---

"Ready for Ty's fashion shoot this weekend?" Eva returned from her dazed state to look at Eddie, blinking in surprise as if it were the first time she'd seen him. Instead of answering him, the girl asked instead, "o-oh, Ed! You're okay!" A warm smile appeared on her face. Sure, Eva didn't like what the guy did at the party, but it didn't mean that she hated him; Eddie was still her friend. Eva ordered herself a latte, her appetite long gone.

With the arrival of Dominic, things were sure to get crazy. It was already bad enough that Claire was here with Eddie around - now two out of three of the people that helped send the model to hospital were here under one roof. She wasn't surprised as Claire left, in a huff. Eva had no problem with Eddie - as stated before, as long as he apologised to the Mama of the group - and if Natalya actually wanted him around, Eva would be satisfied with him hanging around with the group.

From: Elsa

Brace yourself… Echo was in a car wreck, she is okay right now. You all may visit but only for ten minutes at a time, one at a time until 8 this evening. No overnight visitors. Those that cannot make it today may come by starting at 11 AM tomorrow. She needs a lot of rest and to remain calm – NO SURPRISES! DO NOT BRING EDDIE!

Elsa - or actually, Ice-Queen Doctor Tas had sent the message to the whole group. The contents surprised and shocked her, staring down at the screen in disbelief. Her mind flashed back to the moment where Jay took the phone-call, right before his freaky breakdown. It made perfect sense, and just as the girl attempted to dial Jejomar, her phone buzzed in her palms.

"Jay! Is everything alright? I heard about Echo - I'm so sorry-"

"Hey sis. We need to talk."

Eva nodded, even if he couldn't see it. "Alright, you're at the apartment, right? I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Tucking her phone back into her pocket, Eva turned to Natalya and Eddie.

"Something urgent has come up, I'm sorry but I have to go." She turned to Connor, moving towards the bar where she could kiss his cheek and explain quietly, "I'll take a cab, don't drink too much before driving, okay?"

Squeezing Connor's hand, Eva ducked out of Ryan's, hailing a cab as she made her way back to 3C.

---

Didi thought the group would certainly disagree of Eddie's presence at this point, and she was lightly surprised that lunch did't culminate into another royal rumble specially that he's in the same room with Dom and Claire. Didi gave him an airy nod anyway to greet, "Sup." and nothing more after that.

While Dom excused himself for a phone call, and Connor shooting up a thumbs up, shooking her head in reply, Didi felt her cheeks burn at Feliks' question w/c she knew in the back of her mind and with the smug look on the prankster's face that he was purposely, and amusedly making things awkward as it already is, after all, as his partner in crime Didi knew every mischievous tricks under that devious smile. She turned her eyes to Claire who she suddenly felt twitch in anger and was quiet the whole time since. She knew it has something to do with Nat inviting over Eddie. Didi doesnt have anything much to say for the guy to be honest, or just totally don't care as long as he doesnt flick his asshole mode on again, and is kept on a short leash. While muzzled. And wrapped in a straight jacket.

As she made herself look as less guilty and obvious as possible, and is obviously failing to do so, clearing her throat she turned to Feliks.
"Whatever are you talking about, Feliks? " Her eyes calm and steadily looking through his, with a follow up "You little shit what do you think?" stare.

As Claire snapped from her brooding state, and walked out of the room, Didi felt the urge to follow her but stopped, thinking that it was probably a good idea to let her blow off steam and partly, to make it less obvious for everyone that something is actually happening between them. Kip arrived with a tray of lunch he ordered foe the both of them and as they were eating a text arrived, everyone simultaneously reached for their phones, it was a group text from Tas. Didi's eyes widened in disbelief at the content of the message. What?! Echo!

"Are you guys reading this?" her hand over her mouth in shock and worry. As Eva bailed out, Didi turned to look at Kip, then Nat, and then to the rest of the folks that were left at Ryan's. "This sucks. I truly hope Echo's okay." she said meekly, her gut filled of worry for her friend.

---

It had taken only fifteen minutes for Eva to reach the apartment block, throwing her cash in the direction of the cab driver before sliding out and into the apartment. Finally at the door, Eva rummaged through her purse, finding her keys after a frustrating hunt.

"C'mon c'mon-- ah!" Her fingers finally grasped the metal, bringing it out and sliding it into the lock, opening the door for herself. Throwing her bag across the room, Eva found Jejomar sitting in the living room, clothes changed and face red.

"Jay? Please tell me you're okay." Evalyn asked, the concern obvious in her voice.

Jay calmly waited in the minimalist, designer living room, blank face staring at the wall. He bided his time by counting the number of seconds that passed after his call. He thought of a lot, a sense of worry sparking inside of him. How would Eva react? Would she react positively to his condition? What if… What if that bastard voice in his head took over? What would happen to Eva then? He gripped his jeans tightly, fists clenching as he began doubting his decision of being with his sister alone with the possibility of it taking over. The dull, throbbing pain was still present and just as he heard a struggle to open the door, he began coughing.

This wasn't the fake, small cough that people used to get out of class. This was a real coughing fit. Blood and all. He clutched at his heart, the other hand covering his mouth as crimson liquid sprayed over his palm. As Eva approached him, he held a hand up to her, a gesture of reassurance that he was fine. A full thirty seconds of coughing fit passed, hand red with blood. He calmly took out some tissue and cleaned his hand, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He looked up to Eva and stared her in the eye. “I called you, to say that everything’s fine.” He gave a fake grin, blood smeared teeth ruining the purpose of the gesture.

"Everything is fine?" Eva parroted, incredulously. Jay was literally coughing out his lung! Or, that's what it looked like to her. With all the blood around, Eva felt her stomach twist uncomfortably. It wasn't like she hated the sight of blood, but to see Jay coughing it out in copious amounts, there had to be something wrong.

"Like hell you are," She went to the hallway where she could grab a spare towel from the cupboard before approaching him once more. Eva handed him the towel, "now, will you tell me what's going on with you? What- what happened this morning? And i-" Eva stopped herself before she asked too many questions. She didn't want to overwhelm the poor guy. Instead, she cleared her throat, asking again, "first, tell me whether you're alright or not, and be honest."

Jay gulped. There was no way of talking out of this. He had to tell her. He let out a deep sigh, clasped his hands together and looked down at the floor. It looked like he was about to cry but he had to be tough. No more crying for him. “I was first diagnosed with Dual Personality syndrome at the age of fifteen, depression three years before that. I have sheets and sheets of psych evaluations, my parents trying everything to ‘heal’ me. It was after three years of therapy that there was no ‘healing’ me. I took this pill until I came to the States.”

He held up a small pill bottle, half full of medicine. “I was prescribed with them when I had these attacks, like the one you witnessed there. They said that it would suppress my emotions, so I could feel no pain. No more emotional roller coasters. No more voices. It made me unemotional. I didn't care about anything in that state. Nothing at all. I was like a zombie. When I stopped taking them, I enjoyed years of being free. Being happy. Then this thing came back.” He tapped the side of his head, referring to the voice in his mind.

“And now… Well, you saw the change. KJ beat up Eddy. A week of being stuck in my room, stressed and frustrated. And then the attacks. You asked if I was okay? No. Am I dealing with it? No. But I've made the decision of just pushing it all down, to deal with it another day. Because I am never going to take these pills, ever again.” He said the last sentence angrier than he would've liked but it showed what he felt about his situation. Angry. So. Damn. Angry.

Eva listened quietly, taking a seat beside him on the sofa with her hands clasped. Things were slowly starting to fall into place. Things were fine - or as fine as things could be - with Karaoke Jay around. "Does Tas know about this? She's probably better about dealing with this than I am." Eva told him honestly.

She knew nothing on how to help Jay through his situation. She wanted, god, she wanted to, but Eva was scared - not scared of Jay, but she was scared of unintentionally hurting him. Scared of making things worse."Isn't there any other way to stop... the Other Guy?" She asked instead.

If Jay didn't like taking the pills, then there had to be something he could do to stop the unpleasant personality. She wasn't sure if it was fine for her to suggest going to therapy. He didn't seem to like it before, or at least, that's what Eva felt.

Jay smiled at her. She cared. She cared for him, for what he was going through. He reached out for her, wrapping her tiny frame in his arms. He placed her on his lap and held on tightly. In this close proximity of each other, with any other person (including Echo) he would've been stuttering like a maniac. He breathed deeply, a warm tickling breath escaping from his mouth. He placed his head on her shoulder, eyes closed in contemplation. “Tas wants me to give her my psych sheets. She thinks… She thinks that I may not be stable enough for Echo.” He whispered in her ear, a quiet, deep voice, full of emotion. “She’ll be the same though. As all the others. She will try to help but none of them have fixed my problems. I thought that talking to you might help. And don't worry about the Other Guy. I’ll keep on trucking until...” He smiled sadly, squeezing her a little, letting the words hang in the air.

Being placed on Jejomar's lap, with him whispering into her ear and resting his head on her shoulder would definitely give someone the wrong idea. However, it wouldn't hurt for a moment, would it? "If anyone can help you, I know Tas can." Eva assured him, "She cares about Echo, a lot, so I know that she'll try her best to help you too." She patted his shoulder, almost awkwardly.

She didn't wait long before squirming out of his grip. That was enough close comforting. It just didn't look, or feel, right. Instead, she masked her awkwardness by shuffling back towards the kitchen, grabbing the two of them a glass of water before returning.

"You need to rest." Eva said instead, handing over the cool glass to Jay. "You look really tired, Echo will want you at your best when you go visit her tomorrow."

Taking a sip of the cool drink, she sat down on the coffee table instead, sitting opposite to Jay.

Jay looked confused at her, tilting his head. He made a little “huh?” sound as his sister left him to go to the kitchen. Now, as an only child and living a very sheltered lifestyle, he didn't know how siblings acted. So as she squirmed out of his grip, he was perplexed at why the sudden drop of temperature due to the loss of body heat. His face was almost straight out of a cartoon, like a big question mark was placed on top of his head. As she came back, instead of returning next to him, she sat on the coffee table. Still confused, he took the cool glass of water. He just shrugged at her concern, scratching the back of his head. “I’m fine sis, I really am. Thanks for that, I feel better now.”

As he took a sip of cool water, he heard a familiar, annoying voice come from the emptiness of his mind. ‘Cuddling with this chick, huh bitch? Didn't know that you had the balls to juggle two girls at once. You picked well.’ Imagery of him cuddling with Eva sprouted in his head, the laughter of a thousand voices echoing. His eyes widened, cheeks turning a fiery red, water spitting out into his cup and on the floor. He looked at his “sibling” and turned to look at his cup. “Uh, y-yeah sis. S-Sorry about that.” He heard the words ‘sister’ and ‘kinky’, only serving to make him even more embarrassed as he tried to make himself as small as possible.

Eva was glad that she was able to help out in some way. She rubbed her arm, still unsure whether or not to bring up the therapist idea or not but before she could ask, Jay spat out his drink, the girl immediately jolting and turning so nothing would get on her. "What the f- Are you alright?"

As he confirmed he was okay, apologising even, Eva reached over to pick up the towel she had given him earlier, finding a part that wasn't spotted with blood and dropping it onto the ground so it wouldn't be slippery should someone want to leave. "Was that - um, the Other Guy?" She asked.

Eva placed her half empty glass to the side, away enough so she wouldn't drop it by accident. "Have you thought about going to a therapist, here? I mean- I'm - I'm not forcing you to but I'm just asking i-if you thought about it?" She asked. She saw Jay curling up into himself, making himself smaller. Eva didn't know whether it was her question that was making him like this, so she added, "y-you don't need to answer that."

‘Kinky’ was not a good word. Not at all. And as it repeated over and over in his mind, thoughts and imagery that shouldn't appear in an innocent snowflake began sprouting from his head, spurting all over the place. It was stuck everywhere, like a sticky substance that couldn't go away. He grabbed his head with one hand, shaking it around as he tried to clean himself. He smiled at Eva, cheeks still flaring red. “Y-Yeah, that w-was the Other Guy. He w-was being s-silly.” His imagination went wild, mostly from influence from the Other Guy but some, guiltily, from his own. He shook his head, eyes drooping downwards, drinking some water. “I’m not going back Eva.” Now this would’ve been a very serious, sad moment, if only the Other Guy would shut up.

‘Ooooo, I remember this bit. The part where she comforts you and says how great you are. And then the fucking happens. Yeaaaaahhhhhh. Can I have a go?’ A shower of liquid sprayed all over the floor, table and Eva herself as Jay’s eyes opened wide.

Eva handed him some tissues, to help him clean himself up as the towel was a bit preoccupied. He definitely surprised her by spraying water over her leg, Eva jumping up in surprise. 'Gosh, what a mess...' She couldn't help but think. "Jay, this isn't right. What's going on? Do you need me to call someone?" She asked, all previous awkwardness gone.

Something had to be wrong for Jay to keep spitting his water out. Did she do something wrong? Bring him the wrong type? She wasn't sure. All she could do was head back to the hallway once again, grabbing some extra towels - yeah, plural - to hand over to Jay. Sick or not, she can't stand the living room being dirty.

Jay nervously cleaned himself and the table, handing one over to Eva for her to get clean. His face a deep red, heart beating like a truck and his mind just went to unfathomable places. Wiping a small pool of liquid on his shoes, he thought of ways to tell Echo about this. Not able to think of a way to speak his way out of this, he just decided to keep it to himself. Finishing cleaning, as Older Little Brother Jay, he needed to explain himself. ‘I shall now name you Jaeva, best sibling pair 2k16.”

Deciding that the Other Guy had said enough, he mentally kicked the voice in his head right where it hurts. He heard a groan and saw an image of himself waving the white flag, clutching the gonads. He then shoved him back to the deepest recesses of his mind so that he doesn't spray more liquid around. He cleared his throat and began to speak in a quiet voice, getting hotter and hotter with each word. “W-Well, he uh, when we were um…” He made a gesture, a motion for hugging. “H-He kinda h-has a thing f-for you and s-so he said-” He mumbled the last few words, not having enough confidence to finish the sentence.

Oh. Eva stared at Jay, giving him an awkward grin, "well, he wouldn't be the first." Eva said, trying to make Jay feel better. Of course, she had no idea whether she was correct, but at least Jay wouldn't have to feel so bad about his other personality. "It's okay, its not like you can control what he says."

"I-is he still there?"

“Yeah baby! I'm still here! Why don’t you give me a piece of dat ass, guuur-mmmmph” Jay was shocked and was only able to shut his mouth a few seconds later, covering it with one hand. He mentally glared at the Other Guy before giving a second kick, and then a third. The other man just screamed with a high pitched voice, begging for mercy with each kick. Satisfied that it wouldn't come out again, he scratched the back of his head. “Y-Yeah, he’s still here.”

Ah, well that answered it. Eva rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. Just knowing that the Other Guy was saying things about her was one thing, but to actually hear it? And from Jay's mouth? Yeah, didn't feel right. Well, that's one thing that Eva certainly would have to change. She didn't want a situation where the Other Guy would catcall her while Connor or Echo were around. That would definitely give everybody the wrong idea and she didn't want to risk Jay getting hurt: physically or emotionally.

Speaking of Echo... "Does Echo know about all this?"

“No. No she doesn't. And hopefully I can keep it that way.” Jay said softly, shoving his hands in his pockets. He thought about it in the drive over to the apartment. He would hide it. He couldn't risk the chance of him being seen as a psycho, like what those bullies thought of him years ago. He couldn't risk the chance of her telling him that she was disgusted, that he was using this as an excuse. He couldn't risk the chance of losing her. He began muttering. “I'm going to push it all down until I break. And hopefully I break way past the age of seventy.” He faked a smile before staring at his hands, a look of sadness on his face.

Eva listened, twiddling with her own fingers as the previously awkward atmosphere turned solemn. The hopeless romantic in her couldn't help but cry out for Jay. "But, don't you think Echo deserves to know?" She asked him. Eva was sure that Jay had thought about this before, the heartbreaking look on his face said it all.

Taking a deep breath, Eva knew that what she was about to say was either going to make things better, or everything worse. And if things get bad, it would be on her. It would be her own fault for pushing Jay too far. To think about things he didn't want to.

But was it really love if you were hiding something as big as the Other Guy from your girlfriend?

And queue the cheesy lecture. "Jay... Echo loves you. And you love her, don't you? Of course you do - even a blind guy can see the love the two of you have for each other." Eva told him, her voice growing more and more confident. "Why should you be afraid of losing her? If she really loves you, she would try to help you. We may not be friends, but I know that Echo is not selfish."

Jay whispered, voice showing the struggle to hold in his emotions. "But what then? She had a punctured lung, she has trouble breathing, her legs are broken in six different ways and she probably needs a wheelchair after recovery. If I tell her, damn it if I tell her, what then? Make her worry for me? Right now, she needs to worry about herself and I need to take care of her. Sure, I'll tell her afterwards, when she recovers. But not now. Not when she's in that state. She's damn strong but right now, she's vulnerable. She needs me." A tear ran down his face, hitting his upward facing palm.

"I'm not asking for you to do it now, but she definitely deserves to know it. Whether you do that right after her recovery or three years down the line when you're ready, she still has the right to know." Eva sighed. "I really hope you don't think I'm forcing you to do anything. This is still your choice, I'm only giving you my opinion." She emphasised her words carefully, making sure that Jay knew he had the choice. Eva gave Jay a reassuring smile, hoping to ease any tension he may have. While she wasn't 100% certain of Echo's reaction, she could only hope that the girl would take it well.

Jay sighed and then beamed a smile at her. “I’ll think about it sis. Thank you, for doing this for me. It means a lot.” His face softened, relaxed and relatively normal now. He stood and gave her a brief, brotherly kiss before getting an idea. “Do you wanna watch anime together?!” His eyes sparkled with glee, finger pointing to the TV connected to his computer.

Eva returned the smile, nudging his side, ”Heyy, what are little sisters for? Other than annoying you, of course.” As if to prove her point, she rubbed her forehead childishly,, wiping the kiss as if it burned her. It was a joke, of course, as shown by her grin. Looking over her shoulder at the TV, ”Whenn have I ever said no to anime?”

It looked like things might be okay... for now.

---

"I'll get us something." Kip told Didi, who gave him a thumbs up.

He power-walked towards the counter and asked for an extra Spicy serving of Buffalo Wings for two (just for himself), and fish and chips for Didi then a large glass of Pineapple Juice for the both of them and seeing as how things are going for Didi,she just might need it... he thought with a grin.

As he stood there waiting for the order, he heard the Lady Leprechaun unleashing her fury on the people at the table.
That's the thing about emotions, they're uncontainable. He just couldn't quite get just how mad Claire was over Eddie though. They did beat him up and by the looks of it, Nat and Eddie have made up. It was a dick move to not thank Tas though, she's been the one most troubled by all this after all. But what is the protocol about these kind of things? He thought. Maybe he'll find out soon enough. He feels bad for Claire too, she's just looking out for everybody else. Maybe a little picture can cheer her up. Kip immediately sent the 3 photos he took of Didi adorably blushing, he snickered. Effort Kip, this is it, he thought.

With the same line of thought, about cheering friends up: There was the whole Feliks sitch and maybe he should talk him up now. About to walk off the counter he froze with a quiver. nopenopenopethatwouldbetooawkward AND he might miss the order, he reasoned. Clutching his phone, he pondered a text message should suffice.



NO, not enough and too vague. It needs more feelings and clarity.



Baby steps, that's right. The tiny asian man might not be strong enough to talk people up face to face right now but he's getting there, he will get there with firm resolution. Ever since that Karaoke moment he had, something just sparked. To find motivation in the little things, the very thing that bothers him to begin with. Change is happening and for once, he wasn't so bothered with it.

He acquired the order from the counter and made his way to the table. Setting the food down with a gentle smile, It's a good day... It's still a good day.

A few minutes after settling down and devouring the entire first serving of the wings a buzz came from Kip's pocket.



Shit, was all that rang in his head.
To think that here he was having a good day and on the other end of the spectrum was Echo having maybe the worst, he felt his stomach tighten and he the rush of the spice from the wings heat up his lips. It wasn't just Echo though, it was probably also Jay and Tas and possibly everybody else. But good grief, Tas just can't take a break, huh? The poor lady must be feeling super stressed 24/7. Maybe the Miike dvd's could help her unwind a bit. From his peripheral he saw a startled Didi, looking shocked and disgruntled. He took one of his pens out and held it out to her, offering his forearm for some doodles, it was one of her little things.

He waved Eva goodbye as she took off, "take care" he mouthed.
Maybe it's not a good day but it was alright, at least on his end.

"We should go visit tomorrow Dids."
She nodded, weakly.

"We also have that graffiti to work on if you still feel like it."

He eyed everybody else who had concern draped over their faces. And then there was Eddy, with his pretty face, Kip couldn't quite read what emotion he had on though.
Oh, Echo please be alright.
With his hand stretched out, he used the other one to continue chomping on the wings, letting his brain shut off.

---

Natalya was glad that most seemed alright with at least giving Eddie a chance and Eddie breathed a sigh of relief; that was until Claire went all Claire in the middle of the restaurant. She really didn't expect everyone to go along with the idea but she had at least hoped that they wouldn't blow up; so much for that thought. Claire made it more than clear that she wasn't going to be going along with this. What threw Natalya for a loop though was when Claire started barking at her personally; it seemed the Irish Rose was more mad at her friend than Eddie at this point. Oh well, least she didn't have to worry about Claire hitting her and was actually kind of glad when Claire stormed out but her words were still ringing in her head a bit. What Claire had said had hit a little closer to home than she realized and she looked over at Dom and sighed. She really could have hurt him in more than one way but from the way Dom was acting, seems she had dodged that bullet.

"That's great news!" Nat exclaimed as Dom explained about his parents wanting to help foot the bill for the documentary that he wanted to make and she was more than relived for the change of subject. Eddie just kind of sat there and rubbed the back of his neck nervously at the entire situation.

"Yeah, congrats..." Eddie chimed in, not really wanting to draw much attention to himself right then but figuring he at least had to say something.

The entire thing was a bit awkward and Feliks' little quip right before Claire went off and stormed out probably wasn't helping but at least all eyes were on her instead of Eddie. Then the text came in from Tas.... That explained a lot. It wasn't like Tas to blow off a lunch with the group, to be late yes; a total no show... Nope. Oh god, poor Echo.... Nat noticed the end of the text; No Eddie. Seemed Claire had already informed Tas what was going down there. Okay, what to do, what to do?

"Well that isn't good, alright.. I am going to drive Eddie home and get him settled and then head over to visit Echo and see how she is doing," Nat said quickly as she slipped her phone back into her purse. Getting their food to go before paying the bill and rising from her seat; giving Dom a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you tonight baby," Nat said before heading out the door with Eddie. Eddie gave a silent nod and wave goodbye before they slipped out the door. It didn't go as well as either of the pair had hoped but it could have gone a lot worse, so it was a win in both their books. With that they climbed into Nat's car and headed back towards the apartments.

---

---

---

Tas slowly let go of Sam and sighed to herself; this was all too much for her right then. The last few months had been complete and utter hell for the doc; if one person wasn't hurt or sick it was another. She had a lot on her plate right then and she was feeling a little more than run down and overwhelmed. Finals, picking which job to take, friends hurt and needing her help, feeling completely helpless when it came to being able to help them; then there was the personal matters. What was going on with her and Sam these days? Sure they were dating and she loved him dearly, he was there as soon as she needed him but all this secrecy just wasn't sitting well with her. She loved his family and adored his mother; but he wouldn't even tell his family about them? What was he worried about? His mother always pushed him to be in a relationship, was there something wrong he wasn't telling her about? Granted there were things she hadn't told Sam but that was different, wasn't it?

Looking over as Jeje left Tas nodded and slipped over to her friend. She wanted to stay but she knew she would end up crashing in the little chair in the corner to watch over her during the night when visitors weren't allowed so she needed to leave and try to get some rest and perhaps something to eat; and some other things. "Hey girl, I am going to head home and clean up and get some sleep. I'll be back tonight and we can turn this into a sleep over, sound good?" she said as she rested her hand over Echo's. She really didn't want to leave her but if she was going to end up keeping watch all night she knew she needed to get out of this verge of a mental breakdown feeling or she wasn't going to be of any use to the Yin to her Yang.

"I'll be back before visiting hours are over," she said before heading back over to Sam. "Thanks again for coming over so quickly," she said before telling Mr. White goodbye for now and heading out of the hospital with Sam, walking him over to his car and giving him a soft kiss goodbye before he headed back to work. Running her fingers through her hair as she watched him leave she almost felt a sense of relief that he was gone. She had so much she wanted to talk to him about and see just exactly where they stood and why but now wasn't the time. She needed to talk to someone but Sam wasn't exactly the one for this type of discussion. She wasn't about to call Claire, she knew the Irish Rose was ticked from the sound of her text and she didn't want to open that can of worms right then; granted she couldn't exactly blame the woman, she was a bit upset right then as well and just glad she hadn't been there to see everything go down. It wouldn't have been pretty.

Walking over to her car, she nearly collapsed into the front seat and just let her head fall onto the steering wheel. Pulling out her phone she sent a quick text before she started the car.



Hitting send she drove off to the apartments, only making a quick pit stop to take another shower and to change out of the clothing that was still stained with Echo's blood. She had clothes up at the hospital now thanks to Sam but she hadn't even thought about them once she had slipped the fuzzy socks on Echo's feet. Oh well, she could use them tonight when she headed back up there to sit with Echo and in the morning. They wouldn't go to waste. Slipping out of the shower and dressing quickly she went to fridge and then stopped, half afraid to open the door just in Claire had sabotaged it again. Opting instead she hopped into her car and went through a drive through, grabbing some food before heading to the rink.

She was there quicker than she had thought she would be and no one was there. No one ever was, only Dom or her ever visited this place, they were the only ones in the group that even knew about it. Flipping on a small playlist of songs she was working with Claire for Claire's finals this semester she listed as she flopped down on a bench and began to eat. She wasn't sure if he was going to be able to show up but at least she could enjoy the peace if nothing else.

---

---

---

Inside the diner, the news of Echo's accident had changed the mood almost instantly, everything else had been forgotten. After a short time, everyone had decided to do their own thing. Dom had received a message from Tas and could tell that something wasn't right. With everything going on in her life and now this horrible incident with Echo the poor girl must be in bits. Giving Nat a quick kiss as she departed. Dom soon followed, climbing into his truck and headed off into the cool morning air. The drive onward to their special place was short; in hindsight every place that the gang frequented was pretty close together. The furthest place was the hospital, all of their coffee houses, bars, fast food places and the rink were within walking distance of the apartments, hell even the Golden Gate bridge was fifteen minutes away and it hadn't been destroyed yet so he knew he wasn't in a movie.

Dominic parked outside and wasn't exactly sure what he was going to be walking in to. He knew there was two sides to Tas and it was a flip of a coin which one he was going to meet inside. The big mountain bear turned off his engine and jumped onto the curb from his high truck cab. Even in the fleeting moments, he thought of his fathers offer to help finance the movie. His parents were comfortable in their lifestyle, they didn't have a lot of money but they had enough and yet there they were offering to give him some of what little they had. The man mountain didn't have any idea whether or not he should say yes.

Heading into the rink, there she sat, her heart obviously more torn than even his damaged one. "Hey beautiful."

Tas looked up from her food as she heard Dom's voice, she had tried to eat and had a little but mostly she had just been picking at her food lost in thought since she arrived. Perhaps sitting there in the quiet with just the music going and trying to enjoy some peace wasn't such a good idea after all. Slowing down long enough to actually think only seemed to make her worry more. Then as soon as she saw Dom all of that faded away and her thoughts and worries about herself and everything she was dealing with turned to worry about the big mountain of a man before her.

Dropping the fry she had been aimlessly running through a spot of ketchup she wiped her hands off on her jeans as she stood up, a small weak smile playing on her lips; obviously more of an effort to appear like everything was alright but around Dom, when they were alone, it was hard to put up any facades. "Hey hun," she said quietly as she stepped over to him and hugged him tight; her arms slipping over his shoulders. Leaning back she looked up at him with a worried expression in her eyes.

"Claire messaged me about lunch... with Nat's little surprise... and Eddie.." she started, pausing a moment in thought before continuing. "Are you alright? I mean, obviously you are because I'm not getting paged back to the hospital right now but it didn't trigger any problems did it? Physically?" she rambled, obviously she was a bit more frustrated and emotional than she was wanting to admit.

Placing his hands on her slender waist as she embraced him, Dominic let out a soft sigh. "I love you for worrying but I'm fine, I promise" He said with a smile. "As much as every part of my body was screaming put this idiot through a window and straight into traffic, I couldn't let myself lose control like that again. Not again."

"I wouldn't exactly blame you if you did but I'm glad you didn't; if only so you weren't in danger," Tas admitted as she stood there. Pulling Tas tight into his chest so she could hear his flawed heart, Big Mountain Mason kissed the top of her head before letting her go mostly, only keeping hold of her soft delicate hands. A genuine smile crossed her lips as she listened to his heart, her eyes drifting close for a moment; glad to hear it was sounding as well as it ever could.

"Tell what's going on behind those gorgeous eyes, Tas. I'm worried. Things having been going downhill fast already and now with all this Echo and Eddie stuff. What's happening in that head?"

Tas bit her bottom lip slightly and let out a soft sigh as her eyes opened and she looked up at him towering over her. What all was going through her head right then now that she knew he was okay? Everything...

"How do I keep from falling apart? Yeah... that about sums it up..." she admitted in a weary voice. It was one thing to break down for the first time in front of Sam, to show him a small part of her weakness but Dom was different; he knew all her flaws, all of them. Reaching up she ran her fingers through her damp hair and stepped away from him, her shoulder slumping in near defeat.

"How do I help you? Why on earth would Nat pull such a stunt? How do I keep this rag tag family together? How can I make sure something that happened to Echo never happens again? What did I miss that could have prevent Echo from being hurt? Can I help Jeje through that maze of a mind of his? Would it be better if I just packed up and took the job in Chicago next month? How long can I keep fighting this? Can I actually keep flying because I feel like I am in a a death spin. Why does Sam seem to want to keep me hidden?" she began rambling and then it dawned on her that she hadn't told anyone but Claire that they were dating, about what had happened the night of the party. Did Dom know or even suspect they were a thing now? How would he take that?

"Guess the cat is out of the bag now... she groaned as she flopped down on the bench, hunching over as she stared blankly at the floor. "I feel like I am loosing myself..."

"Tas, I know your a doctor and its in your blood like venom to do so, you can't help everyone. The wait of the world should not fall on your shoulders. It shouldn't but you let it. All the problems you just listed, me, Echo, Jeje....none of that is within your power to control, it's just not, that's the way it is. I was born with my problem, same with Jeje. Echo was an accident, it happens sadly, you of all people in your line of work knows that God, Allah or whoever the fuck controls this shit has a weird sense of timing. None of this was your fault and there is none of it you can help. I'm not trying to be harsh but sometimes Tas, a slap in the face is better than a hug. As for the Sam stuff, honey we all saw that coming. Its in the eyes, every time he looked at you and you at him. Still, him being a bit weird about telling folk, maybe you should talk to him about it. You are the smartest girl I know and if something feels odd to you, odds are it probably is. My humble opinion? You need a break, time away from the world. Listen babe, I'm taking off for a week soon, to go and scout some places for an expedition in a few months. You could come with me? No danger, we're not climbing or anything just gonna talk to some folk, maybe take a ride in a small plane to scout the area. It could be fun....wow that was a lot of words. This is why I don't speak"

Of course it was only ever around Nat and Tas that Dom unleashed his inner monologue skills. Most others only ever got a few grunts, groans and short words from the mountain and that's the way he liked it.

Tas heard everything he was saying and it hurt to hear; perhaps what he was saying was true but she couldn't agree with at least part of it. It wasn't who she was. "Maybe you're right..," she said quietly, sitting there cracking her knuckles nervously. She half chuckled as she looked over to him. "And stop that, I like it when you actually speak. It's nice to hear your voice. Better than those neanderthal grunts you give me half the time," she said with a tired smirk on her lips. Taking a deep breath she stood up, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"But seriously, maybe some time away isn't a bad idea. Least figure out if I should stay here or if I should move..." she said kicking at the ground. "I doubt if I stay I can keep from trying though. Not with Echo, or Jeje, or" she said slowly looking over to him. "Especially you Dominic."

"Tas, I love you. I really fucking do but you can't fix me."

Tas shot him a look as if to say "just watch me."

"My heart may be defected but it's manageable." He got up to his feet and placed both his hands on either side of Tas' face. "I promise I am going to live a long and happy life." Dominic looked into her eyes and smiled before pulling away, tracing his fingers across her soft cheek as he did so. "Some time away might be your best option right now. Go home for a week or come with me, whatever you want. Just make sure it's exactly that; what you want. You're allowed to be selfish now and again Natasha."

"You say go home as if I have one to go to. This is my home, or at least the closest I have to one," Tas began but cut herself off before going any further. Yeah, she kinda had a home back in Chicago but it was in the past. Her father hadn't been able to really look at her or speak to her much since her mothers passing. She had no siblings, and didn't really have any friends to speak of from when she was younger. This group was the closest thing she had had to any family since that day when she was a child. Sighing slightly she leaned against him and tried to figure out just what she truly wanted; it wasn't difficult to decide, she already knew what she wanted.

"I'm going to tag along with you and yes, it is for a very selfish reason and a rather arrogant one as well," she quipped as she looked up to him. "Because I want to make sure you are alright and I don't trust anyone else to make sure that you are; especially out in some backwoods wilderness," she added as she hugged him once again. "Is that a selfish enough reason? To go because I want to make sure that the man that has my heart is never far from it?"

"Oh Tas, you made it cute. You're such a nerd." Tas just smirked slightly, sure she was a nerd but that was just how she was; nothing would change that. A big grin crossed Dominic's stubbled face as he held Tas close in his embrace. That was enough of a selfish reason for him, she didn't have to justify it any more than that.

"A nerd and a neanderthal in the backwoods of the world? Look out Bigfoot," she laughed softly as she leaned against him.

"Alright then, I'll call my friend Mike and get you a seat booked on the plane. We're not going too far off the map. Alaska. So you better make sure you bring some warm gear. It's only a week, scouting the area see if we want to film there. Now all we need funding, my parents will send us some money but I don't how far that'll get us" He was rambling at this point, trying to take her tortured mind away from the pain it was feeling. "If we like the spot, we'll make sure we fly together there when its movie time."

Looking up at him quickly she groaned slightly. Alaska? Planes? Oh great, just great. Two of her favorite things; cold and heights. "Of course, you couldn't pick somewhere tropic to begin could you?" she said rolling her eyes slightly. Shaking her head she smiled poking at him slightly with her words. Cold and heights were bad enough but she knew this was something he really wanted to do and she was willing to deal with her fears to help him fly. Money on the other hand was not something she could really help a lot with. She was a resident, and even though she wasn't drowning in student loan debt she hadn't exactly been in the field long enough to have doctor money; but as Dom said she was smart and an idea came to mind.

"Why don't we talk to Claire? She has sponsors for her MMA stuff, maybe she could help you get one for this? I mean, this type of pushing the edge thing is kind of the stuff those people eat for breakfast isn't it?" she said with a slight shrug. It wasn't like any of them knew anyone with that type of money, Claire was the closest one of the group to being a celebrity, maybe the Irish Rose had something tucked away in her glove.

"That's not a bad idea, guess it can't hurt to ask" Dom smiled at her and stroked her cheek once more. "Come on, let's get out of here. I could say it's because we need to get away from the pain. In reality, I have a shift behind the bar in like fifteen minutes" His grin widened as he took Tas behind the hand and squeezed tight. Tas smiled as she laced her fingers with his and nodded. Granted to her, their place was one of the few where she could let go of the pain.

"Alright, Claire should be at the gym right now. You should text her and ask her to drop by the bar. I would but well, you know why I can't," she said gently. She was right, it would be odd if Tas messaged Claire about Dom or messaged anyone else about him for that matter. It would be better if it came from Dom himself; plus she needed to try to get some sleep before she needed to head back to the hospital to be with Echo. She had shift tonight but maybe she could get Kip to tag along; she had been promising him another night of gore reality anyways. Better to get that done before she skipped town with Dom; granted she wondered just how she was going to get out of town without anyone else knowing they were going to be heading to Alaska together? That was going to be interesting.

Leaning up she kissed his cheek softly. "Take care of yourself tonight and do me a favor; don't end up a patient tonight. I don't think I could handle seeing you like that again right now," she admitted before she headed out. Climbing into her car she drove off back to the apartments.

She parked the car and just let out a long sigh. The thought of getting away with Dom for a while was nice but all it was going to do was postpone decisions she needed to make, not solve them. How could she help Jeje? She would need to set up home care for Echo while she was out of town? What about the job in Chicago? Would she take it or just stay there in California? And what about Sam? Things seemed off there. She understood wanting to take things slow but perhaps with everything it wasn't the right time for them to be together; no matter how much she cared for him. Maybe it just wasn't fair to him. Sighing inwardly she pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Kip; least she could take care of one thing tonight if he was up for it.

Melrose stared at the computer screen and sighed, leaning back in her chair as she pursed her lips. Normally she might've whined about how she had tried in the past and how often people had rejected her and abandoned her - but Kassandra already knew all of this. In fact Kass had been more of a friend to her than anyone she had really met... which is likely the only reason she was even taking Kass seriously. Maybe it was time to try again, see if she could find a group of people that she clicked with? It had been two years after all, since she really tried to put herself out there. Rose had been spending those two years advancing her career and playing games to escape the loneliness of it all. She did want to be happy.

With a heavy, defeated sigh, she rolled her eyes and started typing.


She snorted softly at her friend. She loved Kass to death for being such a dork, though nothing had ever happened between the two - namely because Kass was aromantic and just didn't want to have a girlfriend. Rose was okay with that, because even if she was still having trouble finding love, at least she had one amazing friend! With that, she minimized the chat window and set her focus on finding an apartment somewhere downtown. Goodness, she hated moving, but at least she had plenty of money to hire people to move her stuff for her!

---

---

Claire smirked as she leaned over; her lips nearly pressing against Fletch's. She had him pinned down on the ground; arms behind his back and nearly straddling his backside at this point. They had been at it for what seemed like hours now; both drenched in sweat. Each had gotten their fair share of hits and pins in on the other; both were rather bloodied up at this point. Neither seemed to care and both seemed to be having the time of their lives just laying into each other both physically and verbally at this point.

The gym itself had been rather active before the two started but once they did the place had gone rather quiet. Everyone turning their attention to the duo. The only thing being said now other than the occasional grunt or tease from the pair in the ring was a bet being placed. The brawl had started outside the ring but eventually made its way to the center ring of the gym. It had been taken by a pair of tag teamers in the middle of practice. Both pairs had been unceremoniously tossed out onto their rear ends by Claire and Fletch. This may have caused a problem in and of itself but most in the place knew by now not to cross Claire and it was made rather apparent quickly that Fletch was in the same league as Claire was.

"Pinned ya again," Claire taunted from her position. She was about to continue when she was interrupted by her assistant.

"Claire, you got a message here from Doc Bitch I think you should read," Jewell said pipping in. Claire rolled her eyes slightly and then out of the blue bit Fletch on the ear. Why had she done that? She didn't know but it felt right and Claire was always one to follow her gut; whether or not it was a good idea. Pushing up she let him go and bounced over to the side of the ring; reading the message as Jewell held out the phone for her.

Nearly instantaneously Claires mood shifted and she spit into the bucket. "Bloody hell, if it ain't one thing it's another," she grumbled as she began to pull her gloves off. "Time out for a few Fletch."

Finally getting the gloves off and tossing them into the ring she took her phone and began to quickly thumb out a reply to Tas.



Handing her phone over to her assistant Jewell, Claire shook her head a bit before crinkling her nose. She wanted to go visit Echo right away and check on her personally but she knew that if she was in critical condition that Tas would have called personally and let everyone know. The news had been taking about a car wreck most of the morning; it had been playing in the background. Now thinking about it, what was left of the car had to be Echo's dads car. The wreck had been horrible but no fatalities had been reported. That was good and if Tas was giving out visiting times she figured she had to at least be stable. Best to let the poor girl rest before she came bounding into the place. She knew Tas would spend the night with her while she was in the hospital. She looked out for Eddie and Tas did not like the man, she knew she would go far and beyond that for someone she considered a friend.

"Not really, friend was in a wreck and is in the hospital. Looks like I will be making a stop there tomorrow to say hi," she said as she picked up a towel and started cleaning the drips of sweat off her body. Normally if something like that happened she would just stay at the gym all day beating people up to deal with the worry and stress but that wasn't exactly an option right then. She had been at it most of the day already. First the whole thing with Didi and the Eddie and now Fletch. The hour was growing late and she realized as her stomach growled that she hadn't eaten since breakfast. Granted she had ordered food at Ryan's but left before it had been served.

"Yo Fletch, hungry?" she asked out of blue. Might as well grab a bite to eat while she had the chance.

"Sorry to hear that. I hope your friends alright" Fletch found himself being genuine. He may have been a balls to the wall bastard with a hair trigger temper and violence in his blood but he never wanted anyone who didn't deserve it to be hurt. That was a code he lived by. Only those that deserve it; that was his creed. Wiping some sweat from his face, Fletch brushed back his dark hair and looked at Claire as she asked him if he wanted to eat. Bitch had beaten him to the punch. "Yeah I could definitely go for some food. What you thinking my lovely? Where to?"

Claire wasted no time connecting another right hook to the base of Fletch's jaw without warning. "Warned you about that cute nickname shit," she said with a cheeky grin playing on her lips as she stood there. She was about to continue when her stomach growled again and she groaned inwardly. Where should they grab a bite to eat? Sam's family place wasn't far but she really wasn't in the mood for Korean BBQ. Right then she wanted something more along the line of wings or a burger and a beer. It was about that time she was handed her phone once again by her assistant. Seeing she had gotten a text from her main bro she grinned; as far as she was concerned that settled the food the debate. Two birds, one stone.

"The Hub," she quipped as she shot a a quick text back to the Mountain Man.



Fletch jumped back from the blow from Claire's unlawfully big fist. The punch had split his lip and he grinned as he licked the dripping blood from his mouth and savoured the coppery test. "My apologies" He smiled before she replied that they were going to the Hub. The Englishman had not been before though he had heard of it from some acquaintances. The beer and the food were dirt cheep and yet they were some of the best in the city. It sounded like his kind of place. Gathering up all of his belongings into the small bag he had brought with him to the gym, Fletch waited for his new partner to get herself ready. Once she had arrived he grinned a toothy, cheeky grin. "You better lead the way, Claire. I promise I won't stair at your arse...much."

"You really have a death wish don't you?" Claire quipped with a smirk before pushing out of the gym with Fletch in tow. She wasn't sure what she thought of him yet. Man was good in the ring, fought hard but them he would turn around and flirt with her. At least she thought it was flirting, she was bad at reading these things. Maybe he was just like that with everyone?

Pushing the thought away she directed them to the Hub and went inside. It was easy enough to spot her mountain of a bro. Jumping over the bar an hugging him. She was a mess, still drenched in sweat, bloodied up ans bruised from head to toe.

"Look what he did to me," she pipped up as she leaned back and pointed over to Fletch. Why not have some fun with this?

Dom hugged Claire tight as she hopped over the bar to greet him. He loved his little sis like she actually was blood. They just complimented each other so well. The mountain man raised an eyebrow, shifting his hazel gaze over to the newcomer who looked pretty confused and beat up. "Look what you did to him, Claire. Pretty sure he got the worst of it" Dominic reached across the bar and offered his hand. "I'm Dom, nice to meet you"

Fletch shook the big mans hand and nodded. "Fletch, likewise". Jesus, this guy was huge. He was built like a brick shithouse. This was Claire's brother? Well he couldn't see any family resemblance but bloody hell would Fletch not want to piss off this guy. "So you're Claire's brother?"

Dom chuckled lightly. "Not in any legal sense of the word. Mostly just when she wants something...like discounted food...perhaps?" Domininc knew the Irish Rose too well, though he did feel sorry for this Fletch kid if he actually believed that he and Claire were related. "It's a good job I love you Claire Bear. Tell me what you want and I'll get the boys in the back to whip it up fast"

Claire smirked a bit before hoping over the counter and having a seat at the bar. "He be me brother from another mother, this be me blood," Claire said as she whipped out her phone and started scrolling through pic after pic. "That be Connor and Murphy, Sean, Patrick, Michael, Bryan, Angus, and Donal," she said proudly as she scrolled through each picture.

"Um, beer, wings, fries, some of them pepper poppers, some chips and dip, sliders, and onion rings, and a reason why you needed me to pop by," Claire rambled off as she shoved her phone back in her pocket. "Oh, totally fergot. What you want Fletch?"

"I guess I'll have what you're having. Sounds like it could put be on for the rest of the day" Fletch took a seat at the bar next to Claire just as the big mountain began to pour their drinks. This was interesting, seeing Claire in her natural habitat outside of the gym. She didn't seem like any kind of different person but she did seem a lot more relaxed, a little wound down but he guessed punching people in the face for a living meant you had to be wound pretty tight sometimes.

Dominic handed his sister and her new friend a beer each and turned to lean back through the small opaque window behind the bar shelf. "Steve, I need two Claire specials and some peanuts for the bar". He grinned lightly before raising his index finger, another customer has just walked in. Sliding to the other end of the bar, Dom greeted the new customer with a boyish smile. "The usual Mrs Galloway?"

"Mojito, mountain boy. Make it fast"

After some clever cocktail making ala Tom Cruise, Dom returns to the duo. "OK so, Claire you've got sponsors right? For your fights? You think any of them might, you know, have any interest in sponsoring my documentary? I'm really struggling with the financing for it and I'm pulling every strand I can think of"

Claire perked a brow as she picked up the beer and took a long pull from it. Dominic asking for help with money? Dominic asking for help with anything kind of threw her off. She had never heard him ask for anything. Even when she would jump on top of him and try to fart on him he wouldn't ask her to move, he'd just toss her to the floor. Kind of how he did things, he took care of them himself. He never seemed to be the one who needed a shoulder, his shoulders were big enough for the world.

"Ya, I got sponsors. How I fund the trips and such. Gym pays alright for the training I do for them there, but not near enough to really afford college and the apartment and such. I do good for them, pose for ads and they keep the money coming in. Not sure if they'd be interested in a documentary but hell, doesn't hurt to ask I guess," she said as put the beer back on the bar top and ran her finger over the lip of the bottle.

"I'll see what I can do bro, make a few calls. Surprised you just didn't ask Money Bags Connor for some of his chump change," she said with a laugh.

"I did ask Connor. He's putting something in towards it, I guess a few people are. You know I didn't want to ask for a big loan so I'm kind of taking smaller ones from everyone I suppose" Dominic hated asking for help. It just wasn't his style, he despised asking for anything at all. Being dependent or indebted to someone was something he always feared. He was self made and he always intended to stay that way. "Thanks Claire, I know we might not get anywhere but I do appreciate it. Really. I just really want to make this movie"

Fletch's ears perked up as he listened in on Claire and Dom's conversation. The bartender was making a movie? Interesting. The Brit's newfound father had been urging him to invest some money in something. Maybe this was it? It couldn't hurt could it? Besides it would stand him in better stead with Claire and hell, its not like it was his money he was wasting. "If you're looking for investors Dom, I mean I can throw a few bob in there. I mean, how much do you think you could do with...five hundred thousand?"

"Fuck me, Claire where did you find this one?"

Claire nearly spit her beer out when Fletch spoke up, not so much the him offering; though that was weird. The amount of money he offered was enough to make her choke on her Guinness. Swallowing hard she looked down at the bottle before looking over at him in shock and then over at Dom.

"He's my new student.... I think I may have knocked the bloody sense right out of the bloak," she said quickly, not exactly sure what to think about the man she had just gotten done in the ring with. "Dude, don't joke about shit like that. Might end up on your ass that way."

She really thought he was joking, sure he had said he was staying at a hotel, but she figured that was either a joke or he was staying there because he had no where else to go. Who was this guy? A con man?

"I'm not joking. Honest!" Fletch raised his hands up almost defensively. "Listen, my dad or I guess that's what I'm supposed to call him, is loaded. He's given me money, a lot of fucking money and I just don't know what to do with it. He said I should invest. Why not invest in something like this? If I sponsor you, you get your finance and I'll get what? a ten, fifteen percent kickback from the gross? Sounds like a solid deal to me" The pugilist was being honest for a change, he was genuinely interested and for once he was trying to show it on his face.

Dom narrowed his eyes towards Fletcher. He had no idea what to make of this in the slightest. The deal felt way too good to be true. He looked over to Claire who looked almost as deeply dumbfounded by the newcomers comments. He scratched the back of his head and sighed in confusion. He had no idea what to make of this.

"If Claire vouches for you, then I'm in...Claire?" Dominic didn't want to put this pressure on Claire even though he knew she thrived under it. He needed to trust her judgement here.

Claire didn't know what to think. She didn't know this man, had only spent one Afternoon in the gym with him. She was one though to act without thinking but this wasn't her dream on the line, it was her bros. Slipping out of her seat, she stood up and grabbed Fletch by the shoulders and leaning in. For such a small package, she could be rather intimidating.

"You on the up and up, we're all good. You screw my bro over and be pissin' out a tube the rest of yer days. Got it?" she warned before letting go. With Claire, she didn't threaten, what she said was what she fully intended to do.

---

Forty-two minutes into their impromptu anime marathon, Eva’s phone rang from across the apartment, jolting the girl up from her seat in surprise. ”I’ll get it!” She shouted, to no-one in particular as she jumped over the coffee table in haste to get to her ringing phone that was left close by the front door.

Rummaging through her purse, which she had tossed carelessly as she had entered, Eva slid her finger across the “pickup” button and pressed the device to her ear, pressing down a finger against her other ear to be able to hear the voice better.

”Evalyn? Oh thank god I caught you!”

Confused, Eva checked the caller-ID, only to find it was her agent. It was confusing, it was Eva’s day off, why was her agent calling her now? And sounding so frantic at that. Eva cleared her throat, trying to hide her panting breath as she spoke into the mic. ”Wendy? What do you want? Why do you sound so--”

”No time!” Eva was cut off, and before she could pout or say anything else, Wendy continued. ”I got a call from my client. One of my other girls haven’t showed up, and it’s causing a lot of problems for them. They need to get the photoshoot done today so I really really need you to do this favour for me. Pretty please?”

”What? Okay- sure, give me the address and I’ll try to be there in an hour. Do I need to prepare or anything?”

”Oooh bless you darling! I’ll make it up to you, I promise! No need to prep, love, just make sure you get there soon. I’ll text you the address.” And without any other words, Wendy hung up. Well… that threw a wrench in their plans…

Eva walked back into the living room, looking down at her phone as she thought. ’What if I take Jay with me? That way I can keep my eye on him and if he needs any help, I’ll be right there.’ She mused.

”How would you like to attend a photoshoot?” Eva offered, grinning at him.

Jay looked at the heart wrenching, tearful and romantic goodbye on screen. He wiped a tear in his eye and blew his nose in a melodramatic way. They had been watching this anime for a good part of the afternoon and it already captured him into it. However it is important to note that this man has absolutely no standards in terms of what he would emotionally connect with. And so, with that in mind, he continued to sniffle as the monotone voices of “Akiyama Rika” and “Yamamoto Inu” spoke in hushed whispers to each other under the moonlight. The fact that Eva had left his side was never realised and so when her voice interrupted the tearful scene, he jumped.

When the words sunk in however, his eyebrow was raised. ”Really? Well, I haven’t watched you work before so why not?” He put on a wolfish grin and stood fully. He picked Eva up bridal-style and walked out of the apartment towards her car. Not even realising what he was doing nor the consequences of doing so, he ignored her pleas.

”What- Put me down!” Eva cried, startled as the tiny teen was picked up so suddenly. Today was certainly an odd one: first sitting on his lap, then she’s hit on by Jay Jay’s alter-ego the next she was being carried by him? Eva reminded herself to talk about boundaries with Jay the next time she wasn’t at risk of being held by him. Preferably alone, god knows what Connor would do if he knew about Jay’s alter-ego’s… interest in her.

Reaching the car, Eva dived out of Jay’s grip to get inside her car before someone else saw her and questions were asked. Eva waited for Jay to enter inside and wear his seat-belt before she began driving off - the destination fresh in her mind. Ocean Beach.

”Jay,” Eva began, ”if anything happens during the shoot, if he tries to come back, you’ll let me know right? You’re more important to me than the shoot, so if you need me, please promise you’ll tell me?” She looked at him from the corner of her eye, concerned. Eva wanted him to know that it was absolutely okay for him to talk to her, no matter how busy she was. Jay was like her brother, no shoot in the world could be more important than him.

Jejomar just scratched the back of his head and smiled at his concerned sister. “Don’t worry about it sis, if the bastard comes up, I’ll tell you.” Soon enough, they arrived at their destination, the location of her photoshoot. They got out the car and walked towards the main (director?) at the site. The middle aged man was wearing clothes much too tight for a man his age but had this exuberant aura around him. “Aha! You're the replacement couple for the shoot eh? You can change in the tent behind me but be quick. No screwing around, if you know what I mean.” The man wiggled his eyebrows before quickly shoving them into the tent.

”Wait, couple?” Eyes widened, Eva stared dumbfoundedly at the man who was most likely the boss of the shoot. She looked at Jay from the corner of her eye, mouth wide open in surprise but before she could complain, they were forced into the tent to change into their new clothing.

”Jay, I’m so sorry for this-- I didn’t know that Wendy was planning this-- she never even told me about bringing another guy! I would’ve brought Connor if I had known, agh, this is so awkward!” The teen cried beside him, panicked. She definitely didn’t want to scare the poor guy away from his very first visit to a shoot, but she didn’t intend for him to be a part of it.

And it was even worse when she realised what type of shoot this was.

A couple’s swimming shoot.

Jay was dumbfounded. Why was she so bothered about this? Was she worried she wasn't going to do well with her? That he was going to do well in the shoot and be awkward about it? That he was going to be worse than if Connor did it? Setting his jaw straight, he put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “Don’t worry sis. I got this.” He flashed her a grin and let go of her, turning around and taking his shirt off. As it was a tight shirt, he was taking it off slowly. And to a flustered Eva, it would be the equivalent of a standing lap dance. Flinging it to the side, he turned with rippled muscles almost glistening in the light, head tilted to the side.

’Oh gods have mercy on my soul.’ Eva watched - yes, watched - as Jay stripped from his shirt and gave the teen a healthy dose of eye candy. She was sure her face was completely red, and she was most possibly sweating from the nerves. Eva let out a meep before turning around to give Jay some privacy.

“Care to join me?” He said with a confused and oblivious look, slowly sliding his belt from his pant with muscly arms. He was built like a swimmer from the amount LARPing he does, swinging a sword like a champ. Martial Arts also helped. His arms were built from carrying the metal swords but his chest was carved like a Greek sculpture from the metal armour you were required to wear. It was undoubtedly the first time Eva had seen her pseudo-brother show this much flesh and the first time she had seen evidence of him being athletic. Her lazy, sleep-loving brother with abs? Unbelievable. Unfathomable.

Letting Jay strip tease behind her, Eva slipped off the light brown cardigan she had been wearing that morning, followed by her scarf. ’Please don’t hate me for this, Connor’ The girl thought, biting her lips nervously as she picked out the first bikini that was folded on the small table in front of her. There was only three to choose from, so Eva guessed that today was going to be a short - albeit awkward - shoot. She heard footsteps outside the tent, and she peered over her shoulder to see a lady peeking inside, grinning wickedly.

”Good, you two weren’t doing anything inappropriate.” The lady said, ”well, once you two are done, I’ll need to get on your hair and make-up, so wear the robes that are hung there--” Eva looked at where the stranger pointed at, taking note of the two white robes hanging by the entrance of the tent, ”and I’ll meet the two of you outside. Toodles~” and as quickly she had arrived, she was gone.

After that, changing into the swimwear was uneventful although a certain someone had to do some serious manoeuvres to fit into theirs. They both grabbed their robes, both as red as a beet in seeing the other in very… let’s say provocative swimwear. They stepped out, got their makeup and hair done and eventually got to the set. The director immediately called them out, specifically Jay. “Oi! You're wearing the wrong swimwear! Annie, go fetch the European swimwear. You were supposed to swap them out!” Annie, the stranger from before, squeaked and ran to one of the various vans on set. Sighing, Jay patted Eva on the shoulder and headed back to the tent. The assistant came back and out the swimwear on the rack just as he got into the tent. Apologising for the delay, she exited out of the tent.

“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting my arse cheeks off.” And behold, the swimwear. He groaned inwardly and prepared for the serious manoeuvres. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful and came out of the tent feeling very, very uncomfortable. He shuffled next to Eva with a pained look in his eyes. “Okay, into your positions please and take off the robes.”

The bulge was real.

Eva avoided his pained look, looking elsewhere entirely awkwardly. It was hard enough that her brother was there, pretty much naked while they had to do a couple’s shoot together. Despite being siblings. Well, they weren’t actual siblings, but their relationship was close enough to be classed as such. Honorary siblings, yeah! Eva slipped off her robe, revealing her bikini before she stood there, assessing the set carefully. She was now in model mode, there was nothing else she could do.

The photographer helped the two awkward friends to the appropriate poses, snapping pictures each time he was satisfied with the poses the two were giving. Some were taken with the two standing in the water, which was unfortunate for Jay since it stuck even more, leaning against each other, while others were with the two on the golden sand. The photoshoot, while awkward, was somewhat fun too. Eva cracked a few jokes, trying to lighten the mood whenever possible. Jay just smiled with her and eventually relaxed into the job.

Eventually, the couples aspect of the shoot was complete, and the two were separated for their own individual mini-shoots. Eva was changed out of her bikini into another one, with changed make-up and hair to match and she was posed on the water with the slowly setting sun as their natural backdrop. With Eva having enough experience with photoshoots, her part of the mini-shoot was complete within fifteen minutes, and she was free to change back into her normal clothes while Jay had his turn.

Having finished the couple’s shoots, the assistant told Jay that he had to wait for Eva to finish up her mini-shoots. After she finished, he cracked a smile at her and gave a high five, the fact that they were almost both naked lost on them completely. He was told to change from his swimwear to another, a more modest speedo than the previous one. He posed for the camera and got a few great photos while the director was seen rubbing his chin in thought. After his final photo, the man stopped the shoot. “Hold it! Jay, isn't it? I believe it's your first time in the set. Well, as your first director, I want you to choose your own attire. You have fifteen minutes, I wanna see what you can do kid.”

And with that, the Filipino had his first improv shoot. Running to the tent, he picked out whatever clothes he could but kept a shirt out of the set. During the shoot, he learned that he had serious muscles. And apparently that was attractive, if the apprentice was an example. Wearing his signature fedora, the mini-shoots went for another fifteen minutes before the Director was satisfied. Before the pair of them left, the Director stopped them. “That was a good shoot, the both of you. I’ll be sending you the photos in four week’s time before they get to published. ” They left in Eva’s car and drove home, smiling at the fun they had and the memories they shared. Until Jay had a realisation.

“My shirt!”

---

---

---

The last many weeks since Echo's accident had been a blur, beyond a blur. Tasha wished it had been even blurrier. There had been so much going on she wished she couldn't remember most of it but sadly years and years of cramming for exams and working in hospitals made everything beyond clear. Maybe she should take up drinking and kill some of her brain cells, it would have been better in her mind. Granted there had been some good in all of it but in the end there was enough bad that she really wanted to forget.

Had she taken Dom's suggestion to not take on so much and give herself a chance to recoup? Nope. After leaving the rink she was right back at the hospital until morning keeping an eye out on Echo. She switched off with Jeje once visiting hours began, got some rest, did her shift and was right back in that chair come night. It kept up for a week until Echo was discharged.

Then the fun began. Between taking care of Echo at home the following week, working with Jeje in talk sessions for his condition, what she had going on at the hospital, prepping for finals, and Sam... She didn't sleep more than a couple of hours the entire week. Yeah... Sam... It was over. Would it get back on track one day? No one knew but it was more than obvious that Tas had been devastated by the decision she had made. That it just wasn't going to work between them right then. Some were surprised to find out they had even been dating, others were surprised it had ended.

Tas made a quick decision and ended up moving into Jeje's room across the street and let him move into hers for the next while. Least until Echo was fully healed. She didn't need constant care now and Tas had done enough work with Jeje that she felt comfortable leaving Echo alone with him now. Jeje knew to come get Tas if anything popped up, her phone was glued to her hip while she was in town and when she wasn't she had friends at the hospital on call for Jeje and Echo if anything went wrong.

Which was good since Tas without word to anyone up and vanished about two weeks after Echo was out of the hospital. She said nothing, messaged no one and even turned her phone off. That was ten days ago... No word, nothing from the doctor. That was until she sent out a mass text to everyone...



Hitting send she rested her phone on the table in front of her; her luggage still packed with tags on it from the airport. Chicago, Boston, San Fransisco

---

---

---

Things for Claire had been more than interesting over the last few weeks. Thankfully not nearly as eventful as with Tas but Claire had been more than busy. All starting with the new comer Fletch. He was more than a handful to deal with and that was saying something considering she was used to dealing with all eight of her brothers. Even though he was a lot to take in she had to admit she enjoyed him being around. When he came into the gym she knew she was going to have a good time and they would fight for hours. She ended up clearing out her schedule on the days she was to train him. They would always run over with their times into her slots for others; it was just better to move them to other days.

And in the end he seemed a stand up enough guy when it came to things with Dom, which was good. It was one thing to beat the shit out of someone in the ring; it was a whole different matter when it came down to just beating the shit out of someone. After everything that had gone down with Eddie, Claire was trying to play nice. Nice for her was avoiding her room mate as much as possible and she was more than happy when Tas moved in to Jeje's room while Echo recovered. It was good to have her sis around and provide a distraction.

Then there were new comers to the group. Several of their old friends leases were up and instead of renewing them, several had moved out. This left openings in each of the apartment buildings but that was alright. They didn't stay empty long, there was a waiting list for these apartments and before they knew it there were new faces in the buildings. Both of them seemed alright but Claire knew it would take time to get them settled in. With the upcoming trip, it seemed like a perfect time. Tas and Claire did some talking with the group and pulled some strings, getting each of the new comers tickets to join them at Disneyland. Would be a good chance for everyone to really get to know each other. Things seemed to be looking up.

That was until Tas was up and gone one morning. Claire originally thought she had been called into work, that happened a lot with Tas. She had messaged her but got nothing back. Wasn't uncommon, if things were hectic at the hospital it could take hours until she got a reply. Still one didn't come. After twelve hours Claire went up to the hospital but was informed that Tas had not been in at all and from what they had heard from the rumor mill was that she had put in for personal time off the night before and had no idea when she would return.

That wasn't like Tas, to up and leave with no word. Tas was always very careful; keeping in contact with people, letting them know what was up, the whole nine yards. Last time she had gone to the beach alone for a day she had left detailed instructions on how to reach her under various circumstances. That was for a day and she planned it out weeks in advance. Now, she was just gone?

The last ten days had Claire in a fit of worry. Even calling Tas's father to see if he had heard from her, no answer. Claire called her family back in Boston; wondering if maybe after everything that had gone down with Sam she decided to take a trip to see the one guy she knew would be happier than a pig in shit to see her; Murphy. No go, no one had seen her there either.

So when the text came in from Tas as she was prepping her bag for Disneyland she nearly jumped out the window to the street below. Barely able to contain herself she ran out the apartment, bags in hand; was nearly hit by a taxi as she dashed across the street. "I'm walking here!" she screamed before tearing back off and nearly tackling Tasha when she saw her sitting there, alive and breathing.

"Where the fuck have you..." Claire started before she leaned back from the hug and took a good look at Tas. She had lost weight, looked beyond tired, dark circles under her eyes and as if she had been crying the last week. "Tas... what happened?" she asked concerned.

---

---

Melrose sat in her computer chair, staring at both the text she received and the Disneyland ticket. She had barely even met her room mates or even had time to really talk with them, let alone form attachments to anyone, and yet here she was - going to Disneyland with a bunch of strangers. They had apparently saw it fit to invite her for reasons honestly beyond her, but when the ads of saying this was one of the most community-based apartments in San Fran, they weren't kidding! She had never been invited out of the blue like this. Still, she quietly wondered if they'd change their tune once they got to know her. It wasn't like Rose was a pain to be around or she was a terrible person, but it always seemed that she was a ghost, someone that was easily forgettable. She did promise Kass though.

Her eyes glazed over her packed bags, having done it the night before - she enjoyed being prepared ahead of time. So when the text came beeping across her phone (they had somehow convinced her to give up her phone number already), it was no surprise... only she wasn't sure who to go with or what car to hop in. She supposed, any would do? Goodness, she had never even been to Disneyland. What did one do there?



Rose did have her own car, but so did a ton of the others and if she could help it, she wanted to be a passenger - she hated driving for long periods of time. She locked her phone again and placed it against the table for a moment as she stood up, double checking she had everything - laptop included. Once she was satisfied, she drugged her bags downstairs and ended up on the sidewalk, awkwardly looking around and waiting. She had gone with a light blue t-shirt, a plain magenta skirt that fell to just above her knees, and sandals that wrapped around her ankles. She saw two women talking not too far from her - which she forgot the names of - but chose not to stand too close. It was a bad habit of hers or just something every introvert did, but she really wasn't the type to approach other people very well.

---

Echo’s apartment had never been so quiet for so long. For a week, it sat empty of life while both Tas and her practically took up residence at the hospital while she recovered. Then, when Echo did finally get home she was anything but talkative. She had pretty much refused to talk to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary and mostly kept to herself in her room, strumming gently on her guitar or finishing assignments for school on her desktop.

Echo had too much time to think about the accident and had gotten very little sleep over the week, reliving the wreck every time she closed her eyes or whenever there was a loud noise.

When she did finally come out of her bubble of a room, she spent her time playing her guitar and looking through old photos of various things; the day she met Dom on the ski hill and raced him down, the day she met Didi at college, the day she moved out of her home in San Diego and began her road trip up the coast to find a new place to live. Those were the days. Nothing but the sun, the sand and the open road ahead of her. No worries.

Eventually she had to talk. Both Jay and Tas were getting concerned and while truthfully, she was never in the mood to talk, her inner Canadian had to come out and she eventually came back to something resembling her old self. She began playing her guitar again and started teaching Jay as well, hoping to develop their relationship even further.

Jay had been worried. Ever since Echo moved back into the apartment with him, she had been silent. Deathly silent. He had watched her just sift through old pictures of her past life, seemingly reminiscing the memories. Sure she had begun to break out of her shell, teaching him guitar and small talk here and there but was that what he wanted? The most amazing girl he had ever met, reduced to a shell of her former self? He didn't like it at all. When she came back from the hospital, that was when it was really bad. She sat in her wheelchair, lonesome in her room. That was when he was really afraid, afraid of going in there and talking to her. To him, she seemed so… dead inside. Those soft, dough eyes were replaced by these cold, distant ones. And, even though he’s afraid to admit it, he wasn't sure if this relationship was going to work.

Was he going to hurt her more? The increasing amount of sessions with Tas had made him realise how much of a freak he really was. How unworthy of Echo he was. He wasn't no damn scientist, engineer, soldier. He was just some freak of nature. And damn did he hate it when he saw what he did to ruin this relationship. ’Great job Jay, ruined your bloody chance with her.’ As he watched her from the kitchen, looking out into the streets of L.A, he just sighed. He wasn't going to abandon her. Hell no he wasn't. It was his job to fix some bridges, not break them.

’Like you can fucking talk, dumbass. It was your fault.’ He was also afraid of his growing condition. He didn't know which thoughts were his anymore, his growing paranoia of almost everything and anything scared the shit out of him, hallucinations spooked him every now and then, the Other Guy visited everyday to give a daily dose of “kick-ass”. It was exhausting, this journey into madness. But he really couldn't give a shit anymore. Who the heck cared about two years from now? Instead, he placed the eggs on the plate with some of his homemade tocino. He turned the grill off and grabbed the steaming plate with one hand, another cleaning his apron and grabbing utensils. He put on his best smile and walked over to her, placing the delicious bundle of food on the table in front of her, giving Echo a small kiss on the lips. He felt a rumbling in his stomach as a pounding headache appeared. ”Hope ya enjoy the food, Ecks. I'll eat with you later, yeah? I just need to do something real quick.” She probably knew by this point, what he was doing before every meal. Why he hadn't been eating for the past week. As he stepped into the bathroom, he locked the door behind him and sat on the tiles, patiently waiting for another round of abuse to come his way. He would stay strong, he thought, for Echo. And as the first bout of coughing ensued, he begun to cry.

Echo smiled gently at him. She tried her hardest to make it look sincere but she still didn’t feel the same inside and the sleep deprivation didn’t help. She looked down at the plate and picked the fork up, prodding the contents of her plate idly, sighing gently to herself.

“Get it together girl, you need to eat.” She whispered to herself, stabbing the eggs and popping them into her mouth. Echo was not inspired in any way, shape or form. She ate the meal reluctantly; It wasn’t the fact it tasted bad, because it didn’t. No, she didn’t feel like doing much at all, even playing her guitar had became more of a chore than a hobby.

She turned her head a bit as she heard Jay coughing in the bathroom, shaking her head gently as she tried to imagine what he was going through. It had to be hell, judging by the fact that Tas was trying to help him. She looked down at her plate and closed her eyes, wondering if she had done the right thing those long weeks before, saying she loved Jay so quickly without hesitation or a second thought.

She grabbed her crutches from the side of the table before standing up from a half eaten plate of food and hobbled over to her guitar, collapsing into her desk chair with it. She slung the strap over her shoulder and and plugged the cable into her amp before giving it a short strum to judge the volume. Then, she began plucking a few very familiar notes and began to play.

---

---

”Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” There was one last heave, a sound of exertion coming from his mouth before he vomited one last time. There was blood all over the floor, his vision red with anger. This was one of his lighter attacks but it still hurt him, especially now that he hadn't had any food for what seemed like an age. His insomnia kicked in about two weeks ago, the hallucinations coming right after. The sessions with Tas had helped but it was nowhere near enough. It would take time for him to heal. Holding back a sob, he wiped the tiled floor, making sure he left no traces of blood and bile.

He clumsily opened the bathroom door and was going to limp back to Echo but heard a very distinct knock on the door. Scratching his head, he wiped some blood from his lips and walked slowly towards the door, straightening his clothes. ”I'm coming!” He struggled with walking after the attacks but it wasn't anything he hadn't faced beforehand. Opening the door, he smiled at the delivery man. ”Hello there, what can I do for you?”

”I have a personal letter and package for… One Jejomar Salinas? I believe this is for you sir.” Raising an eyebrow, he took both and nodded a quick thanks before closing the door, not even recognizing the former homeless guy turned delivery man. Opening it, he smiled. It was a collection of photos from the Director and a copy of the magazines he promised to send him and Eva. Walking quickly towards Echo, he saw her playing guitar. He tapped her shoulder and gave her the letter, grinning like a maniac. He hoped that this would lighten the heavy mood in the air. ”Look through ‘em Ecks.” There was a sadistic side of him that knew that by giving her half-naked photos of him, she would surely go red as a beet. Unfortunately for her, that side was winning.

Echo looked up at him with a suspicious smirk, trying to read him before she looked at the contents of the envelope. She was good at reading people, enough so that she’d made it a game when she was working at the Bean. Echo would try and figure out how people were feeling and sometimes even why they were based on their emotions. She never knew if she was right, but it passed the time regardless.

She took the envelope and opened it up very cautiously, noting that Tas had been pranked not all that long ago. Granted she’d never found out who had done it, but you could never be too careful. She pulled out the contents and after taking in the initial shock, Echo’s cheeks, just as predicted in Jay’s twisted little head, went as red as a fire engine before she broke down into a fit of giggles. She laughed long and hard, something she’d done since before the accident. She continued to look through them, still shaking with laughter and a large smile plastered across her face.

Jay smiled at her, blushing a little at the first picture. It was his most embarrassing photo, the peeking over the shoulder shot. It almost made him grab the photo out of her hands and throw it out. But seeing that laugh. Her smile. The joy that just seemed to surround her in that moment. He almost melted at the sight as a sudden warmness began sparking in his ole’ little heart.

It was that moment she forgot about all the bad stuff between them, all of the guilt, the blame and the doubt, and remembered the happiness and love between them. She looked up at Jay with the biggest smile and stood up on her good leg, gently kissing him on the lips, drawing it out for a good few seconds.

His eyes widened slightly before he squeezed them shut. His hands crept behind her back, pushing them together as subtle as he could, loving the feeling of their bodies wrapping together. A sharp spike of heat, a large release of emotions. He felt her frustrations let out in those few golden seconds, his response was a quiet moan in response. There was a brief touch of tongues before they separated, eyes opening, a strand of saliva connecting the two before being quickly wiped away. Dark looked at light, hot breaths tickling, a blush on each of their faces. He smiled at her, a true smile this time. Nothing fake. No lies. Just pure happiness. Pressing her a little closer, he raised an eyebrow. ”Did ya like ‘em?”

Echo met his eyes with her soft, welcoming doe eyes in response, a gentle smile spread across her face. She looked down for a second before nodding, her cheeks still bright red. “I don’t even wanna know why….don’t spoil it.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully before taking a seat again, letting her good leg rest. She smirked and looked back up at him, having thought up a semi-decent remark in response to the pictures “I hope you don’t expect pictures like that of me any time soon.” She smirked at him, her eyes playful, perhaps a slight hint of mischief to them.

He smirked, inappropriate images popping into mind. There was one thing he had to thank the Other Guy for. The boost of confidence was amazing! Before he could respond with a sly comeback of his own, something interrupted their moment.

She looked at her phone as it buzzed with Tas’s text, then followed by Rose and Belle’s. It dawned on her that she’d never packed a bag for the Disneyland trip and her eye’s widened “OH crap! I need to pack!”

She quickly grabbed her crutches and hobbled over to her room, getting down on all fours to scrounge up clothing, phone chargers, her camera and various other little things. She then grabbed her new laptop that she’d been able to pay for courtesy of her insurance company, along with the rest of her usual everyday carry stuff, stuffed it into a duffle bag and called it a day. She wandered over to the bathroom, somehow managing to carry her bag at the same time as walking with crutches, to collect her toiletries, which she promptly also stuffed in her bag. “There.” She wiped a hand across her forehead and looked back to Jay “You ready?”

”Ya know you could’ve let me help you. And yes, I’ve packed my stuff. Let’s head downstairs to meet Tas and rest of ‘em before I have to lug the stuff to my car.” Jay smiled at her and gently set down her bags on the ground. He clutched her crutches in his armpit and swept Echo off her feet as soft and gentle as he could. Ignoring any cries of mercy, he kicked open the door and walked down the stairs, smirking in delight. It was a good day to be Jay.

Echo yelped lightly as she was picked up, but broke into another fit of giggles after realising what he was doing. She adjusted herself slowly to make her leg comfortable but otherwise didn’t struggle and leaned up to peck Jay on the lips before they left the apartment. After getting through the door, she leaned back and began her attempt at locking the door upside down, to which she surprisingly succeeded in doing. She looked up to Jay, the biggest smile on her face. She was herself again, something that would be extremely evident in comparison to the empty shell she had been only hours before.

They walked into the Bean together, Jay still holding Echo up in the air. He flirted with her a little, kissing her on the forehead. They parted eyes to see Rose first, Tas and then CLaire. With a big smile on their faces, they greeted them with a happy ”Hello!” He couldn’t care less what the rest of the people in the cafe was thinking. He was happy, she was happy and they didn’t give a shit.

Interacting With: @lydyn via text
Location: Alex's room

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Alex had been rather surprised by the invite. It wasn’t the fact that he barely knew any of them that made it so surprising. It was the fact that they barely even knew him and they still asked. So how could he refuse? Those were his thoughts the day he was invited. His boss allowed him the few days off. Which everyone but Alex would have expected. As it was only his first year, he thought he’d have to work the whole year around before earning a holiday. However, he worked more after-hours than all the rest of the programming team combined. And that was without counting the unofficial hours. Hours he worked back at home till midnight. It was safe to say Alex was on good terms with the team and the boss. He just didn’t realize it yet.

“I told you. If any of the servers go down, I’ll fix them. Just relax back at Disneyland.” Alex was on the phone with Matt, literally his oldest friend, while he was packing his bag. Well, packing might have been a nice word for throwing and pushing it all in, hoping he’d have enough space. Alex was not a tidy person. “Okay, but if anything happens. Just call me okay. Those little babies are fickle like hell and-“he was going to continue his rant about how unpredictable they were, but Matt broke him off: “Alex, I know you’re so damn superstitious but nothing is going to happen. Just enjoy your time off.“ Matt didn’t give him the time to explain why he was so damn superstitious about the servers. Matt, who heard the reasons a thousand times, hung up on him. With a deep sigh he cramped the final shirt in his bag and managed to close it.

Then Tas’ text came in. To Alex, Nat seemed the most mysterious person there was in the apartment. That was mostly because she wasn’t at the apartment. He heard her name quite often when others talked. Apparently she just vanished for a few weeks. To Alex, such behavior was extremely odd. He had too much that tied him down. Between the servers and his friends back overseas, he would not be able to just vanish one day. Too much could and would go wrong. But on the other side, he did understand. Sometimes he wished he could just vanish for 2 weeks and think about himself. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even Matt, but he still thought about Julie quite often. He hadn't given it time to process. Mostly because he was afraid in what mess he might turn if he did. He couldn't collapse into a devestated mess again. Not with everything that happened around him.

Rose’s text followed soon after. Rose was new, just like Alex. She asked if she could go with someone. He figured that she may not have made many friends yet, just like him. Back home he often saw how the new people often stick together, bonding over their newness before they start making friends with the larger, older group of friends. A massive pack that knows each other always looks less daunting when you’re not going at them completely alone.

---

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Four weeks is a long time, Connor was starting to realize.

Well, it was closer to five or six. He wasn't thinking about the time past since Echo's car wreck, Connor was thinking about the time that had passed since he'd last gotten laid. This was hard, and it didn't help that Eva was possibly the biggest unintention tease of all time. At least he was about to head to Disneyland, he always loved Disneyland. There was definitely something to be said about getting fucked up and following people in bodysuits that looked like his childhood icons. The only thing the park was missing was a Baloo character wandering the streets.

He wasn't sure if anyone else had ever been, but this was going to be Connor's third time. He knew the place like the back of his hand and planned to take advantage of this to make sure that Eva had the best possible time. Connor loved the fam and the team they'd built, but he could frankly give a fuck about no one else. Eva was the focus, for sure.

It only helped that she'd moved in with him, and they saw each other every day. It was weird, being in a real relationship, but so far, so good. Connor was doing his best to keep things steady and admirable. Tas helped him from time to time when he stumbled, and he did stumble; he was used to one night stands and fuck buddies, not cuties that hung on his arm every day.

It was different, for sure, but a good different. Like when Sammy Hagar took over David Lee Roth's duties as the front man for Van Halen. Wait. What? That just was not accurate. Connor thought for a moment before deciding on a different analogy: Bon Scott being replaced by Brian Johnson in AC/DC. Different situation entirely, but certainly better than Sammy Hagar.

"Holy shit, I hate Sammy Hagar." Connor muttered, shoveling another spoonful of Honey Nut Cheerios into his mouth, crunching on it as he looked down at his phone, the group text buzzing.

From: The Homies

Back, at the Mighty Bean. We're leaving for Disneyland today right? Who's riding with me?

Connor ate the last bite, then slurped the milk down before sliding his finger around on the phone to punch out a reply.

To: The Homies

me + eva = alone. ill lead the charge since probably only belle knows where the place is. gud 2 know youre back tas we'll catch up later.

With that, Connor stood up and put the bowl and spoon in the sink, before yelling out at Eva. "Eva! Grab my Van Halen CD! Not the shitty 5150 with Sammy fuckin' Hagar, either! The original! And Back in Black, too!"

Yeah, fuck Sammy Hagar.

"Coming!" The girl cried from inside the bedroom. One thing the girl was bad at, was at planning. She had been aware of the Disneyland plan since Natalya's birthday party, but only now did she bother to start packing up. It was a miracle that she was even half-way ready, even if they were to leave soon. Eva could feel her phone buzz in her pocket multiple times, knowing that it was probably the group chat exploding. Throwing the last of the pyjama shorts she owned into the case, Eva could only thank the stars that the trip was only for three days and not anything longer - at least she wouldn't have to worry about carrying too much clothes.

With her packing sorted, the girl clapped her hands a few times, as if applauding herself before opening Connor's closet door. Kneeling down, Eva found Connor's stash of music collection - all meticulously organised with care. It was cute, really, how Connor kept his music sorted so perfectly. "Van Halen..." She muttered to herself, searching for the correct CD before pulling it out and standing up.

Bringing the small case from the bed after zipping it up, Eva dragged it out of the bedroom and towards the front door. with the CD case in her other hand, "Are you ready to go? Do you know the directions? Wait- Have we got enough food for the trip?" Eva asked Connor, heading towards him to wrap her arms around his chest. It was these little actions that Eva liked doing the most: cuddling, holding hands, hugging. It made her feel like she was in an actual relationship.

Well, of course she was in an actual relationship. And with such a stunning guy no less. She had an idea that this 'relationship' was not something that Connor was used to, so Eva didn't want to push him too much - the same way he wasn't pushing her for sex either. Eva smiled to herself, cheeks flushing slightly as she pressed her head against his chest in a hug.

Hugs were nice, she decided. Especially if it was with her boyfriend.

Connor glanced at the CD Eva had in her hands, ensuring that it was the proper one before he slipped his arms around her and kissed her head. “Hey, baby.” He whispered, letting her snuggle against him and placing his chin on her head. He was learning how to hug properly; it was harder than he’d thought, there were lots of technicalities and things he was supposed to do, and things he wasn’t supposed to do. For example, when she was cutely cuddling him as she was currently, Connor was not supposed to touch her butt.

Which kind of sucked, after all, Eva had a very nice butt. You didn’t become a model for nothing, after all. Looking down at her as she talked, asking questions about directions, if he was ready, if they had enough food… Connor decided that one little butt touch was certainly called for. He slowly slid his hands down her back and to her butt and did just that, giving her a little squeeze as he smiled down at her, flashing pearly white teeth. “Princess, don’t you worry about any of that stuff, okay? Daddy’s got everything under control. There’s snacks in my car, always is. Plus, I put water bottles in earlier while you were picking your outfits out.”

Eva smiled, pressing a small kiss at Connor's jaw after leaning up on her tip toes. "Sweet, I really can't wait to get going." Eva told him, "you can probably tell that I've never been to Disneyland." Pressing another kiss to his jaw - seriously, it was quite difficult to do so when your boyfriend was a giant compared to you.

He gave her a quick kiss then slid his hands off of her, taking a step back. He shouldered his duffelbag and lifted up her suitcase. “Alright, babe. Lets get down to the shop, before we’re late and Tas complains.” Connor slipped past her, slapping her bum as he passed by, looking over his shoulder and grinning dumbly as he winked before laughing, stepping out of the door.

Butts were nice, he decided. Especially if it was his girlfriend's.

Eva let out a squeak, giving him an exaggerated pout as he slapped her bum. Seriously, it was like that boy had some fetish for butts. Eva laughed, shaking her head before grabbing her small travel case, that was still beside the front door, and followed behind Connor. She reasoned that it would be easier to shove the suitcase in the car before visiting Tas and the gang in the Bean. Speaking of Tas... "She's back?" Eva asked. When Eva found out that Tas simply disappeared for a bit, it was worrying to say the least. Sure, the girls weren't the closest of friends, but Tas was still an important member of the squad and Eva still considered her a friend.

"Yeah, she is. Or at least, she says she is. She texted me to say she's at the Mighty Bean." Connor explained, heading out the door. "Alright, go over to the Bean. I'll meet you there." He explained, dipping off toward the parking lot.

He headed over to his car and tossed his duffelbag, and her suitcase into the trunk of his car alongside his own suitcase, then turned around to head toward the Mighty Bean.

Eva watched for a moment as Connor slipped out, towards the parking lot, before Eva entered the Bean. Finding some of the old gang - Tas, Claire, Jay and Echo so far, along with the newer additions - Rose and Alex, Eva's smile widened.

This was going to be a good day.

---

---

It was only brief moments after that she had put her phone away into her purse, which was slung across her shoulder, that it buzzed again. Glancing over to the other two talking at the table, she slipped her pink-cased phone into her hand and checked the new message curiously.

From Belle:
To Everyone:

Dibs. I call dibs. I called them first. She’s riding with me.

Melrose stared at the text message for a few moments. Someone was already so eager to ride with her? Well, at least it was another woman - that she couldn't complain about. Though with her chances, it was just an overly friendly part of the group - like that one friend who wanted to make friend with everyone and saw Rose as a potential new 'girlfriend' to chat about boys about - oh how wrong that was going to be! Still, it made her feel a little bit more comfortable. Though soon enough, another text came in, this time to her privately.

From Alex:
To Rose:
You can ride with me if you want.

For a moment, all Rose could do is tilt her head in thought and be thankful the poor guy wasn't right in front of her as a wash of expressions crossed her face. Mostly, she felt uncomfortable by the private invitation by Alex. Without knowing if he was just naive or trying to pull a fast one, there was no way in hell she was jumping in a car with a guy - alone. For her safety and sanity, she assumed no one else was going to be riding with Alex. It only took a split second after that to decide that her response would be a flat no. She didn't want to be mean though, but even the idea of riding with a super friendly, boy-gossiping girl was a million times more preferable.

To Alex:
From Rose:

Belle apparently has 'dibs' on me already. Thanks for the offer though!

Sure her thoughts were a bit more blunt, like, 'no thanks, I don't want to ride with a guy alone - even if I did like guys,' but she wanted to be nice. Who knows, maybe he really was just trying to be nice? It was a sweet, but definitely naive gesture in her mind - they were strangers after all.

---

---

---

Tasha ignored Claire's questions and looked down at her phone as messages came in, just shaking her head slightly before pocketing it once again. Seems people had their carpools worked out for the most part. She knew she should have figured they would for the most part since she had been AWOL for the last nearly two weeks. She was surprised she had actually made it back in time, though in all honesty the more surprising thing was that she had even come back. A lot had happened while she was gone and none of it were things she wanted to talk about.

Tas was good at not letting people in but being there for those in the group as best she could. Nat might have been looked at as the motherly one in the group but when it came down to it Tasha was the one people leaned on when things went wrong. People got attacked Tas stepped in, people got hurt Tas was there, people needed an ear Tas was there, people needed advice Tas was there. She was always there, for everyone but herself and she really didn't let anyone be there for her. She was a Doctor, it was her job to take care of her patients, not the patients job to take care of her.

"Tas, what's going on?" Claire reached over and took the coffee cup from Tas and snapped her fingers in front of Docs eyes. Tas shot her an eat shit and die look before she snatched her coffee back. Never touch Tas's coffee. Heroine addicts were kinder when you took their stash than Tas was when someone messed with her coffee.

"Nothing to worry about." Tas's voice was flat before she took another drink of the room temperature black liquid. Everyone had their quirks, hers was coffee at room temp. She hated it with sugar, with milk or cream, hot or cold.

"Nothing to worry about?" Claire scoffed as she leaned back in a seat and crossed her arms over her chest, cocking her head to the side slightly. "You vanish without word for weeks. Scare the crap out myself and the group not knowing what is going on. Then when you finally show back up you look like you have been on a bender for the last month and expect me to just accept nothing to worry about? Have you taken a look at yourself in the mirror lately?"

"Listen, I don't owe you or anyone else an explanation." Tas voice was gruff as she leaned closer and hissed her words to Claire under her breath. "So fucking drop it or I'll drop you so hard it'll knock the Irish right out of your ass."

"Who the fuck do you think you are talking to? I'm not some damned stranger bitch," Claire countered as her eyes widened at Tas's threat. She was trying to keep her voice down but the more the two went back and forth the more their whispers turned into those type of whispers drunks give. Ones they think are quiet but are anything but. "Now, what the fuck is going on?"

"None of your fucking business," Tas spat from behind slightly cracked lips and eyes surrounded by dark circles. Tas had a hard enough time talking about things when things were good and right then it was clear they were anything but. She didn't want to discuss what had happened over the last couple of weeks, much less right there in front of everyone. Standing up she shouldered her bag and went to take a hold of her luggage to take an exit from the coffee shop and just go wait in her car until the group headed out. She looked around as more of the group started to come in and grumbled to herself, trying to plaster on a smile but it came off more like Wednesday Addams trying to smile; it was down right creepy, especially with the weary eyes and crackled lips and weight loss. Claire was beginning to wonder if she actually was recovering from some drug induced bender.

"The hell it ain't," Claire snapped as she grabbed Tas's luggage and pulled it out of Docs reach. "Now tell me what is going on with you or else!"

"Or else what?" Tas's eyes narrowed at the comment.

"You know perfectly well what I am talking about, now spill it!"

"Oh, so you'll black mail me just to get what you want? Some fucking friend."

"That's not what I meant Tas, I'm just worried."

The girls voices were anything but quiet at this point, both in each others faces as Tas snatched her luggage back from Claire. They looked like they were both about to beat the crap out of each other. Claire was knowing for throwing a punch when the situation called for it, even when it didn't. Tas on the other hand, while brash was not known for fighting physically outside of a practice ring. Really wasn't her thing but right then it looked like she was really reconsidering the verbal path.

"Fine, you want to know? Can't give me sometime to deal with shit and just let it go until I am ready to talk? Fucking fine, I'll tell you. Everett died." Tas's voice was cold as ice as she spoke and her hands were trembling.

"You're dad? Oh god Tas...I'm so sorry... I didn't.." Claire began but she had no chance to finish as the balled up fist of Dr. Brinne connected with jaw out of no where. Claire stumbled back and landed on her ass, only to have Tas grabbing her shirt as she stood over her and getting right into her face.

"No, you didn't. It wasn't your business. But no you had to push, you had to do what you always fucking do Claire. You didn't need to know for me. You needed to know for you. You were worried, okay I get that. But I am here now, alive, breathing. That was all you really needed to know. That I was still alive, that I was still fighting. Well now you know, I am and if you ever push me like that again I won't stop after one punch. You'll be drinking your supper through a straw for the next six months thanks to your jaw being wired shut!" Tas spat nearly in tears but holding them back. Shoving Claire back as she let go she snatched up her things and stormed out of the coffee shop, leaving Claire there on the floor stunned with a trickle of blood clinging to the side of her mouth.

Claire sighed as she lowered her head and wiped the blood away with the back of her hand. "Way to go Claire..." she muttered; scolding herself. That explained the disappearance but only to Chicago, why did Tas have tags from Boston on her luggage? Tas made her way to her car and tossed her things in the back before sitting in the driver seat and putting her shades on. She just sat there staring off into the distance, maybe she shouldn't have come back.

Interacting With: @Lady Amalthea via text
Location: Alex's room

---

Alex knew who Belle was. Sort of. She was his roommate but with the busy days he ran he seldom saw her. It was almost impossible for him to realize that Belle had ‘dibs’ on Rose, but he was okay with it. As was evident by the smile on his face. Apparently at least one person was getting absorbed by the group from the very start. He had little doubt that at some point he’d get his place among the people too. But if his past was any indication of the future, then it would take just a little more time than Rose required.

He put the phone away and grabbed his closed bag. His attire was as typical Alex as it ever could be. A loose fitting jeans, nothing tight or showing his rather athletic figure. The gray t-shirt was a little tighter, hinting and the muscles underneath it. But he doubted that anyone would see him in just a t-shirt and jeans. Over it, he kept quite a baggy hoody. It completely hid his shape. It was far from fashionable attire, but it was very comfortable and that was all he ever needed. His short hair was a somehow still a mess, and no amount of combing would help it. The 3 days old beard did fit him well though.

His keys were on his desk, next to a PC. The thing was rarely shut down. Even at night it was running, constantly get fed statics and diagnostics from the company’s servers and programs. At night he simply turned off the screen. But now he felt obligated to turn the poor thing down. After a quick scan of the stats he finally shut it down. Suddenly the room felt a lot quieter than he remember. Even though the computer made nearly no sound at all. He then grabbed his keys and bags and walked towards the door.

But stopped right in front of it. If he was going with his own car, he’d be alone in it for a few hours. Only then did he realize he hadn’t been alone, undistracted, for more than an hour or two. One name flashed through his head: Julie. Her name would go through his head a lot more often if he didn’t do anything about it. Going alone was not an option. With a quick move he pulled his phone out again. Tas. It was a longshot. He didn’t know the girl, which wasn’t really a problem. But she didn’t know him. That did feel like an issue. Never the less, she was his only escape now, so he just took a leap of faith.

---

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---

Tasha hit the steering wheel of her PT Cruiser with the palm of her hand as she sat there frustrated as hell and pretty much at her wits end. Normally she would have felt bad for knocking Claire on her rear-end in a fit of rage like that but right then she didn't. Sure Claire was known for pushing someone's buttons and going too far but normally that didn't end with Tasha cold cocking her right in face. Today it had but Tasha was at her wits end. Everything that could go wrong lately was, in all respects, and she really couldn't deal with Claire and her brazen attitude right then. She really couldn't take much right then. She felt as if she trying to keep from falling over the edge of a cliff and this whole group trip was not making things easier. Sure she wanted to relax and have some fun but a lot of the group didn't get along these day; well at least one was still an issue and Tas didn't know if she had it in her to keep things calm right now; in fact she was more in the category of more likely to start stuff than stop it.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. She knew how much this trip meant to everyone, especially Connor. Which was funny since it was Nat's late birthday present but he had been the one to foot the bill for everyone, it was his plan, his idea and now that it was finally happening the last thing she wanted to do was cause even more problems for her friend. Even though he was with Eva now and they were no longer doing the whole Netflix and Chill thing she still adored Connor in many ways. He was one of her closer friends and they still hung out. She was even warming up to Eva and happy for the both of them. It was nice seeing Connor coming out of his anti-relationship shell and Eva was the reason for that. She respected the girl for making him happy.

Hearing her phone go off she cringed, she really didn't want to talk to anyone right then and she half figured it was Claire trying to either make amends for pushing Tasha over the line or to bitch at her some more. Pulling it out she unlocked the screen and perked a brow when she saw who it was from; Alex.



Well that was unexpected. She sat there pondering if she invite him to join her for the ride out to Disneyland. On one hand she really needed some time to herself but perhaps she had had a bit too much alone time over the last few days. Alex was new to the group and wasn't privy to as much of the drama that had occurred lately as she had been. Plus, did she really want to drive the whole way by herself and let her mind wander to Sam? That entire ordeal still stung. Taking a deep breath she sent him a text back.



She hit send and slipped her phone into its charging station attached to her console before plugging it into her stereo system. She would rather have a play list than deal with what ever multitude of radio stations they may have to deal with during the four hour drive. Leaning back in her seat she pursed her lips. She wasn't planning on any small talk during the trip but she really didn't know anything about Alex, so it was really all they had to start. Oh well, small talk was better than deep meaningful talk right then. She had had enough of that lately.