Kind of confusing time setting here. Right after the second book, but Ernie is out of the hospital and has his powers already, but nothing else has happened yet.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.
Ernie. She dedicated a page of her 'Book of Clues' to him. She's always looking out for him. When he got hurt, she cried. She never cried for me. Not once did she cry for me.
Even Max was more important to her. She even worried about him more, was more worried when he was hurt.
Harley trudged along in slushy snow. Ever since Ernie had gotten out of the hospital, he hadn't been sure about Natalia at all. He knew it annoyed her when he talked about Brooke, but beyond that…
The Grey Griffins were meeting in the tree house again. Harley's feet navigated as the turmoil in his head raged on. Suddenly he bumped into someone and was startled out of his thoughts.
He looked down. It was Natalia. "Harley, are you alright?" she asked.
"Um, yeah. Sorry," he mumbled quickly looking away.
Natalia looked as though she was going to push the subject, but instead she folded her arms to protect her hands from the cold and looked at her feet. He could tell her when he was ready. She wouldn't push it.
Ernie and Max showed up a few minutes later. "Okay, should we go up?" Ernie asked, oblivious to the awkward silence present.
"Sure," Natalia began.
There was a small crack from the woods. The four of them whirled around. "Was that just me, or did that sound like something pretty heavy?" Ernie said, looking worried.
"Ernie, be quiet!" Natalia hissed.
Harley tip-toed in the direction that the sound had come from. Natalia almost reached forward to grab his arm, but thought better of it and pulled back. Harley flattened against a tree and looked around it. "Ray!" he mouthed.
Max gulped and began to shuffle backwards, motioning for the others to follow. They did, slowly and carefully. Harley kept an eye on Ray, making sure not to step on any twigs.
She didn't try to stop you. She almost did, but she thought better of it. She didn't care.
A twig snapped beneath his foot. He froze, horrified. How could he have been distracted now, of all times? Before he could even think anything else, Ray was on top of him. Harley struggled, but Ray was even stronger than ever.
He brought his knee up into Ray's stomach, and Ray faltered long enough that Harley managed to squirm out. He rammed into his stomach with all the force he could muster, and Ray staggered back. He rushed to slam into him again, but something stopped him.
Was she watching?
His foot slipped and his knees gave way. Ray's fists hit him, and he sagged to the ground. He heard Natalia scream, and everything went black.
XXX
Natalia had been looking on in hope. That was her Harley. No matter how big or strong, no one could bring down her Harley. Ernie tugged at her shoulder, but she shrugged him off. She wasn't leaving until this was over.
And then, in just a split second, Harley had looked away, and he'd fallen. Natalia screamed. It had been more of a peep, since she was too startled and crushed to really make a loud noise, but Ray heard her. He turned and dove after her. She looked around. Ernie and Max were far away already.
She dashed behind another tree and reached for her nails. Ray looked around, driven by animal instinct. He lurched after her, but before he could get to her, she unleashed a large bombardment of nails. Ray screeched and ran headlong deeper into the forest.
Natalia sagged in relief, leaning against a tree. Then she shot back to her feet, and ran to Harley. She sank to her knees beside him and took his hand. "Oh, please be alright," she croaked.
She bit her lip. She wasn't going to cry. She leaned over Harley and wrapped her arms around him. "Please, oh please, oh please be okay…" she whispered again.
Nothing happened. Her lip started to bleed, and she stopped biting it. She tried to say something more, but her voice cracked. She breathed in. She had to be strong. He would have been strong for her…
She gave up. A single tear fell from her eye onto his cheek. She did not sob, just one tear. Just one. Harley opened his eyes slowly. "What happened?" he asked groggily.
Natalia smiled, and began to answer, but her voice cracked again, and she simply burst into tears. Harley put his arms around her and stroked her hair. "I thought you didn't care," he whispered.
"I'll always care," she gasped finally.
Yes, it was soppy, and fluff-like, but I had to get it out of my system sometime. If you actually got this far, please review.