Captivated

Not A Date

Why hello you lovely people. I hope you're all having a nice day! I'm rather excited about this chapter... I quite like this one, so I hope you all do too. Comment and vote if so xx
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January 13, 2025

Patrick

I can't take this any longer. "What happened to us, Harper," I blurt. "This all used to be so natural..."

"The fight," she whispers. "That's what happened."

"I wish it didn't. If I could turn back time, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Wouldn't you, as well?"

She bites her lip with guilt. "I'm not so sure if I would," she tells me. "I'm sorry it did happen, and I still wish it didn't... I wish the reason for it also didn't happen, but since it did, I've learned a lot about myself. The past few weeks have been hard, but also valuable. Even if I could go back and erase all of this pain and awkwardness, I'm not sure that I would."

"Oh." I take a deep breath. "If we could erase that night, do you think we would still be together right now?"

"Maybe. Who's to say? Face it, we were bound to get into a row at some point... maybe we could have survived that if we were stronger, but we clearly weren't strong enough when it all did happen."

"I thought that we were strong. I thought that there was nothing in the world stronger than our relationship, short of perhaps Joe's."

"I thought so too... but we are so young. What do we know about love, really? Nothing."

"I suppose you're right," I reply, staring at the floor. "I want you to know how truly sorry I am for the way I acted, though. I should've been more supportive of you in your time of need, and I should've listen to you the other night as well... when you tried to tell me about Kyla."

Harper grunts, her eyes rolling at even the slightest mention of the name. "That girl has never been anything but trouble. She's literally one of my least favourite people on this entire planet. That's really saying something."

"I'm not going to lie, this is a side of you that I've not seen," I laugh. "You have always been so happy and loving."

"Listen... I am the way I am because of the amazing people that I'm surrounded with. I'm happy now, but I was not happy in school. People were mean to me. There were few people in my school who I truly liked. It wasn't like I just disliked people for the sake of disliking them, but if somebody gave me a reason to not like them, their name was added to the long list of people who I didn't care for."

I laugh. "Well, I'm glad that you're a bit better off now."

"Me too," she replies. I see a bit of a smile form on her face and laughter in her eyes, which is a good sign. It's more than I've gotten out of her so far this entire night. I think back to times when that smile, those eyes, were a common sight in my life. Not so long ago, my day didn't feel complete unless I heard her sweet little giggles and felt her hand in mine.

Now, it's been much too long until I've had those feelings. I'm craving to have them again, if I'm being honest. Seeing her up on that stage tonight made me miss her even more. I need to have her back in my life, even if it is just as friends.

"Hey, listen... you need to celebrate being back in the show. Can I take you out for dessert?"

"Are you serious?" she asks, her eyes meeting mine. I can tell that she's craving something chocolate.

"Of course," I tell her. "Please, just let me take you out... we are friends, right? It's not like this is a date, love."

"Right... not a date..."

"Not a date," I assure her.

"Okay," she smiles. "Thank you so much."

The two of us walk out of the theatre after she waves a quick goodbye to Harry. Outside, there are a few fans standing around. I leave while Harper signs autographs and takes pictures before slipping away and meeting up with me along Shaftesbury Avenue.

"Where to?" she asks me.

"There's a little frozen yogurt shop on Brewer Street that's pretty good... and open late. Would you fancy that?"

"You know me so well," she replies. I laugh as I begin to lead the way, fighting back an urge to grab her hand. It's a habit that's hard to kill, I suppose.

Once we are there, we get our yogurt and sit down at one of the few tables in the shop.

"You know, every time I see the show, it gets more and more gorgeous, you know that? It's just so incredible to me... everyone up there makes me feel bad about myself because you all have so much talent."

"Oh stop it," she replies, letting a little laugh out. "I still have never heard you sing, but I'm sure you're great."

"See, that's where you're wrong. I'm not tone deaf, and that's all the credit I'm going to give myself."

"Look, that's a start. That means that you can be taught how to properly sing. Well, technically, you can overcome being tone deaf, but that's all kinds of hard."

"It sounds hard."

"It requires intense ear training and-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there and ask why anyone would care enough to deal with that."

"I have honestly no idea... like, if you're born tone deaf, you aren't going to be musically inclined. Who knows."

I laugh.

"I wish I had perfect pitch, though. I might consider the intense ear training to develop that."

"It still sounds terrible," I tell her.

"I have friends with perfect pitch, and it's really cool. It amazes me... but it freaks me out, too."

"It is a little bit freaky," I agree. "Finn had a friend with perfect pitch; he called him the 'human pitch pipe.'"

She laughs. "I like that nickname."

As the two of us continue to talk, the conversation becomes more and more natural by the moment. By the time that we are kicked out of the shop, as it needs to close and we have to go home, I know that we both feel as though nothing ever happened between us in the first place. It really does feel as though we are dating again, though I know that we aren't.

"Shoot," Harper mutters under her breath. "The tube is done for the night... did you drive, by chance?"

"Taylor's driver is picking me up. I just have to text him. He can take you home too, no problem."

"Are you sure?" she asks me. "I don't want to be a bother..."

"I insist. Ubers and taxis are way too expensive. This is free."

"Thank you so much," she smiles.

"My pleasure," I reply, pulling out my phone to send for the driver. He swings the car around a few moments later, then we head to Harper's apartment.

Once we park in front of her building, I step out of the car with her.

"You were amazing tonight, truly," I tell her, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. "Thank you so much for inviting me."

"Thank you so much for coming," she replies. "It was fun to have somebody in the audience to support me on my night back, and out of everyone in the world, I'm really glad that it was you."

Before either of us know what is happening, we feel some sort of invisible force pulling us toward each other. Our lips meet.

It is a glorious moment. I know that both of us enjoy it, but as soon as we part, Harper tenses up.

"Goodnight, Patrick," she says, abruptly turning and running inside, leaving me out on the sidewalk, dumbfounded.

I'm just as confused as she is about what has just happened.

All that I know is that we need to talk about it. Soon.