fourteen ⇨ real life.
new years day, 2018

HARPER SWERVED THROUGH THE crowd of people in the house. The memory of her kiss with Sebastian was still burning in her mind and her need to find Chris only grew. Yet, she couldn't find the one man she knew for most of her own life.

She bumped into people, most she didn't know personally, and apologized profusely as they cursed her. Harper made sure to stick to her mission and ignore the hateful words that were spat towards her.

It took Harper a few minutes, but she did eventually find her best friend. She stopped in the hall, seeing Chris and Ivona together, laughing and talking away from the crowded party. If her mind wasn't going slightly crazy, she'd probably leave them and their sexual tension alone. As she bursted into the private room, both of them stared at her, of course with worry.

"Seb's gonna be looking for you." Harper stated, fighting to find her breath. "You'll understand when he tells you. But, I need to steal Chris."

Ivona smiled at her friends softly and understood. She began to leave the room, but not before hugging the worried woman and pressing a friendly kiss to her cheek.

"It'll work out," Ivona whispered before disappearing into the other room.

Chris stepped forward, immediately wrapping Harper into a tight embrace since he sensed her anxiousness. He cradled her head to his chest and whispered soothing words in her ear; something they both did for the other when feelings of anxiety decided to appear. As he swayed gently from side to side, Harper could feel the anxiousness slowly fade away.

He pressed a soft kiss to the crown of her head before he pulled back. Harper swallowed and smiled uneasily at Chris.

"What happened?"

Harper breathed out, "He finally kissed me."

Confusion crossed Chris' face, unsure as to why that would be a problem. He was very well aware about the feelings his two best friends had for each other. Harper sighed at his expression, not missing the way one of his eyebrows rose in question.

"Why is that bad?" He questioned.

Harper whined, pulling from her friend's embrace like a child. She huffed before crossing her arms at him.

"Because!" She answered quickly, "I always told myself that he didn't love me, Chris. How could he? I'm not his type. He dates all these hot actresses and models, and I'm a girl from a small town in Massachusetts. There's no way, Chris. For years, I heard the teasing and hoped and prayed that it was true, but he never made a move. It sucks, then he asks me this question and the next thing I know, he's kissing me and it's just how I imagined it. It took him nearly eight years."

Chris took her words into consideration, applying them to his own life for a minute before he was returned to reality with Harper. He understood her frustration and feelings that she had, he did know her better than anyone else.

"He was scared, Harper." He told her. "Seb's just always wondered if you had feelings for him, he wasn't sure. He's scared of the rejection, because he'd rather have you in his life as a friend than not at all if you did reject him."

Harper groaned in frustration, her fingers tangling in her hair and gently pulling at the roots in stress. She took a deep breath before the look of sadness reached her blue eyes again.

"As if I hadn't been flirting with him since filming of The Winter Soldier!"

Chris chuckled breathlessly, "I never said Sebastian wasn't clueless sometimes."

"What do I do?" Harper asked in desperation, she certainly didn't want to lose the only man she ever loved, more than platonically anyway. Her eyes then lit up in fear, and Chris gently laid his hands on her shoulders to gain her attention.

He smiled softly at his best friend, bringing forehead and sweeping a quick kiss to her forehead.

"Go talk to him, you're probably worrying him sick." He whispered. She sighed, but thanked him anyway before she left the room, and told him she loved him like a brother too.

Chris sighed as she left, knowing the turmoil that was to follow the series of events from tonight. He shook his head slightly and left the room himself, going to look for Ivona. He had slightly unfinished business with her that he needed to tend too.

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chris and ivona, interesting. spin off book maybe?

also, we saw more of harper and chris' unique relationship and i love it so much b/c their best friend goals. expect more of that in the future too. plus, now we're seeing just a bit of the angst that is to come as well.