Cavatina

Chapter 12

Hey guys! This chapter is a little short compared to the previous chapter but I hope you still enjoy it! Just an FYI but I'm taking summer courses right now and my class this term is my Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Lab and it is seriously kicking my ass. Contact time for the class is from 8am to 5pm, Monday through Saturday, plus group work after those hours... so I feel like death. That being said, I will try to update Cava when I can but it is going to be hard for me until the end of the month but I will try my best, I promise!

Also, if you noticed a cover change on this story, you can thank my friend Insane-romance for designing it! I absolutely love it and it brings a whole new element to this story!


Arkytior's Song: I am so happy you loved the last chapter! Hopefully the fight scene was a good one! But if you thought that chapter was cute, let me be the first to say that this chapter is filled with fluff.

SeleneAlice: Here is the next update! I hope you enjoy!

Noface: My trip was absolutely amazing! And don't worry, it took me until my early twenties to travel over there so don't worry about it, you will make it over there eventually! Harsherr really is taking off... and you will be in a fun and fluffy surprise this chapter! That would be a great and funny one-shot if elder Erik was like that! And well, maybe it is a step in the right direction... or maybe it isn't *eyebrow wiggle*, time can only tell! *insert evil author laugh here*

Alexander676: Lol yeah, Harper was a total badass! A part of me just wants Erik and Harper to get together already but due to these two characters and their personalities... as previously stated, be prepared for a slow burn lol.


It had been about two weeks since the attack on the facility and as per usual, the government had covered it up, trying to keep information about mutants and the assailants quiet. Clean up of the building went by quickly and quietly, out of public eye and for that, Harper was grateful.

There were no camera crews that had caught the incident on tape so she didn't have to worry about talking about what happened to anyone but the few who had survived and Moria's chief who was overseeing the clean-up and the new man-hunt for Shaw. Harper was healing, slowly but surely.

Majority of her deep tissue bruises were now starting to fade, and most of the cuts that she had sustained were gone. However, her ribs were taking longer to heal than usual and she still had to keep her sling on for another week. Once her sling came off, she was still going to be forced to wear the ace bandage around her shoulder and arm to make sure that her arm completely healed. She knew that the nurse that was looking after her still wanted to do some physical training, but Harper just wanted to get back into fighting shape as soon as possible—which meant that PT was off the table for her.

She knew that Charles and Erik didn't like her decision, but she could really care less about what they thought at the moment. She had desperately tried to stay away from not only them, but the group as well. They kept looking at her like she would fall apart or they felt guilty so they would try to do things for her that she didn't need done. If she needed help, Harper wouldn't hesitate to ask for it, it was just that even when she didn't need help they insisted and she couldn't fight them on it.

Plus, to make matters worse, Charles kept trying to peer into her mind whenever he saw her because he thought she was hiding the pain she was feeling. That was true to some extent, but she also didn't want to share it with Charles because he wouldn't understand what she was going through. With having been defeated, beaten, and letting someone die that she vowed to protect, she just needed time to process everything without any interruptions.

However, weirdly enough, Erik was the one to give her that much needed space. She could always feel his eyes on her when he was around her, and he tried to help her out when she was struggling, but he was the only one who seemed to treat her the same. That she wasn't going to fall apart and that she was still as strong as they once believed. Since the day that Erik had held Harper close to him and she cried into his chest, they haven't spoken to each other.

Harper knew that if Erik did want to strike up a conversation, she honestly didn't know what they would talk about, except for how she had broken down in front of him. To her, it was an embarrassing ordeal after it all happened. She had never been one to cry like that—ever. Usually she just bottled it up and dealt with it in constructive ways. However, it was just something about Erik's presence that let her feel like she could let everything go and it would be okay.

Harper shook her head trying to clear her head of her thoughts that were starting to revolve around Erik. She didn't know why but whenever she thought about him recently, she couldn't help but think about if they were more than just friends. However, Harper didn't even know if they were even friends to begin with so it was a difficult balancing act to think through. Anyway, Harper started to pack and place her things in the small suitcase that she had brought all the way here from the future.

Charles and Erik decided that it was time to move to a place where they could start training, along with the others, in order to be able to take on Shaw and his minions the next time they decided to come around again. Harper figured that the place that Charles was proposing they go to was his mansion in New York; the very one in which he grew up in. This thought made Harper smile slightly knowing that this was probably the first time that Charles was officially thinking about opening his school for "gifted young minds."

Harper let herself get lost in her happy memories that she had while she was at Charles's school. Granted, she never attended as a student, and only taught an extra class here and there while she lived there, but all she had were wonderful memories of the place. That being said, everything good must come to an end at some point, and that point was when the war broke out. But before Harper could fall into those thoughts about the dark and bloody war, she heard a knock on the door.

Harper turned around and noticed that Erik was the one standing there, watching her intently. Harper didn't know why, but her heart started to speed up at just the sight of the man in front of her. Not only that, but she could feel the heat start to radiate from her cheeks and she chalked it up to her still not being over crying, like she did, in front of him.

"You seemed to be deep in thought and I didn't want to startle you again" Erik said nonchalantly, hinting at how the last time he didn't announce himself, Harper almost impaled his midsection.

Harper was about to run a hand through her hair, but her sling prevented her from doing her usual nervous tick. So instead, she just licked her lips and nodded her head knowing all too well what Erik was referencing.

"Well, thank you, I appreciate it."

Erik just simply nodded his head and looked Harper up and down, never taking his eyes off of her. Harper knew that Erik was just checking to make sure that her injuries were healing, but a part of her wished that the look he was giving her was more than making sure she was okay. She wanted the look to be one of a more sexual nature. Again, Harper shook her head and blew an annoying breath out of her mouth, not understanding why she was thinking of Erik in this way now. It wasn't unpleasant, quite the opposite to say the least, it was just, not what she wanted to focus on right now.

"So, since you came all the way here to my room, is there anything you need from me?" Harper curiously asked, with her hair shielding her eyes partially from her shaking her head.

"Charles actually sent me up here—"

"Well you can tell him that I am fine and that he can stop spying on me."

"—in order to get your stuff to move to Charles's place. He thought you may need some help and I offered to come up here and ask you if you did."

If Harper could, she would have face palmed herself right then and there. That was what she got for assuming and interjecting before she knew the whole story.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'll, uhh… bring my stuff down in a minute," Harper said while turning around and shoved the rest of her clothes in her suitcase before she tried to zip it up.

Thinking that Erik went downstairs after her awkward dismissal, she turned around quickly and caught herself right before she bumped into Erik. Harper slowly let her eyes drift from Erik's chest until she reached his eyes. He wasn't staring at her as intensely as he had been these past weeks, and this time, it was more that he was letting down his walls. She could see the worry lines around his eyes, and she could tell that there was more going on inside Erik's head than he let on.

However, it caught Harper off guard when she felt Erik tuck a strand of her hair, that was hiding a part of her face, behind her ear. It was such a simple gesture, but it seemed much more intimate between the two of them somehow. Harper watched Erik as she saw him lick his lips and glace between her eyes and her own lips, almost as if he was thinking of kissing her.

This made Harper's mind start to race thinking about every different possible outcome that could come out of this if he kissed her right then and there. So, the only thing that registered in Harper's mind was to shut her eyes, and let Erik lead. She never felt like she had to wait for a guy to make the first move, but for some reason, she just didn't know how to act around Erik and everything just seemed strange between the two of them.

But after a few pauses, the kiss never came, and Harper gradually opened her eyes to see Erik slightly smirking at her as if he knew what he was doing to her and what she was assuming was about to happen. Harper licked her lips in slight frustration, not knowing if it was frustration due to him not kissing her or that he knew what she was thinking about.

"Well, I'll take your bag then, if you're done packing."

Harper and Erik broke apart and Erik dropped his hand from Harper's cheek, where he had pushed her hair behind her ear. Harper stepped to the side letting Erik take her suitcase and he was about to also pick up her violin case, but she gently placed her unbound hand on top of his and shook her head when he looked up at her.

"I can take the violin down, but thank you though."

"No problem." Erik responded and moved his hand from under Harpers.

Erik then proceeded to lift the suitcase from the bed, and was surprised to feel that the contents of the bag was fairly light. He typically knew women to pack way more than what they needed, making for their luggage to be outrageously heavy, but this was not the case with Harper's suitcase. It was like she packed the bare minimum, and then subtracted most of that.

Erik nodded at Harper, shifting the handle of her luggage to be in a better position, so that way he had a better grip on the suitcase. He turned around, and almost passed through the door before he heard his name being called, causing him to turn around and look at the green-eyed girl, raising his eyebrows as if to ask if she needed anything else.

"I uhh…" Harper said glancing around the room and shifting her weight back and forth on her feet, indicating to Erik that she was nervous about telling him what she was about to.

"I just wanted to apologize for ruining your shirt and a part of your jacket a few weeks ago when the facility fell…"

This was the last thing Erik had expected to come from Harper's lips. Never in a million years did he ever want her to feel like that she had to hide what she felt. It went against everything that he believed in as both a person and as a mutant. However, even as he said this, he could understand why she felt insecure about letting it go, especially since the two of them had such a back and forth relationship.

"Harper…" Erik voiced making Harper look at him.

Harper saw that Erik's demeanor changed and she waited for the fury that she assumed that he was hiding all these weeks while she recovered. She thought that he was probably waiting for her to heal so that way he could tell her that he didn't want to deal with her and she could understand that, she just didn't know if she was ready to hear it from Erik given how she had been feeling about him lately. However, what came out of Erik's mouth was the last thing she ever expected to hear.

"Don't ever feel bad about showing anyone, especially me, how you feel."

"I don't… I just, I don't want you to think I'm a burden that you have to protect. Plus, it isn't that great of a time to take care of someone who can't get their shit together and is slobbering all over you…" Harper blurted out, licking her lips to deflate her nervousness.

Without missing a beat, and keeping his face as neutral as possible, Erik spoke his last few words at Harper before turning around and taking his leave without waiting for Harper to respond to his words.

"You're more important to me than any shirt, or material item, Harper. Never forget that."


Harper's mind was even more confused than what she had originally started out the day. After Erik had left her with his finishing sentence, that put a definitive ending to their conversation, Harper had followed shortly after with her violin case, and boarded the military vehicle in order to travel to Charles's mansion. Moria was able to get permission to use the vehicle to take everyone to where they needed to go in one fellow movement, which was both nice and convenient.

But when everyone loaded up on their means of transportation, Harper tried to sit as far away as she could from Erik. She ignored everyone else and their attempts at trying to help her when she didn't need it, but she couldn't help but glance at Erik when he wasn't looking. She took in his features and traced his outline with her eyes. She saw that he had styled his hair and she couldn't help but noticed that he had natural red highlights in his light brown hair. Not only that, but his piercing blue eyes enhanced his facial features and he had a certain way that he held himself up, with pride and confidence never letting anyone tell him who he was.

Harper watched as Erik spoke to Charles and she caught the two men slightly chuckling at something that was said. Harper watched as Erik smirked, but his smile never reached his eyes. This made Harper realize that she had never seen Erik truly smile. She thought that if she ever had the chance to see a genuine smile from him, she would be transfixed by it.

Harper couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, she was being drawn to Erik. For the first time since she arrived in the past, she didn't mind being here. Even though she had the shit kicked out of her, and that her and Erik would probably only ever get to just being friends, she was finally starting to feel like she belonged here.


Harper never realized it, but she had drifted off to sleep during the car ride to Charles's mansion. Both her and Raven had fallen asleep on each other and when Hank woke the both of them up, they shared in small laughter just as best friends would. When Harper woke up, she could feel Erik's eyes on her, as if they were watching her but she tried to pay no attention to the feeling. A small part of her wondered if he was watching her sleep on the car ride to the mansion, but Harper quickly let the thought dissolve knowing full well that Erik probably didn't care about that sort of thing.

She knew that if she would look at Erik now, as they were exiting the vehicle, she would be lost in his ever-present gaze, like she generally was. There was just something about those blue eyes that she found intoxicating. It was like she never had to take a sip of alcohol and she was just drunk staring into his blue orbs.

Harper jumped out of the back of the military vehicle right after Raven, as Hank offered her a hand to help her down and Harper accepted. Besides Erik, Hank was the only other person who realized that Harper needed some much deserved space and only offered his help to her when she asked, or when he was helping everyone else in a situation, like now when he had just helped Raven off of the convoy.

After Harper thanked Hank for his help, she quickly brushed off the nonexistent dust that was on her and looked around. She couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of her. The building in which she shared so many fond, mutant memories was in the building right before her eyes. It also seemed to look the same as it did in her future. It was almost like the building had powers of its own; which were that of never aging and standing against the test of time. Harper was taken out of her flash back when she heard Erik speaking to Charles.

"Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived living in such hardship."

"Well, we all bear our crosses Erik" Charles laughed at Erik's comment trying to come up with a witty retort of his own.

"So, are we just going to stand here, or are we actually going to let people go inside, Charles?" voiced Raven who was mocking the two men and their conversation.

Raven lead the first party inside, which contained everyone besides Erik, Charles and Harper. The three of them decided to take a few more moments to take in the exterior of the building. Harper was slightly curious as to why Erik stayed behind with her and Charles given that he was usually the man who wanted to be the first one to charge straight ahead.

The three of them stood side by side as the sun started to set and Harper almost felt as if she was finally home again, even though she knew that everything had changed. However, Harper just hoped that no one realized that she had been in the mansion before coming to get Charles. She knew that new dust would have covered where she had landed, but she was still worried they may think that someone had broken in when that was simply not the case.

"I guess this house looks familiar to you then, right?"

"Heh, I guess you could say that" Harper smirked and retorted to Charles comment knowing full he was referring to some of the memories she had shown him.

Charles had put together that in the future he had made a school for mutants. Harper hoped that sharing those memories with young Charles didn't hurt his future chances of creating the school.

"What do you mean, you know this house?" Erik said curiously.

Harper nodded her head and responded to Erik's question, "I spent some time here. Charles had a way of gathering many mutants, both young students and people that were closer to my age. It was a safe haven for all those who were different…"

"What happened?" Erik question further knowing that there was something off by the way Harper tapered off her sentence and was talking about it all in an eerie past tense.

Without taking her eyes off of the building, Harper responded, "I assume that by now it is a pile of dust and rubble. I know that the day I departed to come to this time, there were reports on an anti-mutant group that was about to stage an attack against us, and since I wasn't there to prevent the collapse of the building… I'm just assuming that they moved to another hideout."

And without waiting for the emotions to roll through her system, Harper left the two men to stand outside as the sun set behind them. She took a deep breath and decided to enjoy what time she had in the house that became her home.


Harper finished putting away her clothes in the closet and the set of drawers that was at the foot of her bed. It was weird to think that the room she had in her time was the same room she was able to find now. Granted, her room had a better sense of furniture and a different coat of paint, instead of the tacky wallpaper, but it was still the same room she always had.

She enjoyed the room, given that it was farther away than where most others had their rooms. Even now, she was the only one, that she knew of, that decided to take a room down this corridor of the mansion. She knew that Charles was down the next hallway over, and he was the closest to her. She also loved this room because the main wall was filled with a giant window that sparked her creativity when she wanted to play her violin. Harper looked around her room again, and ended up just placing her violin case on her bed for the time being.

She figured that she would try to go see what leftovers Hank and Raven left downstairs when they went out to go get Chinese food for the group. After she had dinner and settled in a bit, she would then figure out where to place her violin so it just didn't sit in its case the whole time she was here.

Harper yawned and meandered to the door and gingerly opened it up, trying to not overexert herself given that her pain was starting to come back as her pain pills wore off. However, it seemed like Harper wasn't the only one with the same idea to go get some dinner and eat before putting the rest of their stuff away.

Just as Harper opened her own door, the door directly across the hallway opened, revealing Erik in his standard black turtleneck. The two of them shared in equal surprise not realizing that anyone else had chosen to make their room in this part of the mansion. Erik was the first one to break the silence between the two of them.

"Well, I guess I wasn't the only one who had the idea to get away from majority of the group."

"Not to mention that even though the wallpaper and furniture is tacky, it is at least a little better down here than where Sean and Alex made their rooms," Harper said offering up a light smile, which made Erik smirk in agreement.

Another silence fell between the two and instead of letting it turn awkward, Harper spoke up.

"Well, I was planning on going down to see what food Hank and Raven brought back, was that what you're planning on doing as well?"

"Now that you mention it, I could probably eat."

"If you weren't planning on going down there, I can always bring you something back up. I mean your room is just so out of the way from mine, that you would have to seriously owe me, but we could work something out" Harper teasingly said to Erik.

This caused Erik to raise his eyebrows, but overall he decided to play along with Harper. He stepped forward, letting his door close behind him and stood right in front of Harper. He bent down slightly so that he matched Harper's height and came to be only inches away from her face. He was so close that he could feel the loose strands of her hair tickle his face.

"And what would you want as compensation? I mean I'm willing to make sure that I pay in full and up front, so just name your price…" Erik said licking his lips watching Harper's face start to turn red.

He watched as Harper flicked her gaze between his eyes and his lips, knowing full well that he had called her out on her own game. However, as much as Erik enjoyed teasing her, he was still concerned with how her injuries were healing. He could see that many of her bruises had faded but he knew that her ribs and arm were still causing her a lot of discomfort.

Erik wanted to try to help her as much as possible, but he knew that she was getting fed up with the rest of the group for treating her like that, so he tried to keep his distance knowing that would be how he would want someone to act if it was him in her shoes. But Erik was brought back into the present when he heard Harper hitch her breath and look away from him as if she was debating if kissing him was what she wanted.

The two of them, at this point in their relationship, both acknowledged the sexual tension that was blossoming between them. They just didn't know if they should make a move on it or let it pass. So, Erik decided that he would be the one to pull away first as he took in one more look at Harper's blushing frame, and then took a step back, letting the moment fade between the two of them.

"Well, I'll see you down stairs," Erik voiced, watching Harper respond by just nodding her head.

Erik turned and walked down the hallway and ran a hand through his hair. A part of him wanted to feel Harper's lips against his own and to evidently take her as his. He knew that he shouldn't be even having these thoughts when he so desperately needed to catch Shaw. The reason why he was here was to fight and get his revenge on Shaw; not to be swayed from his plan due to a silly romance with a girl.

However, Erik knew that Harper wasn't any girl and it pissed him off that he kept letting his chances slip through his figures because he didn't know how she felt about him. This was the first time that Erik had actually cared if a woman liked him before he tried to peruse her, and truthfully, it scared the shit out of him. It made him feel like this because every person that he had ever felt close to ended up dying right before his eyes and he didn't know if he could handle seeing Harper die. Especially if she died right in front of him or in his arms. He knew that he would never forgive himself if that happened to her.

On the other side of the hall, Harper watched Erik exit the hallway and return to the main part of the mansion as if nothing had happened between the two of them. Harper didn't know what was with the moment the two of them just shared but she felt like she wanted to have more of those types of exchanges. Harper took a deep breath and pulled her own door closed behind her. She felt the cool wood against her back and leaned her head against it, thinking.

She thought about what it would mean if Erik and her engaged in these flirtatious conversations and evidently, what would happen if the two of them decided to take the conversations a step farther. Harper thought about how it would not only affect her relationship with him, but how the rest of the group would perceive it; if they would be in favor of the relationship or not. Harper wasn't one to care about who people thought she should date, but she didn't want to throw off the timeline too much or make things weird while she was here. She didn't have a way to know how the future was changing and she didn't want to mess things up even more so she had to choose what she wanted, carefully.

Plus, even though all of this technical stuff, all Harper could truly think about was if she wanted Erik to kiss her and if they did kiss, where would their relationship lead them. However, deep down, Harper never strayed far from the thought of how Erik's lips would feel on her own. She wondered if they would feel soft against her lips or if they would actually feel rough with need against her own. Harper closed her eyes and smiled softly to herself as she leaned against the door. Harper licked her lips and she knew right then and there, that yes, she wanted to kiss Erik Lehnsherr.