Perhaps We'll Meet Another Day

Making Concessions

Law could see the confusion in Lexi's eyes as soon as she woke up that morning. His back leaning against one of the cubicle walls, sword sat across his lap, her movement had shifted his gaze from the doorway to the stairs back to her sleeping form. The brunette had a habit of tossing and turning in her sleep to begin with, as he'd noticed throughout that night, but this seemed a bit different than the ones before.

She rubbed at her face and stretched, then blinked a few times when the light streaming in through the second-floor window was brighter than she'd anticipated.

Her brow furrowed immediately.

"No one woke me for watch?" She asked, propping herself on one elbow.

He shook his head, not saying anything. Lexi sat up straighter, tugging the blanket around her body to keep out the chill. Before he could go back to his task, she peered into his face and her frown deepened.

"Did you watch the whole night?"

He didn't have to answer, as the weariness behind his eyes and his silence were proof enough. She sighed, shaking her head.

"You're gonna be dead on your feet today, Law."

"I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway." He reasoned. "I thought it better to let you all get your rest. Besides, I've never been a stranger to insomnia."

She met his gaze for a few seconds. "It's because of Brittany, right?"

Law wasn't sure how she would take his answer, uncertain how she was feeling about the black-haired woman and her entourage downstairs, but felt it was pointless to lie. He nodded.

Lexi mirrored the gesture, looking down at her lap solemnly, before scooting over to sit beside him. He moved his sword so it wouldn't accidentally injure her. For a few minutes, they just sat there, waiting for the boys to wake up. It was still a bit early to go out to scavenge, and since Penguin had been drinking quite a bit, he knew that even a few extra minutes of sleep would go a long way towards his inevitable hangover.

"I don't know what to do about her." Lexi said suddenly, but didn't look at Law when he glanced her way. The brunette looked distraught just by profile alone. "Especially if she asks me to go with her."

Something panged deep in Law's chest when she mentioned what he'd been worrying about all night long. Watching them talk and seeing Lexi slowly warm up to having Brittany around was causing him more grief than he'd care to admit.

And even when he was left alone with his swirling thoughts while on watch, he couldn't help but wonder if Lexi would leave them to go with her, if given the opportunity. They'd grown close to her in the past several months of surviving together, but perhaps that didn't hold up so well when compared to the bond of her former best friend.

"Why is that?" He ventured to ask, wanting to know her thoughts on the matter.

Lexi shrugged. "I've never been particularly good at telling her no, and whenever I did, she had some good reason why I should."

"That sounds like manipulation."

"I know." She sighed. "I always told myself that Brittany had my best interests at heart, and that I would be more like everyone else if I followed her lead. She grew up in the rich, social family. I grew up poor with my grandmother who had PTSD after my parents died. I figured maybe her good fortune would rub off on me eventually."

"What made you two friends? You don't seem to have much in common." He stated.

Lexi tucked her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "We were both in the medical program in college, and we both liked running. We'd bump into each other on runs sometimes, and we eventually just decided to start running together. We hung out all the time after that."