She didn't yell, not at first. Feferi explained everything she could, working in only a few lies to appease her. She ran away because she wanted to get out (not entirely wrong), and she stayed at a friend's house whose name was unimportant. Meenah had no clue where Feferi was, and Feferi had no idea where Meenah was (not true, but believable).

"I'm extremely disappointed in you," her mother began, and Feferi's heart sank. She would've preferred being yelled at. "But, I'm glad to have one of my daughters back." That pierced Feferi's heart. She cared, she honestly cared that one of her children had come back to her, out of what she perceived as loyalty. "Don't be mistaken, you will be grounded for two weeks. No leaving the house unless I allow it. Get to bed."

Feferi could only nod when her mother left, presumably to finish whatever work was keeping her up. She sighed. House arrest wasn't terrible. She could still contact her friends.

She went up to her room, and felt like a stranger. It had been little over a week, and it looked too clean, like it had been torn apart and stitched back together. There hadn't been a formal police investigation pertaining to her disappearance (Sollux had been keeping a close watch), but of course her mother would hire private detectives to look into the matter.

Her bed looked wonderfully soft. She was utterly pale for Sollux, but the air mattress had been hell. She expected to fall asleep as soon as she laid on the bed, and was surprised to find herself still awake after a few minutes. Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush of seeing her mother again.

Her next task loomed in front of her. She had to somehow ask to get into the Protectors of Alternia. Granted, her neighborhood was almost exclusively highbloods. With the quality of character some of these kids had, she'd be able to talk to a few people and get into some sort of rich kid gang. But she couldn't leave the house, and her mother certainly didn't trust her enough to leave her alone long enough to humor the idea of sneaking out. Maybe she could try to talk to Cronus.

Hours passed, but she still couldn't sleep. She didn't want to message anyone at this ungodly hour, though Karkat was most likely still awake. Hopefully Sollux was awake; he either slept for twelve hours or stayed up all night coding.

Light shone feebly through the window. She got out of bed to see the sunrise. The colors faded from deep purple to a dark red, to a dull pink, to a shining orange horizon that led to the blue sky that would hold for the rest of the day. All of the colors flowed seamlessly into each other. She loved every moment of it.

Feferi did eventually leave her room. Her mother's car was missing, but she noticed Dualscar laying on a chair in the lawn opposite hers. Of course she would get that tool to watch her. At least she had no desire to leave.

Sollux messaged her, to make sure that she hadn't been beaten or killed or something just as terrifying. She eased his worries with a simple reply. Nepeta also messaged her. Nepeta and Feferi weren't really close. Indeed, when they were younger, they had this weird rivalry spurred by childhood innocence, as Nepeta loved cats and Feferi loved fish. Now they just sent each other particularly cute pictures of animals. Then she got a message from Jade.

gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering cuttlefishCuller [CC]!
GG: hey feferi!
GG: howre you? i heard you went back to live with your mom?
CC: Well I only ran away for the sake of my sanity, but I'm doing good all t)(ings considered.
CC: )(ow about you?
GG: im great!
GG: i just wanted to check in with everyone. everyone seems so sad now..
CC: T)(ings )(aven't been getting better, but it's sweet of you for caring. Summer is supposed to be )(appy.
GG: everyone got spooked with what happened to karkat. and now that aradia mom got arrested and dave and dirk arent talking its just terrifying.
GG: jake visited all the way from the nuk to see me and dirk. hes out of his mind with worry.
CC: I can imagine. Soon I'll )(ave to get in touc)( wit)( Cronus. T)(at's -Eridan's older brot)(er.
GG: hes the one i hear everyone mention. he works for pa right?
CC: More like forced, but yea)(. I )(aven't talked to )(im in FOR-EV-ER.
GG: im sure hes okay. eridan wouldve said something if otherwise right?
CC: I t)(ink so, but )(e's been distant, too. I'm worried )(e mig)(t be getting involved.
CC: And all I'm doing is trying to get in wit)( my mot)(er and spy on w)(at's going on so I can get us an advantage.
CC: We're suc)( a small group.
GG: not really. plenty of people have noticed this stuff. if we reach out to them we could have most of the country on our side!
CC: T)(at was Karkat's idea. Is it working?
GG: last i heard dave was still posting stuff about it.
GG: i bet kankri posted stuff too.
CC: Maybe all of us should start reac)(ing out?
GG: thats what i thought too! theres so many of us were bound to reach hundreds.
CC: T)(at's just w)(at we need.
CC: O)(, I'm getting a call. I've gotta go. Bye, nice talking to you!
GG: right back at ya!
cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling gardenGnostic [GG]!

She picked up her phone and said, "Hello?"

"Fef! Shit sis, I didn't expect you to fuckin go back to Mom!"

Feferi grinned. "Hey. Uh, yeah, it took some thinking, but I came to the conclusion that I was being shellfish."

"Fuck yeah you were. Is everything okay?"

"I'm grounded for two weeks and I'm going to try and get into the Protectors of Alternia."

"That's to be expected. She would've fuckin killed me. What's your deal with the PA? That shit's dangerous"

"Cronus is involved."

"Cronus is a major douche who was worse than his brother because he thought the Harry Potter books were a series of bibles predicting how he'd save the world just 'cause he had a scar on his head."

"Well everyone's a bit odd when they're young."

"Kid, he only stopped believing that when he was nineteen. And now he flirts with anything that moves."

Feferi snickered. "Okay? Just sounds like you're making me sound way more capable than he is."

"You are, but that doesn't mean you should throw yourself into dangerous situations."

"That's what you've been doing since you were born."

"Then take it from someone who knows it doesn't work out. Don't do it." For a few seconds, there was muffled talking on Meenah's end. "Fine, I'll go. Fef, I gotta bounce, I got a lady in bed expecting some lovin'."

"You do not!" There was Aranea, reaching amazing pitches. Anyone could do that when they were scolding Meenah, who was cackling.

"Okay you crazy kids, have fun," Feferi laughed. "Use protection."

"Got it. See ya."

"I hope you aren't encouraging her, Feferi!" Aranea yelled before Meenah hung up. The house felt incredibly empty without her.