Chapter Text
Two months after the trial. Grace walks into her, well, Freddie’s apartment on a warm day in late spring. It’s been such a long semester already, definitely not helped by having to live on campus for her scholarship to come through, nor by not having any friends in her year anymore.
“Grace! You’re here! I was about to see if you needed me to come get you, it was getting pretty late.” Hermes jumps up from the couch, a wide grin plastered on their face.
Slightly startled, Grace drops the bags she was carefully balancing while coming up the stairs. She rushes over to hug them with her newly freed arms, and they immediately reciprocate it. Despite their relatively small frame, Hermes always gives the best bone-crushing hugs, exactly what Grace needs. “Hermes! I’ve missed you so much dude, so happy to be on break. I assume Fred’s around somewhere?”
“She went to grab takeout, I offered to stay here in case you arrived before she got back. Persephone does have some errands for me… but I should stand up to her once in a while. It’s good for me I think.”
Grace chuckles, “Probably good for her too honestly, glad to hear she’s getting a little more relaxed now. Maybe best not to keep her waiting too long though? I’m fine on my own for a bit if you need to head out.”
Hermes scratches the back of their neck. “Yeahhh I should go. I’ll pop by tomorrow? Maybe we can do a movie night or something!”
“Sounds good to me, I’ll have Freddie pick something. See you tomorrow, Hermes,” Grace smiles as they wave and step through a portal.
Conveniently, the portal disappears right as Freddie opens the door from the other side. Grace furrows her brow for a second, trying to think through how the physics of that might work, but is interrupted as the breath gets knocked out of her and she topples onto the couch, Freddie now on top of her.
“Grace!!! Oh my gods you’re finally home!!” Freddie borderline yells, trapping her in another hug. “Oh, uh, sorry.” Freddie pulls them both up into a sitting position, but still holds Grace’s hands. Continuing at a normal volume, “How was the drive? How are classes going? Do you have a lot of homework?”
Grace laughs and squeezes her best friend’s hands while also trying to regain her breath. “Good to see you too, Fred. To answer your questions: Fine, not bad, and way too much but it can wait. Hermes said you were bringing food?”
“Yeah! Got your favorite, of course.”
The two eat with casual discussion of Grace’s time at school, interspersed with moments of comfortable silence. During one such period, Grace smiles, happy to just be in Freddie’s presence again. Freddie returns the smile, but it seems… off somehow. It’s not that it doesn’t reach her eyes, but the very clear bags under them is a noticeable difference. Grace sets down her now empty container and turns a bit more towards her. “Enough about me, how are you doing though?”
Freddie waves a hand dismissively, “Oh you know. Same old, same old. Part-time job and working on music stuff whenever I can.”
Grace stays silent and raises an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. Freddie also puts down her container and stares down at her hands, ignoring the hint.
“Fred.”
“...Grace.”
With a sigh, Freddie lets Grace take off her classic green hat, and she lays down, head resting on Grace’s lap. “You know you can talk to me, right?” Grace asks rhetorically, voice almost a whisper as she starts playing with Freddie’s hair.
Freddie very clearly relaxes at the sensation, looking up and finally making eye contact with Grace. “Yeah I know, but it’s stupid. It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Again Grace stays silent until Freddie continues. “Alright, fine. I’ve been… having nightmares. Like, really bad ones? So I’ve been avoiding them by not sleeping as much. I know, I know, that’s not a solution. But hey, it’s worked so far?”
Grace looks at her, eyes filled with concern and empathy. “I’m using classes as an excuse, but I’ve kind of been doing the same. And for the same reason, funnily enough.”
“Do you… want to talk about it?”
“Not really. You?”
“Same.”
So, the two stay in companionable silence. Freddie’s eyes eventually drift closed, and Grace’s hand stills. And for the first time in a long while, both of their minds are quiet through the night.
“Hey guys! I told Persephone that Grace was home and she said to bring this bottle… Oh, yall are uh, asleep.”
Hermes sets the mentioned bottle of wine and a card addressed to Grace on the coffee table. They smile softly, the two of them look cute together, Freddie snoring quietly and Grace’s head leaned over the back of the couch. Hermes glances to Grace’s bed off to the side of the room and back. Hm, what is a couch cushion but a doorway. I saw that in a cartoon or something. And windows are basically doors, right? They think. “Terribly sorry if this wakes you up,” they whisper.
A portal appears beneath the two of them, and a second in the window frame above Grace’s bed. Hermes does a little fist pump when they bounce once gently, but otherwise are safely on the bed. Hermes puts a fluffy blanket over top of them, then leaves through a new portal in the front door. Grace stirs slightly, but only to roll over and put an arm over Freddie before resettling.