Archive of Our Own

There's a weird solemn feeling that hangs heavy in the hostel. It's heavy, and formal, and dignified to the point of almost no return. Ever since the group went on a rescue mission to retrieve Alex from the depths of the dark dimension - ever since they ran into Ty and Tandy - even Gert could admit that things didn't feel the same. They looked the same - they had managed to preserve an integral core of their group - but Gert knew more than anything on how deceiving looks could be.

Alex was back, and though the whole Morgan le Fay situation still loomed directly over their heads, Gert had made an attempt to return to some level of comfort. She had tried to focus on the important things - making up with Chase, and using whatever free time she had to spend with him and Molly - a loose attempt in trying to make up for months of miscommunication and misdirected negativity.

And if, in light of all her efforts, her relationships were falling back into functionable places, then why did it still feel like something had been stripped away?

She's been independent all her life, from having parents as ditzy as Dale and Stacey, to spending the majority of her high school experience wrapped up in her own head - Gert mastered how to take care of herself. But she also knew better than anyone else that, without any one of them, their little makeshift family didn't work. And that truth never failed to stir up a bittersweet feeling within her. The idea that her mere survival and happiness relied on the efforts and support of five other teenagers who were almost as doubtful and vincible as her was not a reassuring feeling. The idea that - despite their best efforts - there was still a very good chance that they may not all make it out of this Morgan situation alive.

Their time in the dark dimension had been grimly exchanged for a moment of their youth - six months and eight hours to be exact - that they could never get back. That part hadn't really bothered her though. If anything, Gert would say that she was rather relieved that they had fast forwarded time ahead, enough to the point where she was finally of age to go to college. To apply and get into Smith, and to finally get the hell out of here.

But this feeling - it takes shape in many forms. From an elephant in the room, to the eerie tension between the group of friends, so thick that it could be cut with nothing less than a butcher's knife. And she had felt it even tonight, around the dinner table, where the group had shared a homemade pizza that Nico and Chase had managed to conjure up in the kitchen earlier that evening. She says "managed" very loosely because she's pretty sure there were certain moments where she could hear Nico cursing Chase out from the upstairs of her room. Something about how he should stop trying to use the fire from his fistigons to heat up a pizza, Gert remembers.

But even at dinner, where spirits should be high with hearts as full as their stomachs, it's a struggle to get a word out of anyone. Nico and Karolina sit at a corner of the long table, in their own little world as Nico helps Karolina pick off the pieces of pepperoni that have found its way into what-was-supposed to be her vegetarian slice of the pizza. Chase and Molly are off on a long tangent, debating on whether Old Lace was… capable of having children? Gert shudders at the thought. It was complicated enough being psychically linked to one genetically modified dinosaur, let alone, like, ten other baby dinos wildly roaming around the hostel.

And Gert pretends not to notice the strange behaviors that Alex had seemingly adopted. He'd always been a little strange, but always in an annoyingly nerdy smartest-one-in-the-room kind of way - not in the way that unnerved Gert whenever she was now around him. Alex sat with the group, but in his own headspace, not nearly as present as he should've been. He barely touched his food, and whenever someone would ask if he was okay, he'd just wave them off, refusing to get into any conversation about his mental state or the time that he had spent in the dark dimension. He was doing that a lot lately.

There's functionality in the group, but no real sense of unity. And Gert can't help but think that maybe it had to do with the departure of Ty and Tandy - the fact that they had discovered kids who were just like them - and in that made them feel less alone. But they had left as soon as they had came and took their kindredness with them. All the way back to New Orleans, or god knows where, the runaways might as well have been the only teens with weird powers left on this side of the map. It might have been a source of why the group of mismatched teens felt so hopeless.

A source - one of many - that wasn't so easy to find a solution to.

xx

Before Karolina's mom had left the hostel, she had instilled a rhythm of routine and chores onto the group of wayward teens. In the midst of her pregnancy and evil PRIDE-doing, in a somewhat twisted way, she had found a way to be even more motherly to Karolina and her group of friends. From preparing full course meals, to cleaning up after their constant messes, and even going as far as to help Karolina with her hair on days it wouldn't cooperate, brushing out her tangled knots and putting her hair up into a delicate, yet complicated fish braid that even Karolina couldn't get right herself.

Now, however, being taken care of was a luxury that the runaways could no longer afford. All they had left was the remnants of a messy chore board that sat loosely on a counter in their kitchen.

Alex had taken out the trash, Nico and Chase had helped prepare dinner, so it was Molly's turn to help clean up the kitchen. Though, that was only installed for the mere principle of giving Molly some much-needed responsibilities, because it's quickly realized that Molly isn't so good at washing dishes. it's no avail when Gert and Karolina have to sneak back in right after her to do the job correctly a second time around.

Karolina's hands are getting numb, the feeling of hot water grazing her fingers as she starts off scraping another plate clean. She washes, Gert dries. It's a mind-numbing routine that the two have adopted for the past fifteen minutes. Though they've barely said a word to each other since they started cleaning up, the lull of music coming from the radio seated on a nearby counter is enough to make the silence comfortable.

Except, when she's done washing off the plate and reaches over the sink to hand it over, Gert isn't there to receive it. She's there, in all physical aspects, her dry cloth mindlessly going over the same plate in repeated circles for what seems to have been at least a couple of minutes. Mentally, Gert Yorkes has tapped out.

Karolina gently nudges her with her elbow. "Gert."

This is received with a startled look from Gert as she lands back to reality, the plate in her hand falling frantically out of her grasp.

It's lucky enough when Karolina is able to catch the falling plate, placing it safely back on the dish rack. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, I'm just...thinking." She clears her throat and adjusts her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "I'm thinking."

Karolina presses her lips together and reaches over the sink to turn off the running water.

Gert was in her mind a lot, this wasn't anything new. But it didn't make it easier when it came to figuring out the things that seemed to occupy her headspace. Understanding her thoughts was essential to understanding Gert Yorkes.

"About what?"

Karolina's not sure why she even asks that question. It's not like her and Gert have ever been the best of friends or, even confidants in each other, that was true. But they had been in almost-death situations together and had been on the run with each other since this whole mess began - surely that must've been enough. And Karolina's almost about to resent herself from trying to pry into Gert's head when Gert turns around and leans on the island countertop, drumming her fingers lightly against the table.

"Doesn't it scare you?"

The corners of Karolina's mouth quirks up as her face contorts into a puzzled frown. "What's supposed to scare me?"

Karolina answers that as soon as it's questioned. Everything scares her.

Gert sighs. "Like, I don't know, the fact that we have to start thinking of our futures soon," the questioning look doesn't seem to leave Karolina's expression so Gert has to clarify. "What's going to happen after this whole Morgan thing ends - college, the hostel, somehow finding a way to convince Molly to finish high school. Our own individual goals, what if we can't function without each other, I can't take you all to Massachuse-"

Gert's tangent is cut off by Karolina who cracks an amused smile. "You're starting to sound like our old high school guidance counselor."

This earns an eye roll from Gert. "Not funny."

"I wasn't trying to be funny."

And it was the truth, because Gert was right. She had hopes for the future, whereas Karolina just had hopes for the now. She wanted to go to college someday, sure, but having had to deal with the dark dimension and the darkness of her girlfriend was enough to make college seem like such an obscure and fickle idea. Yes, their hopes and dreams for the future, whether it entailed higher education or not, were important, but none of it mattered if they wouldn't be alive to even see it.

Gert shrugs, letting her arms relax against her side. "I just…" she trails off, her voice faltering to a quiet mumble. "...need to know that everything's gonna be okay."

And for a slight second, it's silent. Because Karolina can't answer that - she can't promise Gert that things will work out just as she hopes they will. Though they didn't choose to have evil parents, or to have the safety of the world in their hands, they chose to stick together through it all, despite the outcome. There was always going to be risks.

Luckily for Karolina, she doesn't have time to spare Gert any false promises, because they're both distracted by the next song that plays through the old radio.

It's unlike the songs played before, forgoing the mixture of old-time classics and ancient blues, the lyrics taking a more upbeat reprisal this time when the song starts playing. It takes a second to register, but Karolina is quickly reminded that she's well-acquainted with the tune.

Like rekindling with an old-time friend, the song makes the corners of her mouth turn up into a smile. She closes her eyes shut, and she's immediately taken back to her bedroom in her parents' house - before she found out they were evil and everything fell apart. She's sitting at her study desk, watching countless youtube hair tutorials, an attempt to finally master a certain hair braiding technique, and the song - "dancing again" by flor - is playing from the speakers of her laptop. She hums along, singing to the lyrics as they echo. Her heart is warm.

Karolina opens her eyes back up, and she's determined to get an ounce of that carefree feeling back. She misses it - how untroubled and seemingly naive she used to be. For a second, it makes her forget about the other eighty percent of her past-life that were not-so-nice.

I can't wait, I've been longing to be dancing around again.

Those lyrics play, and as if on instructional instinct, Karolina reaches out to grab a hold of Gert's hand, pulling her into a playful twirl. Sounds of annoyed confusion are quickly replaced with sounds of uncontrolled laughter when Gert is spun around and around.

"Karolina, stop-" Gert can hardly stop laughing. "You're gonna make me dizzy!"

And as if by a way of self fulfilling prophecy, Gert lets go of Karolina's soapy hand and spins until she lands on the hardwood floor with a loud thud. She lands with her back to the floor, and the sound of Gert's body hitting the ground is enough to almost make Karolina wince. Oof.

There's a second where the two look at each other, unsure of what the other is going to say or do in the next following moments. Karolina's almost willing to bet money that Gert's about to give her a much-deserved tell off, but quite the opposite happens. The corners of Gert's eyes crinkle and she blinks slightly at Karolina before erupting into another fit of giggles.

I wish for the madness, I live a bit lavish with no care beside.

She extends a helping hand towards Gert, a faint attempt to help her off the ground. And Gert takes it, but not before using enough force to pull Karolina down to her level.

The two find themselves sprayed on the kitchen floor, unable to stop the following moments of laughter that washes through them. Karolina's face flushes a dim red, and the corners of her eyes are blurry from the laughter tears that have clouded her vision.

"This is dumb," Karolina finally confesses. She's done laughing now, but the lopsided grin is still ever so present on her face.

Gert nods agreeing, adjusting herself up from the ground in a sitting position. "What are we even laughing about?"

"Nothing?" Karolina confirms.

"Everything."

It didn't really matter either way. The same way someone could keep fits of anger inside them and then blow up, set off by the tiniest of things - Karolina believed the same could happen with joy. They'd spent months being in high pressure situations and being frustrated with each other that they'd forgotten what it was like to even crack a smile.

"I haven't laughed like that in a while, " Gert admits, playing around with the hem of her shirt. She gives Karolina a once-over, a wistful smile plastered on her face.

"Well, yeah," Karolina surveys Gert. "Considering we literally lost six months to the dark dimension."

It was as if the group of friends had all collectively just picked up on the belief that good moments, the fun and carefree ones, were limited to experience. As far as Karolina remembers, the last good time that they all collectively shared was the night of Molly's quinceanera. And they all remembered how that ended. Karolina didn't have to remind Gert - she'd probably kill her if she brought up the memory of Chase leaving her that night. Ever since then, it was as if every good moment they could possibly share would end in impending chaos.

Gert looks down, seemingly finding the floor below her more interesting than their conversation. "When you put it like that, it seems worse than it actually is."

"Well, isn't it?"

There's a calm silence between the two friends, and its easy to believe that Karolina is right. That somewhere between the six months, they'd not only lost time, but had lost birthdays and holidays, and even mundane trivial things that didn't seem to matter anymore like high school graduation and prom. Except, it's not like they'd even be graduating on time, not with the amount of school being runaways had allowed them to miss.

"Um, "Karolina bites her lip. "I know if given the chance you wouldn't go back to high school—"

"—You don't know that," Gert deflects.

This catches Karolina by surprise. She's not sure why Gert's had a sudden change of heart about her perspective on high school. Especially if Karolina knew what her experience had been like.

The two were very different, but alike in that way. After Amy died and the group fell apart, Karolina had mostly kept to herself. She hardly participated in after-school clubs or sports, never snuck out or did any of the cliche teenage things - if it didn't include activities with her church youth group, she was nowhere to be found. It was better that way, that's what she had wanted to convince herself at the time. The truth is - she was alone. And though they didn't talk, hardly communicated during their time at school - Karolina could see how lonely Gert was too.

It was almost like looking in a mirror, the alienation Gert experienced resembling the likes of her own. And in a weird but comforting way, it was almost settling for Karolina to recognize that she hadn't been the only one who found it difficult to move on. They were alone, even if it was separately. Now — being teen runaways with nothing to hang onto but the promises of each other — they were alone together. 

Karolina wrinkles her nose. "But it's understandable if you wouldn't, I mean."

"Yeah, I guess." Gert's mouth sets into a hard line. "The food was horrible, and the people sucked - but it was…"

Karolina finishes her sentence for her. "Normal."

Gert nods, using her hands to lift herself off from the ground. "And I'm not the same person I used to be - If I were to go back, hell would have to freeze before I let people like Eiffel or Brandon run me over again."

But even then, Karolina remembers that Gert was as confident and self-assured as she is now. She stood up for herself and the things that mattered when no-one else would. She wasn't afraid to be unpopular if it meant getting people to listen to the things she advocated for. Karolina respected that about her.

But what was normal? Karolina isn't so sure because the standard for normalcy has flipped right under her nose. "Normal" wasn't high school lockers, Saturday night lights, or even sneaking out at night to attend yet another dingy party that one of their classmates happened to throw that night. Normal was here, in the hostel with her five friends and their pet dino. Now that her life seemed to revolve around protecting her friends and their underground hostel - normal was what felt right.

And what felt right - what felt needed - was a much needed break for the group of friends. A break, even if it was a short one, so that they didn't always have to feel like the weight of the world was solely on their shoulders.

"So you wouldn't be opposed to this," Karolina reaches into the back pockets of her denim jeans and pulls out a crumpled flyer, unraveling it and placing it in Gert's hands. It's a flyer for a high-school dance. "If were were to go back for one night only?"

More specifically, Livvie's senior prom. When they went to Tamar's house, when her mom was in labor, Karolina had seen the flyer attached to a magnet on her kitchen fridge. May 21st at Lakeview High. The theme was Starry Night.

And though she's not too proud of taking it, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that it could maybe prove to be of use to the group later on down the line.

Gert stands in silence, taking a second to read the wrinkled flyer, her brows furrowing and her mouth forming into a soft "o" as she takes in the information on the paper.

She rips her focus away from the flyer, looking up at Karolina. "You want us to crash a prom?"

Karolina bites her lip, trying to cover up the sly grin that forms on her face. "I think it could be fun."

"Really?"

She shoots Gert an incredulous look. "What, do you have better friday night plans that I don't know about?"

"I - no - ," Gert stumbles on her words. "But I really don't think Livvie would appreciate if we crashed her prom. Also, you seem to be forgetting the unsettling fact that Morgan is still a problem - she could show up at any minute for Nico- "

"-So we deal with her if she comes." Karolina moves closer to Gert. "But we can't keep missing out on moments like this because we're too scared or afraid to have fun."

And as much as Karolina wanted to convince herself that she wanted this solely for the well-being of the group, there was a slight chance that she also wanted it for herself. Six months had passed, and in that frame, Gert and the others had missed their birthdays, making Karolina the only one in their friend group to not come of age. Well, excluding Molly, she had yet to turn eighteen and maybe her birthday falling on the day right after the 21st had something to do with why she wanted to experience a moment of celebration. She couldn't imagine spending her birthday moping around the hostel, but she also didn't want to make her friends feel like they had to throw her a big party - they already had enough to deal with. So this prom? It was going to be for her.

"Um, wow," Gert gives Karolina a skeptical once-over. "You've just been keeping this from all of us?"

Karolina gives a defensive shrug. "I was going to bring it up at dinner but nobody really seemed to be in the mood."

Pizza and sadness - that had definitely been the vibe of the night.

Gert pulls on a flyaway piece of her hair, twirling a strand between her fingers. "Fair enough."

Karolina grins. "So, you're in?"

"I didn't say that," Gert mumbles.

"You didn't say no."

Her comment is met with another eye roll, not forgoing the slow smile that creeps up on Gert's face. She knew that Gert could see the good in her idea, and in that, she also wished for a beat to breathe. It was exhausting - always trying to save the world.

That was as good as Karolina was going to get, and the two share an unspoken agreement - one that promises that they'd both somehow find a way to convince the rest of their friends that crashing a random high school prom in the middle of dealing with Morgan was a good idea.

And for all the reasons to be teenagers wanting to reclaim lost moments of youth, something tells Karolina that it won't take much convincing.

xx

When people make bucket lists, long goals of things they wish to experience or accomplish in their lives, it usually entails things like hiking a great mountain or going skydiving, anything that seems to serve the purpose of giving some direction in life - of guiding you towards new things and new experiences.

Gert does the same. Except, her bucket list isn't really all that thrilling, more like just a list of books and films that she wanted to watch before she left this earth.

It's not as morbid as it sounds, the list, compromising of a good mix of old classics, indie films, and just the right amount of cheesy rom-coms to level out the playing field. She'd use group supply runs to sneak away and check out books and films from the local library, making her selection of content quite limited.

But as a lover of the arts and all things classical, she'd made it her mission to use whatever free time she had left to catch up on the things she loved. So far, she was making good headway, having already used the old TV that Alex had set up in the hostel to watch films like The Graduate, and Before Sunrise, while effortlessly being on her fourth read-through of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice.

Now with Morgan le Fay being a thing, very intimidating in all the ways that an evil sorceress should be, she's persuaded more now than ever to finish out her list. You know, if by the off chance that she didn't make it out of this whole thing alive.

But Gert knew more than anyone on how lonely film watching and book reading could be if she had no one to talk to about the literary works she'd just consumed. For this reason, she had tried to get Molly on board, tricking her into what was presumed to be "much needed sibling bonding time". However, even that wasn't enough to convince Molly, chalking up Gert's film and book recommendations to "boring" and "a waste of time". Her loss. Gert liked to think otherwise.

So it's no surprise that, when Gert makes up with Chase, one of the first things she does is somehow succeed in convincing him that understanding all her literary references was vital to preserving their relationship.

And in a not-so-surprising way, Chase believes her. Per his words, He wouldn't spend his free time reading "books that were assigned to make him fail English", that he couldn't do. But he would watch the films with her.

They're sitting on the floor of the living room, hoisted up by random pillows that they've managed to find lying around the hostel. Gert's back is up against the wall, and Chase is resting on her with his head relaxed on her lap.

It's almost twelve in the morning, and though the final minutes of Shakespeare in Love is playing on the TV, Chase's soft snores are enough to know that there won't be any meaningful conversation to engage with him about the ending.

This also annoys Gert because it just makes the twenty minutes they priorly spent deciding on the film to be a waste. Gert had recommended the movie, and Chase had argued against it, responding that he didn't understand why there were so many versions of the same story.

Gert has to explain to him that it's not about the story of Romeo and Juliet, but rather the author himself. It was genius, really.

Then Chase argues that he's against any film that tells the story of the guy who wrote all those boring books that he was forced to read in high school. And Gert has to remind him that he failed his reading quizzes because he used SparkNotes as a means to skim out on the boring parts - he couldn't blame Shakespeare for that.

They went back and forth with each other, never skipping a beat, and Gert can't express enough of how she's missed it. Missed him. They had broken up for reasons Gert didn't really feel like focusing on, but they were together now. And though it had taken them a while to get to this point of synchronization and understanding with each other, it makes everything - having him back - mean a whole lot more.

She uses her hands to support his head, allowing her fingers to softly run through the curls in his hair. He's asleep, peaceful and tranquil, and Gert doesn't know how he manages to still look this pretty even when knocked out. It's a skill, she concludes, feeling somewhat regretful when she has to shake him out of his lull.

"Chase," Gert hums softly, having to say his name a few times before his lashes flutter open.

"Huh—" Chase questions, his voice a sweet mix of tiredness and confusion.

"You fell asleep."

Chase hoists himself into a sitting position, an apologetic look dawning on his face when he meets Gert's eyes. "Oh," he stutters lamely. "Sorry."

Gert accepts his apology with a smile.

"How was the movie?"

"Good." She says it as if it's a no-brainer. "But it's getting late — I think we should go to bed."

Chase slowly nods, agreeing with her. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He stands, helping Gert up when she extends her arm towards him.

"I'll try not to fall asleep next time."

Gert rests her head on his chest, buying into what she knows is a false promise. "Okay."

In the next moment, his hand gently touches the side of her neck and he leans down to press a soft kiss to her forehead. "'Night, Gert."

He's about to leave, turning around to go to what Gert presumes to be his room downstairs, when Gert catches his arm, sliding her hands down to intertwine with his.

This catches Chase off guard, who glances down at their locked hands, and back up at Gert - his brows furrowing in the cute way he does when he's confused about something.

"Um," Gert feels herself getting hot in the face. "I thought that - uh, maybe - you'd want to sleep in a proper bed for a change?"

Gert falters and stumbles on her words. She's not sure why he's still able to get her this flustered, not even like she was saying anything suggestive, just merely looking out for his best interest so that he didn't have to spend yet another night in a deathtrap hammock.

"Oh," Chase is finally catching on to what she's putting down. His look of confusion is exchanged with one of pure satisfaction, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile. "You want me to sleep with you?"

Gert is back to normal, instinctively rolling her eyes as she swats his hand away. "Don't make this a big deal."

But even Gert couldn't lie to herself and say that this meant nothing. She had spent months at odds with him, a consequence for him leaving her when she needed him the most. In a way, her inviting him back to her space was also her telling him that she now fully trusted him again.

Chase's eyes flicker with amusement, not saying another word and his arms wrap around her shoulders, leading Gert back up the stairs to the confinements of her room.

Gert's thoughts are running a million miles per hour, and even the relaxing feeling of having her boyfriend near her, his arms gently wrapped around her waist, isn't enough to calm her down.

She's facing the opposite direction, staring at a ticking clock and mindlessly observes it as it ticks and ticks and makes that ever so annoying buzzing sound that Gert can't seem to get rid of no matter how hard she'd tried meddling with it.

"Chase, are you awake?" A part of her hopes that he's just as restless as she is.

He hums in response, his fingers tracing her back in light circles.

"I can't sleep," she states matter of factly.

Chase is silent for a moment before responding. "Do you want to talk?"

Normally that works. She's able to ramble on about god knows what, whatever was on her mind that night, while he listens, falling in and out of light sleep. It didn't necessarily matter that he wasn't paying attention to her every word, just as so long he gave her the space to empty her head, getting her thoughts out so that she could have enough peace to be able to sleep.

"How would you feel about going back to high school?"

It's an abrupt question, Gert knows. But she can't help but admit that it'd been the only thing on her mind. After Karolina proposed that they go to Livvie's prom, full on-crashing style and all, Gert found herself responding kindly to the idea.

She hadn't had a good high school experience, that'd always been obvious. But she couldn't help but wonder if she could, in some weird way, give that chapter of her life a good closure. It wouldn't have been her first school dance, sure - she wasn't missing anything on that front. But she'd be with the people she loved. This time it'd be better.

Chase takes a second before responding. "I don't know," He answers truthfully. "Does it matter? I thought you had your eyes on Smith."

"No, like," Gert adjusts herself so she's turned around to face him. She chews on the bottom of her lip, tugging at the hem of his sweatpants. "Let's say the opportunity presented itself - would you want to go to prom with me?"

It's a lame way to ask, Gert knows. In the name of grand promposals or whatever, Gert was sure this one wouldn't go into any record books. But she'd never been a big fan of the whole grand gesture poster board flash mob concept, anyway. It wasn't her style.

Chase sucks in his breath. "Like high school prom?"

"Is there more than one type of prom?," Gert asks, a slight irritated edge in her tone. She's certain its her defense mechanism rising up, getting ready to attack at the instant that Chase might reject her again.

"No, it's just— " he sits up, taking a hold of Gert's hands so she's no longer moving her ring from finger to finger as a nervous tick. "What's this all about?"

So Gert explains. She explains how Karolina had seen the flyer for Livvie's prom, and how she believed that it'd be a good way for the group of friends to blow off some steam. She also adds how she agreed with Karolina, stating that it wouldn't be a bad idea because she wanted to spend more time with him. Doing normal things like going on dates and maybe even going to dumb high school dances.

Chase gives her a slight once-over, and Gert's about to ask what he's thinking, but he interrupts her train of thought, leaning in towards her. Before she knows it, his lips are pressed against hers and he's showering her in small kisses.

"Do I have to, like," he smirks in between short pecks. "Get you a corsage and match the color of my tie to your dress?"

Gert hums against his mouth, a silent laugh leaving the back of her throat. "Maybe."

Chase responds by deepening the kiss, his arms circling around her waist in an effort to pull her even closer towards him. There's warmth that radiates off him, so much so that Gert finds herself melting into his arms.

And though it's hard to stop kissing him, Gert pulls away from him, almost breathless when she looks at him to see nothing but pure admiration in his eyes - like he can't get enough of her. Like she's the only girl in his world. "I take that as a yes."

Chase grins like an idiot. "Mhm."

xx

Supply runs, the only way the group ensures that they have enough food and necessities to live at the hostel, are quickly realized to have become Molly Hernandez fan service.

And maybe everyone falls for it so easily, because deep down there's always a deep understanding in the group where they all collectively felt bad for stripping Molly's childhood away from her. Like the other five had to work overtime to make sure she was happy.

Or maybe that was just a Karolina thing, finding herself the most susceptible to Molly's charms.

She's facing the consequences of that, right here, in the middle of a grocery store aisle where she's struggling to balance an assortment of chocolates and candy in her arms. The other three had written down what they wanted from Karolina and Nico's run - Alex asking for a very niche brand of cereal, one that Karolina was certain stores didn't even produce anymore. Chase asked for yet another pack of protein shake powder, and Gert just wished that they finally buy a healthy balance of vegetables.

But Molly? If it didn't satisfy her sweet tooth, she didn't care for it.

"You know," Nico begins, surveying her surroundings to pick up a bottle of pasta sauce from the aisle that they had found themselves in. "You don't actually have to buy her all that."

Karolina scrunches up her nose, "I know."

Nico turns around to look at her, a soft smile forming on her lips. "You're too nice."

But she doesn't say it as though it's a weakness Karolina owned. No, Nico rolls it off her tongue with sweetness and a hint of admiration. Quite possibly, hinting that it was one of Karolina's best qualities.

Karolina appreciated that about Nico - how she allowed her to be fully herself, niceties and all, even if it went against her own grain.

But she's grateful when Nico hands her a shopping basket, allowing her hands to be free of the groceries she was holding. "Did we get everything?"

"Almost," Nico responds. Her eyes follow the direction of a bottle of whipped cream that just so happened to be on the highest shelf in the aisle. High enough to where she couldn't reach it on her own accord.

"Could you, uh,-"

Before Nico finishes her sentence, Karolina's already a step ahead of her, using her height advantage to reach up and grab the bottled product, handing it over to Nico.

Nico mutters a generous thank you, and Karolina grins. Her girlfriend was non-arguably the most powerful witch in the world - somewhat invincible and all - but here she was, falling victim to a can of whipped cream held on a high level, being 5'2 and all. It was cute.

The two find themselves in a slow but steady rhythm, being able to remain in comfortable silence as they went around the grocery store, picking up items that the collective group needed to sustain that week. Even though the group had a chore chart and they were supposed to rotate duties with each other ever so often, Karolina and Nico had somewhat selfishly adopted food runs as their own.

And though there were running jokes that Karolina was the "mom friend" of the group, times like this made it very easy to see that Nico had taken on that role alongside her. It was one of the few moments where the two experienced a settling calm - it was normal and it was dignified. With the recent situations that the group had undergone, experiencing moments like that weren't so easy to get often. Karolina appreciated them.

When they're done, they head out into the streets, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of downtown L.A.

On one hand, Karolina's tightly holding on to bags of groceries, and in the other, her fingers interlace with that of Nico's. They're walking back to the car, on their way home, when Karolina eyes a quaint frozen yogurt store that sits at the corner of the street.

And as if Molly's sweet tooth was something contagious, Karolina tugs on Nico's hand, leading her towards the direction of the store.

Before Nico can object, saying that they needed to get back to the hostel before it got dark, Karolina's already persuading her with promises of sugary sweetness, showing her an assorted menu of flavors.

"I can't believe I'm in love with someone who likes mint-chocolate flavored anything," Karolina casually comments, a slight teasing tone to her voice.

"Hey," Nico warns, playfully nudging Karolina as the corners of her mouth quirk up.

The two get their yogurt and they decide to sit outside, under the falling sun where the cool breeze grazes their bare arms.

Nico's in her own little world, her attention focused on her yogurt as she picks apart the pieces of fruit that she'd decided to sprinkle as toppings for her cup.

Karolina quietly studies her, taking note of the way she tugs on the loose braid that Karolina had helped her put her hair into earlier that morning. The way her mouth is set into a soft frown, somewhat of a pout, when she's focused on something really important. The way her hands never leave Karolina's side, even if it made it that much harder to get into her yogurt.

Nico looks up, the frown on her face deepening as she shoots Karolina a puzzled glare. "What?"

Karolina shakes her head, a smile slipping. "Nothing."

Actually, there was something. More specifically, something that Karolina needed to ask her.

It was about prom - or more so the concept of asking Nico to go with her.

And Karolina's not quite sure why she's waited this long to ask - why she's so nervous to ask out her girlfriend of months. Even after they'd expressed strong feelings for each other and had been through countless of situations where their survival was dependent on the love they shared - the idea of asking Nico to prom doesn't fail to allow butterflies to swarm within Karolina.

She hesitates for a second, reaching into the pockets of her jacket and pulls out a small lettered envelope. The envelope is pink, and Nico's name is written in fancy cursive - something months of calligraphy practice Karolina had to thank.

Karolina hands the letter off to Nico.

Nico glances down at it, lifting her head to look back up at Karolina. "What's this?"

"So, um," Karolina says, watching her take the letter into her hands, gently tearing it open and eyes scanning over the words. "I know we've been dealing with the whole Morgan thing, dark dimension and all, you know normal teen hero stuff," She lets out a breathy laugh. "But — uh well, this is sort of perfect considering that we haven't really had a break. And I think we deserve one," Karolina's voice trails.

Nico takes in a sharp breath as she stares at the letter, and Karolina's eyes trace awkwardly over her own handwriting on the paper. Nico's eyes dart up to find Karolina's, and she blinks at her a couple times.

"Prom?" she asks. "Prom?"

"Yeah," Karolina says, her voice cracking like she's about to ask Nico to be her girlfriend for the first time. "Look at, uh — I wrote you, uh — I wrote you a note on the back.

Nico flips it over and Karolina can see her hands are becoming unsteady. She remembers writing the letter earlier on in the morning, at breakfast when Nico was too distracted yelling at Chase, trying to keep him from eating all the waffles that she had made. Karolina had secretly written out the letter, and Gert had made cooing noises as she passed by her.

I want to spend time with you - to dance all night with you - till we're out of breath and can't stop laughing because we're having too much fun. It's not much, but this is something. You deserve to experience a carefree night, Nico.

I love you. Go to prom with me?

She watches Nico read it, and still gets nervous sometimes when she's reminded that the girl of her dreams has her heart. That although they may not be in the best situation right now, being runaways and all, she got very lucky with having Nico by her side. That simple fact made everything so much easier.

"Karolina—"

"—Livvie's prom - on Friday night, we could go," she explains. "I think it'd be fun," A flush creeps up on her face. "It's cheesy, I know."

"No, I love it— " Nico objects. She shakes her head, and stands up from across the table to lean over and press a soft kiss to the side of Karolina's cheeks. "— I love you. It's perfect."

xx

"Do you know how to tie a tie?"

It's the first proper sentence that Alex says to Chase since his return from the dark dimension. It catches Chase off guard, slightly unnerving him when Alex approaches him with a loose tie in his hand.

He's in his room, deathtrap hammock and all, when Alex enters. He gives Chase a quick once over, eyes refusing to acknowledge him after the fact.

"What?" Chase asks, his voice cracking slightly.

Alex blinks at him, his brows drawing close together. "I can't seem to get it right," he briefly explains. "My dad used to help me but since that's not really an option anymore…"

Chase presses his mouth into a hard line. He understands, but he's still confused. Confused as to why Alex had come to him for something as trivial as this, considering that he'd spent the majority of his time ignoring his friends now. And though it made Chase slightly uneasy, he surprisingly didn't blame Alex for any of it.

He had spent months in the dark dimension, having experienced who knows what. Chase doesn't know because Alex refused to talk about it to anyone. But even though Chase didn't know the ins and outs of what Alex had gone through, he had somewhat of an idea, an understanding, of why he didn't want to talk about it.

Alex had lost his mom a little after Chase had lost his. And even though it wasn't the same context - the same situation - Chase understood the feelings that came with that type of loss. It was gritty, and painful, and seemingly never-ending. In a world where so much was going to shit, the loss of his mom wasn't something Chase particularly enjoyed talking about.

Gert had tried countless other times to talk to him about his family. About his mom, his dad, and everything in-between. And though he appreciated her care for him, he wasn't ready to unscath that part of his life. With his past abuse and family history, he didn't want Gert to think differently of him - any less of him.

And though he knows that she wouldn't, that telling her these things would probably ease the hurt because she was always going to be there for him, he just wasn't ready. He would always shift the conversation, using humor and deflection to stop Gert from prying into his pain.

So, he understood Alex's silence - the reasons he decided not to open up to the group. Chase couldn't blame him for that.

"Yeah," Chase responds, getting close enough to Alex so that he can get a hold of the tie in his hand. "Cross the wide end over the arrow," Chase instructs, his hands meddling with the white collar around Alex's neck.

Alex shifts his head, falling into silence as he allows Chase to wrap the wide end of his tie behind the narrow end from right to left.

"Look, I'm sorry about the whole accusing you of being an alien thing." The silence between the two friends is cut short by Chase. He's not quite sure why he's apologizing now, but there's something in Chase that tells him being at odds with his friend wasn't worth it. It was redundant and exhausting.

Alex parts his mouth slightly, a foreign expression washing over his face as he studies Chase. "Don't be," he replies. "You were right."

This was one of the few things Chase regretted being right about. Alex being the host, having had an alien inhibiting him, had alienated him from the group in more ways than one. But it wasn't his fault, and they hadn't been fair on him.

Chase's expression closes up. He shakes his head. "But you're not that person anymore—"

"—I don't really know who I am, Chase."

Chase finishes tying Alex's tie, adjusting his collar before leaning away from him. His mouth twists into a grim line, the words coming out of Alex's mouth sounding so strange.

Alex Wilder had always been so sure of himself. Sure of what he wanted, sure of how to get it. Hearing him say that he didn't recognize himself, it was very hard for Chase to wrap his head around.

Chase takes a second, leaning back on the wall nearby him. "I used to be really jealous of you."

Used to is an understatement. Chase is pretty sure that he still is.

He's not sure why he's being so vulnerable, admitting something that he swore he would take to his grave as per not to inflate Alex's already established ego. But the look of perplexity that crosses Alex's face is enough to know that it was a much needed confession.

"Jealous?"

Chase nods. "Wilder, everyone looks up to you to fix things and be this great leader figurehead," he explains. "And rightfully so, because you're a pretty good one."

Alex just stares.

Chase continues. "Whenever there's a problem, you somehow always find a way to come up with a solution," he runs his hands through his hair. "Meanwhile, I kinda just...wing it."

The more Chase talks through this, the more he realizes that maybe his insecurities played a part into why it's always been so hard for him to get along with Alex. Chase was smart, and sometimes proved to do the right things, but he wasn't nearly as calculated and sure of himself as Alex.

Alex opens his mouth to say something, closing it right backup when the correct words can't seem to form. He finally settles on a response. "Everyone loves you, Chase," his expression opens up, a lot more relaxed than before. "That goes a lot farther than always being right."

"We love you too, Alex," Chase reminds him.

They were a family, bonded firmly together through whatever situation they'd be thrown into. However, Chase couldn't deny that a downside in having family - people who get and are there for you through thick and thin - is that sometimes you're so used to their support that you end up taking them for granted. "We just sometimes have a shitty way of showing it."

This time, Alex smiles. A soft, relaxed smile that rests on his face in a gentle but knowing way. "I think we could all do better on that end."

"I think so too."

For the next following moments, the two sit on the floor of Chase's room and talk things out, the thick tension between them loosening to something more of an understanding of each other. They were going to have fun tonight - going to make the most out of whatever shitty high school prom this was going to end up being. Things were going to be alright.

Alex tells Chase that he has to finish getting ready for the dance, and he gets up to leave.

"Chase—," Alex pauses, stopping at the entrance of his room, his body quickly turns around to face him. "Thank you."

For the gentleness and foreign openness seeping through Alex's tone, Chase has a feeling that he's thanking him for more than just the tie.

"No problem, Wilder."

xx

Molly doesn't dabble much into makeup. Being a teen hero with mutant-like superpowers, she had far more important things to worry about, obviously. But being fifteen, well technically now sixteen after leaving the dark dimension, today seemed like the perfect time to start testing the waters.

But she doesn't realize how hard it is, the whole makeup bit, until she's attempting to do a dignified look for the prom that they were going to attend tonight. She didn't realize how complicated it was, not really understanding the difference between the many types of primers and foundations - and don't get her started on the multiple possible uses for concealer.

So it's a no brainer that she has to ask Gert for experienced help, sitting on the edge of her bed as Gert holds a mirror up as she works on her face.

Gert says that she doesn't need much makeup, that Molly's always been a natural beauty, and that there was more to life than a woman's looks. Of course, all this is going in through one ear and out the other because all Molly can think about is how much of a hypocrite her older sister is.

Gert is working on her face, pressing powder against Molly's skin, but it doesn't go unnoticed with how careful she's being, making sure not to accidentally get any excess content on her dress.

For good reason too, because it's a beautiful dress. Olive green, complimenting the tan in her skin, with a bareback and high slit on the thigh. It's a dress alright, showing off curves that Molly didn't even know Gert had.

Molly simpers, looking up at her sister who was transfixed on fixing her makeup. "You wore this dress for Chase, didn't you?"

Gert stops working, her hand leaving Molly's face. She gapes at her sister. "I wore this for myself."

Molly rolls her eyes, knowing she was going to say something along those lines. In the name of feminism and all.

"But with the intent of looking good," Molly says dumbfoundedly. "For Chase."

"-Molly," Gert cuts her off, annoyance hinged in her voice.

Molly ignores her. "So you're telling me that there was never any moment, while putting on this particular dress," she gestures at Gert. "That you didn't think of how you'd get a reaction out of Chase?"

"Molly," Gert warns, her tone a lot sterner this time around.

Molly waves Gert off, letting out a high-pitched giggle. "Okay, fine, I'll stop."

This earns a slight smile from Gert, letting out a breathy laugh as she focuses back on Molly's face, figuring out which eye shadow colors would best suit the no makeup-makeup look that she was going for. "You're ridiculous," Gert comments, amusement in her voice.

"You look amazing by the way," Molly casually states.

Gert gives her an appreciative grin.

Molly was happy to see Gert happy. To see that she'd finally mended things with Chase, and to overall see all her friends making somewhat of an effort to allow themselves to breathe. To relax and just be the teens that they always were. In Molly's opinion, they seemed to have been taking everything a little too seriously nowadays.

"I'm really glad that we're doing this," she states, using the eye that Gert isn't working on to peer up at her sister. "Going to prom, I mean."

Gert raises her brow. "I thought you'd hate the idea of going back to school."

Molly hums in agreement. "I do - you couldn't pay me to go back to assigned homework and useless tests - but the fun parts like prom? I can do that."

Gert laughs. "Ah."

Molly couldn't also lie that it'd be a nice change to be around some kids closer to her age. Not that Gert and the others were light years ahead from her or anything, but they all seemed to carry a sense of distinguished maturity that Molly hadn't quite adopted yet. It would be a refreshing change to be surrounded by younger spirits.

xx

Karolina knows a few things about fancy, formal events. From being a PRIDE kid to a youth spokesperson for the church of Gibborim, she'd had her fair share of up keeping appearances at dignified events.

For those reasons, the proper yet inauthentic experiences, she'd never been the biggest fan of getting all dressed up for no real reason. To sit in a dress all day, without so much as to having an ounce of fun wasn't really her style. She'd make sure of that tonight.

It was why she appreciated today, getting ready with Nico in the comfort of their room in the hostel. Upbeat music is playing from a nearby radio, and Karolina silently waits for Nico as she finishes putting on her makeup.

Having finished getting ready a good fifteen minutes ago, Karolina studies Nico, a quick observation in the level of concentration that she required in order to get her eyeliner just right. Just enough that Karolina had seen Nico wipe off her eye makeup, reattempting the look over and over again until she was satisfied with her delivery.

Nico breaks away from concentration, turning around from where she was standing at the dresser mirror to glance at Karolina. "Could you help me with my dress?"

She sweeps her hair to the side and gestures to the bare of her back.

Karolina gets up from her seat and walks towards Nico, her fingers finding her way to the low of her back, gently zipping up her dress.

Nico murmurs a soft thank you, reaching for Karolina's hand so her arms lightly wrap around her waist. They stay in this position for a minute, appreciating and taking in the sight of each other. Nico leaves her hair untouched, wearing it straight down, while Karolina settled on wavy but defined curls. Even the contrast of their dresses was apparent, Karolina's being a subtle off-white pink while Nico unsurprisingly chooses to wear dark blue. Karolina's reminded of how different but alike they are. Not really an opposites attract situation, but more like two sides of the same coin. It works.

"Can't believe you're going to kill everyone with this look," Karolina teases.

Nico gives her a wry smile. "Hopefully it kills Morgan first."

This makes Karolina burst into a fit of laughter. It's a sick joke, but Karolina was glad to see that they still had some sort of comicalness to them. Especially after she had almost lost Nico to Morgan - to her darkness. It wasn't something that she liked to ponder on.

She lets go of Nico, brushing past her to rummage through a drawer, taking a second before she pulls out an old film camera. Karolina's sure that it had previously belonged to Gert, but that didn't stop her from borrowing it whenever she felt the need to.

Karolina turns around to face Nico, a sheepish grin appearing on her face. "Stand still."

She wanted to capture this moment. To hold onto the carefreeness and serendipity of it all.

Nico raises her brow, a moment of confusion cornering her expression, and she's caught off guard when Karolina's camera makes a clicking sound, a large flash following.

Karolina's able to get a couple of pictures of her before Nico groans in disagreement, covering her face with the back of her hand. "Really?"

Sounds of laughter soon erupt in the room when Karolina pulls Nico in towards her. The two get tangled with each other. They lose their balance, gracefully falling on the bed below them.

Nico finds herself to be closed in under Karolina, using her right elbow to balance herself on the bed. Nico gets a hold of one of Karolina's curls that has fallen out of place onto her forehead, and gently pushes it back into place. "You're going to ruin your hair," she states matter-of-factly.

"I don't care," Karolina murmurs, lowering herself to meet Nico.

Nico closes the space between them and kisses her. it's happy and it's slow - Karolina holding onto Nico like it's only two of them and they have all the time in the world.

Except, they don't. Nico soon realizes that.

"We should go downstairs," Nico reasons in-between sweet kisses. "The others are probably waiting for us,"

Karolina lets out a whining noise, burying her face in Nico's neck. "Five minutes." She wanted her girlfriend to herself for just a little bit longer.

"This whole prom thing was your idea," Nico reminds her, letting out a breathy laugh. And before Karolina has the opportunity to argue with her, Nico's already getting up from their bed, pulling Karolina out with her.

xx

There are few moments in life that Chase Stein is seemingly unprepared for. These coincidentally happen to also be moments that he could never really get ready for anyway, no matter how much he could brace himself.

The first moment being freshman year of high school, when his parents bought him the car of his dreams - which he ironically used as a means to escape them.

The second being the time when Atlas Academy won its first championship in years and Chase was simultaneously titled captain of the varsity lacrosse team.

And the third? Well, the third was standing right in front of him.

His eyes drink in the sight of her, from the way the curls in her hair lightly bounce as she skips down the stairs of the hostel, to the casual yet cunning smile that forms on her mouth when she sees him. She's holding her heels in one hand and the tail of her dress in another.

And, god, that dress.

His eyes widen when his focus falls from her face to her body. Her dress is delicate and satin, an olive green color, but those details seem to quickly become insignificant when he takes note of how it hugged her figure. His jaw slacks slightly when his gaze shifts to the open front leg slit, teasing at the revelation of the right of her thigh.

It's right then and there, looking at her, that he understands that he might just be screwed.

And Gert doesn't give him a chance to breathe, twirling playfully for showcase as she approaches him, the bare of her back revealed. Chase sucks in another sharp breath. Yeah, he was definitely screwed.

"Look at you," Gert compliments, grinning innocently as she closes in on him.

"Uh," Chase reflects, lamely. He's never been a man of few words, but there's something about the sight of her that makes it difficult for him to speak.

"You look good," is all he can seem to find the words to say. Good wasn't even the right word to begin describing Gert Yorkes.

Gert is standing in front of him now, reaching out to tug him forward by his tie, like she wants to kiss him but stops short. "Good?"

"Great."

"Great?" There's a slight disappointment hinged in her tone, as she rips her gaze away from Chase. Her lips press tightly together and she looks heavenward, through him, to the direction of Molly, who is standing at the other side of the room taking quick and goofy pictures of Alex, Nico, and Karolina. Chase doesn't think anything of the interaction, so he closes the distance between them, pressing their mouths together.

This does nothing to stop the look of disenchantment that falls on Gert's face, and Chase is about stop her, ask her what's wrong, when Karolina interrupts their moment - making a big deal about the etiquette of getting to an event of time.

Chase raises his brow, skepticism being the word. They were crashing a prom. There was nothing respectful about that.

And though Gert is acting seemingly indifferent towards him, she doesn't object when Chase asks for her hand, reaching down to place his corsage on her bare wrist.

xx

The night is still young, and Gert Yorkes is already irritated.

Crashing a high school prom is a lot harder than it looks. The kids had decided to go civilian on this one, deciding that using their freakish abilities to break into a low-budget dance probably wouldn't be the best idea.

When they arrive at Lakeview, there are countless adults, teachers, Gert presumes, who have been assigned the duty of surveying and monitoring the actions of a bunch of reckless teens. They're vigilant and take their jobs too seriously, a middle aged man stopping the group when they're just about to sneak past a huddle of students into the entrance of the school gym. He asks to see their tickets. The group stumbles, unsure of what to do.

If they weren't getting into this prom, it would prove to be yet another thing added onto Gert's list of things she hated that night.

However, it didn't help that her main source of annoyance came from her own boyfriend. Undoubtedly, it leads to her acting passive aggressive towards him, from the way she hardly says a word to him on their way to the prom, to the way that when he gets out of the driver's seat to open the back door for her, Gert ignores his gesture, using the opposite side of the car to leave.

It's petty, she knows. Gert isn't even sure that she has any warranty to be mad at him, that maybe she was making a whole deal over nothing. She probably was. But, god, he was just so oblivious.

She had worn what was subjectively the best dress she'd ever put on in her life - to look good for herself - that part was important, but it wouldn't have hurt if Chase had noticed her efforts.

He had seen her, and he had fumbled on his words, stating that she merely looked good. Good is the word you use to describe something that was solely satisfactory. Not earth-shatteringly perfect like Gert had hoped he'd see her.

And the fact that she's mad - the fact that contrary to popular belief, she actually does in fact care about what he thinks of her - is enough to irritate her even more.

Gert is sure it had something to do with how there wasn't a day that went by where she didn't lecture him on about how women were independent beings who shouldn't be objectified by men. Maybe, somehow, in all her random ramblings, Chase had maybe picked something up through listening to rants, and decided that she was right.

Well, that backfired on her, huh.

But tickets…they needed tickets. And by the glaring looks of the man standing threateningly in front of them, they needed them fast.

"We left them at home?," Karolina tries to reason with the man. By the looks of his disinterested face, he's not having any of it.

The man lets out a disgruntled huff, something about how he couldn't stand irresponsible teens. "What are your names? — I can look try to look you up in the system."

Being that they weren't enrolled in any form of schooling whatsoever and they hadn't bought a single ticket to this event, that wasn't going to be of much help either.

"I've got…" Molly reaches into her purse, rummaging through it. "Ten dollars?" She looks up at the man sheepishly. "And a piece of gum?"

Gert clicks her tongue. "Molly this isn't private school, you can't just bribe people."

The teacher begins to lose his patience with them, lecturing that they should've bought tickets during their lunch or homeroom periods like everyone else, and Nico is about to begin an argument with him - she looks mad, probably on the verge of chewing him out - when a familiar voice disrupts the near-commotion.

"They're with me."

Gert whips her head around, captured by the sight of a memorable face. It was Livvie — the same Livvie that had gotten tangled up with Alex and and had gotten involuntarily involved in all their runaways-alien-PRIDE drama. And the last time they'd seen Livvie, Gert could've sworn that she'd want nothing to do with them again. For good measure, too.

But there she was, arms crossed over her chest, her expression balanced on the line of amusement and annoyance. She's caught them crashing her prom red-handed. But more importantly, there are six tickets in her hand.

The group collectively freezes for a second when they see her, like they've seen a pretty ghost. Livvie walks towards them, handing over the tickets to her teacher and ushers the group to the entrance of the gym.

Alex seems to be at a loss for words. "Livvie?" He clears his throat. "How'd you—"

"—It's almost as if I could feel my bullshit meter ticking the second you guys walked in here," She gives a comical laugh and turns to face Karolina. "Plus, nothing gets past Tamar - she saw you take the flyer."

Karolina mumbles an embarrassed apology, trying to hide behind the likes of Nico. It's a funny sight, seeing as though Karolina is like, way taller than her girlfriend.

Livvie shrugs, "Doesn't matter now." She leads the group through the main doors and into the crowdedness of her senior year high school prom. "Don't get into any trouble and try to have fun."

When Gert enters the gymnasium, she's abruptly met with lights, streamers, thumping music - EDM maybe - and the jittery excitedness of over a hundred teenagers.

It was overwhelming almost, being the reason why she instinctively reaches for Chase's arm. For something familiar. He shoots her a look, a concerned frown appearing on his face as if to ask if she way okay. Gert hesitantly nods.

The theme is Starry Night, and it was everything cliche about a high school prom. The gym framed by dark blue and silver balloons, the music obnoxiously loud and blaring, and the purple seeping through the decorative twinkling stars mimicking the color of Gert's hair.

It's here in the gym that she's instantly reminded of how much she dislikes situations like this - about how much it brings out the worst in her. Like at any moment she's going to turn around and see Eiffel and Brandon with smug looks on their smug faces. And though they're not at Atlas, it's everything like Atlas - high school never changes.

She's reminded more of this when the curious stares start inevitably rolling from girls who walk past them. The handsome sight of Chase catches their eyes, followed by an eyebrow raise when they take a second to glance at his arms around her.

Gert remembers how invisible she used to feel in high school, so it's right on brand, the fact that they see everything but her. Though - she doesn't want to be seen by everyone - she just wants to not feel like being with someone like Chase isn't too much of an out-of-this-world concept.

"I think I saw a chocolate fountain somewhere," Molly says behind them in heightened interest. "Gonna go check that out," she lets the group know.

This initiates a breakup of the group, Nico and Karolina stumbling off to a corner of the gym while Alex falls behind - presumably to talk with Livvie, Gert concludes.

"—Molly," Gert calls after her. Her sisterly instincts kick in to the point where she feels the need to keep her close in sight. You know, in the name of evil Morgan le Fay and Gibborim aliens still being a very real reality.

Chase takes a hold of Gert's hand, giving her a steady smile. "She'll be alright."

And she knows he's right, that Molly can handle herself, but it does very little to stop the unnerving feeling that rises in the bottom of her stomach. She decides to trusts him though, because high school has always been Chase's thing — the place where he thrived and felt the most comfortable. She just hated that she couldn't be right there with him.

She's about to speak to him, ask him if he wants to find a quieter place to talk, when a girl approaches them with a camera hung around her neck.

"Can I get a picture of you two?," she hurries beside them, already fixing her camera. "For the yearbook," she quickly explains.

Gert raises her brow, the corners of her mouth twitching. The idea that they were gonna make their debut appearance in a yearbook of a school that they didn't even attend was something comical in of itself. And as if agreeing with her private thoughts, Chase briefly shoots Gert a knowing, charming smile, not before pulling her close towards him so his hands are circling her waist as they pose for a picture. Gert fakes a happy smile. The camera flashes.

The girl says thank you, about to leave to prey on another group of teens to capture more candid moments, when she turns around to face Chase. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" She focuses in on him, studying him carefully. "I don't think I've ever seen you at school, and…" She twirls a strand of her hair in between her fingers. "I'd like to think I'd have noticed someone like you before?"

It's silent for a few seconds and Gert has to blink a couple of times before she settles with the fact that she's watching her boyfriend get flirted on right in front of her eyes. She's not really sure what to feel, emotions of anger and slight jealousy fighting for her attention, but above everything Gert's just in utter disbelief. My god, this is embarrassing.

It seems like Chase is taken aback too, his hands running through his hair as he seems flustered by the girl's advance.

"I, uh," he frowns in the way he does when Gert know that he's thinking heavily on something. "Just transferred here for lacrosse," he answers with unwavering confidence.

And, god, is he a good liar. Charming and effortless, it's enough to make Gert wonder what else he's seemingly lied to her about she didn't know of.

Gert focuses her attention on the girl, studying her with a predator's unwavering attention. She's tall. Brown hair falling at her waist. High cheekbones. She was pretty.

Yeah, it definitely didn't help this situation that she was somewhat of a stunner.

"No way," the girl beams at Chase, playfully smacking his arm. "I just got on the girl's varsity team."

And I just saved the world from intergalactic aliens, you're not special.

"That's really cool," Gert sneeringly injects, her tone high-pitched enough to where it's obvious she's being sarcastic.

Chase seems to think otherwise as he genuinely congratulates her, using the word "impressive" to describe her extracurricular achievements.

Gert gapes at him. Oh, so there are more complimentary words in your vocabulary when you're not settling on "good" or "great".

"I'm Anna," the girl informs him.

Uh, huh.

"Chase," he responds. He turns his attention away from her, as if he's just finally registered that Gert's been by his side this whole time. "This is…" He hesitates for a second. "Gert."

A muscle in her jaw twitches when he says her name so nonchalantly without emotion. Gert has to catch her mouth from falling open.

And from then on, it's all a blur as Chase is oblivious yet again, falling into the traps of Anna when she picks up a conversation with him on all things lacrosse-centric.

Gert, not understanding a single thing that's being said, feels pangs of frustration growing inside her. Before she outwardly gets mad at him and paints herself as a jealous girlfriend, something she swore to herself that she'd never be, she decides to remove herself from the situation.

"I'm gonna, uh, get something to drink," Gert murmurs lamely into their conversation. She's sure Chase doesn't even notice when she leaves.

xx

Nico has seemingly just discovered a new joy - the hobby of people watching.

She's sitting at one of the arranged tables assigned for people who wisely choose not to make a fool of themselves on the dance floor. In the corner of her eyes, she sees a girl cajoling what seems to be her boyfriend, psyching him out because he won't take selfies with her. To her left, she sees teachers and chaperones standing awkwardly to the side as they glance up and down to see if anyone notices before reaching for a flask in their pockets, pouring out the contents into the solo cup they were holding. Something to take the edge off, Nico assumes. Something to make this night of teenage angst and excitement a little more bearable.

And to the center, she sees Karolina in the middle of the dance floor dancing without any care in the world. She circles around Molly, loose with wild abandonment, and the two have seemingly gotten themselves mixed up in what seemed to be a crazy dance competition with a couple other kids near them.

Molly was winning, Nico decides.

Karolina's having fun, so much fun, that it's contagious - infectious to the point that when she dances over to her and pulls Nico up from her seat, Nico doesn't protest a single bit.

"Don't tell me you're not having fun," Karolina gently tugs her by the arms, leading her to the center of the dance floor.

"This is a terrible song to dance to," Nico argues, trying to get a word in over the blaring 2010s music.

Karolina laughs and as if on cue, the music stops and their attentions are quickly brought to the sound of a disruptive mic-tap. There's someone on the stage, the MC, Nico assumes, surrounded by two other students who are presenting an assortment of crowns and sashes.

"Good evening Lakeview High, I hope you're all having a good time!"

The crowd responds positively, an array of hoots and hollers coming from students and teachers alike. Even Molly, surrounded by a group of girls Nico assumes she's just befriended, gets into the spirit of high school prom.

The MC jeers. "If you're having fun, then you're going to love this next bit."

And per the crowns on the stage and the silence that falls on everyone in the gym - it doesn't take a genius to see that they're announcing the winners for prom king and queen.

Moments pass and a random guy is titled king. He's seemingly popular and participates in a sport - football maybe. His friends cheer him on as he goes onto the stage to collect his crown, a goofy grin plastered on his face. He's everything that pre-runaway Chase should've been.

Nico glances at Karolina, and there's a wistful but knowing expression in her eyes - like she was enchanted by the whole idea of prom - the big lights and pretty dresses and everything in between. But the awareness came from knowing that she didn't belong.

Even back to when they attended Atlas, Nico had never been one for school-wide events or the idea of having school spirit. Atlas Academy only uplifted students that fit their mold - that was nothing to take pride in.

It upsets her even more, when she reminds herself of Karolina's past high school experience. From the open teasing to the subtle bullying, Karolina had experienced it all. She shouldn't have been so open to a place that rejected her, but it would have also been out of character if she wasn't because that was who Karolina was. She was kind, and forgiving, a giver of second chances to people and places that didn't deserve them.

Even here tonight, Nico isn't a fan of the whole over-glorified prom bit, but she knew Karolina loved it. That was enough to make her care. She agreed to go to prom with Karolina, not because she had a weird pang for closure or "freedom" like the rest of the group seemed to have, but because it was what Karolina wanted. She said yes to Karolina, not prom.

So it's no surprise that when they're about to announce prom queen, a female carbon copy of the popular jock trope that'd just named king, Nico deducts, that she does something stupid in the name of Karolina's happiness.

Using magic for trivial, selfish desires was a big no-no in any witch's book — something her mother had warned her against. With great power comes great responsibility and all that. And though the group had decided to go civilian to prom, Nico ignored them anyway when she sneaks in the Staff of One. It's located beneath her dress, strapped and hoisted on her left thigh.

If Morgan decided to show up, they'd need to be able to protect themselves is how Nico argued for going against the group's ideology.

"Your 2019 Lakeview prom queen is..." the MC begins, reading off a card that contained the results of the votes.

But there's also very little shame that comes when Nico slightly pulls up her dress and unleashes the staff, holding it up firmly to her face when Karolina isn't looking.

She whispers into the staff, her gaze not leaving Karolina. "Win."

"...Karolina Dean!"

And the next few moments are a blur, a string of triumphant victories. Karolina turns to look at Nico, nothing but pure perplexity crosses her face as she's swept away by a crowd of people and pulled onto the stage to collect her crown.

Nico watches Karolina. She watches as her confusion turns into unfathomable joy as she slowly but surely buys into the moment. She watches as she's awarded a crown, how it takes little effort for them to put it on her head, like it was always made to be hers. Nico watches as Karolina's eyes scan the crowded room, grinning from ear to ear when her eyes land on Nico. She was happy. It was worth it.

When Karolina is finally let off the stage, the first thing she does is make her way towards Nico in the middle of the dance floor. Her crown falls slightly on her head.

"I always knew you were royalty," Nico avoidably jokes, getting on her tip-toes to fix Karolina's slipping crown.

"That was all you, wasn't it?" Karolina asks with a knowing smile on her face.

"I'm sorry." Nico wasn't sure how Karolina felt about the idea of her winning something that didn't belong to her. "I wanted you to walk away with at least one good high school experience."

"Don't be - thank you." Karolina shakes her head firmly, leaning down to press a soft kiss to Nico's lips. All of Nico's guilts are instantly washed away.

xx

The only thing worse than seeing your boyfriend flirt with another girl, is falling victim to a snack bar. Gert had been at the table all night, test tasting a bit of every snack she could get her hands on. The snacks received a two out of five rating from her. Tasty, but overpriced finger foods and assorted bowls of chips, popcorn, and other stuff that Gert didn't really have an appetite for. She was more focused on the punch - the punch was definitely spiked. It's the only reason why she keeps sipping on it, despite the horrid taste.

She's hidden, at the opposite side of the gym, away from all the music and the dancing and the lights. Probably proved to be an inconvenience for her date, yes, but if Chase wanted to talk to her, he'd first have to find her.

Unfortunately, speak of the devil and he shall appear, because moments don't even pass before she catches sight of Chase, squeezing past a group of dancing students to get to her.

"I've been looking for you," he says breathless.

"Well, you found me," Gert mutters disinterestedly. She pours herself another cup of punch with the big metal ladle, spilling the spiked-sugar water over the rim of the small plastic cup. Chase is looking at her, pursed lips with worry on his face, but she doesn't say anything. She takes another sip of her drink.

Her eyes skim around the room, the writhing sea of students, but refuse to land on him.

There's a moment of silence as Chase studies her, probably trying to pick up on the reason she was giving him the cold shoulder. The dip in brow is enough to tell Gert that he's come to a conclusion.

"Is this about Anna?"

Shaking her head, Gert puts down her cup. "No, Chase," she chews on the bottom of her lip. "This is about you."

She surprises herself - with how forward and direct she's being. For someone who loves to skitter around vulnerable conversations, she was doing surprisingly well.

It seems like Chase is also surprised, because he sucks in a sharp breath. "Me?"

There's an incredulous tone to his voice, and it annoys Gert even more because, god, he truly was just that oblivious.

Gert is quick to reply. "You haven't exactly been the best date," her voice falters when she glances at Chase whose eyes show hurt. "I wanted this night to be for us and the second a girl starts flirting with you, you kinda just ditched," She's mumbling now, and Chase has to get closer to her just for him to hear what she's saying. "So, yeah, I'm sorry if I'm upset."

And Gert hates herself for it. Hates that he's the only one who can get her riled up over dumb, stupid things like this. Things she swore she'd never care about in a million years.

Chase takes a step back from her, his hands falling by his side. "I was literally just being nice," he explains dumbfoundedly. "It's not my fault if she took it as anything more."

Gert raises her brow. "Well, you hardly made it seem like you were in a relationship, so I'm not surprised she took your kind gestures and ran with them."

She remembers when he'd introduced her to Anna. The slight hesitation in his voice that rang as if admitting he had a girlfriend would prove to be an inconvenience to whatever games he wanted to play.

"I don't blame you, she's exactly your type," Gert jabs, sure that the words only come out of her mouth as a means to hurt him.

And it works, because Chase's jaw slacks slightly, his expression closes up. "Jesus, Gert." He runs his hand through his hair, not before looking back up at her. "Is that really what you think?"

Gert shrugs, not really knowing what to think. She recalls back to when she'd met Max - when Max had taken an interest in her and she had called Chase out for being the jealous-ex boyfriend type. She remembers how much of an effort he put into trying to get her back. And when he finally did, it's like stopped caring about the effort included in keeping her.

"The only reason I didn't tell her that you were my girlfriend is because I thought you'd appreciate me, y'know," he falls short on his words. "Not reducing you to a relationship label and all that."

Gert blinks at him, not exactly the response she was expecting from him. The softness and gentleness that now appears on his face is enough to tell her that he isn't lying. She had just rubbed off on him that well, feminist agenda and all, and that maybe if she wanted other things from him, she'd just have to start communicating a little better.

"Oh," she stutters lamely.

Chase closes back in on her, his hands wrapping around her waist and his head dropping to her shoulders. Gert surprises herself when she doesn't move from this position, she can feel his breathing on the side of her neck. "Gert, you're my type."

Her stomach does a little jump when she hears those words, a perfect mix of earnestness and belonging in his voice. That even though they were the epitome of opposites - they somehow attracted in all the right ways.

Gert hooks her arms around his neck. "Say that again."

Chase grins against her ear, a slight chuckle escaping from the back of his throat. "You're my type, Gert Yorkes."

It's even better when he says it the second time around - there's honesty and confidence in his voice.

Gert lets out an airy laugh, not letting go of the boy in her arms. His hands lower down her back and he pulls her even closer, peppering light kisses on the side of her neck.

A flush creeps up on her face, and it soon becomes very clear that Gert wants her boyfriend to herself. Away from all the people and the music and the lights — just him and her.

Gert chews at the bottom of her lip, her voice sounding breathy and weird to her own ears. "So, do you wanna—"

"—Bathroom?" Chase cuts her off with a little too much hope in his voice.

"Gross, no." She screws up her face into a disapproving frown, "I'd like to think that we have a little more class than that."

And before he has the chance to protest, she's already holding him by the hand, pulling him towards the nearest exit in the gym.

xx

Alex hates pretending.

To pretend is to lie, to lie is to not tell the truth, and to not tell the truth is to not be factual.

Which would stand against everything he was for.

But he's been doing that a lot lately - lying to his friends, and to himself, about who he was and what he wanted, and how he was getting through everything.

To them, to the outside world, he's fine. He's fine because he doesn't give them a reason to worry, agreeing when his friends when they tell him that it's absolutely necessary that they risk everything to attend a high school prom.

Past Alex would have told them that it's a stupid idea, that to be out and public and caught off guard would make them weak to the off chance possibly of an ambush from Morgan le Fay. But Alex right now? Post-dark dimension, he couldn't put up that fight with them. Not because he wouldn't win, but because he didn't care. There were few things that came with always being right, he learned that soon enough.

And after everything that he's experienced and seen with his own two eyes in a dimension that was otherworldly to that of this current one, Alex soon realizes that no amount of calculated planning could've prepared him for what he had experienced.

He commends his friends for trying at least, for saving him from the grasps of Morgan, for trying to save him from himself. But Alex didn't need saving - he needed support.

And there's a false sense of support, here surrounded by hundreds of students who are lively and free, without a single care. They were seemingly invincible and by the way they were dancing, they didn't seem to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. He could learn a thing or two from them.

What makes this terrible idea even better, somehow seemingly worth it, is when he's given the chance to see Livvie again.

He remembers the day she left, from her last phone call, to the last time she smiled at him, to her last goodbye. He regretted intertwining his crazy life to that of hers, that somehow if he had just kept the two separate, he'd maybe still have her.

But the cards were against them, they had been ever since he had become a teen runaway, and its added to the list of not-so fair things that have happened to him since this whole thing began.

He thinks she's done with him, that the cards have retired from playing, when Livvie surprises him once more like she always does.

She sees him from across the crowded gym and pulls up a chair beside him, not being afraid of the awkward silence that inevitably lands between the two.

Alex is the first to talk, raising his head to speak to her. "Hey."

It's a simple greeting, but it grants entry into a world of conversation.

Livvie smiles tightly at him, ignoring any possible chance of small talk with him. "I haven't seen you dance or even crack a smile this entire evening," she comments nonchalantly.

Alex raises his brow. "So you've been stalking me?"

"No," Livvie chides, reaching towards the middle of the table to grab at an unattended bowl of candy. "Just starting to get worried about you, Wilder."

"I'm—"

"—Fine," Livvie finishes for him. "I know."

This catches Alex off guard. He's never been predictable, always been one step ahead when it came to things. Of course it's Livvie who's one of the first people to catch him off beat.

"I really am," he utters, not knowing if he's trying to get Livvie or himself to believe this.

Livvie ignores that lie. "Tamar told me — about everything," she pauses before continuing. "About your mom."

Alex takes in a sharp breath when he hears this. His mom was the last thing he wanted to talk about. More importantly, what had happened to her, how unfairly she had been dealt with her own cards.

And as if reading his thoughts, Livvie chooses not to pry. "I get that you don't want to talk about it or anything," she chews at the bottom of her lip. "I just think that maybe...she wouldn't want to see you like this." She reaches over the table to take a hold of his hand. "Sad, I mean."

Alex's glance shifts from Livvie's hands on his, to the knowing expression that corners her face.

"Um," he begins, coughing slightly as a means to clear his throat. "I think — I think when people say that so and so dead person wouldn't want them to be sad or whatever — I think its bullshit."

Livvie doesn't say a thing, her attention focused on his every word.

Alex continues. "Because to be sad is to mean that you care and..." he trails off, adjusting the way his glasses sat on his nose. "People like to be missed."

There's a comfortable silence between the two.

"Okay, Alex," Livvie finally says. She doesn't argue with him, only challenges him to think differently. "People also like to know that the people they love are happy."

Like she's speaking from experience, the tone in Livvie's voice soon becomes grave. "Just don't let the sadness consume you," a faint smile appears on her face. "You deserve more than that."

Before Alex has a chance to reply, Livvie pulls him close, wrapping him fondly into a hug so tight, it's hard for him to breathe. In a paradoxical way, it also feels like the first time he's been able to exhale.

Livvie's friends call her out from across the room, pulling the two out of the intimate moment. An apologetic frown forms when she realizes that they won't stop bothering them until she gets up to leave.

Alex shakes his head. This was her prom - her night - and she didn't have to spend it attending to the likes of Alex. "Go, have fun."

Livvie gets up from her seat, studying him for a second. "Come join us."

"I should probably find my friends."

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen anyone from the group for a while, no mentions of them except hearing about Karolina winning prom queen at a school she didn't even attend?

Yeah, they were definitely up to something.

Livvie knows that there's no use debating him, so she nods her head. "Promise me you'll call? I'm here if you wanna talk… about anything."

"You blocked my number, remember?"

Livvie laughs a soft kind of laugh that Alex is appreciative of because he hasn't heard it in a while. She takes his hand and reaches for the back of his blazer pocket to pull out a pen. He always carried one around.

"There," she scribbles her new number onto the back of his palm before she leaves. Like it's solidified and consolidated. Like it promises him the chance of something new. "Now you'll always be able to find me."

xx

Nico and Karolina have long left the confinements of Lakeview High's senior prom, sweaty bodies and blaring music being replaced by the cool night air - the silence of the outdoors that is mixed in with music coming from the gym.

They stumble into the parking lot, arms together while their free hands are grasping onto individual bottles of cheaply produced alcohol.

Nico takes another swing of her bottle, wincing when the sharpness hits her throat. "This is horrible," She shakes her head in disgust, non-approvingly at Karolina. "Where did you even get this from?"

"Um?" Karolina twists her mouth, a shameful grin appearing on her face when she glances at the bottle in her hand. "Some sketchy kid at the dance?"

Nico bashes at her girlfriend in all of her reckless abandonment. It's apparent that one of them is more drunk than the other.

It's definitely not Nico, because Nico has deliberately been holding out, strategically only drinking to the point of tipsy, a weak attempt to savor her soberness.

For good reason, because she has something important to give Karolina. She'd be damned if she'd forget to give it to her, or somehow unable to wake up tomorrow morning to remember this moment.

Nico asks how drunk she is, and Karolina replies with a "not very," bursting into a fit of giggles in a terrible attempt to keep a straight face.

"Sober enough to climb on a roof?"

It wasn't a high roof, Nico concludes, more like a ledge on the building, high enough to where their feet would be dancing above ground. But not too high to where, you know, if one of them fell down it'd end really badly.

Because Nico's tipsy, not stupid.

Karolina raises her brow, curiosity seeping through voice. "What if someone catches us?"

"What are they gonna do? Expel us?"

And the joke is funny enough to make the two burst into another fit of short giggles. Nico leads Karolina to the nearby ledge, hoisting her up when she needs a boost.

Karolina mumbles a quick thank you, putting her bottle of alcohol to the side. The crown on her head has amazingly not fallen off throughout the span of the entire night.

The two sit in comfortable silence, Nico finding her way to Karolina's lap where she sits on with ease. Karolina's lips are brighter than usual, the flush in her cheeks growing ever so present.

Karolina takes hold of Nico's hand, the back of her thumb tracing gently across her palm. "I had fun tonight," she dejects, a happy sigh cornering her face. "Like, a lot of fun."

"I'm glad."

Nico reaches into her purse and pulls out a small white box, gentle as she takes a hold of it. Karolina's eyes widen when she catches sight of the box, and Nico has to stop her in her tracks.

"I am not proposing to you, Karolina Dean."

Karolina laughs, nuzzling her head to Nico's neck. "Nowhere did I say I thought you were," she teases. "Sounds like a bit of self-projecting to me."

This is enough to make Nico's face feel warm. "Uh, actually," she clears her throat, seemingly at a sudden loss for words. "You're turning eighteen in about two hours and I wanted to be the first."

Confusion writes itself on Karolina's face before realization settles in, and it's obvious to Nico that she's probably forgotten that tomorrow is her own birthday.

Nico opens up the box gently, revealing a sophisticated yet dainty necklace. "I wanted your day to be special. I saw you eyeing it during one of our food runs and, what I want to say is, uh," she can't seem to think - not when Karolina's looking at her with that much admiration in her eyes.

"Happy Birthday, Karrie."

Karolina hums, and Nico pushes her hair back, allowing for enough space to clasp the necklace around her neck.

While Nico puts on the piece of jewelry, while she's still close, Karolina pulls her in for an earth-shattering kiss, pressing kiss after kiss to her mouth. "Thank you," she whispers, her breathing ragged. 

Nico's forehead meets hers, and for a second they remain like that, taking in the sight of each other, drunk on the edge of love.

"I love you a lot," Nico reminds her.

Karolina runs her thumb over Nico's lip. "I love you, too."

They kiss again and it's even better than the last. It's mindless, yet mindful, and reminds Nico that these were moments worth remembering.

xx

"You have a better idea?"

Actually, Gert doesn't. But anything's gotta be better than Chase trying to use one of her bobby pins to unlock a janitor's closet. Like he was in the middle of a James Bond movie or something.

And Gert's about to answer, to protest, when she hears a click sound, Chase turning around to shoot her a smug smirk. Maybe he was good for some things, after all.

She glances up at her boyfriend and smiles, remembering the last time they had snuck off with each other at a high school dance. She grips Chase by the knot of his tie and pulls him inside, slamming the door shut behind them.

Chase instinctively leans down to raise Gert from the floor, his hands gripping on her thigh in a dazed attempt to hoist her body onto a nearby countertop. His mouth crashes in on hers, warm and familiar, but still so good. Gert kisses him back, just as hard and just as passionately. She pulls him even closer, wrapping her legs around his waist to keep herself in a steady position.

Gert can still taste hints of alcohol on her tongue, and no doubt that it's a fact that she's somewhat tipsy because of the uncontrollable amount of spiked punch she'd manage to consume, but Chase is intoxicating in of himself. She can smell his favorite cologne on him. It's her favorite of his too - of course, she doesn't tell him that.

She's kissing him with confidence, her hand sliding into his hair to grapple at his curls. Her other hand is shrugging at his blazer, prompting for him to take it off.

Chase breaks the kiss. "Should—uh, god—should we talk about this?" he says, reasonably. His voice is hoarse and Gert can tell from his tone that he doesn't want to stop. "I mean, we haven't done this since we broke things off months ago."

Gert pauses to look at him. "Will it change anything or make it worse?" Her hand settles on his waist, dipping beneath his shirt. Chase had a habit of putting himself in self-sabotaging situations.

"No," Chase sighs as Gert's lips meet the hollow of his throat, tongue swirling over his skin. "Just wanted to put it out there, seemed like the mature thing to do."

It's here again, where Gert is reminded of how much of an effect she had on the way Chase navigated conversations and situations with her - like he always needed to ask her if she was okay, or what was going on in her head in that exact instant. It was cute, but seemingly daunting how much he tried to keep up with her.

Gert tugs on another one of Chase's buttons, a lazy attempt to get it to open. "Chase, there's nothing mature about hooking up in a janitor's closet on the night of a high school prom."

If anything, Gert was mad at herself for falling victim to such a cliche situation. It ranked second, right under end of the world sex with your childhood crush.

Chase grins, a more relaxed smile cornering his face. Gert kisses him again, her breathing getting heavier when his hands rise up her exposed leg. Damn, that stupid leg slit.

Chase leans in, relaxing into the kiss when Gert bites gently down on his lower lip, hopefully causing his brain to short circuit.

"I actually do have something to tell you," his hand stops at her thigh. "I'm mad at myself for not saying it earlier."

"Which is?"

"That you look really hot," he finally says against her ear, a compliment delivered in a whisper so low that she knows is only for her. He presses a firm kiss to the corner of Gert's mouth. "And beautiful," he trails a kiss to her collarbone, finding his way to the crook of her neck. "And sexy."

And, finally, he gets it.

Those words are a lot, almost enough to make Gert go crazy, but the compliments are matched with the unfortunate timing of where Chase kisses Gert. She's ticklish on that side of her neck, so he earns a giggling fit.

"Okay, that's enough," Gert says, waving him away as she tries to compose herself.

It takes a second for Gert to adjust her eyes to the dim room, fixating at Chase in front of her. God he looks completely wrecked, his eyes dilated and glassy and lips pink and swollen from kissing. "I'm being serious," he says, a slight pout on his face.

"'Course you are," Gert says, rubbing her thumb across his collarbone.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew," Chase's laugh is low and gravelly.

"I know." Her voice is unintentionally low to match his laugh. She lightly runs her fingers up his neck, softly tracing the outline of his jaw.

And he presses his lips to hers again, his hands beginning to explore the expanse of her open back. Their kisses are reckless and pure, passion driven kisses driven by months spent apart from each other. The closet is tight and hot, making Gert's cheeks flush.

They'd done this a thousand times before, but it didn't matter, because everything felt new with Chase. It's right here, kissing him like it's the last time she'll ever get the chance to, is when she understands how she feels about him. There was no one else. It was always going to be him.

Gert breaks apart from Chase, cupping gently at his face so that she can look him in the eyes without distraction. "I feel the same way."

She had tried to first tell him when they had gotten back together. She had tried expressing how she felt for him, but that moment had quickly washed away because he hadn't been paying attention. All for good measure, too, because he was focused on Smith and college, and her. He was always thinking about her.

"What?"

But now as he's looking at her, there's a sense of alertness in his eyes as he hangs onto her every word.

"About us," Gert explains. "About you."

Chase uncharacteristically doesn't say a single word. He's silent and attentive, like if he says anything, it might make her stop talking.

"When you told me that you loved me, I pushed you away because I was…" she tries to find the right words. "Scared - of rejection, or the idea that you were just saying it for the sake of saying it. That you didn't really mean it."

Chase freezes. "Gert—"

"—But now I know," she gives a nervous laugh, the back of her thumb gently caressing his cheek. "I've known for a really long time." Gert takes a pause. "And I guess what I'm trying to say is - I love you too, Chase."

They haven't ever done this before, been so vocally honest about their feelings for each other. It's always been a game of cat and mouse with them, never quite being on the same page. And though she hadn't quite imagined the first time she would confess her deep feelings for someone to be under the dim lighting in a janitor's closet, Gert doesn't care. There was nothing romantic about this, but she refuses for it to be bad.

She tugs Chase by his waist and realizes that he's till staring at her, hardly breathing as Gert arranges her hands on his shoulders. They stare at each other for a few moments like they're the only ones in the room, but then Chase steps closer, his lips grazing Gert's ear.

"I thought I lost you, - I never thought we'd have this again," he murmurs, taking a hold of her hand to kiss the back of her fingers. "I love you."

"I'm sorry," Gert whispers back, swaying them back and forth. She was apologizing for her insecurities, staying mad at him when he left even though it had been for an honest reason, for treating him like he meant nothing to her when he first told her he loved her - everything in between.

"No, no," Chase says. "It's just—you know how things are. And you know—everything that happened—"

"We made it, babe," Gert whispers, kissing his cheek. "No one's bothering us anymore."

Chase raises his brow, a smug smile tugging at his mouth, when he hears the pet name roll off her tongue. Gert playfully sticks out her tongue as if to tell him that it was merely a tipsy slip. That he shouldn't get used to her calling him that.

For all the reasons to be dumb teens with changing feelings and falling to situations that were out of their control, Gert knew that they both still had a long way to go. Gert knew that despite however much she wanted things to stay this good between them - that there was very little truth to what she was saying. However, the boyish smile that corners Chase's face makes it all worth it.

"Nope," Chase agrees, leaning into her.

And it's perfect for the next beautiful, shimmering moments. They're in no rush.

xx

It takes a while for Alex to gather the group together, having been split up and spread apart across several corners of Lakeview's school campus. But when he finds them, when he finds Nico and Karolina, Molly is with him and Gert and Chase soon appear behind them.

Nico and Karolina have somehow managed to find themselves asleep in the back of the Rolls, stirred awake by Molly's excited jitters on how Alex was finally going to let her drive the car. Considering that half the group had been found drunk or on the edge of tipsiness, there was really no debate to be had. Although, Karolina can't help but think that there's even a slight chance that maybe Molly's driving could be worse than any of them driving intoxicated.

Alex seems to be willing to take that risk, though, heading for the passenger seat as if to give them a false sense of security in letting Molly take the wheel.

Nico squeezes in towards Karolina, an attempt to make space for Chase and Gert who get into the car at the other end. It's a tight fit, and they all faintly smell of cheap alcohol.

"I'm kinda hungry," Chase admits from the back of the car, saying what the rest of the group is thinking. Like he's twelve and asking his parents to stop at McDonald's.

Nico nods in agreement, and Karolina smiles at her. She was just happy that the drunk was finally wearing off.

Molly turns around from the driver's seat to face the group of slightly intoxicated teens. "I can do food," she grins, "What are we thinking?"

After fifteen good minutes of unified yelling geared towards Molly in an attempt to get her to stop swerving on the road or how the music shouldn't be so loud and she should pay more attention because she's a new driver, or how she can only turn on red if she's turning right — Karolina knows it's a miracle that they all somehow safely make it to iHop alive.

The group gets out of the car and stumble into the breakfast diner, filing into the nearest emptiest booth that they can find. It only takes one quick survey around the crowded diner, full of other rowdy teens, for Karolina to realize that late night post-prom dining isn't a foreign concept.

With the combination of their long dresses and trying to cram all six of them in one booth, it's a tight fit. Gert knowingly obliges, shifting over to create more space for the group so that she's now sitting on Chase's lap.

She doesn't seem to mind it though, because Chase's arms circle around her waist, and every so often, he pulls her towards him, whispering things in her ear that only Gert can hear — her reactions range from teasingly annoyed to amused and giggly.

It's a change in beat from how Karolina remembers them being earlier that evening. From the messiness in Chase's hair, to the loose tie - his tie - that hangs around her neck, it's quite evident as to what they've been up to.

And wait...Karolina glances back down at Gert's neck. "Is that a hickey?"

Karolina says it louder than she intended to, but she only had her slight tipsiness to blame for that. The diner goes quite, a slight second of awkward silence, not before the group of friends erupt into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Chase smirks and Gert scoffs, adjusting the placement of Chase's tie around her neck so that any signs of their recent activities are now hidden. She flushes, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

And as if to save her sister from the knowing embarrassment, Molly takes reign of the conversation, pulling it back to an excited rambling of the events of her night — about how she'd danced her heart out, and how it was the most fun she'd experienced in a while.

Under the table, Nico's hands have found their way to Karolina's. It's a subtle but knowing gesture that reaffirms the strength of their relationship. Nico steals quick kisses from Karolina, pressing her lips to the corner of her mouth ever so often.

And because the group can hardly agree on anything, sharing pancakes or waffles proved to be the debate of the night. They finally settle on both.

The group sits there for a while, biting on their shared food and drinking at their milkshakes, and time seems to sweep past them, eleven pm quickly turning into twelve am. Karolina hears the dinging of a nearby clock.

She looks up having been distracted from her food and listening to Nico tell the story of how she'd managed to buy Karolina's birthday necklace during a supply run without her noticing. It was hard, Nico notes, because few things get past Karolina.

She's so distracted, however, that she doesn't realize that the others have snuck away from the table, leaving her and Nico alone at the table. She's about to ask her where they went, when she hears the sounds of Molly's bouncing voice, following the likes of Alex, Gert, and Chase.

They're walking back to the booth, except they're not empty handed. In Gert's hand is a lighter, and she's holding six candles. In Molly and Chase's hand are a few balloons, and in Alex's hand is a clear box of sugary cupcakes. Birthday confetti, Karolina notices. Her favorite.

And the minute she realizes what's going on, Karolina can already feel her throat tightening and her vision getting glassy. "Ah, shit."

"Happy Birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Karolina, Happy Birthday to you!"

She turns to Nico who gives her an innocent shrug, and turns back to face her friends who take their seats back in the booth. Alex opens up the box, ruining the icing as he sticks candles into all six cupcakes. Gert lights them up.

Karolina's a frazzled mess, blinking hard to fight the happy tears that haze her vision. "I love you guys," her voice breaks slightly at this.

Chase looks up a her, a lopsided grin resting on his face. "We know."

"Make a wish," Nico encourages. Karolina does - for a few seconds, she closes her eyes and watches the world disappear.

Molly breaks her from her thoughts. "What'd you wish for?"

Gert rolls her eyes. "Molly, it's rude to ask people what they wished for—"

"—Nothing," Karolina shakes her head. "I wished for nothing," she glances at Nico and smiles. "Because all I need is right here."

The group is silent for a moment, not skipping a beat as they simultaneously jokingly tease her. Alex comments on how cheesy she's being, and Gert agrees, calling her an absolute sap. Nico, Chase and Molly hail to her defense, infectious laughter forming between the group of friends as they sat and enjoyed each other's company.

In moments like these, where nothing could disrupt the rhythm and camaraderie among her friends, Karolina knew that she couldn't say the truth. That she wished for more - for the safety of her friends and Nico. For them to make it out of this entire Morgan situation alive. For them to stay close, even after everything was over and the world wouldn't need saving anymore.

None of that mattered, however, when she's reminded that right here and right now - under dimmed fluorescent lights and cheerful smiles, her friends were happy and carefree - probably the happiest they've been in a while.

To Karolina - that was enough.