“Allison!” Sarah screamed, waving all the while. There weren’t that many people on the sidewalk, and it didn’t take much time for Erin to spot the friend in question.

She was a pretty tall girl, who was about the same age as Erin and Sarah and wore a peacefully happy expression on her face. As she heard her name being called, Allison turned her head and quickly spotted Sarah waving, with Erin in tow. Her smile got a bit bigger and happier, and she quickly waved back energetically and made her way towards them.

“Hey there, Sarah,” she said, before the two of them shared a quick but energetic hug.

“It so good to see you! It’s been way too long,” Sarah said warmly.

“Yeah, it’s actually been weeks, Sarah, what has been keeping you so busy?” Allison asked good naturedly, before looking behind Sarah. “And who’s this?”

“Um, hi,” Erin said a tad timidly, standing just a bit further away. “I’m Erin,” she hurried to add, once she realized Allison was expecting some sort of introduction.

“Hey Erin, nice to meet you,”

“Come on, Erin, she’s not going to bite,” Sarah said playfully, lightly tugging at her arm to bring her closer.

“A bit shy, I see. That’s alright, we’ve got all day to get to know each other” Allison winked. “So, what’s the program for today, Sarah?” she asked, turning towards said friend.

“Same as usual?”

“So, mall, then grab something to eat, and then maybe a movie a bit later?”

“You know it!” Sarah said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

As she was standing aside, Erin smiled a little bit uncertainly, having a hard time following the rapid conversation. She couldn’t help but be nervous, remembering the first time she’d gone to the mall with Sarah. As fun as it had been, it had also left her stressed and exhausted, and something in the way Sarah’s eyes were gleaming told her things would probably not be different today. What worried her was that this new girl, Allison, seemed to match Sarah’s eagerness, and maybe even surpass it by a little bit. Still, she didn’t want disappoint Sarah and her friend, and so she did her best no to seem too reluctant.

She just hoped really hard they would go easy on her.

- - -

“Where are we going first? This place is huge,” Allison asked, looking around and up at the inside of the mall. It was one of these places where you could find pretty much everything you wanted, and thus was a bit intimidating by its sheer size. Looking up, they could see that the mall comported multiple floors, with escalator running in all directions. Sarah had picked it so that they would have plenty of options once there, but it was proving to be just as much of a hinderance than an advantage.

“Well,” Sarah started, biting her lip while similarly looking all around her. “How about we start with clothes shopping?”

“As good a place as any to start. What do you think, Erin, does that work for you?” Allison asked, turning to look at the shy girl questioningly.

Erin started. She hadn’t expected anyone to ask for her opinion, and would have been content to just go with the flow. As a result, her mind had drifted off, and she wasn’t exactly what the other two girls had been talking about. She quickly gave a small nod, not wanting them to find out that she hadn’t been paying attention.

“Perfect, let’s go then!” Sarah said, practically skipping ahead.

Looking back at Erin, Allison gave her an amused look before playfully rolling her eyes. Erin smothered a giggle and the two of them set off, intent on catching up with their enthusiastic friend.

Once Erin and Allison caught up to Sarah, the three of them entered one of the many clothing shops they could find near them. Instantly, Erin was reminded of the first time she’d come in one of those with Sarah, and how overwhelming the experience had been

This time, however, she found that she wasn’t as anxious as last time, strangely enough. By all accounts, she should have been, as she was now in company of a girl who didn’t know about her true identity. Instead, what she felt was more akin to guilt, a sentiment of not belonging.

She was pretty sure that was because she was actually deceiving Allison, and so going in there and pretending to be something she wasn’t felt intensely wrong, but she couldn’t just abandon Sarah and Allison without any reason.

As deep in thoughts as Erin was, she didn’t notice Sarah coming up to her and gently grasping her arm, making her jump. Looking into her eyes, Erin saw nothing but support and compassion in the other girl’s eyes, and she could feel her heart calm down, if only by a little bit.

On the sideline, Allison intently watched the silent exchange, saying nothing but smiling softly.

“Come on, let’s go see what we can find in there,” Sarah said, yet again lightly tugging at Erin’s arm, who hesitantly followed her.

“So,” Allison started, following the other two girls. “Not that this wasn’t extremely cute, but are we looking for anything specific?”

Blushing, Sarah sent an embarrassed frown at her. “Erin need clothes actually, she’s been cycling between the few clothes she has and it’s starting to show.”

Erin glanced at Sarah with a surprised expression, betrayal evident in her eyes.

“Sound good to me, we can start by finding some stuff for you then,” Allison said with a grin and raised eyebrow, before Erin had any time to object.

Sighing, Erin resigned herself to her fate and let the two enthusiastic girls pull her around the shop.

Because Allison didn’t know Erin and her tastes, she mostly observed at first, content to let Sarah do most of the work. However, it didn’t take her long to figure out that even Erin herself had very little idea of what she actually liked, at which point she decided to imitate Sarah and start throwing everything she could think of at the wall and see what would stick.

The main difference between the two girls was that, while Sarah was very enthusiastic and did her best to push Erin into trying new things, Allison always made sure she wasn’t being overbearing with her choices. She also did a lot to temper Sarah’s excitement, seemingly very aware of how uncomfortable Erin would get at times, and how pushy Sarah could get when she set her mind onto something.

In the span of half an hour, they managed to get a bunch of regular clothes for Erin, most of them fairly androgynous looking with a few more feminine choices thrown in.

While Erin had objected to anything even resembling a dress, it had been painfully obvious to Sarah that the shy girl was actually curious, but was holding herself back from actually indulging in her curiosity and trying some of the clothes the other two had brought forth.

The sight was enough to tug at Sarah’s heartstrings. Here she was, looking at her friend torture herself and refuse to let herself be happy for once. Erin’s life had been far from easy, especially in the past few weeks, and it tore at Sarah’s heart to see her deny herself even the tiniest bit of happiness.

Taking advantage of a moment when Allison was occupied browsing through various shelves a bit further away, Sarah pulled Erin aside, looking her in the eyes with concern.

“Erin,” she started, unsure of how to proceed. “I can’t even imagine how scary this must all be for you, but I want you to know you can trust us. You’re allowed to wear dresses and like it, alright?”

Sarah’s heartfelt speech caught Erin off guard, and she was having a difficult time figuring out what to say. A part of her instinctively wanted to deny everything, and say that she didn’t want to try a dress, or a skirt. She wanted to say that it just wasn’t something that interested her, that she was fine with what they’d picked up until now, but she just couldn’t bring herself to lie to her best friend, who was looking at her with such honesty and compassion shining in her eyes.

Seeing the internal struggle going on in Erin’s mind, Sarah pushed forth. “I know I can be a little overbearing sometimes, and I hope you won’t resent me for it, but I really think you should try on a dress. You don’t have to, if you really don’t want to, but the last thing I want is for you to regret your choice later.”

Erin pondered Sarah’s words for a little while, a myriad of emotions crossing her face. She stayed like that, peering into Sarah’s eyes for a few tense seconds, before slowly releasing a shaky breath.

“…Okay,” she said, very quietly.

A smile slowly bloomed across Sarah’s face, and she gently pulled Erin into a hug. “I’m proud of you.”

“Do you want me to pick for you?” Sarah asked, as she was pulling away from Erin while still staying close. At Erin’s shy nod, she smiled and guided her further into the shop, the two of them walking through the many shelves and rails. Once she’d found what she was looking for, Sarah stopped and pulled a bundle of red fabric from its emplacement.

Unfolding it revealed a long sleeved dark red dress, with a wide skirt that ended just over the knees. It was the kind of casual dress one could wear during a warm summer afternoon, but that would also be appropriate for semi-formal events. It was a very elegant yet simple dress, and Sarah had picked it for exactly this reason.

Glancing at her friend, Sarah could see that she’d definitely picked correctly. Erin was fidgeting, still obviously uncomfortable, but as the same time couldn’t take her eyes off the dress. The sight brought a small smile to Sarah’s face, who was both happy for her friend and still a bit sad to see her so conflicted.

Allison took that moment to join back with the two of them, glancing at the situation with her usual serene expression still on her face. While she didn’t make any comment, her smile seemed to get just a tiny bit wider when she glanced at the dress Sarah was still holding.

“Here,” Sarah finally said, holding the dress out to Erin, who hesitantly took it both hands, careful not to ruffle it. “Want to go try it on?”

Erin gave the tiniest of nods, and so Sarah and Allison found themselves a few moment later waiting on the outside of a fitting room, exchanging small talk.

While Allison didn’t know about Erin’s unique condition and her bracelet, she still had picked up on a few key things in the very small amount of time she’d known Erin, and so she understood that something pretty significant was taking place. As curious as she was, she also knew that this was none of her business, so to speak, and so decided to just sit by and watch how things went.

Sarah, on the other hand, was nervous. While she’d always been the kind of person to push others out of their comfort zone for their own good, she was worried she’d gone too far, this time. To say that Erin was fragile would have been an understatement, and she could only hope she hadn’t just pushed her friend into something she hadn’t been ready for. The fact that Erin was taking such a long time to change didn’t help her anxiety either.

She was just about to call to Erin, to ask if she wanted help or had changed her mind, when the fitting room’s curtain crinkled, slowly being pulled aside to reveal its occupant.

There, Erin stood, an arm still holding the curtain while the other was grasping at her other shoulder in a show of nervousness, as is she was unsure of how to hold herself. Part of her body was still hidden by the side of the curtain, which she hadn’t pulled completely aside.

That didn’t really matter to Sarah, however, as she felt as if her breath had been taken away. Erin was beautiful. Because she usually only wore baggy or very covering clothes, Sarah had never realized how lithe her friend was, with just a hint of muscle tone, proof of all the time Erin actually spent training and monster hunting.

All in all, she looked gorgeous and very feminine. She also looked absolutely terrified, as both Sarah and Allison were staring at her in silence, surprise and a hint of awe on their faces. Finally, realizing her mistake, Sarah snapped herself out of her stupor and looked Erin in the eyes.

“You look beautiful,” she simply said, smiling widely at her.

That one comment was enough to get a reaction out of Erin. Her hands started shaking, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks, a radiant smile slowly taking over her smile. As she opened her mouth to say something, a single sob escaped her, which was enough reason for Sarah to rush over to her.

“Shh, Erin, it’s alright, don’t cry,” she said, pulling her into her arms and stroking her back comfortingly. “You’re going to be fine, I promise.”

Allison didn’t take long to join them, reassuringly putting a hand on Erin’s shoulder.

Erin’s tears were reduced to the occasional sniffles after a few minutes, but she was back to smiling, as if a big weight had been taken off her shoulders.

Even though life had been really difficult up until now, Erin couldn’t help but think that it had been worth it, and hope that it would only get better.