Chapter Ten: Moon Upon a Stick

It was nearly dark when Chad dropped Sonny off in front of Tawni's uncle's house, pointing off to the side at a small trail. "Just follow that. It'll lead right down to it."

"And you're sure she'll be there now?"

"Yeah, she wouldn't head inside until late. Close to midnight probably, maybe even later with light from the full moon," he shrugged. "Are you sure you want to be there right now?"

"Tawni does stupid things when she's left alone for too long."

"Yeah, but if she wanted to talk to you, she'd have answered her phone."

"Why did you drive me out here if you didn't want me to talk to her?"

"I don't care if you talk with her or not, I'm just... I don't think she wants to talk. I told you where she was so you wouldn't worry. And I brought you here because you wanted me to. Doesn't mean I think it's a good idea. Tawni's a piece of work all around. Better to avoid getting caught up in it."

Without replying, Sonny turned and made her way toward the trail on the side of the house. She moved slowly, squinting to see any obstacles in her way in spite of the descending night. But it was a pretty clear footpath and, just as Chad said, it led down to a small, sandy clearing overlooking the ocean. Tawni was sitting in the middle of it, on a blanket, hugging her knees to her chest and staring out over the dark sea.

Sonny stepped quietly onto the sand, about six feet behind the blonde girl now, and stopped. "Tawni?"

Startled, the other girl twisted around suddenly, and though she couldn't see it, Sonny could actually feel the glare on her face. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I- I wanted to make sure you were OK," Sonny tried, taking a step closer.

"Chad," Tawni muttered under her breath, whipping out her phone and quickly sending a text.

Moments later, Chad's phone let out a small chime indicating a received text message. He glanced down at the screen: "Motherfucker."

He laughed to himself and started the car. Sonny had made it then, no need for him to stay.

Tawni sighed. "I'm fine. "So, you know, go away."

Sonny frowned and continued forward, dropping down to sit cross-legged beside the other girl. "No. I'm not going to go away."

"There's nothing to talk about, Sonny."

"I'm still not leaving."

Tawni groaned, although she seemed somewhere in between annoyance and...something else. "Fine, you want to talk so badly, we'll talk.

"Ok, well, I just think-"

"We're not going to talk about that," Tawni interrupted. "We're going to talk about sex."

"What? Why? You need to-"

"You need to stop telling me what I need to do. Now, I had this girl over today and we took a shower together and it got me thinking about you."

"About me? You were thinking about me while you were in the shower with another girl?" Sonny was both perplexed and a little proud of this fact. She was also fairly certain Tawni had only chosen this topic because she wanted to make Sonny uncomfortable while she simultaneously diverted the conversation from what really mattered-a killing two birds with one stone sort of thing.

"No, it was just... it was really good, you know? This girl was... just really good. And I was curious. You've only been with Lucy. And she's just...alright... basically, I wanted to know about your best time."

"What? No, that's-"

"Come on, of all the times you and Lucy fucked, which one was the best."

"I'm not having this conversation."

"Yes, yes you are."

"Tawni-"

"Excellent as today's Girl #3 was, my best time was with Maria Delgato, last year, in the fall. We were outside, actually. In a park. She knew her stuff, let me tell you. I met her in the commissary and she told me to meet her at the park down the street. It was around dusk, not many people were out, and we were back in that semi-grove thing. It's not a very big park and there's almost no privacy, but we managed to get by not being seen. At least, as far as I know. Which is impressive because I was pretty loud. I'm not usually. That might surprise you. But I'm not that loud. But I was then. It was too fantastic not to be, you know? She had me pinned up against this tree- I had bruises on my back for days afterwards- and she was down on her knees-"

"Stop! Stop, stop, stop!" Sonny snapped. "I don't want to hear about this. And I'm not going to tell you all about my...experiences with Lucy."

"That bad, huh?"

"What? No. Tawni... I came here to make sure you were alright and to-"

"I'm fine."

"No you aren't. No matter how many times you want to say you are, you aren't. You're lonely and you're scared and-"

"What makes you think you know me so well?" Tawni cut her off, her voice colder than usual.

Sonny didn't respond.

"That's what I thought," Tawni scoffed. "None of you know me. Not really."

"Some of us want to," Sonny mumbled, eyes downcast, staring at nothing in particular.

"Why?" Tawni asked, her voice dripping with disdain. "So you can 'save me'? Make me a better person?"

"No, so I can... know you. I just want to know you," Sonny did her best to sound strong and resolved, no matter how biting the other girl's tone. "I care about you, Tawni. A lot."

This time it was Tawni who didn't reply.

"Why are you so determined to do this all on your own?"

Tawni smirked to herself in the darkness. "I'm a Hart. We don't need other people."

"Everybody needs-"

"No, not everyone. People like you, Sonny. You need other people. You need to bond and cuddle and be all loving with people. I don't. I'm fine. I would have moved out of my parents house in a year anyway, what's it matter that I do it now? I've already found a place. I'm just waiting on my attorney to help me get my money. That's it."

"That's not what I meant."

"I'm staying with my Uncle Charlie until then," Tawni continued. "He doesn't like me bringing girls home. Says I'm too young to be 'tricking'. But he doesn't do anything about it either. And he works late at the bar most nights, so I can have them out of here before he gets home anyway."

"You've been gone one night, Tawni," Sonny shook her head, not seeing how Tawni had already worked out these sorts of details. "How many girls have you had around already?"

"Just four."

"Just four?" Sonny couldn't contain her shock, and slight disgust, though she tried to cover. "I mean, that's... as long as you're OK with being so...free...which you obviously are...what I mean is..."

"I know I'm a slut, honey, you don't need to try and sugarcoat it. I wouldn't have myself any other way."

"You're not a slut," Sonny replied, more because she hated the word than because she had any solid argument against Tawni's self-applied label.

"Whatever you say," the blonde shrugged. "The point is, I'm fine here until I can move into my own place. I'll be sure to call you and the boys to help move my things. Tawni Hart doesn't do heavy lifting."

"We've all refused to do the show without you," Sonny said. "It was Grady's idea."

"The show won't last without me anyway," Tawni scoffed. "I'm the biggest star on it."

"The biggest ego on it, at least," Sonny mumbled, shooting a half-grin at her co-star.

"They go hand-in-hand."

A few moments of silence followed, before Sonny tried again. "Listen, Tawni, I think you should-"

"I don't want to talk about this with you. Or anyone. I'd still rather you leave, but if you're going to stay, be quiet."

Sonny sighed. "Alright. We can just sit here then. I won't say another-" She stopped mid-sentence, again feeling the other girl's glare.

She turned her attention to the sea and was soon transfixed by the gentle rumble of the churning waves below, the comforting sound of that potentially deadly crush, that strange tranquility that the ocean possessed in spite of its overwhelming danger. It draws you in, encompasses you so completely, and drowns you. There's no resistance. No chance. And very little choice. It's a lot like love, she mused.

Several more minutes past before Sonny broke her revelry and turned her attention back to Tawni. She was startled to catch in the moonlight a glimmer, a streak, down the cheek of the other girl. A tear. At least one had gotten away in spite of her better efforts. It struck Sonny as strange that Tawni would cry and whine over the stupidest little things, all the time, and yet, if she was really, truly hurting, she did her best to hide it- she was only ashamed of her tears if her pain was real.

Sonny took a deep breath and wordlessly reached over, grasping Tawni's hand and squeezing it tightly.

To her surprise, Tawni didn't object.

Nearly an hour passed before either girl spoke, or even so much as shifted positions.

"It's getting cold," Tawni's voice was barely above a whisper. "Let's go inside."

Sonny nodded and got to her feet.

Tawni didn't let go of her hand and the two of them made their way up to the house. With her free hand, she made every effort to wipe any trace of her tears from her face before they came in range of the front lights. She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door and let them inside.

"This is a really nice house," Sonny noted.

Tawni didn't answer. She simply pulled Sonny along behind her, leading her down the stairs, down a hallway, and to another door. She opened it. Inside, all the clothes and things she'd taken from her dressing room were strewn about the floor, a few on the unmade bed (who has time to make the bed between four different girls?). She still hadn't bothered to go home and get any of her things left there.

"I'll go to your house and get your things for you," Sonny offered. "I mean, I understand if you don't want to go back there."

Still no words from Tawni, but this time the blonde turned to face her, an unusual look on her face, and let go of her hand at last.

"What?" Sonny asked, wondering if she had said something wrong.

Tawni took a deep breath and closed the door behind them.

"Tawni, are you OK?" Sonny asked, growing more nervous. "I know I'm not supposed to talk, but-"

"I'm fine," she answered, smirking slightly, before her hands shot up from her sides and grabbed Sonny's whole head, pulling the dark-haired girl in for a hard and deep kiss.

Wrestling Sonny's jacket off, Tawni moved the both of them back toward her bed, pushing the other girl down and straddling her before pulling off her own top.

Sonny was out-of-breath and wide-eyed, a little unsure if this was an intelligent decision, but wholly unable to resist the draw, the crush of this overwhelming ocean.