It was late in the day and the sun was setting in Littlebark Grove. Piri Piri was sitting alone in her room staring out the window at the calm yet somewhat gloomy sunset. She appeared to be very down and somewhat emotionally despaired. With a big sigh she lies down, turning to stare at the pictures on her bedside table. Her eyes shine and glare as tears begin to form in her eyes. It was pictures of Rooter and Harvey. Those pictures stare back at her, serving as a reminder of the emotional divide she faces. She loved Harvey, but Rooter loved her. She could not decide what was best: Continue to pity Rooter through a false and dishonest relationship, or tell Harvey the truth. It was this that held her down so deeply. Piri is not the type that can emotionally handle hurting others, even if it is what was best for them as a whole. She would rather keep the other's happiness in check at the expense of her own. Being an emotional one herself, she knew this could not last. One day she will break and someone will get hurt.
The next day; She, Harvey, Fee, and Foo were playing a game of mud tag when she and Harvey lost track of the twins. They travel aimlessly through the thickening forest calling out to Fee and Foo with no response. They decide to continue walking down the forest path. "Stay close to me", Harvey says with slight fear in his voice. "It is very easy to get lost in this forest". Piri grabs ahold of Harvey's arm as they keep walking deeper into the forest. It felt like they had been lost for hours on end. When they felt like all hope was lost, they heard a sound. They turn to look where the sound was coming from. As they advanced towards the direction where the sound came from, it was becoming clear as to what kind of sound they were hearing. "Is that music?" Harvey asked bewildered. "I believe so", Piri replies in awe. They begin to run towards the musical sound. As they approach the musical sound, they see light in the distance. "What is that?!" Harvey asks heavily bewildered. "I don't know." Piri replies with as much confusion as Harvey. They finally approach the source of the light and music.
*Gasp!* "It's a garden!" Piri yells under her breath. "What the heck kind of garden is THAT?!" Harvey yells, still bewildered by the entire situation. "It's a magical garden!" Piri loudly whispered as her eyes dilated in awe. "Man, I guess you're right…I have never seen any kind of garden like this". Harvey replies in disbelief. They look around this exotic magical garden. There were so many alien-like plants. There were large grass-like plants with curled leaves that created a whistling sound when blown by the wind. There was a variety of large vibrant flowers that glow in the dark and other glowing white flowers which would only bloom under the moonlight. The garden was filled with many musical plants such as flowers that ring like bells and pitcher plants that played eerie haunting noises. There were vines stretching as far as the eye can see filled with flowers and gourds. Some of the plants had magical elemental power such as fire, ice, wind, and electricity. There were so many things to see. "Wooow…This place is just beautiful!" Harvey commented completely awestruck. "I know." Piri replies calmly. They play around in the garden exploring all of the beautiful and exotic features it had to offer. They play for a few hours.
"Wow! This garden is amazing!" Harvey says with excitement. "Yes, it is." Piri replied with cheerful gleam in her eyes. She looks at Harvey while going into deep thought. *Wow! I finally have a chance to be alone with Harvey on my terms.*She thought, hoping they can come back here alone together. "I've got to share this with everyone!" Harvey yells with immense excitement. This shocks her. As Harvey begins to run back, Piri quickly grabs him by the hand and pulls him close to her. "W-whoa, Harvey… Don't act so hastefully." She said, trying to regain her breath.
"H-Harvey, you don't have to tell anyone about this." She told him while staring him directly into his eyes. "W-what do you mean?" Harvey asked in reply. "Do you remember how you wanted to keep Detective Dirk Trilogy as your special thing and you couldn't because it got too popular?" "Y-yeah, what about it?" He replied in deep confusion. "This could be your, well more like our special thing." She said with hope in her eyes. "You don't have to share everything with everyone."
"Harvey, this could be our special little secret." She scoots closer to Harvey. "Well, what do you say?" Harvey becomes somewhat nervous. "O-OK…" He reluctantly accepts keeping the secret. "Alright then! We should meet here again tomorrow." She says excitedly. "We should leave, the sun is close to setting." Harvey says with concern. "Alright." Piri replies. Harvey begins to leave, Piri stares at the garden one last time thinking her last inner thought of the day: *finally a place where I can be alone with Harvey. * After a long struggle, they manage to find their way back home by late sunset. "See you tomorrow!" Harvey calls out to Piri as they depart to head home. "See you later!" Piri replies. They head home.
They meet up at the same garden the next day. "How on earth do you even remember how to find this place?" Harvey asked in surprise. "I have a very good photographic memory; it comes with being an artist." She replied braggingly. "I don't think that's exactly how it works Piri Piri…" Harvey replies in uncertainty. She shrugs. "Oh well, I still have it anyway." They spend two hours relaxing in the garden listening to the peaceful musical sounds being played by the plants. Piri gets up, and starts walking around. A few minutes later, she returns with her arms full of small rocks. "What are those for?" Harvey asks out of curiosity. She places the stones around Harvey in a large circle.
"What is this?" Harvey asks confused. "It's a secret circle." she replies. "What's a secret circle?" Harvey asked. "It is an area where we share our deepest and most personal secrets. What goes in the secret circle stays in the secret circle." Harvey stares at her as she enters the circle of rocks. "S-so I can tell you anything, and you promise to never tell a soul?" Harvey asked in deep concern. "Of course, that is the sworn law of the secret circle." Harvey began to share his unsurprising secrets; he did not have much to hide. There was only one thing he wouldn't tell her because he found it to be way too ridiculous and embarrassing to be worth mentioning. She told him all of her deepest secrets accept for the truth about her feelings towards him. She was not ready to face it yet, but she knew; she was about to break. That day was coming close to an end so they decided to call it a day and head home. They establish another meetup for the next day. The garden was no longer just a secret garden. It had become a garden OF secrets as well and it was beginning to feel like an amazing thrill.
The third meetup was when things changed forever. They enter the secret circle and sit there without having anything to say to one another. A few awkward moments passed as Piri began to think. Her emotional buildup was at its peak. She begins to blush as she stared at Harvey. Her emotions were on fire, screaming at her to "kiss him", but she resisted. She was getting nervous as she knew she could not hold back much longer. Harvey looks at her in concern. "Piri, are you OK? Harvey asked, beginning to worry. "I-I..." She begins the quiver violently her face completely flushed red. She continues to stare at Harvey and her emotions overtook her. She couldn't take it anymore, staring at that sweet, honest and sincere face of his with those open and welcoming eyes. She spilled it. "H-Harvey, I-I have a confession to make! I-I-I LOVE YOU!" She shouted at the top of her lungs with tears running down her face. "W-What?!" Harvey replied in complete utter shock. "I-I have a HUGE CRUSH ON YOU!" she replied "W-Wha- h-how?! I-I thought you liked Rooter!" Harvey replied in shock and confusion. "T-that's *sob* what e-everyone's sup-osepd to thi-ink." Her speech became broken as she began to sob heavily. "I-I only pretend t-to be with h-him be-because I-I d-don't want to hur-hurt him! She presses her face into Harvey's shoulder began to go into a full blown sobbing cry. He comforts her by holding her. He gently rubs her back with his hand making her feel somewhat better. "It's alright Piri, everything's alright." He tells her empathetically. "*sob sob* N-no! It's *sob* not! I *sob* I'm a liar! *sob sob* I- I'M A TERRIBLE FRIEND!" She screamed in self-hatred. "NO YOU'RE NOT!" Harvey replied in frustration. "H-how can y-you say that?" she replied not wanting what he says to be true. "Seriously?! You are the sweetest and most caring girl I have ever met! You do everything in your power to insure the happiness of everyone even if it means sacrificing your own! If THAT isn't a good friend, then I don't know what is." This made Piri feel much better. "T-thank you Harvey."
Harvey hugs Piri, cheering her up completely. "So Piri, why do you like me so much?" Harvey asked mostly out of curiosity. "It's your personality." She stated blatantly. "From the moment we first me as small kids, I knew you were different from the others. Your eyes alone showed me so much about who you are from the inside out. I noticed that we shared so much; from our interests to our skills…We were so alike. I love your sweet, loving, caring, and sometimes overdramatic nature. You are just so understanding and open minded just like me. You are the only one who understands me and doesn't think I'm weird! I love how you have been just as weird as I have, like the time you walked around in your underwear wearing sunglasses while acting cool!" "I was showing off my scars" Harvey awkwardly replies. "You have scars?" Piri replies in surprise. "Yeah, they're right here on my legs" He shows her his scars. "Ohhh! OK, now that makes sense." She pauses for a moment. "Harvey, I also think you're adorable. I love your large head and especially that little adorable tuft of feathers on your head! It's sooo CUTE!" She blushes heavily. Harvey looks at the sky, it was midday. "This has been a long morning, let's go back to my house and we'll talk more about this in my room. How does that sound?" He asked. "It sounds fine." She replied.
Later that day during the night, Harvey and Piri sat alone on his bed. Harvey nervously swung his legs back and forward. "Piri?" "Yeah?" "I have one more secret I have yet to tell you. It is really stupid and embarrassing for me and in all honesty, I don't feel like it's worth mentioning." He twiddles his thumbs as he nervously attempts to whack up the courage to tell this last secret. "Piri, I kinda have this weird attraction to freckles. I don't know, I Just think they make girls look incredibly adorable…" Piri sees him blushing for the very first time. "R-really?!" Piri was pleasantly surprised.
"Y-yeah… I know this may sound really weird, but I've always wanted to touch your face right below your eyes…Oh man! I feel like such a weirdo!" Harvey became frustrated by what he said. "HARVEY!" Piri yells. "You ARE weird, just like me!" She replied in an attempt to make him feel better. "Well, can I?" He asked with cheeks bright red from embarrassment. "Go ahead, I don't mind." She replied gracefully. Harvey nervously reaches out; she calmly closes her eyes. He gently touches her freckled face. Her smile deepened by his touch. He stops.
"Thank you, I just want to ask…How you were not weirded out by that." He asked. "Because I'm weird, remember?" She replied. "Oh, right…" Harvey felt embarrassed upon remembering that. "I just feel really awkward for touching your face…" Harvey felt ashamed. "It's nothing to be ashamed about; it's not at all unusual for people to touch the face of the person they like." She replied sweetly. "I-I…" Harvey had no words. He didn't know what to think. Does he like her? He could not tell. He always thought of her as adorable, but he never considered the possibility that he may have feelings for her. He stares at her, trying to determine how he truly feels towards her. It was difficult for him to figure out.
Some time passed as they sit alone awkwardly. Piri looks at Harvey. Harvey looks at her in the eyes. "Harvey…" She turns to face him. "You might have known me all my life, but who was I, before tonight? She leans closer to Harvey and whispers in his ear: "Kiss me now, I promise I won't tell." He hesitated as she slowly leans into a kiss. He reluctantly accepts the beak (lip) lock. At first, he does not think much of it. She slowly releases the kiss and calmly opens her eyes. Harvey stares at her unable to move. Suddenly a powerful feeling over comes him. He grabs Piri by the face and kisses her without hesitation. He began to realize that Piri was right, they did share so much. She was sweet, kind, loving, and caring, just like him. He had begun to realize, he liked her too. He DOSE have feelings for her and they were far stronger than he originally anticipated.
He slowly pulls away. They stare into each other in the eyes. "You…You do like me…don't you?" Piri asked sighing under her breath. Harvey looks down towards the floor. "Ye-yeah…I do…But I feel so bad…" He replied shamefully. Piri looks at him confused. "Why does this make you feel so bad?" She replies having no idea why Harvey would say that. "I…feel so bad for Rooter… I know he likes you so much and it feels so wrong for me to like you too! I remember now…I remember everything…I...I have always liked you! I've had a crush on you for more than a year… But…Rooter…I found out he also likes you, so I decided to do everything I could to forget…To lock away all of my feelings so I would never have to worry about hurting him… I had succeeded…Until now…" Piri looked at him empathetically with sorrow in her eyes. "I understand." She said quietly.
She leans forward and kisses him again with tears running down their eyes. Showing such affection with the knowledge that they are betraying another broke their hearts, but at the same time it felt absolutely amazing and completely irresistible. This feeling…this strong bittersweet shattering feeling, the feeling we all call love had taken the hearts of these two children. They are bound together by heart and soul. There was no way out. They slowly pull away with Piri still crying. "I-I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! It hurts!" She sorrowfully yells as she grabs ahold of Harvey and rubs her head against his chest for comfort. He comforts her by stroking her hair/feathers. "This is my dream come true and my worst nightmare!" She says still thinking about Rooter. She begins to laugh and cry at the same time unable to escape both strong feelings. Harvey began to do the same. They were truly bittersweet. They just held each other, trying to push away the bitterness.
Later near the hour of midnight Harvey and Piri stared at the starry sky as they cuddled close. The full moon was bright and high in the sky. Piri turned to look at Harvey. "Harvey?" Piri grabs the attention of Harvey. "Yeah, Piri?" "Does this mean we are…together…since we kissed and all?" Harvey hesitated. "Yes…Yes Piri… we are together." He replied finally. "I…don't…really want anyone to know though…I'm not exactly ready to become new for being in a romantic relationship." He added. Piri was perfectly fine with that. "I feel the same way." She replied with bliss. "I don't want to become news either with the risk of Rooter finding out…" "Yeah." Harvey agreed.
"Piri?
"Yeah?"
"Do you promise to keep our relationship a secret and to never tell a soul?"
"I promise."
"Do you swear on your life?"
"I swear on my life and soul. I love you Harvey Beaks."
"I love you too Piri Piri De Luca."
"Please, call me Piri Piri Beaks."
*She wants to marry me?*
*When I grow up, I want to marry him*
"Piri?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Well, what do you want to be?"
"I want to be a father."
"Then I want to be the mother"
Harvey was pleasantly surprised. They snuggle up once more staring at the soft glowing moon. "What about Rooter?" She asked concerned. "We won't worry about him for now; let's just focus on ourselves for now." "OK." They stare into the night sky and slowly drift to sleep.
-End of chapter one.