Chapter 19: The Search for Love

"Aaaaaaaaaaah…" With a gaping yawn as she lay stretched out on her bed, Maria continued to stare up at the ceiling and waste away the time thinking about something to do.

"Store's closed, plants are watered…" While mumbling to herself she lifted her head and stared at her fridge, then flopped back down.

"Fridge is organized…" She bemoaned, having put her hopes in that task.

She tilted her head towards the window. It was a fair weather day, partially cloudy but the sun was winning the war of the weather at the moment.

She pulled out her phone and started flipping through her playlist. There were plenty of songs she wanted to listen to, it was impossible to pick just one.

"Maybe I could go for a jog…" Was her thought process to try to narrow down her options. Nope, still too many songs.

"Haaaaa…" She plopped her arms down, her hands dangling off the edges of her bed slightly, "I want to do something. But then I spend more time deciding to do something instead of doing it."

Ah, the eternal conundrum of those with too much time on their hands.

She slowly lifted her phone back up over her face and squeezed her lips into a hesitating pucker as she went for her contacts.

"It's the weekend, maybe dad is free…?"

She edged her thumb over the call symbol then slid away, laying the phone down on her chest and sighed, "What would we even do? Play video games? I could just go online…"

This boiled down her conundrum to a simple conclusion: She REALLY just wanted an excuse to go outside.

After a little while more of this fiddling around with hesitation, she heard a click from downstairs and got up out of bed over to the railing.

Nothing was out of place. Could've just been the floorboards creaking.

"Great, I'm so bored I'm imagining opportunities for excitement…" She closed her eyes while admonishing herself with a smile.

When she turned around she immediately noticed that the window had been left open slightly.

"...Ooor maybe not?" She waltzed towards the window with a carefree demeanor and once she shut it, she closed her eyes and scanned her room with her aura senses.

Someone was currently stuck…under the edge of her bed.

Humored enough to raise a brow and smile, she turned around and crossed her arms while tapping her right toes.

Sure enough it was Alura, currently in the midst of being foiled at her attempt to surprise her by her chest, unable to pass under the bed.

Alura continued to try with both her hands until she stopped and looked up at her friend, "H-Hey, Maria! Fancy meeting you here!"

Maria could barely contain her laughter as she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Ooooh, you know…" Alura paused for a little bit as the two of them stared as her chest squished against the bed frame.

Then Alura popped out, stood up, and quickly brushed the dust off her lower body while saying, "Sooooo! How's my favorite cowboy doing?"

"Uuuugh, you know," Maria turned the other way and grumbled out loud, "Being bored out of my wits."

"Oh well what a coininky-dink! So am I!" Alura clapped her hands and then gestured her thumb at the steps, "Whaddya say we go and be not-bored somewhere not-here?"

Right as she planned to grab Maria's wrist and drag her along, Maria shifted her body out of the way and let her friend forcibly stumble along before asking, "Hold on. What are you scheming, Alura?"

Alura straightened herself out with her hands behind her back and sighed, "Rats. You got me~"

She flipped her hair back to wink at her friend, "I'm making good on my vow to find you a boyfriend."

Maria flinched, "O-Oh yeah, she did say she was going to try…"

She couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, but flattered by her offer, "L-Look Alura, I know you mean well, but my feelings are a lot more com-"

Alura leaned in and pinched her lips shut, "The moment I let go you're just gonna make excuse after excuse, and I can't let you do that to yourself, ok?"

"Will you hear your best friend out? Pleeeeease?" She started flashing her with the classic "rapid eyelash fluttering" technique.

"Uuuugh, how can someone this attractive look even better when she acts childish?" Maria lost the battle and gave a slow nod, which allowed Alura to let go and pump her fist for victory.

"Ok! Now what we're going to do is head into town, and you'll treat it like you would any other day off. Just act normal around the people we run into, and if I catch you missing an opportunity for love, I'll buzz in."

Maria then tapped her fingers on her arm and leaned to the side, "So a normal day off, but I have a judgmental voice by my side."

Alura smiled proudly, "You won't even know I'm there."

Maria looked her over and sighed, "You know that's impossible, right?"

Alura remained unflinching, "Sooo, what do you say? Do we have a date?"

Maria got a light blush in her cheeks as she shrugged, "Oh hell, I got nothing better to do today."

"That's the spirit!" Alura cheered.

"But on TWO conditions," Maria put her foot down extra hard on this, "I'll be driving."

"Because I KNOW where this is heading…" She thought with a bit of awkwardness in her tone.

"Ok, that's fine! I took the bus here anyway. And the other?"

Maria held her hands together, "PLEASE don't use your illusions to make me look more attractive."

"Oh gosh, Maria, how superficial do you think I am?" Alura asked sincerely before laying her hand on her shoulder and saying, "If anyone's going to love you, they'll love you as you are right now."

Maria's blush only got darker. Then Alura backed off and giggled, "Ok! Enough loitering around! Lets go go GO!"

Maria gathered her wallet and a few other things and they were off out the front door.

Maria's car was a hand-me-down from her dad after she moved here: An old model white Toyota with heated leather seats, and all the other stuff you could want for smooth handling on any road.

It's got chipped paint nowadays, but it gives it a rural charm she feels.

Alura immediately jumped at the chance to lean back in the passenger seat and crank up the heat to max, "Ooooomff…did you know they don't have leaning seats in limos? Oh yeah…"

Maria silently shook her head and after a little fumbling with the ignition, managed to get them on the road into town.

Traffic was being cooperative for once, and along the way Alura started up some small chat, "Ok. What's your favorite fast food place at the moment?"

"Hmmm, I've been enjoying this Mexican place down on Gulliver's Pt. They serve really good empanadas."

Alura turned her head with a blank look in her eyes, "Remind me what those are again."

Maria translated it in her language, "Think Uncrustables, but with Mexican food."

"Ooooh, right. I think I had one while I was on tour in Texas…" Alura pinched her fingers together between her lips, "Or was it a tamale…"

Maria smiled at her wandering expression, then began to slowly drift the car into a parking lot.

"Here we are." She stated plainly.

As Maria got out, Alura took a moment to stare and blink, "That was fast!"

She then popped out of the car and the two looked up at the sign saying "Midway Shooting Range" which, being in the middle of the day, wasn't lit up yet.

Alura clearly wanted to say something but was keeping her lips sealed very prominently.

The two went inside and a young man was working behind the counter, which was protected with a strong glass window and metal walls around it.

The man turned away from his manga and remarked, "Afternoon Maria. What can I do for you?"

"The usual, Charlie." Maria said in a friendly manner.

"Three targets on rotation, 18 bullets?"

"9 mm." Maria corrected.

"You got it!" The man smiled and turned out of his chair to get the bullets from the depository, meanwhile leaning over his shoulder and saying, "Will your friend be joining you?"

Alura waved her hand out and giggled, "I'm just here for moral support."

While Maria still saw her friend as herself, Alura was using her illusions to mask her appearance and avoid drawing attention to her popularity.

Alura describes her concealed self as being a few inches shorter, with brunette hair, and a "mere" DD-cup, but she kept the same clothes on since that information wasn't publicly known.

"You're going to need protection for your eyes and ears then. I'll ring you up in a moment."

Alura's sleight of hand saw her drawing her debit card out before Maria could even blink, and Maria then barred her path and whispered, "Hey, I'll pay for you this time."

"Nuh uh, I can do it." Alura insisted.

"It's not that much." Maria said, trying to clue in on Alura's concerns.

"So what? I earned this money, I'll spend it how I want." Alura's force of will won out, and without sounding the least bit offended.

This argument was closed just as Charlie turned around with everything the two of them needed, which he slid out through an electronic shelf.

The bullets were kept in a small box. Maria already had a gun with her. A 9mm Walther PPQ 5-inch pistol, perfect for here.

After payments were doled out, Maria peered through the window at his manga of choice and remarked, "Finally caught up on the recent chapters?"

"Oh boy, have I! These last few have been a doozy! I didn't think the fight would end-"

Maria steadily waved her hand up and stuttered, "H-Hold on, I haven't caught up myself."

Charlie closed his lips with a pop, "Sorry. Have a good time, Maria!"

"You too." She waved him goodbye and went into the range proper. Only once she reached the target line did she load the bullets into her pistol.

Alura stood a fair distance behind her and whistled a tune off-key.

There were a few other gunners letting off some steam here. Maria knew them all by name. One of them was a father of two kids. Another was a girl who worked janitorial duties at a museum. The third was an immigrant from Japan who spent two years mastering English, and now works a steady job at a fishing pier.

Alura was likely scoping them out for her, but she wasn't really interested.

They were all varying degrees of nice, but not her style.

Maria finished loading her gun and steadied her aim at the descending circular target. The position she needed to be in for maximum recoil cushioning was burned into her brain from years of practice.

She took a deep breath, undid the safety, and when the alarm signaled the target was locked she fired a clean shot through the center of the bullseye.

Then again. Then again. Then three more times in quick succession.

The target was left smoking out the back from the coordinated bullet holes and rose to be replaced by another.

Maria put the safety back on and then started to reload, sweating profusely through her protection. To the point that Alura patting her on the back made her shake.

She then turned to the other booths, where her guests stopped to clap for her.

She smiled and gave a thumbs up, then spent the rest of the time waiting for the target to catch her breath.

"Nobody really understands how much it strains your mind to get the perfect shot."

"Math. Etiquette… and nerves of steel."

She fired another clean shot into the new target, then repeated the process six more times.

She then put the safety back on with a big proud smile, "But the results are worth it."

Maria put the pistol down for a moment and then looked back at Alura. She was pumping her fists and nodding along, not seeming to get that the gunshots and earplugs made it impossible to talk.

Maria thought of the possibility of Alura with a gun and considered it the silliest thing she could imagine.

The humor deflated her tension enough for her to reload and ready herself for the final target.

This time Maria closed her eyes and tried to test her focus with her aura. The target exuded a faint purple coat of it and after taking a deep breath, she managed to land…five shots in the bullseye.

The sixth nicked the line between it and the next space.

"Shoot…!" She said with a click of the tongue as the target was withdrawn.

She put the safety back on, locked the pistol away safely in her vest, and then left the booth.

It was always a short visit to the shooting range, but it never got tiring.

Letting loose a few bullets is like dipping into her dreams of being a space-faring cowboy. A few years younger and she'd probably be firing off one-liners before shooting.

After exiting the range, the two returned their equipment, and Alura needed to take a moment to adjust to the lingering ringing in her ears.

During which, another customer showed up with a friend of his own. Their clean looks confirmed they were officer workers just getting off for the day.

"Hey!" One of them remarked.

The other pointed at Alura and said with some surprise, "You brought a friend?"

Maria looked at her and decided to be quick and polite about her situation, "She returned to town recently. We're catching up."

"Heeeey!" Alura said in a cheery voice.

The first guy raised his brows, leaned in and his tone made his intentions clear, "Sooo, what's her name?"

Alura stood up, planted her face near his, and whispered in a playful mockery of his tone, "Married with two children."

The guy retreated with a few coughs and a light punch to his chest, "A-Aha I was joking, you see…!"

Alura smiled and fanned her fingers out before her chin, "Call me Alura. Maria, do you want to introduce me to them?"

"Oh, I don't know these two that well. We just happen to cross paths here." Maria said, stirring intrigue in Alura's expression.

"I see, I see~"

Maria then waved the two men off and said, "Anyways, have fun."

"Bye!" The two said in unison.

As Maria and Alura returned to the car and drove off, Alura stretched back in her seat and remarked, "They didn't seem too bad."

"Ehhh, you're right, but…"

Alura turned and remarked, "Boys are normally too shy to make the first move around a pretty face. But he seemed comfortable around you."

Maria chuckled, "It's because I go there so often!"

"Could've fooled me!" Alura said jokingly.

As they headed back into traffic, Alura strayed the conversation elsewhere, "So while I was taking the bus over, I saw a woman walking a few dogs by herself in the park. And I thought…'Gee I bet Maria would love a pet'."

Maria took a deep breath and exhaled through her nostrils, "Oooh, I really, REALLY considered a kitten at one point, but you know those plants I get off-world? Well I haven't sat down with Catherine to approve them for animals."

"Ah. Totally makes sense. Buuuut, if you could have a cat…?"

Maria looked at her since they were at a stoplight, "Hmmm, probably one of those brown ones with the black, tiger-like stripes. I see them all over the place on windows in stores, and in parks…"

"Green light." Alura made a quick aside, and Maria returned focus back onto driving.

"Sounds like a perfect fit!" She then commented.

"...I'll work something out with Catherine next time I get a hold of her." Maria said.

After a bit more driving Maria managed to squeeze into the last parking spot at a busy bakery called "Loaf of Heaven".

"Ooook, what's the sitch here?" Alura commented.

"This place makes the BEST bagels in town!" Maria proclaimed.

Alura gave her a side-eye of disbelief, "I've never heard of them."

Maria raised a brow to tease her, "Because this only opened up a year ago. Some of our friends in town like to frequent this place too."

"Reeeeally?" Alura rubbed her hands together to grease up some mischief.

Maria shook her head and remarked, "Not dad. He's more of a…make-it-at-home guy for his bread."

Alura gently lowered her shoulders and remarked, "Drat…"

They went into the bakery and there was a small line ahead of them. And directly in front of them was a familiar, silver-haired beauty.

"Yoo-hoo! Lunis!" Alura cried out without a second thought, making Maria jump with embarrassment.

Lunis turned around, decked in her librarian ensemble, and after a bit of airheadedness on her part she recognized her companions with a smile.

"Heeey! If it isn't the dynamic duo, reunited at long last! Are you both infected with some bagel fever, too?"

Alura remarked, "I'm just going along with her plans for now. Y'know, trying to…" she leaned in and whispered into Lunis' ear, "Get her a b-o-y."

"Aaaaah…" Lunis gasped playfully.

"Alura…" Maria groaned.

Alura then slipped back into place and crossed her arms, "Still working hard?"

Lunis exclaimed, "Yep! Just taking a snack break."

Alura tilted her head, "Talk to me, girl. When was the last time you went on vacation?"

Lunis answered with a light chuckle, "Once a month, you know that."

"I don't mean with Riku. By yourself."

Lunis smiled humbly and shook her head, "I couldn't."

Alura then held a pointer finger over Maria's head, "You two should make a club for excuses makers."

Lunis smiled and said, "I don't have a good excuse, I'll admit."

"I'll buy the tickets if I must!" Alura insisted.

"I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. I'll think about it though, deal?"

Alura shrugged, "I'll take it."

Lunis then clapped her hands, "So! Bagels! They're hosting a 2 for 1 deal today! So you better bag-el them up while you can, hee hee!"

Maria then looked back at Alura and told her, "I'm paying for yours this time. No arguing."

"Fine, fine," Alura raised her hands like she was under arrest, then put them back down, shifting to a more curious tone, "Alright, so grade the bagel boy behind the counter from 1 to 10."

Maria blushed and then sharply turned back, hissing out, "Alura…!"

Alura countered by remarking, "Don't tell me you haven't gotten to know him a teeeeny bit."

Maria pulled her pout to the side and then looked at the young man handling the bagels behind the counter. He was a little shorter than her, had a strong work ethic, but was working with a little acne on his forehead.

Maria turned her head slightly and mumbled, "Ehh…a 6?"

Alura and Lunis hummed with intrigue, then looked at each other to host their own conversation, Alura starting off, "See, Maria's not shy. Her standards are not unfair either…I don't get it!"

Lunis whispered, "If you can't figure it out, I don't think I'd have any better luck."

Alura wagged her hand out and said, "Maybe try giving her some advice. What finally pushed you and Riku together?"

Lunis tapped the side of her mouth while remarking, "Well, probably giving birth to Lunalei."

Maria got a little pale in the face, only for Lunis to giggle, "I'm just being a goober."

"Honestly, I think it was our mutual respect for each other. He listened to me, I listened to him. He never pushed things too far. Our love became as natural as breathing. It's a wonderful, magical, spectacular feeling…But it's also not something that's easy to achieve."

"Excuse me, ma'am, are you going to order?" They had passed the time so easily that it was now Lunis' turn to order.

She delightfully turned around and gasped, "Ah, sorry! I'll take two red onion bagels with cream cheese!"

In a minute, Lunis paid and received her order, fresh from the oven.

She then turned around to look at Maria and whisper, "For my money, I think you should take it slow and steady. So either Samantha or my brother are the best people to talk to."

She then laid a hand on her shoulder as she passed her by, "Good luck Maria, I'm rooting for you!"

Maria showed appreciation through a smile and then stepped up to take her order with a little more faith that things will turn out alright.

"I'll take a toasted cheese bagel with melted swiss and a sprinkle of pepper."

Alura then licked her lips and said, "And I'll take an everything bagel with cream cheese, strawberry jelly, ooooh, raisins sound good too. Actually, go half and half on the cream cheese, I want one half with garlic cream cheese and the other half with pepper cream cheese."

The guy at the counter looked scared out of his wits until Maria softly said, "I'll be paying the order."

Eventually the two got their bagels and Alura didn't wait long to chomp into her crazy order, her eyes lighting up like fireworks went off inside, "Holy SCHMOLY, this is DIVINE!"

She slapped her smiling cheek, "Oh this is def going in my top 5 bagel places!"

Maria sighed fondly and shook her head, being a lot more…gentle with her bagel. Still delicious.

After they enjoyed their quick snack it was back into the car, with Alura, crumbs covering her face, thrusting her finger out the window, "Next stop, the Bombbrew Bar!"

"W-What…? I thought we were following MY plans…?" Maria stuttered.

"Yeah but you heard Lunis, Samantha will help clear your woes right up!"

Maria slanted her brows concernedly, "I know, but it's a bar…"

"So? You love going to bars!"

"Yes, I am well aware…" Maria said with some sarcasm, "It's just yoooooou…"

She bit her lip at the sight of Alura eagerly awaiting her comment, then backpedaled into something else, "Should really not drink before dinner?"

"Her bar serves dinner! We'll just eat there!"

Maria faced the wheel and after taking a deep sigh she told herself, "Well, you knew this was coming…"

Thus began the long feeling drive to the bar, padded by lots of stoplights and Alura's small talk.

Since it was early in the evening the crowd at the bar wasn't too thick. The old bar had just undergone renovations a few months back but still retained that old school charm.

Maria enjoyed hopping between bars, but always found herself coming back here. Not for familiarity sake, but because it's the most welcoming bar in the world.

The moment she stepped through the door, Samantha turned away from cleaning glasses and shouted, "Well howdy, partner!"

"And is that-oh God." Her face turned pale the moment Alura stepped into view.

"Heeeey, Sammy! Guess who?"

Samantha flared her eyes in a "What are you thinking?" sort of way and Maria could only shrug.

Samantha sighed as the two rolled up to the counter, the dispensed with her own small talk, "So when'd you roll back into town?"

Alura spoke, "Oh a little over a month ago. You look great, Sammy! Really owning your age!"

Samantha grinned, "Damn straight. Father Time tried to sneak some wrinkles on me in the middle of the night, but I folded him flat on the ground."

Alura then commented, "Where's Zeke?"

"Retired a couple years ago. Now I have full ownership of the bar!" Samantha remarked proudly.

"Wow, I missed a LOT." Alura commented.

"Well see here superstar, they have this thing called phones." Samantha joked.

"Oh, fine, guilty!" Alura smiled.

"Heh, you ain't changed an inch, Alura."

Alura merrily waved her hand over her chest and sang, "Guuuuuilty~"

Samantha then put her glass down and asked, "So, what can I do for ya both?"

Maria raised a finger and softly said, "One Seattle Sunset and an order of steak and onion rings."

"Ooh! I'll take that too!" Alura shouted.

Samantha hesitated, "You sure? It's pretty spicy."

"I can take it!" Said the brave warrior seconds before a humbling defeat.

Samantha shrugged and then shouted back, "Yo! Two grilled slabs topped with crackling onions!"

"And I'll stir those drinks right up!" Samantha then left, and Alura took that as her cue to spin her stool around and glance out into the bar.

"Alright, see any familiar faces?" Alura pointed out.

Maria turned and sighed, "Listen Alura, I've had plenty of fun with just the two of us hanging out."

There were a good number of the customers who waved at Maria's presence here, overwhelming her to the point of making her cheeks red.

Alura then leaned in and whispered, "Seems you've got some points already stocked up."

"Yeah, by being polite and talkative. But none of these people are 'friend' friends."

"I'll think about it." Maria turned back to the counter right as Samantha brought out their drinks. Bright orange, mixed with lemon and lime.

"Dinner's on the way. Enjoy!"

Alura then asked, "Hey Sammy, Lunis said you could help our cowboy here rope in a stallion, if you know what I mean."

Samantha dryly chuckled, "Subtle. So, seeking love are we?"

Maria faintly raised her hands, "You could say that."

Samantha remarked, "You know, I'm glad me and Solaris took it slow. Sure the sex was a blast, but we didn't really know we wanted to go further until he said he wanted a bigger house. After that everything just kinda happened, and now I've got that home, a husband, rebellious twins, a sweets maker, a boyish maid, and a freeloading ice goblin Otaku."

"Ahhh…that's living the American dream baby!"

Alura took the first sip of her drink and then pointed at her, "Yeah, but if you take it too slow that's a turn off for a lot of partners."

Samantha shrugged broadly, "Everyone's got their pace. Maybe Maria hasn't found hers."

Maria was too busy enjoying her drink to contribute. She was just waiting out the inevitable.

In a matter of seconds and only halfway into her drink, Alura started tipping against the counter with a goofy smile, "Heh heh heh…!"

Maria, meanwhile, finished her first drink and smiled fondly at her friend, "Every time."

Samantha laughed to herself, "A glutton for all but the tap."

She then focused on Maria and took a more serious tone, "I don't wanna pry too much, but why don't you go on any dates? There's a lot of people who like talking to you here."

Maria rolled the ice in her glass and remarked, "It's complicated."

"Faaaair enough. Can't say that doesn't make me want to pry harder though, heh heh!" Samantha then gestured to Alura rubbing her chin on the counter, "So what should I do with her order?"

Maria suggested, "Say it's on the house to some lucky guy here. I'll cover her tab."

"You sure?"

Maria nodded.

"Well alright. Want another drink?"

Maria raised her glass and said, "One refill, please."

"Heh heh, you got it!" Samantha then took the glass and cleaned it out before getting Maria another drink.

By the time she got it, Alura had taken a nearby fork and placed the prongs on the edge of her lips.

A little while after, her dinner arrived, steaming hot and looking fantastic.

She slowly chipped away at it while getting onto her third drink. Samantha ended up having to pull away from their conversation since the evening crowd was starting to roll in in droves.

She's always been an incredibly hard worker, but it took a long time before Maria was able to appreciate that about her.

Until she became of drinking age, the gal was always just this high-energy loud-mouth who hung around with Solaris.

Just another reason to enjoy getting older. You see things in a different perspective.

After finishing her meal, Maria looked over at Alura and saw that she was still hanging on to her consciousness in a dizzying fashion. She had brought her chest up onto the counter and laid her head down on it, pretending to bounce off them like a trampoline.

"Heh heh, I'm beeg…"

Maria then called for a fourth drink from Samantha, still feeling steady.

As she waited for that drink, she heard a voice break through the rambunctious crowd, "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

She looked to her left and saw a boy with clean cut brown hair, a chain necklace, and what looked like a worn sports jersey. So he's probably a former college student, maybe just a few years younger than her.

With a light shrug Maria said, "Help yourself."

"Thanks." The boy sat down and turned to look at her, leaning one elbow on the counter.

The moment Maria glanced at her he gulped and then got off, "Ah, I can't do it. I owe my friend twenty bucks…"

Maria raised a brow and found this a little funny, "Did you place a bet to come talk to me?"

The boy turned around and rubbed the back of his head, "I-I mean, yeah. I always wanted to come and say 'Hi', start a conversation, you know…But I always got cold feet."

He gestured back to his friend clearly sitting at a table by himself and whispered, "Being the dick head that he though he HAD to tease me until I relented…"

He continued to blush until his face was filled with pink and then grit his teeth and backed off, "Y-You're probably having a good time. I'll leave you alone."

"Nah, stay," Maria said with a minor shrug, pointing to HER own friend, "As you can see, my friend's disappointed me too."

"...You sure?" The boy asked.

"I probably won't be here for much longer though."

She could tell the boy was mustering up the courage to take this opportunity, but when he did he jumped back onto the stool with a smile, "Soo…My name's Claude."

"Maria." Maria remarked.

"...Is that Seattle Sunset? My dad told me that it used to be his favorite drink, but I've never tried it."

Maria rolled the ice cubes around and said, "For the first half you taste lemon, the second half you taste lime. I don't know HOW Samantha does it."

She then raised her glass and asked, "Speaking of, can I have another?"

Samantha chuckled, "Onto number five? Trying to break a record tonight?"

"F-Five?!" Claude stammered.

Maria didn't have anything to say and shrugged, which admittedly made her look alot cooler than she intended. So she ended up blushing.

Claude then gripped his fists and punched the counter, "Ok, no time like the present! Gimme a Seattle Sunset too!"

"You got it!" Samantha yelled from a distance.

The next thing Maria knew, she was letting the next hour pass her by just chatting with this guy over drinks.

They talked about their favorite movies and their experiences at school. He had trouble holding himself together at times, this was definitely his first time trying to hold a conversation with a girl.

Honestly, he was just a little too eager to keep a conversation going, like he had something to prove.

Eventually, he finished his third drink and was sweating and gasping, struggling to maintain eye contact.

"W-Wow…that's a tough mix…"

Meanwhile, Maria was on her eighth, and only just now starting to blush.

"Are you going to be ok?" She said softly.

"Y-Yeah, my friend's my ride…Uuuurkk…" After tipping over a little, Claude laid his hand down and remarked, "Hey…I'm sorry for bothering you…B-But, if you're here again…can I come over and talk some more…?"

"Sure, I'm here often." Maria said with a smile, then patted him on the back as a signal to maybe get over to his friend while he still had control of his legs.

"Great. You're great." Claude gave two thumbs up and then stumbled out of the stool and back over to his friend.

Maria immediately regretted trying to rush through the end of the conversation, but it was too late to pull him back in.

She enjoyed his company. Maybe if he hadn't gotten so tipsy, they could've talked longer. Maybe…there was something there.

She'd never know now, and who knows if she'll know later.

If Alura wasn't currently snoring on the countertop, she'd probably have nudged her with her elbow.

Maria looked at her glass, her empty plate, and the clock and recognized that it was probably time to retire for the evening before she wouldn't be able to get home.

After thanking Samantha for her service, Maria hoisted Alura onto her shoulder and whispered, "Ok superstar, time to get you home."

Alura faintly giggled.

Maria got her into the car and then gently took out her cell phone, entering the password "Joe Dark" to get access to her address book and find out where she's living currently.

Turns out? In some simple rural one-story house, just a few streets away from where her dad and family were living.

"Huh…" Maria put the phone back in place and then put Alura's seatbelt on snugly. She eased into the seat and drooled onto her chin.

Now alone with her thoughts on the drive back, Maria reflected on this strange day fondly.

"You're always an unexpected presence in my life, Alura…" She said with her full feelings as if the woman could hear her, "Ever since that day…"

"..." She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath, her heart pumping tensely while her fingers tapped along the wheel.

"I made mistakes. I was young and reckless. Part of me knows that if I'm too eager to jump into new experiences I'll make mistakes again."

"...I got addicted to drugs for attention and nearly lost my family, and my life. But you came into my life like a black angel and refused to let go until I was better."

"You used your illusions as therapy, you paid my bills, made sure I had three healthy meals per day. You even bought me my home, and made frequent visits to check up on me."

"...You spoiled me rotten until I had no choice but to fall in love with you." Her laughter at the absurdity of that comment bordered on painful tears.

"And just when I realized my special feelings towards you, you left my life for five years to focus on your career."

"...I don't blame you for that. I blame myself for loving you in the first place Alura."

"My love life can be summed up as fruitlessly pursuing people I can never have. First Joe Dark, and now ironically…you, the one who took him away."

"...But whether you intended to or not, you helped me realize today that clinging onto these feelings isn't healthy."

Upon reaching a stop sign, Maria took a moment in this lonely night to stare at her beautiful friend and tell her, "If YOU believe I deserve to find happiness…then it must be true."

"I'm still scared of inviting new people into my life. To give up trust that can be betrayed. But…I'll admit…I'm even more scared of being alone again."

Her hands remained shaking on the wheel until another car finally drove up behind her and honked its horn.

After angrily staring back at the driver, she continued forward into the slower part of town.

She then took one more look at her friend and told her, "I promise to try a little harder next time…Thank you for everything. You really are…my bestest best friend."

A little while longer and she could finally take her home. It was getting dark so she didn't really get a good look at the house, but the lights were on thankfully.

She carried Alura over her shoulder to the front door and rang the doorbell. Alex answered, identifiable by the bangs still covering his one eye.

He looked surprised to see Maria, not by the state his mom was in, "Haaa, she tried it again huh…?"

"Sorry about this, Alex. You know your mom, always thinking she can conquer whatever she puts her mind to…"

She handed her over to him and he smiled, "Some would say that's her most attractive quality."

Maria nodded subtly, and then Alex remarked, "Thanks for getting her back safely. I'll make sure she gets rest and plenty of water."

"Thanks. I'll catch you later, say hi to your sister for me."

Maria then returned to her car, taking just one look back and smiling fondly at her friend, glad to have finally gotten some of her buried feelings out…Even if it was upon deaf ears.

Today was different. Tomorrow will be too.

It's scary. It's exciting. The mundane daily life of an adult isn't what she wanted, but right now…

She's not going to complain.

Next Time: To Hell and Back