"Nervous again?" Ann asked as she appeared in the mirror behind him.

"Honestly? Not really," Trent replied as he finished messing with his hair. "Though I'm not liking my hair."

"Here, love," she said, stepping up to him. She had him turn around and began touching it up. "You seem nervous."

"Okay, I guess I am, just...not for the same reasons. I'm actually a lot more confident after having been through something like this once before...and all the other shit I've gone through now. More nervous on Mae's behalf."

"I know, but I think we'll be okay," Ann said. "There. Now you look handsome."

He laughed, looking at himself in the mirror again. "Not the word I'd use. Tolerable is better."

"Nonsense. You're handsome. Also, you should relax. You've been working really hard all week. On your book and on this party, and all the other stuff you regularly do. You should take a seat outside while the weather is still cooperating with us," Ann said.

"I should check on things first…" he replied uncertainly.

"No, love," Bea said, appearing in the doorway behind Ann with a smile, "go relax."

He sighed, slightly startled, and turned back around. "Are you for real ganging up on me?"

"We are for real ganging up on you," Mae said, stepping out from her own hiding spot out in the hallway.

"Jesus, I've never seen you three this coordinated before," he said, now more amused than anything else.

"Come on," Bea said, taking his hand and guiding him out of the bathroom.

"And you don't gotta be nervous on my behalf," Mae said, rolling her eyes, "I can handle myself."

"Ah, you heard that...sorry, I just meant-"

"I know, lover boy. You're watching out for me. Now I'm watching out for you. Go outside and chill with Bea. Seriously, Trent, you've been working too much this week. It's, like, actually kind of worrying. You're getting stressed."

He sighed, looked around, then nodded. "Fine, guide me away."

"Yeah, like we're putting such a burden on you, telling you to relax," Bea said.

"Keep it up and I'll take you back to bed and put a burden on you," he murmured as they headed for the stairs.

"More like a burden in her," Ann said quietly, and Mae giggled.

"All up in her," she agreed.

"Shut up, you two," Bea said, "and not now. You got plenty this morning. Come on. People are actually showing up soon."

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, there came the sound of car doors closing.

"Speak of the devil," Bea murmured.

"I've got it, go on you two," Ann said, coming down after them.

Trent let Bea lead him outside to the back porch, glancing around as they moved, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. Food was prepped in the kitchen, the place was clean, the weed and sex-toys were hidden, the presents were wrapped-

"You seriously do have a hard time turning off, don't you?" Bea asked as they stepped outside.

"Uh…" He was suddenly stuck for a response as he sat down in one of the lawn chairs. "Shit," he muttered.

"What?" she asked, scrutinizing him closely. She seemed more cautious around him now. For whatever reason, that little crying session by the pond seemed to have awoken the urge to cry in him. Something he never thought he'd had an urge to do. Or maybe it wasn't an urge, maybe it was more of a breaking down of a barrier, and now it just came more easily. He'd cried at least once every day this week, and Bea had been present for two of those times.

He was still wrestling with that, but he was glad that at least he could stop it if it came to him when he was out in public.

"Just...it's weird. I used to be lazy. But apparently not anymore. Now I write books, maintain three relationships, and one sort-of relationship, and help maintain the house…"

"You do a shitload," Bea said.

"Yeah, and I always thought I was lazy."

"I have a hard time believing that, but maybe it was just a matter of conditions. You didn't have enough stuff you really cared about before, so it makes sense you weren't motivated...unless that's a shit thing for me to say?" she asked.

"No, it's accurate. And it makes enough sense. Still just weird. If my parents could see me now...eh, they'd probably still fucking bitch."

"Have you for real not heard from them at all?" Bea asked.

"For real, but I blocked and then deleted all my family's contact info on my phone. I'm kinda surprised that I haven't gotten an e-mail or even a letter, but...they're shit enough at being a family that they probably literally don't know."

"Did they hit you up for money?"

"Oh yeah. First day I got in, right after I woke up from banging Mae-" Bea snorted. "-I had a ton of messages. They were all bullshit. So I just wiped them from my life."

"Good," Bea said. She frowned and glanced briefly back into the house, then lowered her voice. "I wish Gregg and especially Angus would do the same thing. Their parents aren't great. Angus's mom is a monster."

"Jeez, a monster?" Trent asked.

"Yes. I won't tell you the specifics, because it's Angus's business, but take my word: she is a fucking monster. His dad, too, but the guy's long gone. Angus still visits his mom and I wish he wouldn't."

"I've heard a little about it...yeah, he should, but...I get how it can be tough to just cut people out of your life, especially a parent. I was nervous about it, I still am sometimes, but now...the more time goes on, the less anxious I feel about it. I don't think of them much anymore, honestly," he replied, then paused as he heard footsteps getting closer.

"Hello there, handsome man," a familiar voice said. He glanced over just in time for Claire to swing a leg over him and sit down in his lap, straddling him and staring into his eyes. "I have really missed you."

"Uh, you too, but is this a good idea?" he asked.

"So far it's just me, Gregg, and Angus," Claire replied, "and Mae said I should go hit on you to get you to chill out."

He shifted awkwardly. "It's not that, it's just-"

They all looked over as the back gate connecting his backyard to Mae's parent's backyard opened up and her parents walked through. Her mom was carrying wrapped presents and her dad was carrying two boxes of pizza.

"Well," Candy said as she looked at the two of them, "Donna. Hello. I didn't realize you were...involved at Trent's and Mae's house."

Claire scrambled up off of him so fast she almost fell over. "Mrs. Borowski," she said, looking like she was fighting not to panic, "I was just...um…"

"Claire's affectionate," Trent said with surprisingly more ease than he thought he'd be able to muster.

"Claire?" Candy asked.

"Uh, yeah. Um, I go by Claire now. My middle name. I like it better than Donna," Claire mumbled uncomfortably.

"Then Claire you shall be. It's been awhile, it's good to see you."

"Uh...thanks. You too, Mrs. Borowski. Mr. Borowski," Claire replied.

Trent heard a sound from his left and glanced over briefly to find Bea trying very hard to keep from laughing.

"Might as well go with Candy and Stan now," Mae's mom replied.

"Okay."

"I take it the birthday girl is inside?" Stan asked, clearly trying to get the conversation back on track.

"Yeah, Gregg and Angus are here too. More should be coming soon," Trent said. He stood up suddenly and walked a little closer. "Uh...so you do remember your promise, right?" he asked.

Candy smiled. "Yes, Trent. We remember."

"And that isn't just like 'I promised but I'm lying and I'm going to do it anyway and you can't stop me because I'm her mother', right?" he asked.

Candy raised an eyebrow. "You are brave." Then she laughed again. "Trent, we promise not to sing Happy Birthday or anything else to Mae. Unlike a lot of other parents, we aren't out to embarrass our child...most of the time. This is her day, and she deserves it."

"All right, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry, I've just had that kind of thing foisted on me often enough, and I'm-"

"Watching our for her," Candy said, nodding. The quality of her smile changed to more sentimental as opposed to amused. "I'm so glad she has you in her life. There are so many people out there who don't really care about their significant other, but you're so vigilant and compassionate and keen on her feelings...don't worry, this will be a good day."

"That's what I keep telling him," Bea said.

"Well, it's nice to see you all, and it was nice to see you again, Claire. We're going to go inside and say hello to Mae," Candy said.

"Nice to see you too," Trent replied, sitting back down.

"Jesus fuck," Claire whispered when they were gone, sitting down in another chair. "You could've warned me."

"Literally was in the middle of doing so," he replied.

"Fair." She paused. "...is it just me or did they seem oddly cool with me being all up on their daughter's boyfriend?"

"They know," Bea said.

Claire's eyes raised. "That we fucked?" she hissed.

"No," Trent replied. "Although now they probably suspect. They know about me and Ann and Mae, and me and Bea. It was...a whole thing."

"Oh wow, that must've been one hell of an awkward conversation, unless they, like, guessed?" she asked.

"It all sort of came spilling out over dinner recently," Trent replied. "Very awkward, but ultimately good...anyway, uh, how are you? You look good." She was wearing a dress he hadn't seen before, a black one that really showcased her breasts and just generally looked great on her. "Uh...really good."

"I know that look," Claire said, grinning. "And thank you. I'm okay...sort of."

"Sort of?" Bea asked.

Claire sighed heavily. "Honestly, since hanging out with you all and finally settling things with my brother, I'm actually feeling better on a more regular basis. I'm going out and doing things. Sometimes just taking walks, but I went bowling recently with my coworkers, and have gone out to eat a few times, when I can afford it. But, like, fuck. I hate my jobs so much now. I don't know, it's like, before, I was too depressed and kind of numb to just how shitty my jobs are. Now that I'm actually kind of waking up and being more outgoing and enjoying myself, I'm realizing how awful it is there. At both places. They both suck so hard in different ways." They all glanced over as they heard more car doors shut in front of the house. "Guess people are arriving."

"Yep," Trent said as he and Bea got up.

"I'll go, uh, mingle, I guess," Claire said, and headed into the house.

Bea reached out and gripped Trent's wrist. He glanced at her curiously. She had a smirk on her face. She stepped up to him, putting her lips to his ear, and whispered, "Fuckboy."

He felt his eyes widen and a flush of frustrated lust shoot through his body as he looked at her. "You little fucking-"

"Ah-ah," she murmured, "Mae's parents are here, and so are other people, and it's Mae's birthday party."

He stood there and fumed for a few silent seconds. "I'm gonna remember this," he said finally, wondering what, exactly, her play was.

Beyond wanting to make him horny and frustrated. It was funny, in a weird sort of way, how that word had come to mean that for them. It wouldn't be the same if Mae or Ann called him that...probably. Would it? They hadn't, so he had no idea.

But it was obvious that it had become a game to Bea, or just a way of enticing him.

But they couldn't fuck right now!

"Will you now?" she asked, her smirk more irritating than ever. "I guess we'll see, won't we?"

"Oh yes, you will certainly see, Beatrice," he replied.

She raised an eyebrow. He almost never called her that.

"Come on," she said, pretending like nothing at all had just transpired between them as she walked past him, to the house, flicking him with her tail, "we have a birthday party to attend."

Trent sighed, got control of himself, and followed.

His initial impression that the party would likely go smoothly played out.

Over the next six hours, a lot of people showed up, hung out, dropped off a present or two, and eventually headed out depending on their responsibilities.

Bea's dad and Ann's mom came over. Germ, his parents, and a few of his sisters came to visit, and then, and Trent was a little surprised to see this, all three of Germ's uncles and their wives came to visit as well.

Her old teacher, Mr. Chazokov, stayed for almost three hours, talking with just about everyone.

An older goat, who they all called Mister Twig and Trent learned was Mae's neighbor and had been for the better part of twenty years, paid a visit.

Even her Aunt Molly stopped by for about an hour.

Trent actually lost track of all the people coming and going, and was intensely grateful that he'd taken the extra time to clean the house more thoroughly. At one point he saw Danny, who Bea still seemed vaguely irritated at. He saw some guy Mae called Mister Salvage, and they told a story about the time they took his boat way, way far up the flooded tunnel. Lori and her family stopped by for awhile. A grumpy, middle-aged blackbird showed up and made vague complaints about Mae and his porch, but mostly talked with Stan and Jacob and some with Bea's dad.

Trent stepped out into the backyard several times, mostly because as well as it was going, he needed a break from being social and in a building with so many people every now and then. And that was how he found himself having what felt like an incredible bizarre conversation.

"Hey...Trent."

He was sitting in one of the chairs, staring at the sky, but when he heard the strangely familiar voice, he looked over and saw, of all people, Cole. For a moment he wondered who in the hell had invited him, but didn't know how to say that without coming off like a complete dick. He was more surprised than anything else, but they'd specifically asked Mae about the guest list, and she said invite literally anyone they felt like, with the exception of Mr. Penderson and someone he'd never met, and hopefully never wood, named Scriggins.

"Hey, Cole. Uh, what's up?" Trent replied.

He let out an awkward laugh and sat in one of the chairs. "It's probably weird to see me here. Sorry if I'm, like, stepping on your toes or anything."

"No, it's totally cool," Trent replied. So far, all of his impressions of Cole were that he was a reasonable guy.

"I saw mentions of the party happening today over the chattrbox for Possum Springs and reached out to Bea, asked if it'd be weird if I showed up. She said it wouldn't and I...kinda just needed a place to be social and talk with people who were...mellow."

"You doing okay?"

Cole sighed heavily and took off his glasses, then pulled a rag from his pocket and began wiping at them. "Not really."

"What's wrong?"

"Just stress. Wrapping up my third year in college...really, it's my relationship with my parents, though. Something kinda hit me, and...I don't know who to talk with it about."

"Well, I'm pretty open to listening."

"Yeah, that what Mae says. And Bea." He was silent a moment. He put his glasses back on. "I feel like I can't go home." Trent wasn't sure how to respond to that, so Cole seemed to try again. "What I'm saying is, I used to be kind of like Mae, I'm learning. I talked with her for a bit before coming out here, but I learned she never really got over the feeling of just wanting to go back home at college. I know exactly what she means, only, I did get over it. But it feels like it's too far now. Coming back home, here, to town, seeing my parents, hanging out with my old friends, it doesn't feel right anymore. I used to want to come home, but now I specifically don't want to. I used to look forward to it, the visits, in the beginning almost desperately. Now I hate it...and I'm kind of in the middle of all this, so, I don't know, what do you think?"

"Unfortunately, I can't really relate. I've had only the vaguest longings to even see my home town again, but I think it's because I just hated it there. I won't really go into details, because I don't want to bring down the mood, but let's just say that everything has been so much better here. So I only have the insight of someone who hated their home and then left it. But...for what it's worth, I think what you're experiencing is pretty common. I mean, I think you're moving on. This was your home, but-and I'm not trying to be a dick-this isn't the best town. Maybe now that you've had time and distance put between you, you're looking at it not as someone who grew up here, but with a more objective point of view, and realizing it's not all that great. But even setting that aside, I think that's just how it goes. We're meant to change, sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways."

"Huh." Cole looked down at his hands for a long moment, contemplating, then looked back up. "That makes sense. I kinda feel like I'm a bad person for wanting to leave my home behind."

"You aren't, it's just...as much as I think we're meant to adapt and evolve, I think a lot of us also just get stuck. In a way, a lot of middle-aged people who spent their entire lives in Possum Springs adapted to find it desirable. And then they get frustrated when people close to them don't also want to stay in their town with them."

"...yeah, that also makes sense. I guess I'm still adjusting." He paused. "Thanks." He paused again. While he was thinking, Trent happened to glance inside. He saw Bea talking with Germ and, surprisingly, Jackie. Apparently she had shown up at some point. Now there was something she'd probably never thought she'd do in a million years: go to Mae Borowski's birthday party. Trent caught eyes with Bea.

She gave him a little smirk and mouthed 'fuckboy', then took a drink from her soda.

He grit his teeth, staring at her intently, then shifted his attention back to the outside. Later. She was really pushing his buttons, but later.

"I, uh, had another question," Cole said uncomfortably.

"Yeah?" Trent replied.

"Uh...about Mae. Has she…" He hesitated and then ran a hand through his hair. "Does she not like me? I'm sorry if this is a super weird question, and I don't really know the rules, my being her ex, you being her current boyfriend, this being her party, just...she's always weird around me. I mean, she's always been kinda weird around me, I figured it's just who she is, but I though it would've smoothed out by now at least, especially after our last conversation. I just want to know if I, like, did something mean to her that I didn't realize?"

"No," Trent said. "It's not you...not really. It's her."

"Oh...so you do know what I'm talking about then?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"I realize it's gotta be weird, and I probably don't have any right to ask but, what does she say about me?"

Trent considered it. Honestly, they hadn't talked all that much about her and Cole. But he didn't think she'd be upset with him for discussing this. "In truth, not a lot. But I think...she looks back on your relationship with her and cringes a lot. Not because of you, but because of her. She thinks she embarrassed the fuck out of herself in a lot of your interactions. From what she has said, I get the impression that she thinks you're actually a decent guy."

"Oh...well, that's good to hear, but...would it weird her out if I told her that I don't think she was like, that weird. I mean, I don't know, I had a good time. Except for, uh, prom."

"Oh...yeah. Uh. She mentioned that."

"It was not our best moment."

Trent laughed. "No."

"...have you had any moments like that?"

"Well." He thought about it. "Yes. A few. She's...clumsy, sometimes."

Another long moment passed between them. "Is she happy?" Cole asked finally. "I mean, she seems happy, but it's her birthday and all her friends are here, and she obviously has a bit of a bias around me, so…"

"She's happy," Trent replied. "She's worked through a lot since we met in November. It's been difficult sometimes, but I'd say she's happy."

"That's good, at least. I didn't, you know, love her, but I could tell she was messed up over a lot of things, and she had a hard time getting along with people. I liked her. I guess now it's more like, I respect her? I don't know, I just hope she's okay, and happy." He shifted awkwardly. "I hope it doesn't come off as me being an asshole, saying I didn't lover her."

"You aren't going to love everyone you date," Trent replied. "That's just life."

"Yeah." He stood up. "Uh...thanks. For talking to me. And not making it weird. I ran into my current girlfriend's ex at a party last summer and...he wanted to fight. And I'm not really a fighter. I've just heard a lot of stories about stuff like that, how awkward it can be. I guess maybe it's not weird because things weren't, like, super serious between Mae and me, but you're a big part it not being weird, too."

"You're welcome," he replied.

"I'm, uh, gonna go mingle some more. It's actually really chill here."

"What we aim for."

He nodded, then headed back inside. Trent considered that for a moment. He'd sometimes wondered about what it would be like to deal with his girlfriend's exes. It was something he didn't really have much experience with. At this point, Cole was the only one. It almost certainly wasn't going to come up with Bea, but what about Ann?

Hopefully not.

He headed back inside and began moving around the house, making sure that all was well.