Battle Wounds

fourteen.

The morning was offensively bright and cheerful with its crystal clear skies and warm breezes. It didn't match Harper's mood whatsoever. Her mind continued to be overrun with anxious thoughts and what-ifs due to the secrets she was keeping. Secrets that grew more complicated as time went on. The fine line grew blurry between the truth and lies until it was all she could think about over the last couple of days.

With Olivia's help the other day, Harper made up her mind to tell her friends. However, she had yet to act in it.

She would but just not yet.

Because if there was anything she was better at than keeping secrets, it was procrastinating.

Harper knew she needed to tell her friends. She wanted to tell them but she was terrified of their reaction and the thought of losing them. So, she chose to delay the inevitable for a little bit longer even if it meant dealing with her increasing anxiety.

As for Kreese's threat, Harper still had five days until he would act on it. She hoped that before the deadline, her friends would finally know the truth. As scary as it was, she wanted the truth to come from her and not him.

So for the next few days, she would live in a blissful denial that her world wasn't going to implode.

For the sake of pretending that everything was fine, she put on a smile that matched the day's sunny personality because she would be damned if life tried to screw with her.

Harper entered the vast clearing where she'd spent hours upon hours training in. The dried-up grass crunched under her sneakers from a lack of rain as she navigated her way toward one of the shadier spots in the area. The day was already warm with the threat of another relentless heatwave.

The fake smile turned genuine while her heart did its annoying little flutter upon seeing Hawk. "Hey."

Surprise crossed his face as he turned to her. "You're actually not late for once".

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm always on time."

"Always?" He asked with a knowing smirk to which she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, fine. I was late one time," she admitted before crossing her arms. "You know the first day never really counts. Besides, it was technically kinda your fault since you didn't tell me what time to be here."

"Okay but what's your excuse the other seven or eight times?"

"Wha- Oh, come on! You know that I have to walk here, right? It takes me like twenty minutes just to get here."

"That's not an excuse. I offered to pick you up almost every day but you keep saying no."

"Well, yeah, because it's a terrible idea."

"Fine, so enjoy your walk," he said but flashed her one of his signature smiles.

Harper glared but couldn't stop a smile of her own from appearing. But that smile faltered when she noticed the bruises on his face. "What happened? Did you get in a fight with someone?"

"Yeah. With Miguel," he said with a sigh.

"Miguel?"

"Relax, foster, it was during practice. We were at Coyote Creek the other day and I kinda lost."

"Yeah, no kidding," she said softly, though didn't look comforted by the explanation as she was aware of how brutal practice was at Cobra Kai. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."

"Yeah, well, too bad."

"It honestly barely even hurts," he told her reassuringly. "You know what did hurt? When you kicked me in the ribs a few weeks ago. I think I had bruises for weeks, and it hurt to breathe. Like, a lot."