Val and Oli came to us and said that Tibi went mad when he discovered I wasn't in my room. The girls tried to cover me up saying I was in the shower, but after two hours Tibi realized I wasn't there and he told them to pack my luggage which they didn't. When we were speaking like this Celine and the rest showed up. We told them everything and because it was now OK for me to go anywhere I wanted we went to Paris and we took the twins with us. Celine, Kian, Amy and Mark had been rollerblading all day long. The lads even bought blades for themselves. We thought we would have fun if we'd do the same so we went to Celine's place and then to Amy's to pick up another blades for Shane and me coz the twins didn't want to skate.

After that we went to Trocadero. I wasn't sure about skating when I saw all those guys jumping and turning in the air. It was too much for me. But Shane convinced me to put the roller blades on after all. He wasn't a good skater either so we could learn together. Celine was great! And Kian kept on repeating the same phrase:

"Isn't she great? Isn't she great?"

"Are you in love mate?"

"Yes, Shane, you're not the only one on the planet. You were right, it's a great feeling."

I was feeling pretty courageous and tried some tough stuff and when Celine told me to try a jump I accepted immediately.

"Ladies and gents, you'll see elephants flying without wings today!" I said smiling.

"Only bears. Are you sure Lee?"

"Yes, Shane. I'm feeling crazy tonight."

"Be careful, OK?"

Celine explained me what to do and how to keep my legs in the air and then I went for it. I was doing fine until the landing. I fell pretty bad and I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder.

"Oh God! Lee! Are you OK!"

"Shit! NO! Aaaah! It hurts!" I said looking to my shoulder.

"Let's go to a doctor."

"Aaah, it hurts so bad! I think it's broken!"

We went to the nearest hospital and the doctor told me my shoulder was dislocated. He put it back and that hurt a lot more and then told me that I wasn't supposed to move it for two weeks. What was I going to do? I had concerts. Tibi would have been so satisfied to see me like that…

We got back to the hotel. Shane talked to Mark and Kian and he asked them to change their hotel with ours if that was possible. They went to speak to the manager and they found a room. Then they came to my room and told me they were going to check out from their other hotel and then come back here. Celine stayed with us coz she intended to spend the night at the hotel hopefully in Kian's arms. But Amy left with them after she said good-bye and promised to come and see me the next day. Shane said they'd be back as soon as possible.

"Lee, he's incredible!" said Oli.

"I know Ol."

"It's so obvious that he's deeply in love with you. It must feel great. He's gorgeous and intelligent and caring."

"Yes he is the best. I don't want it to end. Why couldn't he be Romanian?"

"Coz he's Irish and proud of that!" said Val.

"You're right. Our guys back home are different."

"I'm so happy for you Lee. You deserve the best, you're a great gal. And you're our bird-mum too" said Oli hugging me.

They loved to call me like this since I first told them I was the bird-mum. They were freezing one day and I called them to come into my arms, 'under the protective wings of the bird-mum'. So whenever they wanted a hug they'd call me like that. Only that this time the bird-mum had a broken wing and she wasn't able to hold them anymore. My shoulder hurt like hell, but I was trying to ignore it only that it was pretty hard. I heard a knock at the door. It was Tibi. Val asked him in. He had a sad puppy's face.

"Hi Lee, how are you? I heard you got hurt."

"And now you come to tell me that you were right."

"No. I came to apologize. I was a pig back there, only that I got used to having you around and now you found better things to do. That hurts. So I'm sorry. Can we be friends again?"

"Sure Tibi, come here" and I gave him a hug. "It's OK. I know you need me to be around only that I found this guy and he seemed to be the character of a fairy tale. He's just great and, Tibi, he really loves me and cares for me. I don't know how that happened, but it did and I'm overwhelmed."

"I'm happy for you, you deserve the best!"

"I was just saying that the moment you knocked at the door" said Oli.

"And we are both right. She's our best girl and we need her."

He was right. They needed me especially when it came to technics coz I was a natural born talent in discovering technical problems. I didn't have any background in that area, but I was always getting good ideas concerning that kind of problems. The door opened and Shane came in.

"What's he doing here?"

"Listen mate, I wanted to apologize to Lee and to you for being a heartless bastard. I don't know what got into me. So, can we get over it?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry for hitting you earlier, but I was really upset."

"It's OK. I deserved that. Lee, you can rest for the next two weeks, you won't be getting on the stage. You're free to do whatever you want, but we'd be more than happy if you'd be in the concert hall."

"But Tibi…"

"No buts."

"Here you go again."

"For real now Lee. You have no business on the stage with a dislocated shoulder. OK? But you can help us around, you're always welcome."

"Thanks man" I said giving him a hug. "Ah, watch my shoulder!"

"Sorry…"

He shook hands with Shane and then left.

"Our room is down the hall, so I'll be close to you. You can call me if you need something."

"It's OK for you to stay here Shane, we'll go to Sid's room and if she doesn't want us, we'll find another room, don't worry."

"You're sure, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable with all this?"

"Shane, stop worrying about us. We are fine."

"OK then. I'll go and pick up some things."

"I'll go with you Shane" said Celine. After that she leant over and gave me a kiss on my cheek. "Take care of you, Lee" and they left the room.

"Girls, I don't know how to thank you for doing this for me. You're the greatest and I hope that one day I'll have the chance to pay you back."

"We love you Lee and we want you to be happy."

"I love you too."

"We leave you now. Behave yourself, OK? Be a good girl!"

"What could I do with this?" I asked pointing to my right shoulder.

"Shane is feeling alright, isn't he?" asked Oli winking and with a pervy smile on her face.

"Ol, get out!"

"Have fun!…"

I was alone now. I got up of the bed and I ran my fingers through my hair. It was greasy and I decided to wash it. So I took my shampoo out and a towel and turn on the water at the sink. I leant over the sink and tried to wet my hair using only my left hand. Then I poured the shampoo on my hair and I started rubbing it. It worked just fine until I got to rinsing. I wasn't able to rinse the right part of my head. I tried real hard, but I didn't succeed. I burst into tears and sat on the bed. I was so helpless now. Shane found me in tears with my hair full of shampoo.

"What happened sweetheart?"

"I'm so helpless, I can't even wash my hair."

"Oh, poor Teddy Bear. I'll help you, com'on" and he grabbed my left arm taking me to the sink.

I leant my head over the sink and I felt his soft hands on my head. He turned on the water and he slowly rinsed what was left of the shampoo and then put some other shampoo on and massaged my head's skin. It was so great and I felt my knees weaken. Then he rinsed it again and wrapped it in the towel.

"Here you go."

"Thanks… You're a doll."

"Your welcome… Lee?"

The passion could be seen in his eyes. What was happening between the two of us was above my will. Everything was separating us, our lives and although nothing was more important for us than the passion we felt for each other. I wanted him. I wanted him with a force and violence that made me dizzy. Tomorrow had no importance for me. I was counting only on the thrilling pleasure of being with him, the pleasure of holding him next to me.

"Lee, do you know how much I love you?"

"Oh, Shane…"

We stood in front of each other and then we started to kiss and kiss and then he started to unbutton my shirt. Was Ol a medium or what? I stopped him and I asked:

"Are you sure? Are you well prepared for what you're about to see? I know it's not a very lovely sight…"

"Would you stop? You're spoiling the moment. Can't you be romantic at least once in your lifetime? I love you! Oh, that's sounds so much like a line… I should be the one to ask you if it's OK with you" and he continued kissing me.

"As long as it's OK with you."

"No problem."

"Watch my shoulder…"

"You're spoiling it again" he said while pushing me towards the bed.

He took his shirt off real quick and then gave me a conquererly kiss. Till that moment I had been paying attention to all the sensations he was giving to me. I had let him take the initiative. What happened next was the best time of our lives, of my life at least. He was so gentle and kind and sweet and did nothing to hurt me. He kept on looking into my eyes asking unspoken permission for everything he was doing. Everything went so well that at one moment I thought I touched God's foot. We made love and then fell asleep, we woke up again to hug one another, we whispered tender words to each other and then we slept again. The love we had found was no whim. It was true, it was real and full of meanings for both of us.

I opened my eyes. The morning sun was shining shyly. I reached my left hand and felt somebody's soft skin. I remembered that Shane was there and remembered what had happened. It was for real, it wasn't a dream. Tears of happiness filled my eyes and I let them roll on my face. I hoped that something heavenly like this would happen, but I didn't expected it to come so soon. I wasn't sorry about that, I was feeling something that not even the words of the greatest poets could describe. I was living for Shane then, I was living for the one I loved, I was loving him more than love itself, I was giving myself to him without waiting for something in return, I was loving him as the night loves the day, I was loving him ready to die because of love. If I was to die then I would have died happy. Nobody had ever given himself to me that way, so complete and a pleasure like that had never been given to me. Shane was like a magician that made me discovered new horizons whose existence I'd ignored until then. And how could I have forgotten this new, overwhelming happiness that I owed only him? He probably felt I was watching him coz he opened his big eyes and watched me with a smile on his face.

"Hello bear…"

"Hello my life…"

"Why are you crying? Are you sorry for what happened last night?"

"Not in a million years!"

"Then what's the matter?"

"I'm happy! I love you so much. I finally love a guy and I'm happy about that."

"I love you too Teddy Bear. Oh, come here…" he lifted his arm and pulled me close to him.

I was feeling so safe… I was begging God not to steel this wonderful moment from me.

"How's your shoulder?"

"Still hurts, but I'll be OK. It will pass until I marry."

"Definitely!"

"I wasn't trying to say anything, it's only an old saying."

"Would you like to get married?"

"Sure, someday maybe."

"Any kids?"

"I'd love to have a little boy, blonde, with big brown eyes."

"I could handle the big-brown-eyes part…"

"It wouldn't just work for me. He has to be blonde" I said without him seeing the huge smile on my face.

"Really? Is that so important to you?"

He was taking me seriously and I couldn't hold my laugh so I burst in that moment. He understood I was joking.

"What about a name?"

"Why Shane? Are you pregnant?"

"Nope, just curious."

"I'd like Jordan, even if it's a boy or a girl."

"You don't like Irish names like Shane, Kian, Kieran, Ronan, Cieran?"

"Sure I like'em, but I prefer Jordan."

We were having a serious conversation on marriage, kids, names for the kids when we were ourselves just kids. Realizing that, Shane put an end to it by getting off the bed. He began shaving and I couldn't helped myself not to smile. He felt so macho, such a strong man only because he was over 18. After we washed and dressed we decided to have breakfast together with our friends. We got to the restaurant and everybody was there. We said good morning to everyone and then went to our group. Val and Oli were getting along just fine with Celine, Kian and Mark. I couldn't stop smiling and my girls realized something had happened and they began talking in Romanian.

"So, I was right, wasn't I?" asked Oli.

"About what?" I pretended not knowing what she was talking about.

"About you and the Irishman. You did it right?"

"How can you ask me such a thing?" I said trying very hard not to smile.

"Com'on Lee! You're shining like the sun…"

"Yeah, that's right" added Val.

"OK… You were right!"

"Oh God… How was it?"

"Incredible, but it's not your business. So let's stop and talk in English or they'll realize we're talking about them."

"OK! So Shane, how did you sleep?"

I wanted to kill her. She just couldn't be stopped and not because she was mean, only because she was happy for me. Val and Oli were the two people I had shared my dreams with. They knew I was the hopeless dreamer waiting for the knight in shining armour and now I'd found him.

"Just fine, thank you. And you?"

"We slept just fine."

We continued our meal, but my smile was contagious and at the end everybody was wearing one just like mine. We decided that Paris wasn't completely discovered so we had to go there again. My choir mates were going to have two concerts that day, one at 2pm and one that evening at 9pm. I was happy I didn't have to go with them and I was able to spend time close to Shane, but I promised to go to the last one. We went to get our bags and Celine called Amy and told her to meet us at Notre-Dame.