Chapter 8: Everything Ends
Lightning followed Fang into the bar, and immediately started to freak out. There were three guys at the bar, and she could see a guy in the kitchen doing dishes. There was an attractive brunette at the open cash register, counting the gil.
"Lebreau, here she is!" Fang called out as they drew near. "This is Cl-"
"Lightning." Lightning interrupted the tanned woman, putting out an unsteady hand. Lebreau set the stack of bills back into the cash register and shook the hand offered to her.
"You're right, Fang. She doesn't look healthy at all. You hungry?" Lightning put her head down and mumbled,
"No thank you."
"Nonsense. You look like you haven't eaten in months. Go have a seat in one of those booths, I'll be over to talk to you in a bit. Fang, go tell Gadot we need a cheeseburger and fries." And with that Lebreau went back to counting the money. Fang nodded and patted Lightning's shoulder as she headed into the kitchen. Lightning walked slowly over to the row of booths along the wall and sat, ready to bolt immediately. However, Fang came and sat across from her and she relaxed.
"I thought you died when you didn't come back from the basement." Lightning said in a rush. Fang just laughed and stretched.
"I probably should have. I didn't have enough time to get out before the boiler blew. Shot me through a wall and knocked me out for a few. I hacked for weeks. I'm glad to see you made it. Lightning now, is it?"
"Yeah… I never did find my family, so it didn't seem right to keep the name they gave me." Concern suddenly clouded Fang's face and she took her friend's hand.
"May I?" The tanned woman asked, reaching for Lightning's sweater sleeve. Lightning had a moment of panic, but then it faded as she remembered who she was talking to. She nodded slightly, and Fang pulled up her sleeve. The track marks appeared, large as life and ugly as sin. Lightning looked away. Fang whistled and replaced her sleeve. "Goddammit. I shouldn't have fucking left you. Cl-, uh, I mean Lightning… I'm so sorry."
The two sat in an awkward silence until Lebreau appeared with the tray of food. She set it in front of the woman and sat down next to Fang, who moved over instantly.
"Go ahead and eat, honey." Lebreau said, sweetly. She looked over at Fang, who looked serious. Like, serious, serious. "You ok, chick?"
"Wha-? Yeah, yup. Just… Really, really hungover. Van wanted to drink vodka last night, and after she passed out I killed the bottle."
"Jesus, Fang. You're gonna drink yourself to death one of these days." Fang laughed and stretched.
"Maybe even tomorrow. I'm off, that means it'll be time to do a little day drinking!" Lebreau rolled her eyes and looked over to Lightning picking at her fries.
"It's ok, hon. I wouldn't poison you."
"It's not… It's not that, I'm just…" Lightning didn't want to end the sentence with 'a little high' but that was the truth.
"So, Fang wants me to give you a job. I happen to own a business and I can use the help, so that works out… But, sugar, I can't have you on the junk if you're gonna work here. I've already buried enough friends and employees. Is it heroin? I can get you methadone, but I'm gonna hafta set conditions."
"Such as?" Lightning said, sitting up straight at the mention of her drug of choice.
"You move in with Fang, for one. No drugs, for another. Don't get me wrong, drink all you want and smoke all of the weed you want- after work. I mean real drugs."
"Move in with me? What if Vanille doesn't-"
"Shut up Fang. Does Vanille know what you two went through?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
"Then she would never turn her away." Fang thought about it and nodded. "Does that sound acceptable to you, darling?" Lightning looked at Fang.
"It's up to you, love." Lightning turned her gaze back to Lebreau and nodded.
"Fang, take the day off. Get her settled, and don't you dare drink until she's safely in your place. Go, finish your drugs, and if you ever buy any more we're done. I hate to be so stern, but Fang's told me what you lived through. That's enough trauma for one lifetime." Lebreau stood, and patted Lightning's arm. "It'll get better. Fang's been looking for you for years. So, I'll have Fang get you a to-go box for that, and I'll see you both here at 2 pm Thursday. Take good care of her, Fang."
As Lightning and Fang stepped out into the sun, Lightning observed that this day seemed… Prettier than any other ever had. Prettier than any day had a right to be, really. Fang put her arm around her long lost friend, and guided her down the street to where she and Vanille lived. Lightning smiled for the first time since… Well, in a very long time.
They got inside the apartment and Fang took Lightning's burger and stored it in the fridge. Lightning began to take a slow circuit of the living room, scoping out the knick knacks, the shelves of books and DVDs, and the girly magazines that littered the coffee table. Fang stretched and watched Lightning look around.
"This is it. Home. I hope you don't mind the couch… Vanille's room is over there, my room is over there, and the bathroom is in the middle." Fang said, gesturing at the hallway. "Would you like to get anything from your place? I'll go with you. Lebreau told me not to drink until you were settled, so… We should do that first. Drinking is… how I cope." Lightning met her eye after hearing this and understood. She strode over and wrapped her arms around Fang's waist and hugged the older woman.
"I just have some clothes and a blanket. Maybe some coffee mugs. It doesn't sound like I'll need my syringe." Lightning tried to end on a joke, but it really wasn't funny. Fang ruffled her hair and said,
"Well, lead the way, sunshine."
They walked across the city and into Lightning's shithole apartment building, up the flights of stairs and into the apartment itself. It was dingy and spartan in comparison to Fang and Vanille's place. Lightning held the door for Fang to enter, and they took a second, just looking around. This, of course, means Fang was looking around and Lightning was staring at the floor. With a sigh Lightning walked into the bedroom and threw her inadequate wardrobe into a backpack, and set the backpack in a clothes basket that she then filled with her sheets and blankets as she stripped the bed. Fang leaned against the doorframe, watching. "Need anything from the kitchen?"
"Um… Do you have coffee and filters? I assume you have a pot…" Fang laughed.
"Yes, we have all of that. And toiletries, and shampoo, and conditioner. All things that are good, ya know?" Lightning threw a pair of walking shoes and a pair of boots into the basket, then nodded.
"Then, I suppose we're probably done here." Lightning hefted the basket to the door and looked around again. Fang pointed at the counter across the room.
"Were you going to do that?" Lightning looked over at what she was pointing at. It was a burnt, bent spoon and a mostly empty baggie.
"I… I don't…" Fang laid a hand on her arm to stop her sputtering.
"It's ok. You don't need it. Let's just go." Lightning nodded, and then pulled open the door. Fang grabbed the basket.
"You don't have to-"
"It'll be fine, Light. Lead the way." She nodded again, and they left the apartment without locking it. Lightning pulled her key from her pocket and left it in the lock. They left.
An hour later Fang opened her first beer of the day, from a 30 pack of cheap cans that she bought on the way back home. Lightning had protested as Fang set the box in the basket and continued to carry everything, but Fang wouldn't relent. Fang offered Lightning a beer, and she accepted it before shyly asking if it was good. Fang snorted in response and took a hearty chug from her own beer. Lightning popped open the can and began to drink like Fang, before grimacing. Fang cracked up, then slammed the rest of her beer.
"Never had beer before?" Fang asked her.
"No… is it all this… awful?"
"Well, yeah. It's an acquired taste." Lightning looked over the can with an apprehensive look, and then took another sip.
"How does one acquire such a taste?" She asked, grimacing again. Fang hopped up as if awaiting this very question, and grabbed her empty can from the coffee table. She disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a deck of cards and five more beers.
"We are going to play a game. Would you like me to get you a bucket?"
"Fang- I don't… Know… What kind of game?" Fang smiled at this (mischievously) and pulled out her phone. After hitting a couple buttons and typing, she hit one finally button and set the phone down on the table.
"We'll start with Circle of Death. It's not as rough as Asshole, but we need at least three people for Asshole." And so began Lightning's first day at Fang and Vanille's place.