The Long Day Is Over

When Harper arrived back in San Francisco to find Bristol sitting in her living room she was surprised. Bristol turned to look at her, and Harper could tell even from that far away that something was wrong. So she set her bag on the kitchen counter, shrugged out of her jean jacket and headed into the living room, dropping onto the couch next to Bristol.

Bristol rested her head on Harper's shoulder and asked her softly, "How was your trip?"

"How was yours?" Harper answered back with.

Bristol shook her head, "No. Tell me about your trip, tell me all about everything that happened."

So Harper told her everything, from the game and dinner in San Jose to Los Angeles and their movie date, their real date, and the kiss goodnight. She told Bristol about how the next day they went for lunch, and then Harper watched the game with a friend of Shea's who was dating one of the Kings players and she laughed about the tangled web of hockey lives yet again. She told her about how she had gone for dinner with Roman, James, and Shea that night, and how Roman had kissed her goodbye the next morning.

"So basically I have no idea where any of this stands." Harper mumbled, and Bristol patted her leg gently.

"Ask him." Bristol told her, and when Harper turned to look at her in surprise Bristol chuckled and explained, "You'll never know until you ask. Just call him and have a conversation about it, lay it all out right now because it's long distance and it will never work unless you're totally honest with each other. Relationships are hard enough Harper, just tell him how you feel."

"What happened Bristol?" Harper asked her, changing the subject from herself to Bristol now.

"I don't want to ruin your post-vacation high. I don't even know why I came here, I just got on a plane." Bristol told her softly.

"Is it John?" Harper asked her curiously, watching as Bristol nodded her head. So Harper asked again, "What happened?"

Bristol let out a sigh, put her head in her hands and told Harper, "We got into a huge fight, probably the worst we've ever had."

This surprised Harper. She wasn't sure she had ever witnessed or even heard after the fact that John and Bristol actually fought. Sure, arguments here and there but nothing major. Harper had always been jealous of Bristol for the relationship she had with John, and just when she thought she might have found someone as great to her as John was to Bristol things seemed to fall apart on the other end.

Harper rubbed Bristol's back gently, and Bristol surprised her by telling her, "I thought... for about five minutes I thought I was pregnant. I'm not by the way. But the minute I thought I was I told him, I thought that was something he deserved to know, you know? He was so quiet, I should have known something was up."

"And?" Harper asked her, she was aware that her phone had just beeped in the pocket of her bag and she knew it was Roman, she was supposed to call him the minute she got in.

"And I took a test, it was negative and John freaked out. I mean freaked out. And I get it, I do, because it's not like I wasn't relieved either but... Harper the way he talked... what he said... it was like he didn't see that kind of a future with me at all, ever. I mean, we've been together for almost six years, I've always thought that someday we'd get married and have a family... I know now would have been a terrible time but I thought someday." Bristol cried, and Harper rubbed her back again as she continued, "So when he stormed out I packed a bag and came here."

"You just took off?" That wasn't Bristol. Harper was the runner out of the two of them. When Bristol nodded Harper asked her, "Does he at least know you're here and alive?"

She shrugged, "I told Steven I was coming here. I'm sure he told John."

Harper let out a breath of air, and she told Bristol, "We're gonna order in, I have a whole shelf in the pantry for snacks I most definitely shouldn't eat and we're gonna eat them. We'll pull my mattress out here and watch movies all night."

When Bristol nodded slowly Harper got up from the couch to order their dinner. She did that, and then she opened Roman's message asking if she got in okay, and she was quick to respond.

Having a crisis, can't call now but I got in okay.

His response came a moment later.

Is everything okay?

John and Bristol got into a fight, she's here. We're having girl time and I don't want to hurt her feelings by ditching her to call you.

Not that I want to hurt your feelings by not calling you either, though.

Don't worry about it. You should take care of her, you can call me tomorrow or something. I'm glad you're home safe, though.

Harper smiled to herself when she read his message.

Thank you, you're really pretty great.

I know. Now go, take care of your friend. I'll talk to you later.

Harper put her phone back in her purse and then she pulled open the pantry and asked Bristol, "I've got Doritos, plain chips, Ho Ho's, a box of Halloween candy and chocolate and gummy bears."

"Seriously?" Bristol asked her with an amused expression.

Harper nodded as she looked over her shoulder at Bristol and told her, "This is my 'I've had a very, very rough day' shelf."

"Hmm... let's start with Dorito's and the Halloween stuff." Bristol told her, and so Harper grabbed the chips, the box of Halloween candy and the box of Ho Ho's before she stopped in the fridge for the carton of fruit punch and went back to the living room.

She dropped it all off on the coffee table before going back to the kitchen for her wallet and her cell phone, bringing them back with her so she had them handy for when the food arrived. She told Bristol, "I ordered pizza. I know it's not New York pizza but it will have to do."

Bristol chuckled and told her, "It's okay, California pizza isn't too terribly shitty."

Harper chuckled and she pulled a Ho Ho from the box, making Bristol laugh. She tore the plastic wrap open, bit into it and asked Bristol, "What?"

"You and those damn things." Bristol said, shaking her head with a laugh. Harper shrugged her shoulders as Bristol grabbed the bag of Doritos and when Harper grabbed her phone when it beeped Bristol asked, "Is it John?"

Harper looked down at it and found that it was, in fact, John, and she told Bristol, "Yeah."

I know she's there, just do me a favor and try to convince her to come home?

Harper went to show Bristol the message but Bristol shook her head and told Harper, "Tell me more about your trip, and about Roman."

Harper knew she shouldn't have let Bristol pretend what had happened hadn't but she didn't have the heart to make her friend hurt even more than she already did so she asked, "What do you want to know?"

"When are you gonna see him next?" Bristol asked her with an enthusiasm Harper had yet to see since she arrived home to find her there.

Harper shrugged her shoulders, "That was honestly never discussed."

"You should text him. Tell him your next set of days off, maybe you can go to him, or he could come to you." Bristol told her, and when Harper shrugged her shoulders she asked her, "What's the problem this time?"

"I'm just... not sure about all of this. Like, I do like him, Bristol, how could I not but... I don't know I guess I don't really understand what he's doing going after a girl like me." Harper admitted softly.

Bristol shot her a firm look and she told her, "Harper do not do that. You look at yourself in the mirror and you see something completely different then everyone around you sees's."

"Yeah." Harper muttered.

"I'm serious. Did you know that the first thing that James asked me when he met you was if you were single?" Harper rolled her eyes at this.

"James is a leper." Harper mumbled.

Bristol chuckled, and she told Harper, "Doesn't matter. He still wanted to know if you were single because he thought you were cute, and then when I told him you were he asked me how someone like you could be single."

Harper's cheeks flushed, it wasn't that she wanted James to like her that way because she never did, but hearing that he asked her best friend that made her feel both a little uncomfortable and a little good about herself. She was a person and she couldn't say that hearing that someone as good looking as James had shown interest in her didn't make her feel good about herself.

Bristol went on, "I know it's hard to see yourself differently, after seeing yourself the way you have been for so long but Harper just once you should try to think about yourself the way we all think of you."

"I guess."

"Would you ever tell me all of the things you tell yourself when you look in the mirror?" Bristol asked her curiously, and when Harper looked down at her lap and didn't answer Bristol told her, "Exactly."

"So what you're saying is that you think I'm crazy to not give this thing a shot?" Harper asked Bristol, and Bristol nodded her head.

"If I hadn't given John a shot, and believe me I wasn't going to, I would have missed out on the greatest guy Harper." Bristol told her softly, giving Harper's hand a squeeze.

Harper grinned and told her, "Sounds like you need to go back to New York."

Bristol chuckled and rested her head on Harper's shoulder again, and she told her, "Tomorrow. Tonight I'm hanging out with my best friend."

Hours later with their pizza finished, and half of the snacks done and they were onto their second movie, Harper's phone beeped for what seemed like the tenth time. She flushed when Bristol looked at her and she said, "Sorry. It's probably Steven, he's been bugging me a lot."

"Well let me just tell him to buzz off then." Bristol said with a grin as she grabbed Harper's phone. She turned it on, looked at the name on the new message list and then handed Harper her phone back and said, "You better answer that, and I mean it. None of this 'I can't talk to a boy because my friends here and her boyfriend sucks.' stuff okay?"

Harper's brow lifted and she hit the home screen button, turning the phone back on to find a message waiting from Roman, not Steven like she had originally thought. She opened the message and smiled.

I know I said I'd leave you alone but I just wanted to let you know that I'm really glad you came to see those games. I know that doing that for someone you barely know is a huge thing and I wanted to say I appreciated it. I'd like to see you again, maybe I could come visit you if we have off days matching. Hope everything with Bristol is okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Harper was unable to stop both the blush and the smile from appearing on her face as she read his message and Bristol smiled watching that reaction. Harper was so glad that he understood the situation tonight, and that he was even showing concern for her friend. She wondered if maybe she was worried about nothing when it came to Roman and whatever it was that they were doing.

- - -

Five days later Harper was finally able to sit down and talk to Roman. She had dropped Bristol off at the airport earlier that morning, and between both she and Roman's schedule's they had barely been able to talk even through text in days. Harper felt bad, they hadn't had the chance to talk about the trip or anything since she had gotten back.

So while she waited for him to call her on FaceTime Harper thought out what she wanted to say.

I really like you but it feels like someone who looks like you shouldn't like someone like me.

Part of me worries that this is all just some really mean joke.

Why would a guy like you be interested in a girl like me?

She knew it wasn't fair to judge him like that, and she also knew she should have listened to Bristol and not been so hard on herself but she just couldn't do that. She couldn't for the life of herself figure out what it was about her that he liked. She wasn't anything unique or special, and Harper really didn't think she was so great that he should want to be visiting her and spending time with her when they lived in different states.

She jumped slightly when her phone started chiming, and she reached over and pressed the accept button. Roman spoke first, he asked her, "How's everything with Bristol?"

Harper smiled gently, it was nice that he cared about her friends, even if he was just asking to be polite. She told him, "Good, I think. She should be back in New York by now."

"Good, good." He stated with a nod of his head. There was an awkward silence between the two where they just didn't really know what to say to each other, and then Roman told her, "I'm really glad you came to our games and stuff."

"Me too, actually. Thanks for inviting me." Harper told him with a smile.

Harper raised her eyebrow when he told her, "So... we have a small break in our schedule coming up."

"Oh?" She asked him.

He smiled, nodded, and told her, "It's only like... two days or so. But I could fly to you really early on the 15th, I'd just have to be back here for the 17th."

"Wait. Hold up." Harper stated, straightening up on the couch. Roman raised his eyebrow and she asked him hesitantly, "You want to come here..."

"Yes." He told her with a smile.

"To see me?" She asked for clarification, and he chuckled.

"Yes, dummy. I don't think I know anyone else in San Francisco." Roman joked and Harper's cheeks flushed.

She told him, "I just... surely you have better ways of spending your off time."

He shrugged his shoulders, "I actually can't think of anything better to do during a few days off than spend it with you."

"So you'd really come visit me for barely even two days?" Harper honestly, despite his numerous clarifications, couldn't believe what she was hearing coming out of his mouth.

Roman nodded his head, "You came to see me. It's only fair."

"That was like six hours, not-"

He cut her off to tell her, "It's a near six-hour flight. We're even."

She sighed dramatically and told him, "You don't have to. Please don't feel like you have to come here."

His brow raised and he told her softly, "I want to come there, Harper. I want to spend every second that I can with you, I want to learn everything that I can about you."