– Harry & Monica –

     Bubbling excitement could end in two ways: meeting expectations or being let down. This feeling could be very prominent on first dates – whether it's your very first date ever or a first date with someone new – where there is a jittery feeling present and of course the hope of meeting expectations. And this feeling could be present days or weeks before the day, but for Monica and Harry, it was happening now.

     Harry's fingers tapped the wheel as he hummed to an Ed Sheeran song – Monica told him she was a big fan and so he pulled out his album, starting with '+' – as Monica stared out the window, mouthing the words. There was a comfortable silence, one that made both of their nerves die down. Because it's a good sign when there can be a comfortable silence.

     Once Lego House came to an end, Monica reached over and turned the volume down. This caught Harry's attention, making him take a quick glance at her from the corner of his eye. "Are you willing to tell me now?"

     "Now look who's the cliché from fanfictions," Harry teased with a smirk. "I told you it was a surprise."

     "How would you know that the girl would ask despite being told it was a surprise?" Monica questioned before her eyes widened. "Harry Edward Styles don't tell me you've read fanfiction!"

     "Liam told me to!" He says in defense. "He was telling me how the fans are so sweet and that they have true talents and then one day I was absolutely bored so I just... read some."

     "Oh, God. This is gold," she mutters with a laugh. Harry frowns and uses his left hand to poke her side.

     "Oi, don't make fun of me."

     "It's kind of hard not to."

     "Monica."

     "Okay, I'll stop."

     A second passed.

     "Did you read smut?"

     "Dear, God."

     After Monica finished teasing him the album was over, so she ejected it and placed it back into its case before reaching for Ed's second album that was in the glove compartment but Harry stopped her and suggested some silence (music wise).

     "So, how's it going with the studio?" He asked when he stopped at a red light, so he could take in her expression – she seemed sad yet relieved. It was the same facial express she had when she told him that it was being foreclosed.

     "I haven't done much work on it, packing wise, because it's just hard right now." She sighs. "But at the same time, it's like a weight off my shoulders. I mean, this studio reminds me so much of my Mum and Matt... it feels good letting it go. I think it'll be good."

     "But it's your business," Harry argues with a frown when the light turns green. The destination was up ahead. "It has me worried. You need to provide for yourself and Jake and how can you do that without a job? Monica, please let me help yo –"

     She places her hand on his knee. He glances down at it before looking back at the road. "Finding another job won't be too difficult, Harry. I appreciate that you want to help but I can't accept it."

     Harry sighs but nods anyways, placing his hand on top of hers before pulling into the car lot. Monica immediately looks out the window and smiles. She turns back to Harry who was now fiddling with her fingers, a smile on his own lips when he meets her eyes and notices that her smile had revealed a cute dimple.

     "I was thinking of pretending to be two normal teenagers at the age of seventeen, going on a date." He shrugs. "This is what I came up with."

     "I'm a fan of bowling," she says before he exits the car and walks to open the door for her. "A gentleman at age seventeen? Impressive."

     "Well, I was raised by two women," he smiles, placing a hand at the small of her back as they walked toward the entrance. "Sorry I can't rent this whole thing out for privacy."

     Monica laughs, slapping his chest. "I thought you said no more fanfiction clichés?"

     "I couldn't help it."
.

     After ten minutes of playing, Monica was still in the lead. Harry frowned and accused her of cheating every time she'd get a strike or spare – basically every time she went, he accused her of cheating which made her laugh and call him a sore loser. To be honest, Harry was hoping that Monica was terrible at bowling, so he can pull a cliché move where the boy wraps his arms around her and teaches her how to bowl, and then they would release the ball together and watch as it makes its way down the alley to knocks all the pins down – and then she would get excited and just hug him.

     But that didn't happen because she wasn't terrible at bowling and was very competitive.

     "Looks like you're gonna buy me dinner," Monica taunts as she takes her seat next to Harry.

     "I'm already buying dinner for you," he says with an amused smile as he turns to face her.

     "Shut up," she says with narrowed eyes. Harry laughs and pats her knee before standing up and picking up the orange bowling ball, silently praying under his breath that he'd finally get a strike. He wasn't very competitive but he wants to prove that he doesn't "suck like a kid with a lolli" – one of the many things Monica had said to him – but then again, he does want her to win. (Not that he could win if he tried.)

     And she did win. And she was so happy that she literally pounced on Harry, her arms around his neck and legs wrapped around his waist. Harry was shocked, but when he recovered and went to wrap his arms around her waist she quickly jumped back off with reddened cheeks and an embarrassed smile.

     "Sorry," she mutters, her eyes trained on his blue sweater.

     Harry chuckles and pulls her into a hug, placing his chin on top of her head. "It's quite alright."

     For dinner, Harry just wanted to stay at the bowling alley so he could have a rematch afterward. Monica didn't object because "I can beat you in bowling any time". Harry ordered himself pizza slices whilst Monica ordered buffalo wings.

     They ate in silence for a while, Harry taking a few glances over to watch her messily eat her food. The complete opposite from Katelyn, Harry observes as he chews on the crust of his first slice. Katelyn was always self-conscious about food being left on her face, which led her to be a fanatic about napkins. (Harry noticed that Athena too used napkins quite a lot, even if her face wasn't dirty.) But now he was watching Monica, who had sauce smeared on her cheeks and a tad on her nose – but she didn't care.

     It was different.

     "Do you need a napkin?" He asks with an amused tone. He thought it was cute, it reminded him of when Athena was two and had shoved cake onto her nose and cheeks on her birthday.

     Monica looks up from her buffalo wing to meet his eyes, ironically she wasn't embarrassed, and shakes her head. "What's the point of cleaning my face now if I'm going to eat more and get it on my face again?"

     "You have a point," he says looking away to pick up another slice of pizza. He bits his lip. "What happened between you and your Mum?"

     "What?" She was finished with her wings so now she wiped her mouth and looked at Harry with parted lips.

     "In the car, when I asked about the studio, you said it reminds you of your Mum and that it feels good letting go."

     "Oh." Monica looks down and leans back against the chair. "She just never really supported my pregnancy... Jeff was the only family member that was there for me. I really owe him so much, he's honestly such a great brother."

     "He is," Harry agrees before finishing his pizza. They both take a sip out of their cups before Monica stood up, ready to reset the game. Harry grabs her hand to prevent her from going. "Before we have a rematch, can I ask you something?"

     She raises her eyebrows but nods anyways, turning around and not failing to notice that Harry's thumb was caressing her hand. "You just did but go ahead and ask something else."

     "If, um, Matt was to come back into your life again... would you go back to him?"

     "Kind of weird to ask about my ex when we're on a date but..." Monica's smile drops slowly as she thought about it. She doesn't know why Harry asked the question, she kind of hoped it was jealousy but it was clear that he wasn't – just genuinely curious. After all, Matt was her first love – her first everything. They do say that you will always love your first love no matter what. Monica shrugs. "I don't know. He'd have to give me and explanation and prove to me that he deserves a second chance. What about you?"

      "What do you mean?"

     "If you woke up the next morning and magically, somehow, Katelyn was alive for just one more day, what would you do?" Monica asks, talking slowly so she could watch Harry's reaction – she doesn't know if Katelyn is off limits just yet. But when Harry smiles sadly, she knows that he is now okay to talk about her.

     "I would tell her that I love and miss her. Then I would tell her everything that's happened, and ask if she approves," he admits to her. He meets Monica's eyes with a smile. "I think she would."

.

     It was past nine by the time the two had left the bowling alley, and though both parents wanted to go and see their children, Harry insisted that they just drive around for a bit (or until they're done listening to Ed' albums, as Monica offered). So by the time the last cd was played and finished, it was nearly eleven. Harry drove home.

     "This was nice, yeah?" He asks her when they're about ten minutes away from the house.

     Monica nods and smiles. "I had a great time, Harry. This was refreshing. I forgot how much fun it was to go out on a date."

     "You haven't gone out with, uh, other guys after Matt?"

     "Well, not officially. Most guys would leave when I mention Jake, but I'm used to it, I guess" Monica says with a light laugh until she sees Harry's hands tighten around the wheel. She nudges him. "Hey, I was trying to make a joke."

     "It's not funny to me," he says and looks at her for a moment with a frown. "Matt was so wrong to leave a wonderful woman – and a wonderful little boy... it just makes me upset to know that he did that."

     Monica places her hand on his knee and squeezes it. "It may have been a crappy thing to do but Matt was a great guy. I may not know why he left me – us, but I know Matt enough to know that he had to have a good reason and I forgive him."

     Harry pulls into the drive way and turns off the car. He doesn't make an attempt to get out, instead he looks at her with his head tilted. "I'll take your word for it, Monica."

     Taking his by surprise, she leans over and presses a kiss to his cheeks. "Thank you – for this lovely date and for believing me, no one, not even Jeff thinks Matt is a good guy anymore because of what he did."

- - -

(A/N): NOT EDITED this took forever to update and I'm sorry, I've just been dealing with some things and I had a bit of writer's block but I hope that you enjoyed this update! It's that date and Matt was mentioned a lot; does this mean something? Hmmm...

Importance of Chapter: IT'S THE DATE! This is a cute little chapter with not much importance besides the date and how they're still learning more about each other and mentioning Matt and stuff. This was a simple chapter (that I ironically had trouble doing) but it is still importance because it's the #Marry #Honica #whatevertheirshipnameis  date! Btw, what should their ship name be? I kind of like #Honica c:

 SONG OF CHAPTER: LIGHTWEIGHT – DEMI LOVATO

Importance of Song:  this is Monica's (and kind of Harry's) song guys! (I have a deleted scene btw, which will be posted in a separate book, which has a funny explanation with this song.) Basically, she's been hurt before and it has been mentioned in various other chapters that she's still hesitant to fall, same with Harry. But yeah, there is a deleted scene which extends the date a bit more so... can't wait for that ;)

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