Work Text:
“I think about it sometimes.”
“About what?”
“Just… if anything happened.”
Foster turned her to the side, her gaze moving from the stars to the girl next to her. The faint glow from the moon provided just enough light to see the tears starting to form in Sophia’s eyes.
“What’s going to happen?” Foster asked
“I don’t know,” she said, still looking up, and laughed slightly. “Probably nothing. I don’t know.”
The two had been planning this trip for weeks: just the two of them, the woods, campfire, marshmallows, stargazing. They left immediately after the season wrapped filming. Three days, just for them, away from everything. It was all Foster had been able to talk about for the past few days.
“This is where—“
“the friendship will cement,” her girlfriend mumbled into her pillow, nearly asleep. “I know, I know, and I’m excited for you, but some sleep, babe, you still have to shoot in the morning.”
Outside of the late night talks with her girlfriend, Foster tried to keep things relatively chill. It was hard to make friends in this industry, and she had a good feeling about Sophia. Their work schedules were so packed, however, that the two had never really had much socializing time.
Until now, of course.
It’s not that Sophia didn’t seem excited, but something seemed off. Foster tried to crack jokes during their drive into the mountains, and Sophia would laugh a bit, but she just seemed to be somewhere else. Foster did most of the talking as they hiked down to their campsite. The conversation stayed on the professional (the show, their characters, their careers) and the surface-level personal (books they had been reading, neighbors), until darkness settled, and the two found themselves lying on a tarp, looking up at the stars. Foster slipped some line about hoping their lives never get as hectic as Alex and Audrey’s, and that’s when the conversation shifted.
“If anything happened?” Foster asked. “What do you mean?”
“Being here is so weird,” Sophia sighed. “It feels weird to talk about because like— THIS, all of this, this is the dream stuff, right? This is what I always wanted. But, I don’t know. I don’t know anyone, I don’t feel like I can trust anyone. My family is still back in Arizona. I just… you have your girlfriend, and you’ve mentioned her parents, and like. You know who is in your corner. You know who to call if anything happens. It’s just me. Me and my cat and my studio apartment.”
Foster just listened, turning her eyes back to the stars, thinking about what to say next. Wanting to say the right thing next. “Did… did something happen? Something that’s making you think about all of this?”
Foster looked back over, and saw that tears had started down the sides of her cheeks. “It’s so stupid.”
“Look at me,” Foster said, and waited for Sophia’s eyes to meet hers before continuing. “It’s not stupid. You aren’t stupid. I want to know. I am asking because I care about you.”
Sophia paused, and looked back up at the stars before speaking again. “I had a doctor’s appointment. Just had to get cleared for that commercial I’m shooting next week. They… they asked me for an emergency contact. I just froze. I just stared at the paper. I started going through the list in my head, the list of people who are nearby. I didn’t know. I only know people I work with, and guys I went on one hinge date with. My baristas know more about me than anyone else, and I certainly don’t have their phone numbers.” Foster tried to stifle a laugh, but Sophia heard it. She started laughing, and then Foster started laughing louder. They kept on laughing for what felt like ten minutes, but was probably about thirty seconds. Sophia started wiping her tears away with her left hand, while Foster took her right hand in hers.
Sophia continued. “What if I get in some accident, or I get arrested, or some crazy dude comes into my house with a baseball bat? I just—“
“It’s me.”
Foster felt the words fall out of her mouth. Sophia turned to look at her. “What do you mean?”
“You can put my name down. I’ll be your emergency contact.”
“That’s really sweet, but—“
“I know what you mean about this town. I may have a few extra people in my corner, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand. It’s hard to know who to trust. It’s hard to find time to get to know people, figure out who is who, but I hope, by the end of this camping trip, which, for the record, is all I’ve been talking about for weeks— where was I. Oh, yes, us.” Foster paused, and tightened her grip on Sophia’s hand. “I think this is the start of something magical. I think you and I are going to be thick as thieves. I would like to be your emergency contact. I want us to hang out more, and I want to be there for you if anything happens. I want to beat up the guy who breaks into your house with a baseball bat. I—“
“You’ll get arrested.”
“Ah, yes, fair point. A little ironic for my taste.”
“And who would help me recover.”
“Fair point. I would like to help you recover, and I will hire someone under the radar to beat up the guy who broke into your house.”
Sophia laughed, and tightened her grip on Foster as the tears started coming back. Happy tears this time.
“Did you say you brought marshmallows?”