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Alex picked Nona to go to main street with her.
The atmosphere coming down the hill from the tower was tense at best. Alex forged ahead, jogging relentlessly downward even through the sheen of sweat glistening on her face. Distantly, Nona thought that it was too cold to be sweating - maybe Alex was getting a fever? She’d check later.
And then they were through the gate, and a tiny part of Nona was expecting it to slam shut behind her and keep her from safety and her friends. The wind whistled merrily and picked up the gate a little bit. Nona jumped and almost reached for Alex. She stopped herself and instead, began to babble nervously.
“Hey. Uh.” Alex looked up at her. “Uh, my birthday’s in three days, and I’m having a thing, and you’re invited.”
“Oh. Uh, happy early birthday!” Alex started jogging again and chuckled to herself. “You know, in my family we celebrate birthdays for the whole week, so you’re four days behind. Get with the curve, Nona!” Nona laughed with alex for a minute before the awkward silence fell.
The only sound that floated between them was their breathing, heavy and synchronized, and their footfalls on the crunchy dirt. Alex spoke first. “So, why were you thinking about this?”
“Oh, well, I was just thinking about Clarissa, and then thinking about last year’s birthday. Our friend Nicole was in a car accident right, and we went to go visit her at the hospital, and I’m not gonna pout about that, that’s common human decency. But after, Clarissa still came over with this giant cake and we watched all my favorite movies. And she didn’t have to do that.”
Alex was quiet. Then, “That was… actually really sweet of her.”
“Yeah! And she totally didn’t have to,” Nona repeated. “I just… I hope she’s okay.” To her complete and utter embarrassment, a sob climbed up her throat and dribbled out of her mouth. Alex stopped so suddenly Nona crashed into her.
“Hey!” Alex pulled Nona into her chest before she could react. “We’re gonna find her. Clarissa’s gonna be fine, she’ll be fine.” Nona sobbed pathetically into Alex’s jacket.
“Sh-she’s my best friend!’ Nona hiccupped.
“I know. Come on, you’re okay.”
Nona looked up at Alex from where she rested and gasped inaudibly. The moonlight glinted off the bridge of Alex’s nose, accenting her sharp features, and when she looked down to ask if Nona was okay, Nona surged up and kissed her.
Alex pulled back in surprise. Nona cringed. “I am so sorry! I’m just under way too much stress, we can pretend that never happened, I’m so -” Alex pressed her lips to Nona’s.
“I needed to shut you up,” Alex mumbled. “I’ve been wanting to do that all night. Why do you think I’m taking you down to Main Street with me? You were just… in some emotional distress and I didn’t wanna force you.”
Nona laughed happily. “God, you’re so fucking sweet.”
Alex grabbed her hand. “Come on. Let’s go find Clarissa so you can tell her all about your new girlfriend.” She held Nona’s hand tightly as she took off running again.
Nona looked at their joined hands as she let Alex tow her along and smiled.