HNLY [Nancy Wheeler x OC]

The burn of smoke in her lungs both relaxed Lydia and made her stomach twist so violently she thought she could puke. It truly was a miraculous thing.

Another loud bang sounded off and she sighed, taking a drag and blowing it out her nose as she spoke. "Why are you still bothering? Clearly you don't have aim."

"Just shut up, will you? I don't have...experience."

"Clearly," she snorted, dropping the cigarette and stomping it out under her converse. She crossed her arms over her chest and stood beside him, cocking her head to see better at the makeshift targets set up.

"Where's Nancy?" Jonathon asked, reloading the gun to take yet another shot. "No clue. Maybe she flaked," Lydia shrugged and turned around to scan the field again. They had agreed to meet here over ten minutes ago and the petite girl still failed to make her appearance.

Jonathon brought the gun back up and focused before taking his shot, only to miss once more. "Shit."
Lydia exhaled irritably and turned back to face him. He had missed the target completely. "Aren't you supposed to hit the cans?" Nancy laughed slightly as she walked up them.

"Drew, you've finally decided to join us," Lydia said, emphasizing her words by tapping on the swatch around her wrist.
"I was busy...with Steve." The last clarification felt like a small blow to Lydia's chest, as if a rebound shot from Jonathan's gun hit her. But she recovered quickly and gave Nancy a sour look instead, sitting back down on the ground to lay on her back.

"No, I'm actually trying to hit that space between the cans," Jonathon joked, although his line was a bit late. Nancy smiled weakly at him, emitting a small "Ah," as she set her bag down by Lydia's feet.

"I haven't shot one of these since I was ten," Jonathon said, cocking the gun in his hands. "My dad took me hunting for my birthday. Made me shoot a rabbit." Nancy's face turned into one of pity. "A rabbit?" She squeaked. Jonathon nodded. "I cried for a week," he said, looking down at the ground and clenching his jaw.
"A week?" The longest Lydia had cried was for a day or two. Jonathon turned around to look at her. "What can I say? I'm a fan of Thumper," he defended. Lydia gave him a small smile, pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ears. It was growing long again.

"My dad was..." he trailed off, testing some words to himself before continuing. "My mom and my dad loved each other. At some point. I guess I was just not around to see it."

Both girls felt the simultaneous pity of relating to the statement.

Nancy held her hand out for the gun. "Just uh, point and shoot. There," Jonathon clarified. Nancy nodded and raised the gun to eye level before freezing. "I don't think my parents ever loved each other," she said suddenly, still focusing on the can in the distance.
"Must've married for some reason," Jonathon reasoned. Nancy shook her head.
"My mom was young. My dad was older. But he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So they moved to the end of a cul-de-sac, and started their nuclear family." Jonathon looked down at his feet and didn't reply. Words came crawling out of Lydia's throat before she had a chance to stop them.
"My dad was in some shady business with my mom. She ran out of money one day, and paid for it in a quick fuck. Got herself knocked up. My dad tried to run from it, see if he could just pay child support. But when they realized it was twins, he married her. He went on doing his thing, and they moved out here so she could do some experiment for money. And viola. Me and...my brother. We were born." Lydia twisted a piece of grass in her fingers until they turned green. "Just your good ol' average train wreck, I guess," she finished off. Nancy was turned around looking at her, and Lydia felt the heat rush up from her neck to her ears.