Advice

16. tout ira bien à la fin

~hello hello hello! i hope everyone is having a lovely fall! :D ~

Paintbrush's POV

"So that TK lady is your boss?" Lightbulb swings her arms back and forth as we near my apartment. I can almost see into the window of my living room. "I always think of bosses as being cut-throat and merciless. Maybe she'd let me have a job!" She gasps at the prospect of it, turning to me for approval.

"I think I'd literally die if you were my coworker." I joke, patting her on the back affectionately- ahem... approvingly. "I doubt you've even touched a coffee machine in your entire life."

"You'd be right!" She shrugs nonchalantly, putting her hands in her pockets. "Don't worry about it though. You're not the only one who knows how to clean! I can be the cleaning lady, scrubbing the counters and stuff."

"I'm honestly surprised. I didn't think of you as the cleaning type."

"I'm really not, but I can learn," she grins, leaning into my face "Anything to be able to work with you!"

She's looking me right in the eyes.

I feel my cheeks go red, so I abruptly change the subject:

"Haha... yeah. Anyways-!" I hastily glance away from her eyes, looking for a conversational topic to distract my mind. "Wow! Ya see that car over there? You never see a yellow one like that, right?"

...

Lightbulb shoots me a confused squint but it quickly fizzes into another goofy grin. "You're so awkward, Painty," she shrugs away from me. "...Yeah! I love yellow cars! I'd have one like that if I could drive. OOOO! It has a collection of silly little cat stickers on it!!! I'm gonna go touch them!"

"You do you," I laugh.

Lightbulb scurries across the street and enthusiastically taps each sticker on the head before running back. I smile as she matches my walking pace. She then abruptly bursts into a sprint, and I quickly follow behind. We round the corner into the front door of the apartment complex and race each other up the old staircase, almost dropping our grocery bags, and continue to run down the hall to our room. I subsequently belly flop onto the floor right outside the door as Lightbulb peels over, heaving for air. She then looks at me with shaky breaths and lets out a laugh.
I joined her, carefully pushing myself into a sitting position.

"If we," breath, "broke something," breath, "because of that shtick," breath, "I'm gonna kill you." Breath.

"It'd still be funny," Lightbulb giggles, poking me between my eyebrows. "You're the one who chased after me."

"Touché," I remark, checking the bags for broken plastic or glass. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I nab my keys from my pocket, slowly steadying my shaky feet and turning to Lightbulb. "Test Tube still might be pissed off, so don't pull anything, m-kay?"

"I have no clue what you could possibly be referring to. I am always serious about whatever I say or do."

"That's concerning considering the things I've heard come out of your mouth," I laugh.

"Oh blah~" she rolls her eyes, punching me light-heartedly in the side. "Open the freaking door already!"

"Okay, okay!" I yelp, shoving the key into the hole and turning the knob. Test Tube sits on the couch, with two others sitting in front of her on the floor. One sits on a chair pulled from the kitchen table and the other sits in a wheelchair, fiddling with their fingers.

"Umm..." Lightbulb awkwardly strolls into the kitchen placing her bags down and looking to Test Tube questionably. I follow behind, instead moving to the living room, recognizing the person in the chair, but not in the wheelchair.

"Hi, Fan." I grimace, giving him a wave. He smiles, though it's shaky, as if he was totally on edge. "You good, man?"

He nods his head, red hair bobbing up and down. "Yeah, feelin' great." He gives me a thumbs up and then folds his hands into his lap.

The person next to him looked to be an older woman, maybe mid-thirties. She has blue-gray hair and light blush on her cheeks. She also carries a blue backpack on her lap, looking to be stuffed with files of some sort. I can sense Lightbulb staring at the woman from behind the kitchen counter, but she doesn't make a move to say anything.

Test Tube has her feet propped up on the arm of the couch above a bag of frozen peas, her hair placed into a tight green ponytail. Her cracked glasses were off in some unknown location. Her face was completely blank besides a deadly stare directly pointed at Fan's shaky frame.

"So you're saying," Test Tube finally states, sliding a hand down her statue of a face. "You just conveniently forgot to tell me that you were coming home?"

"I mean-" Fan stutters, rubbing his hands over his knees. "Yeah? I was going to surprise you."

A flash of surprise appears in Test Tube's eyes, but she quickly shakes it off and continues. "Huh. Okay then. Who is this?" She gestures to the woman, who had been absent-mindedly shuffling through her bag and looks startled to be finally recognized.

"She's my counselor, Cabby. She's been the one to help me change my college path and a bunch of other things. I still don't understand what's got you so worked up."

Cabby waves to me as she zips up her bag.

I watch from the corner as Lightbulb shuffles around the kitchen, letting out an almost inaudible "Ma mère?" She quietly mutters a few other words in French that I couldn't decipher before ducking behind the counter, unpacking the groceries.

"Gee, Fan! Maybe if you'd just explain things a bit better we wouldn't have ended up in this situation!" Test Tube laments. She seems to quickly regret these words as her face scrunches up and tears begin to slowly stream down her cheeks. "God damn it. I really do overthink things, don't I?"

Fan stands from his seat and sits next to his girlfriend, letting her lean into his side. "I really should've told you. I forgot you didn't really like surprises. I'm such an idiot," he laughs half heartedly, rubbing her back. "Sorry I scared you like that. I just wanted to see you happy."

"It's okay." She buries her face into his shoulder, letting the tears flow down his woolen sweatshirt. "I'm happy to see you again."

They lay there for a moment, and I casually scoot into the chair next to Cabby, letting the calm feeling settle in.

After a few minutes, I meet Lightbulb's eyes and gesture for her to come over. She looks hesitant, but she gradually steps closer. Her eyes become glassy and wide.

Cabby's face shifts into a mix of pure delight and deep-rooted confusion. She slowly opens her arms and lets Lightbulb lean into her. "Tu vas bien, ma chérie?" Cabby questions, rubbing small circles on Lightbulb's back. Lighty shakes her head, wiping tears from her rose-tinted cheeks.

"Pas vraiment, non," she replies. "Mais je me sens un peu mieux maintenant que tu es là."

Cabby nods, as if thinking what to say next. "Comment connaissez-vous ces personnes? Qui est propriétaire de cet appartement?"

I recognize the word apartment, but everything else is a jumble. Lightbulb looks up to me, blushing, "Mon ami, Paintbrush, est propriétaire de cet appartement." I recognize my name and quickly feel my face go red. "Je suis leur colocataire."

Cabby notices Lightbulb and I's shared look; she giggles. "Je pense que quelqu'un a un petit béguin!" Cabby shoots the two of us a wicked grin. I stare back, dumbfounded. Why aren't I included in this conversation?

Lightbulb covers her face in embarrassment and points a finger to the forehead of her guardian. "Ne leur dites pas, je ne suis pas encore prête!"

They share a hearty laugh before Cabby meets my gaze and Lightbulb settles down next to me. "Thanks for letting Lighty stay here, Paintbrush."

~getting super duper close to the end now, boys. clearing a few minor details up next chapter so hold on tight! i love you all so much! until next timmmme! ~