"Shit," Harper muttered under her breath. "Please be here. Come on."

Her entire bedroom was in disarray. Clothes were strewn over the floor and furniture while her bedding was crumbled up, half of it hanging on the floor. The closet doors and dresser drawers were opened wide with the same chaotic nature. Nothing was in its place anymore, and yet she continued her frantic search for the third day in a row. Not ready to give up or lose hope that her bracelet was gone forever.

Because it couldn't be.

If it was then….

She moved aside piles of clothes and pillows, frantically shoving her hand into every pocket and space but coming up empty every time. Running a hand through her hair, she gave the wrecked room a panicked once over as she realized she had run out of places to look. Despite the mess, Harper knew that she'd already checked everywhere countless times over the last few days. And each time, the result was the same.

"Woah. Did we get hit by an earthquake or something?" Lucas joked as he stopped just outside her room to take in its destruction.

"What?" Harper asked in confusion, turning towards him. "Oh. No, I'm just looking for something," she said distractedly. Telling herself that she must've missed a place to look.

Because the alternative was just too painful to accept.

Lucas nodded slowly but Harper barely registered it as she continued shaking out clothes and pillows in her fruitless search.

"What's going on here?" Olivia's eyes widened at the mess when she stepped into the room.

Harper dropped the jacket she was holding. Not only did she feel defeated but she felt it, too. Her eyes burned with unshed tears as she couldn't believe she'd really lost her bracelet. The one piece of her mom she had left. The one connection she had to her. Having realized she was no longer wearing it had caused a huge panic in her that it was difficult to breathe. And now knowing that it was probably lost forever hit her with such force that it pushed those tears to spill down her cheeks.

"I can't find my bracelet. I've looked everywhere for it," she said as she brushed the tears from her face.

Olivia looked at her gently, scanning the room in an effort to locate the piece of jewelry. Though with the state of the room, it was difficult to locate the floor let alone a delicate bracelet. "You still haven't found it?"

Harper shook her head.

"Well it's gotta be around here somewhere."

"But it's not. And I never take it off so I-I don't know where it could be."

"What about downstairs? We've lost a lot of things to those couch cushions over the years," Lucas suggested.

"I already looked there," Harper said with a heavy sigh. "It's gone."

"We can buy you a new one, Harper," Lucas said, not knowing it was the wrong thing to say.

"You can't," Harper said, her voice cracking. "It was my moms." Her vision blurred from the tears that she tried to contain but failed.

Olivia frowned, trying and failing to think of something to say. Crossing the room towards her, she gently put her arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "Don't worry, we'll keep looking for it. I'm sure it'll turn up around here somewhere."

"But I don't even know when I lost it. O-or where. It could've been here or at group therapy or in the park. Either way, it's gone."

The finality of those words brought with it a new kind of despair and anger. All of these years, she'd been so careful with it. To think that it was really lost was too hard to believe though it was a sad reality she had to accept.

Practice was already underway when Harper stepped through the creaky gate that led into the backyard of the Miyagi-Do Dojo. The gravel crunched too loudly under her shoes despite her not wanting to draw unwanted attention. She hated being late even though she was just an observer and not a participant. But she knew how rude it was to arrive late, to interrupt a lesson. If it wasn't for the prolonged search for her bracelet which still remained lost (probably forever) then she would've been on time.

Harper smiled apologetically as a few heads turned her way in question. The next few minutes passed by as she watched the lesson from the sidelines, completely engrossed in how fluent every move was. It still fascinated her even after all this time. Even after she practiced herself.

Though her karate was worlds away from this one.

The sun was hot and unforgiving the longer she stood there, uncomfortably shifting from one foot to the other. She longed to sit in her shady spot on the deck but, having arrived late, she had no time to cross the backyard without further interrupting practice.

Minutes later, the was a lull in the lesson as Daniel explained that they would pair up to spar using the new moves they'd just been taught.

Confident that she had enough time to make her way across the yard, Harper started toward the deck. But no sooner had she taken a couple of quick steps than the sparring began and she found herself in the middle.

"Harper, watch out!" Daniel called out. "Everyone, stop!"

Harper froze mid-step as the sparring continued around her, eyes widened as she realized how dangerously close she was to being hit.

Rather than previous like she normally would have, Harper deftly blocked the hits. Unbeknownst to her, everyone stopped to watch as the one person who didn't practice karate easily kept herself from getting hurt.

"Woah! Sorry, Harper," Chris said, stopping the spar between him and Bert. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Harper told him before turning to Daniel. "Sorry for interrupting your lesson, Mr. LaRusso."

It took a moment for Daniel to reply, the concern at his face battling with impressiveness. "It's okay. Just please be careful next time. You really could've gotten yourself hurt."

"I know. And I will. Sorry again."

"How'd you learn to block like that? That was pretty awesome," Robby said, voicing the question that everyone clearly wanted answered. It was in the way they looked at her, questioning how she managed not to get hit. How she managed to defend herself so easily without any practice.

That they knew of, of course.

"Oh, uhm…," she paused and shrugged, well aware that all eyes were on her. "Instinct kicked in, I guess."

"Instinct, huh?" Daniel asked, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Looks like you have some natural karate skills we didn't know about."

If only they knew the truth. Knew that for the past month, she'd been training with Hawk. But, for obvious reasons, they couldn't know. As much as she hated lying to everyone, it had to remain a secret. Not being able to truthfully give them answers killed her inside but she knew how they would react if they found out. Because she didn't just go behind their backs and lie to them. She betrayed them.

Harper shrugged as a way of reply and moved off to the side where she wouldn't be in the way. When practice resumed without any more questions, she let out a sigh of relief that her secret was still that: a secret. For now.

Practice went on without any more interruptions on her part. She watched with a smile as her friends sparred, their movements slow and meticulous. Methodical. So unlike what she learned from Hawk. Whereas the moves she was taught were fast and dangerous, theirs weren't. But there was a beauty to both methods.

Once practice ended an hour later, Harper went out with her friends. The last time the four of them had truly spent any time together had been the night Sam, Robby and Demetri came to her house right after she'd been released from juvie. Though she often went to their practice, it was hard to count that as hanging out. And with summer coming to an end, who knew what the school year would bring.

How many more carefree days they would have without obligations hanging over them.

Or how much longer she'd be here before the Hudson's returned her to the state.

"What flavor did you get?" Sam asked as they stepped out of the smoothie cafe.

"Kiwi and strawberry," Harper replied and took a sip of the smoothie. The sweet yet tart taste brought a smile to her face.

"That one's good," Demetri said wistfully. He frowned at the drink in his hand then longingly looked at hers. "Should've gotten that one. Want to switch? Mines pomegranate and orange."

Harper narrowed her eyes, a smile playing on her lips as she shook her head. "No way! Drink your own."

With a heavy sigh, he nodded.

"Why did you order that flavor if you don't want it?" Robby asked.

Demetri shrugged before he threw them an embarrassed look. "I-I panicked, okay? I didn't know what to order so I said the first thing that I saw on the menu. There was a line behind us and you guys already knew what you wanted so ..."

"No one was rushing us," Sam told him.

"And now you're stuck with a flavor you hate," Robby said, shaking his head with mild amusement.

"I don't hate it. I'm just allergic to oranges. Highly allergic. Like I'll break out in hives and my throat gets all itchy. It's really not pretty," he said with a shudder. "Anything in the orange family I'm allergic to. Oranges, tangerines, clementines, grapefruit, blood oranges, you name it. All of it."

Harper shared a look with Sam and Robby, rolling her eyes at Demetri's rambling. Before he could continue, she grabbed the smoothie from his hand and switched it with her own.

Eyes wide, he looked from her to the switched smoothies. A pink tinge colored his cheeks as he smiled awkwardly. "A-are you sure? I wasn't saying all that so you'd switch. I can drink my smoothie but I'll definitely need a Benadryl after. Or before. Or during. I don't really know how long it takes for me to get itchy. It's been a while since I've had a reaction."

"Yeah, I'm not going to risk that," Harper said with a shake of her head.

Demetri nodded, a smile appearing on his face. "Thanks, Harper."

She returned the smile and bumped his shoulder with hers. "What are friends for if not for saving you from an allergic reaction?"

The smoothie debacle was over and they fell into an easy conversation that was a mix of both words and laughter. Harper realized how much she'd missed this and hoped that once the school year started that there would always be time for the four of them to just hangout. Good friendships in life were rare, made even rarer when someone was in foster care. Harper made a promise to hang onto this for as long as possible as she didn't know when her last day with the Hudson's would be. But it would come eventually.

While her life hung in the unknown, endings were the only constant in her life.

"So how did you really know how to block those attacks?" Sam asked, bringing up the one topic that Harper wanted to avoid.

She sipped her smoothie as a means of filling the silence. But the question hung in the air, her friend's attention on her as they waited for an answer. "I don't know," she said with a casual shrug. "I guess maybe I picked up on some stuff from watching you guys practice."

"I don't think you can just pick up-" Robby started but was interrupted as shouts filled the air, followed by the splattering of a drink from before them. A drink exploded from a plastic cup and its contents spilled over them but mainly covered Harper in a sticky, red liquid.

Surprise was the only emotion Harper felt as the drink drenched her shirt, arms and legs. "What the hell just happened?" Unsuccessfully, she tried to wipe the mess from herself but only managed to spread it further.

"I have one idea," Robby said, his voice like steel as he nodded in a direction.

Harper cast her eyes to where Robby was looking and frowned when she spotted Cobra Kai just a few feet away. It started to feel as if they were everywhere.

"Point for me! I hit the trash," Mitch said loudly, a smug look on his face as he glared her way.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sam shook her head in disgust. "Are you guys serious right now?" She asked angrily, taking a step toward them.

"Are you guys okay?" Miguel asked, eyes wide as he took in Harper's appearance. "Sorry, Harper. This wasn't supposed to happen, I swear. We were just being idiots. The whole thing was an accident. No one was supposed to get hit."

"Right. An accident," Robby said with disbelief, leveling a glare at Miguel who looked surprised at the hostility directed his way.

"It was," Tory said with a shrug. "You don't think we'd actually throw a drink at you, do you, princess?"

"I wouldn't put it past you," Sam said. "It sounds like something you'd do when you're not stealing."

Tory glared at the response but was held back by Miguel while Mitch continued to laugh uncontrollably, looking much too pleased with himself.

"Do you really think this is funny?" Robby asked, his voice taking on a hard edge.

"Kind of, yeah," Hawk said with amusement as he walked their way. His smile faltered as he caught Harper's disapproving glare and shrugged in response.

"Well, it's not," Harper snapped in annoyance.

"Relax, foster. You heard Miguel, this was an accident," Hawk said.

Harper narrowed her eyes, not believing that for a second. "Yeah, I'm sure it was."

"You can always think of this as payback for Valley Fest," Mitch said.

"Are you seriously still not over that?" Harper asked. "It was an accident."

"So was this," Mitch said with a shrug.

"No, it wasn't. You were aiming for us," Robby said..

"You know, it figures Cobra Kai would be this immature. Is this what your sensei's are teaching you?" Sam asked.

"At least they're teaching us how to fight. Not whatever meditation crap you're learning," Hawk said. "It's why Cobra Kai won the All Valley in May."

"So being aggressive is what wins now?" Demetri spoke up for the first time, a slight tremor to his voice. "You guys really are just a bunch of bullies."

"Says the loser who had no problem taking Cobra Kai cred without stepping foot into the dojo," Hawk said.

"Because he figured out that you guys are assholes and didn't want to become one," Harper commented, earning a look from Hawk which she shrugged off.

Miguel looked around the two groups uneasily. A fight was brewing in the air and all it would take was a spark to light the match. To start a fight that wouldn't be won so easily. "Guys, maybe we should go. Let's not do this," he said but they either didn't hear him or didn't care.

"That's a great idea. Get out of here before you get your asses kicked. Again," Robby said.

"You really think you can take us?" Tory asked with a scoff, looking much too eager to fight.

"Yeah, we do," Sam said. "It was easy the last few times we did so I'm sure we can beat you again."

Mitch cracked his knuckles loudly and took a menacing step toward them. "Why don't we find out?"

"We're not doing this," Harper said.

"What's the matter? Are you scared?" Tory asked, pouting.

"No. I just - this is stupid. We're not fighting you just because you're bored." Harper tightened her shaking hands into fists, digging her nails into her skin to keep them from giving away just how scared she was.

"It kinda sounds like you're scared," Mitch said.

Harper narrowed her eyes, fighting the urge to walk away without throwing a punch. "I'm not scared. You guys just aren't worth it."

"Or you know that you're going to lose." Mitch closed the distance between them, a confident smile on his face. "I already hit you once. I'll do it again."

Harper ignored him despite her heart hammering in her chest, so loud that she could barely hear above it. Instead, she looked to her friends with the hopes of persuading them not to do this. Not to give in to the bait. "Let's just go," she pleaded with them.

Jaw clenched, Robby looked at Cobra Kai before reluctantly nodding. "Okay, yeah."

Sam nodded as well. "You're right. They're not with it."

Harper looked towards Demetri who was already a step ahead of them and walking away. She bit back the smile and followed after him, half expecting Mitch or Tory to initiate the fight but they didn't. The tension remained in the air, and she felt like a bundle of nerves as she looked over her shoulder. To her surprise, they weren't following after them but were in a heated argument with Hawk, probably complaining that they missed out on an opportunity to fight.

Hawk caught her watching and offered a small smile before turning back to his friends.

A relieved sigh escaped her lips at the fight that had been avoided. Having been released from juvie not too long ago, Harper didn't need anymore trouble.

When they were a good few feet away from Cobra Kai, they settled at an outdoor table. She looked down at the mess that was her shirt and shorts. Both were clinging to her as the syrupy drink dried on her skin. She was the worst off from her friends, who only had a few splashes on them. Her clothes were most definitely ruined as she doubted the red food coloring would completely wash out.

"They were definitely aiming for us," Sam said, wrinkling her nose at the mess that was Harper's clothes. "You should probably try to get cleaned up."

Harper nodded to both comments, knowing that it was no accident. Her eyes wandered to the shops around them before falling to the smoothie shop they'd been in not too long ago. "I'll be right back."

She ignored the looks thrown her way as she went inside the air conditioned cafe, heading straight toward the bathrooms. Luckily they were unoccupied. Tilting her head, a resigned sigh escaped her lips as she looked in the mirror.

"Thank you Cobra Kai," she said quietly and pulled several paper towels from the dispensar. Running them under the faucet, she did her best to clean up, scrubbing at the stubborn spots. When she was done, it was by no means perfect but it was better than when she first stepped foot in here.

It was pointless to even try to clean her shirt so she gave up on that idea and exited the cafe only to be met by Hawk as soon as she stepped outside.

Harper looked from her friends' confused faces to Hawk, who smiled that annoying smile at her. "Your friends suck," she said before he could talk, moving to get around him but he blocked her path.

"They were just joking around," he said but Harper narrowed her eyes at the sad attempt at an excuse. "Okay. You're mad."

"Yeah, Hawk, of course I'm mad! Because this is what they do. They start shit with us even when we're trying to avoid them. It's annoying."

"They don't always do that," Hawk said, though as he said it, even he knew that it was a lie.

"Yeah, they do. And you're guilty of it, too."

"What? No, I'm not."

"Really? So you don't go out of your way to mess with Demetri every chance that you get?"

"I - okay, I do. But, come on, it's pretty fun messing with him," he said with a grin that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Sighing, he nodded. "Sorry."

"I don't need you to keep saying sorry, Hawk. Just… do better."

He contemplated her words before nodding."Okay. I'll back off. And I'll try to make sure they do, too."

"Okay. Thanks."

"So, we're okay?" He asked tentatively.

Harper smiled softly. "Yeah, we're okay," she said before crossing her arms. "So, what do you want?"

Hawk frowned at her words.

"We're being watched," she explained a second later, nodding towards their audience. At the suspicious looks thrown their way the longer they talked.

"Oh." Hawk shrugged like he didn't care though he briefly looked over his shoulder. "Can you meet up tomorrow morning? I was gonna text you later but since you're here, I figured I'd just ask."

"Uhm…. Okay, yeah. Text me when and where later," she said before brushing past him. As she made her way toward her friends, the guilt weighed heavily on her. She would have to lie to them. Again. But as much as she hated keeping something from them, she knew that the alternative would be much worse.

"What did he want?" Robby asked, throwing a distrustful look at Hawk.

"Nothing," she answered with a shrug, averting their curious looks. "He was just being his annoying self."

Demetri frowned at her words or perhaps at the idea of them talking.

Their expressions were a clear indication of how their reaction would be if they found out she was actually friends with Hawk. As horrible as she felt about lying, Harper knew it was the only option.

"Was he being a jerk to you?" Sam asked.

"Isn't he always?" Harper asked but, seeing the angry looks on their faces, she quickly added, "but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I swear." The last thing she wanted was for her friends to restart the fight that had barely been avoided the first time.

Harper paced outside of the Cobra Kai dojo, feeling more than a little out of place. It was still early in the morning and, save for a few occupied spaces, the parking lot was mostly devoid of cars. The only store in the small shopping center that was open was the convenience store next door but it was hardly getting any customers at this time. It was quiet, empty, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. Anytime a car sped by or the sound of voices rose up, she jumped in anticipation of being caught.

Why she agreed to meet Hawk here, she didn't know. It had been stupid and reckless because anyone could see them. Biting her thumbnail, she continued her nervous pacing.

When the door opened behind her, she whirled around with relief.

"Are you coming in or do you plan to stand outside all morning?" Hawk asked.

"Inside?" Harper asked, unsure about the whole situation.

"That's typically what it means to come in so… yeah."

Harper narrowed her eyes at the sarcastic answer. With another look around the empty parking lot, she nodded. "I guess. Yeah."

He held the door open, allowing her to step inside.

Even though she'd been invited in, Harper felt like she was intruding or breaking the law somehow. And perhaps she was. Not legally but morally. It was the ultimate betrayal to her friends, adding onto all the ways she'd already let them down over the last several weeks.

"You're sure no one's here?" Harper asked in an almost whisper as she tentatively looked around.

"Oh, uhm, actually I forgot to tell you. Everyone's hiding in the back and waiting in a surprise attack," he answered, nodding towards the back room that was hidden from her line of sight.

"Funny," Harper said dryly, rolling her eyes.

He grinned in reply, seeming to be proud of his joke.

"But no one's going to show up, right? We won't get caught?" She asked, hating how pathetically scared she sounded. But it was a logical worry because it would be difficult to explain why she was there.

"We're fine. Relax," Hawk said with a reassuring smile though it did little to minimize her anxiety. "If anything, I'll just say that you broke in. You know, put all of the blame on you."

"Jerk," she muttered as a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "What makes you think I won't tell anyone that you invited me?"

"And let people know that we're actually friends?"

"Yeah, you're right. Like I'd ever admit that I like you."

"That makes two of us."

Harper chose not to reply and instead took a look around the spacious room. The majority of the floor was covered in blue mats that didn't look as if they made the fall hurt any less. But she supposed it was better than hitting the hard, wooden ground. Her eyes then flashed to Cobra Kai's motto that was painted onto one wall and frowned at the message.

Strike hard, strike fast, no mercy.

An aggressive message for an aggressive dojo.

"So this is the infamous dojo, huh?"

Hawk nodded and looked around as if trying to see the room from her perspective. "Yeah. We do most of our training out here but there's a back room, too. It's got some punching bags and other stuff. But that's mainly for when we just want extra practice."

"It's pretty cool," Harper said before adding, "you know, for an evil karate lair."

"A lair?" He asked.

"Yeah. That's where villains meet up, right?"

"I think Demetri's been giving you too many comic books to read."

"Says the guy who skipped school to go to comic con and - hey, stop pushing me!"

"Nope, you're banned. You need to leave," he said, laughing as she resisted his attempts to push her towards the door.

Harper stepped out of his reach and stood her ground, putting on her best no nonsense face as she faced him. "You told me to come here, remember? You can't kick me out."

"Actually I can," he said with a grin before adding, "but I won't."

A smile danced in her eyes as she nodded happily. "Smart choice. So, why am I here?"

A smile tugged at his lips. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand."

Bemused, Harper tilted her head. "Why?"

Hawk rolled his eyes. "Do you always have to be so difficult? Just do it, foster."

"Fine," she muttered and closed her eyes fully. She held her hand out and then cracked one eye open.

"I can see you looking," he said.

"No, I'm not. I can't see a thing," she lied.

He blinked at her with disbelief. "You're really bad at lying," he told her before covering her eyes with his hand.

"Hey!" Harper swatted at his hand but despite her best efforts, he was stronger than her. She blindly tried to step around him but all of her attempts were unsuccessful. Their laughter filled the dojo as they continued their awkward dance. Somehow during the struggle, she ended up with her back pressed against his chest and her eyes remained covered by his hands.

"Ready to give up?" Hawk asked, amusement in his voice.

"Not a chance. I can take you, you know? Even if I can't see anything." Refusing to give up, Harper pushed at his hand but he pinned her arm against her side. As much as she hated to admit defeat, she knew there were no moves for her to make. "Okay, I give up! You win. Now let go."

"I thought you'd put up more of a fight, foster," Hawk said as he let go of her.

Harper blinked against the light that hit her eyes and spun around to face him. She forced a glare into her face but the ghost of a smile pulled at her lips. "I didn't give up. I just - you cheated!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms.

"So can you close your eyes now? Or are you going to fight back again and lose?"

"I won't look," she said.

"Promise?"

Harper closed her eyes and the seconds that ticked by felt more like minutes. She waited almost impatiently, her nerves spiking as she expected a surprise attack at any moment. But instead, a shock went up her arm when he grabbed her wrist. She tried to ignore the unexpected feeling that his touch brought her but couldn't focus on anything else.

"Can I open my eyes now?" She asked for the sake of keeping her mind from overthinking. Because she was more than hyper aware of how close he was and she didn't want to think about this onset of feelings that overwhelmed her. Feelings that confused her and made her question everything.

"Hold on," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. A moment later, he said, "Okay, you're good."

Harper opened her eyes to find him watching her.

"So…," Hawk said, prompting her to look at the delicate rose gold bracelet that rested on her wrist.

Her eyes immediately widened in recognition, making her question if she was seeing right. She inspected the familiar bracelet, half expecting it to disappear or morph into something else.

"I, you know, figured you were probably looking for it," Hawk said somewhat sheepishly.

"Yeah, I was." Overwhelmed with happiness, Harper threw her arms around him. Only when he returned the hug did she pull back. Though it lasted only a few seconds, it was enough time for those thoughts and feelings to come to the forefront of her mind. She was unsure of what it meant or what she wanted it to mean so she stepped back and averted his gaze. "Sorry," she said with an embarrassed laugh.

"It's okay," he said after a moment, putting an easy smile on his face.

"I've been looking all over for this. Where did you find it?"

"In my car." His hand went to the back of his neck as he continued his explanation. "I actually found it a few days ago, and I was gonna give it back or at least tell you I found it but it was broken. It probably got caught on the seat belt or something but I didn't want to return it broken so, you know, I got it fixed first," he rambled nervously, which was unlike him.

Harper tilted her head as a smile tugged at her lips. "You didn't have to get it fixed."

"Yeah,I know but I wanted to. It seems like it's important since you never take it off."

"Yeah, it is," Harper said, surprised that he noticed such a small detail about her. She smiled down at the bracelet that was back around her wrist. "It was my moms. It's the only thing I have left of her so I freaked out when I couldn't find it."

"Well, now you have it back."

Harper nodded. "How much did it cost to get it fixed?"

"Not that much. Why?"

"So I can pay you back," she said matter of factly.

"Don't worry about it," he answered.

Harper tilted her head. "You can't - I have to pay you back."

Hawk shook his head, smiling down at her. "No, you don't. You know you don't owe me anything, foster," he said but it seemed like his words were about so much more than just the cost.

"But -" She started but knew that arguing on the topic was useless. Instead, she swallowed down the argument and said, "Thank you."

"Anything for you."

Harper smiled as the eye contact lasted a few seconds too long. She was the first to look away when a car door slammed shut out in the parking lot. Taking a step back, she ran a hand through hair. "I should go but thanks again."

He nodded and walked her to the exit. "Wait," he said, grabbing her hand before she could reach for the door.

Harper turned back around, her hand still in his as she looked at him expectedly. "What's up?" She asked but was met with silence. Hesitancy. Tilting her head, she narrowed her eyes in question. "What?"

"I was thinking - I mean, I just…," Hawk started but trailed off, struggling with what he should say. Or do. He looked uncertain as he closed the already short distance between them, silently staring down at her.

"What are you doing?" Wide eyed, her heart started beating faster as if she'd just run a marathon.

"I don't know," he answered before he leaned down to kiss her, his hands coming to rest on either side of her face. ,

Harper froze while her mind reeled with all sorts of thoughts. She was too thrown off to do anything other than stand there and silently panic because this changed everything between them.

Or maybe she was just overreacting and this didn't mean anything at all.

When the kiss ended, Hawk stood back with a smile. But seeing her stunned expression, he frowned. "Shit! Sorry, foster. I-I shouldn't have done that."

It took a moment for her to find her words but even then her thoughts and feelings remained stuck. "You definitely shouldn't have done that," she whispered.

Angry with himself, he sighed. "I screwed things up between us, didn't I? I mean, of course I did! What the hell was I thinking? Why would you even want to…."

"Hey." Shaking her head, Harper grabbed his hand to get his attention. "No. You didn't mess anything up."

"Really? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Because I'm surprised! And really, really confused but… look, it doesn't mean you messed up, Hawk."

"You don't have to try to make me feel better."

"I'm not." Harper hesitated a moment, battling with her emotions before she closed the distance between them.

"What are you doing?" He asked warily.

"I don't know," she admitted before their lips met for another kiss. This one was just as sweet and tender as the first one but it also mirrored their feelings for each other. When the kiss broke, Harper sighed in frustration because every feeling she'd been trying to bury came to the surface. "Shit. I like you," she said quietly, the words intended more for herself than for him.

"I like you, too, foster," he said with a smile and reached to push her hair out of her face, his hand lingering there for a moment.

Harper returned the smile though it didn't quite reach her eyes thanks to her overactive mind.

Noticing her expression, he frowned. "Is that bad?" He asked tentatively, as if asking that would break whatever spell was between them and reality would come crashing down around them.

"Yeah. No. I mean, I don't know." Shaking her head, she buried her face behind her hands as she tried to clear her mind. Tried to make sense out of everything. "I don't know," she repeated with a helpless shrug, forcing herself to look at him.

He nodded to her words and shifted from one foot to the other.

"You know that this just complicates everything, right? I mean, it's been hard enough sneaking around for training and being friends let alone whatever this is. I don't know how to do this."

"Yeah," he said quietly. Somberly. "Uhm, look, maybe we should forget this ever happened and go back to just training."

"Is that what you want?" Harper asked, afraid of his answer.

"No," he said and she let out the breath she'd been holding, both relieved yet worried. "Do you?"

"No," she said right away.

He smiled, relieved at the answer.

"But so much for not catching feelings."

"Yeah, well, I kinda knew it'd be impossible," he said with an easy grin.

"So you lied when you said that wouldn't happen," Harper stated.

"Yeah," he said matter-of-factly. "I knew if I didn't then you wouldn't agree to train."

Harper rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile from lighting up her face. As much as she wanted to enjoy the moment, reality loomed over them. "But how are we going to do this? It's not like we can just tell our friends and expect for them to be okay with this."

"We don't need their permission, foster."

"No, I know but… we can't tell them. At least not yet. But I hate lying to them."

"We'll figure it out," he promised as he wrapped his arms around her.

Harper let out a content sigh as she welcomed the much needed hug. Despite the comfort, her mind still raced with worried thoughts.

How they would figure it out was a mystery but the sounds of raised voices and a car door slamming brought their attention toward the windows. They'd have to figure it out later, and she hoped that by then they'd at least have some plan.

"I should go but we'll talk later," Harper said as she untangled herself from his arms.

I hope 2024 is treating everyone kindly!

I'm sorry for not posting in a while. I decided to take a break for the holidays and post once the new year hit but I had a family emergency come up.

Please leave comments, thoughts, ideas :) I'd love to hear them!