XIV. NO FEAR, DON'T YOU TURN

[ cw: mention of suicide, check the end for summary ]

The two of them decided to walk home from the party. They wanted to have some time alone, knowing that they could make an escape or kick some ass. They walk along the overpass, nobody is there. There's still the noisy traffic; Amara doesn't mind. Natasha takes her hand and laces it with her own.

"I love you so much," Natasha whispers. Amara smiles and turns to her, kissing her.

"I love y-" Amara sees a girl standing behind the railing of the overpass, her head on the banister. Amara let go of Natasha's hand and sprinted over to the girl who was now pushing herself onto the ledge. "Wait!" She calls. The girl looks back, tears running down her face. Amara gets to the girl who is now standing on the ledge. "Don't jump." Amara touches her foot. "Please. You deserve to live. I know it's hard right now, but you are loved more than you know. It's not okay right now, but it will be soon."

"It's okay, you can come down, we're not gonna hurt you," Natasha says, just as the girl turns around. Amara holds up her hand for the girl to take. She does and squats down, both Women helping support her as she touches the ground with her feet. She began to cry, wrapping her arms around Amara, both of them falling to the ground. Natasha comes to her knees, the girl still sobbing. Both spies rub her back and comfort her, Natasha whisper-singing her Russian lullaby while rocking the girl back and forth.

"What's your name sweetheart?" Amara asks once the girl has relaxed a little bit.

"Maddison," She says with a sniff.

"How old are you?" Natasha asks.

"17."

"Do you live with your parents?" Amara asks, rubbing her back. She shakes her head. "Do you live with a roommate?" She asks. "Or a friend? Maybe a relative?"

"I live with my grandma, I left my parents."

"And why may I ask?" Natasha asks.

"I'm transgender, and they kept using my deadname and male pronouns. So I left," Natasha nods.

"We know all about the whole families not accepting our thing," Nat says. "Here." Amara pulls a pen out of her purse and scribbles a phone number on the girl's hand.

"If you get any trouble or need help coming back off the ledge, please call this number and remember that you are not alone. You are beautiful Maddison, and nobody can tell you any different." Natasha nods along.

"Please call us if you ever feel this way again."Natasha helps both Maddison and Amara up. "do you want us to walk you home?"

"Yes please," Maddison says, walking next to Amara who wraps her arm around her. Natasha holds Amara's hand on the other side, as Maddison tells them how to get to her grandmother's apartment.

When they walk to the building, they all head up to the apartment, Natasha and Amara walking behind Maddison as they wait in the elevator. Maddison knocks on her grandma's door (she left her keys), and an older woman with a kind smile opens the door.

"Maddison?" She says. "Where were you? I was so worried!" Maddison collapses into her grandmother's arms and the two women stand outside as the old woman helps her granddaughter.

A few minutes go by, Natasha is drawing small circles on Amara's arm with her finger. The woman opens the door again and welcomes Amara and Natasha inside.

"Thank you so so much," She says. "My name is Gwen, can you tell me what happened?" So they do. They tell the whole story, and Gwen begins to cry. She'd made tea, and given it to the girls and was now sitting with the two. Maddison was in her bedroom, the door was open so they could all hear her crying. "You don't know what you've done today," Gwen says, placing her hand on Amara's and Natasha's. "You saved my granddaughter's life."

☾☼☽

They got home. Finally. Amara kicked off her heels and collapsed face-first on the bed, Natasha falling beside her, propping her head up with her hands. "I love you so much Ames," She says. Amara mumbles something.

"I love you too," She says, her voice muffled by the pillow. "I'm so tired, petite Amie, can you rub my feet?"

"Yes hang on one second," She says, getting up. Amara lifts her head to see her girlfriend walking away. A few moments later, she's back and Amara hears the squirting of lotion into Nat's hand. Ten she feels the cool cream on her feet and honestly could fall asleep right then and there. She was still wearing her dress and desperately needed it off.

"Natasha, bébé?"

"Ouais, mon amour?"

"Can I change?"

"oui," Nat says, letting go of her foot, and helping Amara unzip her dress. She threw on her llama pajama pants and a nearby shirt. She took off her bra and fell back onto the bed with a sigh of satisfaction. "Better?" She asks. She takes the muffled mumble as a yes and continues to rub her feet until unavoidably, they both fall asleep.

☾☼☽

Amara wakes up to the sound of a yelp, and a thud. "Amarrraaaaa," Natasha whines, making her snort.

"Did you roll off the bed?" Amara asks.

"Maybe," She says, embarrassment flooding through her.

"You stole my blankets love, I would like them back please," She puts her head over the edge to look down at her girlfriend. Her hair is sprawled out around her head, a smile, and a blush on her face.

"I get no sympathy for falling off the bed?" Nat asks. Amara smiles.

"No." She holds out her hand to help Natasha get up, and they fall back to sleep.

END OF PART ONE

Amara and Natasha walk home from the party and they come across a trans girl about to jump and they help her down the ledge