Dedication: danigrl763

RECAP:

So the first part was in Harper's POV where he woke up in the middle of the night and he's just watching Noelle and talking about her and yaddahyaddahyaddah. Then she wakes up and they talk about what happened with Joshua and the hospital and everything and Harper is hurt to hear that Noelle is not sure if she regrets attempting suicide, and tells her she is the strongest person he has ever known. The next morning, Harpelle have a near kiss, but Maggie (Harper's mom) walks in on them almost there and she is shocked but quickly recovers so she can call over Ria (Noelle's mom) and they fawn over Harpelle for a bit. Later, Harper gets her clothes for her to change but she keeps his shirt on that she was previously saying, and Harper says some really cutesy stuff about Noelle makes him feel. Then, Harper and Noelle go to school and Noelle finds that her phones has a ton of notifications of Emma sending photos of Harper and Noelle kissing from the beach and Harper asks Noelle on a date, and she says yes (YAY). Later, during lunch, Noelle encounters Joshua in the hallway and he blames her for sending him to prison for attempted sexual assault, and tells her that his court case is next week. He tries to hit her, but she fights back, and everyone in the hallway at school sticks up for her. Joshua gets one punch in but Harper arrives and beats Joshua up, getting even more angry when he sees that Joshua hurt Noelle. Convinced that Harper would do serious damage, Noelle stops him from doing so and the teachers finally come to drag Joshua away.

I watched the nurse treat Harper from my chair in the corner of the room.

It was evident as soon as we walked into her office that this wasn't the first time Harper had gotten into a fight and had to be sent here. In fact, it was a common occurrence. You know, seeing as he was on first name basis with the nurse.

"Will this take long, Felicia?" He asked, watching her apply some ointment to the skin on his split knuckles for punching Joshua.

"No, no, honey," she replied, pulling out the bandages. "And you'll be just fine, too. Not like getting badly injured would stop you anyways." Felicia hummed disapprovingly. "What was this fight about?"

"Nothing!" I blurted out when Harper opened his mouth to speak. I watched his eyes dart to mine in confusion. I shook my head slightly, trying not to let the piercing green distract me too much.

"Are you sure, darling?" Felicia raised an eyebrow, not glancing up from Harper's split knuckles. "If it's horribly drastic, I can help."

"No, no, that's okay," I answered quickly. "It's completely fine. Perfect actually. No really. I'm in tip-top condition. A-Okay. Perfecto. Bien. Nothing bad happened. Zero. Nil. Nada. Zilch. I mean, everything is 'totes' cool. Pfft, what are you talking about? Worrying about me? Nah, all is good. I'm fine. Totally rad, even- "

I was cut off by Harper's deep laughter, ringing through the air, running circles around me that made me crave to hear the sound over and over for the rest of my life.

You are way too far into this, Noelle.

He grins that beautiful smile at me. "It's adorable when you ramble," He says, ignoring the fact that Nurse Felicia is right there, smirking at me. "It's so hard to resist when you do."

What does that mean?

Nevertheless, I blushed, my face turning bright red. Felicia takes in my flushed face and grins.

"Well alright, kids," Felicia says, stepping back from Harper's newly bandaged hands. "I have to attend a quick meeting, but you should be alright. Feel free to leave whenever you like." I don't miss the splitting grin on her face as she gathers her things, neither do I miss the quick wink she sends in my direction as the door shuts behind her.

As soon as she is no longer in sight, I stride over to Harper, hitting his leg. "What did you do that for?"

"What?" He smirks. "I didn't do anything."

"That! Making me blush! Now she thinks we're flirting!"

He raises an eyebrow, pulling me gently to sit on the sofa beside him. "Are we not?"

Oh my gods.

"Well- I- "

I glanced up to see him silently laughing at me.

"I hate you," I groaned, pushing myself back into the cushions, covering my face with my hands.

Boys.

He laughed even harder, pulling my hands away from my face. "Well it's not my fault you're insanely attracted to me."

"You are actually the worst," I grumbled. "Why do I put up with you?"

"Because you loooooooooooooove me," He responded cheekily, poking my nose. "Looooooooooove." He adds again for effect.

I sighed. "How do you go from crazy rage mode to cutesy-Harper? I don't get it."

He frowns and "cutesy-Harper" is gone in an instant. "'Crazy rage' mode was completely necessary." He retorts coldly, but I take comfort in knowing that his bitterness is not directed towards me. "He has no fucking right to come back and do that- he has no right to hit you, touch you, look at you- hell, if he thinks of you I'll smash him to pulp then feed his innards to a- "

"This is exactly what I was talking about," Muttering, I turn to face him. "I was so scared when you were fighting. Yes, thank you for fighting for me, Harper- "

"It's 'Sexy Beast' to you." Harper winks.

"- thank you for fighting for me, 'Sexy Beast', but you let your anger get ahead of you." My voice simmered to a whisper. "What would have happened if I hadn't stopped you, Harper? You could have killed him." He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off. "Don't try to deny it- I saw the look in your eyes Harper. I saw how you moved- with absolutely no intention of stopping." I looked up at him sorrowfully. "You have to get that under control, Harper."

He was quiet for a bit, picking at his bandage. It must have been a minute or so before he gathered the courage to look back up at me, green eyes glowing, the bruises on his face prominent in the filtered sunlight of the office. "That's the thing that scares me, Noelle," He said. "What has scared me since the very beginning. When it comes to anything involving you, I have no control."

I stopped, my heart racing in my chest. How do I respond to that?

How do I tell him that whenever it comes to him, I feel the exact same way?

I didn't think it was possible to adore him as much as I did then.

"I- "

"What happened to your hands?" Harper suddenly cut in, glancing down at my knuckles. I stretched out my fingers, confused. "What, nothing is wrong- "

It was only then that I registered the sharp pain jarring through as I did  so, and I winced, looking down. I hadn't noticed before, but the skin was split and bleeding, angry red burning unbearably.

"Damn it, Noelle" Harper muttered, getting up and reaching for one of the nurse's first-aid kits.

When hurting Joshua, I couldn't feel the pain of my punches, the raw agony that came from slamming my fast hard into flesh. I was just too intent on fighting and standing up for myself, and later on protecting Harper that I simply had not registered my own blood.

He sighed, taking my hands onto his lap while lathering a cotton ball with antiseptic. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know," I answered truthfully. "I didn't realise it."

The silence was painfully stilling as he nursed my hand- wiping it with antiseptic and wrapping it up tightly in extra bandages he had found at the bottom of the first-aid box. I didn't miss the way my heart sped up every moment his skin lingered against my own, lighting me on fire. Later, even when the bandaging was done, Harper didn't let go of my hands, cradling them softly in his, as if he couldn't bear the thought of letting go of me.

"You have to be careful," He murmured. "I don't want you getting hurt."

I narrowed defiantly. "No, you don't get it, I wanted to do that- "

"And that's good. You were standing up for yourself, and I am so proud of you for that." He smiled at me genuinely, my heart pumping at his caring expression. "But I don't want you getting hurt."

I wanted to object, to fight, but I decided against it. Harper was just looking out for me.

"Fine." I gave in. "And you? I feel terrible- I feel like- maybe- now that you're not with Bethany, just a day after you began speaking to me again, you're getting into fights again."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Why would that be a good thing?"

He smiled at me. "It shows me that with you, I have something worth fighting for."

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

"Are you ready, Mom?" I yelled up the stairs. "Lana and I are still waiting!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She responded, her voice muffled. "I'm just signing your papers!"

Papers?

"What?" I muttered under my breath as she glided down the stairs- finally- in a beautiful knee length blue dress. "What papers?" She came to a stop in front of me, rummaging through her purse for the house keys.

"Your therapy ones, of course," She replied simply as if it weren't a big deal, lifting her head to search for Lana.

My thought process came jolting to a stop. "Therapy?" I didn't want to go to therapy. The whole idea seemed absolutely terrifying- you are trapped in a room with a stranger who knows zilch about you and your life and tries to force answers out of you.

"Mom," I protested softly. "I don't think I need to go to therapy."

"No way, Noelle," She said sternly opening the front door absentmindedly. "You must. It may not seem like you need to to you, but I don't want a relapse, darling. It is my responsibility- as a mother- " She spoke firmly. "- to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again."

"Mom- "

"We have to go, Noelle." She almost snapped, her rare strict sides appearing before me. "You will go to therapy. This Saturday. But for now, let's go, we have to go meet with the Andrews."

My mood instantly brightened a bit. "We're going to dinner with them?"

I could hear the satisfied smirk in her voice as I hurriedly exited the house first, eager to see Harper- whether I would admit it or not. "Yes," she chided. "We're going with the Andrews."

Suppressing the grin that was threatening to spill from my lips, I nearly leaped across the pavement leading the way to Harper's front door with Mom and Lana scurrying quickly after me. I hiked my way up their driveway to the beautiful wooden door and promptly knocked on it, waiting impatiently for someone to open the door.

"Someone get the door!" Maggie's muffled voice yelled from somewhere inside the house. "Harper! What are you doing? Go get the door! I swear, if it's because you're reading again- "

My baby. I'm so proud.

"Getting it, getting it, Mom!" Harper hollered back and I heard Lana giggle from behind me. Finally, after a few long, dreary minutes, Harper flung the door open. His eyes caught mine immediately and a smile grew on his face.

"Hi," he breathed.

"Hey," I replied, returning the grin with my own.

His smile was the most beautiful thing I had ever had the honour of witnessing- it just seemed to light up the whole place. It was like someone had grabbed a lighter and a match and just set aflame the darkness around me. Describing it as anything but heavenly would be a complete understatement.

If I can see him smile for me everyday for the rest of my life, I thought. I can live and die truly happy.

I hadn't noticed just how long we had been staring at each other with goofy grins until Lana scoffs.

"If you're going to make cheesy googly eyes at each other- " She shook her head as if disappointed, "- please just get a room." With that, she pranced into the house, surely searching for Jenna, her seemingly innocent partner in crime.

My face burned red and I averted my eyes from Harper's as my mom came up behind me, leaning down to whisper in my ear. "I do hope you don't plan on actually get a room together just yet," she said sternly. "But if you do- " I felt her move closer. "Remember- no glove, no love. If you forget to cover, you'll upset mother."

She sent me one last strict lingering look before she hovered away, leaving Harper and I standing awkwardly at his doorstep, me fidgeting with the ends of my hair and Harper shifting his weight from foot to foot. Mom wasn't great at whispering.

"So," he began, his deep voice cutting through the air. "That happened."

I shook my head, my face still probably very evidently flushed. "Let's not speak of that."

Harper raised an eyebrow teasingly. "I don't know, sooner or later- "

I glared at him, my cheeks probably getting even redder at what he insinuated. He used to come up with those little innuendos all the time, but something was different now. Maybe because now, we actually had a chance.

Harper merely smirked at me, before holding the door open. It was just then, as I was welcomed by the familiar homey scent of the lilies in his house, did I notice the rainbow hair ties knotted in his hair so that jet-black strands were sticking out everywhere.

"Woah," I laughed, going on my tiptoes so I could ruffle my hand through his hair. "What happened here?"

Harper sighed, taking my wrist and pulling me into the living room. "Jenna happened. She wanted to play hairdressers- I was her test subject."

I laughed, leaning forward, still on my tiptoes to brush my thumb over Harper's evidently darker lower lip. I noticed Harper's breath catch a little as I did so, pleased that even I could get under his skin sometimes. I raised an eyebrow at him while showing him my red thumb. "Lipstick?"

He winced. "I can explain... "

"I made him a princess!" Jenna cut in rushing in to hug my legs. "Isn't he beautiful, Noelle?"

"You could say that," I continued to laugh at Harper's now grumpy expression.

He groaned, collapsing on one of the sofas, burying his head into the pillows. "Why did it have to be you?" Harper complained. I would have taken it personally if I didn't know he had been joking.

"Well, you better hurry up and wash off that lipstick, Harper. We're leaving soon." Maggie warned, strolling into the room with her bag, Mom trailing off behind her. "Just run up to the bathroom and scrub it off. We're waiting for you."

Harper playfully saluted before running up to the upstairs bathroom. I tried to subtly watch him race up the stairs, the muscles in his back moving through his thin t-shirt. Apparently, my awed staring wasn't as subtle as I thought.

"So... " Maggie drawled, forcing me to spin around to look at her smirking at my mom. "You and Harper?"

I blushed, glancing at Lana and Jenna who were listening intently. At least- Jenna was. Lana was carefully observing the lit candle.

That girl and fire.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I responded, trying to act indifferent, in the hopes that they would believe my stoic facade and just give up.

But Mom and Maggie weren't ready to give in that easily.

"How many times have you guys kissed?" Mom giggles excitedly.

I almost choked on air at the blunt question. "Mom... "

Five.

But hey, who's counting?

"Has he asked you out yet?" Mom further pressured me.

Maggie nodded eagerly from beside her. "Yes! He was panicking about it ever since he got home from school today. He asked her yesterday and the date- " She grinned slyly to me and I shook my head frantically. "- is tomorrow."

She might as well just run me over.

"TOMORROW?" Mom screeched. "IT'S TOMORROW AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?"

I winced, slinking back into the sofa. "Mom... "

"NOELLE, I NEED TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION! HOW COULD YOU ISOLATE THIS FROM YOUR OWN MOTHER? MY ULTIMATE SHIP IS GETTING TOGETHER AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME? THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE ASKED YOU OUT AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME? THE GUY YOU HAVE BEEN PINING OVER FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS AND MONTHS- "

"Mom!" I hissed. "He'll hear you!"

"Don't worry, baby doll," Harper's voice rang out from behind me, making me squeal and jump up in my seat from surprise. "Nothing I didn't already know." I spun around and he winked.

I got ready to say something witty back, but my words instantly faltered in my throat upon catching sight of him. The hair ties were thankfully out of his hair, and he had changed his t-shirt and jeans to black slacks, a white button down that looked like it were tailored to exactly fit his body and thin, black tie.

Oh my lord.

"Wow," I muttered, before shaking my head and bringing myself back to reality. "I mean, hi. Great looks you. I mean looks you great. I mean- "

"Let's get going, shall we?" Harper suggested, sporting his infamous smirk, staring at me. "I'm starving."

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

Mom shoved me straight into a chair opposite Harper at the fancy restaurant.

"Sit." She ordered, before taking the seat next to me. "You two will talk, gaze into each other's eyes lovingly, and fall in love, okay?"

I shook my head incredulously. Really?

I turned to Harper. "Sorry about her," I whispered when she wasn't looking. "Kind of eager for us to get together."

"But not as much as you, right?" He remarked cockily, leaning back in the seat.

I raised an eyebrow, feeling strangely confident. "You mean not as much as you?"

"Nah," He responded, shaking his head. "I think you want it just a little more than me." Harper teased.

I gave him a weird look. "This is ridiculous."

"Fine then," Harper grinned deviously and I almost regretted everything I had said. "I bet you can't go the entire night without kissing me. Lips style. I mean, my kisses are magical."

I scoffed. "That's easy- you're kisses are not as magical as you think." I lied. "I bet it would be hard for you to try with me, though, wouldn't it?"

Harper rolled his eyes playfully. "I think I will be fine. If I win, then you have to go outside and go on a run with me. That means actual physical activity."

I laughed darkly. "And if I win, you have to binge watch all the Harry Potter movies with me."

Harper leaned forward slowly, a smirk growing on his face. He leaned forward so far his nose was a mere few inches away from mine. "Game on."

I grinned slyly at him and leaned back in my chair. A few minutes later, and everything had been peaceful. I scanned the menu for something that seemed interesting, and had something in it that I actually understood. Fancy restaurants.

I looked up at Harper. "Hey, what are you ordering- "

He glanced up at me, rubbing his thumb over his lower lip casually. The words crumbled away from me, eyes catching onto his lips. They were so perfect and pink-

"What were you saying?" Harper cut in, smirking at me, very aware of the effect he was having.

"I- " I stuttered.

No. Head in the game, Noelle. You need to win this.

Smiling pleasantly at him, dragging my gaze towards his eyes instead. "I was asking what you were ordering. I don't quite know what to get."

Launch mission 'Tantalising Tease'.

"Do you mind explaining these to me? I have no idea what they say." I continued. Harper furrowed his eyebrows before shuffling his chair towards my side of the table, round the head. I watched as he placed a hand right in front of me on the white tablecloth.

"See," he began. "This is the- "

As he explained to me what each and every item was like the painfully kind person he was, I placed my hand over his, gently fiddling with his fingers.

Feeling Harper sharp intake of breath, I smiled to myself. Nevertheless, he continued reading the menu, recovering from his slip up. I tried even harder.

Next time, when he looked up at me, his face teasingly close to mine, I bit my lip, as if confused. Immediately, his eyes betrayed him and darted to my lips.

MWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA.

So I do have an effect on him.

Harper pressed his forehead against mine, groaning a little. "I hate you so much," He whispered.

"This is easier than I expected," I whispered back. He rolled his eyes a little.

"It's not my fault you're irresistible," Harper argues, tilting his head to the side, hands cupping the back of my neck, long fingers burning marks into my flesh, eyes a vivid dark green. "I was a goner from the beginning."

I smiled, content, my eyes fluttering shut as I waited for him to move forward and- 

"Ew, Mom! Why are they about to eat each other?" Lana cringed, announcing that little morsel so loudly the entire restaurant turned to face us. I blushed in embarrassment, my lips tingling from the almost kiss. I buried my side into the crook of Harper's elbow that had dropped to wrap around my waist, trying to disappear. And if it wasn't bad enough to have an entire room of snobs glaring holes into us- 

"Excuse me, sir, ma'am!" A waiter who looks to be around forty years old yells at us from the other side of the room. "No public displays of affection are permitted within these premises! This is a fancy, first-class restaurant! The whole professional aura cannot be ruined by your rampaging teenage hormones!" A few sniggers erupted around the room.

"Oh my gods," I muttered, trying to hide my heated face by pressing it into the crook of Harper's neck. "I can't believe this is happening."

Harper pulled me closer to him, the other arm wrapping around my shoulders. "Sorry about that," He murmurs into my hair. "That was pretty embarrassing."

"You think?" I reply sarcastically, pulling away from the embrace and smiling up at him.

He laughs and turns to our families. "You guys can stop videoing this now."

I whirled around immediately. Videoing?

Sure enough, Mom and Maggie had their phones out, staring at us creepily.

"Oh my gods, Mom," I groaned. "What can we do to make you stop this?"

"Get married and name your first boy Alexander." She replied seriously.

I closed my eyes, drawing in one long, frustrated deep breath.

Stay calm, Noelle.

"I'll be in the bathroom," I announced, standing up and placing my napkin on my seat. "Order something for me."

Minutes later, when I exited the bathroom, I crashed straight into something hard, causing me to go tumbling to the ground.

"Ouchie," I mumbled, rubbing my nose.

"I'm so sorry," a deep voice rang out. I looked up to see a damn cute Korean guy around my age reaching a hand towards me, an apologetic look on his face. Blushing, I took his hand as he pulled me up, his skin soft and warm against my cool ones.

"No, I'm sorry," I stuttered. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

He has such a nice jawline.

"No, honestly, it's my fault," I blushed even harder as his deep brown eyes lightly scanned my body. "Might I ask you your name?"

I smirked at him. "I don't know... for all I know, you could be a murderer."

It was his turn to laugh, a beautiful, deep sound erupting from his lips. "I'm Eugene."

(A/N BUZZFEED AHAHA)

"Well hi there, Eugene," I grinned at him. "I'm Noelle."

"That's a nice name," He grins back. "Well, who are you here with?"

"My family and a friend's family," I replied. Can I really consider Harper a friend, though?

"Same. Family." Eugene's smile was infectious.

"I like your suit," I commented, aiming for some friendly chatter. It was a deep navy blue, and I placed my hand on the arm of it. "It looks really good."

"Thanks!" Eugene sighed in relief. "I was worried it didn't look that great."

"Are you kidding? It looks amazing!" I exclaimed. "Did your girlfriend pick it out?"

"Nope," Eugene shook his head. "Living the single life. And you?"

"She's seeing someone." Harper's cold voice boomed from behind me, arm slinking around my waist. "You can go now."

"Harper... " I turned around to see him glaring at Eugene. "It's fine. Nothing's up."

"Yeah. I'm sure." He spoke bitterly, dragging his eyes to where my hand was still in Eugene's from him helping me up. I instantly pulled my hand away, as did Eugene.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Eugene asked, maintaining an easy going smile.

"No."

"Yes."

Harper and I replied at the same time. I turned around to glare at him.

"Fine," Harper huffed. "Not yet."

As if another thought occurred to him, he straightened up. "Why? Are you hitting on Noelle?"

Way to be subtle.

"Um, no- " Eugene answered unsurely.

"Calm down, Harper," I tried to soothe him. "We were just talking about how nice Eugene's suit is." Hoping to help Harper forget about the current situation by plumping up his ego a little, I added- "It's a nice colour, isn't it? The suit jacket would probably look great on you."

"I don't know," Harper said, still throwing knives at Eugene with his eyes. "It would be too small on the biceps."

"Jesus," I breathed, the testosterone getting way too much for me to handle. "You know what- it was nice meeting you, Eugene," I forced a smile at him. "I think we best be leaving now. I hope I run into you some time soon!"

"You too, Noelle," Eugene mock saluted me, walking away. "See you around."

As soon as we were out of earshot, I punched Harper lightly in the arm, enough to get his attention but not enough to hurt. "What was that about?"

"He was hitting on you," He mumbles like an angry little boy. "I didn't like it."

I sighed. "Harper, unless we're dating, you can't just keep doing that."

"But you're mine," He mutters grumpily under his breath.

I stopped still, turning around to face him. "What?"

"Nothing," Harper hummed, the familiar smirk returning. "Nothing at all."

The rest of the dinner went as planned, running smoothly, I mean, if you don't count the waitress that forgot Mom's appetiser and Harper spilling the water. At least, it was fine until the main courses were served.

"Here's your dinner," The waitress hurried to carelessly place my plate down in front of. Just as I was thanking her, she spun around to face Harper, leaning forward even more, her breasts hanging a dangerous few inches in front of Harper's face as she carefully placed his plate down. "And yours, sir," She smiled sexily, her voice husky.

You have got to be kidding me. This always happens.

I blame Harper. Why can't he try to look ugly for once?

This is a fancy restaurant for god's sake. What happened to professionalism and the hatred for rampaging teenage hormones?

I rolled my eyes at the waitress as she continued to flirt with Harper blatantly in front of our whole families. Harper, thankfully, didn't seem to even bat an eye at her behaviour. "Thanks," he said quickly, facing his food, clearly not wanting to talk anymore, just too kind to say it out loud.

"So," she continued, obviously not catching onto the hint. "What's your name?"

Oh, would you look at that. In the few seconds she has been here, her top has lost a few more buttons at the top and her skirt has inched up even higher.

"Excuse me," Jenna's loud, sweet voice rang out from the seat beside Harper. "But who are you?"

The waitress scoffed. "I'm Rebecca. Duh." She points at the golden badge.

"What are you doing here?" Jenna continues, blinking her green eyes up at her. "Do we know you?"

"I work here, kid. So if you need anything- " She touched Harper's soldier suggestively and I was so ready to just slap her perfectly done nails away. "- just give me call, babe."

Jenna doesn't react, just stays sitting there innocently, not allowing Mom and Maggie to speak. "I don't like you."

Rebecca grits her teeth, plastering on a fake smile. "Well, why not, sweetie?"

"Because you seem like a terrible person." She says. "I see you trying to flirt with my brother. Not cool. He's too young for that stuff." Jenna responds, showing that she is indeed much more mature than Harper, really. "And my brother doesn't like you. He likes someone else."

"Well," Rebecca's voice slunk out, bittersweet, rubbing her hand up and down Harper's shoulders. "I don't see anyone's name written on him."

Jenna looks at Rebecca's hand. "You are touching him without his consent. Kindly take your hands off of him."

How is this kid only six?

Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "You little- "

Suddenly, Jenna's Ribena is no longer on the table, but emptied over Rebecca's head.

"Take that, Umbridge," Jenna cackles. "Nobody messes up Harpelle- the best ship since Romione."

Instantly, Harper's hand goes up to Jenna's for a high five, while Mom, Maggie and I just sit there gaping.

"Oh my gods!" I exclaim. "I would apologise, but you completely deserved that!" I voice my opinions.

By this time, for the second time tonight, all eyes are on our table.

"How could you!" Rebecca shrieks, her white shirt stained purple. "I hate you so much!"

Mom and Maggie, although trying very hard to suppress their laughter can't stop the few sniggers that escape the grasp of their fingers over their mouths as Rebecca stalks off.

This is why Jenna is my favourite.

This is why Lana is best friends with her. I thought Jenna was too innocent for this.

I turned around to face Lana's chair, only to find her missing.

"Mom... " I shake her out of her hysterical giggling. "Where's Lana?"

We all froze. Lana missing was a big deal. Who knows what kind if hell we she could be raising on Earth when we're not there?

Just as I was getting up to search under the table or something, a startling war cry rang from the other side of the restaurant, near the bathrooms.

"COMMENCE PHASE TWO!" Lana cried, and she jumped right at the retreating Rebecca, a bundle of flour in her hand. Within seconds, Rebecca was covered, the pale white sticking to her in clumps due to the stickiness of the Ribena. 

"I HATE RIBENA!" Rebecca wails in the background.

"Shit," I murmured as Mom and Maggie rushed over the the screaming Lana who had somehow managed to get her hands on some eggs as well along with the flour from the restaurant kitchen."

Harper pivoted straight around to look at me, an awed grin on his face. It blew me away. 

"You swore!" He states happily, pointing an almost accusing finger at me.

Damn it. What happened to the angelic me?

"Pfft," I tried. "No I didn't."

"Yes!" Harper yelled, the goofy grin making my knees feel weak. "You did! The character development is real!"

I rolled my eyes in response, unable to refrain myself from the returning the smile with equal glee and devotion.

My smile must have triggered something in him as soon as it happened, he crossed the heartbreaking distance between us, stars lingering in the depths of his eyes, burning through the air.

I didn't have to put myself out there. All I had to do was smile.

There, in the midst of the vibrancy of chaos, waiters trying to drag Lana away from a shrieking Rebecca, Mom and Maggie arguing with the manager about the fees and others gaping in awe at the surrounding scene, he kissed me.

And magical it was.

IM ON SUMMER BREAK, UPDATES WILL COME QUICKER

This chapter doesn't feel complete, but I don't know what to add :/

How are you guys?

I have already started thinking about the next book- it's not going to be a sequel, but Harper and Noelle will appear in it. It's going to be A LOT better structured than this book.

WHAT TIME IS IT?

SUMMERTIMEEEEEEEEE

I'm going to high school next year I'm so scared ahhh

I have heard SO MANY horror stories about ittt

I LOVE YOU GUYSSS YOU ARE ALL SO NICE TO ME, IT MAKES ME REALLY HAPPY

Goals: 5000 votes? (maybe ahhh)

Dedication: if the majority of the plot for the rest of the book is just cutesy stuff, would you still read? (it's not going to be completely)

LOVE YOU GUYSSS

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-A xx