...201M2020, A Month Before The Shooting, Aaron Household I pull into my parking space in the driveway, having just bought groceries, mainly ingredients for tonight's dinner. Ripley really wanted baby back ribs tonight, even though we had some literally just a month ago. Oh well, he works hard at his job and if he wants ribs again, who am I to not give my Big Monster what he wants. I start collecting the groceries and make my way to the front door with the first load. I carefully cradle the paper bags in one arm as I fish out my keys to unlock the front door...only to remember it's most likely unlocked, with Lucy coming home from school before Naser usually does, since he's busy with managing things regarding the track team and enjoying time with Naomi, the sweetheart. I put my keys back in my apron pocket and turn the knob opening the door. I'd announce that I'm home, but I don't want to bother Lucy since she's most likely busy with school work. I go through the routine of moving back and forth between house and car, to bring the groceries inside and I finish in record time, twelve minutes, nice. I proceed to prep the ribs for their eventual cooking on the grill out back. It's a silent agreement between me and my husband, I handle food made in the sanctity of my kitchen and prep things for grilling, he handles the grill itself and makes sure my cooking utensils are sparkling clean as I do with his grilling equipment, though he cleans the grill itself. I think it's a fair arrangement, even though he tries to do more than his usual share sometimes, though we're both guilty of pawning said utensil cleaning off on our children during date nights. I finish prepping the ribs covering them in carefully cling wrap, so stray flies that I just know are hiding around here don't put their babies in them and then I wash my hands in the sink afterwards...I could cle- oh wait no, I did that early this morning before breakfast. Uuuuh...Oh I know! I cou- no, Naser already cleaned the bathroom two days ago. He said that I should relax and take a load off every once in while, that it won't hurt to let him, Ripley and even Lucy do housework every now and then. ...He does make a good point, but, what else could I do? I don't exactly have many friends, outside of old Air Force buddies I haven't seen or heard from in years, some actually having passed away unfortunately. I don't know if I would count Spears and the faculty at Volcano High as friends, more, acquaintances really...maybe not Carliidewski though, I don't even know how a creep like him got a job at a school in the first place. I guess at least he's not doing anything to the students... I hope. Well, there is my fami- ...Never mind, that's a horrible idea, too much baggage there... I'll just go check up on Lucy, maybe she's hungry and would like some dino nuggets. Oh, it's so adorable that she still eats them like when she was younger. I remember the first time she had them when she was just 7 and Ripley showed her the secret to make them taste amazing. Her eyes lit up with amazement when Ripley took a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's and carefully pored the brown nectar over a pile of the golden brown delights, not completely drenching them, but not leaving a single one dry either. When my Lucy took a bite, she looked at the BBQ covered nuggets with glistening eyes like she had just found the Holy Grail. She then said 'Thanks for the secret daddy, I love it!' And then as soon Ripley tried to reach for a nugget himself, Lucy pulled the plate away and said 'NO MINE!' Ripley feigned a look of betrayal, saying his feelings were hurt, that his own daughter would leave him to starve and Lucy simply replied with '...mine' I couldn't help but laugh at the situation and not long after Ripley and Lucy joined in. She ended up sharing with the both of us anyways... though little did we know, that would be the last time she would share her precious nuggies... I find myself in front of the door to Lucy's bedroom. Huh, was I that lost in my memory? No matter, I'll be quit and just take a peak into her room before I come in. I gently creak the door open a little to peak in and...Oh! Anon is here and he has his bag with him, along with a text book. Oh, how sweet, they must be studying together...or at least that's what I would believe they're doing, if it weren't for the fact that said text books are to the side on the bed, as Lucy is fiddling around with her guitar, while Anon watches attentively. "I... I think I've figured that song out, Anon" After saying this, Lucy uses her tail as a makeshift metronome, making a simple beat with of sorts with it against the bed. And from there a tune slowly rises from the plucked strings, as the tone picks up, Lucy bobs her head along to the beat, in sync with the instrument she holds... it's beautiful... it started fairly slow, but then grew into something I've never heard from her playing before, going from a soft melody, to a heavier song with seemingly no effort on Lucy's part... like she was putting her whole soul into this one song. She then started humming along with tune softly and that's when I understood what was happening...this was a piece of music that needed no lyrics, for what was being played said more than any words could have... As Lucy finished, she put her guitar beside her, looking at it with a realization that what she did... was show something to Anon, that she had never showed anyone before... not even me. As she came to this realization, she bit her lip, fighting back tears... and I was doing the same, with my hand over my beak. With no words, Anon moves over to Lucy and embraces her, saying the following words... "...All that matters is her" ...I gently close the door and quickly make my way downstairs, crying with a beaming smile creeping onto my face... Ripley's wrong, Anon's a wonderful young man... --- ...Present Day As I drive to the hospital that Stella said she was going to, my mind is racing with all sorts of questions. What the hell was Stella doing with Fang's Mom? Was Stella okay? Fang's Mom was preening? Was Stella okay? Did Stella really have an episode over seeing Fang's Mom? If so why? WAS STELLA... ...Stella's fine, she said she was and I trust her word. Fang's Mom is the real worry I have to be honest, I haven't seen her since I sneaked around and waited for her kids' funeral service to end so I could do some mourning of my own and even then I didn't see her face to face... I don't even know if I can even shoot a sideways glance her way. God, she must despise me, want my head on a pike for how I treated Fang in our relationship. I've talked with Stella multiple times about my fuckups in that relationship and she's always been an angel about it, but to talk about said fuckups with Fang's Mom... I don't know if I even have it in me to talk about any of it with her... Let alone the night before the shooting... Good God, I still remember when I finally told Stella about that night. When I told her that Fang wanted to experience something other than the immense pain she must've been feeling at that time, she instantly knew what I meant, given what happened the next morning at school. There was this slight tinge of jealousy in Stella's eyes over the fact that I, in fact, wasn't her first. But it was quickly overtaken by an immense look of sympathy, with an even mix of guilt over her initial feelings about it. She wordlessly hugged me and repeatedly cried 'I'm so sorry' in my ear as she rest her head on my shoulder, as I told her it was fine to feel that way. We held each other for about an hour, just crying until we separated. It was awkward between us for a few days, but we bounced back, like we always did when we talked about these things... Though I still feel terrible about not telling Stella about that night for so long, it's clear she didn't hold it against me... Though I can't imagine I'll be getting the same reaction from Fang's Mom. A horn honking from behind me forces me out of my thoughts and snaps me back into reality as I look at the street light and see that it's green. I move my hand to the steering wheel...accidentally knocking over my ash tray over, spilling cigarette butts and ashes all over. Oops, there goes gravity. I pull into the hospital parking lot, the building itself looking like a towering, menacing castle, housing some foul beast that I have to confront in my eyes. I take a deep breath as I exit my car and head for the front entrance. I stop at the automatic doors as I sink back into my thoughts, all about Fang's Mom this time. She must hate me, right? I mean, I know between her and that hulking monster of a father Fang had, she was the nice one, but I can't shake this feeling that she probably doesn't even want to see me after what happened five years ago... ...Wait, it's been five years. She's probably moved on... I think. Though I dunno, Stella said that her and Fang's Dad have long since divorced which... isn't really something I saw happening ever. What could've caused the two of them to go through with something like that? It couldn't be purely because of the shooting, there has to be some other reason, right? I shake my head. Now is not the time to be lost in your thoughts Anon. It's been five years and Fang's Mom deserves some idea of what was going through her daughter's head when she did all that. It's time to stone the fuck up and talk to her, even if it hurts her... and you. --- Raptor Jesus on his cross of rock, I feel like such a fucking shithead. First, I cause this poor girl sitting next to my hospital bed to break down over me, the person who gave birth to girl that gave her some serious trauma, that is no doubt still sticking with her. Second, I completely ruin the inside of her car with an episode of my own and over what? Her crying because of that 'tarot reading' years ago. Why did I even do this, I just thought that she shouldn't cry over something like that. Seriously, it's not a big deal, it's not like those cards were saying tha- ...Wait, did those cards mean that, me and him were... No, no, that's ridiculous Samantha, there's no way cards could know that would happen... right? My thoughts are interrupted by the door to my room opening and a bright yellow spinosaurus, with brown short hair combed neatly, in a lab coat walking over to my side. Stella follows my gaze as the doctor stops at the side of my bed, flipping through papers on his clipboard, before speaking up. "Well, Ms. Aaron, you're good to go" the doctor says taking his eyes off of the clipboard to look at me, "but, are you sure you don't need any psychiatric help? We have-" I cut him off before he finishes "No, I'm fine Dr. Stewart, thank you" I pause for a moment remembering my stuff, "I would like my clothes and what I had with me though" Dr. Stewart smiles warmly "Of course, your work clothes are on their way here, along with what was in your pockets" he looks back at his clipboard, flipping through the papers again "though your service jacket will still take some time to clean, blood is pretty tough to get out of leather you know?" I sense some slight annoyance in those last words, he's most likely dealt with this before...especially messes like the one I left in Stella's car. "Um, Dr. Stewart?" Stella asks, the doctor glancing up from his papers her way "When can I expect to get my car back? I need it to go to work tomorrow, my manager only gave me the rest of today off." Stewart frowns at this "I'm sorry Ms. Baudelaire, it'll take a couple days at least to clean out all the blood, Ms. Aaron made quite the mess in the passenger seat," he turns his head to me, an apologetic look on his face "no offense" "None taken, it's my fault she'll have trouble getting to work" I look at Stella with the same apologetic look Dr. Stewart gave me "I'm sorry Stella" The stego shakes her head, taking my hand into hers "No, you don't have to apologize for anything Ms. Aaron, I already told you that" she smiles warmly at me "All that matters now is that you're okay, I'll discuss how I can get to work with Anon, we'll figure something out" At the mention of Anon, I stiffen a bit. That's right, he's on his way here now, as we speak. I don't know why Stella's first instinct was to call him and not an ambulance or something. In fact that's the oddest thing about this whole ordeal, what could Anon have done that a professional like Dr. Stewart couldn't? The more I think about it, the more confused I get about the whole ordeal, it's like a jigsaw puzzle that I'm missing some piece to and I can't find it, no matter how hard I look. And then my confusion is replaced with uncertainty when I remember that Anon dated my Lucy before she...did what she did... My mind is now filled with questions I just don't have any answers to. Why did Lucy do it? Did Anon have something to do with? Did Anon tell her to do it? Did Lucy plan on Anon being there when she did it? My thoughts are all shot down when Dr. Stewart speaks up again. "Ah, your fiance', correct?" Stella turns her head towards the doctor, slightly confused by his knowledge "Uh, yeah. How'd you know that?" "Just before I came here with the news of Ms. Aaron's release, I ran into him, he was being guided by a nurse, looking for his fiance' and a ptero that had preened in his fiance's car" The matter of fact way he said that sent chills down my spine a bit, but I noticed Stella shot up from her seat after what the doctor had said. "He's here now? Can I see him, he must be worried sick about me!" Stewart motions his head towards the door he came in "Of course, he's just outside this room" he chuckles a bit "you don't need my permission to see him though, you're not a patient and neither is he Ms. Baudelaire" "O-oh, right ha ha" she says, awkwardly twiddling her thumbs, while looking to the ground with a growing shade of red on her face. "It's alright Ms. Baudelaire, think nothing of it" he says lightly patting her shoulder "go to him" Stella nods and glances to me before heading towards the door, clearly still unsure if she should leave me alone. I give her the best smile I can muster under all the nervousness I feel "Go on, I'll be fine" With that, she hesitantly heads off to the door, occasionally looking back my way to make sure I'm still alright. As she exits the door, I catch a glimpse of her and Anon embracing each other. That confirms it, he really is here and good God am I not sure how to deal with it. Part of me feels sympathy for him, where I lost my children that day, he lost the then love of his life and a friend... the other part though is not one I expected... I feel anger, like I want to bolt up to him and claw his eyes out for what had happened... No, I shouldn't feel that way, I shouldn't feel the way he feels about Anon, that poor boy didn't do anything wrong... right? If so, then why? Why am feeling this rage burning inside of me, boiling my blood. Is it me looking for someone to blame for my own misdeeds in raising Lucy? Or am I really no different from him? I hate this feeling so much, I feel sick just thinking about it. It makes me wish I was dead, so Anon wouldn't have to see me again... then why do I still want see him if that's the case? The door opens again, Stella walks in and behind her... there he is. It really is Anon, he's wearing... what looks some generic bar tender uniform, enclosed by a green leather jacket. Anon a bar tender? Out of all the career paths for that boy, from what little I know of him, I can't say I expected that of all things. Though, to be honest, he probably doesn't expect someone like me, to be working ten hours a day at a place like Junes... now I'm hoping the hospital staff is running late with my uniform, at least Anon has a 'cool' job. Dr. Stewart breaks the awkward silence from me and Anon taking each other in "Well, I'll leave you three here to discuss things" he says as he walks towards the door Stella and Anon just came in "it looks like you all have a lot to talk about" After he says that, he leaves the room and the door closes behind him, bringing back the awkward silence he the doctor had momentarily lifted... that psychiatric help, doesn't sound too bad right about now. It's silent for so long, that I've completely lost track of the time. The staff came in with my uniform and items I had on me when I preened, including, my phone, wallet, lighter and cigarettes. No jacket though, I guess Dr. Stewart wasn't joking. Anon looked... sad when he saw my uniform, like he was thinking 'Oh God no, not retail, she doesn't deserve that'. I silently took my clothes into the tiny bathroom to change, the nurse offers to help get my bandaged wings through my shirt, but I kindly declined, this is isn't my first rodeo with pain like this. After carefully pushing my wings through the polo like this morning, except with some added pain, I look into the mirror and... God I somehow look worse than this morning. My hair that I worked hard on to make look nice and neat, was frazzled, with stray strands sticking out in multiple places. My eyes were red, with tear stains going down the rest of my face, marking to everyone that I had been crying a lot. And my wings... it's not like I haven't seen how bad the look, but, to see them freshly bandaged with high quality gauze... it's oddly reassuring, I don't know why, it just is. Maybe because I see it as a sign of sorts that I can hopefully nurse them back to their former splendor... I see the smile creep onto my face as I think that. And then my smile disappears as I remember whose out there, who I'm going to have to talk to. For the first time in a long while, I feel scared. No, terrified. What on Earth can I say to him? 'Hey, sorry my daughter killed a lot of people in front of your fiance' and scarred her mentally for the rest of her life'... I let out a heavy sigh, I have to get this over with now, it was probably going to happen sooner or later. I walk out of the bathroom now in my Junes uniform, preparing myself mentally for the long talk that's to come. As soon as I'm out there, Anon and Stella whip their heads my direction in near unison. I look back at them and there's nothing but concern on Stella's face, Anon though... he looks just as scared as I probably do right now, like he's fighting his own inner demons to not just flat out leave here with Stella and never come back. Can't say I blame him, he probably expects me to beat the ever lasting shit out of him for daring to show his face to me again. Wrong ptero you're thinking of Anon. I turn and head over to the night stand were my stuff is, pocketing my wallet, lighter and cigs. Before I can even grab my phone, Guns n' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine blairs out as the screen lights up, indicating I have a call. God, it's probably Moe, I swear if he had one of his 'cooks' tailing me again I'm gon- My heart stops as I see the contact on the screen and every sound, including the Guns n' Roses ringtone, goes dead silent as I see the contact on the screen, calling me. INCOMING CALL HIM ...that fucking piece of shit. Why? Why now of all fucking times after three years of silence, would that prick decide to call now? Did he somehow find out about me being in the hospital again? I swear to fucking God, if Moe told him anything, the health inspector is gonna be least of that rigatoni smelling bastard's worries... ...Fuck it. I'm answering. I don't care if I make a fucking scene in front of Anon and Stella, I'm gonna see what the fat bastard wants. I tap the green button and put the phone up to my ear hole. "What is it?" There's silence before I hear, a gruff voice that I'm all to familiar with "...Sam, I ju-" I cut him off with venom in my voice "Don't 'Sam' me asshole, do you know where the fuck I am right now?" It's silent and then his voice comes up again, raised, having anger and annoyance this time "No, I don't know where you are now, we haven't talked in three Goddamn years!" Now the silence is on both ends. I look to Anon and Stella who both look concerned... I sigh, breaking the silence and try my best to be composed "I'm in the hospital right now, not that you care." I hear something move as he speaks again, this time with... concern in his voice? "What happened? Are you alright?" Oh, so now he cares, fucking dick. "I'm alright, I just" I look back to Anon and Stella again, the concern still painted on their faces, but now there's a hint of curiosity on Anon's face "had a bit of an accident at my job, but I'm fine" hopefully the fossilized turd buys that. "Sam, why are you lying to me?" Oh, this fucking- "Why the hell do you care so much? You said it yourself when you left town. 'Do whatever with your life from here on out, just leave me out of it' Oh, did you just suddenly get a fucking conscience and realize how much of an asshole you decided to be for no fucking reason after we lost our children? Well, guess what fuckface, to little to late! You blew it! YOU CAN'T JUST MAGICALLY WALK BACK INTO MY LIFE OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE AND EXPECT ALL TO HUNKY DORY!" There's now tears crawling down my face as I feel my face scrunch up in vitriolic rage as I continue "You couldn't just let me cope in the fucking ways I decided too, so fucking what if it's bad for me, I don't care! I'll take anything over having to think about that day again! EVEN IF IT FUCKING KILLS ME!" It's silent again, as I start breathing more rapidly. Then the fucker opens his snout again "Sam, I-I don't know what-" he stops himself mid sentence, yeah that's right, stay quiet you- "...You're right" ...What? What the fuck did he just say? "You're right Sam, I did get in the way of how you were dealing with it and I know that was wrong but" he pauses and I hear...crying? "Sam, you only kept getting worse with it. Day by day, you drank more, you smoked more. For God's sake, I was only trying to help, honest!" ...I... I'm completely lost... this isn't at all what I expected when he would've eventually called again. He sounds legitimately and wholeheartedly sorry... what the fuck is wrong with me? God have I... have I really changed that much? He's not clean of shitty behavior, but he sure as shit isn't wrong about mine either... "...Ripley, I-" He cuts me off now "You don't have to apologize. In fact neither us have the right, it's like you said, it's far too late for that" he says, clearly exhausted from my explosive rant. "Yeah, I know" I say, my voice now hoarse from the screaming "Though, I still think I should at least apologize for blowing up at you" I hear a loud thump, he must've slumped back into the chair I guess he was sitting in "No, no, it's fine. Honestly, it sounded like you've been wanting to say that for a long time" A weak smile creeps up on my face as I sigh "That's an understatement, I've been wanting to tell your lard ass off for a while now" He replies to that with a somewhat offended tone of voice "Hey, I've slimmed down quite a bit since then!" I can't help but chuckle a little bit at that "Sure you have, you Big Monster" I immediately cover my snout after saying that... it's been four long years since I've called him that... and only now do I realize I also called him by his name. Now there's an awkward silence between us, as I just used a pet name I thought I'd long since decided to never use again. He speaks up again "Please Sam, don't call me that again. I've-" he stops as if he's thinking about what to say and how to say it. He starts again "I've moved on and been with someone else for about two years now, it's... not a great feeling getting called that again, I'm sure you understand" ...He's with someone else? Already? How? How could he move on from me, from them so quickly? "...So what? That's it? They didn't mean anything to you?" "Sam, what are you-" he stops for a moment and then comes back with shock in is voice, like he just realized what he'd done "Samantha, that's not what I-" "Fuck. You." I take the phone away from my head hit the button to hang up, spent from the revelation that my former husband is now with some fucking trashy young woman probably. I stuff my phone into my pocket and...Anon is right next to me. How long has he- Before I can finish that thought, he wordlessly pulls me into a hug, holding me tight. I feel the tears coming back, but they're not tears of rage this time... "It's okay, just let all out" No, he can't be- "Right now, all that matters is your feelings, just let out, okay?" Stella says joining in on the hug... ...I can't hold it back anymore. The floodgates burst open as I start bawling into Anon's chest, doing as he and his fiance' said, letting all of the emotions I had been holding deep inside regarding hi- Ripley out, in the form of four years worth of unspent tears. Nobody has ever been their for me like this in a long time, not even Moe, but that's more my fault than his... Oh God Moe, all I did every time he tried to help me like this was push him away time and time again. All those times he just wanted to help me like this and I foolishly shrugged it off, how could I have been so blind. That doesn't matter right now though, I'm finally having that moment I've denied myself for so long and it's in the arms of two people I would've never expected, not in a million years... We pull out of the hug as I feel no more tears rolling down my face. God, I feel so bad for ruining Anon's bar tender uniform, I don't even know if his boss has any spares. He speaks up before I can ask about it though. "Feel better?" he says beaming me a smile of genuine compassion. I can't help but return it "Much better than I've felt in years Anon, you have no idea" "I think I have an idea, believe me" he says this as he turns his attention to his dress shirt and vest, wearing somewhat annoyed look as he sighs. "Oh, I'm so sorry about that Anon!" He shakes his head with a smirk on his face "Nah, it's fine, I ordered spares in case of something like this and it's laundry day anyways" Oh that's good to... wait, did he say he ordered spares? He catches my look of shock and has this shit eating grin on his face now "Yeah, I got my own bar now" the grin disappears and is replaced with an awkward look painted across his face as he rubs the back of his neck "Though to be honest, I kinda fell upwards into that" Stella punches his shoulder lightly or at least I think it's lightly, since Anon starts rubbing his shoulder "Anon, I've told you not sell yourself short, Greg gave it to you because he knew you'd take care of it!" ...It sounds like there's a whole story there and wow, Anon owns a bar... good for him, though it's still certainly not what I imagined him doing with his life. I smile a bit as I start to reach for my cigarettes and lighter. After all that's happened now I could use a smoke. I barely get the pack out of my pocket before Anon says something that catches my full attention. "Oh, if you need to smoke, could we go outside the room?" ...Huh? "...Um, why is that?" I ask the confusion clear as day in my voice. Stella notices this and chimes in, her face growing red as a rose "Well, it's only been a couple months, but we'd rather have them be healthy" she says, slowly caressing her stomach with one hand... ...Holy shit. My eyes damn near bulge out of my head as they widen and my jaw drops to the floor. No, fuck that, it goes through the floor, to the Earths core out the other end, through China, curls around the Earth busting through the roof and lands squarely on the top of my head. Stella's pregnant and Anon's the father! I shake out of my stupor and immediately go into happy mode "Oh my God! Stella congratulations!" I say grabbing her hand shaking it up and down like crazy. I turn my gaze to Anon and begin doing the same "And you!" I say a bit more sternly "Don't you dare abandon this poor girl now that she has baby on the way, it's your responsibility as a man!" Anon rubs the back of his neck with his free hand as he awkwardly laughs "Of course Ms. Aaron, wouldn't even imagine doing that." I shake my head a bit "Oh please, after all you two have done for me there's no need to be so formal" I continue as I let go of Anon's hand a shoot him a smile "Call me Samantha" --- ...Two Days Later It's been pretty uneventful after Anon and Stella helped me recover from my preening fit a couple days ago. After I got my Air Force jacket back, they offered to drive me back home and I accepted. Apparently all my frozen groceries had to be thrown out, as we'd been at the hospital for so long and nobody on cleaning duty for Stella's car thought to put away the frozen goods. Talk about money getting flushed down the toilet, I sure hope somebody got fired for that blunder. When Anon offered to re-buy my frozen groceries, that's when I tried insisting that him and Stella don't need to do that... only for the both of them to continue insisting, to the point of Anon putting some... annoying ass Asian-sounding song on from his music app and turning the volume up, setting it on loop. When Stella noticed this she silently took out some earbuds and plugged them into her phone, like it was routine. Oh my God was that song one of the most annoying songs I've ever heard, like I said it sounded like an Asian language, though Stella insisted it was Chinese, and the only fucking lyric I could make out was 'I love Beijing Tienanmen'... I still don't understand what the fuck an Tienanmen Square reference was doing in such a cheery sounding song. Though, the whole way through the torture, Anon looked liked he was on the verge of tears from holding back laughter. Eventually after twenty whole minutes of torture I let them buy my frozen groceries back, I just couldn't handle it any more. Though apparently according to Stella, I was the first person that lasted as long as I did through the Chinese song torture... it's a bit unsettling to think that Anon has put others through Geneva Convention breaking torture like that, he's lucky I didn't keep in contact with Mustang and Hawkeye, they probably would've torn him a new one on my behalf... I wonder how those two doing. After the groceries where all retrieved, they dropped me home and helped put away my groceries. They were surprised, to say the least when they saw the size of my place. Anon wondered how I could possibly afford an apartment like this on my own on minimum wage alone and I told him it was easy since Moe knew the owner of the complex... and I sold my old house. Anon had no words for me selling the old house, though I clarified quickly that I just couldn't bear being in the home after the divorce... and I especially couldn't bear passing the empty rooms of my children for much longer either. At that, both Anon and Stella insisted on hanging out with me for a while and not wanting to hear 'I love Beijing Tienanmen' again, I allowed it. We talked about what exactly what we'd been doing with our lives up to that point. I told them about my job at Junes, about Dirk the Dick, Jerry the Coward and how the store always. Played. That. Damn. Junes song on loop throughout the whole fucking day. Anon felt my pain, since he hated that song as much as I do, Stella though seemed a bit bummed out, apparently, she liked that hogwash. I didn't mention the 'Tera Incident' though... they don't need to hear about that travesty... at least not yet. Anon and Stella told me about how they met only a month after the shooting. Apparently Anon had been doing as badly as I thought he was after the whole thing, didn't help that when he tried to confront my daughter that day on the school's roof, she put a bullet through his shin... that was a shock to hear, I didn't think she would do something like that to him, they both seemed so in love. Though, Anon assured me that Lucy had regretted it as soon as she saw who she shot... I wonder if she felt the same when she shot Naser... Anon didn't linger on the shooting for too long though, both for my sake and his, very apparent by the grimace he was wearing after recalling his encounter on the roof... the poor boy... Instead, he skipped ahead a year to when he first got the job at the bar he now owned 'Soaring Angel'. I said the name seemed a bit... on the nose considering what we just talked about, though Stella assured me the former name was much worse in relation to that, the name in question being 'Fallen Angel' and Anon saying that's what caught his morbid curiosity about the place. He said the lease on his apartment in Skin Row had run out the previous year and apparently, his parents refused to help... my God how could any parent be that way to their child, especially after what happened to Anon. I was quickly told in Anon's own words 'Because they're wastes of skin that never cared about me'... ...Those words broke my heart... He went on about the bar, saying he went there for a job to find something he could do to get his own place, since he felt bad eternally bumming around at Stella's house and didn't want to be a burden to her parents. Stella also started job searching too, so she could help him, wanting to pay back her boyfriend just for being there for her. Anon was pretty surprised the bar let someone his age work there, even as a bus boy with next to no experience, though Anon made it clear it was because of the owner, Greg. He talked about Greg like he was a father figure that replaced his old shit bag of a dad and how he understood Anon's situation and was patient with him, showing him the ropes of how to do what you normally do working at a bar. Mixing drinks, handling the riff raff, picking just the right music on the jukebox, being the ear to listen for those that need it and a lot of other things he just went on about. As Anon did this, he seemed lost in his own little world, like he found the one thing that seemed right for someone like him, who had been through so much. Like he'd found his calling in life. He'd found what he was meant to do and he was going to dedicate his life to each and every second of it. It was nice to hear Anon so happy. Though it did leave me wondering, why he ended up owning it. Anon said he had simply did his job well enough over the years as he moved up from bus boy, to cook and then to bartender, where Greg saw the one talent Anon mentioned was most important in being a bartender. He listened. Listened to all the things customers had to say, cry, rant and joke about with the most patience Greg had only seen in himself, as Anon continued tending bar over the next couple of years. That is up until two and half years ago when Greg announced he was retiring, going to live out the rest of his days in Hawaii apparently. Anon was taken a back when Greg left the keys in his hands and told him 'It's in your hands now kid, I know you can do this, because I taught you how to'. The words pierced Anon's heart as he was pulled into a hug by the man. Anon said he made the remark about falling upwards into the position he's in, because he truly felt someone like him didn't deserve such kindness and when he said that to Greg, the old man said... something I wasn't expecting. 'Kid, the way I see it, we all go through great deals of hurt at some point in our lives. And because of that, I feel like people like you, who've clearly been through the worst of it, need to be the ones who make sure nobody ever goes through the hell you've been through on their own. That's why your girl, her buddy and your girl's folks helped you out. And it's also why I gave you that bus boy job back then and made sure you knew the tricks o' the trade. Because I knew, Anon, that you had it in you to help people, when they fall down. Just like me.' As Anon finished recounting what his old boss had told him, he had tears in his eyes as Stella took him in her arms. She said if it wasn't for Greg, Anon probably never would've opened up more about the things he'd been through to her. It was clear Greg meant a lot to Anon and I would honestly like to meet him some day, he sounds so sweet. Stella told me her parents were willing to help Anon any way they could through his trauma, much like they have been with their daughter. Her father, Monty had kept true to that, but after Anon had been honest with the stego family about having dated Lucy before all the shooting, Stella's mother, Angel, the very same women that shot me that death glare in the police station, just flat out refused to help. She threatened to leave if Monty didn't throw Anon out and to my surprise from what little I knew of him, he stood by Anon, stating there was no way he could've known about what my Lucy would go on to do. And the next day, Stella's own mother kept true to her word and packed her things to leave. Before she did, Stella said he mother tried to get her to come with her, but Stella took offense to this, especially when her mother called Anon a 'worthless spear chucking co-conspirator to murder'. I was shocked to hear in response to that, Stella had punched her mother in the face and told her to leave and never show her face in Volcaldera again... poor Stella, I can't blame her for defending Anon, but that was still her mother, who was clearly just worried about her daughter... just like Ripley... I decide that's enough reminiscing on the talks we had that day and look around my apartment for something to do to pass the time while I wait for the takeout I ordered. I almost decide on watching one of Lucy's favorite movies that I snagged before clearing the house for resale. It's some kung-fu flick, though the cover tells me it must be a parody of some kind. It has a tyrannosaurus man on the cover... using what look to be gophers as makeshift nunchucks... what the hell have I been letting my daughter watch all these years? I'm snapped out of my contemplation of why I've been lenient about what my children watch by the knocking of my front door. That must be the takeout I ordered, better not leave the delivery guy hanging, last time I did that the asshole ate half of my food. I quickly make my way to the front door as I hear the knocking again "I'm coming, keep your pants on, jeez!" I open the door and am greeted by a light blue liopleurodon with dark blue hair covering most of his face, wearing some casual clothing, a regular white t-shirt covered by... a Volcano High Swim Team jacket... don't think to much about it, don't think to much about it, don't- "Uh, miss, your order?" His question along with his slightly uncomfortable face, tell me I spaced out for a moment "Oh, sorry, thank you" I say as I take the Chinese delight and reach into my pocket give him a tip and... I don't have any money to give him on hand. I sigh and look back up at him with a sorry expression "I'm sorry, I must've left my money in my wallet, why don't you come in and rest a bit while I go get your tip" ...WAITSAMANTHAWHATTHEFUCKAREYOUDOIN- "Um, sure" ...God I hope I'm not leading him on, I don't need another 'Purple Raptor Incident'. I guess I invited him in because I feel somewhat sorry that he came all the way to Lil' Troo only to potentially get stiffed on a tip. I better make this quick, don't want to make it anymore awkward than I already have. I head into the bedroom to get my wallet while I hear the delivery boy come in... rather quickly, odd... God I really hope I'm not leading him on. I find my prize and get the money for his tip, lets finish this so I can eat and do nothing I guess? I make my way out to the living room and see the delivery boy... standing at the living room entrance, looking at my photos with an intense gaze, like he had just seen somebody purposefully swerve off the road to try and hit a toddler. He seems to be muttering something under his breath, but I don't know what? Then a thought hits me like a truck, with his jacket, he must've been in school when Lucy... I have to get him out of here now. I slowly make my way towards him, being extra careful not to startle him, no telling what he'll do if I set him off. I barely make it half way to where he's standing, when he slowly turns his head towards me. There's absolute vitriol within his eyes and I can't say I blame him. After a moment of silently staring me down, he speaks up. "All, because of her" he points to the photos on the shelf "It's all because of her, that I lost one of the only people I gave a shit about" I'm floored, I don't know how I can possibly respond to something that's so undeniable, but I try anyways "I-I don't know who it was my daughter took from you but-" He cuts me off, like a knife "She didn't kill the person I loved, no, she made her and so many others just... give up" "Gi- give up?" I ask, honestly a bit scared now. "KILL THEMSELVES! BECAUSE OF THAT WHITE PTERO CUNT YOU CALL A DAUGHTER, SAGE KILLED HERSELF!" I here a name, but I'm too filled with rage at what he dared to call my daughter to care about it "How dare you, call my daughter-" He cuts me off again "Call your daughter what? A cunt? Because that's what she is for destroying so many families like that!" He swallows a knot in his throat before continuing "And she did all that for what? Because her shitty high school band got laughed off stage at prom? Oh, boo-fucking-hoo, bitch should've grown up and moved on from that childish bullshit like the rest of us did in fucking middle school!" I'm practically in his face with my wings splayed out as I retort "What the fuck, gives you the right to talk about my daughter's passions like that! I bet you didn't even fucking know her and what she was going through, let alone why she did what she did! SO WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO TALK ABOUT HER LIKE YOU KNOW WHY SHE KILLED THOSE PEOPLE, INCLUDING HER OWN BROTHER!" "Do you know why she did it?" "...what?" "Do you know why she did it? Answer me." he says looking me dead in my eyes. "I-I don-" "ANSWER ME!" ...I can't... I don't know... Seeing that I'm at a loss for words at his question, the boy scoffs "Of course you don't know. You don't care about anything relating to the shooting except for 'I lost my children and that's all that matters" After he says that, it's blur what happened afterwords, because I now find myself hunched over, the delivery boy on the ground in front of me, holding his snout, now mishapen with a puzzled look on his face and I see my fist curled up in front of me. With all that in mind, it's clear as day what happened. I punched him. He doesn't say a word as he gets up and leaves through the front door, slamming it shut. I take a moment to inspect my knuckles... yup, I punched him pretty hard, some of my scales have peeled off because of it. I let out the heaviest sigh I've got and head into the bathroom to patch up my bloodied knuckle... Who the hell was that anyways? It's clear he went to Volcano High and lost someone because of the shooting, I think he said a name... Sage, it was Sage, but why did tell me all that? Did... did he come here just to vent? No, he's a Gruber Eats driver, why would he come all the way out here to Lil' Troo just to vent... God this liopleurodon is gonna nag at the back of my head until I figure out what his deal is isn't he? I finish up bandaging my hand with gauze and make my way to the kitchen to inspect my food... well at least he didn't eat my food. I take the food to the coffee table in the living room and plop down on the couch. I don't feel like doing anything with Blu-Ray player now after all that, so I just put on something random on a streaming service and just, veg out, barely paying attention to whatever it is put on while working my way through the lukewarm Chinese food. About thirty minutes later, I'm laying on the couch having finished my take out, now watching some show about vampires blending in with modern society and doing a piss poor job of it at that. I'm watching the main vampire rant about how he's a wizard while wearing a traffic cone on his head, when I get text. I lean over a bit and it's Anon. Good, I could use some form of conversation to take my mind off of the shitshow that just happened a while ago. "Hey Sam how are ya doin" "Could be better, to be honest." "Oh shit did something happen?" "Nothing I coudln't handle, don't worry about it." Just as I try to brush off what happened, the question from that delivery boy pops back up in my head. 'Do you know why she did it?' ...It couldn't hurt to ask right? Anon's bound to know something I don't. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something." "Sure thing fire away" "Uh I mean go ahead ask" "Do you have any ideas as to why Lucy shot all those people?" "It's been on mind lately and I have to know, if you know anything that is" Anon doesn't reply right away, though I see he's typing because the little bubble that indicates he is, pops up and then dissapears every now and then. Eventually I get a message, that even though it's just text, sends a chill down my spine as I read it. "I knew this was coming. Meet at my bar at 11:30 p.m. Its closing time then and we can talk about it in private." "I'll tell you everything I know. All of it. You deserve to know." Actions