"Harvey!" Jess instantly called out, watching him with warning.
Turning around and flashing his mum a grin, Jess just rolled her eyes. This boy was 26 years old yet sometimes he still acted like he was 17.
"Off the counter Mr. There is a perfectly good seat there."
"But this is super comfy." Harvey teased as he remained on his mum's previously polished kitchen counter, but Jess wasn't having it.
"Don't make me get you off there myself. I bet you don't act like this in your own house."
"Oh I bet he does." Ellie added, watching as her brother finally did as he was told and took the seat beside her.
"Won't be my house for much longer, so it doesn't really matter what I do now, does it?"
Harvey's comment caused both Jess and Ellie to pause for a moment, as this was the first time Harvey had made reference to his current life situation. Neither of them had wanted to bring it up as when they had tried to do that the other day, Harvey had been fuming. He seemed to be having a bit of a crazy ride trying to deal with the whole thing therefore, they had to choose their timing wisely.
"How are you feeling about it all?" Ellie was the brave soul to ask the question, while Jess watched on ready to provide her son with some comfort if he needed it.
While Jess had taken a much softer approach to the whole thing, Ellie hadn't. When Harvey had announced to his family that himself and Lottie were breaking up, Ellie had been gutted, and that soon turned to anger when she found out why.
Harvey had tried to sugarcoat it all a little but Ellie had seen right through it. He had broken up with Lottie, his girlfriend of 9 years, because he wanted to be single. He wanted to experience life as a single lad and go out with his friends, instead of being committed to a woman he had loved for so long.
Ellie knew fairytales didn't exist and relationships ended however, she didn't believe her brother's had ended for the right reasons.
"I'm good." Harvey nodded while glimpsing down at his phone.
"What about Lottie?"
"She's good too."
"Are you sure? Because when I spoke to her she was crying." Ellie bit and Jess instantly looked over at her daughter in warning. She understood where Ellie was coming from but she also knew she was pushing the wrong buttons and was only going to end up causing arguments with her brother. That was the last thing they needed right now.
"Why are you talking to Lottie? She was my girlfriend in case you forgot."
"She was my friend, she was this family's friend. You screwed her over Harvey, that wasn't fair."
"It's none of your business though, is it? I'm not going to stay in a relationship just because you like the girl, am I?"
"I'm not saying you should." Ellie gritted her teeth, trying to prevent herself from yelling at her brother and keeping a calmer voice instead. Her children were currently in the other room and she didn't want to cause a scene. "But I think you've made a huge mistake and you're going to regret it."
"I'm not. I want to be single. We've been dating since we were teenagers. It's a long fucking time Ellie." Harvey retorted, while slamming his phone down on the table in frustration.
"You want to be single so you can fuck around for a while and then you'll go crawling back in hope that she takes you back, well news flash, she will have moved on by then and you'll be miserable!"
"I'm not going to fuck around." Harvey lied. "I just want to figure myself out for a while without the pressure of a girlfriend."
"Yes you are and I know Grace was the one who solidified that decision for you. You're such an idiot."
Ellie's comment caused Harvey's face to consume with shock. He hadn't expected those words to fall out of her mouth however, he clearly wasn't happy.
Before he got chance to retaliate though, Jess quickly jumped in, already seeing where this was going.
"Okay both of you, stop. Let's not do this."
"Yeah, let's." Harvey disregarded his mum's attempt to make peace. "I want to hear what the hell Ellie means by that."
"I mean that you screwed over your girlfriend who loves you, and who you damn well love too, for the sake of a couple of one night stands with Grace." Ellie exasperated, the anger pulsing through her. "No offence or anything but I think that was the stupidest decision you've ever made in your entire life."
"You remember that Grace is your boyfriend's sister right?" Harvey challenged while Ellie just nodded her head.
"Of course and she's great and all, but she's also known for this kind of thing. It was what got her pregnant. I didn't think you were into that, that's all I'm saying."
At this point, even Jess was surprised by Ellie's words. There was no hiding the fact that she was angry, yet she was more than just angry, she was frustrated.
She truly believed that her brother was making the wrong decision. She knew that he was going to end up regretting losing Lottie once he was over messing around, and he was going to be broken when he couldn't get her back.
Ellie was trying to look out for Harvey but she was doing it in a way that was only making him more annoyed.
"Who gives a shit if she's known for that? She's a friend and she isn't the reason I broke up with Lottie. I want to be single, that's it." Harvey bit, finally getting up from the kitchen stall and heading for the door.
He had to get out of here. He couldn't handle his sister's pestering and he most definitely couldn't handle the look his mum was giving him.
Although she wasn't saying anything, and she never would, he knew she was disappointed. She would try to be supportive but he knew inside she was just as concerned about his decisions for being single too.
"I'm going to meet Kian and I'm going to view my new flat. I'll see you later or something." Harvey mumbled before Jess called out to stop him.
"Harvey, wait."
"No." He bit, turning to look at his mum and being approached with her sad eyes. She had just got him to visit and now he was running off once again. "I'll call you." He softened his tone, trying to provide her with some reassurance. He knew she would be worrying if not.
"Okay, let me know how the viewing goes and your dad said he'll come and help you start packing up your stuff when he finishes work."
"Yeah, alright."
With that, Harvey was gone. He had left without saying goodbye to anyone else in the house, leaving Jess and Ellie now stood alone in the kitchen.
"I'm sorry for going at him like that mum, but it's true and he needs to hear it." Ellie sighed, feeling exhausted that she was incapable of getting through to her brother.
"I know, El, and I agree, he will probably end up regretting it but you've got to let him make his own mistakes."
"But he's going to screw everything up and get hurt in the end, all for the sake of being single for a little while."
"The more you try and stop him, the more he'll want to do it. Honestly, as much as this is silly of him, it could also be one of the best things for him. Hopefully Lottie will take him back eventually, if he wants that, but for now he just needs to get this out of his system. If not, he'd only end up resenting her." Jess explained, trying to enlighten her daughter on something she may never understand. The two of them were so very different.
"But Grace... I don't mean to be cruel, I know she's James sister but if he's doing this for a few nights with her, it's so stupid! She's just had a baby from a drunken mistake, and it's not like it was a one off chance, she's always sleeping around like that. He's just going to be another one of those guys and if he's not careful..."
"He won't be stupid, Ellie. He's learned from that when he was 17." Jess already knew what her daughter was going to say. "Just let him do this."
Running her hands through her hair due to the stress, Ellie let out an aggravated sigh.
"I swear, all the Lawrence men constantly feel the need to prove their 'laddish' reputation, when in actual fact they're all just a bunch of romantics at heart. It's so frustrating!"
Jess couldn't help but laugh, as that comment most definitely reminded her of someone in particular.
"I will never know either, El, but we've just got to go with it."
...
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