storm clouds;

Location: Room 324 Date: March 17th Time: 5:34 PM

“It’s called Brunswick stew.” Her voice was softer than the sound of the cut of knife, blade meeting the cutting board with each dice of the potato in her grip. She remembered a time when the knife in her hand had seemed more daunting, child sized palm barely wrapped around the handle, intimidated by the sharpness and size of the weapon. No, not weapon. Tool. But before being expected to take the helm of her father’s kitchen, Marley had seen it used more for the former than the latter. Waved carelessly around as the means of a threat, or more carefully aimed with precision, though it was always the carelessness that was scarier. The unpredictability of it, dependent on his anger, and the strike that had been made against him. 

She’d mistakingly told him of her sister’s running away, in the kitchen. She should have known better. Should have waited until after dinner, but before the drinking, for that sweet spot in the middle where his belly was full and his mind was sedated by it. The food had almost been ready when he’d began calling for her sister. Once should have been enough for her to come running (had she have been there, there wouldn’t have had to have been a first call), but when the sound of her footsteps did not appear, he called again. The second call alone was enough to trigger his temper, her name called louder, more demanding, and still met with silence. His face had turned redder than the stew, hand hitting the counter and making Marley jump with the force, spit flying from his lips with the third, booming call of Emma’s name. It had been three calls too many, his body thrusting forward to go find her for herself, hand instinctively grabbing at the knife on the counter, and though not being there, being in no real harm, Marley found herself speaking up out of pure and utter instinct, to spare her sister. She’s not here, her voice tore through the tense space. Initially, she feared not reaching him, him finding Emma’s empty side of their room for himself. But his body stilled in the entryway of the kitchen, almost eerily so, the only movement being the rising and falling of his shoulders. What do you mean, she’s not here? She did not see his lips move, but could hear the clench of his jaw. She, she’d tried to swallow down her fear, but it sat there in her throat, mouth suddenly dry as she tried again. She’s gone, papa–Marley had barely blinked by the time that he’d turned on her, crowded her against the counter with such force her hand instinctively fell to the stove for balance. Searing heat met her palm, but her focus was on the blade of the knife poised at her throat. What do you mean she’s gone? Where is she? Where the fuck is she, Marley? 

She’d been making Brunswick stew that night, too. Had to clean it up off of the kitchen floor, the cabinets, the ceiling…

A sudden sting brought her back, glancing down to find that she’d since found the end of the potato, but the tip of her finger. “Shit.” As to not contaminate her work, she was quick to pop it between her lips, already moving towards the kitchen sink and turning on the faucet. “Fingers aren’t part of the recipe, I promise.” She gave her guest a half-hearted smile, sticking her hand underneath the running water. “It’s been pretty chilly, lately. Best time to make it.”

Cade stands with his back against one of the counters, the soda can in his hand cold but easy enough to suffer through until it warms up. The cold keeps him grounded in place, his mind in the kitchen versus wandering off to the million other little things that he could find himself within a single second. That’s the danger of his mind, how he finds himself in his own imaginative world with very little want to slip out into the real world. Why would he when his own world is so much easier than the real one?

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that before, but I’m sure I’ve had something similar,” Cade said with a smile before he took another sip from his soda. “I’m interested in the idea behind... a barbecue soup? Isn’t that what it basically is?” There’s a quiet chuckle, knowing that he’s way off in saying that’s all the dish is, but he isn’t sure what else to equate it to.

Location: Palmetto Campus Date: March 8 Time: 2:39 a.m. (OPEN)

Emmett’s first stop once he’s free of the court is a local dive bar he found years ago. It’s not a Fox hang out and that’s exactly what he’s going for. It’s hard to be positive in the light of this loss. Hard to pretend like it doesn’t feel like a big blow. The Foxes were on a roll and losing tonight feels like it’s over. He knows it isn’t. Knows that they’re still ahead on points, but knowing that doesn’t soften the sting of the loss any. He’s two sheets to the wind before long. Blissfully numb to the sting of the loss. Blissfully numb to pretty much everything at this point. He’s not sure why he chooses to leave when he does. The bar patrons have been perfectly friendly, some even buying him pity drinks. But when the itch to go home had settled in his bones he’d simply followed it.

He doesn’t go to the tower though, that’s too stuffy, too….end of the night. He’s more content to wander the dark campus. Going everywhere and anywhere that strikes his fancy. He ends up somewhere near the tower anyways, flopping out on a familiar patch of grass. It’s cold, sure, but not cold enough to make Emmett change his mind about laying out under the stars. He could go for another drink he thinks as he pulls his hands behind his head, cushioning it against the spiky grass.

He’s half way to dozing off when he hears the footsteps. It takes more effort than he’d like to admit to roll over and open his eyes, flashing whoever it was a toothy grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “What you doing out here so late? I kind of thought I had campus all to myself tonight.”

At first, Cade had planned on just walking by and making sure that the other was alive. If it seemed like Emmett needed help, he’d get him over to help. But Cade soon enough found himself spinning around on his heel and going back to his car in the Fox Tower parking lot and popping opening the trunk. He searched around until he found what he needed, the blanket kept bundled up in the corner.

Cade folded it back up as he shut the trunk of the car and headed back in the direction that he’d seen Emmett, holding the other was still there and not wandering around. He wasn’t sure if the other was tired, avoiding people, drunk, or what but at the very least Cade could make sure Emmett was warm. And thankfully, he was still there.

There’s a mess in the corner of the living room that Cade had taken up residence. An odd sighting for someone who usually goes to his room and preferred to hang out there more than anywhere else. However, one of his favorite movies is playing on the television and the couch is comfortable and it’s close to the kitchen. So he’d hunkered down with his guitar that he was trying to restring with a bowl of Cheetos not too far away because that would be a crime and Legally Blonde.

There’s homework that needed his attention upstairs but he didn’t care about it for the moment. Most of his classes right now were doing project work and Cade had completed a majority of his portions. True to the nature of group projects, he was waiting on others.

His productions were done. He’d finished up his last show of Check Please and was set to just ride out the remainder of the semester when it came to theatre. Right now, Cade liked to think he was sitting pretty and things were looking up. Well... most things. He wasn’t too sure about what was going on at home no matter how many times he tried to get his dad to tell him what was up. At least he wasn’t the only one but both him and Alanna being in the dark wasn’t a good sign.

location: fox tower, exterior time: 1AM status: open

Palmetto’s cold tonight, and no one else seems to know. Sometimes it goes like this — you study for a few hours in the library and leave on a night too dark to see stars, then realize you forgot your phone and card there after it closes. Stupid, to have let this happen. Or maybe she just hates herself enough to get stuck out here alone again, when everyone else is out partying and all she wants is to go home.

Hours pass. Maybe they don’t, but at least it feels that way. The front step is painful under her sweatpants and there’s no way she’s going to be able to sleep here, no way she’s going to make it much longer without crying or taking it out in some stupid way. Because it sucks, to feel trapped here. It always really, fucking sucks.

Someone comes from down the road, though, eventually, and she can make them out as a Fox or at least Fox-adjacent. Hopefully, they’re not some asshole who hates her, some douche who’ll tease her or try to make her feel even worse. ‘Are you, uh, going inside?” She asks, once they’re in speaking range. “I’ve kind of managed to lock myself out.”

It’s been a chaotic night. A string of calm and peace had teased him into thinking that for once things were going to be on the quieter side for awhile but how true could that be in life? Cade knew better when he got the call late at night. A frantic call from Michael--very unusual. A missing Trevor--hardly unusual. None too surprising it became an apparent situation that only he could fix. So he’d spent too much of his night searching around for his friend only to find him drunk in a bush outside of a theatre party. 

It took far longer than Cade thought to usher the drunken man back to the house where the rest of their friends were waiting--an exhausted Cade calling it a night after promising to talk to Trevor the next day. Going back to the Vixen Den hardly seemed like a good idea only because it was cold and Cade was tired of walking. So he opted for the shorter option of going to the Fox Tower. There were a few people he was sure would at the very least let him crash on their floor but he’d sleep in one of the lounges if needed.

Days like this were rare. Being able to just lie down in bed and be with Cade hadn’t been much of an option lately and Claudia didn’t want to move now. The court would still be there tomorrow and she could practice and work out later but for now, neither she nor Cade had anything to do or anywhere to be and she had already decided that she wasn’t moving from this bed for anything today. 

Her homework, however, still demanded attention and she leaned forward over her textbook still, keeping Cade’s space behind her open. “Have you still not reorganized in here?” she asked, not looking up from it except to sneak a peak at him when he was digging around. Warmth filled her and took over for a second and she momentarily forgot how to write or even what her assignment was on. “You really should work on that. I’ll even help you if you want.” That was an empty offer, she didn’t want to help but she would if Cade decided that he needed it. 

Comfortably Numb played softly and Claudia tried her best to push past singing along to herself. Multi-tasking like that wasn’t one of her strong suits and playing music at the same time she tried to write would just end in her writing down the lyrics instead of the words she actually needed. It would also end in frustration. Her pen slowed for a second at the kiss to her neck, sighing softly. 

“I never plan on going home for break,” she admitted, letting some of the tension in her shoulders loose. “I sort of just go last minute depending on how guilty I feel.” Usually, she went because she always felt guilty but it was hell on her mental health. She was still writing, longhand worked better to keep her from getting distracted with YouTube or Netflix but it took double the time. “Why, you have something in mind?”

Cade frowns but only because he knows Claudia can’t see him. He does his best not to pry. They both talked about having their own shit that they would have to deal with and he knows this likely falls into that category. Maybe one day she’ll tell him but for now all he can really do is be there for her and help as much as possible. He’s also not going to admit that he knows more than she’s told him. That was by circumstance--wrong place at the wrong time.

“Well, there’s the game so there isn’t too much we can do.” Cade moves his fingers farther along her shoulders, careful not to try to massage away the tension too hard but enough to actually alleviate the knots. “I don’t want to pull you away from practice, not that you’d let me,” he adds with a chuckle and a quick kiss to her cheek. “But maybe we can do something after the game. Just drive to somewhere nearby and do something or even just relax away from everything.”

“Weak,” she says with a grin, teasing in a way that doesn’t feel as barbed as she can be, on a night when she isn’t as bitter as she usually is. “If you don’t appreciate it, then hand it over.” 

She’d gravitated towards wine—because she’s in someone’s fancy mansion, and so she’s going to pretend at sophistication, she’s going to drink their fancy wine. But, when it comes down to it, she’s a barely-legal college senior, and her tastes aren’t that far removed from drinking wine coolers in someone’s hot tub in high school, cheap vodka and light beer in someone’s beach house on spring break. 

She wants to be sophisticated, she wants to be worldly. It’s part of her shield, the way that she reminds the Foxes that she isn’t like them, that she had parents to take her places, to spoil her, to love her. It’s an act she knows well, and so when Cade name-drops three cities in rapid succession, it all just makes her wonder is what he’s hiding, what he’s trying to prove.

She hums, looking away from Cade and out over the city. It’s a question that’s been on her mind a lot, this semester, because it isn’t hypothetical: the Everharts told her over Christmas that they want to take her on a trip as a graduation present, and she gets to pick where they go and what they do. She’d picked London, somewhere she’d been with her parents as a child and fallen in love with. Somewhere she wants new memories, with new parents, the parents who choose her, the parents who stayed. She could’ve picked somewhere else, somewhere she’d never been before. She’s not sure where that would be. 

“Venice, maybe? Or Santorini or something. Some Mediterranean beach. Nowhere here, that’s for sure.” She says, wrinkling her nose. Four years of college cheerleading, and she’s spent so many of them on buses, in airports, in so many states and nowhere college towns. They weren’t all Vegas. They weren’t all Hollywood. “What about you?” 

Raleigh brings the laugh out of Cade easily and he knows it’s true. At this point in life he should be able to handle horrible tasting beer. But without any sadness over the loss of beer, he hands over the bottle to Raleigh so that someone can at least enjoy it and finish it off. A good chance it could have found its way into a trash can.

Venice. Cade can see the adventure just as with the other places mention. But the Mediterranean has an appeal that’s tempting for Cade. It’s far away from everything at home, everything at Palmetto. There’s so much to see in the world and not enough time. “I’ve heard Santorini is really great. The closest I’ve gotten to that one is on television. But I think I’d want to go to New Zealand or Amsterdam.”

Maybe for summer vacation. Cade could start planning a trip, going away for two weeks and seeing another part of the world. It also an opportunity for Cade to get to know himself more. He’s been trying to do that a lot more lately -- learn more about who he is and who he wants to be... not what his past paints him to be. Cade knows he’s made some mistakes but he wants to grow from them.

“Oh,” Alanna says. She turns the phrase over in her mind, wonders if she does mind. She would’ve, only a few years ago. Back when she’d looked at John and Cade as unwelcome intruders, when she’d considered, if only for a second, telling her mom no, I don’t want them, no I can’t trust them. 

Even then, she already knew her mom would choose her over everything, because her mom did, all those years ago, when they gave up the trappings of wealth and stability for shelters and shoe-box apartments. But why ask her mother to make that choice again? Alanna had been so sure, too, that it would come to that. Something about her would force that choice again, because the Mitchells could accept Lisa, sure, but what about Alanna?

But things have changed since then. She trusted Cade enough to follow him to Palmetto, even before he proved that he wanted her here just as much. She’d been terrified he’d grow resentful and cold, and he hasn’t. It’s been the opposite; Palmetto’s made them closer then ever. The same applies to John—despite all her fear, her carefully portioned trust, he’s gone above and beyond with her. For her.

They’re a family. She softens. “Of course I’m not upset,” Alanna tells Cade. It’s genuine. She’s genuine. “Honestly, I think it’s really sweet. Have you called mom that to her face? I bet she’d cry. Like, in a good way.”

For a few breaths, Cade was worried that Alanna was going to say that she did mind. He wasn’t entirely sure what his response would have been thought a part of him would have understood. There was a flood of relief at her response, however.

“No, I haven’t,” Cade admitted as he ran a hand through his hair, the mess of brown waves becoming more unruly. “Probably will from now on. I just didn’t want to upset you or anything.” Which he still realized was silly when he took into consideration how long they’ve been a family already. It was harder when bringing in two families... especially two that had already been through quite a bit.

“I don’t feel like I need to say it... but you’re welcome to call John, dad. Especially considering Christmas.” Cade wasn’t sure they could get more official than that. But Cade also would have been okay with Alanna having referred to him as dad long ago.

He leaned against the handle bar of the cart, looking at the haul they’d managed to get together so far. “We should go back home for a visit soon to see them. Especially since mom hasn’t been feeling too well lately. We can maybe get her something nice too as a present.” Surprise visits were always a favorite. Cade always thought it was hilarious when their dad acted as if he hadn’t seen them for years rather than a few weeks or a few months.

It’s Raleigh’s fourth year as a Palmetto State cheerleader. The rhythms of it are familiar to her: the practices, the games, the travel. The breathless pace of it, going to cities and seeing so little of them beyond the airport, the stadium, the hotel, and then the airport again the next morning. 

The football team has a more consistent record than the Foxes, are consistent winners, and what she remembers most of all of that feeling of being on top of the word—after so many years of feeling like nothing, or being nothing, of finally being someone that people watched, whose name they knew, who they envied.

She lost that when she came to the Foxes. People pitied the Foxes, their collection of sob stories and their years-long losing record, they didn’t envy them. People didn’t pity Raleigh—they gossiped about her, they mocked her, they whispered as she passed by. She’s a crazy bitch, they said. Did you hear about what she did to that other cheerleader?

Everything feels different now: now that the Foxes are winning; now that the football season is over, and they didn’t bring another trophy home. Now that she doesn’t hate the Foxes as much as she did when she first joined the squad. 

It’s easier to like them when they’re winning. It’s even easier when she’s in a Hollywood club, or a Las Vegas mansion. When she can believe, even if it’s just for a night, that she’s someone to be envied once again.

“I’m sure it’s dirty and crowded when you’re in the middle of it,” she says, with a slight smile. “It’s probably better from up here. You wanna sit? I’d offer to share my wine, but I’m all out.”

Cade was slow in his walk over to close the distance, moving to sit down as he continued to look out at the city. “I’d offer to share my beer but it tastes like shit,” he said with a laugh as he set the bottle down beside him. “It’s funny how it’s like that, you know? From up here, everything is beautiful and looks pristine. But if you went down there, nothing but craziness and... questionable shit.” 

His one and only time in Vegas was an interesting one. “I’ve only actually been down on the strip once before and it didn’t end well. But I was with some stupid people at the time.” A lesson learned.

Taking up his beer, he took another sip from it and winced at the warm taste. He should have grabbed another one.

“I’m also not big on gambling--even with money to blow. I will say, there are some awesome street artists.” He didn’t even need to go to the strip to see them, most people posting videos on social media. “I think LA is my favorite to visit minus the god awful traffic. I never get bored when I visit there.”

Cade thundered down the stairs of the Den with his duffle bag over his shoulder and destination for the kitchen. The chaos of the house is hardly anything to Cade since he’s been used to it long enough now to not even blink an eye. In the kitchen, he grabbed his smoothie he’d made earlier and tossed in the lunch he’d packed into the duffle bag.

Bag fully packed, Cade left the house to get to his car parked along the curb. Duffle in the trunk, Cade got into the drivers seat and started the vehicle up so he could back out and head toward campus. There were a lot of things that he could have spent the day doing but honestly, Cade wanted to hang out with his best friend and treat her to a nice surprise. She deserved it after how hectic things have been.

At Fox Tower, Cade pulled up near the front doors and made sure to park the car before he sent a text to Sydney that he was downstairs. Earlier he’d only texted her that he needed to run an errand and asked if she wanted to keep him company. It wasn’t really an errand but hopefully surprise enough for Sydney. They’d have a bit of a drive ahead of them.

Once he’d spotted Sydney, Cade unlocked the car doors and turned down the music that he had going loud. While he doubted she’d care, he also wanted to spend time talking and catching up. 

The late afternoon sun shined into the bedroom to give it a soft gentle warmth compared to the cold outside. Most Saturdays Cade would be working at the shelter to put in a few more hours before he’d come back to crawl into bed, listen to music, and sleep once it had taken over him. But this Saturday, Cade opted for staying inside and celebrating in his own way. Both Foxes and Vixens seemed to be having a good week and Cade found it easy to use that as an excuse to relax and forget about school and work.

He stood over by his desk, searching around through some of the shelves as he tried to find what he’d been searching for the past minute or so. After moving rooms, he’d never reorganized everything—now on his to do list to accomplish before the weekend was finished. “Shit, where did it—ah, found it.” Cade pulled out the record of Pink Floyd and set it on the record player that was the recent addition to his room. He kept the volume low, only for background noise.

Walking away from the desk, he moved back over to the bed and took up his previous position, sitting against the headboard of the bed, Claudia between his legs. Hugging her from behind, he leaned forward to press a kiss to the side of her neck. “Spring break is coming up soon enough. Are you planning on going home?”

Bastion could relate. While he always seemed boundlessly energetic, he still loved his coffee. Without it he was something like a hyperactive zombie. It wasn’t really a good look. He tried not to drink too much caffeine, but he rarely made it far enough for a run without a cup and afterwards he usually got a second. If he didn’t his energy always began to flag before practice and he’d spend the first half of it disorientated with a heavy head. But it wasn’t like two cups a day was that bad, and it helped keep him going during the times of day where he would slow without it. 

Still, he hadn’t been expecting the offer. He glanced up with a surprised sort of smile. The unexpectedness of it made him fall a step behind as the other man continued away, but the backliner was quick to scurry after him. He grinned as he fell into step beside Cade. “I think I will. Thank you.”

“But you should let me buy. I mean, I did startel you first thing in the morning. And now you’re letting me tag along with you.” Bastion had a weird relationship with money. Now, he always had the stuff, way too much of it for him to have developed a healthy meaning for it. But at the beginning of the year it always burned a hole in his pocket. Not necessarily because he wanted to buy anything, but because he had so much of it after his parents refilled his account. He was always looking for ways to get rid of some of it. It’s not like it was his money anyway. It was his parents, and he always had this rebellious need to spend it away. Like using their money up could somehow settle to score between them until it didn’t ache quite so much. It never really worked, but he was still always trying. 

Last January when he knew he’d be going off to college he’d gone to a dealership on the 2nd and just bought a car. He knew nothing about them but it was expensive and it looked kinda cool, so he’d just handed over the money. He hadn’t really felt better when he’d driven off the lot, but he imagined that it was easier for him to breathe without all those zeros in his account. This year, he didn’t have anything like that to blow through money on. Coffee wouldn’t exactly be an expensive purchase, but spending money on other always made him happier then dropping it just to spite his parents. The whole situation was petty, and he knew that. But even if he was being vindictive, using their money for someone else always made him feel a bit better about it. It’s why he’d started his yearly donations. Selfish as his reasons where, at least something good was coming from it. 

Cade hardly cared either way whether or not he paid for his drink or the other covered it. A few dollars weren’t much to Cade but he knew it could be for other people. If Bastion wanted to buy the coffee and was adamant about it, Cade wasn’t going to argue with him. “If you want to, I’m not going to say no. But I really don’t mind.”

The cold weather was not his friend and Cade wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. If he were up at the cabin, snowboarding on the mountains then that would be different. He’d also be bundled up. Cade left the den without much of anything to protect him. A bad idea as he started to feel the cold settling into his fingers and feet.

“You always this chipper in the morning?” Cade asked as he continued walking in the direction toward campus, hoping there wouldn’t be a long line for coffee. “I can’t ever find it in me to be a morning person. Not unless I sleep until it’s like noon.” Then he’d happily wake up and feel like he made great use of the morning. These days, he was always up early and it was nonstop from the moment he got up.

For so many years, this house felt like a prison. It kept secrets, both his father’s and his. So many of his low moments were here: when he was afraid, when he was cowering. These walls were the only one who saw the person he became when he was alone, when his father left or the party ended and there was nothing left to fill him up. 

But tonight this house gets to see him triumph. They’d won the death match. Leo scored a goal and won a fight, one that can hopefully wipe away the one he lost, the hand he broke, the sneers on the faces of the players who thought that he couldn’t do anything to wipe them off. Wanna go? Oh wait—we’ve all seen how that went.

It’d been a split second. The Foxes were in the lead, Leo was flying high in front of his hometown crowd, and he’d thought why not? So he called that player’s bluff, and he’d done what he couldn’t against the team that had almost been his, and he shut him up. 

But still Cade asks is your hand okay? like Leo’s never going to live it down. Not the games he’d spent in a cast on the bench; not the way he’d lost that fight, and lost it against the Ravens, against the team that he hadn’t been able to hack it on, against one of the few remaining players who had been on the team with him all those disastrous years ago. 

But at least Cade is stepping out of the room, letting Leo close the door again, hope that it stays closed this time. “It’s fine,” he says, and it comes out shorter than he intended. So he smiles, then, takes a swig of his drink—(it’s whiskey, because this is his house and he can be pretentious as fuck if he want to, opening up his father’s stash and drinking out his father’s glasses)—and lets his relief out as smugness instead. “Maybe you should find that Rebel, ask him if his face is okay, because I’m pretty sure he got the worse end of it.” 

Cade lifted the beer bottle in his hand back to his lips to take another sip, happy to at least hear that Leo’s hand is okay but he didn’t miss the shortness of it. Maybe his concern was misplaced. Cade had trouble telling if he was crossing lines by caring with Foxes or if it was a matter of some of them not understanding that he’s concerned. Maybe both. While Cade had learned enough with the Vixens to be comfortable, the Foxes were an entirely different story.

“I’m pretty damn sure he did,” Cade agreed. He didn’t need to see the other’s face to know it. “Probably will take a while for him to heal up. Just wanted to know you were good though. I know I’m not close to a lot of you guys but,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I’d rather all of you be okay.”

He’d seen first hand the type of hope that the Foxes give people--mostly in his sister. He can imagine there’s plenty of other people out there who look at the Foxes as a sign of something better. That they can do anything. Cade just hoped one day those people outweighed the people who weren’t fond of the Foxes.

“Or anything cute. Preferably pink, red, or white, but it’s whatever we can find at this point,” Alanna said, sorting through the remnants on the shelf.  Cade returned victorious, and Alanna gave him a thumbs up. “We’ve both been busy, I totally get it,” Alanna said. Still though, even after everything—even after Christmas, and John’s unequivocal statement that Alanna was part of the family—it soothed some part of her to hear Cade openly admit he wanted to spend more time together. 

And it was true they’d gone ages between movie nights or sibling nights lately. Cade had more going on than she did, but Alanna still felt like she was rocketing from classes to practice to games, and she could only prioritize so many things. She found a way to fit socializing in too, of course, but normally at the expense of a homework assignment. 

“Mom and John too, even. I can barely get them on the phone these days.” It was hard to sound anything but petulant as she said that, and Alanna busied herself pushing the cart into the next aisle in search of envelopes. This section wasn’t as devastated already, and Alanna tossed a package of pale pink envelopes into the cart.

As nice as it was to spend time with Cade, Alanna was obligated to make a face at the words Storm Alanna. “I’m not that bad,” she protested, knowing full well he was right. It was so easy to jump between ideas and projects, and so hard to keep it all organized. She always started with neat, careful rows and ended with paper and ribbon and glue everywhere. No doubt this would be like her regular Christmas wrapping disasters, on a much larger scale. “I’m using the Den, but I promise I’ll clean up afterwards.” 

Being busy wasn’t an excuse for not spending time with Alanna. Part of the entire reason he’d joined the Vixens was to watch over Alanna and spend more time with her--to rebuild the relationship they once had. And while they were certainly in a much better place than they had been at one point, Cade didn’t want to let things fall through the cracks. It would be his fault if that happened and that was the last thing he wanted.

“They have been a lot busier lately, not sure what’s going on,” Cade mumbled as he took a valentine cookie cutter pack. “I know dad said mom wasn’t feeling too good lately--” Cade stopped, cutting himself off as he put the cookie cutters back on the shelf. “Sorry, I meant Lisa,” Cade apologized. Despite how many years it had been, Cade hadn’t even called Lisa mom. It was more out of respect for Alanna. When they were younger and their parents were first together, it just seemed natural to say Lisa. But now the two were married and they were a family. Shouldn’t he call her mom?

Location: Las Vegas, Leo’s House Date: Friday, March 1 Time: Fox Afterparty, Late (open)

It gets cold in Vegas at night. Somehow, she hadn’t imagined that. 

There’s a cloud hanging over the pool outside, like fog. It’s not heated enough to make her think about going in, but it’s nice to dip her feet in as she sits and looks out over the city below.

The Foxes won the death match. The Foxes have won more games than she ever expected this season, after that first losing skid, and it’s one time she’s happy to have been proven wrong—not that she’ll say it out loud. There are a lot of things she won’t admit: like how much she’s come to enjoy Exy, how much fun she’s been having this semester, how much she’d been dreading the thought of the Foxes losing, of having to spend her last months at Palmetto in the Vixen Den without the structure of practices and games to tie her to the rest of the Vixens, leaving nothing else. 

How she’s starting to think that she might miss this place, when she goes. At the end of last year, when everything seemed ruined, it hadn’t seemed possible. 

She could go back inside the party, but it’s peaceful out here, just her feet making ripples in the water, her drink at her side, her bright orange Vixen jacket bundled tight around her. Then the sound of the party, muffled behind glass, gets louder, spilling outside as the door opens behind her. 

“Everything looks so tiny from up here,” she says, and while she doesn’t turn around to see who it is, the smile is apparent in her voice. “But look at all the lights.” 

Cade’s been enjoying the party as much as he can hanging off to the side. A part of him wants to let loose and just throw caution to the wind. Get drunk, dance with someone, and forget about it all come morning time.

But Cade doesn’t allow himself to fall into that temptation. There’s too much going on inside his head as of recent and a conversation with his father put him on edge. Regardless of that, it is a night of celebration. The Foxes won. 

Even if he was a Vixen, he couldn’t help but want to share in the win. Once upon a time, he hadn’t cared much about the Foxes or the Vixens. Yet somehow he found himself tangled into both teams, wanting everyone to succeed and make it all the way to the end. A win for the Foxes would be a big fuck you to everyone who doubted them and having known them all a bit better now, Cade wanted that for all of them.

Wanting a break from the excitement inside, Cade finds the back door and steps outside with his beer in hand. It’s a bit surprising to see someone outside, but he’d lost track of who was where inside the party.

Location: Las Vegas, Leo’s House Date: Friday, March 1 Time: Fox Afterparty, Late (open)

There’s a door that Leo keeps closed. 

It’s been years, now, since his father died. After the funeral, Leo spent almost a year here, in this house, untangling his father’s legacy, separating out what pieces of it he wanted to keep and which he wanted to sell, trying to ignore the guilt that came along with it. In that year, though, and the years since, Leo has never managed to clean out the master suite, his father’s room. Every time he’s tried, he’s found himself quickly overwhelmed, running away again. Closing the door behind him, keeping it closed.

The people that come in to clean the house, so it doesn’t settle into dust and disrepair while Leo’s away, go in there, Leo knows. But they know to close the door behind them, too, and so Leo can pretend that it stays that way. Sealed off from the world. There’s a safe in there, Leo knows, in the back of the closet. He doesn’t know the code, even though he’s tried to guess it. What could be in there, though, Leo doesn’t want to guess. Carefully avoids thinking about. 

The door is standing ajar now, and he finds himself drawn to it. The only thing worse than setting foot in there himself is thinking of one of his teammates in there. 

It’s no one’s fault. Leo opened the doors to his house wide, tonight, like he was back in high school for a night. There’s nowhere else in this house that’s off limits, so why would anyone think this room is? It’s not like he’s put a lock on it, because that would feel too weak. Like giving up. 

He pokes his head in, though he keeps himself hovering on the threshold, leaning against the doorframe, not really going inside. “Hey, you’re—” he says, keeping his tone as light as he can, as friendly as he can, though he’s sure there’s some strain creeping in, “—not supposed to be in here. Sorry.”

A night of celebration. In a race against time, a death match to be fought with gritted teeth and tight grips. From the sidelines, the tension had been palpable. Each passing second, his toes were curled into the flats of his cheer shoes. Cade’s almost sure he hadn’t breathed for a majority of the game. As the first half of the game came to a close and the Vixens were suppose to go out to do their routine—Cade couldn’t even remember doing the routine. Once upon a time, Exy was just another sport Cade had to pretend to care about. Now, Cade found himself not able to miss a single Fox game.

There are voices coming from what sounds like all corners of the home they’re inside. Leo’s opened his doors to everyone for a night of partying and Cade’s happily made himself comfortable with the help of a few drinks. It’s natural instinct for Cade to be polite and not touch anything, not sit anywhere unless offered. But that’s faded as he leaves the groups of people and wanders his way around to look at the house. It’s impressive, that’s for sure.

In the back of his mind, he knows he shouldn’t get nosy and look into room. But he’s had a few shots and curiosity has taken a hold of Cade. It’s what makes him wander into a room that he comes to find he shouldn’t be inside. Leo’s voice registers a few beats too late—Cade having to put the voice to a face before he spun around.

Bastion’s bit his lip with a bashful expression, a small shrug of his shoulders showed his uncertainty. He wasn’t quite deterred but he did feel bad for startling Cade. While he was up early most mornings, he understood that most people slept in longer. This morning in particular he had been dead on his feet, even after his coffee. It allowed him to feel sympathy for Cade and a bit of guilt for being too loud.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you…” His sympathy was genuine and he couldn’t help ducking his head in embarrassment. It did nothing to hide the pink ting to his ears, but he was hoping his skin tone would help with that. Bastion had taken after his father, at least in his appearance. While his mother was golden haired, pale skinned and blue eyed, he had inherited his father’s olive skin and dark hair. His eyes though, those were just his. Neither of his parents were brown eyed, and even though most seemed to think it was a boring color, he loved it. It was a part of him that was just his. Like the crookedness of his jaw, it might have been seen as imperfect, but these were the things that made him feel like him when he looked in the mirror. 

“Are you going to get some?” He asked before continuing a hair quickly, “Coffee, I mean. You probably already are. That would make sense, right? I just— But I hope it’ll be a good morning for you. I mean after the coffee. And I’m gonna stop talking.” Bastion gave an awkward laugh to stop himself from rambling. “Sorry” He concluded with a smile, made nervous by the way his eyes kept flicking down.

Cade waved a hand in the air dismissively. Little things like that didn’t warrant any grudge or anger. He knew too well that there were far worse things that people could do than just cause a little startle. And really, he should be more awake in the morning and not get scared so easily. “You don’t have to apologize, it’s really not a big deal,” Cade said as he took a few steps closer from where he’d been stopped in his tracks. The winter cold was still biting at him, Cade not smart enough to wear a proper winter coat in favor of something more fashionable.

He wasn’t sure if it was the situation or himself that seemed to be making Bastion trip over his words, but Cade smiled nonetheless. “God, yes I’m getting coffee. I’m going to end up needing three cups of coffee if I want to try to get through today.” And that was the ultimate goal. Classes. Practice. Homework. And then sleep. Precious sleep.