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CHAPTER NINE: FULL PINK MOON - PART FOUR
For a frozen moment, Dawn felt like the air was sucked from her lungs, her blood drained from her veins. Panicked, she stared into Russ’s eyes, her gaze clinging to his desperately.
When he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand reassuringly, she felt her breath rush back in. She was safe. She was fine. Russ was here. They were in public. She was fine. She swallowed hard, gripped Russ’s hand tight and steeled herself, before turning. “Tucker.”
But her heart sank as she saw Marci, with her arm tucked around Tucker’s uninjured bicep nervously while she fiddled with her sunglasses uncomfortably. Her snakes whipped their heads about hers, noticing the other patrons’ gazes on them. “Let’s just go back to our table, okay?”
Tucker, ignoring her with a cold mockery of charm, shook off Marci to grab a nearby chair. “Or we could join you two,” he said, the scrap of metal across concrete making Dawn’s heart race. “Make a date of it.” Dawn sucked in a shaky breath as she saw how his hand white-knuckled the wrought iron back. “You know, now that we all have the time.”
Dawn’s jaw clenched at having her words thrown in her face again, bitter anger now coursing through her fear. How dare he come here and berate her for choosing the person she wanted rather than him! And in front of Russ and Marci, who definitely didn’t deserve this.
Tension wrapped around Russ’s fingers, like he was using every ounce of his strength to hold her hand gently instead of fisting them into claws that itched to strike. And, poor Marci! Even behind her mirrored lenses, Dawn swore she could see the heartbreak and humiliation in her gaze. She hated that this one pushy, arrogant, insufferable jerk had the ability to do that to them. What the hell gave him the right?
No. She refused to give him that power anymore. Jutting her chin defiantly, she smiled, meeting his friendly farce of a face with the genuine joy she felt whenever she was with Russ. “Sorry, we weren’t planning to stay long. Just kinda eat and run.” She turned back to Russ, feeling her gaze instinctively warm. “We’ve got other plans.” Her grin widened when Russ’s grasp relaxed into hers. She looked — as sincerely as possible — right at Marci, who stiffened in response as her hair rattled and she wrapped tight arms around herself. “I really do hope you have a wonderful evening.”
After they left with a pouting huff, Dawn didn’t let go of Russ’s hand until their food came. They finished their meals quickly, ravenous for other things. While Russ settled the bill, Dawn hurried to the bathroom.
She gasped as she opened the door to see Marci crying in front of the mirror, a handful of crumpled paper towels on her hands. Quickly, the medusa shielded her uncovered eyes. “Don’t look at me!”
“Sorry!” Dawn shut the door again. But she couldn’t let go of the handle. She couldn’t leave Marci like that. At the very least, she ought to guard the door, so no one else wandered in, risking being turned to stone all because Marci — like everyone did sometimes — just needed a moment to be vulnerable.
But Marci also deserved her privacy. She had to imagine Dawn had to be the absolute worst person to witness Marci’s pain. As her hooves skittered on the tiled floor, Dawn bit her lip and wondered what to do.
She felt the door being pushed open. Tripping over her own legs like a newborn fawn, she hurried to move out of the way. But Marci didn’t step out. Only held the door open a crack. “Well, do you need to go or not?”
Not knowing what else to do — she did need to use the restroom — Dawn entered again, keeping her gaze averted. But, when she peeked in the mirror, she saw Marci had her glasses back in place. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Interrupt?” Marci scoffed, still blotting her runny nose. “You make it sound like I was putting on some kind of show.”
“Sorry.” Dawn cringed. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Marci sighed and hung her head. “Yeah, I know.” She turned to her, her bottom lip quivering. “It’s not your fault. I just…” She bent her head low and tucked the paper towel up underneath her glasses awkwardly. “I’m sorry for what I said to you. I thought he was different. I really believed what he told me, even when it didn’t sound like you.” She shrugged and readjusted her glasses before looking at Dawn. “Have you ever believed something, not because it sounded true, but because it felt true?” She shook her head. “God, that sounds stupid.”
“No,” Dawn rushed to say as she took a step closer, “it doesn’t. I get it.” She shuffled her hooves and shrugged. “He’s very good at telling you what he thinks you want to hear.”
“But none of it was true, was it?” Marci let out a shuddering sigh. “He was supposed to pick me up today, so we could go to the movies. I bought tickets and even planned to sneak out a little early so we could have time to get popcorn and drinks.” She shook her head, her snakes writhing wildly. “But then he saw your boyfriend come in...” The look on her face, the crack in her trembling voice, was devastating. “It was like I’d disappeared; all he cared about was following you two, seeing where you were going and what you were doing.” It was like watching her heart break. “I really thought he was different. Most men — most people — never even look at me; I don’t even need a curse that would turn someone to stone. But here he was! This handsome, funny, nice guy — Mr. Fucking Right — smiling right at me.” A small sob escaped her choked throat. “But, looking back, all he really saw me as was a way to get back at you, wasn’t it? To — I don’t know — make you jealous or get your attention or just give him an excuse to be wherever you are. He never liked me; it was always about you.” She shoved her snakes back off her face roughly, making them hiss. “God, isn’t it bad enough that I can’t look anyone in the eye; is it really too much to ask for someone — for once — to see me?”
Dawn felt her own eyes tear. She hurried to one of the stalls and grabbed two fistfulls of toilet paper. She handed one to Marci. “I’m so sorry. No one should ever make you feel that way.”
Marci took it and started to laugh and sob at the same time. “Has anyone ever told you that you apologize too much?”
Dawn shrugged. “I’m still sorry you got sucked into this mess.”
Marci chuckled sardonically. “What the hell did you do to get him so stuck on you?”
Dawn rolled her eyes. “I wish someone could tell me so I could stop.”
“Guess even the cute magical girls have problems too, huh?”
Dawn snorted. “Pretty sure most of our problems could be blamed on the kind of jerks who try to shove us into stupid categories like cute and not cute.” She scowled. “Fuck those guys.”
Marci let out a bark of laughter, her snakes lifting happily. “Yeah, fuck ‘em.” They grinned at each other for a shared moment, before a look of dread crossed Marci’s face. “God, I really don’t want to go back out there.” She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “We’re not sixteen anymore; guess that means I can’t very well ditch him, right?”
Dawn scoffed. “We’re adults; pretty sure that means, as long as it won’t get you fired or arrested, we can do whatever we damn well please. And, God knows, he would deserve it, after the way he treated you.”
Marci laughed. “Don’t suppose you want to go see half a movie tonight?”
Dawn shook her head. “But, hey, a student of mine mentioned the Night Faire this weekend; Russ and I are planning to go. Are you going to be there?”
“Yeah.” Marci nodded. “I’m always there.”
“It’ll be my first time,” Dawn said. “And Russ rarely goes. You could show us around. Show us all the best stuff.”
“I’ll be selling my paintings all night,” Marci said. “But, if you swing by, I’ll see if I have time for a break. Show you some of my favorite things to see there.” She sighed. “At least, I will if I can somehow get out of this wreckage of a date without dying of shame. God, I didn’t even bring my car today, since Tucker was picking me up. I hate walking alone after dark.” She gestured to her glasses. “Poor night vision.”
“Tell you what,” Dawn said, “Russ and I have some time. Go tell Tucker goodnight and goodbye, then head to our table. We’ll walk you home.”
Marci shook her head. “You really don’t have to do that.” She took a weary breath. “I’ll be fine.”
Dawn smiled at her in solidarity. “I know you will. We’ll stay at our table until you either come over or leave; whatever you decide is good. Do what’s best for you. Either way, I can’t wait to see your art.”
Marci nodded gratefully at Dawn. “Thank you.” She dabbed her eyes again. “You’re a really good friend.”
* * *
Russ would not have thought it possible, but he couldn’t help smiling as he watched Dawn and Marci walking together and chatting — conspiring, really, by the looks of it — over everything they planned to do at the Night Faire. He was almost looking forward to it, if just so he could see that kind of joy — hear that almost mischievous laughter — from Dawn that her new friend seemed to coax out from her.
He knew a part of it was distraction. Before Marci had made her way to their table, asking if Dawn’s offer to walk her home was still good, the whole outdoor patio had heard the hateful things Tucker had yelled at her, the awful names he’d hurled at her as she walked away. Calling her pathetic and ugly and a stuck-up, lonely loser who stays home alone every night watching sad, boring-ass movies with subtitles, and who you can only fuck in the dark from behind with your eyes closed. It’d been enough to make Russ want to hit him again. Only the threat of that silver-plated jail cell and Dawn’s steadying hand had kept him in his seat.
On the one hand, it was nice to know Dawn wasn’t the only woman Tucker treated like trash and now the whole town knew it, or definitely would by morning. But on the other, that still made Tucker the kind of guy who was only nice to women when he thought he could get something out of it. Out of her.
Much as Russ had been waiting to get Dawn alone since… well, since she’d left his bed this morning, if he was being honest, he was glad she’d offered to have them walk Marci home. He was pretty sure both women needed this. The change in mood from the restaurant to now was practically miraculous. Dawn had a way of lifting anyone’s mood, for making the shittiest day a bit brighter.
Before leaving her new friend at her front door, they excitedly exchanged phone numbers and began to immediately send funny memes back and forth. Still laughing at their messages as he and Dawn walked back into his apartment, Dawn beamed up at him. “Have I told you how amazing you are?”
Russ raised a skeptical eyebrow at her, shaking his head as he shut the door. “I’m not really anything special.”
She walked up to him, her hips swaying as she backed him up against the door. She looked up at him hotly. “You are to me.” She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her. “Thank you for walking my friend home and for always making me feel safe and cared for.”
He leaned in, inhaling her intoxicating scent. “Pretty sure that’s just common decency.” It was the very least she deserved. He knew she was worth the very best and to see her gush over the bare minimum he could give her… it was humbling and made him feel grateful and so eager to always give her more.
She pressed her lips to his forehead. “I think…” His eyelids. “…you are…” His nose. “…uncommonly decent.” His lips. She grinned and pressed his face closer to hers. “And you sure are pretty, too.”
He chuckled low. “Don’t think anyone has ever said that to or about me.”
Dawn arched a look at him. “Decent?” She threaded her fingers into his hair. “Or pretty?”
He laughed, feeling drunk on her heated breath, and nuzzled closer. “Both.”
She touched his cheek, his jaw, his neck and chest. “Well, as the one looking at you right now, let me assure you, you very much are.”
God, he was glad she thought so. His lips widened into a wolfish smile. “Wanna see more?”
She laughed, low and lusty, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the bedroom. “See, I told you that you’re amazing.”
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