When Jack had text Harvey to let him know that he was on his way over, Harvey had started to pack his stuff into his car so he was ready to leave. The plan was for them both to drive up to Cambridge, so that his dad could help him settle in and make all the introductions before leaving this evening.
As Harvey was loading in the last bag, the roaring of a car was heard coming down the road before it appeared in the driveway. He did not need to question who it was driving it, but he was questioning where it had come from.
His dad was currently parking up a shinny red Ferrari, which immediately caused Harvey to fall into some kind of daze as he just watched it.
"You like it?" Jack called out as he climbed out of the car and watched as his son made his way over.
"It's fucking beautiful." Harvey remarked as he instantly began inspecting his absolute dream. "When did you get it?"
"Oh it's not mine." Jack began. "It's from the garage, but considering it's pretty standard to give out courtesy cars whenever of the lads go and do jobs elsewhere, I thought you might like this one."
Pausing what he was doing, Harvey instantly looked at his dad with his mouth agape.
"What?"
"It's yours, for the next 2 months."
"You mean? Wait... what the-"
"I know it's not your standard courtesy car but considering you're doing me a huge favour here, I thought you deserved it."
Harvey could not believe the words that were coming out of his dad's mouth right now. This car, this absolutely stunning vehicle sat in front of him right now, was his for the next 2 months. This was the kind of car that Harvey had only been able to dream of yet now he was getting to call one his own.
"Fuck, dad. Thank you, so so much." Harvey exasperated as he immediately enveloped him into a hug.
"You're welcome, Harv. I just have one condition from your mum..."
"What's that?"
"That you drive carefully or I've been instructed to send you a shitter and slower car to use instead." Jack replied with an amused look on his face causing Harvey to laugh in response.
He knew his mum was probably worrying like crazy at this whole idea. She worried enough anyway about his, Jack's, and Kian's driving, so this car would have her losing her mind.
"Alright, that's a deal. You can tell her she doesn't need to worry."
"Good. Now we better move your stuff into my car, because it won't be fitting into this with ease." Jack remarked as he passed Harvey the keys.
One of Jack's employees had driven one of his cars to the apartment for him, knowing that his son would not have packed lightly. With the apartment he would be staying in, Harvey felt like he was moving into a new place, so wasn't exactly sure what he would need.
"Can you start on it while I go and speak to Grace?" Harvey asked as he glimpsed at the blonde who had now just appeared on the drive.
Shifting his gaze over to her too, Jack gave Grace a quick wave before agreeing, knowing they'd probably need these few moments alone.
"Do you like it?" Harvey asked with a grin on his face as he approached Grace. She was smiling at him in that knowing way, aware of the excitement likely bouncing through him right now.
"It's nice."
"Nice?"
"I mean, it's stunning!" She corrected herself, knowing he would not accept anything less. "You and your cars though..."
"It's going to be incredible to drive."
"Yeah well just make sure you drive carefully."
"You sound like my mum!" Harvey chuckled while urging Grace into his side. "But yeah, I'll drive carefully."
There was silence for a moment, highlighting Grace's unusual quietness. Everything had been fine this morning but the past hour had been tense. She hadn't been acting like herself.
"You alright?" Harvey asked, earning a surprised reaction from her, as she was put on the spot.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?"
"Somethings up. What is it?"
Shaking her head, Grace looked over to the cars before back to Harvey. She had tried so hard to contain how she was feeling but it wasn't proving to be as easy as she'd thought.
"I'm just going to miss you, that's all." She said truthfully. "It's going to be weird."
Grace's honest words caused Harvey to immediately urge her closer into him. As he wrapped his arms around her, Grace did the same to him and buried her head into his chest. For these few seconds she felt comforted. It was the kind of comfort she hadn't really received from anyone but him before and that was the thing she feared being without the most.
"I'll miss you too but it won't seem that long. I'll be back as much as I can." Harvey attempted to reassure Grace, even though he wasn't even sure what to expect.
He had insisted he would be going home every weekend but his dad had warned him that he may change his mind when he was there. Once he had engrossed himself in the lifestyle and got to know the employees, it would seem like such a waste to only be there for the work and not to fully get to know everyone. Therefore, Harvey now had that in the back of his mind, cautious that he may be making false promises.
"Yeah, I know. I'm just being stupid. This is so unlike me." Grace admitted, considering she was so used to just relying on herself. This was all new to her.
"Just call me if you need anything, alright?"
Nodding her head, Grace looked up at Harvey just as he cupped her face with his hands. Holding her gaze, there was such a warmth in his eyes, mixed with passion and something else that she couldn't quite pick up on.
"Are you okay?" Grace asked, in an attempt to gain some insight but Harvey just nodded his head. Then running his thumb across her cheek, he leaned down so he could place a kiss to her lips.
"I better go."
...
Once Harvey was about 45 minutes into his journey, he had a call from his dad over the bluetooth, which had taken him a while to figure out. Considering this was the first time he had ever properly driven this kind of car, it had taken him a minute to fully process how it all worked.
"Didn't think you were gonna answer." Jack chuckled on the other end, causing Harvey to roll his eyes.
"Remember you're the one getting old here! Technology still comes easily to me." Harvey mocked, even though that wasn't the complete truth. "What did you want anyway?"
"To check how you were."
"I'm fine, why?"
Looking ahead of him, Harvey could just about make out his dad glancing in the rear view mirror with obvious attempt to catch a glimpse of him.
"You seemed quiet after saying goodbye to Grace."
"Yeah, it was just weird, I don't know. I could tell she was trying to hold back and I felt bad for leaving..." Harvey trailed off, finding it strange saying this all out loud.
He was usually the kind of person to keep his feelings to himself however, there was something about not actually being in the car with his dad that made speaking about it a little easier.
"Why d'you feel bad?"
"Just because I only just asked her to be my girlfriend and now I'm running off for 2 months. It doesn't exactly look good, does it?"
"Well..." Jack chuckled, understanding his point. "...I guess not. I thought you were gonna ask her to come with you."
"What?" Harvey replied so quickly, nothing hiding the shock in his voice that his dad had just said that out loud.
"Did I say the wrong thing or something? Is that completely crazy for your generation."
Jack was slightly amused by Harvey's shock at the suggestion. Him and Jess had obviously been under slightly different circumstances when they first started dating, but Jack imagined that if things had been easier for them, he wouldn't have held back from asking her something like that.
"No, no..." Harvey laughed. "I just, I dunno. I thought it would have been a bit too much too soon. I don't want to fuck things up because I want it to work."
Nodding his head even though Harvey couldn't see it, Jack understood where his son was coming from. He could tell that this whole thing with Grace wasn't just some rebound after his relationship with Lottie, it was real for him. However, he was now terrified of screwing this up, either by doing or saying the wrong thing, or moving too quickly.
"I get that man, it makes sense but at the same time, don't hold back completely or you won't enjoy it. You'll spend all of your time worrying that things aren't going to work out, that you'll end up having a shit time when it should be fun." Jack began, wanting his son to take a different perspective on this. "I know you probably don't wanna hear about the soppy shit between your mum and I, but our relationship was a fucking mess for the majority of it, but in the best way possible. We argued all the time, we got on each others nerves and it was exhausting, but it was fucking amazing at the same time because we loved each other so intensely. I wouldn't change it for anything because through the chaos, we had fun. That's all that matters at the end of the day."
"So you're telling me to annoy the shit out of Grace, argue with her and drive her crazy? Then I'll live happily ever after?" Harvey asked with a teasing tone to his voice.
"That's exactly what I'm telling you." Jack laughed. "29 years later and your mum is still with me, isn't she?"
"Yeah, good point."
"But I'm just saying have fun, don't think too much into everything. I know you tried to make everything perfect with Lottie and honestly, I think that's what fucked it up for you both in the end. Just be yourself, Harv, even if that does consist of annoying her and driving her insane. I guarantee she will be happy."
Although to most, Jack's advice would sound a little crazy, it made total sense to Harvey. He had heard many stories from his parents about their relationship growing up and it most definitely hadn't been drama-free. Therefore, it highlighted to him how perfection wasn't important. He didn't need to exhaust himself trying to create a perfect little fantasy life. Instead, he just had to take each day as it came and express himself honestly and openly with the girl he cared about. It was really that simple.
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