#u know michael definitely thought that ava & bea were dating For Sure w their one bedroom apartment lmfao

[possibilistfanfiction]

prompt: friend

(hope ur day gets better!!)

ava is standing by the window in her room, bathed in gold light.

you remember the first time you saw her, walking happily to the bar she worked at, holding hands with someone you didn’t know at the time, serious and exacting and trying not to smile as ava spun around a lamp post in the sun. ava was bright, so bright, hard for you to even look at; you might not glow like you did before, but there’s still divinium in your chest, and your heart had sped up.

she turns when you walk in, her face falling when she sees it’s you; she collects herself quickly. she’s still so young, and so are you, maybe, but she looks older than she did in switzerland. tired, and scared, and busy holding the world up on her shoulders.

‘hey,’ she says, clearing her throat when her voice shakes.

‘hey.’

she sighs, stares out the window again.

‘ready?’ 

she laughs humorlessly. ‘of course not.’

it’s been your fate, your whole life, to die like this, you think; it hasn’t been hers. the thin shirt under her armor has been mended with precise stitches: there are measures of love you don’t understand. 

‘can we — just for a few minutes, can we just pretend?’

you let out a breath, try to ease the buzz in your chest. ‘so, how’s work going?’

she sniffles. ‘enza continues to annoy me, but hans said i’ve perfected an old fashioned, so that’s cool.’ 

‘that is cool.’

‘where are you and your mom going to go for christmas this year, do you think?’

you stare at the ceiling for a moment before you answer; your chest has ached your entire life, for one reason or another: ‘france, maybe. la plagne, her favorite.’

‘ah, la pagne, totally, for sure.’

it makes you laugh, just for an instant; it’s probably worth a lifetime. ‘to tell you the truth, she’s more interested in après-ski than skiing itself.’

‘sounds like my kinda girl.’

‘speaking of your girl —’ you go out on a limb; if there is joy, even in longing, even in the ache, even in a different life than this, she deserves to have it — ‘any good dates planned with beatrice soon?’

ava swallows but then smiles, wipes a few tears from her cheeks. ‘there’s a small music festival next week, in bern. i thought we might make a day of it, stay the night, maybe. i think bea would like the rosengarten.’

‘beautiful views, i’ve heard.’

‘yeah,’ she says. ‘really beautiful.’

it’s quiet, and the light from the sunset starts to fade, leaving an aching bruise blue in its place. ‘i’m sorry, ava.’

she shakes her head. ‘no,’ she says. ‘just — thank you.’

‘in another life.’

'yeah.’ she leans into your side, warm, and lets you hug her. ‘in the next.’