a/n: hi all,

Just a brief thank you for keeping up with this story and all the twists and turns that comes with it. Enjoy this week's chapter!

Cheers,

EQT.95

"Kate?"

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kate whispered, rubbing her eyes of sleep.

"I… I don't know what to do," she said quickly, unable to hide the panic in her voice.

"Why? What's going on," Kate replied, already sensing with a creeping suspicion that she knew what Sophie's next words would be.

"It's Riley."

"Again?"

"She's just…"

"Where is she?"

"Somewhere between here and-"

"Wilfred Hall."

"Melvin is already out looking for her."

"Give me a minute."

"Kate if she gets caught-"

"I know. Just… ok, ok," Kate replied, seeing the worry intensify on Sophie's face. She reached back into her dorm room and grabbed the first piece of hooded fabric she could find before reappearing at the door.

"Chelsea?"

"Tony's," Kate yawned. Sophie nodded as they walked toward the stairs.

"I figure maybe it's best if we split up like last time. Text when one of us finds her."

"Mhm," Kate replied, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes but knowing the drill. It was the third weekend of term and Riley had already managed to alienate the entire class, but that didn't stop her from engaging in Wilfred Hall's extra-curriculars. The real problem wasn't that she drank: it was what she did afterwards. Friendless and fearless had a way of stirring up all sorts of trouble on a campus surrounded by tradition and rules. If they thought Miller was bad, Riley was on an entirely different planet when it came to chaos.

After the first weekend which involved the beheading of a respected general's statue in the quad, Sophie was put in the hot seat with pressure to follow Riley's whereabouts and help keep her nose clean. This wouldn't be a problem except Riley had no intention of doing that which meant corralling late night search squads Thursday through Sunday to retrieve and put the rebel safely back to bed.

"I'll take the north edge of campus," Sophie offered, as they walked out into the warm summer night.

"I'll check out around the Bursar's Office. She has a penchant for fountains," Kate muttered grumpily.

"Nice word."

"I have a good tutor," Kate smirked through her sleepiness. She felt the warmth of a light peck from Sophie on her cheek that suddenly made the midnight search worth it.

"See you in a bit," she called before trekking off in the opposite direction of Kate.

Kate watched her go with a light smile on her face before sighing into the direction of the Bursar's Office. She heard the calls of drunken laughter echo through the air, and a part of her wished she could be there instead of alone, wandering through the wet, dewy grass. A bigger part of her wished she was back in bed. The biggest part of her, though, wished she was back in Sophie's bed.

Kate squinted into the darkness, waffling between hoping she'd find Riley to get the night over with but also willing to wander around for two hours if it meant someone else stumbled upon her mess. She had the unfortunate luck of finding her four of the five times Riley had traipsed off, and Kate was not eager for a repeat.

Unfortunately for her, that luck was continuing as she rounded into the square outside the Bursar's Office. She heard the splashing before she saw the drunken sailor, and she felt a string of curses sitting on the tip of her tongue at the scene. She'd struggled to keep her patience the last three times and knew tonight was no different. The only thing that saved both her and Riley from bad decisions was that Kate knew Riley getting into trouble again would fall on Sophie. While Lieutenant Reyes had not been explicit in his directions to Sophie, the narrative woven in metaphors didn't require much imagination to understand that Sophie was in the direct line of fire should Riley get up to no good again. The repercussions weren't known, but an added risk was the extensive level of oversight that came with the Wayne Tech interview process. All of these variables added up, and neither she nor Melvin, James, or Sophie were willing to let the rogue Riley risk play out.

Kate begrudgingly pulled out her phone and fired off a text to call off the search party. She didn't look at them, but the subsequent buzzing of incoming messages could only mean Mevlin and James were overjoyed at not being the unlucky ones.

As she approached the fountain, Kate noticed a string of empty beer cans littering around the fountain. Her disdain for this girl was growing by the second as she watched her fling about without care in the water. It was when Kate was within splashing distance that Riley caught sight of her and shouted in excitement.

"Kate! Oh, look, I'm a mermaid!"

Kate stared back, unamused, without patience, and trying to plan out how best to get Riley out of the fountain without getting wet herself or arousing any other unwanted attention. She cautiously approached the edge of the fountain and waited for Riley to flail her way to her, sending flecks of water at Kate in the process.

"Fun's over; time to get out."

"But I haven't found my treasure."

"Guess you'll have to come back some other night-"

"-no fair-"

"I suggest December," Kate continued, already feeling exhausted at the thought of the trip back with a soaking wet Riley at her side.

"You're sweet."

"I'm not."

"You've come to rescue me again."

"Believe me, I am not doing this for you," Kate muttered lowly. "Out. Now."

Riley offered a mocking grin before falling back into the water, sending a wave of it onto Kate.

"Riley, I'm serious. Either you get out or I call campus police."

"You won't," Riley laughed, calling Kate's bluff. She sat, half submerged in the water grinning back at Kate's frustration. The stand-off lasted minutes before Riley sighed in boredom. "Fine, but now you owe me."

"That's not how this works," Kate said, watching Riley stumble out of the fountain.

"We'll see," she replied, ignoring Kate's tone of annoyance.

"I know about you," Riley said, breaking from the obnoxious noises she'd been making that narrated half their walk back to the dorm. It took another twenty minutes and a 'surprise attack' which involved Riley leaping back into the fountain, dousing Kate in a splash of over-chlorinated water before Riley complied. This final straw sent Kate's last trace of patience flying, and Riley giggled in glee that she'd managed such a feat. Feeling fulfilled in her efforts, she proudly climbed out of the fountain for a final time, squishing water from her shoes with every skip she took.

"Yes, you've told me," Kate muttered of Riley's veiled remarks. "Now how about we get you to bed?"

"Oh, but I know about you," Riley continued, her voice mocking as she grinned up at Kate.

"Riley, you're going to have to try harder than that to get under my skin. I thought you grew up in Gotham, too. You should know that."

"I know you like pussy."

"Vivid as always Riley. Thank you for that."

"I have proof."

"Sure."

"Kate Kane; somehow even at eighteen you'd painted quite the name for yourself in the Gotham Gazette."

"Never read it," Kate replied lamely.

"Maybe you should have."

Kate didn't respond, knowing the lack of it would annoy Riley.

"Don't you want to know why?" Riley pressed after a minute.

"Do I look like I care what a shitty newspaper writes about me?"

Riley scowled. They remained quiet for only a minute or two longer before Riley started up again:

"I know you want to fuck her."

Kate paused and glanced down at Riley who was looking up at her with a sinister grin, as though knowing that she'd just landed on the right topic to stir up trouble.

"I think you don't know what you're talking about," Kate answered coolly, before continuing to walk, careful to match her pace from before.

"I think I do know what I'm talking about," Riley giggled. "I see the way you look at her."

Kate focused on the drunken laughter that broke out somewhere on campus for distraction.

"Does she know?" Riley continued.

Kate remained quiet but felt a heightened caution to the words spouting from Riley's drunken mouth.

"Does she know you want her pussy?"

Kate bit her tongue and took a slow breath, knowing a reply would only encourage her ramblings.

"Is that why? Is that why you wanted to room with her?" Rile continued when Kate didn't respond.

"Almost there," Kate narrated, feeling grateful for the glowing lobby through the double doors. She pulled open the door and guided Riley through into the building. Ten more steps, an elevator ride, and a short walk to 419 was all that remained between Kate and her freedom.

"So you could watch her? I'll admit, she's nice to look at; if you're into that sort of thing," Riley continued as Kate pressed for the elevator. "She's hard not to notice, right?"

"Left one," Kate replied lightly, watching the far elevator doors open and conscious of the giggles from a tipsy couple lounging in the lobby. She pulled on Riley's arm to direct her toward it.

"Do you miss it? What's your favorite part? I mean, when you imagine her," Riley asked as Kate pressed '4' and watched the doors slide shut. "You do imagine her, right?"

Riley watched Kate stare ahead, counting the seconds till she could be done with her.

"Her boobs? No, you don't seem like the tit type."

"Riley, if you-"

"Maybe her ass?"

"That-"

"Oh, I know: her mouth. Yea, I bet that Christian girl mouth is plenty experienced with-"

"Enough," Kate hissed, her temper cutting through her attempts at diplomacy as she felt her arms grab Riley's shoulders and pin her angrily against the elevator wall. "If you ever-"

Riley broke out into a cackle of laughter. "I did it! I got under your skin!"

Kate quickly released Riley as her anger clouded her vision, realizing she'd just let Riley get the better of her.

"So you do," Riley mused as the elevator slowed. "Does she know?"

Kate exhaled slowly as she watched the doors open.

"Get out."

Riley pouted mockingly as she skipped out of the contained box. "Quite the secret we're keeping Katherine Kane."

"Too bad you're not going to remember any of this when you wake up tomorrow," Kate bluffed but hoping this night matched all the others.

"Perhaps not… but you will," Riley smirked back, leaving Kate standing next to the puddle that had accumulated under Riley's feet.

"Kate, thank you, I…" Sophie sighed, glancing into the darkened room toward the passed out form snoring softly in the bed. Less than fifteen minutes had passed since Kate returned Riley to her room. Upon her return, Riley had promptly marched in, changed, and collapsed into her bed, ignoring the reprimands coming from Sophie for challenging the system. "I'm sorry about this-"

"Don't, you don't need to apologize for... " Kate interrupted, leaning against the door frame and gesturing at the mess inside the room. A wave of exhaustion was creeping up now that the adrenaline from the evening's adventures faded. "I'm just sorry Reyes is making you do this. This is way above your pay grade," she continued, softening at Sophie's concern. She felt Sophie's hand rest at her waist, breaking rule number four and shooting a small spark of excitement that replaced Kate's want for sleep, the lingering remarks Riley made in the elevator already forgotten.

"You're the best," Sophie muttered, a look of longing on her face as she stared half a moment too long on Kate's lips. "Do you… would you want to-?"

"I… I can't. I need to get to bed," Kate sighed in disappointment as she glanced at the time blinking at her from the clock sitting across the room. At this rate she'd manage two hours of sleep if she fell asleep forty minutes ago.

"Why? You aren't-"

"I was late last weekend, and the drill instructor doesn't take kindly to truancies."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sophie asked.

"I thought I did," Kate replied. "But it's fine; you've had your hands full."

Sophie sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry. This is… this is all my fault; you were out half the night last week and again tonight… Kate, I-"

"It's fine. Tomorrow is the last time, and then we can spend the rest of our Friday night's sneaking off to wherever you'd like," Kate muttered in promise. She watched the words blush over Sophie's cheeks before giving her hand a small squeeze. "Still on for a movie tomorrow?"

"Of course," Sophie smirked at the reminder. "I miss you."

"Miss you, too," Kate whispered, releasing Sophie's hand and giving her silhouette one final smile before exiting into the hall.

"Where you going?"

Kate slowed her walk as the familiar voice sent her into a freefall of annoyance. She turned to see Riley leaning against the wall outside her room, a smirk playing as she delighted in whatever game she'd set out to play this time.

"Can I help you, Riley?" Kate seethed while trying to maintain an air of indifference.

"Going to hang out with Sophie's boyfriend?" she remarked, her voice unnecessarily loud for the distance between them.

"He has a name," Kate replied coolly.

"Does she know how much time you spend alone with him?" she remarked with faux seriousness.

"Does James count for nothing?"

"Who?" Riley scowled in confusion.

"Melvin's roommate? Occupies the other half of the room? Sits next to you in chemistry?"

"Doesn't ring a bell," Riley waved off.

"You might want to try remembering," Kate offered.

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because if you actually want to be a villain, you'll try a little harder at the details. You think the Riddler improvs all those traps?"

Riley's eyes narrowed in annoyance as Kate grinned innocently back.

"Do us all a favor and don't wander too far tonight, yea?" she winked.

Kate didn't wait for Riley to recover, instead completing the short walk to room 403. Unfortunately her timing wasn't quite right. Just as she placed her hand on the knob, Riley found her voice:

"Does he know."

Kate froze, the door knob one ninety degree turn from opening into sanctuary. She sighed before releasing it back into its closed position and returned the handful of steps back toward a grinning Riley.

"What are you playing at?" Kate asked when she was close enough. She'd had two weeks of Riley toying around the topic, which was about thirteen days too many for her liking.

"Who says I haven't done my homework?" Riley replied, her tone dancing toward menacing. "Besides, can't a girl be curious?"

"There's 'curious' and then there's 'vindictive,'" Kate replied, feeling the last of her patience dwindle. It was becoming a common feeling around Riley.

"It's just so interesting to me that you've got all of them fooled."

"Is it? That's what interests you?" Kate replied, sensing Riley's comments were going nowhere. Kate had learned there were two types of conversations when it came to Riley: the first was where she was simply trying to ruffle feathers; the second was because she wanted something. Kate was quickly getting the impression it was the first.

"Well, they're supposedly your friends, right?"

"That's the word on the street," Kate replied, turning back toward Melvin room.

"It'd be unfortunate to lose out on that then," she said, as Kate moved to leave.

"Excuse me?"

Riley paused and looked back with a smirk. "You know, what with your imminent expulsion and everything."

"My wh-? What are you talking about?" Kate asked, mentally recategorizing the conversation and no longer able to hide her disdain for Riley's presence.

"Remember when I said I had proof?"

"Of what?"

"You're too smart to play dumb, Kate. You know what I'm talking about. It was barely even a day ago. Remember? On our intimate late night walk together?"

"If that's supposed to scare me…"

"Oh, no, that would be a waste of time; I can tell you don't scare easily."

"Then what?"

"I'm just trying to make my sentence here a little more enjoyable for me."

"Your sentence? No one is making you stay. In fact, I will happily show you the door."

Riley shrugged at this.

"What do you want?" Kate asked, getting straight to the point, sensing Riley's agenda was about to be divulged in a slurred presentation of scattered thoughts anyway.

"Depends. How much is being here worth to you?"

"Riley?" Melvin asked when Kate finally entered the room.

Kate's sigh was explanation enough as she found her way to the couch, stepping over James' outstretched legs in the process. After much back and forth, it was agreed that Kate's couch would have a better home with Melvin and James than it would with Riley and Sophie. Mostly, it meant Sophie had somewhere to sleep on nights when Riley was too much to handle. It also helped that she had Melvin as her fake boyfriend which minimised the number of raised eyebrows at the act, providing a momentary relief for all parties.

"She's like the energizer bunny," Kate remarked, collapsing on the cushions next to Sophie.

"Maybe we should try tranquilizers," James offered, resulting in a wave of baffled faces directed at him.

"I know you're joking, but honestly, even one Riley-free day would be a godsend," Sophie remarked with a sigh, her thoughts getting lost in memory of the semester prior when skirting around an intolerable roommate wasn't a thing. She'd taken to existing primarily between the library, lounge, and Melvin's room with the occasional poke into her room to make sure Riley wasn't decapitating statues, building homemade smoke bombs, or setting fires to puppies.

That even Sophie was at her wit's end accentuated how unbearable Riley's presence could be. Between her intentionally vulgar remarks and a seemingly default mood honed around issuing insults to anyone within a ten foot radius, the group's patience had quickly dwindled.

"You crashing here tonight?" Kate asked, glancing around for signs of her overnight bag.

"I told her she could but...," Melvin remarked, flipping through his binder of dvds.

"But what?" Kate asked, scowling between Melvin and Sophie.

"I can't… let her just roam around unsupervised on the weekend."

"Yes you can," Kate challenged, feeling a familiar discussion on the horizon.

"Kate, it's not tha-"

"Die Hard."

"What?" Kate asked, and Sophie relaxed in appreciation as Kate's attention turned in distraction toward Melvin's interruption.

"Die Hard," he repeated, jumping off his bed. "We're watching Die Hard."

"Again?" Kate complained.

"Our room, our rules," James chimed in.

"We agreed you could choose the movies, not that it would be Die Hard every time," Kate challenged.

"What's your problem with Die Hard?"

"Where do I start-"

"Die Hard is fine," Sophie interrupted, grabbing Kate's hand and giving it a light squeeze. "We're happy to watch it, right babe?"

Kate glared in annoyance before softening at Sophie's attempt at a stern look. "Fine, but next time-"

"Die Hard 2!" Melvin shouted, his boyish grin on full display. He quickly inserted the DVD into Kate's tv which had also found a home in 403 after Chelsea complained that it took up too much space in 409.

"This is the worst movie," Kate muttered into Sophie's ear.

"We can hear you," James interrupted.

"Good," Kate retorted as another explosion illuminated the room. She felt Sophie's hand squeeze against Kate's for the third time that night. Instead of reciprocating, Kate slid her hand out of Sophie's to meet up with her own other hand, letting them wrap around Sophie's waist. It wasn't exactly how Kate pictured spending her Saturday before the semester started. She felt herself in a constant tug of war over their situation: this was certainly better than nothing, but she'd also experienced better than this. Those memories hung over her like a mocking cloud as she compared them to the last few weeks.

"Everything ok?" Sophie whispered, looking up and studying Kate's silhouette in the dark.

Kate nodded mutely, feeling Sophie's gaze on her. When it didn't leave she glanced down and offered a small smile before resting her lips against Sophie's head, inhaling the familiar lavender scent.

"Obviously. You're here," Kate whispered back as James shouted in support of John McClane's latest antics. Kate felt Sophie burrow further into her and sigh contentedly into her chest. Kate reacted by squeezing Sophie tighter before she watched her hand slide between Kate's hands and entwine her fingers into them again. Sophie mimicked the gesture by giving her hand a small squeeze, and Kate felt her reservations fade into the background.

"So are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"What's been going on," Sophie asked quietly.

The movie had ended and the boys had passed out in their respective beds, leaving Kate and Sophie the lone survivors of movie night.

While only three weeks into term, it had become a pattern for them to spend evenings in 403 before Kate and Sophie would inevitably sneak out and climb to the top floor of the dorm's egress stairwell. This evening included a small detour back to 419 to make sure Riley was behaving. Once confirmed, Sophie climbed the three flights to meet Kate. It was the perfect hideout: travellers could only come from one direction, and the acoustics of the tall, hollow concrete shaft made it such that they knew when someone was using them. Eventually they'd need somewhere more conditioned once winter hit, but for the time it held up.

Within the first week of term, it was clear that Kate and Sophie's relationship was going through an adjustment period. Denial had quickly turned to anger once Reyes confirmed a change wasn't coming. This translated into days of bickering and feuding about the new limits on their ability to be together.

"Chelsea is staying at Tony's tonight."

"Ok."

"So, I was thinking-"

"Nope."

"What? But - but we'll be careful and-"

"No."

"-Soph, please?" Kate pleaded, an unfamiliar desperation in her voice.

"Kate, you know we can't. There's literally a one hundred percent chance we'll get caught."

"Literally? That's not true-"

"Not twenty four hours ago you came in here complaining that Chelsea barged into the room-"

"That-"

"-in the middle of the night-"

"It's different-"

"-because Tony was twitching too much in his sleep."

"But it's… Soph, come on."

"No. You know it. I know it. Hell, even James knows it-"

"I do," James chimed in over the video game occupying his attention.

"So what? We're just going to resort to… what… high fives down the hall?"

"I don't like it anymore than you do-"

"Then why are you shooting down every plan?"

"Because none of your ideas are 'plans', Kate."

"That's because you don't want them to work."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because it's true."

"You don't think I'm upset, too? You think I like having an across-the-aisle relationship with you?" Sophie asked, her voice raising to a new level of frustration.

"Guys."

"What?" Sophie shot toward the otherwise motionless figure in the corner of the room.

"You're loud. Like, hallway-level loud," James offered simply, not looking away from the screen.

"Soph, I-" Kate started again after a brief silence, her voice eight levels lower.

"Don't. Just… it's fine. I was leaving anyway."

"Soph…"

From there they'd spent the first Thursday of term bargaining. The vulnerability and risk of exposure that their relationship had become resulted in an unintended opportunity for reflection on all the things they'd taken for granted.

"We should have seen each other more over the summer."

"We both had stuff going on, Kate. It's not like we could have known a scholarship would be our downfall."

"What if I paid your tuition?"

"What?"

"Then you wouldn't have this scholarship and Riley would have to room with someone else."

Kate looked back toward Sophie, her scowl set with impatience.

"What?" Kate asked, not understanding the look her girlfriend was giving. "It's actually a goo-"

"Do you hear yourself? In what world do you ever think I'd agree to that?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe a world where you want to be in a relationship?"

Sophie blinked back in surprise. "I can't believe you just said that."

"Am I wrong?"

"If that's a question you actually need answered, we're living very different relationships."

That conversation brought on depression. For Kate it was worse. A part of her felt like the reasons for their relationship to end were adding up, and it was only a matter of time before it happened. This translated into days of distancing herself from Sophie. She bailed on their Saturday plans, citing that she was tired from the 4am course run. She remained absent from 403 for this length of time as well. This only fed into Sophie's own doubts that, after just one week back, they wouldn't make it as a couple past September.

All of this came to a head the following Monday night when Melvin came knocking on 409, asking for Kate.

"What's up?" Kate asked.

"Talk to her."

"I…" Kate paused, slipping out of her room and closing the door to keep their voices from weaving their way back to Chelsea's ears. "I don't know what you're tal-"

"Reyes just accused her of neglecting her role as a scholar."

"For what?"

"Apparently Riley beheaded a guy this weekend."

"I… wh- she did what?" Kate asked, a world of confusion spinning through her mind.

"You know that statue in the quad? General Peters or something? Yea, knocked his head clean off."

"Wait, this was a statue?"

"Yea."

"Dude, better context next time," Kate sighed in relief. "What does that have to do with Soph?"

"There was some boat metaphor. I didn't really follow it but-"

"Where is she?"

"Which one?" Melvin asked. A scowl was all the answer he needed. "She's in our room."

For all the differences that existed between Sophie and Kate, one thing they held in common was innate stubbornness. The standoff that ensued forced Melvin and James to retreat elsewhere for an hour as the couple confronted the walls they'd built the last few days.

"What did he say?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Soph-"

"I said it doesn't matter," Sophie scowled back.

"But what are we going to do about it?"

Sophie gaped back in surprise. "'We' aren't going to do anything, Kate."

"What? So you're just going to-to, let Riley roam unhinged on campus and take the fall for it?"

"No."

"Ok, then what's the plan? What are we gonna do?"

"There is no 'we' here, Kate. I am going to take care of it."

"What? No," Kate replied, finally understanding Sophie's suggestion. "You're not dealing with this alone. We… we'll come up with a game plan and-"

"Kate, this isn't your problem to deal with."

"Yes it is."

"How? Why are you even here right now? How is any of this your problem?"

"Because you aren't happy."

"Wh-what?" Sophie gaped back.

"That's my job - that's - we're a team, right? That… that means your problem is my problem."

"Then where have you been the last four days?" Sophie asked, her voice cracking in frustration.

"What?" Kate asked, confused by the reaction on Sophie's face.

"I… Kate, I'm not happy about us. I'm not happy with where this is going."

Kate swallowed as she realized Sophie wasn't talking about Riley anymore.

"Ok," Kate replied hesitantly. She suddenly felt over-stimulated, cautious of Sophie's next words and expecting them to be exactly what she'd spent the last four days imagining. She watched Sophie's gaze drop as she tried to find the words to express her deteriorating feelings between them.

"I want this to work. I want you around. I want… Kate, I want to make sure this works," Sophie confessed, and she watched her words cause Kate to visibly relax. "The last week hasn't been great, and if this… if we're going to make it work, things need to change."

"That… that is not what I expected you to say," Kate sighed in relief. Sophie slid her arms slipped past the metaphoric wall between them onto Kate's waist, a small smile of surprise playing on her face.

"Oh? Thought I was kicking you to the curb?" Sophie asked, a full grin now on display as she watched Kate's mouth wordlessly open and close. "You'll need to try a bit harder than that to get rid of me," she continued before leaning in to capture Kate in a tender kiss.

Kate cherished the touch she'd been missing for the better part of a week. Relief swelled inside of her as Sophie's lips played softly against hers. An eagerness to deepen the kiss was abruptly cut off by Sophie pulling back.

"Wh-?"

Sophie grinned at the exaggerated pout Kate offered before stepping back toward their couch.

"We can finish that when we finish this conversation."

"What else is there to say?" Kate asked defiantly. "It all seems straightforward to me. You want me around: check. I want you around: check. You want to make this work; agreed, check."

"Oh? And how has that unspoken arrangement been working for you the last week?"

Kate waved a dismissive hand as she sat next to Sophie. "Semantics."

"Your word choice is getting much better," Sophie remarked proudly.

"New tutor. I can give you her number-"

"Oh?"

"Yea, but watch out."

"And why is that?"

"She's smokin' hot," Kate admitted freely, sending a squirm of discomfort through Sophie. "Makes it really hard to focus."

"Good thing I know how to make you focus," Sophie replied, quickly recovering from Kate's effect on her.

"Mhm," Kate said, leaning in eagerly.

"Incentive," Sophie replied, lifting her hand to hold Kate back. "We'll talk first."

They spent the better part of the night talking, at one point getting kicked out of James and Mevlin's room so they could go to sleep. It was on that night that they'd found the stairwell which became their go-to spot for late night sessions and where they ultimately came up with a list of rules for their relationship to navigate the rest of term.

"Nothing, why?" Kate asked in response to Sophie's question.

"You've been… I don't know. You seem on edge."

"Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. It's fine - I just… it's fine."

"Babe," Kate joked, earning a scowl of disapproval from Sophie.

"I know, I know… I guess… I just miss you. And maybe I'm being a little sensitive. And… and maybe it's nothing but... It feels like everything between us is on a twenty-four hour delay. Last semester we knew everything going on because, well… we couldn't avoid it, but now I feel in the dark. Like this morning; I didn't know or, at least, didn't remember," she corrected at Kate's glance, "that you had to be up at four in the morning-"

"Soph," Kate smirked, pulling Sophie closer to disrupt her thoughts before she talked herself into a permanent spiral of negativity.

"How was that by the way? I didn't even ask."

"It was… fine."

Sophie stared knowingly back at Kate, waiting for her to elaborate.

"It… it'll be another week before we get to sneak off," Kate said, alluding to her promise from the night prior, her eyes filled with apology.

"What happened?"

Kate sighed then chuckled, "Apparently, I was 'too much of a team player' for Lieutenant Reyes' liking."

"How does that work?"

"I didn't show enough diligence in beating my previous run time. I'm convinced he's just playing mind games at this point, because last week he got on me about not providing enough support to the squad."

"Why do I feel like I'm missing something?"

"Probably because you are," Kate admitted, realizing she hadn't really told Sophie about the last three Saturdays in any detail. "One of the obstacles - they call it the tapering wall -"

"I've heard of it; you can see it from our half of the course," Sophie remarked of the second-year drill course. The east end of campus had been developed as a series of obstacle courses for the various drills to be run, and portions were walled off for the explicit purpose of maintaining the allure of mystery. The walled-off areas were specific to the older years, and that Sophie had heard of it spoke to the lack of mystery around the different courses.

"Yea; forty foot wall, eighty-four degree slope, starts wide at the base and slowly tapers as you climb it…"

"The tapering doesn't sound so bad."

"Except you're required to run three cadets at a time," Kate continued. "Since it tapers, only one person can maneuver to the top at a time. There isn't room for all three."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning the other two are left dangling until the first climbs over."

"Just drop and wait," Sophie suggested, thinking of the first and second year course. Kate shook her head in response.

"Drop and fail."

"What?" Sophie gaped. "But… but-"

"So I let the other two go ahead of me," Kate continued, "which meant my time got delayed."

"And Reyes got on you about that?" Sophie replied in disbelief as Kate nodded her head. "It's so weird…"

"What is?"

"You describe Reyes like he's a complete ass."

"That's because he is."

"But he's never been anything but nice-"

"You do remember he's the one who ball and chained you to Riley Thomas, right?"

"I… sure, but aside from that-"

Kate broke out into a chuckle.

"Aside from that," Sophie scolded, "he's been great."

Kate shrugged.

"So you climbed up last?" Sophie asked after a minute.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yea," Kate replied, indifferently.

"You'd have to be pretty strong to pull that off," Sophie muttered in Kate's ear.

"It wasn't… Sophie Moore, are you hitting on me?" Kate said, breaking into a grin.

"That depends," Sophie replied.

"On?"

"Is it working?" she whispered with a glimmer of mischief.

"Always," Kate replied before her hands greedily pulled Sophie towards her. Sophie wasted no time, shifting herself to straddle Kate, quickly ending the verbal part of their evening.