Harper
I sit at the red light thinking about the past few days. Between spending time at the compound so Ryder and his Chaos brothers can make sure I'm safe and sitting with Mike at the bar (so her can also make sure I'm safe), I haven't had a lot of time to spend with the kids at the shelter. I've convinced Ryder that I would be ok with Aaron as my protection.
So we loaded up the boys, having decided to spend most of the morning working on their special performance and to spend some (hopefully meaningful) time with the kids.
Pulling into the lot, we find a spot and quickly make our way into the building. As we enter, a few kids are already getting up from their seats and moving to us. I'm hoping this means they've started to trust us and enjoy spending time with us.
After practicing for a couple of hours, the kids ask Aaron and I to sing with them again. Heading out to where we normally sing for fun, on of the younger girls asks me, "Miss. Harper, what was your first play on Broadway?"
I smiled at her, "the first play O did in New York was wicked. I played Elphaba when I went to high school here and the director sent a video of me to a friend of hers and they flew me out to audition."
"Can you sing a song from Wicked for us?"
Of course I can, what about Defying Gravity? It's the song my director sent to New York?" The little girl nodded excitedly.
Scrolling through my phone, I find the soundtrack and hook it up to the speaker system and face the kids.
Ryder
Today is the first day since everything happened that Harper isn't with me or one of the guys and it's putting me on edge a little. I know Aaron wouldn't let anything happen to Harper but I have a feeling he isn't as used to fighting as we are.
Around lunch time I just can't focus on my work anymore. Deciding to call it quits for the day, I text Aaron to see where they are. When he lets me know that they're at that shelter across town for the street kids I'm confused as fuck. Why would Harper spend her day hanging around there? Not that volunteering and spending time with those kids is a bad thing, I just can't imagine Harper and Aaron going there.
Hopping on my bike I make my way across town. Pulling into the lot, I pull into the spot next to her SUV and head inside. Just as I walk in I hear Harper begin a song. I stand to the side just inside the door and watch as she begins to sing.
Listening to her song that song starts to shake loose some memories of hearing her sing it before. As I continue to listen, I clearly remember my senior year in high school where everyone was forced to watch a dress rehearsal of some play and one of the main characters was the homeless girl a couple of years younger than me.
Just as I'm making the connection between Harper and the young girl I remember from high school, she looks over my way. I see her eyes widen and her face pale, but she doesn't stop singing.
As the song continues, I can't break eye contact with her. Why the hell wouldn't she tell me who she was in high school. The more I think about it, the angrier I get. There have been countless chances for her to tell me who she was but she didn't fucking trust me.
After the song ends I storm out the door, furious this is the way I had to find out about her past.
"Ryder! Please wait!" I hear Harper yell as she chases after me.
I make it to my bike before turning to look at her, "Oh, you want to talk now?"
"Please, I'm sorry I never told you about who I was back in high school but can you blame me?"
"Yea I fucking can! Have you not gotten to know me over the past few weeks? Did you really think I would care or think less of you knowing you were homeless growing up?"
"It's not just about that! I've fought so hard over the years to become more than that pathetic street girl everyone either felt bad for or picked on. Then I came back here and that was hard enough. Having to face all the memories what I went through. Then I meet you guys and none of you remembered me!" She screamed, tears running down her face.
"I told all of you my full name and what when I went there. How is it my fault that with all of that information none of you could fucking remember? Apparently I was even more forgettable than I thought. So excuse me for not refreshing everyone's memory and wanting a fresh start with anyone. You have no right to be mad at me because I tell you! It's my past and if I want to talk about it then I will. I was eventually going to tell you but I wanted to enjoy being with you before the past stained us."
"Harper, I -"
"No, you started this but I'm ending it. If you want to be mad at me, then go right ahead! You don't get to expect me to open up completely to you in such a short time and then get pissy when I don't. You know what, just go away. I need to get back to the kids."
She looks so defeated when she says that. I stand there like an idiot we'll after she's gone back inside, thinking about everything she said. She's right, I did expect her to confide everything to me, even though I wasn't aware that's what I was doing. I make the decision to leave and giver her some space to cool down.
But if she thinks this is over, she's got another thing coming. As I get on my bike and drive away I start thinking of a plan to apologize (again) for being an ass. I can only hope she'll forgive me again because I'm not ready to let her go and she's worth the fight to keep her.
Author's note***
Well, Ryder finally found out Harper's past. I hope you'll keep reading to see how it plays out. Please remember to vote or comment if you're enjoying my first story so far!