Disclaimer: "I do not own any part of the transformers franchise, or any of their characters. I own only Harper, and any original content that I make her do or say. Everything else is property of the amazing men and women who brought this story to life on the big screen. Thank you."

Chapter 9

When he woke her up the first time, upon arriving at his house, he reminded himself that it was only so she could take a shower, and then go back to sleep. And upon watching her lift her head off his chest, he felt his desire to tell her how he felt, and his desire to put her back into bed spike even more.

She was beautiful. Even if she didn't agree, he knew she was. Burnt, bruised, bloody… she was still beautiful, lifting her head up off of him and looking down at him with a tired smile.

But she also still looked tired as fuck. And it showed even more in her eyes when he first woke her up. She'd managed to hold all of her weariness at bay while it had been necessary to stay awake and fight. But now that it was over, her days of not having a truly restful night of sleep were catching up to her. Her eyes were a bit red, dark circles forming beneath them. And apart from that, the naturally cheerful glow that she usually had around all of his men was nowhere to be seen.

So before she could try and force herself to look bright-eyed when she really wasn't, he carried her inside, set her down in the bathroom, and reminded her that towels were in the cupboard by the door. He didn't have any feminine products for her to use, but she didn't care. And while she was showering, he came back in briefly to leave a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for her to wear.

When she came back out, she looked even better. Still tired, obviously. But she'd managed to wash most of the grime and muck from her skin in there. There was still a bruised ring around her neck, which was actually more prominent now that she'd scrubbed her skin so her fairer complexion was back as opposed to her burnt one. And as one shoulder of his shirt slid off her shoulder, he could see another bruise from a time when she'd fallen or been grabbed by something. Hell, she might not even be aware she had so many.

He took her into his bedroom, tucked her into the bed, and would've left her there to go back to sleep, except her hand locked around his wrist. She pulled it towards her, cradling it to her own chest like it was a favorite blanket, before mumbling, "Just… until I'm asleep." She mumbled a few more incoherent words after that, but Will figured it was all along the lines of her not wanting him to leave just yet.

And he did allow himself this one indulgence. He climbed into the bed with her, still overtop of the covers. Keeping his arm around her, he drew her back into his body, and held her close as she fell back to sleep. And before he could even wonder about how long he should allow himself to stay like this, he fell asleep right along with her.

It had been a long past few days for them both. But they were here now. They were home. And they'd accomplished everything they'd needed to in order to protect this world and the people they loved in it.

Now… he just had one more thing he had to take care of. Then he'd see about taking her on that vacation he'd promised.

Harper woke up to the smell of biscuits. Sausage, eggs, biscuits… and she's pretty sure bacon too. Sitting up, she finds her jeans from the day before sitting on the edge of the bed, already cleaned for her. There were a couple of holes in the legs now, but in today's sense of fashion, they were still a rather good pair of jeans. Her shirt was nowhere to be seen. That had apparently been torn and shredded beyond repair.

As she slid them back on, she wondered briefly where her jacket was. Then she decided that Will had probably done something else with it. Maybe sent it to the cleaners? It was a special jacket, so when it actually did get dirty, it either had to be hand-washed, or sent to the cleaners. Harper usually hand-washed it, but she knew that Will had a cleaner nearby that he liked because they always did excellent work.

Coming out of his bedroom, she makes a trip to the bathroom for a moment. Her hair was a bit of a mess from having slept on it wet. But compared to yesterday… she looked like she'd had a royal makeover. Then she went further into his house.

She found him in his kitchen, putting the plate of biscuits on the table with everything else. And upon looking up and seeing her, he smiles gently, "Hey, Harp. How you feeling?" She nods, "Better. Loads better. Thanks." Nodding back, he then gestures at the table, "I made breakfast. Definitely not as good as anything you might've made. I had a brief attempt at scrambled hash browns… but that didn't end well."

Harper just laughs, and then pauses as Will shuts his stove down before coming up to her.

Cupping her face in his hands, he sighs, "You look better." "Gee, thanks." He gives a gentle tug to the bottom of her left ear, grinning when she laughs again. "You know what I mean, Harp. You look like you feel better." She nods, "I do. It's amazing what a shower and sleep will do for a person." "Amen to that."

After he'd woken up with her still in his arms, he reluctantly pulled himself out of the bed and showered himself. So now he was clear of all that muck and grime and sweat as well. He'd thought about shaving off the stubble that had formed over the past couple of days… but then decided against it for now. Fig had informed him at one point that, though she liked him clean-shaven all the same, she seemed to have a thing for the thin amount of beard he sometimes allowed himself to have.

As her eyes roam over his whole face for a moment, she then says, "By the way, I'm really glad you're not dead." Smiling, he says, "Back at you." And as she leans forward, Will draws her in so her head can rest against his chest again. Breathing out heavily over top of her head, he adds, "Sorry it took me so long to get back."

She shrugs, and then mumbles, "It's okay. I'm just glad you guys are here now. Safe and sound and home."

He'd expected her to revert to saying 'you guys' when she spoke. Epps said she was always careful about her choice of words around him, not wanting to say something that let slip how much she loved him, as opposed to how she loved the rest of them.

Breakfast was going to have to wait. Because he couldn't anymore. Running his hand up and into the hair at the back of her head, he pulls her gently to lean back and look at him again. Then he leans down, presses a kiss to her temple, before saying, "We have things to discuss." "Yeah. I remember you… saying something about that."

He grins at the pause she has to take, his lips kissing at the back of her jaw being the cause. His nose trails down her skin as he makes his way towards her neck, breathing her in as much as possible. He can feel her skin heat up in response to how close he is, and his actions. "Um… Will, maybe we should sit down and eat the food. Before it gets cold?" "I have a microwave." "I… yeah, but…"

He didn't want to beat around the bush right now. He could tease her later, when he knew she believed him. But right now, he needs to make her see that he's not just saying this to pick at her. He means it. So he kisses at her throat, loving the way her hands at his chest grip into his t-shirt tighter. Then he lets out a content sigh before saying, "I love you."

And as he'd suspected, her entire body tenses and goes rigid. Loosening her grip on him, she says, "Will, I think…" "You think it's because of the situation we were just in. That is not accurate." "And why isn't it?" "Because I didn't just start feeling this way today, or a few days ago. I have felt this way for nearly seven whole years."

When she leans back, he lets her. Not far. He had no intention of letting her get very far out of his reach right now. But he does let her lean back enough so she can look into his face. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion, and she says, "You… no… you would've said something." Will shakes his head, and then sighs, "A brave man would've." "You are a brave man." "I'm brave about a lot of things. I wasn't brave about this though."

He traces the side of her face with his hand, and says, "You… you really are a light in our darkest places, Harper. And I did not want to risk losing that. I didn't want you to reject me, and then treat me different from the rest of the guys. I just… I didn't want to make you feel awkward. Or like you had to be sweeter to me simply because you didn't feel that way in return. I… I just didn't want to lose you."

Sighing, he says, "A lot of that seems a bit ridiculous now. But I felt that way in the beginning, and I've let it continue to rule my decision on this for a long time. But, I should've also taken into consideration that I've known you long enough to know that there isn't a whole lot that could make you treat a person differently. And you don't get awkward around people for long. Occasionally, but then you get back into your world and your apartment… and you become yourself again, and it doesn't matter who else is there."

And Harper's eyes widen a bit when Will's seem to darken a shade as he says, "And as for treating me different from the other guys… well, I realize now that was a rather stupid reason on my part. Considering how very much different I'd like to be treated, compared to them."

She stares at him for a moment, not really understanding how to process this. She'd spent eight years in love with him, certain that he would never feel the same way, and frightened of the idea that she might lose his friendship if this came out into the open.

Speaking of which, Will watches her eyes narrow before she asks, "You already know?" "Know what?" Giving him a look, she says, "That I… I mean, you know that I…" Then she sighs before answering helplessly, "That I love you."

Will stays still for a moment, trying to temper his reaction to her words. Then he nods, "I do already know. Still nice to hear from you though." She blushes a bit, but then demands, "Who told you?" He briefly considers lying. Epps had told him to never mention that he'd said anything. But… well, he wasn't about to start this relationship on a lie. So, he concedes, "Epps."

When Harper locks her jaw in place angrily, he adds, "He only brought it up because the guys were picking on me. We were talking about what we were going to do when we got home, about what our perfect day would be like. And mine… well, aside from Epps, they all already knew what my perfect day is." "And what is that, exactly?"

She was still a little miffed, but it vanished in a heartbeat when Will smiled and said, "Being wherever you are, watching you cook, listening to you sing one of those Celtic songs you love so much. That's my perfect day."

When she doesn't respond right away after that, Will explains further, "We never brought it up in front of Epps before. Like I said, I had a few reasons that, now, seem rather stupid. Everyone else in the unit knew about it, but Epps… he's like your big brother. I honestly wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it. But it came out on the ride to Qatar, and so he finally told me you felt the same way."

Tilting his head, he adds, "He probably just got sick of the fact that, for seven years, we've basically been in love, and just never admitted it to each other. So, that's why he told me when he did. Otherwise, he never would've broken the promise of secrecy he made to you."

Harper stares at him a moment more, and then says quietly, "You… you're serious." Cupping her face in one hand, keeping his other wrapped around one of her hips for now, he lets out a helpless breath, "As a heart attack."

Silence reigns for a moment, and then Harper manages to duck her head. Will wants to tilt it back up so he can see her face, but he refrains, trying to give her time to think. So far, this was still going better then he'd thought it would. She'd offered a brief argument with him, but he'd already had his own argument ready as a comeback to what she might have to say. All he needed her to do now, was admit that she believed him.

Finally, she says softly, "So… now that we're… on the same page." Lifting her eyes to look at his, a deep blush running across her skin, she asks, "Can… Can I kiss you now? Cause, I've kind of been wanting to do that, for a really fucking long…"

He doesn't let her finish. He tilts her head back, buries his hand in her hair, and slides his lips across hers. And he wastes no time with slow and gentle. She'd apparently been waiting eight years to kiss him. They were past starting out slow. He coaxes her lips apart with his own, and the moan she lets out when his tongue sweeps into her mouth has him shuddering in both relief and desire.

Harper feels her back press against the wall moments later, and as her hands weave into his hair, she gasps when he picks her up by her thighs. Hoisting her up, hooking her legs over his hips, he then presses her firmly into the wall, his hands beginning to slowly scale back up her body.

God… this had to be heaven. That's what Will decides. Even through her jeans, he can feel her tremble as his hands work their way back up her body. And his shirt didn't give him any trouble, as it was plenty too big for her. His hands slid under there easily, her bare skin up for grabs as his fingers continued upward.

Harper has to lean back, breath becoming too necessary for her to ignore it. And then her head slumps back against the wall as Will suckles and teases the skin of her neck while his hands continue their perusal of her torso. One of her hands pulled him closer by the back of his head, while the other slid beneath the collar of his t-shirt so she could run it across the muscled and tight skin of his back.

He eventually pulled her off the wall, carrying her back down the hall and into his bedroom. He places her in the middle of the bed, climbing over top of her. And then, to her blushing pleasure, he reaches back and yanks his shirt up over his head. Bracing himself over her, he asks with a grin, "Better?"

Her hands land on his chest in response, and she bites her lip while nodding, "Yeah. Loads." "Good." He fingered the edge of the shirt she was wearing that was his, silently asking if he could do the same with it. Her arms lifted above her head in response, and she arched her back to help him lift it off of her.

Gazing down at her, he sighs, "God, you're beautiful." And when it looks like she might protest, he kisses her hard before saying, "Don't argue with me about this. You won't win." "Is that right?" "Oh, you have no idea." He kisses a line down from her chest to her stomach, coming back up on the side. She gasps at a particular point he reaches, right beneath the edge of her bra on her right side. And as he attacks that point as though it personally offended him, she moans out and begs, "Will… Will, please…"

He teases that point with his tongue a moment, and then finishes scaling back up her body. Working a hickey into the side of her neck, he briefly worries about her already being bruised there. "Does that hurt?"

But when he pulls back, all he sees it a dazed look in her eyes before she blinks and asks, "Hmm… what?" Grinning, widening his smirk as she blushes, he says, "I love you." She smiles at that, and then cups his face in her hands, "I love you too." And then she pulls him back to her lips, where they stay for… well, Harper doesn't know how long they stay there. She just knows that when a knock comes on his door, it still hasn't been long enough.

The knocking comes again, and when it happens a third time, Will groans. Dropping his head onto her shoulder, he says, "They'll leave." A fourth knock, and Harper replies, "I don't think so." "Then they have a death wish." She giggles at that, and then sighs when Will kisses her again. And she very nearly gets lost in him once more, when the pounding comes a fifth time.

Cursing under his breath, Will sighs and hops off of the bed. Harper comes after him, pulling the shirt he'd been wearing previously over her head. He very nearly yanks the door open in aggravation, but then pauses and holds it closed a smidge more while saying, "Hey Epps. What's…" "Do you know where Harper is?"

Blinking, Will asks, "What?" "Harper? Did you take her home yesterday? Cause we can't find her." Will then sighs, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly before saying, "I… yeah, she's… well, she's here." Epps gives him a look and asks, "What?" "I brought her here last night. I didn't take her home. Didn't… figure she should be left alone."

And when Epps still gives him a look, Will concedes, "And I figured having her here with me would make it easier to finally have the conversation I've been wanting to have since we landed in Qatar." "You know we've been calling you all morning, right?"

Will glances back at the counter where his phone is sitting. Sighing again, he says, "It's dead. I forgot to plug it in last night. Dude, I'm so sorry." Epps lets a moment of silence stretch between them, and then relaxes himself. Smiling at his buddy, he says, "Hey, it's alright man. We were just a little worried is all." Will nods in understanding, and then nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels Harper's lips on his stomach.

Most of his body was blocked by the door because of the way he was holding it. Which meant that as long as Harper stayed on her side of the door, she could do whatever she wanted and not be seen. And right now, her lips and tongue were mapping out the ridges of his abs, slowly working her way down to his hipline. Which was very easy to access, since the sweatpants he was wearing were hanging low on his hips anyway.

Epps, under the impression that Harper is probably still sleeping, is still talking to Will in the doorway while sending out a mass text to everyone else in the unit. Will manages to catch that Fig is recovering nicely and will be released in a few days.

Then Harper's teeth begin nibbling up his sides, and his control snaps. Harper feels his hand bury itself in her hair again, tugging her back and away from him. He glances down at her briefly, a promise of revenge in his eyes, before he turns his attention back to Epps.

"Bobby." The man stops talking to look at him. And as Will opens the door a little more, he lifts Harper to her feet again. He keeps her hidden behind the door, but reveals his shirtless form to Epps before saying, "Harper's not asleep anymore. We've already had our discussion. And we… have quite a bit more to talk about right now. Are you and the guys cool with coming here later for dinner or something?"

Epps takes a moment to look his captain over, eyes briefly resting on a dark spot that has appeared on his side. A hickey, from the looks of it. Smirking, Epps says, "Damn, boy. You do work fast, don't you?" Will grins a bit, but pleads, "Bobby." "Yeah, yeah, we'll all come by later. Much later. But tell Harp…" He says the last part louder, "We expect a full course meal. After a week in the desert, we're desperate for some of her homemade goodness." "I'll be sure to give her the message."

As soon as Bobby leaves, Will shuts the door by pushing Harper up against it. Nose brushing hers briefly, he says in a deep voice, "I haven't even officially asked you out, and you're already driving me crazy." "Consider it payback for how often you've driven me crazy over the years." Will raises an eyebrow, "I've been in love with you almost as long as you have been with me. You don't think you've driven me just as crazy as I have you?"

She ponders that a moment, and then blushes while shrugging, "I've… always wanted to do that too." Smirking, Will says, "Interesting. Why don't you tell me what else you've always wanted to do?" Her entire face turns color to match her hair, but as she shakes her head, Will picks her up and tosses her over his shoulder. Chuckling at her squeal, he explains, "Oh, sweetheart, you have to tell me now." "I do not!" "Oh yes you do."

Depositing her back on the bed, he kisses her silent for a moment. Then he quickly pulls his shirt off of her again, and whispers against her chest, "But don't worry. I have a few ideas of my own on how to get you to talk to me." And as he unsnaps her jeans, slipping his hand beneath the material to get at her most sensitive parts, she pants, "Oh, God." Will grins against her throat before saying, "I love you." "I love… you too. Please don't stop." "Never."

When the gang finally came over later, the first thing they saw upon coming in, was Harper in the kitchen. She and Will had gone shopping a couple of hours earlier, so she could get her hands on everything she needed. Now she was finishing up cooking, while singing a Celtic song as she put her various dishes on the table.

Will was leaning against a counter, smiling as he watched her at the moment. There was flour on his shirt, showing he'd clearly been involved in the cooking a little bit. Or, it was possible that he'd been part of the reason that it wasn't already finished.

The catcalls and teasing didn't cease for almost the entire evening after that. Harper's face stayed almost permanently red while they were inside. She took to just hiding herself behind Will's shoulder.

He'd just kiss the top of her head in response, smiling his own private smile when she'd kiss the back of his shoulder in return.

Now, as usual, the men were outside around the fire pit. Harper had already started on the dishes, when Will comes up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her, he says, "I told you I'd do them tonight." "And I seem to recall mentioning that you could do the dishes if you ever learned to beat me here."

She squeals when he tickles her sides, then smiles when he grabs a dry cloth and joins her at the sink.

It isn't until after they're finished that he presents her with a key chain with two keys on it. Tilting her head, she asks, "What's this?" He places it in her hands, and then says, "This one, is for this house." Harper blushes a bit, but grins all the same while asking, "Don't wanna have to come to the door to let me in?"

Will leans down to bump his nose against hers. Kissing her gently, he says, "Don't want you to have to knock on a door that you should be free to open whenever you please." And he grins when she kisses him as her response to his reply.

Then he points to the second key and says, "This one… is for a beach house that I'm renting for a week, starting tomorrow." Harper tilts her head again, but then her eyes widen before she asks, "You were serious?" "Very. You might look like you feel better, but there are still bruises on almost every inch of you." Smirking, he adds, "I should now, since I've now seen every inch of you."

She blushes again, but smacks him in the chest before laughing and asking, "So… we're going? To the beach?" "Yes. You need a vacation. And I need a vacation with you. And an old friend of mine said we could stay as long as we want. I paid for a week, but if you want to stay a little longer, we can."

Harper stares at him for a moment, and then smiles before saying, "Sounds lovely. I love you." "I love you too." He kisses her again, and then grins while saying, "By the way, it's a private beach." "Meaning?" "Meaning we don't really have to pack our swimsuits."

And as her blush rushes all the way to the roots of her hair, she lets out a breathless, "Oh, boy." "Mmm, hmm." He cups her face in both hands, slanting his mouth over hers for a deep kiss. But before she can begin dragging him away, and before he can suggest they head back to his bedroom, Epps shouts from outside, "Hey, lovebirds! No smooching while we're still here! We've only been here a couple of hours! Give it a rest!"

Harper pulls back, but Will just draws her back in. He shows Epps the middle finger through the window over the sink, to which his entire unit laughs. He finally pulls back with a grin and says, "I suppose we should go and keep them entertained a little while longer." "Oh, I don't know. I've always been under the impression that they're pretty good at entertaining themselves."

And his unit just laughs harder when, as Will tosses her over his shoulder again, she shouts, "I was kidding!" But they hear her laughter at him too, right up until the bedroom door is closed again. One of the other men turns to Epps and says, "Twenty bucks says they don't come out for at least an hour."

But another one from across the fire nearly spits out his entire beer when Bobby replies, "I'll bet a hundred that they forget we're even here and don't come back out at all."

The End! That's all I wrote for this. Just a quick little story that made me smile. It popped into my head while my little brother was watching the Transformers movie again, and so this is what I came up with. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Until next time.