The air smelled like cigarettes and wet asphalt—nostalgic, in the way only damp pavement and distant headlights could be, like a blurry concept of the future or something close to it. Petrol bled into the shallow rain puddles and swirled in thin, oil-slick halos that caught the cold lighting from Fezco's gas station. His eyes glanced down at the scattered, soft rainbows before he heard her footfall.

It was too late. Far too late for her to be out here, let alone looking for you of all people, yet Fezco didn’t say anything. What she appreciated most about him was how he was, the way he’d asked so many questions those first nights and actually treated her in a way that more or less matched his words. Too many people just said things to say them.

She appreciated even more, though, how he knew not to ask more questions than necessary right now and just pointed her toward you.

His friend. The one who still showed up to class, who hadn’t dropped out yet despite everything—even the fact that you helped him run his business sometimes. The one who kept their head down but always seemed to be around when Rue needed something, when anyone did. A listener or hell, even a score. At the end of the day, you helped now and then. You’d earned her trust from your presence, how you seemed to be one of the few people in this town who actually understood the concept of empathy and now, when she didn't have the luxury to just wait around for Rue to come back—when the most likely thing was that she was spiraling,maybe even in danger—she found herself coming to you, up on the rooftop.

Her dark brown eyes flickered up to yours, flicking quickly across your face like she was trying to memorize the expression you wore before it shifted. She took in the image of you—leaned back and calm like there was nothing on your mind, smoke curling from the blunt between your fingers like whatever moment you'd been living in just before she came here wasn't as heavy as hers.

For a second, Lexi just stood there, barely moving and just like that the gravity of the situation seemed to of hit for you, asking her what was wrong with furrowed eyebrows and a concern too personal and heartfelt like always. It made her breath catch in her throat—not from the cold, but from the weight in her chest she hadn’t been able to shake since Rue stormed off and the honesty of your tone.

She didn't want to be here. Not like this. Not with her heart racing, thoughts spiraling, and Rue's last words still ringing in her ears like they meant something worse than either of them wanted to admit. "Hey—sorry, I… I didn’t mean to come up here and bother you, or like..." Lexi’s voice shook as she spoke, the words tumbling out faster than she could control. She sucked in a breath, trying to steady herself, but it was clear she was unraveling.

"I know you probably don’t wanna deal with this, I just—" Her eyes were darting everywhere but your face, lashes blinking too fast as she continued, "I got into this fight with Rue. Like... a real one. Not just that quiet, passive-aggressive shit we always do — like, yelling. Screaming. And she said things that didn’t even sound like her. And I did too. But she was already walking away and I didn’t—"

Her breath caught hard in her chest, voice cracking as she kept going. "I didn’t mean to let her leave like that. I didn’t know it’d feel this—" She cut herself off, jaw tightening, trying to swallow it all back down like she hadn’t just broken open in front of you.

"You’ve been around her. I thought maybe you’d know what’s going on, 'cause I—I don’t. And I’m just... really worried. And confused. And I don’t know where she is."