11 11

I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and a moment later Lara appears. She smiles when I make eye contact.

"How is she?" Tristan asks as I sit back.

"Much better than yesterday, thankfully," Lara replies. "Oh, you guys must be hungry."

I immediately feel so glad that she brought it up.

Before Tristan and I can say anything, she gets up and heads into the kitchen, opening a cabinet.

"First thing I did when I realized what was happening was stock up," she says as she takes out two cans of soup for us.

Tristan chuckles. "Good thinking. The first thing we did was get away from that hellhole." I smile in order to not look awkward. We make it sound it was easy.

A little while later, Lara brings each of us a warm bowl of soup which, might I add, smells amazing.

"Thank you so much," I say. I push aside all my worrisome thoughts and remind myself to just focus on what's in front of me.

"Thanks Lara," Tristan says, then adds with a smile. "I see you learned to make something other than cereal."

She laughs and waves a hand dismissively. "Shut up."

I'm too busy stuffing my face to do anything so that's what I continue doing while she and Tristan talk. How will he tell her that we won't be staying? I glance up and smile at Lara. She seems happy that I'm enjoying the food. What if she wants to come too? Then I remember her ill mother. Guess we'll see.

I get up to put my bowl in the sink and decide to wash it, too. After I'm done I come take my seat again, waiting for Tristan to finish but he seems to be taking his time.

Lara notices the bandages on his arm and asks about it.

Tristan doesn't waste a second in telling a good lie about how it happened. "I'm lucky that bastard's bullet only grazed me," he says, then nods towards me. "I'm fine, though, thanks to her." Nothing changes in his eyes.

"Ahh, damn." Lara looks over to me. "Seems like you did a pretty good job."

I smile then look down. "Well, thanks." Hopefully she doesn't suggest replacing the bandages. Bullets don't leave large gashes. Why is he keeping all this from her anyway?

After what seems like ages for me, Tristan is finally done and Lara takes the bowl from him. He mutters a thank you and gets up, meeting my eyes when she has turned around. I nod subtly.

"We're really grateful that you offered to let us stay, Lara," he starts. "But I'm afraid we can't."

"I had a feeling you would say that," she replies over her shoulder. She sets the bowl down and turns to face us, her eyes swerving from me to Tristan. "Are you sure? You could at least stay the night."

She seems more concerned about him than about me but that only makes sense. He replies for me. "Yeah. We really shouldn't. I still think there's gotta be answers out there."

I'm a little surprised he says this, considering there's no guarantees we'll be able to return. No guarantees we'll be able to return. My own words give me chills.

Lara is quiet for a moment, then looks up. "Okay. But you need anything, you come right back here, yeah?" I can see the concern written plainly across her face.

Tristan nods and gives her a hug. "Thanks for always looking out for me."

She shrugs, giving the best smile she can. "Somebody has to." Lara looks over to me and briefly touches my arm. "Stay safe."

My lips curl up into a genuine smile and I nod. "Thanks. I will."

Tristan is already at the door waiting for me and I go join him, putting my boots back on. They give each other one final nod before we head out. As I step outside, only now do I feel my gun's weight again at my waist. The familiar feeling of uncertainty returns and a million questions fly through my head. I look over at Tristan, not sure if we're stupid or brave.

"How will we ever be able to leave this city?" I ask him. And still in one piece. Neither of us has any belongings in particular. Or anything, really, now that I think about it.

He glances at me and waits a moment before responding. We retrace our footsteps and I realize we're making our way back to where we came from.