My house caught on fire three weeks ago and I have been holed up in a hotel with terrible wifi, but regardless I tried my best to pump out a chapter for you all. As it seems, we are getting dangerously close to the end and I can't believe how much I have written for this and I can't wait for it to be over so that I can focus on writing other stories. I have so many ideas on the back burner just so I could figure this out.

I rewrote this stupid chapter like 9 times and if I have to look at it anymore I think I am going to puke. Here. Please...take it. I will probably be writing the next one just so I can be free, as you read this. *ungodly screeching*

Anyways, this one is for my roof. Rest in pieces, pal.

"I can't believe you can't use—"

"I will stab my fork into your thigh if you finish that," Lightning narrowed her eyes over the perfectly twirled forkful of noodles. Gladiolus tapped the tip of his chopsticks at her and chuckled to himself, putting his feet up on the edge of her bed. She leaned back against her pillows and ate the bite.

The television situated on wall of her room was tuned to some old movie where the acting was overdone and the plot line was cliched, but nevertheless remained a staple when combined with much needed noodles, somehow. It was a joke at first, but somewhere along the line, Lightning began to find herself enjoying the ridiculous movies and Gladio didn't seem too annoyed about them anymore either.

Gladiolus slurped up his own noodles, his eyes widening as the tip of his boot nudged her shin. With a mouthful of food, he unapologetically pointed towards the tv, "He's there!"

Lightning's attention went into hyper focus on the screen and she shushed his loud eating, "Do you think..."

"How could he know?" Gladiolus shrugged.

"Well, the guy showed up on Christmas; he must know something, Gladio," Lightning said, watching intently as the man in question crossed the room to meet with the woman in the film. The two watched quietly save for a few slurps of warm noodles. The man was brimming with bitterness at the betrayal of the woman he loved. She lied through a shaky tone.

Gladiolus huffed, mixing his Cup Noodles, "She's lying about it now? Making it worse..."

Lightning flinched at that, opening her mouth and feeling compelled to defend this fictional character to the point where it made her hands clammy, "It's her pride. She's too proud to tell him." He tensed at her words, but continued to look forward. The two lead characters engaging in a heated exchange about how it must have felt to be kept in the dark. Lightning nevertheless continued on her own thought. "Sure, it must've been hard on him to have his heartbroken, but you can imagine how she must've felt after they spent the whole movie talking about how they enjoyed the finer things in life. Picturing her life would go one way and it suddenly derails itself. It's...heartbreaking."

He turned slightly to catch a glimpse of her face. A seriousness that he had seen on her so many times before and Gladiolus knew she was thinking about a little more than a justification for the female lead in the film. A silence felt upon the two and he couldn't help but watch her out of the corner of his eye. Lightning put her foam container in her lap, absently stirring it as she watched the movie. As much as he had wished his attention hadn't waned from the movie, he could no longer find a way to enjoy what appeared to be the film's ending scene.

He had thought that bringing her the Cup Noodles and pretending that they were just enjoy another one of their casual hangouts, that he could ease his own worry, but he was wrong. It had been a lingering nuisance in the back of his mind: that little voice of guilty conscious. That little ache that he couldn't protect Noctis and Lightning. He felt the urge to bring it up, but the volume of the movie increased just in the slightest. Lightning set the remote back down on the side table.

"Oh, it's nobody's fault, but my own! I was looking up! It was the nearest thing to heaven! You were there…"

"Light…"

"Shhh…"

"Why didn't you tell me? If it had to happen to one of us, why did it have to be you?"

"If you can paint, I can walk….Anything can happen, don't you think?"

The couple onscreen shared their final, tearful embrace, the main theme of the movie playing the movie to its end. Lightning and Gladiolus remained in their silent reflection that felt like ages before Lightning finally cracked a smirk onto her features. She grabbed the remote and turned down the tv and said, "Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy…"

It was her way of diffusing the air that had settled between them. Gladiolus slid his feet off the edge of the bed and set his noodles on the side table. His lips twitched into a dashing smirk that had lost his affect on Light years ago. (Not that she would ever admit to the huge dork that he ever had any sort of affect on her.) He shrugged, "Aw, c'mon, it made your heart flutter a little, LIght."

"As if," Lightning snorted and placed her own cup next to his. She lifted her arms above her head and stretched, her words fighting to make sense against a yawn, "I'd never fall for something like that."

A roll of his own amber eyes, he scoffed, "No, not Lightning Farron. She'd never end up with a cheeseball. She'd want someone a little more rugged, right?"

"You got me. All muscle, a lover of avian tattoos, but I doubt I would find someone like that."

"I might know a guy," Gladiolus flexed his arm, planting a kiss on the bicep.

"You would, would you? He wouldn't possibly be looking to partake in a very painfully brief, but dangerously passionate love affair by chance?"

Enter Ignis and an accompanying scoff, "Flirting again?"

"This isn't flirting, Iggy. If I flirted with Light, we'd have already been married by now."

"It's true," Lightning crossed her arms, the smirk on her face giving her an appearance closer to the one they all knew. The little strands of her hair that usually stuck out like sharp edges even seemed under the weather as they sloped downwards. Her eyes were noticeably dark around the edges and the color in her skin was a flushed out pale. Ignis couldn't help but take into account how sick she appeared versus how she liked to front to them. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to say something, only to be beaten by the cheery sing song voice of another.

"Here comes the sun, doo-do do-doo!" With a careless spin and a flourish, Prompto came through the door carrying a tray of breakfast foods, an orange flinging onto the foot of her bed and Ignis sighed. Prompto brushed past, humming his little cheerful tune, a smile bright on his face as he laid the tray before Lightning. He kicked off Gladiolus' shoes, and sat where they had been. It earned him a small kick to his shin, "Ow!" He rubbed the area fast and narrowed his eyes at his assailant.

"A please would've sufficed."

With a flick of his hair, Prompto faced Lightning, "What's shakin', bacon?"

She rolled her eyes and saw the food before her, appetizing as it was, she had only barely dipped into her Cup Noodles before having abandoned it. She was hardly hungry and at least with the cheap food she could fake it. She forced a grateful smile onto her features, "You didn't have to make me breakfast, Prompto."

"Ah, but it's the most important meal of the day and I worked-"

Ignis interjected, "You mean, I worked hard."

"Ahem, we wanted to make sure you were eating so that you'd feel better," Prompto adjusted his wording and Ignis shifted his weight. Lightning felt the eyes of all three of them on her and her stomach felt uneasy just looking at the eggs on her plate. No doubt Ignis had prepared the food as good as it looked, but her stomach disagreed with her eyes. The last thing she wanted was for her to take a bite and immediately puke it up. It would only make them worry more.

"It's dinnertime, though."

"It's brinnertime."

She reluctantly plucked up the fork and cut into the corner of the hash browns that only Ignis could have made that perfectly. He ought to start a restaurant if he ever got tired of shoving Noctis' face into books to study. She was slow and deliberate in her action and she swallowed hard before bringing the bite to her lips and twitching a smile. It was divine; Ignis always made such good food, but nevertheless hard to swallow.

When their gaze remained on her, she coughed into her fist and cleared her throat, hoping the bite would stay down as she had with the noodles. She was taking too long for the second bit, this she knew and Gladiolus must've noticed the hesitation written on her face as he leaned in quick to snatch a piece of bacon from her plate. "Payment for the noodles."

"That's not yours!"

"What're you planning on doing about it, Prompto?" Gladio threw his feet back onto the bed and nudged the blonde off the side. His arms folded behind his head, as he gave Lightning a quick glance. She understood, setting her fork down beside the plate. Her eyes locked with Ignis' across the room and she straightened her posture, "Something wrong? You've been awfully quiet."

"Right...right. Actually, there is something. I was hoping you could rest, but-"

"I came up with a better idea, Light," Prompto interrupted, his grin stretched from ear to ear. He wondered around the room she'd been in since her collapse earlier that day. It was one of the castle servants that had found her. (There was really nothing any of the medical staff could do for her except pump her full of fluids. Their tests would have come up negative for everything anyways. Her body was just bafflingly deteriorating and they had a hard enough time telling her to sit down let alone let them figure out what to treat her for. It had been a back and forth for the past few weeks that it was futile.) She'd been in bed for procedural and observational reasons. Gladiolus had swung by with noodles sometime in the late afternoon and they ended up watching an old movie.

Prompto reeled her attention back when he plucked a flower from the vase sitting at her table side. Wishing you well, Lightning! the little card attached read in bubbly lettering only Iris could produce. He twirled one of the flowers in his fingers, "We missed Summer in Insomnia, and Autumn is pretty much in full effect-"

"Get to the point."

"Galdin Quay is the last place left where the sun is still shining and I was thinking we could go on a trip before the weather sours, you know?"

"Prompto, I don't think Miss Farron is in any condition-"

"Thanks for the concern, Mom," she snarked, "but I think I can handle a bit of sand."

"Lightning, you have to rest."

"I'll have plenty of time for that later."

Her morbid joke went without so much as a chuckle. "Lightning."

She moved the eggs around on her plate, making neat piles. The corner of her chapped lips curved upwards and she gave into a sigh, "I need a little sun."

"You are kind of pale. Any less and I think you might blend in with the walls," Gladiolus stole another piece of bacon from her plate, gesturing with the meat to her pale complexion.

"I'll remember that when I am drowning you." Her leg nudged his feet off and he missed his mouth.

"C'mon, Iggy, we've been cooped up long enough, don't you think? I wanna see the ocean before we all get snowed in…"

Ignis heaved a sigh, "Are you completely certain you are feeling up to the car ride? It's not a short drive and I doubt the ocean is of any temperature to be swimming. There is a matter of securing last minute lodgings and making sure that if anything happens on the trip that we are prepared to-"

"Ignis. I will be fine. I want to go."

A protest died on his lips as she lifted her eyebrow. It wasn't easy to convince a man who was already the voice of reason. However, to deny this final request would be criminal and Ignis knew his words fell upon deafened ears. There was no sense in trying to sway Lightning or Prompto for that matter. He knew that the minute he had walked into the room, but at least he could say that he had attempted (half-heartedly, if you really listened) to stop this excursion. The brunette set his fingers onto the side of his temple, "I suppose there's nothing I could say to persuade you otherwise?"

"You suppose correctly."

Prompto slung his arm over Ignis's shoulders, "I knew ya would come around, buddy ol' Iggy ol' pal." With a wink in Lightning's direction, he supplied a mock-whisper, "Thanks, babe."

Lightning gave a single amused scoff, "Didn't know I was everyone's girlfriend these days."

"Speaking of...should we, uh, should we invite...you know who?

"Prompto...You can say Noctis, you know? It's not like his name is going to curse me."

"Right, sorry, but do you...would that…?" The unspoken question of her comfort hung about regardless. Noctis had not taken to the news lightly and it was completely uncertain whether or not he would even agree to something like this. It would be one long road trip if that was the case.

"Your idea, your trip, your rules." Lightning was cool as ever in her response.

"Okay! But I can't ask him...I gotta go secure our ride," Prompto returned the stolen flower back to its home.

"I have to meet with the Head of Agriculture," Ignis pressed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

Gladiolus was not far behind with an excuse of his own, "I told Iris I would meet her and dad for dinner." All eyes fell on Lightning. Her eyebrow lifted in question.

So, that's how it is.

"So, then I guess the dying girl has to do the heavy lifting?"

Noctis had thought about marching into his father's office and laying into him, but he was at least smart enough to know that if he didn't clear his head first he might say something he might regret. Gods know he already messed up with Lightning and he had nearly tried to maim his friends. As it stood he was in no mental position to have a civil and understanding conversation with his father. He had thrown on some old sweater and found himself on his bench.

His dream had been odd and the more he thought about it the less he remembered. It was beginning to make less and less sense and there was no sense in trying to remember it anyways. Noctis took only one thing from it and that was Lightning. He wanted to hate her. It would be easier to sort out his feelings and right himself, yet here he had sat contemplating how he was going to apologize to her.

He was the reason she was going to die. He had left her alone when she tried to explain anything.

Noctis kicked at the ground with the tip of his shoe, his expression sullen and his mood souring with every thought that he had made her suffer anymore than he had already made her. He had woken up in his own bed and a part of him believed that was probably one of his friends' doing. He had to make it up to them. Their absence in his life lately seemed a little more excusable now that he knew about Lightning.

Lightning.

He kept thinking about what Ignis had said. About the Goddess, Etro. It was confusing. Nothing made sense in his life anymore. If he had his complete memory would it be any different? Would he have known about Lightning? Would she have told him? Would he have reacted differently? Of course, I would have reacted differently. If I remembered her, I would never have said any of that. I would have stayed with her. Idiot, idiot…

"You know, the last time I found you sitting here, you had that exact look on your face. Which I can only assume you are brooding over something," Lightning's voice broke through his own thoughts and he snapped straight up. He thought he'd break into a cold sweat, but against all odds, his heart raced at the sight of her. He was no better than a goldfish, opening and closing his mouth with nothing but air coming out. She sat down on the edge of the bench, not asking for an invite. He felt himself freeze to the spot. He wanted to say, "Wow, I was an asshole, please forgive me, I am pretty much the scummiest human being. I love your smile."

Instead he managed out a measly, "Oh."

"Gladio found you asleep outside, That's how you get sick," she lolled her head to the side, a knowing look upon her face, "Hi, I am the kettle, you're the pot."

Noctis could tell she was trying to lighten the mood, but nevertheless he fell awkward. The guilt was rampaging at the forefront of his mind just seeing her. "Lightning, about yesterday, what I said-"

"I didn't come to talk about that," her answer was sharp, cutting him off, her eyes averting from his once more. Quick to change the subject, Lightning asked, "What happened to your lip?" She pointed before shoving her hands between her thighs for warmth. (The gardens at night were not warm in any respect.)

He shifted a little in his seat, "I...deserved it."

"Hm, I would say so."

Here's where he could have word vomited the greatest apology known to man, hoping taking her into his arms, dipping her and cinematically saying, "You're my forever girl, baby, I should have never hurt you."

Or: "You idiot."

She snapped her head in his direction, "Excuse me?"

He brought his hands up in his own defense, "Ah! I was talking to myself, er, about me...I swear it!"

She narrowed her eyes, "Hmmm."

"I should go," "Lightning...I...I am sorry. I should never have...I didn't mean it."

"You had a right to be hurt."

"But, I should never have said that to you. I didn't listen. I…" He left it silent as that. Lightning sighed, her posture straight and her eyes stuck to the white flowers across from them.

"I'm not here to yell at you or cry on your shoulder, you can relax with the apologies. For now, I mean," She looked at him in the corner of her eyes. Brilliantly hued despite the dark circles around her eyes.

It really was unfair how much of a level head she manages to pull in the right time. He'd seen her cry and yell, but he had to admit that in the grand scheme of it all, Lightning had been relatively calm for someone whose very life was being sacrificed. Noctis could say with confidence that he'd have been calm at all. "Gods, could you try to be any cooler than me? It's my apology and you're outdoing me…"

"Who said I am trying?"

He laughed then, and the tension in his shoulders began to slowly melt away. She gave a small smile and cleared her throat, scratching her neck and stiffly beginning, "Anyways, I came to ask you something. It's Prompto, he thinks we need a vacation. We'd leave tomorrow...I...I am supposed to invite you."

"Invite me?" Noctis scrunched his eyebrows together, "If I wasn't, you'd all have left without me? They do like you better than me, don't they?"

"For the record, I never asked for any special treatment from them. Worrying about you, worrying about me, I think it's the same thing to them," Her eyes fell to the ground for a second before flicking back up to his own. She tapped her thighs and changed the subject, "Like I said, I was just elected to invite you...have any problems, you take it up with Prompto."

Noctis wasn't sure he was up for a roadtrip. He doubted it would be a spacious car ride and it meant staying in the close vicinity of Lightning. She coughed into her wrist, excusing herself. Lightning added, "We're going to Galdin Quay. He wants to visit the beach before winter hits hard."

"Only he'd want to do something like that."

She stood suddenly to leave, "Well, the offer stands. We leave tomorrow morning."

Noctis watched as she began to walk away. Lightning looked worse than she had yesterday but even so, he couldn't help but feel his hands go clammy and his brain turn to mush around her. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch her, hold her hands and tell her he would find a way to fix this. His better judgement stopped such impulses. The last time he let his control waver, they'd ended up in bed and within the next 24 hours, she was confessing her failing health.

"Lightning…"

"Yes?" She turned and she was art in motion. Her silhouette against the picturesque gardens at night stole his breath and nearly wiped his mind blank. He gulped hard. If he didn't say something, he'd hate himself.

"I don't regret meeting you."

For a moment he thought she would turn and walk away, but she mulled it over for moment, her response delayed. With bated breath he waited for her to speak, and she nodded before turning away, crossing her arms, he could hear her say, "Likewise, Your Highness."

Lightning started to leave once again. He matched her steps with ones of his own, he said her name once more and she turned again in question. "Yeah?"

He cracked a smile, even if it was small and even if it hurt to see how her eyes were beginning to gloss, even if his voice felt shaky. "Tomorrow morning, you said?"

"How did you get the Regalia?" Gladiolus scoffed, pulling down a pair of sunglasses from the top of his head. The day was sunny. Not a cloud in sight. Perfect road trip weather.

Ignis appeared, phone in hand, checking , "Weather reports say there is a chance of rain in the Duscae region, but the storm should miss the Liede region. It seems our outing was perfectly timed, lucky us."

Prompto nudged Ignis with his elbow, "You could try and look a little less glum about it, you know? And as for the Regalia," Prompto smirked, his thumb threw over his shoulder, "I ever tell you how I am good at poker? It's official Kingsglaive business, we've got clearance."

"I think I ought to talk to the King about how much clearance the Glaive gets concerning high priority vehicles."

Slinging his own bag into the trunk of the Regalia, Gladiolus said, "Well, all that's left is Lightning's bag. Should I go and retrieve Little Miss Sunshine?"

Prompto flung the back of his hand into Gladiolus' chest, rapidly tapping on the hard muscle beneath the cotton tank. "Look at that!"

"Look at what?"

The last time that the older Amicitia had seen the future King and his Queen together had felt like lifetimes ago, so the sight of it now was shocking in the least. They were arm in arm and making googly eyes at one another, but for some reason it felt like he was watching Iris coming down with her date for Prom. Somewhere between wanting to lock her "date" into a headlock and wipe a tear or two that dared not fall. Or at least something close to the feeling. Lightning wasn't dressed in a fine evening gown and Noctis looked like he had gotten into a fight with a hairdryer. He lagged behind Lightning, but he reached for the bag slung over the pink haired woman's shoulder. She tugged it back, probably telling him she was fine. And even though they weren't walking together, they had still been together and it was a step in the right direction from the shit storm that was yesterday.

"This will be interesting," Ignis sighed.

Prompto put his hands on his hips a pout on his lips, "Remember that this was my idea, boys. They don't call me the Sticky Fingers for nothing!"

"You realize that's an insult, right?"

Prompto's face melted into that of horror as he turned to face the advisor, clutching onto the sleeve of his left arm, "What!? No, it's not, right?!"

"What did you think it meant?"

"That I was the glue that bound us together, or something! Who's calling me Sticky Fingers!?" Prompto turned his attention to Gladiolus and the taller male shrugged off the frantic gunner. In the midst of the frantic activity, Lightning had reached their car, her hair tied back, her bag duffel bag was small, she'd only packed what she'd need for the small getaway and it was just like her to be efficient in her packing. Noctis had a larger much more serious suitcase in tow. He was fostering a grumpy frown and that could only mean that he was half asleep to begin with as he all but tossed the bag into the trunk and slunk his way into the backseat with nothing but a mumbled, "Morning."

They didn't say anything about it.

Lightning sighed, "How'd you get-"

"He's having a breakdown, right now," Gladiolus said as Prompto leaned on the door of the passenger's seat, heaving deep, deep breaths. "How'd you get him to agree? After yesterday I was sure he'd have turned the offer down."

Lightning glanced at Noctis, who had already found himself a position of maximum comfort for a nap, "Everyone comes together at the end, right?" Her answer brought about a frown on to Gladio's lips. She went to go throw her own bag in with the rest, patting Prompto on the back as she passed him. Ignis cleared his throat, "Lightning, are you completely sure that you want to come along? I still think you should-"

"I'm going, that's final, Got it?"

"I have planned enough stops between here and Galdin Quay for bathroom breaks. I don't like it either, but we may have to settle on a roadside diner for lunch. After that, we should arrive in Galdin Quay a little after two o'clock? Rooms are booked, and dinner is reserved," Ignis checked off each item in his own mind. Lightning nodded along and Prompto shrieked, "I AM THE GLUE!"

"I am not even going to ask," Lightning sighed.

Roars of engines rounded the corner as black cars rounded to the front of the citadel. By the handful, Kingsglaive came piling out and into formation. Conversation had ceased as several cars rolled to a stop and more Glaives appeared. It didn't take long before Lightning found Nyx at the front. Standing next to him Crowe, and Lightning approached them with long strides. Her incredulous scoff was met with the roll of Nyx's eyes. "Did you find it absolutely necessary to inform the rest of the Glaive, Nyx?"

"No, Sparks, I only told Libertus. He told Pelna, who told Crowe, who told the rest of the Glaive," Nyx stood by, his hands up and his shoulders to his ears. He wore a smirk that told her, he was not the least bit guilty about the whole ordeal. "Thought you'd need a proper sendoff"

"Going to the beach, not war. I hope you realize this is a little much, Altius."

Lightning had barely finished her sentence before Crowe's arms found themselves around her arms, locking her into a tight hug. Her chin dug almost painfully into her shoulder as Lightning was left to awkwardly bend her arms and attempt to return the intensity of the embrace. "Shut up, just let it happen. Gods, I could strangle you right now. Don't think I am not going to kick your ass when you get back."

Lightning smirked, not that she could see. "I'll count on it."

"Crowe…" Nyx coughed into his fist as he straightened into a rigid posture.

"Okay, I am going to let go, but only because I am on the clock." The brunette pulled away and squeezed her shoulders, "Go, go on, go have fun, Sparks. Before Nyx and I kidnap you and drag you to Glaive HQ so that you can't leave." She backed off, motioning to the Regalia.

"Don't start slacking because I am on vacation, you two."

"Yes, ma'am!" They both saluted quickly.

Then, they parted, but not without another painfully tight hug from Crowe's end. The Glaive was really only going to escort their car to the outskirts to the city, and thankfully more subtle than a traditional five car escort for sake of privacy. Though, anyone with half a brain couldn't miss as the Regalia rolled passed with two limo-tinted sedans in a tight convoy.

Prompto had claimed his front seat, chair pushed up as far as possible for the hulking tree trunks that were Gladiolus's legs. Noctis had already claimed the seat behind Ignis and Lightning was left to the center seat. Her arms in a tight crossed position. She was careful about her limbs touching her fellow backseat passengers.

Some top 40's hit quietly hummed in the mostly silent car. It wasn't until Prompto turned in his seat that life breathed back into the interior of the Regalia. "Light, you're getting in the water with me, right?"

She pursed her lips for a moment, leaning into the turn that Ignis was taking, "What'll the temperature be?"

"Iggy?"

Instantly, and with an almost satisfied tone to his answer, he said, "Mostly sunny."

"Mostly," Gladiolus scoffed in amusement as he opened the book he brought along as entertainment for the long road. If Lightning got bored of watching the passing desert, she could peer over and try to piece together whatever the large man was reading. She had never bothered to ask, perhaps she should have after all these years?

"So, will ya?"

Lightning was not one to miss the emphasis on the word sunny and she cleared her throat, "I'll think about it."

"Sweeet!"

"We'll throw Noct in if he refuses to get up, 'kay?" Prompto winked and gave a thumbs up. The blonde returned to face the front and slightly adjusted the volume. He tapped on the dashboard of the Regalia, happily proclaiming, "Next stop! Galdin Quay!"

"Actually, next stop is the City Checkpoint, then the Hammerhead Station, then Longwythe, then Galdin Quay," Ignis corrected Prompto.

With a huff, the blonde muttered a deflated, "More like next stop: Buzzkill-ville...amirite?"

"Lightning, you may have the front seat. I believe Prompto wants to walk to Galdin."

"Sounds good to me."

Light! I thought you were on my side!"

"It's called utilizing resources and take advantage of opportunities presented to one."

"Ugh, first the Finger thing and now I am being bullied. I just want to let everyone know I was the one who suggested this."

"Yeah, and you are also sleeping on the couch; you sound like a broken printer when you snore," Gladiolus nudged the back of Prompto's seat. Prompto slouched in his chair, grumbling under his breath. He'd snap out of his pouting session when food presented itself, but Lightning let the sounds of Gladiolus's laughter fill the car.

It was the times like these that she would miss.

"Sorry," Ignis supplied a second before they hit an unforeseen dip in the road, juggling Lightning in her seat. Her hand bracing on Noctis's knee before she retracted it quickly. She watched his face to see if he had awoken, but as she had hoped he was out cold. He'd barely been awake when they'd run into each other leaving the castle. Conversation had been nearly nonexistent save for the one time he reached for her bag to carry it.

Just pretend like the world isn't falling down, right?

She leaned back into the seat, her shoulders bumping awkwardly against his, a breath of air escaping her as her knees knocked into Gladio's and his.

The car ride would be long.

Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes.

But the trip would be longer and she could use the rest, anyways. Besides it was only a 6-hour drive.

okay, this was supposed to be waaaayyyy longer, but I made changes to chapter 14 and 15's outlines and this became a baby chapter. I just had to update something though or I was going to lose my mind looking at this. So, accept this tiny parcel and I will be back with a vengeance with angst and fluff and Lightis kisses later.

I am going to go lay down now.

tumblr: aranea-hi-ghwind (this story is going to kill me I swear, RIP me)