I smile at myself in the mirror, ready for my date with Harry. I walk out of my room, smiling softly. I can hear Dad ordering souls around, though he sounds tired. I pop my head in.
"Hey, Dad!" I say cheerfully. Well, more cheerfully than normal.
"Why so cheerful?" Dad asks with a sneer.
"Because Harry is playing his first ever tourney game, and then he'll tell me what he's been hiding." I explain. Dad nods, and something flashes in his eyes. I don't exactly know what, though. I furrow my eyebrows and happily sit on the throne where Mom normally sits.
"Hadie-" Dad starts. I look up to see a soul covered in blood.
"That blood looks good on you. Really brings out your eyes." I say sarcastically. I hear Dad snort beside me. I turn and glare at him.
"You should get going." Dad says.
"I haven't painted your nails yet." I whine. Dad glares at me, and I giggle. Once again, the souls go dead silent. "What?" I ask.
"That was beautiful," a soul says. More souls agree. I smile brightly.
"Thank you." I turn to Dad. "I'm going to go to my boyfriend's tourney game now." I wave goodbye to the souls and Dad, then teleport up to Auradon. Almost exactly two seconds after I teleport up, Harry is wrapping me in a hug. "Can… I… breathe…?" I ask, struggling to breathe because he's hugging me so tight.
"Eh, I guess." Harry says as he lets go. I lightly slap him on his chest. He grabs my hand before I can pull it away. "Thanks for coming, my lucky charm." Harry says. I smile at him.
"You're welcome. Now go show 'em how it's done." I say as Harry jogs out onto the field. "Go Harry!" I shout. Harry gives me a reassuring smile, even though I don't need it. They play, and Auradon Prep wins. Surprisingly, after the game, both Harry and Carlos call everyone's attention. I frown at them, and they both give me huge grins.
"So, last year…" Harry starts, unsure.
"We all know that our amazing king was love spelled by our even more amazing queen…" Carlos starts.
"And now they live happily ever after… blah, blah, blah…" Harry starts.
"So another- no, two love stories are unfolding and both of them are here today." Carlos says. I frown.
"Come here Hadie! …And Jane." Harry says. I laugh and join Harry at the front of the bleachers. They then have me teleport us to the Underworld. On my bed, there was a hook necklace that I thought I had lost.
"Oh, Harry…" I start. Harry puts an arm around my shoulders. "I thought- I thought I had lost it." I say. I let out a chuckle through my nose.
"I found it on the Isle literally three seconds after you left." Harry says.
"I thought I had lost it before then." I say, frowning.
"And so did I." Harry admits. I smile up at him.
"Thank goodness you found it." I say, looking at my necklace which was in almost perfect condition. "Can you help me put it on?" I ask.
"Of course, my love." Harry says. I hand him the necklace. "This feels much like the first time I put it on you, doesn't it?" Harry asks.
FLASHBACK:
Third date, I remind myself slowly. My heart races out of my chest.
"Stay focused, Hadie. You are only using him for status. Then, before he can hurt you, you ditch him." I say out loud, not liking the words on my tongue. I shudder, but stay strong. I sigh one last time, not understanding my nervousness. I walk out of the room, and up into the restaurant. I see Harry and dad chatting. "Hi." I say with a smile.
"Hello." Dad says.
"Hello, my shining star." Harry says. I glare at him.
"Still my daughter." Dad says, glaring at Harry. I giggle, and take Harry's hand.
"Shall we?" I ask.
"We shall, my petal." Harry says with a grin. I stop, and turn to glare. Harry laughs at me, and I let go of his hand and take off. "Hadie, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I hear Harry say behind me between laughs. I slow down and duck into an alley. Harry keeps going straight ahead. I wait for a good five minutes before I get hugged from behind. "There are two ways to get through this alley, evil muffin."
"I know." I respond slowly.
"Now, let's carry on with our date." Harry's accent rings through my ears. I fall back into his arms. He leads me up to the abandoned building. He puts a hand over my eyes as we get closer. "Open." Harry says, taking the hand from my face. A beautiful picnic-like thing is set up.
"For me?" I ask, unsure.
"Who else, butterfly." Harry says, resting his chin on my shoulder. I roll my eyes at him and sit down on the… blanket? I smell fish and chips(gross), but the food doesn't matter. I'm not hungry. I see all the time and effort he put into it.
"You really outdid yourself this time, huh?" I ask.
"All for you." Harry says, his eyes flickering around.
"You okay?" I ask, placing my hand on top of his.
"Yeah, I'm fine." he says with a fake smile. I scowl.
"And I'm dead." I counter. Harry gives me a look, and I smile sarcastically. "Are we going to sit here forever?" I ask.
"No. Uh, I'll be right back." Harry says, leaving. I scowl at him, again. I shrug and look out over the Isle. I see his red coat bobbing and weaving through the crowd. I see him, and then he disappears. I frown, and turn around. I bump right into Harry's chest.
"Hook." I say, rolling my eyes.
"I got you something." Harry says. I smirk.
"Yeah, a nice souvenir on my head to remember this moment." I say sarcastically. Harry smirks back.
"No, a real gift." I nod slowly. He puts his hand into his pocket, and pulls out a necklace. A sterling silver hook pendant hung on the necklace.
"Oh…" I say cradling the necklace in my palm. "Harry…" I look up at him. "Harry, it's beautiful." I look at the necklace in my palm. "It's gorgeous. Thank you."
"Your welcome, my heart throb." Harry says. I look up at Harry again.
"Thank you so much." I say, again.
"Anything for you, golden girl." I giggle at his nickname for me.
"Can you help me put it on?" I ask shyly. I don't know why, but I was suddenly shy. Then I realized, we only ever held hands or hugged. And hugging was normally suffocating me.
"Of course." Harry says, his eyes smiling.
END FLASHBACK:
"It does, doesn't it?" I ask with a laugh.
"Woah. I've never heard your not evil laugh before." Jane says. Carlos nods.
"I usually only reserve that for the dead souls. Their miserable existence needs a bit of brightening." Harry glares at me. "Or Harry. But mostly the souls." We all burst out laughing.
"Your laugh is angelic." Jane says when we stop laughing. I frown. "No, seriously. It just makes me feel like there is no bad." Jane explains. I smile softly.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. I wish Carlos laughed like that." We all start laughing again. When we stop laughing, our faces all keep trying to twitch into smiles.
"Let's go to Olympus." Harry suggests. I see him nervously twirling his hook. I pretend I don't notice and teleport us up there anyways. I see my family members all huddled around. I smile at them.
"Hi guys." I wave to Mom. "So… Harry, you aren't telling me what you're hiding. But, I have a hunch. When all else fails, hug the dog!" I exclaim, teleporting in Sophie and Cerberus to hug and pat.
"That's not the reason he's here!" Evie calls. I double take. My friends are here too.
"Harry? Did you want to remake a good first-" I turn to face him. He's on one knee. "-Impression." I say, my breath catching in my throat. The ring shines in the sunlight.
"Hadie, I love you. After all this time, and everything we've been through. I still love you. It's always been you. It was you yesterday, it's you today, it will be you tomorrow. And for the rest of our lives, it will always be you. I love you. Will you marry me?" Harry asks, hope gleams in his eyes.
"Harry, I- I love you, too. But you don't understand me. No one does. I know, I can't keep pushing you away, but how else can I do it? Harry, I love you, and I always will. I can't. I can't be your wife." My voice shakes with sadness. My limbs sway, unsure. My eyes fill with tears. Tears I've been holding in. Mal angrily comes up to me and leads me away from the group.
"Hadie. What. Were. You. Thinking?" Mal practically spits out.
"Mal-" I start.
"Hadie, you can't push him away again." Her voice rings through my ears.
FLASHBACK:
The day after Mal's engagement party. The day after the barrier was brought down. The day I got back together with Harry. The day after the day that would go down in history. I have avoided Harry because I have this weird sensation that comes over me anytime I think about him. I smile over at Mal.
"Hadie, we need to talk." Mal says, dragging me away from the sunshine outside.
"M? Are you okay?" I ask her.
"You can't keep avoiding Harry. Stop pushing him away." Mal says.
"Mal, you don't understand." I plead with her.
"Talk to him, or else." Mal says.
"Fine." I walk past Harry, who catches my shoulder.
"Why are you avoiding me?" he asks. I see the sadness is his eyes. Those darn ocean blue eyes.
"Because…" I start quietly. "Because I think I'm falling in love with you, okay?" I shout. "That's why I'm avoiding you." My voice cracks. Harry's eyes soften.
"I've been in love with you all this time, Hadie. You said you returned my feelings yesterday. Yesterday." That's when it happened. Those brick walls, that I spent so much time building so that I wouldn't have the disappointment the souls had, crumbled to the ground. All that work, gone like that.
"I love you, Harry."
"I love you, too, Hadie."
"I was right, Hadie. You shouldn't have pushed him away." I hear Mal say, but I only see Harry. His eyes. Oh, his eyes.
END FLASHBACK:
"Fine, Mal. I'll give him a chance." I say. And by that, I mean I'm going to be totally and completely honest with him.
"Hadie." Harry breathes. But I didn't change anything about me.
"He looks at her like he just realized what love is." Aphrodite says from the corner. Then, I knew I made the wrong choice.
"Harry." My eyes soften. "I think I make a decision that will set me up for success, but every time I'm proved wrong." Harry gives me a look. "You'd think that being 71,469 would make me wiser, especially with all the souls I've had the chance to talk to. I- I just didn't want our love story to be one of tragedy. I didn't want to fall in love with a mortal. Yet, here we are." Harry nods slowly. "And I will be the happiest girl if I'm your wife, and known as Hadie Hook for the rest of my days." I finish with a small smile. Harry laughs.
"Really?"
"Of course. I love you with all of my heart." Harry kisses me, and I kiss him. We pull apart, and Harry places the ring on my finger. I smile bigger than I've ever smiled before.
"I love you." Harry whispers in my ear as celebrations break out.
"Who doesn't." I tease. Harry puts his hook on the base of my neck. "Don't do that to your future wife." I scold. Harry lowers his hook, and I turn to face him. "I love you, too."
"I knew it."
"It was completely obvious."
"You're adorable."
"No, I'm not. I'm not adorable. I am pure terror! I make people shake in fear!" Harry snorts.
"It's true." I glare at Harry, who grins.
"Some people need a high five." I say, turning back away from Harry. "In the face." I grin. "With a chair." I turn back to Harry, who glares at me. I giggle at him. Harry wraps an arm around me.
"Hey, now you know what I was hiding."
"Yeah. And, hey, I'm actually glad."
A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. Shoutout to WildflowerChildGrace for guessing what was going to happen. Unfortunatly, things are at the best, so I will end up wrecking them... oops. Hope you all (y'all) have a fantastic day.