Atonement

•27•

"Still not gonna tell me what this fun thing is?" I ask Haz as we drive.
"Nope." He says.
"Why are we going to the Hangar?" I ask.
"Because we're taking the jet." He states.
"Jet? I didn't pack anything! I'm not prepared for a trip Haz!" I groan and he laughs.
"It's only for the day darling. I'm taking you to Ireland for the fun thing."
We pull up to the Hangar and see the Jet and our normal pilot, Jerry. I get nervous as I always do for plane rides.
"Last time I flew with you, you abandoned me to fly home alone." I say to Haz, and he frowns.
"I won't do that again, promise." He says, kissing my forehead as we make our way to the jet.
"Been a while Jerry." I smile.
"Mrs. Alderidge" he nods, greeting me. "Good to see you."
I walk onto the jet, and sit down on the couch like seat next to the window. The jet is smaller than the plane so I tend to get a bit claustrophobic.
I can't for the life of me figure out why he would take me to Ireland. Or what's even there for us to do. Haz makes his way onto the plane, and sits next to me.
"You okay?" He checks in.
"Yeah." I nod.
"I know how you get with flying but I promise it's worth it." He says.
"Well then I'm excited." I grin.
The jet starts to take off and I squeeze Haz's hand tightly.
"Jesus Christ you've got a strong grip." He mutters as we get into the air, my hand loosening as I laugh.
"Apparently not strong enough to escape a man dragging me to his car." I shrug and he frowns.
"Don't you worry about that love, he's going to get what he has coming." Haz assures me.
I know that if Haz came face to face with the man that took me, he would beat the living shit out of him. Break every bone, use every form of torture he knows. Haz use to kill professionally, so anyone who messes with him or the mob has no idea what they're in for.
"And you, my dear, are going to be protected from freaks like him from now on wether you like it or not. Can't let anything happen to my babygirl."
His words make me feel so many emotions at once. I've never cared about anyone like this before. Ive had hook ups here and there but I've never been in.. whatever this is.
"What's on your mind?"
"I- well.. I just-" I struggle to find my words and the feeling of his fingertips on my skin isn't helping either.
"What is it?" He asks.
"Okay this is going to sound so dumb." I shake my head. "But are we- you know... in a relationship?"
He laughs lightly, adoration in his eyes.
"Yes. We are." He says.
"Cool." I smile. "You're um.. you're my first boyfriend."
His brows scrunch together in confusion, his head tilting.
"First boyfriend?" He asks. "How?"
"It's impossible to have a boyfriend in my world, especially when my dad was around." I laugh.
"Does that mean you've never..?" He trails off, his question instantly clicking in my head.
"No I have.. just one night stands though." I shrug.
"So, I need to ask something." He says and I nod for him to go on.
"You and Eli ever?.."
"What?! Oh my god no! He's like a brother to me what the fuck!" I exclaim.
"Okay okay okay." He laughs. "I just thought that something may have gone on between the two of you."
"Ew no Eli only gets with easy girls, and I'm definitely not easy." I say.
"No darling, you're definitely not." He says.
______
The jet lands, and the smell of the Ireland air hits my nose as I get off. I've only been here a handful of times, but the sights never fail to impress me.
"Have fun, we will see you in a while." Jerry says as Haz and I walk to the car. We get inside and buckle up, the driver heading off.
"Okay so do you remember how I told you I don't get fancy cars and stuff because I think there's better uses for money?" He says.
"Yes, I remember." I nod.
"Well, using that money i bought this.." he says as we pull up to a very large building, tons of kids in the fenced yard playing football.
"What is this place?" I ask.
We get out of the car, walking down the stone walkway to the front door.
"This is an orphanage." He smiles.
"Harrison!" A little boy yells excitedly, running up to Haz and hugging his legs.
"Ian, hey buddy what's up?" Haz says, bending down to his height.
"You've been gone! We missed you!" He says which brings warmth to my heart.
"Yeah I've been busy, I got someone I want you to meet." He says, standing up. "This is Aurie."
"Hello Aurie, I'm Ian!" The boy says.
"Hello Ian! It's very good to meet you."
"We've gotta go inside, we will come see you soon okay?" Haz says as the young boy runs off.
"Haz this.. this is absolutely amazing." I say as I look around, walking inside to see the house is gorgeous.
I can tell he's proud of this, it's important to him. All the kids here look so happy.
"I found Ian nine months ago, he was abandoned at only four years old.. so I bought this place, got it running, and now he's five and so happy to have all these friends." He smiles.
As we walk down the hallways, I see framed pictures of all the kids scattered on the walls, and pictures the younger ones have colored displayed. An older woman greets us with a smile and gives Haz a hug.
"Harrison, so good to see you honey." She says.
"Beth I'd like for you to meet Aurie, my girlfriend." Haz introduces me.
"It's so wonderful to meet you Aurie! I've heard a lot about you!" Beth says and Haz widens his eyes at her.
"Weren't suppose to say that." He says and I laugh.
"The paint is in the garage, I'll go get it." Beth says, walking off.
"Paint?" I question.
"The kids are painting a mural on the building and invited me to join, I figured you needed a distraction." He says and my heart swells.
"This is perfect, Haz. Thank you."
"Of course." He says.
"So.." I start. "You talked about me?"
"I'm going to go help Beth with that paint." He says, walking off with a laugh.

A/N: Haz really do be the most wholesome human🥺