Well, thank you to the person who reviewed, and I'm glad whoever else is reading this likes it. XD

ShadowSiren21: Sorry about the seeming rushed thing. The time skips could be anywhere from a day to even more, and I suppose I should have specified that I'd like to think it was maybe a month or more after that the leaving happened. I didn't mean to put yesterday. XD As for no real upheaval, well. *Shrugs* They understand each other. Neither of them liked it, but there could be struggles in the future over the choice, who knows?

They just don't get it.

No one does

We have something different that I cannot fathom

a word to discribe.

The torture. The pain. The tears. The sleepless

nights.

No one else will ever completely understand the

feeling of having your entire heart be hundreds of

miles away.

Your whole world. Your other half. The best part

of you. And you can only be close to them on occasion.

It's been seconds. Minutes. Hours. Days. Weeks.

Months. Years since I've hugged your beautiful

self. And I will never truly be happy until the day

comes that the little bubble of a world we live in

when together pops and that world becomes

reality.

That's a reality I wouldn't hate living in. A reality

with my best friend.

–A.N.

Wynonna was already on her second foster home at twelve, and Serena was still furious that the girl's own family wouldn't take her in. Sure, little Waverly was having quite the good life, but Gus and Curtis had all but told Wynonna they did not want her, and lately, her friend was getting pretty messed up.

She wouldn't stop talking about the demons.

Now, Serena believed her. She did, wholeheartedly, but she did not think that talking about demons constantly, trying to convince everyone of what really happened, was the wisest thing to do.

It did not mean that she hadn't said her fair share about it, either, however. Any kid in school who said Wynonna was lying was put down quickly by Serena, who also allowed her friend to frequently sneak into her room during the nights and sleep there.

The foster people didn't like her much, either, and so the two of them would lay there at night. Sometimes, Wynonna would cry.

Serena was there, as always.

That is, until she and Wynonna learned they were being carted off to a mental hospital.

"Why Serena?" Wynonna demanded of her caseworker, of the girl's uncle and aunt, furious. "She didn't do anything!"

"While she may not run around talking about demons," the caseworker said pointedly. "She hasn't denied it, either, and has on multiple occasions assaulted anyone who disagreed with you. Besides, with her anger management issues and all the trouble she's been in, it was only a matter of time. Be happy you're going together."

"Why are you letting them do this?" Wynonna gripped Serena's hand hard, whirling suddenly on Mike and Suzy, blue eyes flashing. "She's your niece! I get that I'm a screw up, okay, but she's-she's not...she doesn't deserve this! She's...she's only doing this because I made her!"

"No she didn't," Serena said immediately, without thinking. Her first instinct, as usual, was to stand by Wynonna. "I believe her. The demons are real!"

"This is why," Suzy sighed. "Honey, it's for the best. They can help you there, alright? We'll be here, waiting, for when you get better. Then, you can come home."

The woman looked tired, completely exhausted, with bags under her eyes and tousled hair; her husband did not look much better. Even worse, the looked guilty.

Serena did not speak again as their bags were thrown in the trunk of the car, or even when she and Wynonna were crammed together in the backseat. She was, however, trembling, and the brunette pulled her friend in close.

"You idiot," she muttered furiously. "Why couldn't you have just lied?"

"You're my friend," Serena finally murmured. "Where you go, I go."

Wynonna felt extremely guilty at that, but could not help the warm feeling that spread through her at her friend's words.

~~~xxx~~~

The mental institution was, to put it quite frankly, terrible. Wynonna had fought so much that she had to be put in a straightjacket, and Serena was not even placed on the same side of the building, so it only made the brunette scream things through the door, terrible things.

She wanted Serena, and she wanted her now!

"Shut up!" one of the other patients bellowed from across the hall for what had to be the fifth time that day.

"No!" Wynonna screamed back, throat aching. "I want Serena!"

"If she's here, you'll see her at lunch, you little bitch!"

That shut Wynonna up.

Lunch, she thought, as she fingered her necklace, could not come soon enough.

~~~xxx~~~

Serena could only see her best friend at lunch during the month they had been there, and already, she could see this place changing Wynonna. It was not altogether, not all at once, but she noticed how the girl grew more cynical, more bitter toward life in general.

She could not say she herself hadn't changed, either.

The anger management classes were helping, she supposed. She stopped talking about demons, or Wynonna.

Wynonna stopped talking about Serena and demons.

The two had planned it that way, so they would get out quicker, and to have it look as though their "obsessions" with each other, as the doctors called it, had gone away.

In reality, they really hadn't.

Their plans went to hell the day at lunch when a boy tried to molest Wynonna and Serena swung her "metal" tray at his head, missing because of his height, and watched as it drug across his throat, instead.

It cut into his skin, and she was powerless to stop it as the boy collapsed to the floor, clutching his throat.

Serena had not thought such a cheap tray could do such a thing, until she glanced down and noticed that one of the edges had chipped away, leaving it hard and sharp.

She dropped it when she saw the blood and fell back, right into the waiting arms of Wynonna Earp, who pulled her away from the scene and to the corner of the room.

They would find out later that she killed him.

~~~xxx~~~

They were released together from the institution when they were fourteen, and from then on, everyone in town somehow knew what had happened.

Wynonna was the crazy Earp girl.

Serena was Murderer Moon.

The townspeople avoided them even more than usual, and Curtis and Gus absolutely refused to allow Serena around Waverly, until Wynonna just barely managed to convince them that the murder was only a rumor.

"Serena couldn't kill a fly!" she had defended, just as said girl had actually swatted down one of the bugs. Wynonna had shifted uncomfortably after that, reiterating, "Er, you know what I mean."

Visits with Waverly were supervised from then on.

High school was terrible, and when Wynonna had her first bottle of whisky their freshman year and convinced Serena to have some as well, both girls got completely and utterly plastered.

When Wynonna had her first time, Serena all but jerked the door to the boy's truck off his hinges, gun in her hands, and he had run away screaming.

"He wasn't good enough for you, anyway," she had told Wynonna.

"I wanted to feel good," the other girl had grumbled. "And I did, until you chased him off. How is this helping with people not thinking you're a murderer?"

"It isn't," Serena had shrugged, though her stomach had churned, because she was.

Now, Serena Moon found herself sitting on the side of the road, waiting for Wynonna Earp to get back from the Juvenile Detention center she had been locked away in. It had been for drunkenly vandalizing property with a bunch of other high school students, but since Wynonna was so disliked, she had been the only one locked away.

Serena had been fifteen, and no matter how hard she tried, could not follow her friend there like she had done to the institution.

Now, she was sixteen, and when Wynonna Earp stepped off the bus, she jerked the other girl hard into her arms.

"God, I missed you," Serena breathed, leaning back to take a look at her friend, who had flinched at her touch. Wynonna was sporting a black eye. "What the hell happened?"

"Fight," Wynonna said briskly, brushing past her. "Come on, I need a drink."

Serena did not bother telling her it wasn't a good idea. To be honest, she needed a drink, too.

~~~xxx~~~

Serena did not stay a virgin very long, either, to be honest.

She hadn't expected Wynonna to return the favor of kicking the door in, bottle of booze in hand, and threaten to cut the unknown boy's balls off if he didn't get out in the next five seconds.

Serena sighed and rolled out of her bed (her aunt and uncle were out), moving to throw on her clothes. Wynonna fell back onto the bed and watched her, taking a long, hard swig of her whisky.

"You grew up," she commented.

"We both did," Serena told her, tugging her shirt over her head and sitting down beside her friend. "You're an asshole, you know that?"

"He wasn't good enough for you," Wynonna shrugged, passing over the whisky.

"No one is good enough for me," Serena snorted. "According to you. Then again, he only wanted to tell his friends he shacked up with Murderer Moon."

"Exactly," the brunette beside her nodded, firm. "Which is why I kicked his ass outta here. If you're gonna be with anybody, it will be with someone who isn't in it for the sex."

"Have to go out of town for that," the darker haired girl took a drink from the bottle. "Search around. Get a fresh start."

"That's what I'm gonna do," Wynonna lay back and drug Serena down with her. "Get outta here first chance I get when I'm eighteen and not look back. Travel, maybe. You should come."

"What about Waverly?"

"She's better off without me weighing her down," Wynonna sighed. "Her crazy sister and her murderer friend," she cringed, suddenly sitting the bottle down and reaching for Serena's hand. "Sorry. I didn't mean…"

"I know what I am," Serena said softly, letting out a breath and squirming closer to Wynonna, who did not protest and lifted her arm. "And I know what I've done."

"What you've done for me, you mean," the brunette grunted, her own mind flashing back to just three days ago, when they had been arrested by Sheriff Nedley for stealing alcohol. It was a miracle they were still able to get it at all. "You've done a lot for me. I was just some lonely, troubled as shit kid and then you latched onto me and haven't let go since. I never...I never thanked you for that. Any of it."

"You've done a lot for me, too."

"Not...not...you know."

"You almost have," Serena pointed out. "You just chased a boy out of my room."

"And you chased one out of his own truck with a gun. Where did you get it, anyway?"

"Stole it from Mike."

"Makes sense."

"Yeah."

They lay there for a few moments, before Wynonna suddenly, impulsively said, "Let's go to prom together."

"Huh?" Serena, bewildered, turned her head to face her friend.

Blue eyes roved over her, glinting mischievously. "Let's go to prom together. Our senior year, we show up looking like total bad ass bitches and show them all who's boss, that we're better than they are. Sound good?"

The darker haired girl raised a brow, but couldn't help when her lips lifted at the image. "Sounds great."

Wynonna grinned and reached for the whisky again.

~~~xxx~~~

It was the day Wynonna was placed in her fifth foster home that she and Serena were arrested again.

Well, Wynonna was. Serena, rather drunk, had hopped onto the trunk of the police car and held on for dear life until Nedley slammed the car to a stop and made her get inside.

They both sat in the jail cell, waiting.

"You two," Nedley rubbed his temples, sighing heavily. "Why is it always you two? You don't have to be like this."

"Ah, but Sheriff, it's just so fun!" Wynonna smirked at him.

"Where she goes, I go," Serena raised her hand and pulled out her necklace, Wynonna doing the same beside her as they fitted the pieces together with an important air about them.

"I'm glad the two of you have each other," Nedley grunted, finally rolling his chair closer. "Really, I am," he studied them. "But you two need to shape up, or you'll be living here."

"I've already been sent to Juvy," Wynonna waved a careless hand.

"Yeah? Well, a few more times like this, and you'll be in the big house with the big dogs, Wynonna. They'll rip you apart."

"I'd like to see them try."

"And, Serena," the man turned to her. "Don't you think it's time you stop all this? You can't protect her forever. I know...I know about what happened in the institution. I know it isn't a rumor."

Serena flinched. "I can try."

Wynonna flung herself against the bars, rattling them. "If you tell anyone it really happened, I swear to God, Nedley, I'll—"

Nedley held up a hand. "I haven't. And I don't intend to. Who do you think made sure everyone kept quiet about it when you two got back? You know the town wouldn't have really listened to you, Wynonna."

"I'm a killer, too," the girl said bitterly. "It's not only Serena. We're just two fuck ups."

Nedley sighed. "I would let you two go now, but I have to wait for your guardians to come get you."

Wynonna's foster parents showed.

Serena's aunt and uncle did not.

Nedley let her go anyway.

~~~xxx~~~

Serena got a job at Shorty's, and though it was not the best one, the man had grown to trust her enough to at least do what she was supposed to and paid her fairly. The sixteen-year-old saved her money until she was nearly eighteen, and had enough money to buy herself a (though used) truck.

Wynonna was on foster home number eight.

Serena had to leave work early to pick the other girl up when she ran away with some boy, even walked in on them having sex.

It was not the first time.

"Get out!" she snapped at the boy, who was staring at her over Wynonna's shoulder, wide eyed. When he did not at first move, she pulled out her pocket knife and flipped it open.

The boy left quickly enough, stark naked, clothes in hand.

Wynonna climbed off the table of the old warehouse and began putting her own back on.

"Fucker," Serena mumbled at her friend, who climbed into the truck after her. She started the engine, and at first, the other girl did not speak.

As they drove along the road through town, Wynonna finally managed, "I'm sorry I'm such a fuck up. I dragged you into my mess."

Serena pulled up at Wynonna's current home, shut off the engine, and pulled her friend into her arms. "I chose to, you ignorant ass. You're my best friend. I love you, okay? I'm not leaving you and I don't regret anything."

Wynonna went stiff in her arms at the words, but slowly returned the embrace, mumbling into Serena's jacket, "Love you too."

She only left when her foster mother yelled at her to get inside.

~~~xxx~~~

Their senior prom, as planned, went down without a hitch. Wynonna and Serena showed up looking hotter than ever.

She glared at anyone who got too close, and when she turned and found Serena doing the same, smiled as she noticed that they had sufficiently created their own little bubble.

No one wanted to go near them, even when they were dancing, but boy, did they stare, and Wynonna would be lying if she said she didn't like the attention as she and Serena ground against each other.

Serena noticed a particularly hot guy eyeing her, put her hands on Wynonna's hips, and then leaned in to whisper, "I got this. Go have some fun."

"As good of a wingwoman as you are," Wynonna turned back to face her, rolling her eyes. "You're still my date, dumbass. I'm not leaving you alone."

Serena laughed and threw her hands up as the music grew faster. "Then, let's get some punch and make this worthwhile. I spiked it ages ago."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you!"

~~~xxx~~~

"Serena?"

Serena glanced down at twelve-year-old Waverly Earp, who had plopped down beside her in the grass outside. She had come to visit the girl while Wynonna was out doing who knew what (possibly with a boy).

"Yeah, kid?" the older girl watched as Waverly fidgeted nervously.

"I-I think Wynonna is going to leave. Isn't she?"

Serena was silent for a few moments. "Yeah, kid."

"Are you?" Waverly paused, sighing. "That's a stupid question, isn't it? You two are hopelessly devoted to each other. You'd never leave her."

"Why?"

"I just...I don't want to be alone," the younger girl looked away. "I thought, that if Wynonna left, maybe...maybe you'd still stay. For me."

Serena frowned. The mere thought of leaving Wynonna made her stomach churn, for Waverly was right; hopelessly devoted was a good description.

However, this girl, nearly a teenager, was basically her little sister and would have no one, soon. But, wouldn't it be better that way? To be without Wynonna and Serena to drag her down, as the former had said?

She voiced these thoughts, and Waverly swallowed, fiddling with her fingers. "Maybe. But at least I won't be alone. I...I already lost Willa, even though I didn't like her much. Momma left. Daddy is dead. Wynonna is leaving. You...you're all I have left. Uncle Curtis and Gus love me, but they don't always understand."

"Oh," Serena furrowed her brows, heart clenching. She loved Waverly, she did, and this was perhaps the only reason she would ever say these words, "I-I'll stay."

Waverly's head snapped up, large brown eyes connecting with her own green. "Really? You promise?"

The older girl forced her frown into a smile and, somehow, managed to keep her voice even.

"I promise."

~~~xxx~~~

"I'm leaving town."

"What?" Serena stared at Wynonna. They had literally just graduated, somehow, and she did not expect her friend to go this soon.

"I'm leaving," Wynonna repeated, shifting. "You're coming, right?"

Serena wanted to, desperately, but…

"I can't."

"Why?" Wynonna frowned. "I thought you wanted to get out of this shit-hole as much as I did!"

"I do," Serena sighed heavily. "But I promised Waverly around a month ago that I would stick around for her when you left. She knows you're leaving...she'll probably try to stop you."

"Are you serious?" the brunette stared at her, disbelieving. "You're not...whatever happened to, 'Wherever she goes, I go'?"

The darker haired girl swallowed. "I don't know. But I promised. I can't just...I can't just take off after that, Wy. I'm sorry."

Wynonna ran a hand over her face, throwing her cap off of her head as she did so. "Waverly has Curtis and Gus."

"You know they can't always help like they should."

Wynonna, too, sighed. "I know. I know that better than anyone. I just thought...look after her for me, okay? I need to get out of here. I can't stand it anymore."

"Wy," Serena put a hand on her shoulder. "If you don't come back...I get it. Okay? You're still my best friend, no matter where you go or how often we see each other. This is nothing."

Wynonna's answering smile was small, rueful, and her eyes shone. "I know. I'll miss you, fucker."

"I love you, too, Wynonna."

~~~xxx~~~

That night, though they were far too old for it, Serena and Wynonna curled up together on Serena's bed in her apartment (she had moved out at seventeen, knowing her aunt and uncle, though they loved her, could not even look at her anymore).

They were too big for the bed, too, so they had to press tightly together, nursing a bottle between them, and after awhile, in the dark, Wynonna whispered hoarsely, "I do love you, Rena."

"I know, Wy," Serena whispered back. "I'm sorry I can't come with you."

"It's okay," the body beside her own pressed even closer, if that were possible, and a nose brushed against her neck, hand fisting in the fabric of her shirt. "I get it. Waves needs someone...may as well be you. You've always been the better sister."

"You were a great sister, when you were around," the darker haired girl felt a weight on her chest and rested her chin on the head of hair there. "I'm not better, and you know it. Like you said, we're both major fuck ups trying to make it in the world."

"Two halves of a whole idiot."

"Yeah," Serena chuckled quietly. "Definitely."

"Look after her."

"I will. You'll call?"

"You know it."

They did not actually say goodbye. When Serena woke up, Wynonna and her things were gone.