AN: DON'T HATE ME! I have had SOOO much going on and as much as I wanted to update these stories, I honestly didn't have time. I hope you guys still love me!

Without further ado, here's the latest update!

Happy Reading!

XOXO

TBS

CH 9

Harper opened her eyes as quickly as she could and she saw complete darkness. She tried to remain calm as she attempted to adjust her vision to her surroundings.

I can still smell him.

I smell her too….

Would they leave me here alone?

Nervous to have been left all by her lonesome, she rubbed her hand across the hospital bed railing to find the light switch and silently prayed the previous evening hadn't been some sort of a sick dream.

The dim light filled the spacious hospital room and cast a glow around the major features of the room. Harper immediately found what she was looking for and a small smile graced her face.

On the couch adjacent to the bed she saw what made her heart leap. She saw Fitz and Olivia sound asleep on the couch. Fitz had his legs splayed out in front of him and the cap he likely used as a disguise was perched down over his face. She could hear the rumble of his snores. Olivia was cuddled up next to him as best she could, her face buried in his neck and his arm securely fastened around her.

They didn't leave me.

Harper smiled to herself. She woke up from a pee dream, her body's own personal prank and way of letting her know to relieve herself. She almost became teary-eyed at the sight of both her parents together so peaceful and didn't want to disturb them.

She pushed the covers down to her ankles, trying to make some sense of the unfashionable hospital gown that was now bunched around her thighs. She attempted to swing her legs over the side as she would any other night, and that's when it hit her.

The pain.

Harper caught her own moan of pain as she covered her mouth, trying her best to NOT disturb the slumbering adults near her. She tried to sit up, wincing in pain as she balanced her body on the edge of the bed and ran her hand alongside her lower left back.

Ok, so maybe this wasn't a good idea, she thought to herself.

Harper was determined to stand on her own, needing to feel some sort of independence from this hospital stay. She appreciated everyone helping her and making sure she was ok, but she was headstrong by nature and needed to reassure herself that she was still ok. She let her feet dangle over the edge of the bed, and just as she motioned to courage to let them touch the floor and push herself up, a manly sleep-filled voice startled her, causing her to almost hit the floor.

"Harp, NO!" Fitz yelled. He didn't mean to yell and Olivia basically fell to the floor as he surged his body forward to catch his frail daughter. Fitz' arms were under her body within seconds, scooping her up easily but gracefully. He froze at the sight of her wincing in his arms, wanting to smack himself for causing her anymore pain.

"Harp?" Olivia was by his side in seconds.

"I'm fine….ouch," Harper said unconvincingly.

"Where are you trying to go, munchkin?" Olivia asked as she stroked her daughter's head. Fitz seemed to be playing a game of quiet mouse still mouse as he was frozen in place, afraid to hurt her.

"I was going to the bathroom, but the incredible hulk here-" Harper started annoyingly.

"Saved your butt from a pretty bad fall and an extended hospital stay." Fitz finished for her. "Why didn't you wake one of us?"

"Because I wanted to try it on my own. I need to-" Harper tried again but Fitz took control of her sentence yet again.

"You need to be careful." The bass in his voice was laced with concern and genuine respect. He gazed at his daughter and had to remind himself that she was probably a lot like her mother-independent to the point of almost self-destruction.

Asif on cue, Olivia spoke up. "Fitz, she needs to use the-"

"I heard. I remember. I'll take her."

Harper's eyes widened at this statement and Olivia's weren't too far behind. Fitz went to take a step and Olivia tried to grab his forearm, but he was in the bathroom and standing in front of the toilet before she could gather her balance.

"NO! MOM, PLEASE!" Harper cried.

Fitz face fell with disappointment. He knew deep down she wasn't used to him and he wasn't going to invade her privacy, but the sound of her being uneasy with him threatened to break him at that point. He stood frozen yet again and watched as Olivia strutted into the bathroom.

Immediately, she noticed the sadness of his face and decided to reassure him.

"Fitz," She whispered. "Fitz, it's not personal. It's her…um…well, it's her…She's coloring with a red crayon this week."

Fitz felt like the dumbest person on the planet as he stared at the beautiful woman before him. She looked wonderful even as her hair was all over her head and no makeup dawned her face.

"Excuse m- OOOOHHHHH." Fitz felt his face flush and as he eased Harper down to stand in front of her mother. He made sure she had her balance and shoved his hands in his pockets as he made haste leaving the bathroom and closing the door. Once they were alone, Harper and Olivia shared a giggle.

/

Harper was made to stay in the hospital for a few more days. Her body was still in recovery mode and they didn't want to push her progress. She, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get out of the room.

Nick called and asked for permission to stop by. This caused Olivia's mind to run back to what Harper said while under the influence of Morphine about….

"Harper….you've had your first kiss?" Olivia couldn't hide her sadness at the fact that her daughter was growing up.

"Hunh?" Harper tried to play dumb. Olivia wasn't having it.

"Harper, I just wanna make sure you are being-CAREFUL." Olivia stressed the word careful and Harper's face turned 5 shades of red.

"MOM! NO! We have had this talk already, remember?" Harper cut a sideways glance at Fitz who was in the corner with his back turned on the phone. She prayed her mother wouldn't put her through this yet again.

"I'm just saying. Thirteen isn't grown, young lady, and when the time is right-"Harper cut her mother off.

"Of course, I'll come running to you like I'm in a marathon. Got it, Ma." Harper was relieved that Fitz was now off the phone. It looked like the conversation was over.

For now.

/

He had been worried for days. Ever since he found out that something was wrong with Harper, he couldn't do much of anything anymore. He couldn't focus during rehearsals, he couldn't function right in the studio, and all the people near and around him knew this meant only ONE thing: Nick Johnson was in love.

This of course was the first time and hard for him to decipher his feelings. He didn't think he would ever care that much about a girl. True, he had girlfriends before and even made it so far as to make out with them, but he definitely didn't consider himself as experienced as his music might suggest. He didn't think love would hit him at the tender age of 16…

And then he met Harper.

Everything had fallen into place in his life since he first met her. He didn't care that everyone had jokes and thought he was a pussy. He didn't care that people made fun of him for ALWAYS being on his phone talking and texting her. He DAMN sure didn't care that they were upset with him now for blowing off rehearsals to go see her, but he had finally worked up enough courage to ask her formidable mother to visit.

"Nick, SERIOUSLY? Dude, we have a show soon. She will still be there when you get back," His manager had told him.

"No. I gotta do this. I can't- I just need to see her. I need to make sure she's ok." Nick had argued back.

Now, Nick found himself sitting the Harper's hospital room along with her mother and FTG3. He was dressed casually in jeans and a green button down shirt. Nick couldn't help but wonder why Fitzgerald Grant was here, and shooting daggers at him at that, but he knew it wasn't his place to ask questions. Instead, he spent all his energy focusing on the love of his life and making sure she was ok.

"Do you need anything?" Nick asked Harper.

She blushed, "No. I'm fine. Thank you. Oh, and thanks for the lilies. I love lilies." Harper smiled back.

Fitz watched the exchange between the teenagers and felt the beginning of a headache forming. He pinched the bridge of his nose, the only thing stopping him from removing this little snot head kid from his daughter's room was Olivia's hand on his knee.

"Fitz, they are kids. Relax. Harper will shock you. She had a very special way about her and how she handles things. If you look closely, you might recognize her style." Olivia whispered only loud enough for Fitz to hear. He groaned in response to this.

Nick insisted on staying and buying Harper dinner. With her parents gone downstairs to the cafeteria to eat and give them a little privacy (much to Fitz' disliking), Harper and Nick finally got a chance to catch up. Nick sat on the bed beside Harper and held her hand. This was the closest he had been to her since their first kiss about a week ago.

When Fitz appeared in the doorway of Harper's room, he found Nick bent over Harper. He knew deep down it was irrational to be this upset so quickly and he knew that logically speaking, she was a teenager. He knew ALL these things, yet he still felt propelled to act like a lunatic about his baby girl. He cleared his throat, effectively ending the moment the teens shared and Nick took his cue to exit. He hugged Olivia and shook Fitz' hand before making a hasty exit.

"Really?" Harper was aggravated.

"Really. What was he doing so close to you? Counting nose hairs!?" Fitz could feel his temper rising, but decided it might not be best to push his territory with Harper.

Harper took a deep breath and slumped down in her bed. She looked like she felt-defeated. She didn't want to lose her father before things got started good, and she also didn't want another adult breathing down her neck all the time.

As she began to run these thoughts thru her head, Olivia spoke up.

"Harper, baby, do you hear me?"

"Hunh? Sorry, Mom. What was that?"

"I asked about you and Nick. Did you enjoy your time together?"

Harper took a deep breath. What her parents didn't know was that when they came in, Nick was trying to calm her down and she wouldn't, he had kissed her. A little differently than before, but it was still a kiss and it worked.

"We did. Especially when he informed me of the mob downstairs that won't leave. He even mentioned that speculation is growing of why you refuse to leave.

Fitz and Olivia locked eyes.

"Quit! Quit doing that! What is going on?" Harper asked.

She prayed she could handle whatever that threw at her.

AN: SO, we get a little more info on Nick. Such a sweetie! Harper's attitude may be associated with her body pain, but she is NO PUSHOVER.

Review and as always, Happy reading!

I made this chapter shorter as a filler chapter to let you guys know I haven't forgotten about TFTH or this story. More to come!

Any Ideas? You will have to wait and see how it all plays out. Nick is such a cutie! So sweet…