Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Seventy-Four

Chapter Seventy-Four: Teardrops On My Guitar

It felt like the second the Harrington siblings re-entered the trailer, they were being ambushed. The others had clearly been waiting for them to start talking strategy and figure out where they were going to be getting these Vecna-killing weapons.

Eddie started talking about something called 'The War Zone' that would apparently have everything they hoped and desired. However, Annie didn't care to listen. She had her headphones on, drowning out all the planning.

Besides, this stuff didn't apply to her. She was the distraction. Not the killer.

Annie felt a nudge and looked over at Max, who had been the one doing the nudging. She paused the tape and removed her headphones. "What's up?" she asked quietly, not wanting to draw anyone at the table's attention.

"Can we go talk?" Max asked, nodding her head in the direction of her room.

Annie nodded right away, and they walked off to her room. They wouldn't be too hard to find if the others needed them.

The brunette went in first, taking a seat on the edge of Max's bed. Once inside, Max closed the door, only leaving about a one inch gap. Just so they weren't too hard to find. But she also didn't want anyone eavesdropping.

"What's going on? Please don't tell me I'm getting two heart to hearts in one day. I don't think my heart can take it all," Annie said, kind of joking, but kind of not. "I just spent a few minutes out there with Steve trying to convince him. Don't tell me I have to convince you too?"

Max sighed, taking a seat right beside her girlfriend. She grabbed the other's hand and started drawing patterns on the back of it. "No, I don't need convincing. If I were in your shoes, I'd do the exact same thing. I just..." Max sighed.

After a second of Max staying quiet, Annie took in a breath. "Look at me, please?" she asked. Max finally moved her eyes from their hands up to Annie's face, where she saw the girl smiling gently.

The redhead couldn't stop the smile from reflecting on her own face. "I'm scared. Hell, I'm flat out terrified," she admitted. "I feel like I've almost lost you so many times, and yet you always pulled through. The demo dogs? The car accident? Pretty much last July? I've always been scared to lose you.

"It hasn't always been death, though. In my head, there's been this thought that you might decide to leave me for some reason. And while it would possibly kill me, at least you'd be alive. This time... this time I'm scared to lose lose you, and yet I can't sit here and say to not do it because I know you have to."

At the end of her rant, Max had tears dripping down her face, collecting at a point on her chin, and making the last fall to her shirt.

Annie moved her free hand up to try and wipe the tears. She really didn't know how to answer. Telling her "it'll all be okay" felt like a shitty option, because it's very possible nothing would be okay. So what does she say?

The truth worked. "I'm scared, too. God, I am so freaking scared right now. I know that there's a chance this is a one way trip, and that is just downright terrifying to me. But... we don't have any other options. Like, nothing. If there were another option that were feasible, trust me I'd be running for it. But we don't. So I'm trying to be brave."

Max sniffed and a look of sadness came over her face. "Annie, you never have to prove your bravery. Especially to me. Do you remember last summer? When you saved Billy? Or, how about in February, when you took a hit from a speeding car instead of me? You are so brave. Now's not the time to try and prove that when you really don't need to."