Chapter 136: HARPER

I woke up to white ceilings and a dull ache that didn’t feel like it belonged to me at first. It hovered somewhere distant, like my body was borrowing pain from another version of myself. Then memory returned in fragments, rooftop, railing, a gunshot, and Tyler’s voice calling my name like it was the only thing keeping me from falling into something darker.

My fingers twitched against the bed sheet as my eyes adjusted to the brightness. For a moment I just lay there, trying to convince myself I was somewhere safe, even though my chest refused to agree. A doctor stepped closer, checking the drip beside me, and I forced my voice out through a dry throat.

“What happened?”

He answered gently, like I might break if he spoke too directly. “You’re in the hospital. You had a gunshot wound to your shoulder, but it’s not deep. You passed out from shock.”

His words should have scared me more than they did, but all I could focus on was the fact that I was still here, still breathing, still thinking.

I turned my head slightly, checking the bandage wrapped around my shoulder. It pulled faintly when I moved, a reminder that everything had been real.

“So I’m okay?” I asked, quieter this time.

“You will be,” he said, nodding before stepping back. “Your friends are outside. They’ve been waiting for you.”

The word friends made something in my chest tighten unexpectedly. I pushed myself upright despite the protest in my body, ignoring the way my head spun slightly. There was something I needed to say before anyone tried to stop me, something that had been sitting too heavy in my mind since I woke up.

Sam.

The name kept looping in my thoughts, attached to the masked man in a way I couldn’t fully explain yet. The way he held me, the way something about him felt familiar even through panic, it wasn’t just fear anymore, it was recognition.

I swung my legs off the bed and stood slowly, gripping the drip stand as I moved toward the door. The hallways outside were quiet, but then I heard voices just close to my room door and stopped immediately when I recognized one of them.

Tyler.

I froze near the partially open door, my breath catching as I listened. His voice was lower than usual, rough around the edges like he hadn’t rested properly. I didn’t need to see him to know something was wrong, I could hear it in the way he spoke.

“I can’t go in there,” he said.

Peter answered first, confused. “What do you mean you can’t? She almost died.”

“I almost got her killed,” Tyler replied immediately, like he had already accepted it as truth. “Every time something happens to her, it connects back to me. Racquel, Sam, all of it. If I wasn’t in her life, she’d be fine.”

My grip on the door frame tightened at the mention of Sam again.

My chest felt heavier now, like everything was slowly pressing inward.

Mark’s voice cut in next, calmer. “You’re wrong. She’s happiest when she’s with you. Trust me, I've seen it.”

Tyler gave a quiet, humorless breath. “That’s not true. She was fine before me. She’ll be fine after me too.”

Something in my chest twisted at that, tighter than pain from the wound. It didn’t sound like confidence, it sounded like resignation. Like he had already decided my place in his life without asking me.

Peter poke again, frustrated now. “So what, you’re just going to walk away?”

“I have to,” Tyler said. “I can’t see her and pretend I didn’t ruin everything.”

My fingers slowly released the door frame. I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until that moment, but I still couldn’t move away.

Jax spoke this time. “You know she'd want to see you. She trusts you more than anyone else.”

Tyler didn’t respond immediately. When he did, his voice was quieter than before. “That’s the problem. She trusted Racquel because of me. She nearly died because of that.”

Silence followed that, heavy enough that I almost stepped back into the room. I didn’t understand how something that had always felt like survival between us was suddenly something he wanted to erase.

Then Tyler spoke again, softer this time. “Just tell her I couldn’t handle seeing her like that.”

No.

My chest tightened painfully.

Before I could stop myself, I pushed the door open.

It creaked, and all five of them turned instantly. Tyler stood closest, already half turned like he was preparing to leave, like he had already started the process of disappearing from my life.

I stepped into the hallway fully, ignoring the sting in my shoulder as I moved forward. My voice came out before I could even think about it.

“Don’t tell me you were planning to leave just like that.”

He went still.

Slowly, he turned toward me, and the look on his face made something inside me shift. It wasn’t distance I saw there, it was conflict. Like he was standing in the middle of something he couldn’t untangle.

“You should be in the room,” he said quietly.

“I would be,” I replied, taking another step closer, “if I hadn’t overheard you deciding that I don’t get a say in what happens between us.”

His eyes flickered slightly at that, but he didn’t interrupt me.

I swallowed, my throat tightening more than I wanted to admit. “I heard everything, Tyler. All of it.”

His friends stayed quiet behind him now, sensing something shifting that they knew they needed to stay out of.

I let out a short breath, trying to steady myself. “Mark was right.”

Tyler looked at him quickly, then back at me. “Right about what?”

“I’ve never been happier than when I’m with you,” I said, my voice shaking slightly despite my effort to control it. “And I’ve waited too long for us to even get to this point for you to just decide it’s easier to walk away.”

His expression tightened. “Harper, I’m not good for you.”

I shook my head immediately. “That’s not your decision to make.”

“It is when you almost died because of everything surrounding me,” he said, voice low now, almost strained.

“That’s not what this is about,” I replied, stepping closer until there was barely space between us. “You don’t get to protect me by removing yourself like I don’t have a choice in this.”

His eyes stayed locked on mine, but I could see the hesitation now, the part of him that didn’t fully believe what he was saying.

I held onto that.

“If you really believe I’m better off without you,” I said quietly, “then look at me and tell me you don’t love me.”

The room went completely still.

Even his friends didn’t move.

Tyler swallowed, his throat working like the words were stuck somewhere he couldn’t reach them. His gaze stayed on mine, and for a moment I thought he might actually say it, might actually try to end this between us with a lie.

His lips parted slightly. “I don’t—”

“Harper!”

My father’s voice cut through the moment before it could finish.

I barely had time to turn before he was already there, pulling me into a hug. The impact made my shoulder sting and I let out a small gasp, but I didn’t care about the pain.

Because I wasn’t looking at Tyler anymore.

And when I finally looked back, he was already gone from where he had been standing.

Just… gone.