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A lot has changed within just a few months. Between escaping the Spring and being rescued by WCKD, escaping that compound next and running into the Right Arm, being reunited with Aris, only for the camp to be raided because the Immunes who joined them had trackers imbedded in their necks, followed by the entire Last City debacle and finding a cure for Newt, all of them barely making it out alive…
Harriet hasn’t had much time to adjust to this new life.
The Safe Haven is amazing, always warm with a gentle breeze that keeps them all comfortable. They’ve been slowly but surely building huts all around the beach for everyone. Their gardens are full and kids are running around the beach with loud laughter and cries of joy. It’s a good different, but it’s still different, still startling, and with how quickly she had to settle into it, she feels almost dizzy with every new thing that pops up every day.
Sonya is one thing that hasn’t changed, though, a familiar face in a sea of new people. She still sticks by her side, sitting beside her at dinner and dragging her around to go explore like she did when Harriet first arrived in the Spring, eager to show her everything she knew. Harriet had been smitten from the start, drawn in by Sonya’s laughter, her smile, her eyes — draw in by Sonya. She was the one that kept most of them going, back then, finding a smile and a laugh in everything, no matter how dire the situation.
Even now, after all that happened to them, her everlasting smile stays put, looking brighter than ever as she wrestles with Minho in the sand, Thomas cheering them on from the sides while Gally just shakes his head and laughs at them both. Sonya manages to get the upperhand, twisting and pinning Minho to ground as she let’s out a victorious laugh. Harriet can’t help the quiet chuckle that escapes her as she watches from where she sits, far enough that she doesn’t get in the way of the tussling, but still close enough that Sonya spots her and sends her a cheery wave.
“You’re staring.”
“What the h-” Harriet jumps, grasping at her chest as she whips around to stare at Aris, who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. She never really understood how he could get around so quietly. Still, that’s not her main concern at the moment. “What are you talking about?”
Aris raises an eyebrow, like he doesn’t believe she has no idea what he means as he points a finger at the group — Minho and Gally are the ones rolling on the ground now, Sonya and Thomas standing a few feet away and talking, wide smiles on both of their faces.
Harriet pretends she doesn’t feel something tug at her heart at the sight.
“You keep staring at her.” Aris says, plainly, like it’s as simple as that and not everything that she feels wrapped up into one, hoping Sonya sees in the way she looks at her so she isn’t forced to say it out loud.. “It’s starting to get kinda creepy.”
Harriet groans, tossing her head back. “Don’t make it weird, it’s not staring. I’m just… looking.”
“For very long periods of time, yes.” Aris rolls his eyes, though it loses its bite when she smacks him on the arm and he laughs warmly. “You know you could just tell her, though, right?”
Harriet sighs at that, glancing back up to Sonya and biting her lip. She could tell Sonya. She could tell and run the chance of all her feelings being reciprocated — or risk none of them being requited and Sonya being weirded out by their friendship. “I know, I know, it’s just…”
“Just what? Don’t tell me you’re too scared to do it!” Aris laughs, an easygoing smile on his face as he elbows her in the side.
“Oi, watch it!” She bites back, grin stretching across her face as well. “I’m not scared, I just don’t know if I should.”
“Why shouldn’t you?” Aris asks in response, sounding almost offended that she would even consider staying quiet about it as an option. “At least see what she says before assuming, or whatever.”
Harriet let’s her head fall back, sighing up at the sky before shifting to look at him. “If I tell Sonya, will you finally leave me alone?”
“Tell me what?”
They both jump at her voice, neither of them having noticed her approaching. Harriet falters, franctically looking for an excuse, though Aris beats her to it.
“Just about a recipe I thought you might want to try, I’ll tell you about it later.”
Bless Aris and his fast mind.
“Oh-kay.” Sonya mumbles, looking between both of them, clearly not believing they’d be having this seemingly serious of a conversation over a recipe.
Trying to get her attention away from the topic, Harriet asks her about the first thing that comes to mind. “So, what were you talking about with Thomas?”
The flush that passes over Sonya is bright, her cheeks going bright red and her eyes avoiding Harriet’s as she mumbles through an explanation about the medhut and supplies before sitting beside Aris. She’s still avoiding looking anywhere near Harriet when she exclaims, “Who wants to go for a run!”
Alerted by the prospect of a run, Minho and Thomas rush over, leaving an exhausted looking Gally laying behind in the sand, heaving in breaths.
Harriet pretends she’s not insanely curious about what Sonya’s reaction just now might mean.
Sonya knows she looks odd to anyone else looking her way. She’s been digging the same hole in the ground for five minutes now, and it’s more than big enough for the flower she wants to plant there, but she keeps getting distracted, glancing up to look at Harriet. She’s like a sunflower looking for its sun, and with how serene Harriet looks, the setting sun’s light bathing her face as she talks with Newt and Gally, she’s the perfect fit.
Aris would say she’s far from subtle. Minho would probably call her stupid. Thomas would just say she’s painfully oblivious and drag her off to do something else.
But whatever. She’s got a perfect view of Harriet looking as gorgeous as ever, she’d be stupid not to indulge in it at least a little bit.
Although, actually, speaking of Thomas-
“You gonna keep staring at her for another hour or you gonna come with me?”
Sonya jumps, turning sharply with her shovel raised, ready to attack. She ends up letting out a loud laugh when Thomas yelps and falls trying to stumble back in surprise. She gets herself up, reaching out to give a hand to the fallen boy. “What do you wanna show me now?” She asks with a small chuckle.
Thomas blushes then, ducking his head with a bashful smile. “I found a small clearing in the forest and I thought I could take Newt to eat there tomorrow. Think you could help me set it up to look a bit more…”
“Romantic?” She asks, grinning when he nods. “Sure, why not, ‘s not like I have anything better to do anyways.”
Right before they leave, though, she turns one more time, just to catch one more glance of Harriet, only to find her already looking their way. Sonya feels herself flush, but she smiles and waves, heart thumping wildly in her chest when Harriet does the same. Seemingly growing impatient, Thomas grabs her hand and drags her along while she laughs, yelling her goodbyes to the group.
Sonya doesn’t see the frown that crosses over Harriet’s face.
It’s quiet in the hut.
Harriet hasn’t seen Sonya since she ran off with Thomas a bit after dinner. Her heart had been squeezing painfully in her chest since then, like it knows something’s wrong even though she can’t put her finger on it. Although, that’s partly because she’s actively avoiding thinking about it. All the what ifs and the missed chances are trying to make their way through her careful defences while she tries to sleep, to ignore it all..
What if they’re dating?
They’d make a good couple.
What if she finds out and thinks you’re weird for this?
Some of them still worm their way through, haunting the forefront of her mind while she stares at the cot beside her, empty and unmade and cold because Sonya’s still nowhere to be seen and Harriet has no idea when she’ll be coming back. The sun is almost fully set, so it should be soon, though.
At least, she hopes so.
Sonya isn’t quiet making her way inside and into her cot, so much so that Harriet blinks awake before she can faceplant onto it. She mumbles out an apology through a yawn, shifting so they can look at each other.
Harriet knows they should just head to sleep. Sonya’s clearly tired, and she can feel exhaustion tugging at her eyelids. But she knows that, with all these thoughts swimming around endlessly in her head, she’ll never be able to sleep. So, she blurts out the first question she can think of, just to fill up the silence for a few seconds, to distract herself.
“Why’d you run off with Thomas?” It comes off sharper than she means for it to, more bite and less tease than she hoped to give off. She hopes Sonya doesn’t notice, though with how tired she seems to be, she wouldn’t notice an elephant standing in the middle of the room.
Harriet watches as Sonya blinks in surprise at her question before a warm smile spreads across her face. Exhaustion laces her voice, but Harriet can still hear the fondness hidden under it, faint but there nonetheless. “He had something he wanted to show me, and needed help setting it up. Nothing too big, but it was fun. He can be really sweet when he wants to be.”
Harriet’s heart stops squeezing painfully and instead drops to her stomach at the words, icy realization hitting her like a brick. Of course. Of course it was too good to be true. “Oh.” She mumbles. clearing her throat when her voice cracks, trying to fight through the tightness to say something. “Sounds like you guys had fun.”
“We really did, yeah.” Another yawn interrupts her. “Alright, not that I don’t love you, but I’m really tired. Night, Hari, see you tomorrow.”
And just like that, Sonya turns onto her other side, facing the wall, completely oblivious to the crack that just split her friend’s heart into two broken pieces.
It’s fine, though. This is fine. She expected this, so it’s not like she won’t live. Maybe she’ll just… avoid Sonya, just for a few days, just so she can get over this stupid crush and truly be happy for her friend whenever they announce their relationship. Maybe stay away from Thomas, too, just to be sure.
It’s fine. Harriet’s fine. Things won’t always go how she wants them to, she just has to live with it.
Even if it hurts. She’ll be fine.
Sonya feels like she’s going crazy. Harriet’s been avoiding her and she can’t figure out why. For the past few days, she’s been leaving their hut before Sonya wakes up, sitting with other kids on the island instead of their usual group during meals, and didn’t even show up to bonfire night, which Sonya knows she loves.
It’s weird. Sonya doesn’t think she’s given Harriet any reason to avoid her, doesn’t remember being rude or inconsiderate at all, so she’s at a loss. She can’t even try to ask Harriet herself because she has now idea where she even is. It’s just a guessing game about what could have caused this reaction.
Unless—
Oh, God, does she know? Did she figure it out and thinks it’s weird? She definitely thinks it’s weird, shit, okay-
The first person Sonya spots is Newt, and she rushes towards him, almost making him fall as he jumps. She doesn’t say hi, barely gives him a chance to speak as she asks: “Where’s Harriet?”
Newt raises a brow at her urgency, but she doesn’t comment on it, just waits for his answer. “I’m pretty sure I saw her heading back to your hut a few minutes ago.”
Their hut, okay, perfect. That way Sonya can explain it all to her in private and they can go back to normal. To being friends, just like they already are, because no matter what happens, Sonya’ll be damned if she lets Harriet slip through her fingers like that. Not after everything they went through, they’re stuck with each other until they die.
She gets to her hut in record time, almost too fast as she gets there with no idea what to say or how to explain herself. But she might not get another chance to talk for another few days if Harriet keeps avoiding her like this. So, she takes a breath and opens the door.
Harriet is there, sat on her cot and looking up at the ceiling, though she jumps and turns sharply towards the door when it opens. “Sonya!” She struggles to get out of her cot, tripping over her blanket before awkwardly straightening up. “S-sorry, I was just- heading out.”
She starts making her way towards the door, but Sonya sidesteps to block her way, looking up at her resolutely. “Why do you keep avoiding me?”
Harriet ducks her head at the question, shaking it slightly as she mumbles out a half hearted, “It’s nothing.”
“No it’s not!” Sonya startles even herself with how the words come out louder, harsher than intended, but she doesn’t let that stop her, not now that she clearly has Harriet’s attention. “You’ve been avoiding me- actually, no, you’ve been avoiding all of us, for the past few days, and none of us know why? Did we do something? Did I do something? Because if I did please just tell me so I can fix it!”
She keeps rambling on like that, let’s everything she’s been thinking about for the past few days spill out, until Harriet interrupts her.
“It’s because you’re with Thomas!”
Sonya freezes, words that had been previously spilling out of her mouth freely now stuck in her throat as she stares at Harriet like she’s grown a second head. With…Thomas?
Harriet takes in a shaky breath as she continues. “It’s because you’re with Thomas and I just… I can’t handle it, okay? Every single time I look at you I just wanna start sobbing and it’s ridiculous because I should be happy for you! So, I just- I just wanted to stay away for a bit, while I, y’know… Got over this- Thing.”
Sonya keeps staring at Harriet, confusion not leaving her even as she processes the words. “But Hari… Hari I’m not… I’m not with Thomas?”
Harriet rolls her eyes with a huff, crossing her arms defensively. “C’mon, Sonya, don’t lie to me. You guys keep running off together and stuff, it’s obvious.”
Things start to click into place the more Harriet keeps talking and Sonya can’t help the laugh that bubbles up her throat. “Harriet, I was running off with Thomas because he needed help to ask out Newt.”
The silence that follows stretches on for almost a minute before Harriet starts sputtering, arms waving around her instead of wrapped around her torso. “W-what? No but-but you said he was sweet and that he keeps showing you stuff! And-and that time at the beach when I asked about you and him you- you blushed! I remember you wouldn’t tell em what you guys talked about, you wouldn’t even look at me!”
It’s Sonya’s turn to splutter. “Well- well that’s because we were talking about how I was gonna tell you that I liked you! I didn’t want you to know!”
Harriet is stunned into another silence, though it’s shorter this time as she let’s out a loud, “You like me?!”
“And you like me?!” Sonya asks back, both of them staring at each other with wide, wild eyes before exploding into loud laughter. It has her grabbing at the walls, while Harriet falls back onto her cot, clutching her stomach, and even through the hysteria, Sonya finds her more beautiful than ever.
They eventually calm down, their laughter tapering off into quiet giggles as they look back up at each other, a different kind of tension replacing the previous unease.
“Holy shit, you like me.” Harriet whispers, a disbelieving — but content — smile crossing over her face.
“And you thought I liked Thomas!” Sonya can’t help but tease back, reveling in the blush that covers her friend’s — girlfriend? — face as she groans, bashful.
“It was an honest mistake with the information I had, alright.”
“Yeah, well, next time,” Sonya starts, walking over to cup her face. She fights to keep her giddiness to a minimum as Harriet looks up at her, looking so smitten she wonders how she could ever miss this, “Just ask me, okay? We could’ve avoided all of this if we’d just talked.”
Harriet brings her arms up to wrap around her waists as she murmurs a, “Promise.” Tilting her head up to ask for a kiss.
Sonya smiles, humming out a “Good.” As she leans down, finally doing what she’s been dreaming about for the past few weeks. Harriet’s lips are soft on her, gentle and patient while they simply hold each other. When they pull back, it’s with matching glints in their eyes and soft smiles. “So…” Sonya starts, trailing off dramatically. “Can I call you my girlfriend now?”
Harriet’s smile gets softer, if that’s even possible, and she brings a hand up to wrap around one of Sonya’s hands where they’re still cupped around her face, turning a bit to kiss her palm. “Yeah I’d like that.”
Sonya agrees, she would like that. A lot.
So much so she can’t help herself and leans down for another kiss as laughter fills up their hut.