You Can Take It Off (When You're Ready) [Twenty One Pilots]

Chapter Three: There was no way...

From the front seat of Tyler's car, Lena was casually watching people pass by, the open window allowing her to enjoy the fresh breeze on her skin. The weather was kind of nice, and with a smile, Lena realized she'd never thought of the weather so much before she came to live in Ohio. There must be something in the wind that made people ponder on the weather when they were here. Maybe they always expected rain, but Ohio springs were still pretty pleasurable and, shifting slightly to get more comfortable, Lena let her hand hang out from the passenger window, letting her skin soak in the sun.

For someone who was still crying barely an hour ago, Lena felt pretty good right now. Tyler had picked her up at the motel and he, too, seemed to be okay. At least he was smiling and being friendly, unlike the last time Lena had seen him. He even suggested they grabbed coffee before going to that apartment Lena had to visit, hence the girl waiting in the car for him to bring back their beverages. 

"You came back!" A voice came out of nowhere, making Lena jump in her seat and back away from the window instinctively. The silhouette of a young woman was bending slightly to look at her through the open window, and Lena resisted the urge to close it, but she figure it wouldn't be the most polite move. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and inspected the woman waiting outside, looking excitedly back at her. 

She was wearing a dark grey apron over black pants and a white button-down shirt. Her eyes were a piercing blue, and her hair, tied up in a messy bun, was a bright bleach blonde. Needless to say she was pretty hot, and Lena wouldn't probably have recognized her if it weren't for the mole right at the corner of her mouth.

"Hannah?" she whispered, her mouth dry. 

"I knew you'd came back!" the girl offered for only response. She jumped excitedly, then bent over some more, leaning her right arm over the window. 

Lena was in awe. That girl was far from the one she'd seen more than a year ago, in that same city, when she came to look after her long lost cousin and her father - uncle Rick. With Zack Joseph's help, she had finally found them, after some painful research through City Hall official documents she wasn't even allowed to see, but her hopes of getting her last family members back together crushed to the ground the minute she entered the tiny apartment Hannah and Rick were living in. The girl was then drugged out of her mind, even sniffing some coke on the coffee table under Lena's astonished eyes, and uncle Rick didn't even recognize his niece and nearly groped her ass like the disgusting pig he was. 

But Hannah was radiant today. She seemed to have got her shît back together, and she seemed genuinely happy to see Lena. So much so that she was even blabbering about how she was sober and was now working at the diner at the corner of that street, and it warmed Lena's heart to see that you could hit rock bottom and still be able to get your life back on track. Hannah gave her hope. 

But suddenly, as quickly as she'd started talking, she stopped, looking around her nervously. Her hands shaking a little, she fumbled through her bag and got out a small notebook. She quickly scribbled something on a page, then tore it out and handed it to Lena.

"Here. Call me soon, I uh... I have to go now. I'm glad you're here," she blurted before rushing away and disappearing at the corner of the street, under Lena's bewildered eyes.

"Who was that?" Another voice, deeper this time, made Lena jump again and she set her hand on her fast-beating heart, hoping this would not become a habit. She patiently waited for Tyler to enter the car to open her mouth,  yet she didn't know what to say. 

Did she want to tell him right away that the girl was Hannah? Tyler knew about what happened a year before, and Lena guessed he wouldn't be pleased if she suddenly started to hang out with a drug addict. Lena didn't want him to believe that she was jumping headfirst into problems that were not hers to solve - even though Hannah's life may not be problematic anymore. But she didn't want to hide things from him again. She had already much more on her plate than she could handle, and adding that on the top would probably end up making her sick. Hopefully, Tyler spoke before she could even form a sentence.