Trials {Editing}

Chapter 28

Noah's POV

I waited anxiously outside Harper's mansion. Her arrival would be met with a lot of different emotions from me, on a wide scale. I was so excited to finally see her after spending a week away from her without even being able to make a phone call, yet I was also worried out of my mind about what will happen when she returns. Especially with knowing that she's aware of my previous relationship with Kate.

There were many things we need to talk about. First and foremost, she's going to be irate about what she has discovered about Kate. I'll have to deal with a lot of hostility for that, maybe even a little bit of a silent treatment and who knows what else. I'd try my best to gain her forgiveness, though. Secondly, I most definitely needed to talk to her about that Jeffrey guy, and have a little talk about how much time she spends with friends like Damon as well. Especially Damon, though I won't tell her that. He knows a lot more than he should...

I began to wonder, should I tell Harper about what happened when we were younger? Thinking about it, there's really no way she'd find out unless someone leaked it to her, and not very many people would do that. Connie would rather she not remember it simply for the fact that it's such a horrid memory. Steve isn't really around to tell her anything right now, and Landon respects my wishes. So there's no way she really could have found out. Although, there was that one guy... I never found out who he was though. So there's no way she could find out. Then again, life always has its way of revealing secrets. Even if you could hold a secret in for years, it always eventually comes out, so maybe I should come clean before it's too late. We'll just see how our conversation about Kate goes, and I'll decide after that.

Finally, I saw a limousine pulling up. I walked over as it came to a stop, and out came Connie and that maid Lucy. Connie saw me, and she smiled. "Ah, Noah," she said, her tone sounding only slightly interested. "Came to see Harper, I assume?"

"Yes ma'am," I replied, interested on why she was talking to me as she does her clients. "Is she here?"

"Oh yes," Connie answered. "She and Jeffrey parked into the garage. If you go that way, you might catch her before she goes inside."

I thanked her and went towards the direction she pointed towards. As I rounded the corner, the garage finally came into view, as did Harper as she pulled her luggage out. I felt a smile creep onto my face, and my pace quickened as I went towards her.

Then, I saw something that made me stop in my footsteps and my stomach turn. That Jeffrey guy came over and put his arm around Harper's shoulders. He said something to her as they both walked, and she threw her head back in laughter. I grinded my teeth, and rage and jealousy surged through me. I charged towards them and pulled Jeffrey's arm off Harper.

"Noah! What the hell?!" Harper yelled at me. I hardly paid attention to her angry shouts as I grabbed Jeffrey by the collar of his shirt and pulled him towards me, ready to knock his lights out. "I thought I told you to keep your hands to yourself! Do you not speak english or something?!" I yelled in his face.

Jeffrey kept completely calm and silent, only looking at me with an unimpressed expression and further inciting my anger. I felt Harper tugging on my arm and yelling at me, but I didn't hear her. I had the urge to shake her off, but I wasn't making that mistake again. So I let go of him, just as Harper wanted me to. She pushed my arm hard enough to make me turn to face her.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" She yelled, her eyes full of hostility.

"I'm your boyfriend, that's who!" I shouted back indignantly. Harper scoffed at me. "Not anymore you're not!" She yelled. I winced at her harsh words, but I knew she didn't mean it. She was just angry.

"Why are you defending him? Shouldn't you be more concerned about how I feel about some other guy having his arm around you, trying to make a move on you?" I questioned angrily.

"Oh, and you have that same respect for me," Harper sarcastically stated, rather than questioned. "So let me get this straight; I have to always defend you, even when you're in the wrong, I have to be concerned about anything you have a problem with, I can't come into any physical contact with guys, and I have to tell you everything that happens in my life. Yet, you don't have to do any of that?"

"What are you saying?" I asked nervously.

"You know exactly what I'm saying Noah," Harper snapped. "What, you think I wouldn't find out about Kate?"

I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment before looking back at Harper with sincere remorse. "I should have-"

"Or about the river, the summer before freshman year?"

"Wait, how did you-"

"What, you think no one would tell me?" Harper questioned me, her voice laced with dark humour and dripping of sarcasm. "You think everyone's as deceptive as you? Well you're wrong. You forgot that Jeffrey was there, that he saw the whole thing and was the one to carry me to our parents and saved your neck!"

So that's who that was. I was upset that Jeffrey told her when it was not his place to do so, and even more upset that she believed him so easily, but she was going to find out eventually anyways. I took a deep breath and sighed. "Harper, I'm sorry," I apologized sincerely. "It was wrong of me to keep any of that from you, even if I thought it was in your best interest-"

"Oh my god, Noah! When are all these lies going to stop?!" Harper yelled. "You didn't do it for me, you were doing it to save your skin. You think I was born yesterday?! What else is there that you're hiding from me?! If you're willing to hide these huge things from me, then obviously there must be more! How am I ever supposed to trust you, Noah? A relationship can't be built on lies!"

"What are you saying?" I asked nervously.

"I'm saying we're done," Harper explained, crossing her arms and closing herself off from me. "I can't have a boyfriend that I can't trust, that's going to keep parts of my life hidden from me!"

"Harper," I pleaded, knowing that I was treading on dangerous ground. One misstep, and she'll be gone for good. "I understand that you're mad, and never should have hidden those things from you. Just, please, can we-"

"What, you want to work things out?" Harper sneered, a maniacal laugh escaping from her throat as she gave me a look of disdain, as well as an odd, almost ironic twist in her eyes. "Okay! Yeah, let's do that right now. Tell me every little thing that you've been hiding from me, every last dirty little secret, and then I'll reconsider."

I wanted to scream reasons for her to reconsider; shout them out and make sure she never allows the thought of breaking up with me come into her mind again. However, telling the truth would be a final nail in the coffin.

"Well?" She demanded. Her eyes looked as if in agony, pleading for me to give her a reason to reconsider. Yet, I couldn't. The words could not make it past my throat, so there I stood, silent, unable to get myself out of the mess I've created for myself.

Harper's eyes searched my face, looking for the slightest clue that I was going to lay everything out on the table. Then she gave up, seeing that I wasn't budging, and the look on her face transformed. All the hope left, and hostility took its place, despondency at the root of it. "Then get off my property," she snarled.

She turned and left, her anger evident even in the determined way she walked back to her mansion. And yet, all I did was just stand there, unable to comprehend or believe what just happened. Harper broke up with me... and it's my fault. I kept secrets from her. Big secrets. And now she can't even stand to look at me. Why was I stupid enough to believe that secrets stay secrets?

I needed to win her back. I messed up, but I really care about her. I can't just let her slip out of my grasp just like that. I'll do everything in my power to get Harper back. And right now, the best way to do that is to give her some space. So I turned around, got in my car, and drove away, hoping that I could find a way to earn her forgiveness.