One Moore To Another - Blog Posts
Chapter IV - The Aquarium
~ April 4th 2038
Abby didn’t return back to Juno’s room last night, nor did she return to her own. Manny claimed that he hadn’t seen her since they left the FOB but Juno didn’t exactly believe that. Owen also happened to be missing. At least if they were together they were safe. Juno hoped they were safe. She decided she needed to ask Manny again. Maybe he didn’t tell yesterday because of all the people around. Now she could knock two birds with one stone or something like that. She could see if Abby was there and if she wasn’t she’d ask Manny where she’d run off too.
When Juno arrives she knocks gently on their door. When Manny opens the door he looks a little surprised.
“Hey Manny, I uh, I just came to see if Abby was back” she explains. Manny sighs softly and motions for her to come in. When she realizes Abby is in fact not here she frowns and turns back to Manny. “Look I’ll tell you where she is but you can’t go blabbing okay?”
She nods “I won’t say a word”
“She went off to the aquarium, by the ferris wheel” He tells her quietly.
“Is that where Owen is too?” she asks tentatively.
Manny nods “You can’t tell anybody though, they’ll go after him for shooting Danny” he warns.
“Okay..I won’t say anything, cover for me?”
Manny huffs softly but agrees. He knew even he said no that Juno would leave to find Abby and Owen. She thanks him before leaving to pack her things. After around an hour she leaves the same way Manny said to.
She assumes she’s going the way Abby went because of the lack of infected. On her way to the aquarium she has to sneak past a few scars. They’re talking about some apostate, at least that’s what she thinks she heard. She manages to get past them and closer to the aquarium. Juno makes her way through the last of the shrubbery and to the aquarium doors. She boosts herself up through the small window and makes her way inside.
“Owen..?” She calls out, following up with, “Abby?”
When she’s met with silence she progresses further inside until she finds Owen and Mel arguing in hushed tones. She sits and listens for a moment but it seems she’s too late.
”God arguing with you is always so pointless Owen” Mel snaps.
”That’s because we don’t sit down and talk anymore” Owen snaps back.
”Cause you always lie to me” She yells at him and the room goes quiet.
After a moment Mel turns to leave and sees Juno in the doorway. She almost feels bad that the younger girl had been standing there. Juno looks between the two of them, she’s starting to feel awkward. After Mel walks past her she goes up to Owen.
”What was that about..?” She asks hesitantly.
“Nothing” He says firmly.
Juno nods slowly before speaking again, “Any clue where Abby is?”
”She just left, no clue if she’ll be back anytime soon, or at all” Owen murmurs the last bit.
”You get into a fight with her too?” Her tone has a bit more bite to it than she intended.
“Seriously Juno?” He frowns at her.
”Sorry sorry, It just sounded like something was wrong between you guys too” She explains.
Owen sighs and sits down. He eases his sister's nerves telling her that everything will be fine soon. They go on to talk about what happened with Danny, how the scars are getting closer. They also talk about normal things though, how they’ve been and other normal sibling stuff. It's been years since they sat down and talked like this. Hell It’s been so long the fireflies were still up and running. After a little while longer Owen got up to make some food for the both of them and Mel. In his absence Juno went to talk with Mel. Maybe it was a little invasive but she wanted to know what had happened.
“Hey Mel” Juno softly calls out from the doorway.
Mel looks over her shoulder at her, tensing a bit.
Juno speaks up again “Just wanted to check in, and um..I also wanted to ask what that was about”
“Owen didn’t tell you?” Mel asks, looking back at the water.
“Nah..he said it was nothing, but obviously it was something”
“That’s typical for him I guess” Mel sighs before continuing “Well..to be blunt he slept with Abby last night” Juno freezes up behind her, unable to speak up. “I didn’t even really accuse him, he accidentally ratted himself out.” she explains.
“They..slept together?” Juno asks, praying she somehow heard wrong.
Mel nods “Yeah, I can barely believe it either” she turns to look at the blonde.
Mel looks like she’s barely holding herself together. Juno is trying to comprehend it all. She knows she shouldn’t really be mad at Abby but she is.
“She’ll probably be back soon” Mel says.
Juno nods “Alright, Owen um..made food by the way, it’ll probably be done soon”
A few hours later Alice started barking at something while Mel and Juno were still eating. They both got up and headed towards Alice. As they got closer they could hear Owen and Abby’s panicking voices.
“Alice!” Mel called out, silencing the dog.
“Lev put your bow down” Abby spoke warily, “It’s okay”
“Who are those kids” Juno asked, peeking over Owen’s shoulder
“Look, they saved my life” Abby explains.
“They’re scars Abby” Owen snaps.
Juno swats at his shoulder “That doesn’t matter”
They bicker for a moment before Mel interrupts them. Abby introduces the kids as Lev and Yara. There’s another short silence and then Mel motions for Abby to follow her. They lay Yara down and talk about what they need to amputate her arm. Since they had practically nothing at the aquarium Abby said she’d head out with Lev. Juno was about to offer to come but decided against it. She knew that now wasn’t a good time to talk to Abby about last night.
When Abby returns with the supplies Mel is quick to start the procedure. Owen was..somewhere..which left Juno, Abby, and Lev. Lev wasn’t up for long, falling asleep against the wall while he waited for Yara. This left Abby and Juno.
”Hey..” Juno murmurs, walking up behind Abby.
”Hey Jun” Abby turns to look at the shorter blonde.
They’re both quiet for a moment. Surprisingly, Abby breaks the silence this time. “You seem angry” she points out.
“I..I am..I’m also a little hurt” She nearly whispers, she’s never been this vulnerable with Abby.
”Did..um..something happen while I was gone” Abby asks.
”Sort of, I found out something while you were gone” Juno pauses, “I’d bet you know what I mean already”
Abby sighs, Juno can’t tell if it’s regret, frustration, or both.
”Look..it was a shitty thing to do..It wasn’t supposed to happen” Abby starts off, “I know Mel is angry at us a-
“I’m not worried about Mel right now” Juno interrupts.
They both pause, Abby isn’t sure what this is about now.
”I..dammit..it’s stupid..but I thought..we..you” Juno stops and takes a breath. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to do this.
“You thought what” Abby asks tentatively.
Juno takes another breath, she’s started to tremble. “I think I just got the wrong idea over the past month”
“Jun..” Abby trails off, not sure what to say.
”I just thought that..yknow..the feelings were mutual” her voice cracks.
Abby feels her heart drop as she hears Juno’s breath catch. She looks down at her, not sure how to comfort her.
“Owen and I aren’t like that” she says after a moment.
”But..you-
Abby stops her “It was a weak moment, I regretted it the second it was over”
Juno finally looks up at her, her own eyes wet with unshed tears. Without a second thought Abby pulls her in, holding her close. They both relax a bit in each other's arms. Juno was still unsure about how Abby felt.
Abby pulls back just enough to wipe Juno’s tears. “We’ll figure all of this out soon okay” she speaks softly. Juno nods in response, relaxing further into Abby’s arms. She was more hopeful now than she had been a few hours ago.