Chapter Text
As Eve pulled up to the pickup lane outside the airport, she pulled out her phone. She was disappointed, hoping to see a text notification but seeing nothing but an irrelevant email. She swiped the notification away and unlocked her phone, starting a new message.
Have you landed yet?!
I'm outside.
She stared at the screen, hoping three dots would pop up immediately. Nothing. After only about fifteen seconds she pressed the call button. No ringing. Just straight to an automated message:
The person you are
trying to reach has a
voicemail box that has
not been set up
She sighed as she ended the call and was immediately startled by a tapping on her window. She looked up to find an officer standing there. She rolled down the window and before the officer could speak, she pleaded, "I just need a few more minutes, please."
"Ma'am, might I recommend parking in the pick-up lot?" She motioned to the parking lot behind her.
At that moment Eve's phone began ringing. "Ha!" she shouted before picking it back up. "I'm all set thank you." She rolled up the window, the officer shaking her head before walking away.
"Finally!" she shouted answering it.
"You have the patience of a toddler, Eve Polastri, you know that?"
"So I've been told. Now hurry up, there's an officer on a power trip that's on my ass about being here too long," Eve explained. "I already wanna fight her."
"How about not getting arrested, okay? I know you don't want to spend your beloved Christmas in prison. You wouldn't do well in there anyway. Now open your trunk, it's cold out here."
Eve ended the call and checked her rearview mirror, a perfect white smile flashing back at her as she pressed the button to open the trunk and got out.
They both struggled to keep their balance as she wrapped her arms around her favorite person's neck.
"God, I'm so happy you're finally here again," Eve exclaimed.
"I'm sure Niko isn't..."
"He'll be fine, don't worry. Plus, he doesn't get home until tomorrow night. Well, weather permitting."
She helped toss the suitcases into the trunk, then made her way back to the driver's seat.
She looked at her friend as she got into the passenger's seat. "Villanelle, why are you smiling like that?" Eve checked her side mirror before pulling away from the curb to head home.
"You said 'weather permitting' and there's a huge snowstorm about to hit Maine. That's where he is, isn't it?"
"Why do you hate Niko so much? I've asked a million times and you won't tell me."
"Don't worry about it," Villanelle said, again avoiding the subject. "You'll never guess who sat behind me on the flight here."
"Who?" Eve asked.
"Gemma."
"What?!?!"
"Yeah, of course, she had to have a layover in my city."
"What's she like now? Did she notice you? Did she say anything? Tell me everything!"
"Jesus, Eve, breathe!" Villanelle laughed.
"I want to know..spill the tea."
"'Spill the tea'? What are you, Eve, twelve?"
Eve shrugged. "I heard it on a show yesterday and I thought I'd see if I could get away with it."
"Well, you can't."
Eve scoffed.
"Anyway, her boobs are huge, like really, really, huge. And her high voice is still so fucking irritating, if I hadn't had noise-canceling headphones with me I would have jumped out of the airplane. But the best part?"
"What?! Tell me?" Eve practically begged.
"She has...a wife."
"No!"
"Yes!" Villanelle mocked Eve.
"Well, so much makes sense now." Eve snickered.
When Villanelle was twelve she was adopted and forced to move from Russia to a strange state she'd never heard of called Connecticut. The town she was forced to live in wasn't used to having people from abroad move there, and her classmates were sure to make it known every chance they had.
She was hit, pushed, her accent made fun of, tripped, locked in lockers, and even beaten up on a couple of occasions. Neither her teachers nor the school principal were of any help when she turned to them. One day she finally begged her parents to let her stay home, forever, and be homeschooled. She'd seen it in a movie on TV recently and thought it would be a great idea. Her requests were denied, her new parents too busy with work during the day to stay home with her. And though she didn't know it at the moment, she would soon be happy she was being forced to go to school that day.
During homeroom, as she faced the typical mockery, her teacher made an announcement.
"Boys, girls, listen up please!" she yelled over them. "We have another new addition to the class. Everybody, this is Eve."
While the other students continued to joke around and pretend to fight, Eve took the only open seat: the one next to Villanelle.
Villanelle reluctantly held her hand out. "I'm Villanelle," she said.
"You talk funny," Eve retorted. "I'm Eve." She took Villanelle's hand and shook it gently.
They were pretty much inseparable from that point on.
They wouldn't meet the worst of the bullies until their sophomore year of high school: Gemma.
While she too was new to the country, she became popular immediately due to the strange obsession many Americans seem to have with British accents.
Gemma went through boyfriends faster than anyone else, finding the smallest reasons possible to break up with each of them. She tormented Eve and Villanelle in front of everyone, and it only made her more popular, using every derogatory term she could think of against them.
Without each other, neither Eve nor Villanelle was sure how they'd be able to put up with the torment. And it made their friendship even stronger. When junior year came along they both decided they would have to apply to the same universities. Eve was slightly apprehensive, realizing Villanelle, who had better grades, may have to settle. But Villanelle swore it didn't matter.
Eve ended up getting into her reach school, the one Villanelle loved most, and that was it. They were set.
When they roomed together, Eve finally had no choice but to start socializing with other classmates. And it was only because Villanelle was finally able to be herself...and that meant having a girl in their room nearly every night.
Eve didn't care, she'd just become tired of doing her homework in the lounge alone all the time.
At the end of their first month there, Eve met only one person...the man she'd end up marrying after they graduated.
Niko always invited her and Villanelle to his fraternity's parties/ The few times Villanelle reluctantly agreed to go, she always told herself it was the last time. She was usually left standing in a corner alone or standing in a corner being endlessly hit on by sleazy guys as Eve disappeared with Niko. Of course, when she rejected them there was the occasional "dyke" remark thrown back at her. On a few occasions, she even got into fist-fights with guys who took it too far. Obviously, she won.
Nearly all of Niko's friends were shady, and at one particular party, Villanelle was really made aware. And it was then that she'd come to despise her best friend's future husband. Because the behavior of his friends also spoke volumes about him.
"What are we doing tonight?" Villanelle asked.
"I thought you were going to see your parents?" Eve asked, confused.
The plan had been for Eve to visit her mother for the week and for Villanelle to spend it visiting her parents. She had told Eve she needed to stay with her because she would "unalive herself" if she had to visit her parents and stay with them. She and Eve would spend the nights talking, watching Christmas films (Villanelle's favorite), and baking. They'd done this every year since they were teenagers.
Villanelle had a favorite guest room in Eve's house, and she forbade Eve to let anyone else stay in there. Niko had convinced Eve to move into a larger house when they got married, insisting that she would change her mind one day and want children as he did. She knew she never would, but he never listened to her. About anything, really.
It didn't matter much though, because she loved their house. cathedral ceilings. Stained glass windows. Gold and crystal chandeliers. A three-car garage. Niko worked and paid all the bills, while Eve got to do whatever she pleased. Sometimes she did get bored, but at least she didn't have to stress about whether they could afford life. She had the life so many people wanted and didn't want to complain and seem ungrateful.
"I uh...had a fight with them. Again."
"What the hell happened?!"
"I don't want to talk about it. Can I just spend the time with you and your mother instead?"
"Hmmm, I'll have to ask her. I'm not sure she wants to see you," Eve joked, struggling to hide a smile.
Villanelle lightly slapped Eve's arm. "Please, your mother loves me, Eve. And you know it."
Eve finally let out a laugh. "I know. I think she cried more than I did when you moved."
"Wait...Eve Polastri cried?!"
Eve rolled her eyes. "I did. But can you blame me? You practically abandoned me."
"I did not abandon you," Villanelle argued. "I simply moved away...across the country...to make more money."
"Villanelle, I'm joking."
"Oh."
"You're your own person."
After college graduation, Villanelle told Eve she only had two and a half weeks before she'd be moving to Seattle for a job she never even mentioned applying to.
I didn't want to jinx it is what she'd said. But Eve knew there was more to it, she just didn't know what. Since the day they met, villanelle had shared any good news she had with Eve before telling anyone else. and Eve did the same with Villanelle. So about ten years later when Villanelle secretly made plans to move away, it was obvious something was wrong. Eve never wanted to pester her, but she'd always feared that it was because of something she had done.
"So...can I go with you to your mother's house?"
"Sure. At least you already know how boring she can be. You'll keep me entertained."
"She never really bores me. Except when she talks about that stupid book club of hers," Villanelle explained.
"So like 95 percent of the time?" Eve laughed.
"Eve, be nice. Your mother is the best."
"I know," Eve agreed. "She is."
"Mine on the other hand," Villanelle complained, "is the worst. It's like she's stuck in the 1960s." She scoffed.
"I'm sorry, but I've always hated her," Eve stated.
"Why are you sorry?"
"I don't know, some people get offended when other people talk bad about their parents."
"Well you're you, so it's fine."
"What's that mean?" Eve asked.
"I've just...known you for a long time. That's all." Villanelle changed the subject. "I feel like I should get your mother something if I am going to be spending the holiday at her home. I definitely should. What designers does she like? Is there a good mall on the way to your house?"
"You don't need to get her anything, it's fine. She has everything she needs anyway."
"No, Eve, it's rude to go to someone's house empty-handed. Especially on a holiday."
"She'll understand your plans changed."
"Eve, we are stopping somewhere, even if it's just for wine or something. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the stores will be even crazier then."
Eve sighed and made her way to the better of the two malls on their route. "Be quick?" she said putting the car in park and leaning her seat back.
"Eve, come with me. Help me pick something out. You know what she likes better than I do."
"There are way too many people in there. I'd rather wait here."
"You are exhausting," Villanelle whined before slamming the door shut behind her.
Nearly an hour and a half and seven ignored calls later Eve finally saw Villanelle emerge from the mall. And in true Villanelle fashion, she was carrying at least 5 or 6 bags in each hand. She tossed them into the back seat and took her place back in the passenger's seat as Eve put her seat back into its normal position.
"I told you to be quick, Villanelle. And I thought you were just getting a gift for my mother? What the hell is all that?" She motioned to the back seat as she pulled out of the parking lot.
"I also saw some things I liked."
"We're gonna hit a crazy amount of traffic now, you know."
"There's always traffic," Villanelle reasoned. "Deal with it."
"You are exhausting," Eve complained.