Comin' Home

“Harper, get up,” he demanded. He was obviously still angry about the previous night.
She mumbled a few incoherent words before flipping onto her opposite side to ignore him.

She knew if she woke up, he’d want to talk. And that was just about the last thing she felt
like doing right now. “Go away,” she mumbled into her pillow.

“Five minutes and then I’m coming back and throwing cold water on you.”

She soon heard footsteps leaving and going up the stairs of the basement. She waited a few minutes before actually opening her eyes again. As much as she didn’t feel like dragging her sleepy body out of bed, she knew Nick wasn’t kidding when he threatened to throw cold water on her. He’d done it before.

After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she stretched and slowly climbed out of the bed. She stretched again, having slept in a weird fetal position, which had caused a stiff neck and back, and then padded her way upstairs into the kitchen. Nick and Halvo were the only ones there, seeing as Justin had some Brighten related things to work on; neither of the two looked pleased with her.

“What?” she asked immediately as she made her way over to the sink to get a cup of water.

“You’re not allowed to put it off any longer, Harper. You’re going over to Kennedy’s and you’re going to figure some shit out. Alright?” Nick finished formally. Oh, he was definitely still pissed.

After finishing her water, she set the cup in the sink and turned to face the boys who were seated at the counter that wrapped around into a small island of sorts. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at them both while she leaned her back against the sink. “I don’t know who told you I was suddenly unable to make my own decisions, but they lied. You don’t have to tell me what to do or when to do it, Nick. You’re my boyfriend not my owner,” she spat out at him.

“Am I your boyfriend, Harper? Because the way you acted last night suggested otherwise,” he added quickly, venom in his voice.

He had no reason to be mad, and Harper let him know it. “You’re ordering me around and yet you’re the one who is pissed? I did nothing wrong but freak out because I saw someone I didn’t want to see. So, I’m sorry if that made me the one in the wrong here.”

“I’m going to go make some calls,” Halvo said quietly, getting up to leave. It was obvious he was in the calm before the storm and he was going to get out of it before anything bad happened.

“I wouldn’t be mad if I knew why exactly you didn’t want to see Kennedy so bad. For all I know, you still love him and you want him back!” Nick yelled, standing from his spot at the counter.

“Oh my God,” Harper muttered, rubbing her forehead with her hand. When she finally looked up at him, she said, “You seriously don’t trust me?”

“You haven’t given me much to go on here, Harper. I have no idea what's going on in that pretty little head of yours.”

“You want to know what happened between Kenny and I?” she asked him, her voice tired. She really didn’t want to go in this right now, but she obviously didn’t have a choice. “Fine. I hope you have awhile, because it’s a long story.”

***

Harper had just gotten accepted into Emerson. It should have been a happy day. In some aspects, it was. But then there was Kennedy.

“You’re really leaving?” he said as the two of them lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, their limbs intertwined.

“I guess, yeah,” she sighed, looking up at him. He seemed kind of mad, but also just sad. She couldn’t blame him really; she wasn’t just losing her boyfriend, she was losing her best friend. “We both knew this day was coming though.”

“I know, I just didn’t think it’d be here so fast. I mean, god Harper. You’re leaving in a month.”

She nodded, tears pricking her eyes. She was leaving early, hoping to get a headstart on classes so she could be ahead of everyone. She hadn’t realized that starting early would mean going early, which would mean leaving home early. In some ways this was a blessing, but having to leave behind the guy she loved… well, that just plain sucked.

“What if I come with you? I mean, I’d only be able to stay for a month or so before we would have to start touring. But so what? At least it’d give us a little more time.”

“I don’t know Kenny…” she trailed off, sitting up. She didn’t want him coming because it would just make the end that much harder: eventually he’d have to leave, and prolonging it would make it hurt more in the end.

“I know,” he sighed. He obviously knew the plan wasn’t going to work. He pulled her close again, kissing the top of her head. “I’m out of ideas.”

“We could do the long distance thing. People do it all the time,” she suggested.

“Yeah, but not a touring musician with a girlfriend who lives in another state, which just so happens to be on the other side of the country.”

Harper shrugged. He made it sound outlandish, but whatever. She looked down at the TV located on the other side of the room, playing re-runs of Boy Meets World. She smiled; it was her favorite show. “Can we just not think about it right now and watch Boy Meets World instead?”

He laughed lightly, kissing her head again before agreeing.

She smiled at the episode that was on. It always made her cry. It was the episode where Cory told his mom that he loved Topanga even if he was only sixteen. At one point, Cory and Topanga were in Topanga’s room, saying how they thought they were always going to be together when Kennedy inhaled sharply and said, “That’s it!” loudly, scaring Harper.

Kennedy jumped off of the bed, pulling Harper with him. He was smiling like an idiot, which made Harper laugh. “What’s it, you weirdo?”

“Marry me,” he said seriously. “You can defer classes until the fall, come on tour with us, and then go to Boston. I can even move out there, if I have to! Who cares, because we’ll be married!” he exclaimed, still smiling at her.

“You can’t be serious,” she laughed, assuming he was just trying to lighten the mood. When he didn’t respond, she realized that wasn’t the case at all. “Kenny, you cannot be serious!” she yelled, slapping him on the arm. “We can’t get married!” she said, stressing every word.

“Why not, Harper? We love each other. We’ve been together for years. We’ve known each other since we were kids. We’re practically Cory and Topanga here! Look how that turned out for them,” he smiled.

He was still being serious.

“Oh my God Kennedy, it’s a TV show! And they don’t have to deal with touring, and all the other shit musicians have to do!”

“You’re saying we couldn’t do it?”

“I’m saying we couldn’t do it in a million years.” She scoffed, “The only possible way we could get married is if I quit college and just became your roadie.”

“So? What’s so wrong with that?” At her incredulous look, he said, “Ok, I mean, I know it doesn’t sound ideal or anything. But you could easily become our tour manager. You know? That’s a good job.”

“I am not, in a million and ten years, dropping out of college before I even start. Not for a boy!” she yelled at him. She couldn’t even believe he was suggesting this.

“I’m not just some boy, Harper. I love you, you love me.”

She shook her head. Tears were pricking her eyes. He was being absolutely ridiculous. “Kennedy, you’re making this whole me going away thing a hell of a lot harder than it already is.”

“So that’s it? You’re just going to leave me here, and what? We’re done?”

She shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself. She didn’t really know of any other option. “I won’t marry you, Kennedy.”

“You don’t love me?”

She shook her head. “That’s not it, I just won’t drop my dreams and make you practically put yours on hold just so we can still be together. That’s not fair to either one of us. We’re only eighteen!” she exclaimed.

“I can’t believe this,” he said quietly, taking a seat on his bed. Harper walked over and sat next to him, but he didn’t make any effort to hold her or be close to her like he normally would.

“Kenny,” she pleaded. She didn’t want it to end like this. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.

“Maybe you should go, Harper.” He was hurt, but there was nothing Harper could do about that. She wasn’t going to marry him, plain and simple. And deep down, Kennedy knew that this was the right thing, he just couldn’t believe she was so appalled by the idea. It seemed like she didn’t love him at all, honestly. That hurt the most.

She nodded, getting up to leave. She stopped in the doorway and turned to face him. “I’m sorry, Kenny. I thought leaving was what I wanted all along, but in reality, I just wanted away from my parents. You were right.” With that, Harper left, unsure of when she’d see her (ex?)boyfriend again.

***

“He asked you to marry him?” Nick exclaimed. He was shocked.

She nodded sadly. “Yeah.”

“Jesus Christ Harper. That’s kind of a big deal.”

She shrugged, turning around to get a drink from the fridge. Suddenly, her throat was extremely dry. “It’s really not,” she told him, leaning into the fridge and grabbing a soda.

“Harper, he almost threw his life away just to be with you. It sure as hell is a big deal.”

“Look Nick, he wasn’t serious. He was just in panic mode. He wouldn’t marry me; I imagine if I had said, ‘yeah sure let’s go get married’ he would have spazzed out and shut down. Then we’d still be in the same spot we’re in today.” She sighed, tired.

“And he just saw you for the first time in four years with a new guy, and you’re not going to talk to him?”

She shook her head. “Not yet, anyways. I really don’t feel like it right now, Nick.” Suddenly, she was hit with a feeling of longing for her grandfather. “I think I’m going to go see my grandfather’s grave again today.”

When Nick didn’t say anymore, Harper nodded and started to walk away from him. She got to the doorway of the basement when he stopped her. “Before I forget, Harp. Justin and I are leaving in a few days for some radio promotion tour junk.” She turned to face him, shocked. What the hell was she supposed to do while he was gone? Where was she going to stay?
“It’s only for a week or two, but I don’t want you to have to go back to Boston alone. So will you stay here with Halvo until I get back?”

“Do I have a choice?” she muttered.

“I promise, Halvo’s not that bad. Plus, you’d get a little longer to say goodbye to your grandfather,” he added quickly, trying to make amends. He knew this was asking a lot of Harper, but he didn’t have a choice.

“Fine,” she finally said, and then walked down into the basement. She collapsed on the bed and rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up from the nightmare that was her life.

She didn’t want to stay in Arizona longer, especially not without Nick. Now she had to be here without him and now Kennedy knew she was here? She didn’t know what she was going to do, but no matter what she did she knew the outcome probably wouldn’t be good.