Chapter Text
Cold. The raindrops were so cold against her skin that it almost hurt, as she ran desperately in the middle of the storm. Where was she going anyway? There was only one place she could seek comfort. But why had she done it? Well, it couldn’t be avoided. He knew. He understood her. She knew he shouldn’t. But he did.
***
Hot. A small body resting against hers spreaded the warm sensation all over Jean’s body. Klee’s breathing was steady, as the girl slept peacefully between her and Lisa, tugging into her stuffed rabbit. The witch was also asleep, brown strands covering her face as she embraced her pillow. Three empty tea cups stood on the nightstand on the right side of their bed. It was almost 23:00 and Jean was starting to drift to sleep, the raindrops hitting the house’s windows as she caressed Klee’s blonde hair affectively, when a frenetic hitting began on her door.
***
The sudden bangs that broke the bedroom’s silence didn’t seem to be enough to wake Lisa or Klee up, a fact Jean was grateful for. It was a well known thing that Lisa’s sleep was something you should avoid interrupting. Aware that something might be wrong, Jean immediately got out off bed and ran down the stairs to open the door, bare feet preventing her from making excessive noise. As usual, she was expecting to find Kaeya, Hertha, Eula or even Diluc with abyss order matters, Albedo with worrisome urgent dragonspine reports or even one of the cathedral sisters. All those people were the ones who would eventually seek the Acting Grand Master late at night. But the person who came for her tonight was doing it for the very first time.
“Amber” Jean quickly greeted her “Something wrong with the patrols?”
The girl standing in front of her was soaked, water running down her hair and face, mixing with her tears covering her cheeks. After noticing the drops forming once more on the corner of her eyes, Jean tried to say something but Amber interrupted her.
“There’s no problem that could possibly concern the knights tonight, Master Jean” Amber tried to keep her usual tone, but her voice threatened to crack with every word.
“Come in” the knight invited, knowing that if she decided to ask questions right now Amber would break down. And get sick. “I’ll get you some dry clothes then you can tell me what’s going on, okay?”
The outrider nodded and apologized while Jean headed to her bedroom. Lisa and Klee were still asleep so she tiptoed and opened her drawers as quietly as she could, grabbing a sweater and a pair of sweatpants. When she returned to the living room Amber had stopped crying, but was twitching her fingers nervously.
“Are you hungry?” Jean asked, voice almost as soft as if she was talking to a sobbing Klee “I can make you something to eat or at least a hot drink”
“Something to drink would be nice, but I don’t want to bother you more than I already did” the outrider answered, gaze fixed on her own wet feet.
“You didn’t and you won’t either” the knight sighed “go to the bathroom and change clothes, I’ll prepare something”
After a few minutes Jean had prepared two cups of hot chocolate and Amber was leaving the bathroom. The knight knew the girl wasn’t very fond of tea, and that coffee usually made her even more energetic, so chocolate sounded like an adequate choice.
“Now, can you tell me what happened?” Jean asked, heart warmed by the sight of Amber smiling slightly at the cup before taking a sip.
“I…” after swallowing the liquid in her mouth and taking a deep breath she spoke “I fucked everything up with Razor. That’s a good roundup of the facts”
“Amber…” Jean was about to go motherly comforting mode, but the girl interrupted her.
“We had an amazing relationship. He is such a good person. Then why? Why am I feeling this? Why was he so nice and comprehensive? Why could I no longer love him enough? Why did she even have to cross my way?” Amber’s words were so fast Jean was only able to catch part of the context. She knew once the outrider had visited Lisa in the library to have a personal conversation about relationships. Maybe Amber wanted advice from someone who liked people in general back then. Perhaps she identified with that. But now she was breaking down on Jean’s couch and the knight knew exactly the reason behind it.
“So you came to me, because I’m the only person you know who has gone through the same thing. Am I correct?” Jean asked, a hand instinctively moving to the girl's head trying to comfort her.
“Yes. I feel terrible right now. I really do, you know? I imagined that coming here to see you, how strong you always are and how happy you became when you met Lisa, would at least give me some comfort. Even though you broke up with Mister Diluc for different reasons…” the chuckle that left Amber’s lips after that sentence was anything but joyful, as if she was mocking herself “Could you tell me, Jean? How did you feel?”
“Well, it was hard for me too. Even though I ended our romantic relationship due to my different interests, he was still my friend who held me for a lot of long nights. It’s not that different from you” Jean smiled warmly.
“But I’m not a lesbian. I think I’m bisexual. And an idiot” Amber tugged into a pillow “Thank you so much Barbatos”
“You are not stupid, Amber. Your feelings simply changed, and no matter how painful it is for you or him, there’s nothing really wrong with this. But I know sometimes it’s hard to deal with your emotions” the knight noticed a bit of childishness in Amber’s words, the way she dealt with her confused emotions made Jean let out a chuckle, and an unusual protectiveness towards the outrider invaded her.
“Yes” Amber sighed, chin resting on her hand “Do you think we can remain friends? He hugged me and said we would see each other at the Good Hunter on Wednesday with Barbara and Benett”
“Of course” Jean reassured her “It will be okay, Amber”
“I feel better now” finally she smiled in relief “Hearing this from you”
With those words, Jean smiled. She wanted to say something else, maybe give another advice, but a sleepy voice spoke first.
“There you are” Klee was standing on top of the stairs, rubbing her eyes “I can’t believe it”
“Hey Klee” Amber greeted her.
“Hi, Amber! I’m glad you are here but I can’t believe the two of you are barefoot in the cold” the little girl was still tugging into her stuffed animal who had coincidently been a gift from Amber herself “Not since Master Jean is always telling Klee that she can’t stay in the cold without socks and slippers or shoes on. I’ll go get them for the two of you”
With her little speech done, Klee ran to the bedroom. Jean started serving a cup of hot chocolate for her knowing she would definitely want some. Suddenly, a loud bang noise echoed from the second floor of the house, making Jean decide to serve a fourth cup.
In a few seconds, Klee was running down the stairs with Lisa walking behind her, holding two slippers. The witch had a winter robe on, covering her wool sweater and pants, and went down the stairs quietly. Only when she reached the living room, she finally said something.
“Klee dropped your boots but nothing is broken” Lisa said between two quite long yawns “When I woke up she said Amber was here so I came down to see if something was wrong”
“Good night, Lisa. Sorry to disturb you. I just came here because I needed… hum” Amber didn’t want to tell what happened in front of Klee. She was just a kid after all. And kids want to know everything, so they ask a lot of questions. “Some urgent advice”
“I see” Lisa just nodded and took a seat on the couch, accepting the cup Jean was offering and taking a sip “I won’t bother you with questions. You look like you could use some rest”
“Yeah I do” Amber agreed, dark circles visible under her eyes “I must go, I already disturbed you enough. Sorry again for showing up this late”
“Amber it’s raining too hard outside” Jean warned her “You can spend the night here if you want, Klee’s room is available”
“And it’s very well organized by the way” Klee said. Her voice reminded the three women that she was still in the room and they turned to see the kid standing in front of the refrigerator.
“Klee, why aren’t you drinking your chocolate?” Jean asked with a confused look on her face.
“You need to finish it, remember?” Klee looked at the knight with bright eyes, tiny hands holding the cup filled with the warm liquid.
“Of course” Jean giggled and headed to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator’s door to grab a bowl of whipped cream “But just one cup okay?”
“Yes, of course” Klee’s smile widened with every second that passed as Jean put the cream on her cup and covered it in chocolate sprinkles.
Amber observed the scene with a discreet smile on her lips. The sight of Jean, Lisa and Klee soothed her soul.
Everything would be fine.