hunt, my eyes squeezing shut as Harry's voice continued to fill the room.

"The video has been saved since it was packaged, however, the remains are poorly reserved due to weather conditions and the Florida summer. Coroner Davis Drudi claims the time of death to be Wednesday between late afternoon and midnight. With this in mind, there was a note attached to the VHS that has been well preserved also. Local authorities say that there appears to have been a code left in the note as well. Could this be the Zodiac Killer striking again? Or, is this someone completely different?"

I was spiraling with thoughts. Overthinking was truly my specialty, and I felt overwhelmed with everything now. How could someone do this? How could they leave notes, videos, bodies? Did they have no remorse? And then to continue doing it? What were they thinking? I had so many questions, and before I realized what was happening, I felt genuinely sick. I knew my headache wasn't helping, but I found myself getting up from my desk, walking as quickly as I could to the bathroom to barely make it in front of a toilet before I began throwing up. It was the first time in a while since I had actually thrown up, and I felt sick to my stomach. After I couldn't het anything else up, I found myself simply hanging out in the bathroom for a few minutes before I got up. Making sure that I flushed the toilet, I washed my hands for far longer than necessary before I headed downstairs to see Grenadine.

"Oh, hi, sweetie. Did you get your tea?" she asked, but then glanced at me a few times and looked confused. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I did get the tea, thank you so much. On the downside, I just threw up, probably from being hungover. I know you have candy, so do you have mints?"

She quickly looked through her stash of candy before showing me a bowl of pre-packaged mints. I took a handful, telling her that she was an absolute angel before I found myself heading back up the stairs. By now, it was approaching ten, and I found myself simply sitting at the desk, drinking tea in between each mint. I was feeling a little bit better, kind of wondering if throwing up was all that I needed to not have such a horrendous headache. Breathing deeply, I looked over my notes for questions that I wanted to run by the Radio Weekly Representative on Monday. A few of them I tried to reword, but after another thirty minutes or so there was a knock on my door followed by it being pushed in quickly.

"Ew, you're listening to the ten o'clock show?" the curly-haired personality laughed.

"Not on purpose. I haven't gotten the chance to get up."

He shut the radio off without any hesitation, taking a seat in front of my desk. However, I watched as he grabbed the box on my desk that was randomly there, Harry peering over it. I could tell by his body language that he was interested in what was inside, telling me that this box was most certainly not from him.

"Are you sending a package?" he asked.

"No. I don't know what that is."

"Can I open it?"

"Sure, that's fine."

It always threw me off guard when he pulled a knife out of his pocket, Harry switching the blade open quickly. He was always so skillful with it, my heart racing in my chest as I watched him slowly cut the tape. He glanced up at me briefly, the smirk on his face enough for me to know he was going this slow on purpose. Though, he soon got the box opened, Harry sliding the pocket knife away before he glared down at whatever was in the box.

"Oh fuck no," he stated. "Not in the building and he is still tormenting you?"

I watched as Harry stood up angrily, dumping the contents on my desk. My stomach dropped the moment I saw what had been in the box. There were three different sets of lingerie, along with a card. Swallowing hard, I grabbed the envelope off of the desk, opening it slowly. And of course, there was a card from Mr. Beck in there. I had expected it to be from him, but it was also gross to think that I expected so much as well.

Hi sweets,

Hope this reaches you well and you'll forgive me for the way I acted at the party. You just have the prettiest brown eyes, I was hoping I could get to know you better. Hopefully I can see you at dinner wearing one of these under your ensemble. Call me.

Dylan

My nose was scrunched up as I read the note, and I felt sick to my stomach for the second time today once I was finished reading the whole thing. It didn't take long for Harry to snatch the paper out of my hands, reading over the words quickly. I saw his eyes trailing the words, the anger building more and more with every sweep of lettering.

"No, that's enough. He is getting fired. I don't give a shit. It is one thing to harass you in person, but this? No, absolutely not. I'm seeing red right now."

I didn't know what would make him so angry with the current situation. It wasn't like the guy was here to try anything, and while the lingerie was unnecessary, it wasn't like there was anything that could be done about it. Harry was putting everything back in the box haphazardly, my eyes widening when he started making his way toward the door.

"Harry."

"What?" he asked, his voice an angry rasp as he glanced back at me. "You think this is okay? You want this to just keep happening? I'm not okay with it."

"It's not that big of a deal," I told him.

"Not that big of a deal?" he scoffed, and I could tell he was overly irritated. "You can't be serious. He was trying to touch you at that party—he would have if I didn't stop him."

"Harry, we don't have to get this upset about it. We can just tell Mr. Watson about it later."

"I'm not waiting until later," he told me. "You can act like it doesn't bother you all you—"

"I never said it didn't bother me," I quickly corrected. "I'm just saying that you're telling me you're seeing red, and I don't even think it's that serious. Yes, of course I want him to leave me alone. But, things are out of my control. Just relax, honey."

He still looked overly irritated, but when I slowly placed my hands on the box, he let it go, allowing me to place it on the floor by the door. I could tell he was still irritated—he wanted this to be over. His jaw was clenched, his breathing was slightly labored, and his hands were tightly closed into fists. I found myself reaching up, my hands holding his face and he was hot to the touch. It was a little alarming, Harry's eyes shut as he continued to breathe harshly. Though, when I slowly shifted my hands to the back of his neck and began playing with the curls there, he slowly calmed down. It took a while, but he managed to regain his composure, his eyes finally opening and resting on me.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I assured. "Don't worry."

"You know I just worry about you, and with the killer out there and everything. He's being a weirdo, and I just—"

"It's alright, it's okay," I murmured, nodding as I gazed up at him. "We're good."

"We're good," he agreed.

I still held onto him, knowing that he was attempting to try and calm down. Even if he hadn't moved to hug me back, I was happy to be holding onto him. Though, I started to notice that he was slowly becoming uncomfortable, Harry finally pulling away from me. I didn't mind—and I certainly wasn't hurt all things considered. Harry smiled down at me finally, though, shaking his head.

"Are you excited you get to spend quality time with someone famous?" he asked.

"Oh, who's famous?" I asked, his eyebrows narrowing as he looked down at me. "I'm kidding. Of course I am."

"Do you want to see Adventures in Babysitting? You know, since you babysit so much."

"I wouldn't mind," I told him. "Whatever is fine with me. I can buy the popcorn."

"I asked you out, I'm paying."

"Then the next time we go out—I mean..."

It made him laugh, my cheeks flushing with the words I had said to him. The idea that I had implied this date would go well and we would be seeing each other again after was embarrassing to me, especially since I felt like he didn't like me all that much. Or, not that he didn't like me, rather I felt like he might hate me in a more personal setting and it would just go horribly and then he wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore.

"Jeez, first you want me to play with you when you're intoxicated and now you're planning a second date? I think you might like me."

"I said what to you yesterday?"

He chuckled. "Funny. You know what you said."

I stared at him blankly, blinking several times. The smile on his face drastically changed, falling completely and his face even began to pale. There was no way. Absolutely no way did I recall anything he was talking about. I remembered that he had gotten me home, but that was it. It had been dark, I had been holding onto him, and that was that. I figured he had taken care of me but what had I said to him?

"You don't remember?" he asked.

"No, what did I say? What did we do? Oh no, oh no, oh no."

"Hey, hey, hey," he was quick to say. "We didn't do anything if that's what you're worried about."

I shook my head. "This is so embarrassing. What is wrong with me? What did I say to you? Oh my goodness."

He squeezed his eyes shut and I could tell he was tense now. Had we done something intimate? The thought was horrifying. Of course, I knew he probably would have been kind, and polite, and sweet overall, but the fact that I had been trashed out of my mind and couldn't even remember what words I had murmured to him made me feel absolutely awful about myself. God was the only one aside from Harry that knew what I had said, and I could only pray that what I had murmured to the curly-haired personality in my disoriented state wasn't anything bad.

"Harry," I said. "How bad?"

"You just kept asking me to play with you because no one had. You said you'd be good for me. The most I did was kiss your neck and maybe your thigh, and maybe put your hands in some belt cuffs, I swear that's it. I told you we couldn't because you were wasted. I don't know how honest you were, but I wouldn't want our first for anything to be while you were wasted."

Swallowing hard, I hid my face in my hands. I could cry with how embarrassed I was in the current situation. It wasn't that damaging to my image in his eyes, I was sure, but it didn't make the second hand embarrassment any less pressing. Groaning loudly, I felt Harry grab my hands, tugging them away from my face. Though, when I removed my hands I quickly looked away from him, his hands grasping my cheeks gently. I tried to pull away, look elsewhere, but he was gentle and coaxing with me.

"Come on," he murmured. "Hey."

I glanced at him briefly.

"Ugh, why do you have to like touch so much," he murmured.

I didn't know what he meant until he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. He always made me feel safe in his hold, and even if I wanted to start crying with how embarrassed I was, I could tell that he wasn't bothered by last night. And, while I had already respected him a lot, my respect for him grew even more. Any other man probably would have given into my begging, but he hadn't and I appreciated it.

"Don't be embarrassed with me," he said quietly. "You don't have to tell me if you were being honest, but I'd take care of you like that if you wanted me to. I'd also keep my hands off of you if you wanted me to. We can go at your pace, doll."

His body was tense, but he held me a little tighter. I gripped his shirt tightly, my forehead pressing against his shoulder. I was squeezing my eyes shut, not wanting to cry. At this point, it wasn't only the embarrassment that was pushing me to this. I felt cared for, respected, and appreciated. He was saying things to me that no one else ever had or ever thought to.

"I know you're upset, but I'm really anxious right now, can I let go for a second?" he asked.

I pulled away quickly, Harry glancing over me twice and I knew he felt bad by the look on his face. He swallowed hard, trying to take a few deep breaths as I wiped under my eyes. He shook his head, and I shut my eyes, praying to God the tears would go away. I didn't want him to be worried, or irritated with himself. Though, I felt his arms wrap around me once again, one of his hands moving to rest on the back of my head, cradling me into him.

"Y-You don't have to."

"I have to take care of you," he murmured. "I'll deal with my stupid issues later. Let me take care of you first."

It was then the tears came. I was sniffling, not crying very hard but enough that I held onto him tightly and apologized over and over again for holding onto him. He assured me it was okay, that he didn't mind, and that he was happy to be there for me. I wanted to stay cuddled into his chest forever. His sweet scent of lavender, mint, and something cozy taking over my senses as usual. It had started to become such a homey scent to me. The smell made me feel safe, relaxed, and I loved it.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry," I said again.

He chuckled, moving us slightly so he could tilt my chin up. I watched as he wiped my tears, a small smile on his face. He pressed a kiss to my forehead, my face flushing when he pulled back to look down at me. I felt very cared for, and it was both comforting and painful at the same time. In one aspect, he was sweet enough to look over his issues in order to help me with mine. Yet, I hated that he was uncomfortable while he tried his best to take care of me.

"I'll survive," he chuckled. "I always do."

I nodded, trying to pull away but he was the one that didn't let go this time. It made my face flush, my arms tightening around him once more. He rubbed my back as my head rested against his chest, Harry's head resting on top of mine. He was more than I ever thought I would be able to have, and I appreciated him for that more than he would ever know. We both pulled away after a few more moments, Harry watching as I wiped my face.

"I'm more than okay with planning a second date already," he said to me. "You know, if we wanna get back to that."

"We don't have to do all that," I laughed, my face burning now as I continued to wipe my cheeks.

"Sure we don't. But I wouldn't mind."

I rolled my eyes at him. "You're annoying."

He shrugged, and I was much happier to see the playful man standing in front of me rather than the hot to the touch and anxious man who had been present moments ago. Certainly, I hadn't been frightened in any way at the angry person from earlier, but it had worried me that he was so upset over Mr. Beck sending me things. After all, it wasn't like the guy could really do anything to me at the end of the day.

"So, should I eat before you get me tomorrow?" I asked.

"I figured we could go to the eight o'clock showing, then get a bite to eat after? What do you think?"

"I think as long as I get a burger we're good," I told him.

"Oh thank goodness," he sighed. "Cherry would only ever eat salads and it irked the shit out of me. But, we knew you were better than her anyway."

It made me smile that he liked the fact I wanted a burger, especially considering my ex never understood why I wasn't the type of girl to get salads. Sure, I didn't mind them, but if I had an option between a salad and a burger, I would choose the latter every single time. It had bothered Timothy constantly, and I knew it was something to do with it not being very lady-like. Not that I was ever poorly behaved in a restaurant or anything, but I knew that Timothy hated it and it was refreshing to know Harry actually liked it. He always seemed to be the exact opposite of my ex, and it was something that I appreciated even more.

"Perfect. I'm excited," I told him.

"I am also," he nodded. "Oh! Do you ... well, do you want to stay the night? You don't have to, I was just wondering. You could meet Izabelle."

The thought of him not only offering for me to spend the night, but also including the fact that I could meet his cat, was far more adorable than I could have imagined it would be. I sent him a small smile, pondering over the thought. Of course, I didn't want him to get the wrong idea, but he literally just got done telling me that he hadn't done anything with me while I was intoxicated and begging for him so I was very certain he was inviting me over simply because he wanted to spend more time with me. Plus, with all the times he had spent the night at mine already and nothing had ever happened between us there was bound to be no difference.

"I would like that. Then I get to meet your cute cat and see your pretty house."

"Exactly!" he agreed. "Anyway, I have to head out and go get the mail."

"Is it still super crazy?" I asked. "I know you said it had been, but I didn't know if it slowed down."

"It's still crazy. Definitely more than I would have ever imagined there could be. I'll let you get to your things, though, and see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Bye, doll."

"Bye, Harry."

He left my office, shutting the door quietly behind him. I figured that would be it, though just as I was making it back to my desk he gently pushed the door open again,grabbing the box that was sitting by the door. I was confused at first, hesitant to see what he was going to say.

"I'm just going to show Watson. That's it. I'm not going to get upset."

"Harry."

"Magdalina," he continued calmly. "You're much too nice to people, it'll get you hurt, darling. I'll handle this."

He was right. I was way too nice. The odds of me actually going down to Mr. Watson were incredibly low, especially when it was something this embarrassing. So, I found myself giving him permission to go downstairs with the gross gift that came from the creepy man. A part of me figured he would still say something to Mr. Watson even if I didn't give him permission to take the box, so it was better off allowing Harry to take it in the first place. And, soon enough, I was actually left by myself. It was not at all how I expected the day to turn out, but it turned into a rather good one nonetheless. Even if I did receive an overly creepy gift from an overly creepy man.