c h a p t e r t h i r t y
not gay

Harper sat beside her boyfriend on the bleachers, Lydia the other side of her as the three of them tied the laces to their skates. The brunette was already regretting saying yes to ice skating, practically feeling the bone she had broken before throbbing, as if a warning to make sure she didn't step foot on the ice.

"You're shaking." Stiles noted as he glanced over at his girlfriend while she tied her last shoe.

She looked up a him, forcing a smile. "Yeah, I don't know if it's because I'm anxious or if it's because it's freezing in here."

Stiles' face lit up as if he had an idea and he turned to his backpack, pulling out an orange jumper and practically shoving it in her face. Harper craned her neck backwards to get a good look at it before taking it from his hands.

Lydia raised an eyebrow, "Harps... you're wearing blue. Orange and blue, not a good combination." She scrunched her nose up, as if appauled by the thought.

The hazel eyed boy looked at her in disbelief. "But it's the colours of the mets." He protested, causing Harper to smile slightly.

Stiles loved the baseball team so much- he was actually offended when Harper didn't know who they were when she moved over. He made her watch every game with her when they were younger, and even nowadays she would watch it with him occasionally.

Harper shrugged on the jumper anyways. "Oh well, it hides my blue top." Harper told Lydia. "Now I'm only wearing black and orange."

Lydia sighed dramatically, "still not that better."

...

"Stiles!" Harper gulped as she stepped foot on the ice, falling straight into him.

Stiles caught her by the waist, pulling her back up as she slipped, holding her tightly. She stared at him with wide eyes as he helped her regain her balance until she was up straight. He chuckled, slowly moving his hands from her waist to her hands, holding both of them tightly.

They glanced over at Lydia who was gliding along the ice like a pro, doing all sorts of spins and jumps, an easy grin on her face. Harper sighed, turning back to her boyfriend with a dissapointed look on her face.

"I'm gonna die." Harper muttered, her palms starting to grow sweaty as Stiles lead her backwards further. "I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna-"

"You're not gonna die, okay?" Stiles gripped her tighter when she almost slipped. "I've got you, all right? I won't let you fall."

Harper took a deep breath, nodding as she looked across at Scott who had already managed to fall onto his butt. She couldn't even bring herself to laugh, knowing that that would be her in a few minutes.

Stiles took the lead, guiding her around the edges of the ice rink with both hands, slowly letting go until he was only holding one of her hands. She held his hand as tight as she could without hurting him, her lips pursed and her eyes wide as she concentrated with everything she had inside her.

"I'm going to let go now, okay?" Stiles told her once they had made it around the edge a full time. "I'll be right next to you."

Harper bit her lip, nodding as Stiles slowly removed his hands. Harper squealed, almost losing her balance, but she managed to keep up right, grinning at Stiles as they slowly went along beside each other. He held his hands out just in case.

"I'm doing it, Sti!" The brunette squealed. "I'm skating! I'm-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Scott had knocked straight into her, landing right on top of her petite frame. They both groaned, Harper louder than Scott, knowing that she had definitely landed on her hand weird. Stiles pulled Scott off as Allison skated over, helping Scott up.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Scott quickly apolgised, helping Stiles pull Harper to her feet.

Harper glared at him, "I think I've broken my finger, you arse!"

"Why do you think-" Stiles looked down at her hand, seeing her pinky finger extremely bruised and limp. "Oh God. Yep. That's a broken finger."

Harper glared at Stiles this time hot tears stinging in her eyes from the pain and the horrible sensation in her finger causing her to feel slightly sick. Stiles sighed worriedly, shooting Scott a look before gently grabbing Harper by the elbow and leading her over to the bleachers. He grabbed a first aid kit from the wall and gently took her hand in his.

"Sorry for the worst first date ever." Stiles mumbled, not looking up from where he had ripped the medical tape with his teeth. He slowly began to wrap it around her pinky finger and the one beside it.

Harper shook her head. "This wasn't the worst first date ever." She placed her hand under his chin, forcing him to look at her. Her voice was so soft that it gave Stiles butterflies.

"I took you somewhere you insisted on not going and you broke your finger. That kind of sounds like the worst first dater ever." He grumbled, looking at her with sad eyes.

The empath smiled at him. "This will be the most cute story to tell, Stiles. Think about it. If we go on- if our relationship lasts years and years and people ask us what our first date was like- we can tell them this story. That I broke my finger on our first date and then you helped me. It's dorky, like all those cliche movies I watch that you hate."

Stiles looked at her fondly. "I guess this would be a cute story to tell."

Harper grinned at him, "hell yeah it would."

The Stilinski boy leaned in, about to kiss Harper when a scream erupted throughout the ice rink. Both pulled away from each other, their eyes falling on Lydia. She was on her knees in the middle of the ice, screaming as she looked down at it.

Stiles grabbed Harper, helping her rush over to the strawberry blonde. Harper dropped to her knees, quickly attempting to console the frightened girl. Lydia was so uncontainable that Stiles quickly stepped in, helping Harper keep her still.

Allison and Scott quickly rushed in from where they had been at the photo booth, shooting Stiles and Harper worried looks. They could only reply with the same thing, because neither of them knew what the hell was going on with Lydia Martin.

...

Harper giggled as she pulled Stiles into her house, the two of them silently shutting the door and kicking their shoes off into the basket. The petite girl raised a finger to her lips, warning him to be quiet as she rushed up the stairs, her hand in his.

Knowing that Harper's grandma was already in bed, they snuck into Harper's bedroom and turned the fairy lights down, Harper pulling Stiles down onto the bed beside her. Stiles' head collapsed onto her blue pillow case, sighing at how comfortable her bed was.

He put his hands under his head, allowing Harper to curl up into his side and rest her head on his chest. She wrapped her arms around his torso, inhaling his sweet scent and sighing blissfully. Stiles moved his arm from behind his head to wrap around her frame, pulling her even closer than before.

"I love you." Stiles murmured. "And I'm sorry for breaking your finger."

Harper rolled her eyes, smiling. "I love you too, Stiles. And it doesn't even really hurt anymore- like a dull sting."

"Still." Stiles let out a shaky breath. "I don't ever want to hurt you again. I hated seeing you in pain."

The brunette tilted her head to the side as she leaned up on her elbows to face him. "Technically, Scott was the one that actually broke my finger."

Stiles sighed again, his eyes taking in hers. To most, they were just plain brown, but to him, they were so much more. Only he noticed the golden specks around the edges and the way they lit up or when they looked dull and sad. Stiles had never thought much of brown eyes, until he met Harper Verum.

His eyes then flickered down from her eyes to her full lips. He couldn't help it when she was so close to his face, just staring at him. Stiles saw her glance down at his lips and took it as an invitation- leaning up and pressing his thinner lips against hers.

He let out a sigh of pleasure and Harper smiled slightly, moving her lips against his to keep up with his slow, but extremely passionate, rhythm. She moved her body so that she wasn't at such an awkward angle, her upper half hovering over him slightly. Stiles noticed the way that she was craned and placed his calloused hands on her hips, gently pulling her so she straddled him.

They both blushed at the position, but oddly Stiles felt more confident. He had never had a pretty girl on top of him kissing him before, so he didn't really know where to place his hands. He decided on moving them slowly up from her hips to her face, cupping her cheeks. Stiles knew where he wanted to put them, but he wasn't sure if she wanted it too.

Harper's hands were tangled in his hair, tugging it slightly when Stiles' hands brushed against her neck. He groaned into her mouth, an unfamiliar feeling filling Harper. She had never been so attracted to the boy beneath her. She wanted Stiles, she craved Stiles.

"Harper are you-" The door suddenly opened and light poured through, only to reveal Rose Verum.

She froze when she saw Harper and Stiles, the two teenagers quickly falling away frloom each other. Stiles crossed his legs uncomfortably, since he had gotten a little bit too excited. They went red, avoiding all eye contact with the old woman in front of them.

"Grandma." Harper whined, extremely embarrassed.

Rose didn't know what to say. "Oh, I, um." She looked between them both. "Stiles, maybe its best that you go home now. It's late and your dad is probably expecting you."

Stiles nodded quickly, "yes, um, that sounds like a great idea." He scrambled off of Harper's bed, shooting her an apologetic glance before slipping past Rose and out of the door.

Harper sighed as her grandma hesitated before leaving. The Verum girl slumped back down, pressing her face against the pillow where Stiles had been only seconds ago. She could still smell his signature scent on her bedsheets, filling her nostrils and creating a warm feeling inside of her.

She sat like this for a few minutes, her eyes closed as she thought about what had just happened with Stiles. How far where they going to go? Were any of them going to stop? Did either of them even want to stop what they were doing?

Her phone pinged, causing her to quickly jump into action. She grabbed the iPhone off of her bedside table and turned it on.

From Stiles: sorry I had to leave... hope your grandma doesn't hate me too much oops

To Stiles: she doesn't. well, she didn't say anything, but I'm sure she doesn't. x

From Stiles: you should go to sleep now, we have school tomorrow x

To Stiles: okay, night stilinski. i love you

From Stiles: i love you too, verum. so much.

...

The next day, at school, Harper had gone with Scott to confront Erica. Scott wanted to know who Derek was going to bite next to join his pack while Harper wanted to know both that and why Erica had accepted the bite in the first place. The Erica that Harper knew was so innocent and kind- nothing like this new Erica.

The blonde turned around from her locker to face Scott and Harper, a small smirk on her face. Harper and Scott didn't flinch, holding their plain expressions.

"Two's not enough for Derek, I know he needs at least three." Scott jumped straight to the point. "So who's next?"

Erica scoffed and closed her locker before turning to face them. "Why does there have to be a next when we've already got you?" She walked closer to Scott.

"Who's next?" Scott raised his voice.

Erica cocked her head to the side. "You know, I never knew what I looked like during a seizure until someone took a video of me once and put it online."

Scott shook his head, "I don't care."

Harper's eyes softened as she looked over the girl, now knowing exactly why she had taken the bite. Erica didn't want to have seizures anymore, she didn't want people to look at her oddly- she wanted to be confident. Erica hadn't even made eye contact with Harper yet.

"It happened during class." Erica continued, ignoring Scott's comment. "I started seizing up in my desk and everyone was saying how they should put something in my mouth until some genius reads the card on my key ring which not to cause it could break my teeth."

"Erica." Harper mumbles softly, tears filling her eyes.

Erica had tears in her own eyes as she carried on, "you know what happens next?" She doesn't even look at Harper, the tears leaving as she chuckles dryly, "I piss myself. And they start laughing."

The blonde took a few steps forwards, backing Scott up. "You know, the only good thing about seizures was that I never remembered them. Until some brilliant jerkoff..." She slammed him against the blue lockers. "Had to go and put cameras in everybody's phone."

She put her hands either side of his head and Harper noticed Allison down the hall, staring at them sadly. "That's right." Erica mumbled. "You only have eyes for her."

Scott suddenly grabbed her by her wrists, causing her to gasp. He slowly pushed her backwards and she grinned, chuckling before walking away. Harper looked back to where Allison was, only to see that she was gone.

Harper took off down the hall after Erica, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into the girls bathroom which was thankfully empty. Erica gasped a little, a smirk crossing her face when she realised who it was.

"Harper Verum." She faked a pout. "Why'd you never tell me that you were an empath?"

Harper glared, "how do you know?"

Erica rolled her eyes, chuckling dryly. "Oh Derek told me everything. Hunters, werewolves, you. It hurts that you didn't tell me- I thought that we were friends, Harper."

"We were friends." Harper furrowed her eyebrows together. "We're still friends, for god's sake, Erica. Why... why are you acting like this?"

Erica rolled her eyes once more. "Because, Harper," she backed the smaller girl into the corner. "People like me now that I'm hot. I'm every boy's dream... every girl's dream." She smirked down at Harper. "I can hear your heart beating fast."

Harper pursed her lips together, "maybe because you've just turned into a freaking werewolf and you're backing me into a corner."

Erica cocked her head to the side, smirking. "We're still friends, Harper Verum." She tucked some of Harper's dark hair behind her ear. "But just like you always did... I have bigger priorties than you right now. So see ya."

And with that, the blonde waltzed away, leaving Harper utterly stunned.

...

"Come on," Stiles grabbed Harper's arm, leading her away from some people that she was talking to. "We gotta go to Boyd's house."

Harper's eyebrows furrowed together as she followed unwillingly. "Vernon Boyd?" She questioned, recieving a nod from Stiles. "I can't, I have a meeting with Morrell-"

"This is really important, okay?" He inturrupted her, pulling her out into the car park.

"More important than my mental health?" Harper retorted, causing Stiles to stop dragging her, "just kidding, I wasn't gonna go anyway."

Stiles sighed, "Boyd's not at school today and Scott and I are convinced that he's about to get bitten by Derek- or he already has. Scott's at the ice rink now looking for him."

They climbed into his jeep. "Maybe he's just sick?" Harper offered. "You know, there are probably about a hundred kids that are not at school today- why Boyd?"

"He's perfect, okay. He sits alone, he has no friends, and that seems to be the kind of people that Derek is targeting." Stiles told Harper as he sped down the road towards Boyd's house.

"The vulnerable ones." Harper muttered under her breath.

Within a couple of minutes they had already made it to Boyd's house, both running up the steps to knock on his door. Stiles yelled his name, knocking harder when no reply came. He even checked through the window closest to them.

"Hey, Boyd? It's Stiles!" He yelled.

Harper groaned, turning around only to bump into someone. She took a step back, Stiles grabbing her arm when they came face to face with Erica.

She giggled innocently. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, nothing, ur, just looking for..."

"Boyd?" Erica flashed a grin.

"Yes." Harper nodded quickly.

"You know what you're doing now that's kind of funny?" She looked towards Harper. "You know what you're both doing now that's kind of funny? You're both only looking in my eyes."

"That's funny?" Stiles questioned, tightening his grip on his girlfriend's arm.

Erica nodded, tilting her head. "Because it's that kind of look where you're trying hard not to look anywhere but my eyes. But you want to, don't you?"

They both shook their heads and Stiles spoke up, "not really, no."

Erica took a step back. "Oh. So it's just my eyes?"

Harper nodded, "yep. You have very beautiful eyes."

Erica smirked at her old friend. "I have beautiful everything."

"And a new found self-confidence." Stiles quickly butted in. "Congratulations, Erica. We should get going."

Erica quickly grabbed him. "You're not going anywhere."

"Why not?" Stiles challenged.

She lifted up something that looked like it belonged in a car. "You're having car trouble." She then smacked it around Stiles' head, sending him straight to the ground.

Erica didn't even need to do the same with Harper, since the empath had already felt the awful pain and then collapsed right down beside him.

...

Harper woke up at the same time as Stiles did, due to the fact that she had been connected to him. The first thing she noticed was how dark it was, and how badly it smelt.

She heard Stiles groan from beside her and she noticed the pain in her head. Well, Stiles' head, but oh boy was she feeling it. Stiles scrambled to get up, lifting the two doors above them.

Erica had thrown them into bins.

Harper rolled her eyes as she and Stiles got up, Stiles holding his head and wincing at the sudden light in his hazel eyes.

"Bitch." He cursed the new werewolf under his breath before turning to face his girlfriend and raising an eyebrow. "What was that all about?"

Harper stared at him in confusion, holding her head. "What was what all about?" She muttered, wiping something disgusting off of her knitted jumper.

"The whole 'you trying not to stare at Erica's chest' thing." Stiles replied as if it was obvious.

"I'm not gay." Harper replied quickly.

"I never said you were." He answered slowly. "Are you sure?"

Harper scoffed, "I'm dating you, bloody hell Stiles!" She laughed dryly as they climbed out of the bins. "I'm not a lesbian."

"But-"

The brunette groaned, "oh my God."

Stiles helped her out of the bin. "Not even a tiny bit bi?"

Harper furrowed her eyebrows at her boyfriend. "Do you want me to be?" She accused.

Stiles shook his head quickly. "No! I mean, I don't care... as long as you still love me. I just wanna know, you know?"

It was Harper's turn to shake her head. "I'll always love you, you dork." She kissed him.

Stiles pulled away, "I just- if you ever wanna tell me something, you can, yeah? If you're bi, if you decide you wanna dye your hair purple and drop out of school, if you realise something new about yourself... I just wanna know."

Harper stared at him oddly. "Okay. But for the record, I am not bi."

Stiles nodded, "and that's totally okay. Perfect, because that means I have three point five billion less people to be jealous about." He joked.

Harper just laughed, pulling him down into a kiss. "Dork."

///

harper is totally bi

She's most likely not gonna have any relationships with any girls in any of my future books (if any), but I want her to realise she likes girls too later on and get close w/ malia and get stiles all jelly