The Sweetest Things

 "Who's gonna fuckin' stop me, Gus?"

Augustine stared at the wall. Every avenue she could think of had closed to her a long time ago. No friends. No family left, not that her family had ever been notable or important. No job. No connections. The few "clients" she had were unofficial, and would never support her. They couldn't or they risked putting themselves under scrutiny too.

Augustine sighed heavily. "Fine," she said, wiping at her eye with her free hand. "You're right."

She stared at him again. Gone were his soft, pale cheeks with the sweet brown freckles that had run over his nose and the tops of his cheeks. With his pale skin, and especially those freckles, he'd always stood out on the streets. People had been instinctively afraid of him except for her and Ray, but the two of them had known him for so long, he hadn't ever been a threat to them. Until this moment.

"C'mon, Gus. It'll be alright." He gave her wrist a small shake then reached down to pick up her back pack, holding it out to her so that she could put it on again under his watchful eye. "Besides- no offense- but you look like shit. Have you eaten anything in the last few months?"

Augustine was usually the one who'd throw out a one liner to ease tension, but this unexpectedly obvious observation worked in place of her lack of words and she brought up her hand to cover her nervous chuckle. His dark blue eyes caught the bit of nearby light and they glowed.

She held her fingers to her lips as she gave a small sniffle. "You always say the sweetest things," she half-croaked.

Ed let go of her wrist to take hold of her hand. "Only to you, Gus. C'mon. Let's go."

Halfheartedly, she tugged against him, but the fight had ended. Ed won, the same as he always had. She blinked, testing her drying eyes, rubbing at the last tear. "I just saw you-" Her voice caught, and she chose to stop speaking rather than start sobbing again. All the while, he quietly led her down the dark street, unconcerned and unafraid.

Because they were near the factories, there were a few working streetlights still, leading up to the large building. It cast a dark shadow over his face each time they passed directly under one.

"Yeah, Gus, I know. It doesn't change a fuckin' thing."

They'd all lived together once, her, Eddie, and Ray, but she found herself afraid of being alone with him now that Ray was gone. Ed was so much stronger than her, and he was right-- who would stop him? Already she'd learned a valuable lesson about how easy it was for another human to violate her person and how little other people gave a shit about it happening to someone else. Dark memories edged in on her thoughts and she touched her tongue to her two chipped front teeth. 

"Besides," he added darkly, "I know what you've been doing."

She hesitated, but Eddie just pulled her along. He sounded angry, and all of her years with him had warned her to never piss him off. "What are you talking about?"

"One of the factory workers gave me your description and said you were supposed to make a virus or some shit to take down the machines."

The person she saw Eddie take down wouldn't have been able to give him a description as he'd never met her. Augustine frowned as she put her fingers to her lips, tears still in her lashes. He'd probably gotten all of them then. What did that mean for her? She whispered with a small hitch in her throat, "You don't know it was me."

"I do, Gus. I knew the second he described you."

She gave another tug against his forced march, but it did nothing to slow him. Her stomach sank. If Eddie knew about the job she was supposed to do for the rebelling factory workers, what did that mean for her? Had the man from earlier been after her for the same reason? But if that had been the case, then he would have jumped on her much quicker than he did. Instead, he's spent time watching her closely, and then he took his sweet time following after her when she left the café.

Augustine glanced at Eddie again, that sinking feeling weighing her down. Their reunion after all these years stirred up conflicting feelings in her of hope and fright. She whispered, "What are you gonna do, Ed?"

As they neared one of the factories, more working streetlights started to appear. Ed stopped under one to turn to her. Under the light, looking down at her, a shadow fell over his face, darkening his already hardened eyes. "What do you think? I'm fucking taking you home with me."