Solitude Grace

Chapter Nine

Harper had just finished a morning of hard manual labour which had not affected him in the least, he still had the energy of a powered battery. 

Gladis had gone out grocery shopping leaving him to a quiet house with only the buzzing of passing cars in the background. 

Harper went to take a shower, knowing he must smell like cement and paint. He had finally finished the roofing and had to admit, it looked far better than before, but the painting would take him a few more days, the house was small but he was in a human body now, it also had its limits. 

Walking out of the shower, he got changed into a pair of faded jeans and slipped on a plain black T-shirt that he thought felt more comfortable against his body than a flannel shirt.

He then walked to the kitchen, his stomach had been alerting him of its pain all morning, he had not eaten yet. So he made himself a sandwich, making it exactly how Gladis had and ate that.

He was halfway through his meal before the frantic knocking alerted him of a visitor. Whoever was outside was in a hurry or was anxious.

Harper dropped his meal and headed towards the door, he opened it to see a tear stained face of Lisa standing before him in what looked to be a swim suit girls in modern times wear.

She looked him over for just a second before rushing into him and wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing him down to her level. A hug. She had hugged him.

Harper stood perfectly still for a moment, noticing all too well the heat that she yet again radiated upon him. For a second he let his body relax and noticed that Lisa smelt of sunscreen and a hint of lavender could be traced in her hair. He also let his arms circle her body and hugged her back, lifting her slightly while pulling her into the house and closing the door behind them.

He knew though that this was wrong of him, he shouldn't be hugging her, he was encouraging the feelings he wanted to keep hidden from savaging him. He was a man who thought with his brain but even now his brain was clouded with emotions from his heart.

Emotions, they were such menaces, never had he had to deal with them, only now that he had met someone almost as stubborn as him and someone who saw past his outwardly angelic beauty and saw the real him. The one who never spoke more than a sentence, who kept to himself for if he did that he could not be harmed, the one who now looked at the girl before him and could safely call her a friend.

Yes, she was a friend, one who needed comforting right now, but Harper knew he was bad at any form of comfort, he would say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, Lisa knew that as well, yet she had still come to him because she trusted him not to hurt her.

Harper pulled away from the hug, looking at Lisa closely and still noticing the tears that flowed down her face. Lisa caught him staring at her cheek and quickly swept the back of her hands over them, wiping away the tears only for them to be replaced by new ones. Harper took no moment to think before he lifted his hand to his face and wiped the new tear with his thumb, resting his hand on her soft cheek for only a moment before taking it away and walking away from Lisa.

This girl did not know what she had done to him, she had made him care. Now he cares whether she is upset or angry or happy or sad. Now he wants to make her feel better. Could she just not have stayed away? She had stayed away for a week and things had been so much better, he had been able to breathe again, now with her here he felt suffocated with need to make her feel better.

He had retreated to his room and had sought out an old shirt of David, returning to Lisa and pulling the shirt over her head. He did not mind her body, she was to all now, beautiful, but that didn't mean he was still aware of discretion.