Dahlia and Justine were in the backseat, drunk on love, but this drunkenness didn't suddenly make them extroverted party girls with loose lips. Instead, at least in Justine's case, it made her feel even tenser than before. It left her feeling queasy and confused, not quite sure what to say, and certain that anything that came out of her mouth would likely be a mess. But they couldn't just sit in silence forever, so Justine leaned back in her seat, trying to look relaxed and cool.

"I rent a place on Cornelia Street," she said casually. The invitation was clear. Did Dahlia want to go on vacation with her? It would be nice to see the other woman outside of work more often. They both worked in the combat department at the Prism agency, but they had different jobs, so their paths didn't cross very often. This vacation would be the perfect chance to get to know one another better now.

Their story was still on a fresh page, barely even begun, and they were making it up as they went along. By asking Dahlia out on a vacation, Justine was taking the first steps to writing their first chapter, but she was terrified on the inside. She stared straight ahead, unsure of what she was more afraid of, Dahlia saying yes, or Dahlia saying no. Somewhere in the haziness of her mind, one thought stood out to her above all the others:

The streetlights look like arrowheads pointing us home...

"Sure, I'd love to!" Dahlia flashed Justine a dazzling, friendly smile and Justine felt her heart jump a little in her chest. She was a rather stoic woman, it took an awful lot to shake her up in any way, but all Dahlia had to do was smile and Justine was gone. That was part of what drew Justine to her so much. When was the last time anybody made her feel like that? Well, she knew the answer, but she didn't want to think about it right now. Instead, her mind had other ideas...

The two pulled up to Justine's place on Cornelia Street. The autumn air nipped at them as they stepped out of the car, and both of them shivered. Dahlia tightened her grip on the jacket around her shoulders. Contrast to the purple and white she normally wore, the jacket was black, it was Justine's. Like a proper gentlewoman, she gave it to Dahlia earlier that evening. It was a little small on Dahlia, since Justine was shorter than her, but Dahlia appreciated the gesture just the same.

"Justine, this place is beautiful..." Dahlia's voice was soft and full of wonder. Justine's stomach did a somersault.

"I'm glad you like it," she told Dahlia with a casual tone. Her inner voice was much more berating. Get a grip, Justine! She bit her lip and followed after Dahlia as Dahlia explored every inch of the vacation home. It was truly a lovely little place, humble though it was.

"I like it," she decided at the end of her little tour. "It's homey!"

"Homey?" Justine couldn't help but laugh, a wry smile slowly spreading across her face. She could see the appeal, she'd rented it after all, but she never would've described it as "homey". It always felt too cold and empty...and lonely. But Dahlia seemed to feel quite at home there already.

Although Justine didn't know it yet, as Dahlia would tell her later, every window was flung wide open and she memorized the creaks in the floor for a very specific reason. She had the ability to cast lifelike illusions wherever she wanted, and she wanted this place burned into her brain so that the next time she cast an illusion, she could revisit Cornelia Street after their vacation came to its inevitable end.

Inevitable end...Justine was no idiot. She knew nothing in life lasted forever. But that didn't mean that thinking about the day Dahlia would eventually move on from her and leave her behind was any easier to bear. It didn't matter how many people Justine lost, sometimes it still hurt just as badly as the first time. That time was all her fault, her first and biggest mistake.

She used to run a security company and, in her opinion, had the greatest team anyone could ask for. They were so close and in such perfect sync! That made their inevitable end all the more tragic. Loyalties and ambitions started to shift and Justine wasn't able to get it under control before infighting tore them apart. The last straw happened when someone got so angry and hurt that a fight broke out and a few people on the team ended up dead. The rest scattered to the wind and only a couple of them were brought to justice. That was the end of Justine's dream and her team.

That wasn't the end of the nightmare, though. The guilt would haunt her for years to come. She felt responsible, not just because she was a leader who failed to get her group back on track, but because she was part of the problem. Her insecurity...trying to juggle work and romance...watching her then-girlfriend cheat on her with their then-best friend...Screaming, crying, it was a perfect storm.

What if it happened again? Prism's combat department was different than the security company, but who was to say she wouldn't ruin just the same, just like last time? And what if...this time...Dahlia was caught in the crossfire? Justine didn't think she could even bear the thought, let alone the reality. Dahlia was no idiot either, but there was pure, innocent, sweet aura about her. Justine didn't want anything bad to happen to it...or her. What if Dahlia fell in love with someone else? What if she died? What if it was somehow Justine's fault again?

I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends. I'd never walk Cornelia Street again! That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend...And baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name! Baby, I'm so terrified of if you ever walk away I'd never walk Cornelia Street again!

No, it was better if Justine just left. Now! Before things had the chance to get worse.

This is how the world works, you gotta leave before you get left.

Dahlia would find someone better, someone worthier, if she hadn't already. There was no way someone as lovely as her (inside and out) actually wanted someone as broken and messed up as Justine. Surely Dahlia was leading her on because she was too nice to reject Justine outright!

Justine packed her bags, fled Cornelia Street, and hoped Dahlia wouldn't care that she'd gone...

Please don't try to come after me, don't even call or text me! Don't ask if or why I left. Don't even give any indication that you noticed...or cared...

ooo

Riiing! Riiing! Riiing! Justine was tempted to let it keep ringing.

Ding! Text from Dahlia Villarreal: Justine? Where are you? Where did you go? When are you coming back?

(Read at 8:00)

More phone calls, more texts. Ding! Text from Dahlia Villarreal: Seriously, Justine! This isn't funny! Come back immediately!

(Read at 8:30)

Ding! Text from Dahlia Villarreal: Don't make me come looking for you, Philips! You better tell me what's going on! You know I'll find you!

(Read at 9:00)

Justine muted her phone after that, punishing herself and Dahlia with silence.

Text from Dahlia Villarreal: Justine...Please? You're scaring me...

Justine pulled up to the station with a heavy heart and a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Dahlia, but this is for the best..." She booked the night train for a reason, but before she could climb aboard, she heard screeching tires. She turned around just in time to see Dahlia sprinting at her, reaching out.

They spent the rest of the night on a roof, first the car, then Justine's place on Cornelia Street. Up above, the sky turned black. It was another perfect storm of screaming and crying. The rain was about to come pouring down, threatening to drown them both.

"How could you do this to me, Justine!? How could you leave me like that?! You scared me to death! First you invite me out to Cornelia Street, then you leave me stranded! Was I not good enough for you?!" Dahlia went off like a siren, just crying.

"No...You were too good."

Dahlia hadn't realized how deep Justine's insecurities really ran. It made sense, though, they didn't know one another that well outside of work. That was what this vacation was supposed to help with! Well, they got what they wanted, even if it didn't pan out the way they would've hoped or assumed. But Dahlia wasn't the only one with something she needed to learn.

Justine hadn't realized how much harm she was actually doing when she left, at least not until she saw Dahlia's terrified, tearstained face. Maybe she thought Dahlia would be better off without her, but she still scared and scarred Dahlia deeply that night. What cruel irony, Justine never wanted to be a source of pain for Dahlia, but she was so desperate to escape that possibility that she ran right into it. It seemed that the luck of the draw only drew the unlucky, and so Justine became something of a butt of the joke.

"I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends. I'd never walk Cornelia Street again! That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend!" The anguish in Dahlia's voice was palpable. "And baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name. Baby, I'm so terrified of if you ever walk away, I'd never walk Cornelia Street again!" Now it sounded like she wanted to run away, before Justine could.

You gotta leave before you get left...

No. That cycle of pain and trauma had to end, right here, right now. If either of them even wanted a chance at a normal life, they had to confront all their demons first. They didn't have to do it all in one night, but they had to start somewhere. Justine took Dahlia's hands in her own.

"I blew things out of proportion, now you're blue. I put you in jail for something you didn't do. Thought I had reason to attack, but no..." Just like on Cornelia Street, Justine's voice to Dahlia was unusually gentle, but her internal voice was more exasperated.

Why'd I have to break what I love so much? It's on her face, and I'm to blame, I need to say...

"Hey, it's all me, in my head. I'm the one who burned us down! But it's not what I meant...Sorry that I hurt you...I don't want to do this to you, and I don't want to lose this with you! I need to say, hey, it's all me! Just don't go...Meet me in the afterglow..."

ooo

They held each other's hands on Cornelia Street and walked back inside. Justine was taken back years ago. What she hadn't told Dahlia was that Cornelia Street was where she used to take her security team every year for their annual bonding/getaway vacation. That was why this place held so many sorrowful memories for her, but even more than that, inviting Dahlia into it was a huge and symbolic gesture on Justine's part.

Now they were barefoot in the kitchen, neither of planning on running away ever again. Their shoes were off, they were staying inside. It was a sacred new beginning that became Justine's religion when she thought she'd lost all faith forever. The ultraviolet morning light below told her this love was worth the fight. She wasn't going to lose it all again, not this time. Whether she knew it or not, she was older and wiser now, stronger...She would make it through this battle when the last one had failed.

My love was as cruel as the cities I lived in. Everyone looked worse in the light. There are so many lines that I've crossed, unforgiven...I'll tell you the truth, but never goodbye...

Justine turned to Dahlia, both of their faces illuminated by the afterglow of daybreak. "I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you. I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you. I've been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night, but now I see daylight."

She'd wounded the good and trusted the wicked, hurt Dahlia and let her own insecurities and fear take control of her. It was a very natural, human error to make, so Justine wasn't trying to punish herself anymore by thinking about it that way. She was just trying to acknowledge what happened. It was simple cause-and-effect. Even though it would be hard to trust the good, that was what Justine had to do from now on.

Maybe Dahlia was a little wild, always running around and engaging in combat; and maybe Justine had stormed and run out of every single room in that town, but it was morning now. There was no more need for cloaks and daggers, especially against one another.

"It's funny, I once believed love would be black and white. I thought it would be straightforward, easy and obvious," Justine said. "How ridiculous and childish that notion is now. I can't believe I ever believed that..."

"Well, I used to think it would be burning red," Dahlia gave Justine a tired laugh. "I thought it would be dramatic like fire, screaming and crying and kissing in the rain. And, well, I guess it kind of was...But...I've come to realize something, too. That's not the kind of love I want. The love I want is..." She and Justine locked eyes, a mutual understanding passing between them.

"It's golden...Like daylight..." It was a lesson they were both only just starting to learn, two broken hearts trying to mend one another as they healed and grew together. But now that they knew, they would never be able to look away again, and things would never be the same.

"I think...we just have to step into the daylight, and let it go, trust the process, right?" Dahlia took Justine's hand gingerly as they faced the sun.

"Yes, I think you're right," Justine gave Dahlia the first real smile either of them had seen from her in a very long time.

As they gazed into the sunrise, the beautiful gold that turned the skies a lovely purple-pink, Justine's inner voice started to talk again, but also for the first time in a long time, it was gentle. They weren't out of the woods yet, but she was sure she could see something clear up ahead.

I want to be defined by the things that I love. Not the things I hate, not the things that I'm afraid of...I just...I think...

She looked at Dahlia out of the corner of her eye, the other woman's face bathed in a pure, radiant, golden glow. She looked like an angel.

You are what you love...And if I love her, then...I will try to trust that love, and step into it fully, no matter how much it scares me. Maybe then, I'll get used to the sun's bright light and see the beauty of the daylight. I'll become what I love, what I wanted to be all along, someone she can love in return...

AN: God, these last few songs of "Lover" were SO FREAKING BEAUTFIUL, and they still make me cry two years later. Shoutout to Penguinlover611 for asking me to write this with more of her Prism OCs, it was super fun! I only hope that other people read this and not turn away as soon as they realize it's "an original story" rather than a fanfic from a recognizable fandom. These songs deserve so much publicity because, IMO, they carry so many important lessons about life, love, forgiveness, and moving forward. So major thanks to anyone who DOES read this chapter. I'm so glad you got to experience this song in any capacity!