It was late afternoon when Moira arrived home from work; to an empty apartment. Figuring Harry had taken Ollie and Fox to the park, since it was his day off, she made a mental note to call him later.

Harry had been spending an impressive amount of time with their son, now that he was back with the band, his schedule was hectic. Still, he managed to create plenty of time for both her and their baby boy. Above all that, he was desperate to get Ollie to say something along the lines of 'Dada'. Seeing as all he'd been uttering these days was either 'Momma' or some incoherent sounds that sounded an awful lot like barks. Puppy barks to be exact.

Moira was about to go upstairs and get dressed into something more comfy, when the doorbell rang. Heaving a sigh, she changed directions and walked into the hallway where she flicked on the lights and reached for the door.

"Did you forget your key agai-" she cut herself off as she was faced with someone entirely different than expected. "Mom?"

Emelia pushed past her, sniffing as she stumbled through the hallway and into the living room, where she sat down on the couch. Flabbergasted by her mother's tear-streaked face, Moira sluggishly followed behind.

"What..." she took a seat beside her. "What happened?"

"Moira-"

"Please don't tell me something's wrong with Harry or Ollie..." Moira panicked, her heart picking up its pace.

"No, darling, don't worry. Nothing happened to either of them." She shot her half a smile, briefly patting her knee.

"Then what?"

Emelia mashed her lips together, willing herself vehemently not to start crying again. "Have you been in contact with Cooper recently?"

"Cooper?" Clueless of where this was going, Moira shook her head. "Not since graduation, we.. we weren't on good terms. Why?"

"Did he show any signs of depression then?"

"Depression? No, why? What? What's going on?"

Emelia felt another tear leave her eye forcibly, and she ran the back of her hand along her cheek to stop it. "I got a call from Jasmine last night. Cooper.. he killed himself."

That was when she finally burst out sobbing.

Moira watched silently as her head processed the information. Despite past with Cooper, she felt like she'd received a punch to the gut.

Her mind flashed back to the day she'd made her first friend. Their new next-door neighbours had come by to introduce themselves; a woman and her son, Jasmine and Cooper. Like Emelia, Jasmine was a single mom, and Cooper was the same age as Moira. The obvious similarities made it instantly click between the four of them. Both mothers and kids became the best of friends.

Years later, the friendship between Cooper and Moira had come to an abrupt end. And when their mothers questioned what was amiss, both parties denied anything to be wrong, claiming they'd simply grown apart but still remained as close friends. After that the question was never asked again, at least not aloud. Up to the present day, Jasmine and Emelia were thick as thieves -unlike their kids.

Emelia's cries were the only sound filling up the silence for minutes on end. She gradually grew quieter, until eventually she stopped altogether. Frozen in place, feeling numb all over. The boy whom she'd watched grow into a man was gone, and nobody had any idea why. He'd always seemed so.. normal? Not sad in the slightest. Quite obviously, he'd created a mask; and a very strong one at that.

Moira's jaw clenched and unclenched from time to time, but she never said a word -unable to speak or even move to support her mother. She had the strong urge to spill the nasty truth about Cooper, all that he had done to her; how he had ruined her years in High School and broken her trust. But she decided against it, not wanting to speak ill of the dead.

She'd wished him gone and out of her life uncountable times, and now that he was, she wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"I'm fine."

"There's no need to stay strong, you can cry if you wa-"

"I'm fine, mother. Honestly." Moira interrupted, her voice harder and louder.

But as soon as she saw her mother shrink back, she regretted the way she raised her voice immediately. "I'm sorry, mom, I-"

"He left you a letter, you know."

Moira was taken aback. "He did?"

"I would've called otherwise, I knew the two of you weren't close anymore."

It was silent again, although short-lived. From the corner of her eye, she saw her mother sit up straighter, eyes trained intensively on the floor.

"What did it say?"

"I don't know," Emelia said as she reached into her purse and took out some tissues as well as a folded paper. "You tell me."

Taking the paper from her hand, Moira felt her eyebrows furrow as she folded it open and squinted her eyes to get a better look at what it said. Words were messily scribbled, written across its surface with blue pen.

Moira,

if you're reading this, I want you to know how much I regret treating you the way I did. I have failed as a friend and a human being, and I am so sorry you had to be on the receiving end of my pathetic behaviour. I'm the lowest of scum, but nonetheless, I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me when we see each other again. Until then, I'll watch over you. Take care.

Cooper

Her mother was wiping her moist cheeks and loudly blowing her nose when Moira finished reading. Cooper's word had caused a lone tear to blur her vision and she quickly wiped it away before it had the chance to fall.

"And? What did it say?"

"He told me goodbye." Moira said, re-folding the letter and safely putting it in her pocket. "just a goodbye."

Harry and Ollie arrived home a few hours later, by then, her mother had gone home.

"Guess what!"

Her eyes flew up to his face, and she found a conceited, wolfish grin framing his beautiful face as he held Ollie in his arms -whose expression looked almost equal to his dad's. In the meantime, Fox sat next to them, wagging his tail in a similar happy fashion.

"I don't know," she managed to get out evenly. "but you're probably going to tell me anyway."

Unfortunately, Harry knew her better than she liked to admit.

"What's wrong?"

"We'll talk about it later," she pushed the subject aside. "Tell me what's up."

Harry flopped down next to her. Almost instantly, Ollie outstretched his little arms, wanting his mommy so badly he nearly launched himself in her direction. Moira's heart swelled. She giggled as she kissed all over his face, petting his soft curls and holding him closer; his little, chubby arms wrapped around her neck and he hopped up and down on her lap, squealing with delight.

Moira couldn't help but laugh with him, her eyes stinging but in a good way -with happy tears this time. Her fiancé wrapped an arm around her, pressing her body against his, snuggling his face into her hair. "No, you tell me." he murmured in her ear, lightly kissing the ridge of it. She didn't answer, keeping still next to him as she focused her attention on Ollie.

"Momma," Ollie whispered, or attempted to whisper.

"Hi baby cakes." She whispered back, her eyes lifting over his small shoulder. Harry's face was unreadable due to the glaring light behind him, but she knew it when his eyes lock with hers, the chill rolling down her back was prove of that.

Clutching Ollie to her a little tighter, she held his gaze. His eyes were expressionless, guarded. He was the one to look away first, gazing out the window.

"Cooper killed himself."

He looked back around to face her, "Oh."

"Yes, oh."

Harry scratched the back of his neck. "How are you coping?"

"Fine," she retorted shortly.

He growled in the back of his throat, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb; he squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain, speaking again in a low, strained voice. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'd rather not."

"Alright then.. You sure?

She shrugged, "Maybe later, I just- I can't right now."

"No stress, babe. We'll talk whenever you're ready."

Wanting to distract him from the uncomfortable subject, Moira slowly raked her fingers through his hair, Harry's eyes rolled back a little before the eyelids close over them. His soft and slightly thick, curls looped around her fingers as she reached up and pushed her hand all the way to the back of his head.

"Be right back." She said as she stood up and moved towards Ollie's play cot, Fox laid down beside the cot like a miniature guardian dog as soon as she'd placed their son onto the cushions. When she turned back around, Moira found Harry seated exactly where she'd left him a few seconds ago.

"Baby," He whispered hoarsely when she was back beside him, and trailed a finger down the side of his face. "Do that again."

"Whatever do you mean?" She forged innocence.

"Please."

He closed his eyes, parted his lips. And before he could open one eye and ask why she was taking so long, her fingers tip-tapped back up the column of his throat, the curve of his jaw, the vulnerability of his temple, and finally the wispy edges of his hair. She repeated the motion she did before, raking her nails over his scalp and fingers through his curls. This time, Harry moaned.

"Again...Again..." He sighed, lips curling up as she went for the fifth time. "Ridiculously enough, I feel like a bloody cat. And it feels amazing." he whispered, his weight leaning towards her; their bodies almost touched, but not quite, and Harry's lips moved in close enough to practically graze her ear. He hummed as she steadily scratched her fingers into his skin lightly, brown strands of hair slipping under her palm. Suddenly, Harry inhaled a sharp breath through his mouth, and his eyes opened slowly to reveal his eyes to her.

"Now harder."

"Gee, are we getting kinky?"

"Don't speak. Scratch."

Moira rubbed her lips together tightly, aware of what he was getting at and what he wanted. Tentatively, she took her hand out of his hair, the voluminous curls sitting higher than ever on head, and Harry's eyes tightened as he looked at her.

"So... what was it that you were so excited about earlier...?"

She trailed off at the expression on Harry's face, lips pulled back and teeth bared slightly, eyes bright; his big hand lifted and snapped at her wrist, clutching tightly with his long fingers -though in a non-painful manner. She gasped at the firm grip and watch with wide eyes as he brought her hand back up to his hair.

"I said harder, baby." he muttered in that deep, sultry voice of his. The forceful way with which he spoke sent a flush of heat all the way down to her south pole. Moira hurried to braid her fingers in his curls, tugging. Another moan.

The playful, silly attitude he had a second ago was kicked aside and replaced with a lustful kind of weakness.

"Harder," Harry whispered. He released her wrist and leaned into her touch, his lips hovering above hers and parted for his heavy breathing. Her own breath hitched in her throat when his mouth brushed over her top lip, and she could feel her arm trembling as it moved back and forth to run her hand through his hair.

He grabbed her wrist again and stopped her when her fingers reached the curls at the base of his neck. Forehead pressed to hers, he licked his lips.

"Kiss me."

She elevated herself to reach his mouth again, and her lips pressed to his full, pink ones. She held them steady, realizing he was not going to do any of the work. And she saw this as an opportunity, to take control of the situation.

With a soft grunt, she pressed herself to him eagerly, her mouth pulling at his pouting bottom lip. If Harry was standing up, he would've stumbled back as her weight literally collides with his. Their chests were flush against each other, but his arms wound around her waist and held her securely. Moving her lips feverishly, she licked and nibbled at his bottom lip like an overly aroused teenager. Harry groaned in reply, obviously liking it.

All of a sudden, she pulled back and he groaned again -though now, in protest

"So? What were you excited about?"

"Moira.."

"Don't Moira me. Spill. I'm curious."

Harry sighed and sat back, running a frustrated hand through his hair; only messing it up further. "Our song is #1 in the charts."

"Our song?"

"Moira is the title.. I wrote the lyrics.." he moved his hands in a circular way to emphasise his words. "Ya know, our song."

"Oh my god, what!"

"I know."

"That's amazing, Harry, I'm so proud of you!"

"Great. Can I get that kiss now?"

"Betcha Bones will have even more fans now, the song's catchy and sweet and perfect and it actually has a deeper meaning behind it you know.. Not just your every-day pop song.."

"Yes. But how about that kiss.."

Ignoring his question, she edged a little closer to the play cot so that she was able to peek over the railing and see what Ollie was doing. She smiled fondly as she watched him perform his favourite pastime activity; playing with his feet. But her eyes wandered from the little angel to the figure seated beside her.

"What are you looking at?" she teased, seeing the expression on his face. His eyes softened considerably more from what they were before and the corners of his mouth bend up.

He didn't answer.

"Harry?"

Still no answer. Her expression changed, and she looked at him sceptically. "Alright, rockstar, you're starting to creep me out a lil bit. I think I'm just gonna go..." she trailed off uncertainly, standing up so she could go check on Ollie from a closer distance. But her mocking him vanished with a smile and a laugh from her as she felt two strong arms wrap quickly around her waist.

"You're not going anywhere," he muttered lowly in her ear.

Harry's lips sponged up and down softly all over the side of her neck and just behind her ear. Moira hummed in content and held his arms tighter to her, unable to hold in her soft laughter as his mouth tickled her skin.

"Our son is in the room," she sing-songed quietly under her breath as he started to press his body as close as possible to hers from behind, desire flaring heat through his fitting dress pants and into her being.

"He can't see."

"But he can hear. And besides, it's about the concept of it. We're not getting intimate with Ollie here."

He huffed once, disguising his little laugh. "He's 15-months old, he won't remember a thing in a week," he dragged on, pulling at her ear with his teeth. She sighed, leaning into him, unbelievably and irrevocably happy and content with the world -despite the whole Cooper situation, that kept nagging at the back of her mind.

"I think we should save him from the scarring memories." He stopped kissing her to lean back and say something, but she cut him off, spinning around in his arms to face him. "That doesn't mean I'm saying stop," she smiled, watching his bewildered expression. "It means I'm saying not here."

He paused a second before breaking out into a huge grin, timeless dimples carving into his cheeks. He kissed her lips forcefully, driving her back, though his hands were there to catch her, to keep her to him. His lips moved languidly against her mouth, savouring in its passion. When he drew back and placed his forehead to hers, he worse a small smile, almost indiscernible if you didn't look carefully enough.

"You know I love you, yeah?"

A smile flickered on her lips. "Yeah," she whispered, his eyes staring into hers. "As I love you, Stones."