Chapter Text
It is a balmy California night; the kind that has hair sticking to the back of the neck but from her seat outside her front door, Rue can already feel a breeze coming in.
The chill on the air is welcome because she feels sweaty and sticky and all around uncomfortable after a day under the sun---and were she in a better mood, she might even be able to enjoy the gentle coolness chasing the warmth away but the weather is not the only thing feeling temperamental tonight.
The hardest part about being sober, Rue thinks, is remembering just how much time exists within a day.
She has found herself afflicted with a new self awareness after getting clean; enough that she can now make the connection between having too much time to think and craving the mental wasteland of getting high.
And it's not like that craving ever goes away. The physical shit she can re-direct with a cold shower, a sharp taste, a bit of self fucking when the rest fails to work---
---but it's that craving to just fill her mind with shit that doesn't hurt that she finds hardest to shake.
'That's life for everyone, Ruby Rue.' Ali had told her when she had complained about it during their last meeting. 'You just gotta find a way to cope.'
His advice was well received and Rue has come to consider it a god send, enough that at the first sign of success, she had thrown herself into it wholeheartedly; learning and implementing new strategies in a way that would make a shrink proud if she could afford to pay for one.
Today has been a hard day, though. A shitty sleep coupled with skipping breakfast had left her vulnerable to the lure of her addiction. It had also left her moody as hell and she knew if she stuck around her house much longer, she was going to do something to damage the goodwill she had recovered so far with her mom and Gia.
In fairness to them--and in fairness to herself--she needed to get out of this place.
So she bikes to Lexi's. In truth, the breezy air works wonders at curbing the worst of her cravings but Ali has managed to drum into her the concept of prevention being better than the cure so she carries on.
"Sorry, sweetie, she's staying at Fezco's tonight," Suze tells her after a brief pause before answering the door. She also tells Rue that she only left her waiting as long as she did so she could clear away the wine glasses.
“Don't wanna poke the bear during your fifth month,” Suze says with a rough laugh.
Rue appreciates the sentiment but she would have appreciated not knowing this even more. She doesn't tell Suze this, of course. She simply thanks her because, as a close friend of her mom's and her own best friend's mother, Suze has been in her life long enough to prompt manners that Rue had long forgotten with most people.
So she politely says her goodbyes and heads to Fez's instead.
---+---
It is Fez who answers the door, stoking Rue's heart with his usual laid back and affectionate greeting; one that she was unsure she would ever hear again only a couple of months ago.
"What's up, kid?" He asks as he steps aside to let her pass him.
The fact that he trusts her in his home again after she tried to steal from him is a generosity that Rue will always find herself endlessly grateful for.
Her expectation of a more tentative recovery of their fractured friendship had turned out anything but and despite the many times that Rue can attest to Fez's endless patience, graciousness and an incomparable capacity for forgiving the worst in people, even she had been surprised by how easily he accepted her apology and allowed her back into his life.
"I just came to hang out, if that's okay? I went by Lexi's coz I was feeling a little outta sorts but her mom said she was here."
Fez sighs, unhappily. His discontentment does not truly reach his eyes though and the soft annoyance leaves him looking heavy lidded and sleepy. "Yeah, you cool to hang out but Lexi ain't gonna be here. She's goin' out tonight."
"Without you?"
It's not an unfair question. Fezco and Lexi have been practically inseparable for as long as Rue has known about their relationship-- and Lexi had divulged that there had been barely a day gone by that she hadn't spoken to Fezco in one way or another since they had swapped numbers during New Years. Rue sometimes likes to compare them to her and Jules when they first met but there is a familiarity between them and a lack of desperate intensity that doesn't enable the comparison to hold.
As a couple, they are restrained over wild, content over passionate, comfortable over provocative; they are the 'boring' parts of love, the kind you find at the end of a long marriage while they sit on a porch waiting to die together---and seeing them together, Rue finds herself convinced that might be the best part.
Fez only shoots her a look in response. "Yeah, without me. She's gotta 'date' that doesn't involve me," he says sarcastically but without the snide-ness to really make it stick.
As if summoned by the discussion, Lexi makes her appearance from the hall.
"Are you still being grumpy?" She laughs, playfully before turning to her friend.
"Hey, Rue," Lexi says. "Everything okay?"
One thing she appreciates about Lexi is that her concern comes without judgement. It has always been that way and Rue finds it much more comfortable to accept.
Lexi's play had been eye-opening; the feeling of being seen and understood was a balm to wounds that she had buried under drugs. It had been a mirror held up to Rue's soul and she hadn't seen the loser, the junkie or the horrible person that she had expected to see staring back at her.
Instead, she had seen herself stripped down to the bare bones; a little girl grieving, not only the loss of her Father but the loss of her innocence. The dissolution of childish ignorance, forced upon her well before her childhood was over, had been as much a devastating loss as her Father's arms around her and it was a load that Rue had collapsed under the weight of.
Realising that the world didn't really give a shit about anyone's feelings had been a cutting lesson to learn at the time but now, that same knowledge came with a feeling of freedom and power. It had fostered a belief that the concept of fate had been a prison to her and coming to that conclusion had thrown the whole world wide open at her feet. She was going to be okay as long as she wanted to be.
She was going to be okay as long as she tried to be.
Lexi is still waiting for her answer, eyebrow raised at the pause for Rue's reflections.
"Yeah, I'm cool. Just came to hang out but I heard you got a date?"
Rue scrunches her face in confusion as she speaks; both at the concept and Lexi's choice of dress. Her friend is wearing a light grey, slimline tracksuit, open at the chest to show a peek of a white tank top, and her hair is swept up in a messy bun.
Rue's confusion prompts another playful laugh from Lexi. "Yeah, I'm sure you heard all about it."
As she says this, she has walked over to Fez and put her hands on his shoulders while he grumbles under his breath.
"Not like you can blame me," he says. "--bein' side lined by my own girl, an' all"
Lexi smiles down at him, adoration lighting up a face that doesn't need the extra shine but she is even more a vision of loveliness in that moment. "Aww, is my big baby being all moody?"
Their moment is interrupted by Ashtray, who is also wearing a tracksuit; his is a solid black with wide red stripes across each shoulder, zipped up to the neck and paired with an expensive pair of sneakers from a collection that Rue knows to be vast.
"I'm ready now. Let's get this shit over with," he snipes, his perpetual scowl clear and accounted for. Rue wonders for a moment if she has ever seen that child laugh or smile but all she can recall are sarcastic barks and one sided smirks.
His annoyance fixes on her. She knows that he doesn't like her, even more so after she invaded his home and tried to take from them. In doing so, she had likely justified every warning that he had whispered in Fez's ear about her and Rue knows him well enough that his forgiveness will not come as easily as his brother's does... if it ever comes at all.
Ashtray has no tolerance for addicts and it's only for Fezco that Ash has put up with Rue as long as he has. She can't even make a claim of hypocrisy against him because the amount of times she has actually paid Fez, and by extension Ashtray, for the drugs they dealt her was hardly worth mentioning.
“Do I gotta lock up before we go?” He snarls, eyes fixed on his brother now.
The question is a bullet well aimed and well landed and Rue finds herself cringing at the impact.
"Ash...," Fez says, an edge of warning in his voice. There is impatience there too, as though warning against starting an argument he is too used to having.
Lexi tightens her grip on one of his shoulders as Ashtray sighs and rolls his eyes. He continues to put on a good show as the bratty teen but the acidity in his gaze settles enough that Rue feels safe to take a seat on one of the armchairs.
Lexi taps Fezco on his shoulder, firmly enough for it count but not so much that it warrants him grabbing his arm and pouting; putting on a show of being wounded so that he can gaze up at her as though he needs her to fix him.
She rolls her eyes instead but gives his shoulder a gentle pat before resting her hand back upon it.
"I don't know why you're being so sulky," Lexi says to him, sternly. "You were the one who suggested it."
If it is an attempt to diffuse any bad feeling stirred up by Ashtray's sour mood then it has worked because both Rue and the boy are watching the scene unfold before them.
Fezco's expression turns laughably petulant. "Yeah, but that was before I knew what you had planned. Like, why don't you do that kinda shit wit me? "
Lexi is humoured by his childishness and Rue thinks he might be playing it up for that fact alone.
"Aww, poor baby," she says, offensively patronising but he doesn't take it that way. "I'll take you next time, I promise." She runs her fingers over his scalp stopping at his cheek which she pinches lightly before leaning over and planting a kiss on it.
"Where are we going, anyway?" Ash says throwing himself down on the other sofa and primping his hair in the mirror of a metallic vase. “--and why do I gotta dress like I'm goin' jogging in the park?”
Rue blinks, surprised as she connects the dots. "Wait, your date is with Ashtray?"
"Mind your fuckin' business," Ashtray says, scowl back on his face.
"It's a bonding date-- which Fez suggested," Lexi says carefully and gently but still aiming her words, pointedly, at him. She turns to Ashtray. "--and I already told you, it's a surprise but you're going to love it. I promise."
"Yeah, you really are, Ash," Fez says with a pitiful sigh. "It sounds fuckin' awesome."
"It is awesome," Lexi says, without an ounce of sympathy. "--and you're walking a fine line, Fezco. I might start to think you don't like our dates."
While this interaction has being going back and forth, and continues to do so, Rue has turned her eye to Ashtray whose expression is lit by a new curiosity.
"Yo, it better not just be dinner and a movie the way y'all settin' this up---and if I see a single Bounce House involved, Lexi, imma kill you."
Lexi's only response is to flutter her eyelashes innocently.
Fezco, who is now holding Lexi's hand over his shoulder, finally resigns himself to a night spent in with Rue. "You're really gonna love it, Ash and if you don't then imma be wonderin' what's wrong wit you. It's your kinda thing, for sure."
“It's very age appropriate,” Lexi says with a proud smile that might veer towards smug to those who didn't know her. “Almost,” she adds, quietly.
Fez picks up the baton. “Yeah, maybe a little more than 'age appropriate' for you, Ash. Kinda like somethin' more suited to me and my age.”
After another long, beseeching look over his shoulder is met with nothing but an eye-roll and a smirk, Fezco gives up once more. “--but Lexi's got you covered. Just don't come back here braggin' bout it and tellin' me how awesome it was. I'm still gonna be a lil fragile later, I think.”
Ashtray's curiosity doesn't ebb and Rue thinks Lexi is not the only one being played by Fezco's complaining. Eventually, he sighs and rolls his eyes. "Whatever, can we just fuckin' go already before bingo night at the retirement home is considered age appropriate for me?"
Lexi smiles at him softly before nudging Fezco who still has a grip on her hand.
"We can...as soon as somebody hands over the car keys."
She finishes her goading by massaging Fezco's shoulders and he tips his head forward, closing his eyes and wincing slightly as she manages to work a knot loose.
"Tell you what," she teases, as her touch becomes more heavy handed. "How about I call you after we've grabbed something to eat and see if you guys want anything bringing back---and we'll work on your 'fragility' later?"
She finishes on a whisper but loud enough that it draws a groan from Ashtray and Rue and a boisterous grin from Fez. A blush lights her cheeks as she realises she wasn't as discreet as she had thought herself to be but her shyness doesn't endure long against Fezco's begging.
"Don't go, baby, stay here wit me...," he whines even as he digs around in his jeans pocket and hands her the set of keys over his shoulders. “...or better yet, take me with you,” he adds, face lit up with childish excitement.
"Thank you," she says sweetly, placing a kiss on his forehead and he groans softly as her hands leave his shoulders. “--and no, because that would be defeating the purpose, but I promise we can go together next weekend; maybe all four of us?”
“No, because then everyone is gonna think we're on a double fuckin' date,” Ashtray says, throwing Rue a side-eyed glare.
She pulls tongues at him. She might understand why he's so foul to her sometimes but it doesn't mean she's always going to let him get away with it.
“Fine, just me and Fez then...but you're going to regret saying that when you see what it is,” Lexi says to Ash as she grabs her jacket from the clothes hook and shucks it on. “Come on, let's go before grumpy ass starts complaining again.”
“I'll be givin' you somethin' to complain about you keep mouthin' off,” Fez shouts to the closing door before chuckling to himself. Rue moves to the sofa to sit next to Fez, collapsing onto it with a long sigh and they settle into watching an old movie.
"So...," she starts, after the movie fails to capture her attention and the question in her mind becomes more pressing. She is teasing a subject that he doesn't appear to guess because he looks at her with genuine confusion.
"So...what, Rue?"
She raises an eyebrow. “So... it must be getting pretty serious with you and Lexi if you're suggesting bonding activities with her and Ashtray.”
Fezco grimaces at her. She knows him well enough that when his eyes flicker to his hands, she can see an element of hesitation in discussing the matter further. It passes quickly, perhaps because he knows that Rue is like a dog with a bone when she gets started.
His hand twitches, as though this might be a moment where he would take a drag off a blunt but he won't do that while she's there and anything left laying around before she turned up would have been quietly shoved away while her back was turned. “Of course we're serious. You're only just realisin' this now?”
Rue shrugs, hardly offended by the sharpness lining his tone.
“I mean, you can't blame me. Y'all haven't even been friends for a year yet, never mind dating, and I just think it's weird how...domestic you two are---in a good way, obviously. I'm not shitting on it.”
Fez's expression softens. “I know you ain't, kid.”
He pauses for a moment before digging around in his pocket and pulling out a cigarillo stub that he lights and settles between his lips. “I'd offer you one,” he says “but this is all I got left. I'm tryna cut down.”
“It's okay,” Rue says. “Not my thing anyway.”
It's on the tip of her tongue to make a dark joke about what is her thing and she is glad that she manages to curb the impulsiveness to do so. Her inappropriate humor, she has learned through her journey of developing self-awareness, is something she employs as an act of dismissing the seriousness of her addiction--- and while Ali has told her that one day, she's going to reach a point where she can look back and laugh, that day is not right now.
Fez seems to understand that she is mulling over something heavy so he reaches over and ruffles her hair. He is never as oblivious as people think when it comes to picking up on the small shifts in human emotion. She doesn't think she's ever met anyone who understands people as much as Fezco does.
“I can't even explain it,” he says, returning to a topic that is much lighter for the both of them. “--and I know it ain't been that long but it feels like somethin' that time just don't got a say in, you know? Like it was meant to be or some shit like that.”
The cigarillo is almost burnt down now and he has to shift his fingers outwards to avoid being burned.
“You remember that first time you brought her over to the store?” He runs a hand over his face as Rue nods. She has lost a lot of memories to drugs but that one she remembers if only for the concern in Lexi's eyes as realisation began to dawn over just how far Rue was falling.
Fez nods, as though fully committing to the memory and what he plans to make of it next. “I think maybe I had my eye on her since then. Like, I'm not real sure if that's when it started for me but I remember seeing her through the window for the first time and thinking she looked real sweet; like real pretty--and I remember thinking that I wouldn't have minded if you brought her round again.”
He eventually gives up on the cigarillo and leans forward to stub it out before settling back into the sofa with a sigh, one arm flung over the back. “But even then, it ain't like I was dwellin' on it 'cause I had shit to do so I really don't know, Rue. I just think that if that memory didn't mean anythin' then I wouldn't remember it the way I do, you know?”
Rue lets out a breath. “I get it, man. Jules was kinda like that for me; set up a table in my head and then I couldn't get her out. Didn't really want to, if I'm being honest.”
Fez chuckles and side eyes her. “Don't think it was quite that intense, kid. Don't even really know if it was anything like that or if I'm just rememberin' it like that now because otherwise imma kick myself for not seeing her sooner.”
His gaze is distant for a moment, washed over in reflection, as though he is remembering her right now and with two quick blinks, he returns and settles his attention on Rue, teeth worrying the corner of his lower lip. He is feeling indecisive over something but just when Rue is about to call him on it, he appears to make up his mind.
“Wait there,” he says, standing quickly. “I wanna show you somethin' and then you can ask me again how serious we are.”
Rue can only attribute it to a diminishing of brain cells over the years that she doesn't guess straight away; not even when he returns holding one of his hands behind his back. Later, she will tell herself that it's because the idea was unfathomable at this point in time but after seeing Lexi and Fezco's relationship up close, that doesn't seem to fit either. She really should have seen it coming.
He sits next to Rue, glancing at her nervously, before he presents the contents of his hidden palm to her and her stomach flips when she sees it.
“No fucking way.”
She is rendered speechless beyond that; struck by the realisation that whatever she thought she knew about Fez and Lexi, she still didn't know the half of it.
His laugh at her response is a little guarded but her initial belief that he is feeling defensive is soon subverted when she looks back up at him. He has one eyebrow raised at her and a tight smile upon his lips and she realises that he is waiting for her approval.
“Yeah, I'm gonna do it after her graduation. Go on, open it and tell me what you think.”
Rue opens the box, cautiously, as though she is handling a precious treasure. Inside is a solitaire diamond leaf engagement ring; beautiful and delicate. The kind that she knows Lexi is going to love.
The warmth that spreads through her takes her by surprise until she thinks about it. Lexi has been such a huge part of her life for as long as Rue can remember. There's a synchronicity of their feelings and experiences that comes with such a well established history together. Rue can so keenly predict the weight of the emotion that Lexi is going to feel that she can already feel it brewing within herself.
Happiness; in its purest and most uncontaminated form.
Fezco is going to take care of Lexi. She's going to be okay.
And having been the recipient of her best friend's devotion, patience and graciousness throughout the years, Rue knows that Fez is going to be okay too.
“It's perfect,” she says, when she can find the words to speak. “It's pretty much Lexi in ring format.”
“Good,” Fez says, breathing out a soft sigh as the tension in his shoulders eases up. “I got Ash to hack her wedding Pinterest board and that was the kind that came up most.”
His comment takes Rue by surprise because as Type A and organised as she knows Lexi to be, she doesn't remember her friend ever really buying into the childhood fantasies about one day finding her Prince Charming and getting married. Marriage and kids was part of her life plan, she knew that much, but they had never been the kind of friends to giggle over engagement rings or play dress up.
“I didn't even know she had a wedding Pinterest board,” Rue says. “She was never really one for that when we were younger; like planning her dream wedding and shit.”
There is a note of incredulity in Fez's tone when he laughs at her. “Well, I mean, we've talked about it. I'm not gonna spring that shit on her out of nowhere.”
She feels suddenly foolish for questioning the seriousness of their relationship earlier though she forgives herself for not being privy to the fact that they've been having these types of conversations already... or for not predicting that marriage might be making cameo appearances in discussions held between her seventeen and nineteen year old best friends.
A wicked smirk lights Rue's face. “Are you gonna do it publicly?”
She can already imagine Lexi cringing her way through a public spectacle, and because they have been best friends for so long, the thought is hilarious to her---even more so when factored in the kind of oddities that Fezco might come up with. She can picture a dolphin being involved somehow.
But he surprises her when he says, “No way.” and he seems pretty firm on the matter too. “She said that would be 'mortifying' so it's just gonna be me and her for that part. I don't know exactly where and exactly when though. Imma do the proposal after graduation and then maybe we'll aim for the wedding the beginning of next year after her birthday...if she wants. Ain't gonna be nothing too grand 'cause she seems to be wantin' somethin' low key.”
“Wow, so y'all have gone really deep on this discussion then,” she says as more a statement than a question. It's comforting to know that Lexi appears to have approached her 'surprise' engagement with the same deliberation as she asserts over everything else. She believes in the love between her two best friends but it doesn't mean that she also isn't aware how young they both are and how Lexi can be inclined to side-line her own best interests in order to keep the peace.
He takes the box back. “Yeah, I told you, we talk about this shit. It's just the little details that she doesn't have a clue about so you better not say shit about this. It's been pillow talk so far so I don't want you blowin' the surprise, you feel me? I just wanted to see what you thought bout it because you know her better than anyone else.”
It is Rue's turn to be incredulous now. She can't really blame him but it still stings a little that she has to plead her case on this matter. “Come on, Fez. Give me some credit. I'm not gonna ruin this for her--or you, I promise.”
“I know, kid.” he says, ruffling her hair playfully. “I'm just nervous as fuck 'bout it. I want it to be perfect for her. Nothin' I've come up with seems good enough right now, though.”
Rue is not a fan of pity because she has felt it more as a hindrance and an insult throughout her own life but she can't help but feel for him. She recognises the frustration of not feeling good enough and she never wants Fez to ever feel that way. He is one of the best people she knows.
“She's gonna fucking love it, Fez, whatever you decide to do. Lexi is all about the little moments that nobody else pays attention to or thinks is important. She's not going to care about how it looks, just what it means.”
She feels proud of herself when she sees relief begin to edge out the self-doubt and she searches for a distraction to give that relief a fighting chance.
“Shit, the whole bonding thing with Ash makes sense now,” she says, wide eyed as her imagination begins to factor him into Fez and Lexi's life plans. “How did he take it?”
Fez purses his lips against a grimace. “Was like pullin' teeth tryna get him to agree to tonight but he went so I think he's realisin' that Lexi ain't goin' anywhere.”
“I mean, he seems more okay with her than he does the rest of us.” Rue says, trying not to let any bitterness over the fact fester. She and Ashtray have never been particularly close but he is important to Fez and Rue would like to at least maintain an air of civility with him.
Fezco shrugs and Rue is pleased that he doesn't appear to take her comments as a slight against his little brother.
“Ash just got his own issues. You can't blame him for not trusting an addict, Rue. He's only with us because his mom traded him in for coke and didn't leave any fuckin' proof of life so now he can't go to school, can't travel, can't do any of the shit you need papers for. He ain't doin' too bad for a kid who don't really exist.”
Rue had never really thought about Ashtray's life like that; more so because she had never had reason to. Ashtray, for the most part, had always seemed pretty content with his lot in life to her but now she realises that's only because Fezco has replaced everything Ashtray has lost with enough love to render it an afterthought.
“At least you got him trying—that's a miracle in itself.”
Fez nods to himself, his gaze a little distant. “He still has his moments with her, though—been a couple times I had to get on his ass over it---but Lexi's gonna get in his good books wit what she's got planned.”
“What is it?”
Fez shakes his head and tightens his lips. “Not tellin' you because I figure we might take your ass there soon. Let you get all that stress out in a safe environment.”
“It's not a strip club, is it?” Rue asks, wickedly, raising a real belly laugh from Fez.
“Girl, what you take me for?” He asks, rubbing his hand over his ribs as his laughing subsides. “---and who the hell you think is gonna be lettin' Lexi into a strip club even without a thirteen year old boy wit her?”
His question, and the imagination it provokes, leads to another round of laughing between them both. Rue ends up with a poke to the ribs and a scuffing of her hair as punishment for her foolishness. The easiness of such playfulness is something she has missed.
It is a nice break before the return to more serious conversation.
“I knew I was gonna make her my girl when we were talkin' on that couch, you know; all bein' well an all. Like it sucked thinkin' I blew it after beatin' Nate's ass in front of her but it was like she could see past that anyway.”
Rue sighs. There has always been something about Fez that leaves her feeling at an emotional distance from him; a knowledge, perhaps, that even by nineteen, his life has been something bigger than she could ever understand. It is a nice change of pace to be able to understand him from a levelled platform.
“I know that feeling,” she sighs, tipping her head back against the sofa. The new angle distorts her perception of the TV screen but it doesn't matter because she wasn't watching it anyway. “It sucks that you missed her play, Fez. You would have seen a whole new side of me; who I used to be.”
She can tell it's a sore spot from the way he winces instinctively but it still feels important to say. Being clean, for her, comes with a desire to dig through the rubble and try to find the little girl she remembers. Whether she will ultimately embrace her or end up burying her in order to tear the house down and build something stronger in place, Rue doesn't know yet—but she is content enough to look for the time being.
“Don't really have a problem with this side of you either, Rue. You just been sick for a while, made you act stupid sometimes, but I'm glad to see you doin' better. Proud of you, kid.”
With another resigned sigh, he turns at an angle and rests his back against the arm of the sofa, throwing his feet up on the seat cushions and nudging her to move along with his toes. “It does fuckin' suck but at least Custer's outta our hair now; his dumb ass trying to set us up, dumpin' fuckin' bugs--- Ash came this close to knifin' a motherfucker.” he says, fingers and thumb crooked about an inch apart from each other. “If it hadn't been for Faye givin' us the heads up then I'd be doin' life for Ash right now.” He says seriously.
The suggestion alone leaves Rue feeling sick to her stomach. There's something so unnatural, so unfair about the thought of Fez being locked away---even more so the thought of him being locked away for life.
She feels a sudden urge to give him a hug but she doesn't follow it through. They've never be especially cuddly and she doesn't want to make things weird now that they are finally opening up again after such a bitter pause in their friendship.
“How is Faye? Have you heard from her since she left?”
The mention of Fez's former house guest proves to be a much lighter topic as it brightens his expression immediately. Rue doesn't get it; having had only one real conversation with Faye and not one that led her to consider Faye deserving of such fondness but she knows that her experience counts less over those who actually knew her and she trusts Fez's judgement enough that she finds herself genuinely wishing that Faye is doing well.
“Yeah, she's been checkin' in and I've been keepin' an eye on her. She's in Boston 'cause apparently her mom is a professor at Harvard or some shit. They reconciled now that Faye is clean. Keeps her away from Laurie, at least, if she ever finds out she narc'd on her, 'cause I think Harvard's the last place she'll be lookin' for Faye.”
Rue chuckles fondly. She is glad to hear that Faye is safe. She is happier still to know that the albatross around Fezco's neck has been contained for the time being.
There are a lot of blessings to be counted with regards to that matter; her own included.
Rue clears her throat, swallowing down a ball of anxiety. She can feel her face beginning to heat, her mouth drying up—her own heartbeat pounding against her eardrums.
She is about to tread territory that she has only tiptoed over so far.
“About that--,” she begins, carefully. “-- what you did for me with Laurie, I want you to know again that I really appreciate it; like more than I can put into words and I soon as I'm able to, I'm gonna pay you back.”
Fez looks taken aback for the slightest second and it is a testament to his kindness that he hasn't predicted this topic of conversation coming up again.
“Damn straight you gonna pay me back,” he says, incredulously but his expression softens before the sentence has had time to hang. “But don't worry 'bout that yet. Just keep on doin' whatever your doin right now 'cause it's workin'.”
And again, she is rendered speechless; still discomforted by the realisation that the people she cares most for haven't given up on her.
She is getting better at accepting it, though.
“I love you, man,” she says, the words thick and clotted in her throat.
Fezco's voice is much clearer and far sturdier when he responds but their emotions make a perfect match. “Love you too, kid.”
Rue doesn't stay for long after the movie has ended; her craving for obliteration now eased by an understanding that she has so much more to live for.
She has so much to be happy for, even if it is coming from a secondary source for the moment, but right now, Rue will take what she can get because she's been growing hope since the day she decided to give getting clean a real shot...and Rue knows that her own crop will rise at some point.
“How did your 'date' with Cali's scariest tween go?” Rue asks later as she is settling down for bed.
She can hear rustling of covers in the background and Fezco's gentle bickering over how cold Lexi's feet are.
“It was great,” Lexi says, after she has whispered her own response to Fez that Rue couldn't quite make out. “He absolutely loved it, like I knew he would, and he wants to go back with Fez and I next weekend—so don't make any plans because we're dragging you along too. It's the perfect way to relieve some stress.”
“I heard,” Rue says, unable to control the grin that cracks her face. There's an old joy that comes with these late night catch ups with Lexi and a new joy that comes with realising their friendship feels even deeper now. “Okay fine, but you still haven't told me what it was yet.”
Lexi pauses for the slightest moment. “Oh, I thought Fezco would have.”
There is a deep snort in the distance and a soft protest from Fez, defending his honor as a person who would do no such thing after promising not to.
After another momentary pause to playfully placate his fresh round of moody complaining, Lexi tells her and Rue can only laugh, suddenly understanding why Fez was grumbling so much about it.
He is as much a teenage boy at heart as Ashtray is.