We Tell Each Other Everything

After taking her inhaler and a drink from a water bottle Amber had in her bedroom to help rinse out her mouth, Tara's asthma settled down. With that problem fixed she had another one to try to figure out. She took a few steps over to Amber's door but before Amber could begin to follow her she locked the door quietly. Amber seemed surprised but waited for Tara to speak. She was not expecting this. Tara hobbled over to Amber in her crutches until they were standing only a foot apart.

"Amber, please! Tell me what's going on," Tara pleaded, looking up at the taller girl with big brown sad eyes.

"... I can't," Amber quietly said as she turned her head to the side and began staring at the floor.

"Look at me," Tara said softly, to which Amber immediately responded as if under her hypnosis. The taller hazel eyed girl was now looking deeply into the shorter girl's brown eyes. "Please, you know you can tell me anything. We've always told each other everything."

Amber crossed her arms. "Then how come you're suddenly leaving town and won't even tell me where you're going?" It came out with more harshness than Amber wanted it to. It hurt her more than she wanted it to.

Tara opened her mouth to argue back but stopped herself. I mean, Amber had a good point, and the hypocrisy wasn't lost on Tara. She was supposed to be Amber's best friend but here she was leaving her behind in a town with two masked killers on the loose? Tara considered mentioning that she was only keeping it a secret because Sam wanted her to, but wasn't exactly something Amber wanted to hear right now.

"Sam is taking me to Modesto," Tara confessed.

"MODESTO!" Amber angrily repeated back. That was over a two hour drive away, and Amber and Tara hadn't spent a single day apart in forever.

"It's just temporary! Until the Ghostface attacks stop!" Tara tried to reassure Amber.

"... And you weren't going to tell me?" Amber said, the anger now gone from her voice, sounding small and hurt.

Suddenly the doorknob jiggled, and after an unsuccessful attempt to open the locked door Sam yelled something like "Open the fucking door! Guys what the fuck?" but Amber and Tara just stood there in silence until Sam gave up after 30 seconds.

Tara grabbed Amber's arm, "come with us," she offered.

"What?" a confused Amber replied.

"Come with us. I want you to come to Modesto with us," Tara's voice now hopeful.

"... Won't Sam murder me?" Amber questioned.

"I won't let her," Tara replied giving her a reassuring smile.

"But... Why do you want me to come with you?" Amber questioned, still skeptical.

"Because I want to protect you! I don't want to leave you," Tara told her sincerely. A flash of vulnerability came on Amber's face, but it was quickly replaced with an anxious look. "I'm sorry for not telling you where we were going before," Tara continued, "Can you tell me what's bothering you now?"

Amber once again turned her head away from Tara, this time opting to stare at the ceiling. She thought for a bit before speaking but the decision was pretty clear to her. Tara meant a lot more to her than Richie fucking kirsch and his stupid plan. "It's Richie," Amber said quickly, hoping Tara didn't hear her.

"What?" Tara responded in confusion. She had no idea where this was going.

"Yeah," was the only reply Amber could give, while still staring at the ceiling.

"Richie, like, Sam's boyfriend?" but as Tara was confirming this, her mind immediately went into the worst case scenarios. After Amber nodded her head Tara started to get furious. What the fuck did that man do to her bestfriend?

Speaking of Richie, Amber remembered he was supposed to be doing some Ghostface attack right now. Why was it taking so long? "What a fucking loser" Amber thought to herself.

"What did he do to you?" demanded Tara. She sounded the angriest Amber had ever heard her. It was kind of adorable, as if five foot tall girl in crutches was ready to square up against Richie.

Amber turned her head back to face Tara but she couldn't say it. She had never admitted it to herself until now.

"Amber... what did he do to you?" Tara's voice was still angry but with a growing mixture of concern for her. Amber still remained silent.

"Did he?..." Tara asked a third time. Her head was spinning as she asked.

"Yeah," Amber told her, sounding numb, followed by what felt like an eternity of silence as Tara was absorbing the information.

"When?" Tara, asked breaking the silence. She was getting emotional but trying her best to hold it together for Amber.

"Um, a couple days ago," Amber said flatly. Which was true, but she prayed Tara would stop prying for more info. She couldn't believe she was telling her this.

"When did this start?" Tara asked, persisting in her questions.

Oh fuck. "4 years ago..." Amber finally confessed. She knew she couldn't turn back now.

"But I thought you just met him?" Tara said, almost more like confirming the statement rather than a question.

"Tara... I lied," Amber said, making brief eye contact with Tara before turning her head away. She could feel her eyes starting to shed tears. She once again returned to looking at the ceiling. "I'm terrified of him."

"It's okay, I understand," Tara reassured her as she hugged Amber with one arm and kissed her cheek softly. "You're safe now, you're safe with me."

Amber wanted this moment to last forever, But she knew if she wanted to keep her loved ones safe she had to tell her one more thing. "Tara, Richie is Ghostface."

Tara looked at her, as seriousness suddenly overtook her face. "I'll kill him," Tara promised her.

Amber then caught Tara up quickly on what she had been keeping a secret, and the two made a plan. Richie's movie was about to be cut short.

Notes:
Amber looked so hurt when Tara doesn't tell her where she's going with Sam. I wondered what would happen if Tara asked Amber to come with them. What do you think would have happened?

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