Sunny Skies Up {-Harper-}

[Harper Marowski]

Sunshine Girl. Huh. Nobody had ever called the usually bright and cheerful girl that before. It was definitely a new nickname, and thinking about it almost brought a smile to Harper's face. But she didn't allow it to come. She wouldn't even let Gavin think she liked this new name.

Harper glared at Gavin, her anger flaring up again when he commented that she looked like the type to burn holes in her parents' checkbooks. She got onto her knees and leaned towards him, the anger evident in her eyes. She really didn't like it when people spoke about her mother. Or even insinuated that she was a spoiled rich girl - because anyone who knew her past knew that she was practically the exact opposite. "You don't know anything about what my life was like before Camp Half-blood came around," she snapped, her voice sounding more like a feral growl than anything. "I may not have taken care of myself entirely like you did, but damn it my mother had to work for a living and sometimes barely brought enough money home to feed me, let alone herself. And I never had a step-father because my mom loved my dad too much to remarry. I was almost always by myself, and I've been assaulted by more men than you could count, and I've come this close to losing..."

She found herself in the same predicament that Gavin had been in just a second ago. Why had she said that much? Harper wasn't the type to babble about her past to every stranger she saw - it felt like something about Gavin just stirred her up so much her tongue just naturally loosened. It also awakened something in her that Harper'd never knew she'd had. Hopeless frustration. She had never felt that with anyone before, and it was really beginning to bug her. She kept her glare steady, but it faltered once he started talking about not getting hurt. Harper wasn't stupid - she could tell that he had some kind of issue when it came to people. And being her naturally nosy, curious, bright self, she promised to find out why that was.

"It might not have steered you wrong yet, but it might someday," she pointed out softly, looking at him with what was kin to frustrated concern. Harper knew he probably wasn't looking for pity, but she couldn't help the pit in her stomach that formed when she thought about him being all alone. "You should have someone else, too, you know, watching out for you sometimes. It's healthy, and it really isn't that bad."

But then her expression hardened again as she leaned back and sat back down on her bottom and crossed her legs in front of her. Harper made herself comfortable - it looked like they would be here a while if neither of them was going to give up. Because Harper was one of the stubbornnest people ever born on the planet, as her mother had once pointed out. A smirk appeared on her face when he shielded up his notenook from her gaze and though most people might not have noticed it, she caught a glimpse of his ears going pink before he made some kind of smart-allecky comment about poetry being more of her department. The smirk remained, the glare and hardened expression completely gone now. "Then what do you write in here, lover boy? Do you journal about your lack of happy emotions? Maybe you should draw my death while we're waiting - I don't think I've been drawn being eaten by a sea monster yet." Not that people drew or wrote about Harper's death because she annoyed them... often.

[Gavin Sawyer]

If Gavin had been honest with anyone, he would have told them that he was just a touch scared as Harper leaned in and snapped in his face. She may have looked like a bundle of sunshine and rainbows, but the girl had bite to her. It made Gavin wonder what would happen if he gave Harper a sword. Her bite would be just as bade, if not worse, than her bark. He was taken aback by the information he received next though.

Hearing about her past, even the vague details of it made it hard for Gavin to keep his tough guy ‘I-intensely-dislike-you’ stare going on. He swallowed but didn’t look away from Harper. His dislike was now boarding on sympathy. He felt sorry for her and oddly enough he kind of knew what she was going through. Gavin cleared his throat and gave a stiff nod to her.

“Noted.” He replied.

Gavin remained silent for a while. He worked on fighting down the sympathy feeling he was starting to feel toward Harper. Why was this girl the one to change everything? Gavin had no problems around other people. He could shut himself out in a blink of an eye. He never revealed his feelings or anything else to another human being. Harper was making it increasingly hard to do.

And her last bit made it worse. He felt a twinge of anger when he heard she came close to losing one to those battles. He wasn’t angry that she didn’t go the extra mile and lose. Gavin found he was angry at the men who attacked her. His stomach lurched for a moment but Gavin finally shoved the feeling away. He glanced at Harper and nodded.

“Yeah, well. I’ll cross that road when I get to it. And yeah, it is bad when you lose that person.” Gavin almost choked on the words. He coughed and cleared his throat.

Freaking Harper. She made him feel so vulnerable and Gavin absolutely hated that. To be vulnerable was to be weak and to be weak would get you killed. He drummed his fingers on the cover of his journal for a moment. He glanced up and saw the smirk on her face. His brows furrowed. “What?”

Gavin scoffed and rolled his eyes laughing a little at her comment about drawing her death. “I could just plot it. And I bet there are loads of people out there who have drawn you being eaten by a sea monster. You’ve just never seen it.” This came out in a light tone this time, it was clear this was a joke. Gavin meant for it to come out serious but like he found Harper, it was complicated. He thought to her comment about lacking happy emotions. It was true.

Gavin thought to his family. His parents both had plenty of money, though he didn’t exactly burn through their wallets. Not that they would buy him anything. Thinking about his parents, Gavin couldn’t help but think of Kimberly. He flinched just by thinking of her name. Gavin looked back to Harper; maybe it was because she had said so much about her past it made Gavin feel compelled to say something about his past. Either that or he was trying to one up her in depressing childhoods. Gavin tried to convince himself it was the latter, he didn’t want to admit he was actually opening up to a person to try and make them feel better.

“My parents were rich. We had it all, a mansion, a summer home, the works. I was never wanted around though. Growing up I couldn’t understand why my ‘mom’ and dad hated me, why my mom resented me. It just led me to hate them back. It’s the only emotion you can get out when in a situation like that. Kimberly though,” Gavin paused at her name. “My older sister was the only person in my life that didn’t think I was crap. She also believed me when I said monsters were real. She died because of me, and Dad knew that. She was killed while I was fighting one off. I was twelve, and Angelica, great old mommy dearest, told me I wasn’t her son. So I left. I had no idea what I was, even though I know Dad knew. He didn’t tell me he just disowned me. I traveled around the coast since I was twelve alone no clue about where I came from. A year later mom, Eos, found me and explained a few things. What she neglected to tell me though was there was a camp for people like me. So I continued to survive on my own.”

Gavin’s jaw quivered. He stared intently into Harper’s eyes. “Now you try to find a way to pull happy emotions from that. I dare you. The only person who gave two shits about me was killed because of what I am. I’m sorry if I fail to be happy about anything. Bitter and cruel is who I am so just accept it Sunshine Girl.”

Gavin’s eyes hardened and he looked back to his journal. He had never divulged that much to anyone before. It felt good and yet it burned. Gavin regretted saying anything about his past; he only opened himself to what was sure to be disappointment. His mouth twitched a little anticipating her reply. He decided he wasn’t one for sympathy and didn’t exactly want it. Gavin knew that she was probably full of it though. And while wished she would just tell him to grow a pair and get over it, looking at Harper, maybe he did want some kind of strange sympathy from this girl.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper looked away from Gavin for a moment, trying to get her emotions in order so she could continue on with the conversation without revealing so much of herself again. Although she didn't know it, she was feel much like Gavin was at the moment. How could one guy - someone who annoyed the crap out of her, no less - be such a wallbreaker? There had been a wall on Harper for a very long time. Ever since she'd discovered camp politics, how some kids in the Apollo cabin were more popular than others, and how some were the great archers and the great writers - she was convinced one or two of them might be the next Ralph Waldo Emerson or Henry David Thorreau. That was what had caused the wall. Because what did Harper have?

She wasn't a great archer - while she was better than most of the kids at camp, she definitely wasn't the best in her cabin. And as much Harper loved to write, sometimes the poems and stories she wrote were just utterly ridiculous and didn't make any sense once she looked back at them. The only thing Harper was really skilled at was healing. But nobody famous, none of the great heroes, could heal. So Harper played up on the only other thing she had - her social skills - praying that sonehow those would catch her father's attention.

But why was Gavin, this annoying, clearly always angered boy, bringing out all of these thoughts in her? It infuriated Harper that he had so much power over her in such a short amount of time. Why was this? Why was this getting to be more complicated than she had bargained for. When she had initially approached him a few moments before, she hadn't expected any of this to come about. When Gavin joked with her about her death, Harper felt like laughing. In fact, the grin that appeared on her face displayed just as much. But Harper forced the grin back, and only a contemplative smile took its place. "Well, if everyone in camp thinks like you, then I'm sure my death has been a frequent topic of discussion and drawing," she joked right back, the smile growing into a grin and then melting away again.

But when Gavin began talking about his past, Harper's smile dimmed, and her eyes became sympathetic and concern flooded her features. Although she was sure sympathy wasn't what he wanted, she couldn't help but feel it again anyway. There was something about him that was the polar opposite of pitiful, but... there was also something in him that drew her to him. She wanted to comfort him, make him not feel so alone, but she suppressed those feelings because, in her mind, they simply weren't natural. Feeling this was for someone who had just annoyed you beyond comprehension didn't make you feel like this within just a few minutes. Not naturally.

But Harper felt like that anyway. She reached over after he'd finished, and gently put her hand on top of his own. She avoided looking him in the eyes as she murmured, "I'm really sorry about what happened to you." And instantly, she yanked her hand back from his and tucked it in her hoodie jacket pockets. Harper looked down at the ground, still avoiding eye contact and continued. "I know you probably don't want to hear it, but I really am sorry. I... I didn't know. I don't like the idea of anyone getting hurt because of me, and to have to live with guilt like that..." Harper looked up at him now, not entirely sure how they had come from arguing to this. She tried to hide the joy she felt again when he called her 'Sunshine Girl', and successfully did this time. "But you don't have to be bitter and cruel all the time, you know. You can be happy sometimes, 'cause I'm sure that your sister wouldn't want you to be unhappy forever."

Harper looked away again. "Which probably isn't any of my business," she muttered in addition.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin could bite his tongue off for saying so much. Why would this girl care about what his entire life story was? She would just turn her nose up and be annoyed that he wasted his breath and her time. He certainly didn’t want to hear anyone else’s life story, so why did he think that Harper would want to listen to his. To his surprise Harper’s hand touched his.

His eyes snapped to her face. There was confusion etched in his features. Why was she touching him? There was too much shock running through Gavin’s system for him to react right away. He just froze, barely hearing what she said. An electrical shock ran through Gavin’s body for a split second and he felt his heartbeat pick up. But before the feeling could settle, Harper took her hand back. Self-conscious, Gavin looked away and used the hand to scratch his head for a moment. He messed his already windblown hair.

He forced a casual smirk, “I didn’t expect you to know. So don’t go being sorry for. People are always sorry when they don’t need to be and never sorry when they should be.” He scoffed and stared out away from Harper. She continued to talk about Gavin being happy. He rolled his eyes and half ignored her until she brought his sister into the matter. He turned his head toward her just in time to see her look away.

“You’re right.” He said coldly. “It is none of your business.” Though it was Gavin’s fault for bringing it up to begin with. “You don’t know anything, just because I let slip some of my stupid childhood doesn’t mean you still know what I went through. So just drop the whole, you can still be happy. Not everything is black and white like you seem to think it is Sunshine Girl.” Gavin couldn’t help but keep the new nickname he had given Harper. It was catchy and clever. Though he meant it as an insult at first he realized the more he used it, it was more of a affectionate term. Maybe he should stop with it.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper bit her lip, unsure of how to continue and equally unsure of how she was supposed to react further. Everything about him threw her off, which just brought about those feelings of irritation and frustration again. What was it about Gavin that made her feel such intensity under such scanty circumstances? She had absolutely no right or need to feel these things about a boy she'd only just met, nor did she want to. After all, Gavin's constant downer atitude irritated her, and it almost made her upset that he was making absolutely no effort to become better with his attitude.

She looked back just as he messed up his hair with the hand that she'd touched. Harper, for a split second, couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to run her hand through that sandy-colored hair... And as soon as she realized what she was thinking, she shoved the thought out of her mind and a shot of red came across her face in a bright blush. To try and hide it, Harper looked down and brushed her long brown hair so that it became a semi-curtain around her face. What on earth was wrong with her? She couldn't believe that she'd just had those thoughts about Gavin Sawyer, the most aggravating male she'd met in all her three years at Camp Half-blood, and for those who knew her, that was saying something.

When Gavin began talking about how it really wasn't her business, Harper looked up to glare at him. She hoped that, if any red had remained on her face, he would think it was just her becoming angry again. She didn't want him to even catch a whiff of the thoughts she'd had just a moment ago. "I realize you've had it tough, big boy, but look where you are now. You're at a camp where people can care about you, if you'd let them. You could try to be at least a little happy here. I mean, do you not want that? You don't like it here, where monsters don't attack you and the friends that you obviously haven't made yet?" Harper demanded, her gaze hardening again. The idea of anyone disliking Camp Half-blood infuriated her anyway, even without the fact that it was Gavin.

And she rolled her eyes at the black an white comment. She decided to continue her tirade. "Well, I know that there are shades of gray in life - anyone can see that. But what are the colors that make up those shades of gray? Let me tell you. Black. And. White. And it seems to me that you aren't even in a shade of gray anyway. You're in all black." She glared.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Everything was a mess. This one random meeting with this daughter of Apollo was ruining everything. Gavin had spent his entire life building up a wall around himself, protecting him from the outside world. Those who you let in will only let you down in the end. That was what Gavin came ot believe. Trust no one but yourself and always think about you above others. Since his sister’s death Gavin had led a lonely single life and it didn’t bother him in the slightest. He had no problem keeping others away from him. But now, in the past hour or however long they had been sitting here, this girl Harper was breaking it down.

He began to feel vulnerable around her. It still begged the question as to why he still sat here. Gavin felt tortured being around Harper. She was dragging up feelings in him that he hadn’t felt in a long time, or probably ever. He must have been one for self-torment. Gavin tried to convince himself that he still remained here because he was trying to build the wall back up with her around. He let her break a hole in it, but he wouldn’t allow anymore. Yet, as Gavin looked over to her as Harper tried (for about the hundredth time) to convince Gavin it was all right to be happy, he wished that her hand would fall back on his. Gavin immediately pushed these thoughts out of his head.

“The only thing I like about this place is that I can sleep at night with both eyes closed. I don’t have to lay my head down and worry that some kind of monster, a hellhound or something, is going to try and maul me while I try to dream. This place is nothing else to me but a safe haven. If I could have that out there, believe me I wouldn’t be here. Not with all of you happy go lucky annoying summer campers. I don’t want to sing kumbayah around the fire and eat smores. I’ll train on my own and sleep. That’s all, until I know I can find someplace safe out there.” Gavin sighed. “And I already told you, I don’t want people to care about me.”

Gavin could hear the annoyance and anger in her tone. He watched her for a moment before looking down at the cover at his composition book, which was ironically enough, black spotted with white. He scoffed and the slightest cocky smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. It only lasted for a second though.

“Touche. You got me there.” He rolled his eyes to her. “I’m all black, which I guess to me that makes you white. Which doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s obvious that my cruel lack of emotions makes me dark while your disposition makes me light. Good and evil arguing with each other. I think it is safe to say that we won’t ever agree on anything. I don’t think we’ll ever see eye to eye.”

[Harper Marowski]

On the other hand, Harper was just getting frustrated with Gavin again. The sympathy was beginning to ebb from his revelation about his past, and the irritation was starting to burn in her stomach again. She folded her arms tightly across her chest and glared at the son of Eos with a passion that could rival her father's. Why didn't he get it? Why didn't he want someone to care for him? It was absolutely the most infuriating thing she had ever come across.

But the question that kept plaguing her mind was this: why did she even care about him in the first place? Why was she so dead-set on trying to make him happy, when he was obviously so determined to remain the opposite? The honest answer was that she didn't know. There was something about him that drew Harper to him. She wasn't entirely sure what that was all about either, considering as he was such a downer and seemed to put a rather nasty sort of input on life. And yet, it was almost kind of refreshing to see someone who wasn't so happy with his lot in life. It made Camp Half-blood seem less like a fairy tale and more like the real world. But the way he went about it was just so annoying that Harper really felt like pulling her dark hair out from its roots.

"I can't believe you," Harper growled, continuing to glare at him. She pulled her knees to her chest and kept them there, wrapping her arms around her legs to keep them close as if they formed some kind of fortress barrier against his negativity. "Everyone needs someone to care about them. We're all human, even if we have a little bit of divine blood in us. All because... all because you think you're so tough doesn't mean you can just ignore something you need. You're being so freaking stubborn, it makes my head hurt! Camp Half-blood is a home for people like us, and you'd rather leave it?!"

She blinked back angry tears as she looked away, and wiped them on her pant leg, hopefully before Gavin saw them. All she knew was that Camp Half-blood was the first place that really felt like a home to her, because she had traveled so much the first thirteen years of her life. And here came someone who thought that it was all a bunch of rubbish. Granted, a lot of the kids were happy here, but it was because they felt the same way Harper did. Camp Half-blood was a home to them. And yet, this stupid guy would throw it all away? For what?

When Gavin said that they would never agree, Harper couldn't help but snicker. She even snorted a bit, and shook her head. She let go of her legs then and just leaned back on her hands so she could look at him speculatively. "Yeah, but didn't you just say two seconds ago, Mr. Negativity, that life isn't always black and white? There are shades of gray too. So I think we could probably agree on something eventually." Harper paused, contemplating this. She found herself wishing more than anything that she could prove to Gavin that someone cared about him.

Harper decided in that split second, that showing him that someone could care about him was her mission. The first step to doing what was getting him to trust her, no matter how infuriating and annoying that task proved to be. Helping out someone, even Gavin the Grump, was worth it to Harper, in the end. At least, it should be, right? She decided to give it a go. "I'm sure that some day, we'll find something we agree on - granted you don't run away into the outside world and try to take on all the monsters by yourself." She glared at him pointedly. "Maybe I'll follow you just to annoy you enough out there that you'll come back here. Seems like a good enough plan." She smirked in his direction.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Talking with Harper was like speaking to a brick wall. It got you nowhere fast. They were speaking in circles now and Harper wasn’t telling Gavin anything he didn’t already know. He wished she would just save her breath. He couldn’t understand why she bothered to put up such a fight when it came to him anyway. Gavin knew she wanted to believe that there was some kind of caring person underneath his cold exterior but he wasn’t going to let that show. Her stubbornness went from annoying to endearing and back to annoying again with a touch of cute. He sighed and listened only to amuse her, he was getting tired of hearing the same thing.

Gavin blinked. Had he just seen tears in Harper’s eyes? He watched her for a moment as she turned away. No, he had to be seeing things. It was just a trick of the sun there weren’t tears there. And if there were Gavin couldn’t fathom as to why they would be there in her eyes in the first place.

“I guess I’m not like everyone then.” He said softly. “I guess I’m one of the small population who would rather seek solitude. I’m knocking this place, I mean if the glove fits then it’s the best place for some. I don’t think it’s the best place for me.”

Truth was Gavin was tired. He was getting tired of having to explain himself to Harper. He hated this share time at first but somewhere along the line Gavin didn’t care that he was telling so much about himself. Now, he was starting to hate the circles and the confusion that was surrounding him when it came to Harper. How was one girl able to break through his wall? He silently cursed inside his head.

Gavin’s attention came back to Harper as she snickered. He arched his brow. He opened his mouth to try and counter Harper but the words got jumbled in his head. Gavin tried to explain himself but only bits of words came out in a string of noises. He stopped let out a nervous laugh for a second and cleared his throat.

“So?” was all he was able to manage.

When the idea came about that the two of them would agree on something someday Gavin couldn’t help but chuckle a little, the idea was funny to him. He shook his head and the corner of his mouth turned up in a crooked smile. He looking knowingly to Harper and stared in silence for a moment as she smirked at him.

“I think we should just agree to disagree. It’s a much safer bet than the one you have going right now Sunshine Girl.” again with the name, it just slipped out this time around. Gavin leaned forward a little closer to Harper. “Why do you want me to care so much, can I ask?”

[Harper Marowski]

It was plain and simple: Harper had never been in a situation like this one before. Her mother had always given her advice for dealing with boys, and every single piece of it had worked until now. "Hold your ground," she used to say, and Harper had done that here. But even with her holding her ground, she wasn't getting anywhere with this conversation. She felt like she and Gavin were doing a dance, trying to see which one would crack first. Until then, they continued to circle each other for weaknesses and weren't finding any. It was infuriating Harper and she was sure that she was frustrating Gavin. And yet, her mother had never said anything about a pounding in her chest or a roar in her ears.

Well, the pounding in her chest was a bit of an exaggeration. Her heart rate increased whenever she looked at Gavin, granted, but her heart wasn't pounding... yet. What was it about him? Harper knew that she had thought the same thing over and over again for the past half-hour or however long they had been sitting here, but the question was just eating away at her. Something about him was keeping her here, keeping her from getting up and just walking away. Maybe it was his downer attitude, or his refreshing intake on life, or his looks, or... Whatever it was, she didn't know.

So when Gavin called her out on it, she froze. Her eyes froze on him and she couldn't help but stare for a minute, faltering in her resolve to look strong. Why did she care? Why did she want him to care? All of these were questions that she had been asking herself. She didn't know whether to be honest with him or just say something snarky in reply. In the end, she went with integrity. If she was going to get him to trust her, she needed to be completely honest. So, Harper just said, "I... I don't know." That was when it came to her. Another memory of her mother popped into her head, and Harper looked away from Gavin for a moment.

It had been when she and her mother had visited Paris, and they were staying in a nicer hotel in the middle of the city. Harper had just asked about her father and she had just shared a quiet moment with her mother that she'd hardly ever experienced. "Harper," her mother had said, "I want you to promise me that if you ever find someone who isn't happy, you have to change that. Your father changed my life, and if he hadn't, I don't know where I would be right now. You've brought me so much happiness, honey, and I want you to do the same for other people. Don't let others be consumed by their own sadness. Promise?" Harper, of course, had responded with an affirmative.

"No, I do know," she murmured to Gavin, fiddling with her hands and looking down at them so she wouldn't have to look at him. She knew he had leaned closer, so she kept her voice quiet. "It's because of my mother. She made me promise to... to help other people when they weren't happy. And since... and since I never see her anymore, I... I feel like I should do what she told me. I don't want to let her down." She looked at Gavin and realized what she'd just admitted to him. Even though she had promised herself to be honest with him, she couldn't believe what she'd just said.

Harper became bitter again. "Not that you would understand, or care," she snapped, scooting away from him so they weren't so close. Suddenly, Harper was angry at him again. Thoughts of her mother surged through her, and Harper was angry. She was angry that she never saw her mother anymore, that the only thing she got was a letter from time to time from a foreign country and maybe a Chirstmas present every other year. She was angry that even though she knew her mother loved her, her mother had practically abandoned her here at Camp Half-blood. And who was the perfect target, than the boy who was infuriating her that happened to be sitting right in front of her. "Because you obviously don't know what it's like to care about someone so much you want to keep a promise. So, then, why are you still here?"

[Gavin Sawyer]

When Harper said she didn’t know Gavin felt a little let down. He tried not to dwell on it though, he wasn’t that important just a random guy. He just so happened to be the one Harper happened upon today. There was no special reason she cared that he cared. But he glanced back to her as she corrected herself. His brow furrowed. Gavin felt his face steadily growing hotter as Harper explained about her mom. He set his jaw unsure if he should be flattered or insulted that she was only doing this for the benefit of her mother. He probably should have felt insulted but he just couldn’t not at that moment. Gavin swallowed trying to get rid of the lump in his throat.

A smirk crossed his face for a moment as he remained close to Harper. As she moved away he felt a tug in his gut. Gavin scoffed and leaned back. He shook his head slightly and turned away. “You act like I’m some kind of charity case. Like I need to be fixed or something.” It was at that thought that Gavin became highly offended. He rolled his eyes and stared off at the other empty rows of the amphitheater. He did a good job of trying to cool down until Harper hit him with another low blow.

Gavin felt his jaw quiver. There was an impulse going off in Gavin’s head but he ignored it. Harper made him so angry, so frustrated that he wanted to scream. He wanted to scream at her and just let go and tell her to back out of his life for good. Gavin was growing tired of this game. His head jerked in her direction. His eyes were hard.

“You don’t know me.” He said trying to keep his voice from shaking. “I may have told you some personal stuff but it doesn’t mean you can go assume that I have never cared about someone. Don’t you ever make that assumption again.”

Gavin breathed through his nose his expression settling from intense to the normal blank canvas. There wasn’t a good reason Gavin was able to give as to why he still sat here and put up with this girl for as long as he did. It made no sense. She was the most insufferable girl he had ever met. Harper was a strong willed, annoying know it all with good intentions that leaked out from under her nails and out the tips of her hair. And that smile she always seemed to hold even when she wasn’t smiling, he was just able to tell it was there. And the way she talked about her mother, how much she idolized her. She spoke with so much sympathy and even it seemed like empathy at times. Why would Gavin ever find all of that appealing or attractive? Why would he even consider doing what he did next?

After a minute of silence of just staring at Harper, Gavin lurched forward. He brought his hand up and pushed her head forward and for a few long moments his lips touched hers. When Gavin realized what he had just done he instantly let go and sat back. His eyes were wide with shock. He stared beat red at Harper his mouth a gape. He swallowed hard and awkwardly turned away.

“S-sorry.” He whispered. “I didn’t—it was--“ Gavin couldn’t find the words to explain himself. What had he just done?

[Harper Marowski]

Frustration. That was simply the easiest way to describe everything Harper was feeling at the moment. She glared at Gavin as he told her that he didn't have to be a charity case, and that she knew nothing about him. Even though she knew he was right. They hardly knew anything about each other, and neither of them had any right to judge the other based on previous actions. In that case, neither of them had any right to judge the other period. And she realized that was pretty much what their conversation had revolved around. Judgments. What the other thought of the other based on impulses, not on what they knew precisely.

What Harper had just said to Gavin... that had been on an impulse. Which was something she had never done before. Harper was usually very good at controlling herself, and hiding her emotions and keeping them away where nobody could see them and make fun of them. However, she had just lashed out at Gavin. The anger she felt with her mother for having not seen her in a while had burnt up in her so quickly that she'd barely even noticed what she'd said to Gavin. And that, in the fact that she hadn't controlled herself, scared Harper more than anything.

But that was nothing compared to the unexpected that happened next.

Harper had just opened her mouth to retort to what he'd said when their lips crashed together, and she felt his hand pull her forward. For a split second, she was surprised, and she stiffened as she realized what was happening. But then, without her mind's permission, she started doing something else. Harper was just beginning to respond when Gavin pulled away sharply, his face bright red. She gazed right back, a mirroring red flooding her expression as she realized what had just happened. No other guy had ever kissed her before - but she wasn't about to tell Gavin that what they'd just done had been her first kiss. And to e honest, she had no idea how to admit it to herself either.

"What... you... why..." Every question she tried to ask came out as one word as everything jumbled together in her brain. Harper skittered away from Gavin, nearly falling off of the seat in the amphitheater that they'd been occupying. Above everything else, Harper didn't understand. What on earth had just happened, and why was it with Gavin? She clapped a hand over her mouth as she once again realized what had transpired, and the impact of what they'd just done hit her full force like a bag full of bricks. Gavin had kissed her. Gavin - annoying, frustrating, but incredibly attractive and alluring Gavin - had kissed her. He'd just stolen her first kiss. He'd done something that no boy had ever done before. Some had tried around the world, while she'd been travelling with her mom, but Harper had never allowed any of them to ever actually do it.

But Gavin had. She pulled her hand away from her mouth but stayed a distance away from the boy as her chocolate brown eyes widened with a mixture of fear and shock. "You just kissed me!" she shouted, and even though she knew it was obvious, she couldn't help but say it out loud. It was as if now that she'd said it out loud, it was official. Gavin had given Harper her first kiss. And she'd actually liked it. That scared Harper too, and she looked at Gavin as if he had suddenly turned into some kind of monster. "Why did you kiss me? Is that why you've been staying for so long? Just to do that? What... Why... How..." Her word became jumbled again.

Harper honestly had no idea what she was supposed to do. Nothing her mother had ever taught her had prepared her for this. Was she supposed to stand her ground or flee at this point? She didn't want to look weak, but it was still... a big moment. "What do you want from me? What was that?" she decided to demand, narrowing her eyes now at Gavin. Was he like so many boys that she had met, getting her angry just so he could see her steamed up? Did he just want what was underneath her t-shirt and jeans? Everything about him had been confusing already, and this had only just added on to it. Harper still couldn't wrap her head around this. It was just too impossible.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin sat there still completely stunned at what had just occurred. The same question rang through his mind, what had he just done? Gavin’s eyes slowly moved back to Harper’s face for a second but he looked away before she could catch him staring. He exhaled and sat there trying to convince himself of reasons as to why he actually kissed Harper. The usual ‘I tripped and I fell’ excuse came up but he wasn’t exactly standing. Plus it didn’t help that he had wanted to do it. Gavin pushed that feeling down to the lowest pit of his stomach. He forced himself not to care about what he had just done; he had to act as if nothing had happened.

Gavin blinked taken a back by Harper’s reaction. His head incline din her direction at her outburst. He gazed at her incredulously, “No I was just practicing CPR. Of course I kissed you I was there wasn’t I?” Gavin retorted harshly. It was a dumb thing to exclaim but he wouldn’t have put it past Harper. It almost made him smile. Almost.

Harper asked the million drachma question and Gavin didn’t even have an answer, at least an answer that he liked. However, Gavin didn’t like what she was now accusing him of. The look Harper was Gavin made him feel guilty for what he had just done. He didn’t like the way her eyes bore into him now. Gavin swallowed keeping his poker face strong.

“Why in the name of Hades would I sit here with you, you who could possibly be the single most annoying person, just to kiss you?” He practically growled. “I wouldn’t waste these perfect lips.”

Gavin didn’t like where this conversation leading and how it was taking a turn for the ultimate worst. He was lying to himself now and to Harper but he wasn’t going to admit that. Gavin had to stand his ground and keep himself shut out from the rest of the world. Harper had broken the wall and now it was time to build it back up. After a minute Gavin forced a cruel smile to his lips and let out a soft dark chuckle.

“Well I guess you caught me in a lie.” He leaned in a little. “I just wanted to see how a daughter of Apollo tasted.” Gavin sat back and wiped his lips off on his shirtsleeve not taking his eyes off of Harper. “And I have to say all I tasted was self delusion and failed dreams. I can mark off a daughter of Apollo on my list, next up is a daughter of Aphrodite.”

Gavin had done a bunch of mean things in the past but this was probably one of the worst. He regretted saying those things but he said it so convincingly he doubted Harper would be able to tell. He kept his stare and the smile on his lips as he nonchalantly leaned back on his hands.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper just glared. To her, this was a very serious matter, and all Gavin seemed to be doing was joking around. Now, she wasn't a person who held chastity among her utmost virtues, but it was important to Harper. And the fact that this boy, sitting before her, had stolen her first kiss, well... well, that was big. Really big. And here was Gavin joking around, almost like he was trying to pretend that it had never happened. Or, at least, pretend that it was no big deal. So she folded her arms across her chest and just continued to glare at him. As the minutes ticked by, the glare got deadlier and deadlier, to the point where she as downright livid.

"Even if you did just want to kiss me, I'd say your lips are far from perfect," she grumbled, even though Harper knew what she was saying wasn't true. In fact, even though she absolutely hated the fact that it was her first one, the kiss had been pretty nice. If one didn't count that it was Gavin in the first place, yes, it really was sort os a good first kiss. Passionate, sweet, good... but the main obstacle there was that it was Gavin. Annoying, infuriating Gavin. Harper called him so many things in her head, many things that she dare not say aloud or the harpies might come to get her.

There was something stirring within Harper, and it took her a minute to figure out what it was. There was regret, and longing. Regret, because, well, she'd wanted her first kiss to be something so special, that she could remember it for life (not that she wouldn't remember this, but...). But longing was the thing that caught Harper by surprise. For some reason, she wished that Gavin really had wanted to kiss her, because he was obviously just playing it off. She wanted this to mean something, and she wanted it to be special for him to. But this obviously meant nothing to him. Which stung, somewhat, but Harper could definitely get over it. It was no big deal. But that had absolutely no compare to the feeling that hit Harper at Gavin's next words.

It's wasn't heartbreak, exactly. No, she didn't know Gavin well enough for that. But something in Harper shattered, and she wasn't exactly sure what it was. It almost felt like something had torn through her, or like she'd just gotten slapped in the face. Or sucker-punched in the gut. Something of the like, but either way Harper suddenly felt like she was in a lot of pain. Tears sprung to her eyes, but she desparately tried to control them. So now she knew what Gavin had wanted. She now knew the monster underneath the mask, maybe what he'd been trying to warn her about. But she didn't know him, she couldn't read him all that well yet - she couldn't see what he regretted it, she couldn't see that he didn't mean it. All that mattered right now was that he had said the meanest thing anyone had ever said to her. And worse? She'd actually thought that maybe it was because he'd been interested in her.

"You bastard," she spat at him, still trying to hold back the tears. Harper used her long sleeve to wipe off her mouth too, but nothing could erase what she'd just done. If she'd been one for physical violence, she probably would have socked him a good one. But, she wasn't. "If you want a good look at self-delusion, maybe you should go take a look in the mirror!" Her voice was rising with every word, almost to the point where she was screaming. The tears still threatened to come down, and one escaped Harper's control and slid down her face. She wiped it away stubbornly. She didn't want to let Gavin know that he was winning. Harper stood, just about ready to leave.

Suddenly, she had the sudden urge to slap him. Harper even raised her hand to do it, looking down at him with murder in her eyes, but something stopped her. She wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was the fact that before, she'd seen something vulnerable in him. Maybe it was because her attraction for him had won over just this once. Whatever it was, it made Harper lower her hand and just lean in towards him instead. She was only a few inches from his face, and there was a hard gleam in her eyes.

"You're not even worth getting slapped. You're beneath that," she snarled at him, hardly even sounding like herself. Her chocolate brown eyes were hard, and there was almost something unearthly about the glare she gave Gavin. It was the best death-glare she'd given anyone, and if Harper were in any other situation, she probably would have been proud of herself. But right now, she was blinded by anger. "Now I see why your mother's practically ignored you all these years. Because obviously you aren't worth her time, either. I'd regret it too if my son turned out to be a complete and utter asshat like you." She huffed, and leaned away, wiping away the rest of the tears that were beginning to overflow.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin couldn’t express, even to himself, how much the look in Harper’s eyes hurt him. He deserved whatever was coming to him and Gavin allowed for her to go off on him. Gavin didn’t argue that he was in deed a bastard. He hated himself for saying what he did but it was the only way to make sure the wall of pride and safety stayed up. Making sure to keep his facial expression void of any emotion he watched Harper, as her eyes grew full of hatred. He took the insults without flinching and actually anticipated a punch of a slap to sting his face. Boy did this girl have restraint.

Gavin caught a glimpse of the tears forming in Harper’s eyes, why the hell did he have to go and say that shit? He tightened his jaw and scoffed when Harper’s raised hand didn’t follow through to hit him. “Sticks and stones.” He muttered to her his eyes flickering with eerie calmness. They didn’t portray emotion and right now it was the hardest thing Gavin had ever done. He swallowed and looked away choosing to idly flip through his journal. Any second now she would storm off and Gavin could be alone to hate his decision. But she didn’t leave though she should have.

When Harper again mentioned his mom Gavin felt uncontrollable anger well up inside of him. She could say anything she wanted about him but when his mother was brought into it all bets were off. He slammed the book closed and got to his feet with amazing speed and determination. His eyes flared with hate toward Harper. He could care less if she was crying now. Gavin began to shake with anger. He couldn’t form the words he wanted to and for a minute his frustration caused his voice to get caught in his throat. Tears threatened to pour over from him too. It was a low blow Harper decided to take, sure he had been a complete ass but from sunshine Harper Gavin expected something else.

Gavin held his breath his shoulders shaking. He exhaled and rolled his eyes the movement caused a tear to fall. Quickly she dried it. He turned away for a moment running his hand through his hair trying to collect his thoughts. Gavin turned back to Harper he couldn’t keep the hurt look from his expression this time.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m not worth her time or anybody else’s. It just proves that I can’t count on anyone else but myself. I’m sorry my life can’t live up to your standards.” He turned away with intention of leaving but he stopped. Gavin stood there for a moment his back to Harper, he dried his eyes before spinning back around and marching over to Harper getting in her face for just about the millionth time. “I won’t even ask you to take back what you said cause I know your opinion is nothing. Let’s just forget everything we said to each other, I was stupid to think that—“ He hesitated.

“You’re such an insufferable know it all I don’t know how anyone can stand to be around you. I guess that’s why your dad didn’t stick around; even if he is a God. I suppose he couldn't bear your mom, she’s probably just like you. But that’s just my opinion, which may not be worth much, seeing as how I’m not. Something to think about though.” Gavin eyed Harper up and down one more time before he turned his back on her. Damn his pride.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to Gavin's struggle. All she knew at the moment was that he was being the biggest jerk known to man, and that was really saying something. Never before had she met such a hurtful person, someone who had said such things to her. Nothing had ever prepared her for an argument, or a meeting like this. Nobody had ever said anything to her about what to do when speaking to a boy like this. She just completely felt like she was walking on air, and that any minute she was going to fall. There was a flame burning deep down, and while that flame may have been sympathy earlier, it was now passionate anger.

When Gavin stood, she wasn't entirely sure what to expect. She only barely managed to hold her ground - in fact she was shaking with fury and pain at the same time. Anyone who looked at her could wonder how she even remained standing. Harper flinched when he got in her face again. She knew she had dealt a low blow to him, using his mother when she knew very well he didn't like it at all. But Harper was used to one thing and one thing only, which was fighting fire with fire. She'd never been good at trying to make peace. If she hurt, she couldn't just forgive. She had to get the person back.

But there it was again. That vulnerability. She saw it when the tears welled up in his eyes too. For a brief second, Harper realized what she'd done, and then her resolve crumbled, just a little bit. She opened her mouth to console him, to apologize, when he turned away. She was being so awful, and she knew it. She'd lowered herself down to his level, just to make sure he felt some pain in return, and Harper couldn't believe she had just done that to him and herself. She knew that if her mother heard of this, she'd be in for it. Because Patricia Marowski never believed in getting someone back. She'd never believed in revenge. And Harper felt completely horrible, knowing that if her mother had been here she would have let her down.

What he said next stung so deep, and it tore through something again considering as she had just been thinking about her mother. Gavin's words brought back a memory so strong that for a second Harper's eyes went blank and every emotion melted from her face. Harper was three. The sun was shining, and it looked like it was going to be a good day. The apartment she and her mother were staying in was reasonablly nice, but it only had one bedroom, and so Harper was accustomed to sleeping in her mother's arms every night. But this morning, her mother had already gone. Wanting to surprise, her, Harper tiptoed into the kitchen. But what she saw there took the little girl by surprise.

Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table. Crying. Harper's mother, Tricia, wasn't one who cried. Ever. That was enough to shake little Harper to the core, but the words her mother spoke next shook her even more. "Why did you have to go?" Tricia was whispering through her tears, oblivious to her daughter's presence. "I can't... I can't raise this girl all by myself. If she hadn't been born, would you still be here? I don't... I don't know what to do without you. I would give it all, even our baby girl, back if I could just be with you one more time."

That was when the tears came, and Harper didn't even bother to hold them back this time. Gavin had won. She couldn't come back with that one, and since his back was turned maybe that made this defeat a little easier. She wiped away the tears angrily, but there were so many at this point that she only managed to get some of them off her face. She knew why Apollo had left her mom now, considering as he was a god and her mom was a mortal, but... thinking of the memory really hurt. She loved her mother, she really did, but they'd always had rough patches. That had been the toughest, and mainly it was because she only saw it through a child's eyes.

Through her tears, she barely managed to get out, "My mother is not the reason my dad left. So don't think for a minute that it was." Harper was proud. Even though her voice was a little shaky from the tears, she managed not to stutter. She clenched her fists, refusing to look at the boy who had humiliated her so. Gavin had hurt her more than she could handle at this point, and she needed to get back to her cabin where she could cry relentlessly and not have to show all this restraint. But she would not give him the satisfaction. "And you're right. I may be a know-it-all, but my mother is the most wonderful person on this planet. If you want to look at someone who caused my dad to leave, you just have to turn around."

Harper gave a little gasp in surprise at herself. She hadn't meant for that to come out. But the gasp came out more as a hiccup because she was crying so much. Harper viciously rubbed her face, trying to get as many tears off as possible. Pretty soon her sleeves were slick with them. "So congratulations. You've bested the self-deluded, failure of an insufferable know-it-all. Because I am done. I am not going to stand here another minute while you... while you tell me I'm not good enough to be my father's daughter. Because I hate listening to people telling me something I already know. And I'm... goodbye, Gavin." Harper hiccuped again, and let out a tiny sob before wiping her face with her already wet sleeve.

She turned away, and began walking. Harper prayed to the gods that she'd never have to confront him again. Because if he caused her this much pain every time she saw him, she wouldn't be able to handle it. She'd go insane.