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Jesse was gone.
Olivia's sweet, heroic best friend was gone.
It all happened two weeks ago. During the Admin's confrontation, Jesse had been defeated. Petra and Jack both witnessed her death in the Admin's hands within the Terminal, and had managed to escape with their lives to tell the tale. Everyone was heartbroken and terrified - if Jesse couldn't defeat him, then no one could.
Everyone -- Jack, Nurm, Petra, Lukas, Axel, Olivia, Radar, and several Beacontown inhabitants -- fled from Beacontown to Boom Town. If the Admin decided to give chase, they would have the best defenses there. There, Axel had found everyone a place to stay in his spacious living area that towered high in the sky of the hectic town.
It was tough for each of Jesse's friends to come to terms that the defeater of numerous things was never to be seen again.
Olivia especially.
The woman laid on her back on her queen-sized bed, inside of a pitch black room. Her whirling thoughts and grief were the only things keeping her company, causing her throat to tighten yet again. Oddly enough, compared to the others, she had not shed a single tear since Jesse's death. But in this lonely place, she found she couldn't hold it back any longer.
A sob welled up her throat and released into the air, tears squeezing from the corners of Olivia's almond-shaped eyes. Still laying down, she pulled her knees to her chest. Cries wracked her body, and she bit her lip as salty liquid dripped off of the tip of her nose and down to stain her pillowcase.
Suddenly, a squeak of the door sounded. She stiffened, and peeled her eyes open to see the outline of a stocky build. It was Axel.
The bed dipped beneath his weight as he sat next to Olivia. Embarrassed at the sight she must have been, she heaved for breath and swiped at her tear-stained cheeks in an attempt to calm her crying down. It was just before midnight and he slept down the hallway, so it wasn't a surprise that her cries had alerted him.
"Hey, just let it out man," Axel quietly said. He laid down beside her on the large bed and faced her, brows scrunched up in concern.
At her friends words, all other thoughts of self-consciousness went out the window as she broke down again. A pair of arms wrapped around her hesitantly, and she scooted torwards the man as she cried. Now pulled against him, her forehead rested against his firm chest and his arms wrapped around her torso.
They stayed like that for some time until Olivia finally calmed down. A hiccup escaped her throat, and she subconsciously nestled closer to Axel. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the scent of gunpowder and cologne - an odd combination, yet still soothing.
She was the first to break the silence. "I know I haven't been expressing emotion like you guys. But every morning I wake up, and she's on my mind. And every night she's in my thoughts." Her eyes slipped shut, eyelashes still wet.
"We understand. I still can't believe she's gone, though," he said. As he spoke, his warm breath fanned against the side of her neck, sending shivers down her spine.
Olivia sniffed. "Exactly. It's tearing me apart, killing me. Like I took her too much for granted. I know she wasn't indestructible, but I never thought that she would be . . . gone."
Oh, how she missed Jesse. Her chiming laugh, how her eyes lit up whenever she smiled, and how generous of a person she was to others, no matter who they were.
After a brief moment of silence, Axel said, "I'm here for you, y'know."
Olivia's eyes fluttered open, and she slightly smiled against his shirt. "I know. Thanks."
"Do you want me to . . . ?" Axel trailed off uncertainly, but she understood what he was asking.
"Stay, please." She yawned, and wrapped one arm over his back.
He tightened his strong grip around her small figure in acknowledgment. Trails of tears still staining her cheeks, her eyes fell shut again. Eventually, as Olivia's breathing evened out, the warm, peaceful realm of sleep overtook her.