Oh helloo! What's this? An update? On-time? *le gasp* [Yes, I'm a giant meme 90% of the time, don't judge me]

It has been known to happen, but tbh, I'm just procrastinating starting a paper that's due in 4ish hours. Soooo, yeah. (Points if you can guess the reference to where I got the chapter title from!)

-Group-

"Guys. Guys, GUYS! I know this is terrifying and nobody expected this. But please think of what Rey and Swayam are going through. That's Swayam's sister. And Rey's…everything. She's family, you guys. I know that this shocked us, so can you imagine what they're going through? We have to band together. For our boys. Wipe those tears! For god's sake Nil! Clean that snot off your face! You know what, go wash your face, right now. Just go wash it. Honestly you guys."

Sharon was clearly in her element, finally having something to do after looking at the morose faces around her. Yes it hurt, but Taani was family, and family never really left. They would reunite once again. Until then, it would be up to her to be a fearless leader like Rey, the understanding one like Swayam, and the demanding Sharon she always was. She needed to be the diva of St. Louis once again.

Her gaze fell upon Vicky. This boy was hurting as much as Swayam and Rey. Taani was his best friend. They shared everything. Taani was always closer to the boys in the team.

But Vicky, he protected her when Swayam couldn't. He was her pseudo-big brother. The lost look on his face looked strange. It was a face Sharon had never seen before.

She knelt beside him, hand on his shoulder.

*Squeeze*

A hitch in his breath and a question she couldn't answer. Her friend had never sounded more child-like.

"Why? Why Sharon? Why would she leave like this? I thought that we'd loved her enough for her to not notice that Swayam was always busy. I thought we'd loved her enough to heal the damage that Rey did. Why weren't we enough Shar? I tried. I promise I tried so hard to love her, be everything a best friend and a brother should be. We all did. Why would she-? Where did we go wrong Shar? When did it all stop being enough?"

"I d-don't know Vicky."

LIAR.

She inhaled shakily and continued. "I don't know. But you were always enough. You were more than enough. You picked her up when Swayam couldn't. You were her confidante. You helped her. You were there for her. We can't go through life asking where we went wrong. We need to dust ourselves off and get back up. I promise you, Taani will come back."

'Will she?' her conscience chimed in, forcing hollow words of reassurance from her mouth to follow.

"She has to. After all, Rey has her heart and she left a bit of herself with each of us. As incomplete as we feel, she feels worse. So you need to be strong right now, for her. Give her your strength. She might not be physically present, but she owns a piece of each of our hearts. Send your love through that piece. Send your strength. Band together. For Taani."

"For Taani," he replied, a grim look set on his face.