…Fang is on the roof; I'm crawling toward her. I yell out, but my voice doesn't reach her. She's holding that revolver…every time I crawl, I only feel myself getting further from her. I need to get to her. She stands on the roof's edge, and everything's blurry…is that…blood?

 

I shoot up out of my nightmare, "FANG, DON'T JUMP!" I feel myself sweating bullets and hyperventilating as tears stream down my face… it's just a dream.

 

"Anon? I'm right here…" She looks at me with a worried expression. 

 

I nod slowly. "... I'm sorry, Fang." I lower myself back onto the bed as Fang consoles me. I turn towards her, "Just…a bad dream." 

 

"You were talking in your sleep…" She locks her eyes onto mine with a look of deep sorrow.

 

"What'd I say?" I match her look as I recall my dream, God…it felt so real.

 

"You were begging me to stop…something. I don't know exactly, but you sounded scared…."

 

I don't think I should tell her what I saw in the dream. "I don't even remember what happened in the dream…all I remember is shooting up, saying your name." 

 

She nods a little, her eyes still locked on mine…the lighting hasn't seemed to have changed. What time is it? I take my phone off the charger and check the time…8 AM? I guess we were both exhausted…yesterday was a whole roller coaster. No new texts from Naser… that's surprising. I sit back up and stretch before leaning down to kiss Fang on the cheek; I guess I should make us some breakfast. I get up and start towards the kitchen to open up the fridge, only to be slapped with reality; the only thing I have are some dino nuggets. I grab the sugary cereal we've been eating for the past couple of days and feel the box is pretty light… we're going to need to go back out again soon. Eh, it can wait until tomorrow. I pour the last box between Fang and me and return to the living room, where she's stretching on the bed. I set down her bowl on the desk so she can grab it when she's done and sit down next to her. A smile graces her tired face as she reaches for the bowl and starts chomping on the cereal. I turn on the TV to look for something to watch; we should just chill today. 

 

"Got anything in mind?" I motion towards the TV.

 

She shakes her head with a mouthful of the sugary cereal.I turn on YouSnoot and start browsing, clicking through random videos before I land on some video essays.

 

Fang looks over at me after a couple minutes of watching, "How can you enjoy this stuff, Anon? It's so boring."

 

"I just kinda… zone out while watching it."

 

Fang looks confused, "Why would you watch something just to zone out on it?"

 

I look at her, "I dunno, pass the time?"

 

We continue munching our cereal until only milk remains. As I drink the milk, I feel my phone buzz. A text from Naser… kinda expected that.

 

"How's Fang doing?"

 

I look over at her; she's spaced out, watching the video essay. "She's doing better; she's watching some tv. We just finished with breakfast."

 

"That's good, hoping you can get her home tonight. Oh, and, I wanted to talk to you more about Naomi. What else did she say to you while Fang and I were using the bathroom?"

 

"Nothing much outside of what I told you. She just told me her whole plan about putting me with Fang."

 

His tone suddenly switches. "Anon, are you being 100% honest?"

 

"Yeah, ofc I'm 100% serious; why would I lie about something like this?"

 

"I can think of multiple reasons," there's a pause between the messages. "But seeing as you have been truthful about everything else, I guess I can trust you. Thanks for telling me."

 

I think about my response very carefully, planning out every detail. "👍"

 

Naser starts typing again, "How has Fang reacted to me swinging by to pick up the gun?"

 

"I haven't told her yet."

 

"I'd do that now. Fang hates secrets."

 

I remember when we were in detention, and I joked about her concert. I don't know how much madder she was that I didn't tell her, but that punch she threw said otherwise. "Okay."

 

He leaves me to read, and I take the hint and turn to Fang, who's hypnotized by the video essay. I don't even know what I put on, but I hear something that instantly tells me it's some sort of video game lore video. 

 

"Hey, Fang?"

 

She snaps to me, "Are you talking to me?"

 

I look at her blankly. "Who else would I be talking to, nerd."

 

She rolls her eyes, "I don't know. The wall."

 

I feel the pit reappear in my stomach as I struggle to speak. "So…" Fang's looking at me with a blank, maybe content expression. Yet I feel like the world's weight is on my shoulders right now. I don't know if I should tell her about it; what would she think if Naser came over? 

 

"Anon…"

 

What if she hates me for letting him over here? She's gonna be so pissed when I tell her…oh God…

 

"Anon!"

 

I snap out of my internal panic, "Y-Yeah?"

 

"I already know you retard," There's no heat to her words. "Naser told me. You don't think he wouldn't have texted me?" 

 

I…huh…I didn't think Naser would've talked to her about it, considering he wanted me to tell her. "O-oh…okay."

 

She looks back to the video essay, "Yeah, him and I talked about it over text while you were taking a shit or whatever."

 

"So… you know he came over and got the revolver." 

 

She nods, hypnotized by the video essay. "Yeah."

 

She doesn't seem too angry; maybe Naser was right. "I also wanted to talk to you about something else…." Fang turns her head towards me, listening intensely. "So…if you and Naser have been talking, are you two cool?"

 

"Yeah, we're cool. Why?"

 

"Well, I thought it was about time you went home."

 

She looks at me with a frown. Shit, that sounded way too harsh. "What I mean is Naser is probably getting torn apart by your dad, and it would be better if you went home…for yours and his sake." ...and mine.

 

She looks anxious, thinking about going home, "I-I don't know…what would my dad say? What about my mom?"

 

"Well, I guess they'd be relieved that you're okay, and then they'd probably be pissed once you've settled down. I doubt they'd do anything beyond just stern talking to, and if anything happens, you can always come back here, okay?"

 

She nods slightly and sighs, "Yeah…I guess. You promise that I can come back if something happens?"

 

"Cross my heart."

 

"...Thank you, Anon."

 

We hug for a moment before I continue, "Do you want me to call Naser?"

 

She nods at me, and I pull out my phone. It's still really early, about 11 AM. We have a few hours until Naser gets out of school.

 

I turn to her and repeat my internal dialogue. "We've got a few hours to kill before Naser can come over and pick you up. What do you wanna do?"

 

She glances around the room before focusing on the video essay, "Whatever… this is is pretty interesting." 

 

I actually take the effort to look at what she's been so into for the past hour or so. … it's a lore video on fucking league of wizards…. The hours pass as Fang and I listen to a neckbeard go into vast detail about a top-down MOBA. I can't believe Fang is actually interested in this stuff, but she's glued to the screen, and her face looks like she's playing five games of chess in her head at once. Midway through the essay, a few hours later, I feel my phone buzz, text from Naser. 

 

"Yo, how's Fang?"

 

"She and I are watching YouSnoot rn, she's cool with being picked up, so you're cool to come over whenever." 

 

"Alright, man, and once again, thank you for taking care of her the past couple of days. I can't imagine what you two have been feeling."

 

"Honestly, I'm just thankful that she's okay right now, Naser. I couldn't have done this without you. You've been a bro."

 

"I'm omw. I'll be there in about 10 minutes."

 

"Alr, man."

 

I look at the time… 4 PM?! How long have we been watching this shit? I pause… whatever that was, and look at Fang.

 

"Naser's gonna be here in a few; I'll help you grab your stuff."

 

She yawns before nodding, "Okay…the only things I brought were my bag and the clothes from Spencer's."

 

"Might wanna change out of…that." I gesture at her pj's.

 

"What's wrong with these?" She jabs sarcastically as she gets up to change. She grabs some clothes and walks into the bathroom to change.

 

She comes out moments later in her normal edgy teen wear, curbstompers and all, and right as she comes out, I hear a knock at the door. 

 

I open it to Naser wearing his vomit-colored jacket, wearing aviators to match. He hasn't changed a bit! "Is she… ready?"

 

She peeks around the bathroom door, "What's up, fucked-wing retard?"

 

He scornfully looks at her, "Yeah, nice to see you too, Fang."

 

I wonder if they've talked about the whole Naser falling off a cliff thing… oh well, Fang has the biggest grin on her face. She missed Naser? Shit, that's rare. 

 

"I'll grab some of your stuff, Fang."

 

She looks at me, confused. "What other stuff do I have besides clothes?" She gasps as I head toward the fridge and pull out her nuggets. Before I know it, the bag is snatched out of my hand, and she looks at me suspiciously. "Why is this heavier than what I counted…."

 

"I gave you my nuggets instead; I wanted to leave you as many as possible. You can have the extra one, too, if you want it."

 

She looks like she's about to cry again before she hesitantly takes the bag of nuggets.

 

"Oh, I almost forgot," I grab the heavier bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's and hand it over to her. "Can't eat without that, yeah?"

 

She sniffles. "Thank you, Anon…." 

 

As she and Naser head towards the door, I say my goodbyes and kiss Fang on the forehead before closing the door slowly behind them. Now, what do I do with the rest of my day? Still got plenty of time to kill…