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her gaze drifted toward the people beginning to gather near the dance floor before returning to the other woman. “so what is it — you don’t dance much, or dancing at weddings is cliché?”

she almost asked who the woman was talking about, but so many of carroll's residents had gotten away from her in the past few years. it was as if the town changed overnight, revealing a class of graduates that she'd never knew. "i'm not dancing here." though, it would have been nice to let her hair down, spend some time on the floor, it wasn't in her cards. there would be other opportunities. "the whole town invite made it difficult to bargain with my usual sitter."

a binding life contract. someone should tell have told ruby robshaw that wasn't the case before she signed on for another event. neve had learned that lesson regrettably well the one time, and she didn't take the word friendly for anything close to its original meaning. "i don't have four minutes." the plates for the boys were waiting in the kitchen for her to pick up, and she was going out the door. "you have a good night."

valentina had come to the party with autumn, but she’d lost sight of her somewhere in the crowd. now she stood near the bracelet station, eyeing the display as she tried to decide whether or not she should take one. they were cute, whether she planned on dancing or not. when someone stepped up behind her, she turned with one of her polished pageant smiles already in place. “i hope i’m not in the way,” she said lightly. her gaze flicked back to the bracelets before returning to them. “i was just trying to decide if i should take one. even if i don’t dance, they’re still cute.”

"but, i'll be leaving the dancing to the enthusiasts." she nodded towards people already making their way to the floor, loosened by courage— liquid or otherwise. she couldn't say experts given the quality of the people in the room. there were too many whitlock-holmes skulking about to make that a possibility. she conceded the harshness to her point, trying to remind herself the occasion, "sweet idea, though."

Neve was the first person the hospital called, the emergency contact on file.  Maverick loved his family, but Neve was his best friend, his sister from another mister, and dependable.  It was she who checked in on his home to make sure the hurricane did not destroy everything and she who brought some comforts from his home so the hospital was not completely depressing.

Over a week had passed and he finally was out of the ICU, but they were keeping a serious eye on him in fear of infection given his current status.  When Neve walked in, he softly smiled.  There were only two people on Earth that he was comfortable being this vulnerable with and that was his mother and Neve.

“How,” he shook his head and lifted his phone to text instead of speak. [TEXT]: How goes it? [TEXT]: How are the boys?

she pulled a chair up close to him so that she was resting her arms on his bed. "the boys are good." better than to be expected, considered they'd had to be moved over to aunt birch's house for a very big very special sleepover. well-adjusted, that was the word, however hopeful it sounded. "they're enjoying the backyard at birch's." she'd made sure to load up enough toys and playground equipment to keep them out of her friend's hair.

"i've almost got the roof patched up." considering the fact a whole tree had come through their trailer, she was just grateful that they hadn't been home at the time. for whatever that was worth, considering they hadn't been with her either. "we should be moving back this week." she didn't want to share her hardships with mav, given their current circumstances, but she knew it would be easier than to hide them. what good would that have brought on?

she'd lost him for too long to be a liar, and made too many bad decisions without him to try and sidestep what happened now. she had him, by some miracle which still hadn't been properly explained to her. she decided to take it, to shrug off her own problems. "how are you feeling?"

"Just here for the free food really, pro tip they usually grill them at the barbecue for the competition and always have a few spares to give out," Ash leaned over and muttered conspiringly, taking a hot dog and raising it, "Ashton, nice to meet you, first spring carnival or..?"

"neve." she held her own hot dog, some mock greeting that went along with the whole novel idea of an eating contest. "no— actually. been coming since i was little." walking from beverly to the fairgrounds, waiting until she saw mav in the distance to run up to and try the games with. her world had been small, but every so often there was a windfall that had covered the rides and the tickets, all the food she wanted. she didn't ask her mom where it came from, she should have. "you?"

"oh did he?" she squeezed liam, letting him see the food trucks, their brains creating what a mothman could possibly look like. it'd have to be repeated again, letting the rumor transmit through the halls of the elementary school as it had when she was younger. some things continued on, lives of their own, hatched from eggs the size of trucks. "we'll keep a look out for any large eggs."

"I don't blame you. I think if I had to ride those all day, I'd never have an appetite again. I never was a fan. But you know, I am pretty good at them shootin' games. Maybe I could win your boys a cute lil' stuffed piggy so they can have a Wilbur all their own." Speaking as she nodded toward one of the little stuffed animals hanging on the side of a game booth as they passed it, the beer garden tent finally coming into view at the end of the line of barking carneys and flashing lights.

"Oh I can just picture it. We had us a carnival like this in Brantley but nowhere near this big. Then again, the carnival probably rolled through with more staff than there was people in town." But that town diligently fundraised all year for that carnival every single year. "To be honest, it kinda takes way some'a that ol' home sickness. Funny how the smell'a mini donuts 'n popcorn can bring a person back somewhere."

"no matter where you go, it finds you." she laughed, the lights and sounds that never changed. she hadn't ventured far from carroll, never had the means, but it was a comfort to know it didn't mean that things were much different all the way in brantley. she knew birch's offer was sincere, but she still couldn't help the continued independence. she didn't do it all alone, but she also refused to burn out any of her friends, new-found or old. "please, you say that now. i can't imagine a classroom all day and then kids running rampant at night." it sounded like a recipe for exhaustion, and that was before all the animal care. "you'll need the spa day too before you know it."

It's hard to ignore the news of a community barbecue happening, including the tempting smell that wafted over to the main street, he had to come by and at the same time catch up with some familiar faces in his high school hockey coach taking up one of the pits to grill up for the crowd. He took a step back once it was starting to get too busy, given a hefty plate in hand, too much to finish it all by himself. "Is it just me or the hot dogs look bigger this year.." Ash mostly muttered to himself staring at the plate of meats handed off to him but also audible to the woman beside him, noticing her to greet with a polite smile, "sorry- would you like any? They just freshly grilled off some to share," Ash offered the plate while grabbing a clean one for her to pick some off. "They're definitely making the hot dog eating competition harder, look at the size of those things."

"are you entering the contest?" she took the offered food, never too much of a stranger to take when something was free. she knew his face from somewhere, which was more than enough for the friendliness of the conversation. he didn't seem the type, but what did she know about the competitive eaters of carroll county. "sizing up the competition? or warming up?"