Cheer-Stained: One Week In Westbridge

8: Libby, It's Cold Outside

Aimlessly, I wandered the streets of Westbridge, my outrage and my purse as my sole travelling companions on that cold December evening. Too bad all I was wearing was that damn jacket and a silk negligee over pants, which was not only chilly, but it had to look pretty skanky. I also swore I'd never leave the city without a sleeve-bearing coat again, because that breezy leather was not cutting it.

That last barb hurt. Adymm wasn't supposed to use the royalty thing - OUR thing - as a weapon; it felt so wrong, like blasphemy or something. He had just gone too damn far and he had to recognise that, even if I had to stay out until two in the morning to make it happen.

I was really shivering, though, rubbing my arms constantly... and starting to feel a little tired. It had to be at least one or two by then, and I was already worn out from the gig at Hilda's. That's when I realised I was lost.

Where was everybody? I had grown so used to New York City, where the teeming masses are out all night long... but Westbridge wasn't like that, folks stayed in after dark, and very few people partied into the wee hours. Or maybe they came out on warmer nights? Who knows?

More importantly, Adymm actually believed that just because I was enjoying this hometown vacation that I'd forgotten all about him. Did he truly think I was that shallow? Sure, maybe when he first met me I still had some lingering vapidity, but I'd grown up a lot in the past year and a half, right? How dare he think I'd dump him and his city at a moment's notice! It made me sound so... cheap. I mean, is that how he really feels about me?

My vision was starting to blur from the tears and the cold, especially when the wind picked up. 'Who does Adymm think he is?' I thought angrily as I stumbled down another street, trying to decide if I knew where I was or not. 'He always pushes - nothing's ever enough! Why can't he accept that I don't want to rush what we have?'

"Hey... Libby, right?"

I spun around, causing me to feel even more nauseous and disoriented than I already did. "Adymm? Oh, there you are... I was s-starting to think you'd n-n-never come after me..."

The outline of his figure came closer; all I could see was the outline, and it looked all lumpy. What was wrong with my eyes? "Your lips look kinda blue..." And his voice sounded far away, too. "Are you okay?"

"I... I feel funny, Adymm... I th-think I need a... a nap..."

Yeah, that sounded good. A nap. His arms swept toward me, and I fell into them, content to be where I belonged, enveloped in the darkness. In his arms felt like home...

~ o ~

Stars. There were stars everywhere. And then, there was the sun; the sun burning brightly down onto me, making me feel warm all over.

I was lying next to Adymm on a blanket, surrounded by a grassy meadow. What a day, too! There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and not a soul for miles around. As I squinted at the sun, he smiled at me and handed me something.

"Drink this," he said, "it's cocoa."

"But... okay," I relented. He helped pour it down my throat, and all the warmth I felt on the outside was inside now, glowing within me... though I felt like the heat was taking too many liberties. Still, and I can't explain it totally, but the world just seemed... right, and I can't remember the last time I felt that good. When I looked at him again, he changed; his hair got longer, his face thinner.

"How do you feel now?" Roxie asked me.

"Where'd Adymm go?"

"Don't talk," she said, and she changed again; the hair was blonde, and the eyes were blue. "Just relax, he'll be here."