Wednesday, 16th of March.
Harper's eyes opened to the sound of a door slamming shut on the level below. She could hear rapid footsteps approaching her door - she knew straight away it was her father - ready to yell at her for last night. She had spent the entire night with Luke, he had taken her to a small secluded lake, where they simply enjoyed each other's company. She remembered the night so vividly.
Luke had reached out and led her to a small lake, surrounded by vibrant and lush flora. Harper was in love with the sight, she couldn't keep her eyes off of the colourful life that sprouted from the ground below, while Luke stared at the glistening water, and listened to the sound of water trickling down the rocks, creating a miniature waterfall. They both inhaled a large breath of the crisp, night air, their nostrils taking in the scent of the types of flora that surrounded them.
"This is gorgeous." Harper whispered, her mind too focussed on her surroundings to form a coherent sentence.
"As much as I would love to show you around, I can't. I'm here to make you fall in love with water, as if it's your first childhood crush, something you'll never get over." Harper nodded and allowed Luke to guide her to the waters edge, where he stepped out of his jeans and pulled his shirt over his head. He glanced back at Harper and waited for her to do the same. Harper was hesitant, but eventually peeled off her clothing until the was left standing in nothing but a bra and underwear.
A blush coated her cheeks as she followed Luke into the water, surprised at the warm temperature of the water that flowed around her ankles. "It's warm," Harper blushed and grabbed Luke's outstretched hand, "Thankyou." Luke led her deeper and deeper into the water until her feet no logger touched the bottom, and she was relying on Luke to keep her afloat. She was not a strong swimmer.
"Calm down Harper. Just relax, think of the water as your friend." Luke slowly let go of her hand and floated back a few metres as he watched her relax, and let the water flow around her body. Luke sent her an encouraging smile as he beckoned for her to swim over, his hands stretched out in front of him incase she needed help.
Once again, Harper blushed with embarrassment at the fact she was a very weak swimmer. Her limbs were already tired and she felt as if they would collapse on her at any given moment. She doggy-paddled over to Luke, who grabbed her and cuddled her close to his chest, feeling her racing heart against his own calm one.
"You did good." Luke ran a hand through her wet hair. Harper hummed as she closed her eyes, amazed by the way Luke was staying afloat when her entire body weight was resting on him, and he didn't seem to even be struggling. Harper was too exhausted to reply, her body felt physically drained.
"Harper." Her thought were interrupted as her dad sent a few harsh knocks to her door. She gulped, knowing her dad was most likely furious and ready to ground her if she didn't have a good reason as to why she was out so late at night.
"Yes?" She had hoped her dad had forgotten. Maybe he had? Maybe, he was coming to yell at her for leaving her dishes in the sink.
The door opened and her dad walked in, and took a seat on the bed, right next to her head. "Do you know why I'm angry?" Logan gave her no time to respond before he continued, "you were gone all of last night. How do you think I felt when I left for work at one in the morning to find you still not home? I found your mother lying on the couch, waiting for you. Explain yourself, right now." His green eyes were intense as he stared at her.
Harper took the time to notice that he was still wearing his scrubs, as she tried to think of an excuse. "I was out with a boy," she whispered, "I fell asleep and he said he didn't want to wake me because I looked tired and he couldn't figure out the password on my phone to call anyone." It technically wasn't a lie, although it certainly wasn't the truth either.
"Wait? So you have a boyfriend now? Your mother and I would like to meet him, and hear his side of the story because coming home this late is not acceptable. When I get home from work I just want to relax for a few minutes, but instead your mother is asleep on the couch and when I wake her she tells me you haven't come home yet. We were worried."
"It's fine dad, I'm fine." He only shook his head and stood up, and made his way to her bedroom door.
"It's not fine. Now I suggest you contact this boy and tell him he better get his butt over here for six o'clock." The door slammed shut, offering Harper no chance to argue. She sighed and repeatedly banged her head against her pillow as she let out an aspirated sigh.
•
Luke closed his eyes as the sun flooded into his room through his open curtains. He groaned and flipped himself over, buried himself under the covers and let out a loud groan at the sound of his door opening. "Michael, if that's you I swear to god."
"It's actually me, and we have some news you might want to hear. So, I suggest you go shower and get ready because we're heading out." Calum softly shut the door behind him, but not before using his element to open the curtains further, causing more sunlight to enter the room. Luke cursed Calum out under his breath.
He reluctantly untangled himself from his sheets and made his way to his ensuite, where he stripped and stepped into the shower. The hot water running down his body, helped him overcome his sleepy state, his senses had heightened. Luke did the essentials, and stepped out and towelled off his body before he walked back to his room and into his closet.
"What to wear?" Luke muttered to himself, his fingers ran through the different articles of clothing. He pulled on a pair of his usual black skinny jeans over his underwear, and a black band tee to match. He rushed out of his room and down the stairs in converse clad feet.
The others were waiting in the kitchen, all wearing similar attire to him. "What's up?" Luke scanned the boys facial features, he looked for some sort of clue as to why they were going out.
"Harper was seen with Larkin, they left the university grounds together." Michael said, his tone was neutral.
"She doesn't have university till afternoon?" Luke glanced at the black clock that hung from the kitchen wall, "oh." He muttered, the clock read 3pm.
"Yes, you would know that since you've been talking to her still," Michael didn't look angry, perhaps disappointed, "and you would've known it was afternoon if you hadn't snuck out to the lake with her at night time."
"We went on a walk and I lost track of the time." Luke sighed. It was true, he had lost track of time. He was too caught up in helping Harper get over her irrational fear of swimming, well he wasn't sure if it was a fear, but he would help her become more confident in the water.
His eyes closed as he recollected last nights thoughts, in love with the way she doggy-paddled. Lukes smile was wiped off of his face when Michael spoke again, "he's going to her house tonight, so her parents can meet her boyfriend." Michaels tone was no longer neutral, instead it had a fierce edge to it. It was nearly as frightening as an angry-calm tone.
"Michael, leave it be. What's done is done, now we just need to move on." Calum intervened, he had already had enough of the banter. Calum wasn't one for violence and arguments, he was what the boys referred to as the 'peace keeper'. Michael rolled his eyes but dropped the subject, which caused Luke to let out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding in.
"What do we do now?" Luke asked, his eyes peered over to Ashton who stood silently in the corner, offering no advice to the dilemma at hand.
Calum fiddled with his fingers, "perhaps, we could get Luke to befriend her again. If they're closer friends then maybe he could have a type of influence over her, possibly stop her from hanging out with Larkin?" Calum looked doubtful that his idea would work, but voiced it nonetheless.
"I'm already friends with her," his fingers clutched the bridge of his nose, "I can go see her tomorrow, see if she wants to hang out." The boys nodded in agreement, although Michael had seemed a little reluctant.
"Very well, it's decided." Michael nodded and exited the room, the sound of the front door slamming shut soon followed. Luke made a move to follow Michael but Calum's hand on his chest stopped him. "Let him cool off for a bit, I'll go find him later." Luke nodded, knowing that if anyone needed to be tracked down, Calum was the best suited for the job.
"Luke," Calum called.
"Yes?" Luke answered, his hand settled against the railing as he turned his body to face Calum.
"Don't let anything Michael said bring you down, he's just stressed." Luke stayed silent as he turned back around and ascended the stairs, leaving Calum and Ashton behind, the both of them coercing quietly.
•
"Larkin, I owe you so much," Harper enveloped Larkin in a hug. "Seriously, you're amazing."
Larkin smiled, his black eyes twinkling as he was released from Harper's not-so-tight hold. "What are friends for?" He grinned. Larkin couldn't really believe that he had offered to help Harper out, something about her just melted his ice heart. He was going to pretend to be the boy who had spent the whole of last night with her.
"My parents might still be grumpy, but just act like your usual charming self, and you'll be fine." Harper offered Larkin a smile as she grabbed his hand and dragged him up to the front door. Larkin internally groaned, he was showing affection to a girl he had only known for a few days. It was weird, she just had such a likeable personality.
"Mum? Dad? I'm home." Harper called out as she closed the front door behind Larkin. He awkwardly stood in the entryway, before following Harper into the kitchen where her parents stood, smiles on their faces.
"So, this is the boy who kept my daughter out all night?" Logan smiled at the boy who stood in front of him. He outstretched his hand, which Larkin gladly took in a firm handshake- one fit enough to be in a movie.
"Yes, sir." Larkin walked into Leia's outstretched arms as she took him in for a hug, "I'm Leia, and that's Logan. No need to be so formal around here."
"I hope you like homemade lasagne." Leia smiled as she turned around to grate the rest of the cheese on top of the large dish that held enough lasagne to feed a small army.
"Love it." Larkin replied.
"Okay, how about you two go make yourself comfortable in the living room? We'll be with you in a minute." Harper nodded and grabbed Larkins hand, leading him to the living room where they sat on the furthest end of the 'L' shaped couch.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't think you'd be having dinner. You can leave whenever you want to, I won't mind." Larkin let out a laugh and shook his head, his hand moved to rest on Harper's knee, a sign of reassurance that he wasn't going anywhere. Harper smiled at the action.
The two sat in a comfortable silence until Harper's parents walked in, taking a seat on the other end of the couch. "Now, what exactly happened last night?" Logan asked Larkin, his eyebrow raised and a challenging look on his face.
"I was with your daughter at the coffee shop and we decided to go for a walk. We went back to my house and watched some movies and I was going to take her home but she fell asleep. I didn't know her password so I couldn't call anyone and she looked so tired, I didn't want to wake her." Larkin lied smoothly, he sounded so convincing that Harper was almost a little startled. He could probably manage to get his way out of a speeding fine, possibly even murder.
That was a scary thought.
"Very well. Harper if anything like this happens again, you're grounded." Logan and Leia stood up, "feel free to do whatever, we will call you down when dinners ready."
"You're a lifesaver." Harper smiled as she walked Larkin out to his car. She knew that she would never be able to pay back the debt. She hoped, that maybe one day she would be able to, then they would be on even ground once again.
"You've already said that," he grinned down at her, "your parents are nice." He noted.
"Yes, they are. They're young, I think they still understand what it was like to be a rebellious teen." Harper giggled as Larkin rapped his arms around her, pulling her close into his chest. She noticed he smelled of some sort of musk and mint, it smelled good.
"I'll see you around, call me whenever." Larkin knew he shouldn't have given his number to the small girl in front of him. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he didn't care. He should be hunting for the Tractatori in the area, but his mind was elsewhere, he hated this job and more than that he hated his two work colleagues, but this had to be done. He wouldn't quit his job until all the Tractatori were dead, he had killed hundreds and he would continue to kill hundreds more.
Larkin was considered one of the best of his kind. At the age of twenty-one he held one of the highest rankings, and he had only been hunting Tractatori for three years.
"I will." Harper waved as Larkin backed out of the driveway and drove off down the street. She stood there, watching the road until she could no longer see the headlights from his car. Surrounded by darkness, she slowly made her way inside, her mind going into overdrive as she thought about Larkin and Luke. The two boys that seemed to make her an incoherent mess.
Updating because 'Dangerous Woman' was released today, and I'm pretty excited :)))) thought I'd write this long delayed chapter.
Comment what you think of this new opening romance...