Hello my friends!
I've been back editing and fixing up a few of the first parts, so all parts I've had my snippy little fingers all over have been marked with an EDIT
I hope this part is to your liking. I'd love to hear from you all in the reviews section about this one - I'd like to know if I handled the situation correctly and if it was satisfactory and that I haven't royally fucked the plot by doing this. Not that it's a bad thing and all, I'm happy with it, but I understand that readers see things a lot different to the author. Also, any other questions can be sent to my personal message box - because I'm a chatty cathy some days and am trying to talk to more people!
Also, it's very late here for me but I wanted to get this out to you all - so if there are any errors I will more than definitely fix them when I wake up in the morning. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
The Mountain's High - Dick & Dee Dee
Annie had her singlet rolled up to her chest, running her rough fingers over the tender skin of her stomach. Everything seemed to wring with shock as her stomach ate away a part of itself in a chemical comedown. Manny was sitting on the side of the bed smoking a cigarette, studying the carpet down to the last fibre. He was feeling a little more than worried for Boone, his stomach panging with the ache of a missed friendship. It didn't feel right to be looking after his partner's new girl – even if she was included in a decently marked point of his life.
Both of them wanted Boone to come back for different reasons. Manny just missed the concept of having a good friend, and imagining him getting caught up in whatever Annie had gotten herself into, well… it wasn't exactly a nice thought. The courier, however, with her wide brown eyes that darted all over the damage, wanted the man to return home so she could put him to rot in his hotel room for the night.
Who even was that man? Was he really who he said he was? Craig Boone was imprinted in her head as someone trustworthy and strong, but right now he was the scum that lined Freeside's gutters after too much rain. Her face screwed up at the feeling of hatred dropping into her stomach, twisting her muscles painfully as she let out a small snuff of pain. She had to stop thinking about him.
There was something that still didn't sit right with her, and it had something to do with her and Manny. Boone, if he was the bloodthirsty NCR soldier that her brain told her he was, would not have stuck with them for so long while still burning with New Californian brainwashing. Surely Manny had expressed his guilt and pain over Bitter Springs… But taking Boone's zipped lips into consideration, she doubted the conversation lasted long… but still, there had to be something inside of that man that drove him to make things right with the two of them.
Boone had no other reason to be with Annie. Obviously he had started out with the intentions to end it all quickly and painfully, but the more he got to know and understand her the deeper they began to dig themselves. Soon it was the two of them standing in a large pit where there was no way out. The man who she thought he was was standing there in front of her - but all she could do was summon the preconceived vision of a monster.
Annie frowned at herself in the mirror and lowered her shirt. "I'm gonna get some fresh air." She told the man on the bed, painfully bending to pick up the dusty packet of smokes. Manny thought over the concept, pulling to his feet to join her. There was something about the darkness of the night that made it easier to talk to one another – and in their case, it really was a blessing.
Clicking the flint of Benny's lighter, Annie huffed in her first breath of normal chemicals for the day. The smoke burnt her throat and she coughed, the pain in her stomach throbbing angrily at her innocent movements. "Fuck me," she leant against the brick wall, slumping tiredly in her spot. "you'd think that after a few years of getting the shit kicked out of you you'd know how to handle a little pain."
"I don't think it works like that." The man sniffed a laugh at her, sending spirals of smoke down his shirt.
"Nothing works like it should out here," she grumbled back, folding her arm across her chest to take a drag of her cigarette. "I hate this fucking desert."
They stood in silence for a while, the moon sending down a ridiculous sheen across the bare courtyard in front of them. Even after a stressful day of attempting to shove feelings back into the artificial crevices in her mind, Annie's brain was able to bring back the idea of Bitter Springs. Maybe it was Manny's beret that set her off – the material looking the brightest of reds under the white light shining above them. How could he still wear that after everything he had been through?
She wished there was a way to turn everything off. Every few minutes she would remember something new about that horrible memory, be it the pinging burn of her tightening skin in the hot sun or how deep the splinters went in the palms of her hands after an afternoon of digging holes. Her stomach felt like it was constantly in a free fall, and mixed with the uncomfortable rotting of her torso the courier was left willing to curl up and disappear for a few days.
"Can I ask a question?" The man asked out of the blue, bringing Annie out of her bursting thoughts.
"You just asked one." She drawled plainly, bringing out a sigh from the sniper. They caught each other's gaze and she managed to bring up a genuine smile. "You don't have to ask to ask."
Manny shook his head, taking a quick draw of his smoke before crushing it under his boot. "I heard that you got shot in the head and don't remember much."
"That's not a question." Her lips pressed into a thin line, earning herself a stern look. "Who told you that?"
"It's a rumour. A tribal girl doesn't just climb her way to head of the Strip, does she?" He couldn't help but grin at that thought. As much as Anna liked to think herself true to her old word, he knew that her 19-year-old self would have junked the new 'Annie' by now. He watched her jaw tighten, a sigh forcing itself through her nose.
"Jessup and McMurphy fucked me with a shovel and got me shot." Pinching the bridge of her nose, the girl rolled her eyes back – withdrawing a breath through her teeth. She freed the pinch, throwing her palm up in a tired gesture. "Woke up feeling less than great, no idea who I am… crawl my way here only to find you. That's what triggered it all."
"I'm flattered." He said blandly.
"You shouldn't be." She grinned, "It's been a big couple of months and it's only just fucking starting." Her voice pitched at the end in a happy mask to patch over the bitterness.
"Not many people get to start a brand new life." Manny lit himself another cigarette, watching the girl crush her own in the grout of the brick wall. "You're not happy?" He asked.
The courier thought for a moment, digging through the pockets of the soft dress pants she had stolen from Manny's dresser. "No." She mumbled. "Not really." She looked up and caught his gaze, her lips tightening around the filter as she squinted at him. "Since when do you get to ask me all these personal questions?"
"Ever since you opened your mouth." He teased, glad that her more-than-frigid personality had melted away over the years. She lit the smoke silently.
Out of the three Vargas boys, Manny was the nicest one. Even if he was a complete prick when he was a teenager, the man always had the softest voice between him and Malcolm. The third cousin, who Annie remembered as Marco, died a few months after joining during a firefight with some fiends. It was hard to see Manny as a grown-up – the man now having a decent few inches on her – but through all of it Annie knew that he looked a lot more happier and healthier than he used to. The last registered memory of the man before the whole shebang mustered his skinny teenage body sitting on top of hers as he pried her mouth open to give Malcolm a little more space to spit – all just a part of their usual teenage shenanigans.
"Why'd you come here of all places?" Annie sent him a question before he could continue. "To Novac?"
"It was quiet." Manny smiled suddenly, warmed with the old memory of a new start. "Boone was looking for a place to take Carla and I suggested here. Nothing ever happens in Novac."
"Except for all of this shit." Annie grinned back, ignoring the idea of Boone completely. The man thought in a soft silence for a moment before mustering the courage to ask a question he'd been itching over for months.
"Did you have any part in Jeannie-Mae's death?" The man asked her quietly, not exactly angered by the situation but a little irritated that it was done so brutally. It wasn't the nicest wake up call to find his best friend had left and all that was left of him was an old woman rotting in the morning sun.
"Of course I did." Annie evened her eyes. "She sold his wife and kid to the Legion, Manny. It was warranted."
"Could have been cleaner about it." He turned to her and she rolled her eyes.
"Don't be an asshole." Pushing off the wall to rest her elbows next to his on the railings, the girl ashed her cigarette into the dirt in front of them. "You and I both know that that's the wasteland way to handle things."
The man cleared his throat unhappily, knowing that he could have been the one to help Boone out of his troubles. If he hadn't been such a second-rate friend about it all (so he was jealous of Carla, so what?), there was a good chance that Annie would never have come back here. As much as he wanted to appreciate the girl for all she was, there was no way she could ever top Boone.
"How'd you get him to… you know, move on?"
Annie looked up at him with a confused grimace and shrugged. "He hasn't. Not that I know of."
"So you're not..?"
"Not what?" Her eyes searched her old friend's and her mouth tightened into another thin line. "Oh, no. We're not." Folding a palm under chin, the girl braced herself gently in the soft breeze. "And just because you love him so much, I'll allow you to have him. Keep him here, or whatever." She finished bitterly and the man's eyes doubled in size.
"I don't love him!" He whispered harshly at her and she brightened at his bad mood. "He's a friend! I just want my friend back!" When he saw her eyes glaze over with her usual teasing, he stopped. She was just riling him up again. "… I asked him the same question before and he gave me a completely different answer, is what I was getting at."
The girl paused. "He said what?"
"He said nothing."
Annie snuffed a lazy sigh. "Sounds like him."
"Yes," Manny barked a short, sharp laugh in agreement "it does." He watched the cloud of disappointment seep over her face before settling himself, chewing the inside of his lip before shrugging meekly. "Maybe you love him."
"I don't love him!" She peaked unhappily. Her eyes evened at the sheen of joy that had crawled across his soft grin, arms folding across her chest as she flicked her smoke away. "And unless your life goal is to become the wastes' greatest relationship advisor, I'd suggest you'd shut your mouth before I cram my fist inside there."
Manny steadied his mind that was reeling from her sudden threat, not as worried as he could have been but cautious all the same. But when he saw the sopping look on her face he realised that she was still not a threat anymore. Perhaps the bullet to her brain readjusted her emotional scale. "I'm not trying to be an asshole." He clarified.
Annie pinched the skin on her wrist and stewed in her own thoughts, still nauseous about the idea of Boone returning. As much as she wanted to see his face again back safe and sound, she could feel her fingers twitching in anticipation of grinding his pretty fucking nose into the Bitter Springs sand.
She let out a pitiful groan. "I know." Her dirty palms snaked up to hollow out her eye sockets uncomfortably, attempting to smother the oncoming headache with a bit of physical pain. "I just don't know how to feel."
There were three loud booms that echoed across the desert at that moment. Annie, who was busy burying herself in her own self-doubt, peeked over her fingers to watch the sky alight with something brilliant. Manny had stiffened up beside her at the intrusion of noise, distracted by the lights of Ranger Andy's cabin flickering on. A roar of sound came after that, wafting over the region to fade out quite melodically into the distance.
The sky lit up with a deep purple as the thick rain clouds were illuminated by the roaring jet engines from what appeared to be a fleet of rockets. The heavy spacecrafts seemed to wobble in the night sky, lighting up Annie's eyes with a ridiculous fear of being the targeted range. But they managed to stay on track up through the dense fog above them – soaring off into god knows where for god knows why.
It took another ten minutes for the ringing in their ears to stop, the two barely able to make eye contact with each other before finally letting their captive breaths escape through their teeth. Annie was the first to look up, however, catching her comrade's attention with her blank face under the warm moon that had been swallowed by baby clouds. "Manny?" Her voice was quiet but almost sincerely hopeful. "Do you think Boone was in there?"
The walk back to the Lucky 38 was almost agonising (and Annie wasn't even counting the fact that it felt like someone had used her stomach as a tribal drum). Boone was just as quiet as usual, and countered with the courier's dire need to think about whatever was awaiting them back home left them both in a very unnecessary silence.
Her focus was more on the road home than anything. As Boone kept his eye on the distance, the girl was lost in thought over everything she had to do when she returned to her castle. With her mind busy with what seemed like more important things, the man would have been free from anything. Her mind was too busy to even register the blinding hatred for him.
There was something about her brain that had ticked over ever since her big revelation. It was like a hulking weight had been lifted from her shoulders, like her biggest memory had come back to her. Well, it had, and even if it was gruesome and gut-wrenchingly sad, Annie found herself with a higher understanding of her own self.
With the sickening feeling of Bitter Springs rolling over her, Annie finally remembered the drive and discourse of her life before her unfortunate execution. There was no solid memory of her realisation, just a sudden feeling of passion and unrest. She was not going to let any NCR bastard step on her again - and that included Crocker and Manny and most definitely Boone. Although their faces were all stained with regret and misery, there was a stern part in her brain that told her that there was an advantage to that.
She wasn't going to get anywhere in life without taking any chances – and this time Annie felt that her hand was going to pay off.
Now that Annie had her shit together, she was standing in her slip and stockings while sipping the dregs from a warm NukaCola. Cass, Veronica, Raul and Boone had been gathered in the dining room, the courier standing importantly at the head of the table like she had something to prove. Her pipboy was glowing with sweet amber, illuminating the piles of notes she had accumulated over her few days as a square-eyed freak.
"Alright guys, I have a job for you all."
"All of us?" Cass piped in with a cheerful note that was more than sarcastic.
"Each and every single one of you. I shouldn't say job, though." She thought for a moment, recounting her words quietly before reassuring herself. "I have a mission for all of you."
"My morale is suddenly at a record-breaking high, boss."
Annie cleared her throat blandly. "Missions that will help towards fighting the good fight. Now if we want shit to get better around here we have to start doing something… Unless anyone else has some ideas – which are more than welcome, don't let get me wrong."
"We're listening, Annie." Veronica soothed the girl gently and the courier sighed.
"Boone and Veronica, back to Jacobstown. Get Rex fixed before he shits himself and dies or something, please." With her pipboy cocked to her eye level, the girl scanned through her notes. Her eyes burnt with a steady, smouldering fire. "Cass, I'm probably gonna need an answer on that caravan soon because in the end, I can save a lot of time by just hiring someone else. If you're up for it, Raul and I will walk you to the Boomers and introduce you around. That's the main route I want out of it, whatever else you want to run around is fine by me."
The redhead stared at her for a short time, calculating ideas in her head through the foggy breath of whiskey vapour. Technically she had nothing to lose but her dignity being signed away under a caravan painted with Annie's name. Before Cass could reply in any way, the courier casually interrupted her with an easy voice.
"If you don't want to talk about it in front of the others, I understand that. I have a meeting to go to with the families in about an hour so I'll be away for a good amount of time. Something to think about."
Cass nodded sourly. "Sure."
"Alright, that's it. That's my big mission-giving ceremony. I really hope you all enjoyed it." Annie set her elbows down on the wooden frame of the chair, fingers lazily dipping down to pick at the woven cushions. "Any questions?"
"That's your big plan?" The redhead bumped in and Annie shrugged.
"More or less. I'll be able to figure out a little more after this meeting,ut right now I want to work on getting the King on our side and helping the Boomers out with their aeroplane." The courier's head bounced with her words, still fairly worn out from the trip home. Without Boone beside her in their bed, the previous night's sleep was broken and lonely. "Anything else?"
"One more thing, Boss," Raul interjected, still managing to look like a cheeky old man regardless of the fact that half his face was missing, "you look great in those curlers."
Annie scoffed with laughter and stood up straight, waving him off through the soft laughter that echoed from Cass and Veronica. Boone stood as still as a statue off to the side, watching the girl with his casually keen eye. He was back to being incredibly intimidated by her solid, sexy confidence that burnt through with the sultry, knowing tone of her voice.
With every inch of himself he hated how he felt, but at the same time he had really missed the way his chest would skip every time he saw the woman he liked. Now with Annie it was like a constant throb that left him in a bottomless free-fall, like his lungs had burst through his skin and breathing was finally easy. It was his heart that squeezed uncomfortably; leaving an ugly swamp of doubt in his stomach that didn't feel like going away.
The group excused themselves, scattering off around the suite to their respective rooms. Annie was left in the kitchen, rinsing out the glass bottle before leaving it to drip dry on the sink. Radio New Vegas was blaring from the guest bedroom, Cass and Veronica's voices burbling through the walls and setting Annie in a happy atmosphere.
Slipping through the common hallway to get to her master bedroom, the courier pinpointed her brain on getting ready. Fix up her face, pull on her blouse, button her jacket and slip up her skirt – clip up her shoes and tighten her garters and she was out of there… back to the filthy Strip that was her own.
Annie was caught by the guest bedroom's door, greeted by the last person she had really wanted to see. Boone knew it would happen – in fact, he actually lethargically bet himself that she would be on the other side of that door when he opened it. It was all part of the humiliating punishment that the universe had dealt him.
Her eyes widened and her nostrils flared and her tongue slipped out and licked her bottom lip. She had two choices – and only one of them told her to turn around and walk away. The other one, the stronger one, bid him into their old bedroom with the dull ring of Annie's unenthusiastic voice. "Come here."
Shutting the door behind them, she figured she might as well give him a small lecture on safety before sending him off to Jacobstown. Boone had a tendency to go somewhat suicidal when his feelings peaked, and if he felt anywhere near close to the way Annie felt about their situation, then she had a fair bit to worry about. If she were to send him off with Veronica, it would be wrong of her to let them leave without a stern warning to keep the scribe away from his blood-rain.
"No funny business here or back to Jacobstown, you hear me?" She pointed at him. "Even if you run into Caesar himself, I want to know that you won't drag Veronica into one of your quests for death."
He shook his head, lips twitching unhappily at her lack of faith in him. Not that he could exactly blame her… Watching her eyes attempting to keep their hard edge, the sniper wrestled with the idea of leaving the room. He couldn't bring his legs to move, because just having her talk down to him was better than nothing.
Was that pathetic? Probably. He hadn't been so interested and bound to someone since Carla and it was really hard to grasp. Boone figured he would have never felt that way again but there she was – the woman who had dragged the last thing on his mind straight back out into the open… and she didn't even want him anymore.
"I'm also gonna assume that you're staying here." The girl swallowed tightly. "That's okay, I'm not going to kick you out. You always have a bed here." Her nods were soft and uncertain. "Just know that any funny business and you're out on your ass."
He nodded gently, folding his arms across his chest as the girl puffed out her cheeks in thought. She seemed to want him to leave, but the soles of his boots were sewn to the carpet. He had to say something – at least try to, anyway. Even through his thick, murky coating of hatred and discontent, there flickered a tiny light that Annie had lit only a few nights ago.
Boone cleared his throat. "I was thinking-" he stopped himself, although far too late as Annie had already perked with welcome to his words. He hadn't said much to her for a while and she was waiting for him to slip up so she could write her name with his blood all over the Strip. "I want to go back to Bitter Springs."
The colour drained from her face. "Go back?" Her hands vibrated unhappily. "Go back to Bitter Springs? With you?"
His face stayed just as stony as his voice. "You said we would go together." It wasn't as if he was in the position to use a little guilt tactics, but it was all he could hope for just to have her speak to him.
"I know what I said!" She tittered with a tense jaw, stalking off to the corner of the room to tug on the sheer blouse she had dug out from the luxurious cupboard. "Don't you dare throw my words in my face, Boone." Her hands shook as she fiddled with the tied waist, huffing impatiently at her own lack of control. "Don't even make me reconsider my decision to let you stay here. You're a part of my team, you asshole – we're not friends anymore."
It stung more than it should have.
"What did you even think I was going to say to that?" She tied the knot awkwardly and bee-lined to her powder blue jacket that she felt was dipped in a small amount of luck. She needed it for her meeting – especially around the smarmy smooth-talkers that ruled over the families.
Tugging the jacket over her shoulders and adjusting the collar, the girl huffed at him. "It's alright Boone, let me throw everything down for you because you decided to lie to me and suddenly change your mind about everything. That's fine with me, it's not like my feelings are hurt and I've been ultimately betrayed and all. Hey, how about I just get on my fucking knees and suck your dick again – make it a real fucking party."
"Anna." He said sternly, irritated at her vulgarity.
"That's not my fucking name anymore."
"Annie." Boone's voice was dripping with a vulnerable plea, dampening the girl's mood with just the tone of his voice. He watched as the fire in her eyes simmered down, her angry posture curling into one of quiet despair.
Her voice stuck in her throat as she tried to speak again, cleared roughly with childish cough. Boone felt them both get sucked into the same feeling – the air suddenly thick with something he couldn't place. "Why didn't you tell me?" Annie managed to choke out. "What made you stop yourself?"
The man's jaw tensed gently, eying the soft mattress with dull eyes that sheened behind his glasses. It didn't feel right to have Annie use her soft voice and not be right beside her – available to her generous touch that he definitely needed in that moment. Maybe this was all part of fate's horrible revenge? Dangling Annie in front of him and tugging her away just when he realised everything he liked about her.
It seemed like something karma was capable of.
The two stood in the strong silence while Annie vibrated with sorrow, her fingers slipping on the small buttons that were to hold her jacket together. She could barely fit the first one through the hole before Boone caught notice – heart falling and squeezing itself to death as he watched each shudder of her fingers mess up her hard work.
He placed all of his earnings on one daring bet and took a step forward, sweeping her hands away to make work of the fiddly buttons that slid beneath his fingers with slippery silk. Annie said nothing, but managed a grimace as she watched his hands make fast work of her clasps, tugging her jacket together like a caring husband. "Scared." He forced out when he noticed her gaze snap to his. "Scared that this would happen." He finished the last one, absent-mindedly rolling it between his forefinger and thumb to savour the moment. "And ashamed."
Annie let out a harsh breath of air from her nose. "I'm torn between kicking out a window in the penthouse and throwing you out of it, or letting you live a miserable life alone somewhere in the desert." She mumbled, reaching up to push away his hands that strayed longer than necessary.
"I don't blame you." He grunted back.
"You know what fucking annoys me the most, Boone?" She bit harshly, her voice still holding a small amount of pain. "The fact that I know you're not a bad person. I know what you're capable of and Bitter Springs shouldn't be one of them." Their eyes stayed glued together – Annie at a disadvantage as he was hidden behind tinted shades. "It doesn't change anything though."
"I know."
"Things are going to change from now on, Boone." She stepped back, backtracking herself to the soft ivory skirt that she had thrown over their old desk chair. Kicking her legs through it with an almost childlike precision, the girl zipped it up with a huff and started towards the mirror. "I'm not taking anymore shit from the NCR. I think I have a good enough reason to do that, don't you think?"
"I understand."
His eyes took in every part of her primping frame, watching as her scarred hands unrolled her layers of thick hair into ridiculous curls. "In the end I think it comes down to choice in our little dilemma." Her eyes caught his through the reflection, the man finally caving and removing his glasses to save face. "I'm trying to be fair here. I barely slept a fucking wink last night thinking all this through – to save us both a lot of time and pain."
Boone's heart skipped. Was she repealing her offer of a roof over his head? She seemed to soften at the sight of his blue eyes, her cheeks puffing out again as she tried to keep her edge.
"If I end up booting the NCR from this place, Boone, I need to know whose side you're on. Mine or theirs." Her fingers adjusted the curls gingerly, snapping up a container of powder to highlight her face with shaky digits. She stopped mid-puff, turning to him to receive his full answer. Even if she was putting him on the spot, she needed an answer. "The only way you get to stay is if you put your time into the good fight – my good fight. Not theirs. Go to Jacobstown with Veronica to think it over – but I'd like an answer when you get back."
Trying not to seem as floored as he was, the man straightened up when she took a step towards him. He was smothered by the smell of her freshly escaped hair – the air tinged with the floral scent of her shampoo. The universe wasn't making it easy on him. "And what if I stay?" He asked.
"Then you stay here with us. With me." Snapping the compact shut, she tossed it back onto the cupboard. "We go back to Bitter Springs and we fix ourselves right up." Annie's voice wavered. "But that's only if you're with me. You can't run right back to them when we're done."
Against his best wishes, his face still pulled into a sour grimace. "I'm not going back. There's nothing there for me."
Annie folded her fists to her hips and thought silently, staring up at him with a brief intentness that burnt into a wild passion. He'd hooked her – finally – a small weight lifting from his chest.
"I need to know that you're the man I know – not the man I was raised to hate." She almost wanted to grab his shoulders to make her point, but her body wouldn't allow her to make a move. "I need to know that if I take you to my home – my real home – you won't line up my family and execute them in front of their shallow graves."
He swallowed grimly. "No. No."
"It's going to be hard, Boone." Her eyes softened at the break in his voice. Even through the thick tension, the two could feel their auras pull together like they usually did – blending them both with each other's pain and horror. "It's really going to suck."
"It needs to be done." He told her sternly and her lips twitched with half a smile.
"Don't think you're off the hook yet, Boone." Annie prodded his chest, leaving a painful sting in his muscles. "One slip up and I'll gut you myself. I know you don't take me as seriously as you should, and that could be your downfall one day."
Boone could think of nothing to say to that, swallowing tightly before nodding at her. The girl seemed happy with his response, her eyes lighting up with a polite cheerfulness that clicked over in transition to 'Business Annie'.
"I'll see you when you get home, Boone." She told him. "Please take care of Veronica."
With another nod, the man excused himself from her room. Heading back towards the guest bedroom, the man felt weighed down by his split second decision. It wasn't as if he felt he had made the wrong choice – he was just hoping that he'd made the right one. He knew quite well that there wasn't any more to Annie than what he already knew – it was like every time she lay down in front of him his mind had secretly stored away a mass of knowledge that outlined every spec of her.
The only thing that confused him was her leniency. After swearing black and blue against everything she hated, Annie was laxer than he expected. He was cautious around the idea of the soft punishment he had received. It wasn't even a punishment, to be honest; he felt he had been forgiven in a wrongful way. Perhaps he wasn't forgiven at all, but was on a trial that would prove his loyalty to her.
That would make more sense – especially now that she had promised to join him to Bitter Springs. The thought was a little nerve-wracking but it was about time he and Annie made the trek back to the place that centred their lives. He wasn't ready to forgive himself just yet, but knowing there was a chance that Annie would – well, it probably was only a dream.
Twisting the knob, Boone stepped into the guest room to be greeted by three sets of eyes. The other companions sensed the tension between the courier and her partner, but didn't want to say anything until they knew the two had talked again. To Veronica, Boone seemed a lot less worried about something and it put her mind at ease – Cass' lips twitching into a smarmy smile that turned the sweetest cola the dankest sour.
"Kiss and make up, did we?"
He didn't even bother looking at her as he started to pack his bag, stacking cans of food around his medical kit that he had already filled with all the necessities. Jacobstown seemed like a small step towards his future, but for the first time in along while Boone felt like he had drive. And for some reason, he didn't dread the sun rising as much as he used to.