Uma hadn't seen Harry at all the next morning and it scared her. They would always meet in the morning, walk to the closest class and then go their separate ways until lunch. That day, it didn't happen. Uma knew that Harry was upset with her but she didn't know how to fix it this time. She knew she liked him, but she didn't think it was the same way he liked her. Even if it was, she wouldn't do anything about it. Feelings were a weakness, and she couldn't have any when she finally could rule Auradon. Even though now Uma didn't really feel the need to rule it. The whole reason she wanted to take over Auradon was to make the people of it feel what she felt on the Isle. Now that they were taking people off the Isle and giving them a chance, it wasn't much of a need anymore. Uma, not that she would admit it, liked her life in Auradon without the constant having to watch over their backs, the good food, and not having to work under her mother.
Uma was walking to her next class, her mind preoccupied with thoughts of Harry and what she was going to do, when she jumped at the sound of a, "Hey," coming from right next to her.
Uma turned and looked at the boy talking to her. He had dark brown hair, light brown eyes, sun-kissed skin and a jaw almost as sharp as Harry's. Uma looked him up and down and raised an eyebrow as she said, "Hey."
The guy smiled, "Mind if I walk with you? We have the next class together."
Uma looked at him again and thought, since when does an Auradonian want to walk, much less, talk to me? "Why would you want to do that?" She asked incredulously.
"Because I'm nice?" His smile widened.
"So are many other people here," She said as her suspicion grew.
"Well, I'm nicer, because I'm the one actually talking to you," He said. He was rubbing his arm and biting his bottom lip.
That fact was what threw Uma off in the first place. Since she got here, almost two months now, no Auradonian has talked to her, besides Ben, Jake and Manny. So to have this guy she's only ever seen in class talk to her, willingly, was making her wary of his intentions. "Why are you?"
"Because I thought it was time someone finally did," his smile widened as he noticed Uma had stopped looking at him with suspicion.
Uma's mask cracked a bit. It was another thing she liked about Auradon, the fact that people were nice without really having any bad intentions. Who was she to be rude to someone who was nice to her? "Fine," she said. They began to walk in the direction of the class. People were staring at them but didn't say a word.
"My name is Grayson bye the way," Grayson smiled as he looked down at her, "Son of Grumpy."
"Uma," she said, unnecessarily because everyone knew her name already from what she did.
"I know," he nodded. They began to make small talk, Grayson leading the conversation. Uma couldn't help but think that he was nothing like his father. He was happy and upbeat, his father was, well you know, Grumpy.
They walked into class and Uma was surprised that he sat right next to her. She shrugged the shock off, normally she sat in this class alone since her crew wasn't in this class. Jake was with her, but he never sat down inside the Chemistry lab, he much preferred to be standing by the wall next to her desk.
"Hey, Doug!" Grayson waved.
Doug looked up and waved at his cousin, he then paused when he saw who his cousin was sitting next to. Evie was walking behind him and looked just as shocked to see who his cousin was sitting next two.
"Umm.." Doug looked at Evie as soon as they sat in their regular seats, two rows away from them.
Evie shrugged and said, "Hopefully that isn't the girl he was talking about for the last few weeks. Because if she is, that'll end in heartbreak. She loves Harry."
"She does?" He asked in shock.
"Yeah and he's head over heels for her," she nodded.
"Really?"
"Yeah and everyone knows, but, I'm pretty sure, them," she shook her head at the sad fact.
"They'll figure it out," Doug said.
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"So are you going to the game?" Grayson asked as they exited the class.
"Yeah, I promised someone I would," she nodded. Her next period was free and she was thinking about strolling through the garden to get her mind off things. She also needed to figure out a way to fix her and Harry's friendship.
"Harry?" He asked and she nodded, "Is he your boyfriend?" He asked with a tilted head. He had always seen them together but today was different. Something must've happened.
"No!" Uma quickly denied, "Why do people keep asking me that?"
"Maybe because you guys act like a couple," Grayson said as he raised an eyebrow. He didn't understand how she didn't see that.
"How so?" Uma raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms.
"Well," he began to count on his fingers, "you guys hold hands, are always together, look at each other like you wouldn't know what you would do without the other, you always go to his games... must I go on?"
Uma shook her head. What he listed was things that seemed normal to her. Not like it showed that they were in a relationship. "We were always like that," she said as she looked up at him, "we've been friends for years."
"Friends don't do what you guys do," Grayson said as he shrugged, "Least not the ones I've seen here."
"Well," Uma said, having enough of these confusing feelings talk, decided to end it, "that's what we are, no more, no less."
"Well if that's the case... you wouldn't mind spending your free period with me?" Grayson said.
Usually Uma spent her free period wandering the halls and the garden by herself. None of the crew had the same free period as her so she was always alone for it. She looked at him and could tell she made him nervous with the way he was shifting foot to foot and chewing on his bottom lip. The longer she waited to answer him the harder he bit his lip. "Okay," she finally agreed and smiled when he smiled, "Only if you enjoy walking the gardens."
"The gardens?" He asked and his smile widened, "If you enjoy the gardens I can show you something even better than it."
"Really?" She asked, "Where?"
His smile turned mischievous, "You'll see."
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They walked for what felt like 30 minutes straight when Uma groaned, "When are we going to get there? I can't miss class."
"It's just at the top of this hill," Grayson said.
They walked further into the woods in silence. The only thing that could be heard was there footsteps. Jake was closely behind them but far enough to give them some privacy. The incline they were walking up only for steeper and Uma's calves started to hurt. They didn't really have hills on the Isle and the shoes she was in, her seashell covered brown boots, were not made for climbing.
When they got to what looked like a clearing at the top of the hill, Grayson stuck out his hand to help her up the last few steps and turned her to face the way they came.
Uma's jaw dropped, she's never seen something so pretty. "Wow," she whispered.
"Welcome to one of the many viewpoints of Auradon," Grayson smiled as he watched her eyes soften at the sight.
Trees framed the view of both the school, a part of Auradon and the water a few miles away. What took her breath away was the sight of the water, she hasn't seen it since she's been in Auradon. Water brought her a peace that no one but one person could match. She didn't know how much she missed the water until that moment. Her eyes watered a bit and he noticed.
"Are you okay?" Grayson asked concerned.
"Yeah," Uma nodded quickly as she closed her eyes. Wanting to change the subject she asked, "How did you find this place?" She opened her eyes when she was certain the tears wouldn't fall.
"Let's just say, my family loves the woods," he said. He knew something was wrong but he also knew it wasn't his place, yet, to ask.
Uma smiled weakly, "My family loves the water," she admitted.
"Well then that's the next trip."
"Next trip?" Uma asked.
"Yeah, next trip," Grayson said and before Uma could reply he looked at the time and said, "looks like we have to be heading back or we'll both be in trouble."
Uma nodded as they both turned back to the school. The whole conversation back was filled with laughter and stories about his uncles.
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Grayson and Uma had barely walked inside the school before Jonas and Desiree came running towards her with a look of emergency on their faces. Uma immediately snapped into captain mode and demanded, "What's wrong?"
"Harry's been looking for you," Desiree answered.
"Now he wants to meet up with me," Uma mumbled as she shook her head, her braids hitting Grayson.
"He told me he has been looking for you all day?" She asked confused, that was when she noticed the boy beside her. "Who's he?" She asked completely forgetting about what she had to tell Uma.
"I'm-" Grayson began but Uma cut him off by saying, "Not the problem right now. What did Harry want?"
Desiree continued to stare at the unknown boy so Jonas said, "He wanted you to be there when he told his sisters what happened."
"Oh," Uma said. Immediately feeling guilty for not being there when he needed her she said, "Has he done it?"
"No, he's waiting for you," he said. Jonas looked at the guy to, sized him up, but he saw that the guy wasn't a danger so he ignored him.
"Okay, lead the way," Uma said and as her crew members turned away she turned to Grayson and said, "I gotta go."
He nodded as he said, "Your friend needs you, I understand."
Uma smiled and waved as she turned to follow her friends.
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They finally found Harry and he was sitting on a bench in his sport uniform with his head in his hands.
"Harry," Uma said as they approached him.
Harry looked up and saw his crew mates. He signaled for Desiree and Jonas to leave and hey did. When they were out of earshot he asked, "Where were you?"
"Where were you?" She asked back, with a hand on her hip and an eyebrow raised.
"Please, Uma, just answer the question," Harry begged, he had no fight in him. His worry for his father and the knowledge of his unrequited feelings were dragging him down. He was barely holding his head above the water.
Uma sighed, "With a friend," she answered. She could see it in the way he held himself that he wasn't alright, but then again who would be. There was still no changing news on his father, and he had to be the one to break it to his sisters.
"A friend?" He asked, "I asked all the crew and they said they didn't know where you were."
"He's not in the crew," she answered simply taking a seat next to him.
"He?" Harry asked incredulously as he whipped his head to face her.
"Yeah," Uma nodded completely clueless about Harry's changing demeanor.
"You were with a guy?" He asked to clarify. His hand holding the hook was twitching.
"Yeah," Uma asked confused, "but that's not important, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Harry cackles as he stands up to put space between them. "What's wrong?" He asks louder and begins to laugh even harder, "Oh I don't know, Uma. Maybe the fact that my dad could be dying and I have to tell my sisters. Or it could be the fact that I just told the girl I like that I like her and she automatically goes to another guy. Or the fact that I have a game to go to that I just don't think I can handle going to," Harry let out a loud exhale at the end of his rant and began to pull his hair.
Uma was shocked silent. She's never seen Harry so worked up, and that's saying something. She knew Harry had a lot on his plate but she didn't think that she would be playing a part in his pain. "Harry," Uma said, "I'm here for you. You know that."
"Are you?" He asked as he turned to face her. "Because you weren't there earlier."
Uma's jaw dropped, she blinked. "You can't put that all on me," she glared as she stood up. She poked a finger into his chest and said, "You weren't where we usually meet up this morning."
"I needed time to think," he answered simply.
"But you didn't tell me!" Uma said as she shoved her finger deeper into his chest.
"You should've known after our conversation last night I would need time."
"And what did we promise each other on the Isle Harry?" Uma demanded.
Harry looked away knowing that he was in the wrong. "This is different."
"How?"
"Because nothing is holding us back this time. No one here would call it a weakness. No one here that will try to break us apart. There's nothing keeping us from happening. Yet you still hold back."
"I'm not holding back anything," Uma denied.
"So you're telling me that Nice Week was fake? That how we were with each other was fake?" He asks, each sentence bringing him closer to her.
"No."
"So you're saying you only see me as a friend? That there was never something more?" He asked. Uma gulped as he got closer. Their chests were pressed together and she had to look up to meet his eyes.
"Harry..." Uma whispered.
"Answer me, Uma," he demanded as he pushed a braid behind her ear.
Uma couldn't answer him truthfully. She'd be lying if she said she only saw him as a friend, she'd be lying if she said there was nothing more. With Harry it's always been more, she just couldn't let anything happen between them. She knew she had felt something for him, if they were the so called "feelings" then so be it, but she couldn't bring herself to admit them. Her mother had implanted in her brain that all relationships end badly, she couldn't let that happen with Harry. He was too important to her.
It took everything in her to take a step back and break eye contact. "We just can't be this way, Harry, we can't."
"Why, Uma? What are you afraid of?" He shouted.
"Losing you!" She shouted back, but immediately covered her mouth when she realized what she said.
Harry looked at her in surprise. How could she think she would ever lose him? He would never leave her, no matter how angry they got with each other. They would always work it out. "You could never lose me, Uma."
"I don't believe that. My mother has told me about relationships and they all ended bad, I don't want that to happen to us," Uma said. She was twirling the ring around her finger and avoiding eye contact with everybody.
"That won't happen to us," Harry reassures her.
"How would you know?" Uma asked.
"Because I know us. We've been through thick and thin and survived it."
"I know, but I just can't, I can't risk it," Uma said as she looked at her feet and rubbed her right arm with her left hand.
"So you're not even willing to give us a try?" Harry asked.
What Uma didn't know was that by trying to save their friendship, she was hurting it more than saving it. She was hurting Harry more than she would ever be able to imagine. With Harry's mind so focused on what was happening to his father he was thinking about all the bad things he's done to him. Especially the sentence his dad would repeat over and over, "Nobody will ever love you, you are worthless." With Uma not willing to take the risk in learning to love him, Harry couldn't help but feel like his father was right. Harry eyes began to glisten and he tried to blink away the tears.
"This is all I can give you Harry, I can't take it any further," Uma said. She looked up at Harry and immediately looked away. She hated seeing the hurt in his eyes, hurt that she caused. Harry had enough hurt in his life and she hated herself for causing more.
"Can't?" Harry questioned, "Or won't?" With that he turned his back to her, not even waiting for a reply as he began to walk in the direction he knew he would find his sisters. He tried to gather himself as he exited the garden and entered the school hallways. He knew Uma was following him, but he didn't say a word. The ball was in Uma's court now, and all he could do was wait.
"Harry," Uma said as she tried to catch up with him, "Please don't let this ruin us," her eyes started to fill as she realized that she could be the reason for the end of their friendship.
"So there is an us?" He laughed bitterly. He was itching to swing at something but knew he couldn't. So instead he just gripped his hook harder and quickened his pace.
"There will always be an us!" Uma said as she quickened her pace as well.
"But only as friends am I correct?" He turned the corner and nearly ran into Gil.
"Hey Harry!" He said with a smile that quickly faded as he saw the look on his face and the glistening of Uma's eyes, "What happened?" he asked immediately after.
"Nothing that we can't handle," Harry said with the fakest smile on his face.
Gil knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with Harry so he turned to Uma and waited for her answer. Uma shook her head as she said, "Let's just say we have some...relationship issues."
"Again?" He groaned.
Uma nodded as she sighed, "These might be a bit more serious. We'll keep you updated." With that her and Harry began walking again in silence.
Uma didn't know how to fix what she did, she also didn't know where they were going. "Umm Harry where are we going?" She asked.
"To go tell my sisters what happened, Uma Darling, they might want to go see him as well," he said. He began to whistle and rubbed one of his fingers against his hook. Everyone made a path for him in fear that if they didn't they'd get hurt.
Harry was trying to intimidate people, he only did this when he had a point to prove or was feeling unsure of himself. With him not facing her, Uma didn't know which one it was, she just followed silently until they heard loud arguing. They were in the lunch area for the school and Harriet and CJ were surrounded by a mess of papers.
"That's not how it should be!" Harriet shouted.
"You're no fun," CJ shouted back.
"Hey!" Harry shouted and both CJ and Harriet stopped shouting at each other and turned towards the person who dared interrupt them. Seeing their brother, Harriet smiled as she walked slowly toward him, "Oh little brother, to what do we owe this pleasure?"
"Our father could be dying," he said bluntly. Uma hit his shoulder, "Ow!" He rubbed his arm and turned to glare at her, "What was that for?"
"You couldn't have said that nicer?" She glared back. Harry simply shrugged and turned back to his sisters.
"What?" CJ asked.
"He's very badly hurt," Harry stated, "The doctors aren't sure he'll make it."
"Good riddance," Harriet says as she crossed her arms.
"That's exactly what I said," Harry said, "But King Ben is giving us a chance to go see him."
"Go back to the Isle?" CJ shrieked, "I'm not going back."
"You wouldn't be left there," Uma chipped in.
"Doesn't mean I want to see him," Harriet growled.
"It might be good for you," Uma said. "Harry's going."
"You're going?" Harriet said as she got in his face, "After what he did to us? After what he did to you?" She asked incredulously. They didn't have a good upbringing but Harry got the worst of it. Harry was their dad's punching bag, and he was also stuck with him longer than her and CJ were.
"I was told it could make me feel better," Harry said as he touched the tip of his hook with his finger. "And he can't hurt us if he's unconscious."
"Why does he deserve our attention? We never had his unless he wanted to abuse us," CJ crossed her arms.
"Because he already has your attention. Whether you want to admit it or not, you still care about him. He may have been a terrible father, but he wasn't alway like that," Uma answered.
Harriet sighed as she shook her head, "If I go, I'm not facing him by myself," she finally turned to look at Uma. Uma saw the worry for her father hidden behind her anger for him.
"And you won't have to," she promised, "I'll be going with you, with all of you if you need me."
"Fine," CJ said, her shoulders dropping in defeat. She knew that if she didn't go, she would regret not going. That regret wasn't what her father deserved so she knew she had to go."
"With that settled, we're going tomorrow," Harry said, "Well if you'll excuse me, I have a game to sit for," he grumbled and turned to walk away.
"Harry," Uma said, trailing after him yet again and getting sick of it, "Will you stop and talk to me?"
"I don't have the time, the game is two hours and we have a practice to go to in a few," He answered.
"Well then you have those few minutes to stop and listen to me," Uma grabbed his arm to stop him.
Harry stopped but shook her arm off him, "What is there to talk about? You said what you had to say."
"Why are you acting like this?" she asked, "We've been through something like this before and got through it. We should be able to get through it again."
Harry laughed as he shook his head, "Not this time."
"Why not?" she questioned.
"Because this time, people aren't what's holding us back, it's you, and that is something I just can't seem to wrap my head around."
"Harry..."
"It's okay, Uma, I'll get over it," He said. "I have to get going."
Uma looked at him. She could see the wall Harry was building between them and she couldn't stand it. She thought she was doing this to save them, but she might instead be destroying them, she had to say something. "Before you go, remember this, you will always be mine. My number one, my best friend, my first mate. Nothing and no one in this world will change that. You are mine, Harry Hook, even if it's not official."
Harry's face twitched, the beginning of a smile that he hadn't felt since the news of his father appeared on his face. Uma didn't know that those were the words he needed to here. She didn't know that he was doubting how much he mattered to her. Her saying this made it clear that he did matter to someone that his father was wrong. "Does that make you mine?" he asked.
Uma, having seen the first smile from Harry for the day, didn't feel like ruining it. "Whatever you want, Hook."
Harry knew it wasn't a full confirmation, but he knew for now, it would have to do. He knew how Uma felt about feelings, but now he knew that they weren't at least one sided. He just had to work harder to get her to finally admit them. She called him hers, and what Uma would soon find out, is just how much it was true.
His smile widened and a small smile appeared on Uma's face. "Does that smile mean we're okay?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
Uma's smile widened and then fell as she punched his shoulder, "Ow," he grumbled, "Why so violent?"
"Because you had me worried!" She went to punch him again, but he dodged her.
"Uma," Harry said.
"We are not talking about this again," Uma stated.
"Okay, consider it dropped," he stated. Harry knew that this conversation wasn't dropped, but paused. He knew it would be coming back, and boy did he know it was going to be something fierce. He would leave it alone for now, because he really didn't have the energy to fight anymore. He blocked another swing, "Now will you stop swinging at me? Hurting a player on the day of his first game isn't allowed."
"You're not even playing!" Uma said.
"Doesn't mean you could hit them," he smiled, "You are going right?"
Uma looked up, "What kind of question is that?" she asked.
Harry held up his hands in surrender and said, "Just making sure."
"You need to go," They heard from behind them and they both jumped. Manny was pointing at his watch as he said, "They need you now."
"Okay," Harry said and then turned back to Uma, "Okay, now I really must go. See you at the game?"
"Wouldn't miss it," Uma answered.
Hiya loves, I've been working on this chapter for days and I am crying tears of joy that it finally came out the way I wanted it to. Hope you love it!
Thanks for reading,
-TheOnly