***TIME JUMP - It's December 19th- a few months later, I just want this time to go quicker, sorry***

"Guys, I told you. Be at the door and ready at 11:30 am. It's fucking 11:35." I said as they both walked down the stairs. We curse more when it's just us.

Zach and I glanced at Eli. We looked again and sighed. "Dude."

"What?"

"You look like a dork." Zach said bluntly and Eli scoffed.

"Well, you do. You're wearing suspenders with tiny pictures of glasses on them for God's sake. You look like fucking Steve Urkel." I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that--"

"Go! Change!" We demanded, pushing back and he rolled his eyes, going back upstairs.

After five minutes he came back down with a grey sweater and jeans. Close enough. "Okay let's go."

N/A- Someone asked me about the guys' 'style' so...
Cristiano

Zach

Eli

****

"What about her?"

"No." Eli declined.

"Her?"

"No." I shook my head.

"Oh, her?"

"God, no. Stop making us look at girls when all of us have girlfriends." Eli rolled his eyes.

"Gia isn't my girlfriend." Zach denied and I groaned.

"It's been a fucking month, Zach!"

"And? We're simply dating. No labels." He left it at that.

"That still doesn't mean you should think about other girls." Eli scolded and I shrugged my shoulders slowly. "Weeelll..."

"Oh, wow. I'm telling your girlfriend on you." Zach threatened.

"No, you're not. I don't think about other girls. My relationship has a label. I just think that if it's no labels, then what the hell."

"My point exactly. Speaking of, when's Lola coming back? Hasn't she been gone for what--a month?"

"Yeah. She gets back in a few days. She's not really visiting her grandparents, more like her entire family along with...Samuel."

"I'm gonna go with 'not a family member'." I guessed and Eli nodded, rolling his eyes.

"He calls her like--twice a damn week. It's been two damn years, the dude needs to let her the hell go. She friend-zoned him like six fucking times. Those are signs that you should quit while you still have some bitch-ass dignity left." He ranted, which also proves why he's Harlow's brother.

"Well you sound jealous." I chuckled. "That's the most you've ever cursed in your life."

"And what about Gage, Francisco, and Val? That's right. I heard about their friendly actions and conversations." Eli retorted. Zach nodded in agreement.

"Okay, first. Gage is in America in the farthest state from us. Second, Francisco is not even on that list anymore. And last, Val is her bodyguard. Has been for two months. He knows when to not cross the line."

"Yeah, but I bet that scene in the garden pissed you off." Zach looked at me with a 'you it's true' look.

"Shut up." Which is denial talk for 'yes, it did'. I turned on my phone and the words 'think about the hint' popped up. I forgot I set it to do that.

I thought about it for a second. 'It's obvious when you just read the signs'.

"Cris." Zach shook my shoulder and I looked up. "What?"

"What's wrong?" Eli asked.

"If I say, you're not going to give me a straight answer but I'll try anyway. What's Harlow's secret?"

They sighed. "Damn that's a doozy. Yeah, I'm kinda more afraid of Harlow." Zach shrugged.

"My apologies, but I cannot tell you either. She would have a panic attack if you knew and it was not her who told you. She would probably cry and punch someone in the face. Then she would tell you to forget everything you heard. Either way, she will regain her anxiety problems." Eli ranted for the second time. Anxiety problems?

"Well could you at least tell me what 'read the signs and you'll figure it out' means?"

"She's telling you that if you pay attention to the little things like how often her pupils dilate, how she stands, how often she smiles, then you will eventually figure it out. She's basically telling you to study." Eli explained. "But I would not do any of that shit if I were you."

"Why?" I sighed. The Winters' are very confusing people.

"Because if you try now, it's gonna make it worse for her now that it's December." Zach said and I knew that he knew that he just gave me another hint. Because since he's basically my brother, just with different parents, I know that he actually doesn't like keeping secrets for a long period of time. He'll say something eventually.

"So basically even though she told me this yesterday, I shouldn't do it. And you're sure this is the right thing to do?" Zach knows nothing about girls, other than the fact that they're hot with lady parts, and Eli is an awkward genius who has only had three girlfriends his entire 23 year old life. I should totally trust their opinions on my relationship (sarcasm).

"Well we do know her. Not that we are saying we know her better than you do, it's just that we know more about the situations than you do because you two have an incredibly complex relationship with a fair amount of secrets." Eli shrugged. So brutally honest. "And I have one out of two PhD's in psychology so I am trustworthy about this." He just had to mention his damn PhD's. Science and psychology. Smartass.

"Speaking of, have you found any suppliers?" I asked.

"It almost sounds like you're talking about drugs." Zach chuckled. I rolled my eyes and ignored his immaturity.

"Yes, actually. Just not one I particularly fancy." Eli made a face of disgust. "His name is Jack Winters."

No fucking way.

"You mean Harlow's dad?" Zach spat.

"Correction, Harlow and I's dad. He is our real actual father. Blood relation. Sadly, there is no Institution file on our birth mom, and it is not Harlow's 'mom'. But anyway, do you know how Harlow said that he was a mad scientist who went away for two years?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because he worked for the Institution this entire time. He left for two years to check back in. When he was arrested for assault, the Institution let him go. He managed to grab chemicals during his two year stay. Chemicals that have an 83% chance of curing you, and a 17% chance of speeding up the death process. The question is, do you want to take the risk?" Eli raised an eyebrow, fetching the file out of his messenger bag. He handed it to me and I read it, Zach reading over my shoulder like a lawyer.

"Of course. It's a better chance of getting cured. Where's Jack?"

Eli grimaced. "That is the one thing I don't have, unfortunately. Location. Just give me some time to calculate."

"Sure. Work your miracles." I nodded, about to turn the page.

"Wait. I wouldn't turn the page if I were you."

"Why?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"It informs you of Harlow's name. A scientist in charge of personal affairs at the Institution named her after American 30's actress Jean Harlow, who was known for her sex appeal. The scientist had to make sure she was recognizable in the future so he created an image of what she would most likely look like now." Eli explained, showing off his smarts.

"So you're saying--"

"Harlow's name is Harlow because Harlow is sexy as hell. Not to piss you off, but I'm just stating what's obvious." Zach patted my shoulder, and that's how the tiny argument started.

****

HARLOW

I feel like making cookies.

I got out of bed and went downstairs. I changed my mind and decided I'd go bother my future father in-law.

"Hey, Dominic." I greeted, just walking in without knocking on purpose.

He looked up at me. "Harlow, why don't you ever knock?"

"Because, I feel like we have a special trust that we don't have to knock." I replied with a grin.

"Is there anything you two need?" His mouth quirked into a smile.

"Just wanted to say hey." As I say that, we hear the front door open and nothing but loud talking.

"The boys are home." Dominic shook his head. I laughed and peaked my head out the door. They were arguing and Eli was doing most of the talking.

"I'm gonna go restore the quiet peace in this house." I assured and left his office, closing the door behind me.

"Guys, shut up you're so loud!" I plugged one ear with my forefinger.

They stopped their argument and looked at me. Eli looked like he just saw a naked grandma, Cristiano looked annoyed, and Zach looked defeated. "You guys look like you've seen some shit."

Cristiano sighed and pecked my lips, his hands on my belly. "Hey."

""Hi." I smiled. "Why are you arguing now?"

"Cupcake, does it bother you if I call you 'sexy as hell'?" Zach asked and my eyebrows raised. Cristiano rolled his eyes and his lips pursed.

"Uh, not really?" I shrugged but it came out as a question. I don't know how to answer that.

Zach crossed his arms and stepped in front of me. "Well, we are best friends right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well then if we both know there's nothing to be worried about if I call you sexy because we are friends, and you're not single. Plus, your my best friend's girlfriend. I'm not that type of guy. Simple logic.

It finally clicked in my brain what was actually going on. "Oooohhhh! I get it. Cristiano's low-key really pissed at you because you called me sexy right in front of him, and Eli is arguing because he doesn't want to hear that about me. That's funny."

"No that most definitely is not amusing in any way. That is just gross. I had to listen to things about my little sister the entire car trip from the café from two men who are older than her." Eli complained.

"Well when you put it like that you make us sound like pedos. And we would've talked about her eventually." Zach remarked.

"You talk about me when I'm not with you?" I frowned.

"Why do you take that as an insult? We were just talking about you a minute ago and it was not bad at all." Eli gave me a confused look.

"I don't know, Dr. Genius, it's a girl thing. Can I request something?" I asked with a smile.

"Sure." They shrugged.

"Can I have something to eat?" I put my hands on my belly.

Cristiano chuckled. "Yeah, I'll cook." He walked into the kitchen and I watched him.

"Thank you, babe." I thanked and turned my attention to Zach and Eli, grabbing them by the collars. "Did you tell him?" I asked quietly.

"No." They said at once and I let them go. We went into the living room and I crossed my arms.

"Well what did you talk about?"

"I feel like you don't trust us with your secret." Zach commented.

"It's not that. I do trust you. It's just that I feel like you wouldn't suddenly just start talking about me. You had to have had an entire conversation having to do with me." I gave them the honest eyes and they looked away.

"Don't do that. I'm not gonna lie to you, we did. But it had nothing to do with your secret, I swear." Zach swore and I glanced at Eli. "We were just talking about the medicinal information on your Institution files. For most definite safety reasons." Eli explained and they motioned toward my 16 weeks pregnant belly.

I nodded. "Oh. Well good. Otherwise, I'd have to kill you." I said, half joking. Was I?

"Okay well aren't we glad there was no otherwise." Zach said, glancing at Eli who looked slightly uneasy, and smiled and scratched the nape of his neck.

"Yeah, I love ya too much to kill you." I patted his cheek and Eli frowned.

"And what about me?"

"Eh." I shrugged and his mouth went agape, making me laugh. "I'm kidding! I love you too." I chirped, walking into the kitchen.

I went silent and inhaled the incredible scent of the thing I love second in this world after my boyfriend.

Food.

I walked behind him and he was sweating. "How are you sweating yet your shirt is remarkably dry?"

He rolled a shoulder and his neck. "I do not know.

I noticed that his shirt was sticking to him, just no signs of sweat stains? "You should cook shirtless." I said carelessly and after I realized what I said, I really didn't regret it because he actually did it.

He took off his shirt and sighed. "That was actually bugging me." He muttered. God. Even his back is chiseled and muscular.

"You have more tattoos than I've ever seen on a person's torso." It wasn't to the point that you couldn't see his real skin, but it still was a lot. Some were big, some small.

"I have approximately 35 tattoos. I hate odd numbers so I have to get another one. Then I'm done."

"Can you dance?" I randomly asked.

"Yes."

"Can you sing?"

"Yes, he can." Zach walked in.

"Dude." Cristiano placed a lid on a pot and turned around, grabbing a small towel to wipe off sweat. Zach glanced at Cristiano's shirtless attire and then at me before making a slightly annoyed face. I didn't pay it any mind, though. He's probably in one of his moods.

"What? She asked, I answered. Is that wrong?"

He crossed his arms and his large muscles flexed naturally. "Have you met her?" He nodded pointedly at me.

"Can you sing me a song?" I asked.

"Nope." He declined without hesitation and I pouted.

"Would you sing for the baby?" I rubbed my pregnant belly and he threw his head back with a groan.

"You're not playing that card."

"I am." I nodded, giving him doe eyes.

"Fine. Maybe I'll sing for you or maybe I won't. It depends." He pecked the tip of my nose and I scrunched my nose, feeling a tingle.

I sat down across from Zach but Cristiano stayed standing, showing off perfectly defined muscles.

Zach's phone beeped and he checked his watch, standing up. "Well look at that. I have to be somewhere. I'll see you later. Bye, cupcake." He flashed a smile and quickly left out of the room. Strange.

"Well thanks for giving me a chance to say bye." I muttered, making Cristiano laugh.

He whirled me around in my chair, facing him. "So how was your morning without your favorite man?"

"You missed it! Haydn stood up on his hind legs and started walking! It was so cool." I informed and he smiled, his eyes shifting to my lips.

"Where is he?"

"He's probably under the bed being lazy." I shrugged and abruptly he pecked my lips, leaving me to blush hugely over the sudden display of affection. "W-What--"

"You have extremely kissable lips and I cannot get enough of them." He kissed my lips again and I responded instantly. His teeth bit my bottom lip and sucked it, leaving my lips to swell before pulling away. "In all honesty."

He smiled brightly and I didn't know whether to feel happy or worried about how happy he's getting lately. It's not a good month for me. I have to tell him I love him, and soon.

He licked his lips and returned to his cooking duties. "You are a very strange man."

"I wasn't 11 months ago." He remarked.

"Are you saying that it's my fault that you're strange? And have I really known you for that long?"

"Yes to both questions. We've been dating for about 8 months and 19 days." He added. "And I've liked you for 10 months." He muttered to himself but I heard it, making me frown.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah." He rolled his shoulders and sighed.

"Okay. Just checking, making sure you haven't gone off the deep end." I chuckled and headed to the freezer, grabbing a bucket of gelato.

"What are you doing?" He asked and he hadn't even glanced at me.

"Satisfying my needs."

He looked at me with a smirk. "That's my job, bambina."

"I'm not paying attention to your stupid little joke." I rolled my eyes.

"So you're telling me that it's not my job?" He kept his sexy smirk.

"I don't know." I mumbled.

"Do I not satisfy?" He stepped closer to me and my cheeks erupted with red.

I tried to say something but I stuttered. He was enjoying this. He wanted to make me squirm. I could see it in his face. "W-Why is everything sexual with you?"

"If I weren't a sexual person, I wouldn't have slapped your ass back when we went to the beach, hanging out as a group for the first time. You wouldn't have turned around to see who it was, meaning you wouldn't have gotten a new perspective on Zach and I, meaning we wouldn't have been so curious of each other at the beach, meaning that we wouldn't have been friends and interested in each other, we wouldn't be together and with a baby on the way. See how one thing changes the future so easily? All because I chose to smack your little behind." A smile played on his lips, on account of the butterfly effect.

I looked into his eyes and he was clearly interested in the conversation and my lingering blush. "You're such a--"

"I know, you don't have to keep telling me." He went back to cooking.

****

ELI (ooh, that's a first)

Residential buildings with one occupant.

"Three billion in the world live alone. Wow, that totally narrows it down."

Residential buildings with one occupant in Europe. 400,000,000. Great. This is leading me nowhere. I tangled my hands in my hair, tugging a bit, clearly impatient and frustrated. I placed my hands back on the keyboard, knowing that my attitude will not get this manhunt for my father finished. I didn't want to do this in the first place, but hey. Anything for my sister and her future.

"Maybe he's not in Europe. He's wherever the Institution is. He must be in an area residing from them." I thought out loud, but I shook my head. No one knows where the Institution is. "Idiota."

Then one word I work best with popped into my mind. Theories.

"Every possible theory based on true facts from every known mob for Institution locations." I mumbled as I typed quickly. Over two-hundred-thousand results came up and most of them were surrounding the UK. Okay, maybe he is in Europe.

But it's strange that the mother of every criminal organization is located in such a nice country.

I checked London, England because it is the capital and most popular