A/N: Hey guys, so of to business. Venusinthe10th is my Beta, and she likes to joke and fool around from time to time. So Allyssa14, thank you for defending me but yeah she's my beta xd.
CHAPTER TWELVE: FEELINGS MUST BE CONFESSED
The room was blanketed with silence as the reality of Drake being Harper slowly sunk in everyones chest and integrates itself into their minds.
It was hard to believe that the mercenary they knew that went by Drake, this badass, merciless, cold and secretive man they came to knew of days ago turned out to be the supposed dead boy they knew years ago.
Everyone stared at the him, their gazes coated with sympathy as Harper nuzzled himself in his mother's chest and continued crying years of pain he's kept tucked in properly.
Val was also crying because, after all these years, she finally got to be with her son again.
"Shhh, Harper. It's alright. I'm just glad you're alive, my Gods, what happened to you while you were outside?" Val asks, wiping a stray tear away as Harper sniffled.
Harper looked at her for a moment, his bloodshot eyes staring into hers before answering, "I-I...I reg-...I regret. I should ha...have come home while I had...had the chance," he chokes out between sobs. Val's palm laid flat on his back, going in circles before moving up and down to soothe him.
Vallory disagreed, "son, you didn't know Berk became a safe haven. It's not your fault, but ours." She explains, only to be interrupted by Stephen's loud voice.
"What are you talking about, Val? If the boy stayed close he couldn't have been separated from us!" Stephen yelled. Harper aims a gun at his forehead, taking everybody yet again by surprise.
"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about da- Stephen. It's your fault I was stuck in this mess in the first place," Harper exclaims.
"Don't you dare blame this on me, Harper!" Stephen yells, his hands throwing up in the air in exasperated way before bringing down one index finger and pointing it accusingly at Harper's chest, "I told you to stay close! But what did you do? Oh, you tried to help a man who was a lost cause before the stamped came in!"
Harper's breathing was erratic as his icy glare bore into Stephen's eyes, no remorse to be found in them.
Stephen was breathing heavily as well and did the same thing, sending his own glares to Harper but somehow he was at a disadvantage for Harper was winning this ruse.
"What are you going to do? Shoot your own father?" Stephen asks, his tone a bit shaky as he breaks the silence stretching between him and Harper. Audible gasps could be heard from the audience but the both of them shrugged it off as they continued to stare at each other.
"Yes," Harper says. Stephen didn't take this seriously, not until Harper pulls out the handgun he's lowered after their shouting and aims it towards his leg. He pulls the trigger and a bullet flew, digging itself into Stephen's shin.
"You shot me," Stephen muses out in disbelief, the pain of the wound slowly coming to his sense as he bends down and clutches it. Blood seeped out the gaps in between his fingers and onto the floor.
"You shot me," Stoick repeats, much softer this time as his gaze averted to the floor that was slowly colored by his own blood. He was dumbfounded and couldn't take in the fact that his own son shot him.
"I have no regrets anymore, dad," Harper said, "the only regret I have is not coming home to see mom while I had the chance," he says, his tone still laced with the coldness as he walks out of the room. Val shouted his name and Harper heard this immediately and stopped in his tracks before running back to the room, the crowd clearing the way for him due to their fear for what Harper's capable of, and just for the fear of him in general.
"Harper, please don't go. I lost you once and I'm not losing you again," Vallory cried out, clutching Harper's arm.
Harper stared at his mother and for a moment Val thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd stay. That for once they can be a happy family, just him and her, together.
But all of that hope vanished when Harper shook his head and slung his pack off of him, retrieving a small plush toy and handing it to his mother.
"I kept this wherever I go," he says, a small, faint smile ghosting on his lips as he watched his mother take the toy in with surprise, "funny thing is whenever someone would try to rob me, I'd beg them not to take this."
Val inspected the toy in her grasp, tears now streaming down her cheeks as she eyes the small Night Fury in her hands, the one she gave Harper a long time ago when he was just a baby.
"I have to mom. My place isn't here anymore. It's outside. Berk does not want me no matter how many times you beg...they'll never accept me back. This is a goodbye, mom. I love you," Harper says.
It took everything in him to get those words out, and the moment he did he quickly hugged his mom and hid his face on her neck, scared of what her reaction would be. He felt the slight tremble before pulling back and, without even looking, he grabbed his mask and walked out.
Everyone — except for Stephen — looked at the pair with tear filled eyes. The scene itself warmed their heart because it's been years since they've seen the life come back in Val's eyes.
But in just a matter of seconds they saw the life fade quickly as it came.
Meanwhile, Gerald and Seth went to Stephen and helped him up. Stephen gritted his teeth in anger and watched his son run out he room.
"Seth, call in every guard. I want my son back. Alive. He will face charges for his crimes outside the wasteland, and in Berk."
"Stoick, yu' can't, he's yur' son fo' cryin' out loud!" Gerald says, his hands flinging up in the air in panic as Stephen stared at him angrily.
"I don't care, Gobber. For Thor's sake he shot me!" Stephen retorts, removing his hands for a split second from the wound Harper caused while eyeing it in order to prove his point.
Seth hesitated before nodding and grabbing his radio, barking orders to capture Harper alive.
Alek slinked through the crowd and wasted no time running out. She barged right out of the door, frantically looking from the left and right, trying to find the auburn hair she's grown so familiar with in the array's of tents and trees.
After much looking, a man walking away quietly finally fell into her line of sight and she quickly ran towards him, tripping a little on the process.
"Shit!" she mutters before running towards Harper, "Harper! Harper!" she calls, jumping up and down in the air only to be ignored by Harper. He only walked faster, making Alek sigh, groan, and roll her eyes and run after him even more.
Her hand latched itself onto his arm, only to be forcefully removed by Harper's other free arm.
"Harper, there's no more time. Your father is after you! Alek scolds, forcefully dragging Harper from side to side, not really making it anywhere. Harper looks at her in surprise before noticing six military trucks emerging from different areas, heading towards where they stood. Six men were also on the road pointing at Harper's direction.
"Look, you have to trust me and follow me!" Alek yells over the wheels crunching in sync over the dead leaves on the pavement. Harper had no choice so he just nodded his head and agreed, following her through the streets as onlookers stared at the two people who rushed passed by them, running away from military officials.
Up ahead they saw a Humvee stop right in front of them. Alek groaned and turned around, only to see yet another one stop behind them. After a few minutes, emerged from their left and right as well were another pair of Humvees.
Harper's eyes scanned the vehicles and realized that there's no way out now. A grin then stretches on his lips as he reaches for his pack.
"Alek, wear this," Harper started, handing her one of his extra half mask.
Alek reluctantly took it and wore it quickly. Harper then wears his own before pulling out a tear gas canister and throwing it at the Humvee up front. When they heard the smoke pop, followed by several coughing, they ran ahead.
They looked down and saw the soldiers covering their faces, heaving and coughing heavily. Harper tool advantage of this and took their rifles before shooting at the soldiers behind and pinning them. He then tosses the gun on the pavement and runs away.
"Look! Up ahead! There's a spot where I'd always go to when you'd try to beat me up!" Harper says, a bit too enthusiastically yet a bit dead as well contrary to the description itself. While Harper was a bit ecstatic now that they could hide — despite terrible memories of said spot — guilt immediately rushed Alek's veins at the thought of Harper even needing a hiding spot simply because they couldn't go through a day without chasing and bullying him.
They kept running until they made it to the abandoned part of town. They looked around and saw that no one was chasing them. Harper scanned the area, his gaze landing on a specific building and recognizing it before ushering Alek to follow.
Harper attempted to pull down the boards, which were ineffective and lead him to kick it down instead. When the door fell, he let Alek in first and while they walked in, Alek removed the half mask and gave it back to Harper.
The only light they had was coming from the entrance but even that wasn't enough to light up the dimly lit place so Harper got his flashlight that hung on his poncho and angled it to their front.
Harper smiles as he removes the two-by-fours out of the way, revealing a small hall.
"Come this way," Harper said, his hand gesturing Alek to follow before he dropped down and crawled in. Alek did the same and once they got out, she dusted off the dust from her shirt before looking up, taking in her surroundings.
The room smelled of musk and old wood and sat on the middle was a small, dirty mattress, it's edges and the middle torn while up top, she noticed a hole in the ceiling. The walls had several windows who were all boarded up and sat near one of the windows was a wooden table, with a lamp on top of it. To the right of the table was a crate and to the left of it was a chair.
All the items in the room were covered in dust and Alek tried not to inhale too deeply as she didn't want to sneeze.
At the left side of the room was wall, no covered with windows, but with several of Harper's drawings that have turned slightly brown and inaudible, the edges curled and the paper itself gathering more dust.
So this is where Harper goes, she thought. No wonder we don't see him a lot in town.
"Welcome to the cove," Harper says, waving a hand vaguely to the area as eyes her surprised reaction.
"How did you manage to find this place? I mean, there's practically no doorway!" Alek asks, completely amused and bewildered at how he even got to move all this stuff in here to begin with — unless this actually isn't his.
Harper scratched the back of his neck nervously before facing Alek with a smile.
"Well, not exactly," he says and Alek tilted her head questioningly at that, "okay, look, I kind of cemented the doorway of the building, small entrance or whatever you'd like to call it."
Alek looked at Harper for a second, her eyes staring into his as she tried to see if he's telling her the truth. Finally at ease, she shifts her gaze and looks around again, falling — butt first — onto the mattress and taking the pillow, holding her breath before dusting it off.
"Do you sleep here?" she asks, her hands surprisingly gathering only small amounts of dust as she runs it on the mattress.
Harper hesitated, inhaling and exhaling as he stares at Alek before answering with a heavy sigh, "sometimes, since dad always locks me out when I don't make it in time before curfew. It's family rules, which mom enforced so I bought a small mattress with the allowance she gives me and, ta da! I got somewhere to sleep."
Alek's eyes softened, "don't you have any relatives to live in with during that time?"
Harper's gaze shifted again, this time as he looked back at her his eyes glossed but he blinked back and potential tears before saying, "No, since the Jorgenson's are the said relatives and most of them hate my very existence. Me having no friends at school was also inconvenient. Then you have Gobber who offered me a place to stay which I kindly declined because I'm not willing to take the risk of getting beaten up by an intoxicated man who might mistaken me for a robber."
Alek's eyes widened at this. He's right, she thought. He had no one.
The space beside Alek dipped down as Harper sat on the mattress. Removing the pack, poncho and vest and placing them on the table, he fell onto the matters, arms splayed wide, as he blew raspberries to the air.
Alek just sat there, her eyes admiring the drawings on the walls as her hands fidgeted with the pillow, taking no mind of the dust that gathered on her fingernails while Harper still continued to blow raspberries in the air.
An awkward silence stretched between them before Harper cleared his throat and spoke.
"Why?" he muses, "why did you help me? I was basically an asshole to you. I hid my face my everybody. I mean, I'm still the little hiccup everybody sees in me," he mutters the last part but Alek still heard it and punches him on the shoulder in response.
"Ow!" Harper groans in pain, clutching his shoulder and staring at Alek, "Why would you do that? I mean, yes, I was an asshole to you which I'm sorry and the fact that I almost killed you twice.."
Harpers words and rambles blurred past Alek as she rolls her eyes and grabs Harper's long sleeve, pulling him into a kiss. Her lips intertwined with his into a passionate kiss but Harper didn't really respond since his mind was blank.
She removes herself from the him, examining his reaction. Harper had a goofy smile on his face, his hand moving up to touch his lips as he looked at Alek dumbfoundedly.
"I'll take that as an apology accepted," Harper says.
Alek grinned but that grin immediately wiped off her face as she knelt down Harper and grabbed both of his hands and intertwined his with hers.
Harper stared at her in shock, a question at the tip of his tongue that he itched to ask. He stayed quiet for a moment longer before asking, because he really needed to get it off his chest.
"Alek, why, why? Why did you help me? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful, but why?"
Alek looked up at Harper as she tried to find the letter she's already written in her mind, ready to be read out loud to him on this specific day. This was her only chance to say the words she's always wanted that not even a simple sticky note could simply carry.
"I want to say sorry. I want to apologize. I left you when you needed a friend the most. I left you to rot thinking that you're a hiccup for the mere fact that you were an amazing friend," Alek says, "after I took the drawing you drew back at high school, I promised myself to look after you. But after the incident at the evacuation center, we all thought you died," Alek finishes the last part with a sad look, her gaze shifting down on the floor. Harper took her chin in his grasp and tilted it up, making her face him.
He shook his head, "it's not your fault, Alek. If anything, it's mine. I was just a hiccup. Everybody was right, I mean, I tried to help someone from being eaten but I also failed at that. I'm weak, pathetic, scrawny, a failure and I was a useless guy."
Alek glared at him, jabbing at his chest making him let out a groan he orchestrated for her sake because, to be honest, it didn't actually hurt.
"Don't say that. You're not weak, Harper. Gods, you stayed in the wasteland for five years! That's called bravery, Harper. You're not pathetic either, Gods, you body slammed Sam into a table for God's sake, and it's not your fault that you didn't get to save him. You tried and that's all that matters," she said. At this, a soft, gentle smile stretched on Harper's lips as he looked longingly at Alek.
"You're not useless, by all means, you're a resourceful person. You are special, Harper. All those inventions, those drawings. those ideas," Alek's hand moved vaguely in the air at this, "those things you make."
"Harper Haddock," she sternly says, "we promised to look after each other when we're young up until we grow up but I broke that promise. Here I am now again, years later, redeeming myself if you would accept me?"
Harper smiles before pulling Alek into a hug, "of course, Alek! But I still need time to move on from the past since my childhood is still an utter hell combined with the things I did in the wasteland. It's going to consume me, little by little," he adds, suddenly feeling fear rush through him at the thought of Alek seeing this as an inconvenience.
"Harper," Alek says, placing her hands on his shoulders and staring at him straight in the eye, "burying the past won't do anything until you form peace with it. It's like burying a person alive, he will slowly die before his corpse start to rot. You have to bury the hatchet, once and for all."
Harper stays silent and looks down, avoiding her gaze. She hooked his chin with her fingers and forced him to look at her.
"Harper, talk to me. I'm here for you now, you're not alone. I'll make sure you get out of Berk, I promise you that," Alek reassures before hugging Harper and nuzzling herself in his neck.
"Why did you kiss me?" Harper suddenly asks out of the blue.
Alek stiffened in Harper's grasp as he slowly pieced things together. Alek's eyes were wide and her cheeks were oddly hot, and probably tinted by a tinge of red by now.
She calmed down and slowly got herself out of the hug and looked at Harper, who stared at him back with hurt.
"No, no, no! It's not out of sympathy or I-had-no-words-to-think-of!" she quickly says, "it's just," she pauses and sighs, "I had a crush on you, Harper. Well, after you hit your growth spurt I started to have this-this," her hands wildly gestured in the empty space in between them, making Harper chuckle, "this thing for you. And, well, uh- you see. When you were still under the guise of the mask, I-I...I liked the...you see...I liked the.."
Alek trailed off, trying to find the right words for what she liked because it was sort of inappropriate.
Harper rolls his eyes and before Alek could even finish her sentence, Harper pulls her in for a kiss to which she immediately responds to, their lips in sync as his hand found itself on the small of her back and hers found itself on the back of his neck, slowly trailing up to his hair and played with it, her forefinger and middle finger intertwining with the strands.
They pulled back, panting, as they rested their foreheads against each other.
"I like you too, Alek. Even before as children, I've always liked you. Up until now, I still do," he says, giving her a peck on the lips.
Alek giggled, giving him a peck on the cheek and pulling back. She stood up and stared at the night sky through the tiny cracks the boarded window allowed. She squinted at the light the moon illuminated in her eyes as she faced Harper.
"So, how are you going to explain this to my father?" Harper asks, his fingers fiddling with themselves now that they're not on Alek's back, once fiddling with the fabric that covered it.
Alek walked back to the bed and fell on her back, exhaling a breath of exasperation.
"Well, I can't just go back since by now I'll be branded as traitor," she says, a smile inching up her lips as Harper groaned, probably thinking whatever she's thinking.
"Gods, now please don't tell me you're coming with me."
"Yes and no. I can't just leave my parents behind, my life is here at Berk yet at the same time I don't want to leave you behind," Alek reasoned, now finding the situation a bit hard to find solutions through. She pursed her lip as she took a strand of her hair and twisted it.
Harper inched closer to Alek on the bed, taking her hand as he ran his fingers on her knuckles, "I'll find a way to stay in Berk, even if I have to face trial. I want my life back at Berk, with you, with my mother, and, if time goes by and allows, maybe with everybody as well."
They lazily smiled at each other before finally laying properly on the bed. They laid down there staring at the ceiling while pondering on things silently. Soon enough, they both fell asleep and slowly inched towards each other. Eventually, Harper's arm found it's way to Alek, draping it around her as Alek laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat that slowly lulled her to sleep.