"The bus leaves at twelve tonight, right?" Misty said aloud. Cordelia hummed a response as she delicately folded clothes into her suitcase. Misty had taken a different approach, meaning she had stuffed everything in at random. "Cos' I think we'd better have disguises."

Cordelia snorted. "What, like fake moustaches?" She folded her pyjamas and set them down in the case. She'd unpacked and repacked the whole thing maybe twice even though they'd only stayed one night and there really wasn't any need for it. Misty realised it must have been a coping mechanism, something comforting for Cordelia to focus on as they worried. Misty wished her coping mechanism was something useful, like cleaning. Instead she'd just chewed her fingernails until they bled.

"Yeah, exactly," she said, deadpan. She pictured the two of them walking arm and arm down the street, wearing massive fake moustaches, and bit back a laugh. Cordelia stared back blankly. "No, like scarves, an' hats an' things. I don't know. Just somethin' to conceal ourselves a bit."

"That's a good idea," Cordelia said. "We could go to a thrift store. Save our money."

"Wanna go now?" Misty suggested hopefully.

Cordelia shook her head. "Not during lunch, there'll be more people around."

"Yeah, people who'll be too busy eatin' their food to notice us."

"I just don't –" Cordelia bit her lower lip. "I'm so scared, Mist. Yesterday was such a close call."

Misty crossed the room and pulled Cordelia into a hug, wishing she could do more to comfort her terrified girlfriend. "That was different, Dee. Unlucky. Diners are the only places that'll TVs. We'll just avoid them."

"I don't know if we can avoid them – "

"We can. We have to. Thrift stores ain't got TVs in them."

"True…" Cordelia said thoughtfully.

Misty grinned, seeing that Cordelia was beginning to cave. "We'll go shoppin' when you're done packin' for the fifth time."

"Hey!" Cordelia protested. "I have a system. It's very precise, very organised, I need it to be perfect."

"Well, you're perfect, and that's good enough for me."

Cordelia rolled her eyes, failing to conceal a smile. "You're such a sap, Misty Day."

"Yeah, it's your fault." They grinned at each other. Misty would never get sick of watching Cordelia smile. It was like the sun shone out of her face, brilliant beams of light stretching out to Misty and warming her from the inside out.

Cordelia nodded to herself, and set down a pair of pyjamas she was folding. "Okay. I guess we'll go to a thrift store then. But if someone so much as looks at us strange, we're coming straight back here. I don't care if it takes us a year to get to New Orleans, I'll take it slow if it means we'll stay safe."

"Deal," Misty said, sticking out her hand. Cordelia shook it. "You know, I ain't scared, with you around."

Cordelia scoffed, and picked up the pyjamas again, rolling them up tightly to fit into her overstuffed suitcase. "What, like I'm a dog or something?"

"Yeah," Misty agreed cheekily.

"Hey!" Cordelia said, playfully shoving her. "I'm not a dog."

"No," Misty agreed. "You're more like a… swan."

"How?"

Misty bobbed her head. "Well, you're elegant, refined… but also free. And hella pretty."

Cordelia's cheeks went pink. "Oh, you flatter me, Misty Day."

"It sure is fun." And it was. Misty loved to shower her girlfriend with compliments. If anyone deserved it, it was Cordelia.

Tilting her head to the side, Cordelia pretended to think. "Well, if I'm a swan, what are you? I gotta think."

"While you think," Misty said, "maybe we can leave this room?" She was getting antsy, cooped up inside like this. She was the kind of person who just didn't feel right with sun on her face and dirt between her toes. The grey concrete of the equally grey town they were in did not, in any way, compare to fresh dirt – but at least there was sun. She'd lasted most of the day, for Cordelia's sake, but she knew that if she watched one more episode of I Love Lucy she'd have no choice but to claw her own eyes out.

"Wow, you really do have cabin fever," Cordelia said. She bit her lip nervously, and Misty felt bad. Cordelia hadn't felt right since they'd seen her mother on TV. She was blaming herself for what they'd said about Misty, she could tell. And sure, it bothered Misty, knowing what people were saying about her. But the people that mattered knew it wasn't true, and that was enough to keep her sane. Cordelia, on the other hand, wasn't taking it well. "Okay, fine. But we're coming straight back if – "

"If anyone looks at us, yeah yeah, I got it," Misty said, rolling her eyes.

Cordelia pushed her back onto the bed and kissed her. Misty smiled into her lips, wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, and closed her eyes.

0o0o

"Ooh, this one. It's very Venable," Cordelia said, holding up a long purple dress. She popped a hip and pursed her lips.

Misty pushed the dress down. "Ew, shut up. I know I said Venable was hot that one time but I would like to formally retract that statement."

"Oh, you would, would you?"

"Yeah."

"Too bad. I'm never forgetting it now."

"Well, I wish you would," Misty said, sticking her tongue out. "Oh. Oh, I actually like this." She pulled a dress from the rack, and held it up against her body. It was made from a satiny kind of material, with a fitted bodice and a flared skirt, a floral pattern decorating it. It seemed a little short, but Misty didn't care.

"Oh, you've got to get that," Cordelia said. "Go try it on."

Misty grinned, and took the dress into the change room. An hour later, they walked out of the store, with extremely fashionable new disguises, in Misty's opinion.

0o0o

Misty was more than ready to leave by twelve. She was usually quite patient, but Cordelia had been nothing but a ball of anxiety for the last two days, and Misty guessed that she'd been feeding off that nervous energy. She was nervous too, of course, but not as much as Cordelia – she'd been shaken up ever since the diner.

It didn't help that the motel was a complete dump, either. Misty swore she'd seen a rat. Cordelia said that she didn't believe her, but Misty just thought she didn't want to think about the possibility of there being vermin where they slept. Cordelia jiggled her knee up and down, up and down next to her. Misty looked across at her, and rested a hand on her leg. "Take a deep breath, Delia."

Cordelia took a shaky inhale, looking into Misty's eyes. "I'm nervous; could you tell?"

"Not at all," Misty said. A blatant lie, and they both knew it, but Cordelia didn't seem to care. She rested her head on Misty's shoulder. "Dee – " Misty said nervously, looking around.

"It's dark out, it doesn't matter," Cordelia said reassuringly.

"Hold on, this ain't right. I'm sposed' to be the one reassurin' you."

"I guess I feel calmer, at night. I've always been like that. I guess because there's no-one to yell at me."

"By no-one you mean your mom."

"Yeah."

"I ain't never met her, but I hate her as much as my own parents, I think."

"Well, I think I hate yours as much as I hate Fiona. So we're in the same boat there."

"Do you ever miss her?"

Cordelia was thoughtful for a moment. "No. She's always been… like that. Manipulative. Angry. For as long as I can remember. I think I love her, sometimes, but I think I just love the idea of her. Of having a mother. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," said Misty quietly. "It does."

"What about you? Do you miss your parents?"

"Not one bit," Misty said truthfully. "I miss my siblings, though. Mainly Liz. I ain't worried about her, though, as bad as that sounds. She's smart, I know she'll make it out. I only hope the littles can do the same."

"I'm sure they will, if they're any bit as amazing as you."

"Oh, you flatter me," Misty said, bumping Cordelia's shoulder with her own.

There was a flash of headlights down the road. They stood up, and gathered their luggage as the bus pulled up to the stop. After handing their tickets to the driver, they climbed onto the mostly empty bus and took seats near the back.

"Nearly there," Misty said quietly. She wasn't referring to New Orleans, exactly. She was talking more about freedom.

Cordelia understood what she meant, and squeezed her hand. "Nearly there," she agreed.

Misty leaned her head on Cordelia's shoulder for a moment, before remembering that they were supposed to be concealing themselves. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she straightened back up in her seat. "I hate not bein' able to touch you," she whispered.

"Me too," Cordelia said. "It sucks."

"Well, I can deal for now. But too long and I'm gonna go insane."

Cordelia hummed thoughtfully. "I've been thinking. And I think I know what animal you are."

"You do?" Misty said curiously, turning to her. "What am I?"

Cordelia smiled. "A lioness."

Just a short one today. I've had a bit of writer's block on this story lately. This chapter was meant to be much longer, but I won't be able to upload for the next few weeks so I thought a short chapter would be better than no chapter.

Also, Happy Christmas to those of you who celebrate! While writing this, it is currently 2:04 am on Christmas morning. RIP to anyone with young children in the house, enjoy waking up at sparrow's fart

Thanks to everyone who commented, left kudos or even just read this story this year. Your support means a lot and I appreciate the shit out of you!

Chapter title from 'Songbird' by Fleetwood Mac.