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.

Harvey's smile grows wider. "Were you concerned? Worried? Aw, you R2 sweet for me today, Sky Walker. What a treat."

As expected, she doesn't say anything and shoulders her bag, turning to leave.

Harvey watches her, but she suddenly stops and turns around to ask him, "What's your major?"

He was not expecting that question. He answers, "Biomedical Engineering and Biology with emphasis on Neuroscience."

Sky keeps her face expressionless. "Why are you in a history class, then? About women?"

Harvey steps closer to her. Her feet stay planted on the ground as Harvey stands in front of her, shoving his hand into his pocket. He locks her with his gaze and says, "In elementary school, a girl I had a crush on wore glasses and she hated them. And I remember staring at the lightbulb for hours, trying to get glasses too, to make her feel better."

Sky blinks at him. "What's your point?"

"And you call me a laserbrain," Harvey mutters, gripping the strap of his bag. "See you on Wednesday." Then, he leaves the room.

*

It's raining and there are no umbrellas left in the stand. Harvey has to tell countless customers this and watch them scowl and spew angry curse words at the door before leaving the store.

He keeps his book on his lap as he waits behind the register, crossing his legs under him. Agatha sends him another text, and Harvey reads it immediately. What time is your shift over :(

Why

What about my cookies!!! You said you were going to help so you can give some to your crush >:(

Harvey chuckles and types his reply. You bribed* me to help. And I'm done at one. Have you eaten dinner

OKAY i'll wait for you we need to bake together and send some to mom :D

You have class tomorrow????

It's in the afternoon :p

If you fall asleep I'm not helping you anymore and I'm keeping the $100. HAVE YOU EATEN DINNER

Don't shout at me!

YOU DIDN'T ANSWER ME

YES I HAVE, STOP BEING ANNOYING AND GO BACK TO WORK

Harvey doesn't bother replying. He tosses his phone back somewhere in his bag, chuckling to himself and returns his attention to his textbook.

As much as he found the history course unappealing at first, this book is actually really good. Harvey continues reading, and only puts down it down when a customer comes by the register.

He's almost ending another chapter he flipped through when a hoard of chips, a variety of snacks, and three different juice bottles are all tossed on the counter. Harvey stands up, eyes blinking blearily.

But Sky is standing in front of him, drowning in her navy blue hoodie with the hood pulled up to cover her face and hair, and she's wearing sweatpants and slippers. "I didn't know you worked here," she rasps, voice rough as if she hasn't used it for hours.

Almost automatically, Harvey grins. "Took an extra shift. Lovely to see you. Up working?"

Sky puts her hands in her pockets and tips her chin up at the products on the counter.

Harvey shakes his head in amusement. "I'll ring these up for you. Are...are you eating all of these by yourself?"

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

"No," Harvey says. Can't stop smiling as he scans the barcodes.

Sky shuffles on her feet, watching him work. Then she asks quietly, "Is this why you're always sleeping in class?"

Harvey gives her a glance. She looks expectant, waiting for an answer. "Helps my mom pay the bills," he tells her honestly. "Don't worry. I'm still gonna ace the test. I always do." He throws her a wink for a good measure.

Sky can't even argue with that. She stands there awkwardly, as if having an internal battle. Then, she turns around to quickly grab another bottle and almost shoves it in Harvey's face. "Do you have a break?"

Harvey takes the bottle. It's coffee. He rings that up, too. "Uh, no, but my shift ends in..." He looks at his watch. "In ten."

"If I'm still seated outside in ten," she starts, looking him in the eye. "The other seat's gonna be empty."

Harvey can't process that. "What?"

Sky pays for everything, grabs all of her snacks in her arms and leaves the coffee. "That's for you."

And then she's out the door and ten minutes have never felt so long in his entire life.

Sky is still seated in one of the bench-table things they have outside of the convenience store, and she's already finished half of her food. Her legs are up on her seat, tucked inside the big hoodie she's wearing. Harvey grins and almost sits down, but Sky holds her hand up and says, "Before you sit, can you promise me no flirting?"

"No."

Sky sighs and leans back against her chair, opening her juice. "Why did I even bother asking..."

Harvey sits down. "Thanks for the coffee. I needed it."

Sky stares at him. "I didn't know you were a science major. I didn't know you were smart."

Harvey chokes out a laugh.

"I mean, I know. From your exam scores. Since last semester," Sky stutters, hugging herself defensively. "But. Engineering and Neuroscience?"

"Is it so unbelievable that you're still thinking about that? It's been hours. I know I incoherently string words together when we talk but come on."

Sky bites her lip. Under her hoodie, there's no makeup on her face, and she looks like she's in need of sleep, but Harvey thinks she's still beautiful like this. "I just thought you'd be in the social sciences or something. I don't know. It doesn't make sense you're in a history class."

God. Harvey wants to knock some sense to her. Kiss her. "Why are you a TA, then?"

"Because I love the job," she answers immediately, tearing open another snack. "It helps my family. Adds to my work experience. And I love the classes I choose—Greek Myth. Women in Antiquity. Wow."

Harvey smiles. It's obvious she does. She's passionate and smart and hardworking and as crazy as it sounds, he can hear her voice in the textbook.

She asks another question. "How did you meet your friends?"

"Ah, in high school, Abe invited everyone in our class to his birthday party with handwritten invitations. It was full of glitter and everything." He rubs the nape of his neck. "And I was the only one who went. He was crying when I came in, then he said that I'm stuck with him forever. I didn't have a choice. Then he met Landon first last year—he was his tutor in Spanish, I think. And then they were together before Jax came along, and now they're all together."

"Romantic," Sky says with a small smile, munching on her biscuits. Harvey's glad.

"And Tobin?" he counters.

"Ah, weird story." But she's laughing. "Basically involves a lot of misunderstandings. Tobin thought I liked her, and I thought she wanted to bang. Then we decided on neither and agreed on being friends and roommates."

It's the first time he hears Sky say she swings the other way, too, but it doesn't matter to Harvey. "She's cool," Harvey says. "I like her eyebrows."

Sky crumples the biscuit wrapper. "You can have the rest," she says, tipping her chin up at the remaining snacks. "Um, for your sister. You live together, right?"

Harvey's eyebrows shoot up. "Just for my sister?"

"You can ask her if you want some," Sky answers, giving him a sweet smile.

He likes her so much, what the fuck! "Okay." He takes the plastic bag and stands. "Student residence, right? That's on the way to my apartment," he says, waiting for her reaction.

Sky starts walking. "If you wanted to walk me home, just ask."

Harvey grins. His heart soars as he falls into step beside her. "Then walk you home, I shall."

She slows her steps and raises her head to look at him. "Did you really watch the movies?"

Harvey kicks a stone on her way. "Yeah, I did. I forced Abe to watch them with me, too."

Sky is quiet for a few moments. Then, quietly, she says, "I don't like the films as much as I did before. But they still hold a place in my heart. My parents met talking about it."

Harvey nods. "Great. We can follow their footsteps."

A hand pulling on his jacket sleeve makes him stop. Sky drops her hand. "Harvey. Why do you keep doing this? You know I'm your TA, right?"

He smiles and gives her a one-shoulder shrug. "I know. But only until this semester, right? Then you're done?"

Sky nods, blinking at him.

"Good, then," he mutters. Starts walking again. "Come on."

Agatha is asleep on the couch when Harvey tiptoes inside their apartment. Sighing, he carefully carries her to her room and tucks her in bed.

They end up baking the cookies the next day instead.