The weeks that came to past were a mess of things to do. The group had found out about Shane and Carmen from the loud mouth, which Shane still had to get back. She was struggling with everything she had to do, her world had changed, and she was no longer all alone. She had to take care of Shay who annoyed the hell out of her, and was lost in his own little world. She could see it in his eyes, the way he looked at the world again, how he no longer cared about the small things that use to matter so much to him. She tried to be there to help him through it all, to keep him rooted.

     They did more things together, most of the time it wasn’t much, they sat watching movies. Not willing to talk, not knowing what to say, what to do. She would wake him up each morning seeing the disappointment in his eyes to see her standing there. He would look hopefully each afternoon waiting for his mom to show up, only to see one of the framily waiting to pick him up. He would get in never voicing his anger, or his sadness, but it was there. Hidden behind that charming smile, those soulful eyes that looked through everyone. The group talked among themselves of how he reminded them of Shane more and more each day, they just hoped that he wouldn’t be lost for ever.

     Carmen watched this happen, standing in the background waiting for any sign that the two needed her. She could feel how hurt they were, how they were losing themselves in their sadness. She walked in their world, waiting to be needed wanting to be needed. She could only wait, the voice in her head telling her that it would take time. She just wanted to know how long it would be.

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   “This place is nice,” Shane said. She was walking around an empty room, looking over every little detail. She hadn’t said much in the past couple of weeks, when she did it was never much.

   “Yeah, it is. It’s not that far from the school or wax, and it’s only a couple blocks from the Planet.” She was looking at the closet, trying to decide if it was enough space for her and Shane’s clothes. She was interested in making this there permanent home, well this or another house.