Shane sits at the kitchen table mindlessly spinning her cell phone.  She looks deep in thought when Jenny walks in.
“Good morning.”  Jenny says still groggy with sleep.
“Morning.”  Shane says.
“What’s up?”  Jenny asks filling her coffee cup, sensing that something is on her mind.
“I was just offered a job.”  Shane says with an air of surprise in her voice.
“That’s great!  Doing what?”  Jenny joins Shane at the table.
“Doing hair on a feature.”
“That’s awesome Shane!”  Jenny picks up on Shane’s lack of enthusiasm.  “What’s the problem?”
*
“It’s shooting in New York and I’d have to leave in three days.”  Shane says averting her eyes from Harper’s.
“For how long?”  Harper asks.
“Seven weeks.”  Shane fills with pain at the thought.
Harper doesn’t know what to say.  Her heart drops into her stomach at the thought of Shane leaving.  She tries to be supportive, fighting the selfish feeling in her heart.  “It’s a really great opportunity for you.  And a great place to have it in.”  She tries to sound excited as she feels the walls of the restaurant closing in on her.
Shane can’t help but feel disappointed by Harper’s reaction.  To her it seems like it almost doesn’t matter that she would be gone for so long.  She begins to fear that Harper is not as into her as she thought.  “Yeah.”  She says sipping her wine.
“I can hook you up with some friends of mine who can show you around.”  Harper says as she picks at her salad.
“Thanks, that would be cool.”  Shane tries to mask her disappointment.  She bites her lip as she fakes a smile.
They sit in silence wading through their emotions.  Harper focuses her attention on her salad.  Shane eats her soup.
“Ok!  This really sucks.  I’m trying to be really supportive but damn, seven weeks is a long time.”  Harper finally cracks.
“Yeah, I know!”  Shane cracks a small smile of relief.
“I really think you would be foolish to not go.  But I have to honest, it’s going to be hard not seeing you for that long.  At least it will go fast for you because you are going to be so busy.”
“I hope so.”
After dinner they retreat back to Shane’s and attempt to watch a movie.  It doesn’t take long for their cuddling to progress into a hot and heavy 90 minute make out session.  Harper feels herself melt when Shane’s skilled hands move over her *****.  The sensation is almost more then she can handle.
Shane’s heart is pounding so hard that she begins to think she might be having a heart attack.  Touching Harper like this for the first time is heavenly.  She wants so badly to explore her entire body.  Map it out, learn every nook and cranny.  Count all the freckles.  Memorize her.
As Shane moves her mouth down her neck Harper pulls her away.  “Wait.”  She says panting.
Shane gives her a hungry look as she tries to catch her own breath.  “You ok?”
Harper nods her head, “Oh yeah.  I just think we need to hold on for a second.”
“Ok.”  Shane leans against the couch and looks longingly at Harper.  Harper looks over at her knowing she’s being watched.  “Hi.”  Shane smirks.
“Hi.”  Harper smiles.  “You are incredible, you know that?”
“Thank you.”
“No ones ever made me feel the way you do Shane.  And I don’t just mean that in a turned on way.”
“That’s a good thing right?”
“Yes, very good.”  Harper takes Shane’s hand in her own.  “I want you to know that I am developing very strong feelings for you.  And I’m really happy with how things are progressing between us.”
“Me too.”
“I know I might be moving to slow for you and I’m sorry if that’s frustrating you.  That’s not my intention.” 
“It’s not frustrating, well may be a little.”  She smiles.  “This is all new to me and I want to do it right.  I don’t want to rush anything either.  All this teasing and anticipation is hot, I really get off on it.”
“Good!  So do I.”  Harper feels relieved.
Shane moves in closer, “But I really do want to make love to you.”  Never in her life has she uttered those words or even had that thought.  ***** and ***** are all she knows.
Harper feels her heart skip a beat.  “I want that too, more then you know.”
They fall into a deep romantic kiss.  When it ends Harper holds Shane’s face in her hands.
“I just can’t do it before you leave.”  Harper hates to say it.
“But…”
“Shane, trust me.  It will make it ten times harder on both of us if we do it before you go.  Because once we start I won’t ever want to stop.  And I know I would be going crazy for those seven weeks without you.”
“So then I won’t go.  I’ll just stay here and we can have *****.”  Shane smiles.
***
Harper spends the night for the first time.  They sleep in pajamas and spoon until the alarm goes off.
Shane reaches over and silences the alarm clock.  “Good morning.”  She says wrapping around Harper, giving her a kiss.
With a sleepy smile, “Good morning.”
Shane’s smile is bigger then a kid on Christmas morning as she looks at Harper.
“Hi Smiley.”  Harper says in her low sleepy morning voice.
“Hi *****.”  Shane’s own ***** voice says.
“Come’ere” Harper says moving onto her back.
Shane moves into Harper’s embrace and rests her head on her chest.  Shane looks so content.
“Mmm, this is very dangerous.”  Harper says kissing Shane’s head.
“Why’s that?”
“Being here with you does not make me want to get out of bed.”  Harper smiles as she strokes Shane’s hair.  “I’d much rather stay here with you then go to work.”
“Well you are the boss.”  Shane says playing with Harper’s fingers.
“Yes I am, but I’m also the one with a bunch of deadlines and a meeting today.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“I agree!  What do you think about me taking tomorrow off and spending the day with you?  I can help you get ready for your trip, do errands, whatever.  Then take you out for a romantic dinner.”
“You would do that?”  Shane sits up to look at Harper.
“Of course I would.  I would do it today too if I could.”
“I would love to spend my last day with you.”
“Good.”  Harper smiles.
“But after dinner we have to go to The Planet for my send off party.”
“No problem.  We can have an early dinner and then head over there.”
Shane lays down on top of Harper and kisses her.  “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Everything.”
***
“It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.”  Jenny starts her story to the group at The Planet.  “I walked into the kitchen this morning and there’s Shane arranging flowers from the yard in a vase.  She had the table set and was making eggs and bacon.”
“Oh my God!  She’s such a wife!”  Alice says shocked.
“Shane?”  Dana says in disbelief.
“Yep.”  Jenny says nodding her head dramatically.
“It doesn’t surprise me.  Shane’s a very nurturing person, even though she likes to pretend she’s not.”  Tina says.
“The flowers are a little surprising though.”  Bette says.
“Yeah, maybe a little.”  Tina agrees.
“Totally!”  Alice agrees as well.
“You should’ve seen Harper’s reaction.  It was priceless.  She was truly touched by it.  It was the sweetest thing.”
Before the girls can gossip any more the lovebirds appear.
“How’s it going?”  Shane says saddling up to the group.
“Hey everyone!”  Harper says with a wave.
The girls all share a knowing smile.
The group spends a couple of hours enjoying drinks and sharing stories.  Bette and Harper advise Shane on New York City.  Alice and Dana place orders for souvenirs.  Jenny works out financial details.  While Mark, Carmen, Kit and Tina talk about how much she will be missed.
They call it an early night given peoples work schedules and Shane’s crack of dawn car service pick up.  With all of her goodbyes said and done Shane takes Harper by the hand and leads them home.
***
“There!  All packed!”  Shane says throwing one last t-shirt in her suitcase.
“Bravo.”  Harper applauds from her perch on the bed.  “Can you hand me my bag please?” 
Shane picks up the messenger bag from the chair.  “Here you go.”
“Thank you.”  Harper roots around the bag and pulls out a small box.  She places her bag down on the floor.  “Come join me.”
Shane moves her way on to the bed.  When she is close enough she kisses Harper softly.  “Thank you for such a wonderful day.”
“I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”  Harper kisses Shane.  “I’m going to miss you a lot.”
“Yeah.”  Shane agrees with a heavy sigh.
“And I want you to know that while you are gone I don’t have any plans to date other people or anything.  I know we haven’t put a label on this and that’s ok by me because I’m not a big label person.  All I know is that in my heart there is only room for you right now.  So I want you to know that you have nothing to worry about while you are away.”
Shane sits stunned and speechless.  No one had ever had such words for her.  The feeling in her overwhelmed heart is totally new and foreign to her.  As she allows all of these feelings to wash over her she makes no attempt to stop the tears that are forming.  Harper caresses her face, wiping a tear away with her thumb.
Trying to break the intensity of the moment, Harper goes for some humor.  “Uh oh, I think I overwhelmed you.”
Shane chuckles and wipes a tear from her cheek.  “Maybe a little.”  She smiles.
Harper rests her head against Shane’s, “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.  I’m just feeling so many things right now.  I don’t even know what they all are.”
“Just feel them.”  Harper says with tenderness.
“I am.”  Shane looks into Harper’s eyes and takes her hand.  “Thank you for telling me all that.  I really needed to hear it.”
“I meant every word Shane.”
“I know you did and I believe you too, that’s the cool part.  I hope you can believe me too.  I know I have a rep of sleeping around but I have no intentions of doing any such thing in New York.  I don’t want to be with any one but you Harper.  I don’t know what it is, but the things I feel for you are so new and amazing to me.  And I don’t want anything to change that.  I’m really scared that being gone for seven weeks might though.”  Shane can’t keep her eyes on Harper.  She feels exposed and vulnerable.
“Have you ever heard the expression ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder’?”  Harper asks.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I happen to know from experience that it’s true.  You being gone isn’t going to change my feelings.  It’s just going to make them stronger.”
“So you’re not going to forget about me while I’m gone?”  Shane’s only half serious.
“Forget you?  Only if I suffer a blow to the head and wake up with amnesia.”  Harper gets Shane to laugh.  “And actually I have a little something for you so that you will remember me.  I was thinking that I was being sappy but you’ve changed my mind.  Here, this is for you.”  Harper hands Shane the small box.
Shane holds it and stares at it for a moment.
“Open it.”  Harper encourages her.
With a smile Shane opens the box.  She moves the tissue paper and reveals the necklace.
“Look familiar?”  Harper asks.
“Yeah… I noticed you weren’t wearing it tonight.”  Shane smiles.
“I want you to have it.  It’s always brought me good luck.  You don’t have to wear it.  Just keep it around to remind you of me.”
“Are you serious?  You want me to have this?!?”
“Yeah, it’s not too much is it?  I know jewelry can be a big thing.  I can give you a t-shirt or something instead.”
“No, this is amazing!  I’m going to wear it every day!”  Shane smiles, “Can I give you something?”
“If you want.”  Harper doesn’t want her to feel obligated to do so.
Shane reaches around her neck and removes her necklace that she never takes off.  “May I?”  Harper nods and Shane fastens it around her neck.  Shane’s smile is huge and satisfied.  “It’s like we’re going steady.”  She laughs and then thinks about it.  “I know you don’t like labels but do you think we could say that?”
“You wanna say that we’re going steady?”  Harper likes the idea and thinks it’s cute.
“Mmmhm.”
“I like it!”  Harper smiles, “I think it sums us up pretty good.  For now any way.”
Shane looks at her with her ***** half smile.  “You look really good wearing that.”
“Thank you.  Are you sure you don’t mind parting with it?”
“I’m sure!  I want you to have something of mine to remember me by.”
Harper leans in to give Shane a gentle kiss on the lips.  “I’ll remember you.”
Shane picks up Harper’s necklace.  Harper takes it from her and puts it around her neck.  “There.”
Shane touches it and smiles, “I love it, thank you.  I won’t take it off.”
All Harper can do is smile about how sweet Shane is being.  She knows this is all new to her and is so happy that she could be the first.
“I’m going to go brush my teeth and get ready for bed.”  Shane says scooting off the bed.
“Ok.”  Harper says watching her leave the room.  Once she is sure Shane is busy in the bathroom she grabs her bag.  She quickly digs through it and pulls out a thick envelope.  She jumps up and goes to Shane’s suitcase.  With lightning speed she opens it and hides the envelope at the bottom of the case.  She returns every thing to its place and proceeds to change into boxers and a t-shirt.
Shane returns wearing pajama bottoms and a tank top.  “Your turn.”
“Thank you.”
As Harper walks by, Shane stops her and pulls her into her arms.  Without a word she kisses her deeply.
***
“Hello?”  Harper answers her cell phone not recognizing the number.
“Hey Harper, it’s Alice!”
“Alice?!  What’s going on?”  Harper is shocked to be hearing from her.
“Oh you know… the usual.  I thought I’d give you a call and check up on you.  It’s been a week and no one’s seen you around.”
“Yeh, I know.  It’s been a crazy week at work.  Which is good, keeps my mind off of things.”
“That’s good.  Are you doing ok?”  Alice asks with a hint of concern.
“I miss her, but we talk all the time which helps.”  Harper tries not to sound too sad.
“You know if you need anything or want to talk you can call any of us.”
“Thank you Alice, I really appreciate that.”  Harper is touched.
“That brings me to my next reason for calling.”
“Ok.”  Harper braces herself since one never knows what Alice has in store for you.
“I’m having a dinner party to celebrate Dana’s big win.”
“Oh I read about that!  Tell her congratulations.” 
“I will.  It’s Saturday at seven at my place.  Are you free?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Good!  Do you remember where I live?”  Harper can hear the smile in Alice’s voice.
“I think I can remember.”
“Good.”  Alice chuckles.  “You know she really misses you A LOT.”
“It’s mutual.”
“I’ve never ever seen her this way.  She’s a whole new Shane.”
“Yeah, I know this is all new to her.  It’s pretty new to me too, I’ve never quite felt this way before.”  Harper dares to be honest with the group gossip, but is careful with her words.
“Be careful with her Harper because if you hurt her we will all take turns breaking your legs.”
“Oh I know!  Don’t worry I’m being very careful.”
***
Harper reclines in her desk chair absent mindedly drumming her fingers on her knees.  Maggie’s voice crackles through the speaker on the phone.  “Harper?”  
“Yo!”
“You’ve got Tina Kinnard on line 2.”
“Ok, I’ll grab it.”  Harper says picking up the receiver and pressing line 2.  “Tina!  It’s Harper!  How are you?”
“I’m good.  How are you doing?”  Tina’s caring voice asks.
“As good as can be expected.  You must’ve been reading my mind, I was going to call you today.”
“Oh really?  And why is that?”  Tina is curious.
“I just got off the phone with Shane and she wanted me to do her a favor.  It seems that her little friend Bianca is having a half birthday this Saturday.”
“You don’t say.”
“I do, I do.  Apparently our sweet Ms. McCutcheon and Miss Bianca had a talk about half birthdays and how it’s unfair that they are not celebrated.  They both felt if nothing else you should get half a birthday cake.”  Harper says.
“I agree!”  Tina laughs but does love the idea.
“So yeah, Shane wanted me to call you and see if Bianca would be at movie night Friday.  She wants me to take her half a birthday cake.”  Harper smiles.
“You’re kidding!”  Tina is touched by Shane’s thoughtfulness.  “Well, she should be there, but I can call and make sure she comes.  I would hate for you to go to so much trouble and not have her show up.”
“Shane would be very disappointed if she were a no show.”
“And you can make it on Friday?”
“I will schedule my entire day around it.”  Harper says.
“Then I will make sure she’s there.”  Tina says.
“Thank you so much.”
“No problem!”
“So what can I do for you?”  Harper remembers that Tina called her.  “Are you calling to make sure I go to Alice’s on Saturday?”
“You better!  But that’s not what I called about.  I wanted to see if we could schedule two more surfing trips.  I’m trying to plan activities.”
“I’d love to, let me grab my book.”  Harper pulls her planner from her bag.  “When are you thinking?”
They pick two weekends, which Harper promptly inks in her book.
***
Harper arrives early at The Center and makes herself at home in Tina’s office for a little while.  She gets the tour and meets the staff.  Eventually the kids begin to arrive.  The ones that know Harper get excited and start talking about surfing.  She notices Bianca come in and sit off in a corner to read.
“Hi Bianca, how are you?”  Harper says sitting next to her.
“Good.”  She pays Harper little attention.
“Maybe you don’t remember me.  I’m Harper.  I taught you all how to surf.”
“I remember you.  You’re Shane and Miss Tina’s friend.”  She looks at Harper.
“Right.  Actually I’m here because Shane asked me to do her a favor.  She’s working in New York for two months and she really wanted to be here tonight.  Since she couldn’t she asked me to come.”
“Why?”  Bianca now gives her full attention to Harper.
“She wanted me to come and see you.”  Harper says.
“Me?”  Bianca sounds surprised.
“Yeah you.”  Harper smiles.
“What for?”
“Do you have a minute?”
“Uh huh.”
“Come with me.”  Harper gets up and leads the way to Tina’s office.  “Shane thinks very highly of you.  I guess you two did a little bonding when she was here.”
“I guess.”  Bianca is a little confused and kind of excited.
“She wanted me to give you this.”  She puts the box and card on Tina’s desk.  “It’s really for tomorrow but you can open it now.”  Harper smiles at Bianca’s look of excitement.
Bianca walks to the desk and picks up the card.  She opens it, pulling out the card that Shane cut the bottom half off of.  Her smile grows larger as she reads the card.
“Go ahead and open the box.”  Harper urges.
She opens the box which contains a semi-circular cake with ‘Happy B’day Bianca’ written on it.
“This is the coolest thing ever!”  Bianca is beaming.  “Where’d you get it?”
“I made it especially for you.  Shane told me what flavors and how she wanted it though.  I hope you like it.”
“I love it!”  Bianca is having a hard time containing her excitement.  “Thank you!”  She wraps herself around Harper and squeezes her.
“Happy Half Birthday Bianca.” Harper hugs her back.  “Oh and there’s one more thing.  I didn’t wrap it.”  Harper pulls a gift card from her pocket.  “I hear you like to read.”
Bianca takes the card and looks at it.  “This is for me?”
Harper feels a twinge of sadness, clearly this girl is not used to such kindness.  “It’s all yours to spend as you like at Barnes and Noble.”
“It’s twenty five dollars!!  That’s a lot of money.”
“You can use it to buy your favorite books.  I love to read too so I know what books mean to you.”  Harper says.  “You deserve to be able to have your favorites to read over and over again.”
“Thank you.”  Bianca hugs her again.
“You are very welcome.”
“This is the best half birthday ever!!!”
“Would you like to call Shane?”
“Can we?”  She sounds excited.
“Let’s try.  She should be done working by now.”  Harper pulls out her phone and dials.
“Hello?”  A very out of it Shane answers.
“Uh oh, did I wake you up?”  She says when Shane answers with a sleepy hello.
“Yeh, I must’ve fallen asleep.”  Shane says slowly coming to.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.  I fell asleep taking a pee.”  Shane laughs at herself.
Harper laughs, “I thought I recognized the acoustics.  Hey, I have someone here who would like to talk to you.”
“Put’em on.”  Shane says.
As Harper hands Bianca the phone she tells her, “Talk as long as you want, it doesn’t cost anything at this time of the night.”  And with those words she slips out the office door to give her privacy.
“Is this the Half Birthday girl?”  Shane says all smiles.
“Hi Shane, thank you for the cake and card.  I love them, they are so cool.  You are the best.”  Bianca says rapidly.
“I’m glad you like everything.  I wish I could be there to celebrate with you.”
“Me too.  Oh and Harper got me a twenty five dollar gift card for Barnes and Noble!”
“Wow, that’s cool!  She’s a real nice lady.”  Shane says.  She’s touched that Harper did that.  She felt bad when she told Shane she’d make a cake versus buying one.  She didn’t have to go to any trouble.  She’s busy enough as it is without having to bake.
“Yeah she is.  Is she your best friend?”
Shane smiles at the thought, “One of them.  So is Miss Tina.”
“You’re lucky, I wish I had friends like that.”
“It took me a long time to find myself friends like them.  When I was in school I never really had any.”  Shane confides in her.
“Yeah, me too.”
“It’s hard for kids like us.  We get moved all around, always in new schools. And if people find out about your family or that you live with a foster family you get made fun of.  It’s hard and makes you want to be invisible and keep to yourself.”
“Yep.  That’s why I like to read.  If I’m always reading no one will come up to me and ask me questions and stuff.  And I can read about real families and cool places.”
“I wish I’d thought of that when I was younger.  It might’ve kept me out of trouble.”  Shane says.
“Did you get into trouble a lot?”
“More then I should’ve” Shane laughs.  “I pushed down my share of kids who picked on me.”
“That stinks.”
“I want to share some wisdom about family with you.”
“Ok.”
“I always thought having a Mom and Dad, brother and sisters was a real family.  As I got older I learned that family is what you make.  It’s your friends, they become like family to you.  You’ll see what I mean in a few more years.”
“Yeah?”  Bianca is interested in this theory.
“Yeah.  Like Miss Tina, she’s like a big sister to me.  She looks out for me and is always there to take care of me.  And my friend Bette is kinda a cross between big sister and Mom.  She’s the one I always go to for advice.  We all look out for each other, it’s really cool.  And you know what?  You are like my little sister to me.”
Bianca is silent for a moment, “Really?!”  The shock registering in her voice.
“Totally!  And as your unofficial big sister it is my duty to look out for you, remember your half birthday, be available for advice and all kinds of stuff.  So what do you say?  Is it ok with you if I make you part of my family?”
“Yeah!”  Bianca affirms.
“Cool!”  Shane is smiling ear to ear.  This new friendship is one she vows to herself to work on.  She knows the importance of having someone steady in your life when it is so unstable.  “I want you to know that you can ask me anything.  Questions, favors, whatever you need.  I’m here for you, no matter what happens with your family or foster care.  Ok?”
“Ok.”
“Ok!  I mean it!”  Shane is excited.
“Ok!”  Bianca smiles.
***
The rest of the night at The Center is uneventful.  Bianca missed all but the last ten minutes of the movie.  She and Harper bonded move over books and reading.  And Harper told her the story of her name and being named after an author.
When the activities come to an end Harper is allowed to take Bianca home.  Along the way they make a brief stop to pick up a phone card so Bianca can call Shane any time she wants.  Harper gives Bianca her number as well, instructing her to call if she needs anything.
Bianca directs her through the streets of Boyle Heights to a quiet block with little houses.  Harper is relieved to see that she seems to be in a decent area in a nice house.  She had envisioned some tiny apartment in a rougher neighborhood.  Harper walks Bianca to her door so that she can meet her Foster Mom.  Mrs. Sanchez seemed very nice and even invited Harper in for coffee.  Harper declined the offer but promised to come back another time for a visit. 
*
Harper relays her account of last night to Shane during her morning wake up call.  Shane demands every detail of Bianca’s reaction to the card, cake and the rest of the night.
“You made her night Shane!  I’ve never seen a kid so happy.”
“That’s awesome.  I feel a real closeness to her, she reminds me a lot of myself.  I want her to know that there is hope and that not all adults are out to hurt her.  And I want her to be able to count on me and know she has a friend, because that’s so important.”  Shane says full of conviction.
“She’s lucky to have you and it’s a really great thing you’re doing.”
“But…?”  Shane senses Harper’s next sentence.
“It’s a big responsibility and that’s not a bad thing.  I just think that she’s really going to count on you and there might be things you can’t help her with.  And I don’t want to see that tear you up.”  Harper is being sincere.
“You don’t think I can handle it?”  Shane sounds hurt.
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Well, what then?”
“You’ve been in the system, you know what it’s like.  If she starts getting moved around a lot or if she gets placed with a ***** family, you might not be able to do anything about it.  Or if she gets to go back with her Mom and something happens that you don’t like, it may be out of your control.  What you are doing is amazing, don’t get me wrong.  I’m concerned that it might be hard for you sometimes.  I know how loyal and protective you are of the people you care about.  And I’ve heard about how frustrated you get when you can’t help them.”  Harper hopes she’s made sense.
“Yeah, I’ve kinda thought about that.  I’m hopeful that things go better for her then they did for me, then that stuff will never be an issue.”  Shane gets her point.
“I gave her my numbers too, in case she needed anything.”
“You did?!”  Shane is touched.
“Yep!  She’s a cool kid and I’d like to be her friend too.”
“Damn, just when I think you couldn’t get any sweeter.”
Harper chuckles, “I’d like to be as involved in this as you’ll let me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to steal your thunder or anything.  This is your deal.  But I’d like to be involved in some capacity.”
“I’d like that a lot and from the sounds of it, so would Bianca.  You’re pretty ***** incredible Harper.”  Shane feels herself falling for her even more.
“Oh no!  That honor belongs to you my dear.  I’m just along for the ride.”  She laughs.

 

***