It was a gray afternoon. A type of gray that could be the beginning of a storm or the end. A floral rainboot splashed through a puddle that was left over from the nightly downpour. With bouncing blonde curls, a young woman approached the apartment complex through the damp parking lot. She was wrapped in blush pink petticoat and a white scarf concealing her neck to protect her from the biting wind. The woman had been back and forth to the small apartment of another woman her age, Alicia, and her younger brother, Jake. A couple months back, she had met the pair at a restaurant when Alicia couldn't afford her bill and she offered to pay. Rather, she didn't offer, she simply paid their bill after hers with a few kind words written on the receipt. Some way or another, the two encountered each other again in a grocery store as if fate had a play in it. A few more times of meeting each other, the two become friends. It was more than fate to the woman though....something no normal person could understand.
Shaking her head out of her thoughts, the woman raised her hand and lightly knocked on the familiar door.

"You're okay?" Alicia asked, looking down at her younger brother, Jake. He was snuggled under several blankets as their heater barely functioned properly.

"Yeah," he replied weakly and turned over in his bed. "Thanks."

"Of course. Call me if you need anything," Alicia said and partially closed the door behind her. It had been hard the last couple years or so. Jake and Alicia were half-siblings, sharing a father. Both of their mothers were out of the picture and more recently their father as well. She sighed thinking about the hardships they faced.

The past few years left Alicia taking care of Jake, who was only twelve. Right now he lied in his bed fighting his hardest against a terminal illness. She wasn't able to afford medical insurance for them until recently, and even so it was much too late. She clenched her fists. If only they had been a little quicker to the doctor, then maybe, just maybe they could have caught the disease before it fully struck. Every time she thought about their misfortune she wanted to cry or slam her fist through a wall or both.

Recently she had the fortune of meeting Juliette. Even though times were tough, Juliette's mere presence seemed to make everything feel slightly better.

Alicia heard a knock on the door. She checked the eye hole then opened. "Hey Juli, perfect timing." She opened the door to let her friend in. "Gotta hurry, the heat will leave if you don't come in," she said, brushing her black hair out of her face.

A smile spread across Juliette's face when Alicia opened the door. She gave a curt nod and quickly stepped into the apartment. It didn't feel any less cold than it did outside. At least it wasn't windy. She wrapped the scarf from around her neck, draping it over her arm. "Hello dearie," she greeted like a chirp. Despite being French, Juliette had learned English in Britain at her boarding school during her elementary days so she spoke almost perfect English with a posh, British accent.
"Did the heater stop working again?"
A couple of weeks ago, their heater had been working from some miraculous way. Maybe or not Juliette had a hand in it but no one would've suspected. But it felt as if it wasn't working again. She was tempted to offer to buy her friend a new heater, or just buying her one without telling her.

A small wave of emotions washed over Juliette, making her shiver. The feeling of sadness and sickness was always strongest when she was near her subject. The young, sick boy in the other room was the main reason she ever encountered Alicia. Her ward, the person she the most concerned with internally but never showing it. How her heart ached at the thought of what he was going to have to go through in the time to come. But she couldn't warn them. As much as she wanted to, no matter how much it hurt to watch these lovely human beings suffer in this way, she couldn't say anything.

"Yeah, the heater's been acting up," Alicia said, shutting the door. She tugged the lock closed, always careful to make sure no one unwanted could come in. She turned to Juliette, "Are you thirsty? Do you want some water or something?"

She wished she could offer Juliette more, she wished she could afford to take her out to eat or out to a movie or something to at least pay for her repeated kindness. Alicia was aware of Juliette's mass of wealth. At times she wished she could have wealth like that. Then she could have at least helped her brother. Alicia sighed at the thought. She was glad for Juliette's friendship. Somehow Juliette seemed to always make Jake feel better.

Juliette flashed her pearly whites. “That would be lovely, thank you,” she chirped. She walked over to the nearest table and placed her scarf on the surface. Taking a glance towards the heater, a small flicker of a frown crossed her features. She would’ve thought that after it was “miraculously fixed”, it would’ve stayed as such.
“Might I suggest,” Juliette moved towards the heater. “That I have someone come by to fix it?” She hated to suggest that she pay for things, but she hated it even more to see the two suffer.

Alicia went into the kitchen to get the water. She grabbed one of the sealed water bottles she stowed under the table and returned. When she returned to the living room she saw Juliette examining the heater. "Um," Alicia considered and handed Juliette her water bottle. She hated to ask for help, she never wanted Juliette to think they were friends just because of her money. Sure, they met because of their financial differences, but they became friends because of their personalities. "Uh, well, I think we'll be okay, it should be warming up by next month." Even as she said it, Alicia knew Jake might not be around that long, but she hoped and prayed for a miracle.

Juliette thanked her when she handed her the bottle of water. Twisting it open, she tipped some of the water into her mouth. She made a face at Alicia’s response. “It really wouldn’t be any trouble,” she insisted. “I wouldn’t want you guys to freeze in the mean time.” She lightly laughed at her words.
“How about a small space heater?” Juliette questioned carefully. “So that when it does get warmer, you can just stow it away!” The French woman tried to be optimistic when she spoke around Alicia.

Alicia didn't like that Juliette insisted so much on the heater. It's not that she didn't appreciate the offer, but Alicia didn't like being a freeloader. She felt guilty when others helped her, even if she really needed the help. In part, she was a very prideful woman.

However, thinking about her brother let her push her pride over a bit. "A space heater?" she considered, looking at the room her brother slept in. "Actually that would be great, at least his room could be warmer," Alicia said, doing her best to swallow her pride. "Thank you, Juliette."

“You’re very much welcome, love!” Juliette chirped with a tilt of her head, blonde curls sliding to one shoulder. Without a second thought, she whipped out her phone and speed-dialed her assist.
“Salut! J’ai besoin d’un radiateur ASAP,” she spoke quickly. “Merci!”
Once she was finished her that short task, she slid her phone back into her pocket and returned her attention to her friend. “It should be on it’s way soon! So, what are your plans for the day?”

Alicia was always astonished by the speed in which Juliette could make things happen. Money made the world go 'round and Juliette had money to spare. "Thanks, Jake and I really appreciate it," Alicia said, a weight coming off of her shoulders.

The couch was across the room and it naturally drew Alicia to it. She made her way and plopped down onto the soft cushions. "Just watching him. It's my day off." As much as she would like to relax on her days off, she couldn't. She needed to make sure Jake was safe and comfortable.

Juliette grinned at her. “It’s no problem, really!”
She followed Alicia to the couch and seated herself. She crossed her ankles and placed her hands in her lap, the water bottle placed on the table. “That’s good that you got a day off,” she said. “How is Jake, by the way?”
She didn’t need Alicia to actually tell her how the boy was, she already knew. She could feel how he was. Every emotion and pain he felt, she felt. But conversating was part of human nature.

"Uh, he's not getting much better," Alicia said. Admitting it allowed felt like someone punched her in the gut. She hated giving negative reports on her brother, but she didn't want to lie to Juliette, especially after all she did for them.

"But you know, I try to keep faith that he'll get better." She thought of all of the nights she prayed to God and begged him to keep her brother safe and to take care of him. She had faith He would keep Jake happy and would return his health one day.

Juliette poured slightly at the news. “I’m sad to hear that.” She actually was sad, but not surprised. “I’m sure he’ll get better though! I pray for you two every night.”
She might not have seemed like a religious woman at first glance, but she was highly devoted. She wore a small, thin golden bracket with a cross charm around her left wrist everyday. The only time she wasn’t wearing it was during photo shoots, but most of hers were more scandalous shoots.

"Thank you," Alicia replied, managing the pull off the best smile she could, "It means a lot." She was aware of the importance of religion to Juliette, or at least she thought. Alicia allowed her thoughts to roll around in her head for a brief moment. Juliette had been a great friend to her and Jake, but would saying what she was about to say make Juliette upset? Alicia took a deep breath and sunk deeper into the couch. "Do you ever..." she began, trying to figure out how she wanted to word her thoughts, "Do you ever doubt Him and what He does?"

Juliette reached her the braclett around her wrist as her eyes shifted to the side. “Well, I...” She faltered. She twisted the charm between her fingers. “I have, yes. When I was younger, my parents were murdered in our home.” Her speech was slow while she continued to stare at any object other than Alicia.

“After the...incident happened, I was very distraught and angry. I did things that I now very much regret because I was mad at God for letting something so terrible happen.” Juliette sighed softly. “Katherine* eventually got fed up with me and slapped some sense into me. I later realized that some things have to happen for the world to go on.”

Juliette managed to pull her eyes back to Alicia. “What I’m saying is: yes, i have lost my faith in Him once before. But it’s just a matter of understanding that things happen because they happen. Not everything He has in mind for us has to be good.”

Alicia listened carefully to Juliette. A shiver raced down her spine as Juliette talked about the murder of her parents. She knew Juliette never spoke of them, but she never had the courage to ask why. "I'm so sorry, I should've been more careful about what I said," Alicia apologized, upset with herself. "I love Him and I love my brother, but this whole thing is just kill-," she paused and reworded, "This whole thing is destroying me."

Alicia one leg over the other, then crossed her arms over her chest, almost child-like. "Life is hard. You never understand how hard it is until you live. I know not every part of God's plan is supposed to be good, at least not at face value. I don't understand how taking Jake is good for anyone here." Alicia felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away with her sleeve, but more came. "Why does He want to take Jake so early?"

((I meant to put this in the last post lol, but Katherine is that vampire lady is telling u about))

Juliette pressed her lips together and gave Alicia a small smile. “No need to apologize, I have come to terms with my parents passing,” she assured the woman. She scooted a little closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder blade.
“I know it’s hard,” she murmured softly. “It’s terrible for anyone to be going through this, but things happen for a reason. Sometimes that reason is never understood nor is it meant to be understood.” As soon as tears started to roll down Alicia’s cheeks, Juliette opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped herself. Instead, she leaned forward to wrap her arms around the other.

(Oh okay, I was wondering who she was. XDD)

Alicia let herself become embraced by Juliette. It had been so long since someone held her, since someone let her cry. As soon as she felt the warmth of the other woman her sadness boiled over into an ugly cry. She had trouble understanding why every thing landed on her shoulders. Why did she have to raise Jake? Why couldn't she have gotten him to the doctors sooner? Why did both of their parents abandon them? After what felt like an eternity, but was more like twenty seconds, Alicia's cries calmed into sniffles which quieted down into soft, slow breathing. She hated self-pity, especially when she did it.

She pulled away from Juliette. As much as the young woman would have loved to stay there forever, she knew she had to continue her strength for her brother. "I'm sorry," Alicia said, wiping her tear-covered face. "Thanks for being here for us. For me. I don't know what I would do without you."

The thoughts running through Juliette’s head as Alicia cried on her shoulder were terrible. The walls of the apartment were paper thin and she could imagine how the little boy in the other room felt. She moveed away when Alicia pulled away. Being who she was, Juliette had a ‘natural’ calming affect for the people around her. “If I wasn’t here, you would continue on,” she told her gently. “I am just a small part in your life.”

"You're really not though," Alicia said. She cleared her throat, hating the gunk that always appeared after crying. "You've helped us so much in any way you could and it's meant so much to us." The air seemed much warmer now than it did earlier. Maybe the heater started working again? Alicia took in a deep breath, calming herself down even more.

"You mean so much to me. If..." a pause hung in the air and she reworded, "When Jake leaves I know I'm going to need a friend like you to help." Jake and Alicia had been abandoned by their family long ago and now they only relied on each other. When Alicia thought about it, she realized that Juliette was her only friend now.

"Hey, do you wanna see him? He's a bit sleepy, but you always seem to make him feel better."