STRANGERS

TWENTY-SIX

we're a family, we don't leave anyone behind

When Harper woke up, he saw Soleil sitting on the floor folding his clothes. He smiled softly at her, but still didn't have the energy to speak or even move, but Soleil saw his eyes moving and decided to talk to him.

"We organized your things, except your clothes because we don't know if you want them to be put in a certain way. This is your room now, dad said we can buy you some things later, or when you're up for it to make you feel more comfortable. We folded your clothes, most of them are in your bag, but they're folded━I already said that. We charged your phone, mykel said we'd be buying you a new phone, that is if you want it, and a new charger. Everyone's also staying here for a couple of days, we can't go to school for a couple of days because the principal says he doesn't want more drama. Adelaide's phone charger works with yours, and she doesn't mind borrowing it. Everyone's downstairs eating breakfast and watching a movie because they wanted to give you space, but there's always a seat for you. Whenever you're ready. We care about you, and we don't know what happened to you but we're here for you and I hope that's great for you. We're family now, you'll be like a brother that I never had.

We all love you and you're never alone. You never were."

With that, they left the room and Harper sighed. He never wanted for this to happen, as much as he appreciated the fact mykel and elias welcomed him in, he didn't want to bother this family or anyone. He didn't want to disappoint them like he did with his father.

Why did they want him there but his own father didn't?

He went downstairs and sat down next to Gabriel and Juliet on the couch. They all attempted to speak with him, but all he would do was nod or shake his head. He often got quiet when he was upset. "Words too much right now?" Gabriel questioned in a whisper, not wanting the others to hear.

He nodded, and Gabriel quickly understood. His eyes landed on Gabriel's knuckles, which had dried blood on them and his hand was red. "It's nothing."

Harper stared at him, not believing those words. "There were these kids laughing and smiling as Atlas's mother was there. I was outside and when your father took you to your car, away from the situation they were saying awful things about you. I couldn't stand there and do nothing so I left it off as a warning, but they kept going and," He trailed off, leading Harper to nod in understanding. He wanted to thank him and hug him, but he couldn't bring himself to do that and he didn't know why.

"Tap my hand once for the first option, twice for the second. Breakfast now or later?"

Two taps.

"Great. This is how we'll communicate."

Juliet looks at Gabriel, he puts his hands in a defense mode; "I'm trying Juliet Capulet."

"Enough with that joke." She threw a pillow at him, which made it toward his head. "Okay, you two. That's enough fighting for the day." Elias smiles at them, setting a coffee down on the small table in the middle of the living room. "Harper, you're our son now-"

"Dad, don't say it like that, please. It sounds weird."

Everyone, except for Harper, smiled at what Soleil had said. "Okay, let's try that again. Harper, we're always open to talk about things. Personal things, stupid things, although there's no such thing as a stupid idea, unless it's Soleil speaking."

She glared at him. "Whatever went wrong yesterday, we'd like to know, to make you feel better and see how we can work from there. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible here, but if in any moment you want to go back to your father's or-"

Harper shook his head. "Okay, you don't have to do that then. As long as you feel safe, which is all we want, you can stay as long as you'd like here. None of us mind. This goes for all of you, if you'd like to stay whenever, you can. You're not a burden, okay?"

He nodded with tears in his eyes, as he quickly wiped them with the sleeve of his sweater. "And we're here now, sorry that we weren't here sooner."

"Was that better?" He asked Soleil, who rolled their eyes, but approved of his talk. Persephone put a box on the table. "My mom and I baked you some cookies, they're not the best thing I could give you, but we wanted to show that we care about you and I know cookies aren't the greatest way to show someone you care about them, but-"

"Percy, love. I think he gets it."

She looked up at the boy with hopeful eyes, who nodded with a small smile. "Oh, thank you. I thought you didn't and I was worried." She let out a breath of relief.

Even though right now it didn't feel like it, he knew he'd be okay with them.