How To Woo Sky Walker

5

Harvey and Agatha make a trip to their mom's place two towns over on the weekend. They both enjoy her specialty—garlic butter shrimp scampi pasta—and make chocolate shakes and binge-watch Princess Diaries on the couch. His mom might have lost her two husbands—one upped and left, and the other passed due to disease, but somehow, she's never lost her young and free spirit and the wide smile on her face when she sees Harvey's beat-up car pull up the driveway makes the trip so, so worth it.

Harvey gives her his earnings from his part-time job. "It's not much, but it's enough to pay this month's bills. I'll get the next and drop by again, okay?"

His mom looks at the money, then at him. "I told you to focus on school."

"I am," he assures her with a smile. "I'm smart, I have great grades. This is nothing."

She takes his hand with both of hers and envelopes it with her palms. "Thank you," she murmurs, kissing his knuckles. "You've been holding up our family on your own ever since..." she trails off, taking a deep breath. "How is Agatha? How is my little girl?"

"She's fine," he tells her truthfully. "I make sure of it. We have food every day, and she studies. She's doing well in school."

His mom nods, giving him a small smile. "Good. And you?"

Harvey grins. "I'm trying to get my crush to like me."

Her eyes twinkle. There are wrinkles and lines all over her face, but when her eyes shine...she looks as young as ever. "Is this the same one from last semester?"

"Mom, you know me so well."

She laughs and ruffles his hair. Comes closer to kiss his forehead. "She'd be a damn fool if she didn't like you, love."

Harvey agrees. She is.

In class, Harvey sleeps through Bennett's lecture. He likes the guy. He really, really does. His dad jokes make him snicker and he knows what he's written in the textbook and can actually teach it. Since Harvey's been in college, only a few professors know how to do that.

But he can't keep his eyes open. Not even to notice how often Sky steals glances at him.

After class, in his half-asleep state, he goes up to the desk just as she's packing up her things. "Hey. Your cuteness is making everyone stare. Stop it."

She doesn't look at him. "That's the first thing you say to me after leaving last Friday? Without a word?"

Oh. Oh. A slow grin makes its way across Harvey's face. He leans on the table. "Why? Do you want to fight about it? Wanna cuddle about it? Wanna maybe make out about it?"

Sky raises her head and levels him with a flat stare. "For once, I'm being serious. Why did you leave."

She asks this like a statement, and Harvey feels a tiny bit guilty. Was this on her mind the whole weekend?

"Why are you asking?" he counters, raising his eyebrow.

"Because it's rude," Sky says, crossing her arms. She looks pissed. "And I don't know, did I scare you or some shit? Dented your masculinity?"

He'd let her if she asked, but no. Fuck it. "No. What you did was really hot and I had to leave to calm down."

Harvey stood up when he saw the man approaching her. He almost ran to her.

And when that prick touched her with no consent, Harvey was ready to step in. He is, by no means, an advocate of violence, but his hands had twitched and curled up into fists.

But Sky handled it. She didn't need him.

"Oh," she says, furrowing her eyebrows. She doesn't meet his eyes.