I never thought that this little story would turn into three parts, but I'm really glad you guys like these ones! some happy parts, some sad parts....bring popcorn AND tissues I guess!
part 3 to this series in which griffin's been at the psych ward for a little while now and is finally starting to adjust. harper visits him. surprise guest visits him as well. surprise ending. there will be NO further continuations of my "Caught in the Act (griff)" series after this part.
TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF SELF HARM
If the previous statement doesn't apply to you, please enjoy the following oneshot!! love you all, stay golden! <3
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It was a beautiful day as Griffin peeked through the barred shut windows of his hospital room. He wished he could go outside and relish in the gorgeous sun, but he let out a sad sigh as he knew that that was not possible at the very moment.
He had been in the psychiatric hospital for about two weeks now. He felt as though he was getting much better, and he'd truly learned his lesson. As he had learned in group that very morning, learning from your mistakes is hard at first, but rewarding in the end.
Griffin desperately wanted to go home. He knew that wasn't an option as of right now, but he hoped he could go home soon. He awaited the arrival of his girlfriend, Harper Dunn to show up at his door.
It was Wednesday. Harper visited him every Wednesday and Friday since he'd arrived. The visiting time every other day was taken up by his mother and siblings. Moments later, a knock was heard at the door.
"Come in!" Griffin called. The staff member unlocked the bolted door and led someone in.
That wasn't Harper.
That was someone Griffin hadn't seen in months. He wasn't exactly sure he wanted to see him either.
Bennett Campbell. Griffin's father who had been absent the last two months after getting into a huge fight with his mom.
In Griffin was being honest with himself, that was the main reason he had done what he did to himself. His parents had been fighting an awful lot and when Ben walked out of the door, yelling at Griffin as he'd tried to stop him from leaving, and slamming the door in his face, Griffin had broken.
And now, here he was, standing in Griffin's hospital room, standing awkwardly at the door. Griffin's mouth hung open.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Griffin felt tears in his eyes. He didn't want them to come to the surface. He knew if he started to cry, he wouldn't be able to stop.
"I wanted to come see you. Your mother told me what happened. I'm really sorry all this happened to you, Griff. Harper was willing to let me come see you today. Don't worry, she'll be back on Friday and she loves and misses you." Ben explained, relocating himself on the bed next to Griffin. The teen boy scooted away from his once absent father figure. Ben's face fell as the boy moved away, clearly uncomfortable.
"You left us. You left mom. You left the twins. You left me. Do you know how bad that hurt? To comfort your little siblings when really you were in just as much pain as they were? To witness your mother cry all day about the man that yelled at her and walked out? To feel as though everything was your fault? No, you don't understand. Because you didn't have to go through that. I did. And it sucked. Every last detail sucked. And now I'm here. In the psychiatric ward of a hospital. Do you even know why I'm here, dad?" Griffin ranted, asking the man a question. Ben went red. He meekly shook his head.
"No." He replied simply.
"So mom didn't tell you I was here. You just found out. You didn't ask Harper, you told her that you were coming instead of her. You wanna know why I'm here? I tried to kill myself. Yeah. You heard me right. And its your fault, dad. Yours." Griffin was now crying. He was trembling lightly and he had tears streaming down his face. Ben went deathly pale. He shook his head.
"Griffin, I never meant-" He began.
"Doesn't matter. You still did. Get out of my room. I don't want you here. To top it all off, you ruin my day by taking away the one thing I look forward to....seeing my girlfriend." Griffin sniffled as he rubbed his tears on his sleeve. Ben gulped down the lump in his throat.
He exited silently, silent tears streaming down his face. The staff member locked the door, but walked over to the bed Griffin sat cross legged on, tears freely flowing yet again.
He sat down next to the sandy blonde haired boy and rubbed his back, telling him that it would be okay.
**********
Finally, Friday came.
As opposed to Wednesday, as Griffin looked out the window, rain was pouring down onto the windowsill. He sighed as he recalled the events of the other day.
He could only hope Harper actually showed up this time instead of his dumb ass dad.
A knock was heard.
"Come in." Griffin stated with sigh. The door opened and in walked Harper. Griffin smiled lightly.
"Hey." She smiled.
"You're here." Griffin exclaimed, getting up and running into her arms.
"Of course I'm here. Why wouldn't I be?" Harper asked, kissing him on the head and rubbing his back.
"You weren't here Wednesday." Griffin shrugged.
"I tried. I really did. But when I showed up, they said you'd already had your visitor for the day. I just figured maybe your mom was stressed and was unaware of what day it truly was." Harper shrugged. Griffin shook his head.
"It was my father." He sighed, looking down at the tiled ground.
"Your father? Ben?" Harper asked. Griffin nodded, still avoiding her eye contact. "What did he want?"
"Forgiveness." Griffin replied.
"Did he get what he wanted?" Harper asked gently.
"Nope. And he never will." Griffin responded bluntly.
Harper sighed and led the teen boy over to the bed. They sat down. Harper noticed a familiar glistening in Griffin eyes. Its unfortunate that it was familiar at this point, but the times had changed for the worse.
"What's wrong?" Harper asked, gesturing to his watery eyes. Griffin shrugged, wiping the single tear that fell from his greenish brownish eyes.
"Its been a rough week." Griffin sighed. Harper nodded understandingly. She wrapped her arm around him and he laid his head on her shoulder. She rubbed his back and rubbed circles into the palm of his hand. He relaxed slightly.
"It'll be okay, Griffy. This'll all be over soon, love." Harper assured. With that, Griffin drifted off to sleep, snuggled up with Harper on the sort of uncomfortable hospital bed.
**********
Two weeks later was the day Griffin's world flipped back upside down. Upside down? Right side up? He couldn't exactly tell.
He was going home!
On one hand, he was really excited to go home!....but on the other, he was not.
He was glad he wouldn't have to be in this stupid hospital anymore. He was also glad that he could see his family AND Harper every day instead of only seeing them separately. It had been beautiful the last couple days outside, and all Griffin had wanted to do was to sit in the sun by the springs, or under his favorite shady tree in the front yard of the Tremont. He wanted to play his guitar, and see Jess and Topher, he wanted to text his friends. There were so many reasons he was excited to go home!
But there was only one that he didn't. And it kinda overrules all of the previous good things.
His dad. His parents were getting divorced. But since they both owned the Tremont, they were still living together. Harper had told him on her last Friday visit that they'd been fighting a lot and to be prepared when he gets home.
That was all two days ago. It was now Sunday and Griffin was going home. He was just waiting for his mom to pick him up. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in." He stated. Sarah walked in, running over to her little boy.
"Griffin." She stated, hugging him tight.
"Mom." He said happily, resting his head on her shoulder.
"You ready to go home?" She asked with a warm smile. He nodded excitedly.
"Yeah." He said.
**********
Griffin was overjoyed to be out of that hospital. It was a beautiful day out and he watched the scenery from his place in the passenger seat of his moms car.
"Mom, can I ask you a question?" Griffin asked lightly. Sarah nodded, not taking her eyes off the road.
"Of course, bud, anything." She replied. Griffin sighed before beginning.
"You and dad. Are things bad?" Griffin asked gently. Sarah's face fell.
"You don't have to worry about me and dad, okay, honey? Everything's okay." Sarah assured. Griffin could tell she was hurting.
"Mom, I know you're getting a divorce." Griffin told her. Sarah glanced over at him.
"How do you know that?" Sarah asked.
"Harp." Griffin shrugged. Sarah chuckled lightly.
"Oh, Harper." She smiled gently.
"Mom? Answer the question please." Griffin asked. She looked into his eyes. He definitely had the power to get what he wanted out of her at the moment. As Sarah looked into his beautiful green eyes, her gaze softened.
"Your father and I have been fighting a lot. Once the divorce is finalized, I think we'll both understand that we can't keep fighting like this, and everything will be fine. I heard he visited you on one of Harper's days." Sarah raised her eyebrows. Griffin returned his gaze out the car window. "What happened?"
"I yelled at him. I told him that it was all his fault. I didn't mean it. At least I didn't mean all of it." Griffin explained honestly with a sigh. Sarah took one hand off the wheel and set it on the boys knee. She rubbed it gently.
"Honey, your tense again, relax." She said. Griffin relaxed slightly. Sarah nodded.
"Good." She said as she removed her hand from his knee after leaving a reassuring pat. "Everything will be okay, alright? Don't you worry, Griff."
************
Sarah and Griffin arrived home shortly. As soon as they walked in the door, the twins practically jumped onto their older brother. He smiled as he hugged the both of them tight. Jess came over and hugged the boy lightly, ruffling his hair before Topher came over and did their secret handshake before hugging the boy.
Harper stood behind the group, wide smile on her face. She practically ran to him and he hugged her tight. She buried her face in the crook of his neck. He inhaled her scent. The scent that he'd missed so much. Harper always smelled like vanilla and lavender, and some kind of baking creation from her mom.
He smiled as she had her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her head. They broke apart and she planted a short, gentle kiss on his lips. The whole family shared a light smile as they watched the two.
"You are so lucky I love you, Griffin. I cleaned your room. It was a disaster! Come look!" Zoey exclaimed, grabbing her brother's hand and practically dragging him towards the stairs.
He chuckled as he followed her. They stopped abruptly as a throat was cleared.
Ben.
"Griffin. Can we talk?" He asked. Harper noticed Griffin's breathing got shallow and she saw tears brimming to the surface.
"Not right now, Mr. Campbell, I think he needs a little time." Harper stated politely, relocating herself next to Griffin on the stairs, setting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Ben sighed lightly and nodded.
"Another time then." He said, walking into a different room.
"Thanks, Harp." Griffin said, his smile returning.
"Of course, love." She smiled.
"Okay now lets go!" Zoey exclaimed.
********
Zoey had done an amazing job cleaning his room. Griffin didn't think it had ever been this clean.
"Tadow!" She exclaimed. His desk was clean of trash and his computer with music stickers covering it was plugged in neatly on the desk. His guitar stand sat next to it, his sheet music in a nice, organized pile in the basket next to the guitar. His bed was made and the night stand next to it was clean, the book Griffin had been reading sitting nicely next to his clear reading glasses and the framed picture of him and Harper.
"Wow, Zozo, it looks immaculate in here." Griffin chuckled with a smile.
"I dabble." Zoey smirked. She playfully punched him before jogging out of the room, leaving the two lovebirds alone.
Harper immediately ran over to the bed and flopped onto it. Griffin chuckled.
"Where am I gonna sleep now? I've been sleeping in here." Harper joked.
"You know, your room is right across the hall." Griffin laughed. He winked before continuing. "But you're welcome to stay as long as you don't mind company."
Harper smirked.
"I guess I could manage." She shrugged with a chuckle.
He flopped on the bed next to Harper. They kissed delicately at first, but as time went on, it became more and more passionate.
Harper slipped her tongue into Griffin's mouth and he instinctively did the same. He gripped the girls shirt as she ran her fingers through his messy blonde hair. They were tangled up together. Harper's legs thrown over Griffin's as she flipped on top of him.
They continued to make out, spiciness attacking the two.
With that, Ben showed up in the doorway.
"Um, Griff, do you wanna maybe- HOLY MARY MOTHER OF GOD." He exclaimed. They immediately broke apart, sitting up.
"No thanks." Griffin stated bluntly.
"You can leave now." Harper smirked. Ben nodded and walked out. Griffin laughed.
"Well, he's gone." He smirked, flipping on top of Harper, continuing what they'd started.
At that very moment, Harper knew Griffin would be a-okay.
*********
I hope you enjoyed this! It was a long one!
this is dedicated to my best friend @AJSwagmire! today is his 17th birthday, so make sure to wish him some love!
love you all, new updates coming soon, and don't forget, if you have requests, don't hesitate to let me know! <3 <3
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