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I'm honestly surprised. I thought things would be way more awkward around Clover after last night, but... it's all more than I could have ever hoped for. I haven't felt that good about my cooking in ages. Like new life was breathed into me. Still, it had to end soon, right about halfway through the third episode of the fantasy-comedy series Clover found for us; I began to notice I could move around a bit without the aches, and laughing didn't come paired with another jolt of pain. I let her know, so once it ended, we both got our shoes on and began heading to the bus stop, with Clover leading the way.

There's honestly not many buildings around here. This side of the street has houses, while the other is... I assume some businesses, but there's not many markings or signs. I guess it's the kind of place the locals know and not many others. The sparse construction makes it pretty easy to find landmarks and patterns, though, so I... I could probably come back here once Clover shows me where the bus stop is. Maybe. Not far now, at any rate, we must've been walking for 10 minutes by now.

A little farther, and we find a familiar-looking bus stop. Something like what I'm used to amidst all the new scenery. I take a seat, and Clover does the same. I don't think she's coming with me, but it's kind of her to stay. I'm not sure when the next bus arrives, but if Clover was willing to walk us out here, it shouldn't be all too long. ...meaning it's not much longer before I have to say goodbye, and go home. Home, where Penn is waiting for me, probably worried sick. Mmph...

"Hey. You feeling okay? The walk take a bit out of you?" Ah... always the curious one with me, it seems. And I'm getting no better at keeping things hidden.

"Oh, not at all, I'm pretty used to this. ...a bit tired beforehand, but the walk didn't do much to change that. Just... thinking about what to say when I'm home."

"Well, if it's any help, I think he'll be glad to see you safe. He sounded really worried when he picked up the phone. ...wasn't helped by it being me who called, but... still." Oh god, I couldn't handle even that last night. There's no telling how badly I've screwed this up because of that. I'm... I'm going to have a lot to answer for.

"Yeah, I-I'm sorry about that, I just-"

"Hooold it, Bonnie. Did I say it was a mistake? Hell no. I could feel, let alone see, your breathing get heavy and raspy the moment I brought that up last night. Do you think it would've made any sense to have you handle the call when you're that panicked?"

"...no. No, I guess not. I just..." He'll want to know why I went there. Why she couldn't have just taken me home. There's no good way to address that. Not now, not ever. I can give him something to satisfy the question, but no honest answer will be a comfort. Nothing like what Clover knows now.

"...hey. It'll be fine. I know it. One little thing he's not ready to understand isn't gonna break what you two've got. Get it?" Clover, I... I don't know. Still, that smile is persuasive, let alone that look on her face.

"Okay. Okay, I'll- I'll be fine. It'll be fine. Thank you, Clover. For everything." I can't help but smile at her. She's been such a pillar for me. It feels hard to believe I met her only last night. If only it were as hard to believe that the bus is here now. It's time to go.

"Well. Goodbye, Clover. Have a good day, alright?"

"I will, Bonnie. Take care, big gal." As I board the bus and scan my pass, I find a seat on the door's side. Clover's still waiting there. It's not long before it begins pulling away, but I wave to her. I swear I could see her eyes light up and her ears twitch when she notices, and she waves back, a warm smile on her face. That's it, then. Time to go back to my everyday life.

* *

Another ride around the city, and I've made it to my own bus stop. The ride wasn't much longer than the trip to work, thankfully. All that's left is the walk home. Familiar territory, though it feels strange to find myself walking this way when it's still plenty bright out. I take another look at my phone... just past noon. Penn'll be waiting for me at this point. As home comes into view, I sigh and head to the door. Let's try to get this over with.

I close the door behind me and put my keys back in my purse. Already I can hear him getting closer. A worried look, tense muscles, and his arms are undecided between some kind of gesture and grabbing both my arms in worry. Penn, I... what do I say here?

"Bonnie? Hun, are- are you okay? Everything fine on the way home, any aches at all?"

"Oh no, I just... they're mostly gone. Just tired. The bus route was closer than I thought, and Clover made sure I was safe the whole way there. Last night, too." Okay, this's working. He's less tense, and even let out a sigh of relief. Maybe Clover was right about just explaining. The hard question's yet to come, though...

"Alright. Alright, hun, that's wonderful. But... why couldn't you just come home? You could've stayed in bed, I could've even given you space if you needed it, I... what happened?" Oh no. Ohhhhh, here we go.

"I-It's, I- I just... It's just that I..." Didn't want you to see me like that? Was scared stiff at coming home drunk when you were looking forward to sharing your success? Couldn't stand the thought of giving you a reason to think less of me?

"...I panicked. I didn't know what to do. Kylie and Clover calmed me down, but I just kept spiraling thinking of going home like that. So they did the only thing they could do if I couldn't be convinced to go home: they took me in." That's... oh, please let this work. I can't tell if he likes that answer or not, but it's still true.

"I... haaah, I just- alright. It's true you've never gone that far with the alcohol in public, whether you meant to or not. Closest I could think of is... well, those were much better circumstances. More private evenings, ones you were more than happy to be a little out of it during. Outside of that, I... well, it's perhaps no surprise you'd be scared." Is... is he alright with that explanation? Or just trying to convince himself of what I said?

"Look, what's important is that you made it back okay. Come here." I'm pulled into a hug by those strong arms of his. He feels warm. I still feel cold and nervous, despite that. ...what's wrong with me?

"You head up and get some rest, okay? Let me know if you need anything."

"...alright, Penn. Thank you, dear." And we're done. Just like that. I never need to bring this up again. He heads to the couch to relax for the day, and I head through the kitchen to the stairwell, though-

"Oh, and Bonnie?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Everything went smoothly, like you said. It was... tiring, but I got it all through. I thought you might like to know. Things'll be smooth sailing for us, I think." That's... good. It's not like we were doing badly before. I wonder how much I'll notice all this, then. It's hard to grasp, so I guess... I'm not the only one with efforts going unnoticed, after all. I wouldn't know where to begin to fix that, though. Does he feel the same?

"Thank you for telling me, hun. I'm glad it went well. I'll be upstairs in bed, okay?"

"Of course. Rest well." Now I'm free. Time to get some rest in our warm bed to make up for this morning's rude awakening from my phone. I reach the bedroom, then set my stuff down. I'm just so tired... everything needs to come off. I'll put it away later, I just... all I want here is me, my soft, scarlet nightgown, and those warm blankets over me as I rest against my pillow.

Some time later, I feel relaxed, though I've yet to fall asleep. Hmph... at least I'm warm. I take a look over at my phone, hooked up to its charger, and wonder. Maybe I can just scroll around or something to relax if I can't fall asleep. The show we watched, Clover's favorite old game, maybe even some simple sweets. Plenty of things sound interesting to look around at right now.

I'm no sleepier another while later, but it felt nice reading up on all this more clearly. I remember a lot of what Clover told me last night, but some of the quirkier bits near the end of our talk are just a blur. I can see her in the voices and animations. Every inflection, expression, and gesture... hehee, she really did play this a lot, didn't she? Must've loved it. I wonder if I would've gotten into it, too, had I known. I wasn't much into games back then, but it's nice to have something to work towards and have fun with. And what can I say... Clover's piqued my interest.

It's around then that I get an alert from my phone, though, interrupting my train of thought. A calendar event...? I've got nothing planned for today, let alone scheduled. And it's called... "Check Your Contacts"??? W-What? I... I suppose I might as well. I close the notification, navigate to my contacts list, and begin looking for any sign of-

"1- Clover Vale"

...oh. Oh my goodness. How did she- ...no, wait, that's a stupid question, I had her unlock my phone. She even put a number at the start to make it appear at the top. Clever girl, but let's get that fixed now that I've seen. I guess it's true I had pretty much resigned myself to today being the end of my time with her, save for a few fleeting thoughts. Was I just too nervous to ask her? Or did I just... give up before I'd even tried? Either way, I... I'm glad she left this here. I can see her again. Hear her excited voice talking about the bits of the game I looked up, our show now that I can laugh freely, her favorite sweets that get her all breathless, I-

Heheeeehehee, goodness, I'll have a lot to catch up on with her~