Chapter Twenty-One

I breathe in slow to compose myself
But the bleeding heart I left on the shelf
Started speeding round, beating half to death
'Cause you're here and you're all mine

So I press my lips down into your neck
And I stay there and I reconnect
Bravery I've been trying to be perfect
It can wait for a while

Scared of hope in my head it's been making me sweat but it turns out
You're here with your head on my chest
I should've guessed

The world will turn and we'll grow, we'll learn how to be
To be incomplete

I breathe out now and we fall back in
Just like before we can re-begin
Let your lungs push slow against my skin
Let it all feel just fine

Gone is the emptiness
We just take what's best and we move on
All that the hurt gets left
I should've guessed

The world will turn and we'll grow, we'll learn how to be
To be incomplete
This here now, it's where we touch down
You and me let's be incomplete

I don't wanna look down

I don't want us to break up in the clouds
All I want is to stay us, to stay with you now

And the world will turn and we'll grow, we'll learn how to be
To be incomplete
This here now it's where we touch down
You and me let's be incomplete

The sun was just as hot as the first day she'd stepped out of the vault. Posey closed her eyes and let the rays soak into her skin, feeling the hot dry wind whisk her choppy hair away from her face, brushing it across her neck and shoulders.

"Off for the day, Madam?" asked Wordsworth, hovering just behind her while Posey paused, frozen in the doorway, her eyes sweeping over Megaton beneath her.

"Yeah." Said Posey slowly, tensing her shoulders slightly and rocking on the balls of her feet. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna head out. If Jude comes back, tell him I went to visit Moria."

"Of course, Madam. Have a splendid day!"

Posey paused again, feeling the weight of her pistol present at her hip (both her ten millimeter and her newest find), and Duck and Cover tucked safely underneath her arm. Apprehension made her toes curl in her boots. All her life she'd' wanted freedom to go where she pleased. Now, she was freer than ever. There was nothing tying her down. Nothing to stop her free fall. No anchor. She was just adrift.

"Madam, will you, uh...be going to see Moria?"

Wadsworth bobbed hesitantly behind her, his appendages fluttering about a little nervously, his eyestalk looking her up and down and Posey drew herself up to her full height and said firmly.

"Yes. I'm going right now. I just wanted to..." She shook her head. She couldn't even justify herself to a Mr. Handy robot.

I'm a class A freaking disaster.

"I'll be back," She said tersely and she stepped out, "I won't be long."

She took her time, getting to Craterside Supply. The day was hot, even though it was barely past eight in the morning. She walked slowly, testing the corroded metal walkways in front of her before allowing herself to continue. She couldn't believe that months ago she'd sprinted across these walkways, laughing and chasing after Maggie and Harden. Megaton seemed to be collapsing in on itself. How had this settlement survived for so long? She was surprised a puff of wind hadn't taken the whole place down years ago.

Posey had studied grief before, back in the Vault. Once she'd completed the G.O.A.T. Mr. Brotch had lent her all the physcology textbooks the Vault had to offer. Which was to say, two. One of them was completely full of Vault-tec garbage. But the other had been rather interesting. It spoke of the process of the grief cycle. Of denial and isolation, anger, depression, the bargaining stage, and then, at long last, the peaceful conclusion of acceptance. But she'd never actually had to apply those steps. She'd never had to help anyone through them. No one had ever died in her time in the vault apart from Butch's father and it's not like she'd been invited to the funeral. If there even had been one. And suddenly Posey was choking on something worse than tears and the fragile walls of Megaton seemed to be closing in around her, the heat stifling and the endless sky above her reeling.

She'd left him there. Sealed in the Rotunda with those enclave soldiers and Janice. She'd left Jonas, sprawled and broken on the Vault's floor, and she couldn't remember it but she'd left her mother too. Left her bleeding out and crooning over her child who she would never see grow up. How long until she left it all, out here? She'd barely made it to Megaton's thoroughfare and she already felt like she was going to throw up. Where was Jude? She wanted to see him, needed to see him. Needed to watch as his chest rose and fell, still so stubbornly alive. But what would she even say to him? He'd been so patient, so gentle and so ready to help her through this, but she was sure even he was growing tired. She couldn't blame him, after all she was using him almost as some kind of drug. So much for their burgeoning, healthy relationship.

"Posey?"

Posey flinched, ducking her head and drawing her arms tight around herself to keep the sobs in and whoever was addressing her out.

"It is you!" Cried the voice so exuberantly that all doubt fled Posey's mind as to whom it belonged. "Hey there, stranger! How'd you like that present Colorado and I hauled back to your place?"

"Moria?" Said Posey, squinting up at the woman who was entering in from the Wastes, which was reason enough for Posey's eyebrows to raise. Moria Brown's smile almost split her face in two and she hurried down to meet her at the base of the small incline leading out into the blistering landscape of the Capital Wasteland.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Said Moria, and she said it with such warm sincerity, her eyes shining and her warm hands on Posey's shoulders, that Posey felt something in her go a little wobbly. "Did you like it? The Jukebox?"

"Yeah," Said Posey, clearing her throat and trying to force her mouth into something more like a smile and less like a grimace. "Yeah, it's great. Jude says you've got a lot cool stuff in there."

"And it's about to get even cooler!" Said Moria, waggling her eyebrows and practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Leo is just bringing in the newest find!"

"Leo?" Posey raised an eyebrow, but she heard the doors to Megaton swing open and both she and Moria turned to see Moria's hired Merc, striding into town, wheeling in a-

"A motocycle!" Cried Posey, her eyes widening as she looked from the bike to Moria and back again, "Moria where on earth did you find that!" Demanded Posey, taking a hesitant step backward as the mercenary, Leo, came to a stop in front of them, straining against the weight of the motorcycle to keep it from careening down the gentle slope.

"I am so not getting paid enough for this." Griped the man, but both Posey and Moria ignored him.

"It's nice, isn't it!" Chirped Moria, looking over the vehicle with bright eyes and a wide smile. "I've got a few manuals on mechanics back at the shop, although, I doubt we could get this thing to work again. But it sure'd be fun to try, wouldn't it?"

"But...where?"

"There's lots of motorcycles scattered all over the place." Said Moria dismissively, waving a hand, "But, I heard about a garage a couple miles away from here, and since I'd found those mechanics manuals not to long ago, and they're specifically about motorcycles, I decided, why not, I'll see if I can't find one." Said Moria, looking over fondly at the bike that her Mercenary was holding up. "Crow told me about it, said he'd gone in there looking for scrap and had found a bike. There's lots of motorcycles around, but what he said was interesting was the tires. They're not worn out!" She said, pointing down to the motorcycle and Posey did notice that the tires seemed to be almost pristine, and when she prodded the material, it didn't seem to be brittle.

"This thing has never been outside before!" Said Posey, looking up at Moria in awe. Moria nodded happily, eyes bright and smile almost manic.

"The brakes are missing," she continued, running a hand over the handles, "and lots of stuff has gotten a little corroded and who knows what's crawled up into the exhaust pipe and made a nest in there but the tires are in prime condition! It's amazing, right? And well, I couldn't resist!"

"Yeah," Said Posey, blinking down at the motorcycle in front of her, her lips parted slightly in awe. "That's really incredible."

Moria observed the younger girl carefully, taking in her shorn off hair, and the deep bags below her dull eyes. A frown creased her usually smiling features and Moria said softly, placing a hand on Posey's shoulder.

"Hey, you wanna take it back to the shop with me?" She asked, smiling slightly, and there was certainly less of a manic glint in her eye now. "I've got a work bench set up in the back room, and I bet we can fit this bike through the door. Like I said, I doubt we'd be able to get it to work again but we can tinker with it. Should be fun."

"I don't know anything about mechanics." Said Posey, but she reached out a hand and ran her fingers across the gas tank and a brassy, tarnished plaque that read in big bold letters Triumph.

"Me neither!" Said Moria, "But it'll be fun to poke around! Come on!"

Moria's backroom was unlike anything Posey had ever seen. True, she'd been back there once before, but it wasn't like she was exactly in the state of mind to remember what was happening in her surroundings with 800 rads packed into her system and her cells tearing themselves apart.

It was part junk yard, part workshop, and part laboratory. There was stuff piled everywhere: various tools, half finished projects, piles of scrap metal, and beakers and other glass ware filled with murky solutions, all of which Posey decided to give a very wide berth.

"This is just my workshop," Said Moria, a little sweaty faced from the careful wrangling they'd had to do to get the bike into the back. "The inventory room is a little more... um, organized."

Moria's merc snorted and she shot him a look. "I said a little!"

"Can I see the inventory room?" She asked, "Before we get started on the bike, I mean."

"Oh of course!" Said Moria, perking up at once. "We'll just leave the bike here and come back in just a second."

Moria's workshop had been cramped, a room too small to fit in as much imagination as the owner possessed. Her Inventory room however, was truly a sight to behold. It was surprisingly spacious, considering that from the outside, Craterside Supply didn't seem to boast much floor space, with high ceiling and it had rows and rows of shelving, and, there at least seemed to be some half hearted effort towards an organizational system of some kind. There were rows of ammo boxes, a few crates of food, racks of clothing and so many odds and ends it made Posey's head spin. There were toy cars and teddy bears, kitchen knives and cracked cutlery and Posey thought she saw a glimpse of what appeared to be a Vault-Tec banner strung across the back wall.

"Moria," Said Posey in awe, "Where did you get all this stuff?"

"Well, Megaton brings a lot of scavengers." Said Moria with a shrug. "I don't actually get out of here much, but I've been in the business for a long time. Colorado has always been a steady client, but he's just one of hundreds that scavenge the wastes. There are caravans that come in, and not to mention sometimes people from Rivet City or other settlements come into trade.

"This is..." Posey's voice died in her throat. She couldn't even think of an adjective that suited this. "Impressive." She said at last. "This is really impressive."

"Well," Said Moria shyly, "It comes and it goes, you know how it is. It has it's ups and downs."

Posey didn't know, but she nodded all the same. She fingered a hopelessly tangled wad of bulb lights and imagined how nice those would look strung up along the ceiling of the house. There were a few rickety items of furniture pushed against a corner and Posey could almost see in her mind's eye how it would be to eat breakfast with Jude, sitting at a small, rickety square table, or flop down on the faded blue sofa next to him after a day of scavenging. She also could tell she didn't have nearly enough caps for all of that.

"Should we get back to the bike?" Said Moria, and Posey shook herself, looking from the storage room back to Moria, who was watching her a little apprehensively,

"Yeah, of course." Said Posey, and this time, her smile didn't seem so forced. "Show me all the manuals on mechanics that you've got, Moria."

The first thing Jude noticed when he stepped into the house was the silence. Immediately, the hair on the back of his neck rose and his hand went for his .44 magnum, stuffed into the back of his belt on his utility jumpsuit.

"Posey?" He called hesitantly. No reply drifted back to him and Jude's heart thudded in his chest. "Posey!"

"Ah, Master Jude!"

Jude practically lept out of his skin as Wadsworth, who'd been skulking behind the door chose that moment to speak and Jude lept back, barely restraining his urge to fire into the Robot's shiny, chrome plated surface.

"For the love of-" he cut off, taking a deep breath and Wadsworth shrunk back slightly, his many arms lowered and his eyestalk drooping, instantly docile. "Can't you warn a guy, Wadsworth? I almost shot you! Where's Posey?"

"I do apologize sir," Said Wadsworth, sounding chagrined. How a robot with just a single eyestalk could transmit so much emotion was one of the great mysteries of the universe. "Mistress Posey has gone out to visit Miss Moria Brown of Craterside Supply!"

"Really?" Jude blinked, taken aback. "When did she leave?"

"Shortly after you left for work, sir."

"But it's nearly seven o'clock." Said Jude, raising an eyebrow. "She's been gone for that long? Are you sure that's where she went?"

"Well, that is what she told me, after all." Said Wadsworth, shrugging his many appendages up and down. "And she hasn't returned, so I do imagine she must still be there."

"Yeah, she better be." Said Jude with a scowl, re holstering his pistol and running a hand through his hair. "Or I'll melt you down for parts! Did she at least take a gun with her?"

"I believe she had two guns when she left the premises, sir."

Jude nodded, and let out a sigh, dragging a filthy hand down his face.

"Alright," He said, rolling his shoulders, "I guess I'll go see what she's up to. Hold down the fort, Wadsworth, I'll be right back."

Jude could hear Moria's incessant prattling the moment he opened the door to Craterside Supply, but what shocked him so fully was that there was a wonderfully familiar sound that accompanied it, and Jude felt a smile spread across his face as he passed Moria's merc, who made no move to stop him as he approached Moria's backroom. Posey was still laughing when Jude stepped into the backroom, and he felt suddenly as if he'd let his heavy scavenging pack fall to the floor, although he hadn't worn the the thing for weeks. She was sitting on floor, cross legged, with a thick manual resting on her legs. She was wearing an unfamiliar grey checked, button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled back past the elbow and a worn pair of jeans, with holes starting to show in the left knee. The pants were obviously a little long as she'd cuffed them over her Vault-Tec boots. Moria was flitting about her workbench in obvious distress and Posey said,

"Honestly, Moria, don't apologize. You've done me a favor, giving me an excuse to get out of that old Vault suit. It's not a problem."

"Oh, I'm sorry Posey, I didn't know that my cleaning solution was so...corrosive."

"It's fine." Said Posey, and Jude's felt his lips twitch up in a grin as another laugh escaped her lips. "Would you please stop fussing?"

"When were you two going to invite me to the party?"

Both women looked up at him in surprise, and Jude's smile grew as he watched a very small one twitch on Posey's lips.

"Colorado!" Said Moria brightly, "You might be just the person we need. Posey says you're a pretty handy repair man."

"Depends," He said, leaning against the doorframe and looking down at Posey with a slight smile. "What are we repairing?"

"Just a couple of broken hearts," Said Posey getting to her feet, hefting the manual in her hands. "And this," She motioned behind her and Jude felt his eyes go wide. How had he not noticed before, what Posey was seated in front of?

"Where did you find that?" Said Jude, stepping forward and taking in the bike's sleek lines, the thick heavy tires that would be perfect for Wasteland terrain.

"Long story." Said Posey, setting the book down on the workbench beside them. "But, what do you say, Colorado? Wanna give it a shot at fixing her up?"

"What the hell kind of a question is that, of course I do!"

Posey laughed again at the blatant excitement in Jude's tone and slipped her arm around his waist,

"Easy tiger, you're getting a little too hyped up here. If I didn't know you better I'd say you were excited."

Jude looked down at her and something inside him twitched, seeming to fall back into place and he almost laughed aloud. She was smiling up at him, and even though there were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked so much gaunter, Jude felt instantly lighter.

"Damn right I'm excited, Blondie." He murmured, "You don't think I can get excited?"

"I wasn't expecting such a 'kid in a candy store' reaction from you, I'll be honest." She said with a small smile.

"I think it'll really help out with our research." Said Moria, folding her arms across her chest and gazing happily at her newest find. "Imagine it, you two can take this and zip all over the Wasteland, gathering up my research! This will speed things up, for sure!"

"Once we find some breaks, that is." Said Posey. "I don't really want to have my brains splattered across the Wasteland because we crashed on this thing."

"Minor details." Said Moria, waving a hand. "Motorcycle brakes are easily found. In fact, I know of a place that you might be able to find them! And it'll help with my research!"

Jude barely repressed a groan. "Can we talk about you're mad science tomorrow? I wanna get some actual sleep before we go galavanting off on your crazy quests."

"It is a little late." Said Posey with a smile. "We'll come back tomorrow, and you can give us the lowdown. Sound good?"

"Alrighty then." Said Moria with a grin. "See you tomorrow then! Bright and early!"

"Not too early." Muttered Jude with a scowl.

"Bright and early." Agreed Posey. They turned to leave, but Posey paused, gently untangled herself from Jude and reached out, taking Moria's hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Thank you, Moria." She said, softly. "Thank you for...everything."

Moria looked taken aback at the sudden contact but she flashed Posey a small smile as Posey drew back and followed Jude out the door.

As they made their way back to the Megaton house, Jude watched as Posey took in the pale yellow clouds above Megaton, the barest ghost of a smile gracing her lips.

"You hungry, Blondie?"

"Not really," She said, eyes still transfixed on the sky. "but I bet you're starving."

"I could do with some food. You wanna go to Jenny's?"

Posey simply nodded and Jude noted that her smile was fading fast and he surprised both himself and Posey by reaching out and taking her hand.

Jude never had occasion to consider whether or not he was affectionate. Affection was something far away and forgotten and almost completely absent in the Wasteland. The examples were few and far between but he never thought that one of those examples could possibly be him. Yet, here he was. Holding Posey's hand, right in the middle of Megaton, for all to see.

"What happened to your suit?" He asked, looking over her new clothes, lifting her arm and turning her gently from side to side.

"We were trying to clean the bike up and some of whatever Moria had mixed together splashed across me and just about burned a hole through my chest, so she gave me these."

Jude frowned slightly as he looked from her new get up to her face. She was looking at him a little curiously, with her eyebrows drawn together and her lips puckered in a slight frown. He'd never seen Posey out of her Vault suits, and now with her short hair and faded clothes she looked like a completely different person. Older, sharper, and tired.

"What?" She asked, tucking her hair behind her ear and her chin to her chest a little. "They're just clothes, it's just like what everyone else wears."

"I know, it's just-"

I don't want you to be like everybody else.

"It's just you pull them of a lot better." He managed, forcing his lips up into a smile. "Now come on, I'm starving."

Jude did his best to keep Posey's morale up as they headed back to the house. She'd barely touched the bowl of, whatever it was, that Jenny had offered them, only managing a few bites before pushing it away. So he asked her about the book on mechanics she'd been reading and she seemed happy enough to continue the conversation with that, so Jude listened without really paying attention as she spoke of brakes and tire pressure, of driving chains and wondering aloud if the bike ran on fusion power like some Pre-War cars or would they have to find some other kind of fuel for it to work and while Jude really did find all of it interesting, the only thing he really wanted was to keep her talking, trying to keep her from retreating back into wherever she'd been hiding in the past few weeks.

As he locked to door behind him he heard Posey let out a slight sigh as she settled onto the stairs, leaning back against the wall and watching as Jude pocketed the key and took a seat on the step above hers.

"Have you tried out that jukebox yet?" He asked, drawing his legs up onto the steps and carefully placing his booted feet on the stair below him, in front of Posey's crossed legs.

"Just this morning." She said, leaning her head back against the metal wall. "I haven't tested any of the other tracks yet."

"Do you want to go try out a few? There's got to be some-"

"I don't really feel up to it," Said Posey, drawing her hands through her hair and avoiding his eyes. "I'm sorry, Jude. I love it, but I-"

"You don't have to apologize to me, Blondie." He said, leaning forward and propping his folded arms on knees. He wanted to reassure her, to reach out and brush the falling locks of hair behind her ear, but he stayed firmly where he was.

"You know sometimes I wish you'd get angry," Said Posey, looking up at him with bloodshot eyes, her hands falling limply into her lap. "Or at least a little annoyed with me. Something."

"Why would I get angry at you?" He asked, his fingers twitching slightly as he had to repress the urge to reach out to her.

"For being an idiot."

"You're not an idiot, Posey." Said Jude, giving her a withering look. "You're the smartest person I've ever met."

"If I were smarter I would have found a way to do things different." Said Posey, her bottom lip trembling. She caught it in her teeth, and squeezed her eyes shut, letting her head fall back against the wall behind her.

"Posey," Began Jude, and this time he did reach out and catch her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him, "don't do that to yourself. Don't take yourself down that road because once you do it's not so easy to get out of it."

"I left him there, Jude." She said, her voice trembling just as much as her lips had been doing. "I left him there, alone! I left him behind and he's still there and-" Her voice caught in her throat and she jerked herself away, standing up quickly and wrapping her arms tightly around herself. "I left him behind! I couldn't even give him something like a funeral and he's still there, locked away with those bastards and I-"

"You had to get out of there, Blondie." He insisted, getting to his feet and carefully, as if approaching a wild animal, stepped closer to her, his hands held up and out, an open invitation to step into him but holding back in case that wasn't what she wanted. "There was nothing that you could have done."

"If I could have gotten there faster,"

"Posey, stop!" He snapped, letting his hands fall to his side and straightening up slightly. She'd wanted him to get annoyed, he might as well be obliging.

She looked up at him, surprised at the harshness of his tone. He could feel the frown creasing his features as he stepped in front of her, taking her shoulders in his hands.

"Now you listen here," He said urgently, ducking his head forward slightly so she was forced to look into his eyes. "this has got to stop. You, blaming yourself, has got to stop."

"But-"

"I'm not done." Said Jude warningly, and Posey bit her lip, looking up at him with watery eyes. "You're not doing anyone any favors, thinking like this." He continued, his eyes boring into hers. "And if you don't stop you'll be this way forever. You'll be stuck in this endless cycle of guilt and pain and before you know it years will have passed. You'll be out years of your life! Is that what your dad would want for you?"

Posey dropped her gaze, her breath catching in her throat and Jude felt a twinge of guilt but he pressed on.

"You're dad sacrificed himself so you could keep on living, but this, this isn't living! I know," He took a steadying breath and moved his hands gently to her face, brushing back her hair and forcing her eyes to met his. "I know it's hard. And it's okay to be sad, okay?" He brushed away an errant tear with the pad of his thumb. "It's okay to not be better yet, but you need to at least try. And if you can't seem to try for yourself yet, then at least do it for me. Try for me, okay?"

Posey couldn't seem to speak, she just stared up at him and Jude wondered if he'd pushed to hard, if he'd crossed some invisible line, and the thought of that sent his heart pounding, but finally... she nodded. Jude let out the breath he'd been holding and leaned down, brushing his lips down the glittering track her tear had left behind and he felt Posey melt into him, felt her chest expand towards him as she took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." She breathed into his ear, slipping her arms around his neck.

"Don't be." He murmured, bringing his face level with hers, their noses just brushing. "Don't worry about being anything, for a second."

She closed her eyes and to his surprise, let her lips meet his. She ran her hands through the hair at the back of his neck and arched against him, pulling him tighter, closer, her lips moved from his and pressed feather light kisses along his jaw.

"Posey," He murmured, pulling back for a moment, even though he could feel his nerves thrumming and the places where her lips had been burned white hot. "it's late." She shook her head.

"I'm not tired, Jude. I don't want to-"

He clasped his hands over hers, which were at the collar of her shirt,

"I know what you're feeling Posey," He said quietly, and Jude had to push back the sudden aching in his own chest, the feeling of longing curling into his veins. "you're feeling too much. So you wanna drown it all out. I get it, believe me I do."

"So let me drown it all out." She pleaded, but Jude could see something like shame flash across her face.

"I'll be there for you, in anyway I can, Posey." He said, shaking his head slightly. "But not like this."

Posey looked down and he could see her cheeks flush bright in the faded half light drifting down from the hole in their roof.

"I don't want you doing something you'll regret, Posey." He murmured. "And trust me that you will."

"How do you know I'll regret it? Jude, I..." She looked back up at him and Jude felt that familiar twitch in his chest and he had to bite his lip to keep himself in check. "I could never regret anything with you."

"Because I've been there before. I've done things when I'm hurting and aching inside and out and even if it was something I thought I wanted, I've always ended up regretting it later."

"I'm sorry, Jude, I-"

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, cradling her face in his hands.

"I thought I told you to stop apologizing to me, Blondie." He said, drawing back. "Now come on, if we've got to go off on some errand for Moria, we're gonna need all the sleep we can get. We've got our whole lives ahead of us, Blondie. No need to rush."

She nodded numbly and Jude tugged her up the stairs. To Posey's obvious surprise, he paused at the door to his room and ducked inside, then quickly emerged with his musty mattress under his arm.

"It's your turn to read tonight." He said, awkwardly hauling the mattress out into the hall, "And I don't want to miss out on anymore, but we can't both fit on that rickety old mattress of yours, Blondie."

Posey stepped aside and allowed him to throw the mattress onto the little available floor space and he stretched out on it while Posey sat hesitantly on the edge of her bed, holding A Tale of Two Cities in her hands.

"I thought maybe we could start this one." She said holding it up. Jude paused, tilting his head back and sticking his chin in the air to look up at her from his bed on the floor.

"But we're almost done with To Kill a Mockingbird. Why do you want to start another one? Aren't you curious how it ends?"

"It's been a long time since I've read this." Said Posey, thumbing through the book in her hands. "We can finish To Kill a Mockingbird later."

"Alright Blondie," Said Jude settling down into his mattress, "Whatever you say. You're in charge when it comes to books."

As Posey started reading, Jude let his eyes drift shut, carried of by the warm, familiar lull of Posey's voice in his ear. He was almost asleep when he heard her close the book, and then felt her worm her way into his arms, laying her head against his chest. He obligingly scooted over on the narrow mattress, feeling a smirk slide up onto his face. So much to having a bed to himself. But as he felt Posey's hand curl into the collar of his shirt, he discovered, he didn't mind so much after all.

An:/ So...hi guys...again...it's been a while. But it hasn't been a year and a half so that's good news!

I'm not even going to apologize for the fluff anymore guys. I am a slave to my need for fluff. Fluff fluff fluff and angst angst angst. The two of them put together is my favorite. But, don't you fret my pretties. There shall be some action soon! All in good time. There will also be more fluff and more angst because honestly, what do you expect of me?

This song is by James Bay and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I listen to it and it's a perfect OTP song for all your OTP's out there. Y'all can tell who my OTP is. (is it conceited if my OTP is of my own creating?) Especially if your OTP consist of two sad, slightly damaged people. Which is like almost all OTPS's ever.

Also, guys, please review. Reviews are what we live for. They are the life blood of fanfiction. It's nice to post something for yourself but it's even nicer to know that someone else thought your fluffly trash fic was worth reading.

That being said, HUGE SHOUTOUT TO LATISHA MCPEANUTS! When I saw your review I wanted to cry a little honestly. I'm so glad you've stuck with this story for the long haul. Cuz it has been a long haul, guys.

Well that's all. I love you all and I wish you the best! Happy reading!

XOXOXOXOXO

Living Pretty