…
“Bird,” Joey whispered, “bird, wake up.”
The night was much darker when Greta opened her eyes. It took her a while to process where she was. Then she remembered bringing Carson home from the bar and holding her while she cried, and cried, and cried until she had finally fallen asleep.
“What time is it?” Greta asked in no more than a whisper.
“It’s over two. What are you guys doing out here? It’s freezing cold.”
“Shhh, you’ll wake her up.” She barely mouthed it to Jo.
“What happened? Didn’t you guys come back to fuck?”
Greta didn’t even react to the joke.
“Her mother… she owned the bar. She was there last night.”
“Her mother?” It was Maybelle’s turn to whisper. “The one that left them?”
Greta just nodded.
“Her mother?” Joey repeated the question. “Her mother owned the bar?”
“Jesus, this poor kid’s already dealing with so much and now this” Maybelle said.
“And I mean… what are the odds?” Jo asked, “New York is a huge city and I choose the one bar that belongs to her fucking mother? Sometimes I think fate’s a thing.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow, ok?” Greta hushed them, “it took me so long to actually get her to fall asleep. I don’t want to wake her.”
“You can’t sleep outside, you’ll freeze, and you’re not even lying down, you’ll be a wreck in the morning, bird.” Jo reasoned with her.
“Ok, ok, just give me some time, ok?”
…
Greta looked down at her chest, it was like she was holding a giant baby. Carson was sitting sideways, her legs draped over Greta’s left thigh, the knees propped up, the arms pressed against her own chest. Only Carson’s head was out of the blanket covering them both. She looked like a tiny ball of sadness, but also looked strangely comfortable there, nuzzled against the red-haired.
Greta brushed Carson’s hair softly, not yet ready to wake her up. She’d been so troubled before and looked so peaceful now, the little frown on her front was finally gone, and Greta would like to keep it like that, she needed to keep her that way, somehow safe and at peace.
Carson woke up either way, maybe because of Greta’s hand in her hair, or because of the whispered conversation the trio was having just some minutes before, or just because there was still so much going on in her mind, she just couldn’t stay asleep for long.
“I’m sorry,” Greta said as soon as she realized Carson was awake. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“It’s ok,” she whispered, “it’s more than ok, actually.”
Carson straightened up and rubbed her eyes, turning her head to look at Greta.
“What you did for me, cutting your night short, bringing me home, holding me like that… I don’t think anybody has ever done anything like this for me before.”
“It was nothing, really,” Greta said, “are you feeling at least a bit better?”
Carson shook her head.
“I’m so sorry I can’t make it feel better, Carse. I wish there was something I could say or do.”
“Will you walk with me?” Carson asked, she just needed to get her body moving.
YOU ARE READING
To Do List (gretson)
RomanceCarson was 27 and tired of her life. She needed an outlet. Or maybe to change everything. She wasn't sure about anything except the fact that she needed something else, anything else. She'd heard about a Taylor Swift concert over the weekend, on Oct...
