mentaly in Care-A-Lot

Adjusting was a difficult thing for anyone.

It presented itself differently for different people, and for you, it had been somewhat challenging in the first few months after arriving at Hawkins. You’d been born and raised in California, and you were used to the sun and the temperate weather. You were used to being able to go to the beach when you wanted to and being around people who you had grown up with.

Things changed when your mother met someone. He wasn’t a pleasant man. You were between Max and Billy in terms of age, so you had some understanding of what was happening at home, but you didn’t know how to deal with it. All you knew was that you were someone who was used to helping people; you weren’t one to allow someone to suffer for no reason when you believed that there was something that you could do about it. You’d been the one to try and help Billy, even though he bore no real relation to you as anything other than a step-brother instead of someone related by blood.

The first time that you ever saw him being berated, the first time that you saw things get physical, you tried to interject; there was only so much a fifteen-year-old girl could do, though. Billy didn’t want you to protect him, anyway. Maybe because he was too prideful to admit that he was being abused, or maybe because he didn’t want you to have to deal with what he dealt with. Either way, there was little you could do to help.

So you adjusted to Hawkins, instead.

Max and Billy both had a hard time adjusting for different reasons. They made friends after a bit, but it was clear that neither of them really wanted to be in the new place that they were in. But you made peace with it. You were on the straight-and-narrow. Your grades were top-notch, you were respectful and polite, and you ended up trying out for the volleyball team and the cheer squad.

While you were studying and joining clubs, it became somewhat apparent that everything in Hawkins wasn’t as it seemed. You were involved with something called the Upside Down, something that resulted in everyone you knew nearly dying before your step-brother actually did die. Once Billy was gone, so was the man who was footing most of the bills. You ended up moving into a trailer park with your sister and mother, but neither of them was really taking it well.

Not you, though. You kept up appearances and spent most nights sleeping over at Chrissy Cunningham’s house when you were allowed to. But through it, you became one of the more respected, popular girls at school. People liked you because you were nice and normal, and people questioned how you were related to Max, who had become more reclusive since seeing Billy die.

It wasn’t that you weren’t affected by it. Seeing anyone die, let alone your own step-brother, and then having to move and keep the secret of what really happened at Starcourt Mall that night was hard. But you were in therapy, you didn’t pull away from the people who were close to you, either. You let them help you, let them comfort you when they figured that you were probably upset. You let people in while Max pushed people away, and that made it different for you when everything went down.

But there was some context needed, really.

The thing was, when Billy was still alive, you weren’t really allowed to be around boys. He was only two years older than you, but he was still older than you, and you were still in the same school. He didn’t trust boys around you, so you were mainly only around the girls at school. Chrissy was one of your closest friends. She was sweet, she helped you adjust to being new to the cheer team, and she helped you practice when you were having trouble with some harder moves that everyone had trouble with in the beginning.

She also happened to know that you had a massive crush on Jason Carver.

It had come out one night when you were at her house. She was close friends with Jason. The two had dated a few years back, but she said that they had decided that they were better off as friends. It wasn’t that they didn’t care about each other, because they did, it was just that they had gotten what kind of care they felt wrong when they started dating. So, when you were talking about him, and you got all mousy, it wasn’t hard for her to figure out that you liked him.

She knew that you had to keep it under the radar if you were going to be talking to him, so as to not upset Billy, so she helped you keep it a secret from him when she played matchmaker and tried to get you two together without anyone else present. Through her matchmaking scheme, you did end up being close friends with Jason. But the summer had been difficult with Billy dying, and fall had been mainly spent getting used to everything again. And then the year was just going by so fast.

You and Jason were both still deciding where you wanted to go to college, and that meant that neither of you knew if you were going to see each other ever again after the school year ended. It almost felt counter-productive to admit that you liked him when you knew that you had such limited time together before graduating, but you did find yourself hoping that he would ask you to prom.

The night of the championship game, you had ended up going back to Benny’s old diner with him and the team to celebrate their win. It was the first time that Hawkins had won in years, and it was all thanks to Lucas Sinclair, someone whom you had grown to know well because of the Upside Down. It was nice seeing him fit in, but it was mostly nice being able to spend the night with Jason.

Things weren’t so nice in the morning, though.

The news of Chrissy came a little bit after everyone woke up, but something seemed off. The most obvious answer was that it had something to do with Eddie. He was the last person there with her, and he had run away after she died. There was no one else there, and no one else who knew Chrissy. But why would he do something like that? If you weren’t somewhat (vaguely) familiar with him, maybe you wouldn’t give it any more thought because, to an outsider, it seemed like a pretty clean and dry case. The older boy, who happened to be a drug dealer on the side, had a dead girl in his trailer and was on the run. Sure. Easy. But it wasn’t that easy when you knew about the Upside Down and when you knew that a death like that just wasn’t physically possible.

But it was like Jason had gotten some kind of tunnel vision. It was the easiest answer, and one of his best friends was dead. He needed someone to blame, and he didn’t know anything about the Upside Down. On the one hand, maybe it would be better if he stayed like that. Knowing about the Upside Down put people in danger, people like Billy, like Chrissy. You didn’t want him to be in danger. But Chrissy didn’t know about the Upside Down, neither did Fred, and yet they had both just died in the same way, and there was no way that Eddie could have done anything to Fred - he didn’t even know Fred.

All of that could only really mean that he wasn’t the one to do it, and even if he did somehow develop serial killer tendencies overnight, the things that had happened weren’t physically possible for one human being to do to another human being. Something else was happening, and based upon everything that you knew, that something else had to do with the Upside Down. This meant that Jason was putting himself in harm’s way every single day just because he didn’t know what was happening.

While the others might be somewhat okay with that, they also didn’t really know him. But you did. You were close with him, you spent a lot of time with him, and the idea of him even being involved with this was something that put you off. But he was actively trying to hunt Eddie down, and that meant that he was somehow getting himself tangled up in the Upside Down. So, while the others were investigating a lead on someone named Victor Creel, you were looking for Jason to see if you could try to reason with him.

The words of your sister rang in your ears as you sat across from him. He was partially ready for Chrissy’s funeral, his hands adjusting his tie while you made sure that your hair was in place. But you knew that you needed to say something, you needed to do something. But Max had made a good point earlier - what if he just doesn’t believe you? What if you go out of your way to tell him the truth, and he thinks that you’re insane and ends up getting himself killed anyway?

But he’s willing to believe in the supernatural, isn’t he? He believes that Eddie’s ‘satanic cult’ is somehow behind all of this, so clearly he’s willing to suspend the element of disbelief at least a little bit; otherwise, he wouldn’t be getting involved with this at all.

“Can you help me with this?” Your eyes left your hair as you heard Jason speak from across the room. He seemed to have given up on his tie, a sadness in his eyes that lingered even when they connected with yours in the mirror. Had Jason ever lost someone he cared about before? You were almost tempted to believe that he hadn’t, and now he was experiencing all new emotions for the first time.

Moving to stand in front of him, your fingers wrapped around his tie as you started to do it for him. You’d seen Jason with them on before, but it was possible that he was just too upset to do it right now or that he usually had someone do it for him.

“Doesn’t feel real that we’re going to her funeral, you know? I mean, I know that she’s dead but- it just sucks.”

“I know, I-”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say that to you. I know what you’ve been through.”

It hadn’t been even a year since you saw Billy die. As far as everyone in the town knew, he had gotten you and Max out of the mall and ended up dying in the flames. In reality, he had been the one to take the brunt of the attack from the Mind Flayer. But people couldn’t know that there was a Mind Flayer, so the fire excuse was just something that had to stick.

“It’s okay. Just because my step-brother died doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to be upset about our friend dying.” Your voice was soft, gentle. “She was my best friend, it doesn’t feel right that I’m not with her right now but… here we are.”

You adjusted his collar around the tie once it was on properly, smoothing down his suit before looking at him. His features were always so perfect, even the birthmark on the side of his nose made you feel all soft inside. Jason was almost too perfect, too pretty, but you could never get tired of watching him.

“I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

He let you take his hand, let you bring him to the bed so you could sit down next to each other while you tried to broach the subject that you were trying to bring up. You had to tell him about the Upside Down; there had to be some way. But everything felt insane. Was it really any more insane to trade one monster that you can’t really see right now to thinking that Eddie Munson was possessed by some sort of demon that gave him the ability to murder people without touching them?

It was all insane - you just needed him to see that your insanity was the real one.

“I… um- there’s-so… Billy didn’t die in a fire.”

“The mall burned, though. Did-”

“It was… there’s this… this thing. You know the curse, like everyone keeps saying that we’re cursed and that people are always dying in this town and stuff?”

“Yeah, but-”

“And the girl with the superpowers that people kept talking about but everyone decided had to be fake?”

“I… yeah.”

“It wasn’t Eddie that killed Chrissy, it was something else. The same thing that killed Barb and Billy and everyone else who’s died recently. It keeps happening, and the same thing that happened to Chrissy is happening to my sister. Something picked her. There was… she was seeing these things in the last couple of days she was alive. Like… clocks and stuff. There was this grotesque-looking creature that she told me about that was like- shaming her and stuff. Making her sad, miserable, and scared. And now she’s dead, and the same kind of thing is happening to Max, but she’d got her music, so she’s okay for now.”

“I don’t understand. Eddie was the last person with her.”

“Yeah, because of the thing. She was seeing this thing, and it was making her so anxious on top of everything she was going through with her parents, and she went to Eddie for drugs but-”

“Have you seen him?”

You were quiet for a minute, tapping your fingers on your leg before relenting. “Yeah.” You admitted, keeping your voice low. “I know where he is, but I know he didn’t do it. He ran because he thought it was a ghost or whatever, but it wasn’t a ghost. It was… I have-”

Letting go of his hand, you moved to pull up your cardigan’s sleeve so he could see the giant slash marks on your forearm. The scar was unnatural, like some sort of small dinosaur had done it rather than an animal or something of that nature. You’d covered them up from the moment that you got them fighting against one of those creatures because they looked so awful, but you’d show them to Jason if you had to.

“One of these things almost killed me, and you have to at least admit that this shit doesn’t look like anything you’ve ever seen before.”

Jason’s hands were gentle on your arm, inspecting the scar tissue as though it was the first time he was seeing your skin. He’d noticed that you always covered up your arms, but he figured that it was just some unfounded insecurity that you had, so he never mentioned it to you. When you refused to get in the pool during a party he was having, he almost tried to talk to you about it, but he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, so he never brought it up to you.

“Listen, I know it sounds insane, but it’s not any more insane than thinking that Eddie Munson has superpowers that he uses for evil. There’s a thing, a terrible, terrible thing. And I never told you because I didn’t want you to end up-”

Now you did choke up a bit, your face turning away from him. Everyone who knew was in constant danger; your sister could die if something went wrong in what you were doing, and your step-brother was already dead. Your mom didn’t know what was going on, but just the fact that she had lost so much was making everything a little bit more difficult for her than it needed to be. She hated being in the trailer park, and she hated being in Hawkins now that she had lost the person who had her move here in the first place.

“End up what?” His hand had moved from your arm at some point, one remaining there and caressing your skin with his thumb in a comforting sort of way, while the other turned your head so you were looking at him. “Dead?”

“Yeah, dead. And now… now it’s choosing people so randomly. Chrissy and Fred didn’t know about this, and Eddie was never involved in this stuff before. And it’s like you’re in danger anyway, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. I can’t lose you, I can’t. I can lose a lot, but not you.”

Jason had always meant more to you than most people did, but that was something that you tended not to share. Sure, Chrissy knew you had a crush on him and teased you a little bit for it, but it was more than just a crush.

“You won’t, okay? I believe you. But I need to keep you safe, too. So if you want to go be with your sister after the funeral, you can be. But I want to come with you.”

“No, Jason-”

“What if you’re with her and it picks me just because you said something? What if it’s after the people you care about? I want to come with you, so let me.”

The thing was, he wasn’t entirely wrong. Chrissy was your best friend, and Max was your sister. The Upside Down had killed your step-brother, too. But Fred felt like an outlier, someone who was close with Nancy. Maybe it was punishing the entire Party for standing up against it - maybe he would be next, and maybe it wouldn’t be drawn out like Chrissy was.

“Fine, okay. You can come with me, but don’t get yourself hurt. Promise me that you’re not going to get yourself hurt.”

“I promise, but you need to promise me the same thing.”

Your eyes searched his for any sort of deception, but you found nothing. “Okay, yeah, I promise too.”

So you went with him to the funeral, and afterwards you had to surprise everyone when you showed up with Jason Carver in tow. You had known that they would be gathered at the trailer park to discover what they had learned so far, but they were all a bit surprised to see that he was with you. He wasn’t someone any of them were hoping to see, even though they all knew that you were close.

“Why-”

“I told him about everything; he knows it wasn’t Eddie.” Your voice was calm as you waved one hand to dismiss the concerns that you knew were about to come from Nancy. Your other hand was still holding onto Jason’s, something that neither of you had stopped doing since around the time that you had left the funeral. “I know we’re supposed to talk about it before we tell people, but I needed him to know.”

Max seemed the least surprised out of anyone. She knew that you adored Jason, that you always had, so she seemed almost a bit relieved that you’d at least talked about something of meaning, even if you hadn’t told him how you felt about him.

“Fine, but how much did you tell him?”

“Probably not enough.”

It was Steve who motioned for you both to sit down. He’d gone through something quite similar, from what you’d heard. He had been a bit of an asshole to everyone before, but he changed a bit over time. He had been exposed to the Upside Down, and now he was used to all of this. He seemed more keen on letting you bring your friend into the fold than anyone else did, but everyone still took the time to explain everything to him in great detail until it was decided that the group would part ways for the night.

Max decided that she was going to go off with Lucas, whom Jason had apparently been unable to find for the last day. But you decided to go back to Jason’s home, not feeling comfortable with the entire prospect of him knowing, because you were worried that it was going to put him in some sort of danger.

He was lying beside you in bed, his eyes trained on the ceiling. If any of you got any sort of meaningful sleep, it would be a miracle.

You expected him to just turn onto his side and try to sleep, but you were surprised to find his hand wrapped around yours. Your fingers squeezed against his before you turned your head to look at him, your eyes locking with his blue eyes.

“I had a sign.”

“What?” Your eyebrows furrowed after he spoke, confusion clear on your face while you tried to make sense of what he was trying to tell you.

“I was going to ask you to prom, I made this cheesy sign that I wanted to show you, and Chrissy was supposed to help with it. I just thought- I mean, I never told you, but I always really liked you. I just didn’t want to ruin things, even though Chrissy kept telling me that you liked me back. I figure she’d want me to tell you the truth now, just in case.”

Silence filled the room as you actually contemplated what he was saying, but it wasn’t something uncomfortable. It couldn’t be when you leaned over to press a kiss to his forehead. “I like you, too. I’ve liked you for a while, I just never knew how to tell you. I guess now’s as good a time as any.”

Jason’s eyes had fluttered shut when you kissed his forehead, but he did open them before he spoke again. “Can you kiss me on the mouth?”

There was a light fluttering in your stomach when he asked that, but you obliged. Leaning over, your lips pressed softly against his. It was careful, not like you’d never kissed before, but like you wanted to savour the way that it felt to kiss him.

He was careful with the way that he kissed you, one hand holding onto your cheek while the other remained intertwined with yours. Jason kissed in a way that made it clear that he had been thinking about doing this for a while, that this wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment thing that he was doing because he was grieving. This was something personal to him, and something that you probably should have been doing a long time ago.

When he pulled back, you didn’t let him go far. Your arms were around him, your head resting against his chest. Jason just held you tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. It was easier to fall asleep that way, easier than it had been in a while. Nothing was going to happen to either of you tonight, not without you being there to stop it, at least.

Everything was different now, and the strict line that you had placed between the life that you had known about the Upside Down and the life that you had with Jason and Chrissy was now incredibly blurred. You’d always made a point of keeping the normalcy separate from the crazy part of your life, and it had worked thus far. But it was only a matter of time before all of the people close to you were involved with it in some way. You’d lost Chrissy, and maybe, had she known about what was happening, she could have been saved. Regardless of whether that was true or not, you weren’t going to make the same mistake with Jason if you could help it.

It was the first day that interns were able to do rotations through the Pitt during the night shift. In the short time that Amara had been there, she was able to observe a lot of things. So many cases were ones that she had spent years learning about from different textbooks. There was one case that she couldn’t quite figure out though: what was going on with you and Dr. Abbot. 

Amara had many different differential diagnoses: 

Divorced

Situationship

Enemies

Telepathically Connected

Siblings

Unfortunately, all of the evidence she had gathered supported each of the options equally, which made every moment more confusing than the last. 

Hour One

Dr. Abbot seemed nice. His whole “Nightcrawlers” speech was a little weird, but overall endearing; especially for the new interns. Amara walked up to him directly after he was done speaking to everyone and most people had shuffled away. 

“Hi Dr. Abbot, it’s my first rotation here tonight, I was just wondering who I should stick with?” She asked. 

Dr. Abbot opened his mouth to respond, before you interrupted him. 

“I can’t believe you, you know that?!” You almost yelled, shoving your finger in Dr. Abbot’s chest. 

Amara jumped at the sudden intrusion with wide eyes, watching the scene before her play out. 

He smirked looking down at you as he crossed his arms, “Oh, really?” 

“Yeah! Really!” You say, “You ate my fucking leftovers!” 

“They were in the staff fridge.” 

“You knew they were mine! I put them there!” 

“Seems like a design flaw, princess.” 

You looked one second away from committing an unethical war crime against Dr. Abbot. He seemed entirely unbothered. 

Amara schooled her face as quickly as possible when Dr. Abbot turned back to her to respond as you stormed away with a huff. 

Differential Diagnosis: 

Enemies 

Hour Two

Amara tried to stay out of your way after the first interaction she saw you have with Dr. Abbot. But, the ER was a small place, and it wouldn’t do well to try and avoid you for too long. When a trauma came in from a MVC, she stuck by your side to watch as you ran the entire show. 

Dr. Abbot was there too. Amara was in awe. She had studied for years how different kinds of resuscitations worked. The communication each code required from everyone. She had never seen anything like this. 

When things started to go badly, the room almost went silent. She watched as you and Dr. Abbot both worked on the patient like one cohesive unit. Neither of you needed words to let the other know what you needed, or where you needed them. It was a fluid procedure, flawless. 

Differential Diagnosis: 

Telepathically Linked

Hour Three

A nurse had asked if Amara could go grab something from one of the supply closets. It took her a while to find the right one because she was still finding all of the different ins and outs of the Pitt. 

Finally, she came across the supply room in question. Before her hand could even turn the handle, the door swung open. 

You were there. Cheeks flush, breath heavy, hair tousled. Dr. Abbot was behind you, she saw his neck was pink, and he was in the process of tying his scrub pants. 

“Oh! I- uh…” Amara started, too embarrassed to form a complete sentence. 

You froze. Jack froze. Amara looked mortified. 

Time stood still for one long moment. 

Finally, you cleared your throat, “Did you need something?” 

“Oh! Yes! Uh…the nurse, she uh…” 

You followed her gaze to Jack’s hands, still working on tying his scrubs. You closed your eyes and questioned every moment that had led up to this. You took a deep breath in as you glared at him silently communicating your frustrations. 

“What were you looking for?” You asked, trying to refocus Amara’s attention. 

She looks at you and shakes herself out of her haze. 

“Tape! The tape without the latex…” 

“Third shelf back, second from the top.” Jack says coolly. 

“Okay,” Amara nodded. 

“Okay,” Jack said. 

A pause. 

“Thanks,” she whispered as she grabbed the tape and scurried away.

Differential Diagnosis: 

FWB (Confidence: HIGH) 

Hour Six

Six hours into her shift, Amara finally got to use the restroom. It wasn’t unusual that she would be on her feet all day, but nothing could have prepared her for the absolute chaos that was the PTMC’s emergency department. There wasn’t a moment to spare, and as an intern she kept getting pulled in every direction. 

When she finally had a moment of peace in the restroom, she gathered her thoughts about the day thus far. Everyone seemed great! Crus was a phenomenal teacher, some of the other students were fun to work with, and Lena seemed to be a great heart at the center of it all. 

She still couldn’t work out what the situation was with you and Dr. Abbot though. And that bugged her. She had worked her ass off to get in to med school, she’d be damned if she couldn’t read the room and figure out what the situation was with the two of you by the end of the night. 

On her way back from the restroom, she saw the two of you in an empty patient room. 

“You forgot to pick her up?” Jack asked. 

“I thought you were going to pick her up!” You replied.

“It’s not my weekend! It’s yours!” 

“It’s like every weekend is my weekend! You always pick up shifts or volunteer with the SWAT team. How do you think she feels? Huh?” 

The wheels in Amara’s head turned. She tried piecing the puzzle together, but it felt like every hour brought forth new evidence that contradicted the last! Now it sounded like a custody battle was happening in room 16. First, she saw you nearly rip Dr. Abbot’s head off, then she saw how flawlessly the two of you worked together, which was promptly followed by what seemed to be a quickie in the supply closet, and now you were arguing about who’s weekend it was for some unknown kid? 

Differential Diagnosis: 

Divorced 

Hour Eight

“Hey are you guys still recruiting?” Lena asks from across the nurse’s station. 

You and Jack look up from the chart you’re working on. 

“No, we stopped.” You say disappointed. 

“Decided it was probably best for us to act normal.” Jack says.

You and Jack exchange a look. One that only comes from years of being bonded together. 

Amara’s brows furrow in confusion. What would two doctors be recruiting for? It’s not like they’re the ones who are hiring everyone. There’s managers for that. They couldn’t possibly be part of an MLM, Amara was sure the salary of an attending could let them afford to live comfortably on their own. 

As she tried harder and harder to wrack her brain for any more context about the conversation, it hits her. Recruiting. There was really only one option that explained everything she had seen earlier that morning. 

The arguing. The silent communication that came from years of knowing each other. The secret supply closet meetings. The custody agreements. The recruiting. 

It was so obvious, she wasn’t sure how she didn’t see it all before. 

Differential Diagnosis: 

Cult Leaders

Hour Eleven

The longer the shift drug on, the more Amara was determined to understand what exactly was going on with you and Dr. Abbot. She didn’t think about the fact that running on only four hours of sleep, sheer determination, and at least 300mg of caffeine was the only thing keeping her going right now. That wouldn’t impair her judgement at all. Right? 

She went to grab a granola bar from the breakroom when she saw you and Dr. Abbot in two of the chairs. 

“Jack. Give me my jacket.” 

Jack looked down at the garment, “This isn’t your jacket.” 

“Yes it is. It quite literally has my name on it.” 

“It’s our jacket then” 

“No.” 

“Besides,” Jack starts, “You left it at my house.” 

“More like you stole it from me.” You grumble. 

“I borrowed it.” 

“For eight months? Really?” 

“Semantics…” 

You huffed. 

Amara could practically see the lightbulb that illuminated above her head. Of course! The only way she could possibly believe that either of you could get on each other’s nerves like this, or have access to each other’s houses, or understand each other in the unsettling way it seemed you did, would be to understand that you must be siblings! 

She listened in as you continued to bicker. 

“Jack.” 

“Not happening.” 

“Jack, I swear to god…” 

“Nope.” 

“You are literally fifty years old.” You deadpan. 

“All the more reason I should have the Jacket and not you, you spring chicken.” 

Differential Diagnosis: 

Siblings (DEFINITELY) 

Hour Thirteen

The shift ended more hectic than anyone expected. A massive MVC made sure that all hands were on deck until the morning crew was fully ready to take over. Amara had learned a lot in her first day. She just needed confirmation about one final case before going home. 

“Uh…Lena? I have a question before I leave.” 

Lena looked up from the computer where she was talking to the day shift charge nurse, Dana. 

“What’s up, hun?” Dana automatically responded. 

“Well I uh, I just was curious about two of the doctors.” 

Both nurses' brows furrowed. It was never a good sign when someone started blatantly questioning things on their first day, even if they were ultimately right in the end. 

“Go on,” Lena urged. 

Amara looked down at her notes before making eye contact again, “I just wanted to know about Dr. Abbot and…” She looked over at you and nodded her head in your direction. 

Both Dana and Lena’s eyes tracked toward you. 

“What about them?” Dana said with a knowing smirk hiding just under the surface. 

“They’re siblings right?” Amara asked.

As Lena took a sip of tea, it immediately sprayed over the keyboard as soon as she comprehended what amara was asking. Dana tried, and failed, to hide the big grin on her face. 

The commotion made you look over and walk toward the nurses station. 

“Everything okay? Was there something you needed, Amara?” You asked, “You should go home and get some rest. It’s been a long night.” 

Dana and Lena both laugh as they look between you. 

And in that moment, Amara believed that fate was real. And it had a vendetta against her. Because Jack came up and immediately wrapped his hands around your waist from behind. You instinctively leaned into his touch. He spun you around and pulled you in for a gentle, but knowing kiss. 

Amara’s jaw was on the floor. Dana and Lena couldn’t stop laughing. You looked concerned for everyone. 

“She thinks you guys are siblings!” Lena howled. 

Your eyes widened and cheeks involuntarily turned a shade of pink. 

“I didn’t mean-”

You and Jack both break out in laughter now as well. 

“I was trying to get a read on you all day and I couldn’t figure it out!” She said. 

“Aw, sweetie,” You said kindly, “We’re just married.” 

“Yeah,” Jack interrupted, “For too damn long.” 

You slapped his shoulder. He smiled down at you. 

It all made sense. The fighting, the steamy closet session, the bickering, and silent communication. 

No telepathy. 

No cult. 

No divorce. 

Just…marriage. Everything that happened wasn’t pointing to some differential diagnosis Amara had believed to be true at different points in the day. They all pointed to you and Jack, two peas in a pod who apparently were good at confusing the interns.