Ally and Bekka~

Bekka

I jump forward and clamp a hand over her mouth, "No! They can't know they're here, please, I'll be in so, so much trouble . . . We just need to hide, now. Where?"
I scan the area frantically, trying to make sense of all the shadows and dark shapes in this unfamiliar house.

Ally

"Bekka. Angry men have come to my house before, I'm sort of used to being the rich man's daughter. They can take care of it for now, and then I'll get your money for them when they're nice and ready to act civilized." I smile at her, as if nothing in the world was wrong. "For now, we've got the safe house while our private guards take care of everything." See...some families practice a fire escape. Nooo, I got the safehouse practice. I lead her to the closet, opening it up and pushing the coats aside to revel the heavy steel door behind it. It scans my eye before the doors open to a ten by ten steel room, I look back at her expectantly. "Would you like the grand tour?"

Bekka

Seeing her smile relaxes my shoulders. I feel at bit embarrassed at my panic seeing her composure.
"I'd love to see and . . . I think I owe you a bit of an explanation. Would you lead the way?" I twist my lips into a ridiculous smile and gesture her forward with my hands.

Ally

"Why of course." I go forwards into the little box, door closing behind us. There was a couch, blankets on a shelf overhead. Food was around too, though I never had to stay long enough to use it. Phone for the guards to call in on when whatever was done with, blahblahblah. I sit down on the hardish couch, looking back up at her.

Bekka

It goes without saying that Ally would like to know what the hell was going on up there. I survey the room around my briefly and then seat myself down beside her.
"I don't really know where to begin to be honest with you, Ally. A lot of things have changed since I left," I say softly, putting my head in my hands and letting out a long sigh.
"You need to promise me something first, alright?"

Ally
"Bekka, aren't we past that by now?" I complain to her softly. "You can trust me..." My arm goes around her back, softly rubbing in circles.

Bekka

I'd really, really like to know where my brain is right now. I feel so many things at once, especially with that arm on me.
"I just had a lot of . . . troubles, dealing with everything. And I made some new friends at school, bad friends, they got me into some things I should've avoided. At first I just dabbled in weed and such, but then . . . Things got out of control and so did I. And I'm so in debt and these guys, they find me wherever I try to go, and they've done things to my friends, Ally, they . . . Almost killed someone, because of me."
I realize I am crying. Brushing my tears away and sniffling softly, I continue, "I don't want them to hurt you. I shouldn't have come here. But honestly? The real reason I came is because my parents kicked me out and I have nowhere else to stay, all my friends won't go a mile near me after what happened to Keenan. I wish I hadn't brought you into this . . . But I didn't know where else to go. I'm sorry."
Breathless and ashamed, I look up for her reaction.

Ally
I give her a caring look, moving to put my other arm around her and pull her close. "So how much debt?" I ask her, rocking her slightly to comfort her. Nothing was going to take her away again, but honestly the drugs didn't really surprise... Bekka was always the party goer. I could remember how quick she took to the offer of that Yellow Canary crap from Jude...

Bekka

"A little over $2000," I squeak, squeezing my eyelids shut and turning to ice under her arm.
"I can get the money, I swear. I just need time. And I don't have time. And I'd kill for a little more right now . . ." I grind my slightly yellowed teeth together, knowing that I was slowly getting more dependant on the very substance that put me in this awful position.
No, not slowly, very rapidly and lethally. I was hurting Ally so much. Why am I such a monsteR?

Ally

"Okay, I can do that..." Three fourths of the money in my bank account was my father's anyway, and he didn't keep track of what I did with it. "You can stay here, we'll get you detoxed, and everything will be better again..." I smooth out her curls, gently cradling her. "You can have all the time in the world to pay me back, I don't care..." Just stay. Don't go away again...

Bekka

"No, please, don't pay for me. I can't ask you of so much," I weakly protest, letting myself lean more into her arms.
I relaxed as she played with my hair and started to let go of my worries. Her voice was so low and comforting that I couldn't help but do what she wanted.
"If I do, I don't want to leave. Maybe my parents will pay for schooling if I clean up. I'll get a job. I can do it," I add, and then I close my mouth and begin to drift away.

Ally

"Bekka, I'm just giving you more time. You can pay me back so these cronies won't be coming after you anymore," I reassure. I put on a gentle smile, feel her relaxing in my arms. "I know you can do it, Beks..." Slowly, I lean back to lay down with her, pulling the blanket down atop us. Amazing how a foot of steel and another of concrete can be such a security blanket. It would take a few hours for the guards and police to check the house and grounds for anyone or anything, and she needed the rest.

Bekka

It's so quiet I swear I hear Ally's heartbeat. You can't help but get a warm sensation of safety and serenity in this shelter, especially with her arms around me, and an overwhelming assurance that everything will be okay now...
"Ally . . . What do you feel, right now?"

Ally

I stare at the ceiling, smiling a little at the question. What was I feeling... Good question. My bestie might just be addicted to some drug, and there are crazy psychos once again trying to get into the house.

Doesn't word spread in the criminal community that my father makes this place on par with Fort Nox...? I knew it could all be quite suspicious... No normal Plain Jane rich girl would need this sort of stuff, right? I had kept up the word of my parents just being super paranoid protective freaks, but even this was stretching that generalization of their characters...

And I couldn't be mad at Bekka. I hated thinking that we were apart forever too, look what that got me. Or lost me - some twenty pounds, more time of my busy schedule gone for a psychologist, and a drive to do nearly anything anymore. But it was better now. Bekka was here. It would all be better...

"I feel you in my arms, and it makes everything feel right in the world again," I mumble. I didn't know how else to say how much I missed her. How much this meant to me now...

Bekka

I feel slightly soothed at this, but then a new and more worrisome thought comes to me.
"And when I'm not?" I ask, tilting my head a little more towards her, "What do you feel when we're separated?"
The anxiety building up inside of me brings my fingers to my mouth. Nail bitting was a habit I'd somehow lost when trying hard in highschool to be pretty and desirable, but I feel too comfortable around Ally to feel self conscious about it. And really, what would a few more bitten nails do to worsen my appearance? Dark, sunken eyes, sickly complexion, dirty hair, and a little too bony to be just "skinny"?

Ally

"Well...I think about you a lot..." Gently, I take her hands in mine, smirking lightly. Didn't need rough edges when we got to where we had been. "I miss you a lot..." For a second, I debate whether it's an appropriate choice or not, but I end up kissing her forehead. Just for the comfort. Or maybe to say that I was still here for her, with that level of emotion that we had before everything. "I wanna hurt Rome like he hurt you a lot too," I admit quietly, nestling in close to her beneath the blanket. And I could do it. With the power my father had...

Bekka

"Ally. . ." I exhale, flattered by her response, "Forget about him. He doesn't matter."
I want to add more but I'm too distracted by her closeness, the lips that touched my forehead. This is so confusing. What do I think of Ally? I should really find out.
"All that matters now is you and me," I whisper, surprising myself, and feeling alive with fear.

Ally

I smile gently, nodding and putting an arm around her while the other gives a comfortable rest for my head. "Mhmm..." Stuff was gonna be alright and everything now. My eyes close from her presence, just being here again. "Love you," I mumble quietly, feeling my cheeks heat slightly.

Bekka

"Oh. . . you do?" I ask, managing to have the lamest reply to such a declaration ever. But I couldn't help it. I'd heard Ally say the words before, to boyfriends and family, but they had never been directed at me. It was strange. And it brought on more confusion.
"In . . . In what way?" I stammer, suddenly awkward but so flattered.

Ally
I smile amused, blinking my eyes open once more to look at her. Hadn't she been the forthcoming one before? She was the one to first act before the whole thing in the bathroom. And then the car. So I wasn't truly practiced with explaining such things... "The way you wanted," I answer, studying her face. Because...that was the way she wanted it, right? Swearing off boys and then...everything...

Bekka

Memories flood back to me. When had they left? I guess when my ... problems ... started, it left me in a state of numbness without feelings or remembering now painful memories. Painful because she hadn't been there. But here she was now, close and honest. But I didn't feel like I did in those memories anymore, and all these conflicting emotions were making my head hurt.
Though I was sure of one thing. This much was absolute.
"Ally, I love you too. I'm sorry that I've done this to . . ." I search for a word to call her. Best friend? Lover? I settle for simplicity, "you. I want things between us to be the way they were before."
Before, as in no confusion, straightforward friendship that blossomed into . . . into love.

Ally
I shake my head, snuggling into her. "They can be. No worries," I say plainly. "We've been through rough patches before..." I give a halfhearted smirk to her.

Bekka

I let out a light laugh, "Tell me about it. Things have been so messed up lately . . ."
I looked down at my bitten, misshapen, scabby nails. At one time, I'd painted and groomed them every night. I found a strange and symbolic beauty in that realization. Things really had changed.
"I have to go back sometime. Pay off my debt to my parents. Go to college. Move on," I listed emotionlessly, "so I don't know where that leaves . . . our future."
Our future. Ally, and Bekka. Inseparable friends for so long, and obviously now not fairing well with the distance. Could I go without her again? Dramatic as it was, I didn't think so.

Ally

"Well that's under normal circumstances, nothing wrong with that," I tell her. Not like an ex suddenly turning into a freaking rage monster and her parents freaking out to move her to a different place. As if they cared about her well being...and then they go and kick her out? "Back to a normal life. So...we could just normally go along with our relationship. Right? We've been together since preschool after all. Nothing's gonna break us up unless one of us wants it that way."