Jenny was sitting on the couch with the laptop in her lap. ‘Somewhere he couldn’t be seen, somewhere he was hidden from the world. And the world was hidden from him,’ she whispered, rereading some of her writing. She looked up when she heard some muffled noises coming from the frontdoor being unlocked. She wondered who it could be at this time. It was already past 1:00 am. As far as she knew Shane had already gone to bed. Jenny frowned but when she saw Carmen walking into the room she smiled. Of course, they gave Carmen a key. ‘Hi lady,’ Jenny said and she closed her laptop. ‘Oh, hey!’ Carmen said surprised and she sat down next to her. She could have known that Jenny would still be up writing.  She unzipped her hoodie and leaned in to kiss Jenny’s cheek. ‘I thought.. Shane told me you were sleeping at home tonight?’ Jenny asked. ‘Oh yeah,’ Carmen sighed, ‘but I couldn’t really stand it there.. So I came here.’ Carmen smiled weakly. She was glad Jenny didn’t ask further and she looked around the room. ‘Where’s Shane?’ Carmen asked. ‘In bed,’ Jenny answered as she reached over the table to grab a pack of cigarettes. She lit one and winked at Carmen, ‘where you like her to be,’ she said teasingly. Carmen laughed and poked her in the ribs with her elbow. ‘You’re so bad,’ Carmen said, shaking her head. She yawned and stretched her back. ‘Well, I think I’m going to bed too then,’ Carmen said and she stood up from the couch. ‘Carmen?’ Jenny asked when Carmen had already got to the door. ‘Yeah?’ Carmen said as she turned around. ‘Is.. is everything okay with you and Shane?’ Jenny asked hesitating. Carmen furrowed her brows for a second. ‘Everything’s fine.. why?’ Carmen answered as she took of her white hoodie, just because it gave her something to do. She couldn’t help it but Jenny’s question made her feel a little nervous. Jenny could be so lost in her own mind sometimes that it was really hard to know where she was going with her words. Sometimes Jenny’s mind was even harder to read than Shane’s. ‘Well.. Shane just seemed a little quiet tonight. And I don’t know.. I thought maybe something happened between you guys. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, but you know how Shane is.. she doesn’t talk to me about it,’ Jenny spoke. Carmen threw a small smile at Jenny and draped her hoodie over her right arm. ‘It’s okay Jen. Everything’s cool. And.. you’re right.. Shane can be very quiet. But.. it’s not like she doesn’t want to talk to you. It’s just the way she is,’ Carmen said softly. Jenny nodded and exhaled a thin arrow of smoke. ‘You’re right. It’s just that.. well you.. you really changed her Carmen,’ Jenny said smiling. Carmen raised her brow in confusion and Jenny chuckled. ‘In the good way! I mean.. before.. if something was wrong she wouldn’t show it, she would just act all confident and cool and stuff, but now.. she can be really quiet sometimes. I.. I think it’s because of you,’ Jenny said and she pointed at Carmen while throwing her a wink. Carmen chuckled softly and looked down at her feet, thinking about Jenny’s words. Had she really change her that much? As if she’d overheard Carmen’s thoughts Jenny said: ‘You changed her but that’s okay. Cause you made her even better.’ Carmen smiled bashfully. She had never really felt like Shane needed to change. Cause for her, Shane was already perfect. She just needed to open up and let Carmen in. But maybe Jenny was right, cause when Shane had finally done that, she became more careful, more loving. Even about herself. When you’re alone you can fuck up most of yourself and your life. It doesn’t matter. The only one who gets harmed by it is yourself. And that’s the same person who’s responsible for it all too. But when you’re with someone, when you’re in love with someone, you can’t do that anymore. Because it’s no longer just about you. It’s about two people, about Shane and Carmen. And then, if she would hurt herself in any way, Carmen would get hurt too. Maybe that was what made her more peaceful, maybe that’s another reason why love can make you so vulnerable. And maybe that’s the same reason why Shane never believed in it. Not for herself. Why she had always been scared of responsibilities of any kind and rather wanted to be free.