“Is he going to kill us like in that bad horror movie?” I whisper, jerking my bruised chin towards him. It really hurts now I’m thinking of it. Indigo shudders beside me, and I throw a protective hand around her. He can slice my throat first, but until then, she’s under my protection.

“I need the name of a street,” the creepy guy says, “and I’m not going to kill you,” he sighs, massaging his temples.

My head hurts so much. Indigo murmurs something and the cabbie starts to drive off.

My head is leaning on Indigo’s shoulder, my gaze fixed on her hands.

“You have beautiful hands,” I burble, taking one of them in mine.

“One time I thought about modeling,” she confesses, and I nod.

Can’t think of proper things she could model with her hands, so I keep my mouth shut. A chuckle escapes my lips, and it’s too late to stop it.

“What? You’re not the only one that thinks my hands are pretty.”

They look so smooth that I take one and brush it over my cheek, smiling at the feeling.

“What did you tell my mom to make her disappear so fast?” she suddenly asks while her palm is on my face.

I giggle and raise my head, looking her dead in the eye.

“That the only place you have fat is your ass.”

* * *

We somehow managed to stop only once on the way back to her place, and that was because I felt the sudden urge to throw up. It turned out to be a false alarm, but I swear to God it was close.

Now we’re laid out on her huge couch, head to head, with our legs sprawled towards each end

“I think it’s time to get a place for myself,” I say. It’s crossed my mind so many times in the past few weeks. I can’t stay in my parents’ house forever.

“That actually sounds fun,” she says.

I sit up properly and turn to her, and she does the same. Now we’re finally sitting like normal people.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I moved here three years ago and I’ve loved every second of it,” Indigo declares, putting her head on a cushion.

I nod, remembering the first time I moved. “I hated it when I left home, but studying meant a lot to me, so I did it, anyway.” It’s actually hard to admit that I never wanted to leave home. Sounds like I’m a momma’s boy. Can’t say that I’m not.

“Hated leaving the town or your parents’ house?”

“Both. But the second time I moved I was pretty excited. Moving in with Ava felt like the greatest change.” I smile ironically at that.

“Why did you split up?”

I shrug. “We realized one of us wanted the relationship more than the other.”