Dedicated to Mo hazelgracewaters for writing stuff that hits you in your soul and for being THE most helpful person ever.

Imogen stepped foot outside the LaGuardia and was now heading for the subway. It almost came as a habit to her, she stopped in her tracks and instantly pushed that thought out of her mind when she realized how ridiculous that sounded, deciding that the situation she was in wasn't a particularly good time to be economical and take the subway, she turned around and hailed a cab.

Soon enough she was in a cab and having already spouted off the address to the young cabbie who introduced himself as Blake, she leaned against the backseat to take a deep breath. She had always been the responsible one out of the two of them, sure she went rogue sometimes but hardly ever failed to gauge the gravity of the situation and act accordingly, but this was one of the times when she couldn't care less about what she left behind. She had to be at work tomorrow for the meeting called for the Editorial Department of the publishing house she worked with. However, her parents had ingrained in her ever since she was a child, "Family trumps all," and it was never once questioned whether Jane made the cut, because it was apparent that she did.

Glancing at her wrist, she realized that it was well past midnight, she needed to hurry and the drive was taking forever. After deliberating over her options, she decided to take action when the cab hit the first red light.

She chewed the insides of her cheeks, a childhood habit she never shook off and leaned forward through the Plexiglas to speak with the cabbie who had just gotten off phone with someone.

"How much longer?" she asked the cabbie who appeared to be barely over the legal driving age.

Imogen had been expecting a curt reply the moment those words left her tongue because she herself could sense the tone of annoyance in them but the young boy was surprisingly soft spoken in his reply. He took a glance in the rear-view mirror and told her that it would take them a little more than another half an hour to get to their destination.

The cabbie's soft tone made her wonder if he would follow through with what she was about to ask him to.

"Say Blake," she said with a smirk, "are you up for an adventure?"

The only reply she received was an eyebrow raise, feigning confusing but willing her to go on.

"How fast can you get me to Hesperus Heights?"

"I just told y-"

"No," she interrupted, "honestly, how much longer?" She urged.

Blake seemed unconvinced and said that if the luck was on their side, the traffic wouldn't be much thick and they would get there in thirty minutes at best.

"Even if I tip you ten bucks over the fare?"

That caught his attention and Imogen was ready to hear something along the lines of "sorry miss, can't risk my license" which she would have completely understood but instead he turned around, smiled and said, "you got it!"

What followed was the most thrilling car ride she had ever taken; she could swear Blake had the flair of a NASCAR driver.

And about twenty minutes later, the cab was pulling up by the apartment complex and the grin on Blake's face rivaled that of the Cheshire cat.

She payed her cab fare and the promised tip and thanked him for the service.

As she made her way to Jane's flat taking two stairs at once, she was still pumping with the adrenaline from the thrill of the cab ride.

It dawned on Imogen that she was at a complete loss of words when she had already rung the bell to Jane's flat.

Moments later, the door opened and Jane's tear streaked face with her mascara-tinted cheeks came into view. Somehow, at that moment Imogen didn't need the aid of words to comfort her best friend, a tight embrace was enough.

Having moved to the kitchen, Imogen was now preparing Lemon Balm Tea for Jane who had been a Tea buff for as long as Gen could remember. Meanwhile, Jane sat on one of the stools and looked sadly at a dilapidated article that Gen guessed was once a toy.

Maybe that was a gift from Dally. She thought.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye to him Gen," Jane said with a heavy voice and fresh tears leaked out of her eyes as she continued, "I was at the studio when I got the call."

Gen moved around the Kitchen Island with the cup of tea in her hand and a question on her mind.

How did he die? She wanted to ask.

However, before she could, Jane said in a small voice, "I could see that he was feeling under the weather so I took him to Dr. Hartmann yesterday and they admitted him right away and told me he was going to be okay." Jane was fully sobbing as she continued, "And this evening when I was rehearsing with Madame Dupont, they called me and said that Dally had been suffering from parvo and had passed a few minutes ago."

Jane's fingers were now fiddling with what was left of that trinket as Gen rubbed her back to soothe her.

However, when Imogen registered the information that Jane had divulged, she was in a state of befuddlement.

"I didn't know humans had that disease." Gen had wondered aloud.

Jane turned her head towards Imogen with a perfect eyebrow raised and confusion clear on her features.

"Oh come on! I think we both agreed that Dalton wasn't a reincarnation of one of the Greek gods," said Imogen with a little chuckle in hopes of lifting Jane's mood.

With that, Jane had turned around so that she was now facing Imogen completely, a mixture of anger, hurt and exasperation evident on her face.

"Why the hell would you bring up that cheating arse Dalton? That too when my precious Beagle Dallas died a few hours ago!"

Imogen just stood there for a minute, grasping for words.

"You... I-" she struggled but the words just wouldn't come to her.

"Dally's, as in your dog Dallas' death is the reason why I rushed here, worried out of my mind at night on a Tuesday?"

"Yeah," came Jane's reply as she stared at Imogen unblinking.

The gears in Imogen's brain turned as she remembered her meeting scheduled for tomorrow, which she had every intention of not going to after she had heard Jane on the phone. She remembered the half-read manuscripts lying on her coffee table with her uneaten takeout dinner, a thought popped into her mind whether she remembered to flip the light switch off on her way out. But she pushed all of them aside as she said the next words.

"It's a good thing you're my best friend and I know enough about law to have sense not to attempt a cold blooded murder."

"I'm your best-friend?" asked Jane conveniently ignoring everything else in that sentence.

"Why are you saying it like it's a question?"

"We haven't tal-" Jane said avoiding Gen's eye.

"And despite that you called me." Gen said curtly.

"It didn't even occur to me Gen. I am so sorry for worrying you like this, I shouldn't ha-"

"Just drink the tea," said Imogen with a small smile and proceeded to take a sip from her own.

Maybe it was the tea or maybe it was that moment that made both their hearts lighter. They were huddled on the Kitchen Island like there wasn't a valley of issues between them, like they weren't more than 200 miles apart, living completely different lives. Like they were back to being the sixteen year old teens gushing over a celebrity's looks, making plans for the summer.

Maybe they were, maybe they weren't but at least they were together and on the road to finding their way back into back other's lives.

___

parvo: (parvovirus) disease found in dogs, that can prove to be lethal and cause death in a short span of about 72 hours.

___

So that's that. I hope I did a little justice to their friendship. XD

With this my first-ever story on Wattpad stands completed.

I hope you liked it :)