TWO MONTHS LATER Wilder Girls Fanfic

3

"Byatt, that's great. You're finally going home." I attempt a smile, it crashes miserably into some kind of grimace.

"I guess so," she says, I have to strain to hear it. "You need to come over once you get out." It's hard to process. When the nightmares started Byatt's bed was wheeled next to the quarantine wall for a few days because it was the only way she'd calm down. Same for me. Reese and I rearranged our beds so they scraped against the plastic sheet on one side of the glass. Therapy helps with PTSD but what I really need is Byatt. And now she's leaving. Without Byatt, who am I?

Visiting time ends and Byatt is escorted out of our sight. This is not the last time I will see her but my stomach drops as if it is.

When I go to bed that night, silent tears stream down my cheeks. Nothing's changed yet, but Byatt's leaving and it's all over. I don't know if we'll keep in touch, maybe she'll forget about me. My thoughts are hazy as I fall into a restless sleep.

I'm woken by someone's voice in my ear. "Hetty, Hetty you'll be okay," Reese, she has an arm around me and is laying on my bed next to me. It's completely unexpected.

"Reese?" I whisper, not moving, slowly drifting off again.

"Hetty, you were having nightmares again. I heard you kicking." Reese says. I believe her but don't remember what the nightmare was about, just that it's something I don't want to think about. "You okay?" She asks.

"Yeah, it's just . . ."

"Byatt?"

"Yes," I say, turning my head. Her braid casts light onto our faces, her eyes sparkling with the reflection and strong jawline defined by shadow.

"She won't be gone forever, we'll see her again, I promise." Reese snuggles closer, it's comforting. I turn back to the pillow and pull her arms tighter around me. She moves her mouth close to my ear, I can hear every breath she takes, "We're okay." My stomach has butterflies and I feel warmer inside. She said we. Does that make us something?

———

Artificial light shines into our room out of the lamp hanging from the ceiling. Reese is already eating eggs and toast, sitting on a chair in the corner. I walk to the red call button by my bed and ask for breakfast.

"Sorry," Reese says out of the blue as I pull up a chair next to her with my meal. I'm confused. "What for?" I ask with a baffled expression. She looks nervous, something I didn't know she could be. "Well . . . I guess I . . . you know?" She stutters a few more times. I'm wondering if I should drop the subject, but I'm too curious to forget about it. "I don't," I say. "What is it?"

"Last night," she pauses, not meeting my eyes. "I didn't know if I crossed a boundary." She thought that? At Raxter being together at night was a given, I didn't know how it would change. I'm still living by our old rules, Tox rules. "No, you didn't," My face is getting pink. "I liked it." She turns her face away, hiding something. "Okay, good." I place my hand in hers, she faces towards me, smiling confidently.

Now's my chance. "We should be girlfriends." Reese says before I can even find the words. She's so beautiful, light wavering in her eyes. I stare into them, she looks back in mine. "Yes." She leans closer and we kiss. I can't help my lips smiling, she's beaming and blushing pink.