Crawl Out Through The Fallout (Fo4 Fanfic)

Fond Memories

"Wow, that really is crazy." Erin took a long drag from his cigarette. "Yeah, then when I got to the relay, Shaun labeled me an enemy of the Institute and said he'd kill me if I crossed them." Fiona finished.
It was around 2 am. She'd been up talking to Erin for hours. Finding ways to explain everything while leaving Issac out. "So is that it? This the end?" He asked. She hadn't thought about that. She was too preoccupied with trying to figure out how to feel about all this instead of looking forward. "I... I don't know." She looked up at him. Since she made it back his presence seemed refreshing. She didn't feel so out of place when she was with him. Thinking about the Institute felt like a fever dream, unreal. Maybe it was a trauma response, she couldn't tell.
"I wish it was different. This is too complicated." She sighed, pulling her sleeves over her hands. She felt safe in her dad's coat. "I hear you. I wouldn't know what to do if my brother was the leader of the Institute either. Shit like that doesn't happen." He shrugged. "Like what kinda luck is that?" Fiona laughed. He was awfully talkative tonight, of course she wanted to take advantage of it. She pushed her forehead into his arm. "So what did you guys do all day?" She asked. "Took a 20 minute nap. Kicked rocks. Super productive." "Hope Preston didn't bother you too much." Fiona smiled. "Nah. Think he's scared of me." Erin put the cigarette out on the counter. "Haha. Everyone's scared of you." She wiggled her head under his arm. "Not everyone. Piper, Nat, Cait, Maple. You. You're not scared right?" She sensed some insecurity in his voice. It was kind of cute in a way. She wondered who Cait and Maple are, but she would ask another time. She wrapped her arms around his waist, securing herself to his side. "Nope! Not at all... Mhm, you're like a space heater." She hummed, quickly putting her hands up his shirt. "Fuck-" Erin cursed, flinching. "Goddamn, your hands are fucking freezing." He swatted at her hands. She giggled, giving him a playful squeeze before detaching.
Her body was exhausted, but her mind was too loud to let her sleep. There wasn't anything to do but live with it. She was very thankful Erin would stay up with her. Getting him to sleep was a chore anyway. She didn't want to be alone, that's the worst possible feeling. Even sitting in silence with Erin was enough to ease her mind. He was very good at being quiet. But Fiona wasn't. She liked talking, a lot, about anything.
Fionas eyes wandered to Dogmeat, who was snoozing soundly in a dog bed by the door. She smiled, watching his legs kick in his sleep.
      "Who were you before all this?" Erin asked out of the blue. "Like before the bombs?" Erin nodded, looking down at Fiona. She was a little surprised he asked about her directly. Sometimes on their travels he'd ask about how things looked before, or what somethings meant prewar. "I was just like any other teenager. I've never been anything special. Dad was in the military. Mom was a nurse with a law degree. I went to school, and worked at the RedRocket down there."

     
      "Fiona, love where are you going?" The angelic voice of her mother called. "Work. There's a rush." Fiona crouched to tie her shoes. "I thought you had plans with Joel and Donna?" "I did. But I'm not gonna have time to get back and ready before the movie starts. Don't much care to third wheel anyway." She answered, gathering her curled hair into a pony. Her mother let out a soft gasp. "Third wheel? Fiona? Joel is your boyfriend. Did Donna do something?" "No. It's not Her fault Joel can't keep his hands to himself... I gotta go. I'll see you later." Fiona shut the front door with her heel.
     Joel was supposedly her boyfriend. He didn't often act like it. But when he did make the effort Fiona thought it was worth it. At first he was perfect. But recently it seemed as though he'd only want to be around her if Donna was tagging along. Donna was her best friend. She was her mother's best friends daughter, they were bound to be friends. She trusted Donna with her life, keys to her diary, and her boyfriend. But it sadly, she couldn't trust her boyfriend with Donna.
      Fiona sat with her head propped up on her arm. She swung her legs as she sat on a stool at the counter. The RedRocket wasn't as busy as she'd said. She really just wanted an excuse to ditch the movie that night. It was some stupid action film she had no interest in. Not to mention Joel never shuts up during movies, especially drive ins, since it was outside.
      She doodled on the log infront of her. Maybe someone would come in and need their oil changed, she hoped. Fiona heard the door slide open, followed by footsteps towards the desk. She leaned over to see who it was and was pleasantly surprised. "Hey, Arden!" She called, waving him over with a smile. "Fio? I thought you were off today?" Arden jogged over, stupid grin plastered on his face.
     Arden, another one of her best friends. Not as long term as Donna, but just as close. He and Fiona had worked together over the past year, and occasionally bumped into eachother at school. He was a grade below her, but only a few months younger. "Haha, nope. You can't get rid of me." She joked "wouldn't want to. You definitely brighten up the place." He shot her a grin."pfft- stop it haha." She laughed, punching his shoulder.  Fiona wasn't stupid. She noticed the way he looked at her, with his icy blue eyes. It was a shame, really. She really only saw him as a friend. She wished she could just tell him off to spare him. But sometimes talking to him was the highlight of her day.
       "So, why are you here? Not that I mind of course." Arden asked, leaning against the counter. "RR is always understaffed. I got bored, that's all." She shrugged. Just on cue, the phone rang. The old rotary sounded like a fire alarm. Arden pushed himself up and sauntered over. "What?" Fiona stifled a laugh, he always answered the phone so unprofessionally. But then again what do you expect from a couple of unsupervised teens. Fiona was the acting "manager" not that the title meant anything. All she really did was kick dents out of peoples cars and the occasional tire rotation.
     "Fio, it's Joel, he wants to talk to you-" Arden held the phone out. She silently shook her head, waving her hands Infront of her face. Arden trying not to laugh brought the phone back to his mouth. "She's balls deep in a transmission service at the moment. Gonna be packed... All night. Try again tomorrow!" He lied, throwing the phone back into the wall.  Fiona could almost hear Joel punching air. "Nice wording." She laughed. "Dodging the boyfriend now? That's why you're here?" Arden leaned against the counter once again. "More or less, yeah." "Must've messed up pretty bad... You two were like bread and butter!" Fiona shrugged. "He's more interested in Donna these days." Arden stared at her for a moment, visibly shocked. "No offence to Donna now but- How!? You're like all nine yards, like the full course meal, a cherry red Ford Thunderbird!? He definitely messed up!" He listed, he always spoke so animated with energy. Fiona couldn't stop herself from laughing. "You're so stupid." She laughed, shaking her head. "No no, you know what? You need a distraction. After we close, were getting ice cream." He elbowed her, lovingly of course. "Oh if you insist." She grinned, messing up his hair before walking out into the lot.
           By closing Fiona was covered in oil stains. Arden, the left half of his uniform finally beginning to dry off, after Fiona had sprayed him with a hose. Most of her hair had fallen out of her ponytail at this point, it always found a way to disagree with her anyway. They both changed into more appropriate clothing before going around back to Arden's car. Arden always wore his dad's red and white Letterman coat. Baseball was pretty much the family business, all of the men eventually going professional. Up until him that is. He never got into the sport himself, but he wouldn't miss one of his dad's games for the world. Fiona wore a regular black button up, a skirt that came an inch above the knee with striped socks and sneakers. She always made sure she wore funky socks with any outfit. She tried to stay away from white as much as possible, far to easy to get dirty.
      Arden's car wasn't anything special, but it was a convertible. Fiona didn't even bother opening the door, she simply jumped into the passenger seat. It was around 11 pm on a Friday night. The two obnoxiously sang along to the radio, going a little to much over the speed limit.
       After finding some continence store open late, with milkshakes, they found themselves parked in an empty lot. Cracking jokes and teasing eachother all night, Fiona and Arden sat against the hood of the car. It was silent for a moment until an unfamiliar song played on the radio. "Oh, Fiona! This is the best song." He stood up taking her hands. "I don't think I've heard it before." She followed along with him. "Now way! You don't know this song?" She smiled shaking her head. She felt him pull her along, though she tripped over her own feet. "You're gonna be disappointed to find out I also can't dance." She laughed. Arden held onto her tighter. "Don't worry, my dear friend. Ill teach you."
      

       "And that's how I learned how to dance." Fiona smiled, thinking back on the fond memory. Thinking of it felt like remembering a dream, all of it vague and pieces missing. "That was one of the best nights of my life." She continued. " I should've given him a chance... Arden made me so happy." She weakly laughed, wiping a small tear from her eye. "Do you have a best friend?" She asked. Erin silently, attentively listened to her. He simply shrugged "you." "I mean before we met." She laughed.
    "Yeah. Something like that."