The Runt of the Litter

the only tomorrow we need to worry about is today

Note: Hey, my loves <3

I've been trying to write this all day, but the progress has been off and on, so I only just finished writing it. But it's longer than the last couple have been, and hopefully someone gets a laugh or two out of it.

So, this chapter is a combination of two requests, one that I received awhile ago and one that I received recently. I'm not going to write out what they are because I don't want to give anything away, but they were from Ash_the_nycotophile and poppyy97

In this chapter, Anna is eighteen.

the only tomorrow we need to worry about is today

Anna swung her foot forward and back, letting it hook around the leg of her chair Her shoelaces dangled untied on either side of her sneaker so the tongue hung loose, and she was wearing sweatpants and a crop top she'd cut herself, made from one of Dean's old Metallica t-shirts. He'd had the shirt for so long-- maybe since he was Anna's age-- that it was faded and the fabric worn thin near the collar and hem. She didn't usually dress this way to go out, mostly because she was massively insecure about her appearance but partly because she usually enjoyed putting together cute or badass outfits. But this morning, she'd looked in the mirror and thought she actually looked kinda cute as she was. Not to mention she was only going to the café to see her friends, and there was no more laid back setting to be found than that.

She felt a little jittery, tapping her other foot against the floor which her toes barely reached in the heightened café chairs. That was partly the caffeine. But it was partly the fact that she'd been waiting for almost ten minutes, and nobody had shown up yet, and she was starting to feel like people were staring at her. She probably looked like a loser who had no friends.

Well, actually, considering how often she could be found at the café, most of the people who were there-- customers and employees alike-- probably recognized her and knew that she was not, in fact, friendless, nor was she a loser. Sort of. Most of the time.

"I was about to say sorry I'm late, but considering everyone else is late too, I guess you could say we're both early."

Anna snickered, watching Alex breathlessly hang her black denim jacket over the back of her chair and flick her brown hair out of her eyes. "And I would have forgiven you if you'd been the last one here, because you don't have a car."

"You're bragging again," Alex laughed. "You really like to flex every chance you get."

"It's a fucking Cobra. I don't even have to flex. I just have to drive it. Instant jealousy from everyone who sees me."

Alex shook her head, but she was still smiling. "I'm gonna start saying yes when you offer to drive me around."

"You should. It's fun having a passenger. I feel less like a weirdo blaring Paramore and screaming the lyrics when someone else is doing it with me." Anna took a sip of her coffee, then looked up at Alex. "You want coffee? I have..." She unfurled the bills in her hand and did some quick counting. "Twelve bucks."

"You stole that?"

"Yup. From Dean. So it doesn't really count as stealing."

"I think I'll pass on any criminally funded cups of coffee today." Anna raised one eyebrow in question as Alex leaned back and dug one hand into her jacket pocket. She came up with a piece of plastic which she slapped down smugly on the table in front of Anna. "I finally got a debit card."

Anna laughed. "And I brag too much about my car? You should see your face."

"Don't you have a debit card?"