Fezco was smoking a blunt outside the station when Lulu showed up. He didn't need to look at her twice to understand something had happened. He had known her for a few years now. And it was probably one of the first times she seemed this shaken up. She wasn't crying, she didn't even have puffy eyes. On the contrary, she seemed particularly distant, lost in her thoughts.

But she softened when she made eye contact with Fezco. She removed her helmet and put it on the handlebar before walking towards him.

"Can't live without me or what?" Fezco said with a smile.

"Shut up," Lulu breathed out, "I just wanted to hang out."

Fezco chuckled and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her in his embrace. She rapidly put her head in the crook of his neck, relaxing in his arms as she smiled when he kissed her temple.

She pulled away, smiling, "Thanks..."

"Always there for ya," he said simply, "By the way, turn around."

Ashtray walked out and he gave the girl a bright smile as she cocked her head to the side in confusion. Slowly, she turned around, not noticing what was going on at first. But a billboard finally caught her attention. It was just a few feet away from the gas station and big enough for people to see it clearly from afar.

The movie poster was displayed on it.

Now, she had seen the poster on a few billboards during her three days out of town for work. But it was the first time she would see one here. The place where she lived. As if it finally existed everywhere. That it was real.

Lulu's eyes were slightly glossy when she faced the two boys, "That's cool..."

"Dope, ya mean!" Ashtray said, "I'll steal it."

Lulu chuckled, "What? The poster?"

"Yeah! You look so badass on it."

Fezco nodded in approval, "You never said the movie'd look so cool."

"Well, I mean... You might hate it you know?" Lulu said with a laugh, "And... don't steal that poster bro, I have a few at home, I'll give you one," she said to Ashtray.

"You sign it though," Ashtray replied, "It will pay the bills when you famous."

Lulu laughed out loud, slapping him on the arm, "Shut up, dork."

"We getting free tickets to see it, right?" Fezco asked jokingly.

But Lulu nodded as she pulled a soda can out of the fridge, "Yeah, you're both on the list for the first viewing."

"Wait, you serious?" Fezco asked, "I was jokin' you know."

"Yeah, I'm serious," Lulu said as she pulled a cigarette and started smoking as some customers pulled over.

Fezco and Lulu shared a knowing glance and the girl gave him a small smile before watching him disappear inside the store with a tall guy. She pulled out her phone and decided to text Rue one more time.

yo rue

u okay?

idk whats going on

but im worried so if

you could just tell me you're alive

i miss you so much

i love you

A car honk made the girl jump up in fear as she recognized Nate's car. Fezco was already outside as Maddy let out a small giggle at the sight of one of her close friends.

"Can you get me a mango La Croix? And those cherry rolling papers?" Maddy asked as Nate nodded.

"Anything else?"

Maddy shook her head before clapping her hands excitedly at Lulu, "Bitch, bitch, bitch! Those posters are everywhere!"

Lulu gave her a warm hug, "I know, that shit's crazy!"

The two girls caught up for a few minutes before Nate was back outside with a hard look on his face. Lulu was quick to glance at Fezco who seemed as unphased as usual. Nate tapped on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Movie looks awesome, I can't wait to go watch it."

"Thanks, Nate."

He lowered his face to get a little closer from her ear, "But... you shouldn't hang out with this dude, imagine if your career vanished because people found out you're friends with a drug dealer, uh?"

Lulu stepped aside, giving him a death glare, "Say something like this one more time and I make you eat the ground."

Nate faltered for a second, seeing Lulu seemed ready to take action instantly, and then let out a laugh, "Yo, chill, I was kidding."

Lulu kept her eyes on him until he sat on the driver's seat of his car and left the gas station, making sure he knew she wasn't joking around.

... ... ...

Lulu was cleaning her bedroom when her phone started ringing. She frowned when she saw Gia's name on her lockscreen. She picked up the phone with a shaky hand —recalling that one time Gia had called to tell her Rue had overdosed.

"Hello?" she said with a small voice, "Is everything okay?"

"Hey Lulu, it's—it's okay, Rue has a kidney infection," Gia explained, "She's in the hospital."

"Oh fuck... I'll be right there."

And she arrived at the hospital ten minutes later with an increasing heartbeat. Her palms were sweaty and she navigated through the halls uncertainly as she tried to calm herself, seeing black dots everywhere.

When she opened the room door, she breathed out at the sight of her friend awake and visibly alright. Jules was laying on the bed next to her, playing with Rue's hair soothingly.

"Lulu!" Rue exclaimed with wide eyes.

Lulu's lips trembled, "You scared the hell out of me." And she lunged forward, holding her strongly in her arms and giving her a kiss on the cheek as Rue chuckled in her neck.

"I'm not leaving you anytime soon," Rue said with a smile.

Lulu gulped, trying not to think of all the times Rue didn't check on her or ignored her text messages, and looked up with a bright smile on her face, "You better not."

"I'd haunt you anyways," Rue added.

Lulu looked over at Jules, giving her a side hug, "Didn't see you in forever, how are ya?"

Jules shrugged, "I guess I needed some time off."

"Yeah, I get it," Lulu replied, "It can get a bit morbid around here."

Lulu wanted to stay and spend some time with Rue but she started feeling out of place. As if she didn't belong with Rue whenever Jules was around. And the worst part was that Lulu had no resentment towards Jules, she thought the girl was nice and funny. She didn't know her very well but seeing her this close from Rue made her realize Rue didn't need her that much anymore.

When Lulu decided to leave Jules and I alone, I could feel in the look she gave me that she was looking for a sign of what we had before. She was looking for that connection we had built for years. And I knew it was somewhere. I fucking knew it. I mean... I could die for Lulu and she could die for me.

Lulu turned around to look at Rue one last time before leaving the room, hoping to see what was left of their relationship.

But she didn't see anything because I didn't show it to her. I didn't show her how much I loved her because I thought that, no matter what, Lulu would never give up on us.

Maybe I was wrong.

( )

a/n okay so you all hate me for what im creating between lulu and rue right? i hate myself even more.