The Far Edge of Fate (Final Fantasy XV)

CHAPTER 5 - SAFE HAVEN

Chapter title comes from 'Safe Haven' from the Final Fantasy XV OST

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The mall was bustling with the after-school crowd. Aaralyn stood in a nondescript clothing store with Cassielle eagerly browsing through the sales. Several bags were tucked in the crook of her arm as she perused, commenting occasionally on a cute shirt.

"Oh, check out this one," Cassielle pointed out a lavender crop top. "Cheap too!"

"Maybe," Aaralyn leaned in to look at it.

"You should get it!" Cassielle said eagerly. "It's in your size. Here, I'll get it for you. I've got a coupon anyway."

Aaralyn looked at her, alarmed. "The hell you aren't!"

Cassielle gave her a smug look before picking the crop top out of the rack and tucking it under her arm. "Too bad. C'mon, it's just about time we get home anyway. Your mom probably cooked something fun."

"If she's not about to have an aneurysm for us being so late getting home," Aaralyn laughed.

She followed Cassielle to the cash register, watching silently (and a little guiltily) as Cassielle paid for her purchases. The two girls made their way out of the mall as Cassielle spun her car keys around her finger and shot Aaralyn a grin.

"So, Miss Birthday Girl," she said. "How's it feel to finally be joining the 'eighteen or older' club?"

"Like I joined the 'seventeen and older' club last year," Aaralyn said sarcastically. Cassielle rolled her eyes, gently bumping into Aaralyn with enough force to make her stumble a few steps to the right. Aaralyn laughed. "But, in all seriousness, a little weird. Hard to imagine I'll actually be fighting with the others here soon..."

Cassielle made a little face to herself at the declaration. "You better be careful, y'hear?" she said sternly, pointing a finger at Aaralyn.

"As opposed to?" Aaralyn raised an eyebrow.

"Smartass," Cassielle stuck her tongue out at her. "But Orange, seriously, be careful. Alright? You're...literally going to be fighting a war. Don't be stupid about it. Okay?"

"I won't," Aaralyn promised as they approached Cassielle's rinky-dink car she'd gotten from her father for her eighteenth birthday a couple of months back. "Don't worry."

"Okay, don't say 'don't worry' as if you don't already know I'm going to be worried," Cassielle said pointedly. She unlocked the car as they approached with the button on the keys, pulling open the driver's side. "But the moment I get out of nursing school and get into a hospital, you're never going to get me to leave you alone if you get yourself stuck there." She eyed Aaralyn for a moment before adding, "again."

Aaralyn grinned, plopping herself down in the passenger's seat. "Point taken."

Cassielle snorted and turned the car over.

The drive back home was a slow one. Insomnia was, as ever, a bustling city first and foremost and the after-work crowd was as busy as usual. Cars clogged up downtown, making progress through the city a pain. Luckily, neither girl was suffering through the traffic alone and, as ever, conversation passed easily between them. From their endeavors now that they were out of high school to all the bullshit Cassielle had already endured trying to get a degree in nursing at Lucis University a solid hour drive across the city on a good day. Though, eventually, they always looped back to Cassielle's favorite topic: girl talk.

"So, you and Noct are getting closer and closer every day, huh?" Cassielle said with a sly smirk.

"Oh, my gods, dude," Aaralyn reached out to pull the sun visor down as the light glaring off of the buildings made her squint to see properly. "No. We're friends."