"Hey."

         I slowly make my way toward the kitchen, separated by a half-wall, my white socks matching the fluffy carpet of her living room. Well, our living room. A week has passed and I still can't get used to us living together.

         "Hi," Del chirps from her spot at the stove, "Had a nice nap?"

         I sigh heavily, inaudibly so she wouldn't suspect anything, "Very funny. What're you doing?"

         "Making tofu."

         "I thought you made pizza."

         "I did," She sighs too, "But I was dancing to some music while making it and I forgot to put cheese."

         "...So you're gonna put melted cheese on top it?"

         "Mhm."

         "That's genius," I mumble, kissing the back of her head as I approach her, having her hum at my actions. "One question, though."

         "Hm? What is it?"

         "Could you put yourself on top of me later?"

         Instead of elbowing me, or doing something typical for her, Delaney snorts; does this mean I'm getting less funny to her? "You're cute," She says, half sarcastically as she lifts her hand, instantly finding my cheek to lightly slap me a couple times. "Try this."

         She spins around, facing me, holding a wooden spoon up in front of my face, her face showing both excitement and annoyance. And I'm standing in front of her, clad in a t-shirt and spandex shorts, thinking, how could I allow the image of her to leave my mind for even a second while I was with Kirsten?

         That appears to be my problem, actually. When I'm with Delaney, my entirety is focused on her. When I'm with Kirsten, I... feel something else.

         "Are you just gonna stand there and stare at me?"

         "Hm? Oh, right," I mutter, leaning down to take a bit of the cheese off the spoon with my lips; "It's good."

         "Doesn't need more salt?"

         "No, don't think so."

         "Great," She grins, tiptoeing for a second to peck my lips with her own, before turning back to the stove to finish cooking. I place my hands on her waist, dropping my head to kiss her shoulder, breathing in the scent of mint and vanilla from her shirt. Along with cheese. Nothing like cinnamon and roses.

         "You know you don't have to cook for me, right? I wouldn't care if we had takeout every night." Like we used to.

         "I know, but we live together now." She squeezes through me, taking the pot to the table, then returning to my slightly confused self. "The first thing my mom started doing when her and dad moved in together, is cook for him."

         I raise one brow, stepping closer to her and taking her face in my hands. Her clueless, clueless face. "And soon after that they got married, right?"

         "Right?"

         "Are you planning me to marry you without me knowing about it?"

         Del doesn't say anything, instead punches me- yeah, that's more expected of her anyway. "No," She says flatly, "But, you know, I'd like to see what that'd be like."

         "So you're cooking for me?"

         "Well, yeah."

         A smile slowly spreads across my face, while she looks at me questioningly. "Very 1950's of you."

         "The word I would've used is sweet, but okay."

         I grin wider, putting my arms around her neck and pulling her closer. She stands motionless, not even giving me the time of day because of my comment, but it doesn't stop me from wrapping my arms around her head completely, kissing all over her hair despite it tickling me. Good thing I only verbally come off as an asshole. "Mm, you know what?"

         "What?"

         "Well, speaking of... married life and all-"

         Del pulls away suddenly, pushing her hair out of her face with both hands before giving me a both cautious and curious look. My hands are sweating already- I've no idea what state I'll be in when I actually decide to tell her about Conrad. "Harry..?"

         "No, I'm not... proposing to you or something," I frown at my own words, having in fact thought of the complete opposite just earlier today, "I just... you like kids, right?"

         Her perplexed expression is slowly washed away by a smile, that spreads across her face just as slowly. "What are you hinting at?"

         Alright. In less than ten words I have made her think I want to marry her and have kids with her. This has to be some sort of record. "I was just... I was kinda thinking about getting a new secretary, and then I thought about how Seth is Niall's secretary, and then I just... zoned out and started thinking about his life."

         Del's face goes back to being confused- she's clearly not hearing something she would've wanted to hear. And this lie of mine is having quite a rocky start, but I'm hoping I'll get to my point before she assumes something. "What about his life?"

         "Well, I mean, he has this child and he's still out there, looking for somebody, you know? How hard must that be?"

         She keeps looking at me, my hands starting to sweat a little under her gaze- and then casually brings a hand up to her temple to scratch her head. "Dunno," She shrugs, "Yeah, telling someone you have a child is hard... especially if they'd just met... but he's in his thirties, if he dates women his age it shouldn't be a problem to them."

         "...True," I nod my head after a minute- she didn't exactly take the conversation the way I'd wanted it, how do I get it back on the right road? "He does tend to date younger women, though, sometimes even college students... you know... your age."

         I might as well tell her that I might have a son right now, I'll have a heart attack if I have to do something like this again.

         "As long as he's honest about it, it shouldn't be a big deal. The girl is either in or out."

         "What if he decided not to tell her immediately?" She gives me a weird look, to which I shake my head, "I don't know, he likes this woman and he's scared of-of scaring her off."

         "...Why are we talking about this?" Del breathes out with a laugh- "Let's just eat."

         "...Okay."

         I gulp as I follow her to the dining table, my heart still pounding a little; no, I can't let it end at that, there's so much more I need to know before I can come clean to her.

         For a minute it's quiet, Del is looking at the TV to her left while I'm sitting to her right, watching her and thinking – whatever her thoughts turn out to be in the end, she has no obligation to be with someone who has a child. Yeah, she might like kids, but I doubt she'd like to be a 5 year old boy's stepmother at 21. She was sixteen when he was born, for crying out loud.

         "Harry? Babe?" I blink a couple times, noticing she's now looking at me with her brows raised. Uh oh. "Are you... okay?"

         "What? Yeah, yeah."

         "Did work really wear you out that much?"

         "I'll-I'll take a nap later, I'm fine though."

         "Are you sure? You haven't touched your food."

         And really, the pizza she made along with the tofu she made are sitting on the neatly made table, but I doubt I've shown a pinch of interest in them since I walked in. I'm too worried about staining my picture-perfect life to even eat.

         "What if it was you?"

         "...What?"

         "What if you were with someone that had a child but decided not to tell you?"

         Delaney rolls her eyes, sighing as she picks up the remote to turn the volume on the TV down. "If we talk about it, will you eat?"

         "Yes."

         She suppresses a humorous smile, then leans her elbows on the table- okay, this is it. "Alright, I would probably... try to understand it."

         "Try to understand what?"

         "Understand why the person hid it from me," She says simply, directly giving me heartache, "I mean, if we'd just met and gone out a couple times, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But if we'd been together for a few months, maybe made some plans together, and the person didn't have the decency to tell me about something as huge as them having a child, then... I don't see the point in being with someone like that."

         The walls are closing in on me. I am one hundred percent suffocating. "Okay. Okay."

         "Does that answer your question?"

         "It definitely does."

         "Now tell me," Del lifts a slice of pizza with tofu to her mouth, smiling a little, "What was the point in all of it?"

         "I just..." I shake my head, feeling a little dizzy, "I wanted to see how women think about... that kind of thing."

         "Have I given you a good insight?"

         She's smiling innocently now- I wonder if she has any idea that she's probably going to be breaking up with me soon.

         "Very good insight."

*

         Hi, this is Niall, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. You know what to do.

         "Niall, you fucking dumbass prick, why'd you text me to come to your place after work and not open the door?" I hiss into the phone, knowing it's hopeless but I need to get the anger of standing in front of his front door for ten minutes out in some way. "Either cut the shit or-"

         "Oi, didn't know you'd be here so soon!"

         I spin around in my spot, catching a grinning Niall – and Seth behind him – walking up the stairs of his building. Carrying beer in plastic bags. "What the hell is going on?"

         "We just went out to get some beer," He says as he approaches me, breathing a little heavily, "Mal and Amy are having a sleepover at a friend's, and... Freya went to Rockford to visit your mum with the baby. So it's just us guys."

         I blink at the side of his head as he unlocks the door, still confused. "So... what, this is a guy's night?"

         "Pretty much."

         "What's the occasion?"

         "You'll see."

         I slowly walk in after the two of them, deciding to just shrug and put my phone back in my pocket. Seth hasn't said a single thing yet – which is not likely for him, he's never louder than when he's with Niall. Something is definitely going on.

         "So, what's all this for?" I say with a small sigh, following them to the kitchen. Neither of them say anything as they both place the bags of beer on the counter, that has nothing else on it but a piece of paper-

         Oh.

         Oh.

         Oh no.

         I can immediately feel the color draining from my place as Niall casually goes for a beer opener, while Seth just as casually asks me if I want a glass or not. I don't doubt they're noticing how I'm reacting, they already knew it'd be like this.

         Niall gets a pair of coasters for him and Seth, and as for me – he takes the piece of paper from the granite surface, places the green bottle on it, and then slides both of them to me.

         "Congratulations," He says in a light tone, as he raises his beer, "You're officially a member of the Fathers Club."

         Oh, I'm gonna need a lot more than a single beer tonight.

*

BA DUM TSSSS

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