Summary: One morning, Hartley belatedly realizes that his apartment is now home to three people and a dog. It's a one bedroom apartment. There really just isn't enough room for everyone anymore. The obvious answer is that they find a place big enough for them all and then move in together, but that's easier said than done.
Hartmon Fest 2019 – Mar 8th - family
Notes: I felt the need to write more aro Lisa and her qpps.
Part of the Missy-Verse along with "How Hartley Found Missy", "New Years Luck", and "One Step at a Time"
The Home We Build Together
Hartley frowned at the cluttered closet and then shoved a bunch of t-shirts out of his way in order to reach his green turtleneck. When had Cisco's clothes invaded his closet to the point of practically being half Cisco's stuff? And there was a bra sticking out of the laundry basket in the bathroom which, really, was it so hard for Lisa to make sure her underwear went inside the hamper?
The apartment was a one bedroom, but there were three people spending the majority of their non-work hours living in it. Three people and a dog, Hartley amended, as Missy smacked Hartley's leg with a rope bone and then bounced away tauntingly.
"Sorry, Missy, I've got to finishing getting ready for work," Hartley called to the dog. "Go jump on the couch and wake up Lisa."
In fact, Hartley couldn't remember the last time Lisa had slept anywhere other than the pull out couch in his living room. She had her own apartment, but it seemed like she only went there to trade out her clothes or the rare occasion when she went bar hopping to find a hookup. She slept over more than Cisco did and... and Cisco rarely skipped a night at Hartley's for reasons other than staying late doing work with Team Flash and not wanting to wake Lisa and Hartley at two AM in the morning.
Hartley sat down on the end of his bed as an epiphany struck him. They were all living together, basically.
Why not make it official? And also get a place with enough space for them all. (Separate closets for everyone and no more bras dangling off his laundry hamper, please.)
"Ack! Honey, no, get your nose out of my ear. Ugh, no, don't lick my ear either, sweetie. That's my little monster, away from the face." Lisa complaining brought a big smile to Hartley's face and he snickered quietly imagining the expression Lisa must've worn the moment Missy stuck her nose in Lisa's ear.
Yeah... Hartley definitely wanted to keep the four of them (counting Missy, of course) together in one household. Just not one this tiny.
The first person Hartley decided to sound out his plan with was Cisco. Cisco was the one most likely to say yes, but Hartley also knew that if the two of them were to present a united front to Lisa then she would be less likely to say no.
Hartley loves Lisa. She's his best friend and confidant and he basically wants her in his life forever. But because he loves her so much, he knows her very well and thus knows she's absolutely terrified that one day Cisco and Hartley are going to decide that because they have their romance they don't need her friendship as much and she'll start falling, slowly, to the wayside. She tried once already to gracefully bow out of their way and Hartley does not want this to cause a repeat performance of awkward, sad Lisa.
If Hartley and Cisco talk to her about moving in together and make it clear they both want her to live with them too... then maybe she'll get it through her head that they both genuinely think she belongs with them. 'Cause they really, really do.
So one evening while Lisa is out breaking into a bank that hired her to do a security review, Hartley asks Cisco to move in with him.
"We'd need to find a much bigger place," Cisco mused, drinking his beer thoughtfully. "And what about Lisa?"
"I... was thinking she could move in with us? If that's... if that's okay with you?" Hartley's about ninety-nine percent certain Cisco wants that too, but there's that one percent uncertainty that makes his voice nervous anyway.
"Definitely," Cisco grinned. "Even if she doesn't want to move in with us, she needs to have input on whatever place we choose because she's going to be there about three-quarters of the time anyway."
"I am so glad we're on the same page for this." Hartley set his glass of wine aside and kissed Cisco on the cheek. And then on the mouth. "I was thinking maybe we could get a house. A fixer upper, so we can get everything the way we like it. And a yard for Missy so she can go outside without us having to go outside with her."
"All the squirrels in the yard would be hers to chase," Cisco added, laughing as the dog in question came over to investigate why they were saying her name and if this meant things were finally about her again.
"You'd love that, wouldn't you Missy?" Hartley reached down to scritch his dog's ears. "No more competing with other dogs for that right... and maybe a nice big tree for you to chase them up."
"So... want to pull up a house listing site and check for open houses this weekend?" Cisco grinned, bouncing a little with excitement, and Hartley felt something all nice and warm and content settle in his chest at how happy Cisco looked.
Much as Hartley had predicted, Lisa had reservations about this whole 'buy a house and move in together' plan.
"I don't want to be a third wheel, guys." She paused a beat. "Well, more of a third wheel than I already am."
Hartley refrained, barely, from rolling his eyes. "You're not a third wheel, Lisa. If you were, I'd have a hell of a lot more complaints about your bras showing up when I do laundry. Speaking of, when was the last time you did your own laundry? Because I do still have some complaints." He gave her a 'do not BS me' look when she pretended to have no idea what he was talking about.
Cisco snickered in amusement.
"You've taken over at least half my closet, Cisco, so it's not just Lisa's clothing that I've been washing more of lately." Hartley turned his arch look on his boyfriend, who sighed dramatically.
"I'll do the next round of laundry. Promise."
"You'd better. Then Lisa's next after you."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm, uh, busy that weekend." Lisa paused, then said, "no dates given, my excuse doesn't fly huh?"
Both men just nodded.
"Look, you two deserve your love nest together and I need my own space sometimes. I mean, I know I've been sleeping here a lot and my apartment has kind of become the place I only use when I've got a hookup for the night or need an evening to myself, but... oh, shit, I do basically live in your apartment now don't I?" Lisa patted her lap for Missy to hop up and then buried her face against the dog's back. "Sorry. I never really even asked, did I?"
"You never asked for a key to the place, but that never bothered me either," Hartley replied, moving over to the chair to awkwardly hug her from his new perch on the arm rest. Also to pet the dog. (Such a spoiled dog, really.)
"We both love you, Lisa, and would like for you to live with us. And I'm sure we can find a place that, with a little remodeling, can meet all our needs."
Lisa shrugged and continued to provide Missy with her intense attention in order to avoid meeting Hartley's eyes. "I guess. I don't know. I need to think about it."
There was a clicking noise and they both looked over at Cisco, who had his phone out and pointed at them. "What?" he asked innocently, putting the phone away. "The three of you were too adorable together. I had to snap it."
"I want a copy," Hartley and Lisa said together, then grinned at each other and began to laugh. (Missy looked between her humans in confusion but swished her little tail happily.)
The first open house they went to was a finished house outside of their budget, but Hartley and Cisco were using it to prove a point to Lisa.
"So, one story house with a finished basement," Hartley said, leading the way inside. "First floor has the master suite, two bedrooms, a guest bath, kitchen, living area, dining room, powder room, and two-car garage. The basement has another bedroom, full bathroom, and a second living area."
Hartley oohed and aahed over the kitchen appliances and then cheered over the master suite having two separate closets.
("His and his closets," Lisa teased. "Or maybe just Hartley's closets and Cisco can use one of the guest bedrooms' closets."
"Tempting," Hartley muttered, while Cisco grumbled about taking all the closets for himself.)
Cisco lamented being unable to test out the master suite's gigantic jetted tub.
Then they finally headed down to the basement.
Lisa poked around the living area, which had a bar area that could easily become a kitchenette instead. She then wandered into the bedroom which had an up to code escape hatch and several windows near the ceiling to let in plenty of light. The bathroom had two doors - to the bedroom and living area - and a large shower with a bench in it, which Lisa admitted she kind of wanted to have for herself.
"So what do you think? Plenty of space for us all to share while still giving you a separate area you can retreat to and that love nest for Cisco and I?" Hartley half-teased. He was still nervous, though, because what if she just really didn't want this sort of thing after all?
Lisa plopped down on the couch and gazed around the basement. "It is a really nice place," Lisa hedged, still sounding uncertain. "There's no exterior entrance to the basement, though. Not counting the escape hatch anyway."
Hartley settled beside her. "Well, if we do a reno, then we could put one in. Or we could find a place that's a five bedroom and combine some of the bedrooms to create a space just for you instead of going with a basement. Or a two story house..." he trailed off when Lisa tossed her arms around his shoulders in a big hug.
"You're really set on me living with you two, aren't you Harty-Hart." She laughed when Hartley made a grumbly noise over the nickname. "And I guess you too, huh, Cisco?"
"Yup. Does that mean you're on board with the plan?" Cisco asked, excited, as he sat down on the other side of her and hooked an arm around her shoulders when she sat up from hugging Hartley. "Because we really want you with us."
"Okay. Count me in. Let's do this thing."
"So you realize this means we need to, like, binge watch every season of Property Brothers, right?"
"Yeah, but we should probably try to concentrate on learning from the reno part of the episode and not on how hot the brothers are."
"Kill joy."
They proceeded to look at a lot of houses. At least half of which were over priced. They also went through two realtors before finding one who was not judgey about their living situation.
And then they found the one. The house itself was in horrible shape, so they were practically getting it for the cost of the land alone. Which meant the rest of their budget could go into all the important things.
The basement got its outdoor access on the side of the house. The foundation was reinforced. Sheet rock was fixed. Everything was painted. The kitchen got all new everything. So did the bathrooms. A new fence was put in and the yard re-sodded in places. The electrical was brought up to code and the breaker panel had to be moved out of a bedroom closet. A few minor plumbing issues were fixed. The roof was re-shingled.
With the three of them, they could afford the large cost. Though Cisco still got sticker shock a few times from the price of the remodel. (They did downgrade in a few places where Hartley admitted he'd gone overboard on the wanting custom this or that, and it was well worth not getting the custom stuff for the way Cisco relaxed over the decreased budget.)
As the reno edged closer to being done, they decided on what furniture they already had that they wanted to keep and then had a blast going shopping for furniture and light fixtures and new towels and shower curtains and just every little thing they could think of their new home together would need. When the day came that they could finally move in, they spent the day unpacking and then stayed up into the wee hours of the morning curled up together on a, quite frankly, massive couch marathoning Star Wars movies.
Hartley was the first one to wake up in the morning and as he went to make coffee and tea and breakfast foods in their gorgeous new kitchen (also to let Missy out into the backyard and be grateful that he didn't have to change out of his pajamas first to go walk her for the first time ever), he listened as Cisco and Lisa spoke quietly about how wonderful the whole thing had turned out. He smiled to himself and then called out for pancakes vs waffles and snickered as it turned into a huge debate.
This was the home he'd wanted. Plenty of space and the two people he loved best. (There was scratching at the back door. Don't forget the puppy.)
Still, Hartley had a sneaking suspicion that Lisa was going to find a way to get him to do her laundry...