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“Oh shit.” Frey mumbled under her breath, and before Auden could inquire as to what was wrong, Frey pulled her into the nearest alley. She tried to talk, but as Frey pushed her against the wall with one hand, she brought the other up to her lips and performed a shush motion.
Auden silently stared at the side of Frey’s head as the girl looked out the alley way. As the sound of footsteps on the pavement passed, Frey dropped her head and let out a sigh, causing Auden to raise an eyebrow in confusion.
“What’s wrong Frey?”
“Well… it’s kind of… Before I came to Athia I might have stolen a car, and now there’s some people looking for me…”
“You stole-” Auden cut herself off mid sentence, her head still recoiling back as she tried to process what Frey had just told her. “Wait… so are these criminals that are looking for you, or lawbringers?”
“Uh… both?” Frey said, her tone suggestive as if she was asking Auden for the answer.
“Hold on, are you a criminal?”
“Did I not tell you?” Frey chuckled. “Although Cipal was the first time I was actually locked up.”
Auden let out a sigh as she pushed herself off the wall. As she began speaking she stared out the alley, her back now to Frey. “I have to say, this is quite a lot to process.”
“Uh… yeah, I get that.” Frey bit the bottom of her lip as she trailed off. With a sigh she rubbed her hands together, staring at Auden’s back in silence. She felt awkward. She didn’t know what to say. So, as often happened, Auden had to break the ice first.
“I don’t… mind that you are a criminal, you know that, Frey.” Auden spoke carefully, still facing the alley’s exit. “I mean, for Cinta’s sake, I broke you out of prison the first time we met!” She exclaimed with an awkward chuckle.
“But…” Frey prodded as she began inching closer to Auden’s side.
“But…” Auden echoed, trailing off into silence for a few moments before finding her way back to the words she was meaning to speak. “… I do wish you would have told me earlier.”
“I mean, I just felt… embaras-”
“And it is not because I want to judge you for it.” Auden cut her off, turning to face Frey again. “I know exactly how hard life has been for you. You’ve told me about a lot of it. And I just want to be there for you to process it. I want to keep you safe too, Frey.”
Frey looked at her girlfriend, mouth agape at the words she was hearing. A blush couldn’t help but color her cheeks a bright red, and almost subconsciously Frey stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Auden.
“You know I love you, right?” Frey mumbled as she nuzzled her face into Auden’s neck. “Because I feel like I don’t say it enough.”
Auden’s chest oscillated as a hearty chuckle escaped her lips and she hugged Frey back. “You don’t have to say it… although I do enjoy hearing it.”