I'll Be Holding on to You

attention whore

We went back to Freddy's and cleaned everything up, then went to my house to watch a movie that we otherwise wouldn't with the other three. Too bloody for them but it didn't bother us. First we took showers to rinse off the pool and texted Mara and Gage that Evie was fine.

Mara wanted to know if we wanted to get back together. I looked around my living room, at the movie starting, at Erika next to me in her red lace-up tank top drinking orange juice. Probably not today, I texted back. I'll ttyt though.

Freak saw me set the phone down and gestured to the floor. "Sit," she demanded. I did. She pulled out my hair tie and combed through my tangled, damp hair with her fingernails, scratching my neck a little in the process. Every part of me simultaneously melted and became electrified. "Are you used to it being short yet?"

It was past the tops of my shoulders, so not exactly a pixie cut, but Evie had cut more than twelve inches off it. I had, of course, donated the hair, because that's how I am. "No, I hate it," I said honestly, already hypnotized.

"It's adorable," she protested. "But it'll grow fast. It always has."

"You guys want me to stop this movie so we can chat?" her smart ass twin asked, and we shut up.

It was dark when Freddy came back with Cam and a very sleepy Evie. Her hand was bandaged and she was loopy from pain meds, which was cute. She was still in costume so it made it funnier.

"I hope I don't turn into Spiderman," she quipped as Freak and I took her into the bathroom to change.

"The first mermaid Spiderman." Erika was folding up her dress.

"Here, lift your leg," I told her. She did, like an obedient toddler. I helped her put on the pajama bottoms.

She yawned hugely and lost her balance. Erika was unpinning her wig and had ran out of patience for the day. "Fucking fake hair," she said, exasperated, searching for a pin that was still securing it.

"Owww, Freak," Evie complained, putting her hand to her head. "You are not being gentle to my lovely wig," she scolded. She reached beneath it and found the last bobby pin, removing it with a flourish. "See? Now I am ready for my hair to show." She smoothed the multi colored curls and set it carefully on the counter.

Erika was amused. "If you say so, bb."

We were going to wipe off her makeup but she brushed us off. "No, I still don't want to be just myself yet, I'm hoping he will remember first."

It wasn't the most coherent sentence ever spoken, but we got it. So she left her makeup on, though she left her hair in a bun, when she was most comfortable with it down around people she didn't know well. It was another step in Evie speak toward letting Freddy know her.

Because she was out of it and had such a crappy day, we put on Firefly since it was her favorite. Of course, the rest of us loved it, too. It was Firefly. She didn't even make it through a single episode, falling asleep in the bean bag chair where she was watching with Freddy. He looked like he'd found a buried treasure and was afraid it would disappear at any moment. Probably how my face looked when I had Freak in bed with me. At least he had a chance, but fuck it. C'est la vie.

We watched some more episodes so Freddy could catch up and then I went outside to smoke with Mo. "I like Mara," he said, lighting a cigarette.

"Sorry, she's a lesbian," I told him mock sadly.

He smirked at me. "You're cute."

"I know." I took it when he offered.

"She is spruuuung," he added, grinning. "And not too shy about it."