Piper June.

Piper June and Jude’s sleepovers usually started on Friday night and lasted until Sunday afternoon. That particular weekend, however, Piper’s parents were on a “romantic” getaway and they wouldn’t be back until Tuesday afternoon, meaning that Piper was free to do whatever she wanted—but it wasn’t like she was going to do anything bad anyway. She was planning on just staying with Jude because she didn't want to be alone. Jude talked to her aunt, who said that she’d be more than happy to keep Piper for a few more days.

Piper June was sitting upside down on Jude’s bed, watching as she paced nervously around her room.

“I thought you didn’t like him?” she asked, playing with the ends of her hair.

Jude had an awkward secret crush thing going on with Quinn—like some weird love-hate relationship—and it was about time one of them did something about it.

“I don’t,” Jude countered, furrowing her eyebrows and frowning a bit.

“So, why are you freaking out?”

“I’m not,” Jude insisted, looking under her bed for her other tennis shoe. “Where is it?” she asked herself quietly, sitting up.

“What did he even say anyway?”

“Hey Jude, movies today at six?” she recited for probably the fifth time that day. Jude was nervous, to say the least. Was it a date or wasn't it a date? Should she have dressed up or dressed down?

“Are you going? I mean, I told you he liked you.” Piper grinned at her friend, flashing her a set of pearly whites. “He was just teasing you, but no—” Magdalyne came in then, unannounced and without asking. She walked to Jude’s vanity counter, shifting through the cluttered mess.

“Excuse me, Maggie. I’m trying to have a conversation here,” Jude said angrily, annoyed. She stood up and crossed her arms, frowning at her. "Can I help you?" Maggie sneers at Jude and rolls her eyes, about to come up with some cutting remark.

“Maggie,” Piper began, turning her head to look at her, “do you think that Quinn likes Jude?”

Magdalyne snorted, throwing back her head in laughter.

“He practically worships the ground she walks on.”

“But then why does he—” Jude asked, unbelieving, only to be cut off by her sister.

“Because he’s a stupid boy,” Magdalyne explained sagely. "That's what they do, because they're stupid. That's why they're called stupid." She shook her head. "I don't know what the big deal is. He's, like, always liked you. You just friendzoned the crap out of him."

“You're a relationship expert now? Great." Jude rolls her eyes at Maggie, more annoyed than before. She didn't like talking about Quinn, especially not in front of her sister, who could very well blab it out to everyone. It wasn't anything serious. They were just going to the movie theater as friends, and barely even that. "What did you want again?” she asked, arms crossed as she looked up at her older sister. "I'm kind of busy."

“I need to borrow a pair of your hoop earrings—”

“No.”

“Why not!?” she whined, stomping her feet sullenly. She looked pretty, as per usual, dressed in a bright pink sweatshirt—think pink!— and jeans that hugged her lean legs along with a black pair of knee high boots. She was probably going out with her boyfriend, and as per usual, looked fabulous.

“Because they’re mine,” Jude reasoned, rolling her eyes.

“Sharing is caring.”

“Don't you have earrings of your own?” Jude asked, frowning. "Why do you need mine?"

"'Cause I don't have any nice hoop ones that match my outfit." She looked at her sister as if it were obvious. "Don't be stupid. C'mon, Clark's going to be here any minute!"

Jude narrowed her eyes even more at her sister, stalking over to her dresser, swiping a small blue box off the cluttered surface. She shoved the box of earnings into Maggie's hands. Magdalyne thumbed through the box, retrieving a pair of shiny silver hoop earnings triumphantly. Jude snatched the box from her hands and tossed it back on her counter.

“Don’t lose them,” she warned sternly, staring her sister down.

“Thanks, Jude! Bye, Piper.” Piper’s day was pretty much just made because Magdalyne actually talked to her, even if it was to say goodbye. She still kind of acknowledged that she was in the room, and that was better than most days, where she kind of just ignored her.

“I hate her sometimes,” Jude said as her sister slammed the door.

“It’s almost six.”

“So?”

“Aren’t you telling him if you’re going or not? I think he at least deserves to know. Don't stand him up.”

Jude rolled her eyes and shot Piper a look as she called Quinn and barked, "You're picking me up." She pulled her long brown hair into a pony tail, huffing. “Are you happy now? I'm only doing this as a favor to you.”

“You'll thank me later.” Piper smiled cheekily, batting her eyelashes at her best friend.



Ezra sighed and rolled over in his bed on Sunday afternoon. He managed to sleep through most of Saturday and had been awake since 7:00 AM on the dot.

He was not a happy camper.

For starters, he was completely out of cigarettes for the first time in three months. He didn't have any pills either, and he wouldn't be able to get some until he met up with Quinn, and that probably wasn't going to happen until at least Monday. He felt restless, turning over sullenly in his bed. His head hurt and he was starting to get a migraine. He couldn't believe it. He was actually sober for the first time since June. (He felt disgusting.) And Quinn was going out that night with some girl he met somewhere doing something—he wouldn't tell Ezra anything about her, only that she was really interesting and he liked her a lot, sort of—meaning that they couldn't hang out and get messed up.

It was not a good day.

He still didn't want to get out of bed, though. Rose was over. Again. He rolled his eyes, throwing an arm over them halfheartedly. Rose was only upstairs because she was moving in and wanted to make sure that the movers didn't break anything. Ezra could have cried or thrown a fit at the very least, but he didn’t. He didn't see the point, and Rose wasn’t really at the top of his priority list. Rose wasn’t anything like his mother, everybody knew that. But, if she made his father “happy”—whatever that was supposed to mean—then he could learn to somehow grin and bear it for his father's sake.

He sighed. It was too early for all that noise. He pulled the covers over his head, groaning softly. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to go back to sleep. That plan crashed and burned when Eliza ran into his room and jumped harshly on his bed, landing right on his legs.

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!” she exclaimed as she jumped up and down on his legs, shaking the bed with every movement she made. He groaned, clutching his sheets even tighter. He was going to be sick and the shaking bed didn't make him feel any better.

“Get off,” he murmured quietly, turning over and burying his head between his pillows. She stopped jumping, falling down on his legs and holding them with her little hands.

“Are you tired?”

“Go away and bother Rose.”

“But Daddy told me to come wake you up.” She crawled up to his face, trying to tear the plaid blue comforter from her brother’s fingers. “He said he didn’t want you to stay in bed today,” she said as she finally freed the coverlet from his hands. He sighed as he felt the cool air hit his bare skin. Had it always been so cold in his room? He frowned.

“Go away, Eliza,” he insisted, looking groggily at his sister. Her hazel doe eyes inspected his and she looked at him determinedly, trying to get him out of bed. She scowled at him, floppy brown hair falling into her eyes as her lips set into a frown.

“Get up, Ezra,” she mocked, glaring slightly at him. “Daddy said you have to take me to the park today.”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Daddy!” Eliza screamed, turning her head towards the staircase. Ezra cowered at how loud his sister was being, wishing she would just stop yelling. “Daddy, tell Ezra he's taking me out today!” Charles poked his head in the door, looking down at his children with a box labeled “CLOTHES” in his arms. He was helping Rose as best he could, but at the same time, trying to stay out of her way because she was acting kind of crazy that morning.

“Ezra, just take her out for a few hours so she doesn’t get hurt with the movers here, okay?” He shut the door loudly, prompting yet another cringe and wince from his son.

“See?” Eliza sneered, crossing her arms over her chest.

“If you don't get off of me, I'm shoving you off and we're not going anywhere.” She climbed off him, kneeling on his messy bed. “I’ll be upstairs in a couple of minutes, okay? Just get your shoes and coat.” She hopped off the bed in one fluid motion, landing on her feet. She then ran up the stairs, laughing and yelling something about going to the park.

Ezra managed to sit on the edge of his bed, but didn't actually get up for a few minutes. He stumbled into his bathroom and fumbled around for the light switch. He frowned at his reflection, pulling at his pale cheeks and poking at his dark eyelids. He looked like death. Super. All in all, it took him almost a half hour to get ready. He didn’t bother doing anything with his hair—he was only going to the park, after all—and dressed quickly. He wore a pair of old jeans, some black boots, a t-shirt, and a cardigan. Was it cold? He grabbed a coat just in case and pulled a wool hat over his head. He grabbed his car keys and wallet off the floor, checking for his fake ID. (He knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy’s sister who specialized in counterfeit documents.)

He looked around the worn leather wallet, seeing that he had a dollar and 34 cents in change, and a wrinkled five. He sighed in relief as he slipped it into his back pocket. He took the wooden stairs one at a time. Sudden movements still made him dizzy.

Eliza was sitting patiently on the couch, red hat crooked on her head, matching scarf tied haphazardly around her neck. Her blue wool pea coat was unbuttoned, and one of her shoes was tied sloppily whereas the other wasn’t. She was watching cartoons, moving this way and that as the movers walked in front of the TV.

"Excuse me," she mumbled, ducking down to watch her show. The movers paid her no mind, of course. Ezra briefly wondered just how much stuff Rose had that she needed movers, but pushed the thought of his head as he walked upstairs to the bathroom, searching for the medicine cabinet. He hoped they still had some Tylenol, and much to his relief, they did. He filled a paper cup half way and had two for good measure, praying that he’d feel better.

He walked back downstairs to fetch Eliza, who was starting to fall asleep. He knelt down and started tying her shoes for her, laughing a little. She still didn't know how to tie her shoes. She awoke with a start, then sighed when she saw that it was just Ezra. He sat with her and took off her hat, then braided her hair neatly, combing her bangs out of her face with his fingers.

"Ready, champ?" She nodded and practically dragged him off the couch. He shut the TV off on his way out. They walked outside, hand in hand, only to see Rose directing the movers with her valuables.

“Be careful! That’s designer!” she exclaimed as one of the movers almost dropped a glass lamp. He looked at Charles expectantly as he pulled a pair of sunglasses over his eyes.

“Give me a twenty,” he deadpanned.

“For what?”

“I’m taking her to McDonald’s.” Charles looked begrudgingly at his son as he fished a bill out of his wallet. "Kids eat a lot. That's what they do."

“Bring me the change.”

“Um, no. Think of it as commission." He gave him a thumbs up. "C’mon, ‘Liza.” He tucked the money into his wallet as they walked to the old red car. He fiddled with the radio until they found a station they both liked. He pulled out of the driveway when the car was finally warmed up.

Eliza was pretty content drawing on the foggy windows, meaning that the only sounds in the car were the low volume of the radio, the sounds of the heater, and their breathing. Before taking her to the park, he would go buy a pack of cigarettes and get her some breakfast, since he figured that both Charles and Rose overlooked feeding her since Ezra usually took care of that. He parked the car across the street from the convenience store that he usually bought his liquor and cigarettes from.

“Stay here, okay? Don’t open the door for anyone,” he warned, turning around to look at her. She simply nodded, paying no mind to him as he turned off the car and locked it. Ezra was in and out of the store in less than four minutes, coming out with a pack of menthols for him and a bag of candy for Eliza.

“Do you like Rose?” Eliza asked innocently, looking at her brother in the rearview mirror as she tried to open the colorful bag.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think she’s good for Daddy?”

“Do you think so?”

“I asked you first.” He chuckled softly, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t want to influence your opinion, you know?” Eliza moved her brown hair out of her face as she finally got the bag open. She popped a piece of taffy in her mouth as she spoke. "It doesn't matter if I like her or not. Do you?" She shrugged and nodded, rubbing her eyes.

“Is she gonna be our new mommy?” she said as she chewed, her words muffled and distorted.

“No,” he deadpanned, clutching the steering wheel. Eliza swallowed her candy thickly before speaking.

“But what if they get married?”

“They’re not getting married. Don’t be stupid.”

“But what if they do?” she insisted, worried. “If they get married, she’ll be our new mommy, right?” He looked at her in the rear view mirror.

“For the last time, no. Mom is just... on a vacation. Kind of.” How else do you explain to a five year old that their mother died before they even got a chance to meet her? Ezra told her she was on a trip, a trip that took her far, far away, and that she’d come back one day. Eventually, he knew he’d have to tell her the truth—but that could wait. "It's complicated."

“I wish she’d come back soon,” she said quietly, meant for only herself to hear, as she drew a stick figure on her foggy window.