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"She left without leavin' a number
Said she needed to clear her mind "
"Harper, please don't go!!!" Griffin pleaded as he watched her pack all of her clothes up. They both had tears streaming down their faces after a long night of arguing and regretted words. "I hate you" and "I never want to see you again" were thrown out more than a few times.
Neither one could take anything back. He knew that they'd both realized how horrible all of this had gotten. There was no way he could lose her, not after the years and years they had spent fighting for one another.
She zipped her suitcase shut and turned to look at him and shook her head. "Griffin, it's too late for that." she said quietly before she wiped away a few fresh tears that had fallen down her face. "We love each other, and we know that, but that's not always enough." she said as she picked up her bags and sighed. "So, we can work on that, Harper. We have more than that. I know we do." he pleaded again as he watched her walk down the apartment hallway before she stopped at the door. "What do I have to do for you to stay?"
She just sighed again, opened up the door and shook her head. "I need to clear my mind, Griffin." she muttered quietly before she looked back up at him one last time. "Bye, Guitar God." And that was the last thing she had said to him before he watched her leave their apartment that rainy night. He didn't even remember what their fight was about. All he knew was that it was stupid.
"He'd figured she's gone back to Austin
'Cause she talked about it all the time "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Griffin, she'll come back. I know it." said Sarah comfortingly as she sat down at his kitchen table. Griffin nodded with a small smile on his face as he took a sip of coffee. "Well, what am I supposed to do, Mom? I can't live without her, everyone knows that. I know that, you know that. Even Wyatt knows that!!!" he exclaimed incredulously.
"Does she though?" asked Ben simply as he joined them at the table and poured himself his own cup of coffee. Griffin started to speak and then stopped himself to think about what his father had just asked him. Had he truly shown how much Harper meant to him and how much he appreciated everything she did for him, from the cooking to the laundry? He thought he had showed her, but was it not enough?
"Where do you think she is now?" asked Ben curiously after a few minutes of silence.
Griffin shrugged. "Probably Austin. That's where Zoey and Topher are now, so it'd make sense she go somewhere her family was. Also, the last time Zoey and I talked, she told me she had recently started teaching equestrian lessons at a "Cowboy Camp" of sorts down there too, so...." he said absentmindedly as he shrugged before he took another sip of coffee. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"It was almost a year before she called him up
Three rings and an answering machine is what she got "
Harper sighed as she rolled over once more in her small, twin-sized bed in the guest bedroom in Topher and Zoey's house. It had been exactly 11 months and 9 days since that day she left Griffin alone in their apartment. Not that she was counting or anything. Although she had been staying with Topher and Zoey since then, she had been looking for her own apartment nearby.
She wiped away the few tears from her red, puffy eyes as she lay in the silence of her bedroom. She had missed Griffin horribly and had thought about calling him often, along with some pushing from her mom, Topher and Zoey. She knew in her heart that they were right when they said that leaving him was the biggest mistake of her life.
"Harper?" Zoey asked sweetly from the other side of the door before she lightly pushed it open. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. She heard some of the sniffles escape her lips and already knew what they were caused by. She knew of her best friends' love for her brother and how much she missed him.
"I want to be alone." said Harper quietly, still looking up at the ceiling. Zoey sighed and shook her head. "Call him, Harper. You'll feel better if you do." After she left, Harper sighed and realized she was right and got her phone out and dialed the number she knew by heart, but frowned when it went straight to voicemail.
"If you're calling about the car, I sold it
If this is Tuesday night, I'm bowling
If you've got something to sell, you're wastin' your time, I'm not buyin'
If it's anybody else, wait for the tone
You know what to do
And P.S., if this is Austin, I still love you "
"The telephone fell to the counter
She heard but she couldn't believe "
Harper gasped as she heard what he last said and tears began to form in the corners of her eyes as her phone fell into her lap. After all this time, he still loved her. She almost couldn't believe it.
"What kind of man would hang on that long
What kind of love that must be "
"Wow." was all Topher could say when Harper finally finished telling him and Zoey her story the next afternoon. He could hardly believe it either, although he really shouldn't have been surprised. Griffin was hooked on Harper like a drug.
"I know, Toph. I spent all those nights crying over him, when in reality, we could still be together. God, I was such a fool. You were right, Topher." she said regretfully as she hung her head down in sadness.
Topher snickered and put her chin in his hand. "Okay, first, I can't tell you how satisfying it is to hear those words come out of your mouth, but if you ask me, you should stop throwing yourself a pity party and call him again." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Harper walked into her room in a rush. Most people would've thought that she was crazy for how fast she was walking, but really, she was just excited to call Griffin again and quickly closed the door behind her and pulled her phone out and dialed his number again, like she had three nights ago, but groaned when it went straight to voicemail again.
"She waited three days, and then she tried again
She didn't know what she say
But she heard three rings and then "
"If it's Friday night I'm at the ballgame
And first thing Saturday, if it don't rain
I'm headed out to the lake
And I'll be gone all weekend long
But I'll call you back when I get home
On Sunday afternoon
And P.S., if this is Austin, I still love you "
Harper listened to his words carefully and rolled her eyes when he said ballgame. Most people thought he would've been referring to a baseball game or a Friday night high school football game, but Griffin was actually talking about a basketball game. It was his favorite sport, believe it or not, and looking at his camera roll would've been all the proof you needed.
And the lake. They spent so many weekends there, and she loved it. So many memories were made at his cabin. She smiled even more when she heard that he still loved her and was glad to know that hadn't changed in the last few days.
"Well, this time she left her number
But not another word "
Harper couldn't believe what she was doing. She waited until she heard the beep and opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. What was wrong with her? She sighed softly before the words finally came to her. "555-834-2147" she mumbled under her breath before she promptly hung up and let the phone fall into her lap.
She groaned and shook her head. "That's all you could say. God, that's so stupid!!!" she quietly chastised herself before she felt a small flutter of hope. "Who knows? Maybe he'll still call, though." And with that, her eyes closed shut and she slowly drifted off to sleep. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Then she waited by the phone on Sunday evening
And this is what he heard "
Griffin opened the apartment door late Sunday afternoon as he carried a small tote bag in his right hand. He walked inside and set the bag down on the kitchen floor before he popped open the fridge, pulled out a beer and took a swig from the bottle before he set it down on the table and walked over to the counter where his answering machine was and saw he had some messages and listened to them before one came up that really caught his attention. It was Harper and quickly reached for the phone and dialed the number she had left. He let out a quick breath as he worked out what he was gonna say to her before it cut to her answering machine.
"If you're calling 'bout my heart
It's still yours
I should've listened to it a little more
Then it wouldn't have taken me so long
To know where I belong
And by the way, boy, this is no machine you're talkin' to
Can't you tell, this is Austin, and I still love you "
Griffin's eyes widened at that and it took him a few minutes to get over the initial shock. She was actually talking to him and she even admitted that she still loved him. "Harper." he mumbled quietly.
Harper let out a quiet sob. "Griffin, I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry." He heard her voice crack from the other end of the phone, and he hated that he wasn't there to hold her and comfort her. "I love you so much and I fucked everything up!!! I ruined everything we had in the last few years!!!"
Griffin chuckled softly. "Harper....." he began to say before he was cut off by her rambling even more.
"You probably hate me so much for just leaving and not even calling you. I love you so much and that's never gonna change. Ever. And I hope that you can find it in your heart somewhere to forgive me." she said quietly as she hung her head down low, even though Griffin couldn't see her.
"Harper, you're rambling. And last I checked, that was my job." he said, chuckling.
"Sorry." she said, letting out a few quiet sniffles.
"Don't be. That's just one of the million things that I love about you." he said as he stood up straighter and walked into the living room. "Just like your smile, your soft, passionate kisses and even the cute little snoring that you do." he said excitedly.
"I don't snore!!!!" exclaimed Harper defensively.
Griffin snorted. "Yes, you actually do. And I can have your mom and Topher vouch for me on that one. But that doesn't really matter because I love it. Just come home, Harper." he said quietly before he spoke again. "I still love you, Locker Ninja." he said contently, using his old nickname for her.
Harper smiled at that and couldn't help but giggle. "I love you too, Guitar God."
And that was that. It had been a good year and a half since Harper had gone back to live with Griffin, and the two had worked everything out. They still had their stupid little fights, but they were always able to make up because they loved each other. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hope you guys enjoyed!!!! And now unfortunately, I don't know when the next one will drop because I'm going back to school in like 10 days(boo!!!) 'Til then, I'll see y'all on the flipside. Ciao 4 now, besties!!!! Love you all!!!! <3<3<3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------