Answers May Vary

A ribbon. That was all that was left. A ribbon Hayden had scavenged on her way out from the tower, a single pink ribbon was all that was left of Adele, Hayden's... well, she wasn't sure. What was Hayden to her? 

She remembered when they'd first met, as she held the ribbon, stroking it and sitting at a table in the cathedral. She'd arrived at the tower, all out of breath from running, pounding on the gates desperately to let her in. Adele had arrived first, literally yanking her from the jaws of death and in the process smashing one of the jaws in with her club. Hayden had wondered who her savior was- and was surprised to see a living Barbie Girl who'd also kicked butt. 

Adele and Hayden had been stuck together as close as Ed and Kyle since. 

Hayden thought back to a song, one that she'd forgotten but really it had been just tucked away in the back of her mind. A love song, by Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars. 

We'll do it all/Everything/On our own 

We don't need/Anyone/Or anything... 

Hayden recalled the words, and started singing them softly- just the two verses at first, very quietly, almost as if she wasn't singing them at all. "I don't quite know/how to say/how I feel," she sang, savoring each word. She was never much of a talented singer, but Chasing Cars seemed to be an exception. Stroking the ribbon, the beautiful pink ribbon that had belonged to the one girl Hayden had ever really loved, she thought maybe that this was how love felt like. An immense pain in the neck but also... quite a comfort. 

"Those three words/Are said too much/They're not enough." She recalled a night, when Adele and Hayden had been lying on the grass, near the wall, 'on watch'. Adele had, in a moment of which they had been laughing away at something Adele had said, grabbed Hayden's hand. Well, not grabbed exactly. That implied force, didn't it, as Will would say. More like took. She had taken Hayden's hand in her own and held it gently. Just like that. Like it was normal, all of it. Holding hands. But then again Hayden's own definition of normal had gone a bit fuzzy around the edges since the disease had struck. Her idea of normal was bashing zombies in the head and being very near death every day. So maybe in this new world, Hayden and Adele holding hands could be normal. Maybe even more. 

But she'd looked at Adele, all peaceful and honest-to-goodness perfect, despite the grime and the mess and the scraggly pink outfit, she was perfect to Hayden. And in that moment, Hayden really wasn't quite sure what her feelings were, or how to phrase them. I don't quite know/How to say/How I feel... Will was good at that. Hayden, obviously, was not Will. She was more simple. And she liked to think better at identifying and acknowledging her feelings. Will liked logic and at the same time liked poetry, which mainly did not seem to have much of a logic to it. He was rather contradictory. 

Hayden was straightforward, simple, easy to figure out. You could read her like a book. That, she supposed, was one reason why Hayden did not exactly think Adele could like her. Hayden wanted to tell Will, her best friend through thick and thin- not including Adele, though she was a friend, at the same time she was more than that- what she felt but she had a feeling Will would overanalyze it to the point of annoying. Will was nice, smart, but honestly not the type to approach with feelings help. Neither was Hayden, really. Mostly her idea of a romance was a kiss and a hold-hands with some sentimental exchanges; nothing more and nothing less. 

Her idea of things were often not the best. Adele, on the other hand... what was she to Hayden? 

She was a friend, but more than that. A crush, but more than that. A love, but more complex than that. Something in between that was just right, absolutely perfect. No three words could honestly say what she felt. Maybe Will could make it into that, but she was not Will. She was Hayden, and Hayden could not say her feelings for Adele in three simple words. Those three words/Are said too much/They're not enough...

Hayden felt as if she was going to cry, which was weird because she hadn't cried before, which had surprised her. After all, Adele was this... this part of her, this irreplaceable and necessary part of her. What made Hayden Hayden. I need your grace/To remind me/To find my own... The holding hands on the grassy carpet, when Adele had looked right at her- eyes locked, and Adele smiling broadly, and Hayden's heart fluttering, fluttering, fluttering. And in that moment- Hayden remembered, and it hurt and comforted at the same time- there'd been a kiss. A lean, a breath, and then a touch and the touch was a kiss and then with a pull-away from someone it was over. Just like that. 

Hayden supposed romance came naturally to some people, like Adele. Or Ed, that boy was always doing things for Kyle. But for her, romance was a mysterious thing that she could not figure out. How did it work? She didn't know and until Adele she hadn't bothered to. She'd read about it, but it hadn't been the same. Heard about it, but not quite it. But screw it, she'd thought, not much time left anyway. Forget what we're told/Before we get too old/Show me a garden that's bursting into life... 

Answers may vary. On a test, like people, answers may vary. 

Which was why her answer to the kiss had been to ask Adele if she'd stay with her forever if they could, just here in this moment. 

"'Dele," she'd asked breathlessly, heart thudding in her chest so she could feel it in her hands, "if you could freeze this moment and stay in it forever, would you?" 

And Adele had turned, smiling her perfect Adele smile, and said, "I believe I would. Would you?" 

"Forever and ever." 

Then Adele had squeezed her hand, just a little, to remind Hayden that Adele was there for her, just for her, and then had scooted in so they could hold hands more comfortably, and then they stared at the night sky, occasionally looking into each other's eyes to remind the other that they were there for each other and they would be forever. All that I am/All that I ever was/Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all that I can see... Was this what happiness felt like? What love did? Lying on the grass, hand in hand, wishing impossible wishes? Let's waste time/Chasing cars/Around our heads... 

Answers may vary. 

Hayden stared at the ribbon, watching as a single wet drop appeared on the table, followed by another, and another, and soon she was sobbing, because apparently feelings that were good came with a downside of being extremely emotionally fragile. 

Snot and tears ran down her face in a disgusting concoction of salt, sweat, and ew mucus. She imagined she was a hot mess at the moment, sobbing all over a ribbon and a girl she hadn't ever exactly said she loved her to, because though it was true it wasn't, because i love you did not fit what Hayden felt. What would Adele be doing if Hayden had died?

Answers may vary. Not what Hayden was doing. She'd be standing strong, for Hayden, for everyone. 

Hayden wiped her face, the skin feeling raw and her eyesight blurry but feeling stronger. Adele was there. She was there, she was a part of Hayden that would not leave. And she was helping Hayden every step of the way. 

Adele: her part, her friend, her love, her crush, her loss, her regret. No three words could sum up Adele and her for Hayden. 

Answers may vary. 

And that was when Hayden had tied the ribbon around her wrist and walked out to face the world, ready for whatever hit her, and knowing that if she died, at least she'd see Adele again. I don't know where/Confused about how as well/Just know that things will never change for us at all... 

And later, a day or so later, she did meet Adele again. 

And their wish was granted: they would stay like that forever. 

If I lay here, If I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?