anything worth anything takes more than a few days, and a long, long night

[forthsofar]

After everything, after she comes home bloodied and terrified and exhausted, she does what little she can. Showers, changes, reassures Neil again (and again and again) that she's fine--that they all are, that the unbelievable danger that had come so close to happening was over almost before it had begun. Keeps her phone near her, one ear always listening for the buzz of a text coming through or the chime of her ringtone. When he's discharged and brought home, she goes to Nick's apartment to stay with him, taking turns with Charlie.

It's not a lot, any of it; maybe even less in combination, but it's all she has.

As worn out as she had been--as worn out as she is, still--it's all the worse for Sabrina, she knows. Rosie keeps her distance for a time, letting the other girl recover within the safety and quiet of her own house, but when she hears that she's awake again and more than ready for visitors, she doesn't hesitate. The trip up to the house near the woods takes as long as it always does, and when Salem meets her at the front door, Rosie bends to scratch him behind the ears before following him inside and down the hall.

Comments

[signed_sabrina]

Sabrina's more sure of herself these days, more assured that she can plunge into the darkness that is partially her birthright and still come out of it. But she's not sure when it will stop crouching on the horizon, threatening everything. Not even everything she loves, but everything.

It's easier to forget it now, to let the light that's in Rosie wash over her, chase any looming things back off into the distance. She loves having Charlie and Nick run their fingers through her hair, and like a cat, she nudges slightly at Rosie's. "All of us do," she says quietly. "You know... you know that I love you, Rosie, right?"

[forthsofar]

There's almost a weight to the question, something deeper behind it than the easy, friendly affection the two of them have shared. Though of course, there would be now--after Kagura, after David, after facing down the Devil himself. It's not so odd, this greater meaning Rosie thinks she hears in Sabrina's voice, not after the long and difficult summer that's only just passed.

That it makes her breath catch and her face grow slightly warm is maybe a little strange, but not enough to give Rosie pause before she answers.

"Of course I know that," she says, smiling at the easy bump of Sabrina's head against her hand, almost a request for the continued presence of her fingers in her hair. She's more than happy to comply, carding her hand gently through her friend's white-blond curls. "And I hope you know...I love you too. An awful lot."