Fireflies

House Call

Mae POV

I followed Bea towards the house that called for repairs involving a furnace that was in the woods, the night sky being black as it always is with the moon and the house ahead being our only sources of light.

I groaned due to the fact that we weren't going to do anything fun.

Mae: Couldn't you just, like, refuse to do house-calls?

Bea: Nope.

Mae: Why?

Bea: It's called a job. People pay you to do it.... ideally, at least.

I groan in anger, but it goes away when I noticed something in the yard and went to check it out. Bea notices I'm not following but doesn't see what I'm looking at.

Bea: You coming?

Mae: There's a thing back here by the driveway!

Upon closer inspection, I realize what it was and looked at it, amazed. Then, I remembered the task at hand and started running back to my crocodile friend.

Bea: Yeah, she's an old lady. She's got weird shit in her yard.

Mae: It's like a windmill.

I finally catch up to her as she started talking again.

Bea: Yep

We continued forward, towards the house in the woods.

Mae: I've never been back here before.

I look at Bea and she gives me a slightly sarcastic smirk as we moved forward.

Bea: Mae Borowski, you have now been here.

I smile, which makes her eyes widen and look away.

Mae: It's nice!

Bea: Yeah, just a bunch of old cabins people turned into houses. Some, hunting camps, so don't, like, get shot or anything.

I look at her with a nervous feeling in my stomach now that she said that.

Mae: Buck season isn't for a few days, right?

Bea: Well, folks get impatient.

I smirk as I realize she's just joking around so I decided to say something.

Mae: For muuuuuurder.

This earned me a small chuckle and a small grin, which filled me with joy and some weird, fuzzy feeling. Don't know why.

Bea: It ain't murder if it's animals.

Mae: That's... dark.

Bea: Hold that thought?

Mae: You gonna knock?

I watch as she knocks on the door, revealing an old fox women. She smiles and lets us enter, leading us to  her living room.

Old Fox: Thank you for coming on such short notice.

Bea: No problem.

Old Fox: I can sleep through a four alarm fire but that furnace...!

Bea: she rolls her eyes We'll take a look at it.

Old Fox: Ever since Gene passed, I just can't abide that thumping...

As the two continued their conversation, I though about what Bea told me. What did she mean by that?

Mae: Hey... What did you mean by hold that thought?

She turns me and gives me this small smirk that made feel all warm and giddy inside. I hadn't felt this way since my ex dumped me.

Bea: Wait for it.

Bea turns towards the Old Fox and I listened. While I was listening, I couldn't help but find myself thinking back to her soft look and her cute smirk. Wait, cute? As I tried to think about this, the Old Fox finally said something that pulled me out from my thoughts.

Old Fox: You can't take an old woman's husband just because he's dead!

All I did was stare at the woman in complete disbelief.

Bea: There it is.

Mae: Holy god...

Bea turns to me again, giving me a loving smile. I felt so nervous, yet excited at the same time. When she smiled at me, I felt like the weight of the world was finally off my shoulders. This wasn't the first. Last time was with... Cole...

Mae: D-Do I like Bea?

I felt my cheeks become warmer at the thought of this. Even though my return felt a bit rocky between the two of us, ever since then, I couldn't shake this comforting feeling, knowing that she will be there.

Hell, she hated me before we went to that stupid party and she drove me home. She didn't have to do that, but she did it. Even though I don't remember the car ride, it made me feel happy that she did that for a complete waste of space like me.

As we headed downstairs to fix the furnace, I came up with one conclusion.

Mae: I'm in love with Bea Santello, my former best friend...