Dreamer ~ A Daniel Seavey Fanfiction

Chapter 16

DANIEL'S POV

"Don't be nervous," Jonah says over FaceTime on Saturday night. "You'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say," I laugh, throwing on a blue t-shirt. "You always get the girl."

"You said it, I didn't," Jonah laughs. "She's gonna love you."

"I hope so," I sigh, looking in the mirror. "Wait a minute, did you say 'love'?"

"Oh, I think I hear my mom calling me," Jonah says, dodging the question and laughing. "Bye, Seavey! Have fun on your date!"

"I hate you," I laugh. "Thanks, bye."

☆☆☆

By the time I get to Harper's house, I've both calmed down and gotten more nervous all at the same time. I can hear her laughing inside, and, when she opens the door in her red Converse, white t-shirt, and denim shorts, I smile. "Hi."

"Hi," She says. "You ready?"

"Let's do this," I laugh.

"You kids have fun," Kaylee teases us before directing her words to me as the protective best friend she is. "Home by eleven, you got that?"

I mock salute her while Harper giggles. "Yes ma'am."

"So," Harper asks, inviting herself into the shotgun seat while I look at her and smile like an idiot. "Where are we going?"

"Two words," I reply, sliding some sunglasses on. "Mini. Golf."

"Oh yeah," Harper says, and I can tell she's genuinely excited. "Get ready to lose."

"Oh, it's like that now?" I say, laughing at her competitive streak.

"It's like that," she responds. "Mini golf champ, over here. You're in too deep."

One round of naming golf later, and I win by exactly one point.

"Look that that," I say, pretending to study the score sheet. "Mini golf champ, eh?"

"I demand a rematch," Harper laughs, returning her golf club.

"Next time," I promise her as we get back in the car, and I catch her blushing.

"You know," Harper says loudly as we leave the mini golf place, music blasting through the car radio. "Something about you makes me feel...I don't know." She laughs again, and my heart brightens to hear her so happy. "Like a dangerous woman."

"Oh yeah, because I'm such a bad influence." I turn the radio down so we can hear each other. Harper gives me a deadpan look, and we burst out laughing together.

"Not exactly," She says, calming down. "Not to me. My parents would not like you - no offense."

"None taken." I pause, not sure if I should this chance to get her to talk about them. "I'm sorry about them, by the way."

Harper shrugs, but doesn't shy away from the topic. "Don't be. They didn't care about me anyway, or anything I did. They didn't care about Hailey and Dex, either." She sighs, and her eyes drop her lap. "They cared about drugs, alcohol, and money. And now they're right where they belong for it."

"Well, no family is perfect, right?" I'm trying to cheer her up, but I think she takes it as my being annoyed.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry," she says, laughing humorlessly. "I'm ruining this whole thing."

I steal a glance at her from the driver's seat. "You haven't ruined anything. If you're ready to talk, then I'm ready to listen. I'm here for you, Harper."

And just like that, she starts talking.

"I remember, growing up, me and the twins always had to be the responsible ones. Instead of our parents taking care of us when we got sick, we knew how to do that ourselves by the time I was in kindergarten. I remember growing up thinking that I never wanted to be anything like my mother or my father. While everyone else said that their parents were their heroes, mine were the villains my nightmares."

"I never would've guessed it from how you looked in school," I admit. "You always seemed so...happy."

"I learned how to hide," Harper tells me, shrugging, and my heart cracks. "I didn't want anyone to figure out what happened at home. Having Kaylee get dragged into it was bad enough." She pauses, and I wish I knew what she was thinking. "I always knew who you were, you know. I knew that you were Daniel Seavey, you sat behind me to my left in AP History, fifth period. I just couldn't drag anyone else into my mess of a life. I didn't want to hurt you and not be able to give a reason why."

"You know," I respond, rolling up to a stop sign and staying there. "I thought it was the complete opposite. I always thought you had no idea who I was, and I always thought you didn't want to. And this might make me seem like a creepy stalker, but I always saw you." I turn in my seat so that we're facing each other in the car. "You always stood out to me, in the best possible way. And when I found out what happened to you, when the doctors told me what they found-" I have to stop myself before I break apart for her sake. "When they told me what they did to you...I wanted to protect you from all of it. I thought you were going to die, and that hurt me more than I thought it would."

I duck my head and play with my rings, trying to hide the tears in my eyes from her. She takes my hand, and speaks again.

"When I was in that hospital, I was out of my mind, out of my body, and completely out of control. I couldn't do a single thing to fix it. And then you came along, and you tried to help. You talked to me like I would answer, even though you knew I wouldn't. You protected me so fiercely." She pauses, wiping her own tears away. "You did more for me in one day than almost anyone has done for me in my entire life. I was stronger because of you. I tried to wake up right then and there, and when I couldn't, it felt like I was letting you down. It was so frustrating. It almost crushed me into nothing more than dust. But I hope you know that I'm so grateful for you, Daniel. I owe you my life - literally."

"Harper," I whisper, putting my hand to her cheek and wiping another stray tear away with my thumb. "You owe me nothing. I'm just glad to see you alive and breathing, and here with me."

"I owe you everything. And I will spend the rest of my life trying to thank you." Her lips are inches from mine, and suddenly, she kisses me, and I kiss her right back.

"And I'll spend the rest of my life wanting to do that again, and again," I breathe, her forehead on mine.

She smiles, bringing me close again. "Then why wait?"

I smile with her, and it's the two of us, in the middle of nowhere, but on top of the world - together.

~