Evelyn grabbed her hair, running her fingers through it before pulling it up into a ponytail. It was dark, but she still pulled out her phone, checking her hair to make sure it looked right. She brought her phone down enough to see Alejandra in the passenger side of the car, with Quetzal’s head resting on her lap.

Evelyn placed the final touches on her ponytail, then tapped on the glass of the driver’s seat, smiling in Alejandra’s direction. Alejandra must have seen her and unlocked the door. Evelyn slid into the car, closing the door. Quetzal glanced over at Evelyn before laying his head back on Alejandra’s lap. Time came to a standstill.

Roll for initiative.

Evelyn glanced over at the tent. They must have found the monster. She grabbed the d20 and rolled, ending up with twelve total. Not too bad, but it didn’t surprise her when she didn’t go first.

Time resumed, and Evelyn smiled again.

“Hey,” Evelyn said.

“Hey.”

Fire lit up the back of the tent. Milo must be using his flamethrower. “So, Calawit caught a creature and they’re killing it right now. It might be our fight for tonight.”

“Oh. Okay. That’ll make traveling easier.” Alejandra straightened her glasses, then went back to scratching Quetzal underneath his chin.

“Quetzal’s growing fast,” Evelyn said.

“He is.”

“Must be hard.” Evelyn glanced out the window again. “Baby drakes grow so fast!”

Alejandra sniffed. “Yeah.”

Time froze, and Evelyn glanced at her options. Some options were locked, no doubt Clarissa seeing what was happening and refusing to use certain weapons. But that still left most of her magic spells.

She chose flame blade, simply because it was always the badass option. The d20 appeared, and she rolled it, wincing as it landed on a nine. She was relieved to get three d6’s, though. The creature must have a low AC. She rolled for damage before thinking about the conversation with Alejandra.

Quetzal and Alejandra unfroze. Evelyn slid her phone in her pocket. “Hey, I just want to check up on you. This whole thing with our CCNC characters, it can be stressful. You’ve seemed distant, and I want to help. Are you okay?”

Light illuminated the tent again, no doubt from the flame blade making its mark.

Alejandra paused, her hand above Quetzal’s head, then she covered her face and sobbed. Evelyn’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. Maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised. Alejandra was hurt, after all. Evelyn thought she’d have to do more probing. But Alejandra looked like she was done. Evelyn put her arms around Alejandra, who covered her face as she kept sobbing. Evelyn didn’t say a word. She honestly didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry,” Alejandra said once the worst of her crying had come out. “I’m sorry, Evelyn. Sorry.”

“For what?” Evelyn asked.

“For… crying. I… I’m sorry.”

Evelyn stared at Alejandra, who slipped out of the hug to find tissues. A clarity hit her like a bolt of lightning. “Don’t apologize for feeling emotions. What we’re doing is hard. You’re allowed to cry.”

Alejandra found the box of tissues and grabbed a handful before covering her face. “I know, but… but everyone else seems to handle this so much better than me.”

Evelyn couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh my god, Alejandra. I’ve sobbed so many times in front of Clarissa and Moonsparkle. In therapy. Even in front of Tyler. Seriously, never apologize.”

She sniffed, taking off her glasses to wipe her eyes. “I just… um…” Quetzal lifted his head, brushing his head under her chin. “I… want you to know that… that….” Alejandra closed her eyes, sighing. “God, if the end of the world wasn’t coming next year, I wouldn’t talk to anyone.”

Evelyn chuckled. “I get that.”

Alejandra placed her glasses back on. “I will be the first to admit I’m angry. But… but I hope you know it has nothing to do with you. What happened between you and Rafael… that’s different. I’m… disappointed that my brother did what he did, and I know it’s caused you a lot of heartache. And therapy. And… and…”

Evelyn shrugged. “Sobbing?”

Alejandra sighed. “And sobbing. I’m sorry my brother caused you so much pain.”

This confused Evelyn until she realized what Alejandra meant. After all this time, Evelyn didn’t think that Alejandra would be angry at her. She almost forgot that it would be a very real reaction for Alejandra to be angry at Evelyn for what Rafael did. To blame her somehow and keep Rafael in the clear. Her reacting that way seemed strange, but at the same time, Evelyn’s chest lightened at the admittance that her anger wasn’t on her.

“Thanks, Alejandra,” Evelyn said. “That means a lot to me.”

Alejandra closed her eyes and froze on the way to retrieve more tissues. Evelyn quickly chose her options, remembering to give everyone more hit points. She then rolled for the flame blade. The dice landed on an even lower number, yet she still rolled for damage. Whatever they were fighting must have a ridiculously low AC if eleven still hit. Evelyn sent fourteen points of fire damage their way.

Alejandra unfroze and gathered some new tissues. “He’s working on bettering himself. He’s done a lot, and… and perhaps it caused its own kind of rift in the group for me to trust him so easily, but…”

Evelyn realized Alejandra meant Rafael. Having a conversation after time freezes were hard. Alejandra no doubt experienced the same.

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Evelyn rubbed her shoulder. “There is still a lot I need to work through, but your brother respecting my boundaries has helped immensely. I hope it hasn’t caused a rift between us that my trust hasn’t been as quick as yours.”

“God, no. No, you had every right to distance yourself from him. To still keep your distance. I’m just as impressed as anyone that you and him are often in the same room together. You’re really strong,” Alejandra said.

Evelyn snorted. “Again, you haven’t seen how hard I’ve sobbed.”

Alejandra sighed, glancing out the window. “It’s… Nick. It’s Nick I’m mad at. But I don’t want you to think that… that it in any way excuses what Rafael did… to you.”

A small smile crossed her face. “Yeah, this is a very complicated issue.” Evelyn glanced out the window. She folded her arms, catching Alejandra’s gaze, her voice dropping. “A few days after the news broke, Akshi came to me offering to torture Rafael to teach him a lesson. Akshi might do the same to you, but with Nick.”

Alejandra glanced at Quetzal, distracting herself. “I know.”

Evelyn’s heart dropped, and her pulse quickened. “Has Akshi—”

“No. Not yet, anyway.”

Evelyn’s eyes grew wet. “Please don’t hand my brother over to Akshi.”

Alejandra winced and looked down. “Of course not.”

Evelyn held in a sigh, knowing it wouldn’t be enough. She, of all people, knew. A simple request not to torture someone wouldn’t erase the anger and hurt. And Alejandra was hurt. That was clear in the frosty glances she gave her brother. The anger at the thought of going to the winter ball with him. The inability to stay in the same room with him, even driving with Rafael to stay away from him. Alejandra might not hand over Nick to Akshi, but it was like getting a promise from someone with a broken leg that they wouldn’t climb a tree in their state. They obviously wouldn’t, but they still needed to address the broken leg.

Alejandra let out a soft gasp, and Evelyn glanced over. “Sorry. Um, Hraktar got hurt.” Her eyes traveled over to the tent. “He’s down over twenty hit points.”

“Ouch,” Evelyn said.

“Yeah.”

They were quiet for another moment before Evelyn cleared her throat. “If I may…” Evelyn started, causing Alejandra to shoot her a tentative glance. “What exactly about Nick makes you so angry?”

Alejandra blinked, more tears falling down her cheeks. “He didn’t stop.” She cleared her throat, the emotions straining her words. “I get he was angry. Angry enough to punch him. But… but Derek and Tyler had to stop him. That anger would have…” Alejandra couldn’t look at her.

“Ah.” Evelyn rubbed her neck. “Yeah. Honestly, Nick’s reaction to the news is… is partially why I kept it hidden so long.”

Alejandra closed her eyes. “It hurts. And it hurts worse that no one else is…”

She trailed off, but Evelyn felt another jolt of clarification. “Because no one else is holding him responsible for almost murdering your brother?”

Alejandra covered her face in tissues again, another sob traveling through her body. Evelyn felt overwhelmed, and realizing she wasn’t sure how to respond. Despite the healing she’d done, there was still a prickly barb in her soul whenever she thought of Rafael. One she wanted to pluck out, but had to acknowledge was there before she could. But she couldn’t deny that Nick hurt Rafael. Alejandra had already acknowledged her brother had hurt Evelyn, and she needed to dip into that bravery and admit the same to Alejandra.

“Nick… was quite violent that night. And weeks after. And…” Evelyn sighed, then brought her knees up to her chest, admitting the thing they had talked about so often in her therapy sessions. “Sometimes the people who hurt us the worst are those who are closest to us. Because we expect them to be better. We expect to be safe with them. When they falter and hurt us, it’s so much harder to build that trust again.” Alejandra winced, glancing at Evelyn. Evelyn looked out the window. “It’s so much easier to stop Akshi, because he’s evil. All these creatures we’ve stuffed in an evil box. It makes it easier to kill them. But Nick. Rafael. It shouldn’t be so hard, but it absolutely is. They hurt us. Life is far more complicated.” Evelyn reached out, letting Quetzal sniff her fingers before she ran them down his scaley head.

Alejandra wrapped her arms around her drake and hugged him close. “I don’t know what to do, Evelyn. I don’t know how to forgive Nick.”

“Alejandra…” Evelyn started to say, then sighed. “I still haven’t forgiven Rafael. If I haven’t forgiven your brother, what makes you think I’m here to force you to forgive mine?”

Alejandra glanced up at her, surprised. Evelyn glanced out the window again as the tent was backlit by Milo’s flamethrower again. “I might forgive Rafael. One day. It seems way more plausible now than it did a month ago. Don’t feel obligated to forgive Nick. I could work through what I needed to because I didn’t focus on forgiving Rafael. Working through my anger in healthy ways was my priority.”

“How? How did you get there?” Alejandra asked. “It… hurts. Hurts to see everyone else moving on. I’m behind. I don’t want to be weak.”

“You’re not weak.” It was a knee jerk reaction, and yet she also knew it was true.

“I’m… angry. Everyone is holding their breath around me. They are warning me Akshi will convince me to hand Nick over, and… and I don’t know. I don’t want to, but Akshi is… frightening. And manipulative. I want to let go of this anger, but…” Alejandra trailed off.

“But everyone is just brushing away your pain, and it makes you more angry,” Evelyn said. Alejandra’s chest heaved, and Evelyn recognized the feelings of panic in her friend. Evelyn reached over and gave Alejandra a hug. “You were dating Nick, in a relationship with him, and saw him use physical force to beat your brother. Violence that he couldn’t contain it without help. You still feel like a part of your trust has shattered beyond repair, and you don’t know how to pick up the pieces except to be angry.”

Alejandra brushed away more tears. “Why can’t I get over this? Why can’t the pain go away? Why am I so weak?”

“You are not weak, you’re just hurting. They’re similar in some areas, but vastly different in what matters. We are here for you. All of us are. Even Nick, though I am the first to admit he is stupidly stubborn. I guarantee that if Akshi tried to kidnap you, that he would have to go through Nick first, and… well,” Evelyn sighed, glancing toward the tent. “I doubt anyone in the group would hold him back from that.”

Alejandra tried to smile, but there was a wince. It still hurt. It might have been too painful to bring up.

“Sorry,” Evelyn said.

Alejandra said nothing, simply hugged Quetzal tighter. Clarissa’s experience bar filled her view, and she watched a hundred and eighty-three points fill the bar all the way to the top before growing bigger. A lot of suggestions filled her view about level five, but Evelyn forced it all to one side as she kept watching Alejandra.

“How do you feel about going to the winter ball with my brother?” Evelyn asked.

“I hate it, but I understand why I have to.”

“Going to the ball does not mean you have to date my brother. No one is expecting that. And the last thing I want to do is put you somewhere you feel uncomfortable. If you don’t want to go with my brother, we’ll find another guy for the group date so you can stay with us. We’ll find another girl, too. I have plenty of friends I can ask to go with Nick. It’s truly not the end of the world if you don’t want to go with Nick.”

It was incredible to see the tension and stress melt from Alejandra. She glanced at Evelyn, surprised. “Really?”

“Really. I thrived with boundaries. It helped me rebuild my trust. You have every right to ask for them, too. Despite Nick’s stubbornness, I’m sure he wants to help, and will agree to whatever you say.”

Alejandra let out a huge breath, leaning her head back. “I suppose… maybe I will go with your brother. It would be easier. But… boundaries. Let’s set up some boundaries. If he agrees to follow them, I’ll go with him to the winter ball.”

Evelyn pulled out her phone. “Love it.” She started up a text conversation with just Alejandra. “Let’s brainstorm some ideas and write them down. We can present them to Nick and see what he thinks.”

Alejandra glanced at the tent. “Oh, uh… the battle is done, I think. They’ll be waiting for us.”

“Let them wait. This is important.” Evelyn’s fingers hovered over the keyboard. “Alright, Alejandra. What needs to be in place for you to feel safe with my brother?”