"Happy Birthday," Harry grinned, flinging the lid off the box, revealing a silver-and-orange-spotted tabby kitten.
Skylar gasped, reaching for it and picking it up gently, ranting off onto a girly "awe it's so cute" speech.
Harry listened quietly, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth as he slid up next to her on the floor, watching her more than anything else as she fussed over the cat.
She finished ranting, raising her gaze to Harry's and reddening slightly, her eyes shining. "Thank you so much, Harry!" She wrapped one arm around him in a hug, the other busy trying to keep the little fuzzball in check.
"Of course," Harry murmured, looping his arms around her and kissing her cheek, pulling her against him and letting her lean into his chest.
"...what should we name it?" She asked, her attention turning back to the kitten.
Harry suddenly grinned, wider than ever. "Sparkles!"
"I'm serious, Harry," Skylar looked at him funny.
He just kept grinning. "Me too. Why not? We could make it work."
Skylar suppressed a laugh, holding up the cat. "...how about Treetop? Or... I suck at coming up with names," she bit her lip in thought.
"...or Sparkles," Harry insisted, not really paying attention, running his lips softly across her jawbone.
She looked at him, annoyance flickering through her gaze.
"Are you serious?"
"...Why not?" He grinned again, momentarily regaining focus. "...I think it's cute. Look at her."
They both turned their gaze to the cat, who had crawled out of Skylar's arms and was stumbling across the kitchen floor, heading for the bedroom.
"Oh, nuh-uh, she is not clawing up my clothes," Skylar leapt to her feet, hurrying to the bedroom and scooping up the cat. Harry followed slowly in amusement.
"You afraid she's gonna ruin anything? Look at her, how could she ruin anything? ...Isn't that riiight, Spawkwels?"
He leaned his head down close to the kitten, scratching behind its ears. It mewed happily, and Harry straightened, grinning in satisfaction. "...I think she approves of the name. It's official!"
Skylar laughed, dragging out a cardboard box and setting one leg of a chair in the box, putting the kitten down inside so she couldn't get away. She mewed in protest, looking up at them pleadingly, and Harry clicked his tongue, winking at Skylar as he bent down and picked up the kitty.
"...Looks like she's gonna sleep with you, or me, or both, whichever you'd prefer," he smirked, and Skylar rolled her eyes.
"Tana's probably gonna go with Lou tonight and stay with him, so you can have Tana's bed." She shrugged, but Harry was still smirking at her, now with a raised brow, so she reddened.
"...You sure you don't want–" he began.
"–Harry, before you finish that sentence, I want to remind you that Lou can still kill you," she sighed, glaring at him for a moment.
He laughed, handing her the kitten but stepping up so that they were both sort of holding it. "I know, I know, I just don't understand why you're so touchy about the whole thing," he chuckled, swinging an arm around her and leaning his forehead into her temple, watching Sparkles.
The kitten tried to climb up Harry's shirt, and he yelped, holding the kitten out in front of him as he jumped.
"Ouch," his eyes widened.
Skylar laughed, taking the kitten and cuddling it, snickering. "...Awe, is Harry afraid of you? I think he is..."
"Psh, I'm not afraid of anything," Harry rolled his eyes, sliding his arms around the both of them and resting his chin on Skylar's shoulder.
"Mm," Skylar mumbled, hugging the kitten close to her chest and leaning into Harry, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Thank you."
He smiled softly. "Anything, Love. You know that."
She yawned, covering her mouth and setting the kitten on top of Harry's head experimentally.
He smirked, glancing up, and Skylar snickered as the little cat snuggled up into the mushroom on Harry's head, her little jaws parting in a yawn.
"Someone's tired," Skylar sighed.
"Mmhmm," Harry stroked the cat adoringly.
Skylar cracked a smile. "I was talking about you, smart one," she nudged him, as he had begun to sway, and his eyes were drooping.
Harry shrugged, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "...I suppose so. Do you want her?"
"Yeah," she said, but instead of taking the cat, she grabbed the sides of his shirt, gently pulling him to the bed as he sauntered tiredly along.
Harry took the cat off his head, yawning again as he rolled onto the sheets, pulling the cat against himself. Skylar sat next to him with her legs folded and crossed, pulling out her phone and checking a few things.
Harry watched her lazily, stroking the cat absentmindedly as she purred and snuggled closer to Harry's chest.
"Come here, before I fall asleep," Harry complained eventually.
Skylar glanced at him in amusement, setting her phone down on the bookshelf beside the bed. She scooted over to Harry, stretching out, watching him questionably.
He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her as close as the kitten would permit and kissing the tip of her nose.
Skylar wrinkled her nose, lifting her fingers to trail along his jawline, letting out a sigh.
"... Best birthday ever," she decided, closing her eyes.
Harry chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows. "Wanna make it even beeeetterrr?"
She smacked his shoulder in mild annoyance.
"No, weirdo," she rolled her eyes, but said nothing when he lifted Sparkles away, pulling Skylar the rest of the way to his chest.
She laid a finger on his nose lightly, running a hand along through his curls adoringly. His hands rested on her waist, and he watched her under a tired gaze, his mouth curving into a light smile.
"I love you," he whispered.
"Don't say that," she replied quietly, furrowing her brow.
His smile faded, replaced by a look of frustration and concern. "Why not? It's true. I love you, Skylar."
"It might not be true later," she swallowed, dropping her gaze.
He shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek and staring at her irritably. "Skylar, don't EVER say things like that. You're scaring me."
She sighed, lacing her fingers behind his neck and snuggling closer to him, shaking her head.
"...You wouldn't have control over it," she argued. "Your famous. Anything could happen. Even if you weren't famous, it's still possible..."
"Not in my world, it's not," he retorted, tilting his head down and running his lips a crossed hers softly.
She looked pained for a moment. "I've been thinking about it a lot. Just saying that so..." She didn't finish, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat.
Harry sighed, running his fingers through her hair and starting to hum "Happily" softly.
"I love you," he said again, after a time.
She sighed. "...I love you, too."
He pressed his mouth to hers lightly, then with more pressure, his fingers edging along her jawline until she kissed him back.
Sparkles mewed in annoyance at being ignored, and Harry mumbled something about how he loved cats, pulling the kitten back down between them, hugging it to his chest and watching it lovingly.
Skylar cracked a smile, sitting up and inching away. Harry glanced up questioningly and she pointed to Tana's bed, shrugging.
Harry groaned, sticking his tongue out at her, and she pretended to be offended for a moment before smiling softly and slipping silently over to the other sleeping place and dragging the covers over herself.
The kitten mewled in annoyance, scrambling over the sheets and crawling across the dresser in between the two beds before tumbling onto Skylar's bed and padding over to her, curling up by her shoulder.
She cracked a smile, snickering when Harry complained, "...okay, fine. I guess I'm just no fun."
Skylar laughed, but it turned into a yawn. "...Goodnight, Harry."
"Goodnight, Love."
And they all drifted off to sleep.



Later Skylar awoke to a shuffling sound, her eyes fluttering open to see Sparkles trailing back over to Harry. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was 3:30 AM.
But that wasn't all.
Harry was tossing and turning, mumbling uncomprehendingly, but occasionally a phrase would clarify.
"....No.... Skylar, I can't.... Why.... Skylar..."
Skylar sat up and studied him carefully. He was still fast asleep, but every once in a while he'd furrow his brow and sort of wince, mumbling her name.
She clenched her jaw, reddening and watching him in disbelief. Did he always do that? Talk in his sleep?
She looked closer, and blinked in surprise when she realised that he was crying silently, as well.
Sparkles sniffed his hair curiously, leaping away when he stirred.
She mewled in annoyance, settling on the pillow that wasn't being used and watching him carefully, batting at a curl when it came into range.
Skylar frowned, furrowing her brow as she got up, sliding out of bed and going to Harry's side, unsure.
"Harry," she whispered, touching his shoulder lightly.
He let out a sob, muttering her name quietly.
Skylar sighed, slipping up beside him and wrapping her arms around his middle. "Harry, sh..." She leaned her head into his chest, still frowning.
He whimpered, shifting in his sleep. "...wait..."
She hugged him tighter, squeezing her eyes shut. "Harry, I'm here, it's okay."
He relaxed, and his breathing slowed, the crease in his brow not fading until after another moment.
Sparkles nestled into Harry's hair again, mewling thankfully.
Skylar sighed, snuggling closer to him before letting herself fall asleep once more.