Lacy; The Last of Us

000. afraid of heights

SIX AND A HALF YEARS EARLIER

spring

The smell of paint fumes and smoke hung thickly in the air around them. Abby coughed from beside her friend, choking on the fumes. Lacy shook the spray paint can, back and forth, the satisfying click filling the air.

"What if someone finds out this was you?" Abby asked, nervously surveying their surroundings. Lacy stopped mid-way through a paint stroke, turning to face the girl.

She arched an eyebrow at the girl, "How would they find out? It's not like you're going to tell them, cause that would be incriminating yourself."

Abby crossed her arms, "That doesn't make this right, Lac."

The Miller girl shook her head, "Come here," she motioned for Abby to come closer, and reluctantly she did. Lacy wrapped her arms around the girl, gently pushing the can of spray paint into her hand.

"What are you doing?"

Lacy smiled, "Just, trust me, Abs."

She covered Abby's hand with her own and went through the motions of painting the wall. Abby stiffened under Lacy's touch but still allowed her to continue.

"See, wasn't that even the slightest bit exhilarating?" Lacy arched her eyebrow at the girl who was now facing her.

Abby shrugged, a small smile pulling at her lips. Lacy was always the more rebellious of the two, as she thought the whole cause for the fireflies was in simple terms, bullshit. On the other hand, Abby actually believed in their cause. The two were quite different in that way, she supposed that's why they were so drawn to each other.

"Sometimes, you just have to say, fuck 'em."  Lacy stated, dropping the can of spray paint by her side. Abby rolled her eyes at the girl's words but still stepped closer to her.

Lacy sucked in a quiet breath, she wasn't used to being in such proximity to the other girl. Despite her apparent crush on Abby, she had never made any sort of move on her. Abby also seemed to choose Owen, no matter what.

Abby's eyes flickered to Lacy's lips, and she wished that she could back up. It was like her feet were cemented to the ground beneath them.

The blonde reached forward, tucking a strand of hair from her braid behind Abby's ear. Lacy shook her head, her eyes locked on Abby's.

"Don't do this unless you actually mean it," Lacy's words escaped her mouth in a breathy whisper.

The other girl looked at her, "I do mean it."

Abby's lips reached her's in a gentle kiss that didn't last more than a few seconds before Lacy pulled away. Her eyes remained locked on Abby's as she leaned back in for one last small kiss.

Lacy smiled softly as she pulled away from Abby, picking up the spray paint can one last time.

"We can go in a sec, I just have to finish this one off." the fifteen-year-old noted, and Abby nodded a sheepish smile on her face.

Lacy could tell something was off the second that she entered the small space she and her mother shared. The first red flag was that the woman didn't jump on her case the second she walked through the door.

Typically, Lacy coming home this late would lead to a big argument between the two of them.

"Mom?" she called out into the overly quiet space.

A gasp escaped her lips as her eyes fell onto the scene in front of her. It was clear right away that the older woman was long gone, lying in a pool of her own blood. Against Lacy's better judgment, she rushed to the woman's side, her knees collapsing into the pool of blood.