Glimpsing over at Hunter, Todd watched as he took shot after shot at the target which stood at the opposite side of the room. He was joined alongside a few others, with some taking to the whole thing much more naturally than others.

While Matt was distracted, Todd began making his way over to the 24 year old. He hadn't seen him in a while but seeing him in this building felt incredibly weird. Todd had always seen Matt as a little out of place for this world considering the way he was brought up, but Hunter looked even more like a fish out of water. 

"Hey man." Todd said, capturing not only Hunter's attention but a few others too.

They would have known his name and probably been shocked to see his face. He wasn't unknown to the current gang world, little lone the aspiring ones too.

"Hey." Hunter paused what he was doing to turn around and look at Todd.

"How's it going then? You finding it alright?"

Looking to the weapon in his hand and then up to his uncle, Hunter then began nodding his head. There was a determination in his eyes, that was for sure but the whole thing still felt very odd.

"It's going good. We haven't done much training yet but it's still good."

"Your aim is a bit off." Todd came right out and said it how it was, while holding his hand out towards him. "Can I show you something?"

Hunter naturally glimpsed over to his dad, who was still distracted and completely unaware to what was going on. He knew Matt wouldn't like it, yet he really didn't want to say no.

"Go on then." He replied while handing Todd the gun.

Positing himself  ahead of the target, Todd held the gun up in line with what he saw to be a perfect shot.

"You've gotta hold it like this, or you won't be in control." He began to explain, while a few of the others close by began listening in. "You line it up perfectly but then you're letting it drop as you take the shot. That's why you're missing."

Pulling back the trigger, Todd took the shot and as he expected it landed perfectly in the target. Although he had stood here and portrayed a whole lot of confidence, he would be lying if he said he wasn't even surprised at himself. It had been years yet he still performed like it was only yesterday.

"Shit. That was spot on." Hunter looked over in amazement to where Todd had hit it directly in the middle.

"That is years of practice, so don't expect to get that first time. But if you just hold it right, you'll get there in no time."

Handing the gun back over to Hunter, Todd watched on as he re-positioned himself, taking on board what his uncle had said. 

"Now hold it tighter."

"Like this?"

"Yeah, you got it."

Pausing for a moment to prep himself mentally, Hunter then took the shot. Although it wasn't perfect, it had hit the board and was only half a ruler's length away from the actual target. 

"Fuck, I did it!" He gasped, suddenly jumping up in excitement causing Todd to laugh at his un-gang-like response. "That was awesome, thank you!"

"No problem man..." Todd began to say before the voice of his brother was heard shouting in the background.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

He knew it wouldn't be long until Matt saw what was happening yet Todd had still had slight hope that he could had sneaked away before he did. 

"Chill, I was just giving him a little tip." Todd held his hands up in surrender yet Matt still looked fuming.

"Well don't. He doesn't need you telling him shit, we're training him already... we're training them all."

"I kept missing but he made me hit the target, dad. It's alright. That's all he did." Hunter jumped in to try and calm his dad down yet it wasn't going to work. No amount of persuading would ease the tension out of Matt now.

He was angry because Todd had got involved with something that was not his business. This gang had set the rules and stages of how the training was going to go and they didn't need someone interfering. However, he was even more angry that it was Todd in particular who had got involved. He was fuming that he was standing there telling his son how to do things. Although the brothers had tried to push their competitiveness aside, times like this made it come screeching through with very little warning.

"You don't listen to anyone but us, Hunter. Alright? You can't get trained by any old idiot. It has to be done our way." Matt bit as he gestured around the gang, before turning his attention to Todd. "Don't get involved again."

"Any old idiot, hey?" Todd grinned, trying to not take the whole thing as seriously. "I know I've been out of it for a while but I'm still pretty clued up on it all, you know?"

Shaking his head, Matt began heading back over to where the gang was waiting to hold this first meeting. Before following after him though, Todd briefly turned back around to look at Hunter.

"You've got some good people training you, man. Listen to them." Todd began, causing Hunter to nod his head. "But most of all, use Jazmine Montague as much as you can."

"What do you mean?" Hunter looked at Todd with a frown on his face.

"Take whatever training or tips you can get from her."

"But... dad always said not to trust her, even though she's working with us, she's still not all that loyal."

"Your dad is right, she's not loyal and don't trust her. But she's also incredibly good at what she does. The fact that she isn't loyal means that she has been in a lot of gangs. She doesn't stick around for long..."

"...how is that a good thing?"

"Because you can learn a lot off her. She knows everyone's tricks and secrets. She knows how to take each and everyone down in this business. Learn off her and you'll have no problem." Todd said with a serious look across his face and for the first time, Hunter could see the darkness behind them.

Todd knew what he was talking about and he was passionate about it too. Hunter had always been told by so many people what a threat Todd had been to this whole business when he was involved but he had never seen a glimpse of it with his own eyes until now. 

"Okay, yeah, I'll do that." Hunter began nodding his head as the darkness quickly faded from Todd's eyes and he exchanged the intense expression for a smile.

"Now I better go before your dad tries to kick me out of here." He teased, before patting Hunter on the back and then headed back over to the group.

...

After managing to avoid 101 questions from her mum, Grace hurried out of the house and towards Harvey’s car. The pair had arranged to hang out for the evening after Harvey insisted that Grace should have a break from her mum duties.

Grace hadn’t thought much of it at first considering them hanging out had become a regular thing. However, as soon as she realised that hanging out usually consisted of being out getting drunk, or sleeping together, she suddenly began to feel on edge.

It wasn’t at the thought of spending time with Harvey, he was actually someone she felt like she could be herself around. However, she was nervous because she was currently struggling to control the crazy hormones running through her body since having a baby.

She was used to one-night stands, but something like this felt much more intense. Therefore, she was doing everything in her power to keep herself composed and not let her mind trick her into thinking this was more than it actually was.

“Hey!” Grace said as she got into the passenger seat, causing Harvey to turn her way.

“Hey.” He grinned back, his voice sounding slightly raspy.

He had just done a long shift at work, yet he still managed to make the exhaustion look hot.

“Long day?”

“Yeah…” Harvey trailed off. “I got you something.”

“You what?”

Grace was watching on in confusion as Harvey leaned into his back seat, before pulling out a bunch of flowers and holding them her way. Grace just froze for a moment, both in shock and in awe at the beautiful array held before her.

“For me?” She gasped, unbelieving that this was actually happening.

She knew she sounded so lame, but this had never happened to her before.

“Nah, I brought them for some other girl but need you to look after them for a minute.” Harvey mocked, before casually sitting back into his seat and putting the car into drive.

As he pulled off into the road, acting as calm and collected as ever, Grace was still staring at these flowers in disbelief.

“Oh my God, Harvey. No one has ever brought me flowers before! Well, apart from my mum but that’s different.”

“There’s a first for everything then.”

“Why did you get them?!” Grace asked because she genuinely wanted to know. Her crazy hormones were winning the battle right now and she couldn’t help herself.

“You said you’d been having a tough time with Brinley, so I thought they might cheer you up.” Harvey responded so casually, while Grace was about ready to burst.

She couldn’t believe this boy. It made no sense. He was such a lad, a lad that she was supposed to be just messing around with. However, he had managed to pick up that damn Lawrence trait that made him such a genuine guy at the same time.

“Thank you, Harvey, so so much. This definitely cheered me up.”

Briefly glimpsing her way, Harvey flashed Grace a grin before letting his eyes focus back on the road.

“So, we going to the pier, yeah? We could get some chips and sit somewhere while it’s still kinda warm.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Grace began nodding her head before turning to look out the window.

She wanted to smile, and not just a small smile, but a huge one to release every emotion within her. He may have moved onto the thought of food, but her focus was still on how cute it was that he had brought her flowers.

“Is your mum looking after Brinley then?” Harvey asked, causing Grace to suddenly compose herself once again so she could turn around and face him.

“Yeah, she is. She asked me so many questions before I left though. I don’t know why everyone is so caught up on what we’re doing.”

“Me neither. I think they forget we’re not kids anymore.”

“Well…” Grace teased while looking to Harvey with raised eyebrows.

“I’m not a kid. I’m a man Grace Ellard!” Harvey corrected confidently, causing her to roll her eyes.

“A boy-man, more like.”

“Nah, I’m more of a man than any other guy you’ve been with.”

Although Grace wanted to argue that point, she knew she couldn’t. It was true.

“Yeah, I’ll give you that. I’ve been with some idiots.”

“Knew it.”

Although Grace hadn’t actually had a real relationship yet, she had plenty of hook ups with people she didn’t want to remember. For some reason, she managed to attract all the worst guys, yet she never used to turn them down. Instead, she stupidly ended up sleeping with them and they’d always find a way to make her regret it in the end.

“But that doesn’t make you an angel, Lawrence.”

“No, but it makes me look like one.” Harvey corrected and this time he reached over to cup Grace’s chin in his hand. Turning her head to look at him, he removed his eyes from the road for a second. “You look beautiful by the way.”

Before Grace got chance to respond, Harvey’s hand had dropped from her face and his eyes were back on the road. However, for some reason her heart was now pounding against her chest. Grace was insistent that there had been an intensity behind those words, yet she was hoping it wasn’t her hormones causing her mind to play tricks.

He had told her she looked hot many times before but beautiful was a whole other choice of word, surely?

“You don’t look too bad yourself considering you’ve been slaving away around disgusting cars all day.”

“Watch it.” Harvey warned, as he pulled into a space and turned to give Grace his full attention.

“Kidding.” Grace grinned back, putting on her best face of innocence however, she couldn’t help but notice Harvey’s eyes drifting from hers down to her lips.

She knew that look and she could guess what he was waiting to do yet part of her felt like it shouldn’t happen. Sleeping together was okay, she had trained her mind to block out any emotions attached to one-night stands with anyone. However, kissing like this, was more than that and it was something Grace wasn’t sure was safe to get involved in.

“Should we go and get food then?” She quickly spoke up, in hope to distract him, yet it only caused Harvey to start laughing.

“You’re in a rush.”

“Don’t keep a girl away from her food. It can get pretty nasty!”

“Yeah?” Harvey mumbled, his voice low and somewhat mesmerising.

“Yeah.” Grace replied, while placing her hand on the door handle, ready to make her escape.

“I just need to do one thing first though.”

Reaching his hand out, Harvey ran it up the side of Grace’s neck. As his thumb brushed gently over the skin, Grace felt her face relaxing into his hold.

“Can I?” Harvey asked, as his face was now inches from hers.

Grace wanted to say no. She wanted to pull away and pretend that none of this moment had even happened, but she couldn’t. Her body was craving it and the small proximity of the car was making it incredibly difficult for her to snap out of that longing.

“Yeah.” Grace whispered back and there was a matter of seconds before Harvey’s lips pressed to hers in a soft yet intense kiss that sent her head spinning.

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.

Grace had come out tonight with the aim of spending a night with Harvey, getting the night off from motherhood. However, now she was finding it incredibly difficult to hold onto any composure she previously had. This boy had started the evening by buying her flowers, but was now making what would usually be a messy car makeout with an idiot of a guy, into a kiss with him that felt like it was meant for the movies.

“The New Yorkers are finally here!” Matt mocked as Sophie and Todd walked through the door. “Bet you forgot what fields and actual grass looks like.”

“Hilarious, man.” Todd shoved his brother, watching as he stumbled backwards.

“Looks like someone needs a bit more training.”

“You caught me off guard.” Matt argued back causing Todd to laugh, before glimpsing over at Sophie, who had already headed straight for Juliet.

They had decided to come over to Matt and Juliet’s to enjoy a quick catch up before the storm. They knew the moment the gang meetings began, it would be a whirlwind of stressed out gang members on the urge of losing it with each other.

Everything was incredibly tense right now and with both Jay and Jazmine in charge, there was no room for mistakes.

“I missed you so much!” Juliet screeched as the pair squeezed the air out of one another. “You look amazing!

“So do you!” Sophie exasperated, while watching as Juliet reached for her hand and held it up in front of her. “What?”

“I was hoping you had decided to keep your mistaken Vegas marriage on with Todd.”

Pulling her bare hand back down, Sophie glimpsed back at Todd who had clearly heard that comment.

“We are officially divorced, thank God!”

“I’m free again!” Todd called over with a grin on his face, while Matt and Juliet looked at them both as though they were crazy.

“I’ll never understand your relationship. Most couples in love celebrate marriage, not immediately get a divorce.” Juliet laughed.

“We still have major commitment issues.” Sophie teased. “Gotta make sure we can easily get out if need be.”

“Plus, this one has been married enough times. They never ended good.” Todd mocked, causing Sophie to gesture a middle finger at him.

Although there was some truth to Todd and Sophie’s comments, there was also no hiding their love for one another. Marriage was something neither of wanted and that seemed to be working perfectly for them.

..

As they all finally gathered on the sofas, Amiya had squeezed herself in tightly between Sophie and Todd. She had been practically a baby when Sophie lived in Brighton and considering they didn’t see all that much of their friends here, Amiya was unsure by the whole thing.

“Would you like a drink or something to eat Amiya?” Juliet asked as she carried in a box of biscuits.

The little girl looked up at her before directing her attention straight to Sophie. It was so strange to see one of Sophie’s children act shyly because they had all naturally inherited the Dubois confidence.

Unsurprisingly, Sophie didn’t answer for Amiya and instead just waited expectantly for the 8-year-old to buck up the courage to do it herself. So finally turning to look at Juliet, Amiya began shaking her head.

“No thank you.”

“Okay, well I’ll leave these here, so you can help yourself.” Juliet replied with a smile over her face. She had a feeling if she was anything like her own children, it wouldn’t take her long to cave in.

“Thank you.” Amiya responded, in her New York accent, something that had uniquely set her apart from her siblings. Juliet hadn’t heard her speak in a long time and it seemed to get stronger every time she saw her.

“You have the cutest little accent, sweetie.”

“I’m obsessed with it.” Sophie perked up, as she brushed the stray blonde hairs from Amiya’s face. “It’s so weird though because she’s the only one who got it.”

“So, she’s the true New Yorker, meaning she must be seeing fields for the first time ever!” Matt added, once again finding his own jokes funny. “She will soon see there is more to life than buildings.”

“Does he do this all the time?” Todd raised his eyebrows while looking at Juliet, to which she nodded her head. “You’re turning into one of those dad’s who tells lame jokes that no one laughs at.”

“I think I’m hilarious.”

“Of course you are.”

“Gotta keep a bit of humour going with all the shit that’s going on in the gang, haven’t I?” Matt responded, seeming a little more serious this time.

“Yeah, what is the plan with that then?” Todd asked, causing the conversation to very quickly slip into gang mode.

Sophie and Juliet had been hoping to hold off from that for as long as possible however, it was inevitably going to happen. It was why they were here.

“Jay wants a meeting tomorrow night. Just be warned that they’re all in really bad moods over this whole Kye thing, and Jazmine walks around like she owns the place.”

“Nothing new then.”

“They’re going to ask you to fake being on Kye’s side, to try and get him to confess where they’re hiding at.” Matt added, and Todd didn’t even need to look at Sophie to know what she would be thinking.

“I never agreed to that.”

Todd didn’t have a problem with doing that, but he knew Sophie would. He was supposed to just be helping them figure out where Kye was, not actually become a gang member once again, even if he was faking it.

“That was just the idea they came up with. How else do you plan on doing it? We’ve tried everything.”

“I’m smarter than you all put together, I could probably work it out easily.”

“Not a chance in hell.” Matt retaliated to Todd’s cocky comment. Although Todd had said it with a teasing tone to his voice, Matt knew he wasn’t joking. He believed he was smarter than them all, and in some ways, he was. But saying that to Jay and Jazmine’s faces, wouldn’t go down too well.

“It’s too risky for me to get involved.” Todd began before Matt cut him off.

“Sophie is here to make sure you don’t fall into your old ways. It’s not risky.” He retaliated while looking over to Sophie who was desperately trying to bite her lip and not cause arguments with her daughter right here.

“It’s not that. It’s Soph’s business. I don’t want anyone catching on with what I’m doing and then it jeopardising things for her. That is too risky.”

Matt knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but he was struggling to keep his frustrations for his brother at bay. Although the old Todd had been someone he struggled to get on with, in some ways, he missed him.

That Todd wouldn’t care about anything else, other than getting the job done. He would do whatever it took with no fear or apprehensions, as though it was so easy. However, now he was making this harder work than Matt felt like it needed to be.

“Just turn up to the meeting tomorrow and we’ll figure something out.” Matt sighed, knowing they couldn’t exactly have this argument now.

He was hoping when Todd was alone without Sophie, it may be a little easier.

“Have you sorted that new gang out then now?” Todd began to ask, and it didn’t take Matt a second to realise where this was going to go.

“We’re getting there.” He attempted to shrug it off and hint at Todd that now wasn’t a good time to discuss it, but Todd didn’t catch on immediately.

“Is H…” He began before finally noticing the daggers Matt was giving him and quickly corrected himself. “…is Jay still finding more members?”

“Yeah. You can meet the ones we have so far tomorrow.” Matt responded with relief in his voice, knowing how close Todd had been to revealing the fact that Hunter was one of those members.

He already knew telling Juliet was going to be intense, so now really wasn’t the right time.

....

"What is going on with you now?" Kian asked, watching Harvey kick a half deflated ball back and forth to his sons, Brooks and Bentley.

The whole family had come over to Jess and Jack's for dinner, yet were making the most of the remaining sun in the garden. Kian had been helping Harvey look at apartments over the past week and although he seemed fine about the breakup with Lottie, Ellie was insistent that deep down he wasn't.

"Nothing really. I've been out almost every night." Harvey grinned, clearly proud of his new found single life. "I also put an offer down on that first apartment we looked at."

"Really? Congrats dude. I knew you'd go back to that one." Kian said while jumping in to stop the ball, just as Brooks passed it Harvey's way. "You living with your friend?"

"Yeah. I did ask Mia but she politely declined." Harvey teased, as he glimpsed over to his sister, who rolled her eyes back at him.

"It would be hell."

"Nah, you'd love it."

Although Harvey and Mia were close, Mia couldn't think of anything worse than sharing an apartment with her laddish brother. She knew that sleep would be impossible, and awkward encounters with random girls in the morning would happen on the regular.

"You will have so much fun though, dude." Kian added. "You need to be single for a while at your age because it all gets serious way too quickly."

Kian's comment caused his wife, Leah, to look back at him opened mouth. She had been minding her own business, looking after their baby, Beau, yet her ears had pricked at that comment.

"Don't be a idiot!" Leah spat, causing Harvey to laugh.

"Love you baby. I wouldn't change this for the world."

"You should consider yourself lucky to have me. I make beautiful children."

"Yep, you sure do." Kian agreed, purposely sucking up to her, causing Harvey to look at him in amusement.

"Speaking of children..." Ellie piped up, nudging Leah's side. "...when are we both going to have another?"

Ellie's comment caused Kian and James' to look at them both in confusion, while the girls appeared to find it funny.

"All of our children are basically the same age, so if we have another we have to get pregnant at the same time again."

"Fuck no." Kian began shaking his head. "No more. We don't need more kids, Leah."

"Yes we do." She bit back, crossing her arms over her chest. "I want a girl!"

Harvey always loved being in the presence of his brother and his wife because their relationship was worthy of it's own TV show. Leah was fiesty, loud, and had fit in with the Lawrence family perfectly well. She also managed to keep Kian in line, as although he had inherited the Lawrence's childish and laddish behaviour, he had also inherited their hopeless romantic hearts, that made him adoringly devoted to her and her every need.

Leah definitely wore the trousers in this relationship and they all knew right then, that Kian would be having another baby at some point very soon.

"We've got three boys, who are the coolest ever... and also exhausting. How do you think we can manage a fourth?"

"Firstly, you're not the one who stays at home with them, and secondly, your dad and Jess managed with 6. Don't be a wimp!"

"Look what you've started now, El." Kian looked to his sister while rolling his eyes.

"I'm on Leah's side. She needs a girl in her life!"

"...and what if it's not a girl?"

"Then we celebrate having a fourth boy and try for another."

"Leah..."

"What?" She stressed, before holding Beau up in the direction of Kian. "Just look at this gorgeous face. You know you want another."

Taking the little boy from Leah's arms, Kian placed a kiss to his head before turning back to look at his wife.

"He's a month old Leah. Can't you at least wait?"

"Nope. That's not an option. I want my babies to all be close in age."

When Kian knew he was not going to win this battle, he directed his attention over to his younger brother who was stood back laughing at him.

"Good luck, dude." Harvey grinned, while also capturing Leah's attention.

"This will involve you too, Harvey Lawrence. We'll need your babysitting duties."

"Fuck that, I'm single now. I'm out all the time with girls."

"Then you can bring a girl along too. They all love babies."

"Yeah, like Grace." Kian added with a teasing grin over his face, causing Harvey to shoot him daggers, aware of James watching the exchange.

"No."

"But aren't you sleeping together? She'd be your first choice surely?" Kian continued, not so in-tuned with the fact that James could clearly hear.

"How about we get back to talking about this new baby you're going to have." Harvey switched the topic of conversation, looking straight to Leah in hope to spark her excitement once again.

It seemed to work because she very quickly began discussing the names she had always wanted to use if they had a girl. Although it saved Harvey for the moment, he was sure it wouldn't be long until he was thrown into the spotlight once again.

....

"I didn't think you planned on showing up tonight." Ellie looked at her brother in shock, as Harvey jumped up onto the kitchen counter.

"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."

...

When Lottie woke this morning, she was surprised to not see Harvey sound asleep beside her. At first, she fell into panic, wondering if he’d even come home last night or if he’d gotten so drunk that he’d ended up passed out somewhere else. However, it wasn’t until she’d headed into the kitchen, that some of that panic subsided.

Harvey was stood at the kitchen counter, staring out of the window while waiting for some toast to pop up. It was 8am, so it was incredibly early for him to be awake considering he’d been out until late last night. It was likely he hadn’t even slept.

“Hey…” Lottie trailed off, cautious of making him jump if he hadn’t heard her come in.

It was clear he hadn’t, as his body very quickly spun around in a state of shock. It wasn’t until his eyes landed on Lottie, that he seemed to relax again and presented her with a tired looking smile.

“Morning babe.”

“Did you have a good night?”

Nodding his head, Harvey was consumed with guilt as the memories of the night before came flooding back. He had made out with Grace countless times last night and now he was stood opposite his fiancée, unsure how to approach the whole situation.

“You look exhausted.” Lottie said as she made her way over to him.

Lifting her hand up to run over his face, her thumb soothed the skin under Harvey’s tired eyes.

“Did you even sleep?”

“A little bit.” He muttered, closing his eyes at Lottie’s soft touch. “I got up so I wouldn’t wake you. I’d been tossing and turning all night.”

“That’s what a lot of alcohol does to you. I thought you’d learn by now.”

“Learning… it’s never been something I’ve been that great at.”

Harvey’s comment was made with a small grin over his face, one that Lottie was relieved to see. Things between them had been tough; they had been on edge for weeks, so small moments like this were appreciated.

She never understood what was going through his mind however, Lottie was desperate to figure it out before their whole relationship collapsed.

“Did you get up to much?” Harvey asked, wanting to move the conversation away from his night as quickly as possible.

Until he could figure out how he was going to tell Lottie about what happened, he wanted to divert any conversations surrounding it.

“Not really. Your mum came over, so we sat and chatted for a while.”

“She did? Why?”

“She came over to see us. She said she doesn’t get to see that much of you at the moment…”

Lottie’s words caused even more guilt to fill Harvey’s body. He hadn’t only been vacant from Lottie these past few weeks, he’d been that way with his family too. He saw his dad daily at work, but he hadn’t made any effort to go and see his mum. He’d always had every intention to but ended up coming up with an excuse why he couldn’t go over.

He wanted to see her. He wanted to spend time with his whole family. However, he knew that they’d instantly be able to tell that something was up. Harvey wasn’t ready for the questions or the lectures, so right now it was just much easier to avoid them.

“Shit, I should really call her.” Harvey muttered, as Lottie was now watching him with concern.

“She is worried about you.”

“She is? Why?”

“Because it’s not like you to avoid everyone. We’ve missed so many family dinners, Harvey. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but we can’t keep making excuses. That’s your family.”

Nodding his head, Harvey knew that Lottie was right. There was only so many excuses he could come up with and he had most definitely exhausted them all.

“We’ll go to the next one, I promise.”

“Really?” Lottie looked at him as though she didn’t believe that for a second.

“Promise.” He responded while reaching out to cup her chin in his hand. Gently urging Lottie’s face towards his own, Harvey then placed a gentle kiss to her lips before just as quickly pulling away.

It didn’t feel right. He felt guilty for kissing her when she was clueless to who he had been kissing the night before.

“You okay?” Lottie asked, immediately sensing that something was up.

Their whole relationship was a mess right now but small moments like this continued to highlight the current problems they were having.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t seem it.”

“I’m just tired… I might go back to bed.”

As Harvey began to edge himself around Lottie, she reacted by clinging onto his hand and bringing him to a stop.

“Harvey…”

“What?”

“We need to talk about this. We can’t keep acting like everything isn’t a mess.”

Pausing on the spot, yet not turning around to look at Lottie, Harvey let out a long sigh.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Me neither but there is clearly something wrong. Nothing is the same anymore.”

Finally turning around, Harvey reluctantly looked Lottie in the eyes and instantly regretted it the moment he did. He could see the pain behind them. He could see how lost she felt and he could sense the loneliness she was feeling.

They weren’t acting like a couple anymore. They weren’t acting like those loved up individuals who had been the best thing that ever happened to one another anymore… and that was all because of Harvey.

Lottie had tried to hold onto what they had. She had been the one continually making effort, but she hadn’t been receiving any in return.

 “Do you even love me anymore?” Lottie exasperated, sounding breathless and that question hit Harvey hard.

He felt like his heart had just stopped. He felt like someone had taken away his voice and ability to form some kind of sentence. Instead, he just looked back at Lottie with a blank expression across his face.

“Do you? Because it really doesn’t feel like it!”

Lottie was close to tears. She was doing everything to fight them back. She didn’t want to cave in. She didn’t want to cry in front of him right now.

“Things used to be so good. I thought we’d be forever but lately you’ve been so zoned out. I don’t feel like you want to even be with me, little lone marry me.”

“Lottie…” Harvey breathed, finally finding his words. “Of course I love you.”

“Really? Because it really doesn’t feel like it anymore.” Lottie bit, agitated that he just said those words as though it was going to fix everything.

“I do, I just… I don’t know. I don’t know what the fuck is going through my head. I just can’t think straight.”

“It doesn’t make any sense! You either love me or you don’t. You either want to be with me or you don’t!”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Of course it’s that simple Harvey. If you even have to think about it, then this is clearly not what you want anymore.”

Lottie saying those words out loud hurt. They hit Harvey with a sinking pain he hadn’t felt before. He’d been able to avoid announcing any feelings out loud for so long, that he’d learned to mask them. He couldn’t do that anymore and facing up to them was the most uncomfortable thing he’d ever had to experience.

“I just don’t know. But I love you, of course I do but sometimes I wonder what we’re doing. I can’t help but think we want different things and we’re not on the same page anymore.”

“Different things?” Lottie questioned, clearly confused where he was going with this. “I don’t want anything from you other than love, Harvey. I don’t expect anything. I just want to be happy with you.”

“You also want marriage.”

“And you don’t? You were the one who proposed to me! Why did you do it, if that’s not what you want?”

Sighing, Harvey ran his hands over his face in aggravation. He didn’t know where he was going with this, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was just making matters worse.

“I do want it, I did, I don’t know. I wanted to propose but I didn’t think it meant we’d jump into wedding planning. I wanted to just chill and take each day as it came without the pressure.”

“I never said we had to rush into marriage.”

“But you want to plan a wedding.”

Lottie was looking at Harvey in complete bewilderment at this point. She didn’t understand any of this. She didn’t understand what Harvey was trying to say or why he had never communicated any of this to her before now.

“Of course I want to plan a wedding, like every other person out there who is proposed to. But if you didn’t ever want to get married, then what is the point in proposing? It doesn’t make any sense to me. You’re just giving out false hope.”

“I just don’t know if I’m ready. We’re still young. I feel like we both need to live life a bit more first.”

“Alone?” Lottie asked, feeling the need to be upfront, considering Harvey was dancing around the subject.

“No… but, I don’t know. We’ve been together since we were 17. That’s 9 years without being single. We haven’t been single through the most important years when we should be figuring ourselves out. You know? We don’t know what it’s like to be without each other.”

“If you wanted to be alone to figure yourself out, then why did you propose to me? What changed you mind in a matter of 6 months?”

Harvey didn’t know what to say at this point, because he honestly didn’t know. He loved Lottie but he also loved the idea of living life for himself, rather than a relationship.

He knew that his mum and dad had met when they were teenagers. He knew that from that point onwards, they had always been a part of one another’s lives. They had committed themselves to each other and although that had worked out for them, it terrified Harvey.

He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life questioning if he should have lived for himself for a while. He didn’t want to end up looking back at his 20’s with complete regret as he knew it would only turn into resentment for the woman he was supposed to love.

He wanted to be certain of himself before he committed to a relationship. Yet he also didn’t know if he’d regret losing Lottie in the process.

She had been a huge part of his life. He didn’t know life without her.

Harvey’s mum and dad had always told him stories of times when they had almost lost each other. They had always described it as though it had been the end of their world, like losing each other was like losing apart of them. Harvey didn’t want to feel that sort of pain, but he also wasn’t his mum and dad. This was his relationship and unless he was 100% sure of what he was doing in it, then should he really be wasting his or Lottie’s time by remaining in it?

Last night with Grace had opened Harvey’s eyes to something, but it had also produced many more questions that he wasn’t ready to confront.

He didn’t understand how it was possible to love Lottie while also easily being unfaithful and hurting her. None of it made sense, yet Harvey knew for a fact that unless he figured it out soon, this was all going to come back and bite him in the arse soon enough.

“Come here.” Harvey insisted, as he held his arms open, in hope of getting Lottie to co-operate.

She held back for a moment, reluctant to give in considering they were shutting this conversation down once again.

“Please.”

Seeing the exhaustion on Harvey’s face and feeling her own need for some comfort right now, Lottie finally gave in. Giving herself over to him, she relaxed into Harvey’s warm embrace and made every effort to fully appreciate this moment. She didn’t know what was going to happen, so she wanted to make the most of this. She wanted to be able to remember what it felt like to be safely in his arms, as if her whole world wasn’t tearing down around her.