The thing about Burn's apartment was that it was designed for one person in mind. One bedroom, one bathroom. He was going to let her sleep on his bed while he was on the couch, but Fizz was stubborn and convincing enough. They both slept on the same bed.
She teased him that her bed was more comfortable to sleep in, but she didn't mind sleeping in his bed. She was comfortable to be sleeping next to someone again—something she took for granted when Ed was still living with her. He was kind enough to make the room colder for her likings as long as he had heavy blankets on his side of the bed.
No matter what bed, her red hair instantly got messy and lay everywhere. Her hand lay on his chest. If his loud snoring didn't tell her she was sleeping with Burn, her hand on a very soft shirt would.
She had time to reflect on his words. Also she had time to think, to remember, to idealize.
Brandon found out a lot of information to add to his personal investigation, but he didn't know how much his meddling had opened Fizz to new ideas as to how Ed's destiny could change.
Yes, she was being selfish wanting Ed to stay on Earth forever with her and their friends. Yes, she knew that she was sounding like a kid demanding for anything and anyone to stop Ed's destiny. Yet… there was something to Ed's story and her mind's equation of events that gave her some hope.
Bedlam.
Fizz really didn't want to go to the wedding. She'd just be there for appearances rather than enjoyment. She'd just be there to see her mom once again. She wondered why she hadn't seen her mom as much as before… and she couldn't find an answer to it. She could go back home and visit for the weekend. Her mom wasn't overbearing; she was serene and full of life—her complete opposite, she thought.
Maybe next week, she should go back home for a visit… The calm before the storm.
The redhead groaned out loud in the car. No matter how many times Burn and Loogie have tried to distract her from those ill thoughts, she continued to stress over Bedlam's signature. They promised her a reunion to see the best way to tackle the situation. The best course of action at the moment: relax… something she had forgotten to do for a few years. She didn't notice that she groaned once again in frustration.
"Why are you such a child?" Burn inquired.
"Child, twenty-two; no dif there!"
"Hey, I can leave you over there so they can babysit you," he teased.
She groaned.
"Your fault, not mine."
Why was she there for other than her mother and a couple of drinks with a good friend? Oh yeah, her mind wandered once again to appearances. Her original thought when she made this plan was that her extended family would question about her love life. It really shouldn't matter to them how and with whom she lived—it didn't rate her success at all!
It was then she remembered a question that was just as bad. She groaned once again.
"I'm fucking turning this car around."
"They're gonna ask me about my job!" She put her hands over her face. "They're gonna expect me to be a corporal head or something."
"Now that's dumb, Fran! Why would they expect that? It takes decades of corruption to do that."
She laughed at that comment, lifting her tension ever so slightly. "People set child geniuses on outrageous standards. We don't age well at all," she explained. "My parents really didn't push or encourage me to that extreme lifestyle. They just let me be me and whatever happened… happened." She paused. "I'm no prodigy, I'm a normal lowly engineer fighting for a permanent spot to get a better pay. People tend to forget that—"
"You're human," Burn repeated his words from yesterday.
"I'm glad you're smart enough to figure that out."
The car stopped. They had arrived at the venue. "You're smart enough to hang out with a guy who knows that you're more than just smart."
"Fucking flirt."
Fizz got out of the hovercar first. She walked slowly to get accustomed to her ivory pumps on uneven ground. Her matching knee-length knit sweater dress hugged her pear-shaped figure. She fixed her off-the-shoulder neckline before she combed her long hair once more with her hands. Other than her outfit, the thing that in her mind made look formal was that the left part of her bangs were moved to the side by three golden bobby pins.
Burn came to her aid and she grabbed a hold of his right arm. She was sure he had never worn that black tuxedo before. He always looked good, but she didn't know he could look even better. That rain check was coming soon.
The venue was a big white-painted wooden beach barn that rested over the sand. It was decorated with golden ribbon around the giant door. There were many guests already inside talking to one another. In front of the door waited a redheaded woman—almost the exact replica of Fizz with the exception of hair length and thickness. She wore a long baby pink satin dress to mildly successfully hide her white flat shoes.
"I'm just gonna apologize in advance for what anyone says," the inventor said as she got her footing on somewhat even ground.
"At least your mom is cool."
"She's the coolest dork you'll ever meet, that's for sure."
"Second coolest. You're the first."
"How dare you," she groaned as Burn mischievously ran away towards her mother. She walked ever so slowly as she witnessed them interact.
He saw her holding back a laugh as he approached her. "Please save me from your daughter. I complimented her and she freaked."
"I didn't know it was you!" She hugged him tightly. "It's been so long and you've gotten so big! How are you, Brandon?" She held him by his arms.
"I'm good, helping Fran out. And how have you've been? I haven't seen you since that seminar you gave in PCU."
"That small talk… isn't helping me... at all!" Fizz gasped as she finally reached them. "Whose bright idea was to have a beach wedding?"
Her mother walked up to the inventor and gave her a loving and warm embrace. She needed that after the strange and chaotic week she was having. The older woman grabbed her by the neck and passed her hand over her daughter's hair. "I thought you were low-maintenance."
"I'm growing it out for the holo-solid prototype."
The older redhead touched the other's back neck and felt a slight bump—a muscle knot. "And why are you so tense? You're not the one getting married." She side-eyed Burn, to which he noticed and tried his best to avoid the mother's green stare.
Fizz didn't answer, but her facial expression said it all. She was nervous about something. Sienna Roche just wondered if it had to do something with her daughter's behavior these last few days. Was Brandon her love interest? More importantly, did he know she had a crush on him?
"Can you leave me and Cissy alone for one second?" The younger redhead looked at her in shock. No matter what, she mostly despised that nickname; and Brandon learning that was going to destroy her image. She turned towards the man.
His amused face was holding out a laugh. Oh, her tirade was over. "Sure!" He took off to the corner of the barn. The last gesture she saw was him getting out his phone from his pocket.
"So have you told him yet?" Sienna asked as she held her daughter's arms in support.
She didn't know how to explain her situation—how it was a weekend fling or that she hadn't gotten over Ed—so she was short and to the point. "Yes?"
The most perfect answer Frances Roche could've ever given.
"Then what's the problem? You weren't like this when I called last weekend."
"I'm just stressed out, Mom. Everything just crashed in on me at once." She grabbed her mother's arms, so she could see a fake flicker of confidence. "I'll be fine."
She knew her mom didn't buy her mildly confident tone—she was no Burn.
"If you ever need anything, just let us know. You know your dad would fly down in a nanosec for you." She let go of her daughter once she realized in her tone she wanted to work this out on her own. Ever since she was a child, Frances would always have this independent and stubborn aura around her.
"Just tell him to stop showing me food and start bringing 'em back here."
"Maybe write back every so often, Cissy."
"Stop it, Mom!" she groaned.
The air conditioner hummed softly as she turned in bed. Black strands of hair shifted ever so slightly to her movements. The white bed sheet and her dusty pink blankets were wrapped around her ever so comfortably. The pillow was chilled and fluffed up.
The perfect catnap.
The group chat's ringtone pinged loudly four times throughout her room. Sarah swore that Brandon had some form of psychic ability to know when she was napping. She knew they both didn't get along back in the day, but this was just ridiculous! Her hand flared around her side table trying to feel the cold device. When she felt the rectangular device, she grabbed and glared at it.
"Burn: guys
Burn: GUYS
Burn: I DID IT!
Burn: Fizz ain't a menace anymore!"
"Deets: Asshole, I was sleeping!"
"Loogie: what did u do?"
Deets took notice that four people were reading the conversation. What she didn't notice right away was that the fourth person wasn't Fizz at all.
"Burn: I uncovered the tyrant's weakness and I WILL exploit it for all it's worth."
Sarah rolled her eyes in amusement. It was then that she noticed it.
Ed was viewing the conversation in real time.