Chapter One Hundred Twenty: The Friendship

As both Penny and Keera enjoyed their drinks, they barely noticed someone new entering the tavern. A small, older lady, covered in various furs, so much so that she looked like a different creature entirely. The older lady walked over to the bar, and sat down directly beside Penny.

" Strong Twist" The older lady ordered the bar tender who began preparing the drink for the woman. Penny continued drinking as the older lady turned to Penny and smiled " How are you doing dear? "

" I am fine" Penny lied, not wanting to open up to a stranger or even friends at this point. All she wanted was to drink and try to forget the pain she was in.

" If you don't want to talk about it, that is perfectly okay dear. But you just seem stressed" the lady took her drink from the bar tender and proceeded to gulp down her drink in almost an instant.

" Yeah, well there is a lot to stress about in life but I'll be fine" Penny had no intention of furthering communication with the woman. And instead tried once again to simply focus on her drink.

"if there is one thing I've learned in my life time, drinking won't solve your problems" the older lady chirped.

Penny sighed and finally turned to the old lady. " Yeah well if that's true then why are you in here, drinking? " Penny barked.

The old lady giggled and then took a sip of her drink " I am here to have fun, not to forget. I am far too old and far too satisfied with my decisions to have any regrets" The lady chirped happily.

" Well that's good for you" Penny rolls her eyes, the drinks were finally hitting her, making her feel lightheaded.

" I suppose there is truth there" The old lady laughed. " But you are young and you have your whole life ahead of you. Just make sure you don't forget too much, because you won't learn anything if you choose to constantly forget" the old lady's word were barely reaching Penny a this point. She had no intention of listening to this woman.

" Can we please stop talking? I'm just trying to enjoy my drink" Penny turned away from the woman, now facing Keera who had remained completely silent during the conversation.

" Can we actually just go? " Penny asked Keera who nodded and stood back to her feet. Keera had managed to hold her drinks pretty well and was able to walk moderately stable whilst Penny was struggling to stand to her feet. Keera placed Penny's arm around her neck to offer support and helped her leave the tavern.

" So the drinks didn't help much? " Keera questioned as Penny's body started going slightly limp.

" It helped..I think" Penny answered, slightly slurring her speech.

" That lady wouldn't leave me alone though. She..is a stu- stupid lady" Penny felt as though she was going to puke but couldn't find the right words to be able to communicate that to Keera.

" Well I'm sorry.." Keera struggled to hold Penny up but did the best she could. She knew she couldn't make the pain go away but this was the best idea she could come up with at the time.

" I just..don't..I dont..I don't want to be alone" Penny shoved Keera away and wobbled and maintained her balance despite almost falling several times.

" I know you don't. I don't want you to be alone either" Keera spoke softly.

" You don't get it. You don't understand the stress I'm under" Penny shouted, which drew mild amounts of attention from the surrounding Lycans.

" I know I don't get it. But I want too. I want to be here for you but you have to let me" Keera pleaded which seemed to catch Penny's attention as she now managed to maintain eye contact with Keera.

" You want to get it? You want to understand? My mom is dead. My dad is someone I barely know and don't have time to even to know..I have a job to do" Penny shouted.

" You have us though. And we are going to help you. You don't have to do everything on your own.." Keera answered.

" EMBER LEFT! YES I DO! " Penny was angry, tears pouring down her face, finally losing control over her emotions.

" Well I won't leave.." Keera stepped foward and took Penny into her arms and hugged her tightly.

" I won't leave..I promise" Keera's reaffirmed as Penny cried into Keera's shoulder.

" I don't want to care about you. I don't want to be friends with you and then everything gets complicated. I can't be like the others " Penny cried. Though she was scared of being alone, she was scared of being hurt even more and to her, that would forever be her burden.

" Well, whether you feel that way or not, I'm going to be here for you to bond with or not. You don't have to believe that, just wait and see for yourself" Keera held Penny tightly, not wishing to let her go until the tears stopped, no matter how long it took.

" Don't let me go.." Penny finally asked, which surprised Keera but comforted her all the same. She would never let Penny go if she could. She wanted to make sure Penny would be safe forever, and would do whatever she could to ease her pain.

" Girls? " Shawn called out from the distance which made both turn to see him standing in the middle of the street.

" Yeah we are here..we are fine. Just a little drunk" Keera answered as Shawn approached.

" You got my daughter drunk? " Shawn asked, with a commanding tone which made Keera fearful that she had upset him.

" She was upset and I thought it might help. Nothing happened though. We just left the tavern " Keera explained hoping that it would be a sufficient answer.

" Well as long as she saved that's all it matters. Now, we are gonna have to stay here for a little while but when we leave, Lysette will not be coming with us. She has duties here that she must take on" Shawn explained.

" Yeah..fine" Penny replied as she felt her throat start to burn and her tongue began growing increasingly heavy.

" Well - " Just as Keera was about to speak, Penny, completely sprayed down Keera with her vomit. It was disgusting and smelled even worse and Keera, despite being coated on her back in vomit, held onto Penny and sighed.

" Well...that happened"