With Fear or Without

29- Bit by Bit

"They're totally in love," Charlie looked at Andy for support. "Right?"

Andy raised an amused eyebrow at them, leaning against the counter with her bicycle helmet sitting next to her. Her tied-up hair suggested that it hadn't been worn recently. 

"And what makes you so sure?" Cleo asked, not at all surprised that this was their first topic of conversation after everything that happened that day.

"Come on, how could they not be?" Charlie plopped down on their couch with a bright red strawberry in their hand. "Their whole story is practically a rom com."

"Right. Well this can't be the only thing you want to discuss out of all the things I've told you today," Cleo complained, tucking her foot underneath her and fiddling with her shoelaces.

"Yeah, actually I have a question," Andy said, ignoring the click of Charlie's tongue at the topic change. "How do those things even work? I mean, were they expecting you to see a mysterious glass band in your locker and just decide to put it on?"

"I was wondering the same thing. But also... Why was it even burnt? They seem super valuable, why would anyone want to destroy one?"

"I have no idea," Andy admitted. She sighed. "This is random, but I keep thinking about what Nolan said, about dying in dreams? How does that even work?"

Cleo had been thinking the same thing, hard as she was trying not to think about it at all. "Don't know. He said that you don't usually die in dreams because "that's the way it is.""

Andy frowned in thought., one finger tapping at her lips.

"See," Charlie said, "I knew this would happen."

"What?" Cleo asked.

Charlie sat forward on the couch. "We always do this, sitting around talking about our questions like it'll help answer them."

"Don't you want to know? How it all started? Why we were roped into this thing in the first place?" Andy demanded, flipping her hair back over her shoulder.

"Of course I want to know," Charlie said, rolling their eyes and tossing the leaves of the strawberry into a bowl on the table. "I'm just saying that we keep getting a couple questions answered, just to be knocked back down by a million other things. I'm getting tired of it."

"So what do you suggest we do? Just shut up about it?" Andy's voice was climbing in pitch. Cleo shifted in her chair, silently uncomfortable.

"It's just pointless if we don't do anything about it," Charlie said, dangerously low and firm. "We should go in there and demand to know everything before this party thing next week. Which, by the way," they wagged their finger in the air, "I still think is a majorly terrible idea." Charlie sat back into the couch, seemingly satisfied with their argument.

"Well, I disagree," Andy said simply. She crossed her arms. "I don't need any more questions answered to know that these people are right. I mean, their whole goal is to defeat Fear, how can you not...." she trailed off as her head lowered, exhaling sharply in a quiet cough and shifting gingerly.

Charlie shot up from the couch in concern, then stood there awkwardly. "Andy? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Andy mumbled under her breath. She shifted her weight between her feet as if testing them. "Think so. Guess that magic healing didn't work all the way."

"Your ribs?" Cleo asked cautiously.

Andy mumbled something in agreement. Then she walked, slightly unstable, out of the living room, muttering something like, "Be right back."

When she disappeared around the corner, Cleo looked back to Charlie, who still stood. After a couple of blinks they returned the look and sank back down to the couch.

"Should I...?"

"I'm sure she's fine, Charlie," Cleo assured her, despite her own sinking feeling. Something told her it was more than just a healing bruise, but she couldn't put her finger on it.  "We can ask Nolan and whoever else we're having lunch with tomorrow any questions we've got," she said half-heartedly.

Charlie sighed. "It's never gonna end, is it?"

"What?"

"Being this confused. Feeling like the most clueless one in the whole underground-but-not-really-underground city?"

Cleo swallowed. Probably not. But then again, Andy was still right. They could never just walk away from whatever this was, nor could they ever dream of understanding it all.

Then Cleo thought of the people they had met so far. Remie, Nolan, even Cassian... they were all the good guys. They couldn't not be. How could they have ever joined this cause if it wasn't the right thing to do?

"I don't think so. Not for a while, anyway."

"We should take advantage of this."

"Of what?" Cleo asked again.

"Of being important," Charlie said. "They're asking us to do something for them. We should use that. I'm not saying we have to be mean about it, but we deserve to not be kept in the dark, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Cleo agreed. "I also think there's a possibility that not everyone knows everything"

"Yeah, true."

A long pause followed.

"You think she's okay?"

"You worry too much."

Charlie exhaled and looked at Cleo with an expression that said, really?

Cleo grinned. "Yeah, I think she's fine."