A few days later...
"Are you going to hook up with Harry again?" Francesca asked Grace as they took their drinks back to the benches. "...or are you finally going to give into Max and give that poor boy what he is craving?"
"My night with Harry was great but I'm not going back for seconds." Grace replied, as though Francesca was insane for even thinking that. "But I'm also going to make Max suffer a little bit longer. I want to make him desperate."
It was a few days after Grace had spent the night messing with Max and she was still happily making him wait. She knew he was losing his mind over her and the more she refused, the worse it got.
He would pay visits to see Brinley but would also put on his best flirting game to win her over. While most girls would fall for his charming chat, Grace read right through it and knew exactly what he was doing.
"He's going to be suffering so badly, Grace!" Lila added as they took their seats and immediately captured the attention of the guys.
"Whose going to be suffering?" Taj asked as heads turned in their direction.
"Er..." Lila trailed off realising what she had done, as Max was one of the guys looking their way. "um..."
"None of your business." Grace bit in and answered, while taking her seat next to Max and purposely pushing herself right up close to him.
"It's always our business."
"No, it's never your business!"
When Grace could feel Max's eyes on her, she turned around to flash him a confident smile. He was looking back at her in question, yet she knew full well that he was aware of who they were talking about. He had been suffering for days, so he was the only one that it could be.
"Well I have some news that will be your business." Reece then announced, causing her focus to fall on him. "You might need a bit of time to prepare yourself."
"What is it?"
Glimpsing down at his phone, Reece then read the message he had received once again before looking back up at her.
"Harvey is about 1 minute away from showing up."
"What?" Grace bit and it was impossible to hide the shock across her face.
She turned to look at Max for some sort of reaction from him, that would prove that Reece was joking however, she didn't get that. He was telling the truth.
"He's back in Brighton, for good. So you two better sort your shit out so it doesn't make it weird as hell for all of us."
Grace hadn't been aware that Harvey was even considering coming back to Brighton anytime soon, little lone showing up here tonight. She had been hoping to avoid any confrontation with him for another good few weeks but now she was going to be thrown right into the deep end.
"He's coming here? Right now?"
"Right now." Reece nodded and it was only a matter of seconds before he was seen heading their way.
"Shit..." Grace mumbled under her breath but when Lila heard her clearly, she reached out to give her hand a little reassuring squeeze.
She knew Grace would be able to handle herself perfectly well however, Lila wanted her to know that she was here.
As Harvey got closer and Grace could finally see his face, she felt her whole body erupt with so many different emotions. She was angry, she was nervous, but she was also excited and happy to see him. It was a weird mixture and she did not know which was the best to attend to.
Part of her wanted to run towards him and throw her arms around his body. She wanted things to be like they had been, where she didn't have to hide how he made her feel. However, right now that wasn't possible and she also didn't want to show any kind of vulnerability.
The new Grace was back and nothing was going to break that.
"We missed you man!" Taj sang as he and the rest of the group began enveloping him in hugs. "It's so good to have you back."
"Yeah, let me get you a drink." Max added while immediately standing to his feet.
Grace was fully aware that Max's guilty conscious was now creeping through. Since Grace's split with Harvey he had not wasted anytime in trying to make his move and was now feeling the need to prove he was still loyal to his friend.
"Cool, thanks man." Harvey replied and as Max disappeared from his seat, Harvey's eyes had latched onto it.
His gaze moved from the seat, to Grace before he casually made his way over to take it.
"You alright" He asked in the most composed tone ever however, Grace knew he was probably working really hard to do that.
"I'm great." Grace replied simply as she gave him a once over. "What are you doing back here?"
"You can probably guess." Harvey replied, not really wanting to say the words out loud to her face, and Grace very quickly caught on.
Harvey was back in Brighton due to the news that Lottie had shared with him. However, he did not want to express that out loud to Grace, due to the situation she had found herself in before.
While Max had jumped on a plane and fled the country when he found out about her pregnancy, Harvey was coming back to Brighton so he could be there for Lottie and not be a couple of hours away. He didn't feel like shoving that in her face would be very considerate.
"Mm, actually yeah, I can."
"I do wanna talk to you though." Harvey said, as he ran his hand over his tattooed arm. "Can we go and sit over there for a minute?"
Grace didn't move for a second as she just stared at him in reluctance. She didn't know if she wanted to talk to him right now, everything still felt pretty fresh and she was trying so hard to hold onto the old her.
However, when he began standing to his feet and urged his head in the direction of the spare bench, she did finally give in.
They had to have a conversation and some point, so why not just keep in simple and get it over and done with now? She didn't have much to say on the matter but she had to say something, so that they could move past it.
"Sure, yeah, okay."
As Grace took a seat at the spare bench with Harvey, she was mentally prepping herself on how to handle this. She could have easily sat here and opened her heart up to him however, that wasn't how things were going to go down. She needed to focus on keeping her composure and start handling this with a lot more control.
"What did you want to talk about?" She asked, as Harvey sat opposite her.
"Everything really. I don't want things to be awkward now that I'm back for good." Harvey replied, sounding genuine and the look in his eyes confirmed that too.
It was so difficult for Grace to sit here and refrain herself from touching him. What she really wanted to do was to pull him towards her and kiss him, but she wasn't sure that was the best option right now.
"It won't be awkward. What happened is shit but we've both got to move on from it, so there is no point in making it difficult for ourselves." Grace replied, while keeping her voice steady, as Harvey watched her intently.
"It just feels so weird because the last time I was here, we were together..."
"Mm, I know, yeah. It's crazy how much can change in such a short amount of time."
As Grace took a sip of the drink in front of her, Harvey watched as she placed it back down onto the table before her spoke up again.
"We had too much fun to just throw away a friendship though, right? I know it won't be as simple as just jumping back into old ways but I hope eventually we can."
Nodding her head, Grace knew that she wanted that too. Although it was going to be difficult when Harvey's baby was born and she had to watch him and Lottie bring it up together, she didn't want to throw away their friendship over her jealousy.
She had always trusted Harvey and always had the best times when she was around him. Therefore, she wasn't prepared to just let that slide.
"Yeah, I don't want to throw it away either. We can be normal... friends again and all that." Grace replied before flashing him a smile.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I just want to forget about it. I'm done arguing now. It's exhausting."
"I agree." Harvey replied, while holding Grace's gaze.
"Let's just focus on having a good night... celebrating you being back." Grace replied in a tone that took Harvey a little bit by surprise.
It wasn't just friendly. She spoke in a very cool and seductive kind of manner. Harvey knew that Grace was generally very flirtatious in nature, but it just seemed like very odd timing.
"Let me get you a drink then and we'll be off to a good start." Harvey replied and there was a sudden shimmer in his eyes that Grace immediately picked up on.
It brought her right back to when they started dating, when things were good and exciting. For a second, it felt as if nothing had changed. It was as though there was no drama, no secrets and no complications involved.
Even though that was far from the truth, Grace was more than willing to act as if it was.
**
Glimpsing down at his phone, Reece then read the message he had received once again before looking back up at her.
"Harvey is about 1 minute away from showing up."
"What?" Grace bit and it was impossible to hide the shock across her face.
She turned to look at Max for some sort of reaction from him, that would prove that Reece was joking however, she didn't get that. He was telling the truth.
"He's back in Brighton, for good. So you two better sort your shit out so it doesn't make it weird as hell for all of us."
Grace hadn't been aware that Harvey was even considering coming back to Brighton anytime soon, little lone showing up here tonight. She had been hoping to avoid any confrontation with him for another good few weeks but now she was going to be thrown right into the deep end.
"He's coming here? Right now?"
"Right now." Reece nodded and it was only a matter of seconds before he was seen heading their way.
"Shit..." Grace mumbled under her breath but when Lila heard her clearly, she reached out to give her hand a little reassuring squeeze.
She knew Grace would be able to handle herself perfectly well however, Lila wanted her to know that she was here.
As Harvey got closer and Grace could finally see his face, she felt her whole body erupt with so many different emotions. She was angry, she was nervous, but she was also excited and happy to see him. It was a weird mixture and she did not know which was the best to attend to.
Part of her wanted to run towards him and throw her arms around his body. She wanted things to be like they had been, where she didn't have to hide how he made her feel. However, right now that wasn't possible and she also didn't want to show any kind of vulnerability.
The new Grace was back and nothing was going to break that.
"We missed you man!" Taj sang as he and the rest of the group began enveloping him in hugs. "It's so good to have you back."
"Yeah, let me get you a drink." Max added while immediately standing to his feet.
Grace was fully aware that Max's guilty conscious was now creeping through. Since Grace's split with Harvey he had not wasted anytime in trying to make his move and was now feeling the need to prove he was still loyal to his friend.
"Cool, thanks man." Harvey replied and as Max disappeared from his seat, Harvey's eyes had latched onto it.
His gaze moved from the seat, to Grace before he casually made his way over to take it.
"You alright" He asked in the most composed tone ever however, Grace knew he was probably working really hard to do that.
"I'm great." Grace replied simply as she gave him a once over. "What are you doing back here?"
"You can probably guess." Harvey replied, not really wanting to say the words out loud to her face, and Grace very quickly caught on.
Harvey was back in Brighton due to the news that Lottie had shared with him. However, he did not want to express that out loud to Grace, due to the situation she had found herself in before.
While Max had jumped on a plane and fled the country when he found out about her pregnancy, Harvey was coming back to Brighton so he could be there for Lottie and not be a couple of hours away. He didn't feel like shoving that in her face would be very considerate.
"Mm, actually yeah, I can."
"I do wanna talk to you though." Harvey said, as he ran his hand over his tattooed arm. "Can we go and sit over there for a minute?"
Grace didn't move for a second as she just stared at him in reluctance. She didn't know if she wanted to talk to him right now, everything still felt pretty fresh and she was trying so hard to hold onto the old her.
However, when he began standing to his feet and urged his head in the direction of the spare bench, she did finally give in.
They had to have a conversation and some point, so why not just keep in simple and get it over and done with now? She didn't have much to say on the matter but she had to say something, so that they could move past it.
"Sure, yeah, okay."
As Grace took a seat at the spare bench with Harvey, she was mentally prepping herself on how to handle this. She could have easily sat here and opened her heart up to him however, that wasn't how things were going to go down. She needed to focus on keeping her composure and start handling this with a lot more control.
"What did you want to talk about?" She asked, as Harvey sat opposite her.
"Everything really. I don't want things to be awkward now that I'm back for good." Harvey replied, sounding genuine and the look in his eyes confirmed that too.
It was so difficult for Grace to sit here and refrain herself from touching him. What she really wanted to do was to pull him towards her and kiss him, but she wasn't sure that was the best option right now.
"It won't be awkward. What happened is shit but we've both got to move on from it, so there is no point in making it difficult for ourselves." Grace replied, while keeping her voice steady, as Harvey watched her intently.
"It just feels so weird because the last time I was here, we were together..."
"Mm, I know, yeah. It's crazy how much can change in such a short amount of time."
As Grace took a sip of the drink in front of her, Harvey watched as she placed it back down onto the table before her spoke up again.
"We had too much fun to just throw away a friendship though, right? I know it won't be as simple as just jumping back into old ways but I hope eventually we can."
Nodding her head, Grace knew that she wanted that too. Although it was going to be difficult when Harvey's baby was born and she had to watch him and Lottie bring it up together, she didn't want to throw away their friendship over her jealousy.
She had always trusted Harvey and always had the best times when she was around him. Therefore, she wasn't prepared to just let that slide.
"Yeah, I don't want to throw it away either. We can be normal... friends again and all that." Grace replied before flashing him a smile.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I just want to forget about it. I'm done arguing now. It's exhausting."
"I agree." Harvey replied, while holding Grace's gaze.
"Let's just focus on having a good night... celebrating you being back." Grace replied in a tone that took Harvey a little bit by surprise.
It wasn't just friendly. She spoke in a very cool and seductive kind of manner. Harvey knew that Grace was generally very flirtatious in nature, but it just seemed like very odd timing.
"Let me get you a drink then and we'll be off to a good start." Harvey replied and there was a sudden shimmer in his eyes that Grace immediately picked up on.
It brought her right back to when they started dating, when things were good and exciting. For a second, it felt as if nothing had changed. It was as though there was no drama, no secrets and no complications involved.
Even though that was far from the truth, Grace was more than willing to act as if it was.
**
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