Sameen looked into the bleachers as her team cheered around her. They'd just won their first game of the season, but she wasn't in a mood to celebrate. She hadn't talked to Root in weeks and now she didn't see her in the bleachers. Root had never missed a game before.

The crowd started to trickle out and Sameen sighed. She should get home and see if Root was there. Joss jumped onto Sameen's back and she stumbled backwards, laughing. Zoe appeared in front of her grinning.

"We won!" Zoe cheered, pulling her hair out of its ponytail. "I knew we would, but it's still exciting!"

Sameen smiled and headed for the locker rooms, wrapping her hands around Joss' thighs. She guessed Root was still pissed at her. It made her angry that Root wouldn't show up to her game, though, especially since she was Vice-Captain this year.

"How's it going with Root?" Joss asked, resting her chin on Sameen's head. "Still nothing?"

Zoe jumped forward to open the door.

"Still nothing," Sameen sighed. "She's as moody as ever."

Zoe led them into the locker room and Sameen lowered Joss to the ground, torn between changing here or just driving home. She opened her locker to pull out her phone.

"Ugh," Zoe said from behind her, "John won't stop texting me."

Sameen turned around to look at her. "You guys should give him a break. It's been a long time. He's just a dumb boy."

"A dumb boy with bad manners," Joss grumbled, dropping to a bench and pulling her shoes off. "He thinks he's the most important part of our relationship, but he's literally a third of it."

"And," Zoe added, tossing her phone onto the bench and putting a foot up, "he still hasn't apologized." She started unlacing her cleats.

Sameen unlocked her phone and opened her message with Root. "Maybe you should just sit him down and talk to him."

"Maybe you should just sit Root down-"

"Don't," Sameen scoffed. "I tried. I'm still trying."

Joss and Zoe gave her sad smiles. Sameen turned away and looked at her messages, scrolling through the past month. Dozens of blue messages passed by with only the occasional reply; she'd been texting Root for weeks. Sometimes it was just hello, to see if she'd get a reply, but sometimes she would text about her day or something that reminded her of Root.

Sameen sighed and pulled up the keyboard. Maybe Root would tell her where she was and they could meet up. She doubted it, though; things were only going downhill.

Sameen put her phone back in her locker and looked up at the girls. "You guys want to come over tonight? I know you're avoiding John, or whatever, but we could watch a movie or something?"

"Aww, Shaw," Zoe smiled at her. "Are you lonely?"

"Shut up," Sameen scowled. She ripped her shirt over her head. "Offer rescinded."

Joss punched her in the shoulder. "Too late. We're coming over."

"Do you think we could all fit in your bed? It's so much more comfortable than the air mattress." Zoe pulled her clothes out of her locker. "I'll bet you've never slept with two girls at once."

Sameen smirked. "You think I can't handle you both?"

"Oh my god," Joss gasped. "A threesome!"

"No," Sameen held her hands up as Joss and Zoe grinned at each other. "I was kidding. I'm not- No way."

Zoe pouted, sitting on the bench. "Too bad. We've had way more sex than you. We could teach you some things."

"I'm fine." Sameen rolled her eyes. "Thank you anyway."

They finished getting dressed and headed out of the locker room. Sameen checked her phone again. Nothing from Root. She looked up at the dark and cloudy sky. Wherever Root was, she was going to get soaked on her way home.

Sameen smirked, the thought of Root getting caught in the rain made her smile. Root had been so mean lately and she deserved some bad luck. Shaking her head, Sameen pushed the thought away. Root could get hurt in the rain, especially if she was driving Ruthie. The thunder could scare her and she could crash.

"Come on!" Joss called from Sameen's car. "Your old ass car has manual locks, remember?"

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Sameen tip-toed down the stairs, Bear at her heels. It was almost three o'clock and she had woken up starving a few minutes ago. It hadn't been too awful to fall asleep with Zoe and Joss after all; it had been nice to not be alone in her big bed. She hadn't had company in a while now and the bed seemed too spacious after sleeping in her car with Root.

Bear's nails clicked loudly on the wood floor and Sameen turned around to shush him. She crossed the hallway into the kitchen, not bothering to turn on the lights; the clock on the stove lit the kitchen with a green glow. She opened the freezer and pulled out pizza rolls, her go-to nighttime snack. Bear walked between her legs as she put the pizza rolls on a plate and into the microwave. After she started the time, she hoped up on the cabinet to wait, resting her feet on Bear's back and using her toes to pet him.

Sameen hadn't heard Root come home last night. The sky had opened up just before she and the girls went to sleep; she assumed Root had just gone to the treehouse. She wondered if it was scary to be out in the treehouse in the thunder. Unilateral hearing loss made it hard to pinpoint sound locations. She'd done some research to try and understand Root's situation better. Hopefully, Root wouldn't start to hate the rain.

Glancing at the microwave, she hopped off the counter and stopped the time before it beeped. She tossed a pizza roll down to Bear. She heard the front door open and put the plate down on the island.

Bear led her into the hall and she saw Root, lit by the dim light of the lamp in the entranceway, unzipping her rain-soaked leather jacket. Root hung it on a hook and turned around, jumping when she saw Sameen.

"Jesus," Root breathed, pressing her hand to her chest, "you scared me. I didn't expect anyone to be awake."

"Are you just getting home?" Sameen asked, crossing her arms. "It's 3am."

Root rolled her eyes, kicking her shoes off. "You're not my mom. Stop acting like it."

Sameen watched Root run up the stairs and turned back into the kitchen. Bear looked between them and trotted over to sit at Sameen's heel, pawing at Sameen's knee. She looked down and he hopped to his feet, starting to follow Root.

"No, boy," Sameen whispered, walking back into the kitchen and the pizza rolls, "stay with me."

The biggest downside to Root staying in the treehouse was that Sameen never knew when she was home or not. She'd tried going to talk to Root several times in the past few weeks, knocking on the door, but Root hadn't answered. Sameen had assumed it was because she didn't want to talk, but now she realized Root might not have been there at all.

Sameen picked up a pizza roll, squeezing it gently. Where was Root going if she wasn't home? Was she going to the hill? Or the train? Sameen hadn't been there since they'd been back. It felt weird to go without Root. She hadn't been there alone since she'd broken up with Tomas.

Sighing, she picked up her plate. She walked into the hall, whistling softly for Bear to come, and headed back upstairs. She popped her pizza roll into her mouth. When she reached the landing, she heard the shower running and smiled; Root was so good about not getting sick.

She hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked into the bathroom. The warm air hit her like a wall and she set the plate on the counter, shutting the door behind her.

"Root?" Sameen said, eating another pizza roll. "Is it ok if I stay in here?"

There was no answer. Sameen shrugged and took that as a yes. She leaned forward, wiping the mirror to look at her face. The tan she'd gotten over the summer had hardly faded and she pushed her shirt off her shoulder to see if her bathing suit line was still there.

"Remember how bad your sunburn was?" Sameen chuckled. "You were so good about putting sunscreen on, but one dip in a lake and you were a goner. It faded pretty fast, though. You're welcome."

She turned and leaned against the sink, picking up another roll; Bear put a paw on her knee and she fed it to him.

"I'm sure you're still mad at me," Sameen nodded. "I know you are, but I hope you don't hate me quite as much. It's been a month or so; that's a long time, right? I am sorry about your mom. You know that, right?"

Again, there was no response. She scratched her forehead and tried to think of something to say. Normally, Root led their conversations and Sameen she just followed along. She decided to stop talking and lifted herself onto the sink, balancing on the edge. Eating another pizza roll, she sighed, her feet lightly kicking the cabinet below her.

She remembered last winter, when they'd shower like this a lot. Root would shower and Sameen would sit on the sink. Then she would shower while Root did her face stuff; for someone who didn't care how she looked, Root sure had an extensive nightly routine.

Sameen had been looking forward to showering together. She knew John and the girls showered together, although not all at once. She and Root could have showered together too; they could even have figured out shower sex.

The water cut off and Sameen stood up. Root pulled the curtain back and screamed, covering herself when she saw Sameen. Confused, Sameen took a step back. Root closed her eyes, sucking in air.

"What the fuck, Sameen?" Root hissed, yanking a towel off the toilet and wrapping herself. "You scared me!"

Sameen's eyebrows drew down. "I've been here for a while. I was talking to you."

Root glared at her, standing in the shower. "I can't hear you in the shower. Obviously."

"Right," Sameen sighed. "Sorry."

The door to the bathroom burst open and John barged in, wearing only a pair of red boxers, wielding a lacrosse trophy like a baseball bat. Sameen rolled her eyes.

"Relax, weirdo. I just startled her."

"Oh," John lowered the trophy. "I was scared someone had broken in. Are you ok, Root?"

"Get her out of here."

Sameen stiffed, not turning around to look at Root. The close company was suddenly overwhelming and she pushed passed John into the hallway, breathing in the cooler air. It still surprised her when Root didn't want her around and it hurt more than she would have imagined.

Zoe and Joss stuck their heads out of Sameen's room, looking sleepy and confused; Zoe reached out to Sameen and took her hand, dragging her inside. Sameen resisted the urge to look back at the shower. She shut her door and dropped into her desk chair, Bear laying at her feet.

"What's going on?" Joss asked, rubbing her eyes. "There was shouting."

Sameen wiped her face. "I scared Root in the shower. She couldn't hear me."

"Oh," Zoe said, yawning. "Whoops."

Sameen watched as she and Joss crawled back into bed; their arms wrapped around each other, familiar. She remembered curling up with Root in the back of RBG.

"You coming back to bed?" Joss asked, patting the empty space next to her.

Sameen shook her head and stood. "No, I'm going to go sit in the living room for a while."

Joss nodded and put her head down, nuzzling against Zoe. Sameen couldn't look at them anymore. She left the room, patting her thigh to call Bear, and started downstairs. Glancing over her shoulder at the bathroom, she saw that the door was closed. Light shown from the crack underneath and she sighed.

It was getting hard to justify bothering Root, she thought as she stepped off the last step and turned into the living room. She threw herself onto the couch, almost missing it in the dark, and heard Bear lie down on the floor next to her.

She had to listen to Root's 'no' eventually; she couldn't just chase her around forever. Giving Root space was difficult, though; Sameen didn't want her to feel unsupported, but Root wasn't responding to anything she tried. Root wasn't interesting in being friends, and it made Sameen angry.

What would Root have done if Sameen hadn't called the police? Mrs. Groves could still have hit her with the mallet. She could still have lost her hearing. Sameen scowled into the couch cushions and rolled over onto her back.

What would she do if Root never forgave her? Move on? Date someone else? She didn't want to do any of that; she wanted Root.

The living room light turned on and Sameen squinted against the sudden brightness. She sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the couch. Root was standing in the doorway, a blanket and pillow in her arms; she must have raided the linen closet.

"I was going to sleep in here," Root said, reaching up to tug on her ear. "Because of the rain."

Sameen stood up and gestured to the couch. "Take it. I'll go back upstairs."

Root nodded and walked around her. She dropped her things onto the couch and reached down to pet Bear; he rolled onto his back and gave Root his belly.

Sameen glared at him. "Traitor."

"Did you say something?" Root asked. "I can't hear."

"Yeah, I know," Sameen snapped. She closed her eyes. "Sorry. I'm just tired."

She turned around and started leaving, but stopped and turned back apprehensively when Root spoke.

"Hey," Root pushed hair behind her ear, "you could stay here. With me. If you don't want to go back up."

"On the couch?" Sameen asked skeptically. "It's not that big."

Root shrugged and tried to smile. "We've shared smaller spaces. Remember that one motel? In Idaho? The beach themed one."

Sameen smiled, relaxing a little bit. "Yeah, in the middle of the desert? It had twin beds."

"Twin is too generous," Root chuckled. She picked up the blanket and spread it out on the couch. "Turn the light off."

Sameen turned off the living room light and carefully made her way to the couch. Once Root had settled, she sat down, sliding her legs under the blanket. Root wrapped her arms around Sameen, spooning her. Sameen felt safe, like she could trust that it would be ok.

"I'm sorry," Root sighed. "I'm having a hard time."

Sameen nodded. "I know. I want to help."

"I want to let you."

Sameen waited for Root to say more, but there was only silence. She sighed and closed her eyes, letting Root's breath in her ear lull her to sleep.

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Sameen woke up with a start, Bear jumping off her chest. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and trying to orient herself. She remembered falling asleep next to Root last night, but reaching behind her she only felt couch; Root must have left before she'd woken up.

She stood and stretched, groaning loudly. Mrs. Reese walked into the living room.

"You're up! Are you going to go for a run or should I make you some food?"

"Is Root here?" Sameen asked, squatting down to pet Bear. "She got home pretty late."

Mrs. Reese nodded. "John told me about what happened. I think she's already left for the day."

"Oh," Sameen shrugged. "I guess I'll have breakfast. I can work out afterwards."

Mrs. Reese reached out and laid a hand on Sameen's shoulder. "How are you? I know this has been stressful for you, too."

"Not as stressful as it's been for Root, so I'm fine."

Mrs. Reese looked at her with sympathy. Sameen stepped back out of reach and rubbed her hands together.

"I think I'm going to go for that jog after all. Save me something."