#the way it's teen then adult for everyone but jackie it's teen then ghost :| little loser ghost girl... love you

[vanpalmr]

YELLOWJACKETS APPRECIATION WEEK 2023 day two: favorite character(s) ↳ SHAUNA SHIPMAN, JACKIE TAYLOR, TAISSA TURNER, VAN PALMER

[jollyreginaldrancher]

Yellowjackets S1 E4 thoughts and guesses

Misty what the fuck? It's only been like a week, these girls cannot be that horny ☠️

Was honestly wondering if a show about like a dozen teen girls being stranded in the wild would address the monthly visitor issue and I'm glad it did.

Tell me Shauna isn't pregnant 🙃

I don't know who I can stand less; Travis or Shauna's daughter

I still support Shauna's wrongs

I support Misty's wrongs too 🥹

I'm rooting for Taissa and Van but if they're not together in the future then I'm guessing Van dies. Taissa got lucky though cause her wife is awesome so far.

Somebody really wants the story.

Still waiting for Jackie to step up and show exactly why she was made their leader cause right now she's just the load everybody's gotta carry.

I guess the graffiti was her wife after all. There's no way the kid could have snuck out and done it, right?

"it's not my fault your lady-blood is scaring all the prey away" wouldn't that attract predators then? I guess that explains the wolf Taissa is seeing. I wonder if that's what takes Jackie out.

Am I shipping adult Nat and adult Misty? Yes. Yes I am.

Maybe Taissa painted the graffiti in some sort of trance

The point about wasting the candles is super valid. And since everyone is mad at her at this point, she really shouldn't be turning into a bigger burden and making bad decisions like that.

Jackie is definitely dead. Called it.

The daughter saying "you're not fine! You think I can't see that?" as if she hasn't been a dick to her mom every time she's been on screen so far is just 🙃

Van needs more screentime

Taissa definitely sees the ghost or whatever too. Side-note: is it Tilda Swinton?

Please, not another Ezria

GET WRECKED CALLIE

So was Callie the baby she was pregnant with?

I knew it was a nannycam 🤣

[xthexrawringx20sx]

who are your comfort characters? wanna talk about them for a bit? :)

oh my god thank you so much!!!!! i actually went to my computer so i can type better/faster with shaky hands lol

added a read more because it’s long

tw for: hallucinations/delusions, idk what else let me know if i need to tag it!

okay so...some of these are because i’m a dumb kinnie but yeah lmao

uh. basically the entire avengers group, but specifically the first movie time period. yknow the fanfictions about them all living in the same place and clint climbing around the vents and thor eating poptarts? yeah, that kind. kinda cringy but i used to vividly daydream living there and them all being my friends.

in a similar note, the most popular creepypastas that were involved in the “slender mansion” type of fanfic/headcanons are also super comforting! i used to imagine that ticci toby, ben drowned, and jeff the killer were all like. my best friends and we’d have huge cuddle piles or whatever lmao

the grunkles from gravity falls! i’m a dipper kin so i guess that makes sense, but even before i knew that they were super comforting. stan because he’s grumpy but still cares about his family, and also just...how easily he accepted people into his family (like when it shows how/why he offered wendy a job, soos, etc). ford because he’s weird!! and everyone’s pretty cool with that! honestly everyone in that show is comforting because they’re weird and it’s okay! seeing how he’d be so involved with whatever dipper was obsessed with made me so happy.

also winnie the pooh! it reminds me of when i was a kid and had sleepovers with my nanny (grandma) because i moved schools a lot and was bullied constantly so i never really had any friends. we’d watch winnie the pooh, chitty chitty bang bang, milo and otis, and sometimes random movies with jackie chan/abbott and costello/elvis because they were her favorite. also mary poppins! i remember she’d let me stay up late and watch whatever i wanted as long as i didn’t tell my parents about some of the games she played on her computer. that was my favorite, because i could watch adult swim and teen titans and goosebumps without getting in trouble

anya from anya’s ghost! i’ve mentioned this before, but she is such a big comfort to me. her negative body image, developing bad habits just to fit in, and forcing herself to change to just...disappear/be “normal” is so relatable. especially when she talks about how her mom is an immigrant from russia and she’s trying to leave all that behind. i really relate to that because that’s something i’ve experienced a lot and felt so alone with it (my mom + grandma are from germany). that distance from who you are, knowing almost nothing about your family, is hard. i’d hear classmates list off family members who were some of the first europeans in america, then i’d be able to back 1-2 generations to say something about germany, and on my dad’s side irish and native american. but that was it! and everyone on both sides of my family know almost nothing about our family past that because here it was a reason to be bullied or hurt. kids would joke that i was from space, or that i was a robot or a bad person and i was “hiding” stuff about my family. i dealt with horrible jokes about world war two. and once i read that book, i cried knowing that someone else understood. someone else felt alone, like that part of them that was supposed to be so important was just...gone. that someone else knew their parents + their siblings, their grandparents, and nothing else.

all of welcome to nightvale. all kin stuff aside, this is about the weirdness and how normal it is. but also, how janice is treated specifically. in old oak doors, when kevin is telling her dad about how they’ll basically “fix her” so she can walk, he tells him that she doesn’t need to be fixed. all my life, any sort of disability has been viewed as either my fault or something that needs to be fixed. my parents tried everything to cure my diabetes, and it eventually led to them blaming me for it at parts of my life where i was still coming to terms with it. i wasn’t diagnosed with anything for most of my life, my mom genuinely thought my scoliosis just “went away” along with asthma. disability was a bad word in my family, and still is. if i can’t fix the issue, i’m supposed to hide it/act like everyone else. they shame me when i can’t do a bunch of things because of my legs or back. they tell me every way i can fix it, even if those things will cause me more pain and suffering. it’s nice to see someone’s disability treated like a part of them, and not something that needs curing.

dan torrance from the shining/doctor sleep. especially doctor sleep. i know they’re not hallucinations, but when i saw it i just...felt so much for him. i’ve tried a lot of things to get rid of hallucinations. some of which i still struggle with. i kind of sometimes imagine him telling me that it’s okay, that they might seem real but that i’m in control even when it doesn’t feel like it. the part of the movies where he locks them in boxes? that’s one of my coping skills. it doesn’t always work but it makes me feel better when it does. i can’t always convince myself they’re not real. that’s the hardest part, so many of the advice i see involving hallucinations/delusions is making yourself believe they’re fake. but i can’t always do that! like right now, i know logically what is outside shouldn’t be there. but they’re there, they’re big and scary and very real. it helps to feel like someone’s there telling me “it’s okay, we’ve seen scarier and can make it through this”. not anything like “it’s in your head”, “they’re not real”, etc because they are and it makes me feel like i can’t trust people when they do that randomly.

that’s all i can think of right now, thank you so much it helps me a ton to just ramble like this! sorry it’s so long and probably a little embarrassing...have a wonderful day/night!!

[brunhiddensmusings]

random movies/shows i just remembered were a thing

there is no point in any of this other then me being impressed that i remember all of this shit and reflecting on ‘i couldnt make this up if i tried’ a live action tv series of alice in wonderland, it was violently 80s an ‘alf’ cartoon series, that was MORE violently 80s an alice in wonderland cartoon series from the makers of the alf cartoon series which was only moderately 80s neverending story animated series that is somehow underwhelming enough it erases memory of itself a show where james earl jones sits in some kind of negative plane room that has a floor, doors, windows, a chair, and one lamp yet somehow no walls, the windows just kind of hover there. he told stories. how the hell did a show where james earl jones just tells soothing stories fly under everyone's radar? a live action reading comprehension series that featured a kid with magic gloves that rode a stationary bycicle to warp through dimensions that im sure no other human being ever saw so im partially thinking it might have been a hallucination except hallucinations typically have higher production values an animated glowworm movie that was trying to do with the glowworm dolls what MLP the show did for MLP the toys. it contained at least one song i can still remember the tune of 25 years later. there was a moleperson that gave off strong lesbian vibes who was rebelling against her biker vibe moleperson family an animated movie about ‘the lollipop dragon’ that seemed like there was other content on the intellectual property but ive never seen any, taking the form of a car race through whats essentially candyland to prevent liver and onion flavored lollipops being the new official christmas candy to be distributed by santa clause live action series that was only ever on at like 4AM where someone tells fairy tales that are slightly more disturbing then they should be while illustrating them in chalk which is one hell of a trick the animated series ‘mummies alive’ that was trying to basically copy/paste everything they could from the ‘gargoyles’ show but forgot to make it good not to be confused with the ‘tutenstein’ show, which somehow made less sense ‘dink the dinosaur’ a tv series hoping nobody noticed it wasn't actually land before time the animated series a live action series where a modern family was trapped somewhere that was a dinosaur infested jungle so they had to live in a tree house that was only just barely taller then the t-rex that was continually stalking them. the moon had claw marks on it i think? it was basically swiss family robinson but early 90s animated movie ‘the elm chanted forest’ that im more just baffled my parents were able to acquire something that obscure in their pirated vhs collection, i cant think of a possible reason anyone in my family would ever have been in the same room as a copy of this. like damned i havent even seen any of the youtubers that rate obscure bizzare movies even mention this fever dream. the highlight was probably when the talking mushrooms started breakdancing in a impressively racist manner like damned you raised the bar on racist cartoons somehow for about two minutes in an otherwise completely inoffensive movie from i think croatia. seriously its the best part, even better then when the cactus king summons his sapient weapon minions and engages his ferris wheel of doom to kill all the beavers

the animated series ‘superdave’ about a daredevil who gets repeatedly maimed, and repeatedly framed it as though he was a real person in the way jackie chan adventures does the animated series ‘wish kid’ where macully culkin aged 9 is granted basically fairy odd parents style wish abilities from a baseball glove. gilbert godfried its there, constantly, like hes almost there as much as the kid is holy crap i forgot the tazmanian devil got his own show for like five months yall remember when the ps1 first launched? when the game cases were strangely huge for no particular reason because they hadnt adopted the jewel cases yet and there were only like seven games available for the system and none of them even knew how to incorporate memory cards? ‘blazing dragons’ was a point and click adventure game that happened to be one of those seven games, eric idle was one of the people who made the game yet ive never met anyone who remembers playing the game or even hearing anything about it. yeah, this game had an animated series.... it was surprisingly witty in a were not even trying to make sense way that was purposefully avoiding explaining its world live action series ‘zoobalie zoo’ where people in the worst fursuits known to man just kind of exist in an almost entirely empty set where a handfull of circus cage wagons that i assume were their homes were the only structures outside of like two cardboard bushes why the hell was ‘mighty max’ not a cultural icon the way invader zim was, that show rocked so hard ‘the robonic stooges’ where the 3 stooges are robots jhon candy had an animated series where he played himself as a camp counselor. it.... kinda worked almost, blending the generic 80s camp movie ‘bad land developer’ formula with self aware complaints. it only stank a little the animated ‘happy days’ spinoff where they have a time traveling spaceship

not to be confused with the one where the partridge family lives in the year 3000, or when casper the ghost lives in space.... im beginning to see a trend here ‘starship troopers’ the CG series where surprisingly nobody ever died an animated series about a green rabbit on a spaceship that i only recently learned also was not a fever dream from when i was 8. all images i see of it only convince me more that im still hallucinating its existance i cant rmember the name of it but a live action series about aliens living on earth, all the adults have actual costumes to disguise themselves as humans but the baby, who is apperantly the ruler of the universe, is a disturbing pink puppet. also they have magic powers instead of technology and the theme song was ‘wishing on a star’. memories of this show still occasionally haunt me but it was still better then charles in charge just on novelty value there was a ‘jhonny quest’ reboot that aged him up and incorporated CG for a kind of cyberspace setting for the sole purpose they had a villian that was a quadrapallegic but could do things in the cyberspace setting, yet really nobody should have cared because the cyberspace setting wasnt connected to any real world imput devices so he was just the main boss of his own videogame why are you picking on this man. they were foggy on if haji actually had magic powers or just really hardcore yoga skills, and one fanatical zealot villian who basically escaped from the place they keep the well written batman antagonists you remember the ‘the way things work’ book? it had illustrations on every concept of physics and mechanical processes that used mammoths to explain everything from the screw to the lever to sewing machines to integrated circuits. yeah, it had an animated tv series .....somehow not to be confused with ‘cro’, an animated series about a mammoth that was frozen, thawed in the late 80s, was able to talk, and was a framing device for his stories of a weirdly sexily drawn caveman teen that invented all technology

it was basically ‘the croods’ but better and 30 years earlier a live action series based on ‘harry and the hendersons’.... im surprised they could create enough material for one full episode like seriously where do you go from there? its surprisingly hard to think of a story for ‘were a modern 80s family who has bigfoot as a roomate’ an animated series where a basketball player, baseball player, and hockey player are secretly superheroes. there was also a hardcore badass old lady who did most of the work. wayne gretszky was the one nobody respected the pocket dragons had a show. yes, a show based on collectable porcelain figurines that were marketed for their cute value on home shopping network CG series ‘vanpires’, yes it was about sapient cars that were vampires and actual live children who turned into cars that were vampires. that is all oh yeah, there was a back to the future animated series, i thought i repressed that better speaking of repressed memories, i cannot escape the knowledge that ‘super duper sumos’ and ‘mega babies’ existed, booze cannot erase this knowledge

[smilesthroughfandoms]

Every Single Star vs. the Forces of Evil episode in one sentence or less

I’ll probably post a more in depth-review later this week, as I have opinions literally no one wants to hear but I will proclaim anyway, and then I’ll probably also due a revision of my ‘Past Queens Connection to Star’ post from way back in season 2. Cause that needs an update.

Anyway, enjoy!

Star Comes to Earth: Princess Cinnamon Roll that Could Kill you comes to earth and meets Misunderstood Safe Kid.

Party With a Pony: Spoopy Wardens hunt for the glitter pony while Star gets ice for Marco’s sweaty back.

Matchmaker: In which we learn it was probably a bad idea to give Star the wand in the first place.

School Spirit: Star misunderstands football and Marco tries to get Ferguson to blow his whistle not in that way.

Monster Arm: “Not my bowels! I love my bowels!”

The Other Exchange Student: Star is jealous of the meatball man from Bakersfieldville.

Cheer Up Star: “It’s supposed to be ironic!”

Quest Buy: Very accurate depiction of what it is like to work in retail.

Diaz Family Vacation: Both Marco and Star see new sides of their dads but that’s not necessarily a good thing

Brittney’s Party: Star and Marco party on a bus that Ludo hijacks

Mewberty: Star gets horny and snares boys in her web but not in that way

Pixtopia: Marco messed up and Alfonso marries Ferguson’s rebound

Lobster Claws: “… You can’t eat children.” “Really? Not even the annoying ones?”

Sleep Spell: “Camera Phooone!”

Blood Moon Ball: We’re suppose to ship them now, right?

Fortune Cookies: Love is never the answer kids

Freeze Day: Father Time offers Star and Marco some mud before riding away on his wheel-mobile pulled by giant time-hamsters I am not making this up.

Royal Pain: King Santa Claus destroy mini-golf

St. Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses: Princess Prison sure is a nightma–OH MY GOD ARE THOSE CLUBS?!

Mewnipendence Day: No wonder monsters hate Mewmans so much.

The Banagic Wand: Star still doesn’t get Earth and like all of us, Marco is always hungry.

Interdemensional Field Trip: Miss Skullnick fears the “Big Change” while Marco sends Jackie cat memes

Marco Grows a Beard: Ludo is out, Toffee is in, and Marco will probbaly be terrified of beards forever

Storm the Castle: “SURPRISE!”

My New Wand!: DIP DOOOWN

Ludo in the Wild: Wait, since when did Ludo become badass?

Mr. Candle Cares: “Star and I have recently become smooch buddies… On the lips.”

Red Belt: Marco searches for a meaning in life and Star searches for hammer.

Star on Wheels: *epic remix of Marco saying Star is in trouble*

Fetch: Marco can’t open juice and Star runs away from her problems and sending thank you cards

Star vs. Echo Creek: Star gets high and destroys a police car

Wand to Wand: Both Ludo and Star are terrible at magic also major ship tease

Starstruck: Star and her idol Sailor Super Saiyan destroy a park and Marco is 100002% done with this shit

Camping Trip: King Butterfly has a mid-life crisis and tries to control an eagle

Starsitting: They’re gonna be great parents some day.

On the Job: Buff Dad is best dad and buff babies are adorable

Goblin Dogs: “You might think this line is long, but listen to my goblin song!~”

By the Book: Ludo and Star still suck at magic and Glossaryck is a bigger troll than Alex Hirsch

Game of Flags: And I thought my family was dysfunctional...

Girls’ Day Out: Janna is back and is still awesome btw

Sleepover: “TRUTH! STAR HAS A CRUSH ON MA–” *cue fandom freakout*

Gift of the Card: R.I.P.  Rasticore Chaosus Disastorvayne… He couldn’ get his fucking chainsaw to work

Friendenemies: Star becomes one with Christmas tree while Tom and Marco go on a date and sing a romantic pop ballad.

Is Mystery: Meatfork is apparently a family name and Ludo is really starting to freak me out tbh

Hungry Larry: “He’s still hungry…”

Spider with a Top Hat: He tries and he is awesome and that’s all that matters

Into the Wand: SPAAAAADESS!!!

Pizza Thing: Marco is OCD about mushroom and Pony Head buys skinny jeans

Page Turner: Moon, how did you miss Toffee in the orb he was right there!

Naysaya: Marco is a mood in this episode

Bon Bon the Birthday Clown: Honestly my favorite episode overall

Raid the Cave: Glossaryck is the true neutral asshole.

Trickstar: Weird Al is a treasure and I’ll mes up anyone who makes Marco cry!

Baby: Aw, look at the little deadly baby, I love her!

Running With Scissors: Marco gets a new edition to his shipping harem and she is so cute!

Mathmagic: Why did the chicken cross the road?

The Bounce Lounge: Marco is definitely the mom friend.

Crystal Clear: The Chancellor guy is amazing and Rhombulus just needs a hug and wAS THAT ECLIPSA IN THE BACKGROUND?

The Hard Way: “SURPRISE!” 2.0

Heinous: Oh, so that’s how Marco got all that money.

All Belts Are Off: This is the negative side of “Pro-tag teen hangs out with older adult figure” trope done splendidly

Collateral Damage: Marco how do you not know what a possum is?

Just Friends: I’m fine! *blows up sign to prove just how fine I am*

Face the Music: This song is actually a banger

Star Crushed: Looking back, I’m starting to think the writing peaked at this episode....

BATTLE FOR MEWNI EDITION!!!!!

Return to Mewni: This is… just an exposition filler. Not much else to say….

Moon the Undaunted: B4! B4! B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4 B4!

Book Be Gone: Seriously, did Glossy take trolling lessons from Alex Hirsch this is hilarious!

Marco and the King: This is the  “Pro-tag teen hangs out with older adult figure” done slightly better

Puddle Defender: Aw, look at the little buff babies, they’re getting so big!

King Ludo: The mime stole the show.

Toffee: Yeah, I think the writing peaked somewhere around here...

Scent of Hoodie: Huh, so Ponyhead can be written as likeable, who would’ve thought?

Rest in Pudding: The colors are not doing the censors any favor here, huh?

Club Snubbed: I literally yelled “Phrasing!” whenever they dropped the title

Stranger Danger: Is she the new antagonist of the series? I can’t tell

Demoncism: Tom is a wonderful baby boy and Ponyhead is written as likeable, part 2!

Sophmore Slump: *sobbing* Jackie deserved better, dang it!

Lint Catcher: I’m starting to wonder if there is any competant authority figure in Mewni

Trial by Squire: I think the writers were all like” You think these guys will ship anyone with Marco?” and decided to test that theory.

Princess Turdina: I got more lore out of this episode than I thought I would.

Starfari: Welp, she makes me uncomfortable.

Sweet Dreams: *Sailor Moon-ing intensifies*

Lava Lake Beack: Proof that this fandom will ship anyone with Marco at the slightest inclanation

Death Peck: Rich Pigeon is my new favorite birb and Ponyhead is written as likeable for the third time

Ponymonium: Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Night Life: The writers made so many new ships they had to get rid of an old one!

Deep Dive: “Chicken butt”

Monster Bash: Well, that explains the cheekmarks.

Stump Day: I think they just made an episode based around a picture from that bookcover.

Holiday Special: *insert every cheesy Christmas/Holiday episode trope here*

The Bog Beast of Boggabah: The title is fun to say and the episode is average at best.

Total Eclipsa the Moon: Seriously, I’m supposed to think she’s an ultimate villain.

Butterfly Trap: In which we are all Sean, don’t lie we were all him at the end

Ludo, Where Art Thou?: Dennis is best brother, hands down.

Is Another Mystery: *sniff* I got more emotional over this episode than anyone else did and I’m not sure how I feel about that

Marco Jr.: I… I just… Why? What’s the point?

Skooled!: Epic advertisment fakeout combined with wonderful character development and lore with a shock ending makes a 8/10 episode.

Booth Buddies: Old Man McGucket ships Starco, proceed to react accordingly

Bam Ui Pati!: Ponyhead is kinda likeable in this episod–nevermind she’s back.

Tough Love: Oh man, it’s happening! It’s happening guys here we go!

Divide: We are going to war everybody–And they’re all dead. That was quick.

Conquer: They should have paid Alex HIrsch to voice Glossaryck at this point, it’d be more in character for him.

Butterfly Follies: Proof that someone will always complain about politics no matter what.

Escape from the Pie Folk: Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that he kinda resembles Eclipsa more than Festivia?

Moon Remembers: I was expecting a freakout but was pleasantly surprised

Swim Suit: I’m starting to get a bad feeling about Rhombulus

Ransomgram: Why is everyone in this dimesnion hot?!

Lake House Fever: She’s a good mom

Yada Yada Berries: They missed an opportunity to have a Seinfeld actor guest-star, just saying

Down by the River: I’m glad that she can relax

The Ponyhead Show!: And Ponyhead is offically no longer likeable, can someone toss her into an abyss please?

Surviving the Spiderbites: SpiderSlime is canon proceed to react accordingly

Out of Buisness: How did this place go out of buisness???

Kelly's World: Man, they’re really setting these non-Starco ships up to fail, huh?

Curse of the Blood Moon: Pfft, yeah, sure, Starco won’t be canon at all!

Princess Quasar Caterpillar and the Magic Bell: I think Ludo has the most consistent character arc out of the entire show’s history.

Ghost of Butterfly Castle: Moon, Star is your daughter and Star supports Eclipsa, why would you not tell her?

Cornball: This episode has a heartwarming lesson that I hope more people come to realize

Meteora's Lesson: I’ll take any Toffee scenes I can get

The Knight Shift: I honestly don’t remember what happened n this episode

Queen-Napped: Seriously, can someone please dropkick Ponyhead into an abyss?

Junkin' Janna: The JanTom interaction I’ve been waiting for

A Spell with No Name: These types of episodes stopped being charming awhile ago

A Boy and His DC-700XE: I think Tomco has more ground to stand-on then Starco at this point

The Monster and The Queen: Don Panchito voices Globgor! There’s hope for this show yet!

Cornonation: They’re the best couple/parents/anything around!

Doop-Doop: I honestly think Rick just put Morty through some flux-capacitor or something

Britta's Tacos: Hey, remember these people that we suddenly brought back? No? Me neither!

Beach Day: This feels like a Season 1 episode and it’s nice

Gone Baby Gone: I want a TV show aout them now! Disney, please!

Sad Teen Hotline: Mr. Diaz is way to invested in Star’s love life.

Jannanigans: Hello last minute Janna character development!

Mama Star: So that’s how Mewni came to be--and I don’t care anymore

Ready, Aim, Fire!: Let’s get that finale ball rolling people!

The Right Way: Ok, that spell is actually pretty badass.

Here to Help: There, Starco’s finally canon will you guys just shut up now!

Pizza Party: Moon you idiot you ruined everything!

The Tavern at the End of the Multiverse: Toffee was right all along... I think we all knew that in some way

Cleaved: I expect nothing substanial and that’s what I got

[ghostsinthewoods]

Three weeks.

Mae almost didn't believe it when Gregg gave her the news. She'd known the day was coming, of course, but actually hearing a definite date came as quite a shock. Things had settled into a comfortable routine, and part of Mae had thought that things in Possum Springs wouldn't change.

But no. The tiny world where Mae didn't have to think about her best friend moving away was shattered like a snow globe. Gregg had just gotten off of work, and they were up on the roof of his apartment building. Naturally, Gregg's news about the move was the first thing they talked about.

Mae couldn't do anything but chuckle. "I was wondering when you'd know for sure," she said. "I mean, you said you were moving in spring, and it'll be summer pretty soon."

"Life happens," Gregg said with a shrug. "But, yeah, we'll be able to move in three weeks. Just in time for swimsuit season!" Gregg paused. "Shit, I guess we'll actually have to go get swimsuits."

Mae nodded slowly. Not a lot of reasons to own a swimsuit in Deep Hollow County. The nearest place to go swimming was a pool in Hunwick, but that place was sketchy as hell. Mae remembered seeing a bunch of needles all over the place the last time she'd been there. They had probably been drug needles.

Wait, what drugs did you need a needle for? Was it weed? Did you have to inject the weed into yourself? Mae guessed she'd never know. She was definitely never, ever doing weed again. Probably.

"God," Mae said. "It's finally happening, huh?" She looked out at the horizon. Things were really pretty from up here. Gregg and Angus's apartment had a great view. Mae wondered who would move in when they left. Mae wondered if Gregg's next apartment would have a view this nice.

Then again, Gregg and Angus had lived on the second floor. Probably not as great a view as up on the roof.

"When you move to Bright Harbor, you should live on your building's roof," Mae said, apropos of nothing.

"What, like a penthouse?" Gregg asked. "We couldn't afford that. Unless you mean, like, you think we should pitch a tent up on a roof somewhere. I don't know if that'd be legal, though. Plus, the weather would probably suck."

Okay, that was fair. If it rained, they'd probably drown.

Mae crossed her arms and sighed. "You know what?" She asked. "I'm happy for you, dude. You and Angus. You earned this." A small, genuine smile crept across Mae's face. She felt bad that they were moving, but she couldn't find it in her to be upset with them. Not anymore, at least.

"We really did," Gregg said with a sigh. The former delinquent wandered to the building's edge and sat. "Between all the work we've done, and all the changes I've been making, we've totally earned a fresh start."

A bright smile formed on Gregg's face. His smiles were always so sincere. Everything about Gregg was sincere, Mae thought. That was part of why he ruled.

"I'm totally gonna message you every day," Mae said.

Gregg laughed at that. "Dude, you better," he said. "If you don't, I'll assume you died or something."

"Nah," Mae said. "Even if I was a ghost, I'd still message you every day."

Mae and Gregg sat in a comfortable silence as they watched the people walk around on the sidewalks below. From up here, Mae thought, everyone looked like characters in a video game. One of the old handheld ones, maybe, or a top-down RPG. There was something sad about that, but Mae wasn't sure what it was.

"Before we move," Gregg said, "I'm gonna be really boring. I wanna make sure I don't do anything stupid at the last minute and blow this for us." He sighed a bit. From the sounds of things, he didn't have a lot of confidence in himself. Mae could relate.

"Like I said before, you're all adult now," Mae said, trying to lift her friend's spirits. "I'm actually kinda jealous. Like, you're out there living your life and making things happen. Meanwhile, I'm sort of… stuck, I guess."

Gregg turned to face Mae, a sympathetic look on his face. "Dude, you'll get moving some day," he said. "I know you. When you want something, you make it happen. Trust me, Mae, you're gonna kick ass one of these days."

"I kick ass now," Mae said, chuckling a bit. "I kick all the asses, all the time."

Her laughter died down, however, and a sigh escaped her. "Seriously, though," Mae said, "I don't know if I could ever do what you're doing. I feel like I wasn't really prepared for being out in the real world. Like, I'm scared of being a real adult, dude? Right now I'm just a dumb 21-year-old, but every day I feel like I'm getting closer to the point where I'll have to grow up."

"It's not, like, a sudden thing, dude," Gregg said. "I mean, I still don't feel like I'm an adult. But I do adult things, so that counts for something, I guess?" Gregg offered an uncertain shrug. "It's all really complicated. They should've given us an instruction manual when we graduated."

Mae scoffed. "As if we'd actually read it."

The two friends laughed at that, and watched as the sky gradually grew darker and darker.

It had been Gregg's idea to go out to the woods when they were done looking out at the sky. Mae had hopped onto his bike, and they'd ridden out to the same woods where they'd had their knife fight last year.

Things looked pretty much the same, albeit much greener. The log was still broken, and that made Mae feel kind of proud. The fake forest god had been dismantled at some point, either by Gregg or some punk teens. The Northern Dumbfowl were still out on the lake. Mae guessed they'd just gotten back from flying south.

Okay, so maybe the woods didn't look the same. Woods in spring were completely different from woods in the fall. They were more alive, somehow.

"Nah, I haven't seen Germ, either," Gregg said as they sat on the edge of the lake. They hadn't made any stops on the way. The old glass factory loomed in the background.

"That's kinda weird," Mae muttered. "Should I be worried? Like, I'm not worried, but should I be?"

Gregg shrugged. "I dunno. Germ's kind of an enigma. He might be on vacation or something, and he just didn't tell anyone. Sounds like something he'd do."

The word 'vacation' flipped a switch in Mae's head. She suddenly remembered the conversation she'd had with Bea last year about the road trip. Bea hadn't said anything, so she must have forgotten, too. Either that, or she was budgeting it or something.

A road trip would be the perfect thing to get Mae's mind off of missing her buddies. Mae made a mental note to talk with Bea about it sometime later. Maybe on the way to the next Jackie party? Whenever they talked about it, it wasn't likely they'd head out west any time soon. The barbecue and giant pierogis could wait.

Gregg let loose a sigh. The lake in front of them was incredibly still. Mae had no idea if there were any fish in that lake. She didn't know a lot about fishing. Part of her wished her dad or granddad had been into it. Mae wouldn't have minded that.

"Part of me's really scared, you know?" Gregg said. "When we get to Bright Harbor, I don't know what'll happen. I don't know how things will change."

"Dude, I'd be scared if I were you," Mae said reassuringly. "You'd be crazy to not be scared. Either that or, like, impossibly chill."

That got a laugh out of Gregg. "Okay, good to know," he said. "I'm, like, the opposite of chill. Which I guess makes me hot?" A delighted smile formed on his face as this realization dawned on him.

Mae smirked and shrugged. "Eh," she said. "You're a four out of ten."

Gregg's smile turned into an upset little pout. Mae laughed at that. Gregg joined her. The two laughed for a while. They laughed until they heard a twig snap behind them.

Both of them were startled, but Mae was the one who spun around to find the source of the noise. She couldn't see anyone. Had it just been a rabbit? Or a sasquatch? Did they have those in Deep Hollow County? Mae felt like she would have heard if there were sasquatches here.

Just when Mae was about to dismiss it, she heard another twig snap. Her eyes turned toward the direction of the sound just in time to see a rustling in some nearby bushes. Without even thinking about it, Mae ran towards the bush. Gregg called out after her, clearly confused.

When Mae reached the bush, there was no one. Ahead of her, though, Mae could see some more bushes rustling. Whoever or whatever it had been, they were running off towards the glass factory. Mae chased after them.

Everything else was shut out. Mae didn't pay attention to anything except for the figure that she was chasing. She never got a good look at them; they were always just ahead of her, hidden among the branches and bushes. Mae was vaguely aware of Gregg following her, yelling at her to stop.

Mae couldn't stop, though. She'd been on edge lately. Her dreams of the mines had been occurring every night. To top that off, her suspicions towards Leon had colored her perception of the world around her. She was scared. There was no denying that. She was scared enough to chase blindly after someone she couldn't see.

Scared enough to chase after someone right into a ravine.

The edge of the ravine was obscured by bushes, but even then Mae managed to stop herself before she went tumbling over into the muddy ground below. The ravine ran adjacent to the glass factory, and was cluttered with trash. Broken glass, metal, and lots of things that would make you need a tetanus shot.

There was no one else in the ravine below.

Just as Mae came to this confusion realization, she became aware of someone running up behind her. At first, fear gripped her throat and brought a cold chill up her spine. However, Mae quickly deduced that it was Gregg, chasing after his friend.

Mae was just about to turn and call out to Gregg when she realized how quickly he was coming towards her. Before she could warn him about the ravine, he came barreling through the bush and into Mae. A confused gasp escaped him as his momentum carried them forward, and sent them tumbling into the ravine below.

As they rolled down the embankment, Mae was suddenly reminded of the tire and the hill. It had been a while ago, back at the start of spring, but it still stuck in Mae's mind. The difference was, that trip down a steep slope had been relatively safer.

This trip ended sooner, however. With a thud, the two hit bottom. Gregg hit the ground first, and Mae landed on him before rolling off into the mud. The whole world was spinning. Mae felt nauseous. Her entire body ached from the tumble she had taken. She would be fine, though.

Judging by the noises Gregg was making, however, he wouldn't be.

Mae and Gregg had been rough kids growing up. Mae was no stranger to the sounds of a scraped knee, or a twisted ankle. The only time she'd heard a noise like this, however, was back in middle school.

She, Gregg, and Casey had been out by the tracks. Gregg and Casey had been skateboarding, while Mae sat aside and watched. It was really boring. Or it had been, until Gregg had tried a very difficult trick and wound up breaking his arm.

Something similar seemed to have happened here. As Mae regained her senses, she saw Gregg's leg had gotten caught in a pile of metal and garbage. His ankle was twisted to the side, and his leg was bent at an unnatural angle. Gregg laid there, cries of frustration and pain escaping him as he tried to clutch at his leg.

It took Mae a second to find her words. She managed to open her mouth and say the only thing she could think of: "Oh, shit, dude."

Gregg gave a pained laugh as he brought his hands to his eyes. Despite the situation, there was a smile on his face. "Oh, man," he said. "Oh, god, I think it's effing broken. Is there bone showing?"

Mae hurried over to her friend's side. His leg was all wonky, but she couldn't tell how bad it was through his jeans. Slowly, she reached out and carefully pulled the leg of Gregg's pants up as much as she could. Evidently, she didn't do it carefully enough, because more gasps of pain filled the air.

With her vision unobscured, Mae looked at Gregg's leg. It looked nasty. There was a weird protrusion at his knee, like something was trying to get out. His skin, while bruised, was at least intact.

"No bones, dude," Mae said.

Gregg groaned. "Aw, shit," he said. "That's lame. I was hoping it'd at least look cool."

Mae nodded. A broken leg with bones popping out looked sick, and was something you could tell a story about later. But if there weren't any bones showing, it just looked kind of sad.

Mae's attention moved down the leg to Gregg's foot. She couldn't see how bad it was with his stupid rockabilly boot on. His ankle was torqued to the side, and pinned between a pair of rusty, metal rods. They looked like pieces of the frame of a bike. Tenderly, Mae reached out and tried to pull Gregg's foot free.

A groan of pain signaled to Mae that she needed to stop. She let go of Gregg's ankle for a moment and then tried again. And again. And again. Each attempt was met with pained protest from Gregg. Nevertheless, Mae kept trying until Gregg finally yelled at her to stop.

Mae fell on her butt, sitting in the mud and staring at Gregg's leg. All in all, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. With the way he had gotten stuck, his leg could have, like, gotten snapped clean off. That was something that could happen to legs, right? Probably.

Gregg had stopped crying out now, and was instead just lying on the ground, panting. All of that screaming had taken it out of him. He winced a bit in pain. His position, and the position of his leg, made it impossible for him to relax.

"Oh, god," Mae muttered. Seeing her friend laying there, his leg twisted like a pretzel, sent a wave of guilt over her. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry, Gregg. I-I heard a dude, and chased after him, and—"

"Dude," Gregg snapped. His tone took Mae by surprise. She'd never heard Gregg talk like that. He must have been in a lot of pain, with a lot of things going through his head. Despite his tone, though, he didn't look angry. Just disappointed.

"Dude," he repeated. "God, dude, stop. I ran after you. It's not your fault. Stop effing apologizing and get help!"

Get help? That was easier said than done. Mae stood and looked around her. Where could she possibly go to get help? It would take a while to get back into town, especially since Mae couldn't ride Gregg's bike. Did anyone live in these woods? Anyone with a phone?

Mae stopped as she realized that there was one option that was very close to them. She turned her attention towards the old glass factory that stood next to the ravine. The big skeleton that overlooked the town.

Surely there wouldn't be anyone in there. But it was the closest option, and Mae had to at least look. The factory was spooky, sure, but she had to get help for Gregg. If she didn't he'd probably die from having a broken leg or something.

"Okay," Mae muttered. She looked back to Gregg, who was wincing from the pain. "Okay, I'm going to look for help. Stay here."

Gregg blinked, and stared at Mae incredulously. "Dude, seriously?"

Despite the situation, Mae felt embarrassed. "Okay. Yeah. Dumb advice."

With that, she turned and sprinted towards the factory's entrance.

Normally, abandoned factories are inhabited only by wild animals, homeless people, and photographers taking pictures for their blogs. Mae didn't know anyone who would willingly hang out in a place like this. Well, maybe Germ, but he would probably hang out anywhere.

As Mae stepped into the building, she was struck by how grey everything was. Dust covered almost every square inch of the place. Even the light that filtered in through the windows had a strange, gray quality to it. For some reason, the whole place felt hopeless.

Mae made her way past the receptionist area, and soon found herself in the factory proper. The whole place felt weird to her. Mae could vaguely remember coming here once before, back when she was around four. She had been with her mom, and they had arrived to drop something up for her dad.

Back then, the factory had seemed so much bigger, and much livelier. There had been more colors, instead of just the color of the graffiti on the walls and floor.

While Mae navigated around the trash and broken glass on the floor, she became aware of a noise some distance ahead. It sounded like a hammer hitting something. A wall, maybe? Was someone working on something in here?

Mae began to make her way towards the sound. As it grew louder, she began to hear music playing softly. It was the unmistakable sound of butt rock. Whoever was hammering away at the wall had shitty taste in music.

The old, broken down machines obscured Mae's view, but she knew she was getting closer when the smell of glue filled the air. She hadn't smelled it out at the front of the factory, but here it was particularly powerful. Mae assumed that someone was doing some sort of secret project.

And, well, she was kind of right.

When Mae turned the corner around the machine, she saw two people. A great feeling of relief came over her, but it was swiftly crushed. She recognized both of these people, and had a feeling they wouldn't be of much help.

One of them was leaning against a machine, stoned out of his mind. There were only a couple of people Mae knew who would do drugs in an abandoned glass factory, so Mae easily deduced that this person was Levy. She also figured this out by, you know, looking at his face.

From the looks and smells of things, Levy had been sniffing glue. His eyes were glazed over, and a dopey grin was spread on his face. There was something kind of scary about seeing him like this. Like the factory, he seemed vaguely hopeless.

It was the other person, though, that really brought Mae's spirits down. He was hammering away at the wall, apparently trying to make a hole in the plaster. Mae could see pipes and wires, but evidently this wasn't what he was looking for. He had a pair of earbuds on, but the music he was listening to was so loud that Mae could hear it anyway.

And, when she saw this man hammering away, she said the only thing she could think of. She said his name.

"Effin Steve Scriggins," she growled angrily.

Steve seemed to be too busy listening to his music, so he didn't hear Mae.

"Effing Steve Scriggins!" She said, louder this time.

Steve cast a glance in Mae's direction. At first, he seemed confused to see her. Soon, though, a cruel smirk appeared on his face. Steve reached a hand into his pocket, and soon the music blaring from his earbuds shut off. He removed those earbuds, dropped his hammer, and dusted his hands off.

"What the hell are you even doing here?" Mae asked.

"I gotta have a reason?" Steve asked. Mae noticed a small pile of copper pipes neck to his feet. Even Mae, who didn't know whales weren't fish and couldn't even name all of the country's states, knew that copper was worth something. She also knew that Steve probably didn't have permission to yank those pipes out of the wall.

Whatever. Beggars can't be choosers. Mae would have to put aside her hatred for Steve if she wanted to get help for Gregg.

"Look, I don't have time for you to play your asshole card," Mae said. "I need help. Gregg's leg is broken and he's got it stuck in a buncha shit."

To Mae's disgust, Steve gave an amused little scoff. He stood up to face Mae and folded his arms over his chest. "So?" Steve asked. "Ain't my fault he got his leg effed up. I don't gotta do nothin' for him."

"You're a wonderful human being, Steve," Mae grumbled.

Steve just laughed at that. His dumb, annoying laugh. Mae didn't know why Gregg considered himself parking lot trash when Steve was around. Steven Effing Scriggins was a prime example of trash. He was a pile of trash that had been given life by a trash witch.

Mae glanced back over to Levy, hoping he'd in some way be helpful. The dazed way he stared back at her told Mae that wasn't very likely. He moved and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, would you get outta here?" Steve asked sharply. "Levy and me are in the middle of very important work. Go find someone else to help your girlfriend."

"I can never tell if you're being homophobic or sexist," Mae said. "It's like you're a constant mix of the two."

That turned Steve's smile upside-down. He rolled his eyes and made a sort of annoyed grunting sound. "God, you never stop with that shit, do you? Go jump in the ravine, Borowski."

"Go jump off a cliff, Scriggins," Mae snapped.

The two stood thee, glaring daggers at each other for a while. Mae wasn't leaving until she got some help. Steve probably had a car, right? Or, like, a really big bike, maybe? He was bound to have one of those two things.

The problem was that Steve was too big of a monster's ass to give them a ride in his car and/or giant bike. Appealing to his basic human decency wouldn't help. Instead, Mae thought, maybe she could strike some sort of deal? Gregg had made a deal with Steve last year. But what did Mae have to bargain with?

"Okay, look," Mae said, struggling to think of something to offer, "if you help me get Gregg to a doctor, I'll take you to the sewers and show you a really cool possum."

Steve's anger dissipated, giving way to sheer confusion. He didn't seem to know what to say. "What?" He asked. "Why would anybody want that?"

Okay, that plan was never going to work. It felt weird to use Rabies as a bargaining chip, anyway. Mae felt like she'd have to at least ask Germ for permission to do that. Besides, Scriggins would be a bad influence on little Rabies.

"Well, then, what do you want?" Mae asked desperately. "Please, he needs help. His leg's really bad."

Steve seemed to consider Mae's question for a bit. Much to Mae's horror, a wicked smile started to spread on the lowlife's face. He chuckled again, and began fishing around in his pockets for something.

"Okay," Scriggins said. "I'll help you out. But you gotta get somethin' for me."

Mae was suddenly considering just carrying Gregg back into town. There was something about Steve's tone that she didn't like. Mae had a feeling that, whatever he was about to ask for, it wouldn't be good.

"What do you want?" Mae asked slowly.

Steve's grin widened. "You were friends with Hartley, right?" Mae felt her heart leap in her chest. Had Steve even known Casey? Mae didn't think they'd had any classes together. Or had they gotten to know each other while Mae was off at college? The idea of Casey willingly associating with Scriggins filled Mae with a weird, sick feeling.

Nevertheless, she nodded in response to Steve's question.

"Okay," Steve said. "Then his folks'll let ya into his house, right? There's something I want, and it's in his room. Under the floorboards."

Mae instantly knew what Steve was talking about. Mae could remember the loose floorboards in Casey's room. She'd thought it was so cool that he had his own little hiding space like that. He'd kept all sorts of things under there. Mostly porn. Did Steve want porn? He could get porn for free online.

"Get your own porn," Mae said. Steve just laughed.

"Like I need any," he said. "I don't want any of his lame-ass magazines, Borowski. I want some of the shit he cooked up with his cousin. He should have some left, if he didn't sell all of it to Levy."

Levy suddenly sat up and took notice of the situation. He still looked out of it, but hearing his name seemed to have at least gotten his attention. Mae saw that he was holding his phone, fiddling around with it absent-mindedly. Mae was actually kind of surprised that Levy even had a phone. Not much call for one in a town with no reception.

Mae looked back at Steve, who was staring at her with an expectant look on his face. Mae guessed this settled whether or not Casey had been working with his cousin after all. Mae didn't like the idea of Casey being involved in actual criminal activities, but she was sure he'd had his reasons. And anyway, it didn't matter now.

"Fine," Mae grumbled. Before Gregg could chuckle again, she held up a hand. "Just help me get Gregg out of the ravine and into your car."

"Truck," Steve said. "It's a truck."

Mae rolled her eyes and gave an exhausted groan. "Fine. Okay. Whatever. Help me get Gregg into your truck, then."

"Look, don't get an attitude with me," Steve said. "You're the one who called my truck a car."

Mae threw her hands up in the air. Every conversation with Steve Scriggins was a literal nightmare. Mae suspected that the only reason Levy ever put up with Steve was because he was high out of his mind most of the time. The two of them weren't friends, so Mae had to assume the only reason they hung out was because of Crime.

"Okay, we literally do not have time for this," Mae said. "I left my best friend in a ravine with his leg twisted the eff up. If we don't get him to the hospital, he'll probably try and chew his leg off to escape."

For a moment, Steve actually looked kind of impressed. "Cool," he said. "Would he really do that?"

Mae was about to snap at Steve when Levy suddenly spoke up. "Hey, Mae," he said. Levy and Steve both looked at him in surprise. He'd been silent the whole time, so actually hearing his voice was kind of alarming.

"Yeah. Hi." Mae said, a tone of impatience in her voice. She didn't dislike Levy, but she couldn't put up with his druggy shenanigans right now. He still had his phone out in his lap, but he was no longer fiddling with the screen. Mae turned her attention back to Steve.

"Alright, come on," Mae said. She turned and began walking back to where she'd come in from. She made it a few feet before she realized Steve wasn't following her. Mae turned and saw the hoodlum standing there with his arms folded over his chest.

"What the effing hell, Steve?!" Mae practically screamed. Steve just snickered.

"I ain't goin' nowhere 'till I know you'll keep your end of the deal," he said. "See, Borowski, I don't really trust you. Your aunt's been on my ass plenty of times in the past. I need some guarantee you won't rat me out to her."

Mae was too panicked to let the mention of Aunt Molly get to her. Her only thoughts were of Gregg and his weird, weird leg. "My aunt's been missing for months!" Mae snapped. "I couldn't sell you out even if I wanted to! You'll get your shit, okay?"

Once again, Steve surprised absolutely no one by acting like a douche. Instead of following after Mae, he just laughed. "Oh, shit. Missing? Really? Sick." The smile on his face absolutely disgusted Mae. "Prob'ly got shot up by some hick up in the hills."

Mae almost couldn't process the sheer outrage she felt. Her hands clenched into fists as she stared down the Smirking Scriggins. Mae and Aunt Molly'd had a rough relationship, sure; and yeah, evidence pointed to her being in that cult. But even if Mae didn't like Aunt Molly, she'd loved her. She had been family.

And here was Steve, asshole of the century, joking about her getting shot. No matter how much Gregg needed help, Mae couldn't let that shit slide.

"You know what?" Mae asked. "Eff you, Scriggins. I'd rather carry Gregg into town myself than owe you anything. And I know he'd agree with me." Mae considered her words for a moment. "I don't mean he'd carry himself into town. I mean he'd agree you're a huge dick."

Steve opened his mouth to say something that would probably be either stupid or offensive. A noise cut him off, though. At first, Mae didn't recognize the sound. It wasn't a noise she'd been expecting to hear, after all. But when it sounded off again, she instantly knew what it was.

A car's horn.

Steve's anger at Mae was temporarily put aside in favor of confusion. He was looking past Mae, in the direction the noise had come from. A puzzled frown had replaced his scowl. "Who the hell's that?" Steve asked. "What's someone doin' out here?"

Mae almost pointed out that Steve was out here, but decided against it. She instead turned in surprise to see Levy standing up. His legs were shaky, and he was barely holding onto his phone. The local burnout reached his arm up and wiped his nose off on his hoodie's sleeve.

"'S Beth," Levy said. "I emailed her 'bout Gregg. She doesn't live far from here."

"You emailed Beth?" Mae asked, shocked. Levy nodded slowly in response, and held up his phone. That took Mae by surprise. She hadn't thought the WiFi beams would be able to reach out here. Didn't WiFi need towers? Probably. Mae wasn't an expert.

"Smooth move, jackass." Steve snapped. "I was makin' a deal to get you some more of that shit Casey made."

Levy blinked a few times. It seemed that he'd spaced out during that part of Mae and Steve's conversation. His blank, burnt out expression turned into a heavy frown. He looked like a kid who'd been told they weren't getting what they wanted for Longest Night. Mae almost felt bad for him. Almost.

She didn't have time to stick around and sympathize, though. Mae was already running out to get Gregg.

Possum Springs didn't have its own hospital. If you wanted medical attention from someone other than Dr. Hank the Hack, you had to make the ten to fifteen minute drive out to Briddle. Once you did that, you could meet with doctors who hadn't gotten their degrees off of sketchy Russian websites.

Beth had been more than helpful in freeing Gregg and getting him into her car. Mae could have kissed her for that. Beth Holstead was now her new hero. All hail Holstead. May she never OD or get hooked on meth.

They'd only made it so far before Gregg and Mae were separated. A couple of nurses had gotten Gregg onto a stretcher and rushed him into the ER. Mae had tried to follow, but another nurse had told her that only family members were allowed any further. Mae tried to insist she was Gregg's twin, but somehow that plan hadn't worked.

Mae had been sitting in the waiting area for maybe a half an hour when Angus burst in. He looked more panicked than Mae had ever seen him. The typically quiet, reserved man was sprinting towards the front desk, panting and wheezing when he came to a stop. Mae hopped out of her seat and hurried towards him.

He'd been Gregg's emergency contact, of course. Mae wasn't surprised. On top of being his boyfriend, Angus was just responsible in general. Mae was almost considering making him her emergency contact, too.

The nurse explained to Angus that the doctors were still tending to Gregg's leg, and that he'd be able to see him as soon as they were done. Angus seemed to calm down a little, but Mae could tell that the big guy was freaking out. She offered a reassuring pat on the shoulder as they walked back to take a seat.

It took Mae a few minutes to explain everything to Angus. She probably could have summarized it, but Mae instead chose to mention Steve and Levy and drag the story on forever. Angus didn't seem annoyed. He just seemed tired. Scared. Mae felt the same way.

"This is all my fault," Mae said when she was done. She looked down at her hands. To her surprise, Angus returned the pat on the shoulder. Mae looked up to see the big guy had a sympathetic frown on his face.

"Mae, Gregg chose to run after you," Angus said. "I would have done the same thing. If anyone's at fault, it's Gregg for not looking where he was going." There was a hint of anger in his voice, but Mae could tell that it was anger borne of worry.

More than that, though, Mae was kind of astounded that Angus was trying to comfort her while the man he loved lay in a hospital with a broken leg. Of course, Mae didn't know how serious this would turn out to be for Gregg and Angus. But she still couldn't believe Angus was able to worry about her at a time like this.

Angus was extremely good.

Mae wasn't sure how much time passed before a doctor came into the waiting room. He was a really serious-looking guy. Mae felt like he was probably the dad of someone she went to school with. She vaguely remembered seeing him at a career day back in grade school.

The doctor ushered Mae over, and Angus followed suit. The doctor didn't look terribly concerned. That was probably a good sign, right? Either that, or he just didn't care about Gregg. Mae, being as rational as she was, instantly assumed the latter was the case.

"Well," the doctor said. "The good news is, it isn't as bad as it looks. He isn't going to need any surgery."

Mae heard Angus let loose a sigh of relief. The big guy looked a lot less worried. Instead of terrified, he looked merely anxious.

"We've got his leg in a cast," the doctor continued. "He'll likely need to keep it on for around six weeks. He should be fine to go home, though."

"You're not going to, like, keep him overnight?" Mae asked. "His leg was all crooked and shit."

The doctor shook his head in a way that made Mae feel self-conscious. Had that been a dumb question? Mae didn't know a whole lot about broken legs, or hospitals, or doctors. Nobody did. Anyone who pretended to know something about hospitals and how they treated broken legs was a lair.

So, just to clarify, nobody knows how doctors work on broken legs. It's a mystery.

"Like I said, there's no need to perform surgery," the doctor said. "It's some mild angulation around the knee, as well as a mild sprain to the ankle. There's no reason for us to keep him here."

"Thank you," Angus said. He reached out and grabbed the doctor's hand, shaking it firmly. The doctor seemed unperturbed by this. He just kinda nodded. Mae respected that.

A nurse who looked like someone's creepy aunt wheeled Gregg out to the front of the building, where Angus was waiting with Bea's car. With the aid of a pair of crutches he had been provided, Gregg got out of the chair and hobbled into the backseat of the car.

The drive back to Possum Springs was tense and quiet. Neither Gregg nor Angus seemed to have anything to say. Mae could feel herself practically drowning in the awkward silence.

Gregg had his leg stretched out along the backseat. Thankfully, Gregg was kind of short. Even though Bea's car wasn't super big, he still had room for his cast.

Mae hadn't liked seeing the cast. Something about Gregg's big, new mummy leg made her feel weird. Was it guilt? Or was it just the fact that something about Gregg had changed? The addition of the cast made him seem different. Mae's sense of familiarity was thrown out of whack.

After five minutes of driving in silence, Mae couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. She felt awful about this whole mess. Even though Angus had said it wasn't her fault, part of Mae knew that he was just trying to make her feel better. He had every right to blame her for Gregg's accident. She'd gone running after something she'd thought she'd heard, and Gregg had gotten hurt because of it.

Nice job, Borowski. A+ Friendship right there.

Neither of them responded right away. Mae could hear the gears turning in their heads. Both of them were wondering whether they should say it was okay, or that it wasn't her fault. Mae wasn't sure she'd believe either answer.

"It's not your fault," Gregg said. Mae looked over into the backseat. To her surprise, Gregg looked fairly guilty himself.

"I was dumb," Gregg said. "I went running after you. I didn't stop myself." A laugh escaped him. It was a sad, bitter bark of a laugh. "God, some adult I'm turning out to be. I keep talking about how I'm done doing stupid shit, and then something like this happens."

"Bug, stop," Angus said firmly. From the sound of his voice, he wasn't done worrying about Gregg. "You were worried about her. It's in the past. Just… don't beat yourself up. Okay? We'll work this out."

Mae didn't understand what Angus meant like that. Even though they were all around the same age, Gregg and Angus lived in a different world. A world of medical bills and rent payments, where they had to think of stuff like insurance and loans.

It was probably a good thing Mae didn't live in that world. If she did, she'd feel even more guilty.

The atmosphere turned quiet again. There were a lot of unspoken emotions inside of that tiny sedan. Guilt, fear, anger, sadness, hopelessness; nothing good, to say the very least.

Later, of course, Gregg and Angus would talk and clear the air. Bright Harbor would have to be put on hold for the time being, and they'd deal with that. They would make peace with it.

For now, though, there was just the long car ride home, and the silence it carried with it.