(A/N): We're back in 1966 with Evie, Vi, Hettie, Pip, and Lou. So I just got back from house sitting for my sister for two nights (I managed to get a chapter written, which is better than I usually do when I'm there), and I was feeling better before I went but on the tail end of it- and now that I'm back home- my illness is worse again, so I'm still having a little trouble concentrating. Also, my hip hurts again (it started hurting on Boxing Day, after I spent most of the day walking around), and I think sleeping on the shitty temporary bed at her house just aggravated it, since most of my weight was concentrated on that hip, specifically.

Heavy foreshadowing as standard with the Evie arc.

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of an extramarital affair (which didn't happen, and even if it had, all parties are now aware that it would have been consensual between the two spouses and the third external partner- in this case, Lisbet and Jerremyah, and Evie). There's an argument- people lose their tempers, and there's some yelling, along with a lot of accusations wherein people trying to attribute blame/responsibility to others/themselves. Lots of talk of stabbing (Jerremyah getting staked, Evie says he was 'lightly stabbed' and that it's all healed up now. It's brushed over, for the most part.) Talk of brainwashing, but only in the manipulation sense (-the very muggle, sense).

January 16th, 1966

Evie

I suppose I could understand their shock- Vi's in particular- but I wasn't sure how I could make this sound any less depraved than they were obviously assuming without telling them exactly what happened. And even if I did, there was always the risk that the truth would be worse- at least in their eyes- than what they already had in their heads. "Well," I started, then faltered momentarily. "Not exactly a present, per se, but-" Hettie wasn't having any of my attempts at talking around the subject.

"Evie, cut the crap." She was too focused on me to notice the reproachful look Pip was sending her way, but Vi and Lou certainly weren't missing it, and I knew they weren't going to let me hear the end of it, later. "Just say you got frisky with a married man, we'll laugh off our night of terror, and we can put this whole thing behind us." It was an easy opportunity to end the conversation without drawing any further suspicion to the events of the previous night, but...

It felt dishonest in a way I wasn't comfortable with, so I shook my head. "It wasn't- It's more complicated than that, and I don't... I don't think I can answer pretty much any of the questions you might want to ask me, about it. But no, J- he and I, didn't 'get frisky'." Hettie, more than anyone, seemed disappointed by this correction, but they all appeared confused- and slightly concerned.

"What- If you didn't... 'get frisky' with him, then... what were you doing all night?" Vi asked, sounding distinctly uncomfortable about having to discuss the possibility of me having a sexual encounter with someone- even if I'd already assured them it hadn't happened- and I shrugged.

"Sleeping, mostly."

The shock that followed quickly turned to outrage, and Hettie crossed her arms over her chest roughly. Her glare was probably the hardest she'd ever directed at me, which was still far softer than the type of glare she'd use for anyone else- especially those outside of this room. "Sleeping? You were sleeping? While we were panicking, terrified that you were dead, or hurt somewhere, you were- sleeping?"

I could understand her resentment, too, but it wasn't like I'd engineered things to happen that way- if anything, I was almost as much a passenger as they'd been. The only times I'd had a choice was when I'd refused to allow them to modify my memory, and when they'd offered to turn me into a vampire- which I'd only found out about this morning, after I'd already slept. Could I have put up more of a fight, and tried to convince Lisbet and Jerremyah to take me home last night? Maybe. But considering they'd been attacked- and almost killed- I doubt I would've had much success... and how was I supposed to know that my friends would freak out so severely, when from their point of view, all that should've transpired was an adulterous night of- well... whatever they had in those dirty little heads of theirs.

"I had breakfast, too- are you going to get mad at me for that, next?" There was a hand on my arm immediately- Pip subtly showing his support, in a very Pip way- but Hettie forged ever onward.

"Evie- Look, I know maybe it's not all your fault, but you have to take some semblance of responsibility for-"

"Responsibility? You want to talk to me about responsibility?" At this point, they were all visibly taken aback by the aggressiveness of my outburst, and there was a flicker of guilt across Hettie's face. "It was one night, and I made the best of the situation I found myself in- If you want to blame someone for your distress, take it out on Mr Stabby."

Where Hettie faltered, Lou took over- seeming by far the least affected by my comment about responsibility, as she probably should be. "You think we overreacted," She said, which... wasn't incorrect, but...

"I think you reacted the only way you felt you could, at the time," I said judiciously, which only served to irritate her more. "I'm sure I wouldn't have been any more reasonable than you all w-"

"We were perfectly 'reasonable'!" She snapped, in a rather un-Lou manner, and even Vi and Hettie were shooting her doubtful looks. "You disappeared- That isn't like you, Evie! What were we supposed to assume?"

I shrugged again, but this time I was almost certain some of my frustration leaked into the gesture. "Not the worst possible outcome, instantaneously, that's for sure." Lou's mouth dropped open as though she was offended by the very suggestion. "Admit it, you have a tendency to catastrophize- I think we all do, a little bit-"

"But I'm the worst, is that what you're saying?" I felt my forehead crease, at that. "It's my fault, and you're-" I cut her off before she could continue snarling at me.

"I'm not blaming you, Lou-"

"But you're being very careful to blame everyone but yourself, aren't you, Evie?" Where was this coming from? Was it just sleep-deprived frustration boiling over, or...?

Unsurprisingly, it was Pip that got between us- the way he always did on the rare occasion we girls had a disagreement. "Alright, can we- Lou, have something chocolatey. Evie..." He gave me a look of reluctant disapproval, and I knew I hadn't been as fair as I thought I was being. "We were all really worried, and I think... I don't think it was as unfounded as you're making it out to be."

Now that Lou was grumpily munching on a chocolate biscuit, I nodded begrudgingly. "I know, I'm sorry... I just- I don't think it's fair to blame me for things I had no control over. Again, if there's anyone to blame, it's Tarea Hugar and his band of stab-happy compatriots."

Vi's brows furrowed, and she opened her mouth just in time to prevent Lou from abandoning her biscuit down to lay into me again. "That's the second time you've mentioned 'stabbing'- should I be concerned?" Well... I guess that depended entirely on how she felt about Jerremyah, and his supposed adulterous, criminal ways.

"No, not really- I mean, it's all healed up now, so... it's not worth the mental energy worrying about it would require." Vi stared at me blankly, and the others turned to do the same.

"I'm sorry," Hettie started somewhat sharply. "Someone got stabbed?" She sounded shocked, so Tarea Hugar must've neglected to mention that fact when he'd been trying to brainwash them. My shrug only seemed to cause even more raised brows.

"A little bit, yes- that's why we couldn't stay at the club, because they were- It was too dangerous. And then it was too dangerous to go back. It was only this morning that it was safe enough for them to bring me home, and even so- I mean, he was literally here, in my living room, so I guess 'safe' is subjective."

They stared at me blankly for a minute- until, regrettably, Hettie found her voice. "Wait... is that why you didn't get nailed by the married bad boy- because he got stabbed?" I winced.

"To be fair, I don't think that was the only reason it didn't turn out that way-" Like the fact they'd rather drink my blood, instead. "-but yes. J- he did, in fact, get lightly stabbed." Hettie and Pip shared an incredulously dubious look, before she shook her head slowly, and asked,

"I'm sorry, but... how does one get 'lightly' stabbed?"

Lou crossed her arms over her chest, seeming to lean more toward sullen than actively hostile, now that the biscuit was working its magic. "You don't," She said, rather simply. "You get shallowly stabbed- and I'm going to hazard a guess the dry-cleaning was required to remove more than just ink from that dress... isn't that right, Evie?"

When I didn't deny it, Vi's face scrunched up, and she eyed the garment warily. "That's yours, now," She said firmly. "You can go ahead and keep that. The only blood I want on my clothing is mine- and even then only the naturally lost sort, if I can help it." I couldn't blame her for that, and honestly... I hoped that was a desire I could make sure came true for her. No matter what happened- what my future turned out like- I hoped I could make sure Vi remained unscathed through it all- the way she'd done for me, during our childhood, and even up until we'd parted ways, last night. It was my turn to keep her safe... and the first step of that was, unfortunately, to lie my butt off.

(A/N): Everyone: *yelling at Evie*

Evie: *standing her ground for once, and yelling back*

Pip: 'Please, for the love of God, everyone just Calm. Down.'

So, please don't be mad at Evie's friends for getting mad at her (particularly Hettie and Lou). You have to remember that they're all sleep-deprived (again, especially Lou), so they're not in the best of moods anyway, and Evie is being a bit... well, in their eyes, she's being exceptionally nonchalant about the whole thing, and writing it off as no big deal, whereas they were having what was quite possibly the scariest night of their lives up until this point. And part of it is also the fact that it IS really out of character for Evie, and while they're all REALLY happy to have her back, that's in the back of all their minds, and will come up more later, but as of right now, they're just confused and frustrated, and they aren't capable of filtering their emotions as well as they usually would. And I think Evie herself is surprised by their reactions, because usually they DO hide at least part of it from her, whereas this time she's getting the full brunt of their worry (because she was legitimately in quite a bit of danger this time, unlike every other time), and she can't answer they're questions, which would be immensely frustrating to people who just want to know WHAT happened, and what EXACTLY went wrong, so they can prevent it from happening again. Also, for all of Evie's talk about THEIR resentment, she clearly harbors some resentment for her friends as well, in certain areas, but is too 'nice' to ever address it. Well... to address it YET, anyway.