Jane swiped her metro card at the Times Square station and stood waiting for the train that would take her to Penn Station, smiling as she looked at the card. On one of her previous trips into the city, Charlie had presented her with what looked like a deck of playing cards, but had turned out to be a stack of subway metro cards. He'd just picked her up at Columbus Circle. Jane had never seen so many at once, and had looked across the seat at Charlie in amazement.

"Where did you get these, and what are they for?" she asked.

He smiled. "They're for you," he said in pleased explanation.

"Hold on, are these all full?" she asked. At his nod, she began to count them.

"There are about fifty of them, give or take," he said, putting his hand over hers so she'd stop counting.

"And how much on each card?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "I just had Tony buy a bunch of cards and load them up. I think he said he put fifty dollars on most of them, though."

"Oh my fucking god," Jane said, eyes wide. "I'm holding twenty-five hundred dollars in metro cards in my hand? Are you out of your mind?" She turned to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I feel bad that I can't take you home," he said regretfully. "You won't let Tony take you in the car, and I certainly can't ride the subway back with you, so--" he shrugged again, and the way it made his hair curl over his collar made Jane dizzy, in a good way.

She was pulled out of her reverie by the arrival of the train and she stepped on, shaking her head. She'd left Charlie early today, saying she had homework, but she was actually going to the free clinic in Hoboken to get birth control. She hadn't told him, because she felt like saying it out loud would put pressure on him; she didn't want him to think she just assumed he wanted to have sex with her. Sure, he said he wanted to, but who knew?

No, this would be a secret, until such time as he needed or wanted to know. And if that time never came, well, no one would be the wiser.

Jane went to the clinic and took care of business, thanking the government for not cutting funding to Planned Parenthood, then headed home, spending a rare night actually hanging out with her family. Even her father, who was working even when he wasn't working, came and watched Jeopardy! with Jane, Bear, and her mother.

Jane sat next to Bear, his arm around her, enjoying being with her family; she couldn't help think, however, how much more fun it would be if Charlie could be there with them. Jane had obviously never had a boyfriend over, as she'd never had a boyfriend. It made her wistful, and made her wonder what other things she'd missed out on due to her unpopularity with the other gender.

"Janey? You okay?" Bear asked, pulling her in to kiss her hair. Somehow he'd picked up on her mood, which shouldn't surprise her. Bear had always been sensitive to how Jane felt; one of her most cherished memories was of Bear as a toddler, piling his toys outside her room when he knew she was inside crying about being slighted at Kindergarten. She'd nearly killed herself tripping over some legos when she opened her door.

"Feel better, feel better," he'd comforted her that day. And he was still the same, caring brother.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she told him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Lately you seem really happy, like super happy? I figured it was because you got all your college apps in. But tonight, I dunno, you seem kinda down about something. You didn't hear from one of your schools early or anything, right? You haven't gotten any bad news?"

She shook her head as she rose, patting her brother's knee. "Nope, no worries, it's still completely up in the air. Want some cake?"

"Yeah, sounds great. Thanks." He smiled at her, showing the dimples that had been loosening girls' thighs since he was twelve.

Jane received a text while she was in the kitchen cutting the cake, and she pulled out her phone, hoping it was Charlie, but it was from Camilla.

"You up for an adventure in the city?"

"Depending on what and when it is, maybe?"

"Don't be boring! I've got a line on the wrap party for Manhattan Nights!!!"

Jane's heart sank. Manhattan Nights was Charlie's movie.

"IDK, Cam, that sounds really risky, with little chance of success."

"Come on! We haven't been to the city since we had lunch with him!!!! This will be a perfect way to bookend the experience!!!!"

"Okay, stop with all the !!!exclamation points!!! You're freaking me out. And can't we just go see the movie when it comes out? That'll make a nice bookend, too..."

"Jesus! It's not for another month, so I'm going to work on you, Debbie Downer. You haven't heard the last from me..."

Great.

Jane took the two plates of cake and handed the larger slice to her brother, though she could've eaten it herself. She again thought of Charlie. He made a point of including dessert in their activities every time they were together, which was very sweet of him. She wondered if it was normal to think about a boy so much, then decided she didn't give a flying fuck, and proceeded to think about him all night.

He texted her as soon as he finished shooting that night, then again after he got back to his room and showered.

"You in bed, Janey-Bird?"

"Yep."

"What are you wearing??"

"Um, pjs. Why??"

"Um, no reason :)"

Lately, their texting had begun to be very flirty and suggestive, which Jane found unbelievably sexy. She still had trouble believing Charlie found her attractive, let alone sexy, but it made her feel so good and happy that she pushed those thoughts aside.

"Charlie?"

"Jane??"

"Do you really think about me when you, um, you know????"

"Yeah :))))"

Jane stared at her phone for a while, savoring the smileys, before texting back.

"Me too (:"

"??You think about yourself when you 'you know'??!!"

"Wanker. Charlie McAllister is a wanker. It's going to be on the news."

"Sorry, couldn't resist. So, really?"

"Yep."

"Hmm. That's like a whole new level of hotness from the Jane I'm used to, gonna take some time to adjust."

Jane's phone lit up almost immediately with another text from Charlie.

"Okay, I've adjusted. So how about if we do something about all this heat we're experiencing??"

"What do you mean?"

"You know very well what I mean, Jane Bennett Carroway."

"??"

"Why don't we both, um, you know, at the same time?"

"Charlie!!"

"Jane!!"

"okay [whispering]"

"Yes! Yesyesyesyes!!!"

"How do we start?"

"What are you talking about? I'm already finished...what do you think all those 'yes'es were for ;)))"

"Oh, okay, then. Good night."

"JANE!!!"

"Yes?"

"Have you started?"

"mm hmm [sultry voice]"

"What are you doing?"

"Cooking. That's what we're talking about, right? Cooking? Heat?"

"JANE."

"yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm doing what you're doing..."

"Oh, man...are you wearing your pjs still?"

"sort of..."

"What are you thinking about?"

"...kissing..."

"kissing what"

"...you..."

"just kissing?"

"...no...that's what the dots are..."

"Ahh, you're killing me, Jane."

"...that sounds...intriguing..."

"jesus christ"

"...yeah...[lots of moaning]..."

"fuck me"

"...YEP..."

"ohmygod, jane"

"......................"

"really?"

"YEPYEPYEP...uh huh...:))))"

"me too"

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Jesus, Charlie."

"Yeah?"

"Gimme a mo, have to catch my breath."

"Same here."

"Can you imagine if we'd been *Face Timing*??"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?? I DIDN'T KNOW *FACE TIMING* WAS EVEN A FUCKING OPTION!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS A FUCKING OPTION???"

"you didn't ask (;"

"You're trying to kill me. You want me to have a coronary and die. Why??? I thought you loved me?!"

"I do. I love you so much, Charlie."

"I love you, too, Jane. So much."

"Good night, Charlie."

"Good night, Jane."