Author's Note: I'm really sorry this is late, guys. I had terrible writer's block for a while, then I lost the internet. Yeah. It happens every time I get into a story, I know. :/ Anyways. Weekly updates just aren't meant to happen. Hope you guys like this chapter. (:
Alex raised her paintbrush back up to the canvas, ready to run the brush against the white surface yet again. She didn't know whether to be happy or sad when she realized she didn't need to. It was done. She reluctantly set the brush on the small stand next to her and stepped away from the easel.
"Damn." It was perfect. Absolutely perfect. She knew she should have been happy about it, but she was really hoping she'd mess up, have a weird muscle spasm and ruin her eyes, her smile, anything. She fought back a smile, untied her old, beaten up smock and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She was half way through dialing Harper's number when she remembered she was a wizard.
She looked in the mirror on the wall across from her and laughed at her reflection. She'd have to get the paint off her face before she showed up on Harper's door step.
X
Harper's bedroom at Nana Franny's was exactly the same as the last time she'd seen it in 8th grade. Alex still didn't really understand why Harper even had a room in her grandmother's apartment, but she'd been thankful Harper had a place to go when the Russo's moved to California.
The pink and yellow kitty cat wallpaper made Alex cringe and smile at the same time. It was hideous, but it was just so Harper.
"Where is Harper, anyways?" Alex mumbled, glancing around the bedroom. Harper was usually home by eight o'clock. She shrugged and fell back onto the pink blankets covering Harper's bed and stared at the ceiling. Ever since moving to California, it'd been a little harder to keep in touch than either of them planned. It seemed like Harper was always at school or on a date with Zeke. Alex wasn't upset, far from it. She missed Harper horribly, but the spare time their separation was giving her was helping to get her thoughts straightened out. "Well, I've got them all straightened out, so where the hell is she?" She questioned the unresponsive room and sat up with a huff. The sound of the door to the apartment slamming shut made her grin and for a split second, she considered hiding to scare her best friend.
Harper appeared in the doorway, eyes shut tight and body moving violently. Alex almost thought she was having some sort of seizure until she saw the white cords coming from her pocket and chuckled.
"Are you listening to Ugh again?" She yelled over the music blasting in Harper's ears. Harper screamed and whipped around to face Alex. Her shock didn't last long before she ripped the earphones out and threw herself at Alex, knocking them both back onto the bed.
"Alex!" Harper squealed. Alex laughed and tried her best to hug Harper from underneath the red head.
"Harper!" Harper finally released her and moved to sit next to her.
"I can't believe you're here! How long have you been here?" Alex didn't bother sitting up. She sighed dramatically and shrugged.
"About a year?" Harper smiled and slapped Alex's leg lightly. "Okay, okay, like five minutes. Where were you?"
"With Zeke." Alex rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Then I'm surprised you came home." Harper hit her again and she laughed.
"You're a pervert."
"A pervert with news." Alex said dramatically.
"Good or bad?" She contemplated that for a moment.
"I don't know yet. It's sort of why I need you."
"Of course you come to me with the complicated ones. I'm starting to think we're only friends so you can have a free therapist."
"Well then, Miss Finkle,"
"Most therapists go by their first name."
"Whatever." Alex stood and tossed Harper's jacket at her. "We're having this session over milkshakes."
Harper raised an eyebrow at her.
"We're not flashing there?" Alex shook her head and pulled her own jacket on.
"Nope. I need to be reacquainted with the poisonous New York air." She answered sarcastically.
"You're exercising voluntarily?" Harper asked, fluffing her hair out of the jacket. "This must be pretty big news."
"You have no idea."
X
Alex slid into the booth opposite of Harper, declining the menus the waitress offered.
"Just two vanilla shakes, please."
"Just two vanilla shakes, comin' right up." The tall blonde said with a smile before walking away.
"So, what's going on?" Harper asked casually and Alex pouted.
"What? No small talk? No 'Hey how's the weather?' or anything like that? I feel ripped off." Harper just smiled and stared at her. "Oh, fine." She sighed. "You know my cousin Chad, right?"
"No?"
"Right. My cousin's Chad Dylan Cooper." Harper squealed.
"What! No! You never told me that!"
"Harper."
"I get it, not the point. Go on."
"Thank you. Well my mom dragged me to the set of Mackenzie Falls to see him."
"Lucky!"
"Harper!" Alex whined, laughing at how excited Harper was getting. The girl looked like she was going to combust.
"Right, sorry!" Harper took a deep breath and looked at her calmly. "Go on." Alex shook her head.
"Well Mackenzie Falls and So Random are taped at the same studio... place. Anyway, Max went down to the set of So Random and my mom made me go with him, to keep an eye on him, you know?"
"Right." Harper answered with a knowing smile.
"Shut up. And I met the new girl they had just hired." Alex paused in her story to greet the returning waitress.
"That'll be four twenty-four, ladies." Harper reached for her oversized purse to pay her half, but Alex waved her off.
"I got it, Harp." She handed the waitress a ten dollar bill. "Just keep it the change."
"Thank you." The waitress said, smiling.
"No problem." Harper stared at Alex incredulously as the waitress walked away.
"What just happened?" Alex stopped using the straw as a spoon to stare back.
"What?"
"You just tipped her like six dollars."
"Yeah?" Harper kept staring. "What? She was pregnant. Extremely pregnant."
"Okay..." Harper answered, swirling her straw around in the tall glass. "So, this new girl?" Alex hummed around the straw between her teeth.
"Yep!" She answered after swallowing and squeezing her eyes shut. "Wow, that's cold. Guess who the knew girl is." Harper narrowed her eyes in thought.
"How many guesses do I have?"
"Three."
"Hmm..." Harper sat back in her seat and watched Alex carefully. "Can I ask three questions about them?" Alex sighed.
"Two."
"But I get three guesses!"
"Harper!"
"Fine." She huffed and bit her lip. "Do I know her?"
"You knew her, once upon a time." Alex answered, anxiety building up in her stomach. She knew Harper wasn't going to guess right, but she wasn't really looking forward to repeating what happened at the studio. Harper scrunched her face, concentrating hard on which question to ask.
"Light or dark hair?"
"Dark hair. Darker now than the last time you saw her, actually." Harper drummed her fingernails on the table top and studied Alex carefully, thinking hard. Alex bit her lip to keep from laughing at Harper at the deep look of concentration on her face. She broke the intense eye contact and leaned froward to take a few sips of her milkshake. When she leaned back again Harper's eyes were wide.
"Was going out for milkshakes some sort of giant, yet subtle, clue?"
"You already asked two questions."
"Was it?"
"Maybe."
"Does maybe mean yes?"
"Probably." Alex said, smiling when Harper slapped her palms on the table.
"No way!"
"Way." Harper slapped the table again, this time out of victory.
"I knew it all along." Alex smiled.
"Sure, Harp." Harper smiled back at her and sobered up.
"So, what happened?" Alex shrugged with one shoulder and made a star in her milkshake with the straw.
"I was a bitch."
"And you feel bad about it?" She shrugged again.
"A little."
"Alex." Harper said softly, ducking her head to catch Alex's downcast eyes. "Don't feel bad. You know what she did to you." Alex looked away again and focused solely on the swirling vanilla.
"Yeah, but... I said some harsh things and I just..." She took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp air that filled her lungs.
"Alex, it's okay." She released the breath with a huff.
"You didn't see her face, Harper. It was almost as bad as my face when she left." Alex looked at Harper desperately. Harper had to understand. If Harper didn't understand, if Harper couldn't help her fix it, then she was fucked. Alex watched the emotions swirl in Harper's eyes, the familiar anxiety setting nervous butterflies loose in her stomach.
Harper sighed and sat back in her seat.
"You're different now. Not in a bad way, but California Alex is different from New York City Alex." Alex smiled sadly at Harper.
"California isn't what changed me." Harper's lips quirked into a half smile.
"I know." Harper ran her fingers through her hair and before continuing.. "If it's really bothering you so much, maybe you should talk to her. But not just an 'I'm sorry I yelled at you, let's go back to acting like we never met.' deal, okay? Really talk to her about everything. And if she had a good reason for leaving, then, maybe you can apologize." Harper said bitterly. "And if she doesn't have a good reason, find your New York City Alex side again and politely tell her to fuck off."
Alex smiled at Harper. She knew this wasn't easy for her. Harper felt every twist and bump of the emotional rollercoaster Alex was thrown onto after Sonny left, she couldn't blame Harper for being mad. Alex knew she'd beat the living shit out of Zeke if he ever pulled anything like what Sonny did, but still. She couldn't stop thinking about the look on Sonny's face that day.
Alex slid out of her side of the booth and into Harper's, wrapping her arms around her best friend in a tight hug. "Thank you, Harp."
"Anytime, Lex." Harper replied, resting her cheek on Alex's head for a moment. "But I don't mean that literally. Don't get sucked into a Sonny-vortex of doom again." Alex snorted and let go of Harper.
"I won't! I'm not crazy."