I pulled out the mattress from the sofa again and set it up as best as I could. Veronica lied down, crossing her arms and legs and staring at the ceiling.

“She’s not entirely wrong,” Veronica said tiredly. “I’m a terrible influence. Thanks for trying, though.”

Veronica looked towards me and gave me a reassuring smile. I frowned and sighed loudly. I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed in the outcome, but I wasn’t entirely surprised. I usually had miserable luck with small pockets of breaks from life. Veronica was one of those pockets, who actually made me feel like I wasn’t alone for a while and that it was okay to be the awkward weirdo I was around people.

“We could keep meeting up outside. It wouldn’t be that hard.”

“Nah, mate,” she said, closing her eyes and resting her head back. “I saw that look. She’ll go through hell and high water. I don’t want to be an inconvenience. You’ve got enough shit going on. Besides, I don’t want you picking up my bad habits.”

“Like what?”

“Where do I even start?” she said with a smile. “Just get some rest and let your imagination do the research.”

I smiled back. My head sank as I walked down the hall and shut off the lights. As I grabbed the knob to my room’s door, I stopped in my tracks, my hand frozen in place. I looked back down the hall, listening as Veronica rustled around on the pullout mattress. I probably stood there for a minute before I retreated from the door and walked back towards the living room. I stood at the edge of the frame, thinking of what to say. Nothing was necessary. Veronica patted the side of the mattress. 

I quietly got onto the mattress and got close to her. Slowly I moved my arm around her waist and pressed my face against her back. I clung to her, scared I wasn’t going to see her again. I can’t remember the last time I held anyone so tightly. Maybe when Jessie was about to have her custody hearing after mom and dad died in the accident. I felt the same fear that I was going to lose her too. At least then I still could have visited Jessie or vice versa. This… I don’t think there was any way I could do it without risking Veronica ending up in a cell.

Soon, she rolled over towards me. I could see a glint in her eyes as moonlight shone through the blinds. Even her pale skin seemed to shine with a light glow. All I could do was stare, wanting to photograph her in mind if this was the last I was going to see her. She was just a friend for a couple of weeks, but God, I knew it would have been forever before I could see someone as amazing as her again.

She knew what was on my mind. She pulled my head in close to her breast, just like before in the motel room. I exhaled quietly as I focused on her breaths and heartbeat. Even through her vest, it felt stronger than before. Just like then, it soothed my mind of the fear of her disappearing, if only for a moment. Her hands gripped me tightly, tighter than before. She took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly as she rested her chin on my head.

“Stay good, yeah?” Veronica asked. “Things’ll get better.”

I nodded as I closed my eyes, tightening my arms around her. For once, I felt like I was where I wanted to be in the world, in a state of comfort and serenity. The world no longer existed around me. It was just Veronica protecting me from my thoughts and demons in my head, the ones that spurred the fear that the world would devour me whole.

“You know, I still owe you that birthday gift,” Veronica joked.

I stifled my laughter as I shook my head. She chuckled quietly as she began to stroke my hair. I was nowhere near as scared as I was before, but it still wasn’t what I wanted. The intimacy of being held like this was more comforting than a one night stand. It felt loving, protective, and ironically eternal. I knew it wouldn’t be though. By the morning, it would all be gone.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, nuzzling against Veronica.

We must have fallen asleep holding onto each other. I don’t know when it was exactly. I just know that I found myself waking up to Jessie, clearing her throat quite insistently. Opening my eyes and seeing Jessie towering above me sent me nearly rolling off the mattress. Despite me making a commotion, Veronica didn’t budge. 

Jess stared at me with a mix of frustration, disappointment, and, to my surprise, understanding. I stared back, sweating like a mule in summertime out of fear of what she’d say after seeing us the way we were. We hadn’t done anything, but I knew what it looked like. Veronica was already a problem to Jessie. I didn’t want to make her a full blown enemy.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Jack,” she muttered quietly.

“I swear we just shared the bed! That’s it!” I stammered in panic.

“You still got your pants on, so that’s something,” Jessie muttered, examining both of us. “Jack, I get why you want to help her. But this…”

Jessie looked back towards Veronica before motioning for me to follow her to the kitchen. I slowly made my way after her. She leaned against the wall, giving me a softer look than before. That was a good sign at least. I eased up slightly.

“Jess, please… I don’t ask for a lot of favors, but she needs this. I don’t want to worry about her being out there, ending up another name on a news report.”

“If she can take care of Ryan, she can take care of herself,” Jessie replied.

“That’s the other thing! She hounded him to keep him off my back! You think those two times were the only time she saved my ass?! She was guarding me like her life depended on it! Every single day for the past week!”

“Wait, at school?”

“Not… the point. If she really wanted to kill him, maybe she could have done it. But she was trying to do everything possible to make sure it DIDN’T come to that. She just wanted him to leave me alone. Jess, I’m telling you, she’s a good person.”

“She just wants a place to stay.”

“She didn’t even want to come in here!” I exclaimed loudly.

Jessie’s eyes widened with surprise, both at the forcefulness of my emotion and the revelation. I could feel myself starting to get riled up. It happened every now and then during our arguments, but it was usually me trying to justify getting a job so Jessie wouldn’t be stuck doing all the hard work of keeping us afloat. I knew where this was going, and if I lost my temper, I’d sink any chance of Veronica being able to stay, or even just the remote possibility of seeing her again. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“Jess, I invited her in. She just wanted to make sure I got home okay. She didn’t twist my arm. I twisted hers, okay? She doesn’t want to cause trouble. She just wants to get by, the same as us.”

Jessie stared thoughtfully. She pursed her lower lip as she sat down at the dining room table. Her head dropped, slamming it with a loud thud. She groaned loudly, her voice cracking under the stress.

“Why can’t you make this easy for me?” she asked tiredly.

“Because she’s my friend. Not sure if you noticed, but I don’t have a lot of those, so… what did you expect?”

Jessie lifted her head, giving me an exasperated look. She peered back into the living room, looking at Veronica. Even under her pursed lips, I could tell Jessie was gritting her teeth. She gave me a firm look.

“You want her to stay here? $500 a month. She handles cleaning duty, and if she gives us ANY trouble, she is out the door. And you? You don’t get to ask me for any more favors. How does that sound?”

“That’s a fair crop,” Veronica piped up tiredly.

I spun around, caught completely off guard, as Veronica reached into her pocket and pulled out a wad of bills without even looking at us. Jessie stared at the wad, almost entranced. She walked over cautiously and took the bills from her hand. A mess of $20s summed up to the tidy tune of $500, per Jessie’s request.

“There’s the first month. Now can you two keep it down?”

Jessie’s lips pursed again as her nostrils flared. She gripped the bills with absolute confliction. She growled quietly as she walked away.

“First of every month, got it? Not a day late.”

Veronica made a tired grunt as she waved her hand before letting it flop to the bed. I hurried after Jessie before she went back into her bedroom.

“You’re serious?” I asked her quietly. “You’re seriously serious.”

“You’re really gonna ask questions?” Jessie asked with a sigh, turning to face me. “I knew you weren’t gonna let it go. Not with the way you were acting. Just take the win, dink. Besides… at least this way I can keep an eye on you two.”

Jessie grinned evilly as she entered her room and shut the door behind her. I had to process what just happened. This felt like an evil prank and she was about to burst out with a suitcase and toss it at Veronica before literally kicking her out the door. I waited, but she didn’t leave. When the realization finally hit, relief washed over me like wave. I closed my eyes and let out a heavy sigh as I walked back to the pullout. I collapsed face first into the mattress. My body was shaking from the adrenaline of fear I had before.

“Told ya things’ll get better, yeah?”

I felt one of Veronica’s arms pull me in with relative ease. She gave me a tired smile, still refusing to open her eyes. I smiled back at her as I grabbed her and squeezed it tightly. She really did have a magic touch.

“And no fucking around!” Jessie shouted, her voice echoing down the hall.

I flinched in a panic. Veronica chuckled quietly as she tightened her grip around me.

“Come ‘ere, you dork.”

Her grip was like iron. Compared to the hold she had me in yesterday, it was like a bear trap. But this time, I could breathe and rest easily. I had no intention of trying to escape this one.