Chapter three: Always Here For You

Prompt: #86 Picking up the pieces

Universe: Modern AU

Rating: T

x

Cynthia groaned, sitting up in bed. She grabbed her head and clenched her teeth at the pounding she felt from within. Never again was she going barhopping with Flint, ever. Damn him, leaving her the minute he saw his old pal Volkner. She thought it was funny then, but then again, she thought everything was funny when she was drunk. Even now, she felt like giggling but restrained herself.

With a start, Cynthia realized something. She was in a bed.

"Uh oh..." she whispered, face pale.

Checking under the blankets, she was relieved her clothes were on, but they were a different outfit than the one she had on yesterday. More comfortable and soft. Looking around the room, Cynthia noticed the bed was pushed against the window, hence the sunlight waking her up. Beside the bed was a nightstand, on which was a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin pills. The alarm clock beside it read one fifty-two.

Smiling, she downed two pills with the water but abruptly stopped, rethinking her actions. What if... this was some crazed psycho getting her to get her guard down? But then she shook her head.

"Nah," she loudly stated to reassure herself, "a psycho wouldn't give me comfy clothes."

She stood up, steadying herself from the sudden wave of vertigo and observed the room once more, noting the vanity against the wall and closet beside the nightstand. It felt familiar to her, but she couldn't associate it to a memory due to the pounding of her head.

Shrugging, Cynthia exited the room and walked down the hall, convinced she was in an apartment. The blonde entered what appeared to be a living room and glanced at the wall, seeing photographs of her with a blue haired woman.

"No way..." she muttered, eyes widening.

Suddenly, the front door opened and the same girl on the picture entered, smiling and laughing as she talked on her cellphone.

"No, no... it's fine, I got it. Don't worry, Flint, I'll take good care of her... Okay, say hi to your girlfriend for me... Oh... that's your mom..." she looked up, saw Cynthia, dropped her phone, picked it up then hung up.

"Cynthia! Glad to see you're awake!" she exclaimed, coming closer and hugging the older woman.

"Dawn..." Cynthia muttered, putting her arms around the girl, "what... what are you doing here?"

"I live here, silly!" Dawn answered, pulling back and giggling.

Cynthia sighed and put a hand to her face. "What am I doing here?"

Dawn rocked back on her feet and gave a wide grin. "Flint and Volkner brought you here after you passed out 'cause they needed someone to take care of you and I fit the bill," she explained, moving to the kitchen.

"Hmph... I can take care of myself," Cynthia declared, dragging her feet to see what Dawn was doing.

"I know, but you were drunk and I was there. So... what are you up for this fine afternoon," Dawn asked, winking.

Cynthia mumbled something and Dawn nodded, turning to the fridge to pull out the necessary ingredients. Leaning against the counter she watched Dawn work, feeling an odd sense of comfort and peace.

"What happened between... us?" she blurted out, startling Dawn.

"Huh?" Dawn asked, turning to Cynthia with a frown.

"What happened to us, our relationship?" Cynthia pressed, determined.

Dawn remained silent and returned to chopping lettuce. "Nothing. You moved away and I didn't keep contact, that's what happened... nothing," she answered softly.

"Can we... fix it?" Cynthia whispered.

Dawn smiled. "I don't know, maybe."

Silence.

Then, "I'll always be here for you, you know that."

"Of course."

Cynthia blinked at Dawn's firm response and smiled slightly, glad to see the trust between them hadn't broken. It would take awhile, but they'd mend things between them eventually. They'd pick up the broken pieces of their relationship and glue it back together.