Curled up on the couch, Harper held her phone in a death grip. Her knuckles turned white as she stared down at the stubbornly dark screen. It had been at least a couple of hours since the horrible accident that landed Miguel in the hospital, and she was desperate for some information.
Whoever said that no news was good news couldn't have been more wrong.
She nervously chewed on her bottom lip, her anxious energy making her unable to sit still. The front door opened and pulled her out of her mind. She put her phone down in her lap and listened to the conversation that took place in the next room.
"Where is she?" Olivia's voice was shaky and panicked as she entered the kitchen to where Lucas was drinking his third or fourth cup of coffee.
"Liv, she's fine," Lucas said calmly, placing the cup down on the countertop. He came around the island and put his hands on her arms to steady her. "She's in the living room. Resting. It's been... honestly, it's been a shitty day."
"She's okay? Are you sure? You told me that Harper was in that fight, too. That she got hurt, that-"
"I promise that she's okay. I had the nurse look her over before we left and other than a few cuts and bruises, she'll live."
"The nurse? Lucas, she should've gone to the hospital! Who knows what kind of injuries she's sustained from fighting. She could be-"
"I'm okay." Harper entered the kitchen with her phone still gripped in her hand. Still desperately waiting for someone, anyone to call her and tell her that Miguel would be okay.
Olivia's eyes filled up with unshed tears as she took in the injuries in her face. "Oh, honey." She crossed the kitchen and pulled her into a big hug. It was anyone's guess on whether it was supposed to comfort Olivia or Harper. Perhaps it was meant for both of them. "I was worried sick. I heard about some fight at your school and then Lucas called to tell me that... are you sure you're okay? We can still go to the hospital and get you checked out."
"No, I'm fine. I swear." She mustered up a small smile that felt as strained as it must've looked. But the truth was, she was fine. Other than a few superficial injuries, there was nothing wrong with her. At least, not physically. Emotionally, though? She was pretty shaken up. Like always, she tried to reign in that fear. Lock it away along with every other horrible experience she's ever had.
Olivia pursed her lips, wanting to say more but choosing not to. She sank down onto the stool as exhaustion took its toll.
"I'm sorry," Harper started. "I'm so sorry for everything. For the fight and for getting mixed up in all of this but I had to do something to help my friends. They were in trouble and I couldn't watch as they got hurt. But I'm really, really sorry for giving you more to worry about."
"We're not thrilled about the fighting but we're just glad that you're okay," Olivia said with a warm smile that seemed to take some of the fear away from her. "But is it true that some kid was taken to the hospital?" She looked toward Lucas for confirmation, her smile falling at the news as he filled her in on that day's treacherous events.
"Robby didn't mean to hurt Miguel. It was all just a horrible accident and he feels really bad about what happened, " Harper said.
"Robby did this?" Olivia asked, unable to wrap her head around it.
"If it was an accident then he shouldn't have run. It makes him look more guilty," Lucas said. "The cops are already looking for him so he's going to have to answer for what he did some or later."
"How much trouble is he in?" Harper forced herself to ask.
"Well," Lucas said with a sigh. "I'm not sure but I'm guessing it depends on whether Miguel's okay and of his family wants to press charges. But it'll be worse if he doesn't turn up so if you see or talk to him, tell him to stop running."
Fear grabbed her with icy hands, sending her pulse racing. Her worry for Robby blended in with the reality of how the system would treat him. And for a moment she wondered if he wasn't better off running.
"Things could've - "Lucas started but was interrupted by the front door slamming followed by loud footsteps.
Cole ran into the kitchen but stopped short when he saw them. Placing his hands on his knees, he took a few deep breaths before straightening up. "Holy shit! What the hell happened at your school and why doesn't anything like that ever happen at mine? Middle school is so lame."
"Cole, watch your language," Lucas reprimanded but his words fell on deaf ears.
"Everyone, and I mean everyone, is talking about it! Do you know how many videos are already up on social media? I thought karate was so stupid but it's not. It's awesome!" He continued, his words a mile a minute.
"Someone got really hurt during that fight. A lot of kids did. There's nothing cool about it," Olivia said.
He smiled sheepishly as the tips of his ears turned pink. "Okay, well, yeah. That's bad. Really bad but... the rest of it? Badass! I want to learn all of that." Much to his parents' protests, he flailed his arms and legs in a clumsy attempt at karate. His hand caught the side of Lucas's coffee cup, knocking it over in a haphazard way. "Oops. Sorry."
"Okay, new rule. No karate in the house," Olivia said with a shake of her head, already in the process of cleaning up the mess.
But Cole was barely listening as he stared down at his phone. His eyes were lit up as he pulled a video up on his phone and put it in Harper's face. "This is you! You actually know how to fight? I guess you're not as boring as I thought you were."
Harper stared at the video wide-eyed as Cole proceeded to show her a few more videos where she was present.
"Huh, you're really good," Lucas commented as he looked over Cole's shoulder.
Olivia cleared her throat, a look of disapproval on her face.
"But that's not the point. The point is... what is it Liv?"
Olivia rolled her eyes in exasperation. "The point is that you could've gotten seriously injured. We didn't even know you were learning karate. Why didn't you tell us you were training with Sam and the others?"
Harper started to talk but stopped, realizing she'd have to confess to yet another secret she'd kept from them. "That's because I wasn't practicing with them. Hawk taught me."
"Hawk," Lucas repeated, his expression hardening. "Of course, he's involved in this."
"I wouldn't have been able to fight back if it wasn't for him."
"You wouldn't have been involved in this if it wasn't for him," Lucas told her.
Olivia watched the exchange and stood up, putting herself in the middle of the tense conversation. "While that might be true, I don't think now's the best time to have this conversation. Lucas and I will talk later but I think we can all agree that you shouldn't practice karate for now. It's too dangerous."
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Harper looked from her phone to the rundown building before her. A few lights were scattered up the building, shining dimly from windows that hadn't been washed in decades. She felt uneasy standing there, surrounded by raucous laughter that carried from somewhere down the street. Cars passed by at an unreasonably fast speed, lighting up the area with their headlights. She pulled down the baseball cap lower on her head and shifted the backpack strap that dug into her shoulder. A wince crossed her face from the bruises that were making themselves known as the day progressed.
Please still be here, she thought as she started for the entrance of the apartment building.
She caught the door just as someone was making their way out. Ignoring the lingering look thrown her way, Harper took a breath and entered the building. The inside was just as neglected with its dirt-stained walls, sticky tiled floors, and buzzing yellow fluorescent lights. She walked toward the wall of mailboxes, knowing that finding the right apartment was the biggest task. Squinting at the faded numbers and last names left her just as, if not more, confused and lost.
Harper didn't have time to knock on every door, not that it was even an option. She started for the elevator that had seen better days before deciding against it and choosing the stairs instead. She had no idea where she was going but she listened to the sounds from each apartment as she passed it by, hoping to get some clue without drawing attention to herself.
On the third floor, she started to lose hope that she'd find the right place. She walked down the hallway despite feeling ready to give up when her eyes landed on a door plastered with eviction notices. New notices covered the old ones, some dating back to a few months ago. Harper looked down at the ground, seeing a shadow pass under the door though no light was turned on inside. She crossed her fingers that this was it and knocked tentatively.
The pacing on the other side of the door stopped but the door remained closed. She knocked again before leaning against the frame.
"Robby? It's Harper. I'm alone, I promise. No one followed me or knows that I'm here. So if you're in there, please open the door. I'm just... I'm worried."
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the locks turned and the door opened a few inches, just enough for Robby to look out into the hallway. His panic-stricken face relaxed when he saw Harper and he quickly pulled her inside. The door shut behind them and the locks were put back into place, securing them inside.
She blinked against the dark apartment, willing her eyes to adjust from the semi-lit hallway.
"You shouldn't be here, Harper." Robby said with a sigh, coming to stand before her. He looked guarded, on edge as though he expected the door to burst open at any moment. "If someone catches you here, it can get you in trouble. It can screw up your probation."
"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."
A flicker of a smile crossed his face. "Yeah, I guess you can. I had no idea you knew how to fight this whole time."
Harper laughed nervously but he changed the subject before she even managed to come up with bullshit excuses for her newfound karate skill.
"So how did you even know where I was?"
"I tracked your phone. You never turned off your location so it was kinda easy to do. I'm surprised the cops didn't find you yet."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh. Give me your phone." She held out her hand until he placed it in her hand. Once the location setting was off, she shut his phone off. "You still need to get rid of this so just, I don't know, throw it in a dumpster or something later."
Robby nodded as he took the phone back. "Yeah, okay. I'll do that." He looked down at the ground and then to her. "How's Miguel?"
"He's still in the hospital but I don't know anything else."
A pained look crossed his face as if he was reliving the day over again. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit!" He turned away from her and started pacing the small living room. "He's in the hospital because of me. I didn't mean to... you have to know it was an accident. I was just so angry that I didn't know what I was doing. I mean, I wanted to hurt him but not like that! That wasn't supposed to happen."
"I know that, Robby. Of course I believe you," Harper said, grabbing his arm to stop him pacing. "You didn't mean for him to get that hurt." He nodded to her words just as she eyed the duffel bag that peaked out from behind the couch. "You're leaving."
"I can't stay here, Harper. Not after everything that happened. The sooner I disappear the better."
"Are you sure that running away is the answer? Maybe you can stay and just explain that it was all an accident. Because that's what it was. A really horrible accident. I'll back you up if you need me to but it's -"
"I doubt that anyone else will believe that. They all think I did it on purpose. Even Sam looked at me like I was a monster. And the cops are definitely going to see me as some delinquent who got into trouble again. You of all people know how the system works. We don't get a slap on the wrist, we get thrown in juvie whether we're guilty or not."
Harper hated how true that was. How unfair life was for the kids who had to fight to survive. How the system failed them all, one by one. "So where are you gonna go?"
"I don't know. Panorama City, maybe. I got some friends there that might let me crash with them for a bit but I don't exactly have a plan. But, I'll be okay. I'll figure it out."
Harper scrunched up her nose at the so-called plan. She blindly dug around in her bag and held out a small object to Robby. "I got this at the gas station. It's just a cheap burner phone but it's untraceable and there's already a bunch of minutes on there. I put my number in there so if you ever need anything, you can call or text."
A slow smile spread across his face as he took the phone from her. "Thanks but you really didn't have to."
Harper shrugged before setting a couple more things on the coffee table. "And I also got you a few snacks for the road and some water. It should hold you over until you get to wherever you're going." She eyed the packages of processed foods before adding, "Hopefully."
"Don't tell me you have a car in that bag, too," he said with a laugh as he transferred the food to his bag.
"I kinda ran out of room so unfortunately you'll have to walk."
"That sucks."
"I know, right? But I did get you this." Harper held out a plain white envelope to him, shoving it into his hand when he made no move to take it.
He tentatively turned the envelope over in his hand, shooting a curious look her way before opening it. His eyes widened as he looked inside the envelope that was full of bills. "Did you rob a bank or something?"
"No, nothing like that," she said with a laugh. "It's the allowance the Hudsons have been giving me since I moved in."
"I can't take this. I'll never be able to pay you back," he protested but Harper refused to take the envelope back.
"I'm not asking you to pay me back."
"Harper, I'm not taking money from you. You already got me a phone and food and... this is too much. I can't take your money, too."
"Yeah, you can. You need this more than I do and it's honestly not that much but it'll help you at least for a little while. Until you figure things out."
Robby hesitated for a moment before deciding to accept the money.
"So when are you leaving?"
"Soon. I'll probably wait until it gets a little darker out but the sooner I leave the better."
Harper smiled sadly as she looked past him to where the sun was almost gone. This part should be easy since goodbyes always were an integral part of her life. The only constant that she could rely on. But this particular goodbye hurt more than the others. She blinked back the few tears that blurred her vision. "Promise me you'll be careful? And that you'll keep in touch? Especially if you need something or just to let me know you're okay."
"Yeah, I promise. I'll be okay, Harper," he said, though he wasn't able to fake a smile. "And thanks again. You know, for everything."
Harper pulled him in for a hug, fully aware that when she let go she'd have to leave. That this was the last time they'd see each other for who knew how long. She wasn't ready to say goodbye. Neither of them were. After a few seconds, she reluctantly pulled back before exiting the apartment without another word. Because there was nothing else for them to say.
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Night had descended by the time Harper turned onto her street. She was weighed down by exhaustion but doubted that sleep would come easily. Too many thoughts and worries raced through her mind, each one more troubling than the last. Running a hand through her hair, she stifled a yawn and started the walk up to her house without registering the familiar car that was parked on the street.
Only when she was a few feet from the house did she realize that someone was sitting on the porch steps. She slowed down just as they stood up to meet her.
"What are you doing here, Hawk?" Harper asked. She shifted from one foot to the other, wishing that they could go their separate ways. That whatever conversation he was interested in having could be saved for another day. Or never.
"I don't know," Hawk shrugged.
"Oh."
The silence stretched as neither of them said anything else. Harper took that as her cue to go and started to walk past him but he reached out to stop her, blocking her path.
"I guess I just wanted to see if you were okay."
Harper tilted her head in bemusement. "Okay, wait. You came all this way just to ask me if I'm okay?"
"Well, yeah. I was worried about you after everything that happened at school. This day's been kinda horrible."
His concern for her warmed her heart but Harper knew it would be foolish to think that anything could come of this. Their situation remained the same. Nothing had changed yet she still smiled like the lovelorn idiot that she was. "You could've just called, you know."
"Would you have answered?"
"Probably not," she admitted sheepishly.
"Exactly. So, are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." It couldn't be further from the truth but it was safer to keep the walls up... even if her heart wanted to betray her every time she was around him.
"You're not that good of a liar, foster." Hawk took a step closer and she held her breath, willing her heart to stop its rapid beating while he brushed her hair out of her face. He frowned at the bruises that colored her skin in multitudes of blues and purples that started on her face and led down to the base of her neck.
"It's not that bad," Harper said, shrugging off her injuries.
"Well, it's not great. I can't believe you let that idiot beat you up when you know how to fight."
"I fought back," she reminded him but he gave her a pointed look. "Okay, so maybe I could've done better but I think I did pretty good for my first fight."
"No, you did great. You fought exactly like how I taught you to."
"So what's with the whole grumpy look?" She asked, fixing her face into a kind of scowl that matched his.
He rolled his eyes at her mockery before saying, "Okay, first of all, I don't look like that. And second of all, you fought back after I told you to."
"I was waiting for the right time to fight back!"
"No, you weren't. You hesitated."
Harper started to argue but stopped, sighing. "Okay, fine. I might have hesitated."
"You really were just gonna let him beat the shit out of you."
Harper shrugged though he wasn't wrong for thinking that. She'd been prepared for the hits. For the pain. And even though she fought back in the end, she'd been hesitant to do so.
"I saw you fight back. You're better than most of those idiots, you know that. Why did you just stand there?"
Harper tried to gather her thoughts before she answered. "Because I knew that once I fought back, our secret would be out. Our friends would put the pieces together and they'd know about us."
"So, what? You were embarrassed that we hung out?"
"What? No! No, that's not why," Harper said and took a breath. "You know that I was ready to tell my friends about us but then we... I broke up with you-"
"Twice."
"Yeah. Twice," she said with an apologetic smile. "I just wasn't sure if you wanted everyone to know. Because you know they'd judge you for being with me. Your friends obviously hate me."
"And you know that I don't care what they think," Hawk told her. "If I did, then I wouldn't be here checking up on you. I wouldn't care if you were okay or not but I do. I never stopped. And I know you still hate me for everything but I'm not going anywhere, foster."
His words made her weak heart happy yet frustrated at the same time. No matter how many times they ended things, how many fights they'd gotten into, they continued to be stuck in the same complicated cycle like two magnets drawn together.
But rather than continue the conversation that was crossing into dangerous territory, Harper chickened out. She changed the topic as if he hadn't just told her he wasn't over her.
"How's Miguel?" That one question immediately put a stop to whatever had been happening between them. It was like it sucked all the life out of the air.
"Not good," Hawk said with a sigh. "I was at the hospital pretty much all afternoon but they're only letting his family in. I tried to talk to his mom but she didn't want to talk. Obviously. But he still hasn't woken up and I think I overheard something about him needing surgery."
"Surgery?" She knew he was in bad shape but she didn't expect that. "I can't believe this actually happened."
"Yeah, no thanks to Robby. He's dead for what he did to Miguel."
"It was an accident," Harper said meekly because she knew that at the end of the day, it didn't matter. "I don't know, maybe if I hadn't distracted them then this wouldn't have happened. I was just trying to help and stop the fight but... maybe I got in the way too much."
"This isn't your fault, foster. No one blames you for this."
"I do. I blame me." The heaviness of her words made her realize just how much she believed this. How guilty she's felt ever since the accident happened.
"Hey." Hawk tilted her chin up to get her to look at him, his expression was serious as he placed his hands on her arms. "It's not your fault. Not every bad thing that happens is because of you so you need to stop putting all the blame on yourself. You tried to help. There's nothing else you could've done, okay?"
Harper took a deep breath, blinking back the sting of tears. For her entire life, she'd shouldered the blame for every bad thing that happened to and around her. She was trying to get out of that mindset but some things couldn't be fixed overnight. At the end of the day, she was still a damaged foster kid trying to live a normal life.
"Okay?" Hawk repeated.
"Yeah," she said quietly. "It's just-" Her words were cut off as the front door opened, bathing them in a bright light and they jumped apart.
"I thought I heard voices out here," Lucas said as he stepped onto the porch. He stood at the top step and watched them for a moment, his eyes slightly narrowing. "It's getting kinda late you two."
Harper tilted her head at the comment because it wasn't even eight yet. She started to say so but Lucas's hard expression silenced her.
"Yeah, sorry. I just wanted to check on Harper to see if she's okay."
"She's not," Lucas said. "Harper got hurt from a fight that your friends started. She's covered in injuries, including bruised ribs that definitely hurt every time she breathes or moves for that matter."
"I didn't know she got that hurt," Hawk confessed as looked her way with concern.
"I'm fine. I've had worse," she muttered, knowing that it provided little comfort to either of them.
"But she did. We're lucky she didn't end up with more serious injuries. Anyway, it's been a really long day for all of us so I think it's probably best if you get going, Eli," Lucas said.
Harper glanced nervously from one to the other. "But-"
"I actually need to go," Hawk said and continued before she could protest. "I need to stop by the dojo anyway so... I'll check in later?"
Before she could even form a thought or sentence, Lucas cleared his throat. "Sure," she said instead. Her cheeks were tinged pink from embarrassment at the awkward exchange but she kept her thoughts to herself as she climbed the porch steps and stepped into the house.
The door closed behind her not a moment later, a heavy sigh coming from Lucas. "I thought you said you were done with him."
"I am," Harper said though she didn't believe the words that left her mouth. While she had no intentions of starting anything up with Hawk again, she couldn't deny that she wasn't tempted to.
"You need to stay away from him," Lucas said, catching her off guard. He put up a hand to stop her from interrupting as he stepped towards her. "I'm not trying to be the bad guy here, Harper. I'm really not but I don't like the idea of you talking to him or spending time with him. I know I can't stop you from seeing him at school but I don't want you seeing him outside of class, got it?"
Harper didn't know how to reply so she stood there quietly, trying to process his words. "We were just talking, I swear."
"Yeah, I get that but given everything that happened today, I don't think it's a good idea."
Harper started after Lucas as he walked away, his words holding a finality to them.
This is the second to last chapter before Battle Wounds ends!
I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I kinda struggled with it at times but I'll leave the opinions up to you guys. Don't forget to comment and vote :)