18

Alice applies the salve Tarrant had so generously picked up for her hours before. It cools her heated skin, a welcome breeze over the fires on her arms and legs. She glances at the shirt she'd laid out, then decides against it. The last thing she wants is to smear all this and ruin a perfectly good Zeppelin shirt. She folds it up and places it with the rest of her clothes. She can sleep in a bra and sweats tonight.

The door opens softly. Mirana looks extremely exhausted, but she's happy. Alice opens her arms and Mirana enters the embrace with a smile, careful not to touch any of the salve.

"Mmm, I've been waiting all day to do that." she murmurs.

Alice grins. "Glad to know the feeling's mutual."

Mirana giggles. "You know perfectly well the feeling is mutual."

Alice pulls back and pats the spot beside her for Mirana to sit. "So, what's happening now?"

Mirana stretches luxuriously. "James, Iracebeth, and Stayne have all been expelled. I think James might be getting arrested as well, since he… you know." She cracks her neck, relieving the tension there. "You've also got detention."

Alice gapes. "Me? What did I do?"

"According to school rules, you still chose to engage in violence rather than report it to a qualified adult. Here."

Mirana hands her a pink slip that reads:

DETENTION REPORT

DATE: 09/15

NAME OF STUDENT: Alice Kingsleigh

REASON FOR DETENTION: Engaging in violence with another student (James Martin).

DATE(S) OF DETENTION: Monday, 09/18 — Monday, 10/9

DELIVER TO: Professor Alden

TEACHER'S SIGNATURE: Absolem Alden

Alice groans. "Four weeks? That's practically a month!"

"They wanted to make it eight. I talked them down to four."

Alice sets the slip aside on her end table. "Well, never mind that. What does this mean for you?"

Mirana grins, biting her lip cheekily. "I got the scholarship." she says proudly. "And my parents are finally seeing reason. They're going to help us in our stand against Bumby. To put it in my father's words," she puts on an overly thick, masculine voice. "Better no grandchildren than psychotic grandchildren!"

Alice laughs. "That's wonderful!"

"Speaking of which," Mirana says. "I believe you still owe me that date."

Alice puts a hand over her heart, feigning hurt. "After all I've been through for you? I think you owe me."

"That's a debt I certainly don't mind repaying." Mirana says, leaning in.

Their lips barely brush before the door opens.

"Bloody hell, at least put a sock on the door or something!" Tarrant yelps, throwing an arm over his eyes. "Or close the door all the way so it locks!"

Mirana colours and Alice groans. "It's not what it looks like, Tarrant. The salve is drying."

"Uh-huh, sure."

Tarrant makes no move to uncover his eyes, so Alice sighs and gets under the covers, pulling them up to cover from her chest down yet still being able to have her arms on top. "Alright, you can stop that now."

Tarrant peeks before dropping his arm. "Right, anyway," he says. "Mirana, your parents are here, and they want to talk to both of you."

Mirana sighs. "Alright. Tell them we'll be out in a moment."

Tarrant nods and leaves the room, closing the door tightly.

"Can we ever get some proper alone time?" Alice grumbles, dropping her blanket. The salve has dried enough, but this time she opts for a Van Halen baseball tee to cover up most of the damage.

"They probably just want to meet you." Mirana says, getting up from the bed.

Alice pulls the shirt over her head, shrugging it on. "What did you tell them about me, exactly?"

"Well, I know we're not exactly official or anything, but I thought it'd be easier for them to accept us, to accept me, if they believed that we were."

Alice lets Mirana straighten out her shirt while she steps into a pair of blue plaid slip-ons, her go-to hall shoes. "Do you want to be?"

"One step at a time, Alice. I've just accepted myself, and how I feel about you." She smiles. "We're doing this properly, remember?"

Alice smiles back. "Of course." She takes Mirana's hand in hers, interlacing their fingers together. "You know, I didn't expect to be doing this 'meeting the parents thing' this early on."

"Better make a good impression." Mirana says, giving her a quick peck.

Alice rolls her eyes. "I promise I won't bring up my prison record."

"Alice."

Genevieve and Ezra Underland await them at the end of the hall. Ezra is a man of average height, dark red hair streaked through with silver with a full beard and sideburns, a mischievous twinkle in his hazel eyes. He wears a gold tweed suit, and, ironically, a black tie patterned with white chess pieces. Genevieve is the same porcelain as her daughter, fairly thin and a bit on the shorter side, with long, cocoa brown hair and warm, dark brown eyes. She wears a rose coloured dress that flares at the bottom, and a pair of cream heels. Mirana looks more like her mother than her father, but that mischievous spark is unique only to father and daughter.

They regard Alice with analytical stares, and it takes all Alice's self-control not to squirm beneath their seemingly judgemental eyes. She suddenly wishes she'd chosen something that would make her look a little more presentable. Mirana makes her look quite literally like a peasant. Not exactly the best way to convince the Underlands that she is anywhere near worthy of their daughter.

Genevieve meets her daughter halfway, pulling her into a warm embrace. "Mirana, darling, I'm so sorry."

Mirana raises an eyebrow. "What ever for?"

"Oh, just everything. Being stuck in the past when we should be moving forward, more than anything. I never knew of that vile man's practices until now." Genevieve swallows hard. "I blame myself." she says, gripping Mirana a bit tighter. "My poor little girl."

Ezra lays a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Now, now, Gen, don't go blaming yourself. We didn't know." He turns to Mirana. "I'm very proud of you, my dear, for persevering through it all. You've been through so much."

Mirana smiles. "I didn't do it alone. Alice rescued me, remember?"

"Oh, yes!" Genevieve says, as if just remembering that Alice is still here. She embraces Alice equally tightly, and Alice controls the urge to wince as pressure is applied to her injuries. "Thank you, darling. You've done our Mira so much good."

"It wasn't any trouble." Alice says with what she hopes to be a winning smile.

"I'll be the first to say that we did resent you at first, since you were the reason why Mirana went through all of this." Ezra says. "However, seeing the changes in circumstance, we've decided to forgive you."

"Er, thanks?"

"I'm just glad that Mirana has finally found someone that makes her so happy." Genevieve says, smiling. "Granted, we thought it'd be in a man, but this is just as wonderful."

"Does she make you happy, Mira?" Ezra asks.

Mirana takes Alice's hand in her own, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She gazes at Alice with a smile that melts away any nerves bothering her in this moment, and Alice returns it, hoping that Mirana can hear what's unspoken.

"Yes, very much."

Alice's heart flutters at the statement, and even though those three little words aren't the ones she's still waiting to hear, they're enough to make her feel as if they're the only two people in the room.

Genevieve laughs. "I know that look." she says. "That's the same look you had when I said I'd marry you."

Ezra chuckles. "Indeed. Well, Alice, if you're willing, I —" Genevieve takes his arm. "We, would like to set aside some time to get to know you, perhaps over lunch."

"With all due respect sir," Alice says, choosing her words carefully. "I'd like to do that after we sort out our business with Bumby. This battle isn't over yet."

"Wise words. Good choice, Mira." Ezra says, looking to his daughter. "I'm glad she's smart." He turns back to Alice. "Of course we'll support you in any way we can. I don't know how informed you two are, but Bumby isn't happy about his missing patients. He wants to have a fully-fledged trial, and he will ruin you, if given the chance." He grows more serious. "Which is why we're going to be hiring the best lawyer this city has to offer. We won't let you lose, Alice, rest assured of that."

"A heavy conversation for a later time." Genevieve adds in. "We'll let you two rest." She begins to lead her husband away. "It was lovely meeting you, Alice!"

"And no funny business 'til you're married, you hear me?" Ezra calls over his shoulder.

"Father!"

Ezra chuckles, his laughter fading as he rounds the corner with his wife.

Alice's face suddenly feels very warm and is probably very red. She clears her throat. "Well, that was… something."

Mirana giggles as she and Alice walk back to their dorm. "You were fine." she says, unlocking their door and letting her in. "They're very grateful to you, as am I."

Alice flops onto her back, hitting her mattress with a dull thud. "Well, that's good."

Mirana takes a more graceful approach, sitting on the bed first before crawling up to lie beside Alice. "Were you nervous?"

Alice does her best to scoff. "What? Me? No!"

"Oh my gosh, you were."

"Shush."

Alice shifts so her arm is loosely draped around Mirana's shoulders, letting her snuggle into the crook of her neck. There's a brief bit of silence before Alice breaks it again.

"So… the trial."

"Do we have to talk about it now?"

"Won't we eventually?"

"Yes, but…" Mirana sighs. "Today was a lot. You have no idea how horrible it was for me, watching you fight James and being powerless to help. There were so many times when you could have died." She cups Alice's cheek, turning her head to face her. "Call me silly all you like, but right now, I just want to be with you. No complications, no trials, and certainly no Bumby. Not right now. I just want you."

Alice closes the distance between them, a soft, slow kiss, her free hand coming to wrap around Mirana's waist, pulling her closer to her. Bodies molded together, hearts beating as one. Even fully clothed, this is the most intimate they've ever been. As Alice caresses Mirana's lips with hers, she sends another silent message: I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. And this time, Mirana seems to respond: Stay, stay, stay.

When they do pull apart to breathe, foreheads pressed together, eyes shut, Alice murmurs gently into her ear:

"You have me."

Saturdays are supposed to be filled with absolutely no responsibilities and all fun. Usually Alice will sleep in until well past noon before doing anything at all.

Alice's phone, however, has a much different idea.

Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Alice groans and fumbles for her phone, blinking as she taps the screen. 9:04. Who the hell is bothering her this ear—

Tarrant: Professor Flora wants you and Mirana to meet her in her classroom. I'm already here, and so's Professor Alden and Mason. The lawyer's on the way over to help us prepare.

Ugh. Don't adults ever sleep? It's not like anyone is in immediate danger. As far as Alice knows, Bumby can't do anything right now. When is she ever going to get the chance to breathe?

Regardless, she needs to get dressed, especially if the lawyer's coming down. She glances down at Mirana, fast asleep for once rather than being up ridiculously early. She's also the reason for Alice's dead left arm, lying on top of it and rendering it practically immobile. Alice laughs to herself quietly and sets about trying to remove it from beneath Mirana's back without waking her. Despite how careful she's trying to be, Mirana grumbles in her sleep at the sudden movement and snuggles even deeper into Alice, pulling her even closer and even throwing a leg over her waist. Alice smirks. She wishes she had a camera, but now with both arms trapped underneath Mirana she can't even use her phone to capture the moment of her being an absolute cuddle-bug. Such impropriety!

She's going to have to wake Mirana up, because as much as lying in bed with her all day appeals to her, they both have an obligation to meet.

She wonders if they're far enough along in their relationship where it's okay to kiss her awake.

One way to find out.

Mirana responds to the contact at first, then giggles and shoves her off, sitting up.

Alice feigns hurt. "What was that for?"

Mirana swats Alice's arm. "Kissing me with morning breath. Go brush." She gets off the bed and goes to rummage through her closet.

Alice grins, shaking her head. "Oh, fine, that's fair." She sits up, inspecting her injuries. The burns have faded considerably, but not enough for her to forgo longsleeves. "We have to meet with Professor Flora. The lawyer's coming to help us present our case."

"Already?" Mirana pulls out a white blouse, white cable knit sweater, white skirt, and white flats. "That woman moves fast."

"Extremely." Alice throws a band shirt and a pair of jeans at random on her bed to change into. "Mason, Tarrant, and Professor Alden are already there." Alice pulls the shirt on after peeling the previous one off. She sees Mirana start to change out of the corner of her eye and quickly averts her gaze, moreso out of respect than anything else. A thought crosses her mind. "Do you think you'll ever break this whole 'white' thing?"

There's a pause.

"Why?"

Alice steps into her jeans. "Just curious. I just don't see how a person could wear one colour for their entire life."

"It's what sets me apart from my sister, Alice. It's very important to me."

Alice tries not to laugh, but a tiny chuckle escapes her. Is that what Mirana really thinks sets her apart?

Mirana pouts at her, now fully dressed. "You're laughing at me."

"No, no!" Mirana folds her arms. "Okay, yes." Alice sighs. "I mean, come on, Mirana. You can't really believe that the only thing separating you from your sister are your colours."

"It is!" Mirana insists, beginning to pace. "White signifies purity, red signifies blood. I can't break away from that; it's all I've known all my life. It's what everyone knows me to be. I can't change that. Without the white, what else is there —"

Alice has heard enough. She stops Mirana in her tracks, gripping her by her forearms and halting her pacing. "Stop." she says firmly. "Honestly, Mirana, can you really not see beyond something as simple as colours?" She takes a deep breath. "It's like a painting. Remember the tiger piece we did?" Mirana nods. "When we were creating it, we needed to do the background first. Loads of layers of different shades of blue and white. It wasn't just one colour." Mirana still doesn't appear to understand, so Alice tries again. "Look, all I'm saying is, you're not just one colour. There's a lot more to you than just white. You're sweet, and brilliant, and your art is getting better with every class." Mirana giggles at that. "I'm serious! And you're so selfless and you always try to do the right thing. No offense, but I can't really say the same for Iracebeth. So you shouldn't feel pressured to keep wearing the same thing all your life just because you're afraid of what someone else is going to say." Alice grins. "And if someone does say something, I'll knock them around a bit."

Mirana smiles, blushing a little. "Thank you." She bites her lip. "I don't own anything that isn't white, though."

Alice frowns. "Not even a set of gym clothes?"

Mirana gives her a playful shove. "I'm not walking around in those."

Alice goes to her dresser, pulling open the shirt drawer. "I think we're the same size." she says, going through her shirts to see which one might suit Mirana. Definitely no white, but absolutely nothing red. She sifts through her band shirts, knowing there's no way Mirana will want to wear any of those, and finds a forest green varsity shirt she hasn't worn in ages. She picks out her nicest pair of jeans to pair with the shirt and holds the outfit out to Mirana. "Try these."

Mirana wrinkles her nose. "Pants?"

"Sorry, I haven't got any skirts."

Mirana takes the clothes from her, looking them over. She goes over to her dresser and begins to change again. Alice averts her eyes once more, busying herself with making her bed. When she's through, Mirana is already fully dressed in her clothes.

She looks adorable.

Mirana gives an experimental twirl, examining herself. Alice surveys her approvingly. "What do you think?" she asks.

"I don't hate it." Mirana says, pulling the shirt down a little more. "But I'm definitely going shopping later."

"I like green on you." And Alice does, truly. Like fresh snow fallen on a fir tree. "It suits you."

"Really?"

"Really. But don't go wearing nothing but green either. That's not the point."

"What would you do if I dyed my hair green?"

"Make you wear a wig." Mirana smacks her arm. "Ow! Mirana!"

Mirana rolls her eyes. "That didn't really hurt."

"Oh, but it did." Alice insists. "I think it's bruising."

"Drama queen."

"You should kiss it better. The pain's spreading to my mouth."

"Go brush." Mirana says, chuckling.

"Okay, okay." Alice says, grinning cheekily. She goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth, if only for the promise of a kiss later.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Tarrant: The lawyer's here. Are you nearly here yet?

Alice: Almost. Brushing teeth.

Mirana's wearing colour. Don't make a big deal about it when get there.

Tarrant: Hurry.

Colour? How'd you manage that?

Alice: Let's just say I'm very persuasive. ;)

Tarrant: TMI, Alice!

Alice smirks, spitting out the last bit of mouthwash. Let Tarrant think whatever he likes; she's not about to correct him.