Two weeks had passed since I stood up for Paisley and ever since Yui had barely said a word to me, beyond the barest of greetings any time we had spent together had been endured in complete silence. Part of me felt guilty and a little bit sad that a well established friendship could end just like that and all because when she tried to do something that I thought was wrong, she got pretty mad that I just didn't go along with her plan. Paisley was the newest member of our group of friends but to me that was no excuse for Yui or anyone to want to leave her behind when we got trapped behind enemy lines, I remember Yui's face when I confronted her and said "We don't leave anyone behind, either we complete the mission as a team or we don't complete it at all!" Of course in my anger I did agree to take Paisley under my wing and realistically even though it was meant with best intent, all it had served to do was make the matter worse. We had been clearing out a sector before pushing on to the subway in the next mission, Paisley had been guarding the rear but in all the action no one had clocked a sniper lying in wait until it was too late. Paisley was on the ground before we took the gunner out, in such a bad way we barely saved her but she was left in such a weakened state and when I stood up, it was agreed that I would take personal responsibility for her. Just in case that wasn't enough during the next part of the mission me and Paisley got separated from the rest of our crew and found ourselves trapped so deep behind enemy lines that there was no hope of rescue from anyone and instead had to find shelter wherever we could. So why not a collapsing bunker that belonged to an enemy officer? Every single explosion no matter how small sent a little piece of that place falling down, me and Paisley had found a place to sit and rest for the night, shoving boxes and crates into the strongest looking corner under the only light in that crumbling shelter. The only plus side so far had been finding something to heal Paisley a little, some new uniforms and some slightly better weapons too and going by the gunfire echoing just above our heads, we had very little doubt we would need both very soon. Each little sound from outside made me think more about the situation I now found myself in, I had kept wondering about backing down and apologising to Yui but when I asked mum, she told me to stand my ground because deep down I knew that I had done nothing wrong. A few times I had asked my mum what to do but all she really said was that "If Yui is my real friend, then she will come around in the end but it might take some time as generally people don’t like to be called out for their shittier actions" Though I knew she was right, that didn't really help that much at all but it did help more than her other advice "Well Savena, this is one of those things that you have to figure out on your own" which again I knew she meant well but it seemed far better than her final advice "Sometimes Savena, the best friendships come from the hardest of places" then she would start to tell me how her and Evelyn had first met, she told me that story so many times that I could repeat it without thinking word for word. I knew that she was trying to help me but I just couldn't quite figure things out, but if I thought that Yui had been bad with me, it was nothing compared to how she chose to snub Paisley. Paisley had been so very different since the falling out, her normal confidence had been thoroughly snuffed out and since that day Yui hadn't said a single word or even sent a courteous glance Paisley’s way. We had become closer of course, I guess strength together to weather the storm, but truthfully with her being so calm, she was no longer the Paisley I once knew. Her thoughts had been softer than normal, her usual zest and zing, toned down just enough so that she became quite deep and thoughtful. While both mum and I missed her almost infuriating confidence and charm, we had both grown quite fond of this previously unknown other side of Paisley. We sat leaning against each other, comforting and consoling each other whilst being showered by dust and ash when from silence she bleated quietly “I thought you two were so solid you know?” I glanced over at her to ask “Who?” Paisley just sighed “Yui and you” gently as she turned to rest on the crate and eased back against me “I remember looking at you two, you were so close, I used to envy you both” she fell silent briefly “I used to think “I hope that I could find a tight friend just like that” you know? Someone that no matter what, had my back and that I could trust no matter what” Paisley let out a strange giggle “Man I can’t believe that she has done this shit to you” I glanced across “What about, what she has done to you?” Paisley chuckled “Me?” she looked up at me and chuckled “She never liked me, the only reason Yui ever spoke to me, is because you do”. We fell silent again as I just listened to her voice cast amongst sporadic gunfire echoing from above “You’re just like her you know?” she paused briefly as I looked at her curious as to what she meant as she smiled “Your mum I mean, you’re just like her” as she fell quiet for a moment I started to think deeply about what to say as she soon filled the void again “When I went to see her when I got suspended, she could have just told me to “Fuck off” just like anyone else would, but not her, not your mum, that’s not her way. Instead she took me to work with her, looked after me, promised not to tell my dad as he already has enough to worry about, looking out for me on his own”. Paisley’s voice had grown softer, gentler and almost remorseful as she held back a snuffle “She’s been good to me Savena” I felt a strange pride as I heard those words but more shocking was what tickled my ears next “You have too” I felt my mouth drop open as I looked round “I haven’t done anything really?” Paisley dropped her head and glance through her eyelids “You really are just like her aren’t you” she smiled so gently “She’s always talk about you, she’s so proud of you, especially for what you did two weeks ago” I felt a smile creep over my face as she let that out, even if I had hear those exact words from mum, somehow they meant more coming from Paisley. Paisley snuggled closer to me “You know what she said to me? When I spent that week with her?” Paisley eased up against me and pulled my arm around her “I spent a week telling her about all the places I went and the things that I did and do you know what she said to me?” I knew Paisley had spent a week with my mum, hiding being suspended from school from her dad, but mum had never told me anything that they had ever talked about. As my hand fell on hers she gently whispered “She took me into that big room of hers and sat me in that chair, no one else around, just me and her. She sat down in front of me and looked me straight in the eye and she did that strange soft voice of hers, you know the one and she said “You sound lonely Paisley” I couldn’t even look her in the eye as she said it again”. I could feel Paisley gripping me tighter as her lips quivered “You don’t have to chase people to be your friends, someday when you figure it out, someone will make you forget what being lonely felt like at all” I could hear my mum saying those words to her in the back of my head, even the tone of voice mum would have used. I pulled her tighter as she glanced over and smiled gently “Then she told me the story about her and her best friend, you know the ginger girl from the clothes shop” I butted in “Evelyn?” she just nodded “Yeah, she’s the one” Paisley started telling mums favourite story about how she and Evelyn first met and suddenly I realised why mum had kept telling me that same story. I felt my mouth opening wide as it became obvious that she was never talking about Yui at all, but instead what she was trying to tell me was that “Paisley is my best friend” I took in a deep breath in disbelief that my thoughts had slipped from my mouth as Paisley glanced over at me. Paisley looked me up and down and giggled “She said you would figure it out” I looked down at her and saw that wry smile creep across her face as she sighed contently “Two weeks ago, I realised I didn’t have to look around anymore because I had already found the only friend I would ever truly need and I wasn’t going to be alone anymore” She stopped and waited for me to look into her eyes as she proudly said “Savena I found you” I felt her words deep down, caressing my heart as I smiled back “Solid forever?” she glanced back and nodded “Forever”.