I see y'all being petty about Harry and you have every right to be so. But I promise, Harry is an angel and a literal baby and doesn't mean any harm. I think him ignoring her is probably the last like annoying thing he does.

Hope you enjoy this cute af chapter !!!

If there are any language mistakes or grammatical errors please correct me NICELY!

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✧ Sweet little baby in a world full of pain

I gotta be honest, I don't know if I could take it ✧

Adriana awoke to the soft snoring of her man sleeping behind her, his warm breath tickling the skin of her neck as his face was buried into her neck. A smile tugged at her lips, relaxing back against his warm body while trailing her fingers over his tattooed arms that were wrapped firmly around her body. She tried to remember if she had any nightmares during her sleep, and was surprised when she came up with nothing. She had actually slept well for the first time in a long time. She realized that there was something about lying in Harry's arms that gave her comfort and made her feel warm and safe.

   "Princess."

  Her thoughts dissipated when she heard his low, raspy voice mumble her cute nickname in his sleep. She thought he was calling her out, but he had just murmured the nickname in his sleep. Adriana briefly wondered if he was dreaming about her, another smile tugging her lips at that thought. She realized that Harry was the first man she has ever had come over to her apartment, as well as sleep with her in her bed. One of her rules was to never bring any man to her place, yet Harry was an exception, now mainly because he was her boyfriend.

She tried to turn around in his grip, only for him to cling to her, refusing to let her go. Her lips parted when his fingers suddenly laced with hers, holding her hands with his arms wrapped around her torso, curling his large body around her smaller one and drawing her even closer to him.

   "You're so warm and cuddly," Harry murmured with a lazy smile drawling on his extra pink lips, making Adriana's heart burst in her chest at his adorableness.

   "Good morning, baby," she mumbled with a light chuckle, managing to turn around in his grip.

  He let out a tiny whine at the change in position, resting his head on her chest instead.

   "Morning, love," he grunted sleepily in response, inhaling deeply in content when she started running her fingers through his unruly curls. "Did you sleep well?"

   "I did, actually," she told him with a grin, making him raise his head up to grin at her.

   "Really?" he couldn't help but question, knowing that last night was traumatic for her so he expected her to have trouble sleeping.

   "Yeah, no nightmares or whatever," she told him as he laid his head back down on her chest. "It's because of you," she added in a small voice.

  He lifted his head up again, grinning at her widely while she took a moment to study how hot and cute his morning state was. His eyes were a light green color, the hints of blue in them peeking out a bit as the sunlight from the window shone against them. His cute nose scrunched up as he grinned, his extra pink lips stretching across his pearly whites while a curl fell over his forehead. But what contradicted the whole cute morning state he had going on was his voice. It was several octaves deeper, and raspier. She couldn't lie about the way her thighs pressed together when she first heard it.

   "I would kiss you but I have morning breath and it's not very pleasant," he told her honestly, making her giggle lightly, nodding in response.

   "Better get brushing then, baby."

∙❧∙

  "Harry?" Mateo widened his eyes when he saw the tall, curly-haired man standing in the kitchen, cutting up some fruit for breakfast.

   "Hey buddy," Harry grinned widely, setting the knife down and beckoning the kid over. "Wanna come help me make breakfast?"

   "Sí!" Mateo exclaimed excitedly, handing his backpack to Adriana who was stood next to him. "Espera Mateo, primero lávate los dientes y cámbiate de ropa." Wait Mateo, go brush your teeth and change your clothes first.

   "Ok Mamá," Mateo said, running back out of the kitchen and darting towards the bathroom. Adriana walked into the kitchen, setting his backpack on the counter.

  She came up behind Harry, winding her arms around his bare torso loosely. Her soft lips pressed against his shoulder blade in a gentle, affectionate kiss, making Harry's heart flutter. He set the knife down, turned around in her arms and grinned at her. His baby pink lips stretched widely, dimples popping out like craters in his cheek, corners of his bright eyes crinkling ever so slightly; it all made Adriana's eyes light up and lips curl into a smile that mirrored his.

   "Do you know how to make crêpes?" she questioned lowly, her soft hands pressing against his lower stomach gently. Harry smiled at her cute French accent coming out when she said the word crêpe.

   "Tried to make them once. Almost burnt the kitchen down," Harry bit his lower lip in shame.

   "Well Mateo and I are going to teach you how to make some," Adriana said, reaching up to kiss his cheek playfully, then pulling away to gather some ingredients.

   "Estoy de vuetta!" Mateo rushed into the kitchen excitedly. "What are we making?" I'm back!

   "Crêpes, mon petit," Adriana told him, opening up some cupboards. Crêpes, my little one.

  Mateo cheered at her words, and began running around the kitchen looking for the ingredients. Once they had the ingredients gathered up, Adriana allowed Mateo to go ahead and teach Harry how to make the batter. She watched them interact with the biggest grin on her face as Mateo stood on a chair to reach the counter, explaining to Harry as best as he could how to make the batter. Harry listened to him in slight awe, wondering if Mateo was some sort of cooking prodigy because there was no way a three year old could talk about crêpe batter in such detail.

  When Adriana began putting the fruit Harry had cut up into a bowl, she heard a phone ringing in the distance. Realizing it was her phone; she rinsed her hands quickly while telling Mateo to be careful with the stove, as they had just started pouring the batter out onto the pan.

   "Teach Harry some French while you're at it," she told Mateo, making Harry scoff a little.

   "I actually know some French for your information," Harry arched his brows at her with a smirk, making her halt at the doorway and stand with her hands on her hips.

   "Oh really?" she questioned.

   "Yeah I know like one sentence," Harry said proudly, making her widen her eyes.

   "Let's hear it then," she urged him, leaning against the side of the door as he gulped, now regretting his words.

   "Je suis allê au cinéma avec mes copains et ma famille," Harry said with a proud smile. "Why you laughing?"

   "I'm not," Adriana defended herself, but Mateo too was giggling. "Your accent. It's cute, and good. Very good."

   "You're lying."

   "No I'm not! I love it, I really do," she said with a laugh. "I'll be right back."

  She rushed into the bedroom where her phone was sat on the dresser, vibrating loudly. When she saw the contact name that was flashing across the screen, she felt her heart drop in her chest. It was Donnie. She contemplated on not answering it, but then she remembered his threats, immediately grabbing it and answering it.

   "Adriana," Donnie spoke lowly, his tone ominous as Harry gulped.

   "I know what you're going to say," she quickly said. "I just need a little more time, I've got about 300 dollars down I just need 2-"

   "You had well over three months to pay for that shit, Adriana. I want it, now!" Donnie yelled angrily through the phone, making her grimace.

   "I know, and you've been so patient, which I appreciate because Hunter was never as patient as you are," Adriana rambled a bit, referring to the previous drug dealer who would sell for the Black Mamba in New York, but Donnie replaced him a year ago.

   "Shut the fuck up!" Donnie snapped, making Adriana roll her eyes a little. "I want the money by the end of this week."

   "But-"

   "And it's not $500 you gotta pay anymore. It's a $1000."

   "What?"

   "You heard me. The Black Mamba asked us to charge clients an extra hundred a day, plus the money they already owe us, until they pay us," Donnie told her, as she sat there on the bed with her mouth open in shock.

   "What the fuck? When was this new rule established?" she spat.

   "Five days ago."

   "Five days ago?" she exclaimed, before looking over the shoulder and turning back to lower her voice. "Fucking hell Donnie, ever thought of telling me?"

   "I'm telling you now," he snickered, making her growl lowly. "$1000 by Wednesday, Adriana. I'll be waiting."

   "Wednesday is three days away, Donnie! I don't have that kind of money on me right now," Adriana growled in frustration. "What the fuck are you laughing about, coño?" she snapped when she heard him chuckling on the other side of the line. Cunt.

   "Why don't you ask your rich as fuck boyfriend to help you out?" Donnie muttered lowly, making Adriana's blood run cold all of a sudden.

   "Shut the fuck up, you do not touch him, Donnie. He and Mateo are off limits," she spoke aggressively into the phone. "You hear me? Off fucking limits!"

   "I dunno Adriana, I think the only reason I was patient with you was I never had anyone close to you to threaten. I mean, Mateo? I would never threaten a kid. But this Harry guy? Looks like a rich piece of white-privileged shit-"

   "You're white too, what the fuck are you talking about? I'm the one who Trump wants out of America, gringo," Adriana rolled her eyes and scoffed.

   "I'm from Lebanon, my dad's Hawaiian and my Grandma's Chinese. I'm not white," Donnie defended himself.

   "But didn't you say your mother's English," Adriana snickered; relieved this conversation had moved on. But she thought too soon.

   "Fuck, whatever! Point is, you better fucking pay up by Wednesday if you care about your boyfriend," Donnie threatened. "And these aren't empty threats anymore, it's real this time."

   "I'm terrified," Adriana spat in a sarcastic tone, ticking Donnie off.

   "Really? How was last night Adriana?" Donnie suddenly spoke in a low voice. "I heard you had a little incident at the club. I really thought you would've like him."

   "What the fuck are you talking about?" she spoke sharply, feeling her heart tighten in her chest. "That man..." it slowly dawned upon her, remember the blue-eyed man who sexually assaulted her yesterday. "He's one of your men?" she questioned with wide eyes. "Donnie, he almost raped me!"

   "Oh I only told him to scare you a little, but whatever he decided to do was his choice," Donnie said with a light shrug as she felt her heart pound in her chest now.

   "It's about time you take me seriously, Adriana. I'll see you on Wednesday."

  He ended the call before she could say anything, making a tight scowl etch onto her face as she pulled her phone down from her ear.

   "Cabrón."

    Bastard.

∙❧∙

  "What do you wanna do when you grow up Mateo?"

   "I wanna be a chef!" Mateo exclaimed loudly as he spread Nutella over a crêpe.

  Harry and Mateo decorated crêpes while Adriana was talking to Donnie. Harry heard distinctive yelling before it died down. He wanted to go check up on her but he didn't want to leave Mateo alone in the kitchen so he stayed and continued to help cooking.

   "I'm sure you will be one, you're an amazing cook," Harry told him firmly with a smile, making Mateo grin up at him. "Like Jaime Oliver, or Gordon Ramsay!"

   "Quién?" Mateo's dark eyes flashed with confusion as Harry looked at him with a frown. Who?

   "They're famous chefs." Harry told him. "Some of the best in the world."

   "My Mamá is the best cook I know," Mateo said just as Adriana walked in. "Mamá! Regarde les crêpes!"

   "Looks good, baby," Adriana said with a grin, taking a seat at the table that was situated in the kitchen.

   "Here have this one, I made it just for you," Harry handed her a plate with an adorable grin etched upon his face. "Got strawberries and Nutella in it!"

   "No Mamá, have mine. I made it for you with bananas and Nutella," Mateo exclaimed, tapping his mother's arm and pushing a plate with an even better decorated crêpe on it towards her. "Mamá likes bananas and Nutella on her crêpe, Harry."

   "Oh I'm sorry," Harry widened his eyes with his lips in a pout, actually taking the little kid seriously as he retracted his plate, feeling intimidated by him. Adriana wanted to cry and laugh because of the expression on his face.

   "I'll eat both of your crêpes and see who made the best one. How does that sound, boys?" she suggested, making both of them nod enthusiastically.

  Adriana felt an odd sense of content when she sat and had breakfast with Harry and Mateo. In a strange way, she felt like they were a family, even though it was way too early for her to even think of such a thing. But overall, she was just having a good morning with her two favorite boys. She sat there with her chin resting in the palm of her hand, a tiny smile dancing on her lips as she watched Mateo interact with Harry, both of them discussing Harry's long, curly hair and how long it took him to grow it out.

   "Mamá can I grow my hair out like Harry?" Mateo questioned

   "No," she tapped his nose with a tight-lipped smile, making him frown immediately.

   "Why not? It's a good look," Harry defended Mateo and his hairstyle with a firm pout. She shot him a blank look before looking at Mateo.

   "You'll have to wear a hairnet in the kitchen when you become a chef, Mateo," she explained to him making him frown a little.

   "A hairnet?" he frowned questioningly.

   "Redecilla, sweetie. Something to cover the hair or else it will fall in the food."

   "Okay fine, you've got a point," Harry mumbled under his breath, before Mateo excused himself from the table to go get some water.

   "Don't worry baby, I love your long hair," Adriana told him, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Looks very sexy."

   "Really?" he arched a brow at her with a smirk, nose nudging hers when he turned his head to face her.

   "Turns me on so much," she murmured lowly, biting her lip, making Harry's gaze avert to her lips, swallowing thickly.

  She pulled away with a smirk, knowing that her son will walk in at some point if she started kissing him.

   "I might cut it," Harry muttered, making Adriana choke on her food. "Wow I didn't expect that reaction," he couldn't help but chuckle a little as he patted her back, giving her his water.

   "But why?" she managed to say.

   "My sister asked me to do so for her birthday dinner," Harry said with a roll of his eyes, making Adriana frown a little.

   "Gemma, right?" she said, remembering Harry mentioning her to Adriana once.

   "Yeah," he smiled lightly. "I kinda need to tell you something by the way."

   "What is–"

   "Mamá, can we play now? Por favor?" Mateo returned, making Adriana look away from Harry.

   "Sure, baby, let me just clean up the kitchen. Why don't you go to your room and get started?" she suggested, making him nod and rush away. She opened her mouth to speak to Harry again before she noticed Mateo running back into the kitchen.

   "Harry, are you gonna stay and play with me and Mamá?" he questioned with his small, brown doe eyes and pouted lips.

   "'Course, buddy. I've got nothing to do today," Harry told him with a warm smile, making the child grin excitedly and dart away again.

  Harry helped Adriana clean up the dishes, as well as tell her something he had just remembered when he mentioned his sister.

   "So I kind of told my family that you're my girlfriend," he started saying, making Adriana stop her movements.

   "Already? We decided this just yesterday," Adriana frowned, making him bite his lips.

   "Yeah I mean I lied about it way before," he said quickly, making her bite the inside of her cheek. "I'm sorry, I just panicked and my tone gets high-pitched when I lie too much."

   "And what exactly did you tell them? That I'm a stripper and a single-mom?"

   "No, of course not," Harry immediately shook his head, making her set the plate down and turn to look at him.

   "Will they judge me if they knew I was a stripper?" she asked firmly, the emotions in her tone hard to detect.

   "Yes," Harry said in a small voice, making her look away. "And the fact that you're a single mom too. They're very...conservative."

   She halted her movements and let out a frustrated sigh. "Harry I'm not ready to meet your parents, if that's what you're suggesting. We literally just decided-"

   "No I know; it's fine. You don't have to meet them now; it's just at some point you kind of need to? I dunno they've just been pestering me about it and it's giving me anxiety-"

   "I-I don't know, Harry. I'm reluctant, but when the time comes and if it really means that much to you, I'll do it," she told him firmly. "But they cannot know about my cocaine addiction. Okay?"

   "Yes of course," Harry bobbed his head. "But the reason I brought this up is because my sister's birthday is this week, and she's hosting a birthday dinner. She asked me to bring you along. The dinner is on the weekend and her birthday is on Thursday. My parents won't be there for the dinner because my dad's got some business trip in LA and my mum's tagging along with him."

   "So I'll only meet your sister?" she questioned with an arch of her brow.

   "Well yeah and her friends. I don't think any of my family will be there for it. It's more of a birthday dinner with friends and stuff. My family's all holed up in England, so..." Harry trailed off as Adriana pondered. "She's more understanding than my parents. Less intimidating, more kind."

   "I'll think about it," Adriana murmured, making him smile lightly.

  After they finished cleaning up, they headed to Mateo's bedroom where they played with Lego and all sorts of made-up games, which had them grinning and laughing so hard until their cheeks hurt. Adriana apologized to Harry at some point, realizing that he must have wanted to do anything other than playing with her kid. He immediately assured her that it was completely fine and that he was enjoying himself because he loved children.

  Nevertheless, Adriana promised him she'd make it up to him with a date, which was something that made him very happy. As Mateo sat in the living room watching MasterChef Australia, Harry and Adriana laid in bed, talking about previous dates before he started rambling about restaurants they could go to.

   "I know this amazing sushi restaurant-"

   "Harry?" Adriana spoke up and interrupted him, making him look at her with a grin. "I hope you don't mind, but I don't want to go to some fancy restaurant. Maybe something much more chill, and special, if that's okay?"

   "I get you," he nodded immediately, pursing his lips and pulling them to the side. "I think I've an idea," he grinned after a few seconds, making her arch a brow at him.

   "Which is?"

   "A surprise. You'll find out, Tuesday night," Harry kissed the corner of her lips as he cuddled against her chest, before peppering sweet kisses over her jaw. "I just realized. I gotta go, Princess."

   "Really?" Adriana pouted a little, as he pushed himself up to hold his body over hers, gazing down at her with a pout too.

   "Yeah, I wish I could stay," he pouted back, jutting out his pink lower lip with his curls falling all over his face. She pulled her hand up to push them back, caressing his cheek. "I've lunch with my Dad at 2:00, and it's currently uh... 1:20. I need to shower and change."

   "'Course, baby," she nodded with understanding, pecking his lips. "I'll walk you out."

  A few minutes passed by after they spoke, too caught up with making out and momentarily forgetting Harry had to leave. When he pulled away, Adriana clung to him like koala bear, making him laugh and lift her up into his arms. Her feet touched the floor when they arrived at the doorway, her arms remaining wound around his neck so that she could pull him down to kiss her again. Her palms cupped his cheeks firmly as he pulled her arms down from his neck slowly, reaching blindly for the door as she left little pecks on his lips.

   "I have to go, my love," he giggled, his nose scrunching up when she kissed pecked it. "Want me to come over tonight?"

   "If you're free, then yes," she murmured with a smile. "But it's Disney movie night with Mateo, so if you're okay with-"

   "I fucking love Disney movies!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, his giddiness making her eyes widen with surprise. "Can I bring snacks?"

   "'Course you can, babe," Adriana chuckled as his forest green eyes glinted brightly with excitement.

   "Is there anything in particular you and Mateo like?" Harry questioned.

   "Mateo loves caramel popcorn but you can just get microwave pop-"

   "Caramel popcorn. Done. What else? What do you like?" Harry asked with a knowing smile because he knew she knew he was stubborn as fuck. "Should I bring dinner too? There's this amazing-"

   "No, Harry it's fine. I'll manage with dinner before you come, just bring popcorn and chocolate, okay?" she told him, resting her hands on his chest.

   "Okay, fine," he nodded, smiling down at her. "Shit I have to go," he then remembered suddenly.

   "Bye, baby," she kissed him as he walked out the door; neck craning to kiss her back.

   "I'll see you tonight, darling," he finally said goodbye, grinning at her before turning to walk away.

  His smile was still intact as he stood in the lift, eyes bright with a glow on his face, lips still tingling from kissing her. He had a good morning, one of the best he has ever had in a while. The events of this morning where he had breakfast with Adriana and Mateo replayed in his head as he walked out of the building with a smile on his face, running his fingers through his unruly hair as he approached his Range Rover.

  Several feet away from him, the engine of another car roared and came to life, a jet black one with two men seated inside of it. As Harry pulled out of his parking space, so did that car, and it followed him. At some point while driving, Harry's gaze drifted to the side mirror where he noticed the car behind him. He frowned lightly as he took a right turn, watching the car follow right behind him. He brushed it off, assuming that they were probably going the same way as him. But at some point, his assumptions died down as anxiety struck him.

   "What the fuck?" Harry whispered under his breath, tightening his fingers around the steering wheel as his worried eyes flickered to the side mirror again.

  He sucked in a breath, changing the route to his house, taking the longer route rather than a short cut. His gaze darted back to the side mirror, pressing his lips together anxiously as he drove towards the traffic signal. The light turned green. He was several feet away. He put pressure on his foot and raced towards the signal, hoping he could make it just as it turned red so that the other car would have to halt there. His car sped through and passed the signal, gaze jerking to the side mirror one last time and letting out a sigh of relief when the other car stopped due to the red light.

  Harry relaxed in his seat, breathing heavily as he took a right turn and disappeared out of sight, hoping that nothing like that would happen again. But he wasn't sure, and he was sure as hell anxious and paranoid now.

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∙ How was that chapter guyssss? I promise I'll do cute chapters like these to lighten the mood of this dark asf book lol.

∙ Any predictions based on that phone call with Adriana and what happened towards the end of the chapter? 👀👀👀

∙ If you haven't seen yet, my new Prince Harry fanfic "Heavy Crown" is up now! The playlist and the description/cast list of the story is up so far and the prologue is coming soon ;)

Until we meet again...

thiora ♡