11:45 AM - Jane and Bunny
“Be that as it may, I know about it not being easy. I don’t know what I can do to help, but as long as you’re trying, I’ll try with you. Maybe we can get somewhere that way.”
“You just keep being you,” Jane said. Bunny being her wonderful, beautiful, earnest self was the perfect balm for whatever weird feelings Jane had inflicted on her own damn self. “And I’ll work on being a better me. Maybe...maybe we could also hang out again?”
She looked around The Bar and at the strange collective of officers from the military, the APD and the motorcycle club mingling with one another. If these dummies could make small talk with one another, she and Bunny could do just about anything. It was a hopeful and gratifying feeling and Jane clung to it as tightly as she clung to Bunny’s hand. Realizing she was probably holding on a bit too long, Jane released Bunny’s fingers. Instead of stepping back however, Jane stepped closer and, without one moment of hesitation, pulled Bunny into a hug. Jane didn’t give a shit who saw them or what they thought if they did. She missed Bunny, missed her friendship, missed this and if anyone had a problem with it they could go right ahead and fuck themselves.
Bunny saw no reason to deny herself the pleasure of hugging her friend right back. It wasn't the type of opportunity that ought not be allowed to slip by. So she wrapped her arms tight around Jane, relief washing over her from her top to her toes. Feeling like there was a rift between you and someone you cared about had to be among the worst feelings in the world, and just knowing that she and Jane were trying to find a way to bridge that gap was like a whole load of weight off her mind. By the time they separated again, Bunny’s eyes were bright and shining, and maybe a little damp too.
She laughed once, a bright and unrestrained kind of sound, and ducked her head to make a somewhat surreptitious swipe at her eyes. “I'd like it a lot if we had another chance to hang out again soon. Anytime, anywhere.” Bunny smiled. “Do you have to go mingle some more now, or do you have a chance to have a sit and eat that doughnut?”
Jane pressed the heel of her hand against her eye socket, making a valiant but ultimately failed attempt to quell her happy tears. She returned Bunny’s smile with a watery grin of her own.
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do,” Jane replied. “But what I want to do, what I’m going to do, is sit down and eat too many doughnuts with my friend.”
They sat down at a table only a few over from the one they’d sat down at all those months ago but this time, Jane didn’t run away. They sat down, doughnuts on plates in front of them, but neither ended up touching them; they had too much to catch up on to waste any more time.