"Are you okay?" asked Renee with concern, her dark eyes focused on Seth who had slowed down and fallen to the back of the group. Becky was also nervous but had quickened her pace rather than slowed down. Determined to get to her destination, before the jitters and self-doubt got the better of her. AJ had caught up to ask her the same question Renee had, as the majority of the mix-and-match group headed to the NXT sports hall, with the hope of reuniting the group once more and ending whatever power trip Serenity was on.
"Yeah" replied Seth, the overwhelming feelings he tried to suppress flooding through his dark eyes. "It's just ... this would be the first time I've really gotten the chance to see Echo since everything happened. We haven't spoken about anything, I thought if I gave her space she'd come back in her own time" admitted the brunette, as he remembered how quickly everything had fallen apart. Echo had been by his side one day, by the next she was gone. Although he questioned who she avoided more, him or Becky, like with Finn both had helped break her heart.
"Maybe she's like Finn" spoke Maryse, appearing to Seth's right, her usual friendly smile in place as she linked arms with the taller teenager. Renee did the same on his left, as both girls began to lead him towards the hall after he'd come to a stop. "Maybe she's afraid, or maybe she doesn't know how to come back. Fear can be a powerful thing, especially after someone's been hurt" added the beautiful blonde, as she gestured towards Roman and Summer. How the leggy blonde purposely kept distance between herself and the Samoan teen, making it clear she wasn't ready to forgive him, he'd hurt her and was yet to truly apologize for it or give her an explanation as to why.
"I miss her" admitted the brunette, at least thankful Echo hadn't completely pulled away. She still engages in video calls and group chats. She still went to group outings and answered messages he sent her. The only thing to truly change was how she acted around both Becky and himself. Understandably she avoided them, or if she did interact with them, she wasn't as warm and bubbly as before. Instead, she was cold and kept the interaction as short as possible without being rude. When in school, she was only seen in shared classes and wrestling training, the rest of the time it was as if she disappeared completely.
"I miss the way she just randomly appears, her laughter and smile. I miss the little things others don't see, like the way her eyes shimmer when she's up to something, or the way she's never been afraid to be herself" he listed, as he thought about all the things Echo brought to his day. The way her laughter could instantly lighten his mood or even how she appeared out of nowhere brought a sense of mystery to an otherwise ordinary school day.
"Do me a favor and tell her that" called Nikki, the eldest of the Bella twins, linking arms with Brie before skipping off in the same way AJ and Echo used to, fearless in the face of judgmental and opinionated students. Brie's laughter soon rang out, a smile to match appearing as the feeling of being free overtook her. The old Brie would have judged those brave enough to be different and let their true personality shine, but that wasn't who she was anymore, now she was aiming to be like those brave few.
"We should bring back the Lame Game" commented Brie, noticing Dominik walking just ahead. He didn't seem to notice them coming, instead bobbing his head in time to the beat of the music he was listening to. At the same time, he tapped away at his phone, no doubt letting Rhea know he was close by if only so one of them could open the door. Brie's assumption of the Mysterio not noticing them was soon proven wrong when he offered a simple wave.
"Darklings keep it going. At this point, Aleister and Cross are in a mini tournament to see who's better at it" called Dominik, turning around in time to crash into the glass wall of the NXT hall entrance. Damian the other side tried to suppress the wave of laughter, as he opened the door, waving for the larger group to follow. Making it clear the message Roman had sent as a heads-up had been received. "Come on man, you really gonna make me jump" commented Dominik, hoping by voicing his thought Damian would lower his hand for the routine high five. Instead, Damian confirmed the younger Mysterio would have to jump with a simple nod, chuckling when the younger teen did so to reach.
"Follow me" commented Dominik, as he led the larger mismatched group through the massive hall to the gym hidden at the back of it. There the remaining Darklings were all up to something. Finn and Aleister were sparing in the wrestling ring, Echo was at the punching bag, whereas Rhea and Cross were on the treadmills, acting as if they were racing. Neither of them seemed to take much notice when the door opened, likely assuming it was the Archer of Infamy returning with Rhea's boo.
"Did anyone ever say you lot suck at welcomes?" voiced Dominik, his words echoing around the large open space, as did Damian's chuckling, as he walked across the room. Almost instantly the five there stopped what they were doing, their attention turning to the larger group and the missing Darkling. "What you do. Y'all just missed an entire group of like fifteen entering the hall" he added with a cheeky grin.
"Dom I love you, but shut up" called Rhea, as she shut the treadmill off and stepped over to the benches, retrieving her water bottle soon after. "Before the makeup session starts, what was Roman volunteering as a tribute for?" questioned the Ozzie-born teen, receiving a few quiet laughs, mostly from AJ, as she struggled to contain her thoughts. Punk too must have thought the same thing.
"Forget that. I want to know what's up with the tension going on between Seth and Becky" commented Aleister from the ring, a chuckle escaping him the moment both named teenagers looked at each other and then at him with horror. "Even the blind can see it" added the Dutch teen, before stepping from the ring, noticing Damian was standing close to Echo as if preparing for the worst-case scenario. Finn on the other hand didn't say anything as she left the ring and walked off after checking his messages.
"You didn't let McDoughnut in?" questioned Echo, turning her attention to Damian attempting to hide behind the punching bag. His only response was an innocent grin before dodging the playful punch she threw in his direction.
"JD McDonagh" called Cross upon noticing the collective group of confused expressions. "He transferred not too long ago, knew Finn from Ireland so naturally drifted this way" she explained, while also expressing they hadn't lost the values of the mismatched group, even when they had split off. Instead, they had taken JD under their wing and did their best to ensure he knew he had people to turn to and rely on.
"Rumor mill is running wild today" spoke JD upon entering the gym area. Finn almost crashed into him, when he stopped suddenly upon seeing the rest of the famous group there. "Hi, I'm JD. This lot calls me McDoughnut" he waved, before continuing on as if nothing was out of the ordinary, instead walking over to Rhea and Dom, only to be pulled down on the bench by the Ozzie teen. "Anyway, rumor has it Brie there ripped into Serenity during the last break and said Ditzy Hippo is pissed Roman's not with her" he finished as if it was something everyone already knew. Brie merely grinned, at least glad a part of her confrontation with her former friends was known to everyone. She had little doubt it was because she was the loudest when it came to Serenity.
"Your new girlfriend is a pain in the ass" commented Finn, recalling the last time Serenity tried rubbing salt in the wound. He had ignored it, as had Echo to begin with. However, the Gothic teen eventually retaliated with her own brand of mind games. When the ditzy brunette tried to continue the torment of her younger cousin, she was met with a fight she couldn't handle. A fight that only ended when Damian intervened, pulling Echo away, Daniel eventually got to Serenity, but not before sending a dirty look Echo's way.
"She's not my girlfriend" simply responded Roman
"Did you tell her that? She certainly acts like you're together" retorted Finn, his tone cold as he made it clear he wasn't pleased about Roman being there.
"Look" sighed Roman, noticing how Finn's eyes seemed to darken likely with anger. "I'm not here to fight. I came to fix what I stupidly allowed to be broken, what I helped to break. If you want to hate me then go ahead, but we need to talk about everything and air the grievances" he voiced with regret on full display. The glance Echo and Finn shared didn't go unnoticed, the simple glance filled with uncertainty, pain, and hurt, the feelings they tried so hard to hide over the month or so.
"I didn't realize I needed permission to hate you Roman" calmly but coldly responded the Irish teen, his icy eyes glued to the Samoan teen and former school sports star. "But since you want to fix what you helped tear apart. You can start by apologizing to Summer, explaining to her why you broke her heart, why you allowed Serenity to humiliate her, why you strung her along" stated Finn, seeing the way Roman froze, it being clear he hadn't expected someone to turn the spotlight on him so soon. "Summer, Seth, and Dean were the three you hurt the most after all"
"Actually I wanted to start" spoke Becky, her voice loud in the otherwise quiet room, when the attention turned to her, it was clear she had surprised herself by speaking up, it being clear she had voiced the words running through her mind at the time. "Finn I know you want to blame Roman and Serenity for your pain, but we both know that's not true. I was the one who hurt you, who broke your trust" started the Irish teen stepping close to Finn, expecting him to move away, but he didn't instead he stayed rooted to the spot. "I wish I could tell you I regretted what happened between me and Seth, I wish I could have been brave enough to tell you the truth about so many things and I wish more than anything I didn't shatter your heart like I did. If I could do everything over, I would have told you from the beginning and made sure you knew how important you were and still are to me. I am truly sorry for hurting you, and I thank you for not putting our friends in the middle of our problems" whispered the fiery-haired teen.
She was surprised when the teary-eyed Finn pulled her toward him, only to whisper a question to her, a question she simply responded to with a nod. At the same time, it was clear to all there, that Finn had forgiven Becky a while ago but hadn't said anything nor returned to the group to avoid the awkwardness. Plus by that time everyone had settled into the "new" routine.
Seth was about to speak up, but the moment his dark eyes landed on Echo, he saw her shaking her head, signaling she wasn't ready to air everything out to everyone there. She hadn't just been avoiding him but her pain too, something the other Darklings appeared to have realized at some point. The coldness and anger were a result of her trying to ignore the agony and torment.
"Before you say anything Roman, before you say what you think I want to hear, don't" voiced Summer, standing next to Echo, at some point she'd moved. "All of this pain and torment, that wasn't just Serenity's doing, but yours too. And I can't forgive you because of it. You didn't only constantly break my heart and make me feel like a worthless toy, but your actions threatened to rip away my family too, causing pain to some of them" she added, breathing deeply and wiping away the tears beginning to stain her cheeks. "I asked you so many times over the weeks where we stand. You wouldn't even acknowledge me let alone answer. So here is the answer I was avoiding, our relationship ended the moment you turned your back on everything we stood for, everything our friends stood for. You may say Serenity isn't your girlfriend, but you're the only one who believes it. I deserve to be treated better than how you treated me, and I hope you learn from your stupidity and treat the next girl who gives you her heart with the respect and decency she deserves" she finished, stopping the Samoan teen before he had the chance to speak.
"Can I speak?" asked Brie, unsure why she was asking, other than to take some of the spotlight from Roman, who was finally realizing the true extent of what his actions had caused. "I just realized, I never truly apologized for what I did to some of you before. Back when I was the Queen Bitch. None of you deserved that, If I'm being honest I was afraid and jealous. You guys were never afraid to be yourselves, I envied each of you for that, as I was too afraid of what the people I believed were my friends would think. Please never stop being the unique people you are. All Star Academy is better because it has fearless and courageous students like yourselves" she spoke with a small nervous smile.
"Are you crying?" spoke Rhea, looking on either side of her, to see both Dominik and JD with tears in their eyes. JD didn't bother hiding it, whereas Dom quickly dapped his eyes in an attempt to hide the evidence.
"Not all of us have a heart of stone Mami" replied Dom, quickly running to hide behind Summer, narrowly dodging Rhea's attempt to swot him.
"So is Seth in a threesome now?" questioned Aleister, holding his hands up as if to surrender the moment Echo sent a death glare in his direction. "I'm curious, although I don't envy him for the awkward place he's in" added the Dutch teen known as the Devil, noticing only the Darklings and Summer had heard his words.
"I hate you right now" simply replied Echo.
"Love you too Demon" retorted Aleister with a cheeky grin. "And so does Damian" he added all but throwing Damian under the bus. The taller teen in question looked as if he'd seen a ghost before wishing he could disappear completely, especially when Summer turned to him and Echo froze. Rhea and Cross's laughter at the situation soon drew the attention of the remaining group members, who in turn could only question what they had missed.