Trinity woke the next morning with a heavy weight on her stomach. Glancing down with bleary eyes, she saw that Julian fell asleep in the same position that he had been watching movies. She giggled and patted his hair down affectionately. Off to the side, she heard her phone give a tiny ping.
Reaching over to grab it, she checked the screen to see an incoming call.
Skylar.
She answered immediately.
"Hey babe."
Skylar responded quickly, without a greeting. "So I've been thinking...," she trailed off.
"That never leads to anything good," Trinity responded, dryly.
"Oh hey, how 'bout you shut the fuck up for a sec, yeah?"
"You're a little spicy this morning, I like it."
Skylar snorted, " And you're a fucking tool, the same as every other day of your life. Anyways, I was thinking about the last time we saw each other. You promised me a day for us to talk and I'm collecting."
Trinity smiled brightly, becoming very aware of how much she missed her girl friend.
"Of course, you free today?"
"I'm free right now if you want to pop over for a bit."
Trinity's eyes fell on the boy still fast asleep on her belly.
"I'm a little preoccupied at the moment. Julian's over."
The other side of the conversation was silent for a millisecond before her friend busted up with laughter.
"You dirty slut! You did the deed didn't you!?"
Rolling her eyes, Trinity threw back, "No, I'm not easy like you. We just watched movies and had a sleep over."
Still giggling, Skylar said, "Hey, I'm not easy just cause I live a little, you prude. So since you and Julian are still having your special time, do you want to come over around one?"
"Sounds like a date, honey buns."
"Cool, bring a suit."
With that, Skylar hung up. Trinity stayed on the line for a few seconds before she realized she wasn't getting a farewell. Typical.
"Do you have a secret boyfriend I don't know about, darling?"
Her eyes snapped to Julian, who still looked like he was asleep.
"If I told you that, he wouldn't be much of a secret anymore, would he?"
Julian flipped onto his stomach and crawled up the bed until they were face to face. He dropped his head next to hers and closed his eyes again, obviously still exhausted. "I don't know how you're seeing anybody when you spend all of your time with me, loser."
Trinity observed him. He had small bags under his eyes, and from the split second that they has been open, she noticed that they were bloodshot. For once, she wasn't the one looking the worst of the two of them.
Julian cracked one rose red eye open to stare at her, waiting for a response.
"It was Skylar."
"Hmm," he hummed back unenthusiastically. He still wasn't over her attitude from their first encounter.
"We're gonna hang out today."
"Oh yeah," he mumbled.
Trinity nodded, even though he wasn't looking at her anymore. "Yup, so we've got to get up."
He grumbled incoherently at her.
"Come on lazy bones."
"But your beds so fucking comfortable. I don't want to get up."
Trinity laughed, knowing how he felt. She reached over to scratch her nails lightly up and down his back, much like he had done the day she had her migraine. "Come on, baby boy," she cooed.
He groaned into the pillow and reached a hand back to catch hers. "That is in no way helping me stay awake. Just saying."
Trinity gave up and let her head fall back onto the pillow they were sharing. Their hands were still connected and she stared at them with a soft smile on her lips. His large hand engulfed her baby sized one like nothing. Her eyes trailed over to the small bare strip of skin peeking out from his shirt, and they zeroed in on a piece of black ink.
She ripped her hand from his and yanked his top up without a word, to reveal a large tribal looking tattoo that covered his whole back.
Startled, Julian immediately turned over again, and looked at his friend with cautious eyes. "Let's not get too frisky now, it's too early for all of that, darling."
She ignored his comment. "You didn't tell me you had a tattoo."
He shrugged, "Never came up."
She stared off to the side, thoughtfully. "I'd like a tattoo."
He grinned at her, "Maybe I'll take you to get one soon."
Trinity perked up at the thought.
A few hours later, Julian drove Trinity over to Sky's house. They pulled up to her driveway and she reached back to grab her overnight bag. She wasn't sure how long they'd be hanging out, but knowing how Skylar got, it would probably be all night.
Julian pouted playfully. "I'm gonna miss you today."
Trinity leaned over and scratched the scruff littering his cheek softly. "Aw, I'll miss you too, baby boy," she said with a wink.
He batted her hand away, and made shooing motions. "Go, go. Your friend is waiting for you."
She smiled fondly at him. "Thanks for the ride, Juju." She gave him a grateful peck on the cheek and leapt out the car. Her hand lifted in a small goodbye before she sped walked up to Sky's bright red door. It was the only feature that distinguished her house from the other gray and white ones on the block. She gave two sharp knocks and the door opened immediately.
Trinity gave Sky an odd look. "Have you been waiting there for me?"
Skylar had the decency to look at least a little bit sheepish. "I was spying. Sorry."
Trinity put on an offended look, when in all actuality, she expected nothing less from her slightly insane friend.
Sky giggled, almost hysterically, and added a casual, "So are you guys dating yet?"
Trinity just stared at her. She knew Sky was just teasing, but she wished she could say yes. But because she couldn't, her heart ached a bit. She brought a hand up to her chest to try and rub away the dull pain. Sky's eyes were following her movements. The joking air had evaporated as quickly as it had come about. Skylar grabbed Trinity's hand lightly as she tried to look her in the eye.
"Hey, I was just playing. I'm sorry if I upset you."
Trinity shook her head, "No, I know. Don't worry about it, my moods are so up and down lately. Don't take it personally."
She attempted a smile that came out as a painful looking grimace and Skylar's heart went out for her friend. She stared at her and saw a completely different girl than the one she used to know. The old Trinity was bright and bubbly and never the one for bad days. This Trinity looked worn out and just done overall - and that scared Skylar more than anything.
If there was one thing she admired about Trinity, it was her perseverance and strength. She wasn't one to let life's obstacles stop her from shining like the star she was. The look in her eyes now, though, wasn't the look of someone fighting. It was the look of someone grasping at straws, gasping for the last few breaths of survival. That look tore through Skylar.
Fighting for a smile, she quickly changed the subject.
"Sooo," she drew out, "pool time?"
Trinity nodded enthusiastically, grateful to move away from the searching stare of Skylar's eyes. She knew her friend was worried about her. She wasn't the only one. Her parents, and even Julian, though he didn't know what was wrong, kept throwing glances her way when they thought she wasn't looking.
She was, though. She caught them. Every time.
She tried to out on a brave face for the girl in front of her. "I just need to change, be right back!"
"Kay, I'll meet you outside," she called to Trinity's retreating back.
Trinity did a quick change in the downstairs bathroom, before high tailing it out to the pool. She stepped out and was blinded by the sun for a moment, before she focused on the pool in front of her. Taking two steps back, she ran and threw herself into the water, laughing as she came up.
Skylar laughed at her friends ungraceful jump and hopped in after her. The two spent most of the day in the pool, only pausing for an hour or two to lay out and attempt to tan. Once the sun began to lower over the horizon, the air turned chilly. That was the girls excuse to finally leave the pool and relax.
After they had both showered, they popped a couple of frozen pizzas in the oven. They were done in no time, and they were eaten in even less time than that. Laying on Skylar's couch that sat in her bedroom, the girls threw jokes and taunts back and forth to each other. At one point, Skylar nudged Trinity lightly, causing her to sway off the side of the couch. She would have caught herself if things hadn't gotten spotty.
Black dots clouded the edges of her vision as Trinity continued to fall. Luckily, Skylar caught her arm and pulled her back up immediately.
"You all right?"
Trinity just shook her head silently. Her vision was getting blurrier.
"I can't see," and with that, she began sobbing. Skylar pulled her close to her own body and stroked her head softly. A few tears leaked out of her eyes in response to her friends body-racking cries. It hurt her so much to see a strong girl break.
Trinity soon regained her vision, but the tears didn't cease until her eyes were all dried up.
She glanced up at Skylar's face to see her staring off to the side with a stony look. "I'm sorry for that, Sky."
Skylar was already moving her head side to side. "Nothing to be sorry for, Nini. I'm glad I could be here for you. As much as it hurts seeing you like this, you need to let it out. You're sick. You're scared. You're not ready to go, and I'm not ready for you to go either. But, I'm not gonna leave your side, okay? I'm here. For whatever you need, I'm here."
Trinity's lips quivered as she nodded. Sky planted a kiss on the fragile girls cheek. They snuggled up together under a large blanket, not moving from the couch.
Their quiet chatter was relentless through the night until they both drifted off to sleep.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Am I allowed to cry at my own story?
Sigh.
Enjoy!
~Alyssa xx