"Why are you here? It's just weird."
West remarked as he glanced at his uncle, who was sprawled out on his bed, through the mirror whilst getting dressed.
Graduation day had finally arrived, and with it came Dennis, whom he hadn't seen since that day in the diner.
"What?" He smirked as he drew one leg over the other. He was getting too comfortable for West's liking. "I can't go see my nephew graduate, now?"
"It would be cool if we were a normal family."
"We're normal." Dennis shrugged, "At least for today."
"How's Winona?"
"She's fine, baby's fine, too. It's a boy."
"Yours?" West asked hesitantly.
Dennis grabbed the tie on West's bed, then walked over to him. He didn't even have time to react before Dennis wrapped it around his neck. "I don't know... maybe. He has my eyes."
As he got to work tying the tie, West couldn't help but notice how different Dennis looked from Paul, they were identical twins, that much was obvious, but where Paul's eyes were a dark shade of green, Dennis's were lighter, you could see a bit of blue in them, too. Dennis's hair was longer, his lips were thinner, and his nose was slightly crooked, proof that it'd been broken once, twice, maybe six times in his lifetime.
The thought of a bruised and bleeding Dennis made the corners of his lips flit up into a smirk.
"But, as far as I'm concerned, they're all mine, I raised em, and I'm gonna raise Lucas, too." He added.
Hearing Dennis say that about those kids was unsettling to him, "Lucas? That's a nice name."
West said, instead. He didn't want to ruin his own day by confronting Dennis about how he gave Paul shit for raising a child that wasn't his. Dennis had acted like he wasn't deserving of a family, of the love Paul had managed to show, if only in glimpses. Now, he was doing the same. The hypocrisy of it all was beyond him.
He finished doing West's tie, then placed a hand on his shoulder, "You ready?"
"As ever."
-----
After everyone had received their diplomas, Harper made his way to the stage to give his speech.
The town's newspaper was there, like every other year, to capture the final moments of the graduating class. The valedictorian speech was one particularly important part of the ceremony, it normally got printed into the first few pages of the paper.
He cleared his throat, then straightened his shoulders as he got ready for one of the most memorable moments of his life,
"Good afternoon, family, friends, teachers, and fellow graduates. Before I get started, I'd like to take a moment to thank all of you sitting here today for giving me the opportunity to speak in front of you on this special occasion.
I was going to write a speech, in fact I'd already started writing, but I realised I couldn't fit four years worth of our high school experience into a single piece of paper. It has been a long four years, and a short four years.
Long because-- speaking for myself, and only for myself-- the early mornings, the never-ending homework, the compulsory partnering up with our mortal enemies for projects, detentions, and visits-- not the friendly kind-- to Principal Hughes' office.
Short because of the lifelong friendships, the lasting memories, and all the knowledge we managed to retain during the occasional act of rebellion..."
"I never expected Harper to be the Valedictorian." West said as he and Killian watched on from the second row in the front of the large school hall.
"Oh, he's super smart." Killian acknowledged proudly. For all the times Harper got into trouble at school, he made up for it by excelling in every subject, Einstein wished he had his brain. "Thought that was common knowledge."
"Really?"
"4.8 GPA. Harvard material, I tell you."
"Is that where he's going, then?"
"Nope. He doesn't wanna turn into a prissy. The people there apparently have entire oak trees shoved up their asses."
"Hey..." West beamed as he remembered a similar line being said in one of the shows Brittany had made him watch. It was a weird show, to say the least, it had ghosts and angels and vampires and demons and one really cool car. "I understood that reference! Drake Westchester is totally in love with that weird angel."
"You did not just call Dean--"
"...Last but not least, I'd like to thank Mr Jensen who taught me the most valuable lesson of all..."
At the mention of George, Killian's head snapped towards the stage and his heart started hammering in his chest in anticipation. Something told him Harper was about to cause a ruckus.
"...Everybody's got skeletons in their closet. But sometimes, the bones break apart and start pushing against the door of said closet, exposing who you really are, to the world.
Who knew he had an abominable, ravenous beast that preyed on innocent children living inside of him? Wow, I love how I phrased that-- abominable, ravenous beast--" He then pointed in his best friend's direction, who couldn't even react due to the amount of sheer horror he was in, "I hope you're writing this down, Killian."
"Mr Graham!" The principal exclaimed. He tried to grab the mic from the podium, but Harper was quicker, he detached it, then lifted it in the air so he wouldn't be able to reach it. It also didn't help that Principal Hughes was literally four feet tall.
Chatter was already in full swing amongst the families, students and staff, probably trying to figure out what Harper meant, at the back of their minds, they knew he was referring to sexual abuse.
All eyes were on Mr Jensen, some shocked, some embarrased, and most of all, angry. He was rooted in place in his seat, too terrified to move, he was fearful of what Harper's next words would be. He was also pretty sure the rage he saw in parents' eyes meant they'd gun him down if he attempted to run.
"Freedom of speech, Principal Hughes. See, this is why I always ended up in your office. I dared to speak my fucking mind!"
Everyone had pulled out their phones to record the speech, it would've no doubt, had gone viral by the end of that day. It was probably going to be on the front page of Easton Times, too.
"Mr Jensen is dangerous. He is a predator, and shouldn't be allowed to teach in any school setting as he'd pose a serious threat to the lives and to the innocence of the school's students. Teachers are supposed to be our second parents, they're supposed to love and protect and guide us, not betray our trust and prey on our tragic gullibilities. We may not fully understand right from wrong, but he does. He is a manipulative monster that needs to be isolated from society, most importantly, society's children." Harper looked at the flashing cameras, then nodded sternly. "And, you can quote me on that."
Principal Hughes unstuck Mr Jensen from his seat and promptly hurried him to his office, Harper frowned at that, but vowed to check in on them later to see how the situation was being dealt with. That, and to report him to the police like he should've all those months ago.
"On that note," Harper expressed joyfully as he addressed the students for the last time, "Class of 2018, I wish you all the very, very best. Knock 'em fucking dead!"
The entire hall erupted into unbridled applause as Harper made his way down the stage. A few people even managed to give him pats on the back for being so brave and exposing Mr Jensen for who he was. It seemed they had no idea he was the subject of his terrible actions.
"What the hell was that?" A petrified, but otherwise proud, Killian asked.
Harper didn't bother to give Killian an answer as his arms flew straight towards the boy standing next to him. He engulfed West into a bone crushing hug, much to his astonishment.
"I--" He grinned as he smooshed West's face in between his palms, "Will never see your annoying face again. Do you know how happy that makes me?"
"I can tell." West muttered, he straightened his clothes, then shot Harper a cocksure smile-- one which he returned with a scowl."Though, I doubt this is the last time."
"Let me have my moment, Weston."
"Right, everybody settle down." A teacher yelled over the commotion. A few moments later, the noise died down, and the rest of the ceremony continued on.
More speeches by teachers, not lasting longer than three minutes, and Principal Hughes, who swore the revelations that had been made earlier were being taken seriously. George had not denied any of the claims whilst being questioned by him, so he had made the decision to involve the authorities.
A few moments later, the turning of the tassels began, and then the caps were in the air, and the high schoolers were high schoolers no more.
----
"You're new here, aren't you?" Killian asked as Mary, the new waitress at Don's placed their second order of extra large fries on the table.
He and Harper were having a celebratory/farewell "dinner", if you could even call it that.
"Yeah." She smiled, "Just moved here a month ago."
"Well, that's unfortunate, this place sucks ass."
"I don't know." She shrugged, her gaze wandering over to Killian's lips, and then to his bright eyes. He was the first boy that had caught her eye in the two weeks that she'd been in Easton. He was pretty. "I think I'm going to like it here."
He managed to catch the underlying message in her tone, and the way she was looking at him, but he chose not to react.
Mary placed serviettes on either side of the table, then walked away.
"You think she'd go for a guy like me?" Harper asked once she was far enough.
"Probably not."
"What? Why the hell not? I'm a catch."
"You've literally never been with any girl longer than one night."
"Well, maybe I'm maturing."
Killian snorted at that, he loved his best friend, but even he knew Harper wasn't the relationship type. "Doubt it."
A ketchup packet hit Killian's face soon after that asinine remark, and a giggle slipped past his lips.
"So... your speech earlier?" He inquired after composing himself.
Harper shook his head, "Don't wanna talk about it. It's done."
His plan was to tell his Dad what had transpired between him and George. Jake Graham wielded a lot of power in Easton, right next to Jeffrey Murphy (Steven's father), of course. George would be dealt with accordingly. The sooner he was out of Harper's life, the better. Suffice it to say, he won't be able to find work in all of America after his sentence.
"Why'd you do it?"
"Killian."
"Alright, alright. But I'm glad you did, he probably would've found another boy to assault."
That word made Harper flinch. He didn't want to see himself as some sort of victim. George didn't force himself onto him. It was just sex. Stupid, meaningless sex. But he wasn't sexually assaulted.
At least, that's what he told himself, he was in a state of cognitive dissonance. Admitting it would make it real, and if it's real, then he'd have to face it. He'd have to live with it.
"I wasn't... assaulted." He muttered faintly.
Killian gave him a tight lipped smile, there was no reasoning with Harper when he'd made up his mind, one thing he knew for sure, though, was that what happened with George would eventually come back to haunt him. And he intended to be there for him when it did.
"I'm gonna miss you." He tagged on tenderly. Killian knew it'd be a while 'til he saw his best friend again, but he wasn't worried about what the distance would do their friendship, they'd survived bigger, more threatening things than that, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful to see him leave.
Harper sighed heavily, a hand harshly rubbing across his face. A dour mood that would last for weeks, possibly months on end as he started a new life away from his family and friends was already taking shape. This was where he grew up, where he made his first friend, one who later abandoned him after finding out he hated the first Toy Story movie, but a friend nonetheless. This was where Don's Diner was, he really served the best pizza in all of the fifty states. This was where his baby sister was, he was certain he'd miss her first word, her first step.
This was where Killian was, the best friend he'd ever had, one which he strongly felt he didn't deserve. Harper's blunt and rude and insensitive and conceited, and Killian is the exact opposite. He's warm and affectionate and empathetic and considerate. He sometimes wondered how he got so lucky with him. He wouldn't trade him for the world.
This was where the skating park was, and though he'd never admit it, he learnt his best tricks from watching a certain dark haired boy.
This was where he got into trouble with the law for the first time. This was the small town that made it possible for him to see the stars at night without the hindrance of city lights. This was home.
"Just come to Florida with me." He offered sanguinely. "I already have an apartment, it's big enough for like, five people."
"And what would I do? Sit around and wait for you to come home from school like some housewife?"
"You could enroll for classes next semester, but the alternative sounds good, too."
For a moment Killian let himself imagine a life away from Easton. One where he had the utmost freedom to do whatever he wished, plus, live with his best friend. One where he was a normal college student worried about grades and how many hours of sleep he'd lost due to school, maybe throw in a side order of depression, you know, the glamorous life. At least he'd be away from Linda, from all the shit she throws his way, she may have snagged herself a new job, but she was still spending weekends and most nights away from home, away from her kids. It was pretty clear who the adult in the house was.
But the image of his siblings flashed through his mind and relinquished all those thoughts, they were too young to be on their own, they still needed him.
"I can't."
"Someday you're gonna have to put yourself first, you know that?"
"Yeah. Just not today."
_________________________________________
Harper's last appearance in the book, say your goodbyes lads, he will not be in the last 2 chapters or the sequel
as for his sexuality, he doesn't know what to make of it yet and I think that's okay
sorry 4 the late update, its december aka family time plus destiel sorta broke me couldnt sleep or do anything for days