Him and Grace were supposed to be going on a date tonight however, she was sick so had to cancel it. They had been texting back and forth and he was aware that she was struggling. Although her mum was always more than happy to help out with Brinley, Grace knew she had to learn to cope on her own.
She wanted to prove to her mum and herself that she was capable, even when sick, so that was what she was trying to do. However, it wasn't all that easy though when Grace had very little energy to keep her baby girl occupied and happy.
As a result of their texts, Harvey was now stood at the door ready to surprise Grace but to do that, he was having to face one of his own fears in the process. Grace hadn't told her mum or Matt what was going on between them. They knew it was something but they didn't know the extent of it, so Harvey wasn't exactly sure how they would react to him showing up here.
"Hey man, you alright?" Matt was the one to greet Harvey and it was clear that he was a little surprised to see him. "You looking for Hunter? He's gone back home."
Harvey didn't know if Matt genuinely thought he was looking for Hunter, or if he wasn't best pleased that he was showing up here for the 22-year old that Matt looked to like his own daughter.
"Er, no... I'm here for Grace."
"Oh right, well she's sick at the moment Harvey so..."
"Yeah I know, that's why I came. I, um... just wanted to give her these." Harvey muttered while holding up a carrier bag and it was difficult to hide the awkwardness of this exchange.
"Do you want me to give them to her?" Matt asked and at this point, he was doing everything to prevent Harvey from coming in this door.
He didn't have anything against Harvey personally, he was Jess' son so he'd always respect him. However, he couldn't help but naturally feel protective of Grace, not only because he saw her as a daughter but because of her situation. She was a new mum, having being screwed over by a lad in the past, so Matt wasn't just going to be okay with guys strolling into Grace's life without knowing their intentions.
"If you don't mind man, I just wanted to go up and see her too?"
"Does she know you're here?"
"No, I was just going to surprise her."
"Can you make it quick then?" Matt asked, still trying to ensure that Harvey realised this wasn't going to be easy. "I think she's only just got some peace from Brinley."
"Yeah, sure. I'll be quick." Harvey nodded his head, yet a little gutted that he wouldn't be able to stick around, but also desperate to take whatever time he could.
"Alright then, go ahead. Just ten minutes and don't push it Harvey." Matt warned with a slight teasing tone to his voice however, Harvey knew that he wasn't actually joking at all. He had heard that tone of voice from his own dad when speaking to guys Ellie had dated a while back.
So nodding his head, he flashed Matt a brief smile before heading up the stairs towards Grace's room. He could feel Matt's eyes on him the whole way and this was the first time in a long while that he'd had to deal with a protective dad when dating a girl.
Making his way down the hallway, Harvey finally reached Grace's room and gently pushed her door open. The sight he was presented with caused a wash of adoration to flow through him. Grace was sound asleep on her side, with Brinley snuggled up into her. The pair of them looked so peaceful, which was the complete opposite to how things had previously been according to Grace's texts.
Even though Matt had only given him ten minutes, Harvey still didn't want to wake Grace up. Therefore, quietly making his way over to the bed, he gently got in beside her and wrapped his arms around her body.
Pressing his lips to Grace's back, Harvey felt her body begin to stir, causing him to freeze for a moment. This girl had become the lightest sleeper ever since having a baby.
"Mmm..." Grace sighed as she felt that warm presence behind her. She didn't even need to turn around to see who it was, she recognised that body and instantly felt so content in his arms. "Harvey, what are you doing here?"
"Go back to sleep." He whispered against her neck, yet Grace turned herself around so she was facing him.
"What are you doing here?" She repeated once again, her voice sleepy and sore.
"I wanted to see how you were. You sounded stressed in your texts."
As Harvey reached out to brush the stray strands away from Grace's face, she lifted her own hand to run over his cheek. This boy was something else. He was so thoughtful, something she had never found in any other guy before. It made her heart full with so many feelings every time he did something like this.
"Brinley was just craving my attention and all I wanted to do was sleep, but she's calmed down now."
"You both looked so peaceful when I came in."
"I can't believe you're here." Grace smiled, before wrapping her arms around Harvey's chest and burying her head into his body. She closed her eyes for a moment as she cuddled him so tightly, feeling his own arms wrap around her in response.
"Matt gave me a bit of a hard time before I was allowed in though." Harvey chuckled causing Grace to immediately pull back and look up at him.
"What did he do?"
"Asked me a bunch of questions and told me I had ten minutes."
"Wait, what? Ten minutes?" Grace frowned as Harvey nodded his head.
"We've got about eight minutes left now." He teased. "He said I could just drop these off."
As Harvey held up the carrier bag, Grace reached out so she could take a look inside. It was then that her eyes caught sight of the collection inside. He'd put in her favourite biscuits, alongside her favourite movie and a pack of strawberries, also her favourite. She knew the fruit idea was something he had picked up from his mum, considering he'd told Grace that she had always got them fruit whenever they were ill growing up.
"Harvey, you really didn't have to do this, thank you so much." Grace said, feeling her face blush at how thoughtful it was.
Trailing her hand up his neck, Grace lifted her head slightly, hoping he'd get the hint of what she was waiting for. A smile instantly formed across Harvey's face in response, as he reacted just as she'd hoped by kissing her lips.
"You're welcome." He mumbled as they pulled apart before he pressed his lips to her forehead.
"But seriously, I can't believe Matt told you that you only had ten minutes!" Grace exasperated, knowing Matt could be protective but not expecting that from him. "You don't have to listen, you know? I want you to stay."
"I can't babe."
"Yes, you can."
"I'm sure he'll be up here to drag me out if I don't go back down soon." Harvey chuckled, yet Grace wrapped her arms around his chest once again.
"I don't care. I'll tell him you're staying. He can't tell you to leave."
Harvey really wanted to stay. The thought of spending the night just laying here with Grace so she could finally get some sleep and feel better was incredibly satisfying. However, he also didn't want to get in Matt's bad books before he had even got chance to prove himself.
"Grace..."
"Please just stay. I was going to come to yours but I knew I'd get a lecture from my mum and Matt about it. I get that I'm sick but I'm not 12 years old for fuck sake."
Looking down at the blonde in his arms, Harvey sighed. It was so difficult to tell her no but he was also battling with the sensible part of him that knew this could be a bad idea in the long run.
"They treat me like I'm fragile just because I got pregnant and screwed over. It's so annoying!"
"Why don't you just try and get some sleep? Then I'll leave when you are." Harvey suggested, hoping it wouldn't take Grace too long so that Matt wouldn't come up to find him.
"No, Harvey! Why do you even care that he wants you out? I'll just tell him no. We're not kids." Grace exasperated. She felt sick and exhausted, so she wanted nothing more than to be able to fall asleep in Harvey's arms. She was never usually the needy type yet when she was ill, her tough exterior went straight out of the window.
"Because I don't fancy seeing your gang member stepdad pissed off." Harvey chuckled, as he gave Grace one last squeeze before attempting to pull away.
Sitting up with Harvey, Grace also stood to her feet causing him to frown back at her.
"What are you doing?"
Ignoring his question, Grace stormed out into the hallway before hanging over to the banister.
"Matt!" She yelled at the top of her lungs yet she didn't immediately get an answer. "MATT!" She yelled again and he finally appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
"You alright?"
"Harvey is staying, so don't bother coming up to kick him out. Okay?" She bit before not even giving her stepdad chance to answer and storming back into her room. Slamming the door shut behind her, Grace also locked it for extra security and turned back to look at Harvey.
"Fucking hell." Harvey laughed as she flashed him an innocent smile.
"You're staying."
Climbing back into her bed, Grace lay down just as Brinley started to cry. Her loud voice and the slamming of the door had clearly woken the little girl yet waking her had been worth it for getting Harvey to stay put.
"It's okay baby girl." Grace soothed as she laid Brinley against her chest, while Harvey lay down beside her.
"Now you can get some sleep. Let me keep an eye on her."
Glimpsing over at him, Grace was taken back by Harvey's suggestion, but in the best way. Guys usually ran at the sight of a baby but not this boy, he was well equipped with handling them due to his many nieces and nephews.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm sure. You need to get better." Harvey reassured, as Grace passed Brinley over to him.
As Harvey took the baby girl into his arms, it just made Grace not want to sleep more. Instead, she'd much rather just lay back and watch him with Brinley, as for some reason, it was making her even more attracted to the guy, if that was even possible.
....
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