H A R P E R

Everytime I have my feet in Californian soil, I get a little bit more oxygen to get me through another week at Columbia. Being around my friends and my family is something I simply can't put a price on.

"I feel like you're here, but you're not really here." I looked up from my suitcase, spotting Zoey, who sat criss crossed on my bed, helping me out by folding some of my clothes. "Your mind is elsewhere."

"I agree." Chloé added before throwing a t-shirt at me. " What's on your mind? Earth is calling!"

It's not like they were wrong. I was physically here - and I was happy to -, but my mind was back at that hotel room Wyatt and I shared the other night, before arriving at LAX. I couldn't stop thinking about what he had said to me when he'd learned I wanted to drop out of college.

But what bothered me the most was why the hell his words had such an impact on me? I had my mind made up, I had my decision made, I was set on that idea. But he had to give his, and I quote "unsolicited advice", as he so rightfully put it, and have it cloud my thoughts and therefore question my own decision.

And I hated - truly hated - that he had that kind of power. I had never been one to let someone - whoever that may be - change me or my mind. I have always been faithful to myself. Then why did Wyatt have potential?

Zoey and Chloé were my best friends, and despite Chloé being Wyatt's sister, I trusted her with all my secrets.

"If you must know..." I started. "I'm thinking about dropping out of Columbia."

"What?!" They both screamed in unisson.

"What are you even talking about?" Zoey asked, sounding as outraged as she looked.

I got up from the carpeted floor of my bedroom and skipped in the direction of the door, closing it quickly before my parents could hear anything.

"I just don't like it there."

"What do you mean you don't like it there?" Chloé dropped the pair of jeans she was holding. "I get that college life isn't glamorous or anything, but New York is... well, it's New York."

That's Chloé Stone for you - always the practical one.

"Look Harper, I know it's an adjustment." Zoey came to my side and gently rubbed my back. "But things will start looking up. You just have to give it time."

"Did you and Wyatt rehearse that plea together?" I shot back sarcastically before walking away from them and back to the spot on the floor, where I got back to folding the load of clothes that I had packed and brought with me, which were still in my suitcase.

"Wait a second, how and why is my brother involved in this?" Chloé furrowed her beautifully shaped, thick and black brows while looking me in the eye. She would not be letting this go until she learned everything there was to learn about this.

"Last night at the hotel room, I asked Wyatt to get me my bag so I could find my phone charger and he questioned the weight of the bag. I then told him that I had some stuff here that I was bringing back home for good because I was planning on dropping out. Then he just freaked out and told me exactly what Zoey just told me."

And to my despair, it was only after I'd finished explaining everything to them that I'd realized the implications of what I'd just revealed to them and how they were not in the loop of the recent events. Especially Chloé.

"Oh my God!"

"Wait a minute-"

"This bag? These clothes?"

"You and Wyatt were in a hotel room together?!"

"Ew!"

"Does this mean we're your accomplices?" Zoey looked down at my denim blue shirt that she had previously picked up and dropped it on the floor as if the fabric carried some sort of contagious virus.

I let them go back and forth with outburst of shock and bewilderment before I got back to explaining.

"Are you two done?"

They nodded in agreement and sat down on the edge of the bed, facing me.

"When Wyatt learned I was flying to LA on my own, he told me he'd come with me. I was taking a direct flight but it was departing from DC, so I took a train and spent the night there. But Wyatt went all alpha male on me and told me I shouldn't be doing that on my own-"

"Which you shouldn't." Zoey cut me off.

"Wyatt offered to get us a hotel room for the night and I accepted. When we got there they thought we were a couple and they only had a one bed room and... anyway, we ended up taking it." I paused as they stared at me. "'Cause what else were we gonna do?"

"You're telling me my brother dropped everything to come with you across the country for three days, got a hotel room in which you two spent the night, and is downstairs talking to your parents like they've known each other for the past ten years?"

"Okay, first of all your brother is very kind, he would do the exact same thing for anyone else."

Wyatt Stone has a heart of gold. He would do that and more for just about anyone else he knew, if that meant that he was helping them. But deep down I knew that it was different with me. I wasn't just anyone else to him, not after the history we had. I meant something to him, and he meant something to me. It was that complicated.

"Second of all, we didn't spend the night like you're insinuating, and three, he is what?"

"Yeah, my brother is downstairs talking to your parents."

"About what?"

"From what I heard, they were talking about cameras."

Oh, of course they were. Leave it to my flawless parents to talk to my flawless ex-love interest about the thing that pushed us apart and prevented us from being something in the first place.

I didn't mean to be so transparent about my emotions, but the look on my face must have given it away, because Zoey was quick to change the subject.

"Are you sure you don't want to take some of these back while you think about your decision?" She picked up some of my clothes and dangled them from side to side.

"No." I said, forcing a smile on my lips. "If I ever change my mind, I can always go for some retail therapy."

Zoey being Zoey gave me a sympathetic look that told me she wasn't buying it - not what I said nor the motivation. And Chloé being Chloé gave me a wink and a cheeky smile, indicating that she was on the same page as me.

"But I am sure I want to get out of this house and meet the guys at Mr. Ricci's."

The three of us dropped the clothes and got ready to go out.

* * *

Carter is the one of our group who gives the best hugs, so, it's no surprise that as soon as I saw him on the pier, in his signature leather jacket, I ran to him as he awaited me, with his arms wide open. The windy, salty breeze caused my blonde, red-ish hair to fly all over the place and cover my eyes, nose and mouth, but I couldn't care less. Sometimes, all you need is a good hug from a good friend. And that was the case.

"I can feel your bones, chica."

"Well, that's normal. My bones and I, we're kind of a package deal."

When we pulled apart, he looked down at me and the silence between us spoke volumes. Carter didn't need to spell out what he meant to say. The anxiety that creeped on me since I'd moved away had shown itself in many forms, one of them being weight loss despite my daily dose of donuts intake.

Next up was the person I was probably looking forward to seeing the most - Kyle. Kyle and I have known each other for a very long time, dated in ninth grade for about a month, broke up when we discovered we were better off as friends and Kyle discovered he liked boys, too. I was there for him during that period of uncertainty and self discovery and the rest... Well, the rest is history.

"We're going to get a table." Zoey said, walking inside Frozen Amore with Carter and Chloé trailing behind her. She knew all too well I needed some alone time to talk to Kyle. After all, even if for a short amount of time, we once had each other's hearts.

Kyle was the first to take a seat on the edge of the pier, his legs lazily dangling over the edge. I followed his lead and did the same.

"So, how have you been?"

I took some time to think about what to say. But this was Kyle after all.

"I'm dropping out of Columbia. And before you tell me it's a mistake and I should give myself another chance, I'm gonna stop you right there. Wyatt and the girls already gave me that lecture."

"Wyatt, uh?"

I proceeded to tell him about the night we flew out of New York, and the shared hotel room and our conversation, and Kyle just nodded as I went along.

"When we left the house he was talking to my parents about cameras, apparently. You know how my parents are... always happy to help."

I sounded far more mad than I'd meant to when I said that last part and plastered a fake smile on my lips. I wrapped my arms around my pulled up knees and rested my chin on the dip between them.

"You know, part of me is really hurt that he's not letting that go. That he found it easier to give me up instead of his aspirations."

"Wyatt made a last minute decision to come with you to the other side of the country. That doesn't sound like he's given you up. Quite the contrary, actually."

I thought long and hard about his words and Kyle did have a point. And if I also consider all Wyatt's done for me back at Columbia, it becomes very easy to assume that he hadn't given me up, which sends a wave of glee over me. But whatever it was that he was doing, he wasn't fighting for me either because he wasn't giving up photography and that's why we never worked. It had to be one or the other. Me or the camera.

"About the other thing..." I gave him an intrigued look. "Broadway is calling. I'm not meant for the artificial glamor of Hollywood. I'm the real deal. So, you might as well just hang in there until I move to New York and we're there together. We can share a loft."

Kyle has a lifelong passion for theater and he's been acting in every school play since I can remember. He has never envisioned a future for him that did not include acting or working in the business, and he was a dreamer at heart. He believed in himself more than anyone, and he always believed he'd make it.

"Where's Carter in all of this?"

"He... probably won't go."

Carter and Kyle came from different worlds. Kyle was born in California, lived his whole life by the beach, with far more opportunities than the ones he'd take. He grew up riding his bike to school and playing Nintendo games. And Carter was the son of Mexican immigrants, who owned a Mexican restaurant in which they served clients that more often than not used the restaurant's colorful walls as backgrounds for their more recent Instagram posts and snapped pictures of the food to show their friends, treating their family business as some sort of tourist attraction. Carter grew up helping out his parents' business after school, doing homework in the breakroom next to the staff, and cleaning the tables on the weekends.

It broke my heart that Carter did not see a different future for himself, and that he'd have to stay and help his parents instead of going to New York with the love of his life. But I couldn't blame him either. Nor could Kyle.

"When you have your flight booked, we'll think about sharing rent." 

 * * *

author's note

i loved writing this chapter, i feel like i'm slwoly starting to give you more pieces of the puzzle 👀

question: would you ever consider dating your best friend's brother?

i sound like a broken record but if you're enjoying LEOYAM, please don't forget to vote, and leave a comment with your thoughts! also follow me on ig - missmarswrites - for sneak peeks, edits, quizzes and so so much more!

xoxo, mars