Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

   "What the hell?!"

   A bump sends Elena slamming against the window of the bus, hard enough to both effectively wake her up and make her shoulder instantly start throbbing. She almost doesn't even realize the shoulder part of the situation, as her attention is focused mainly on the unexpected, highly unusual... tragedy at her feet. Literally. 

   "Seriously!" Elena huffs, staring dubiously down at her shoes. "Who steals socks? And why? Why just the socks?" 

   She shakes her head at the situation. Sure, she's an environmentalist with a green thumb and the propensity to yell at people who don't recycle. But this? This whole riding-public-transportation-and-then-getting-her-freaking-socks-stolen shenanigan, well... Elena just isn't sure how much more of this she can take! 

   The bus lurches to a stop as the driver yet again realizes he's about to pass the next scheduled stop. 

   Yet another reason Elena hates taking the bus. 

   Really, all she wants is to help the world by reducing her carbon footprint of piling inside another one of those individually-owned gas guzzlers the generations before her have cursed upon the earth. What's so wrong with that? 

   Everything, apparently, because absolutely everything is wrong with taking the freaking bus! 

   "Whoa!" a voice yelps as the bus barrels back into motion. Elena looks up in time to see the owner of the voice manage to just catch themselves on the hanging handles by the window and lower themselves down into the seat below.

   Okay, Elena thinks, biting her bottom lip to keep from smiling to herself as she glances over this new stranger. Maybe not everything.

   The stranger moves some hair out of their face, inadvertently drawing Elena's gaze to their vivid emerald eyes set behind thick fluttery lashes. They wear a bright blue jacket over a tight Doctor Who t-shirt--- bonus points for repping such an awesome fandom. All of a sudden the stranger shifts their bag onto their lap, and Elena suspects they're about to pull out their phone or a laptop or some other electronic device. 

   They don't. 

   They pull out a book, which has Elena's heart galloping in ecstasy. In her mind, a major issue with her generation is their unmoving obsession with technology. The fact that this stranger is choosing to read rather than tweet or scroll through Instagram  makes her inexplicably thrilled. 

   She suddenly needs to know what book this kid is reading. She can't explain it, she just... has to. If she doesn't, it'll be one of those things that her brain never leaves her alone about for the rest of her life. 

   As inconspicuously as she can, Elena leans forward to try to see the cover. Newsflash: she looks totally conspicuous. Lucky for her the stranger doesn't notice, although it feels like the rest of the bus does and is judging her for it. Well, whatever. None of them have exactly impressed her either, especially considering that one of them had stolen her freaking socks. 

   Maybe she can try standing. If she grabs on to the swaying handle overhead, she can make it look like she's just stretching. That could work, right? 

   She decides to give it a try, emitting a fake yawn as she extends her arm higher and higher until her hand grips the handle. She pulls herself up, slowly, while craning her neck toward the stranger under the false pretense of stretching out some sore muscles. 

   The stranger shifts their sitting position, angling the title away from Elena. She sighs, but since she's already this far in anyway, she simply leans over as much as she can while still holding tight to the handle. 

   Given how her day has been going so far, she really should have guessed what was going to happen next. Like, really; her mom's car broke down, she hadn't gotten any sleep last night and so her focus in class had been on staying awake and not the lesson which of course Sister Barbara had noticed and so had called her out on it, and on top of that she had fallen asleep on the bus got her socks stolen. Maybe if she'd been better rested she would have known. 

   As it were, Elena Alvarez is standing up clinging loosely to a swaying overhead handle as the bus driver slams on the breaks. 

   Anyone who knows basic physics--- or at least Newton's three laws of motion--- can tell you that an object in motion will stay in motion until stopped by some other force. In this instance, the bus was one moving object, stopped by the driver hitting the brakes. Another moving object was all the passengers, though they were seated and so stopped with the bus. 

   The same cannot be said for Elena. 

   When the bus comes to another screeching halt, Elena is catapulted forward and her grip on the handle is instantly wrenched away. 

   She twists her body desperately, hoping to throw herself into one of the several empty seats nearby. Once again, the day does not go her way as she instead collides with a warm body, and the corner piece of some hard, sharp object gets stuffed up her ribcage. 

   "Oh!" the unlucky passenger yelps from underneath her. 

   "Oh my god, I am so sorry!" Elena immediately apologizes, forcing her gaze up into the face of... 

   Of course. 

   Obviously, of all the empty seats and other passengers taking the bus today, Elena lands directly in the lap of the one stranger she'd been checking out. 

   To further her embarrassment, she realizes with a start that she's been sitting there, wordlessly gaping at this poor person whose lap she's fallen into... and whose lap she's still sitting in! 

   "I'm sorry!" Elena says again, leaping to her feet and hoping that the floor of the bus will open up and swallow her whole. She notices the stranger's book--- a.k.a. the object that had been tossed aside after trying its best to gut her alive--- near her feet and snatches it up. 

   'They Both Die At the End.' 

   Huh, interesting choice. 

   The stranger clears their throat, reminding Elena that she's still holding their book in her hands. 

   "Right," she grins sheepishly, handing them their book. "Sorry." 

   The bus darts forward, almost sending Elena flying once more except that the stranger manages to catch her wrist this time, which would be an insignificant observation if Elena could just keep her damn balance (which she can't) instead of dropping like a stone back into this person's lap. 

   "I swear I'm not doing this on purpose," Elena promises, blowing a strand of hair out of her face as she slides into the adjacent seat. 

   The stranger actually laughs at that, and Elena manages to relax slightly. 

   "Girls don't usually tumble into my lap until the third date," they joke. They extend their arm. "I'm Syd by the way." 

   Elena hesitates. 

   Her mother always warns her to never talk to people on the bus that she doesn't know. You never know what someone else is thinking or what they'll do to you if they're given the chance, she'd always add. 

   Then again, her mother probably hadn't been referring to strangers her own age. Besides, it was Elena who had dropped into Syd's lap; if anything, that would be the sketchy part of this situation. 

   So she smiles and shakes Syd's hand. 

   "Elena. Sorry for desecrating your lap. Twice." 

   Syd laughs again. "By all means, desecrate me any time you want." Their eyes widen as they realize what they just said to a total stranger. "Not like that, I---" 

   "It's okay," Elena assures them. "I know what you meant. Uh, sort of." 

   "I just meant that, um, I know it was an accident," Syd clarifies, a blush creeping across their features. "And you're, you know, kinda gorgeous so I didn't mind it that much." 

   Elena freezes. 

   "O-oh," she manages through her shock. 

   "Sorry," Syd rushes out. "That was weird of me to say." 

   "No, weird was me falling in your lap twice in one bus ride," Elena corrects. "That was just... unexpected, is all." 

   "Oh," Syd breathes, clearly relieved. "Okay." 

   Elena squirms uncomfortably in her seat as an awkward silence descends over the pair. 

   "So!" she blurts out, desperate to keep the conversation going. "What's your book about? Other than, you know, two people dying." 

   Syd smiles at her outburst. "It's set in this futuristic society where the government sets up a program called Death-Cast. Basically, they know the day that everyone is going to die and so they call to give people a 24-hour notice so that they don't waste their last day on earth." 

   "Wait," Elena frowns. "If they know they're going to die, can't they just, I don't know, like stay home and avoid doing dangerous stuff? Maybe they're all dying because when they get the call they just throw caution to the wind and live that day recklessly." 

   "Maybe," Syd shrugs. "Or maybe by staying home to avoid their death they're home when an armed robber breaks in and then that's how they die. Maybe they choke to death on a piece of food, or something goes wrong with their heater and they get carbon monoxide poisoning. Maybe it doesn't matter what they do. Maybe there's no way to cheat death, and whenever it's time, it's time." 

   "If you believe in a fixed future, that theory could work," Elena allows. "Personally, I don't think any of us has just one set day that we're going to die. I think our actions have consequences to our futures, and I think there's always something we can do to change our fate." 

   "That," Syd remarks, looking her up and down, "is oddly optimistic." 

   Elena shakes her head. "Not really. I mean, sure, if you're heading down a wrong path then having an ever-changing future means you can always change and do good. But it also means that no matter how many people fight for the future to be better, all it takes is one person to send it back down to hell." 

   "Or all it takes is one person to make the future heaven on earth," Syd points out. 

   "If only it were that easy," Elena sighs. 

   The bus jolts to another jarring stop, temporarily interrupting their conversation long enough for Elena to realize where they are. 

   "Shit, this is my stop," she says, jumping to her feet. "It was nice meeting you, Syd." 

   "You, too, Elena," Syd returns as the awkward girl hurries down the aisle to the front of the bus. "I hope we meet again soon." 

   Syd hadn't meant for Elena to overhear the last part, but it leaves a soft smile on her face as she makes her way to her family's apartment. 

   For the most part, taking the bus is frustrating and exhausting and so not worth it. 

   But maybe sometimes, every now and again, it could possibly be considered somewhat bearable. 

   Maybe sometimes there is an upside to taking public transportation.

Chapter Text

Elena had been done.

No really, she had been so done with taking the bus. Her mom had gotten a new car and she was not going to complain about carbon footprints because she was not going to be taking the bus. She had been totally done with the bus!

And yet, here she was.

It was Saturday, and it was December, and it was cold, and she needed to find gifts for her mom and abuelita, and Schneider couldn't take her because he was with Alex at one of his away-games, and so that meant she had come here. Back to the bus. Back to public transportation.

Oh how the mighty had fallen.

Nothing much had changed. The people riding were still sketchy, the driver still didn't know that the brakes didn't have to be slammed on to work, and Elena still had random objects go missing if she didn't give everything in her possession her full, undivided attention. The only positive memory-- or, close-to-positive, given its embarrassing beginnings-- she had of this bus was the one thing that was missing.

Not that that had anything to do with why she was taking the city bus. Really, it didn't. They didn't. At all. It was just that, maybe, if Elena happened to bump into them again (preferably less literally this time), then it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. There was nothing wrong with a little bit of hope. She could have this.

The bus came to another screeching halt, temporarily interrupting Elena's train of thoughts. She very quickly welcomed the interruption though when she saw a familiar face climb up the bus and into view, as if her thoughts had somehow summoned them.

"Syd!" she yelped out excitedly, jumping up out of her seat and waving her arms to get their attention, before realizing the very important fact that their last encounter with each other had been months ago, and that Syd probably didn't recognize her, or remember her, or give a damn about her.

Luckily though, Syd returned her enthusiastic smile and hurried over to her. Just in time, too, as the bus sped into motion and threw Syd into their seat. Elena sat watching as Syd rubbed their head a little where it had banged probably rather painfully against the window.

"Hi!" Elena chirped when they looked her way, inwardly cringing and scolding herself for how absurdly cheery she sounded.

"Hey!" Syd greeted her, still smiling their adorable smile, their emerald eyes sparkling.

"Hi," Elena said again, sounding waaaaaay too breathless this time. She cleared her throat, trying to think of something else to say besides hi.

"So, uh, where are you headed?" Syd said, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" Elena grunted, a little pulled out of a fantasy conversation where she swept Syd off their feet with her charm. "Oh! Just, y'know, the mall. I, uh, still have to get some gifts for my family."

"What are you planning on getting them?" Syd asked, and Elena couldn't tell if they were genuinely interested or if they were just humoring her, considering she had literally jumped up to get their attention.

"That's sort of the problem," Elena admitted, deciding it would be rude not to answer. "I have no clue. I'm not the best at giving gifts."

"I'm sure that's not true," Syd remarked. "But even if it is, it's still your lucky day, because I happen to have the afternoon off and I'm great at giving gifts."

Elena quirked a brow. "Oh?"

Syd blushed. "Sorry, that was...Sorry. I didn't mean to invite myself along or anything. I just thought, y'know, maybe I could help, and--"

"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Elena interrupted. "It wasn't that kind of oh. It was an oh like 'oh really, are you good at giving gifts?' because I could actually really use the help and I'd love for you to come with me. To the mall. Not love, because that might be weird, but, um, I'd be strongly in favor of you coming with me."

"Oh," Syd sighed. "Good oh. And yeah, I promise I really am good with gifts. I can give you my number, in case you ever need help picking something out for anyone else."

Elena would never be able to admit to anyone how insanely happy it made her to have Syd ask for her number, and she definitely wouldn't be confessing that she whipped her phone out of her pocket so quickly in her eagerness to add Syd's number that she actually threw it down the aisle of the bus. This of course led to a mad scramble for her where she dove down to snatch it up before one of the other passengers could grab it and tuck it out of sight.

"This is good, because I really do need help buying gifts," Elena told them, hoping they by some miracle hadn't noticed her send her phone flying.

Syd smiled at her. "So I've heard. Who are we shopping for?"

"My abuelita," Elena answered. "She likes drama and a very particular kind of lipstick that they don't make anymore. And for my mom, who is an Army war vet and a single mom and a nurse and deserves a much better daughter than me because I am terrible and I don't know what to get her for the holidays--"

"Hey, it's okay," Syd said, cutting her off with a gently-placed hand on her back. "Just breath. It's okay that you don't know what to get them just yet. That's what today is for, figuring it out. We'll find them something that they'll love, and even if we don't, they're your family. They'll still love you. Right?"

Elena looked at Syd, really looked at them, and thought about what it meant that her heart could beat so fast at the sight of them. She thought about her family, who they all were on the inside. And she managed a smile for Syd. "Right," she told them. "Thanks. And sorry for freaking out a bit."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Syd assured her. "I always freak out over tests."

Elena frowned. "This is a test?"

"Yup," Syd confirmed. "It's a test on how well you know your family."

"Oh great," Elena laughed. "That totally makes me feel better."

"It should," Syd shrugged. "You seem like the kind of person who makes a test their bitch."

Normally Elena would comment how making anything someone's bitch was highly derogatory-- considering the meaning behind the phrase was actually extremely offensive and flawed and based usually on muscle and teeth rather than real strength-- but today she let it go. The bus was just about to stop at the mall, and Elena had with her a very cute secret weapon in terms of gift giving this season. If presents were a test, then maybe she was about to make it her bitch.

"Hold on," Elena warned as the bus careened to a dangerously sudden stop. Syd gave her a grateful grin before climbing to their feet.

"Are you ready?" they asked her, offering her their hand.

Elena took their hand in hers with a smile. "Let's do this."