Young Writers Society

Harvey Amos

Harvey rolled his eyes at Lizzy and folded his arms across his chest. He knew there was a reason he never went to this class, and it was standing right in front of him.

"Trust me, sweetheart, I'm not too happy to be stuck with you either... and for your information, I'm beautiful."

Harvey laughed out loud - he had a bad habit of finding himself hilarious - and for a second he swore he could see a twitch of a smile on Lizzy's face, but it was gone when he checked again.

"But seriously, screw this. I'm sure you'll figure something out on your own."

He gave her a pat on the head before starting to walk away. He'd made no more than two steps before he was being tugged back by his jacket.

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to do this alone!"

"Come on, Redmon, why are you so annoying?"

"I wouldn't have to be if you weren't so stubborn!"

He opened his mouth to retaliate, a nice comeback burned on his tongue, but memories of last night flashed in his head and he stopped.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Whatever. We can go to yours."

She looked confused and Harvey frowned.

"Well come on then," he said angrily.

He stalked down the emptying hallway and after a moment heard her footsteps behind him. Honestly, he didn't want to go, but if someone saw them together at school the excuse of studying wouldn't do anything, and there was no way in hell he was taking her to his apartment. Outside was fairly empty. No one stayed at school longer than they had to, and all the buses had already left.

"Alright, just tell me where to- What are you doing?"

Lizzy looked up from her phone.

"Calling Pop, what do you think?"

"No. There's no way in hell I'm riding in a car with your "Pop"."

"So what are we supposed to do, walk all the way to my house, genius?"

"Just shut up and come on."

He walked over towards the side of the school where his bike was parked. His face lit up in delight when he saw it and he pulled a helmet out of his bag. He was just about to slip it on before remembering he had company. After a moment's thought, he placed the helmet in Lizzy's arms.

"Here, put this on. Can't have you dying, can we?"

He grinned and got on the motorcycle, after a while Lizzy got on behind him, perched on the very edge of the seat.

"Well hold on, do you want to die?"

Slowly, her arms wrapped around his midsection. Harvey's eyes widened as she pressed against his back, but he shook off the feeling and tried to ignore the rush of warmth to his face.

"J-just tell me where to go."

"Of all rides to have, Amos." Lizzy muttered under her breath, hands slowly wrapping around his waist. She waited until he started the engine before grimacing and scooting closer, her body outlining the curve of his spine as he spun around and darted out on the road.

Despite the pit in her stomach and how close she was to him, Lizzy felt a rush of adrenaline as the wind whipped through her hair and made her jacket flow out. She couldn't help but let out a hoot, and giggled as Harvey's shoulders shook with amusement. The wind started to kick up around her face and Lizzy rested her forehead on his shoulder, a gesture so intimate that she immediately picked up her head and looked away, cheeks pink.

Whether he noticed or not, he didn't react, so Lizzy just sat there and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations and telling Harvey where to go until he stopped the engine. She couldn't help but pout.

"How's that for fun?" Harvey's voice was breathy, his chest heaving as he swung off the motorcycle and yanked off his helmet, his tousled brown hair brushing into his bright eyes.

Lizzy thought about how cute and flustered he looked, so much like a little boy, and she swallowed a lump in her throat. "It would've been more fun, if I hadn't been smashed against you." she said coolly, then hooked her helmet to the handlebars. She then strolled up to her front door and unlocked it, then stepped inside, not bothering to look back.

"Home!"

"Lizzy!"

Lizzy's face broke into a happy smile, probably the most peaceful Harvey had ever seen on her face. A small blonde girl ran up and threw herself into Lizzy's arms.

She hugged the child tightly, then released her with a big grin on her face. The girl peeked around Lizzy to stare at Harvey inquisitively. "Who're you?" She demanded.

Lizzy laughed at the look on Harvey's face. "That's Harvey, your mortal enemy as well as mine, Sammy."

"He's cute."

Lizzy's eyes widened and Harvey smirked.

"Sammy, go somewhere else! Now!"

Sammy scurried away, probably to gossip with Pop, and Lizzy led Harvey to the back yard, trying to keep from turning red. But it wasn't working and Harvey's smirk only widened when he saw it.

"Some competition for my love, Miss Redmon?"

"Piss off," she snorted. "Sammy's only 14."

"Your point?"

"Ew!" Lizzy threw him a disgusted look and flopped down on the swinging loveseat, the lack of personal space only registering as the idiot took a seat beside her, arms touching. She didn't move, however, only shoved off the ground while shoving off mixed emotions and filing them under understand/sort later.

"So.. a problem in this world. What shall we do? Perhaps a smoking-free enviornment? Promote healthy living in teenagers?" Lizzy glared pointedly at him, the well-known smoker of the school.

"No, I was thinking more like sexual assault and how to not become a victim."

Harvey Amos

For some reason, Harvey was hating this far less than he imagined he would. Maybe it was the ride there. His heart was still pounding from the trip. He always loved trips on his bike, but he couldn't remember it being that fun since the first time he'd gotten it. If Lizzy was going to be that exciting on a ride then he'd have to invite her more often. The only other people who had rode on his bike were JJ and Marco and he didn't appreciate their arms around him nearly as much as he had Lizzy's...

He realized what he was thinking and snapped out of it abruptly. He shouldn't have been thinking like that, especially not about Lizzy, but he couldn't get the thought out of his head. He sat down in the loveseat beside Lizzy and then they were swinging. Her arm brushed his and he tried to ignore how in tune he was to her touch.

"So.. a problem in this world. What shall we do? Perhaps a smoking-free environment? Promote healthy living in teenagers?"

Harvey only smirked at the glare she threw him, and thought about reaching for a smoke when he remember he didn't have a light anyway.

"No, I was thinking more like sexual assault and how to not become a victim."

Silence fell on the both of them and Harvey didn't realize what he said until he saw the shocked expression on Lizzy's face. His eyes widened in horror and jumped up from his spot on the swing, mouth opening and closing helplessly. He had a horrible habit of speaking before thinking, there was absolutely no filter from his brain to his mouth, and he didn't usually care about it - anyone that had a problem with what he said could take it up with his fist - but now...

"L-Lizzy! Jesus fucking Christ I'm such an idiot! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Harvey, it's fine," Lizzy inturrpted as she got up too, standing in front of him.

Harvey shook his head and ran a sweating hand through his hair.

"No it's not. I shouldn't have said that. I wasn't thinking and I don't mean to make you- I mean after what happened I just thought that- Fuck, man, I knew I should've just went-"

Suddenly his words were muffled out by Lizzy's mouth on his. His eyes widened in shock and he moved his head back, breaking the kiss, but couldn't seem to move his hands away from where they fell on her shoulders.

"What are you-"

"Shut up," she mumbled, and then moved in again.

This time he let her. Her mouth was soft and warm and he wanted to explore every bit of it. One of his hands slipped down to hold her waist, the dip of her body just before her jeans, and another crept into her hair, soft and clean. He pressed her body into his, desperate for contact, and drowned in the feeling of her moving against him. Fragmented memories flashed in his head - a bottle, a fence - but he drowned them out and groaned against her mouth.

At least he'd remember it afterwards this time.

Elizabeth Redmon..

Shut up. Lizzy hissed in response as the voice in the back of her head scolded. It attempted to speak again, and Lizzy buried it under a pile of useless memories as Harvey stared at her in shock.

"What are you-"

"Shut up.' She said again, this time aloud, and pulled him hard against her body. Their lips met, and Lizzy sighed, slowly moving her mouth against his. It was a strangely familiar motion, kissing Harvey, and it should have shocked Lizzy, but she was too busy being burned alive as his hands rested on her hips. His mouth was a damp, warm place she wanted to take her time exploring, a feeling which heightened as he groaned.

Her hands moved from fisting his hair to slowly slide up and down his arms, outlining the curves of his muscles. She sighed against his mouth and kissed him harder, lost in the moment and the feel of his body. It was an opportunity to explore what she had never dared to do before, and Lizzy greedily took advantage, hands slowly fisting his shirt and yanking-

and then a loud and very awkward cough snapped her out of it. It brought back the dim memory of JJ shouting out for Harvey that one night and Lizzy blinked in confusion, then slowly backed away from Harvey. She turned to see Pop, face slightly red, standing there with oven mitts hanging from his limp hands. "Dinner is ready," he mumbled, then quickly threw Harvey a dirty glare and left.

Lizzy and Harvey were silent for a moment, then Lizzy spoke,. "Harv-"

Harvey quickly shoved past Lizzy and inside the house, making his way to the front yard. Lizzy stood there, staring numbly after him, listening to the motorcycle engine roar to life, then slowly fade off into the distance.

Harvey Amos

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so content. So what if it was Lizzy Redmon. Maybe he had her pegged wrong all along. Maybe she wasn't as bad as he thought her to be. After everything that had happened, he was ready to rethink this whole "I hate Redmon" mindset he'd been in since kindergarten. He felt the bottom of his shirt being yanked and tightened his arms around her. He was just about to lead them somewhere more private when a loud cough redirected his attention.

He turned his face towards the source of the noise and when he saw Pop standing in the door frame let go of Lizzy as if she was on fire. He felt his face turn red immediately and he took a few steps back.

"Dinner is ready," he mumbled.

"Well fuck," Harvey muttered.

The man threw Harvey a dirty glare, which he was too dazed to return, and stalked out. Silence fell on both of them, or at least what Harvey assumed was silence because the sound of his heart pounding in his ears drowned out even his racing thoughts. What had even happened just then? Lizzy...

"Harv-"

Harvey pushed past her and raced to the front yard. He barely got a good seating on his bike before he was speeding away.

--

He'd been laying awake in bed ever since he got home. The sky was now dark and even after all those hours of going over what happened at Lizzy's house he still didn't understand. Why would she do that? Why would she kiss him? Why did he kiss her back?

Harvey groaned and turned to look at the alarm clock on his nightstand. Nearly one A.M.

He swore he could still feel her lips on his, her warmth cupped in his hands. It was maddening. He couldn't remember feeling this way... ever, really. All of his relationships were, to phrase it nicely, flings. It was a rare occurrence if he knew the girl's last name before pairing off. This was different. This was Redmon. This was scary.

In a sudden rush, Harvey jumped out of bed and grabbed his shoes and helmet. There was absolutely no way he was going to let Lizzy fuck with his head anymore. These last few days felt like weeks to him, and it was making him sick. He didn't know for sure what he wanted from her, and had no clue what she wanted from him, but they were going to settle things tonight, whether she liked it or not.

It is one a.m., why the hell are you still awake? Lizzy grumbled to herself, shifting around once again in an attempt to get comfortable. She laid on her side, hugging the side of her pillow, trying to get herself to sleep.

They say you dream about the last thing you think about. So Lizzy thought about school and Sammy and Pop and all the things she loves to do. Anything but Harvey and kissing Harvey and feeling Harvey's touch on her body. She didn't want to dream about that.

And so she tried to sleep, shifting around on her back, stomach, and sides until she was eventually comfortable and felt herself drifting.

Then a loud and repetitive tapping sound woke her up.

Lizzy was pissed. She shoved her covers off and slid down the bed, angrily snapping on her lamp. Then she stormed over to her window and threw it open, glaring out into the night.

Harvey Amos was standing on her front lawn, throwing pebbles at her window in a 80's cliche way to get her to come downstairs. Harvey. Freaking. Amos.

Lizzy didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. She feared the first would let him think this was okay so she chose the latter. She quickly shut the window and slipped on a sweater, then her slippers. She quietly opened the door and shuffled down the hall, gently closing the front door behind her.

"What. . the hell are you doing here?" Lizzy hissed once she reached Harvey, blue eyes blazing angrily.

Harvey looked at her, studying her face quietly. It made Lizzy aware that her top was low cut and giving him a nice view of her breasts, and she quickly zipped up the sweater, cheeks a faint red.

"Harvey. What are you doing here?" she asked again, awaiting a response.

Harvey Amos

He had a plan, a vague sense of what he meant to do coming here. An outline of a plan at least, but all the guidelines laid down in his head were erased when Lizzy stepped into his view.

"What. . the hell are you doing here?"

Words piled up in Harvey's head, all jumbled up into a incomprehensible ending that he couldn't make sense of. He studied Lizzy's face, outlined in the moonlight. His breath caught in his throat and he chided himself silently for being so silly. It was just Lizzy. Lizzy who was looking ridiculously beautiful. Lizzy who looked the best when angry, strangely. He made a mental note to piss her off more, and then immediately hated himself for thinking that.

"Harvey. What are you doing here?"

Harvey fumbled a bit before clearing his throat and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"What what was that today? You've been fucking around with my emotions and I need answers."

His voice came out less hostile than he thought it would. Even to his own ears, he sounded tired and defeated. He couldn't even muster up the strength to be angry at Lizzy as she shuffled awkwardly and pressed herself for a response. He just sighed out loud and shook his head.

"Do you... like me or something?"

The sentence sounded so childish and insecure. This wasn't like him. Harvey didn't get nervous in front of girls - in front of anybody - or get sweaty palms or butterflies in his stomach-

Fucking butterflies. Really? This is so stupid.

"I don't know what kinda game you're playing at, Lizzy, but I don't want to be a part of it."

"Game? You think this is a game?"

The words spilled out of her mouth, and Lizzy clamped a hand over her mouth in shock. She gazed at Harvey with wide eyes, waiting for a reaction.

She didn't get a very big one. Harvey blinked in confusion and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking nervous- wait, nervous? Harvey, nervous? Yet again another side of him she had never seen before. This was all too strange and yet so pleasing, in a way.

"If it isn't a game, then what is it to you?" He asked.

Lizzy wasn't sure. She didn't know how to form a response, or even speak a word. She was afraid of putting her foot into her mouth. And so she walked past him, over to his motorcycle, trying to remember when exactly he had gotten this. Or rather, how we could afford it. She knew he wasn't very rich, and for a moment, she worried that someone, presumably J.J. or Marco, had stolen it for him.

She didn't touch just yet, her eyes wandering, admiring the sleek and silver bars, the dark coat, the shiny wheels, trying to ignore the truth that was repeating in her head, growing louder and louder.

Tell him the truth.

Guilt washed away at her, and Lizzy caved. Without turning around, she spoke, "Take me to the park. We can talk there."

Harvey Amos

Harvey watched Lizzy's retreating back, and knew he should have been angry, but couldn't muster up the emotion. Instead he just felt tired, extremely unbelievably tired. Before she could get too far away, Harvey followed her to his bike. Without looking at her, he handed her his helmet and got on.

The ride to the park was quiet but relaxing. It gave Harvey time to at least calm down and think about the situation with a smidgen of rationality. Yeah, maybe it was a little crazy to come to Lizzy this late, but he couldn't get her out of his mind. It was maddening. Well, now that he was thinking of it, he could be kept up at night with worse things... He shook the thought out of his head as soon as he pulled into the park. Immediately, he forgot the reason they were there and headed to the swings. They were his favorite thing about parks. His mother used to take him there all the time, pushed him so high he thought the tips of his toes would brush the clouds.

He pushed himself off the ground slowly, and swung idly while Lizzy seated herself on the swing next to him. He didn't notice at first, consumed by the nostalgic joy of being on the swings again - it wasn't everyday a guy like Harvey got leisure time at a park - but Lizzy was sat still in her seat, head hung low and hands folded in her lap. He skidded to a stop and gazed at her cautiously.

"Lizzy? What are you-"

He saw the glint of a tear fall down from her face and splash on her hand. Shocked, he jumped up from his swing.

"Woah," he exclaimed, "what's wrong?"

Before he knew what he was doing, Harvey was knelt in front of Lizzy, confused and startled. His hands fumbled around in the air, unsure of what to do, before he placed them on her shoulders.

"Hey, don't cry, alright. The Lizzy I know doesn't cry. Is this about-"

Hey stopped to quiet screams that suddenly filled his head.

"Is this about what happened... what I did? Talk to me... Please."

He grabbed her chin gently and lifted her face until their eyes met. Something clenched in his stomach and suddenly his heart sped up.

"Please."

The tears came, uninvited. They fell down her face, slowly at first, but then it all seemed to rush out of her as Harvey noticed and started to comfort her.

Lizzy couldn't answer his questions, nor speak at all. She was too busy sobbing uncontrollably, attempting to hide her face into her palms.

Strong hands pried them off her face and she was eloped into Harvey's arms, her tears soaking his shirt as she whimpered. He stroked her fading blue hair slowly, muttering useless words that comforted her and helped calm her down until she could speak.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Tell me why you're upset." Harvey demanded, pulling back slightly so he could look into her eyes.

Lizzy sniffed, preparing herself for the aftermath of what she was about to say. "I lied to you."

Harvey's warm body stiffened and she couldn't help but tremble in fear. Oh god, what had she done?

He took a second, eyes focused on the ground. Then he spoke, choosing each word carefully. "What did you say?"

"I said I lied to you." Lizzy's voice was a whisper.

"About?"

"The.. you know."

"No. I don't." His voice was flat.

"I'm so sorry Harvey. I never meant to lie. You just- the night of the party, you were drunk and you followed me outside and I tried to get you to leave me alone but you kept on bothering me until you were kissing me and I didn't want to admit that I liked it so I let you go on believing you had raped me when you really didn't and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The words rushed out of Lizzy's mouth and she panted when she finished, stomach in a knot as she awaited his response.

She didn't get one for a while, as Harvey was frozen, eyes dark and lowered to the ground. Lizzy whispered his name once more and reached out, gently touching his cheek. "Please. I'm so sorry."

Harvey jerked away from her touch and balled his hands into fists. He could feel anger building, but couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up from his throat. Finally, he lifted his gaze from the ground to glare at Lizzy. She looked absolutely wrecked. Some part of Harvey felt bad, the part that was starting to like her - he could admit that now. Some part of him was getting cozy with the idea of Lizzy, but all of that had just changed in an instant. Harvey was a lot of things, and he had no shame in admitting it, but he was not a liar.

He stood up slowly, all the while glaring down at Lizzy. These last few days had been hell for him, all because Redmon decided to lie, and for what? Harvey's glare turned into a sneer when he realized all he'd done. The nightmares... he'd cried to her. He felt so stupid.

"Harvey-"

"Don't even talk to me right now, Redmon, if you know what's good for you."

She paused in the middle of standing up and sunk back down into her seat. Harvey could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He hadn't felt this humiliated in a long time. Anger colored his face and he turned his back on her and stormed away towards his bike. It was only when he'd made it half way home that he realized he'd left Lizzy without a ride, at the park, a good ways away from her home. Something in him thought to feel bad about stranding her - it was a cold night - but his anger was still bubbling.

He even smirked at the thought of her walking home in the cold. She had to pay for what she did somehow. If she thought things were bad between them before, then it was going to be absolute hell now.

Laying in bed, Harvey starred daggers at his ceiling. Two hours later and he could still feel the tingle of her fingers on his face, her lips pressed against his. Lizzy Redmon was ruining his life.

Lizzy's heart started to beat faster, and she spoke in a whiper, "Harvey, please. I'm so sorry."

But he was walking away, without her, and Lizzy watched helplessly as he left her stranded in the park.

She sat there for a moment, stunned, staring at the distance in which he drove off. Then the tears came and soon she was sobbing hysterically. Her hands trembling, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone, dialing a number she knew by heart.

"S-Simon, please come get me. I'm at the park." she hiccuped into the phone. "No, it's okay, I'm fine. Don't you dare call my dad. Please, just come get me."

**

"You were with Harvey. Harvey. Amos." Simon said dully.

"Yes." she sniffed.

"And why did he abandon you? Hell, why did he even pick you up? Why did you even go with him?"

"I don't want to explain right now. I just want to go home and sleep."

"I want to know why you were with Harvey fucking Amos!"

The car pulled into her driveway and Lizzy was out of the car before it had even parked, calling out behind her, "Thanks, Simon."

She heard him yell angrily but quickly shut the door and locked it. She stood behind it for a moment, listening, letting out a sigh of relief as Simon reluctantly started the car and drove away. She turned and silently crept down the hall, thanking the gods for blessing her with a smidgen of good luck, happy that Sam and Pop were asleep.

She crawled beneath the covers and curled up, feeling the exhaustion set in. Her eyes drooped, tired from all the crying she did. Thoughts started to invade but she gathered them up and locked them inside an iron vault, to deal with in the morning. Instead, she slept. And slept. And slept until it was lunch time and she awoke with a growling stomach, yet she could hardly eat a thing.

**

"Feeling better?" Pop asked her over dinner.

Lizzy's response was evident as she continued to push her food around with her fork.

Her father frowned. "I'll have you stay home tomorrow. Hopefully you'll feel better over the weekend."

"Thanks, Pop." she said in a fake hoarse voice.

Truth was, she didn't want to see Harvey. In fact, she really couldn't handle seeing him. She'd break down again.

Lizzy excused herself from the table and went up to her room, sitting on the bed, hating herself and what she did. She really fucked the poor kid up, and she felt so guilty for it. If she hadn't just been honest- and it was obvious he liked her too! Didn't he? He did kiss her after all.

And now she was thinking of his lips on hers and his hands on her hips, stroking them lightly, and she involuntarily let out a whimper. She liked his touch, she liked it a lot. She couldn't lie about it. Harvey Amos was stupid and insufferable and oh so yummy. And she lost him.

Her eyes found themselves in the mirror and she glared at herself hatefully. Then the blueness of her hair caught her attention and suddenly, Lizzy couldn't handle it anymore. Why did she even dye her hair? The color was bothering her. She hated it. She hated it so much.

**

"What the hell did you do?" Simon whispered in shock.

"Dyed it."

"Why?"

"Because." Lizzy snapped, her hands rising to self consciously stroke her now brown hair.

The looks she was getting were infuriating and Lizzy scowled in annoyance. "This is worse than when I first dyed it blue. No one stared this much!"

"The blue was your thing, Lizzy." Simon grumbled.

"So? It can be your thing now, okay. I'm so over it. It didn't feel ri-" they turned the corner and Lizzy found herself knocking straight into a chest. She almost fell, but Simon quickly caught her. He helped her back onto her feet, then watched as her face went white.

He turned to see Harvey standing there and instantly puffed up, angry over last night. "I picked her up at fucking one in the morning, you asshole. She could have been raped." he hissed, going head to hea dwith Harvey.

"Simon, don't." Lizzy whispered, eyes locked on Harvey's handsome face as she tried to move in between them.

"You leave her alone Amos, or I swear to god-" Simon started to yell before Harvey tried to punch him.

Tried to, because Lizzy shoved herself between them and cried out as Harvey's fist connected with her left eye. Spots appeared, and she was dimly aware of the fact that she was falling before her head slammed onto the ground. And then everything went black.

Harvey Amos

Harvey walked reluctantly into the school building. Thankfully, Redmon hadn't been at school yesterday. His anger was still high enough to where he feared his reaction should he have saw her. Even though his boys weren't entirely sure of what was going on, only Jene knew about the "rape", they tried their best to help. Their best which consisted of Marco doing Harvey's missing work while they all lounged around in the gym and listened to JJ talk about nothing and everything at the same time. The day had gone by lazily and he got to vent his anger on punch bags and some freshman.

Most of the gossip about him and Lizzy had calmed down thanks to some well placed threats, and what Marco did to the last guy they heard talking shit should have set an example for the rest of the population. Even though things were getting relatively back to normal in the school, Harvey's brain was still all screwed. He should hate her. He did hate her. At least he was trying to convince himself that he still did. Not that he was rushing to hold hands with her, he was still angry about what she'd done, but he was... worried about her. It was such a classic "Harvey" response to what she'd said. Leave. Simply get away from the problem. He should have let her explain - if there was an explanation for something like that - or at least gave her a fucking ride home!

Harvey shook the thoughts out of his head and walked in through the door. Immediately he headed towards the gym. He'd promised Coach Lowery yesterday that he'd help with football practice since they had their first game that weekend. He was at the gym doors when he remembered all his stuff was in his locker. Angry, he turned around and hurried back. He was making a sharp turn around a corner when someone ran into his chest. He reeled back and steadied himself against the wall of lockers, ready to tell off whatever idiot ran into him until he looked up and saw Lizzy. He assumed it was Lizzy, the lack of blue hair threw him off. He liked the brown though, she looked nicer. Still, a scowl stained his face when he remembered what she'd done. He was just about to brush it off and leave when her idiot of a friend spoke up.

"I picked her up at fucking one in the morning, you asshole. She could have been raped."

Harvey's eyes flashed at the word and his attention seemed to focus in on Simon. He turned around and was face to face with Lizzy's little puppet. His eyes narrowed and already his hand was forming into a fist.

"You leave her alone Amos, or I swear to god-"

Harvey cocked his arm back and didn't even think before letting it fly forward. It was only when Lizzy cried out that he realized he hit the wrong person. Immediately his rage subsided.

"Shit, Redmon," he exclaimed.

"What the fuck did you do," Simon yelled.

"Fuck off!"

Harvey keeled on the ground beside Lizzy while she groaned in pain. Vaguely he heard the voices of JJ and Marco arguing with Simon in the background.

"Aw shit, Redmon, I didn't mean to do that."

She just groaned in reply. His hands fumbled around nervously before moving to lift her up. He looked behind him but saw that Simon was occupied with Marco, who had him cornered against the lockers. And JJ was ushering the onlookers away. Crowds alerted teachers and they needed none of them poking their noses into this.

"I'm gonna take you to the nurse, okay. Damnit, Lizzy, why do you hafta be so stupid?"

Lizzy came to after a few minutes and found herself in strong arms. For a moment, she thought it was Simon and rested against him willingly. Then she felt the man stiffen and realized it was Harvey, not Simon.

Her cheeks reddened and she jerked back, then squirmed.

"I got it, Amos. Put me down."

"Not a chance in hell." He muttered.

"I'm fine; I'm not a wimp like you!"

Harvey grit his teeth but nonetheless set her down on her feet. Lizzy wobbled for a moment, then shot him a glare and started to walk. A few steps in and dots suddenly filled her vision. She stumbled, hands shooting out to grasp something, anything, and it turned out to be his hand she grasped.

"Okay." Harvey said, picking her up again. "That didn't work."

"This is your fault." Lizzy hissed blindly.

"Piss off and stay out of fights, then."

"Like hell, you were about to hit my best friend!" she snapped.

"Like hell, you were about to hit my best friend!" he mocked.

Lizzy glared at Harvey dangerously, but before she could speak, he shoved a door open and dumped her on the cot. "Stay here." he dictated before turning to go find the nurse.

While he was gome, Lizzy sat up and grabbed a mirror off the counter, slowly lifting it to her face, scared to look. When she saw her bruised eye, she winced. Pop was gonna throw a big fit when he sees that, she thought.

Harvey came back, quickly followed by an eldery woman, who took Lizzy's temperature, dabbed at the bruise with some smelly ointment, and gave Lizzy a bag of ice to set on the bruise.

When she ordered Harvey to go back to class, the idiot surprised her with a sharp, "Hell no."

"Young man.." the nurse began.

"Listen, Nurse Amy, I was the one that punched her on accident, so I'll be the one to make sure she's okay and tell her Pop when he gets here."

Lizzy's heart fluttered as he called her father Pop. It seemed so intimate, like he was actually fond of the old man.

The nurse finally wrote him a note excusing him from class and left. Lizzy and Harvey sat in an awkward silence, withher laying on the cot and him sitting beside her. Their thoughts wandered and Lizzy was dimly aware of his hands stroking her hair.

She felt herself groe tired, and relaxed by the sensations of her hair being played with, and let out a quiet "I'm sorry" before she fell asleep.

Harvey Amos

I can not with these two right now.

Harvey let his fingers play idly with Lizzy's hair, all the while trying not to think too hard about what he was allowing himself to do. He could still see faint traces of blue hidden within the brown strands of hair. He found one and, with a mischievous smirk, pulled it out. Lizzy squirmed in her sleep, whispered a quiet "stop", and then drifted back off. He let out a small chuckle and began combing through her hair again, letting the soft strands fall through the gaps in his fingers. It looked nice on her, he decided. She was prettier with the brown.

As if her hair had suddenly caught ablaze, Harvey jerked his hand back. Only because it seemed like the appropriate thing to do, he glared down at Lizzy's sleeping body. The start of a curse was on the tip of his tongue, but before he could spit it out his facial features relaxed into a sadder expression. What was the point? With a sigh he leaned back against the wall and covered his face with both of his hands.

"What am I even doing?"

The words Lizzy spoke before she passed out came back to his head.

"I'm sorry."

Harvey barked a harsh laugh before groaning and moving his hands to tangle in his hair. His eyes cut towards Lizzy laying there on the bed and he moved one of his hands, slowly, to touch her face. They'd made out before - apparently twice - yet the contact embarrassed him. He didn't get embarrassed, but the contact was gentle and soft. It reminded him of two nights ago at the park. The spot where she'd touched his cheek seemed to remember too, and the nerves in that area tingled as if she'd only just retracted her hand. Sleepily, Lizzy's moved her head to where Harvey's hand cupped her face. Harvey's heart sped up to a dangerous tempo and he jerked his hand back into his lap.

"You're sorry," he mumbled to her sleeping body. "You should be. I don't know what you're doing to me, Redmon... I wish I still fucking hated you."

The doorknob turned and Harvey reacted immediately. In less time that it took to open the door, Harvey was sitting in the visitor's seat instead of on Lizzy's cot and in the middle of taking out his phone, feigning boredom.

"How's our patient," Nurse Amy asked as she entered.

"Fine I guess. Who cares?"

The nurse raised her eyebrow suspiciously and moved over to wake Lizzy.

"Hey sweetheart," she whispered, "it's time to get up, your dad's here."

Lizzy only snored lightly in reply.

"Harvey, would you mind helping Lizzy to her dad's? She appears to be out cold."

"Yeah, well maybe if she wasn't trying to save her asshole friend then-"

"Mr. Amos."

"Fine! Whatever."

--

Facing Lizzy's dad was more awkward than Harvey expected it to be. It also didn't help the situation that his unconscious daughter was draped in his arms.

"Hello Mr. Redmon."

"What happened to her?"

"I... did..?"

Immediately Pop's eyes darkened.

"What did you do?"

"I accidentally punched her in the face."

"What do you mean-!"

"It wasn't meant for her! It was meant for that bastard Simon! She just jumped in the middle. Sir, I wouldn't hurt her... not on purpose."

Not anymore.

Pop's glare eased and he stepped up to take Lizzy from Harvey's arms.

"Not on purpose, huh? Well then. Thank you for bringing her to me."

Pop turned and left the front office. Harvey hesitated all the way until Pop had made it to his car before sprinting out to meet him again. Pop turned around startled. Harvey straightened his posture and struggled to talk while he caught his breath.

"Hey, uh, would you mind if I visited later today? Just to check on her? I mean, this was all my fault and I want to make sure she's okay."

Pop starred at Harvey, examining him up and down - the scrutinizing made Harvey squirm - before nodding.

"I'll make dinner for four. Try not to run out before we eat this time."

"Okay. Yeah alright. Thanks."

"See you later."

"Yeah bye."

Harvey took one last look at Lizzy, laid down in the backseat of the car, before walking away.