Tough Love

Shane felt like death to the point that he almost wished for it. It was if someone had stabbed his temples with a hot poker right through his brains and out the other side of his skull. The throbbing pulse in his head made him nauseous and weak. His dark eyes scanned the room, trying to determine what had caused such torment. Shane pawed at the air, searching for something to hold onto and pull himself out of bed, only to accidentally yank the curtain from the window.

Hissing in agony, Shane retreated under the heavy fabric of his quilt from the bright sunlight shining through the glass into his eyes. He held his head as he curled into the fetal position, cowering from the sensory input from the world beyond. "Fuck…" he whispered as the tears streamed from his bloodshot eyes. "Fuck it all!" he whimpered, as the pieces finally came together for him.

Someone spiked the punch last night and he had at least half a dozen glasses. No wonder… he ruminated miserably, but the pain made it difficult to focus. No wonder Emily looked at me like that, he grasped slowly. She thought I was purposefully choosing to drink. I disappointed her!

Shane had not felt so helpless since the night on the cliffs. He should have realized it sooner. Of course, it was not regular punch. From the way it tasted, it seemed so obvious in hindsight. No matter what I do, I'm just doomed to be a fuck up, aren't I? He clenched his jaw, his teeth grinding against one another as he braced himself against the pain. Even when I try to make something of myself, I still fall into the same old habits without even trying…

He fought back the tears in his eyes, knowing crying would only make him more dehydrated and despondent. Shane did his best to climb out of bed with the blanket still over his eyes. If he could just feel his way across the room to get some water. Stumbling, the hungover man made it to the sink and ran the faucet, greedily drinking in the cool water. He still felt like shit, but at least he could start nursing himself if he could perform some basic human function.

But then, a knock at the door filled him with dread. Please don't be Emily… he prayed silently. I don't want her to see me like this. Opening the front door slightly ajar so he could avoid as much of the morning light as possible, Shane greeted his unexpected guests.

Violet suspected that the crops had not yet been watered when she went out to inspect her field the day after the election. While both she and Sebastian left the party relatively early, the farmer figured that Shane probably stayed up late celebrating his victory over the now-former Mayor Lewis and decided to let him sleep in. It was kind of fun to collect the newly ripened pumpkins and set them aside to sell later that day. Violet would keep a few for herself, especially the highest-quality ones at the Junimos' request, but the gourds served as tangible evidence that fall was in full-swing.

Farmwork had become meditative to Violet, something she could do on autopilot to exercise the body and let the mind wander. The problem was her mind kept drifting into the gutter as she fantasized about her boyfriend. Violet wondered half-jokingly if she would be thirstier than her vegetables by the end of the season.

The woman frowned. They were not going to get much alone time until after the concert on Friday. While Violet was proud of Sebastian for going back to school, part of her was annoyed he was busy all the time. Then again, perhaps that was for the best. Violet was worried she might get caught up in the heat of the moment and go too fast in the relationship before she was truly ready. Then again, how the hell did anyone know how to judge the right time to take things a little further?

It was moments like these that she especially missed Bex. The quirky cosmetologist was always a good soundboard, even if she held a giant megaphone to make her own opinions known in return. Violet always knew that while her friend might tease her a bit, her bilingual bestie might have some words of wisdom to sprinkle in among the jokes. Fishing her phone out from her pocket, the pastel-haired woman pressed and held down the "1" to speed dial Bex before realizing it was still relatively early. She immediately hung up, hoping she had not disturbed the night owl.

When she did not receive an immediate call back, Violet assumed she was successful and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Scared to call someone?" a woman's voice teased.

Violet fell over to lie prone on the porch, as her dark blue eyes darted toward the source of the sound. "Robin? What are you doing here?"

The carpenter cackled in amusement, lifting a box of specialized tools up for Violet to see. "I'm working on that cabin you ordered, remember?"

"Right, the cabin..." the landowner replied sheepishly. While Violet was glad to have a guest house again, the order was more about the tools that came along with the cabin. The gang decided it was best if Sam and Abigail could have a set to unearth any artifacts they found around town.

"I'm sorry for startling you." Robin gave her an apologetic look. "But thanks for letting me take the day off yesterday," the red head stated appreciatively. "It's not every day you get to witness local history being made!"

Violet laughed nervously, the adrenaline still pumping through her system from the jump scare. "Who knew Lewis would throw such a fit?"

Robin exhaled audibly; it was clear she expected Lewis to behave childishly. "He's stuck in his ways, that's for sure," the carpenter agreed, setting down her tools in the dirt beside her. "But he doesn't have a choice in the matter. The town gave him a pink slip, and he'll have to learn to adapt." She gestured to Violet's phone. "Is everything okay?"

The cultivator paused, wondering how to best explain herself without giving all the details. "I just wanted some advice from a friend, but I noticed it's too early to call her."

Robin smiled softly. "You're a good friend to be so considerate of her schedule." It was a motherly compliment. For some reason, it made the woman's comments seem to hit harder than those from other people. "You could always call your mom, though. I'm sure she'd appreciate hearing from you."

Violet hesitated before responding, though she ended up confiding in Robin. "My mom and I… aren't really close."

The carpenter frowned. "That's a shame," Robin sighed, taking a seat next to Violet at a respectable distance, and began to shave off thin slivers of wood from a block of wood. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Perhaps Robin started whittling so that Violet would not feel so intimidated by someone staring at her while discussing such a sensitive topic. She could appreciate that. "I'm not really sure how to talk about being an 'accident' that kept my parents' failing marriage cobbled together for another ten years…" Violet answered, her voice low and strained. The pastel-haired woman shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to dump that on you right off the bat," she admitted regretfully, sinking her face into her hands.

"Well, I did ask," Robin reminded her. "And that's a good way to start," the carpenter answered sympathetically. The two sat in silence for a moment. "So, your parents are divorced, too? You and Sebastian have a lot more in common than I thought."

Violet was conflicted, unsure if she wanted to have this conversation with a "real" adult she hardly knew. Her experience told her it was not a good idea, but Robin's dark eyes looked so much like Sebastian's that it made the farmer want to trust her, too. "I guess… I'm afraid of what will happen if my relationship with Sebastian gets more…" In that instant, Violet questioned the decision to have this talk with her boyfriend's mother of all people, but it was too late now. She grit her teeth and close her eyes before finishing the notion. "... Serious."

Robin did her best to keep a straight face, though Violet could not help but detect a trace of a smirk on the older woman's face. "Because your parents' relationship isn't a good one?"

Nodding, Violet's cobalt eyes focused on the woodgrain of the steps below her. "They hate each other now and I can't help but think that if two people who loved each other enough to get married can't even speak to one another anymore, is it all even worth it?"

"Speaking from experience," Robin stated, taking an especially large chunk out of the wooden cube as she spoke, "it's not always that you end up hating the person you once loved." Her obsidian eyes turned up toward the sky to watch a flock of birds flying south for the winter. "Sometimes, it's easier to cut ties than try to untangle the mess between the two of you, no matter how sad the parting."

Violet could tell from Robin's words that the ginger held a chaotic mixture of emotions about her divorce with Sebastian's father. "So, you don't hate Sebastian's dad?" the agrarian asked quietly.

Robin replied with nonverbal wag of her head. "It's more that I'm sad about how things ended. Ultimately, the person with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life did not trust me," she whispered gently. She turned to Violet and reached out a hand to pat her head. "But a few years later, I fell in love with someone else. And our marriage vows have held strong, even when Demetrius and I drive each other a little crazy." The carpenter beamed at Violet. "It made me realize that just because someone doesn't love you forever doesn't mean that no one else will."

The agriculturalist could not stop herself from asking. "How did you meet Demetrius?" The two seemed like such an odd pair at times that Violet had to wonder.

Grinning, the red head provided a truncated version of events. "I was job hunting near ZuZu U when a strange man approached me and kept following me, asking to study my 'recessive alleles' for a research project." Robin chortled at the memory. "I had no idea what he was talking about and thought he was harassing me, so I decked him."

"You punched Demetrius?!" Violet gasped.

Robin simpered proudly, completely unrepentant. "Hard, too! It left a nice mark on his face," she proclaimed. "Turns out he was trying to do a genetic study and needed more people with naturally red hair, so he handed me a pamphlet about the study." She sniffed in amusement, brushing a small pile of wood shavings off the stairs with her worn leather boots. "I ended up showing up the next day and I guess I left quite the impression on him." She glanced at Violet, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes at her horrible pun. "It took me a few weeks to figure out that the 'follow-up' sessions Demetrius scheduled with me were really just his attempt to work up the courage to ask me out. Or as my hubby would say, 'a long series of failed attempts to engage with an attractive female until she finally understood my desire to meet socially outside the clinic.'"

She set her tools down and placed a comforting hand on Violet's shoulder. "I learned something else that day, too. Relationships are about two individuals coming together to make things work between them. So just because my relationships with Jesse didn't pan out doesn't mean that Sebastian would leave you high and dry, too."

Violet's sea-blue orbs flickered toward Robin. "I wasn't saying that Sebastian would -"

His boyfriend's mother held up a hand to silence her. "I know what you're saying," Robin assured Violet firmly. "But I also know that if you aren't holding my son to the same standard because his parents are divorced, you're not being fair to yourself." The ginger patted the farmer's back before rising to her feet and offering a hand up. "You kids will figure it out, one way or another." Robin winked as Violet accepted the help up. "Although I'll admit I'm hoping you two will work out. You'd be an adorable daughter-in-law!"

Hiding her ruddy face, Violet stuttered a response. "D-do you really think so?"

"Definitely!" Robin asserted, pulling a mortified Violet into a big hug. "Now run along," the carpenter urged, placing a small wooden replica of Bruno into the young woman's hands, and dismissing the beet red girl with a gentle shove toward town. "I've embarrassed you enough for one day and I don't think Sebastian would forgive me for scaring you off."

Harvey had never been so relieved to see fresh water in his entire life. The sight of the underground spring in the dim light of their torches made him want to weep openly. Cupping the liquid in his hands, he drank in the cool water. It tasted heavily of minerals, but the doctor did not care. The medic waved those carrying Talla's stretcher toward him. He took a waterskin and refilled it in the spring, offering it to the syren slowly.

Thorn had spent several days digging a tunnel large enough for the members of the caravan to reach the water source. While the water table was directly below where they had set up camp, the enormous scorpion explained that they could not simply pierce a hole into the bedrock to release the water. Otherwise, the pressure would have caused the spring to explode upward violently and create a temporary oasis, but in the long run would likely deplete the desert's only source of life-giving moisture. Harvey wished the Thorn had communicated their plan properly before they disappeared for nearly three days without a trace, but he could not rightfully complain since they had all survived and the clawed creature personally created these tunnels and escorted them to safety. Besides, the doctor could understand how anyone - human or not - could lose track of time here in the dark below the desert sands.

"Is there a way we could travel the rest of the way down here?" the brunet medic asked the jet-black scorpion in the warm glow of the fire light.

Thorn wagged their tail adorned with the painted eyes, as if the arachnid were still disguised in their flowing cloaks. "It would take too long and closing the tunnels behind me would be dangerous. I want no army to discover this place," the eight-legged creature retorted, clicking their chelicerae aggressively. "It will kill my home if humans find the river below the sand."

While it was disappointing news, Harvey could not disagree that one or both armies would probably drain the water for their own personal use or to make sure that the enemy could not gain access. He sighed but prepared himself for the return to the surface by filling up as many containers with water as he could, taking in slow sips of water to rehydrate himself as he did so.

In many ways, the foreigner felt like a raisin being slowly turned back into a grape. Now that the immediate threats to the lives of those in the caravan were addressed, Harvey could relax somewhat. When he finally finished hydrating and filling his canteens, he heard a splash a short distance away and Thorn shouting curses in their native language.

Harvey went to investigate and found that Talla had dove into the deep pool of water and was now treading water near the bank. "This is a sacred source of life!" Thorn hissed, clacking their pedipalps together angrily. "It is not for play!"

Even in the poor light, Harvey could tell that the syren was glaring at the oversized arachnid. "Why do you object to a sacred being entering a body of water? All life stems from the water and like it or not I am part of that source!" Talla spat back in reply. "I am merely allowing my body to recover, and this is the most efficient method!"

The doctor did his best to intervene. "Uh, Thorn…" he began hesitantly, trying not to provoke the beast. "While humans like myself drink water with our mouths, syrens like Talla require full submersion to properly hydrate." Admittedly, Harvey had no idea if this was true or not, but he did not want to prolong the argument and at the very least the scorpion seemed to like him more than the demigoddess. "And she did politely wait until everyone else was finished filling their waterskins, even though Talla must have been uncomfortable."

A series of displeased clicks erupted from Thorn's mouth, but they turned and scuttled away from the pool. "Then make haste! We leave soon."

Talla's damp, teal hair flicked droplets on Harvey as she whipped her head toward him. "I did not need your assistance, Doctor," she scolded the human male. "I can fend for myself now that I am not dried out."

"While that may be the case, I would rather not promote animosity toward our guide," Harvey countered with a sigh. "Thorn did save us, even if it did take a few days of unpleasant waiting."

The syren scowled, but acknowledged the wisdom in his words grudgingly. "So be it. Tell that insect I shall be prepared to depart shortly," Talla informed her mortal companion. Her predatory eyes reflected the orange glow of Harvey's torch as they focused on his form before she slipped under the water's dark surface with only a small ripple to prove Talla had been there at all.

At first, Penny believed she imagined the knock at the door but when the soft rapping came a second time, she hurried to answer so that her mother would not wake. The schoolteacher lifted the door slightly by the handle to avoid the metallic squeak the rusty door hinges made when opened normally and found her nearest neighbor at the door.

Her emerald eyes glanced at Alex nervously, his scowl locking his jaw into an unfriendly angle. What could he possibly want? She closed the door behind her to make sure their conversation would not rouse Pam from her sleep. "Good morning, Alex," Penny greeted the fit young man politely. "How can I help you?"

His lips twitched upward slightly, neutralizing his harsh expression. "Where's your mom?"

"She's…" Drunk or hungover right now, was what Penny wanted to stay, but if nothing else her years of experience living with Pam taught the brunette that her mother resented when she told the truth. So instead, the shy woman settled on something more diplomatic. "… Still asleep. May I ask what this is about?"

Alex turned his body away from her as he spoke, as if making sure Penny knew his pent-up frustrations were not directed toward her. "Pam needs to stop spiking the punch. I know she thinks it's a funny practical joke, but there are a lot of people in town who don't want to drink for one reason or another."

Penny bowed her head guiltily. Alex had never told her, but she heard the adults talking when they were teenagers about the young man's abusive father. The trailer girl did not know much, other than Alex's father was a mean drunk with a bad temper. At the time, hearing those words made Penny grateful that her mother was not the same way, but now it brought her shame to realize she had enabled the behavior. Inaction was in its own way a manner of approval and Penny did not stop her mother last night at the election celebration. As usual, her deep green eyes simply pretended not to see Pam pouring the contents of her flask into the punch bowl.

"I-I'm sorry, Alex…" the demure educator apologized meekly. "I'll talk to her." She stepped before the well-muscled athlete and made a declaration of intent. "Please let me handle this. It's partially my fault, too."

The spiky-haired man exhaled in exasperation and threw his arms up. "I didn't come here to make you feel bad, Penny." He gestured toward the trailer where the object of his anger lay asleep in bed. "And I'm not even talking about just me. Shane's been working his ass off trying to get his shit together and Pam's 'prank' didn't even give him a choice to do better."

Penny's hand covered her mouth involuntarily as a hushed gasp escaped her lungs. "Oh, no. I didn't even think about Shane…"

"Yeah, well, Pam needs to cut it out now," Alex insisted, dislodging a stone from the dirt with the toe of his shoe, and kicking it off into the distance. The rock rolled off the riverbank and disappeared into the cold water with a plop. "We can't afford to let her keep doing that. There's too much at stake."

The daughter of the accused bobbed her head grimly as her small hands balled into fists at her sides. "You're right," Penny agreed solemnly, prying the door open without concern for the sound it made and stepping up onto the block leading up to the door. She turned to address Alex with an unnerving smile. "I won't ignore my mother's behavior any longer."

Maru swung open the front door of the local clinic and found that someone was already waiting for services outside. Her wide eyes blinked behind red-rimmed glasses. "Good morning, Alex! How can I help you today?"

Alex slouched uncharacteristically for someone with his athletic build and age. He leaned in closer to her, his green irises focused intently on her. "I know you have to run the clinic," the aspiring pro gridball player recognized, "but do you think you can help me with a house call?"

Immediately, Maru assumed that either George or Evelyn needed medical assistance, but Alex seemed to realize the misunderstanding. "I uh… I wanna check on Shane after yesterday," the young man admitted. "I don't think he's in a good place right now. Pam spiked the punch again."

Maru nodded knowingly and began to gather a different set of supplies. The alcohol-enthusiast frequently added her own special ingredients to the communal drinks at social gatherings. Parents and guardians of the small children knew to keep their kids away from the contents of the glass bowl just in case and Gus had a habit of setting aside a secret stash of kid-safe drinks that he personally guaranteed to be free from Pam's influence. But for the adults it had not been a major problem in the past. Those who did not want to drink usually performed a small taste test before filling a large glass for themselves, Alex being one of them. Luckily he was not a huge fan of fruit punch anyway, so it was not a significant loss for him. Shane on the other hand...

"Haley said that Emily was pretty torn up about it last night," the spiky-haired brunet informed Maru as she packed an intravenous drip kit in case Shane needed some emergency hydration in his system and was too nauseous to keep water down. "So even if he's fine, I just wanna be safe."

Maru beamed. "I'm sure Shane will appreciate the thoughtfulness," she assured her most loyal test subject. "And as a medical professional, I promise to be discreet."

"Thanks for that," Alex responded quietly before looking down at her. "You got everything you need?"

The nurse confirmed and put up a sign that she would return later that day before locking up the clinic. While Alex normally reduced his gait to allow her to keep up more easily, this time the tall young man lengthened his strides. Maru had trouble keeping up, but the athlete was too preoccupied with concern to detect the issue. She did not complain and instead held her bag firmly as she jogged alongside him to keep pace. By the time the green-roofed cabin was in sight, Maru felt out of breath, but she pushed on for Alex's sake and if her friend was correct, Shane might need medical attention.

Alex beat Maru to the porch by a few moments and tried the door. Unsurprisingly, it was locked so the jock pounded his fist on the threshold. Maru spied a glint of water welling up in Alex's eyes and wondered what it was that her new friend feared most on the other side of the door. A muffled thump came from the interior of the house, but eventually the metal lock clicked and the portal opened ever so slightly. "Maru?" Shane's hoarse voice whispered. "What are you doing here?"

Alex, who was out of sight from Shane's current angle, pushed his way into the house. "Glad to see you're alive, chicken man," the jock announced, his tone low and harsh. "Now let Maru take a look at you."

Shane muttered several excuses as to why Maru should not examine him, but Alex had none of it and finally the hung-over mayor of Pelican Town relented. The local nurse could tell that her patient had been crying from the redness in his eyes. "Have you been able to drink any water since you woke up?" Maru inquired in her most professional manner.

The sable-haired man confirmed unhappily. "Yeah, but my stomach is still tossing and turning like it's gonna reject it any second now." He leaned his head to rest in his open palm. Maru could tell from his physical state that he was not to the point of alcohol poisoning but getting him hydrated would certainly make things more comfortable.

"May I put an iv in to get some fluids in you?"

Shane held out an arm. "Stick it to me, doc," he uttered, wincing at the light from the window pouring in. "Anything for this headache to go away." As soon as Maru secured the needle in a good vein and hung the solution bag up high, she got her patient comfortable in his bed.

"Rest, fluids, and healthy meals should do the trick," the auburn-haired woman prescribed the mayor. She gave him a serious look. "And, of course, abstaining from alcohol will also help the situation considerably."

The thirty-year-old hung his head in shame. "I should have realized; I feel like just an idiot…" he disclosed so faintly that Maru almost did not catch it. "How the hell did I not realize sooner? I embarrassed myself - and Emily, too."

"Yeah, you were a dumbass," Alex snapped, startling both Shane and Maru. For a moment, his voice was almost alien. A fierceness burned in his eyes that the woman had never seen before, not even during the most grueling gridball training. "So, what are you gonna do about it?" The jock crossed his arms over his chest and stared down Shane expectantly.

Shane gripped the sheet in his lap until his knuckles were white, avoiding eye contact with both of his guests. "I should submit my resignation…" he began, but he was quickly cut off.

"Like hell, you are!" Alex shouted, causing Shane to visibly wince from the pain in his skull, but the adverse reaction did not stop him. "You think a night of drinking gives you a free pass to shirk your responsibilities?" the younger man queried, his voice dripping with irritation. He exclaimed a passionate "No!" before Shane could answer to the contrary. "You get up, brush yourself off, and give it everything you've got the second time around. Learn from your mistakes and keep going."

Shane stared down at his hands, slowly loosening his grip on the silky fabric on his bed. "You really think I can do that?"

Alex shrugged, his letter jacket shifting with the movement of his shoulders. Maru noticed the fire in his eyes dimming back to embers. "It doesn't matter what I think," the jock said dismissively. "You owe it to the people around you to keep trying. Fake it until you get some self-confidence of your own."

The new mayor's lips stretched back toward his ears. "You shouldn't give away your secrets to success so easily," Shane chuckled under his breath. Maru could tell that it hurt her patient to laugh, but he did not seem to regret it.

"This isn't for charity," Alex frowned, but he offered his hand to Shane. "I figured it's best to have my training partner in the best shape possible if I'm gonna go pro."

Shane bowed his head briefly and slapped his meaty hand into Alex's. They shook with some sort of unspoken understanding that Maru did not quite comprehend. Perhaps it was some sort of code for athletes? She decided she would have to do some research later.

After making sure Shane had a healthy meal beginning its journey through his digestive system, Maru removed the intravenous tubing from his arm and reiterated the need for rest and plenty of water. The patient expressed his thanks before going back to bed to recuperate for a while. Both Maru and Alex excused themselves and closed the door behind them before heading back toward town.

The two walked in comfortable silence until they crossed the boundary into the Cindersap Forest toward Marnie's Ranch. "Thanks for agreeing to come, Maru," Alex articulated sheepishly. "I don't know what I would have done without you there."

Maru eyed him side-on. "I got him hydrated," she conceded, "but you lifted him out of the hole he was stuck in." She grinned at Alex. "It sounded a bit harsh at times, but Shane really took your words to heart."

"You really think so?"

The woman nodded. "I'd stake my career on it," she replied so confidently that Alex found no room to argue. Instead, he smiled and walked in step with her the rest of the way to the clinic, asking questions about her latest projects. Maru did her best to explain things in layman's terms and Alex responded with such inquisitive follow-ups that the researcher could not help but ramble on about her dream to build a robotic assistant to help her parents at home.

After grabbing a bite to-go from Granny Evelyn, Alex escorted Maru back to the clinic. "I better get going and let you get your work done," the jock finally verbalized. "I know you've got a lot of work to get done."

"Even so, it's nice to have a change of pace," Maru countered, trying to convince her friend that his presence was not a bother. "And spending time with you is always enjoyable. It's rare to get someone so interested in all my unusual hobbies."

Alex's face reddened slightly from a slight burst of adrenaline, expanding the blood vessels in his cheeks. Maru wondered what about her words made him so sorry or embarrassed. "Of course, I'm interested in you. Who wouldn't be?"

"Oh, there are plenty of people who don't care about those sorts of things…" she waved a hand at him to signal her departure. "But I really appreciate you, Alex. I saw a whole different side of you today."

"I hope you get to see a whole lot more someday."

Penny slammed the door of the trailer shut, the wall shaking violently from the force. "Mother!" she shouted, not caring about Pam's current state.

The woman with the poorly dyed blonde hair shot upward from her reclined position on the stained built-in sofa. "What the hell are you shouting about so early, you brat?!" Pam growled back. "Can't you see that I was still sleeping?"

Her mother's words did not deter Penny in the slightest. "Why would you spike the fruit punch at Shane's celebration last night?!"

"It was my contribution to the party," Pam reacted defensively, slumping back onto the stained couch she regularly used as a bed. "Now bring me that glass over there, would you?"

Penny held her ground, still angry on Shane's behalf. "Shane was a whole season sober before you did that, you know!" the yellow-clad teacher informed her mother. "And your little 'contribution' ruined that for him."

Pam was silent for a moment and rolled over to face the wall. "He shoulda known better. I always add a little extra something to the drinks."

The former bus driver did not expect the rage that exploded from her usually timid daughter. "Ugh, just take some responsibility for once, mom!" the young woman bellowed, stomping on the ground so aggressively that the main room of the trailer shook. "Some people try to better themselves rather than wallowing in their own self-pity," Penny snapped, pointing her finger toward the door. "You go and apologize to Shane right now!"

"I might say something if I see him around…" Pam finally sighed, still not looking at her kin. "Now leave me alone."

Penny did not respond, but instead stormed out of the trailer without a word. It was the first of their many battles of will as Penny began to find her voice, Pam would soon discover.