A lot fo you are excited for *spoilers but most of you know this from PNG* Iqadi's miscarriage and it's not that far from now. It's honestly one of my favourite chapters.

Year Two: Close Calls

The Borgatta Inn - 23:59 PM

"I'm saying that you're a dumbass Renaissance Man," Dawn clarifies.

James nods. As if that didn't hurt any less. "Thanks. You know, this was really eye-opening. I should let you ladies go and enjoy the rest of your time here."

"So worth it," Yvette says, kicking back in her seat. "A night of making fun of James and a weekend in Jersey."

"I'd rather go home…" Melissa mutters.

"What are you going to do about Angela?" Alix asks him.

James shrugs. "I'm a dumbass Renaissance Man. I'll figure it out."

"If you screw this up…" Janice threatens, standing up and directly pointing at James. "We're coming back."

"At full force," Dawn says.

"Damn straight!" Yvette chants.

"Because Exes Anonymous sticks together," Melissa says, "and Angela Rogers is the best thing that ever happened to you. You've known her your whole life and dating her made you a better person."

James swallows fear he didn't think he had. Forget the group he created out of these five ladies who will gladly kick his ass, he has to fix this breakup. After saying goodbye to his exes, he heads on out. Once he's in his car, he takes out his phone and scrolls through the missed notifications. James mutters worriedly when he sees all the missed messages and calls from his parents. Stupid ants probably ratted him out. He senses that his parents were onto him and his master plan to configuring the issues in his relationships. Before he starts driving, he calls his mother who picks up on the first ring and doesn't say hello or give him the chance to. Her yelling almost made him drop his phone.

Janet: You'd better have an explanation for why you paid for five coach flights coming from five parts of the country to New Jersey, spent hundreds of dollars at a bar in one night, and paid for five hotel rooms!

That's when James realizes that it wasn't the ants who tattled, it was the bank. James thinks over what his mom said and, despite every second of silence making the moment even worse, there was really no good way to explain the situation. His mother is, Thor forbid, thinking the absolute worse.

"I'm…" James starts. "I was hosting a conference."

Janet: Sure, you were. I didn't raise a conference speaker.

James can't deny that. "Mom, how much time do you have?"

Janet: Start talking.

"Is Dad there?"

Janet: Right beside me. He's having a bet with the ants on what you were doing.

James starts the car as he puts his mom on speaker and his phone in the cup holder. "Of course they are. Tell them to put their money where their mouths are 'cause they'll never get it right."

-o-

Rogers House - 00:19 AM

Xavier speeded through the freeway but, lucky for him, the freeway patrol cops are busy dealing with the people who went faster than him. And since they were busy, he got to go even faster. But for some reason, despite going at top speed, he still took forever to get here. He thought he would get in Brooklyn by 10 pm but it was past midnight by the time he got in his neighbourhood. Xavier parks at the curb of the road since his car and their parents's were in the driveway. He shuffles in his pockets for his house keys, hoping he brought them.

"Thank god," Xavier mutters when he finds them.

He opens the door, seeing all the lights turned off, as expected. Xavier locks the door behind him before heading upstairs. He walks down the hallways and sees that Angela's bedroom light is still on. Xavier walks in and Angela looks up from her phone, sitting up in her bed in complete shock to see him here.

"Why were you following me?" Angela asks.

Xavier isn't sure how to respond because he didn't expect her to start asking the questions. He didn't leave campus and take their car unexpectedly and he didn't speed through the cops for this. "I was worried because you weren't answering. What the hell?"

"So?"

"Because you drove home!"

He has her there. When Angela doesn't respond, Xavier calms down and sits at her desk. He knows that she's been stressed and anxious for the longest time and he isn't helping by yelling, especially at this hour.

"And you're my best friend so I don't know what I would've done without you," Xavier says.

Angela grins. "You mean the car is your best friend."

"Her too. You could've at least told me you were taking it."

Angela shrugs. "I wanted to spare you the conversation."

"We don't work like that. I would've driven you home."

"If it helps, I told Mom and Dad you knew I was here so now they'll get mad at me for lying to them and not telling you before."

"How does that help? That's your problem."

Angela frowns at him and Xavier mimics her expression but with exaggerated brows and pout. They stare at each other through narrowed eyes for exactly twenty-seven seconds before they break into smiles.

"How did you get here?" Angela asks.

"Ashton lent me his car," Xavier responds.

"You know, if SHIELD Academy didn't divide us by gender, we could've been roommates. We were womb-mates once."

Xavier cringes. "I hated every word in those sentences."

Angela laughs because she did too. Before she continues, she looks past Xavier, causing him to turn around. At Angela's doorway, he sees their parents. They're both half-asleep, staring at him and wondering if he's here. Xavier waves for a second before going up to hug them. Steve and Peggy look at Angela confused and she shrugs.

That's her twin. What more can she say?

-o-

Earlier - Edison Residence - 18:46 PM

For Merida and Daniel, the past two hours have gone by like a blissful wave. Nothing was causing them to veer off course and they were just floating on the slow current. In reality, their bodies were flowing to violin music that only existed in their heads. If anyone were to walk in on them, it would look like they were doing an interpretative dance. For a moment, it felt as if their ears were underwater. Sounds were going through a filter, sounding like they were being crumpled in some newspaper.

Then, their minds were brought out of the water to the sound of an alarm that nobody liked followed by neighbouring dorm running around, shoving heavy items, slamming doors, and screaming. Despite still feeling a bit hazy, they know what's about to happen and, looking at each other with the same alarmed look, they know they're screwed.

"Fuck," Daniel curses.

"Dorm inspections happen at this hour?" Merida asks. "It's, like, the middle of the night!"

"We're going to get suspended from a rope!"

"Don't panic."

"I'm not."

"I was talking to myself." Merida pauses before screaming in agony because this is her fault. She even falls on her knees dramatically. "Dude, we have to air out your room!"

Daniel thinks for a second before he lights up. "How about we just whirl our arms around like windmills?"

"Genius."

Merida stands up before she and Daniel wave their arms around. Daniel stops the moment he hears the RA and supervising agent knocking on the walls at the end of the hall, getting everyone out of their rooms. The longer they're here, the more suspicious they'll look. He already hears the sounds of his neighbours coming out while Merida is still waving her arms around because she's almost freaking out … and there's no way she'd want to go down in James's argyle sweater vest.

"This isn't working!" Merida screams.

"Wait, wait, wait," Daniel says, putting his hands and stopping them. One arm is up and the other is down. "I have an idea."

"What?"

"It's time for the big question."

"Which is…"

Daniel smiles, feeling a plan coming already. "What would Apollo do?"

In similar situations in Emily's and Britney's stories, Apollo would say something like: "I can go to Asgard."