Austin, Texas

11 March 1967

"Knock knock. We're coming in."

Holding the warm mug in her hands, slowly sipping the coffee Martha had quickly grabbed for her from the kitchen, the dark liquid almost tasteless to her, Sue Ellen didn't jump or even turn her head at the sound coming from the hallway.

Her senses weren't broken, but everything felt just a little bit further away from real than usual and it wasn't just because she was hungover.

Time was difficult to tell. She knew it wasn't early morning from the view out the window and the sounds of people walking around the cabin, light and sounds that had been growing stronger since she'd moved from the bed to the windowsill. Time was passing but how much she didn't know.

"Not now."

Aware of Martha's move to stand and walk over to the door she still didn't pay much attention to what was going on, not until the light changed, then she turned her head.

"Yes now…. don't worry, we've seen it all before."

"I said, not now."

"Martha?"

Sounding surprised when Martha opened the door a crack, James and Peter weren't visible from where she sat, but she could imagine they looked surprised too.

"Look, we're not up to having visitors right now."

"We?"

"Sue Ellen's not feeling well."

"Who else is in there? Alex?"

Pushing the door open a little further, neither James nor Peter entered the room, although they did meet her eye for a brief second before she looked away. She didn't want to think about Alex but there they were, mentioning him.

"It's just us."

"Who slept here last night?"

"Sue Ellen and I did."

"Not Alex?"

"No."

"Bobby?"

"No."

Answering their questions, Martha gave them no information about why Alex had been banished or why after returning to the house with Bobby she'd ended up sleeping alone herself too.

"There's room for four in there and you slept two? That's a little selfish, don't you think?"

"No. It was for a good reason. Now, like I said, Sue Ellen isn't well, so please go."

They didn't understand who the selfish one was and she didn't want them to either so she was glad when Martha rebuffed the accusation and did her best to get rid of them.

"Have you seen Alex?"

"Not since last night."

Persisting with questioning her, Martha continued to shut them down, the door swinging back to being open just a little, the way it was when she originally answered.

"Right, well don't get too comfortable with the room. We're not sleeping in cars again tonight."

"I don't care what you do so long as it doesn't affect me."

Shutting the door in their faces, Martha didn't flinch at the knocking or calls of her name that followed, simply ignoring them and pushing a desk from one side of the room to in front of the door, ensuring some privacy for now.

"Thank you."

"It's the least I could do."

Grateful for her friend's help, she didn't believe it was the least she could do at all, but she didn't feel up to arguing the point that Martha was a nice person. She didn't feel up to much of anything.

"I want to leave."

"I'll drive you myself if anyone will give me their keys, which might be unlikely now after that interaction."

Waving her hand at the door, Martha indicated she knew that from the perspective of James and Peter she might have been a bit abrupt, even rude.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"It feels like it is."

Feeling a lot and nothing at all, she was all mixed up and she felt powerless to straighten things out.

"It's not, and let's not even entertain the thought that it is."

Approaching her, Martha did as she'd done so many times in the hours before, met her eye and then wrapped her arms around her and held her close.

"This is delicious, thanks Joanne."

Finally hungry rather than nauseated, Bobby only had to take one bite of the quiche Joanne had prepared for lunch in the basic kitchen to know it was worthy of all the compliments he had in him.

"You're welcome. I like cooking and I never get the opportunity to at the sorority house."

"I bet you got an A+ in home economics didn't you?"

Standing at the counter beside Doug, waiting for her turn to serve herself lunch, Mary joined the conversation, her contribution to the meal providing company and laying the table rather than doing any of the egg cracking or other magic that had produced the tasty dish they were about to enjoy.

"Actually, I did."

Shrugging, Mary giggled. "Figures. I got a C+. My soufflé didn't rise and my biscuits were like rocks."

Chuckling, the atmosphere in the room was warm and relaxed as they all laughed along with her.

"It's ok. You both get an A+ in other areas."

Approaching them, whispering, but not nearly quiet enough to be heard only by the intended recipients, Greg's comment made Mary blush and Joanne turn around to smack him.

"Greg!"

Seemingly forgetting he wasn't just in the company of his fraternity brothers anymore and that they weren't so open about such things in the company of ladies, Greg got what he deserved.

Barely having time to react to the developing situation, their attention was drawn to something else, the sudden appearance of Sam in the breakfast area.

"Bobby, Doug, Greg, I need you to come with me."

"We're eating."

Mumbling a couple of words, his mouth full, Doug didn't make any move to get up, and neither did he.

"No time for that. We need you outside, now!"

Sam's demeanour strangely serious, it quickly became clear that he had something urgent to relay so reluctantly they all filed outside onto the driveway where James and Russ stood looking serious, talking in low volumes.

"What is it?"

Cautious, more cautious than he'd ever known him to be, Greg asked for an explanation, and he got one.

"It's Alex. Pete found him down by the lake. He's dead."