Babysitter reader, age gap, reader doesn’t have a determined age but is Gen Z and born in the 2000’s and in college or university.
Summary: You love babysitting for Cassie perhaps a bit more than you’d like to admit.
An: back again! This time with a Cassie fic. I had this idea from season 1 as soon as we met Harrison. Oh also I don’t know if this reveals how Canadian I am but reader like exclusively calls Harrison “bud”😂 it just sounds right to me. I kind of struggled writing the dialogue for the confession scene 😅 oh and I finished season 2!!!!! Also when I first posted this like at 12 it wasn’t showing up in the tag so I just reloaded and it’s in there now .. weird
Word count rounded : 3.7k
“When’s my mom coming home again? Harrison asks from his spot next to you on the couch. The two of you have been curled up under one of the throw blankets in Cassie’s living room. Playing on the tv is an animal documentary that Harrison picked out himself. He had practically been obsessed with anything to do with animals. Everytime you would come over to babysit he would always have new fun facts to tell you. You turn your attention to him and smile fondly at his intense interest. “I'm not sure bud… your mom texted me letting me know she would probably be a few hours late”. You explain, watching his expression sadden a bit. “ I'm sorry buddy”. You coo softly reaching out place a comforting hand on his shoulder giving it a little squeeze.
“Your mom could come and see you when she gets home but I don’t think she wants you to go to bed too late because you have school tomorrow”. Harrison nods, settling back into the couch. You feel bad for the kid. “Hey Harrioson, what's your favourite animal?”.
“Hmm frogs … I really like tree frogs, they're so cool. I’ve only ever seen normal frogs”. Harrison shrugs before a little grin passes his lips. “I found a frog once in our backyard and my mom wouldn’t let me bring it near her”. Harrison giggles and it makes you laugh.
“ I think she was scared of it”. Harrison adds with a mischievous smile. “ Don’t terrorize your mom too much”. You joke, shaking your head already imagining the sight. “Mom loves me”. Harrison remarks. “I don’t doubt it buddy, she talks about you all the time”. You say and that peaks his attention. “She does? What does she say?”.
“Well she talks about how good of a kid you are. She talks about how much she misses you when she’s at work. She's lucky to have you as her son”. Harrison's eyes light up “I miss her too”.
“It's so great that you have each other. It’s getting a little past your bedtime now though. I think it's best if we get you ready for bed”. Harrison sighs “ Aw okay.. I was hoping you wouldn’t notice”. Harrison slips out from under the throw blanket.
You chuckle pushing the blanket off you as well. “Sorry bud. I'm sure your mom will say goodnight when she comes home”. You explain, leading him to the bathroom. Harrison brushes his teeth and changes into his pajamas. He's old enough now that he doesn’t want you to tuck him anymore. “All good bud?” You ask, leaning on his door frame. “Yeah.. I'm okay. Goodnight”. He says sleepily, turning over in his bed. “Goodnight Harrison”. You flick off his room light and close his door behind him.
You make your way down the hall to the kitchen. You walk over to the kettle on the counter and fill it up with some tap water. You flick on the kettle, opening up the cabinet to dig through Cassie's tea stash. The sound of your phone notification draws your attention.
Hey hun im finished I’ll should be home soon
You quickly grab Cassie’s favourite tea, a jasmine tea that she introduced you to another time that you were over. You grab a mug as the kettle clicks off, finishing boiling. You pour the hot water into the mug and drop the tea bag in. You carry your cup of tea back over to the living room. You put the blanket back onto your legs as you let the tea steep for a little bit.
When you finally take your first sip of tea you hear the jingle of keys at the front door. You perk up leaning over to see the door open and Cassie enter. She hangs up her keys and takes off her sweater to drape it over a chair. She makes her way into the living room finally finding you on the couch.
“Hi Cass, Harrison went to bed thirty minutes ago. I told him you might be able to see him when you got home”. A soft look crosses Cassie’s face “How was he tonight?”. Cassie asks, taking a seat on the edge of the couch. “He was good, we had dinner and watched this documentary about animals. He told me he missed you.”
Cassie's smile grows “That sounds like him. I'll go check on him and I need to change out of these scrubs, then I'll grab you your cash one sec!”. Cassie stands up from the couch and sneaks down the hallway to Harrison's room. You take that as an opportunity to make your way to the kitchen, grab another mug and make Cassie her own cup of tea. You carry her mug back to the living room on her coffee table.
After a few minutes Cassie is back in the living room. This time her hair is down and she's in her sweatpants and a simple t-shirt. “I made you some tea, it's jasmine”. You smile, eyes trained on her soft messy hair. “You didn’t have to do that hun”. She smiles, reaching out to pick it up and take a slow sip. “But thank you”.
"You're welcome. Besides, I already had the kettle ready. I was having some after I put Harrison to bed”. You suddenly remember your unattended tea and grab it taking a sip of yours. “How was work?”. You ask, tucking your knee up on the couch. Cassie sighs, leaning further into the couch with her tea “stressful.. But I managed”.
“Yeah I can imagine”. You sympathize, studying her face as she takes another sip settling into the couch. “How are your classes going”. Cassie asks, catching you a little off guard. “It's good, yeah.. Well stressful finals are always a tough time”. You internally cringe at the memory of your last few assignments. “You need to take a break? I can find another sitter till you're done with school”. Cassie suggests with that gentle tone that alone almost makes you agree.
“Oh no.. I'm all good. I have loads of time to finish assignments”. You shake your head, putting Cassie to ease. “Okay good”. Cassie nods. “Harrison wouldn’t want anyone else either”. She chuckles "You're the best, we both think so”. You can help the smile that spreads on your lips. “Well thank you, you guys are my favourite i've ever sat for”.
“That reminds me”. Cassie interjects sitting up a bit further. “Harrison wants to know if you want to come to his basketball game next weekend. I told him you were probably busy with school”. Cassie waves her hand, ready for you to turn it down.
“I’d love to come. I'm not doing anything next weekend”. You quickly agree. “It's so sweet that he thought of me”. “Oh I wasn’t lying when I said that you're the best. He talks about you all the time”. You preen a little. “Well that makes me really happy, he's a great kid. You do really great with him”.
You can see the flicker in Cassie's eyes as she smiles. “ Thank you hun, I do my best”. The two of you sit in a comfortable silence before Cassie speaks up again. “What time is it? Oh gosh im keeping you so late” Cassie sits up off the couch, grabbing the cash she left on the table and handing it to you. “Yes of course”. You pull off the couch as well and pull out your phone. You're greeted by a text from your roommate.
“Ugh, are you serious?”. You sigh. “What's wrong?”. Cassie inquires, stepping closer to you in concern. “My stupid roommate is asking if I can be out of the dorm so she can hookup with this guy she met tonight. This is the third time”. You groan, already trying to come up with a place to crash for the night.
“You could just sleep here hun”. Cassie suggests, like it means absolutely nothing. It catches you off guard. “No.. I couldn’t ask you to do that.. I can crash on my parents couch”. You try to dismiss her but she cuts you off before you can keep talking. “It's no problem really. I have a spare room in the basement, far more comfier than a couch I promise”. The sincere look in Cassie's eyes makes you falter. You take a few seconds to think before you reluctantly agree.
“Alright. I don’t have school tomorrow so long as it's okay. I just don’t have a change of clothes or anything”. You add, even after agreeing you can’t help but try to poke holes in this plan.“I can put on a load of laundry and I have a spare shirt and shorts you could wear. The spare bathroom has a toothbrush and a shower if you need”. Cassie offers, like it's the most normal thing. The idea alone of wearing Cassie’s clothes makes you agree.
“Okay let me set you up downstairs”. Cassie says, leading you past her kitchen and down the stairs. You’ve been in her basement a few times to grab something that Harrison needed or to toss something in the washer. You follow her down stairs and past the laundry room to the bedroom. Inside is a little bedroom with a simple bed and nightstand. “Okay… the bathroom is right next door, I will go grab you something to sleep in”. She smiles, placing her hand on your shoulder to give it a little squeeze. She leaves you alone and you place your backpack that you brought to the house with you next to the bed. You take a seat on the edge of the bed and just stare blankly at the wall, left alone with your thoughts.
You don’t even realize that time has passed until you're broken out of your own mind when Cassie places an old band tee and shorts in your lap. “I hope this is good hun”. She smiles, taking a step back. You blink looking down at the soft worn shirt. “Yeah… Thank you Cassie. I’ll just…change”.
“Oh yes… I’ll be outside and when you’re done I can put your clothes in the wash”. Cassie explains, as she makes her way out of the room,closing the door behind her, leaving you alone again. You unfold the tee to see that it's an Alanis Morissette concert t-shirt. You slip off your own shirt and put on Cassie’s, making a note to ask her about it. You take off your bottoms next and put on Cassie's shorts, they're soft as well, perhaps a pair of old pajamas.
You gather your old clothes and open the bedroom door to find Cassie standing in the hall waiting. Her eyes widen in surprise as the door opens and her eyes flick down to you in her clothes. A grin passes past her lips. “Looks good on you” she comments, reaching to take your clothes. She turns back toward the laundry room, tossing your garments in the washer. You follow her despite not needing to. “Thanks again Cassie, I appreciate it”. You smile softly, the domesticity of the situation not escaping you.
“You're welcome, we should really get to bed though.. I'm sure you're tired”. Cassie nods, already moving past you to step back into the hall. You move with her as well. “Yeah.. goodnight Cas”.
“Goodnight”. Cassie responds, turning off the lights in the hallway. You turn on your heel, closing the bedroom door behind you. It takes a lot longer than you thought it would to fall asleep, despite how tired you are.
When you do wake up you almost forget that you're not in your dorm room. The morning light is starting to filter through the little window. You check the time on your phone and it's much later than you expected. You slip out of the little bed, shivering at the cold basement floor. You make your way back upstairs into Cassie’s kitchen.
You step into the sunlight filled kitchen and you're greeted by the sight of Cassie standing in the kitchen, however she's not in her scrubs. She's standing over by her stove cooking what seems to be eggs. She hears you approaching and she turns over her shoulder. “Hey sleepyhead, I was wondering when you’d get up”. She grins, clearly amused at your slightly messy appearance, still dressed in her clothes. “Yeah sorry I.. must have not set my alarm. I was tired last night”. You rub the sleep out of your eyes, feeling a little naked under her gaze. “It's alright hun. I was just teasing. It's all good. I already drove Harrison to school, it's my day off”. Cassie shrugs, sparing the stove a glance to flip over the egg.
“Oh right.. Gosh you should be relaxing on your day off and i'm here”. You cringe but Cassie doesn’t give you much time to worry. “Hey.. it's okay really. Do I look like I'm stressed out hun? How do you like your eggs?”. Cassie moves toward her fridge grabbing the eye carton and gesturing to it.
“My eggs?”. You raise an eyebrow. “I'm cooking eggs. Do you want one? The pan is already hot”. Cassie grabs an egg. “Oh sure, over easy please”. You sigh, deciding to just let her make you breakfast. Cassie smiles “ Alright coming right up”. Cassie grins, turning her attention away from you and back to her stove. She cracks the egg on the pan and drops the egg shells into her trashcan. You stand there awkwardly still dressed in the pajamas. “Your clothes are on top of the dryer they came out with this morning, breakfast should be ready when you come back”. Cassie explains, grabbing the pan by the handle to give the egg a little wiggle.
You make your way back downstairs and find your clothes neatly folded on the dryer. You change back into your clothes that you came in yesterday with. You fix your hair a little bit and end up brushing your teeth in the downstairs bathroom before you head back upstairs.
You come back into the kitchen and find Cassie sitting at her kitchen table already eating her own egg. Your breakfast is on a plate across the table from her. You sit down picking up the fork also nicely placed next to it. “Thanks Cass, just how I like them”. You smile cutting into the running egg. “Ive perfected the messy egg, it's the only way Harrison will eat it”. Cassie chuckles to herself.
“ It's great Cass thank you. I really can’t thank you enough for letting me stay and making me breakfast”. You take a second to stop eating to yet again express your gratitude. She waves you off again “ It's okay really, you don’t need to keep thanking me. You do enough for me and Harrison. Staying late and coming in on days that I need you. It's the least I can do”. Cassie has already finished her breakfast. She stands up, placing her plate in the sink before returning to her spot across from you.
“ That reminds me. The pajama shirt you gave me last night. Did you get the shirt at a concert? Did you go to see Alanis Morsette”. You ask, genuinely curious to hear about Cassie’s younger years. She stops for a second and you can see her eyes narrow before she dryly chuckles. “ I actually did it many years ago”. Cassie nods, trying to recall more. “It was either ‘97 or ‘98. Were you at one of them?”. Cassie asks. That makes you giggle, already shaking your head. “It would be hard because I wasn’t alive”. You catch the surprised look in Cassie’s before she laughs as well.
“That's right.. Gosh sometimes I forget you're so young”. Cassie sighs, shaking her head. “Yeah I wasn’t born in the 1900’s”. You bite, your lip trying to hold back your giggles as Cassie’s head whips around to you. “Hey.. maybe people are right about Gen Z, absolutely rude”. Cassie scolds playfully.
“Im just teasing … you’re not old. I think you look beautiful”. You say, coming out much softer than you intended. Cassie stops, the playful smile being replaced by something you can’t quite place. But as quickly as it came, it went away. “Why don’t you help me with these dishes huh? And maybe I’ll forgive you”. Cassie motions for you to stand up and you grab your plate and bring it over to the sink.
She starts with turning on the warm water and grabbing the dish soaps. She washes the first plate, handing it over to you so you can dry it. You both wash the first few dishes in silence, sneaking glances every so often at her. “Can I ask you a question Cassie?”. You say, placing down a dish after you dry it off. Cassie hums before she glances over “Yeah sure”.
“Have you been with anyone after Chad?”.
“Oh… No, with med school and my job I haven’t really had the time or energy to go on dates. I’ve been thinking of trying again”. Cassie finishes with the dishes, turning off the water. “That's good”. You smile, hanging the drying towel off the handle of her cabinets.
“How was your date last week?”. Cassie asks, and it catches you off guard. You don’t remember telling her about your date. “My date? Did I tell you about it?”.
“Oh sorry. Right, I forgot to say Harrison told me”.
The realization hits you and you remember last week when you were babysitting. Harrison was asking who you were texting and you ended up just telling him about your upcoming date.
“Oh right yeah… It was fine. We really didn’t click. Hard to find what I need I guess”. You shrug. “She just didn’t make me feel how I thought I would… I don’t know. I just want to find my person and just stop dating around. It's exhausting”.
Cassie nods. “I can understand that. At my age I don’t think I have the patience or the time”.
“Im sure you’ll find your person one day. They’ll be lucky to have you”. You smile at Cassie.
“That's very sweet hun”. Cassie smiles as well and you get a sudden boost of confidence. “You know… I’ve had my eye on someone special for a little while now”. You confess, as you run your finger along the counter in front of you.
“Thats great, what are they like?”. Cassie asks, turning her attention to face you as she raises her eyebrow. “Well she's nice, really nice. Even after she's had a long day she still makes time to talk with me”. You start to explain that burst of confidence slightly diminishing as Cassie doesn’t break eye contact.
“What else?”. Cassie continues to stare directly into your soul as you grow more and more nervous. “Well she’s older than me. And she has a kid”. You add and Cassie nods, crossing her arms. “Why haven’t you told this"person " then".
“Well I guess I just don’t want to make her uncomfortable. I don’t even know if she likes women”. You shrug, trying to keep your face as neutral as possible but it's getting harder. “You haven’t even asked…I think you should just tell her”. Cassie takes a step closer to you.
The room goes silent and you and Cassie just stare at one another. “I like you… and I know what you're going to say but I’ve thought about this for a while and I can’t keep it to myself I just needed to tell you and I'm sorry”. You let out a sigh, feeling somehow lighter to get that off your chest.
“Why would you be sorry?”. Cassie asks softly, reaching up to tilt your chin up so you're looking at her again. You stumble over your words, confused as to why she hasn’t fired you yet. “Because … I-I babysit your kid…I'm younger than you!”. You exclaim, but Cassie’s calm expression brings you back.
“Can I try something real quick?”. Cassie steps even closer to her hand finding the side of your jaw. You nod, eyes not leaving hers as she leans closer and presses a kiss to your lips. When your lips meet you almost freeze up out of surprise. The surprise is quickly overcome by the need to kiss her back.
You press your lips against hers and your hand finds the back of her head. Cassie’s other hand finds the other side of your jaw. She tilts her head a little, deepening the kiss. After a few seconds you both pull away. You blink your eyes open and you're met with Cassie's eyes looking back at you.Cassie smiles, the hand still on your cheek, rubbing little circles.
“You good?”. Cassie whispers.
“Yeah. better than good”. You smile back.
“Hey I know this is… different for both of us but how about we go get some coffee and we can talk about it okay?”. Cassie reaches down to grab ahold of your hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. You press a gentle kiss to Cassie's cheek before she tugs you out of her kitchen to her front door.
“You came!”. Your head shoots up as Harrison runs toward you to give you a hug. You laugh as he almost knocks you over with how fast he rushed into you. “Of course I came bud, I couldn’t miss you guys winning”. You reach down to ruffle his hair.
He giggles ducking away from your hand as he pulls back from the hug. You notice that Cassie has wandered over, at a much slower pace than Harrison. You meet Cassie's eyes and the knowing smirk on her face, makes your heart race a little.
“Go warm up with your team, good luck”. Cassie smiles, kissing Harrison on the forehead as he rushes away as quickly as he came. “Thanks for coming, he's been talking about this since you agreed”. Cassie says as she leads you to the spot on the bleachers. “No problem baby”. You shoot her a little sideways glance before continuing. “I'm happy to come and watch and spend time with you and Harrison”. You smile and scoot closer to Cassie, taking her hand in yours. The referee finally started the game as Cassie pulled your hand up to kiss your hand.
