Deeply into the night, she walked through the front yard, the scent of flowers relaxing her being after a long night at work. Her grandmother had left the light at the door on, welcoming her under it’s warm glow.

“Finally home.” Citara let out a deep breath, walking inside to a dark living room. The heavy smell of oils filled the room, inviting her to simply sit on the sofa and sleep there.

As tempting as that was, she shook her head and went to her bedroom, tilting her head when she saw a line of light escaping through the small opening of the unclosed door. With slow, careful movements, the door squeaked as she pushed it open. 

She looked at her bed first, nothing weird there. Her desk was just as she had left it. Her closet was the same, and so were her nightstands. To her right she saw her keyboard and guitars resting quietly, the amplifier neatly tucked away behind the instruments.  

As her eyes traveled to the floor, she found a bundle of blankets over a badly set sleeping bag, which she was sure wasn’t there when she left for work the day before. Tip-toeing over, Citara was able to see a familiar head as she got closer. 

Of course. Who else was she expecting to see other than Mia? But the girl usually let her know when she would stay over beforehand.

“Ah.” She voiced as realization hit.

Reaching for her pocket, Citara took out her phone, which refused to turn on after she pressed the home button. It had run out of battery and she didn’t even notice. So she walked past Mia and connected her phone to charge on the nightstand next to her bed.

With a yawn escaping her, she looked for something comfortable to change into and got ready for bed. After washing her face and brushing her teeth, Citara turned off her light and did her best not to step over Mia as she made her way to the bed.

Laying down, she took her phone and finally managed to turn it on. Notifications flooded her screen, vibrating loudly in her quiet room. She hurried to silence the device, checking on her friend to see if she had been disturbed by the sudden noise, but Mia only shuffled under the blankets and her steady breathing resumed with a deep sigh.

Sighing herself, Citara dropped on her pillow, looking at her phone and deciding what to look into and what to ignore.

One of the first notifications she saw were a few messages from Mia, where she said she’d be going over and would like to talk to her when she got home. Citara looked at her friend again, containing a laugh.

“I thought you wanted to talk.” Citara whispered, not expecting an answer.

She continued clearing notifications she didn’t really care for, keeping whatever she wanted to go over in the morning. Then, she stopped and looked at the name on the screen.

“Jamie…” She read quietly. 

She clicked on the notification, taking her to his message. When it opened, it was a picture of a bunny plush toy with rosy cheeks and small black eyes, its fur short and white, a blue ribbon tied around its neck. Under the photo, she read:

‘Saw this at the mall and thought it was cute :3’

‘Since you like cute things, I thought you would like it too!’

He had sent the message pretty early, just right before her shift started. Seven… Eight… Nine… Twelve… It was 3am… Over eight hours.

“Maybe I shouldn’t reply right now…” She thought, but her fingers were already sending a message. 

Her closing eyes opened wide, all sleepiness fading away. What had she just written? How could she write without even realizing it? Did her text even make sense?

She hurried to read it.

‘It is cute! I like cats better though’

“Oh thank goodness.” She buried her head in her pillow, just looking at the screen, relieved that she hadn’t written gibberish or something stupid.

There was also a strange feeling of comfort washing over her now that she had gotten a text from Jamie. They hadn’t really talked much since that day at the mall, and even when both him and Elias had gone to the bar after that, she had only gotten to talk a little more with the taller boy. Jamie had just been a little… Distant. 

Then again, she wasn’t exactly making an effort to get closer, even when she thought they had really hit it off when they first met. She knew she was being rude, mean even. She wanted to be a better person, a good friend, but here she was in the dead of night, wishing she was cuter and for Jamie not to be…

She shook her head.

“Stop it.” She berated herself. “Stop being such a terrible person.” 

With a little too much force, she slammed her phone on the nightstand, the hit echoing in the room.

Mia jumped under the blankets, pulling them away from her face to look up at the bed. With eyes half opened, she squinted, trying to adjust her eyes in the darkness.

“Citara?” She whispered.

“Oh.” She leaned over the edge of the bed, turning on the lamp at her side and looking down at her friend. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“What time is it?” Mia asked, unable to avoid a yawn right after her sentence.

“Three thirty.” Citara answered. “Let’s just go back to sleep.”

“Wait.” Mia sat up, pulling the blanket over her shoulders. “I… I wanted to talk with you.” She fiddled with the edges of the blanket. “Unless you’re sleepy.”

“So you came because you wanted to talk?” Citara asked, tilting her head.

“Well, not really…” Mia looked down. “I just didn’t want to be home, but… Something came up.”

“You’re scaring me. Is everything okay?” Citara sat up, her long legs dropping at the edge of the bed.

“I guess?” Mia chuckled. “I mean, it’s not necessarily bad, just…” She twitched her lips as she considered her words. “I just want to talk.”

“... Alright?” Citara raised her brow, but reached to pet the empty side of her bed. “Get up here, or we’ll both end up with sore necks.”

Mia nodded and climbed up the bed, still with the blanket over her.

“How can you sleep with a blanket in this heat?” Citara laughed, pulling a big white bear plush to hug and lean on.

“Shut up.” Mia grumbled. “Grandma has the A/C running at full power and I’m freezing. You both are the crazy ones here.”

But Citara only laughed as her friend settled at the other end of the bed, facing her.

“So what is it you want to talk about?”

“Well.” Mia whispered, pursing her lips before opening them to speak again. “I owe you and Jamie an apology…”

“What? Why?”

“... I haven’t really been a good friend, and said pretty insensitive things to you. Well, more like, about you?” Mia tried her best to look up to meet Citara’s eyes, but they kept falling to her hands throughout her sentence.

“... Like what?” Citara asked, her voice carried a sense of threat.

“F-First of all!” Mia raised her hands in defense. “I think you’re a very beautiful girl! What I said I didn’t mean it as an insult or anything-”

“Enough.” Citara interrupted.

Mia gasped at what she had heard, her body giving a small jump at being startled by Citara’s unusually harsh voice. Her eyes welled up, and the knot at her throat prevented her from saying anything, so Citara continued.

“I don’t care what you said… But I thought you were better than that.” She said, dropping her head.

“I’m really sorry.” Mia sobbed, but the girl before her only shook her head.

“Why do you have to apologize to Jamie too?” Citara questioned, not daring to look up.

“The things I said about you.” Mia sniffed, trying to control her sobs. “I said them to him that day at the mall… It was kinda about him too… And I made him feel bad.”

“Then why tell me? You could have just kept it between you two and apologized just to him.” She buried her face on the bear’s head.

“Because you shouldn’t feel better about yourself when he dresses up as a girl.”

Citara looked up at friend who’s fierce glance was betrayed by the tears rolling down her eyes and the snoot she sniffled.

“I told you to forget about that…” Citara sighed, putting her bear aside and getting up from bed, walking to a body mirror only to see her shadowed silhouette. 

“I’m being serious Citara.” Mia looked at the tall girl’s back. “You’re a beautiful woman, but others have said things about you like I did… And they hurt you…”

“So all of a sudden you’re a therapist?” Citara scoffed, looking at Mia from over her shoulder.

“Of course not.” Mia hugged her knees in search of comfort. “I just wanted to apologize.”

She heard a loud sigh from Citara, and saw the girl’s figure shifting in the dim light, dropping her shoulders and then reaching to brush her hair out of her face. She turned on her heel, walking back to the bed, closer to the light. She didn’t look angry, or maybe the lack of proper light in the room prevented Mia from accurately making out her friend’s features.

Pulling her bear back into a hug, the tall girl let herself fall on the bed. Citara looked up, locking eyes with the still sniffling girl.

“It’s alright.” She finally said.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah.” Citara sat up. “I know you wouldn’t say anything with bad intentions.”

Mia nodded fiercely.

“And about Jamie…” She hugged her bear closer. “I guess I should apologize to him too.”

“He really wants to be your friend.” Mia added, her sniffles now smaller.

“I know.” Citara dropped on her back, feeling Mia crawl closer until they were next to each other.

“I have a rough idea, but can you tell me exactly why?” Mia asked, still wrapped in the blanket. “Why would seeing him dressed as a girl be better?”

As if refusing to talk, Citara looked away, her brows knitting and a scowl on her lips. But after a moment, she opened her mouth and her words left Mia speechless.

“Because I’m used to girls being cuter than me.” Citara confessed. She only looked in Mia’s direction from the corner of her eye, taking in her friends surprised, almost terrified, expression.

 “But a guy?” Citara continued. “That’s one way to crumble the little pride I have as a woman.”

“Citara…”

“I know I’m being unfair to Jamie. He’s a nice guy and from day one he’s only been friendly and open with me. I just can’t help it.”

“... What did you think of him last time? You know, at Madame Moon when he was feeling a little sick?” Mia questioned.

“That’s very specific.”

“Just answer.”

“Hmm well… He looked different. Guess I could say he looked a little weird.” She let out a chuckle. “Leather doesn’t suit him.”

“Did he still look cute?”

“He did…”

“Think you can get used to it?”

“The leather or his cuteness?”

“Him being cute, duh.” Mia rolled her eyes. “I made it clear to him that he is not allowed to wear leather- Unless it’s cute.” She poked at her friend’s side. “So, can you get used to it? Hanging out with him without him dressing up?”

“You really want us to get along, huh?” Citara raised a brow, looking at Mia suspiciously. 

“He’s a good friend.”

“You barely know him.”

“I know him more than you.”

“Hmm.” Citara hummed. “Guess that means you know Elias more.” She grinned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh nothing.” Turning to her side, Citara reached for the lamp, turning it off and leaving them in utter darkness. “I’ll talk things over with Jamie. I really want to be friends too, so I’ll have to apologize first.”

“Guess we all have some apologizing to do.”

“Yeah, but that can wait.” Citara declared. “Let’s get some sleep. Grandma’s waking up soon and I’d like to get in a couple hours before she turns on the stereo.”

“Aaah you should have reminded me.” Mia cried in a hushed voice. “We could have talked in the morning.”

“It’s your fault.” With a gentle hand, Citara playfully fisted Mia’s head. “Sleep, now.”

“Night night.” Mia giggled.

“Good night.” Citara said, hoping her grandmother would sleep in.