“Here let me,” I mutter as Harley tries to push the ice away that I’m holding on his lip. He smiles at me before gently kissing me, and I sigh. Ever since he walked out of the Cage with Em at his side, he hasn’t said he is in any pain at all when I know he must be. I waited as he came back and showered the blood off and got dressed. I offered him painkillers, but he refused to have any.

“It doesn’t hurt,” he says, and I give him a disbelieving glare. Harley’s one eye is swollen, nearly shut, and there are a range of bruises already showing all over his face. I don’t believe him for a second.

“You know how awesome you are? Allie says ‘awesome’ a lot and–” he sways a little in the seat.

“You fought five guys, today, there’s no way you’re not in pain, and yes, Allie says ‘awesome’ a lot,” I tell him and give him a worried look. What if he has a concussion or something?

“It's the painkillers I crushed into his drink,” Luke says, sitting on the sofa with my baby girl in his arms, and I give him a wide-eyed look, “What? I knew the stubborn fucker wouldn’t have them,” he shrugs.

“Language,” Harley says with a dopey smile as he leans back on the sofa. I watch as he slowly falls asleep, and I move him, so he is lying down on the sofa. I pull one of the blankets over him as Izzy comes into the room.

“It was a good idea, he needs to rest,” I comment, stroking Harley's hair off his face and watching him for a second as Luke doesn’t say a word.

“Any news on Maisy?” I ask.

“Is he alright?” Izzy asks, and I nod. “Oh . . . no news. They are letting the labour go naturally, and she is close, apparently,” she says and goes to sit next to Luke.

“Let me hold baby girl,” Izzy says, and Luke shakes his head.

“Nope, I got her to sleep after she woke up, so I’m holding her,” he says, and I smile at him. “A name yet?” Luke asks, and I shake my head.

“I have some time to decide,” I mutter, and Izzy laughs.

“Come on, you must have some idea for a name,” she tells me.

“Okay, there was this one name- “I get cut off when Izzy’s phone starts buzzing, and she answers the call.

“Oh my god, congratulations Seb, that’s amazing. Yes, I will tell them. Love you bro, and I will be at the hospital in the morning. Jake is fine, I promise. Bye,” Izzy says all this so quickly that neither Luke nor I can say a word until she puts the phone down.

“A girl, she’s perfect, and Maisy is doing well. They decided to call her Isabelle,” Izzy says, and there are grins from all of us as we look at each other.

“It’s Blake, he is at the hospital as he drove Seb and Elliot,” Izzy says when her phone starts buzzing again, and she walks out of the room as she answers him.

“Here, pass her to me. I’m taking her back to bed, and I will check Jake before I go to sleep, myself,” I say to Luke who offers me my baby girl, and I hold her close to my chest. I look down at her, seeing how her curly, red hair is growing already, and loving the little snores she makes as she sleeps. Harley makes a small, groaning noise, and I look over at him. I hate seeing him like this, in so much pain, but I’m happy it’s over. This is the first and only time I will have to see him suffer like this.

“I’m watching him for the night,” Luke tells me, seeing where I’m staring. I look over at the youngest King brother. The tattoos he has lining his arms, the scruffy hair, and slight beard make him look older than all his brothers. I would say he is the playful one out of them all, but there are still those shadows in his eyes. The same shadows they all have, but Harley has them the worst from what I know. His shadows are the most difficult to erase.

“I’m still going to check he is okay in a few hours, you don’t have to stay up all night,” I reply to Luke. I know I won’t be able to sleep well, tonight knowing Harley isn’t completely okay.

“He’s my brother, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him, and that includes watching movies on my phone down here until he wakes up in the morning,” he says.

“He feels the same about you and all your brothers. I know because I’ve always been protective of my brothers, too,” I say and mentally chuckle to myself about all the times I’ve helped them get out of trouble. There’s something about having close siblings, it has a way of making you feel loved and knowing you have someone protecting your back.

“It’s what Kings do, apparently Foxes are just the same,” he says, and I wink at him.

“You have that right.”

“Can I ask you something?” Luke asks, nervously moving on the sofa. I’ve never seen him nervous before.

“Sure,” I say, sitting on the edge of the sofa and moving my baby onto my shoulder. I pat her back gently as she stirs a little. I’m lucky she loves her sleep and is happy whenever someone is holding her.

“Okay, so there’s this girl . . .,” he starts off, “that sounded more rehearsed than I wanted it to.”

“I’m listening,” I say with a little chuckle, and he groans.

“She is complicated as fuck, messes with my head, but I can’t stop thinking about her. We had a one-night stand and afterwards, she just . . . .”

“Just?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just say I know she is hiding something from me, but I don’t know what it is. I can’t figure her out, but no other girl compares to her. Nothing compares to her,” Luke says, and I nod, looking at Harley.

“Then don’t give up, no matter how messed-up things are; how hard they get, you fight. That’s what your brother taught me, and it’s what he would tell you if you asked him. If you can’t stop thinking about her, there’s a reason for that,” I say, knowing that there’s a reason I can’t stop thinking about Harley.

“Thanks. Just, part of me wants to give up on her sometimes, but then even thinking of doing that . . . yeah, I can’t,” Luke says and looks down at his hands.

“Then, she is worth it,” I say gently, and he smiles up at me.

“Thanks, Till’s,” Luke smiles, looking down at his phone as he slips it in his hand.

“No problem, night, Luke,” I reply.

“Night,” he waves a hand and pulls his phone out of his pocket. I gently shut the door behind me as I leave the room and go upstairs. When I get to my room, I put my baby in her cot and kiss her head. I check on Jake before getting into bed, and close my eyes, letting the small sound of my baby’s little snores lure me to sleep.

* * *

“Tilly,” I hear whispered gently, and I blink my eyes open to see Harley lying next to me on the bed, our faces inches apart. Harley doesn’t look any better this morning, his eye is still swollen shut, and his face is a muted colour of bruises. His lip has a long cut on the left side, but the swelling has gone down a little.

“Harley?” I ask in a little bit of a daze.

“Shh, baby girl is still sleeping,” Harley says, putting his finger to my lips. I look over my shoulder to see it’s still dark outside, and I can see my baby sleeping in her cot.

“How are you feeling?” I ask Harley quietly, placing my hand on his chest.

“Better, although I’m not accepting drinks from Luke. I should have known he would do that,” he says, and I smile.

“I kind of like that he did, you needed your rest,” I say, and he grins.

“Any news on Maisy and Isabelle?” I ask him, and he pulls his phone out of his jean pocket. I wait as he unlocks it and then shows me photos of Maisy and Sebastian holding a little baby with black hair. I look closer and see she looks just like Maisy and Jake. Jake and Isabelle have the same black hair. Above the photo is a message saying ‘she has my green eyes,’ and I know she is going to be the image of her brother.

“They look so happy,” I say as I hand him his phone back, and he puts it in his jeans.

“They do,” he says. I pause when he leans closer, so our mouths are inches away from each other, and he reaches over, tucking some of my hair behind my ear.

“Tilly, I want a date on Friday. Five days away. I’ve been planning it for a while,” he says, and I love that he has been planning a date for us. For the future we can now have.

“We go on dates already,” I whisper back, and he chuckles.

“Nothing like this one. This one is the start of us, Tilly. You’d best be ready,” he teases me.

“So should you Mr. King,” I whisper back and brush my lips against his, he responds by kissing me again harder, an almost desperate kiss as he rolls himself over me. The sound of the baby crying only moments later makes us break apart.

“Friday, Tilly,” Harley says and gets off me, standing up and walking over to my baby. He picks her up, and she instantly stops crying.

“I can sort her, you only just had that fight, and I know you must be sore,” I comment, but he kisses her forehead and rests her in his arms.

“Let me, please. Everyone in this room is what I survived for,” he tells me, and I nod, emotion filling me, “I’m going to feed her some milk, while you wake up.”

“Trust me, every part of me is awake,” I mutter, and he grins at me before walking out.