A/N: I hope you're all proud, I've managed to post two chapters in two days. I'm still trying to make up for all my failures in the past few months haha. Well, this chapter is sort of just a filler, but also very important. It's relatively short, but I'm going to break chapter 20 up into two parts that I intend on being rather lengthy cause I wanna stop this fic at 20. Anyways, here we go. WARNING: Drug references are prevalent throughout this chapter.
-The Previous Night-
-Lebreau's Bar-
"They've been sitting outside for over half an hour. Are you going to talk to her or not?", Vanille angrily asked Yuj as she continued downing the large bottle of liquor. Before Yuj could respond, Vanille stole a glance outside and saw her wife sitting in Lebreau's lap. A quick glance was all it took as she snapped her head back around and took another huge gulp.
"Yuj?", the orange-haired girl asked. The young boy quickly looked away from the fingers he was fidgeting with and glanced at Vanille.
"Yes?", he asked hopefully.
"Do you have a fix for me..", Vanille asked fighting back tears chugging the near empty liquor bottle. Her hand was violently shaking as she set the bottle slowly back down on the counter.
"A.. fix?", Yuj asked stuttering. His heart was pounding in his chest.
Vanille took a moment to guzzle down the rest of the liquor and slam the empty container on the counter before hissing as the substance slid down her throat. In that moment of silence she heard a faint moan from the front porch.
"Uh.. Yeah… yeah I have something we can do.", Yuj said in a somewhat uncomfortable tone as he watched Vanille shake in her seat. He glanced to his right and saw Claire in Lebreau's lap grinding on her body. Yuj snapped his head back in Vanille's direction with wide eyes. He was on the verge of saying something, but the moment his mouth opened he decided against it.
"Well..?", Vanille pushed as she stared at him with an angry look on her face.
"Uh.. I need to clean up the bar so Lebreau doesn't kill me.", Yuj began noticing the twitch on Vanille's face as he mentioned the bartender's name. "You can wait in the back bedrooms until I'm done though. I'll be there as soon as I can.", He nodded towards the back of the bar to the door right next to the stage.
The young woman took a glance behind her to see where Yuj was gesturing before she nodded and gently slid herself off the bar stool. On her way back, so involuntarily stole another glance towards the front porch where she witnessed Lebreau trailing kisses up her wife's neck. She felt her heart drop into her stomach, and she quickly stumbled into the backroom to prevent herself from watching the pair again.
Yuj grabbed a towel and began wiping off the counter and recycling the empty bottle that Vanille had downed. He stood there for a moment examining the rest of the bar trying to figure out if there was anything else for him to clean up, and deciding there wasn't he shut out the lights and turned off the TV before heading back into his own room.
Just after shutting the door he heard the front door of the bar open, along with the sound of furious kisses, heavy breathing, and moans. He glanced around the large back room, which consisted of four twin beds placed in each corner. Each of the beds had perfect blue sheets and comforters that were neatly folded a top the bed. Yuj spotted Vanille on the bed in the back right corner closest to the window. She was laying on her back staring at the bare ceiling in a drunken haze.
"Hey.", Yuj said awkwardly, praying that Vanille hadn't heard Lebreau and Claire enter the bar. When there was no reply Yuj walked over to the bathroom that was to his left and searched under the counter for his black bag.
As he reentered the bedroom Vanille sat up and stared at the bag in his hands.
"What's that?", she slurred as she got up from her spot on the bed and stumbled over to him.
"Smack. That's.. all I have.", Yuj answered, afraid that his choice of a fix wouldn't be good enough for Vanille. "Ever tried it?", he asked after a short pause.
"No." Vanille answered cautiously. "You don't look like you have either.", she added reexamining Yuj's features and comparing them to that of her mental description of an addict.
"I just started. Maqui got me hooked on it.", Yuj confessed, kneeling down next to a bed and pulling out all of his equipment.
Vanille thought back to the last time she saw Maqui, and found herself unable to remember his physical appearance. She would have remembered seeing someone on heroin, especially if it was in her group of her friends.
"So, what do I do?", Vanille asked in a drunk tone as she kneeled down next to Yuj and watched him work.
"I'll help you, don't worry.", he smirked as he pulled a spoon, needle, and small bag of brown powder of his black bag.
Vanille watched him work furiously as he poured the substance little by little into a small silver spoon. He grabbed a lighter and, after mixing some water in, began to slowly boil the underside of the spoon. The powder dissolved into a translucent white liquid.
"Mfff ohm fuck Claire. Shit.", As the powder was melting down Vanille could hear Lebreau's moans through the bedroom door.
"Uh, that's good. Ready?", Yuj asked quickly after hearing the moans. After seeing a shaky nod from Vanille he reached into the bag and grabbed two small needles. "I always get new needles, so I promise they're clean.", Yuj added before he sucked a small amount of the substance into the syringe.
He turned his body towards the young girl before him, grabbed her hand, and fully extended her arm.
"This might hurt a little bit, but I promise it's worth it.", Yuj said before finding a good vein and sliding the thin syringe through Vanille's skin. She gasped a little at the feeling but felt the substance coursing through her body. She watched Yuj slowly extract the now empty needle before grabbing his own and quickly injecting himself with the substance.
It only took a few minutes for the high to combine with her intoxication. She was high, up above the clouds, up above their safe haven. Her energy skyrocketed and she managed to forget everything about her wife and the bartender in the other room. She focused on her tingling body, and her pounding heart.
"Mmm, you all right?", Yuj asked as he began cleaning up the utensils. Vanille felt herself smiling before she realized it.
"Yes.", she answered absentmindedly walking back to the bed she was laying on and sliding her hands underneath her head and continuing to mindlessly stare at the ceiling.
Yuj disappeared into the bathroom to brush his teeth, wash his face, and put his black bag back under the sink. When he reappeared Vanille was still smirking at the ceiling.
"Would you like something to sleep in?", He asked searching through the dresser next to the bathroom. "I have some boxers and a t-shirt you can borrow?", he asked finding nothing else in the drawer.
Vanille didn't answer him, but instead got up and grabbed the clothes gently from his hands before gliding into the bathroom after whispering a silent thank you, and locking the door behind her. She quickly ripped off her jeans, bra, t-shirt, and underwear before sliding Yuj's clothes on. She folded her bundle of garments on and began washing her face. She returned to the bedroom and saw Yuj sitting on the bed closest to the door with his legs crossed underneath him.
"Thanks for the clothes.", Vanille smiled walking back to the bed she was previously laying on and setting her folded clothes on the floor. "I'm so awake right now. What should we do?", She asked sitting on the edge of the bed.
"We could-"
"No sex.", Vanille interrupted.
"That's.. not at all what I was gonna say, but thank you for shooting that ship down. I was going to suggest watching a movie or playing a game. If you feel up to it.", Yuj gestured to the large TV and console in the center of the room between the four sets of beds.
"I don't think I'm coordinated enough to play a game right now. Just put in a movie.", Vanille stated sliding up under the covers, enveloping herself in warmth.
Yuj had found a movie and placed it in the system before crawling into his own bed and shutting out the lights. Although Vanille wasn't tired, she quickly found herself dozing off hearing more muffled moans from across the bar. Her mind traveled to her wife's deployment tomorrow. She wondered if she would be able to say goodbye before she left, or if Claire would even want to say goodbye. She thought about Fang and Serah at her house, wondering where she was. She also thought of Lebreau fucking her wife in the other room, and was surprised at herself for remaining calm.
Despite her predicament, the liquor and drugs rushing through her body caused her to feel unbelievably calm. She couldn't possibly imagine feeling anger right now. She let a peaceful sleep take over her body. She was thankful for Yuj in those hours as she drifted away. The storm ended and in that moment she realized she had a perfect escape for the shitty quandary she now found herself in; heroin.