Chapter Text
Wiskayok, New Jersey
August, 1999
Natalie hates working doubles. She truly does. But right now, she needs the money. More than ever, actually. If she really wants to be out of town by the end of the year, that is. It’s about damn time, really. She’s been looking forward to it ever since she graduated from high school. Life hasn’t been kind enough to let her, though. But she’s positive she’ll make it soon enough. The next century is coming, and she doesn’t want it to catch her still at the trailer park, at the dusty streets of Wiskayok.
The 3 to 11 PM shift at the local 7-Eleven is not all bad, though. It’s somewhat alive and it keeps her busy. Also it’s summer, so more people are out and about, the kids are out on the streets, more cars are on the roads and the Slurpees are a success.
The 11 PM to 7 AM shift, however… it gets slower, even in the summer. It’s usually straight up boring, and having worked the previous shift, Nat couldn’t be any more exhausted. It’s about to be a long night.
It’s 1:55 AM. It's almost 2, and there’s nothing else to do around the store. Nat has already busied herself with restocking some of the empty shelves and did a bit of cleaning. At least mopping the floors is better at night, barely anyone comes in to mess it all up with their dirty ass shoes.
A total of five customers have come by in the past three hours, one of which was drunk out of his mind and Nat had to kick him out of the store before he made a mess or tried to pick up a fight. She keeps a baseball bat behind the counter for situations like that. So far she hasn’t actually needed to use it, and she’s glad. She likes to think she’s intimidating enough that just showing it off makes rude people back off. She also thinks in reality, those assholes just end up taking pity on her. She’s barely twenty-one after all, and looks the part.
She should take some time to empty the trash cans outside, but they’re not overflowing yet, so she decides to postpone the worst task of the night for a while longer. Nat really feels like locking the doors and taking a little nap, it’s super quiet outside anyway, but if her manager decides to randomly show up (and Nat has the worst luck), the job is going to be threatened, and it’s the last thing she wants right now. Having to look for another job, when she’s so close to getting to her goal.
Natalie finally settles for taking a break and takes one of her multiple cassettes out of her bag, a random one. She presses play on the mixtape and leans back on her seat behind the counter, hands behind her head.
Nat scoffs and shakes her head as soon as she hears the first chords of the song playing.
How many special people change?
How many lives are living strange?
Where were you while we were getting high?
She’s already waiting for the first “champagne supernova” of the song to hit, which makes her chuckle, because of Liam Gallagher’s accent. It’s silly, but it does.
Slowly walking down the hall,
Faster than a cannonball,
Where were you while we were getting high?
The bell over the door jingles then, but Nat doesn’t really look up at the door right away, as she’s focused on the music.
Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide,
In a champagne supernova in the sky…
And there it is, the infamous “champagne supernover” she was waiting to hear. She straightens in her seat when she’s done laughing at the funny words and takes a quick look at the figure that’s already roaming the far back aisles. Nat can’t see much, as she’s still sitting down, but it appears to be a young woman. A quiet, small person, and not some weirdo she has to worry about, so she allows herself to relax.
By the third chorus of the song, when the guitars have been stronger and louder for a while, and Nat’s fully nodding along and humming to the melodies, a strangely familiar voice brings her back to the ground.
“I really like that song, too, you know?”
Natalie frowns, slightly confused. Standing tall before her on the other side of the counter, there's Jackie Taylor. She’s… a little different than she remembers, though. And it makes perfect sense, it’s been three years since she last saw her former team captain during the graduation party. Her hair is longer now, and the waves seem wilder than before, although it’s just as honey as she recalls it.
Nat stands up and keeps looking at her, but still can’t say a word. Jackie’s in a sundress and sandals, and her bare legs seem dusted, like she’d been walking for a while before she got here. There is no make-up on her face and her eyes are slightly red, puffy, as if she’d been crying. She looks… kinda tired. But hey, who doesn’t look tired at 2 AM?
She’s still struggling to process the sight in front of her, and for a second she thinks she’s just so exhausted she might be hallucinating… she didn’t take an edible tonight, did she…?
“Are you gonna keep staring?” Jackie says, a small smile on her lips, “Is this some customer service ritual I'm not yet familiar with?”
Nat sighs.
“Shit, I think working doubles might be taking its toll on me.”
Jackie laughs quietly and the sound echoes in Nat’s ears, sweet and familiar.
“Hey, Nat. Long time no see.”
Nat’s name in Jackie’s voice. It’s so warm and unchanged, and it instantly takes her back to all the times she’d heard it before. She secretly loved it, not that she’d ever say it to anyone out loud. There’s just something about the girl’s voice.
“Jackie Taylor, huh? What are you doing here?” Nat says, still in disbelief.
“Oh I just needed to get some very… essential things.” She shrugs and Natalie notices the items in her arms. A bottle of water, a bag of salt and vinegar chips, a bag of M&Ms, Twizzlers, and Reese’s.
“Right,” Nat mutters and reaches out to press pause on the tape, so she can focus on the conversation now. “So… uh… I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were back home.”
“Well, yeah. It’s just for the summer, really.” Jackie says and drops her stuff on the counter.
Nat hums, unsure of what to say next and feeling a little dumb because, of course she’s just around for the summer, life at Rutgers has to be a lot more fun. Anywhere else has to be more fun than fucking Wiskayok. But still, it’s weird that they hadn’t crossed paths before this summer, anyway.
“You still smoke?” Jackie asks, nodding towards the pack of cigarettes Nat left behind her, next to her bag.
Natalie chuckles at the absurdity of the question, considering that quitting smoking, drinking and trying different drugs has never really crossed her mind.
“You still ask dumb questions, Taylor?” she teases, no heat in it, and Jackie catches it, because she smiles. It doesn’t quite reach her eyes though, and Nat is no stranger to that look, she can spot the traces of sadness right away. She genuinely wonders now what’s got her looking so sad, what’s got her buying candy at a 7-Eleven in the middle of the night in this God-forgotten town.
Jackie doesn’t say anything else and Nat decides to ring her up, before it becomes awkward. Suddenly Natalie is hyper aware of everything around her. The register beeps loud and there’s the loud noise of the Slurpee machine filling the silence, the fluorescent lights are bright and buzzing. Outside, a car passes down the highway and some faint music bleeds through the doors and inside the store.
The silence stretches for a little while longer before Jackie speaks.
“You look… ” she starts and then stops for a second, clearing her throat, “you look good, Nat.”
Natalie snorts. “Have you gotten your eyes checked lately?”
“No, seriously. I mean it. I like the roots taking over.”
Nat hasn’t bleached her hair in almost a year, hasn’t had a haircut in a while either, so it lies just around mid back. The top of her head being her natural chocolate brown, while the ends of her hair are still rocking the last of the bleach-blonde color. And even though Nat doesn’t think she looks as “good” as Jackie says, she takes the compliment anyway, because she knows damn well Jackie Taylor would mean it, and because it’s her thing. Jackie would always hype everyone up, whether it was just her captain thing to do or not, she’d always find ways to cheer people up, make them feel comfortable.
Not that she was incapable of being a mean little bitch, but that was on occasion, and everyone had their moments.
“Yeah,” she manages, “well, so do you.” And of course she means it too, Jackie Taylor has always been beautiful, not even the tired look on her face takes that away.
Jackie’s eyes are wider now, as well as her smile, so Nat takes it as a pat on the back because somehow she managed to make that happen. Classic Jackie effect - effortlessly making everyone try to gravitate around her.
Nat announces the total of the receipt, and Jackie takes out a couple of bills from her wallet. Their fingers brush accidentally when she hands them over, although the motion is very natural, and they freeze for a split second. Natalie thinks it’s odd that this is happening now at such a simple touch. Back in the day, they’d spend hours on end on the soccer field, tugging at each other’s jerseys during scrimmages, high five-ing, even hugging, and it was the most natural thing in the world.
Just weird.
“Well, guess I should let you go back to your thing.” Jackie says, gathering her stuff.
“Oh, I was just sitting down, but sure.”
Nat wants to ask before Jackie leaves, but she’s hesitant. The whole encounter is so unexpected that it feels surreal. So she watches as Jackie walks towards the door.
“Jackie,” Nat calls, and the girl turns around. “How did you end up here tonight? I mean, it’s so late and it’s a long way from your parents’...”
The girl sighs but seems willing to talk nonetheless.
“It’s kind of a long story, I had a fight with my parents and I didn’t want to be in the house so I started walking aimlessly. At some point I remembered Mari had told me you worked here and I thought I’d give it a shot.”
Nat laughs out loud this time and swears she can see Jackie’s face instantly flushing. “Jackie Taylor was looking for me?” she teases.
“What’s so surprising, Scatorccio?” Jackie rolls her eyes and folds her arms, “aren’t we friends?”
Such good friends! So good we haven’t seen each other in three years and we’re unable to speak more than three words to each other!
She wants to say it out loud, but Nat doesn’t want to be cruel either. She thinks “friends” is an appropriate word. Even though they were never close before, they were friendly enough indeed, and they were teammates, so that’s something.
Nat grins almost against her will. “Wait, what was the fight about?” she has to ask because that part caught her attention.
Jackie winces at first, but then hums as she tilts her head.
“You know what? I’ll tell you if you help me out with these,” she says, gesturing at the junk food in her arms.
Natalie squints and folds her arms, subconsciously leaning forward, unable to hide her curiosity.
“If you have time, of course.”
“Jack,” Nat says, the old nickname rolling effortlessly off her tongue, and smiles, “I got all night, really.”
The following chuckles coming from Nat and the giggles coming from Jackie fill the room at last.
Jackie fills her in. And it’s undeniably some of the most surreal words Nat’s ever heard in her life, all coming from the mouth of the one and only, Jackie Taylor.
Nat hears all about how the fight at the Taylor household went down. How Jackie opened up to her parents about feeling lost in Rutgers, despite being a decent student and having good grades, because she doesn’t feel like the major in finance her parents picked for her is actually working out for her. How she complained about always having to do whatever her parents want, having to be whatever her parents want. No matter how much they disagree with those statements.
Nat hears about how in the heat of the moment, Jackie tells them that she feels lonely and that she wants to find true love somewhere, but she can’t because she likes women and it feels like such a burden being unable to talk to anyone about it, especially them.
The Taylors were shocked at the news, tried to hold on to clues that pointed at something different. Jeff! They brought up Jeff to the conversation, Jackie’s high school jock boyfriend, who cheated on her with Shauna Shipman, also known as Jackie’s ex best friend. The attempt at bringing up their daughter’s only ever relationship, evidently heterosexual, failed terribly in the end. Because at that point, Jackie had to explain how the whole cheating incident ruined her life, not because she cared about Jeff, but because she had been secretly in love with Shauna for years.
What a disaster.
“Are you still?” Natalie asks while munching on some chips. Jackie just opened the M&Ms.
“Still what?”
“You know, still in love with Shipman.”
Jackie makes a face at that. “No!” she says, a bit too loud to be believable. “That was - what she did to me, the things she said. She secretly hated me. How could I still be in love with someone who hates me, Nat?”
Natalie nods, and Jackie continues.
“I’m just sad. It still makes me sad whenever I think about it. I wish I had realized sooner just how fucked our friendship was, or whatever it was.”
Natalie thinks she understands how the Taylors must have felt earlier, because she’s shocked at all the revelations herself. A lot of the things she thought she knew about Jackie are faltering now, and it almost feels like getting to know her for the first time ever.
They switched bags at some point during the conversation, and Nat is now chewing on chocolate covered peanuts. They sit in silence for a bit when Jackie is finally done pouring her heart out. Nat is on her seat, while Jackie sits on top of the counter, facing her, legs dangling in the air, ankles crossed.
“Well Taylor, that was kind of a rollercoaster, not gonna lie.” Nat tells her.
“Oh, tell me about it…” Jackie laughs.
“So who’s the lucky girl?”
Jackie’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.
“What girl? What do you mean?”
“I mean, you came out to your parents tonight, there must be someone, right?”
“Oh, no…” Jackie says in a low tone this time, looking away, as if she were embarrassed. “There’s no one.”
Natalie can’t help but laugh out loud at Jackie Taylor coming out without anyone to introduce to her parents, going through all the hassle with no real purpose, just because she wanted to be heard. She just wanted to finally speak her truth. Nat thinks it’s a little sad and she finds Jackie’s bravado a little bit pathetic, but she silently recognizes the courage.
“I’m not - I’m not a virgin, though,” Jackie adds, as if having sexual experience counted for something in this situation, and Nat nods, her laughter dying out.
“What are you going to do, then? When you get back home.” Nat asks, opening the Reese’s and offering one peanut butter cup to Jackie.
“I wish I knew,” she says and bites down on the piece of chocolate. “I don't wanna go back to pretend I'm someone else. I just want to be myself.”
Jackie's eyes are wide and a little tearful. She looks at Nat like she's hopeful and determined, but also afraid and troubled. She's been suffering about this in silence for God only knows how long.
Nat wishes she had some advice for her, but she's empty. She's been too caught up with her own issues for a while and right now she's focused on one thing alone: leaving town.
She understands, though, what Jackie is going through. The loneliness, the shame. She's been there too. And yet, their struggles are different. One thing Jackie has in her favor is mommy and daddy's money. Or had, at least. They still don't know if they'll hate her child for being gay. But so far, even in their own twisted way, it sounds like they care. That much Nat is slightly jealous of.
“Do you think having a smoke could help right now?” Nat asks, unsure if the offer is too careless and superficial, but looking for her pack of cigarettes nonetheless.
Jackie looks directly at Nat's eyes, and she holds her gaze. There is something in them that Natalie can't quite figure out, and can't decide if it's sweet or scary, but it is intriguing and enthralling. Jackie's gaze softens then and she breaks eye contact as she throws her head back, bursting out laughing.
Nat can't help but notice how annoyingly beautiful the sound is.
God dammit, Jackie.
“You're a lost cause, Scatorccio,” she says fondly, which makes Nat smile against her will.
However Jackie is already jumping off the counter and walking to the door.
“Well? Come on, Scatorccio, let's go!! It's actually freezing in here.” she says looking back on Nat, using her old captain voice.
Unable to resist it (not that she wanted to), Natalie smiles, grabs the cigarettes and follows her outside.
It’s around 4 AM. Outside, the night is quieter, somehow, and the air is warm, which makes Nat wish she’d worn shorts to work, instead of her black ripped jeans. But it’s been a double shift, a long day. The jeans made sense.
They have been quieter, too. Not saying much. Jackie’s taking drags of her cigarette like her life depends on it. It’s not a surprise to Natalie to see Jackie smoking, exhaling the cig’s smoke with practiced ease. She’d seen it before, all the time, at parties. Jackie would generally join Jeff and his little band of jocks. She’d drink, smoke, she’d dance. And most of the time, Nat would steal glances at her from afar. There was nothing special about it, of course (that’s what Nat told herself, at least). It was what everyone did anyway. Jackie used to have everyone’s eyes on her.
It was on rare occasions that they’d share a smoke or a drink. That only happened during Yellowjackets gatherings. And alright, they weren’t exactly rare, but they were more childish, more girly things to do with a bunch of teenage girls. Nat is grateful for that. She thinks if it weren’t for the soccer team, she would have never experienced being a teenage girl. It was as close as it would get for her. Life at home forced her to grow up quicker than most.
They’re both leaning against the brick wall, by the dumpsters, and Natalie occasionally walks back and forth to check that there’s no one coming into the store.
“Don’t you ever just - want to get out of here? Ever think about leaving?” Jackie asks all of a sudden.
Natalie scoffs. “Taylor. Every single day. You have no idea.” she says solemnly, because it’s the one thing that keeps her going. The idea of her life finally starting somewhere else.
“So what’s holding you back?”
Right. Of course she’d ask something like that.
“Not all of us have rich parents, Jack.” she says, looking into the darkness, not trying to hide the annoyed tone in her voice.
“Is money the only reason?”
Natalie sighs. “Yeah, there’s nothing left for me here.” she replies, less abruptly this time. Softened by Jackie’s genuine interest.
“What about your mom?”
“She’s barely ever conscious, and when she is, she hates looking at me. I think I'd be doing us both a favor by leaving.”
Jackie doesn’t say anything for a while, but her eyes are narrowed, like she’s deep in thought. Then, her face lights up, the way it does when she has an idea, and is probably about to say something extremely dumb.
“Nat, you could come live with me!”
Called it.
She says it as if it’s so obvious and it’s so crazy that they had never even thought about it.
“What do you mean “live with you”? You don’t live on campus?”
“I don’t, no! My parents pay the rent for an apartment in New Brunswick, actually…” she trails off. And Nat knows exactly what she’s thinking about, because it’s so obvious.
And it’s probably the first time Jackie thought about it too, but Nat can see now all the things that are at stake for Jackie now that she decided to speak up for herself to her parents. If they turn their backs on her now because she’s a little lost and a little gay, she’ll get no further education, she won’t have a place to live in, she won’t have a family to come back to. Nat can feel her stomach twisting, it’s a cruel fate.
They stare at each other for a long time, and Nat really doesn’t want to say anything for fear it will be too much.
“Alright, listen.” Jackie says, because she’s nothing if not determined. “If somehow I manage to come clean with my parents after tonight and they decide that they still want to support their only child, you can move in with me.”
“And live off your parents’ rent money?”
Jackie thinks for a second before replying. “Yeah.”
“Jackie…”
“The place is big enough for two, seriously. And there’s an extra room, you wouldn’t have to crash on the couch or anything.”
Nat falls silent at that, and takes a second to take Jackie in, who’s looking back with expectant eyes. Is she an angel? Because why would anyone ever offer Nat a free ticket to a new life out of Wiskayok? Why would anyone randomly just offer Nat a place to stay and not expect anything in return? Seems too good to be true.
She tries to go through the pros and cons of it all in that single moment, but the only catch she can come up with is having to share a roof with Jackie Taylor herself, someone she’s always thought to be nice but self-absorbed, charismatic but unstable. And wonders if that would be a good match with her own bunch of bad traits to make living together a tolerable journey. But the last few hours have been crucial, and Nat feels like this whole situation could be fate, if it exists, because after spending the night fucking around at the 7-Eleven with Jackie Taylor, Nat thinks, and is almost certain, that they could make it.
It could be the smoke, it could be the whole late-night conversation, it could be Jackie’s hazel eyes shining bright under the street lamp’s light. It might just be the simple and spontaneous display of kindness, actually. But Nat’s eyes are now filling up with tears, and she doesn’t know what to say. She’s overwhelmed beyond words, and doesn’t want to let the tears spill down her cheeks, so she has to look away and close her eyes.
“Are you okay?” she hears Jackie asking, and feels a small hand falling on her arm, which is bare because she’s wearing a tank-top, and the sudden warmth makes her open her eyes again.
“I am, yeah. Just needed a second there.”
“Sure. Well I mean, it’s just an “if” for now, right? I still gotta figure out my shit, too. But let’s say my life doesn’t go down the drain just yet… is it a deal?”
Holy shit, Taylor.
Jackie probably doesn’t even know how much it all means.
“Yeah,” Nat smiles wide and genuine and it’s amusing, actually. “Yeah, it’s a deal, Jack.”
Jackie shakes her hand and grins like it was the closing of the most important business deal ever. And it is for Nat, except it’s not a business deal, but their future.
They have both burned their cigarettes down to the filters now.
“Okay,” Jackie says, and crushes hers out with the tip of her sandal and puts her hands on her hips, Nat does the same with her cigarette but smashes it with her boot. “Do you have a phone inside? I think I should call my dad.”
Nat nods and guides her back inside.
Here’s to hoping.
Nat doesn’t want to keep her hopes up, she really doesn’t. But before she knows it, she’s already asking Jackie all about the city. She silently decides that even if Jackie’s offer fails to materialize in the end, she’ll be moving to New Brunswick, anyway.
Natalie keeps an eye on Jackie from afar when she calls home, just to check that someone on the other end actually picks up the phone. And it happens. The call is brief, and even though Jackie seems nervous, it seems to go well.
A couple of customers enter the store and Nat does her thing while Jackie roams around again. The clock marks 6:07 AM and the sky has passed from dark to dark blue to blue in the blink of an eye. She doesn’t feel tired, though. And she knows exactly why, but won’t admit it to herself.
Nat has pressed play on her mixtape again, finally, and the last few minutes of Champagne Supernova fill the place.
Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova,
A champagne supernova…
Cause people believe
That they’re gonna
Get away for the summer
“I never thought you’d be into Oasis.” Jackie tells Nat with a teasing smirk on her face.
“Oh, no… no! Britpop? Not my style, I don’t like them.”
Jackie raises her eyebrows questioningly. And waits for a more elaborate answer.
“... I like this one, alright. It's actually pretty good…” Nat admits, and it makes Jackie smile.
When the song ends, the one that follows up catches Jackie’s attention.
“Oh Radiohead, I know this one.”
When you were here before,
Couldn’t look you in the eye
You’re just like an angel,
Your skin makes me cry
Natalie laughs at that. “Of course you know it, Jack. Everyone does.”
They end up singing along together, and they’re so caught up in it, that Nat barely notices the shiny black Mercedes parking outside. But she does, just in time to stop the music before Mr Taylor comes inside the store.
Natalie half expects him to be polished and dressed up, but it’s barely 6 AM and he just looks tired and desperate, like he didn’t sleep at all, wondering where his only child wandered off to.
He’s still tall and slightly intimidating when he steps in, eyes fixed on Jackie immediately. They have the same hair, she notices, same light brown, almost blonde-ish color (although it’s already graying on the sides), and the same easy waves. Except his hair is short of course. His gaze isn’t harsh and crude, as Natalie expected for reasons she refuses to name. On the contrary, it’s soft and there’s relief written all over his face.
“Oh my God, Jackie. We were so worried.” he tells her, and reaches out to her, taking her considerably smaller frame into his arms. “Why did you leave like that? W-why are you here?” he asks, still worried and troubled.
“I’m sorry, dad,” Jackie says, her voice breaking slightly, “I just couldn’t take it anymore. A friend works here, and I didn’t know where else to go.”
Mr Taylor turns his head around, searching, and he spots Natalie. She can almost feel the way he studies her in a quick glance, but Nat’s not hiding anything, so she offers a small smile and surprisingly, he returns it and nods at her. A silent “thank you”. What for? Natalie really has no idea.
“I am sorry too, darling.” he sounds like he’s on the verge of tears. “Let’s— let’s just get you home, you need to rest. And then we’ll talk,” he says, “really talk, no more fighting, I promise.”
He hugs her again, and Jackie nods. Her face is flushed now and there are silent tears sliding down her cheeks — she tries her best to keep it together.
Despite the whole context of the situation, Nat thinks it's nice, really. Because it must be sweet having a dad that comes looking for you and picks you up when you're lost no matter what time it is, instead of one that accidentally shoots himself in the face with a gun right in front of you.
Mr Taylor mutters something to Jackie that Nat can’t quite figure out and steps out of the store, then stands just outside, waiting for her. Jackie wipes her tears with her hands and forces a smile directed at Nat — she looks terrified. But Nat knows the encounter with her dad wasn’t terrible, it was hopeful, so she smiles back as confidently as she can.
“Time to go home, Taylor.”
They’re standing face to face now, and Natalie doesn’t know what to do with her hands, so she buries them in the pockets of her jeans.
“Yeah!” Jackie says animatedly, “Now I know exactly where to find you.”
The promise of seeing each other again hangs free in the air and roams around, making Nat catch her breath for some strange reason.
“Sure! If you ever want a junk food eating buddy, or a smoking buddy, you know where I’ll be.” She hears herself replying, trying to keep it nonchalant, but silently scolds herself for sounding too eager.
Did it really take around five hours of boredom and honest conversation with Jackie Taylor for them to become friends? Why hadn’t they done it before? Nat blames it on the late-night summer air and the 7-Eleven fluorescent lights. They did what years of school, soccer and parties couldn’t.
Nat’s train of thought is interrupted as Jackie suddenly comes in for a hug. She wraps her arms effortlessly around Natalie’s waist and rests her head on Nat’s shoulder. There is a small height difference between them, only a couple of inches, but it’s very clear now, with Nat going still, back fully straightened at the contact. She can feel Jackie’s breath on her neck and — why is it sending shivers down her spine???
Jackie’s scent invades her senses, too, and Nat is fighting hard to form a single thought. She just can’t focus at all when she’s inhaling jasmine and sandalwood, she really can’t focus when Jackie’s heat is bleeding through her skin and onto the fabric of her t-shirt. She manages to think at last, and slowly puts her arms around Jackie, letting her hands rest on the girl’s back, over her loose hair.
She hears a quiet “Thank you, Nat.”, and simply nods.
“Hey, it’s no big deal,” she says, and her voice comes out a little hoarse, rougher than she’d like.
When Jackie lets go, Nat instantly misses the warmth, but decides to push that thought aside for her own good.
“It is a big deal to me, though. You saved me tonight.” Of course Jackie Taylor would be a little too dramatic about it all. “See you around, yeah?”
“See you around, Taylor.” Nat says, as Jackie waves goodbye.
The early morning sun is shining bright outside. Brand new day, same old shit. But something is different this time. Jackie wasn’t the only one who needed saving, Nat knows, and it feels like some weight has lifted off her shoulders somehow. Who would have thought good things could come out from working doubles?