A/N: I know updates have been spaced out with nothing for long periods of time so my apologies, faithful Zarper fans. Things should be rolling along more smoothly. Thanks for the kind words, crazy reviewers. This is for you and I hope you dig it.

A pile of organized chaos sat atop Harper Finkle's favorite table in the sub shop, with the redhaired girl and her best friend Alex Russo sorting through envelopes and cards. Every so often Harper would let out an "aww!" and show the card to Alex, who would feign interest before going back to sugar-snacking.

"Alex, look at this one," Harper requested, though it was more of a demand, sliding a card over before picking up another. The cards were all pretty random, some with messages from Zeke and others with old messages from whoever gave Zeke the card.

Alex was not one to typically take orders - however, she decided to humor her friend, picking up the card and flipping it open. "Heard about the clog incident - next time try square-dancing. Get well soon. Love, Uncle Charlie."

Alex was speechless. Why was that worthy of an aww from her best friend? It was just an old "sorry you got hurt, chump!" card. People used to send them to Justin all the time (and, by the time Alex got done with them, "sorry you got hurt, chump!" was exactly what they said).

"I think it was from when he did 'Peter Pan,'" Harper said, eyes wide as she grabbed the card back from her friend. She hugged it close to her chest as she reflected upon that experience. "He was so good in that role."

Alex was pretty sure Harper was remembering it wrong, but she found it rather cute - in a vomit on the table sort of way - that Harper seemed so enthused by the boy's extracurricular activities.

"Look at you, already pretending he's good at stuff when he's not," Alex said proudly, pushing her best friend gently on her shoulder. She loved relationships based on lies. "You guys are gonna be together for-"

"Don't say it!" Harper quickly interrupted, practically jumping across the table to put her hand over Alex's mouth. Alex's eyes grew wide as she pushed Harper's hand away. She couldn't even ask 'why not' before Harper continued. "You'll jinx it. Just...don't say it."

"Speaking of jinxes." Alex rolled her eyes, head nodding toward the sub shop where Justin entered. He was carrying his backpack and proudly wearing his Alien Language League T-shirt. For a moment Harper was confused, but then her brain - slightly delayed from the shock of the almost terrible words Alex had said - finally caught up with her.

"Are you implying that he's a jinx or...where are you going with that one?"

Alex shook her head. "I don't know, Harper. It was a transition. It felt like something I should say." And with that she stood up, leaving just as Justin walked over to Harper.

It was very convenient, Harper realized, how often they seemed to leave rooms just as others were coming in. It happened at her house, too, but she was sure it was for different reasons.

Justin took a seat where Alex had been, reaching into his backpack as Harper spoke to him.

"I forgot you all had a meeting today," she said, fingers nervously picking up a card from Zeke's 13th birthday. It meant a lot that he had given something like this up. She knew this. "Did you just meet without Zeke? I mean, there are only so many members. Can you really afford to do that?"

Justin's expression clearly showed that he thought the idea of meeting without Zeke was preposterous.

"No, of course not. When he has to work we hang out at the store. Of course his boss comes over sometimes so we have to pretend to look at stuff and then usually we end up buying something." Justin looked oddly excited as he spoke to Harper. It was a friendly conversation, and it felt nice for him to not have Harper's eyes looking him up and down like a piece of meat. "We usually try to make it something related to the club. We bought tinfoil once, like to make the little hats. Not that we think they work or anything, but we like to appreciate the 'culture.'"

Harper just nodded, listening intently to his story, as if waiting and wishing for another mention of Zeke. She was a woman obsessed. She knew this, too. Luckily she got her wish.

"He asked me to give you this, by the way," Justin said, sliding an envelope through the mess on the table. It was only after she picked it up that Justin gathered his belongings to leave.

"Hey, Justin?" Harper had started to open the envelope, but paused as a thought crossed through her mind.

"Yeah, Harper?"

"We're good, right? Like, me with Zeke - this isn't weird for you?" Sometimes Harper still lived in that delusional world where Justin Russo was madly in love with her. He wasn't. She knew this. However, she still wanted to hear that things were good between them.

Justin nodded. "Of course. We've had a very weird, non-existent relationship. You dating Zeke is probably the most normal things have ever been."

Harper placed a hand to her heart, his words touching her. Maybe her brain had filtered out the word non-existent, but either way his sentiments were sweet.

"Thanks, Justin."

With that out of the way he left, and Harper focused once again on the envelope in her hands. She knew she should probably start doing her homework soon, but Zeke Beekerman had given her better reading material than the assignment she had for English.

I know this is completely hokey, and that I just saw you a few hours ago, but I thought I'd write you a note to say that I was thinking about you. I almost couldn't concentrate on the meeting and when a lady asked me where trash bags were I almost told her aisle four instead of aisle two. Hopefully it's still OK if I call you later. I guess if it's not you could always just not answer. I hope you answer, though.

Zeke

P.S. I've included a coupon for hand soap, not 'cause I think you need to wash your hands but because it's a really good deal and they have some scents that reminds me of you. Is that weird? If it is just pretend I didn't write that part.

She hugged the note to her chest, a dreamy expression taking over her face. She had been waiting for years to find a boy who mixed up aisles for her and gave her coupons and smelled things that reminded him of her. She'd watched all of her loved ones with their loved ones and been jealous of their quirky relationships.

Now Harper had her own boy with his own quirks.

Harper hadn't realized how long she'd been sitting at that table in the sub shop, her eyes scanning over happy images and precious words. She'd started separating them into piles based on what they were. There was absolutely no way she could make a dress out of these, but she had other artistic plans in mind.

Zeke Beekerman was the type of boy who got the gears turning in her brain and the creative juices flowing. Now the trick was to figure out how to balance these new project ideas with spending time with him, spending time with the Russos, all of her extracurriculars, school assignments and Alex's overdue assignments.

Recently Alex had asked that she stopped doing the assignments on time. It would look suspicious. She had to give her best friend credit for noticing that.

Harper also had to factor in so many minutes for unscheduled misuse of magic, most likely by Alex. Somehow she got roped into these situations, even when she preferred not being involved.

It was clear that Harper, for the first time in her life, would have very little time to herself. It was a comforting feeling, knowing there were so many people and things to fall back on. She felt safe with her second family.

She was only reminded of how much she enjoyed it there when Jerry came in from the street, turning the sign to "closed" as he did. Had she really been sitting there that long? Harper glanced around - no customers in sight, but that really didn't tell her much. She then glanced at her watch - yep, she had been sitting there that long.

Theresa rushed to meet Jerry in the middle of the sub shop, frantically whispering then looking back to Harper, only to return to whispering. Harper glanced around her, then behind her, as if trying to figure out what they were going on about. What had she done? Was she in some sort of trouble?

She gulped as they walked over.

"Is everything OK?" Harper asked, sitting up straight in her chair.

"We're sorry we forgot your birthday," Theresa said quickly, and Jerry nodded next to her. "If we had known we would have gotten you a cake and thrown you a party. In fact, we're going to do that. This weekend! You can invite Zeke. I heard things are going well between you two."

Harper was unable to interrupt, as Jerry quickly joined the conversation.

"And I'll fix whatever you want for dinner, as long as it's something-" he paused, head whipping to look at his wife. "Wait, Zeke? 'Going well'?" And then his attention was back to Harper. "Are you dating him? You're not allowed to date. No daughter of mine is going to have anything to do with boys, not after what happened to Alex."

"Oh, Jerry! Zeke's a good kid and they're so cute together! We can't stop her from growing up. Besides, I'm pretty sure Zeke's not a werewolf."

Jerry's eyes bugged out. "'Pretty sure'? I don't know, have you seen his hair? He's got crazy hair."

Before Theresa could argue - she was pretty sure Zeke couldn't even grow facial hair, so he couldn't be a werewolf - Harper slid her chair back, pushing herself up.

"Mr. Russo, Zeke's not a werewolf," she insisted, her hands clasped in front of her stomach as she nervously confronted her second father. "And we are going out on a date, if that's OK with you, because I really like him. But I really appreciate you calling me your daughter." She then turned to Theresa, a wave of relief washing over her. Standing up to Jerry was the hard part. Theresa's was just a misunderstanding. "And Mrs. Russo, it's not my birthday. I...why did you think it was my birthday?"

As if on cue Jerry, Theresa and Harper all looked down at the mess of cards.

"Oh." Harper laughed to herself. She loved finding herself in wacky situations such as this one. "No, these aren't...these are from Zeke. It's a long story."

"I don't think I like you having long stories about Zeke, Harper. I think -"

Jerry was unable to finish his sentence, as Theresa had smacked his shoulder, signaling him to shut up.

"Well, I got you a gift anyway," Theresa said, pulling a gift bag from behind her back. "I bought it a while ago, I just didn't have a daughter to give it to." Harper's eyebrows raised. "You'll see."

And Harper did see, pulling a beautiful dark blue dress from the bag. It wasn't too formal, but it wasn't the sort of dress Harper would wear to school. This was a date dress. Harper felt her eyes well up, her hand raising to touch her heart. "Mrs. Russo..."

"I know you usually make your own outfits, but I thought this was really nice and Alex would never wear anything like it and -"

Theresa stopped her rambling as Harper came over and hugged her. "Thank you," Harper whispered, and Theresa ran her fingers through Harper's long red hair.

"You're welcome."

"Hey, I want a hug! I got you a gift, too!" It was why Jerry had just rushed into the sub shop. He pulled a gift card to her fabric store from his pocket, holding it out to her. She took the card, ready to thank him when Theresa interrupted.

"A gift card is not a real gift, Jerry."

"Yes it is. The word 'gift' is right there in the name." He stuck his tongue out at his wife, acting more like a five year old than his true age, then held out his arms. Harper obliged, muttering a quiet 'thank you' as she hugged him.

When she pulled back she held her gifts, eyes wet and grin unable to wipe from her face.

"So, when's the big date?" Harper's cheeks flushed as she felt Theresa's curious stare and Jerry's disapproving glare.

"I'm not sure," Harper admitted. "He's supposed to call soon, though."

"Well, whenever it is, he needs to pick you up here like a gentleman. And I want to speak to him! Check him out, make sure he's good enough for you." Jerry held his head up high - he had to make sure everyone knew who was boss around here.

It was his wife. He knew that, and she made that clear.

"Oh, Jerry! You know him. He's around all the time."

The Russo parents were no longer focused on Harper, turning to walk away from the table. Harper gathered her cards and gifts, listening as they playfully bickered back and forth.

"That was when we met him as Justin's best friend! This is a different situation. We need to make sure he's good."

"Whatever you say, honey."

"Hey, even though it's not her birthday, can we still have cake?"

Harper giggled. If she knew being a Russo meant getting presents on not-your-birthday and having a dad who actually cared about who his daughter was seeing, Harper would have traded in her last name forever ago.

She glanced at the dress one last time before she put it back in the bag. She knew exactly what accessories to pair with it, and once again her creative juices were flowing.