FSE

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*One week later*

It was late at night, Monday and Eve's bar guests were dwindling down. Her favorite bar regular was firmly planted in her seat, watching her hockey team lose tremendously.

"AH COME ON!" The alleycat shouted at the screen.

Eve chuckled, "Another one?" she motioned towards her empty glass.

"Yeah. It looks like I'm going to need it." She shook her head and pushed the glass forward.

Eve refilled the alleycat's drink and began to clean up. The large bar was a lot for one person, but Eve handled it well. On busier nights they had two bartenders which was how Eve and Zee had gotten so close. They worked well together and knew how to put on a show.

This, however, was not one of those nights. The bar had filled up, but not to the point Eve needed back up.

"Eve." Aila sighed, "I think I need a shot."

She chuckled, looking up from the counter, "What kind?"

"Strong." She rubbed her temples.

Eve made her way over to her liquors and poured some Johnnie Sparker, Jack Spaniels, and Sin Beam into a shot glass, "Drink up."

Not seconds later the glass was drained and back on the counter, "Ahh that's the stuff." Aila's normally clear voice was raspy as the bourbon coated her throat, "Now maybe I won't kill the entire team."

Eve rolled her eyes, "You're such a drama queen."

"No, I'm serious." She laughed, "If they lose this match and I'm not completely plastered, I'm using all of my savings to fly out there and kill them."

Eve glanced up at the screen, looking for the score 5-0 2nd period, "I'm saying this as a friend and not as someone who wants you to spend money, but you might want to order more shots."

"Fucking Capitolz."

The door to the building opened, making its signature squeak. "Welcome to tails, seat yourself anywhere-" Eve stopped mid-sentence, looking up.

The raccoon approached the bar, feigning a confident stride. She pushed aside a chair and stood directly in front of her friend, "I need your help."

"Hi there, what can I get for you today?"

"Eve. Stop. I'm serious."

"I'm sorry miss, but I only have time to talk to my paying customers..." Eve turned away.

"Fine. I'll take a beer."

"I also reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Please. Eve. It's about Kris."

Eve's facade dropped and her expression softened, "What happened to Kris?"

Lumina looked around, catching the gaze of a few guests, "Just come by after work. I'm in over my head."

Eve gave a questioning look, but nodded.

"Don't wait. Come straight over." The intense look on her face scared Eve.

"Okay. I'll be there."

Lumina walked out of the bar, looking back only once, longing for someone to talk to.

"What...was that?" Aila

"That? I have no idea."

Eve's heart banged in her chest as she thought about what to do. She might be mad at lumina, but she still knew her well and when she said something was serious, it was extremely.

She took matters into her own paws and walked back to her manager's office.

"I need to go home."

"Excuse me?" She said, looking up.

"I have a family emergency, can I please go home?" Eve begged, her emotions shown clearly through her expression.

"Eve, you know the rules, you leave before your shifts over, you're fired." Becks looked all too happy to say this phrase to the blue cat in front of her, and smiled slyly.

"That might be the rule, yes," Eve sighed, "But if you fire me... not only will you be without a bartender for five of your busiest shifts, including tonight, but you'll also have to pay me unemployment."

Becka's smile faded quickly.

"Anyways... here you go.." Eve began pulling off her uniform sleeves. The fuckers gave her a hard time, so it took longer than expected, but the message was still clear. Before long, she moved on to her top, beginning to pull it up over her head.

"Keep your shirt on, Jesus." Becka rolled her eyes, "As of this moment you're not fired, but you are receiving a write-up and you may be suspended."

"That sounds reasonable."

"I'll let you know tomorrow what I decide."

Eve nodded, fighting a strong urge to laugh, and walked out of the office, "Have a good night!" She shouted back in her best customer service voice.

******

"What the hell is going on?" Eve gasped, out of breath from jogging up the stairs.

Lumina glanced over from her place on the couch, a crying Kris curled up in her lap, "Kris has decided to drop out of school."

Eve set her things down on the floor, rushing to the two girls, "And why is she doing that?"

"They all know." Kris mumbled, her voice thick from the tears and snot, "I can't face them ever again."

"Know what? Sweetie it can't be that bad." Eve looked to Lumina for information, but all she did was shake her head.

"They know..." She wiped her face, the wetness smearing across her fur, "that I'm ...that...that I have a dick."

Kris went on to explain the movie theatre, and with each passing moment, Eve's confusion lessened, "I started the hormones after my freshman year, but I haven't saved enough to get surgery. Now that everyone knows I can't go back."

"Hey.." Eve scooched closer on the couch, "You can't let them stop you from going to school, where would that get you?"

"It would get me away from people who don't understand the real me."

"But won't that hurt you more than it hurts them?" Eve sighed, trying to put her thoughts together, "Would it be worth it to drop out of school in your senior year and start over somewhere else? If that's what you really want, then I say go for it, but you need to realize that it could happen all over at a new school."

"I can't face them again, no matter what that means."

"Is that worth it?"

"Yes."

"Really?" her head tilted inquisitively.

Kris let out a long breath, a few tears making their way down her face. Eventually a soft, "no" came out of her mouth, barely audible to the two closest to her.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Suck it up and go back to school."

Eve grabbed Kris' shoulder and squeezed it gently, "That's a good plan, but you know it won't be that easy, right?"

"I'll take it one step at a time." Kris shrugged, unable to do anything else.

"Yeah." Lumina joined in, finding her own words, "And when things get hard, we'll be here to help you get through it."

"As long as you need us, we'll be here."

Kris fell forward into Eve's lap, "Why can't this be easier?"

Eve took a deep breath, unable to come up with a good answer, "I don't know."

The silence filled the room as each of the girls tried to figure out for themselves if the pain was worth it. Each one of them were fighting the tears back from all the pain they'd gone throughout their lives. None of them were clean of pain, none of them had had an easy life, and easy wasn't anywhere nearby.

Eve finally found the courage to peel herself away from the other two girls, and stood up from the couch.

"Eve?" Kris sat up, "Where are you going?"

"I should get home..." She began to gather her things together, "I was supposed to be home a while ago and I don't want to worry..." She glanced over to Lumina, unable to say his name knowing how she felt.

"Wait... I still need you..." Kris reached out, as if she was a small child reaching for her mom.

"Sweetie." Eve smiled, "You never needed me. You're so strong and you've got this. I believe in you." The tears were welling up in Eve's eyes as she reached for the door.

Lumina stood this time, "Eve please. I need to talk to you.... I miss you."

The tears began to flow now, the big softie losing the heart to hold them back any longer, "I miss you too, Loomy, but I think we've outgrown each other. I think I need to find someone new to rely on..."

Her words were suddenly cut off by a loud shouting from the other side of Lumina's apartment door, "Evelynn I swear if you're in there I'll kill you." Eric's booming voice was impossible to miss.

Eve found herself frozen in place, hand still on the doorknob as she had gone to leave.

"Eve, hun, why don't you go in my bedroom and I'll tell him you aren't here." Lumina reached out to pull her away from the door.

Flinching at the touch, Eve pulled away from Lumina, "Why the fuck are you so intent on lying and making me unhappy?" She reached out once more, and pulled the door open.

"How the fuck ddid I know I'd find you here." He sloppily stepped forward, a mostly empty beer bottle in his hand, "You said you worked tonight."

"I did. I'll explain everything at home. Let's get outta here." Eve's hand shook as she spoke, adrenaline running through her veins.

"No." Eric moved across the room, "We're solving this once and for all."

"Eric what does that mean? C'mon you've clearly been drinking."

He stumbled towards a very confused Raccoon, "This is all your fault, you whore..." his fist swung high, missing Lumina by a few inches at least. The quick movement caused him to fall forward, landing with a loud thud on the hardwood flooring.

"Baby, what are you doing? This isn't helping. Let's go home." Eve reached for Eric's hand to help him up.

Eric slapped the help away and stood, slowly, on his own, "I'm not going anywhere until I teach her a lesson."

Eve moved to get in front of him, "Baby. I only came here for Kris.."

"I DON'T CARE" The enraged bear pushed Eve to the floor, without so much as a

glance, and reached into his pocket. A few excruciating moments later, Eric pulled a small knife from his pocket, "Eve. I'm doing this for you."

Lumina began to back away from the unstable man, no longer at an advantage, "Hey...hey now...she just came to tell me that she wasn't going to see me ever again."

"Would you quit lying?!" Eve stood up from the floor, once again grabbing her fiance's hand, "Lumina it's not helping me by making up stories. Eric deserves to know the truth, not that it's anything bad to begin with!!! Let's go, Eric." She pulled back on Eric, getting him to spin around.

As Eric stood there, the room spun around him, and he swayed back and forth.

"Can you walk?"

"Of course I can!" The bear took a step forward, tripping over his own feet and managed to take Eve down with him with a loud thud. Eve closed her eyes, letting out a loud yelp as they hit the floor. When the room stopped spinning around Eric, he stood up, "Don't get in my way, b-"

"EVE!" Lumina shot forward as her friend stayed laying on the floor, the knife falling out from her stomach, "Kris get me some towels!"

"I..I...didn't mean to..." Eric stuttered, rendered useless, "I swear... I didn't mean to..."

Blood was pouring pretty freely from the wound, "H-how bad is it?" Eve muttered, clutching her stomach.

"It's not that bad, but I'm going to call an ambulance, okay?" Lumina managed her voice pretty well, sounding calm, while clearly panicked.

"I gotta get out of here." Eric said to himself, his eyes wide, "I can't be here if there's going to be cops..." He reached down to grab the knife, and ran out, stumbling as he turned the corner at the door.

"Coward" Lumina mumbled under her breath as she reached for her phone in her pocket, "Hi, yes, there's been a stabbing and my friend needs medical attention...."

Eve laid on the ground, listening to the rumblings of her friend talking about her address and the situation that had happened. None of that really mattered to Eve, however, all she could think about was her fiance...ex-fiance? She didn't know what to call him anymore. "Eric?" She heard herself mumbling as she faded from consciousness, unable to stay awake.