“If only they could see you now.” she snarled under her breath. The phrase sounded especially malicious, though that meant very little considering who she’d become lately.
Adagio was alone on a park bench, in pitch black. The light that the moon offered consoled her very little.
She caught herself remembering, which was what she had been trying to avoid for a while now. Remembering caused pain, pain caused tears and tears caused bystanders to give her looks of pity that she hated getting with every fiber of her being. Although... there were no people around and maybe she could just--
No. I am not weak.
She gritted her teeth and rolled over for the third time in the past two minutes. Yes, she knew park benches weren’t exactly the most comfortable thing in the world, and she hadn’t expected to get much sleep at all, but she had been trying to sleep for three goddamn hours, and she hadn’t gotten a wink of rest.
Three hours, fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds.
Along with the revelation that she had been subconsciously counting time, she also found that her mind was racing with far too many thoughts to sleep. She heaved a sigh, more frustrated with her inability to calm her restless brain than anything else. The fact that she was trying to sleep on a bench certainly wasn’t helping either.
She lifted her hands to her face, her movements sluggish. The girl had clearly gotten very little sleep recently, and should anyone pay enough attention, they’d be able to see it. The bags under her eyes, the current disarray of both her hair and clothing and her somber expression did nothing to assure people otherwise.
She hugged herself as a slight breeze passed by. It seemed tonight wasn’t going to treat her any more kindly than the past few had. Briefly, she wondered what time it was.
Apparently, not late enough.
Adagio knew she should have chosen a bench farther from the shops. She knew someone would see her and she knew it wouldn’t be someone she liked. She didn’t want to get into a fight, and in the worst case scenario, she didn’t want the girl’s pity-filled gaze and “let me help”s.
She saw Sunset’s fiery hair and teal eyes before they saw her. Adagio made a move to duck, hide her face, anything, but to no avail. For the first time, she cursed her enormous curls for making her so obvious to the world.
The immediate sympathy in Sunset’s eyes upon seeing Adagio’s poor state of health made her want to throw up all of the nothing that she’d eaten that day. And as Sunset approached, she found herself unable to come up with a plan.
A day of firsts, she mused despite herself.
“Adagio?” Sunset’s voice finally spoke. Adagio hated how easily she could hear the sorrow in the girl’s tone. The sorrow that was probably for her. “What are you doing here?”
“Like it isn’t obvious.” Adagio spat, already wishing for the conversation to be over. She wasn’t sure why the redhead would think she’d be anywhere else. She and her stupid friends did this to the former siren, and now she had nowhere to go, and Aria and Sonata wanted nothing to do with her.
“Where are the girls?” She asked, and Adagio knew exactly who she meant.
“Not here. Or rather, I’m not there.”
Sunset clearly wanted to inquire further but stopped herself. At least the girl can take simple clues.
“Do you need some place to stay?”
Or not.
“No.” She replied, as coldly as she could manage. Honestly, Adagio did not want to deal with this. If Sunset wasn’t being antagonistic, instead offering her a place to stay, she knew where it would go next. Sunset would keep trying to be hospitable, and insist she come to stay, and--
“Alright. Well, let me know if you do need anything.” To Adagio’s surprise and maybe even relief, the fiery-haired girl gave her a piece of paper with numbers on it. Her phone number, most likely. Does she even know if I have a phone or not?
The manners she was supposed to have told her to say thank you, but she refused to give Sunset any satisfaction whatsoever. She silently pocketed the piece of paper and hoped her expression didn’t betray her surprise. She dismissed Sunset with a nod, and as she walked in the other direction, the girl waved.
Adagio pretended not to notice.
Sunset couldn’t really say she was surprised by Adagio’s apparent home on the park bench. And when she’d asked what she was doing there, she certainly hadn’t meant it like it came out.
There was something interesting to Sunset about how similar she and Adagio had been, which was why she left instead of insisting. Clearly, she was still going to help, however, she had to build Adagio’s trust first.
There’s a little good in everybody, you just have to figure out how to get them to show it.
Sunset figured the (likely) homeless girl would stay in the same area for a couple more days at least. So, she’d offer food and a place to stay again next time she saw her. Eventually, she’d warm up to Sunset, she was sure.
It could take a while.
When Sunset woke up the next morning, Adagio was the first thing on her mind. She went through her entire morning routine absently, deciding what to do first. She could bring food, or just come to talk, or--
“Sunset?”
Sunset blinked at the mention of her name, and she didn’t have to look very hard for the source, which was a certain yellow skinned girl with pink hair and eyes that matched her own. “You’ve been half-listening since this morning. Is everything okay?”
Somehow, she had failed to notice that five of her friends were standing in front of her and was currently trying to talk to her. She felt her cheeks heat up a little, likely due to the embarrassment that she’d been caught in thought. Thought about someone who they almost definitely hadn’t forgiven yet.
“Sorry. I was thinking about something.”
“Well, whatever you’re thinkin’ about is taking up a lot of your attention,” Applejack raised a half-questioning, half-joking eyebrow at her.
“It’s nothing,” Sunset assured, although she wasn’t even sure she’d convinced herself, much less her friends. With this, Applejack shrugged and thankfully decided to drop the conversation, starting a new one with everyone else.
Sunset tried to pay attention, she really did, but her mind kept wandering away from her.
If I offer a place to stay to Adagio, what exactly do I plan to do with her? She can stay in the guest bedroom, sure, but how would I hide her from the rest of my friends? I mean, obviously she isn’t fond of us, and they’re not fond of her, so there is very little chance that she’d accept the offer so soon anyway. I need to figure out how to deal with this.
Sunset had told herself many times that she was just trying to be a good person, trying to repay to someone, trying to demonstrate the same kindness she’d gotten when she’d messed up. But her friends thought that the Dazzlings didn’t deserve to be reformed. She almost scowled at the thought.
Everyone deserves a second chance.
She found herself wondering about Aria and Sonata, and why Adagio wasn’t there. They had a fight of some sort, Sunset knew that. She knew the tone that Adagio had used when they were mentioned. It had carefully masked bitterness. They had betrayed her in some way.
That’s how it looks from Adagio’s point of view, anyway.
She found herself mulling over the possibilities when “Sunset!” chimed in her ears again. She blinked and slowly shook herself out of her thoughts. Now they were really going to suspect something. Goddamn it.
“I think I need to go.” With that, Sunset got up out of her seat, absentmindedly grabbing the rest of her lunch and ignoring the calls of her friends behind her. She would be back before the period ended, she was sure, she just had to go see Adagio. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt strangely drawn to the girl right now, like she had to go talk to her, offer her help, something, anything.
Sunset could have taken the bus, but honestly, it wasn’t that far of a walk. She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket and found herself wondering if it was Adagio. No, not likely, she said to herself, dismissing the thought as quickly as she got it. She didn’t even know if Adagio actually had a phone.
She cleared her head of any stray thoughts and focused on her target: the park bench she’d seen Adagio on last night. Sunset knew that the likelihood Adagio was on the same bench was low, but maybe she had been wandering around the same area?
She tried not to think about what would happen if Adagio wasn’t actually here.
Her eyes searched the few people who were at the park, looking for the telltale orange curls and striking magenta eyes. Much to her chagrin, she saw neither of those two in the small group of people who were at the park.
She grit her teeth, No, she has to be here.
Her phone vibrated again. She angrily shoved her hand into her pocket, ripping the offending item out. She looked at the phone screen, eyeing a notification: a text message from an unknown number. Suddenly, her anger dissipated and her heart jumped. Maybe it’s--
She opened the text as quickly as she could, hastily clicking on the notification. Her eyes scanned the text faster than her brain could register and she subconsciously read it aloud: “I need help.”
She tried to pretend like she didn’t know exactly who it was.
“Where?”
Sunset didn’t know where her feet were taking her, but her mind was going far too fast for her to catch up and make coherent thoughts out of it all. She briefly registered the impacts of people at her sides as she shoved through groups of people who were going the opposite direction.
Her heart raced, her feet were slightly sore and she panted with every step. She felt her phone vibrate at the same time she heard a sharp gasp from a nearby alley, and somehow, she knew.
Adagio’s injuries really weren’t that bad, the rational part of her mind told her. She ignored it. Her lip was bleeding and her eye seemed swollen, and would likely become bruised later on. Maybe some pain in her side, judging by how she was holding it.
Sunset’s expression contorted into one of concern and panic. She rushed to Adagio’s side, helping her get up. A million thoughts raced through Sunset’s mind at once. Who did this to her? Why? How badly is she hurt? Is she okay? Did they do anything else that I can’t see?
She pursed her lips. The questions would have to wait. For now, she just needed to make sure Adagio was okay.
Adagio honestly had half a mind to tell her to stop caring so much. She hated that she had to text Sunset for help, she hated how fast she had gotten there, she hated that look that she had in her eyes that made it look like she really cared. Adagio knew she didn’t. She shouldn’t, Adagio tried to take over her school, she tried to do horrible things, and she had no remorse for any of them. I don’t deserve any kindness she offers me. I don’t want it.
And yet, here she was, being half-carried by the girl who had defeated her and her ex-sisters, the girl who put her in this situation in the first place. Pathetic, she spat at herself mentally. She should refuse, wrestle herself out of the girl’s grip, but she knew she couldn’t. Her attacker had rid her of all the strength she had, which was admittedly very little, due to her lack of sleep and proper food for the past few weeks. So she could only accept the help.
They arrived at Sunset’s apartment only a few minutes later. She briefly registered Sunset’s voice telling her to do something, but she was crashed on the couch as soon as her body had hit the cushions.
“Everything will be okay.”
“Don’t,” Adagio’s voice growled lowly. Her eyes shone with indignance, her jaw set. She gave the person who had a firm hold of her wrist one more second to let go of it. When they didn’t, she roughly pulled away and turned in the other direction. Her intention was to walk away.
“You’re being foolish.” Came a rougher, yet quite obviously female voice. She was recognized as the same one that had been gripping Adagio’s wrist, and she hesitated. Am I really going to leave the only people I have left?
“Stay with us, ‘Dagi,” pleaded a softer, higher pitched voice. The girl sounded mature, which for some reason, even without context, was something remarkable to Adagio.
“Don’t use that stupid nickname.” She all but spat to the girl, the strangest feeling of guilt plaguing her after the words left her mouth. She pushed it away, “And don’t act like I’m your equal. We are no longer associated after today.”
She heard the smallest of sniffles, and the guilt that she had pushed away before had become a torrent, back in full force at the forefront of her mind.
“Fine. Have it your way,” the rougher voice snarled, “but don’t expect to be able to just come crawling back when you find out you can’t make it on your own.” A door slammed.
A voice murmured her name. It sounded unfamiliar, but strangely like she had known the person for a while. It wasn’t someone she was supposed to be hearing, she knew that.
“Adagio,” she felt something -- or someone -- rub her arm almost comfortingly. “Wake up.”
She reluctantly managed to open her eyes. Well, one of them. The other, her right one, was sore and she had trouble opening it completely. And then the pain hit her. Her right eye hurt like a bitch. She let out an involuntary groan, cursing under her breath.
“I have painkillers, but you can’t take them while you’re lying down.”
Adagio registered there was someone next to her. Next was the fact that she was not anywhere she recognized. This was definitely not the couch that she had fallen asleep on yesterday afternoon. Her memories came back all at once.
“Fuck,” Adagio hissed, a sharp pain in her side plus the soreness of her eye hitting her hard.
She leaned her arm on the table that was apparently to the right of her, Sunset standing in front of it, easing herself up into a sitting position. Once she had settled, the red haired girl put the painkillers and a glass of water on the table.
“What time is it?” Adagio asked absent-mindedly, sort of wondering how long she’d slept, despite the fact that her mind was mostly occupied with the events of the day before.
“It’s about ten in the morning.”
Adagio took a second to realize what that meant. She reasoned that she probably fell asleep around two or three yesterday, which meant she’d slept for a lot of hours. Definitely more than one or two. At someone else’s house -- correction, Sunset Shimmer’s house.
Her sleep addled brain couldn’t fully register the implications of this, so she decided to just close her eyes again.
“Take your time.”
Oh, goddammit, of course Sunset was still standing there.
Then it hit her.
I really should not be here.
Adagio took the glass of water and the pills in her hands and downed them, leaving the glass empty on the bedside table. Honestly, she only did that to get Sunset out of her hair. Even though part of her didn’t actually want Sunset to leave.
Don’t get her wrong, she wasn’t thankful or anything for the help she had obviously turned down. She just wanted company.
Wait. I texted her for help. That’s why I’m here.
She groaned again, this time out of frustration for her lack to get all her memories back in the right order and right place.
“The painkillers should take half an hour to an hour to work,” Sunset said, mistakenly pinning the groan as one of pain. Clearly, the girl wanted to ask questions. Questions that Adagio didn’t want to answer yet, ones she surely hoped would stay in Sunset’s brain rather than come tumbling out of her mouth.
“Thank you for the help.” Adagio said in a rather dismissive and detached way, and made an attempt to get up.
“Oh no you don’t!” Sunset said, starting to move to keep Adagio from standing. At the same time, a sharp pain hit the former siren, and her attempt at composure immediately crumbled. She reluctantly sank back into her original laying position. “Your ribs aren’t broken or anything, I’m pretty sure, but you did take a pretty bad blow to your side, apparently. You’ll be in pain for another day at best.” The expression in her eyes was soft, caring, but her tone was strangely professional.
For some reason, it didn’t sit well with Adagio.
“I’d like to rest.”
Most people would have taken that as Adagio completely ignoring them, but Sunset simply nodded in understanding and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
The last thought Adagio had before drifting off into a more light, peaceful sleep was, Maybe this one isn’t terrible all the time.
Author's Note
this isnt coherent, just wanted to keep the idea. probably wont be continuing this
