Sunny Skies Up {-Harper-}

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin saw Harper’s eyes go blank for a minute; he assumed she was recalling some kind of thought or memory. But he turned his back a second later not caring to linger to find out what memory his words had triggered. Gavin didn’t see the tears stream down Harper’s face but he would hear them in her voice. He set his jaw and listened to her without glancing back. His words finally hit and even severed a nerve in Harper. Gavin wasn’t aware he would ever be able to make her fully cry, he had failed up to this point. It came as a shock to hear so much pain and anger in her voice. He broke her and there wasn’t a piece inside of Gavin that felt proud.

Gavin’s head whipped around when Harper blamed herself for the absence of her father. His expression softened inadvertently upon seeing her face. He stared over his shoulder at her in silence feeling tears well up in his own eyes. Why did she have to look so cute even when she was crying and clearly hating ever fiber of his being? Gavin felt guilt wash over and begin to suffocate him. His hand balled into a fist. He adverted his eyes for a moment debating whether or not to say anything.

Hearing goodbye was what Gavin had been waiting for since he met Harper. Now that it had finally come Gavin didn’t like it one tiny bit. He turned fully around and watched Harper walk away. Gavin drew in a breath and exhaled. The journal slipped through his fingers and hit the ground with a soft thud. He moved forward quickly after Harper and gently grabbed her arm to stop her. Gavin didn’t keep his grip on Harper for too long. His hand dropped back to his side. Sliding his hands into his pockets after drying his eyes. He forced a smile.

“Wait, I’m not good at this sort of thing.” He grumbled kicking at the ground. His eyes focused anywhere but Harper’s face. Gavin swallowed past the lump in his throat. He snorted and again ran his hand through his hair messing it up.

“I guess I was wrong. You aren’t a know-it-all, but you are deluded if you think you’re the reason your dad split.” He said casually. “Gods don’t really care about us, they just care about themselves. As annoying as you are, I don’t see why he wouldn’t visit you now and then.”

Gavin prayed that his next action didn’t get him kicked in the demi-gods. He took his sleeve and wiped away Harper’s tears. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know what you did, but you have me pretty messed up you know that Sunshine Girl? Shit. You’re annoying but I didn’t think I could actually break you.” Gavin couldn’t believe he had actually gone back over to Harper. He had the chance to just leave and break it off, and while there was no such thing as a clean break Gavin could have gone for the rest of his stay at camp without being bothered by her. Trouble was, Gavin didn’t like the idea of never being bothered by her presence again.

[Harper Marowski]

For the very first time in her life, Harper considered leaving Camp Half-Blood. She wasn't sure where she would go, or how long she would last, but she just wanted to get out of here. After having just relived that horrible memory, she didn't want to go back to her mother, but there were no family friends she could stay with. Even though Tricia Marowski had plenty of friends worldwide, none of them lived or even stayed in Manhattan anywhere. But then again, leaving would just make Gavin win even further, wouldn't it? No, Harper was going to stay here, just to spite him. Just to glare at him every day to remind him what he did. But never speak to him unless she could help it.

But then he did something unexpected. She felt his hand wrap around her arm, stopping dead in her tracks. She turned to glare at him, to scream at him some more, but the expression on his face stopped her.

Gavin's face was hardened like it had been before. It was softer, almost like he actually cared, like he was guilty for what he'd done. And there was also evidence, it seemed that he had been crying too. But why? Confusion raged through her, almost as powerful as the anger she'd felt only moments ago. The anger and the hurt was still there in his expression, but slowly it melted away from her face and into her stomach as he spoke. In replacement, a small, meager smile replaced it, because Harper realized this was probably as much of an apology as she was going to get.

"Thank you," she murmured, looking down in embarrassment. Though he said all of that in such a casual manner, it meant a lot to her. Even coming from him. She avoided his gaze too, as she decided to give him an apology in return... or at least, a twisted version of one. "I'm sure your mother finds you worth something too, so... I take back what I said." Just moments ago, Harper could never picture herself saying such a thing, and she kept her eyes away from him. She tried to wipe away a few tears again, the embarassment growing with every second. Instead of wiping them away, she only managed to smear them - her sleeves were so wet already.

Then he did something that shocked her even further. Gently, he wiped away her tears with his own sleeves, and when he was finished, she looked up at him with wide eyes. Harper was to shocked to do much anything else other than stare at him, and she wasn't even sure if she would do something against him anyway if she could comprehend what he'd just done. It was when she realized that Gavin had just seen her at her absolute worst, and that put her over the edge. Bright red flooded her cheeks, and she looked down.

He continued talking, and Harper decided to give him a meager smile. "Break me? What am I, a wild horse?" she demanded to know, the blood still flooding her cheeks. Despite everything he had just done, the hurt was still there as was the anger. The would-be apology from him soothed it, but he'd only done so just a little. "All because I have enough guts to stand your constant negative attitude doesn't mean I'm not a girl with emotions. I can cry just like any other human being." Even though, technically, she wasn't a complete human. Which reminded her of something he'd said before. "And don't blame the gods for my father not seeing me. They do care, it's just that they're busy. I'm not exactly worth coming to see, if anything I've just said to you serves as judgment."

And saying that spurred her on to saying something else. The hardness returned to her eyes as she stepped even closer to him, almost to the point where their bodies were touching. She gazed up at his face, hoping to catch him in the eye. "And I hope you realize what you said to me before was one of the meanest things anyone has ever said to me before. And that... wiping away my tears and giving me a half-assed apology isn't going to make me feel much better. So I hope you feel sorry, especially about what you said about... about whatever that kiss was." She pointed a finger up at him. "Because disgracing me like that is the absolute worst thing you could have done. Do you know how many guys tried to force a kiss on me, when I was traveling with my mother? And... and to have you say something like that... I'm not about to forgive you just for saying 'sorry'."

Despite what she was saying, though, Harper couldn't help but remember just how his lips felt against hers, or the gentle touch he gave to her cheek with his sleeves. A slight shudder ran through her, because even though she now knew they were far from being friends, she now had hope that they could be some day. She vowed to make that her mission, just like it was before. Even though he was a complete jerk. Sometimes.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin was glad that Harper didn’t resist to the point where it ended with a slap to his face or a nice ol’ kick to the groin. He was very thankful for that. It took him by surprise when she basically apologized for saying he wasn’t worth anything. He couldn’t help but smile a little at that. And seeing her reaction to his sudden act of drying her tears made him only smile further. The expression on her face was almost worth what he said. Okay, so not really. He probably could have gotten that expression on her face without crushing her verbally. Gavin saw her cheeks turn bright red and for a second the same color filled Gavin’s face. He cleared his throat and fought to keep the normal color in his face.

The smile dropped from his face though rather quickly. He opened his mouth to try and explain himself. Harper just verbally slapped Gavin with a backlash of words. She twisted the meaning of what Gavin had originally meant. The only that came from his mouth were a few strangled noises. He sighed heavily.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He ended up getting out. “Though you have the same qualities as a wild horse. That’s not what I meant! I didn’t mean to just compare you to a horse—“ Gavin groaned. This apology thing was harder than he thought. “I knew you had emotions, I mean you—I’m just going to stop talking right now.”

Gavin knew he would only dig himself into a deeper hole, a hole that led straight down to Tartarus. He was so ready to argue that the Gods truly did not give two flying Pegasus about them but that would only spark further negative interaction with Sunshine Girl. That would defiantly be a step backward.

Gavin was glad that she continued on onto the slightly different topic. He saw the vulnerability vanish from her face and hard strong stare come back. As she stepped forward toward him, Gavin took a step back. His eyes locked on Harper’s as she began to read him the riot act. He swallowed determined not to argue his way out of this one. Every fiber of his being was telling Gavin to get back in her face and shout and to defend himself but there was nothing to defend. Harper was spouting off the very truth.

“You know how much I’d love to fire back with saying some as equally as intimidating, I can’t. I mean what you said about how I’m not worth anything even to my mother. That was low. I mean I didn’t think you of all people would say something like that. I guess I kind of blew up after that. And I know that what I said was cruel. I mean I’m actually kind of shocked I said it.” Gavin hated this feeling in side of him. Was it remorse? A heavy helping of remorse pie. Oh Gods was it a terrible feeling. He had hardly ever felt this way before and the amount that he felt right now was almost a shock to his system. Stupid cute daughter of Apollo.

“And that kiss.” He paused. “I shouldn’t have done it. Especially since it really didn’t mean anything. I know I could try to say ‘sorry’ a thousand times over and it wouldn’t do a damn thing. So I guess I’ll say it once and leave it at that. Sorry.” He frowned but tried to force a nonchalant expression. “But this whole situation it doesn’t change a thing. You’re still the most annoying person I have ever met.”

[Harper Marowski]

It didn't escape Harper's notice that with each passing moment, Gavin Sawyer was continuing to surprise her. She eyed him suspiciously, not entirely sure what to make of this seemingly apologetic, almost regretful Gavin as opposed to the negative one she'd met over an hour ago (then again, she wasn't entirely sure how long she'd been out here, but if the sun was anything to go by, she'd at least been out here for a long while). It was all very new and very strange to her - because Harper had become accustomed to the negative reactions he seemed to hold to everything. But this, this was different. The way he was looking at her... well, it was almost a little bit unnerving.

There was no stopping the smug smile on her face when he began to stumble over his words, trying to express that he hadn't meant to compare her to a wild horse. The smile turned into a small smirk, and she just shook her head at him and avoided looking him in the eye. Of course, thinking about it now, she knew that wasn't what he'd originally meant. He hadn't meant to call her a wild horse at all, but seeing him so caught off guard by what she'd implied was sort of amusing. It wasn't as though Harper often enjoyed doing this to people, but it was just with Gavin... well... she hated to admit it, but he looked so adorable being flustered.

She wondered if she could make it happen again. But for now, she'd let him get back to his negative ways. "I get it. You didn't mean to call me a wild animal," she amended, that mischievous smile still on her face. Harper wanted to tease him, but she knew at this point in their shaky... whatever they wanted to call it, she knew it would only send them right back to arguing again. She'd become used to this arguing. While his negativity about absolutely everything bothered her to no end, she almost found it... kind of refreshing. For a split second, a small part of her wondered if she'd find it just as refreshing if it were someone less attractive than Gavin was.

Harper threw away the thought instantly. When Gavin began apologizing, if one could even call it that, Harper's eyes softened to the point where the hardened stare she'd had before became nonexistent. She could hear the remorse in his voice, though she could tell it was well-concealed. She was just a good reader of people. Gavin was a challenge most of the time, and she knew very well that she might not have even heard the remorse if she hadn't been paying attention. But the apology was enough. For now. She gave him her full attention, and she looked up at him with her softened eyes and murmured, "I really am sorry about what I said. Sometimes I say things without thinking, or meaning them. It's... kind of understandable how you reacted."

Because the fact still stood that Harper was pretty sure his comments had hurt worse. Whether or not that was really true, she didn't care. What Gavin had said had hurt deeper than anything ever said to her before - even more than her mother had hurt her during that memory of so long ago.

But when he mentioned the kiss, her head shot up. Harper's eyes narrowed, and it did sting when he said it hadn't meant anything. To her, as she'd continually pointed out silently in her mind, it had been her first kiss - and she'd been expecting it to be special. She was a girl, for goddness' sakes, and a daughter of Apollo to boot. She'd wanted her first kiss to be something creative, something special, something much more romantic than a kiss that had been totally unexpected from a guy she could barely stand. "You'll make it up to me someday - I'll make sure you will," Harper agreed, considering as while he said he was sorry, it didn't do much to erase what had happened.

Then the smirk returned to her face as she looked back up at him. "And you're still the most aggravating, negative person I've ever met. I think we should try this stand-off again sometime." Harper wanted to end things on a good note, and this seemed to be the perfect time to do it before their conversation took another nasty turn. "Because we still both don't know who has more guts to stay around longer. And I'd really like to find out. Some other time then, maybe? Or are you too chicken to get another round started?" She grinned the challenge at him.

{OOC: I figured this would be a good place to end their first thread - if you don't agree, just let me know and I can change up the post. ^^}

[Gavin Sawyer]

A more comfortable smile formed on Gavin’s face at Harper’s apology. He noticed the way she said ‘kind of’ but it wasn’t uncalled for. While Gavin wasn’t going to openly admit it to Harper, he hated himself a little for what he said to her and how much he hurt her. Gavin dug his hands into the pockets of his jacket and stood there, his body tense. He was still waiting for the moment when Harper reached over and slapped him across the face. It was amazing how forgiving this girl was. Even if she only forgave him 30%, that was still more than most people would have. Gavin wanted to know why she forgave him or was even bothering to speak to him, but he didn’t question it.

The phrase “you’ll make it up to me someday…” stuck out in Gavin’s mind and his immediate reaction was thinking they would be kissing in the future. Since he had apologized for the kiss and Harper followed up with that statement it was only natural for Gavin to take it this way. His eyes grew large for a moment but he played it off and shook his head chuckling softly.

“Sure I will Sunshine Girl.” He murmured. Gavin didn’t meet her gaze for a few seconds after that to refrain from any possible changes in face color. He hadn’t thought about kissing Harper again until then and it wasn’t exactly a terrible idea. Pushing that aside and looked back to Harper and scoffed.

“You’ll just lose.” He said playfully. Seeing her grin made him smile broadly at her. “But I never back down from a challenge. Sometime in the future we’ll have to see who actually wins. Let’s call it a tie this round.” Gavin bent down and picked up his journal and brushed it off. He eyed her carefully for a few long moments his eyes narrowed and hard. “I’ll see you around camp Sunshine Girl.”

Gavin turned with journal in hand and made his way out of the amphitheater heading toward the cabins. A part of him wanted to glance back at Harper as he left but he kept his head forward.

There were a few things to be learned today…

One: Harper, Daughter of Apollo was the single most annoying ball of sunshine he had ever met. Two: Don’t ever let your feelings get a hold of you because you might end up stealing a kiss from a girl you can’t stand. Three: Don’t piss off a daughter of Apollo, her bite can be just as bad as her bark. And four: Caring for others is over rated. It only leads to heartbreak and disappointment. However, if caring means seeing an annoying brunette smile in his direction maybe it’s not such a terrible out of this world idea after all.

e n d . . . .