Root looked around the field, tapping her glove against her leg. They'd moved onto to the softball part of their PhysEd class and Root was still trying to get away with not participating. Honestly, she had straight As, was PE even necessary?

Sameen was home sick today. She caught a terrible cold and had been out of school for days. Luckily, Coach Silva had been putting Root way out in the outfield away from stray balls and basemen. Today, though, Coach Silva had put Root on 2nd Base to 'encourage you to participate, Root. You have to at least try.'

Root glanced over her shoulder at Zoe and Joss in the distance. They waved at her, smiling. She sighed and turned back to watch the game. Lambert was walking up to the plate, bat in his hand. He grinned at her as he squatted and got in position.

Root held her glove in front of her. If he was going to target her, she might as well try catch the ball. That'd wipe the smug look of his face. She watched the pitcher wind up and throw the ball. Lambert hit it right to Root.

"…Shaw is going to kill us!" Joss' voice said from somewhere above Root. "She gave us one job."

"It's not our fault! Coach Silva put her in front of us." Zoe grumbled.

"Do not put this on me," Coach Silva snapped. "You tell Shaw it's my job to make Root participate. I thought she could catch it!"

Root groaned and tried to sit up. Gentle hands slipped under her arms and helped her up. She looked over at Joss.

"What happened?" She asked, her head pounding.

"Well," Joss started, helping her limp back into the school building, "You tried to catch the ball and, uh, caught it with your face."

"Wow," Root breathed, hobbling along, "this has to stop happening. Does it look bad?"

"Let's just say, it's a good thing Shaw isn't here today or Lambert would be carried away in an ambulance."

"Oh god. I'm going to see her after school."

Joss laughed. "Bring a bribe."

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"What happened?" Sameen demanded, from her place under the covers. She was sweaty and pale, but still managed to look threatening. "Who did this?"

It was late, almost eleven o'clock. Root had hoped to be at Sameen's earlier, but got distracted. NASA's website had updated while she was finishing her homework and it had taken longer to break back in than Root had expected.

She'd caught a glimpse of her black eye on the way out of her house and knew Sameen would be upset.

"Don't freak out. You need to rest," Root said, dropping her bag on the floor near Sameen's desk. She slowly walked to the bed, hands held up defensively.

"Fuck that," Sameen threw her blanket off, accidentally hitting Bear in the face. She tried to stand up, but groaned, dropping back onto the bed. Bear ran to her and started licking her face. She weakly pushed him away. "Dumb dog, stop it!"

Root laughed and crawled onto the bed beside her. Bear shifted his focus and ran over to her, tripping over the blankets in his rush.

"Yes, hello, Bear. Sameen, get back in bed," Root ordered, reaching out to tug on Sameen's arm.

Sameen grumbled as she laid back, pushing her feet under the covers. "Fine. Whoever it was- Was it Lambert? He's safe for now, but I'm going to kill him."

"Yeah, yeah," Root assured her, pulling the blankets up over her and wrapping her arms around Bear, moving him away, "I'm sure he's already scared."

Sameen rolled her eyes and then groaned. She clamped a hand over her face. "Why is it so bright in here?"

"When did you last take your medicine?" Root asked, sliding off the bed and crossing to Sameen's side to look at the bottles on her nightstand.

"Who knows?" Sameen whined. "Just shoot me."

"You're a baby," Root laughed. "It's just a cold."

"It's a monster," Sameen said, sniffling pitifully. "I never get sick, so if this got to me, it's a beast!"

"Or," Root started, sitting on the edge of the bed, handing Sameen a glass of water, "you decided to go swimming in a rainstorm and then went right inside and refused to shower or change because you're a stubborn person."

"You went swimming, too," Sameen reminded her, taking the pills from Root. She tossed them in her mouth, took a sip of water, and swallowed loudly. "Ugh, I hate medicine."

"You're going to love it in a second, stop complaining," Root chastised her, putting the cup back on the nightstand. "And I took a hot shower and put pajamas on, because I care about my body."

"Whatever. Go get me pizza. I know Mrs. Reese ordered some, but she won't give me any," Sameen pouted.

Root raised her eyebrows, but stood up. Hopefully, the medicine would kick in before she got back and Sameen would be asleep.

Root left the bedroom, tiptoeing down the stairs, trying not to wake anyone up. It was a school night and Mrs. Reese would be upset if she saw Root awake. She let them have sleepovers sometimes during the week, but only if they promised to not let it affect their school work.

Root walked into the kitchen and turned the light on, stopping in her tracks.

"Oh, sorry," she said, squinting in the bright light, her bruised eye pulling painfully. Zoe was sitting on the counter, wearing nothing but one of John's shirts and eating ice cream straight from the container. "I didn't realize you where here."

"Shh," Zoe whispered, smiling, "I'm not."

"Gotcha," Root winked at her with her good eye. She turned to open the fridge and started looking for the leftover pizza. "What are you doing here?"

Zoe sighed and rested her ice cream on her lap. "I don't know. Hanging out with John, I guess."

"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" Root joked, pulling the Ziploc of pizza out of the fridge.

She dropped it onto the island and pulled down a plate. She started pulling slices out as Zoe talked.

"We're dating, I guess. It's complicated." Zoe watched her put the pizza in the microwave. "I just…I don't want to be tied down, I guess, but I really like him."

"So you're just 'hanging out'?" Root asked, leaning against the counter.

"Yeah," Zoe shrugged and ate a spoonful of ice cream. She spoke with her mouth full. "Joss is having a hard time, too. They're also hanging out."

"Huh," Root said, crossing her arms, "I don't know if I could do that. I think I'd get too jealous."

"The good thing is we're all friends, you know?" Zoe hopped of the counter, closing her ice cream and crossing to the freezer. "I think if we weren't, this would be a lot harder."

"Well, I'm here if you need me," Root stopped the microwave a second before it beeped.

"Thanks, Root," Zoe said, smiling at her. "Same here."

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Root coughed loudly, her body shaking. "I hate you," she grumbled, pulling the blanket over her head. "So much."

Sameen shrugged and shifted the laptop on her lap. "It's your fault for taking care of me."

Sameen had gotten over her cold in a few days. She'd woken up feeling great and back to fitting fit, but Root had caught her cold and Sameen had stayed home for a few more days to take care of her. The cold affected Root a lot more than it had affected Sameen, probably because she was so skinny.

"I was helping you," Root whined, peeking her eyes out of the blanket to stare up at Sameen pathetically.

"Thank you for that, but now we're both stuck in this bed," Sameen said, starting the next episode of The X-Files. "We're almost done with this. What do we do then?"

"Start over?" Root suggested, coughing lightly. "That's what I usually do."

Sameen shifted the laptop to the bed, resting it against Bear's back. "I was thinking about getting a job."

"A job?"

"Lambert's dad's shop is hiring," Sameen said, scooting herself so she was lying down, facing Root. "I could do mechanic stuff."

"That's cool," Root nodded. "I could work at the Ice Cream Shop."

"Yes!" Sameen cheered. "Free Ice Cream!"

"I don't know if Mr. Greer would be ok with that," Root laughed. "He's pretty strict."

Sameen rolled her eyes. "He'll get over it."

They lay in bed for a while, watching the show. Sameen glanced over at Root. She enjoyed hanging out with Root like this, even if Root was sick. It was nice to relax and not have to try and be something that she wasn't.

Sameen had known for a while that she was different from other kids. That she didn't understand how they felt or why they got upset at things. She'd learned enough to function normally, watching other kids and television and trying to act like they did.

With Root, though, she didn't have to. Root was happy to just be around her and it made Sameen…almost happy. Maybe she was happy. Maybe lying with your sick best friend and your rapidly growing dog in a bed in a house with a family that chose you was happiness.