Dedicated to: 

I woke up well.

Not because there was storm or something, or an alarm clock or the birds were cheeping or something- I woke up by my own accord, still in the back of the car with Harper.

The sky was bright, and I estimated it to be about mid-morning. The grass was filled with droplets of dew and the flowers shone vibrantly in the sun. In all, it was a scene from a fairytale.

I shifted slightly, only to discover that Harper's arm was looped around my waist- my back to him, and his face was nuzzled into my neck, his lips brushing the sensitive skin. His deep breathing told me that he was still asleep.

Stay calm, Noelle. Stay calm. It's just a really hot guy hugging you.

Stay calm.

Cautiously, so I wouldn't wake him up, I turned over in Harper's arms, so that I was now facing him. His hair was a disheveled mess, and he soft pink lips were slightly parted as I looked at him, allowing my eyes to scan every inch of skin on his face. I could smell him from here, the woodsy lemongrass scent that was just so-

Harper.

I unconsciously moved closer to him, my body refusing my brain, my heart refusing my mind. I buried my head into his chest and couldn't help but wish I could wake up to this everyday.

But of course, God is cruel to me.

I sighed softly.

Better enjoy it while it lasts.

The birds were cheeping now, and I could feel the cool breeze wash over our intertwined bodies as I snuggled further into the blankets.

I couldn't help but giggle, and those giggles turned into gleeful roars of laughter, waking Harper up, green eyes bright from good sleep. Once he set his eyes on me, he smiled, making my heart flutter.

"What's so funny, baby doll?" he asked sleepily, his voice husky and rough.

Oh my gods. His morning voice.

I tried to speak between my spurts of laughter, but I couldn't, my chest hurting.

Harper raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Are you feeling okay?"

I nodded slightly, regaining my breath. "I just- I can't believe we did this. We slept in the back of a car, in a random field, outside! That's amazing!"

He laughed, grabbing my hand and pulling us up so we were sitting, causing me to giggle more. "If something as small as this makes you so happy, we can do this forever if you want," Harper grinned.

I smiled and tentatively reached up to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you for yesterday."

His skin was warm under my lips, making my body tingle. I pulled away quickly, only to see that Harper was avoiding my gaze, a light tinge of pink staining his cheeks. My eyes widened in disbelief.

"Is- is the bad boy of Lockwood High blushing?" I laughed, poking his cheeks incredulously. Harper's cheeks grew redder in embarrassment.

"No!" he yelled, glaring at me. I chuckled an continued poking.

"You do realise this isn't the first time you've blushed in front of me, right?" I asked him softly.

"I- I'm not blushing," Harper protested again. "Its just... an allergic reaction."

I raised an eyebrow, slipping out of the car, my bare feet landing in the soft grass. "To what? Grass? Embarrassment, maybe?"

"Shut up," Harper growled. I laughed and went round to the front of the car to pick up my bag.

(A/N IM SORRY THIS WAS TERRIBLE- NOW CONTINUE)

--------------------------------------------------------------

Harsh tapping on my window woke me up from my Instagram induced trance.

It was the afternoon of the last day of the year, and I was spending it, you guessed it, in my room under bundles of blankets on social media.

I groaned and slipped out bed to open my dark window.

"What do you want, Harp- "

I was cut off by a basketball flying forward and hitting me on the head, making fall back, sprawled over the floor. My elbow slammed on the side of my bed, and I groaned, rubbing my head and elbow furiously. I slowly stood up to see Harper sitting on the ledge of the abandoned house laughing his cheeky little head off.

"What the hell was that for?" I demanded, enraged. I picked up the basketball. "Seriously?"

Harper didn't answer, still laughing so hard he was clutching his stomach. "Did you- did you see your face?" He roared in between spurts of amusement.

"You could at least apologise, jerk," I grumbled, hurling the basketball annoyedly, and to my utter dissatisfaction, he caught it easily.

Harper sighed, smirking. "Fine. I'm sorry, baby doll, for so inconveniently throwing the basketball at your head to get your attention. I hope you're okay."

I know it was silly, but butterflies flew through my stomach at that. I tried to ignore it and continued. "You should be sorry. Now what do you want?" I sat on the ledge of my own window, my legs hanging out of the house.

"I was going to have a small gathering at my house for the new year. Do you want to come?" Harper asked, passing the basketball from hand to hand. It was only then that I noticed that Harper was in his basketball uniform, his hair and skin glistening with sweat, his muscles rippling as he threw the ball. I must have been checking him out for too long because a smirk grew on Harper's face.

Please. When is he not smirking?

"You like what you see?" Harper asked, wiggling his eyebrows, and tossing the basketball back into the house. I blushed, but didn't say anything, slipping back into my room, trying to face away to hide my blush. The last thing I saw was Harper's eyes softened.

What happened? Usually you would at least say something.

You're feeling quite in love right now, aren't you?

Stupid self.

I heard a thump behind me, before I felt familiar arms wrapped around my waist. Unconsciously, I sunk back into Harper, his touch igniting my skin.

"What are you doing?" I whispered as Harper turned me around in his arms. He smiled.

"I just really needed to be near you." He mumbled, wrapping my arms around his torso. I hugged him back, realising he wasn't that sweaty. He clutched me tightly to his body, sitting back down on my bed so that I was straddling his waist. I don't know why, or how, but I sensed a certain sadness in his touch.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly, pulling away and resting my forehead against his. I know it should have felt intimate in the moment, but I was too concerned about Harper.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I'm just really worried about Kate, baby doll. All the time. I'm constantly thinking about her." He paused. "And someone else too. A beautiful girl."

I felt jealousy burn in me slightly, envying the girl that had managed to grasp Harper's attention.

Bethany.

Right?

"Who?" I asked. Harper let out a small chuckle.

"You really are pretty oblivious, aren't you?" He said. I shook my head.

"What are you- "

"Never mind." Harper sighed. I nodded and we sat in silence for a while, just looking at each other.

"Can we see her?" I finally broke the silence.

"Kate?" Harper asked.

I nodded.

He smiled slightly. "Sure."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi, Kate." I said, sitting down next to her limp body on the bed. "How are you doing?"

No answer.

I took her cold hand in mine, brushing it gently. Harper was sitting on the other side of the bed, Kate's other hand in both of his. His eyes- they were soft and dull, like all happiness had been drained out of him, unusual to his usual cocky, arrogant nature. He looked hollow, like there was nothing left to live for.

"Harper loves you a lot, you know that?" I said, speaking to Kate. I know about comas- I've read plenty of books about it. Coma patients can't see, or move, or react, but they can hear everything that happens on the outside.

Harper looked up at me, startled. I ignored him and continued. "He never stops talking about you. All the time, Kate this, Kate that- " I chuckled. "It's adorable, really." I stroked back hair from her face. "And through his endless rants about you- I've learnt a lot, and I've grown to like you. A lot. You seem like such a beautiful person, and I can't wait to meet you when you wake up, you know? I'll be looking forward to that. Harper loves you so much, and I can't wait to love you like that too. We can be a team and throw water balloons at him if you want." I smiled, and Harper chuckled, releasing one of his hands and reaching over to hold my free hand.

"Thank you." Harper said. I smiled at him in response, before leaning down to whisper in Kate's ear, making sure Harper couldn't hear.

"I love him too." I whispered, covering my mouth so my words would avoid Harper's ears. "I really do. So much, but I don't think he loves me back. Can you keep that a secret for me?"

"What are you telling her?" Harper narrowed his eyes. "Are you poisoning her mind about me?" He joked. I laughed and shook my head.

"It's a secret."

"Will I ever know?"

This took me by surprise. Will I ever tell him? I haven't really thought about it before.

"Maybe one day," I admitted. He nodded, slipping his hand out of Kate's and sitting on the sofa in the hospital room, gesturing for me to sit beside him. I walked to the sofa and curled up next to him on the smooth linen fabric, automatically leaning into his muscled body and welcoming his strong arm that securely wrapped around my shoulder.

"How are your panic attacks going?" Harper asked, rubbing my shoulder while I pulled my knees up onto the sofa.

"Good," I replied. "I haven't had one since the plane ride. It's been going well."

A huge, sweet grin grew on Harper's face that made me just want to grab his face and plaster it with kisses. "Really? That's amazing!" He cheered, pulling me tighter towards him. I chuckled and hugged him back.

"I know, right? Hopefully I can get through my assembly. It's in May, by the way."

Harper raised an eyebrow. "May? That's really far away. Don't you want to get it over and- "

I'm sexy and I know it, I got passion in my pants, and I'm not afraid to-

We were interrupted by Harper's phone ringing and I immediately started sniggering at the choice of song. Harper glared at me, before picking up the phone. I giggled, watching him.

"Hello, Bethany?" Harper answered.

My mood immediately darkened.

I could faintly hear her voice in the background. "Hi, Harps!"

I think I might puke.

"Um, yeah, why are you calling, Beth?"

Definitely going to puke. Might as well buy a few of those paper bag things they have on airplanes.

"So, I was just wondering, for your party tonight should I wear my blue Victoria's Secret bikini or my hot pink one? You know the really sexy one I wore to your last birthday?"

My fists clenched tightly by my sides as I slowly gritted my teeth.

"Um," Harper clearly looked uncomfortable. "Beth, it's too cold to swim."

If I were here I wouldn't ask him such an uncomfortable question.

Shut up, Noelle, you're sounding like one of those clingy girlfriends!

"Aw, but Harps," she groaned. "We haven't been swimming in ages."

"Fine, you can swim, but I'm not. I want to avoid getting pneumonia, you know?" He ordered frustratedly.

"Fine," Beth huffed. "I'll go swimming on my own. I'm sleeping over, right?"

I want to wring her neck then toss her into a pit of piranhas. Now.

Why does he cope with her?

"Sure," Harper sighed, adjusting the phone by his ear. "Beth, I'm kind of busy. Can I- "

"You're busy? What the fuck, are you with that girl that you always seem to be hanging out with? The redhead one with absolutely no sense of style and was just following you around at the diner? God, Harps, I have no idea why the hell you put up with her- "

That's it.

I wrenched the phone out of Harper's hand, ignoring his look of fury at Bethany (hopefully), and shock from me ripping his phone away from him.

"What did you say about me?" I hissed, the anger boiling in me.

Silence.

"Harps, you didn't tell me that you were with her now- "

"By the way, that girl has a freaking name, just in case you didn't know. Oh, I'm sorry, how would you? Seeing that all that Gucci perfume must have finally found a way to your brain and killed what was left of your brain cells. Oops, my bad." I spat, before promptly hanging up the phone.

I huffed angrily, before tossing the phone back to Harper.

Who the hell does she think she is?

Muggles, I thought to myself. Constantly bothering us wizards with their stupid comments.

I irritatedly fiddled with the hem of my sweater. I didn't notice the gaping silence until I snuck a glance at Harper who was smirking slightly at me. I rubbed my face self consciously.

"What, is there something on my face?" I asked frantically.

Oh my gods, Noelle. The ice cream from earlier. It must be on your face.

Now he probably thinks you're a grade-A hobo.

Harper shook his head, and I let out a sigh of relief. "No- there's nothing on your face- it's just- that was extremely hot, babe."

"What?!" I let out a cry of surprise.

Harper shook his head again, standing up from the sofa and walking towards Kate. "The way you spoke back to Bethany. That was fucking hot."

I blushed, and he kissed Kate gently on the cheek, whispering her a quick 'bye', making me melt for a little bit.

No, Noelle. Back to topic.

"Don't swear," I weakly mumbled, fiddling with the ends of my hair.

Wow. Great job.

"Plus cute," Harper winked, opening the door for himself and slipping out. I caught the door before it closed in my face.

"And definitely a gentleman," I murmured sarcastically, rolling my eyes and following him out.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Noelle, come on," Emma whined, dragging me out of my house. "You look good!"

"No way!" I yelled, clinging onto the side of my door. "I cannot go out of the house wearing this!"

Emma and I had got ready for Harper's get together/party for new year's, and she had practically forced me into these clothes- A black, long sleeved shirt, a white and blue floral patterned skirt and knee high socks (since I was shot, practically thigh high) and black ankle boots.

Needless to say, I was not happy.

"Why can't you wear this?" She demanded, yanking on me harder.

I yanked back. "You know me, Emma! This draws way too much attention to me! Why can't I just wear a sweater and jeans?"

"Because how else can you get Harper's attention?" She groaned. "You look amazing!"

I glared at her. She sighed, loosening her grip slightly. "Fine. If you go wearing this, I'll buy you that book that you wanted. Anna and the French Kiss."

I immediately let go of the door. "Onwards!" I cried, marching towards Harper's house. Emma laughed and followed behind me.

Finally, we reached Harper's door, and I rang the bell. Laura opened the door, the nice girl who was friends with Bethany at the diner.

"Hi!" She greeted. "Noelle, right?" I nodded. "Hey, Laura."

I gestured to Emma. "Emma, this is Laura. Laura this is Emma."

They waved to each other, and we both slipped into the house. Emma immediately went off to find Max.

Ditcher. They're too lovesick for their own good.

"So who's invited and who's here?" I asked Laura, leaning against the wall.

She chuckled. "You two are actually the last ones. Bethany is here- " Ugh. "- Rhea, Max, Axel, Marco- " Yes! Marco the fanboy! "- Joshua, Alfie, Harper, obviously, and Charlie and Leila." I immediately brightened up.

"Charlie and Leila are Harper's friends?" I asked curiously. She nodded. "Decent friends. Don't hang out all the time, but yeah. Oh, and Charlie and Leila are dating, so- "

"What?" I screeched. "They're dating?!"

Laura gave me a weird look. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I said tha- "

"CHARLIE!" I yelled, running into the living room. "CHARLIE, MY BABY!"

As soon as I saw him, standing up and staring at the TV, an arm wrapped around Leila, a grin grew on my face. I launched myself at Charlie, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Charlie!" I yelled. "I'm freaking Cupid! I told you! I'm so happy for you!" I continued, referring to Leila. He grinned and hugged me back. Unlike Harper, I didn't feel any sparks.

"Thanks so much, Noelle!" He yelled back. "I finally won over this beauty." He pulled Leila towards him and kissed her on the forehead, making her blush.

Awww! They're adorable!

"Congratulations!" I said to the two of them. "Now I'm going to leave you two love birds on your own, and go on my victory march. Excuse me." I hugged them both and walked away.

"I am the champion, my friend!" I began singing at the top of my lungs. "And I'll- keep on fighting, till the end! I am the champion! I am the champion! No time for losing, because I am the champion! Of the wor- "

I was interrupted by smashing into someone's very hard chest. I backed away a little, my hand still on the person, rubbing my nose and groaning. "Ow," I moaned.

"Jeez, baby doll, if you wanted to touch my abs, you could have just asked." I looked up at Harper in confusion, who was smirking, then realised that while steadying myself, my hand had landed on his shirt clad abs. And it was still there.

And damn, they were nice abs.

"Sorry," I muttered embarrassedly, pulling away completely. Harper scanned my body, unabashedly checking me out.

"Damn, Noelle," He whistled. "You look hot."

I blushed. "Thanks," I mumbled. "So do you." I widened my eyes, realising what I said. "No- wait- I didn't mean to say that you were hot, because you're not! I mean- you are, but that- um- "

Harper chuckled, slinging an arm over my shoulder and leading me back to the living room. "It's okay, baby doll. I know you think I'm sexier than sex itself."

I wrinkled my nose. "Ew."

Harper laughed, kissing me lightly on the side of my head before I could react. I blushed even more.

"Come on," he said, pulling me into the living room, where everyone was seated. "Let's go live the last day of this year."

I'M SORRY FOR SUCH A LATE UPDATE I'M SORRY I HAD A TERRIBLE WRITER'S BLOCK FOR LIKE FOUR DAYS

GUYS WHAT WE ARE LIKE #25 IN TEEN FICTION OMG HOW DID THAT HAPPEN

I know this is kind of stupid, but most of the messages I ever get are basically pleas for updates, and I don't think some of you understand how much hard work I put in these chapters, and how pressuring it is. I have a life outside Wattpad too, and there are things I have to deal with apart from my story. So if I take quite a bit to update, please forgive me. Thanks :) Okay? Okay.

Is this a bit of a filler chapter? Yes? No? I just wanted to show Noelle's relationships with other people in the story apart from Harper. Like Kate, Bethany, Charlie, etc.

Goal: 140 votes?

Dedication: If you had to fight one of the characters with a staff, who would you fight, and why?

THANK YOU GUYS ILYSM

REMEMBER TO:

VOTE

COMMENT

FOLLOW

SHARE

-A xx