She watched him lean against the doorway while she comforted their son. The way he stood, so casual and carefree, made her stomach rise into her throat.
"We should go to the park. Weather should hold up." He said in an offhand tone. Before she could respond, Codsworth called from the living room.
Amber awoke with a start. Someone was shaking her from her dream.
"Hey, boss! You all right?" MacCready asked, his dark eyes searching hers, brows furrowed.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." Amber wiped the mix of cold sweat and tears from her face with the back of her grimy hand.
"You feeling okay, Blue?" Piper rounded the corner, three mugs in her hands. She handed one to Amber and a second to MacCready before sitting across from Amber.
"Just...a weird dream." Amber muttered into her cup. She pulled a flask from the pocket of her coat. The smell of the Bobrov's moonshine filled the room. She poured the contents into the mug of Nuka cola Piper had handed her. MacCready grabbed the flask from her before she could put it in her pocket and took a large swig.
"That's coming out of your pay." Amber smirked at him. He scoffed and shook his head.
"You guys headed back to Sanctuary today, then?" Piper stood, gathering her coat and pulling her press cap over her dark hair.
"Nah, I was thinking about checking out this radio transmissions from Goodneighbor. That guy that plays the Silver Shroud radio plays all the time?" MacCready sputtered into his mug.
"I love the Silver Shroud!" he all but squealed. His young eyes lit up excitedly. Piper chuckled and shook her head.
"Well all right, Blue. I suppose this is where we part ways." Piper put her hands on Amber's shoulders and squeezed. Amber is reminded of all the nights that her and Piper had vented to each other. Piper about her father, the stresses of reporting and her worries about her sister, Nat. Amber about Nate's cheating and never getting to face it. Piper had been her first friend leaving the vault.
"Be good, Pipes. I don't think you'll survive a second execution." Amber chuckled and planted a quick kiss on Piper's forehead.
"See you soon, Blue. You take care of her, Merc!" Piper threw a rolled up copy of Publick Occurrence at MacCready. He caught it and laughed before closing the door behind them.
"So you and the reporter, huh? You guys make a cute couple." MacCready was looking at the paper in his hands.
"We're not a couple, Mac. She's just my friend. First person I really got to know since all of this started."
"Since you got out of the vault, you mean?" He held the paper up, gesturing at the article Piper had done on her. She nodded slowly, not breaking her stride as they left the gates of Diamond City.
/not going to recap the game premise/
"So...wow. So this whole thing must be insane for you. I can't imagine. I'm real sorry, boss." MacCready said stiffly as they walked into Goodneighbor.
"No worries, kid. Let's get a drink."