You are kind and that's enough.

This is something I wrote with that in mind, but there are a lot of other ways it could shake out. A slightly different take on this was planned at one point, but I never got to it. If there’s anything that anyone wants to know about what went down between them, I’d be happy to clear any of that up!

For now, though, have a drabble. I like to imagine that a few years have passed between where they’re at now and this story.))

When Amber takes the tea, Nancy sits down across from her, hands clasped in her lap, and watches the girl closely over the top of her glasses. Donny leans against the wall, behind his mother. He doesn’t much feel like sitting at the moment. He’s too busy thinking about how his mother made tea for Amber but didn’t offer him any.

“It’s no bother, really.” Nancy waves a hand when Amber promises to leave as soon as possible. “I’d hate to know that any child was out in Freeside at night, particularly a night like this. Sadly, I can’t get my own child to listen to reason.”

Behind her, Donny rolls his eyes. But Nancy is ignoring him, giving Amber ber full attention.

“I see.” Nancy’s eyebrows lift, and she gives a small nod. “Where is this brother of yours? Maybe we can get a message to him, let him know you’re safe.”

Amber curls her fingers around the cup and frowns, furrowing her eyebrows together. The steam rising off the top and the smell of the tea are soothing, but not enough to calm her frayed nerves.

Still. She considers her answer carefully, raising her mug to her lips for a sip to stall just a moment longer before replying. “...probably not. My brother lives all the way out in Primm. I don’t want to worry him for no reason when I’m just a day behind schedule.” She pauses. “My friend is closer, and I was supposed to meet him, but...I mean, I could get a message to him as easily as...y’know, getting to him. If it weren’t so late. There’s not much point as far as I can tell.”

Nancy gives Amber a little squeeze, steering her towards the couch.

“It’s alright, sweetheart, don’t worry.” She coos soothingly, directing the girl to sit down. “You’ve been through a lot, I can tell, it’s alright…”

She looks over at Donny when Amber mentions how he helped, her mouth in a hard line, her face not matching the calmness of her voice. Donny’s shoulders hunch a little under her gaze.

“I’m sure he was.” Nancy nods at her son, a signal for him to follow her to the kitchen nook on the other side of the room. He does so, reluctantly, and stands there as he watches his mother start to make tea.

“What happened, Donny.” She repeats her question from before, her voice low and sharp. “I saw the smoke. Did you have anything to do with it?”

“What? Mom, no!” His refusal is believable enough, at least. And the hurt on his face, that’ real. “Why would you think-”

“Donny, I’m your mother. I know you.” Nancy looks away from him, pouring water from the kettle into a mug. “You’ve been starting fires since you were old enough to hold a lighter. No matter what I did. Just… just tell me it wasn’t you.”

Donny’s shoulders slump. Nothing she says is untrue. He does have a… history. It’s been a source of tension between them for years. She’s never understood why he couldn’t just… stop. Though really, neither has he.

But that doesn’t stop the accusation from hurting.

“…Amber hired me to escort her through Freeside.” Donny finally begins to speak, softly. “That’s… that’s all. When we… heard it happen, and saw the fire, I just tried to get her away. She’s just a kid. It wasn’t safe, so… I brought her here.”

Nancy sets down the kettle and gives him a long, hard look. Finally, she sighs, picking up the mug and turning away from him, back over to the sitting area and to Amber.

“Here you go, sweetheart. This should calm your nerves.” She passes the girl the mug. “You’re safe here. You can stay the night, at least, till the commotion quiets down.”

Amber sits down on the couch heavily. She watches Nancy and Donny walk across the room and furrows her eyebrows together quietly. Their voices are too low for her to catch more than the tone they’re spoken in, but something inside her stomach clenches and she can’t help but wince at how familiar the sounds are.

When Nancy walks back with the tea, Amber takes it wordlessly and wraps both hands tightly around the cup. It’s warm to the touch. Her fingers twitch, but she looks up and manages a polite smile.

“...thank you. That’s...that’s nice of you.” She doesn’t make any motions to raise it to her lips. “I promise I’ll be out of your hair in the morning. My...friend and my brother are probably wondering what happened to me.”

Cold nerves clench in her stomach when he leads her through alleys and corners she’s never even noticed before, enough that she almost considers bailing out on the entire expedition entirely. Just being in them is enough to make her want to turn and run for Primm or the Strip; pride and the fact it’s getting too dark out to risk that alone are the only things that keep her walking.

By the time they reach a small store, Amber’s rubbing an anxious hand on the back of her neck and the weight of everything–from the fire on down–is crashing down around her. Her only response to Donny’s comment is a distracted, wordless nod.

“Uh, mom-”

“Donny, who is this? Where did you find her?” Nancy’s voice is sharp, and she steps from the doorway towards Amber. Donny blinks and tries again.

“Mom-”

“Is she hurt?” Nancy takes the girl gently by the shoulders, looks at her face closely in the light of the doorway. “Are you hurt, sweetheart? It’s alright…”

“Mom, I’m trying to-”

“You were in Freeside, weren’t you?” Nancy turns quickly to fix her son with a piercing look. “I heard that explosion. There’s smoke in the sky. What happened Donny?”

“Mom!” The exasperation in Donny’s voice is palpable. “I’m trying to tell you can you please just-”

“Come on now, hun, let’s get you inside.” Nancy’s attention is already back on Amber. She puts an arm around the girls shoulders and begins to gently yet insistently steer her towards the door. “You look scared half to death! Let’s get you something warm to drink…”

She lets the woman–Donny’s mother, from the sound of it–lead her inside as she blinks back a few tears. It’s weird having someone’s arm around her shoulders and she flinches just a bit. It’d probably be rude to shrug her off when she’s being nice like this, but her family never was big on affection.

Outside of Nathan, that is. God, he’s going to have nightmares about this if she tells him about any of what happened today. That thought almost makes Amber want to tear up all over again.

“…ssssorry. I, I’m not usually like this. I’m not hurt. I’m okay.” Her voice cracks more than she’d have liked on that okay, but there’s nothing for it. Amber lets out a pathetic sniffle and rubs at the corner of her eye with the palm of her hand. “Thank you. It’s been a…a really hard day.”