Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The students at Phoenix Drop High lived for drama, carrying their phones in their pockets 24/7 just in case a new scandal happened to occur. In particular, they always loved to witness the drama involving two specific boys, that had the school wrapped around their finger.

Garroth Ro'meave ran his hands through his golden locks of hair, and watched as awestruck students rushed to get out of his way as he walked through the hallway. To the eyes of an outsider, Garroth had a perfectly successful life handed to him on a silver platter, with his golden looks, new role as captain of the baseball team, and position as the heir to a multi-million dollar company. The so-called 'Prince' treated everyone kindly, but rich kids were generally hated by the poorer ones simply because of their wealth. He knew many disliked him because of his background. It didn’t bother him anymore. As his mother often told him, "your haters are secretly your biggest fans."

Laurance Zvahl had everything any teenager could ever want. Grades, humour, talent, good looks, the list goes on. The guy had been captain of the soccer team since sophomore year due to his outstanding talent in the sport.

He was the most popular guy in school, well known to be the Casanova of Phoenix Drop High. His flirtatious attitude quickly earned him a reputation as a player, and rumours about how many girls he'd dated spread around the school. Sure, he went on dates fairly often, but he'd never really had a girlfriend. No one could quite understand why a guy like him stayed single, but when questioned about it he would simply respond with, "I'm looking for a true connection." It was a reasonable enough response, and Laurance would've thought so too if he didn't catch himself forcing a false personality every time he walked through the school gates.

Garroth and Laurance used to be best friends, inseparable during their first year of high school. Until, terrifyingly, one day in the middle of their sophomore year, Garroth showed up to school like everything was normal. What was terrifying about it?

That Laurance wasn't with him.

Since they’d met, no one had seen either of those boys come into school without the other. They were the phrase 'attached at the hip' taken literally. So when Garroth walked into school without Laurance that day, everyone knew something went down.

Now Garroth Ro'meave was 2 weeks into his junior year, and still walked into school alone.

Garroth was at his locker collecting his books when he heard a group of girls squeal in delight. He turned around to see Laurance, who had clearly just arrived at school, greeting a group of fangirls on his way in. Garroth thought he must've been in a rush to get here, as his top button was undone and his tie was missing. His hair was also slightly disheveled, like he had been running this morning. If Garroth didn't know any better, he'd say the fangirls preferred him this way.

Laurance said goodbye to the girls, and was now heading directly towards Garroth. The blonde failed to realise this, still staring at the other boy from his locker, lost in his own thoughts. By the time he realised what he was doing, Laurance had already caught him staring. He met his gaze and returned it with a sour look.

"What're you looking at." The brunette scoffed as he walked by him. Garroth blinked owlishly before shaking his head, snapping out of his trance - but Laurance was already gone before he could reply.

Garroth felt his cheeks heat up. He had just stood there, staring like an idiot, at the guy everyone thought was his rival. He could even hear some girls giggling at their awkward exchange nearby. The blonde let out a sigh of frustration, before slamming his locker shut.

"Say, Katelyn. Do you wanna go check out the other teams that are training tonight?" He offered, knowing it was something she might enjoy.

Katelyn, currently in her junior year had been captain of the volleyball team for over a year now. She possessed a talent for the sport unlike anyone else in her league. Even if her team lost, she was still the star of every match. That afternoon she and Garroth weren't training their respective sports teams, so they had some spare time to kill.

"Sure. The Soccer, Rugby and Basketball teams are training today right?"

"Yeah. The basketball court is a fairly long walk, so shall we check out the Soccer and Rugby teams instead?" Garroth suggested, to which she agreed. Together, they walked down to the football fields, where both sport teams were warming up.

The newest captain of the Rugby team was a werewolf named Blaze. According to his teammates, he was a great team player and absolute unit on the field. Despite his short temper and attention span, he was a pretty cool guy. Garroth had spent some time with him during sporting events last year and enjoyed his company quite a bit.

Looking over at the Soccer oval, it seemed Laurance wasn't actually training the team. Instead he was analysing everyone's ability and writing notes on what he saw.

"He must be recruiting players for the A-team. Gotta say, it's never a fun job." Katelyn commented, watching as Laurance made notes next to peoples names. It was impressive that he could concentrate with the dozens of loud fangirls drooling over him on the sidelines.

Katelyn and Garroth were sitting in the stands approximately 70 metres away from where Laurance was coaching his team. It was a good view, but not too close that the teams would notice they were watching unless they paid attention. Garroth was thankful for that. He didn't need Laurance knowing he was willingly watching him train. It would be too awkward, especially after their run-in this morning.

Garroth couldn't help but notice how Laurance looked standing there. His white shirt and black shorts complimented his tanned skin perfectly, and his fluffy light brown hair that fell into his face perfectly. Garroth could see that it had grown longer, almost reaching his shoulders when it wasn't tied back. Garroth caught himself thinking about what it might feel like, before shaking his head in embarrassment.

Seeing Laurance like this, it made Garroth realise just how much time had passed between them.

As if he sensed someone staring at him, Laurance turned around and made direct eye contact with Garroth. The brunette’s glare turned cold, before he resumed what he was doing. The blonde jumped out of his seat in response, colliding with the floor.

"What the heck, Garroth!?" Katelyn exclaimed, "You nearly gave me a heart attack! What was that about!?" She questioned, pointing accusingly at him.

"Sorry! I uh.... I was just... uh." He stuttered over his own words, not knowing why he was feeling embarrassed all of a sudden.

Katelyn raised her eyebrows at him curiously, clearly unimpressed.

"I'm sorry, alright." Garroth conceded, "I wasn't ready for him to make eye contact with me and it scared me when he did."

"Geez, scaredy-cat..." Katelyn mumbled sarcastically, before a smirk that Garroth didn't trust appeared on her face.

"Are you even watching the training? Or are you just staring at the dreamboat?" She teased and Garroth blushed profusely at the claim.

"Of course I'm watching the training! I was just noticing how different he looks now, and then he turned around and saw me! Now he knows I'm here..." Garroth complained, his hands covering his face in embarrassment. Katelyn burst out laughing, earning an annoyed glare from her friend.

"What about him seems different to you though? He looks the same to me. Tall, blue eyes, mid-length brown hair, broad shoulders, perfect sent-from-heaven leg muscles, damn his ass is pretty fine too-"

"Stop talking!" He pleaded, cutting her off before she could continue talking. He covered his ears with his hands, causing Katelyn to laugh hysterically at his reaction.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop teasing. But seriously, I did not come here just so you could have an excuse to eye up the soccer captain."

Garroth groaned, "I'm not doing anything like that. I just haven't really seen him like this since... everything happened. His appearance caught me off guard."

Katelyn shrugged, "I'm not seeing it, but whatever man." She paused for a moment. "Hey, should we go?"

Garroth looked around to see Zane and Vylad waiting by his car, and panicked when he realised he forgot about taking them home from school.

"Yeah we should go-!" Garroth answered, throwing his bag over his shoulder in a rush. Katelyn followed behind him as they headed to the carpark.

"What took you so long!?" Zane whined as the pair approached the car.

"Sorry baby brother, Katelyn and I were checking out the sport teams. We'll go home now." Garroth replied calmly, unlocking the car so they could get in.

Katelyn climbed into the passenger seat before anyone could protest, namely Zane.

"What the- why do you get to sit there!?" He asked accusingly. Katelyn laughed before replying with "ladies first", which just made Zane complain further.

"That's stupid, I- OW-!" Zane cut off after Vylad hit him in the arm, silently begging for his brother to shut up.

Katelyn rolled her eyes, glancing over at their driver. He was looking longingly towards the soccer oval, watching as Laurance demonstrated how to do the next training drill. She frowned as she caught him sighing regretfully, before starting up the car and driving away.

The drive lasted about twenty minutes or so. Katelyn and Garroth spoke about their classes while Zane and Vylad argued in the back. After 10 minutes they pulled in front of Katelyn's house, and everyone (including Zane, surprisingly) said goodbye to her as she jumped out of the car. She thanked Garroth and waved the boys goodbye, heading inside her place.

"Now that she's gone," Zane muttered, before running out of the car and straight to the passenger seat, "I can finally have my seat back!" He declared. Garroth and Vylad let out a unison sigh as their brother's evil laughter burst throughout the car.

They soon arrived home, and unfortunately their mother had been long since expecting them.

"Gar-Gar! Why are you home so late?" Zianna demanded the moment he set foot in the house.

"Sorry Mom, Katelyn and I hung out after school and then I had to take her home before coming here." The blonde explained calmly, walking further into his house to grab himself some water before heading straight to his bedroom to change out of his uniform.

"Oh, okay sweetie, just send me a text next time!" She replied softly, giving him a kiss on the cheek before he headed towards his room.

Zane and Vylad entered inside after Garroth had already gone upstairs. Zianna greeted them both with a smile and hug, to which only Vylad returned. Zane quickly went upstairs to his room, while Vylad took a seat on the couch and pulled out his phone. It was ten minutes later when the door to Zane's bedroom opened up again. He wore an oversized black hoodie that matched his hair and dark grey pants. His hair, as always, covered his right eye, and he wore a mask despite being perfectly well. Zane creeped downstairs silently, trying not to attract any attention from his mother and quietly made his way towards the front door. He thought he had made it when a voice broke out behind him.

"Going somewhere Zuzu?" Zianna called to him, causing the boy to quickly turn to face her. Her eyebrow was raised in concern, and he was glad his mask covered his expression.

"Why yes I am Mother, I was just heading over to see my friends." He lied, knowing fully well that she wouldn't buy the excuse.

"Really? Zane, you made friends and didn't tell me?" Zianna asked, upset that he would choose to hide things from her. Zane looked away, unable to look his mother in the eye.

"I must've forgotten to tell you." He murmured, his hands fidgeting nervously. Eventually, the woman shook her head lightly and placed her hand gently on her son's shoulders, giving him a warm smile.

"Don't worry darling, I won't ask anymore questions. Go have fun with your new friends, but please be home for dinner." She reminded. Zane nodded before he turned around and left, disappearing into the street. Once he was out of sight, the woman turned to face her youngest son, who was sitting in the lounge room listening to music.

"Hey Vylad, where has Zane been going after school recently?" Zianna called to the boy who was zoned out on the couch. Vylad's head shot up, and he took out one of his AirPods.

"He's been going out after school?" Vylad questioned, tilting his head. Zianna nodded.

"Yes, for about a week. Last night he came home really late and Garte... wasn't happy about it." A dark tone embedded in her final words. Realisation dawned upon Vylad, and he let out a quiet gasp.

Last night, he had heard his father yelling from downstairs while he was completing his homework. The sounds were all muffled, but he could make out some of the words and they weren't good. He'd crept towards the stairs silently to try and figure out what was happening, but all he could see was his father shouting from where he stood. Whoever he had been yelling at remained completely silent, at least during the time Vylad was listening in.

"Wait, that's why dad was yelling last night!? He was yelling at Zane!?" Vylad blurted out in realisation, his voice picking up with concern. His mother nodded gravely, placing her hand on the younger boy's shoulder.

"Is Zane okay?" Vylad eventually asked, fear evident in his voice. Zianna simply shrugged.

"Physically, he's fine. But emotionally... I don't know. Zane rushed to his room afterwards and wouldn't speak to me."

Vylad grimaced at her words and looked down at the floor. There were so many things that remained unspoken between the Ro'meave family. They all knew what kind of man Garte was, and how far his anger could go, but they never dared to speak of it. They all knew that Garte favoured Garroth disgustingly over his younger two sons, but no one had ever addressed it. If not for their shared last name, maybe someone would find the courage to defy him. But they didn't have that luxury when the man in question was Garte Ro'meave.

So, no. This information about Zane being yelled at last night didn't shock Vylad, but it certainly made him feel sick to his stomach.

"I'll let you know if I find out where he's going." Vylad assured his mother, looking her directly in the eye.

"Thank you, Vylad."

Chapter Text

"Cadenza, can I come in?" Laurance called out after knocking twice on his older sister's bedroom door.

There was no response. He knocked again, a little louder this time, before he slowly opened her door, peeking inside.

The girl sat on her bed with her headphones on and her eyes shut. It took her a moment to notice the brunette standing there before she lifted her head and smiled.

"Hey there, Laurance, how are you?" She asked sweetly, taking her earphones out and placing them aside on her bedside table, "How was soccer practice?"

"Busy... I'm holding A team trials right now, so it's just watching everyone play." Laurance responded sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand.

"Yeah, it's pretty much the same for me." Cadenza assured him, "Hockey division 1 trials started today, so I was taking notes on all the players."

"The life of being team captain, am I right?" Laurance sighed, to which his sister quickly agreed.

"Anyways, did you need something Laur?" The older girl asked, tilting her head to the side. Laurance shifted uncomfortably where he stood.

"Well..." he began, looking at the ground for a few moments before finally speaking up. "Garroth was watching the training today." He muttered quietly, scratching the back of his neck. He glanced up at his sister for a moment, expecting her to react in some way. To his surprise, she just blinked in confusion.

"Garroth was watching your soccer practice? Why?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"I don't know. He was there with Katelyn. We made eye contact, actually. It felt like he was staring at me." Laurance replied, looking over at Cadenza with an odd expression on his face.

"How do you feel about Garroth these days, Laur?" Cadenza asked, her curiosity piqued. "He was your best friend for a long time." Laurance let out a sigh and sat on the edge of her bed.

"...I dunno...." Laurance mumbled quietly, "It's kind of hard to explain."

"Try me." Cadenza insisted, gesturing for him to continue.

He exhaled defeatedly, "Sometimes… I miss him more than anything. Other times, I want to rip my hair out when I look at him." He admitted with a helpless quiver in his voice. Cadenza hummed in thought.

"I mean, isn't that normal when you're close with someone? Last year we didn't talk for 2 months out of spite, but now we get along well." She suggested, causing Laurance to raise his voice back at her.

"I'm not close with him though! I've done nothing but insult the guy for the past 6 months." He retorted.

"Okay? You two were still inseparable for a year and a half before that. So yeah, you're close with him Laur."

They spent several moments in silence before Laurance let out another breath. "I mean, I don't hate him, but it's annoying how everyone freaks out if we're so much as in the same room." 

"Yeah, your peers really love the drama between you two." Cadenza giggled lightheartedly. Laurance shot her a glare, causing her to laugh even harder.

"What? They do! It's crazy how you guys are treated like the kings of the school. Last year, I saw some girls make a line of honour for Garroth as he was leaving school!" She laughed. Laurance rolled his eyes as he tried to hide his growing grin.

"Yeah, I can believe that." He said with a slowly fading smirk. "It's hard sometimes knowing that they would go so far to please me— it feels like I'm some big celebrity or something now, you know?" He explained, looking up at the ceiling.

"That's what popularity does to people." Cadenza mused, and Laurance hummed in agreement. As much as he didn’t enjoy it, she wasn’t wrong. 

Garroth woke up to his ringtone suddenly blasting in his ear the next morning.

He groaned loudly, pulling out his phone to check who was calling. His eyes widened when he saw that it was Aphmau.

"Hello?" The blonde answered groggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"You sound tired." Aphmau stated. She sounded amused, and it wasn't hard to discern that she was teasing him. Garroth yawned, "Maybe that's because someone decided to call me at six in the damn morning?"

"Haha, sorry! I just wanted to check we’re still walking to school together today." He could hear the smile in her voice.

"Oh yeah," the older boy responded with a small smile on his own lips, "I'll just go get ready."

"Okay, I'll see you soon!" She exclaimed before hanging up. Garroth grabbed his clothes off his bed and changed, putting his white shirt and grey jeans on in record time. He ran a comb through his messy blonde locks and walked out of his room, heading down the stairs.

"Morning sweetie, I made you breakfast!" Zianna greeted cheerfully. He smiled warmly and thanked her as he took the plate of food she’d prepared, and planted a quick peck to the side of her head.

"I'll take it in a container. Aphmau and I are walking to school this morning." 

"Alrighty honey! I'll bring your car to school so you can drive the boys home." His mother said with a smile sweeter than honey. Garroth nodded and waved before making his way out the front door and towards the road, beginning his commute to Aphmau's place. When he arrived, Aphmau quickly skipped out the door.

"Good morning, walking buddy!" Aphmau greeted cheerfully. Garroth couldn't help but return the smile.

"Hey," he replied, leaning against the streetlight as he waited for Aphmau to catch up with him. "How have you been?"

"I've been good. Sophomore year is so much crazier than I thought it would be." Aphmau chuckled. "How about you?"

"I've been fine, just preparing for the baseball season right now." He responded, "Our first game is next week, so we've been training hard."

"That's great!" Aphmau responded, and the two walked in silence for a bit before Garroth spoke up again.

"Do you still walk to school every day?"

Aphmau nodded, "Sure do! It's pretty fun, actually. I get to walk with you on Thursdays, while Katelyn and Kacey usually join me on other days."

"Oh, really? That's cool. Maybe I should join you guys more often. I used to walk to school with Laurance all the time before we-" Garroth paused and looked away, unable to finish his sentence. He physically winced with pain just from mentioning that name. Aphmau looked up at the older boy as sadness slowly crept into her facial features. 

"Garroth... I'm sorry I—." Aphmau started to apologise, but Garroth stopped her.

"No, don't be. I didn't even mean to bring up Laurance.” He reassured her, looking up at the sky with a pained expression. “Geez, what’s wrong with me?" He chuckled darkly under his breath. It was a humourless chuckle, devoid of amusement in the slightest. Aphmau’s steps came to a halt as she stopped walking and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Garroth, why are you and Laurance still fighting? I thought you guys would have made up after I rejected you both. I hate you guys not being friends... it feels like it's my fault." She admitted, her voice cracking as she spoke. Garroth stepped back and waved his hands frantically.

"No! It's not your fault at all Aph! Please don't even think that."

"But-!" Aphmau began, before being cut off once again.

"No. Our friendship did not fall apart because of you, and that's a promise."

"Then why did it fall apart, Garroth!?"

His breath caught in his chest. He wasn’t prepared for that question. His head tilted away shamefully. He didn’t want to admit that to her. She didn’t need to know how pathetic he had been back then, and she definitely didn’t need to feel guilty for it.

He and Laurance had fought countless times last year. And sure, while it was over Aphmau in the beginning, it eventually turned into something more personal. Heck, they'd even gotten suspended for beating each other up behind the school too many times, and he definitely wasn't about to blame those fights on Aphmau. He swallowed, proceeding to look her directly in the eyes.

"Because we were idiots." There was a long pause before Aphmau finally spoke up again.

"What do you mean?"

"Laurance... he..." Garroth took a deep breath in. "Every time I tried to fix our friendship, he would insist on acting cruel towards me so I would leave him alone, and eventually it worked. I couldn't deal with the things he said. If he hated my guts, why keep chasing after him? I think eventually I gave up on him." Garroth explained, his breath shaking. Aphmau listened quietly, waiting until the older boy finished talking.

"Do you miss him?" She eventually asked, looking into his bright blue eyes. Garroth didn't respond right away, his eyes turning misty. He didn't want to talk about Laurance anymore. He just wanted to focus on something else.

"Yes. Every day."

Aphmau could sense that he didn’t wish to speak about this topic anymore and decided to let the conversation go. She switched to asking him about baseball to get his mind off things. They arrived at school soon enough, and in a blink of an eye, it was time for class.

Garroth sighed and checked his schedule. First up was history class. When he entered the classroom, all eyes were instantly on him. He had the feeling that this was going to be a rough day. He quickly realised why when he saw Laurance sitting at the desk to his left, fiddling with a pen. The voices of his classmates echoed in Garroth's head.

"Woah, look! The Prince is actually sitting next to Laurance!"

"Oh my gosh, are they going to fight?"

"Look! They're avoiding talking to each other!"

"This tension could be cut with a knife!"

Their voices started overlapping each other, all gossiping about the pair. Eventually one tried to drag Garroth into it.

"Hey, Prince Charming! Are you gonna beat up Laurance again?" A boy with brown hair asked loudly, causing the rest of the class to burst into laughter. Garroth felt his face burn red. Why were they bringing up things they knew nothing about?

Laurance sighed and finally raised his voice, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Enough, guys. Knock it off. He's not worth your time." Laurance finally spoke. Garroth looked at the brunette, who was looking everywhere but back in his direction. He seemed annoyed at the comments his peers were making, and Garroth could see him digging his nails into his skin.

"Aww, but Laurance, this tension is getting boring! I wanna see a fight!" A girl with purple hair complained. Laurance looked at her in bewilderment.

"Excuse you?" He shot back, his eyebrow raised. He couldn't believe she seriously just said that.

"Yeah, seriously! When's the next fight?" Another guy piped up as multiple students started hounding the guy with questions. Laurance frowned. "I am not doing this today." He stated firmly, but their complaints refused to cease.

"Why not? We're just curious about what's going on!"

"Stop being dramatic and just give us a reason!"

"Yeah, come on man! You're usually cooler than this!"

Suddenly, the brunette slammed his fist into the desk.

"Do any of you ever shut up!?" Laurance shouted, his voice shaking the room. His sudden outburst caused the entire class to stare at him wide-eyed. He turned to look at Garroth, only to see that he was already looking at him, shock evident in his bright blue eyes. The brunette's face twisted darkly into an emotion Garroth couldn't describe—it was a strange fusion of fury and fear. Laurance bolted out of the classroom.

The room instantly erupted into chaos. Garroth was suddenly the centre of attention, with everyone asking him why Laurance had reacted that way. Garroth couldn't handle the attention and ran out of the classroom as well, leaving his books behind. He ran through the halls and past multiple classrooms, careless of the scene he was causing. Several students recognised the Ro'meave as he ran by their classes, whispering and pointing at the sight. Garroth couldn't stand it. He had to get away from everybody, but more importantly, he had to find Laurance.

Laurance needed to go home.

He needed to get away from everything that reminded him of Garroth, of everything that proved his selfishness. Their taunts only hurt more when Garroth was listening to every word. He could handle it when it was only him, but in front of Garroth? Too much.

He kept running until he reached the locker room, where he collapsed onto a bench and tried to catch his breath. Tears of frustration, anger, and self-loathing threatened to spill from his eyes as he replayed a scene from last year in his mind over and over again.

"Laurance, please! Listen to me!"

Laurance grabbed him by the tie, cutting off his pleas. Anger burned in his expression as he tightened his grip on the blonde. Garroth fought to breathe, a hand clawing at his neck while the other reached for Laurance.

"No, I've listened enough. All I'm hearing is 'I did nothing wrong' coming from you". The brunette let go of his grip around Garroth's neck, throwing him to the floor.

Suddenly, Laurance's vision warped, the scene in his head fast-forwarding. The memory was broken; he could only recall blurry bits and pieces. And yet it felt so real.

"You always irritated me, you know. Clinging to me like you couldn't be your own person without falling apart. Just pathetic." Laurance spat venomously as he looked down at Garroth, but even those words were spoken with shaking hands.

He could never forget how Garroth's eyes blazed with fury as he staggered back onto his feet.

The brunette shuddered where he stood, unable to look Garroth in the eye. He said nothing as he gathered himself and went in for another punch, hoping to get Garroth back on the floor again. He would've landed it if Garroth didn't defend himself by punching back before he could hit him.

He felt his vision slipping away from him, before the scene ended with a gasp.

...A gasp that was his. Present his.

Laurance stumbled off the bench and onto the cold floor of the locker room. He didn't realise he was hyperventilating until it was too late. Controlling his breathing was impossible now.

The memory plagued him regularly, but he only allowed himself to remember parts of it. Specifically; the parts that help him live in a lie where he was a victim. Garroth had realistically only been trying to fix things between them back then, and he'd made everything worse.

Even after that, he'd managed to paint Garroth as the villain because he always won their physical fights, despite Laurance always being the one to start them. He never mentioned to others who started it, only that Garroth would always win. People took pity on him and began to go against Garroth. Laurance's fans eventually became known for speaking poorly of Garroth, and Laurance was fine with living in a lie where Garroth suffered.

...Until he wasn't fine with it anymore.

Guilt consumed Laurance with each passing day. He was drowning in a sea of regret. No matter how desperately he tried to swim to the surface, something sinister was always weighing him down. Whenever he tried to approach the boy who infected his thoughts, he sank deeper into his guilt. A mournful feeling would fill up his lungs, suffocating him until he was choking on his own remorse.

Sometimes, Laurance wished he was heartless so that he wouldn't feel guilt towards his actions.

But most of all, he wished he had a heart so he wouldn't have abandoned Garroth to begin with.

Eventually, his breathing settled into a consistent rhythm. He gradually rose to his feet, his head spinning as he stood. Approaching the mirror, Laurance grimaced as he met his reflection. He looked awful. His eyes were red and puffy, his hair frizzled, and sweat coated his back. He couldn't help how gross he felt.

"Irene, I look awful." He grumbled.

He peered over at the other side of the room, noticing the showers. The boy figured he might as well use them while he was here alone. Dragging himself across the facility, Laurance slowly walked into the showers. He allowed the water to hit him, washing away his thoughts and all the ugly feelings in his chest.

Chapter Text

Garroth really did try to find Laurance, but he was nowhere to be seen. Even during other classes he shared with the guy, he never showed for the rest of the day. Eventually Garroth gave up on looking for him, figuring he was embarrassed after his outburst this morning.

After school the basketball, netball and baseball teams were training. Garroth was preparing to train the new team members. It was one of his first sessions leading the trainings, as he’d only recently received his position as captain.

Fenrir was the basketball team's captain. The senior was a surprisingly popular werewolf boy. His animalistic enhancements helped him with the sport, and he was good leader in general.

Ivy was the netball team’s captain. She was easily recognisable with her bright pink hair, and she was one of the richer kids in school. On the netball court she's a feisty player and very rarely misses a shot. Everyone knew of her obsession with Garroth and how she would do anything to get his attention. She fully believed she was dating him to this day, even though Garroth didn’t seem that fond of her.

Training went by quickly and he worked his players hard. Zane and Vylad were waiting by his car once he packed up equipment. The moment Garroth unlocked the car, Zane claimed the passenger seat and Vylad opened the boot.

"No offence bro, but you being captain sucks. We have to wait so much longer to go home now." Vylad groaned, stuffing his phone in his pocket. Garroth chuckled.

"You could've just walked home, Vylad. It's not that far." Vylad simply rolled his eyes.

"It takes just as long to walk, and waiting for you is less effort."

About 5 minutes into the drive, Zane took off his headphones. An action the boy very rarely did.

"Can you drop me off at the park instead?" He asked, glancing over at Garroth. The taller boy furrowed his brows.

"Why? You don't usually go out after school." The eldest brother questioned, confused.

"Whatever, can you just do it?" The black-haired brother asked impatiently. Garroth hummed, thinking for a moment.

"Fine, but make sure you're home by dinner because I really don't want to deal with Dad tonight." He warned, relaxing when Zane gave him a nod. After a moment Garroth spoke up again.

"What if Mom asks where you were?" Zane paused, contemplating the question before saying, "tell her I'm at the park with some friends. That should work." Zane answered, earning a scoff from Garroth. "You sure she'll believe that?"

Zane gave him a piercing death glare, sending shivers down the older boy's spine.

"Fine! Don't say I didn't warn you when she doesn't believe me." Garroth commented as he pulled into the parking lot. Zane grabbed his backpack and hopped out of the vehicle, shutting the door behind him and disappearing out of sight. Garroth turned around to face Vylad.

"Any idea what he's doing?" Garroth asked, concern coating his voice. Vylad shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I think he's been going out after school for the last week. I heard him come home late the other day, and Dad had a go at him for it." Vylad replied, his face twisting during his last sentence. Garroth hummed in thought before putting the car in reverse and driving his youngest brother home.

"What's going on with you?" A tall lady with vibrant brown hair asked as she sat down next to Laurance. Her hair was cut neatly just above her shoulders, and she wore a dark red top that complimented her figure.

"It's nothing, Serena. I just felt sick, that's all." Laurance huffed in reply, pointedly looking away from her. The lady hummed, clearly unconvinced. She placed her hand on Laurance's back, rubbing gently to comfort him, "I won't force you to tell me, but I know that's not true."

Laurance glanced nervously at her, his fingers playing restlessly with the hem of his shirt.
"They— the people at school, I mean. They don't even treat me like a person!" Laurance blurted out, clenching his fists tightly. Serena raised her eyebrows, surprised that he was finally opening up.

As his guardian, she'd watched as his mental health slowly plummeted deeper into himself over the past year. Eventually, it reached a point where he'd buried his feelings so far into himself that he'd lost the ability to be honest about it. He was always lying about his emotions without even realising it. If anyone asked him how he was, he'd plaster on a smile and say he was doing 'just fantastic,' and it worked. No one questioned him. Why would they? This boy was supposed to be the 'perfect' Laurance Zvahl.

"What do they treat you like?" Serena asked gently. Laurance shifted uncomfortably in his spot, biting his lip anxiously.

"It's hard to explain, and it sounds so stupid when I say it out loud." He admitted, but Serena only shook her head.

"I don't care how it sounds; try and explain it to me." She reassured the boy, who was anxiously fidgeting in front of her. He was now looking down at the floor again, but at least he was talking.

"They act like I'm some perfect being, a celebrity, like everything I do is God's work or something." He mumbled quietly, almost as if ashamed to admit such a thing. Serena frowned, "Tell me, what about that hurts you?" She asked, trying to understand his feelings. Laurance looked up at her, his blue eyes glistening.

"Because it's like I'm not even real! All they care about is my entertainment value! A girl literally told me she was bored because I hadn't fought Garroth recently- who even says that!?" Laurance ranted, gesturing wildly in frustration.

"All of my friends, they don't give a shit about me as a person. It's all about what will make them look cool, and I'm sick of it. I want someone to care about me, but why should I even bother when everyone treats me like a stepping stone to popularity?"

Serena listened patiently to his outburst, her frown deepening. She couldn't deny that what Laurance was saying made sense, but she couldn't help but feel like he was missing something.

"Who are your friends right now, Laurance?" She suddenly asked, and he looked at her, confused.

"I guess they would be Marc, Jason, Michi— wait! You're not going to talk to them about this, are you?" Laurance asked in a panic. Serena shook her head.

"Of course not, silly, I just wanted to see who you would say." Laurance shot her a look, clearly not seeing her point.

"Now, out of your new friends, would you say any of them are friends with you because they love you for who you are?" She continued, and Laurance almost laughed at the question.

"Pfft—not at all. Most of them only keep me around for the attention. They're lucky I don't mind how they always offer to do everything for me. Michi's just another fangirl who I share a lot of classes with. She loves the attention, and I'm willing to give it to her because she doesn't scream my name when I do." Laurance explained with no hesitation whatsoever. Serena couldn't help but feel sad that he was so self-aware when it came to how his new 'friends' perceived him.

"Alright. Now, have you ever had a friend who did love you for who you were? What were they like?" Serena asked, waiting patiently for an answer when Laurance wasn't quick to respond this time. His expression changed from thoughtful to unsure, and then eventually empty. Serena knew she could get him to realise her point, and now he had finally gotten there.

"They... were there for me whenever I needed them. They asked me about my day and took an interest in the things I liked. When something bad happened, we would go through it together, cry together, laugh together; they never left my side. Well, not until I left his first anyways.” Laurance said bitterly, unable to bring himself to say any more. Serena didn't miss the regretful note in his tone, but decided not to point it out.

"What I'm trying to say is, while you have always been treated like a celebrity at this school, you were still able to make friends who treated you like a person. In fact, your old group of friends probably treated you better than most friends ever will." Serena explained, running her hands through his messy light-brown hair in a motherly manner.

"Yeah, but I didn't deserve them. I screwed up my relationships with my old friends." Laurance muttered, staring at the ground. Serena raised her hands off of him.

"Don't you get it, Laurance? You need to fight for them! Did you ever apologise for what happened last year, or did you just run off and avoid your problems?" Serena finally spoke, cutting to the root of the issue. Laurance stared at her in surprise. It was as if what she was saying had never occurred to him, despite how blatantly obvious they were. Perhaps he had just needed someone to spell it out for him.

"I know you probably don't want to hear it from me, but—."

"No, you're right." Laurance interjected.

"I—really?" Serena appeared taken aback by his words.

"Last year all I did was run from my problems. I never once apologised for anything, and I hurt so many of my old friends by never giving them closure." Laurance admitted, his voice shaking slightly as he did so. Serena wrapped her arms around him as he began to spiral.

"I told Garroth and Aphmau I wanted nothing to do with them, and I stopped talking to Dante out of nowhere. Katelyn refused to speak to me after everything. Why did I let them all go when they were the best friends I ever had?" He revealed, his voice thick with sorrow as he buried his head in the shoulder of his caretaker. Serena eventually smiled, lifting Laurance's chin to meet her eyes.

"I had never seen you happier than when you were friends with Garroth. He was the friend you described to me earlier, correct?" Serena asked, to which Laurance nodded.

"Know who your real friends are, and fight to keep them in your life. It won't be easy, but those bonds are a precious thing you don't want to lose." She whispered, gently rubbing his back to comfort him while he tried to pull himself together. Serena looked to her right for a moment and smirked when she caught Cadenza peeking at their conversation from her bedroom.

"It's hard though; Garroth hates me now. He probably thought I was crazy when I ran out of the classroom today." He muttered self-deprecatingly.

"Even if he hates you, I think you should think about what I said. You might be surprised what happens when you try." Serena suggested, slowly standing up from where she'd been seated. "And if not him, at least try to get along with some of your old friends? They were nice people!" The woman commented, her tone hopeful.

The younger boy let out an airy chuckle. "Yeah, they are."

As he went to stand, Laurance's eyes widened as he saw a glimpse of bright orange hair peeking out from behind a door.

"Cadenza!" He shouted angrily, demanding her presence. The girl let out a giggle and slowly revealed herself, waving at her younger brother as she did.

"Sorry Laur, I got curious!" She exclaimed, hoping the younger boy wouldn't kill her for listening in. Her hopes were quickly ruined however, as he immediately chased her into her room.

It was now 7pm and Garroth was beginning to worry.

He'd specifically told Zane to be back by dinner (which was usually served around 7 o'clock), and yet the boy was still nowhere in sight. Vylad was also looking nervous, biting his thumb where he sat. Garroth could tell Zane was on his mind as well, and the thought of their father returning home before Zane was eating at them both.

"I'm sorry Vylad. I know we said we'd respect his privacy, but I'm calling him." Garroth eventually announced, relief washing over him when Vylad didn't object in the slightest. He hit the call button and put the phone on speaker, silently begging for the boy to pick up.

"What do you want?" A cold voice snapped out.

"I'm calling to ask you to please come back home." Garroth pleaded. He had tried to sound authoritative but quickly failed after hearing him.

"Ughhhh— look, I'm nearly there. Is dad home yet?" The voice on the phone asked.

"No, not yet. But I swear to God, if he gets back before you, I'll never let you leave the house again." Garroth warned strictly, worry evident in his tone. Zane groaned.

"Whatever, I'm literally in the driveway now, so can you quit pestering me about this?" Zane groaned, hanging up on his brother. Vylad visibly relaxed next to Garroth, who was finally content with Zane's whereabouts.

"Can he not make this a habit? I'm going to die from worry if he starts provoking Dad every night!" Vylad complained frustratedly, waving his hands around in exasperation.

"I agree, but what if he's got a good reason? I just want Zane to be happy, and if he's doing something that makes him happy after school, then..." Garroth trailed off, and Vylad let out a noise of frustration.

"That's the thing, I don't want to take this away from him in case it actually means something to him." Vylad assented, clearly conflicted on what to do. Garroth noticed Zane heading upstairs towards the pair and made sure to lower his voice when speaking so Zane couldn't hear.

"We'll just see what happens. So far he's managed to stay out of trouble most nights; it's not worth making a big deal out of." Garroth whispered to the green-eyed boy, who reluctantly nodded in response. From downstairs, the two could hear the sound of the front door closing. In unison, they sighed with relief. Zane met their eyes as he walked upstairs.

“Is it so hard to trust me? I was right there!” He whispered fiercely to them, his eyes seething. Garroth shot him an apologetic look, while Vylad simply glared.

“Sorry baby brother, we were just worried.” Garroth apologised with a sheepish grin. Vylad simply rolled his eyes and muttered something about Zane being careless. The middle brother groaned in response and locked himself in his bedroom, being his typical brooding self.

Garte Ro’meave turned up about 10 minutes after Zane had arrived home. The blonde-haired man wore a navy-blue shirt with a black checkered tie, which he quickly took off after closing the door behind him. He greeted his wife Zianna in the kitchen with a kiss and greedily tasted some of the half prepared stew she was cooking. The woman smirked and hit his arm with the wooden spoon in her hand.

“No eating! It won’t be ready for another 15 minutes, sweetheart.” She scolded, though her expression was one full of love. Garte scoffed and threw his hands up in a gesture that suggested he was innocent. He decided to leave her to it, grabbing a cold beer from the fridge and sitting down to unwind. Vylad sighed upon hearing his parents interact. At least it seemed that tonight would be calm.

That same Friday night, Dante felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

“Oh, sorry, wait a second Nicole. My phone’s going off.” He muttered, pulling out the device and checking who was texting him. To his misfortune, it was his girlfriend. As much as he enjoyed her company, now was hardly the time he wanted to deal with her. He sighed, opening the texts from his third person speaking partner.

[Kawaii~Chan >>> Dante] Friday 23rd, 9:18 pm.

KC: Dante~kun!!

Dante: Yes sweetheart?

KC: Kawaii~Chan was wondering if we could go on a date tomorrow night? We haven't spoken much lately!!

Dante: Oh.

Dante: I'm sorry, I'm really busy this week! I have exams practically every day!

KC: It's only week three though.

Dante: Still! I have my tech draft due soon and I must focus on my studies. You understand, right honey?

KC: Yes, she does.

Dante: Thanks, I'll talk to you after school on Monday?

KC: Yes!! See you then!!

Dante put his phone away and turned back to Nicole, who was sitting on his bed looking confused.

“Sorry. That was just Travis.” He lied easily, putting his hand on her shoulder and rubbing it gently. Nicole snickered and pressed her index finger against his nose.

“You two are always chatting, aren’t you?” She teased light-heartedly. She pulled away from him and stood up, causing him to frown.

“Do you have to leave?” He asked, appearing disappointed. She nodded.

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow night at the cinemas?” She asked, hoping their date was still on. Dante’s mood quickly lifted as he remembered their plans.

“That’s right! I’ll see you there.” He replied, standing up to lead her to the front door of his house. He let her outside, but quickly grabbed her hand before she could leave. He mumbled her name sweetly under his breath, pulling her hand to his chest and kissing her gently. She returned the gesture, her cheeks matching the colour of her hair. After a few moments they pulled apart, and she winked at him before jumping in her dad’s car that was parked just down the road.

Dante went back inside and lay on his bed, right where he and Nicole had been sitting together earlier. He opened his phone to the screen he had last left it on. It was his conversation with Kawaii~Chan. He felt a slight knot form in his stomach. He clicked out of his messages with her and began texting the one person he knew had his back.

[Dante >>> Travis] Friday 23rd, 9:30 pm.

Dante: I'm so screwed bro.

Travis: Why?

Dante: KC noticed I've been avoiding her lately. I told her I'm busy with exams and stuff but I don't think she believes me anymore.

Travis: Probably because you literally told her that last time!

Dante: Yeah, good point.

Travis: Seriously, just break up with her before she finds out.

Dante: I can’t do that! She's pretty and I really like her, man!

Travis: I can't tell you to do anything if it involves abandoning pretty girls can I?

Dante: Probably not!

Travis: When she finds out, you're going to have a total of zero pretty girls dating you instead of two! Just break it up now.

Dante: Ugh.

Dante: Fine. I'll think about it.

Chapter Text

The sun shined through Garroth's bedroom window on a bright Sunday morning. He had woken up to the repetitive sound of notifications going off. The blonde yawned loudly, stretching his arms above his head before reaching for his phone that was still buzzing.

4 unread messages from: Disaster Trio

Garroth rolled his eyes. Of course it was their little group chat going off.

[Disaster Trio] Sunday 25th, 9:12 am.

Katelyn: do you think he's awake yet?

Aph: Nah, you know him. He could sleep in until midday if we let him.

Katelyn: stfu aph I've seen you do that before

Aph: THAT'S NOT RELEVANT

Garroth: I wouldn't have minded the beauty sleep... but I might as well get up now.

Katelyn: rise and shine pretty boy

Aph: Good morning Garroth!

Katelyn: get up loser

Katelyn: aph and I wanna hang out today

Garroth: What does that have to do with me exactly?

Katelyn: you have a car.

Garroth: Right.

Aph: Please! It'll be fun!

Garroth: I mean, assuming I'm invited, then I'm down to hang out.

Aph: Of course you're invited! Can you pick me up in an hour, and from there we can all meet at Katelyn's?

Garroth: Sure.

Katelyn: that's fine with me.

Aphmau: See you guys soon!

Garroth chucked his phone on his bed and started getting ready to go out. He threw on a light pink tee and a blue denim jacket that matched his jeans. Downstairs, Zianna was asleep on the couch by the window. Garroth glanced at the clock, which read 9:20am. It was odd for her to be asleep this late into the morning, and Garroth figured she must've had a rough night if she was falling asleep in the living room. He decided to make extra of his own breakfast so that she would have something to eat when she woke up. Eventually, the sound of the kettle boiling must have woken her because she began to stir in her sleep, letting out a loud yawn.

"Oh, good morning, sweetie. How are you?" Zianna asked, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light. Garroth approached his mother with a kind smile, holding the breakfast he had made for her.

"Morning, I made you breakfast." Garroth said quietly as he set the food down on the table next to her.

"Aww, thank you honey." Zianna beamed, reaching out for the plate of waffles. Garroth quickly got up to bring her coffee over to her. Zianna thanked the boy as he set the coffee down at the table.

"You're welcome—by the way, where is everyone?" Garroth asked, noticing that no one else was around.

"Oh... your father had a business meeting, he should be gone for most of the day." Zianna explained, fixing her posture so she could take a sip of her coffee before continuing.

"Zane's upstairs sleeping, and I think Vylad's at work? I briefly remember him saying goodbye to me before he left, but I was half asleep, so I might be mistaken."

"That's good." Garroth responded, sitting at the other end of the table next to his mother. Silence fell between the two of them after that, as they simply enjoyed each other's company. Once Garroth had finished eating, he got up to take his plate to the dishwasher.

"Just so you know, I'm going out in a bit. Katelyn and Aphmau asked me to hang out with them today." He explained casually.

"Go have fun, honey." Zianna murmured tiredly before taking another sip of her drink. She looked exhausted, and while Garroth knew she had a lot on her plate, vulnerability wasn't usually something she allowed her sons to see from her.

"Do you… need help with anything?" Garroth asked hesitantly, feeling guilty after seeing through her exhaustion. She shook her head, reassuring him she was alright. Her hand made a shooing motion, as if telling him to get out of here and go pick up Aphmau. He reluctantly obliged.

He arrived at Aphmau's house just before 10am. He knocked on the front door multiple times until he heard her yell from inside that she was on her way. The door opened, revealing an excited Aphmau, who quickly jumped into the passenger seat of his car. Soon they were knocking on the door to Katelyn's house. The place was huge, which made sense as Katelyn had 3 younger brothers. It was a big family. Aphmau hadn't been over at Katelyn's very often in the past because usually her house had too many people over for visiting to be enjoyable.

"Aph, Garroth!" Katelyn greeted the pair, "Come in, my dad just took Kristian and Ethan to their basketball game, so it's just us and Kacey here today." She explained, letting her friends in.

"Sounds great!" Aphmau grinned, following the other two inside. She looked around curiously at everything. The house was a bit of a mess, with food and dishes scattered throughout the kitchen. But overall, it felt very homely and welcoming.

"So, anything you guys want to do?" Katelyn asked, looking towards her friends. Garroth gave an unbothered shrug, but Aphmau was quick to respond.

"Can we go see your room? I've never been in there before!" Aphmau requested, innocently smiling at her friend. Garroth and Katelyn seemed to share a worried glance, and Garroth mouthed something to her that made Katelyn shake her head.

"Yeah, sure. I don't mind." She hesitantly replied, showing Aphmau upstairs. The second floor consisted of four bedrooms. Two on each side, with a bathroom at the end of the hall. Aphmau took a moment to think about it, realising an inconsistency.

"Hey, Katelyn? Why are there only 4 bedrooms?" Aphmau asked, furrowing her brows. Katelyn shot her a confused look. "What do you mean?" The girl with blue hair replied.

"I think what she's trying to say is that you've five people living here but only four bedrooms." Garroth spoke up, earning a nod of approval from Aphmau.

"Oh, that? Kristian and Ethan share a bedroom—they're twins, so it's kinda just always been that way. Well, that and the fact that we don't have any other rooms."

Approaching her room, Katelyn took a deep breath before gently opening the door. The trio was greeted with the sight of two twin beds pushed against the walls, with pillows propped up on the bed furthest from the door. Two desks stood across the room, with papers strewn all over the surfaces. Her walls were covered in miscellaneous posters of things she enjoyed, but what stood out to Aphmau was the flag painted in pink, purple, and blue stripes. Aphmau gave the blue-haired girl a puzzled look before the realisation suddenly hit her.

"Wait- you're-!"

Katelyn couldn't bring herself to say anything. Garroth decided to take over. "Yeah, she swings both ways. She's actually been trying to break it to you for a while now." Garroth stated, clearly already being aware of this. Aphmau looked at Katelyn with wide eyes, then at Garroth, and then back at Katelyn.

Aphmau threw her arms around the taller girl. Katelyn couldn’t help cracking a smile, looking down at her friend who had just accepted her for who she was. She could feel a weight being lifted off her shoulders.

"Hang on. How come Garroth already knew? I'm like... your best friend! Why did you tell him before me!?" Aphmau suddenly accused, jealous the older boy found out before her. Katelyn merely laughed.

"Garroth and I met in middle school! I’ve only ever told him and Kacey!" Katelyn replied defensively. Aphmau looked at Garroth again.

"You—how dare you keep—ugh, I'm not even mad, I'm just jealous he knew!"

"Actually, I helped Katelyn hang up this flag during our freshman year." Garroth announced, reminiscing slightly as he recalled the memory.

"He's known for that long? He's seen your room before!?"

"Yes! He was the first person I ever told!" Katelyn laughed.

"Why him, though? Why not me, or literally anyone else!?" She frantically asked, not caring that the boy in question was right in front of her.

"I guess I've just always felt comfortable around him, and I’ve known him 3 years longer. Aph, don't get me wrong, you're awesome, but Garroth and I go way back." Katelyn explained, hoping the shorter girl would stop acting jealous, and to her surprise, she did.

When she looked over at Garroth, she could've sworn she saw stars sparkling in his eyes.

"Okay. Woah. Calm down, pretty boy. I didn't mean to inflate your ego by saying all that." Katelyn stated, biting back a laugh. The blonde's starstruck eyes began to water, shining bright blue.

"That was the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me!" He exclaimed dramatically, the pitch of his voice gradually rising. Katelyn and Aphmau giggled, all three of them high on emotions. Aphmau looked back at the flag, and a question raised itself in her head.

"Katelyn, how does your dad not know? The flag is huge! There's no way he missed it." Aphmau remarked, pointing at the flag. She was right; Katelyn's flag took up a quarter of her wall, possibly more. On top of that, it was brightly coloured, easily standing out.

"I was wondering about that too," Garroth mentioned, scratching his head. "I honestly thought you told him when you got the flag."

Katelyn shook her head. "Nah, I told my dad I thought it was pretty and he didn't question anything. Kristian and Ethan are the same, except they're twelve so it makes sense they don't know what it means." She explained, pausing for a moment.

"I couldn't get it past Kacey, though. It was obvious he knew what it meant from the moment he saw it. He ended up asking me about it a day later. He was super chill about it." Katelyn confessed with a lighthearted shrug. “Almost a bit too chill, honestly.” She muttered under her breath.

"Actually, can I say hi to Kacey? You said he was home." Aphmau requested, looking over at Katelyn.

"Sure thing, just knock before you go in his room." She replied, not seeming to care. Aphmau nodded and walked off, the other two following behind her. She gave the door two light knocks before heading inside.

"Kacey!" Aphmau cheered, waving enthusiastically at the younger boy. His face quickly blushed bright red, not expecting Aphmau to enter his room of all people.

"A-Aphmau!? What are you doing here?" Kacey stammered, getting up from where he was sitting. It took him a moment to realise Garroth and Katelyn were standing behind the girl.

"Garroth? You too?"

"We're hanging out today, and I thought I'd come say hi!" Aphmau declared, checking out Kacey's room. He had a bunch of video game posters all over his room, which he kept relatively tidy. He had a huge bookshelf filled to the brim with books. He even had a collection of old comic books and picture books within it. Some were missing, but they were neatly arranged nonetheless. On his desk there were piles of magazines, ranging from various different genres.

"Kacey, your room is so cool!" Aphmau exclaimed, curious about everything she was looking at. Kacey blushed.

"You, uh, you think so?" He asked, surprised at her reaction. If anything, he thought she’d find it lame. Aphmau nodded in affirmation, and Garroth couldn't help but compliment him on it as well.

After a few hours of chatting, the four of them were playing Mariokart together. Aphmau called dibs on Yoshi before Katelyn had even loaded up the game. Katelyn chose Rosalina, willing to fight anyone who dared to pick her as well. Kacey picked Shy Guy, and Garroth didn't have a preference so he just picked Donkey Kong randomly and stuck with it.

As for who won each round, Katelyn was better than all of them by a landslide. Garroth accused her of hacking like 8 times until he finally beat her after an hour.

"Yes! Finally! Take that, Rosalina!" Garroth celebrated excitedly, mimicking Donkey Kong's actions on screen.

"Oh, calm down. You beat me once out of how many rounds?" Katelyn argued, pouting childishly. Garroth laughed loudly in response, poking his tongue out at her. Unbeknownst to them, Aphmau was looking at the window, lost in thought.

"Hey, Garroth? Isn't that Zane?" Aphmau suddenly asked, pointing across the street. As fate would have it, a boy dressed in nothing but black was walking past Katelyn's house and towards the city. Garroth approached the window, confusion written on his face.

"Uh, yeah, that's him." Garroth confirmed, looking back at the others. Katelyn raised her eyebrow, seeing for herself if he was actually there. "Where in Irene is he going?" She questioned under her breath, curiosity sparked.

Garroth shrugged, "He's been going out a lot recently; it's been pretty stressful, actually." He admitted. Katelyn's head cocked to the side.

"Going out? Where?"

"We don't know. All we know is that he's been going out after school and coming home late. According to Vylad, he got in trouble because of it the other night. The blonde explained, sounding rather conflicted.

Silence fell upon the room until a moment later Katelyn spoke up again.

"I say we follow him." She asserted boldly.

"What!?" All three others in the room shouted in unison. Garroth especially looked uneasy. "Katelyn, I appreciate it, but I don't want to breach his privacy!"

"Aha—no buts! We're finding out where that little edgelord is going right now. Wait, is he still on this street!?" She suddenly shrieked, worried he'd walked off.

"He's turning l-left up ahead!" Kacey replied, spinning Katelyn into action. She grabbed Garroth and Aphmau before pulling them in direction of the stairs, and the three of them jumped in Garroth's car.

"Pedal to the metal! Chase that emo kid!" Katelyn yelled, pumping her fist in the air. As the trio sped away in their car, they made a sharp turn onto the next street, that thankfully went far enough for Zane to still be in sight.

"He's heading towards the shops!"

"Oh my Irene, I hope he's not doing drugs." Garroth whispered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Garroth answered quickly. He couldn't deny how wrong he felt about following Zane, but his curiosity and Katelyn's stubbornness seemed to be pairing well together. Aphmau was just along for the ride.

"Alright, we're gonna need to get out of the car if we want to keep following him." Aphmau eventually announced, the other two quickly agreeing. Garroth rushed to find a park on the side of the road, not caring that he probably should've straightened it up better before locking the car.

In an attempt to not draw attention to themselves, the trio walked at a quick pace, trying to catch up with the black-haired boy. As they did, Zane rounded the corner of one of the larger alleyways and disappeared into another. Katelyn cursed beneath her breath, and the three hurried on after him. He seemed to be taking a very specific route. Most people that came to this area would stop to window shop.

Minutes later they were on another street at the back of the shopping mall. Zane was about 50 metres ahead of the group, and he hadn't turned into another street for a while. Garroth was beginning to worry his brother had caught on to them when he suddenly took a sharp left turn into a dark, narrow alley.

"Come on." Katelyn murmured quietly, picking up her pace slightly. "This is a dead end." Garroth realised, suddenly grabbing Katelyn's shoulder to stop her from running.

"It's a dead end. He can't go anywhere. So don't chase him and scare him off! Act natural." Garroth insisted, gesturing to the boy who could be seen crouching ahead of them. Katelyn hesitated, then reluctantly nodded her head in response. The trio followed in Zane's footsteps, Garroth praying the boy wouldn't react negatively when he noticed their presence. Of course, this wasn't likely; he knew his brother well enough to know that.

However, his brother didn't move from his position. He was crouching down, facing a cardboard box that had been significantly torn up. Zane pulled out a packet of what Garroth thought looked like tuna and began calling out to something. Katelyn and Garroth shared a look of confusion.

"Is he-?" Aphmau began, when suddenly her question was answered. From the roof, a white cat leapt onto the dumpster and then to the ground. The tips of its ears and tail blended into a soft yellow, and it had a baby pink nose shaped cute as a button. Zane cradled the kitten in his arms before sitting against the wall, feeding the creature tuna.

"Hello, little Dandelion, I brought you a snack." He cooed, gently petting the cat as it ate up the fish.

"Are you kidding me?” Garroth muttered in disbelief, resisting the urge to facepalm.

“He made friends with a cat. He got screamed at by Dad because he wanted to spend time. With. A. Cat." Garroth stated, pausing between each word at the end of his sentence.

He was almost unable to believe this was where Zane had been spending his time recently. It wasn't that Garroth had anything against it, but he couldn’t fathom that all the worrying he had been doing was because of something as innocent as this.

Aphmau couldn't control herself any longer. A squeal of adoration burst out of her, blowing their cover. Zane visibly jumped out of his skin, letting out a shriek as he turned to face the trio.

"Oh no! I'm sorry guys, the kitty is just so cute!" Aphmau apologised, stars practically bursting from her eyes as she fawned over the animal.

"It's fine, Aph, he was gonna realise we were here anyways." Garroth mumbled with a sigh. Zane scrambled to his feet.

"What are you guys doing here!?" Zane demanded angrily, glaring daggers into the others. They all backed up cautiously. Katelyn tried to speak first but only stuttered out unintelligible sounds; her nerves were getting the best of her. Eventually, Garroth cleared his throat and brought himself to speak.

"I wanted to know where you were going after school and followed you here, even though I said I'd respect your boundaries. I'm sorry, Zane." The eldest brother confessed, bowing his head in shame.

"That doesn't explain why they're here. Even if you wanted to know where I was, why would you drag them into it?" Zane snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at the three. Katelyn stepped forward, hands held up defensively.

"It’s my fault. Garroth mentioned you were going out late recently, and we saw you pass my house. I insisted we follow you and pressured your brother into invading your privacy." She explained, not allowing Garroth to take the blame alone. Zane let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing his forehead lightly.

"Whatever, just get out of here." He grumbled before placing himself on the floor beside the kitten again.

"A-Actually, Zane? Can I, um, say hi to your kitty?" Aphmau asked hesitantly, not wanting to make the boy feel any worse. She'd been quietly awing over the creature throughout the entire interaction, and Zane wasn't ignorant to it.

"It's not like she's officially mine or anything, so I can't really stop you." He admitted numbly, his face growing sad at his own statement. Aphmau let out an excited giggle before running over to pet the cat, and Katelyn couldn't help but snort at her enthusiasm.

"What's her name?" Aphmau asked as she gently stroked the kitten. Zane paused for a moment, unsure how to answer.

"I don’t know if she had a name before. But I call her Dandelion." He mumbled sheepishly. The raven-haired girl couldn't help but shrill in delight.

"That's such a cute name! Oh wait, I get it! Is it because her fur is white and slightly yellow?" She questioned, earning herself a nod.

"Can we take pictures with her? Please?" She asked, giving him the sweetest look. Zane bit his lip briefly before finally giving in, nodding.

"Sure. She looks pretty damn happy right now. Just... be careful. She's prone to biting." Zane warned, holding open his arm to allow the others to come closer to the cat. Once they stood beside Zane, he gave them the ok, and the two girls immediately started taking photos with Dandelion.

Garroth, on the other hand, went to go stand beside Zane. He felt bad about dragging Katelyn and Aphmau along, especially knowing Zane wasn't comfortable around them. But he also felt it might've been for the best, especially since Aphmau had really taken a liking to Dandelion. Besides, Vylad would finally be able to relax knowing where Zane was going. Garroth knew his youngest brother had been really stressed over Zane recently.

"Hey, baby bro, I'm sorry we followed you. That wasn't fair to you." Garroth apologised again, resting his hand on Zane's shoulder. Zane huffed slightly, shaking his head.

"It's whatever. They seem to like her." He muttered, looking towards the two girls still trying to keep up with Dandelion. Garroth glanced at Zane's expression and frowned slightly. He hadn't seen his younger brother care about anything or anyone this clearly in years. Seeing how much affection Zane held towards this cat, it made something inside Garroth want to see him like this more often.

"You know... maybe they won't mind too much if we bring Dandelion home with us. Mom never complains when we feed the neighbours cats in the backyard." Garroth suggested, but Zane was quick to object.

"No. What if Dad hurts her? I'm not letting him anywhere near Dandelion." His voice was determined, despite the worry he was expressing. Garroth's face fell, not having thought that far ahead.

"No wonder you come all this way to see her." He whispered, loud enough that only he could hear his own voice.

That night after taking the girls home, Garroth pulled Zane into their younger brother's room and asked if he could tell Vylad what he'd seen today. The oldest didn't want to tell Vylad without Zane's permission after breaking his trust. Thankfully, Zane was past trying to keep Dandelion a secret and gave Garroth permission to tell him.

"Wait—so you're saying Zane's been spending hours away after school so he can look after his cat? Didn't see that coming." Vylad said bluntly once he had heard the full story. There seemed to be genuine relief in his voice, which Garroth could understand.

"I don't see why this is such a big deal to you." Zane scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest irritably. Vylad raised an eyebrow, smirking a little.

"Well, it's just kinda cute that you've got yourself such a soft spot for this lil' thing."

"Wha...?!" Zane freaked, his face turning red. Garroth couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's pretty adorable, honestly." The blonde commented, sending the middle brother into a fit.

"No, it's—! Aaargh! Whatever. I just want to make sure she's okay. She looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks when I first found her, and she had nowhere to go. That's why I set up a little cardboard house for her to sleep under." Zane stated, glaring angrily at Garroth.

"So basically, she's a stray. And you took her in. Not bad for someone who barely knows how to take care of himself." Vylad commented, causing Zane to flush redder than before and redirect his glare towards his younger brother. After some arguing and a good few threats of death, the boys agreed to help Zane take care of Dandelion if he ever needed it. He didn't say it aloud, but he was grateful for their support.

Laurance took a deep breath in, pulled out his phone, and hesitantly texted a number he hadn't contacted in a very long time.

[Laurance >>> Dante]
Sunday 25th, 3:10 pm.

Laurance: Dante? This is your number, right?

Dante: Woah, Laurance???? Yeah dude this is my number.

Dante: Do you want something…?

Laurance: Oh, perfect!

Laurance: I wanted to apologise to you.

Dante: For what? We haven't spoken since last year.

Laurance: That's exactly what I mean, though.

Laurance: I've been a really crappy friend towards you and everyone else who I used to hang out with. I stopped talking to you and gave no reasoning for it.

Laurance: I didn't even want to lose my friendship with you, and I still managed to because of how selfish I acted.

Dante: Woah.

Dante: I didn’t expect that.

Laurance: I’m so sorry to spring this on you, and I don’t want to force myself back into your life if you’re not cool with it. But if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I’d be so thrilled.

Dante: Dude. I honestly really appreciate you saying all this.

Dante: I always wondered if you'd gotten sick of me or something

Laurance: Irene no, I could never.

Laurance: It was nothing like that and I'm really sorry for leaving you alone all this time.

Dante: I’ve missed having you around man.

Laurance: Me too.

Dante: I’d be down to start hanging out again. You should sit with me and the others at school!

Laurance: Who do you hang out with these days, by the way?

Dante: Travis and I are best bros for life. And somehow Lucinda hangs out with us a lot.

Laurance: I haven’t spoken to Lucinda in ages! She’s cool as hell.

Laurance: I think I know Travis. He's a sophomore, right?

Dante: Sure is! You should hang out with us at school sometime. I swear he's a cool guy.

Laurance: Sounds fun. I'll come say hi if I see you guys!

Dante: Can’t wait, dude.

Laurance sighed with a smile planted on his face. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off him after talking to Dante. He hadn't been able to bring himself to contact him in a long time, and finally being able to pull it off felt freeing. He dragged himself towards his homework, convincing himself procrastination solves nothing. He began to open up his laptop when he heard a voice call out to him.

"Laurance? Are you in?" Called out a muffled voice, which he quickly recognised as Cadenza. "Yup!" He called back, indicating she could come in. His sister entered, looking more dressed up than usual. Her hair was straightened, makeup done beautifully, and she wore a slim black dress with small frills at the end of it.

"Going out?" Laurance suggested, raising an eyebrow curiously. Cadenza smiled slightly and nodded, though she looked more uncomfortable than usual.

"Uh...yes, actually. The rugby team captain asked to discuss something with me out at this restaurant, and when I looked it up the restaurant is actually crazy expensive. So I figured I'd at least try to look classy." Cadenza explained nervously.

"Well, you certainly look the part. You seem pretty nervous though." Laurance commented, gesturing at her fidgeting hands.

"Yeah, um...you're right. This is just... weird." She responded shyly, smiling at him reassuringly as she tried to stop herself from fidgeting. The younger brother smiled back.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. I've spoken to Blaze before. He's a chill dude, but he's pretty dense at times." Laurance advised her, and she merely shrugged. "By the way..." Laurance started, slowly pronouncing his words. "Is it like, a date? Orrr—" the boy trailed off, causing her to wave her hands in defence.

"It's nothing like that! I'm not even into him. I'm only nervous because I don't have enough money to be going out to places like this." Cadenza clarified, and her brother let out a deep breath, relieved she wasn't dating someone. Things didn't end well for her last time.

"Well, if you need money, I've got some money saved up. If not, then you can use my card. I'm sure Blaze wouldn't mind either way." Laurance offered, and Cadenza gave another awkward shrug.

"Yeah...alright. Thanks, Laurance. Maybe this will get my mind off of things." She said, giving her brother a hug, which the young boy returned happily. She then left his room, waving to him on her way out. Laurance couldn't help but notice how much more confident she looked as she left.

Chapter Text

A dark shade of amber stretched endlessly in the sky, the world slowly darkening as the sun lay to rest. Cadenza quickly checked her reflection, fixing her dress strap before walking into the restaurant. Upon arriving, the young man she came to meet with spotted her and grinned.

"Cadenza! So glad you could make it." Blaze shook her hand firmly before escorting her to her seat. He wore a simple black button-up with navy jeans. Nothing too fancy, but still classy enough for the occasion. She smiled politely, following behind him.

Cadenza had never properly spoken to Blaze before, and her only knowledge of him stemmed from brief interactions at school. It was only now she was starting to notice things about him at all, such as his eyes being different colours or the faint scar on his face.

They sat down and engaged in some small talk. She was beginning to wonder why he asked her to meet with him when his face took on a serious expression.

"I wanted to speak with you about something. I don't really have anyone close to me I can talk about it with, and you're one of the seniors I feel I can trust with this." The werewolf began, meeting her eyes. His tone was worrying her.

"Did something happen?" She asked hesitantly.

He blinked before suddenly lightening up a bit, chuckling.

"Oh, don't worry, it's not personal to me or anything. I'm not about to start telling you some tragic backstory of mine!" He laughed, understanding he made things seem far more dire than they were.

"Ah, I see. No worries then." Cadenza chuckled, relaxing at his words. Blaze let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"It's just... it's about Battle of the Captains."

[Disaster Trio] Monday 26th, 2:30am.

Garroth: I can't sleep

Katelyn: me either

Garroth: You up worrying about your volleyball tournament?

Katelyn: how'd you know?

Garroth: Just figured. The first big game is tomorrow, right?

Katelyn: yeah.

Garroth: I'll have to come watch the game. I'll be cheering on you and Teony.

Katelyn: hey, if you can make it, that'd be great.

Garroth: I'll try my best.

Katelyn: what's got you up so late?

Garroth: Just can't sleep.

Aph: I forgot to mute this chat

Katelyn: what are you doing awake, aph???

Aph: I'm always awake at this time wdym

Garroth: She's probably reading Levi Ackerman x reader fanfics again.

Aph: Do not expose me unless you want your secrets revealed.

Garroth: Shutting up now.

Katelyn: no, please continue.

Aph: Goodnight!

Katelyn: ffs.

As morning approached, all three of them were regretting the lack of sleep.

Garroth immediately noticed something was different about Laurance upon walking into school. To start, Laurance and Dante were sitting at the front of the campus together, cracking jokes and laughing. Garroth was certain he hadn't seen Laurance talk to Dante since early last year. How come now they were getting along and joking around out of nowhere? Another odd detail was how Laurance didn't look like he'd just rolled out of bed for once. He’d normally be rushing into school looking like a hot wreck. Maybe he'd actually brushed his hair today? Or perhaps it was the fact that he'd put on a tie and buttoned up his shirt for once?

It felt odd, almost nostalgic, to see him like this. But then again, everything about him seemed unusual recently.

He still couldn't get the other day out of his mind. Laurance had burst out of the classroom, not returning to classes for the rest of the day all because of some petty teasing. Garroth hadn't expected it from him. Usually, Laurance would ignore it, or act like he was the better man. Had he finally decided not to blame him for everything that transpired? Was Laurance seriously upset over their friendship ending now? Six months later? Garroth couldn't help but roll his eyes at the thought. If Laurance had really taken over six months to realise he might've actually been at fault, then that was kind of pathetic.

"Hey, Garroth! What are ya up to?" Katelyn suddenly called out to him, catching the boy by surprise. He blinked up in confusion, snapping out of his thoughts.

"I'm not doing much, just... curious about something." The blonde trailed off, wondering if he should ask her directly.

"Hm? What are you curious about?"

"Oh, it's nothing really, but, uh—you see Laurance over there?" He asked, pointing towards Laurance and Dante.

"Yeah. What about him? He's—!" She suddenly choked on her own spit after realising who he was talking to. "Is he talking to Dante!?" She gasped. Garroth slapped a hand over her mouth to get her to quiet down.

"SHHHH—don't cause a scene! But seriously, it's weird, right?"

"Of course it's weird! Laurance hasn't spoken to anyone from the old group in months! What happened between them?"

"I don't know. From what I heard, Laurance pretty much ignored Dante for the last six months to go hang out with those jocks. They definitely haven't been in touch until recently." Garroth surmised, shrugging his shoulders.

"My volleyball match might be today, but I'm absolutely getting to the bottom of this. Thankfully, Dante's best friend is in love with me. If there's anyone I can ask, it's him." Katelyn stated determinedly, narrowing her eyes. Garroth paused for a moment, before realising what she meant.

"Pfft—Bahahahaha! I forgot about Travis and his obsession with you!" Garroth teased. A mischievous grin formed on his mouth while Katelyn blushed furiously.

"Huh?! What’s that supposed to mean?!" Katelyn snapped defensively. Garroth held his hands up above his head.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" He laughed, still very obviously still teasing her. Saved by the bell, she let out one last complaint before heading off to homeroom, flipping him off as she walked away.

"Great... I've got history next." Garroth groaned to himself as he headed off to class. He noticed Laurance was already there, sitting at the desk horizontal from his own as he entered the room. Garroth averted his eyes from the boy, tension still high between them.

"Listen up, class! Today I'll be handing out the task sheets for your assignment and allocating your partners." Their teacher announced, handing everyone copies of the project sheets as the students complained in disappointment.

"For this project you'll be working with one other student. I expect everyone to be mature about this and for both partners to do a fair amount of work." She instructed, before pulling out a list of names next to each other.

As she read them out, Garroth began to notice that it was mostly put together based on seating arrangements.

Which meant... oh no.

"Garroth, Laurance, you two will be working together." She stated, nonchalantly moving on to the next pairing. Well, at least she tried before students began bickering amongst themselves at the knowledge that the fated rivals were partners. Laurance froze for a moment, looking up at their teacher. "Excuse me, miss, what did you say?"

"You heard me! You two are partners for this project!" Their teacher repeated, "Class, settle down! I have three more pairs to announce before we get started!" She ordered, proceeding to go through the list.

Laurance and Garroth locked eyes. For once in over six months, they weren't sharing a gaze of anger. Instead, it was one of worry. The thought of working together was mutually daunting. After seeing the expressions on the other students' faces, though, they knew it would make things worse if they reacted to this situation. They quickly broke eye contact, both deciding the floor looked incredibly interesting all of a sudden.

"Now, I'd like those of you who aren't already sitting next to your partner to do so. Then we'll get started." Their teacher instructed, and students rose from their chairs, approaching their assigned partners.

Laurance hesitantly rose from where he sat, keeping his eyes glued to the ground. A strange sense of familiarity overcame him as he shuffled over to the baseball captain, almost like he'd done this before. He swallowed his wistful feelings and shook his head, sitting down next to the blonde.

The class observed them intently. Some had their phones out below their desks, recording the two as they awkwardly sat next to each other. Garroth's face burned bright red. He hadn't prepared to be this close to his 'rival' today. His heart raced faster than ever, and his palms grew sweaty. He couldn't recall ever being this nervous around Laurance before. He cleared his throat, looking at his paper, trying to steady his breathing.

"Uh, hey..." Garroth murmured quietly, feeling awkward.

Laurance coughed slightly, giving him a curt nod in return, "Garroth." A tense silence heightened between them. Unintentionally saving them from the discomfort, the bell went off. Garroth sighed, getting up to leave when Laurance stopped him, grabbing his arm.

"Wait-! Do you want to meet up at the library after school tomorrow to work on this?" Laurance blurted out, not quite sure whether he was making a bad call or not. Garroth looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah, sounds good." Garroth replied, flashing him a weak smile before hurrying away from the interaction. He didn't notice the sweat beading at his forehead or how greasy his golden locks of hair had become. All he could feel was his heart beating rapidly out of his chest. It was only first break, and he was already flustered enough to want to go home.

Garroth stepped outside, sitting down at a bench facing the wind so he could learn to breathe again. He pulled out his phone, immediately texting the first people he could think of. He needed to get his mind off the soccer captain.

[Disaster Trio] Monday 26th, 10:30 am.

Garroth: Where are you

Katelyn: who

Garroth: Either of you

Katelyn: at the cafeteria talking to teony, why?

Garroth: Can we eat outside today?

Katelyn: yeah sure- are you ok?

Garroth: I'll explain when you get here

Katelyn: fine, just let me say bye to teony and i'll be right over

Garroth: Thank you.

Katelyn arrived two minutes later holding snacks in each hand. She sat down alongside her friend and offered some of her food.

"So, what did you want me out here for?" She asked, poking his shoulder. Garroth glanced at her, unsure of himself.

"Uh... well... it's just... Laurance and I kind of got paired up for an assignment and-" he began, not prepared for her girl to cut him off with a shout.

"You what!? Oh my Irene, how did class go? Did you have to talk to him?" She asked frantically, almost jumping out of her seat.

"Quiet down! Yes, I had to talk to him. We're actually meeting up after school tomorrow." The blonde admitted, stumbling over his words. Katelyn's eyes were practically sparkling. Even though she was angry at Laurance for how he treated everyone last year, she still got excited whenever something happened between the rivalling pair.

"You're meeting up to work on it? No. Freaking. Way. That’s so weird!"

"Yeah, but for some reason I'm really nervous around him. It's nothing like before. I used to feel at ease when I saw him, but when he grabbed my arm today, I was anxious as hell!" Garroth fussed, running his fingers through his hair.

"And then I freaked out about talking to him for, like, the entire lesson. It was so awkward too. Oh my Irene, the tension was ridiculous."

Katelyn sighed, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Look. It makes sense. You've missed Laurance ever since he started hating you. Now that there's a chance you'll actually get to talk to him again, you're worried about what could happen. It's normal, Garroth. Just try to be calm and see where things go." She reassured, patting his back lightly. "Also, I don't think he hates you anymore. Not after what you told me about your history class with him last week. If he hated you, he definitely wouldn't have done that."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks, Katelyn." He responded sluggishly, just as it became time for classes to continue. The rest of the day passed smoothly. Garroth met up with Aphmau at second break, telling her everything he mentioned to Katelyn earlier. She seemed ecstatic at the news. He figured it was because of how much she had been wanting them to make up ever since the initial argument.

The volleyball team's first game of the season took place after school. Garroth dragged his brothers along to support Katelyn and her team. Teony and Katelyn were instructing the team's warm-up upon arrival, and Aphmau was sitting alone in the stands watching them. Garroth went to sit with her, allowing Zane and Vylad to head their separate ways.

"Garroth! You came to cheer on our girl?" Aphmau asked, giggling slightly.

"Wouldn't miss it. She's really been working hard for this." He replied proudly. Aphmau smiled cheerfully in response, nodding her head in agreement.

On the other side of the complex, a conversation between two half-acquainted strangers was taking place.

"You're here for Katelyn, I assume?" Vylad asked, leaning against a wall as he smirked at the younger boy. The other jumped slightly, not realising he'd been approached.

"U-uhhhh, yes! I'm here to support her! W-what about you?" Kacey stuttered anxiously. Vylad laughed for a moment.

"Believe it or not, I'm here for her as well. Garroth wanted to see her play, so Zane and I were kind of forced into it."

"Oh- that's- um- sorry." Kacey mumbled, rubbing the nape of his neck nervously.

"Don't worry about it. I've never really watched a volleyball game before. Maybe you can fill me in on how it works?" He suggested. Kacey blinked, surprised by the sudden request.

"Sure, I'm not an expert or anything, b-but I've watched my sister play enough times to get the idea!"

"That sounds great. Oh, my apologies, I never introduced myself." Vylad suddenly addressed, taking a hand from his pocket and holding it out. "We've never officially met, despite our siblings being friends. I'm Vylad. Vylad Ro'meave." He said formally, peering into the other's blue orbs. Kacey hesitantly took his outstretched hand.

"It's nice to officially meet you, Vylad." He responded, smiling anxiously as he engaged in a mutual handshake.

The volleyball game kicked off moments later. It was a fairly even match. Both teams had their strong moments and star players. Teony in particular was having a good day, setting multiple winning points and hardly missing whenever the ball came her way.

"Let's go, ladies!" Teony cheered once they reached match point. The game had been very close in terms of skill level between the teams, but Phoenix Drop had the advantage of managing to be five points ahead in the final set.

"We've got this." Katelyn assured herself quietly. The stadium went silent as the ball was tossed into the air. The captain of the O'khasis team served the ball, and it flew straight over the net. Nicole scrambled for the ball, sending it into the air with her receive.

"Katelyn! Quick!" Teony called out, rushing for the set. Getting under the ball, she managed a perfect set right where she wanted it. Katelyn leapt into the air with a shout before slamming the ball straight down. It hit the ground with a thud, and cheers erupted from the room. Garroth and Aphmau let out a cheer in unison, high fiving each other as their friend scored the winning point. Katelyn and Teony could be seen rushing to hug each other. The rest of the team ran to join them, celebrating their victory.

"Wow! Your sister was incredible!" Vylad exclaimed, shocked by the girl's skill level. Kacey nodded enthusiastically, very proud of his sister’s dedication. She’d always worked hard when it came to volleyball. She undoubtedly deserved it. Vylad checked his watch, realising he should really start heading home.

"I've got to go now. I'll see you around, Kacey!" He said, waving at the younger boy as he walked off. A light shade of pink dusted Kacey's cheeks as he realised he might've just made a friend today.

Zane poked Garroth's shoulder to get his attention. He’d been impatiently waiting all afternoon, and now that the game was over he wanted to get out of there.

"Garroth, can we go now? It's nearly 5pm and I want to check on Dandelion before Dad gets home." Zane nagged, trying to drag his brother away from the crowd.

"Yeah, fine, let me go get Vylad and-" he paused, seeing Vylad heading towards them. "Or not. Get your stuff. We'll go now." He concluded, picking up his bag and pulling out his keys. Zane nodded, making his way over to the car. In a quick car trip, Garroth dropped Zane off near the alleyway Dandelion had been at last time. Zane thanked him as he got out of the car, promising to be home by dinner.

Zianna didn't even bother asking where Zane had disappeared to when Vylad and Garroth returned home. She'd come to expect it from him at this point. Vylad headed straight to his bedroom, throwing off his tie and shutting the door behind him.

Garroth’s head was spinning. Doing the same as his younger brother, he made a beeline for his room and collapsed onto his bed. A brief thought passed his mind: did high school ever get less busy?

He doubted it.

Twinkling stars shone late into the night, contrasting the dark sky. Dante's house remained pitch black, except for the dim candlelight that glowed from under his bedroom door.

Nicole giggled flirtatiously as she pushed him back against the bed frame and let her hands roam over his torso. Dante laughed into her mouth, kissing the corner of her lips and making her grin. She'd never been touched like this before.

She pulled away suddenly, remembering something important, and sat up straight on the edge of the bed.

"What time is it?" She asked, and he groaned as he reached for his bedside table, checking his phone.

"It's almost midnight." He replied, rubbing a hand down the back of his neck bashfully, trying not to smile at her sudden panic.

"Shit! I need to be home by 12! See you in class tomorrow, babe!" She jumped off of the bed and rushed towards the door, grabbing her shoes at the last moment before leaving with a kiss goodbye.

Dante couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he lay on the bed, his heart fluttering with excitement as he replayed the night over in his head again.

He yawned, tiredly reaching over to check his phone. He had two unread messages in his inbox. One was from Travis, asking about schoolwork. The other was from Kawaii~Chan. It read, "Goodnight, sweetie," with three pink love hearts.

He felt a slight sense of guilt as he read her text but still couldn't bring himself to care as much as he should. He turned his phone off and rolled his body over in a singular movement before falling into a deep slumber.

Chapter Text

[Katelyn>>>Garroth]

Tuesday September 27th, 7:05am.

Katelyn: are you meeting up with Laurance after school today?

Garroth: Yeah. We're going to work on the project.

Katelyn: probably won't see you at school today since we don't have classes together, so good luck.

Garroth: Thanks Katelyn.

The day passed very slowly, leaving Garroth with a lot of time to overthink. Eventually, afternoon arrived. He checked his watch as nerves began to settle in his stomach. It was 4pm, and he was standing outside the doors to the library. Inside sat Laurance Zvahl, who was currently setting up his laptop.

The Ro'meave exhaled, "Don't mess this up, Garroth." He muttered to himself as he entered the quiet building.

Laurance glanced over his shoulder at the door, raising an eyebrow curiously. Seeing Garroth, he turned his attention back to the screen, typing something quickly on his computer. The older boy made his way over to the desk Laurance was seated at, placing his belongings on the opposite end.

"Hey." Garroth greeted casually, trying to sound nonchalant. Laurance looked up from his screen, giving the other a minuscule smile.

"Hey there," Laurance replied, breaking eye contact at least twice.

They weren't sure if they should continue the conversation, but neither seemed to want to end it either. They fell into a silence until Garroth eventually decided to bring up the task at hand.

"What book do you have there?" He asked, gesturing towards the thick textbook sitting by his laptop. Laurance gave a small shrug, turning the page slowly. "Something about the historical value... of... something." He muttered, clearly having no idea what he was reading about. After a few long moments of silence, Laurance let out a slight chuckle and closed the book.

"It hasn't been much help." He stated, glancing at Garroth through his enviously long eyelashes. Laurance found himself mesmerised by the other's bright blue eyes, looking away once he caught himself staring at the blonde. He felt his face flush slightly, knowing Garroth had definitely noticed that. He was proven right when his 'rival' chuckled softly out of nowhere.

"What're you laughing at?" Laurance asked sheepishly. Garroth quickly regained his composure, straightening up with an amused expression.

"Did I just catch you staring?" He joked, raising a brow.

Laurance rolled his eyes, trying to hide his embarrassment. "No, shut up."

"Whatever you say, Laurance." He gently teased. They quickly fell into another uncomfortable silence, which Garroth began to worry was his fault.

"I uh... meant it as a joke. I wasn't laughing at you." Garroth insisted. He'd almost forgotten that he and Laurance weren't close anymore. He couldn't just suddenly start joking around with him like that. It was strange how natural it felt to joke around with him.

"It's fine."

"..."

With nothing left to say, Garroth coughed awkwardly and focused his attention on the laptop in front of him. As painful as the silence was, the words they did exchange often felt just as strained.

After ten minutes had passed of silently working, Laurance glanced up. He almost went back to staring at the other, but this time he was purposefully subtle. Garroth's golden hair had grown longer, his bangs hanging over his left eye. His facial features were more defined than Laurance recalled them to be.

The only detail that concerned Laurance was... Garroth looked like he had lost weight. Perhaps he was just imagining it, but it seemed like he was thinner. His skin was paler too, almost transparent, and Laurance didn't like it.

"Are you alright?" The brunette spoke his mind, slapping a hand over his mouth once he realised he'd said that aloud. Garroth looked up at him, puzzled at the question. "Uh, yeah?" The blonde responded, confused where this was coming from.

"You... look... sort of thin. Like you haven't been eating." Laurance said carefully, "I know we haven't spoken in a while, but... you look tired, sick even." He admitted, biting his lip.

"I don't know what you're on about." Garroth replied coldly, averting his gaze. Something diabolical deep inside the so-called Prince Charming's heart cracked at his words. His chest tightened with vexation. The Ro'meave swallowed, pushing the feeling down, trying to conceal its presence.

"You don't have to tell me..." Laurance started, "But... you look so exhausted. Did something happen? Did someone...?"

"It's none of your business, alright?" Garroth spat, angered that Laurance would pry into his personal life so quickly after being civil with him for a few minutes. His body language grew closed off and defensive. How dare he suddenly act worried when he's spent the last year treating him like a piece of gum stuck under his shoe?

Laurance stiffened up and quickly muttered an apology. His hands scrambled back to working on the project, while Garroth zoned out and overthought the entire interaction.

The library closed at 5:30pm. When the time came, the boys stood up and made their way outside. Laurance quietly observed Garroth, who seemed to be less agitated than he was before.

"Same time Friday?" Laurance offered, knowing they'd need at least another two study sessions to get this done.

"Can't. I lead baseball training on Fridays." Garroth replied, watching as the realisation showed on the younger boy's face.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I remember that." Laurance replied, wincing a little at the memory of always going to support Garroth's team on Friday afternoons when they were friends. Those were good times.

"So... what about Wednesday after school?" Garroth suggested.

"So tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"I guess that works." Laurance answered, seeming surprised that he planned to get back to working on this so soon. Or maybe that was the only time he was free. Laurance sighed, briefly lost in thought.

"I just realised... you're captain now." Laurance grinned proudly. "I knew you'd get there."

Garroth seemed surprised by the comment. He couldn't help smirking in response.

"Thanks, man."

"..."

"I should get going." Garroth announced, slinging his bag over his shoulder and nodding to the brunette. "I'll see you at school."

"Of course, I'll, uh, see you then?" Laurance replied, although it came out as more of a question. As he watched the baseballer walk away, a flutter of excitement rose in his chest, and he wasn't a fan of what that implied.

[Disaster Trio] Tuesday, September 27th, 8:18pm.

Garroth: I have to study with Laurance tomorrow again.

Katelyn: again? why?

Garroth: He trains the soccer team on Thursdays, I do the same with baseball on Fridays, and we apparently both have lives on the weekend.

Katelyn: makes sense, you're busy dudes.

Aph: How did today go?

Garroth: Fine.

Katelyn: come on, give us more than that.

Garroth: It wasn't bad... he started pointing out that I looked like I'd lost weight and stuff though, and it felt super invasive.

Garroth: He was acting all worried when he's literally spent the last year pretending I don't exist.

Garroth: I don't know. It just rubbed me the wrong way.

Katelyn: that idiot.

Aph: Bringing it up when you guys aren't on good terms is asking for trouble.

Garroth: What? So you guys agree with him?

Aph: That's not the point.

Garroth: So? Do you guys actually think I look sickly?

Aph: I don't think sickly is the right word. Just... thinner? I guess?

Garroth: Seriously?

Katelyn: drop it you two. this doesn't matter right now.

Garroth: I'm turning off my phone. I'm not in the mood for this.

Aph: I'm sorry Garroth, I didn't mean it in a bad way!

Katelyn: ughhhhhhh

Aph: I'm sorry, ok? I didn't think he'd be upset by it.

Katelyn: it's a sore spot ok?

Katelyn: it's fine. i'll talk to him.

[Katelyn>>>Garroth]

Katelyn: you ok?

Garroth: Is this what everyone thinks of me now?

Katelyn: no. but you can't deny there's some truth to it. you've probably noticed it yourself, haven't you?

Garroth: It's no one's business.

Katelyn: you're right. it's not. but don't hold it against aph just because she's noticed something that you didn't like.

Garroth: I get it.

Katelyn: and i know laurance had no right to point it out after how he's acted towards you, but he probably just happened to notice it in a similar way aphmau did.

Katelyn: just think about it, ok?

Garroth: Fine, I will.

Garroth: Thanks, Katelyn.

Katelyn: don't mention it.

A gentle stream of light peered into his window, slowly creeping towards his eyes. Garroth groaned as he took a glance at his phone.

Great. Wednesday. His least favourite.

He didn't enjoy it mostly because of his double business class. Double history was alright, but this week it meant being forced to sit with Laurance for ages to work on the project. He forced himself up with a sigh and trudged over to the bathroom to brush his teeth, making sure to wash his face as he did. He slipped into his uniform, buttoning up his thin white shirt and adjusting his tie to sit right.

The drive to school was quiet. Normally Zane and Vylad would try to catch a ride with him whenever he took the car, but it seemed they both had other people to meet up with today. He didn't mind the silence, though. Usually Zane and Vylad would just bicker the whole way. Upon arriving, Aphmau approached him timidly. She seemed apologetic for upsetting him last night. In all honesty, Garroth had already forgotten about that.

"Hey Garroth, about yesterday-" she began, before he cut her off.

"Don't mention it. I'm over it." He replied, giving her a friendly pat on the back. She sighed in relief.

"Now that I think about it, aren't you going to be seeing a lot of Laurance today?" Aphmau asked thoughtfully. Garroth nodded, not seeming too excited about it.

"Yeah. I'll be with him for class, and after school we're going to the library to keep working on the project."

"Yikes. Good luck." Aphmau chuckled, smirking mischievously. Garroth didn't trust her smile. It was similar to the one that young meif'wa girl made whenever she spoke about ships.

A few hours later, he found himself in his double history class, sitting next to Laurance. The students around them snickered and gossiped quietly, shooting them amused glances. Garroth was visibly uncomfortable. Laurance seemed to take it in stride, acting unaffected by the gossip. He'd always seemed to enjoy the feeling of attention more than Garroth did.

The two didn't speak much, mostly working in silence. Towards the end of the lesson, Garroth looked over to Laurance.

"We're still heading to the library to finish this off after school, right?" He asked, seeking clarification from the other. Laurance nodded.

"Yeah, for sure. It'll save us rushing around trying to finish it next week."

"Awesome."

As the bell rang, Laurance quickly got up and walked out while chatting with Michi. Garroth wasn't sure when they'd gotten so close, but it was most definitely after he'd stopped talking to him. He found himself missing having classes with Katelyn. Last year they'd been in most of the same classes, but now they only took math together. Learning was a lot more boring without her around. Sure, he missed Laurance's company in class too, but he wasn't nearly as ready to admit that.

Garroth checked his phone for the third time since arriving at the library. He really hoped Laurance hadn't stood him up. He'd left school as soon as he could to make sure they'd have more time to work on the project.

[Garroth>>>Laurance] Wednesday, September 28th, 3:30pm.

Garroth: Where are you?

Laurance: I'm almost there. The bus is running late.

Garroth: You take the bus?

Laurance: Normally I'd get my sister to drop me off, but she coaches hockey practice on Wednesdays.

Garroth: I see. No license?

Laurance: Not yet.

Garroth: You could have caught a ride with me from school, you know? We're headed to the same place after all.

Laurance: I didn't think of that.

Laurance: Anyways, I'm here.

Garroth looked up from his phone to find Laurance exiting the bus and walking towards him. He nodded briefly, acknowledging his presence.

"Glad you made it." Garroth commented, turning on his heel in direction of the library. Laurance simply grinned. "I wouldn't stand you up." He claimed.

Garroth wasn't sure how much he believed that comment but didn't bother to question it. They sat down in the library and quickly got to work. They seemed much more productive today in comparison to their last meeting. Twenty minutes into studying, Garroth felt his phone vibrate against his leg. It was an unread message from Ivy. Laurance caught the surprise in Garroth’s expression, and couldn't help himself from being curious.

"What's got you squinting like that?" Laurance questioned nonchalantly, scratching the back of his head.

"It's Ivy. She's hosting a party next week, and I've just received an invite for it."

"Ivy? Don't tell me she's still-."

"You have no idea." Garroth groaned. He knew he was about to ask if she was still obsessed with him, which, of course she was.

"I thought it would've died down by now." Laurance replied, shooting the other a sympathetic glance.

"If anything, it's gotten worse. Since I'm not around you constantly anymore, she'll ask to hang out way more and justify it by me 'not being attached to Laurance at the hip'." Garroth explained, shaking his head. "It's like she thinks I have no other friends outside of you."

"I mean, in her defence, you kinda didn't two years ago." Laurance replied with a lighthearted chuckle, but Garroth didn't take it quite so playfully.

"That's such a lie." Garroth retorted, frowning in an offended manner.

"Is it?"

"Of course it is."

"Talking to your brothers doesn't count, Garroth."

"I had Katelyn and Aphmau!"

"I'm talking about 2 years ago. When we had just started high school. Did you even speak to anyone besides me back then?"

"Well... I did speak to Katelyn."

"Hardly."

"So what? Even if I only regularly spoke to you and Ivy back then, it doesn't matter! You don't know me anymore anyways!" Garroth snapped, glaring across the table. Laurance bit his lip frustratedly at the last comment, acknowledging he was right.

"You're right. I have no place to speak on this." Laurance grumbled in response, looking back at his laptop.

"Of course you don't. You're the one who stopped talking to me after all." Garroth replied, his words biting Laurance with the cold hard truth. Deep down, they both knew Laurance was to blame for them falling apart, but Laurance had never admitted that.

"Oh, come on, you know damn well we both contributed to that!" Laurance snarled, looking ready to start a brawl in the middle of the library. If he wasn't so mad, he would be surprised they hadn't been kicked out for being too loud. Garroth didn't back down.

"Sure, but at least I tried to fix things after I screwed up! I apologised, and you refused to accept anything. I did my part." Garroth hissed, suddenly saying things he'd wanted to say years ago.

Laurance was taken aback by his assertiveness, and instead of lashing out, he froze in his seat.

"..."

"What? Got nothing to say?" Garroth taunted.

"Cut it out. Just let me think." Laurance muttered, looking almost... embarrassed? Garroth couldn't read his expression, but at least he didn't seem as angry.

The two sat in silence for a few agonisingly long moments before the brunette hesitantly spoke up.

"For what it's worth, I do regret what I did that day." Laurance admitted quietly. He couldn't quite meet Garroth's eyes, but he forced himself to speak nonetheless.

"Starting a fight over that... it was stupid. I beat you up and stopped talking to you over a girl. I cringe to this day when I remember my reasons for doing what I did."

"Are you apologising?" Garroth began, but the younger boy cut him off.

"I'm not done." Laurance said firmly, before sighing and continuing with his speech. "I think eventually my reasons for treating you badly stopped being because of our fight... and more because I was too proud to stop. I'd built a whole new friend group by being an asshole, and I felt powerful because of it."

"You're referring to Marc and Michi and all those guys, right?"

"Yeah. Admitting I was wrong to you would've made me feel inferior—or something stupid like that. Even now, I have this urge to pretend like I was right to react that way when we fought. But do I actually think that? Not at all."

Garroth couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"What, so I'm supposed to forgive you for insulting me for months and treating me like a pest because you were protecting your ego?" Garroth asked, an annoyed tone creeping into his voice.

"No—ugh—look, you don't have to forgive anything, okay! I just wanted you to know what was going through my head." Laurance explained, letting out a slight groan before finally properly meeting Garroth's eyes.

"...And I truly am sorry."

Garroth wasn't sure how to reply to that. He'd been waiting for this moment for almost a year, but now that it was happening, he had no idea what to do with himself. They fell into another agonisingly tense silence. The faint buzzing of the air conditioner suddenly felt loud in Garroth's ears.

"Far out... Laurance... you really hurt me, you know?" Garroth replied, doing his best not to choke up. Laurance grimaced at the hurt in his voice.

"I know."

Suddenly Laurance's phone buzzed, cutting the tension between them and forcing the brunette to look at his phone. It was his guardian letting him know she was waiting outside.

"I have to go." Laurance announced apologetically, feeling bad for having to leave at such a bad time. "Serena's waiting outside."

"It's okay. Don't leave her waiting." Garroth replied, forcing himself to stay composed. He wasn't sure why he felt so emotional in this moment.

"I'll talk to you soon?" Laurance asked, hoping his answer would determine if he was mad at him or not. Garroth quickly assured him with a nod.

"Yeah. Talk to you later."

Laurance gave him an apologetic smile and quickly headed outside to Serena's car, while Garroth let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding and buried his face in his hands.

Chapter Text

From the moment Garroth parked his car in the driveway, he could hear shouting echoing from inside his home.

His father wasn't the nicest man. His public image was perfectly friendly, and he acted fine most of the time. But when he got mad... things got messy. He would mercilessly scream at his family until someone was upset or crying. On rare occasions he'd get violent, but he always apologised profusely the next morning. Before long, he'd be pretending it never happened.

In his eyes, he wasn't doing anything wrong. Shouting at his sons whenever they made a mistake? That wasn't abuse. It was discipline.

His dislike towards Zane and Vylad always reared its ugly head in these arguments. He didn't truly dislike them— but the favouritism was obvious. He rarely fought with Garroth, and Zianna was a masterful mediator. Unfortunately, his younger two sons were utter screwups in comparison to his eldest. He had to teach them a lesson.

Garroth carefully entered the front door and made his way into the living room. He was welcomed by the sight of his father roaring at Zane, who was crying and yelling right back at him. He also spotted his mother weeping quietly in the corner of the living room.

"Where have you been!?" Garte bellowed, slamming a hand on the table as he suddenly turned his anger towards Garroth. Zane flinched at the action. Garroth cowered slightly under his father's rage but stood firm.

"At the library with Laurance, Father." Garroth replied, his voice steady despite the fact he was trembling.

"The library? Garte questioned, frowning in confusion. Garroth nodded, keeping eye contact as he spoke calmly.

"We went over our group project together." Garroth explained. Garte recalled receiving a text from Garroth along those lines earlier.

"Right. You did inform me of something like that." Garte admitted, shaking his head. "I need a drink." He sighed to himself before heading to his room. It seems Garroth's appearance had made him forget what he was initially yelling about. Zianna followed after her husband, wanting to make sure he wouldn't do anything reckless with alcohol in his system.

Zane let out a sigh of relief as he sat down on the couch behind him. He was still a little teary but was calming down now that he didn't have his father screaming in his face.

"You alright Zane?" Garroth asked quietly, handing his brother a glass of water. Zane merely nodded, trying to act unbothered by what just transpired.

"He was mad because I got home late. I guess he couldn't keep yelling at me for being late once you arrived even later." Zane explained, causing his older brother to sigh.

"He does that a lot, doesn't he?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"It's ok. You're here now."

As Garroth pulled his brother into a hug, he noticed Vylad standing at the top of the staircase watching the whole interaction. He shot the younger boy a halfhearted smile while he held Zane close. Vylad smiled back awkwardly before walking away to what Garroth assumed was his bedroom.

Zane eventually pulled apart from Garroth, acting slightly embarrassed and turning his head away.

"I wish he listened to me like he does with you." Zane admitted. Garroth was mildly aware that Zane saw him as the golden child, and he understood why. His father had always favoured him to a disgusting extent.

"So do I."

"Really?" Zane tilted his head.

"Yeah. I don't like being treated differently from you and Vylad."

"But you're treated better." Zane's frustrated words hung heavily between them. No one dared to voice it often, but they all knew it was true.

"Yeah... but it feels wrong." Garroth replied, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "I don't want to be his successor. You're better at all that... business stuff."

Zane fell silent at Garroth's admission. He'd always thought it, but no one had ever said it out loud before.

"...you mean that...?" Zane asked, looking almost flattered.

"Of course. Since when have I been good with his business stuff? You're smart. Good with money. You make logical decisions... while I just sort of... I dunno..." Garroth replied, not even seeming to hesitate in his opinion that Zane was made for business. The younger boy didn't know how to react.

"I-I mean... yeah, I guess." Zane stumbled over his own speech, lost for words. The two looked at each other briefly before Zane cut the conversation short.

"Thanks." Zane said quietly before walking upstairs to his room. The corner of Garroth's mouth tugged into a tiny smirk as he watched his baby brother retreat back to his room.

Garroth followed afterwards, planning to go to his own room and get some shut-eye, maybe get the conversation with Laurance off his mind.

The next morning he was up bright and early to walk with Aphmau to school. They always walked together on Thursday mornings because it was one of the days Garroth didn't need his car to pack his extra sporting equipment. Upon waking, he found his mother in the kitchen, preparing some breakfast for her boys before school.

"Hey sweetie." Zianna greeted him calmly, handing her eldest a bowl of fruit and muesli. Her eyes were always weary these days, and he couldn't stand it. She never seemed as full of life like she used to.

"Did you sleep?" Garroth asked, shooting her a worried look. He asked her this a lot, but he couldn't help himself. She gave him a reassuring smile in return.

"I did, don't worry honey." She said calmly, her hair hiding her face from view as she peered down to make Vylad's breakfast. She always made his last, knowing he'd wake up the latest.

"I'm sorry about your father last night. He really cares about you. He just doesn't always know how to show it." Zianna apologised, trying to excuse her husband's erratic behaviour from the night before.

"Mom. Don't." Garroth sighed. "I've heard it all before, and you know how I feel about it." He replied, struggling to meet her eyes.

"I understand. Zane reacted the same." She admitted quietly.

"Probably because it hurts him more than me."

"What does?"

"Hearing you excuse Father's behaviour."

"..."

Zianna nodded, not wishing to speak on the subject any longer. Garroth felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

[Aphmau>>>Garroth] Thursday, September 29th, 7:15am.

Aph: I'm here!

Garroth: I'll be out in 5.

He tucked his phone back in his pocket and quickly wolfed down the breakfast his mother had made. He quickly ran upstairs to brush his teeth and grab his things, and in a few moments he was greeting Aphmau outside.

"Morning." He announced cheerily, throwing his bag over his shoulder. Aphmau smiled upon seeing him.

"Good morning! You look rushed." She commented, giving him a slight smirk.

"Rushed? Why?"

"I mean, you're not wearing a tie."

"Wait—" He looked down and saw she was right. "Shit! I'll be right back." The boy suddenly rushed back into his house, leaving Aphmau outside to laugh at him.

[KC>>> Travis]
Thursday 29th, 12:38pm.

KC: Hi Travis~kun!

Travis: Oh hey, what's up?

KC: Kawaii~Chan needs to talk to Dante~kun. Do you know where he might be? She has been looking for him all day.

Travis: Uh, not too sure. The last I saw of him was outside near the bleachers. Maybe try there?

KC: Perfect! Thank you!

Kawaii~Chan had been feeling like Dante was avoiding her lately, and was starting to get sick of it. She couldn't figure out why he didn't want to spend time with her. Everything was fine until they started dating! She didn't think she'd done anything wrong, and it was driving her crazy not knowing why he was avoiding her.

Following Travis's advice, she made her way outside and headed straight to where he'd suggested. In hindsight, she should have seen it coming, but it wasn't until she saw it with her own two eyes that the truth finally hit her. As she quickly scouted behind the bleachers, her fears were brought to light. Dante and Nicole were kissing passionately in the semi-visible location. Her heart shattered at once as she watched their lips move tenderly against each other, and she felt tears threaten to spill.

As if Dante could sense her presence, his lips broke from Nicole's, and he looked at Kawaii~Chan in horror.

"Kawaii~Chan, I can explain!"

"Save it! I don't want to hear it!" Kawaii~Chan cried, her third-person facade breaking. Nicole looked between them in shock, realising what was going on.

"Wait, Dante, you're seeing her too?" Nicole appeared just as betrayed as Kawaii~Chan. Instead of looking like she was going to cry, she looked like she was about to beat him to a pulp.

"Ladies, please, wait—!"

Nicole slapped him across the face and pushed him off the bench forcefully. The floor shuddered as his body slammed against it.

"I regret ever letting you touch me." Nicole spat, storming off with steam practically fuming out of her ears. She couldn't believe she'd been used by this guy. She'd been hoping to become his girlfriend soon, and yet he'd already had one.

Kawaii~Chan wiped her eyes. "We're done, Dante." She announced shakily, her heart torn as she walked away from him.

Dante stood there in disbelief. He just lost both Nicole and Kawaii~Chan at the same time. He couldn't even say he never saw it coming; Travis had warned him about this happening long ago. He just never expected it to go down like this.

He sank to the floor and buried his face in his hands, regret and shame filling his heart.

Nicole and Kawaii~Chan were not taking the news well. Understandably so.

Katelyn was speaking with Aphmau in the hallway when Nicole suddenly walked up to her with tears in her eyes, instantly going in for a hug. Katelyn's eyes widened and she quickly held Nicole in her arms, shooting Aph an apologetic look as she focused completely on the crying girl.

"Woah, hey, what's wrong Nicole?" Katelyn asked, shushing her gently and holding her tight. The girl continued to cry into her shoulder.

"Dante was seeing another girl all this time, and I never knew about it!" Nicole sobbed, now sounding more furious than upset. Katelyn's eyes widened.

"Wait... you were seeing Dante?" She asked, pulling Nicole away from her so she could make eye contact. Katelyn was clearly shocked by this news. Even Aphmau, who was watching from the sidelines, had a shocked expression on her face.

"Yes! For a few weeks!" Nicole exclaimed angrily. "I thought you knew!"

Katelyn and Aphmau shook their heads in unison. This was news to them, and clearly not good news.

"No, he never said anything about that to me. I thought he was dating Kawaii~Chan." Katelyn answered. Nicole's jaw dropped. Tears began welling up in her eyes again. Katelyn instantly began apologising and pulled her back into a hug.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realise what was going on. I would have told you sooner if I knew." Katelyn said gently. "I'll beat him up for you if you want. You know damn well I'd win." She added.

"Nah, I'll do that myself." Nicole laughed wetly, pulling away from Katelyn and wiping her eyes. Katelyn smirked and gave her a pat on the back.

"That's my girl."

Nicole's grief was momentary. After a few hours she felt nothing but anger towards Dante and was glad to be rid of him.

Kawaii~Chan however, found herself lost in a solemn daze for the rest of the day.

She couldn't pay attention to the rest of her classes. The moment the school day ended, her feet began dragging her away from the campus gates without even realising it.

Kawaii~Chan's vision blurred as she stumbled through the streets of Phoenix Drop, both feet carrying her without a mind directing them. She absently passed by the local park and some small shops nearby. Grey clouds towered from the sky. They'd been slowly growing darker all afternoon, warning the civilians below of a storm brewing.

She couldn't believe Dante had cheated on her, or perhaps it was more like she didn't want to believe. Did he really just string her along for the past few months?

She eventually found herself in a gloomy alleyway that drew towards a dead end. With nowhere left to walk, she collapsed against the wall next to her and gradually dropped to the floor. Quiet hiccups echoed through the passage. Her pale hands hid her face from the world. Her knees had given out by now, and she was just allowing herself to quietly grieve.

The tears came to a halt as she felt something rubbing against her skirt. She looked up, surprised to find a white cat nuzzling against the soft fabric of her clothing.

If there's anything that could cheer her up after today, it would be a cute animal. Kawaii~Chan sniffled, giving the cat a sombre smile as she went to hold it. Surprisingly, the feline didn't hesitate to make itself at home in her lap. A few more tears escaped her eyes as she smiled down at the little creature.

Suddenly, Kawaii~Chan heard the sound of footsteps coming to a quick halt. She peered over to her left, only to see a boy in a Phoenix Drop High uniform hiding behind a pole, watching her.

"Hello?" Kawaii~Chan asked hesitantly, wiping her tears away. The black-haired boy sighed and came out of hiding, forcing himself to speak to the Meif'wa. She felt like she recognised him. Specifically, she recognised his mask.

"I-I wasn't spying on you." He insisted immediately, not wanting the girl to think he was a creep.

A tense silence fell between them. They were both vaguely aware of each other's existence but had never spoken before this point.

"So... why are you crying?"

"Huh?" Kawaii~Chan looked flustered at the question. Zane rolled his eyes.

"I'm not an idiot. I heard you crying. And your eyes are red. So... spill." Zane said very directly, looking strangely serious. She merely shrugged in response.

"This is my spot, you know. You can't just sit here and weep and not tell me what's happening. It's frustrating." He grumbled.

"You don't own this spot."

"Says who? Do you know who my father is? Do you even—" Zane paused, noticing her expression. He clearly wasn't helping. To make matters worse, the clouds above decided now was the perfect time to start pouring down with rain.

Dandelion leapt out of the Meif'wa's arms and hid in her little cardboard box house Zane made for her. Kawaii~Chan crawled into a ball and pulled behind a large dumpster, trying to escape the weather.

"Ah, crap." Zane cursed under his breath, pulling his hoodie over his head as it began pelting down with rain. He had known it would likely rain this afternoon but had stupidly left his umbrella in Garroth's car. Served him right, he supposed. He looked to his right, finding the meif'wa curled in a ball, trying to avoid the rain. Her lips were slowly turning blue from the cold.

He's not sure where it came from, but he felt the urge to help her creep up on him. With a sigh, he pulled off his hoodie and handed it to the shaking girl.

"Here. It's not really waterproof, but it should keep you warm for now." He explained awkwardly, refusing to meet her eyes as he shoved the jumper into her hands. She looked up at him with a surprised expression before nodding quietly and wearing it over her uniform.

The two waited under the small bit of cover they could find until the rain eased up. Zane noticed Dandelion had taken a liking to the pink-haired girl in that time. The creature had curled up in Kawaii~Chan's lap, rubbing her head against the fabric of Zane's hoodie.

"Why did you come down here anyways?" Zane asked, moving away from the wall now that the rain had stopped.

"Kawaii~Chan doesn't remember." She replied sheepishly, watching as Dandelion crawled off her lap, allowing her to stand up.

"What do you mean you don't remember?"

"It kind of just... happened."

"That makes no sense."

"Kawaii~Chan could ask you the same thing. Why are you here?" She pointed the question back at him, making him pause. He groaned.

"See that cat?" He asked, nodding his head over at Dandelion, who was scratching at the cardboard on the ground.

"Yeah?"

"That's Dandelion. I bring her food after school and make sure she isn't hurt... or something like that." He explained with a shrug, trying to act as if he wasn't embarrassed by the whole ordeal.

She couldn't help but find that slightly cute. Her only knowledge of Zane was this guy who was infamous for causing trouble and not getting along with people. Yet here he was spending his free time looking after a stray cat he found in an alleyway. It was strangely endearing.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"A few months, maybe?"

"And you haven't taken the cat home?"

Zane tensed up at the question before letting out a long sigh. He shook his head.

"Nah, my dad would kill me."

"What? Why?"

"He just would, okay?" Zane snapped frustratedly, not wanting to talk about his family issues with some girl.

She instantly knew she'd crossed a line pressing for details. Instead, she tried a different approach.

"Kawaii~Chan could look after her. She doesn't think her family would notice another cat around the house." She offered, smiling gently at the boy. To her surprise, he looked a bit upset at the idea.

"What? No, it's fine. I'm looking after her." He replied quickly.

"Are you sure? It wouldn't—"

"No. I'm looking after Dandelion."

"Dandelion?" She asked, tilting her head. Zane's face went red.

"That's her name."

Kawaii~Chan was beginning to realise why Zane didn't want her to look after this cat. He seemed emotionally attached to the animal. He'd named her, looked after her for months, and even made her a little shelter. He didn't want someone taking the cat away from him. It made sense.

"Kawaii~Chan would let you look after her even if she took her home. You could come over and feed her and play with her. She just wouldn't be on the streets in danger anymore." The meif'wa offered. Zane looked stunned at the suggestion.

"Y-you'd do that?"

"Of course!"

"And... I could see her whenever I wanted?"

"Yup!"

Zane fell silent, pondering over the suggestion. He eventually gave a slow nod.

"Okay. I'm fine with that." He replied, finally looking her in the eye as he spoke to her. The pink-haired girl smiled, picking up the kitty.

"Perfect. We can take her back to Kawaii~Chan's place now if you have time." She proposed excitedly. The boy reluctantly nodded, moving to walk alongside the meif'wa.

As the two walked back together, Kawaii~Chan spoke about how she'd taken care of many cats before and how she wouldn't let anything bad happen to Dandelion, when Zane suddenly interjected.

"You can drop the third-person thing, by the way."

"Huh?"

"You always refer to yourself in third person. It's annoying."

She didn't know how to respond to that. Sure, people had told her to speak normally before, but usually they were less direct about it.

"At least try for Irene's sake." Zane scoffed, rolling his eyes at her.

"...I'd rather not." She muttered quietly, feeling really uncomfortable as she spoke in first person to him. He raised an eyebrow.

"So you're capable of it."

"..."

"Do you just choose not to?"

"Yes."

"Well... can you at least try to speak normally? I'm going to have an aneurysm listening to you talk at this rate." Zane grumbled, unamused by her speaking habits. She gave a shrug, causing him to groan, but mentally she was considering his request more than she let on.

Chapter Text

"That's the bell! Just remember, your homework is due next week!"

Laurance jumped out of his seat and marched straight to his locker. He quickly snatched his sports bag and headed to the changing rooms to get into his soccer gear.

Today was the final day for trials before he would have to assign people to a team. He would have to place people in the A-team, B-team, or break the news that they didn't make either. As much as he enjoyed coaching soccer, this was his least favourite part.

On his way there, he exchanged fist bumps with a few of the guys in the hall. He was on good terms with most people these days, excluding his old friends. A friendly smile painted itself across his face, always appearing livelier than he really was.

He threw a lightweight shirt over his head, changed his shoes, and quickly hurried over to the oval. Some of the players were already there waiting, and he didn't bother questioning how they got there so fast.

"Hey, Laurance." He heard a voice speak, causing him to turn around. His eyes suddenly met with Vylad Ro'meave's.

He'd forgotten Garroth's brother was trying out for the team this year. Laurance almost felt awkward, knowing Vylad's opinion of him probably wasn't the greatest after he'd fallen out with Garroth. He didn't let it show, though, appearing friendly as he shook hands with the younger boy.

"Vylad! Good to see you here. Ready to score some goals?" Laurance greeted him with a welcoming grin. The younger boy nodded.

"Yeah, though I'm better in defence, I'd say." Vylad replied. Laurance chuckled in agreement.

"Good point. You're a great defender." Laurance admitted with an agreeable chuckle. "Look, I have to set up, but I know you'll do great." He announced, seeing himself out. The two parted ways. Laurance got started on setting up while Vylad prepared himself. Once Laurance was done getting ready, he blew on his coach's whistle loudly, grabbing his team's attention.

"Gather round, boys. Here's what's going to happen!" Laurance announced, encouraging them to surround him and listen.

"Today I'm going to have three teams rotating to play against each other. You will be assigned a colour of either red, blue, or green. Once you've been assigned one, put on a bib with the corresponding colour. That will be your team for the day. I'll be watching how you play against each other and making final decisions, so do your best."

Laurance's explanation was firm and commanding, but also to the point. The others nodded in understanding. In no time, Laurance began allocating teams.

Vylad nodded as Laurance looked towards him and said "blue". He walked over to the bucket of multicoloured bibs and took a blue one upon instruction. He glanced over to see a familiar blue-haired boy taking the same coloured bib from the bucket. It suddenly occurred to him that it was Kacey, Katelyn's little brother.

Despite Katelyn being his older brother's best friend, he'd only interacted with her little brother once before. In fact, he'd interacted with him for the first time a few days ago at Katelyn's volleyball match. He had seemed anxious but polite. Vylad hummed to himself before deciding to go and talk to the boy. It's not like he really knew anyone else here besides Laurance, after all.

"Hey, Kacey, right?" Vylad called out to him, causing the boy to freeze and appear surprised. It seemed he recognised him from Katelyn's volleyball match the other day.

"Y-Yeah! That's me! You're Vylad, right?" Kacey answered, giving him a hesitant smile.

"Didn't realise you played soccer." Vylad commented with a teasing smirk.

"I... don't. My sister just really wanted me to play a sport." Kacey admitted, looking sheepish.

"Oh, Katelyn? Can't say I'm surprised. She's always been sporty." Vylad snorted, patting Kacey on the back. "I'm sure you'll do alright."

"Th-thanks!" Kacey responded bashfully, nervously scratching his ear with one finger. Vylad smiled softly at him before turning to join their other teammates. It was game time.

The blue and red teams faced each other first, while the green team watched from the sidelines. The match was fairly even, with both teams scoring at a similar pace. Vylad instinctively found himself defending from the back line, unlike Kacey, who kind of just went wherever the ball went.

A quarter of an hour had passed when Laurance abruptly put an end to the game to have the teams rotate. The blue team left the field, while the green and red teams began to play against each other. Approximately every 15 minutes, Laurance would have them rotate again, so each team got to play against each other for the same amount of time.

Eventually, with the loud blow of a whistle, Laurance called soccer trials to an end.

"Thanks, boys! That's all for today. You'll receive an email in a few days saying whether or not you made a team, and which one if so. Good luck!" He announced, waving the players off as they began taking off their shoes and heading to their cars.

Kacey was gasping for air, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He'd really put his all into the trials. Vylad, also out of breath, approached Kacey and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"Dude. You... did great." Vylad applauded, puffing between words. Kacey shook his head, unable to respond due to the lack of oxygen. The two took a moment to recover before Kacey stood up and finally met Vylad's eyes.

"So did you." He exhaled, his heart racing.

"Haha! I hope so. Man, that was tiring, huh?" Vylad laughed, pulling his hands behind his head and grinning. Kacey nodded in agreement.

"Say, you wanna go grab something to eat?" Vylad asked despite knowing he needed to be home soon. Kacey looked surprised at the request but nodded.

"Yeah, I'd l-love to." Kacey replied, his already red cheeks burning underneath his skin. Vylad smiled. "Awesome! I know a place just down the road. Come on!" He exclaimed, dragging the younger boy along with him excitedly.

[Laurance>>>Cadenza]
Thursday 29th, 4:42pm.

Laurance: I'm done.

Cadenza: Ready to be picked up?

Laurance: Yeah.

Laurance shoved his phone in his pocket and quickly headed to the carpark. As always, Cadenza was waiting for him in her car, with some snacks waiting on the passenger seat. Laurance sighed as he sat down, leaning his head back in the chair.

"Long day?" Cadenza asked, putting on her blinker and pulling out of the park. Her younger brother hummed in response. "I'll take that as a yes." She muttered quietly to herself.

"This week has been exhausting." He admitted, putting some grapes in his mouth as he did. He munched on them quietly while his sister formed a response.

"Why's that?"

Laurance shrugged. There wasn't one particular reason he was exhausted. It was many different things that had added up over the week.

"I mean, the last two days I've seen way too much of Garroth for my liking. And now I have to assign people to teams and... I don't know. I'm just tired. Ready to rest this weekend." He explained, finishing off the grapes in one gulp and looking out the window.

"How did the study session with Garroth go?" Cadenza asked carefully.

"It was fine. We argued a bit but... I finally apologised to him."

"Wait, really?" The surprise in her voice was evident. She hadn't expected Laurance to properly try to talk things out with him. At least, not so soon.

"Yeah, but we didn't talk much after that. I had to leave, and he didn't seem too eager to forgive me so fast... I don't know, Cadenza." Laurance whined, slumping over defeatedly where he sat.

Cadenza simply laughed, amused by how he was acting. It reminded her of when he was little and would whine to her about all these unimportant things, as if she could fix any problem he had.

"Did you say what you needed to say at least? Regardless of how he took it, did you get things off your chest?" She asked, probing his brain. He didn't answer immediately, pondering over his answer. Did he truly feel like he'd gotten his thoughts off his chest?

"...Yes, I think so. For the most part, at least." Laurance eventually concluded, leaning back in his seat. "I do feel better."

"Then that's all that matters." Cadenza replied reassuringly. Her voice was warm and comforting, like a blanket wrapping around his shoulders. He sighed, smiling faintly.

"You always know what to say, you know that?" Laurance admitted, peering out the window because there was no way he could look her in the eye while saying something positive about her. Cadenza snorted, a smirk breaking onto her face.

"Ha! I'm just doing my job as your sister."

She pulled into the driveway and put the car into park. Even from outside, the pair of siblings could hear music blaring from somewhere in their home. They immediately recognised it as Serena's music playing.

"Think she's cooking dinner?" Laurance asked, although it came out as more of a statement. Cadenza snickered quietly.

"Of course she is."

The two shrugged at each other lightheartedly and made their way inside to greet their guardian.

"Dude, seriously? I love photography!" Vylad exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. His new friend grinned back nervously, nodding his head.

The two sat opposite each other inside a local fast food restaurant. At first they'd just been talking about how the soccer trials went, but the topic had slowly merged into other hobbies.

"My siblings think it's silly. But I got into it after taking a photography class in middle school." Kacey replied sheepishly, feeling flattered that someone was taking such a keen interest in his hobbies.

"Silly? That's nonsense. Photography is a lot of fun! I'd love to get into it more, especially if I went travelling or something." Vylad voiced excitedly. Kacey raised a brow.

"You want to travel?" Kacey asked, his curiosity evident. He'd always thought travelling sounded fun but was far too nervous to consider leaving Phoenix Drop. Especially on his own.

"Yeah. I've always wanted to see the world. It would be so nice to explore new places, maybe experiment with photography while in all these new environments, and try different foods from different cultures. It's a dream of mine."

Kacey smiled at the thought. The way Vylad spoke about travelling and phrased his desire to see the world made it sound so much better than he'd ever imagined. It sounded freeing.

"I'd love to do that someday." Kacey confessed, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve.

Sure, the thought of leaving behind the comfort of his hometown scared him, but the thought of missing out on many incredible experiences just because he was anxious wasn't something he wanted in life. After all, the memories he held most dearly to him only happened because he had stepped out of his comfort zone. The other boy's words were making him realise he couldn't live in a bubble forever.

"Really? Hey, we could be travel buddies!" Vylad suggested cheerfully. Of course he wasn't fully serious in the moment, but the thought was nice to think about. Kacey's cheeks reddened ever so slightly. He'd only met this boy properly a few days ago, and now he was suggesting they travel the world together?

"I mean, y-yeah, we could!" Kacey replied with an embarrassed, albeit delighted expression.

"You don't need to look so worried! I'm just throwing thoughts out there." Vylad laughed, trying to reassure the younger boy.

"I-I know. I'm just not... used to this." Kacey sighed, trying to calm himself down. He was getting worked up over nothing. The other boy shot him a confused look.

"Used to what?"

"I mean- I don't know. I guess... people being so nice to me?" Kacey responded, accidentally phrasing his words uncertainly.

A brief moment of quietness passed between them. Vylad's previous air of excitement simmered down to one of almost... sympathy.

Kacey looked up, meeting Vylad's gaze for a fleeting second. He couldn't help but feel like he was staring deep into his soul. There seemed to be something hidden in the depths of his dark green eyes that Kacey couldn't identify.

"I'm sorry, that was weird, wasn't it?" Kacey apologised with an awkward, humourless laugh. Vylad shook his head. "No, you're fine. I just wasn't expecting it, that's all." He replied reassuringly, sitting up straighter in his seat.

"You've struggled with fitting in, haven't you?" Vylad asked, though it didn't sound like a question. The truth was already present in their minds. Kacey nodded hesitantly. He didn't want to seem pathetic in front of the first person he could consider a friend, but he wasn't about to lie.

"A little, yeah."

Vylad appeared deep in thought, contemplating what to say next. A soft smile suddenly crept its way onto the brunette's face.

"Well, you've got a friend in me, Kacey. No doubt about it. I can't say I've had much luck fitting in here either." He declared gleefully, holding out his hand. Kacey gladly shook it. He was surprised but couldn't help returning the smile.

"Do you shake hands with everyone you meet? You did the same thing when we met at my sister's volleyball game too." Kacey pointed out, causing Vylad's face to go red with embarrassment.

"H-hey! Maybe I do! So what?"

Kacey couldn't help it. He burst into laughter at Vylad's reaction. Unfortunately for Vylad, his laugh was contagious, and he found himself giggling along as well.

After spending his afternoon with Kawaii~Chan, Zane returned home with a lot on his mind.

Kawaii~Chan was a sweet girl, he thought. She was strange and spoke in third person, but he didn't dislike her. The two had agreed that she would take Dandelion home and look after her, while Zane visited her regularly. It was a much safer alternative to what Zane had been doing up until now. It just sucked that he was essentially sharing Dandelion with a girl he didn't know.

In the room over, Garroth couldn't get Laurance out of his head.

The conversation from yesterday just kept replaying in his brain. Laurance had actually... apologised. He didn't try to play the victim. Didn't blame him for everything. He'd actually said he was sorry. But was it worth forgiving him just like that?

Garroth groaned, lazily ripping a sock off his foot and throwing it against his wall. The action did nothing to quell his frustration. Laurance had always been confusing. He said things he didn't mean and hid his true colours behind a friendly mask. His confession yesterday was the closest thing to honesty Garroth had seen from him in a long time.

Some part of him wanted to yell at Laurance for abandoning him all this time, but the other didn't want to open doors that had been left locked ages ago. It was hard to differentiate right from wrong in this situation, and Garroth eventually settled on sleeping it off.

The parking lot was unnecessarily busy that Friday morning. Garroth spent a good ten minutes just looking for a park before heading into school. He knew some of his friends would probably be hanging out in the cafeteria prior to class and figured he'd go say hello. Upon entering the building, he noticed Dante, Travis, Lucinda and Laurance all sitting around a bench together. They seemed to be lecturing Travis about something, as the younger boy seemed quite nervous while the others were all laughing. Dante spotted Garroth standing around aimlessly and waved him over.

"Garroth! My man! Come join us!" Dante announced in a friendly voice, seeming oblivious to the tense expressions Garroth and Laurance were making at the request. Garroth hesitantly nodded and joined them, being careful not to look one specific soccer captain in the eye.

Garroth had no idea when Laurance made amends with this group of people. Last he knew, Laurance had cut off contact with all his old friends. Garroth personally wasn't particularly close with Dante or Lucinda, but he held no bad feelings towards them. He had heard about Travis through Aphmau, but hadn't really spoken to him much prior to meeting.

"What's up?" Garroth asked, sitting down next to Dante.

"We're telling this one about the potions class because he decided to take it for some reason." The blue-haired boy grinned before nodding over at Travis. His comment earned a laugh from Lucinda and a panicked whine out of Travis.

"I was surprised when I found out about it so I've decided to tell him all about the potion class horror stories." Lucinda cackled.

"Come on, guys! I thought it would be fun!" Travis griped, not enjoying how they were hanging up on him. Garroth simply laughed, deciding to sit back and watch while the others bickered.

He noticed Laurance wasn't saying much. The brunette seemed content to watch the other three in silence. Garroth found himself working up the courage to pull him away from the group and talk to him about what he'd said a few days ago. The conversation was still present in his mind.

"H-hey... Laurance..."

At that moment, the bell sounded, and everyone quickly began heading their separate ways. Dang it. Garroth quickly trailed off and acted like he'd never said anything. His next class happened to have Laurance in it anyways, so he just let it go and figured he'd bring it up some other time. Laurance waved Dante goodbye, before turning to face Garroth.

"So, time for class?" Laurance asked flatly, his expression blank. Garroth appeared surprised for a moment, likely because he wasn't expecting Laurance to act so casual with him, before nodding.

"Yes. Let's go." He answered, allowing Laurance to lead the way. The two didn't speak a word on the way there but easily sat next to each other without questioning it.

As they sat down next to each other without so much as a flinch, the reality hit Garroth like a truck. He hadn't noticed when it changed. It had been such a minute detail that he never paid it any mind.

He and Laurance weren't rivalling anymore.

Despite their mild avoidance of each other, or slight feelings of shared unease, the spite they shared had vanished. Garroth's mouth twisted faintly with a cringe as he realised Laurance's presence was almost comfortable now.

His mind filled itself with countless thoughts of Laurance as class began, and not enough on what he was supposed to be studying. He couldn't think. For some reason all he wanted to do was talk to his... friend? Was that even the right word? Regardless, the urge was overwhelming.

"Laurance." Garroth suddenly blurted out, quiet enough for only the intended individual to hear. The soccer captain turned to face the boy next to him.

"Yes, Garroth?" He replied. It felt so civil. Too much so.

"I've been thinking about what you said." Garroth stated awkwardly, unsure how to begin. Laurance's eyes widened slightly. Were they about to have this conversation right now? In the back of the classroom?

"You have?" Laurance replied, curious but anxious. Garroth nodded his head.

"Yeah, and I just can't find it in me to hate you anymore." Garroth admitted, letting out a sigh. Laurance was lost for words. He hadn't expected that so suddenly.

"You... can't?"

Garroth shook his head.

"I'm not saying I fully forgive you. I'm still frustrated but... I can't get you out of my head, Laurance." Garroth admitted, causing a hint of excitement to creep its way onto Laurance's face.

"Stop looking so happy." Garroth muttered. Laurance looked embarrassed and avoided his gaze.

"Right. Sorry. Just... thanks, man." Laurance muttered awkwardly, fumbling for words.

"I've missed you." Laurance said quietly, looking down at his hands.

"I've missed you too."

They fell into a silence that slowly grew into a conversation about their upcoming assignment, and then about their plans for the weekend. Garroth found himself surprised by how easily words came when speaking with Laurance. It was so natural with him.

Garroth couldn't believe he was going into the weekend hopeful about his friendship with Laurance. All it had taken was a single conversation.

[KC>>>Zane]
Friday, September 29th, 2:24pm.

KC: Hi Zane~kun!

Zane: Please just call me Zane.

KC: Kawaii~Chan was wondering if you wanted to come over and see Dandelion after school today?

Zane: Oh. Sure. Your parents won't mind?

KC: They won't even notice!

Zane: In that case, I'm fine with it. I'll have to leave by half past five though.

KC: No worries! Will see you then!

Zane smiled slightly at the text. He couldn't help but feel weirdly excited about seeing her after school. And Dandelion, of course. He already missed his little fur baby.

He met up with the meif'wa outside the school gates about 30 minutes later. She waved upon seeing him and approached the boy fearlessly.

"Hey Zane~kun!"

"Just Zane, thanks."

"Sorry! Is walking back okay? It might take a while." She asked, trying to give him some warning ahead of time. Zane shook his head.

"Nah. I walk to school sometimes myself. Though I probably live closer." He replied, seemingly unbothered.

"Perfect! Dandelion will be so excited to see you!" She said with a smile, leading the way back to her house. Zane couldn't help returning a similar smile of his own. The thought of Dandelion acting excited to see him warmed his heart.

The walk to her house took about half an hour. Zane didn't mind too much, though. Despite her odd manner of speaking, she was quite interesting to talk with. She had knowledge of all sorts of things he didn't expect from her. Upon arriving at her house, she looked a little nervous.

"Uh, is this it?" Zane asked, looking over at Kawaii~Chan who had stopped in place. She nodded, her hands starting to sweat as she awkwardly brushed them against her skirt.

"Yes. Um. J-Just a warning before we go inside. Kawaii~Chan has a big family," she stuttered anxiously, "like really big." Zane seemed surprised by this information but quickly shrugged it off.

"It's fine. I'll deal with it." He replied with a shrug. She nodded in return.

"Alright! Let's go in then!" She announced with a brave voice, leading him inside.

Zane quickly realised she hadn't been lying.

There were at least eight other meif'wa children inside. Some older, some younger. They all had the same black hair and amber eyes, with matching black ears and tails with white tips. This interested him, as Kawaii~Chan had baby pink-coloured hair, but the rest of her features matched her sibling's. He figured her hair was dyed, and her natural colour was probably the same shade of black as the rest of her family.

"You weren't kidding." Zane muttered to himself as Kawaii~Chan led him through the sea of people. She waved at some of her brothers and sisters who noticed her presence but didn't speak to them as she directed Zane out into the backyard. Once outside, Zane was finally free to speak.

"When you said you had a big family, I didn't realise you meant you had fifty siblings!" He exclaimed, clearly overexaggerating but still in shock by the sheer amount of people she lived with.

"Kawaii~Chan knows it's a lot... she has 12 siblings. She's the seventh oldest." She explained sheepishly, feeling bad for overwhelming him like that.

Zane did the math in his head. Seventh oldest... out of twelve siblings... which meant thirteen kids overall including her... oh.

"You're a middle child too." He stated, looking up with a surprised expression. She nodded.

"Yes... dead middle. Is Zane~kun the same?" She asked curiously, now interested in his own home life.

"My family isn't nearly as big as yours, but I have two brothers. One older, one younger." Zane explained with a nod. Kawaii~Chan seemed genuinely interested by this. She snickered to herself and playfully asked more about him.

"No sisters, hm?" She commented. Zane shook his head.

"No, nothing of the sort." He answered easily. Clearly having sisters wasn't something that had crossed his mind much in the past. She shrugged and led him over to the end of the porch where Dandelion was resting. Zane's face brightened immediately once he saw his treasured pet.

"Dandelion!" He gasped and quickly approached her, petting her gently despite the fact she had been sleeping. The feline slowly awoke and nuzzled Zane's hand upon realising it was him. The cat found comfort in his presence.

"Aww, she loves you." Kawaii~Chan cooed, watching with delight as Zane showed affection to the creature. Zane smiled gently at the notion, until it dawned on him that Kawaii~Chan hadn't referred to him in third person. It was the first time she'd done that.

"You didn't talk in third person just then, you know?" He pointed out, causing her cheeks to blush a similar colour as her hair.

"She didn't mean to!" Kawaii~Chan quietly shrieked, waving her hands in front of her face as if she were embarrassed.

"Why are you embarrassed? It was refreshing. I can't stand the confusing third-person speak." Zane replied bluntly. She fell silent for a few moments, passively observing as he ran his fingers through Dandelion's fur.

"You mean that?" Kawaii~Chan asked hesitantly. Zane nodded, full of enthusiasm.

"My Irene, yes! It's so much more bearable to listen to." He reiterated, almost laughing at her shock. She fell silent for many more moments.

"I-I'll try to stop doing it. At least around you." She spoke nervously, looking afraid of his reaction. To her surprise, he just nodded and muttered a "thank Irene" under his breath.

She allowed Zane to play with Dandelion for a while. She could tell he held great fondness for this cat. At school the only things she'd heard about him were regarding his involvement with the Shadow Knights; a gang that got into a lot of trouble for vandalism and bullying. But when she watched him like this, she couldn't even imagine that side of him existing.

"Thanks for looking after her, Kawaii~Chan. I know she'll be safe and happier here." He said quietly, his voice laced with gratitude. He didn't smile as he said it, but it was something he needed to say.

"Of course! She- I mean I- I'm glad you've let me take care of her." Kawaii~Chan corrected herself, making the effort to unlearn her habits to keep herself on good terms with Zane. She could feel a new friendship forming between them, and she didn't want to ruin it with her own mouth.

Eventually Zane left to go home for the weekend and said he'd definitely be stopping by next week. She found herself already looking forward to it.

On her way up to her room, one of her brothers stopped her.

"Who was that?" Her brother asked, crossing his arms as he smirked down at her.

"No one, don't worry." She replied with a fake smile. She wasn't fond of how nosy her siblings could get, especially if she mentioned anyone of the opposite sex. It was as though she couldn't make friends without them assuming the absolute worst of her.

"That's bullshit Nana, and you know it. Who was that?"

"None of your business, Arata." She said shortly, brushing past him and going straight to bed.

Chapter Text

[Laurance >>> Garroth]

Monday, October 2nd, 5:45 am.

Laurance: Hey

Laurance: Wanna walk to school together?

Laurance: I was thinking we could work on our assignment if we got to school early enough.

Garroth: Would it have killed you to not text me at 5:45 in the morning?

Laurance: My bad, forgot it was so early.

Garroth: How do you even manage that?

Garroth: But sure, I'm down.

Laurance: Great! I'll see you at 7?

Garroth: ...

Garroth: I'm going back to sleep

Garroth met up with him at half-past-seven, despite his displeasure of being awoken so early. Laurance awkwardly lurked by the letterbox, not quite meeting the Ro'meave's eyes as he approached.

"Morning." Laurance greeted.

"Yeah, morning."

"How are you holding up after last week?"

"Good."

The blonde forced a chuckle in response, but there was no humour in it. Just pure, unshakable awkwardness. Laurance shifted from foot to foot, frantically trying to think of something to say. Anything that wouldn't just make things worse.

"This is awkward, isn't it?" Garroth commented with a low groan, looking at his former rival with a somewhat guilty expression. Laurance winced quietly, looking away with a hue of embarrassment on his cheeks.

"A little."

Silence sat between them for another unbearably long moment.

"Let's just go to school." Laurance sighed, tugging on his backpack and setting off for the walk to school. Garroth nodded, realising the rift between them wasn't just going to mend itself immediately after they apologised.

They used to take this route to school together each morning. The peace had lasted until the middle of last year. After that, Laurance stopped showing up at Garroth's place early in the morning, opting to catch a ride with Cadenza instead, and Garroth found a new group to walk with. Garroth was beginning to realise it was much easier to ruin a friendship than it was to fix one that's already bruised.

They walked in silence for a while. A long while. It only made their thoughts scream louder.

Suddenly, Laurance received a notification. He pulled his phone from his pocket as his eyes analysed the screen. His breath danced with uncertainty as he read the text, causing the Ro'meave to pick up on his disturbance.

"You alright there?" Garroth asked, concerned by the other's reaction.

"Yeah, fine."

"What's going on?"

Laurance groaned, putting his phone away.

"It's Cadenza."

"Did something happen?"

"..."

He hesitated, unsure it was the right time to bring this up with Garroth.

"Kind of." Laurance sighed, running a hand through his light brown hair that felt much drier than usual. "The other night she went out with Blaze. You know, the werewolf guy?"

"Oh, yeah, I know him. Wait, she's going out with him?" 

"Not going out. They had dinner together." He clarified before continuing, "and while they were there... Blaze leaked that there will be an award for the winner of 'Battle of the Captains' this year."

Garroth's eyes widened at the news. Battle of the Captains (or BOTC for short) was a huge deal for any of Phoenix Drop's sporting captains. It was a two-week-long sports tournament against all the nearby schools, which took place annually on the grounds of Phoenix Drop High. It was Garroth's first year as captain of the baseball team, so this could impact him a lot.

"Seriously? Is he allowed to do that?" Garroth asked, looking concerned. Laurance shrugged his shoulders.

"No idea. I don't think the leadership team would be happy with him if they found out. That being said, he seems to only be telling the captains. Like my sister." The brunette explained, scratching the back of his head.

"So, what was the prize?" Garroth asked, looking curious. Laurance didn't seem eager to tell him, as he wasn't sure that even he was supposed to know the details. Nonetheless, he gave in rather quickly.

"An extremely generous sporting scholarship at Falcon Claw University for the winner."

Garroth's eyes widened, his jaw opening slightly with shock. "Are you joking?"

"No, I'm not kidding."

"But that's insane!"

"I know it is. They've never done anything like this before. My sister was freaking out."

"So you're telling me that I have a one in seven chance of getting a huge sporting scholarship that could almost guarantee I'm successful for life?" Garroth asked slowly, his eyes threatening to bulge out of their sockets.

"One in seven chance? What makes you say that?" Laurance questioned, not catching on.

"There are seven teams, which means seven captains. You, me, Katelyn, Blaze, Cadenza, Ivy, and Fenrir. That's seven of us who could potentially win this scholarship." Garroth explained, looking more excited with each word.

Laurance saw his point. One of those seven students would win the scholarship. "This is crazy." He muttered, not knowing how to process this information.

"Oh yeah, Garroth." Laurance quickly adds, "Don't tell anyone I told you this. I don't know if we're allowed to know this so... y'know. Just keep quiet if you can."

"I won't say a word." He answered with a nod, understanding where he was coming from. His gaze drifted from Laurance's mouth to his hand as he approached a bin on the roadside.

"You're throwing out your coffee?" Garroth questioned, pulling a puzzled expression. The other boy nodded, tossing it in the bin despite the cup being half empty. Garroth couldn't help but think it was a waste. He checked his phone, the time reading 8:02am. All of a sudden, it hit him.

"Oh my Irene. I just remembered your stupid rule about only drinking coffee between 7 and 8 o'clock. That's why you threw it out."

Laurence's face burned red as Garroth called out his behaviour. It never occurred to him that Garroth would still remember such a minor detail about him.

"H-hey!" Laurance began, stammering uncertainly over his words. Garroth merely burst into laughter.

"Yeah, you haven't changed a bit!" He cackled, nudging the other's shoulder in a teasing manner. All Laurance could do was bury his face in embarrassment as they finally approached the school gates.

In hindsight, they should have realised that walking into school together while having a friendly chat would be a bad idea. No one knew they were on civil terms yet. Students instantly picked up on the change in dynamic.

"Ah, shit." Laurance muttered. He didn't have to say anything; they both knew they were going to attract unnecessary attention. They went inside regardless. The damage was already done.

In the corner of his eye, Laurance spotted a purple head of hair making her way towards him. He could recognise Michi anywhere, and he knew she would absolutely flame him for arriving with his former rival. His pale blue eyes darted around the hall, looking for an escape until he saw the janitor's closet.

"Garroth. In here." He whispered fiercely before pulling him into the closet in one swift motion.

"Woah-!" The blonde grunted as the other pulled him in by the arm. Losing his balance, he fell onto Laurance, sending them both tumbling to the floor. With a crash, they hit the ground, their limbs entangled. For a brief moment their blue eyes met. Garroth couldn't take the eye contact and quickly looked away, as if Laurance's eyes would sting his own if he stared too long.

A mix of anxiety and excitement stirred in Laurance's chest as he noticed the close proximity between them. He quickly shoved the feelings away and got off the boy. He stood up and locked the door, making sure the other students couldn't come and harass them.

Out of nowhere, a giggle escaped Garroth's mouth. Laurance turned around to find the Ro'meave struggling to contain himself from bursting into laughter. It took him aback slightly; he hadn't heard Garroth laugh in years.

"What's so funny?" Laurance questioned, looking confused.

Garroth let out a louder chuckle at that. A smile that Laurance had missed dearly crept its way onto Garroth's face.

"It's like we never changed." Garroth replied with a slight smirk. Laurance gave a confused look, prompting him to continue.

"Remember back in freshman year when we'd first started hanging out? People were following us around constantly, and in an attempt to escape we ran in here and hid from them. I mean, seriously, it's like history's repeating itself."

Now that he mentioned it, he was right. They had done something shockingly similar to this in the past. Laurance tried to hide his smile, to no avail.

"I remember. We were trying to get away from all the fangirls back then. It seems that never changed." Laurance agreed, relaxing his posture as he sat down next to Garroth. The janitor's closet was small and a little dusty, but it was the best privacy they were going to get.

Until class forced them to part ways, the two found themselves reminiscing about old times, laughing like they used to.

Not a day went by where the cafeteria was quiet. It was the go-to place for anyone waiting around for class. Garroth entered the large area and scanned for anyone he could spend his lunch break with. He noticed Dottie sitting on Blaze's lap, with a bunch of other werewolf students gathered around their table. The meif'wa students also seemed to have their own lunch table, with most of the attention centred around Kai.

He relaxed upon noticing Katelyn and Aphmau sitting in the corner, chatting quietly with each other. He quickly dodged his way through the crowd of students and waved over at them.

"Garroth! How was your weekend?" Aphmau asked with a friendly smile as he sat down next to her.

"It was alright. Dad spent most of it lecturing me on things I need to do when I take over the company. But otherwise it was fine." Garroth shrugged unenthusiastically.

"Seriously? He's still doing that?" Katelyn asked with a hint of exasperation in her voice. Garroth merely nodded in reply. He pulled out his lunch; a ham and cheese bagel that his mother put together this morning, and took a bite out of it.

He faintly heard whispers about Ivy from the table opposite them. His jaw stopped chewing for a moment as he tried to focus closer on what they were saying. Then it hit him.

He pulled out his phone and searched for a message he'd received from Ivy last week while at the library. He hadn't looked at it very closely originally because he'd been too focused on Laurance to really care. But now that he was reading it, the message was an invitation to a party she was hosting this Saturday night.

"Did either of you get invited to Ivy's party this weekend?" He asked, looking up at the two girls. They shared a confused look.

"Party?" Aphmau questioned.

"That's the first I'm hearing about this." Katelyn replied.

"Yeah, she's hosting one at her house this Saturday." Garroth confirmed, looking through the invitation. "The invite says I'm apparently allowed to bring a plus one. Do either of you want to come?"

The girls both replied with yes, causing Garroth to look awkward.

"I'm not sure I can bring you both."

"Seriously?" Katelyn grumbled disappointedly, not seeing why he couldn't just drag them both along. Aph pondered for a moment.

"Who else is going? Maybe I can get invited." Aphmau suggested, looking hopeful. No one seemed to object to the idea.

"I mean, my brothers will probably both get forced to show up because of our ties to Ivy's family." Garroth answered, leaving Aphmau with a brilliant idea.

"Perfect! I'll be right back." She suddenly took off, going outside to the area that was definitely off limits during school hours. Katelyn looked at Garroth with a puzzled expression.

"Any idea what she's doing?" She asked, causing Garroth to laugh.

"I have an idea, yes."

It didn't take Aphmau long to walk back into the cafeteria, dragging Zane by the arm as he made annoyed noises.

"Garroth! Force him to invite me!"

"What the-!? No! I'm not going!"

"You don't have anyone else to invite!" Aphmau accused, doubling down.

"Because I'm not going!" Zane snarled back, trying to shove her away from him.

Katelyn let out a cackle of amusement, slapping her leg in glee at the thought of Zane Ro'meave attending a party. She can already picture how terribly awkward he'd appear.

"Come on, baby brother. Ivy's probably going to force you to show up anyways. You might as well bring Aphmau with you if you don't have anyone else in mind." Garroth insisted gently.

"I don't want to go! I don't care what Ivy says!" Zane answered firmly, his stance unwavering.

Garroth wondered to himself. What could he do to convince Zane to bring Aphmau along? An idea suddenly struck him.

"If you bring Aph to the party, I'll buy you a gift card to that one dessert place you really like." Garroth offered, a smirk sneaking onto his lips. Zane froze in place, no longer resisting Aphmau's grip so hard.

"Fine." He muttered unhappily, looking away from the others.

"Thank you, Zane!" Aphmau cheered, jumping about excitedly. 

"Whatever.” He groaned, turning on his heel as Aphmau gave him the green light to head off.

"Problem solved! Now you two can go together, and I'll go with Zane." Aphmau said with a grin. Garroth and Katelyn looked at each other and nodded. Neither seemed to second-guess going together.

On the other end of the cafeteria, Vylad found himself having a similar conversation.

"Look at this," Vylad said as he passed his phone over to Kacey.

"Is this an invite to a party?" Kacey asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah. Ivy's hosting it. Do you know her?" Vylad asked curiously. Kacey shook his head, which wasn't much of a surprise. He was completely new to the school, unlike Vylad.

"She's a junior. Same age as Garroth. Her family has connections to my family, which I assume is the only reason I've been invited." Vylad explained, taking back his phone and putting it in his pocket.

"Are you going to the party?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if I have to, just for the sake of keeping up appearances or something. My parents love their connections." Vylad sighed, scratching behind his ear as he thought to himself. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind and his face lit up.

"You should come." He suggested, eagerly turning his body to face Kacey's.

"W-what?"

"You should! It says on the invitation that plus ones are allowed. I'll have more fun if there's someone to talk to."

"I'm not really good with parties..." Kacey began, but Vylad was hearing none of it.

"That's fine! Seriously, we don't need to hang out with the crowds or anything. Let's just show up and see how it goes! It'll be fun!" Vylad insisted, appearing to have already made up his mind.

Kacey gulped nervously, feeling the roof of his mouth go dry. He was about to decline when he remembered how he'd promised himself he would start putting himself out of his comfort zone. Something like this was just what he needed.

"Okay, sure. I-I'll join you." He answered, earning an excited noise of approval from Vylad.

"Really? Great! I'm actually excited now!" Vylad chuckled, looking genuinely thrilled. He began talking at length about possible outfits to wear to the party on Saturday.

Kacey couldn't help but think that despite his nerves, it was all worth it just to see that look on the other boy's face.

[Disaster Trio]

Monday 2nd, 7:15pm.

Katelyn: what the hell am I supposed to wear???

Aph: Just go on Pinterest! There should be some party outfit inspiration photos on there.

Garroth: What is Pinterest?

Aph: Are you kidding me? Do you live under a rock Garroth?

Katelyn: pinterest is an app with heaps of photos. idk what else you can do on it besides browse images.

Aph: It's awesome. You should check it out.

Garroth: Good to know.

Katelyn: haven't you and laurance been talking more lately, baseball boy?

Garroth: Yeah, we kinda have. I don't think we're really rivals anymore.

Aph: Really? I'm so happy for you guys!

Katelyn: did he apologise to you?

Garroth: Yeah. I was surprised, tbh. I didn't think he had it in him.

Aph: It was about time.

Katelyn: wonder if he'll be at the party on saturday?

Garroth: I wouldn't be surprised. Ivy will invite anyone who's considered 'popular.' There's no way she'd miss out on inviting Laurance even if it's just for clout.

Aph: I agree, that's just something she'd do.

All of a sudden, Garroth heard a loud crash from downstairs. The distressing sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the house, followed by a shout of fury. Immediately Garroth knew what was coming.

Garroth: I'll talk to you guys later.

Aph: Oh, bye Garroth!

Katelyn: ...that was weird.

Garroth hurried downstairs to check on the commotion. There was a broken plate scattered across the kitchen floor. Zianna had left to find a vacuum, while Garte stayed back and shouted profanities in Vylad's face.

"Are you serious? What is wrong with you!" Garte bellowed, hitting his hand angrily against the wall beside him.

"D-dad I'm sorry." Vylad nervously pleaded for forgiveness as his hands trembled against his will. Garte was having none of it.

"You've ruined our night. Now your mother has to clean up after you, a fourteen-year-old child. Are you happy with yourself?" He sneered, malice falling from his lips as he tormented his youngest son.

"I didn't mean to." Vylad apologised, looking down at the floor.

"Look at me when I talk to you, boy!" Garte roared. Spit flew from his mouth as his hands slammed against the dinner table, causing the cutlery to rattle. Vylad whimpered quietly as he forced himself to meet his father's stare.

"Dad, come on, he didn't mean it!" Zane implored, trying to de-escalate the situation. He should have known by now it never succeeded.

"Keep your mouth shut, Zane. Or I'll send you off to that boarding school your mother told me about!" Garte hissed, making Zane shrink into himself.

"Thank Irene I never considered handing over the company to either of you. You're incompetent little kids." He growled with a disgusted tone in his voice. Zianna walked back inside with the vacuum in her arms. 

"Honey, it's okay. I don't mind cleaning up." She assured calmly as she plugged the vacuum into the wall.

"Dad? What's going on?" Garroth asked, looking concerned. He knew what was going on, but in his case, acting confused seemed to make his dad rethink his choices more often than not. Upon realising his golden child and wife weren't in agreement with him, Garte took a step back and cleared his throat.

"Go to your rooms, boys. Your mother and I need to talk." Garte announced, the professionalism in his voice unquestionable. The three brothers quietly walked themselves to their separate bedrooms, just as their father instructed.

Vylad closed the door behind him and sank to the floor. His eyes glazed over as his mind zoned out from reality. The ceiling was closing in on him. Oxygen slipping away. He couldn't breathe.

"He's right. What is wrong with me?" Vylad whispered into the void he called the sky. His hands hadn't stopped shaking since he broke the glass. They were uncontrollable. He never knew how to stop the trembling once it started. Sleep was the only solution.

His index finger fell to his phone apprehensively, searching for messages.

[Vylad>>>Kacey]

Monday 2nd, 7:47pm.

Vylad: Hey.

Kacey: Hi!

Vylad: What are you up to?

Kacey: Writing my chemistry draft. How about you?

Vylad: Nothing much.

That was unusual for him. Vylad usually had to be busy doing something. Whether it be photography, reading, drawing, studying... he was never idle. Even now, while his body wanted nothing more than to curl up and hide, he was seeking a distraction in Kacey.

Kacey: Are you alright? You seem less talkative.

The message made his fingers grow stiff. Did he really want to divulge such a vulnerable part of himself to a boy he'd only recently become friends with? Would he even take him seriously?

Maybe it was worth a shot.

Vylad: Honestly? I could be doing better.

Kacey: Did something happen?

Vylad: It's Dad. I dropped a glass and he didn't take it well.

Kacey: Dropped a glass? Things like that happen all the time. Why was he mad?

Of course. To anyone else, shattered glass was just something to be cleaned up. In his house? It was an opportunity for his father's anger to be set aflame.

Vylad: You don't get it. When he gets mad, he gets mad. He screams and hits things and sometimes throws stuff. He pretends it never happened the next day.

Kacey: Does this happen a lot?

Vylad: Almost every week. For as long as I can remember.

Kacey: I hate to say this... but isn't that verbal abuse?

Vylad: I don't know. Even if it is, it doesn't matter. He's never going to change, and no one's ever going to call him out.

Kacey: ...that's awful, Vylad.

Vylad: How come?

Kacey: You shouldn't have to walk on eggshells in your own home.

The thought had never occurred to him before. It was so normal, he'd almost feel uncomfortable doing anything else.

Vylad: I can't imagine anything else.

Kacey: I'm sorry.

Vylad: Can we just talk tonight? I need a distraction right now.

Kacey: Of course.

The night blurred into images as he exchanged texts back and forth with the boy he was slowly growing a deep attachment to. Friends would come and go, but never once had he experienced such fervent trust in someone. Not so fast. Not ever. His brothers were the only ones who had come close.

As his eyes fluttered closed with the glare of his phone seeping through the gaps, the only words that circled his thoughts were 'thank you, Kacey.'

Chapter Text

[Nicole>>> KC]

Friday 6th, 9:09pm.

Nicole: Hey Kawaii~Chan! Want to go to Ivy's party with me tomorrow night?

KC: Nicole~sama? Aren't you mad at me after...

Nicole: Oh! Not at all. Dante's the jerk, not you!

Nicole: Honestly, I'd gladly be your friend. You seem cool! I hope you're not mad at me, though.

KC: I'm not! Don't worry. I completely agree that Dante was in the wrong.

Nicole: Damn, seeing you break character is sick.

KC: Oh! Yeah, I'm getting used to it.

Nicole: I'm looking forward to seeing you at the party then! Feel free to stop by my house beforehand, and we can catch a ride there together!

KC: That sounds amazing! Thank you for inviting me!

Nicole: No problem, I'll see you tomorrow!

Dawn couldn't have arrived sooner. After a long week of baseball and studying, along with dealing with his father's temper, finally Garroth could look forward to something.

[Disaster Trio] Saturday 7th, 11:45am.

Katelyn: party day y'all

Aph: I am SO excited!!

Garroth: Have you never been to a party, Aph?

Aph: Nope! Well, except for the time when Katelyn and Kawaii~Chan found out my mom was away for the weekend and crashed my house to have a party.

Aph: That was a nightmare.

Katelyn: yeah... still sorry about that.

Garroth: She what!?

Katelyn: this was about 6 months ago. i have apologised for it many times.

Aph: It's fine, Aaron helped clean up the house before my mom got home.

Garroth: That's unbelievable.

Garroth: So this is your first real party?

Aph: Yup! I'm so hyped!

Katelyn: [sent a photo]

Katelyn: do y'all think this looks good?

Aph: GORGEOUS. YES.

Garroth: Yeah, that's great.

Katelyn: thanks guys

Aph: Shall we meet at Katelyn's in a few hours?

Garroth: Sounds good to me. I'll bring Zane and Vylad with me.

Aph: Awesome!!

Katelyn: see y'all around 4pm?

Garroth: That works for me

"Vylad! Get in the car, or I'm leaving without you!"

"Wait! Let me get my scarf!"

"You're already overdressed! You don't need it!"

Garroth groaned, resting his head against the wheel. He knew Vylad took pride in his appearance, but it felt so unnecessary at times.

Zane was already in the passenger seat picking at his nails. Garroth couldn't help but think he was overdressed too. He wore a leather jacket, black jeans, and a dark grey tee that matched his mask. A small silver chain hung from his belt strap and another dangled from his neck.

Seriously? Did his brothers have any idea how people dressed at high school parties? Garroth was rocking a simple dark blue polo with beige pants. He thought his attire was fairly standard and doubted Ivy would expect anything flashy from her guests. Knowing her, she would want to be the star of the show.

Finally, Vylad exited the house. He locked the front door frantically and hurried to the backseat of Garroth's car.

"Took you long enough." Zane commented as Garroth pulled the car out of the driveway. Vylad rolled his eyes.

"I told you, I couldn't find my scarf!" He argued, crossing his arms as he peered down to check his boots were tied.

His attire consisted of a pale magenta shirt layered under a dark brown pea coat. His cuffed jeans ripped neatly at the knees, the umber shade matching his coat and hair. A basil chiffon scarf that complemented his eyes accommodated his neck.

"Settle down, you two. Katelyn isn't going to care if we're a few minutes late." Garroth raised his voice slightly, grabbing the attention of his brothers. "The party doesn't start for another three hours anyways. I think she wanted to offer us time to get ready at her place if we wanted."

"Why? We could just get ready at home." Vylad questioned, looking puzzled.

"She's a girl. They do that stuff before parties." Zane stated bluntly, not looking up from his phone. Vylad opened his mouth to respond, considered it, and then slowly closed it. He made a good point.

"You and Vylad seemed to take your time getting ready. Maybe it's not just a girl thing." Garroth teased, smirking as his eyes followed the road.

"Oh, piss off." Zane grumbled, unable to deny his point. All Garroth could do was laugh as he parked on the side of the road, directly in front of Katelyn's letterbox.

Garroth led the way inside, the front door having been left purposely unlocked for them. Katelyn and Aphmau stood carefully in front of the bathroom mirror doing their makeup while Kacey sat on the edge of the sink, speaking with them.

"Hey ladies." Garroth announced, walking into the bathroom unashamedly, "and Kacey," he corrected himself.

"You made it!" Aphmau cheered excitedly.

"Of course I did. We had heaps of time."

"Blame Vylad. He takes years to get ready." Zane grumbled, glaring at his younger brother halfheartedly. Vylad stuck his tongue out at Zane annoyingly, making Kacey giggle at the sight of their brotherly banter.

Aphmau finished up with her makeup long before Katelyn. Looking for something to do, she looked over at Zane and smirked. "Hey Zane, have you ever thought about wearing eyeliner?"

"Why...?"

"Because you're emo." She replied, gesturing to his outfit.

"Doesn't mean I want to wear makeup."

"Please. Can I put some on you?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

Zane glared at her, unamused by this line of questioning. That being said, he also knew she wouldn't shut up until she got her way.

"Fine, but I'm taking it off right after."

Aphmau let out a squeal of joy and got to work. It didn't take long. In mere moments she'd added a small amount of black eyeliner just to the edge of his top eyelid.

Zane reluctantly viewed her work and was shocked by how much he liked it. He looked... better. A dark enhancement layered the lids of his eyes, giving him an edgy aura. He'd never even considered wearing eyeliner prior to this moment, but he feared he may be easily swayed.

"I'll admit, it's not half bad." He confessed begrudgingly, his hand gently running along his cheek as he pressed his face close to the mirror in intrigue.

Aphmau smiled smugly. Her arms crossed over her torso and her weight shifted to one hip as she watched Zane take in his own appearance. She knew he would end up loving it. Whether or not he admitted it was a different thing entirely.

"You want more?" She asked nonchalantly, trying not to let on how much fun she was having with this. Zane let out a scoff as he nodded his head, scooting closer so she could continue to apply some. The more eyeliner she added, the more engrossed Zane grew with his own appearance. His pupils refused to shift away from his reflection.

Vylad's face twisted with mirth. Seeing his brother cave into his own interests was a comical yet touching sight. He wasn't the type to express himself or feel much joy in his appearance, probably because he didn't realise how to. This was a different, more authentic side of himself that Aphmau was unintentionally drawing out.

Fondness seized Garroth's features. He'd grown so used to Zane's constant feelings of disdain that he'd forgotten he was capable of feeling elation.

Garroth observed as the raven-haired girl carefully drew her hand from pale skin. Cheerful noises poured from her lips as she presented his younger brother's altered image. His eyes glittered with fascination, the corners of his lips parting slightly in awe as his hands resisted the urge to be curious.

A twinge of melancholy pricked at Garroth. His heart couldn't help but clench.

Humanity.

He'd failed to recognise it in Zane for far too long.

"This looks kinda sick, actually." Zane commented as he finally looked away from the mirror. Aphmau felt honoured to know he was enjoying it so much.

Katelyn eventually set down her makeup brush, turning around to reveal her creative look. Her eyeshadow sparkled, the purple shade matching her spaghetti-strap top. She wore a short black denim skirt with knee-high boots.

"You look great, Katelyn." Aphmau said ardently. Kacey gave his sister a supportive thumbs up, and Garroth offered a short nod of approval.

"Thanks, guys." Katelyn replied, a tired smile emerging as her heart burst with gratitude for her friends. She really didn't know what she'd do without them. She quickly checked her phone.

"It's 5:40pm. We should leave soon." She announced, looking for her perfume.

"I'll go ask Dad if he can drive us." Kacey piped up, jumping off the counter and heading downstairs. Everyone gathered their things and made any last preparations before following after him.

"Hey kiddos! Get in the car, I'll drive you to this party of yours." Katelyn's father, Eric, announced in his usual gruff voice.

"Yes sir." Garroth answered, climbing into the backseat of the car. The others followed in after him. The drive there was mostly spent answering Eric's questions. He gave them the usual parental spiel: watch your drinks, don't do drugs, and smack the shit out of any boy that looks at Katelyn.

"Who else do you think will be there?" Aphmau asked eagerly. She was already bouncing in her seat from excitement.

"Probably the entire netball and rugby team." Garroth responded with a chuckle.

"And the shadow knights." Zane added, his voice a scornful grumble.

"Why them?" Vylad asked, seeming puzzled.

"Sasha was talking about it." Zane replied with an unimpressed shrug.

"I think Teony got invited." Katelyn added.

"Teony? Awesome!" Aphmau cheered.

Soon enough, Eric parked the car in front of a large mansion-looking house. The group quickly scurried out of the car.

"Have fun kids! Call me if anything happens!" Eric called out once they arrived. Katelyn and Kacey gave their father a hug before stepping aside to let him drive off.

"Ready to go in?" Garroth inquired, looking around at his group of friends. No one seemed to object.

"Let's do this." Katelyn determined, leading the group to the front door of Ivy's house. They could already hear the vibrations from the speakers playing music inside. The party had undoubtedly started. She allowed Garroth to step in front of her, considering he knew Ivy best.

The doors opened, revealing loud and lively chaos. People were everywhere. Some were dancing on various tables and chairs while others cheered them on. Some just danced freely with their friends.

Flashing bright lights illuminated the room in multicoloured spots while 'Antonymph' by Vylet Pony blared through the speakers. Zane silently recognised the song but didn't dare show it.

Ivy approached the group with a bouquet of balloons clutched tightly in her right hand.

"Garroth! I'm so glad you could make it!" She exclaimed delightedly, throwing her arm around his neck as she hugged him.

"Ivy! Happy birthday!" He replied, halfheartedly hugging her back. While she wasn't his favourite person to be around, he held no ill will towards her either.

Towards the end of his sophomore year, he'd given her a lecture about her treatment of Aphmau. He'd made it very clear that he wouldn't forgive her if she continued to torment the girl. At first Ivy hadn't taken it well, but to his surprise, she stopped bothering Aphmau soon after their discussion. She wasn't exactly nice about it, but she wasn't rude either.

"It's lovely to see that you and your brothers showed up today! Thank you, guys." She spoke, forcing a smile as she looked at Zane and Vylad. The two boys offered an awkward smile in response. Ivy finally took the time to notice Kacey, Katelyn and Aphmau standing behind them.

"Are you three with them?" She asked, not allowing her overly sweet persona to drop. Garroth nodded, standing aside so the others could get a good view of the house.

"Yes, they're with us. That's alright, isn't it?" He answered, hoping Ivy wouldn't cause a scene at the thought of Aphmau attending her own party. He had faith that she had matured since last year.

"Of course, welcome you three! Let's party until dawn!" Ivy declared with a giggle and proceeded to walk off and speak with some of the other guests. The corner of Garroth's mouth rose slightly, proud of her for growing out of her old habits.

Vylad and Kacey looked at each other and decided to split off from the group, heading in direction of the kitchen.

"It's so loud." Zane complained, putting his hands over his ears. He couldn't even bring himself to enjoy the music because it was drowned out by teenage girls screaming the lyrics.

"Of course it's loud. It's a party." Garroth snickered, ruffling Zane's hair in a teasing manner.

"Hands off." Zane retorted, weakly slapping his hand away and walking further into the house on his own.

"Katelyn, let's dance!" Aphmau called out, taking the older girl by the hand and pulling her towards the living room. "Aph! Wait!" Any protests were quickly rendered useless as the girls blended into the crowd of balloons and disco lights. Garroth found himself standing alone much quicker than he'd anticipated. Oh well. He figured he'd better go check out the mayhem for himself.

"Thanks for inviting me, Nicole~sama. I'm glad we're not on bad terms." Kawaii~Chan beamed as she stood next to the red-haired girl. Nicole's mother had just dropped them in front of Ivy's house after they had spent the last hour getting ready together.

"Of course! Let's just have fun tonight, okay?" Nicole replied enthusiastically, leading the meif'wa to the front door. The two went inside and met the sight of countless teenagers drinking like there was no tomorrow.

"For Irene's sake. The party only began 30 minutes ago, and people are already acting crazy." Kawaii~Chan commented, taken aback by the number of people already partying to their hearts content.

"This is awesome!" Nicole gasped excitedly, rushing inside to join the party.

The living room had been transformed into a true disco. Hands were in the air, heads tossed back freely. Bright, colourful strobes cast kaleidoscopic patterns across the walls. The floor was dark and polished, certain patches shining from the wetness of spilt drinks.

The bass from the music shook the floor, and Nicole could feel vibrations from under her feet. She found herself pushed into a wild crowd, unable to locate Kawaii~Chan anymore. A familiar light blue ponytail brushed the back of her shoulder, causing her to turn around.

"Katelyn? Is that you?" Nicole yelled out, hardly able to hear anyone over the loud music.

"Nicole? Hey! It's great to see you." Katelyn greeted, throwing an arm around her friend. Aphmau, who also seemed to be with Katelyn, gasped happily upon seeing someone familiar and joined in on the embrace.

"Nicole! How are you?" Aphmau exclaimed, giving her a quick hug while continuing to dance.

"I'm good! Kawaii~Chan and I just got here." Nicole replied, speaking very loudly so the others could hear. The two other girls seemed surprised.

"Kawaii~Chan? You two came together?" Aphmau asked, appearing shocked.

"Yeah! Trust me, we hold no ill will towards each other. Dante sucks!" Nicole laughed, holding onto Katelyn for support as they got knocked around in the mini mosh pit.

"That's great! I'm so glad!" Aphmau called back. The three of them held onto each other's shoulders in the form of a triangle as they attempted to stick together.

Back towards the entrance, Kawaii~Chan found herself feeling somewhat lost. Nicole had run off so fast that she didn't even see where she'd gone. She frowned, her hand pulling at her sleeve as she pondered what to do. She decided she might as well wander through the crowd instead and see what was happening.

Outside by the pool, a group of werewolves were chatting amongst each other. Some were playing water polo, while others just sat on the ledge and chatted. Blaze held Dottie by the legs as he walked around in the pool with her sitting on his shoulders. Kawaii~Chan couldn't help but grin at the sight.

As she headed back indoors, she noticed a small group of people hiding suspiciously out of sight under the staircase. Sasha, Zenix, and Travis were huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" Zenix asked accusingly, looking at her with mild contempt. She quickly waved her hands in front of her, trying to avoid upsetting him.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to stare!" She vowed, her voice raising in pitch as she frantically tried to apologise. The girl sitting to the left of the boy hit him in the ribs, causing him to groan in pain.

"Ouch! Sasha, seriously!?" He complained, holding his side dramatically.

"Cry about it. You're fine." Sasha rolled her eyes at the boy before looking up towards Kawaii~Chan. "Sorry about him. He's a piece of work."

"O-oh, it's okay." She replied, her body language calming down at the reassurance. Upon closer inspection, she noticed Sasha holding a bong in her left hand. Kawaii~Chan quickly turned away at the sight. If the three of them intended to spend the night getting high, she didn't need to know about it.

She found herself standing aimlessly in the middle of the mansion's first floor. With a sigh, she leaned against the wall and pulled out her phone, deciding to pretend to look busy until she found someone to spend her time with.

"Kawaii~Chan? Is that you?" A very familiar voice asked. To her horror, she peered ahead and locked eyes with the one person she didn't want to speak with. Her ex-boyfriend. The guy was clearly tipsy, his footing unstable as he walked over to her. Her body tensed up at the sight of him.

"Dante... hi." She forced out. Truly, this was the worst possible outcome. She wanted nothing more than to turn her back on him and walk straight in the opposite direction, but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

"What are you doing here all alone?" He asked, looking like he could collapse from dizziness any moment. Kawaii~Chan shrugged in response. She didn't need to answer his questions. Maybe if she replied dryly enough, he'd get bored and bother someone else.

To her disappointment, he did not.

His body danced closer to hers, closing the space between them. His right hand instinctively reached for her hip, gently resting on her side.

"I'm so sorry about what happened. It was wrong. I regret everything I did. Please. Just give me one more chance. I'll make it up to you, I swear." He begged softly.

She made an attempt to move away from him, only for her back to hit the wall behind her. Her fingertips reached for his wrist, trying to pull it away from her waist.

"Dante, we're over. Go away." She replied, unable to meet his eyes. Her words clearly weren't reaching him. Or maybe they were; he just didn't care to listen.

"Darling, please. It was a mistake." He slurred coercively, refusing to give up so easily. Kawaii~Chan closed her eyes in anticipation, not knowing how to escape. She couldn't just push him away.

"What's going on here?" A monotone voice interrupted, managing to get Dante to step away from Kawaii~Chan. She opened her eyes to see Zane standing between them with a concerned expression.

"Nothing. We were just talking." Dante insisted.

His attempt to encourage Zane to leave was futile. The boy dressed in black quickly stood next to the pink-haired girl and whispered in her ear.

"What the hell is going on?" Zane whispered, trying to get a read on the situation. She looked between Zane and Dante in a panic. She had absolutely no idea how to explain the situation. Her knees trembled beneath her as she tried to come up with a solution on the spot. Her torso leant in close and whispered back to Zane.

"Pretend we're a couple." She whispered fiercely, her voice desperate. Zane's eyes widened.

"W-What?" He stuttered, convinced he'd heard her wrong.

"Just do it!" She pleaded before turning back to face Dante, who looked ready to beat the hell out of someone.

Zane took a deep breath and forced himself to really think. What would a couple do? It's not something he'd ever considered in his life. Hesitantly, he intertwined his fingers with hers and pulled her body into his chest.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dante shrieked, moving closer to force them apart.

"I could ask you the same thing." Zane quickly spat, throwing the accusation back at him. "Who do you think you are, grabbing my girlfriend's waist like that?"

Dante stopped in his tracks, mortification filling his features.

"Girlfriend?" He asked shakily, looking wounded.

Zane nodded, shooting a deadly glare at him. Dante stammered over his words before shouting rudely at his ex.

"You moved on fucking fast, huh? With Garroth's loser brother, no less." He snarled angrily, his body shaking with rage as he stormed off to the kitchen. Once he was out of sight, Zane pulled Kawaii~Chan off him.

"What was that about?" Zane questioned frustratedly, his flustered feelings being replaced with confusion and annoyance. Kawaii~Chan whimpered apologetically, scratching her arm as she looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry. I'll explain." She mumbled, guilt oozing from her voice. The black-haired boy gave a sigh, allowing himself to calm down.

"Come on, let's go outside."

He grabbed her wrist so she wouldn't lose him through the crowd of people and dragged her to an empty bench outside. It was decently isolated, good for a private chat. She sat down shakily, looking upset.

"That was Dante, right? What did he do to you?" Zane asked once they were in a private setting, appearing uncharacteristically concerned. Kawaii~Chan let out a drawn-out sigh, letting her body slump where she sat.

"Yeah. He's Kaw- I mean my ex-boyfriend." She admitted, not looking too proud of the fact.

"Ex? Does he know that?" Zane commented with a raised brow. Dante's behaviour had been far too touchy for someone who was supposed to be her ex, at least in Zane's mind.

"He knows. He just doesn't like to take no for an answer. He saw me and thought it'd be a good idea to try and convince me to get back with him... I think." She explained sullenly, anxiously picking at her skin.

"How long ago did you two break up?"

"A week ago."

Zane appeared surprised. This was news to him.

"A week ago? We've only been friends for a week and I never noticed-."

Suddenly it hit him. An obvious realisation he probably could have noticed ages ago if he had been paying attention.

"The day we met. You were crying. You never told me why, but it makes sense now." Zane spoke quietly, the puzzle pieces in his head suddenly connecting one by one. He tilted his head, glancing over at her knowingly. The only response he received was a brief nod of her head.

"It makes sense. Not just why you were crying that day, but also why you, um, asked me to pretend to—yeah." Zane stated, his body relaxing as the truth sunk in. Her catlike ears sunk sadly, matching the shameful expression she wore.

"Sorry for forcing my problems on you." Kawaii~Chan uttered softly, seeming embarrassed by what had transpired. Zane shrugged his shoulders. In all honesty, he didn't care that much. It barely affected him.

"It's fine." He responded, not paying it much mind until the shakiness of her voice registered. He wasn't one to generally pick up on social cues or care if people were upset. Yet he found himself feeling wrong for not at least checking on her.

"Are you okay, though?" He inquired, his voice seeming unsure. That wasn't a question he asked anyone often, let alone a girl he barely knew. He couldn't tell if he was making things worse or better, just that it felt wrong not to ask.

He blinked, fear invading his body as he noticed tears brimming, threatening to spill from her eyes. His heart leapt into his throat in a panic.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked! Don't cry!" He insisted, freaking out over her display of emotion. What the hell was he supposed to do with a crying girl? He wasn't good at this!

"Zane. Calm down, it's fine." She replied, looking down at her hands tearfully. She was trying her best not to cry in front of him so he wouldn't freak out, but failing to do so.

"It's not fine!"

"Yes, it is!" She bit back, wiping at her watery eyes. "You're not the reason I'm upset, so just calm down."

A silence fell between them. Zane watched as she quietly calmed herself down, rubbing at her eyes until they dried. He felt very out of place and unequipped to be dealing with her.

In the distance, the sound of people singing and splashing around in the pool could be heard. The party was still going strong and didn't seem to be calming down anytime soon.

"Would a drink cheer you up?" Zane offered. Sure, he didn't know how to improve her mood, but he could at least offer distractions.

"That sounds nice." She replied, her voice sounding less on the verge of tears than it did a moment ago. Zane nodded, jumping to his feet. He gingerly took her hand once again before leading her inside.