𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗛 ✔

𝟒𝟐. 𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐍

Cara arrived at the address Willow had given her, panting slightly as she reached the door to the correct apartment - 502 on level 5 of the complex.

The complex wasn't too far away from Mint's house, as she had found out soon after her discharge, so she had decided to walk there instead of telling Taelyn to take her there. Unfortunately, not doing much physical activity for quite a few weeks during her time in the hospital did her no favors, and she ended up more tired than she had expected.

"You came," the familiar flowery voice came as soon as Cara knocked. "I'm glad," Willow said, opening the door fully.

"I have a question, first," said the former.

"You have but to ask."

"How do you know how to aim?" asked Cara. "I'm assuming you do because you asked me to take lessons from you."

"My grandfather served in World War II, and he taught my father how to shoot. My father taught me, and my brother as well. I would call it a rather eccentric family tradition," Willow explained.

"You don't look like someone who would have a gun," Cara laughed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Willow raised an eyebrow.

"I just mean that you look and sound so....delicate. I feel like you'd be more of a reader than a shooter...If that makes sense."

Willow laughed. "Come on."

Cara followed her into the house, and was immediately awed by the decoration. Apartments weren't the most luxurious places to live, but the way this one was decorated, she could have mistaken it for a mansion.

Every piece of furniture was decorated by jewels in pastel purples and blues, and the surfaces were all smooth, rosegold marble. Instead of traditional lightbulbs, there were various threads of fairy lights strung in a fashionable manner in most of the rooms. As Cara walked through the house, she saw one massive chandelier hanging in the dining room. It almost seemed to be made of jewels.

"Your place is...wow," Cara gushed breathlessly. "It's beautiful."

Willow laughed. "Bit shocking for an apartment isn't it? I know. This is one of my parents' extra places. They gave it to me for the time being while I am interning at the hospital. Come, here's the room where I practice shooting."

She lead her to one of the rooms. Contrary to the rest of the house, this one had no jewels at all, and looked rather dull. It made sense, though, if there was to be shooting.

"Alright. Here is the handgun I use. You're going to dry fire first, because we don't want you to be hurting yourself." Willow picked up the small, simple handgun, a Glock 30, .45 ACP. "The first thing that you need to know is how to hold it. Take this here..."

Cara nodded and took the handgun that Willow handed her, with slightly shaking hands.

"I'm going to go step-by-step, okay? Follow me. First, you need to make sure the gun is clear." Willow pointed her gun towards one of the dummies at the other end of the room and demonstrated.

"Next, hold the gun with your dominant hand. Mine is right, so I'll be putting my right hand high on the grip like this, and my index finger here, on the bottom portion." Willow placed her right hand on the grip of the handgun. "Now, I'm going to put the last three fingers of my right hand around the base of the grip like this," she demonstrated, "...just underneath the trigger guard, making sure not to use too hard of a grip - just enough so that it is firm."

"Now, I'm going to put my non-dominant hand here," she demonstrated, "..so that the thumb is right underneath that of my dominant hand's...and just a little forward. For the last step, I'm going to wrap my other four fingers on the non-dominant hand firmly around the base of the grip like this," she did so, "...and make sure it's a tight grip."

"It feels weird," Cara commented as she looked at the position her hands were in.

"Yeah, it's going to feel a little weird, but if you ever feel any urge to only use one hand to fire, put it down and never use it," Willow laughed. "Two hands are crucial to make an accurate shot." She carefully examined Cara's hold. "Alright...your position is okay. Now. The stance."

"Stand like this, with your feet approximately shoulder-width apart, and your knees slightly bent. Don't be tense or lock your knees. Alright, now square your shoulders like this...." Willow did so and leaned slightly forward before continuing. "Now, put your gun facing towards the target right in front of your abdomen. That's called the ready position."

Cara watched intently as Willow continued on with the instructions, doing them as she did them. However, her mind wandered slightly to the topic of her friends.

She still wasn't sure if she should keep these lessons a secret. One of the main reasons she hadn't told them about the lessons yet was because she knew for a fact they'd be against it.

Overprotective, Cara laughed to herself.

"Alright, now that you're in position - you can dry fire." Cara was knocked back into reality by the word "fire" to see Willow aiming expertly at one of the dummies and pulling the trigger. "Obviously, nothing comes out - it's a dry fire, for practice. Now you try?"

Cara found herself aiming as well and slowly but surely pulling the trigger.

"Good! Now let's practice. Real firing," Willow grinned. "You up for it?"

"Always," replied Cara.

a/n: here's a double update to make up for my absence! i actually have a lot of chapters ready to post, it's just that i always forget to actually post. :(