Where We Belong

Seattle

It has been a terribly long week for Harper already and it is only Wednesday. As she limps towards the parking garage to fetch her car, she replays the events of the last several weeks in her mind.

She had just recently moved to Seattle from New York City which was a place that she had spent most of her adult life. She cannot pinpoint the exact moment she realized she had outgrown it, but she knew if she stayed there for much longer that it would start to feel more and more suffocating. In Harper's mind, leaving to find a place where she can start over was a perfectly sound decision and because she had never felt any attachment to The Big Apple, it was not a very difficult decision to make.

Skylar, who is Harper's one and only close friend, could not be convinced at all that the idea was a good one so she refused to help Harper with any travel arrangements or the packing. It takes about a day and a half for Harper to notice that as she was packing her things up into boxes, Skylar was stealthily unpacking the boxes she has already finished. Luckily, Harper's lack of emotional attachments meant that she had very little to pack in the first place, and she was able to fit everything that she wanted to take with her in four good-sized boxes.

Harper remembers on her last morning in New York, she and Skylar decided to have breakfast together at their favorite coffee shop. It was a very nice Spring day so they opted to sit outside on the small patio which also gave her the chance to take in the sights and sounds of the city one last time.

As they both reached for the last bite of an order of French toast they were sharing, Skylar quickly, and annoyingly, pulled the plate towards herself playfully. The quick motion caused Harper to react instinctively by reaching out further nearly knocking over the two glasses of water on the table.

"Hey! You could at least let me have the last bite just this once seeing that I won't be back here for awhile." Harper says, a hint of irritation in her voice.

Skylar considers the plea and eventually pushes the plate back towards her friend.

Harper smiles triumphantly and reaches her fork out again but just as she is about to grab the last piece of syrup-coated toast, Skylar seemed to have changed her mind and quickly stabbed it with her fork. Without pause or a second thought, she put it into her own mouth.

Harper balled up the napkin that she had in her hand and threw it at her best friend. "Sky, you're such an asshole."

Skylar unfolded the napkin, wiped her mouth off with it, and grinned at Harper. "It's not my fault that you won't be back here for awhile." Then she frowned. "You could just stay, you know."

Harper shook her head, "Sky...I just..."

Skylar, however, does not let her finish the sentence, "Yeah, yeah, you just need something different. Or something more than this." In her frustration, she motioned upwards with both arms in air. "Whatever the hell that even means. I just wish that you could try looking a little bit harder for that here. There are plenty of eligible men and women in this city, Jace."

Harper was now more than just a little irritated when she replied, "You know damned well that isn't what I mean. I'm not looking for a new relationship. I haven't gotten over the last one and anyway, a new love interest isn't going to magically make things right. It isn't going to make me feel like I belong here or that I should stay."

Skylar frowned. "I just don't understand! Especially if this isn't about Wes. You have such a good thing going for you here and I feel like you're throwing all of that away. You were doing so well. You finally found steady work and you just got your own place after ending that toxic thing you had going with him. I guess I just keep assuming that you did feel like you belonged here. You know that I certainly think you do."