best tie up your lace and run
My fic for no_tags - Charlotte/Tennessee, runaways. I wouldn't have finished this were it not for egelantier and sylviaandthe, so thank you from the bottom of my heart, ladies. ♥ This is ~1100 words, rated PG (or thereabouts), and the title and cut-text come from Joel Plaskett's "Run, Run, Run."
best tie up your lace and run
It's been a long day: early morning bus rides followed by a day spent learning a new town, trying to scout out somewhere safe to go when night falls. They've only managed to make a few dollars today, busking on the sidewalk near a museum, and the bus tickets have left them broke, even more so than usual. Tennessee is hungry and exhausted and irritable; she loves the way they live, normally, but right now she'd consider trading it all for a pizza and a shower and a queen-sized mattress.
Instead she's got an empty stomach, greasy hair, and a sleeping bag pulled up tight around her shoulders, not to mention a growing headache from listening to Z and Charlotte bicker. It's not their first fight; it's not even their worst fight, but it's the first one they've ever managed to drag Tennessee into, though she still doesn't quite know what they're arguing about when she jumps in. "Jesus," she says, sitting up and rubbing at her scratching eyes with the heel of her palm. "I'm so sick of listening to the two of you fight like a couple of children. Grow up and stop fucking arguing over every little thing."
Z pauses at the interruption, looking a little sheepish, but Charlotte's eyes narrow a little and she kneels down, rolling up her sleeping bag and grabbing her backpack. "Fine," she says. "You want some peace and quiet, you've got it."
"Where are you going?" Z asks resignedly, and Charlotte shakes her head.
"You pick a fight with me every chance you get, and my best friend never bothers to back me up. You're crazy if you think I'm staying where I'm not wanted."
The words sting - it might be true that Tennessee stays out of their fights as a general rule, but that's only because their disagreements are usually too complicated for her to make heads or tails of, full of biting, cryptic comments that reference discussions she wasn't a part of, past events that she apparently missed out on. "That's not true," she says anyway, because if nothing else, Charlotte should know she's not unwanted.
"Fuck you, Tennessee," Charlotte says, barely sparing her a glance before turning to leave. "You're just as bad as she is."
*
Tennessee has no idea what she's supposed to say to Z, or even what she wants to say. Z, for her part, is utterly silent, sitting with her knees drawn up to her chin, eyes closed. "You should go find her," Z eventually says.
"I don't want to," Tennessee says, and Z smiles, opening her eyes and shaking her head.
"Yeah you do," she replies. "Go find her, bring her back."
"I don't -" Tennessee starts to repeat, and then smiles a little ruefully. "You're sure?"
Z nods. "I'll be fine here for awhile. Go on, before she gets too much of a head start."
"Okay," Tennessee says, unzipping her sleeping bag. "Back soon, I promise."
*
It feels wrong to just leave Z there by herself - it goes against every instinct she's developed since they set out on their own months before - but the spot they finally chose to sleep is a campground just outside city limits, and it's officially closed for the season, which made it almost too easy to sneak in and set up camp. Tennessee's pretty confident that nothing's going to hurt Z; all the same, she resolves to find Charlotte and hurry back as soon as possible.
She doesn't have far to go to find her, catching up just outside the city limits. "How'd you know I didn't go in the other direction?"
"Intuition," Tennessee says. "Plus I could see you from the top of the hill."
Charlotte snorts, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm not going to apologize," she says.
"I'm not asking you to," Tennessee says. "It's just... it's hard, and I don't know whose side to be on when I don't actually know what you're fighting over, you know?"
"Yeah," Charlotte says. "Oh, fuck you, now I do want to apologize."
"You don't have to," Tennessee says, laughing a little. "Just come back with me? And maybe hold off on the fighting until morning?"
"I think I can manage that," she says, and they fall into step, heading back to the campsite.
"Hey," Tennessee says after a couple of minutes, and Charlotte glances over. "What you said earlier, not staying where you're not wanted or whatever, you know that's bullshit, right? We don't want you to go."
"Z wouldn't care if I dropped off the face of the universe," Charlotte says, and Tennessee shakes her head.
"Z loves you. I love you," she says, and maybe her voice does something strange there, going quiet and emphatic in a way she didn't intend, because Charlotte's stopped walking and is looking at her with an expression Tennessee can't decipher.
"Tenn," she says, and then, "are you -"
"We should get back," Tennessee says, her face flushed, and Charlotte sighs, catching her by the arm before she can turn.
"You have to tell me these things, you know. I'm not a mind-reader."
"There's nothing to tell," Tennessee protests, even though she knows from the way Charlotte's looking at her that it's useless.
Charlotte sighs again, tightening her hold and pulling her a little closer. Tennessee moves awkwardly, a little shaky, and Charlotte brings her other hand up to Tennessee's waist to steady her. "Yeah," she says slowly, "I don't quite believe that."
Tennessee's breath catches. Charlotte's gaze is fixed on her mouth, and there is absolutely no way she's reading this wrong (she hopes, oh lord). It's far less nerve-wracking than she thought it would be when she finally leans in to kiss her, Charlotte making a pleased sound against her lips and returning the kiss with enthusiasm. "About time," she says when they pull away. "I thought I was going to have to make all the moves."
"I'm not that cruel," Tennessee says, her grin lit up by the headlights of a passing car. "Hey, so, we should maybe not do this on the side of a road."
"I don't know," Charlotte replies, raising her eyebrows. "Highway makeouts are totally classy. I read it once in Cosmo or something."
"Oh, well, in that case," Tennessee says, leaning in again.
It's too brief this time, Charlotte breaking away when the driver of another car honks his horn at them. "Okay, yeah, I guess this isn't really the right place. Besides, we should probably go back and make sure Z hasn't been, like, attacked by werewolves or something."
"But then we'd just get to be an awesome wolf pack," Tennessee points out, and Charlotte laughs.
"Point. We should still go back, though. It could be vampires. Or, I don't know, angry bears."
"I hope not," Tennessee says, reaching for Charlotte's hand as they make their way back into the woods. "You're not allowed to get into any more fights tonight, remember?"
best tie up your lace and run
It's been a long day: early morning bus rides followed by a day spent learning a new town, trying to scout out somewhere safe to go when night falls. They've only managed to make a few dollars today, busking on the sidewalk near a museum, and the bus tickets have left them broke, even more so than usual. Tennessee is hungry and exhausted and irritable; she loves the way they live, normally, but right now she'd consider trading it all for a pizza and a shower and a queen-sized mattress.
Instead she's got an empty stomach, greasy hair, and a sleeping bag pulled up tight around her shoulders, not to mention a growing headache from listening to Z and Charlotte bicker. It's not their first fight; it's not even their worst fight, but it's the first one they've ever managed to drag Tennessee into, though she still doesn't quite know what they're arguing about when she jumps in. "Jesus," she says, sitting up and rubbing at her scratching eyes with the heel of her palm. "I'm so sick of listening to the two of you fight like a couple of children. Grow up and stop fucking arguing over every little thing."
Z pauses at the interruption, looking a little sheepish, but Charlotte's eyes narrow a little and she kneels down, rolling up her sleeping bag and grabbing her backpack. "Fine," she says. "You want some peace and quiet, you've got it."
"Where are you going?" Z asks resignedly, and Charlotte shakes her head.
"You pick a fight with me every chance you get, and my best friend never bothers to back me up. You're crazy if you think I'm staying where I'm not wanted."
The words sting - it might be true that Tennessee stays out of their fights as a general rule, but that's only because their disagreements are usually too complicated for her to make heads or tails of, full of biting, cryptic comments that reference discussions she wasn't a part of, past events that she apparently missed out on. "That's not true," she says anyway, because if nothing else, Charlotte should know she's not unwanted.
"Fuck you, Tennessee," Charlotte says, barely sparing her a glance before turning to leave. "You're just as bad as she is."
*
Tennessee has no idea what she's supposed to say to Z, or even what she wants to say. Z, for her part, is utterly silent, sitting with her knees drawn up to her chin, eyes closed. "You should go find her," Z eventually says.
"I don't want to," Tennessee says, and Z smiles, opening her eyes and shaking her head.
"Yeah you do," she replies. "Go find her, bring her back."
"I don't -" Tennessee starts to repeat, and then smiles a little ruefully. "You're sure?"
Z nods. "I'll be fine here for awhile. Go on, before she gets too much of a head start."
"Okay," Tennessee says, unzipping her sleeping bag. "Back soon, I promise."
*
It feels wrong to just leave Z there by herself - it goes against every instinct she's developed since they set out on their own months before - but the spot they finally chose to sleep is a campground just outside city limits, and it's officially closed for the season, which made it almost too easy to sneak in and set up camp. Tennessee's pretty confident that nothing's going to hurt Z; all the same, she resolves to find Charlotte and hurry back as soon as possible.
She doesn't have far to go to find her, catching up just outside the city limits. "How'd you know I didn't go in the other direction?"
"Intuition," Tennessee says. "Plus I could see you from the top of the hill."
Charlotte snorts, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm not going to apologize," she says.
"I'm not asking you to," Tennessee says. "It's just... it's hard, and I don't know whose side to be on when I don't actually know what you're fighting over, you know?"
"Yeah," Charlotte says. "Oh, fuck you, now I do want to apologize."
"You don't have to," Tennessee says, laughing a little. "Just come back with me? And maybe hold off on the fighting until morning?"
"I think I can manage that," she says, and they fall into step, heading back to the campsite.
"Hey," Tennessee says after a couple of minutes, and Charlotte glances over. "What you said earlier, not staying where you're not wanted or whatever, you know that's bullshit, right? We don't want you to go."
"Z wouldn't care if I dropped off the face of the universe," Charlotte says, and Tennessee shakes her head.
"Z loves you. I love you," she says, and maybe her voice does something strange there, going quiet and emphatic in a way she didn't intend, because Charlotte's stopped walking and is looking at her with an expression Tennessee can't decipher.
"Tenn," she says, and then, "are you -"
"We should get back," Tennessee says, her face flushed, and Charlotte sighs, catching her by the arm before she can turn.
"You have to tell me these things, you know. I'm not a mind-reader."
"There's nothing to tell," Tennessee protests, even though she knows from the way Charlotte's looking at her that it's useless.
Charlotte sighs again, tightening her hold and pulling her a little closer. Tennessee moves awkwardly, a little shaky, and Charlotte brings her other hand up to Tennessee's waist to steady her. "Yeah," she says slowly, "I don't quite believe that."
Tennessee's breath catches. Charlotte's gaze is fixed on her mouth, and there is absolutely no way she's reading this wrong (she hopes, oh lord). It's far less nerve-wracking than she thought it would be when she finally leans in to kiss her, Charlotte making a pleased sound against her lips and returning the kiss with enthusiasm. "About time," she says when they pull away. "I thought I was going to have to make all the moves."
"I'm not that cruel," Tennessee says, her grin lit up by the headlights of a passing car. "Hey, so, we should maybe not do this on the side of a road."
"I don't know," Charlotte replies, raising her eyebrows. "Highway makeouts are totally classy. I read it once in Cosmo or something."
"Oh, well, in that case," Tennessee says, leaning in again.
It's too brief this time, Charlotte breaking away when the driver of another car honks his horn at them. "Okay, yeah, I guess this isn't really the right place. Besides, we should probably go back and make sure Z hasn't been, like, attacked by werewolves or something."
"But then we'd just get to be an awesome wolf pack," Tennessee points out, and Charlotte laughs.
"Point. We should still go back, though. It could be vampires. Or, I don't know, angry bears."
"I hope not," Tennessee says, reaching for Charlotte's hand as they make their way back into the woods. "You're not allowed to get into any more fights tonight, remember?"