The first thought to come to my mind was;

…HOLY SHIT MY HEAD HURT.

Then the second;

…Who the hell is in my bed?!

To answer that, I opened my eyes to see… Wait. Was I still asleep? Why the hell was Fang in my home?! WHAT DID I DO LAST NIGHT?!?!

I crawled out of her arms, covered her up again so as not to disturb her, and then started to rummage through my medicine cabinet… Soon enough I’d taken all of my meds, and finally, my hangover started to feel better. With that finally clearing up I grabbed a plate and some pizza, only to hear mumbling from my bed.

Looking over, I saw Fang sitting up, looking around like she couldn’t remember what happened either.

“...w’s this place… who’d I screw…” Then she looked over to where I was sitting mid-bite with my pizza staring back at her. I proceeded to see literally every emotion cross her face- shock and surprise, anger, sadness, lust?, and then it all just settled into a scowl.

“Why the hell am I in your apartment, asshole? Oh don’t tell me; I probably fucked you to stay here.”

I looked at her with a bit of shock, and sniffed the air. It definitely didn’t smell like we’d done anything the night before, and judging by the fact my uniform pants had been on for the night, it was safe to say we hadn’t done anything.

Fang seemed to realize this too, when she took off the blanket to reveal what was… wait, why the hell was she wearing my old clothes from high school? Green shirt and denim jeans were hanging baggily off her skeleton frame as she rose out of my bed, looking at me with annoyance.

…Why didn’t I feel like shit when she looked at me? Just what the hell did we do?

“You better start talking now asshole. Why the hell am I here with you? What did you do with me?”

Fang started to walk over with thinly veiled rage before tripping over a pile of empty beer cans; I was close enough to catch her before her head hit the floor, and when we both got up she looked even more annoyed.

“I should be asking you that… It’s been what, four years? I can’t remember a thing from last night…”

As soon as I say that, I remember the fight in the bar. Me inviting her to stay with me in my home. Admitting my service history. Her… Pulling me into bed.

“...I honestly have no clue how the hell it happened, but I… convinced you to stay for the night. Because you mentioned you were homeless.” A look of surprise and doubt was painted on her face. “...I think we made up after everything? I know for a fact you slapped me twice though.”

Ah. That explained why the sides of my face felt like raw meat.

“...God how much did I drink?” she said, looking at the empty beer. That explains the temporary memory loss.

“Wait. I’m remembering… something.” She looked at me with… that look. A mixture of sympathy and curiosity. Somehow she looked like she actually regarded me as more than some pond scum on her boot.

“...Shit, sorry for going off on you.” Fang said. “I remember now. My head hurts like a bitch though, you got any painkillers?”

“Uhhh… yeah.” I hand her some, and get a water bottle from a cabinet. “I should probably go shopping… Actually, I remember last night we were discussing some stuff we should get, do you wanna come with me to grab stuff? My money of course.” I needed new clothes myself, and I was 80 percent sure Fang’s one pair of clothes was all she had.

“Yeah… they are.”

Fucking mumbling…

“That’s one thing I’m glad stayed the same about you. Makes you easy to read… You know, thats how I knew you liked me in high school?”

“What?”

“Whenever we were studying at my house… We were playing the guitar. You muttered something that I’m pretty certain you never realized you said out loud.”

I remember the day. But not exactly what I said or thought.

“What’d I say?”

“‘All that matters is her.’ It… It felt nice,” she admitted. “Is that why you decided to help me out? Because you want to get back together with me?”

I inhale very deeply and exhale. I… did not think I’d said that. Fuck.

“I’m going to be honest, the thought did cross my mind. But that’s not why.”

“Then why?”

I sigh. “Because I need to make this mess right. Help you fix what I fucked up, pay for what I did. Call it redemption or punishment, I don’t particularly care. I just want to help you.”

Fang sat there and pondered this before taking the painkillers I’d given her and chugging half the water bottle. After she drank the rest, she crushed it and tossed it into a nearby trashcan.

“...Alright, can we just go to the store?”

“Of course.”

 

*** *** ***

 

We exited a taxi to find ourselves in Little Troodon, where I’d found some good shops online. Hopefully they would actually sell us what we wanted instead of some discounted shit like in Skin Row.

Fang looked at me, wearing her old (now clean) clothes from high school. She looked pretty happy to be out in public.

“So, Anon…” she said to me, “Where are we going first?”

“I figured we could pop over to a clothes shop. Like I said, we both need clothes.” I guided her over to a store I’d picked out online back at my apartment. “I think this place has some clothes you’ll like.” With that we were already in the store.

It had some fairly punk and goth attire throughout the store, and as I suspected would happen, Fang’s attention was immediately caught on the many clothes. She shoved me aside to grab some pants, and I chuckled to myself as she went for some tank tops. Looking around myself I picked out some jeans and green shirts that would actually fit me, as well as some other stuff I’d need.

A while later Fang came up to me with a bag of the clothes she was getting.

“Alright, we should check out and-”

“Wait dumbass. You’re supposed to try them on first,” she said gazing over to the dressing room. “You go first.”

I mocked groaning. “But we’ve been here for HOURS”, I said sarcastically (only 20 minutes had passed, really), and she elbowed my ribs.

“Don’t be a dumbass, just go do it. I was planning on trying mine out anyway.”

Well…

A few minutes later I was in the stall, and much to my surprise, the pants I had picked out were too tight. The shirts were fine, though, and they actually made my pectoral muscles pretty visible.

I walked out after putting my regular clothes on, and left the pair of pants in the room, opting to grab one size larger. After trying those ones on to confirm the size I was looking for, I went back over to find they only had three other pairs of those pants. Even thought I needed four more.

So, with that, I went to the cash register to speak with the green-haired stego girl manning it.

“Hey, uhh… I need another pair of these pants in XL, but all I can find is L. You have any in the back?”

The cashier looks up at me. “Oh! Yes, we have some in storage sir, let me go look- AAA!”

What the fuck?

“Ma’am? Are you alright?” I ask with a confused look.

“...Anon?” She asks aprehensively.

“Uhhhhhh…” I look down to my name tag. “Yes, that would be me. PFC Anon Mous. And who are y-ACK!”

The green stego girl had ran around the counter to tackle me in a vice-grip hug, shaking me all over the damn place. My brain was pretty much being tumbled around like in one of those pinball machines.

“OHMYGODITSANONIHAVETOCALLROSATOTELLHERHOLYSHITITSBEENYEARSIMISSEDYOUSOFUCKINGMUCHAAAAAAAAA!!!”

“MA’AM CALM THE FUCK DOWN!” I push her off of me, getting stares from customers all over the front of the store. “Do I know you from…”

Wait.

No fucking way.

“...Stella?!” I look at her. Her hair was down over her shoulders, and she sported a black shirt with the letters “JJBA” on it.

“Well…” I chuckle. “I don’t know anyone else who’d watch JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure.” I put my hand on the back of my head.

Suddenly I see Fang running over from the dressing area over to me with bags of clothes.

“Anon I heard someone scream your n-AGH!”

Stella, in one motion, had turned her entire body over to Fang’s voice, ran over, and tackled her in yet another bear hug.

“OHMYGODFANGHAIIIIIIII!!!”

“STELLA?!” Fang exclaimed incredulously.

We all tried to calm down over this shock, and after a while I said “Okay. Stella… Uhhhhhh, do you want to meet up at some point? You’re the only other person I’ve seen from high school, and well, to be frank, the only other person I’ve contacted from Volcano High, period.”

“Of course!” She exclaims happily. “Actually…” Stella runs off into the back of the shop, leaving a very confused Fang to me.

“What the hell was that, Anon?”

“I don’t know! I went up to the desk to ask if they had pants in my size, and she recognized me.”

We continued analysing the situation until she came back in a jacket, holding my pair of pants. She motioned for us to hand over our purchases.

“Boss said I could have the day off. Just gotta scan your stuff.”

So I hand over my clothes, adding Fang’s stuff to the purchase. As Stella scans them, I start to feel uneasy standing here in the store. As much as I was glad to see her again, why the hell was she so interested in me?

“...Anon, you realize you mutter a lot, right?”

“Oh, son of a bitch, I thought I had a handle on that!”

She… chuckled? Giggled? Before returning to scanning the last of Fang’s clothes, and once she was done she handed us our bags.

“Do you mind if I come with you? I’ve got a little shopping to get done myself and I’d love to catch up! It’s been four years, where have you two been?”

I (once again) sigh.

“Well… I joined the Marines. It was after me and Fang… Well… We broke up in high school. It’s a long story, but we met again yesterday.” I didn’t want to get into the fact that Fang was homeless and broke, all that would have done is made Stella worry. “We’re figuring some stuff out.”

That seemed to satisfy Stella’s curiosity.

“Hey, Stella,” I asked. “You wanna trade numbers?”

“Sure!” She says excitedly. “I can give you Rosa’s number too. Actually… Fang, there’s something I should tell you about her.”

Fang looks toward Stella. “...What’s this got to do with me?”

“Welll it’s moreso Naser,” she responds. “He broke up with Naomi after high school and-”

“Skip to the point, Stella,” Fang responds as we walk the path to a store I’d picked out. “I haven’t talked to Naser in years. What’s the big news?”

“Naser’s engaged to Rosa.”

I stop dead in my tracks to look at Stella.

“Stella,” I say, “This better not be some weird joke.”

She huffs and grabs her phone, showing us pictures of Naser with Rosa. She doesn’t look like she aged a day, and Naser looks in his 30s. Had med school been getting to him that much? Jesus…

“So do you believe me?”

Fang looks away with a distant stare. She looks shook as she processes this information.

“Fang?” I ask, moving in front of her. “What’s the matter?”

“...He’s moved on. From everything.”

What did she mean by that?

“It means…” FUCK. MY. MUMBLING. “...He probably doesn’t care what happens. I could overdose under a bridge and he’d just… move on.”

“Fang,” I say, “Don’t look at it like that. Naser loves you- I know because he told me. Before I left for the Marine Corp.”

She looks at me.

“We talked a good bit about you. Naser… he was worried about you, and didn’t know how to approach things. When you left, he just… Stopped. He probably thought he was fucking it all up, so he trusted you to find yourself again.”

I grab one of Fang’s hands and look her in the eye, smiling.

“I know for a fact that your brother loves you very much, Fang. He hasn’t been the easiest to deal with, I imagine, but I know that he cares about you, at the end of the day. I guarantee it.”

Fang looks back at me, a smile gracing her usually dour snoot.

“You’re right… Thanks.”

“No, Fang… Thank you.” I go up and hug her. “I don’t deserve a second chance, but by god I’m gonna try to make sure you get your life back. You are the last person on earth who deserves to suffer.”

I feel her hands on my back as we embrace each other for a few minutes, appreciating each other. Raptor Jesus, Thank you…

After a bit, we break away, and I smile.

“We should probably go grab food… The place I was gonna go over to is pretty close.”

 

*** *** ***

 

We exit the cab, me carrying all of the groceries and my clothes, meanwhile Fang carries her clothes and my keys. With a lot of effort I manage to navigate my way up the stairs, letting her go in front to unlock the apartment door.

After even more difficulties, all of the clothes bags are on the bed, and all the food is on my kitchen counter.

“Hah… So, Anon… You ever gonna change out of that desert shit?”

“Hm? Oh! Right.”

With that reminder, I take some clothes into the bathroom and after a few minutes, I’m in normal civvie dress, my uniform now in my footlocker where it belongs. Now, I’m sitting at my desk looking for some job applications when I spot one that piques my interest.

“...Hey, Fang?”

“What?” She asks from my bed, laying on it in the same clothes she wore out to Troodon.

“I found a job application at a pizza place, but… I don’t know.”

“What’s the pay?” she asks.

“About 22 an hour as a janitor, but-”

“So take it!”

“Fang, that’s not the problem.”

“Then what is?”

I sigh. “It’s Moe’s pizza place.”