“Why the fuck-” A husky voice strains in the cluttered air. “did you do that?”

Roxy looked up. She looked up and there Diane was. Wisps of her dark hair shone above her head in an empyrean halo. A tear rolled down the blonde’s cheek, it’s trail biting into her sensitive flesh.

“Are you okay? You’re so fucking stupid.” She crouched down to Roxy’s level, attentive hands searching her for damage. Her touch was everything. Warmth rushed into Roxy like a supernatural torrent. “Are you listenin’ to me? Are you okay?”

Roxy hadn’t looked at Diane’s face till then. She had black streaks down her inflamed, quickly rising and falling cheeks. Concerned creases burrowed securely into her pale skin. Diane had come for her, she knew. She had probably been on her tail the whole time.

This was love, this look on her friend’s face, Roxy realized with an unendurable ache. Regardless of capacity or title, Diane loved her as much as her faculties could allow.

She felt small. Insignificant and unworthy of the compassionate vehemence in front of her. She wanted to sob.

“Breathe with me. Okay? Just breathe. Okay?” Diane held onto Roxy’s shoulders with a sound grip. Slowly, she counted to ten, breathing deeply between every number. The fire in Roxy’s throat and chest began to dull in intensity.

“You’re okay now. You’re fuckin’ okay.” Diane took Roxy’s jacket, shoved hastily into a drawstring bag, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Will you come home with me? To talk?”

Roxy nodded, leaning into the crook of the brunette’s shoulder, and let a shaky exhale leave her lips.