Chapter 124
Quod periit, periit
"What is gone is gone"

"What necessity is there to dwell on the Past,
when the Present is so much surer—
the Future so much brighter?"
—Jane Eyre

Kagome leaned back and rubbed her eyes. She was definitely not going to finish her homework before tomorrow. There were so many assignments left to do, and it was getting late.

She really needed to go back to school tomorrow, because she'd already missed one test, and she was having one the day after tomorrow. So studying was going to be a necessity.

She was going to have to stay up late as it was, and she didn't want to, but she need to have something to help her at least attempt to pass these tests.

Why hadn't she been more diligent about doing her homework?

Well, she knew why, but at the same time, she hadn't exactly spent what little time she did have being productive.

A shadow appeared over her eyes, and she opened them to see Inuyasha standing over her.

She smiled.

Maybe today wasn't so bad.

"I found the crutches," he announced, and he surprisingly didn't look happy about it.

"Is that a problem?"

"Don't see why you need them. I can carry you wherever you want."

"Inuyasha, you can't go to my school though. They won't let you in."

A look passed over his face, a shadow of something, and she reached up to tug on his forelock.

"It's not because you're hanyou or look different. It's because you're not a student."

"I could be a student for a day."

"That's not a thing."

"Have you asked?"

"I don't have to ask to know it's not a thing. You have to have an ID and be registered."

"Shippo could probably make me one of those," he said, fingering the ID she kept clipped to her school bag.

"It's only for a few hours. I'll manage on the crutches. And I'll be sitting for most of that time anyway."

He huffed in irritation.

"You're supposed to be resting."

"I am resting," she answered, and he raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm already so far behind, and I've already missed one test, and the material for the next one is going to be done in class tomorrow. I have to go. There's just no way around it."

He mumbled something under his breath, and she stared at him as he looked away, clearly not wanting to look at her.

"What did you say?"

"Doesn't matter," he mumbled.

"Yes, it does. What did you say?"

He huffed again, crossing his arms in front of his chest, defensive already.

Kagome had half a mind to let it drop, but that was like losing and Kagome did not lose.

Well, not gracefully at least.

"Inuyasha, what did you say?" He glanced over at her, but resolutely kept his mouth shut.

Probably just to make her mad.

Wait.

"Are you making me mad so I'll quit studying?"

She definitely did not miss the red face that flushed in his cheeks, and Kagome felt a little bad about how much she'd been studying, and she'd be studying tomorrow too, and finishing homework in addition to that as well.

"Sorry," she apologized, reaching out to touch his sleeve, but he still refused to look at her directly, "but this is something that I have to do here. It's important."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why is it important?"

Kagome started to reply with the standard answers: to get a good job, to go to college, to have a good life.

But were any of those things that she really wanted? Or did she really want them anymore?

Her life had completely altered from what she'd initially intended when she'd been just another student in school.

But now? Was school—was university—something that she really wanted to do after all this? Once the jewel was complete, what did she intend to do? Get a regular office job?

Somehow working in a regular office for eight hours a day didn't seem as fulfilling.

What if she had to choose where she lived?

What if she didn't have a choice?

What if the well closed and she couldn't see her mother?

What if she couldn't see Inuyasha again?

Her chest tightened, and the air was heavy and thin, and it refused to fill up her lungs.

She was moving, and her hands clutched at whatever she could grab until she was crushed against the soft material of the fire rat.

How was she supposed to survive without Inuyasha?

She loved him so much!

She loved him and the thought of not seeing him—it hurt.

Hurt more than she wanted to admit to herself or to anyone.

Blinking, she stared at the leg of her desk. She was sitting on the floor, and Inuyasha held onto her tightly.

She twisted just enough to wrap her arms around his middle, crying into his shoulder. He gave her just enough allowance to let her move but quickly reclaimed his hold on her.

His fingers ran through her hair slowly, avoiding all the knots and tangles with each swipe, and his cheek rested firmly against the top of her head, reminding her that he was real and here, whether he meant to or not.

She didn't want to have to choose but she didn't know what side she would choose either.

Her family or Inuyasha?

How was she supposed to say that she valued one over the other?

"Kagome?" He asked, and she grabbed onto him tighter.

"I don't want to choose!" She cried into his shoulder.

Inuyasha, to his credit, did nothing other than hold her and stroke her hair.

She cried herself into sniffles, and Inuyasha placed a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"So much for recuperating, huh?" He asked, and she let out a wet and unappealing laugh, but he nuzzled her hair anyway.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled, still resting her head against him.

"What're you apologizing for?"

"I don't know," she whined. "Just being me, I guess."

"I happen to like you, you know."

She smiled into his shoulder, nodding.

"That's good." She didn't want to get up, but she knew that she probably should. It would be better if she did. She had so much work to do, and she needed to go to school tomorrow.

"What is it?" Inuyasha asked, fingers still running through her hair.

"What's what?"

"Whatever's got you panicking."

Kagome shook her head, still resting against his shoulder.

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing if you're doing this."

Kagome winced, glad that he couldn't see it.

He was right. She was panicking over something that was both dumb and not dumb.

"Is it the papers you've been stressing over?"

"That's—it's a part of it." She let out a long sigh. "I want to do well, and it's hard being on the other side of the well. Sometimes, I wonder if it's even worth trying anymore, but then I'm worried that one day we'll be separated and if I don't do well, then what do I do?"

Inuyasha's arms wrapped around her, holding onto her tightly.

"We're not going to be separated," his tone was so matter-of-fact that it sounded like there was simply no other option.

"You don't know that," she mumbled into his shoulder. "You don't know what's going to happen."

"Even if we were, I'd wait for you."

Kagome reared back, staring him in the face.

"Inuyasha! That's almost five hundred years!"

"So?" He said with a shrug, like it was no more serious than talking about where to go eat.

"You can't just wait half a millennia," she emphasized the word, "for me to appear again!"

To this, he merely shrugged again.

"It's not so long if I know you're here."

To this, Kagome could feel her eyes watering.

"You're supposed to stop crying, dummy," he said, though his tone was anything but chiding.

"You're the dummy!" She cried back, shoving his shoulder, even as she clung to him. "Saying stupid nice things like that!"

He didn't have to say anything for Kagome to practically hear the grin on his face forming, even as he kissed her hair and held her close against him.

Jerk.

Even though she didn't know what she would do without him, he was still a jerk. Pushing herself away from him, he flashed her a grin as she looked at him.

"Someone needs to get some sleep."

Kagome shoved him again.

"Not yet."

"You're crying over nothing, and you're telling me that I'm saying stupid nice things. You need a good long night nap."

Inuyasha picked her up from where she sat in his lap, carrying her to the bathroom. He leaned against the door jamb as he waited for her to commence her nightly routine.

She huffed in irritation.

How dare he just think that she needed to brush her teeth and take a nap! Who did he think he was?

Kagome grabbed her toothbrush and squirted some toothpaste on it and started angrily brushing her teeth as she shot him a look in the mirror.

Inuyasha for one didn't seem particularly bothered by anything she was doing or her glares. Instead, he seemed overly dismissive, like they weren't bothering him at all.

He looked at her like he thought they were cute or something.

Kagome shot him a particularly menacing glare, and he just looked at her like she just offered him an origami swan.

Like it was adorable and cute and—and—well, cute!

And the fact that it wasn't menacing to him just made her madder at him.

She turned and spat out the foam, and Inuyasha just watched her like he wasn't in any danger.

"You gonna rinse or just try to burn me to a crisp with your eyes?"

Kagome huffed drying her face with the towel.

Inuyasha said nothing except leaning away from the door jamb, waiting for her to finish up, like this was just another ordinary day.

He just waited, stepping into the bathroom, clearly ready to whisk her back to her bedroom—probably to make her sleep or something.

Like she needed a nap!

Like a child!

Kagome slapped her towel down on the counter and was prepared to give him a piece of her mind.

"Kagome?" Souta called from down the hall. "Are you done? I need to use the bathroom."

"Yes," she ground out. "Have at it."

"Wow, what put you in such a bad mood?" Souta asked as he walked past her and towards the sink.

Kagome turned towards her brat of a brother, and Inuyasha quickly grabbed her, hoisting her up with one arm around her waist.

"Your sister needs a good nap," Inuyasha said as he carted her out of the bathroom.

"I do not!" Kagome snapped, kicking her feet out.

"Sounds like she needs a long one," Souta muttered, loud enough that she was sure that he meant for her to hear him.

"What was that, brat?"

The door slammed shut—out of fear—and Kagome felt somewhat mollified about the whole scene.

With the exception of Inuyasha, who had already carted her back inside her bedroom and set her on the bed.

"It's time for sleep," he told her, tugging the blankets down.

"I'm not tired."

"You want to get up early tomorrow to go to school, so you need sleep."

"I still have stuff to do!" She pointed to her desk that was still overflowing with work, and it felt like she'd barely made a dent in any of it, even though she'd been working on it all day.

"Kagome, you could work on all that shit for the rest of the night and still not be done. You need sleep."

"Maybe you need sleep!" Kagome snapped back as Inuyasha walked over and flicked off her lamp.

"You'll thank me in the morning," he said, picking her up and settling her against the pillow.

"Doubt it," she mumbled, wriggling under the covers. She didn't want to go to school tomorrow, and she'd like to feel like she had control over something in her life here in the first place.

Her control over her own life felt tenuous at best, and she just wanted to be able to turn in her work so it didn't look like she was just lounging about at home like a couch potato. She wasn't living up the fun life like most people seemed to think.

She worked hard! She tried to do good! It wasn't her fault that there were just—so many things happening that seemed to work against her at all points. She'd tried to keep up with her school work and make sure that she was on the same level as her peers, but there was so much happening on the other side that she couldn't manage everything all the time.

Inuyasha sat down on the ground beside her bed, and Kagome blinked.

He wasn't going to come up here with her?

"Inuyasha?" She whispered, and she saw his head turn in the moonlight. Ears flicking in her direction as he listened.

Kagome hated how small she felt in her bed.

She felt small everywhere, except for when she was with him.

And all that anger flowed out of her, leaving her feeling empty and hurt. She wasn't mad at him. She was mad at herself, for forgetting, and she was tired. Inuyasha was right and trying to help, and she'd bitten his head off for it.

She was lucky he hadn't left her here and gone back to the well. She couldn't even blame him if he did.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and his head turned towards her fully.

There was silence on his part, not that she was surprised.

"You were right," she whispered and there was a snort from his direction.

"Just figured that out, huh?"

Kagome felt her eyes start to water.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again.

Inuyasha was on his feet and settling on the edge of the bed.

"Kagome, I'm not mad," he explained, and her fingers looped around the wrist closest to her.

"But you were there and not here," Kagome whispered, trying to grab onto him as he lifted his hand.

"Thought you were pissy enough to want me to stay over here."

Kagome shook her head at the sentiment.

"Please?" She asked him, and there was a long moment of quiet—the kind that felt heavier and more oppressive the longer it went.

"You sure?" He asked, and she nodded, even as he was already slipping in under the sheets. Her arms reached out for him, tugging herself against him.

She felt safe here. Nothing would get her now.

"You think you can put a little note on that calendar thing?"

Kagome pulled back a little to look up at his face, even thought it was mostly shadowed in darkness—only the barest edges of his profile were lit by moonlight.

"For what?"

"So I can remind you that you said I was right today."

Kagome shoved his shoulder, laughing as she buried her face into his chest and his arms wrapped around her.

There was a sharp and sudden lurch of her bed, leaving her with a distinct chill as her door opened, and she saw her mother standing there.

"Good morning," her mother said, as Kagome blearily sat up and looked at her. "I'll have breakfast ready in a bit for you."

"Thanks," Kagome murmured, still half asleep and trying to figure out what had just happened as her mother closed the door partially behind her as she left to wake up Souta.

She turned to look at Inuyasha, who was pointedly staring at the door from where he was sitting on the floor.

"Why are you on the floor?"

"Uh," Inuyasha looked at her like she was an idiot. "Your mother was coming up to wake you."

Kagome looked at the door and then back at him.

"Are you afraid of my mother?"

"No!" He stammered out, rising to his feet. "I am not afraid of your mother! She just has my clothes!"

Kagome could only stare at him as his face flustered and he stumbled over words.

Her impossibly sweet hanyou was entirely flustered over being caught sleeping next to her.

While she wasn't exactly immune to her own flusters about that whole scenario—not to mention thankful that he was aware enough to move so they didn't have to have that conversation—it was also funny to think that someone who'd stared down creatures with claws the size of her house was afraid of her mother who didn't have a terrifying bone in her body.

"What're you laughing at?" Inuyasha grumbled.

"Sorry," she said, wiping her eyes, "but my mom is the least terrifying thing on the planet."

"She's still scary," he said, crossing his arms.

"I shouldn't have laughed, but you have to admit, you've fought way scarier things than my mother," she said, hesitating for just a moment before leaning over to peck his cheek with a kiss.

It was—it was nice to be able to do that freely.

Inuyasha deserved to be shown affection, and she wanted to give it, but knowing how he'd reacted last time, she didn't want to overwhelm him.

So little things. Like building immunity.

Soon, it wouldn't bother him at all.

Inuyasha's cheeks still bloomed pink, and his eyes only glanced over at her before looking away as his cheeks took on an even darker color.

"Well, are you going to help me get ready or am I going to have to do this myself?" She moved to stand up, pushing herself off the bed to stand, and Inuyasha was already moving with a scowl on his face—pink cheeked and all.

"You're not supposed to be walking on that thing."

"Then get moving, Dog Boy. We don't have all morning to get to class," she said, holding her arms up in expectation. Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha picked her up off the ground and hauled her towards the bathroom.

Setting her down in front of the sink, he gave her a firm look.

"I'm gonna go grab my clothes. Don't fuck anything up."

"Me or the bathroom?"

His eyes darted to the wall behind her and then back to her.

"Both."

And then he was gone back down the hallway. Kagome shut the door and commenced getting ready for school.

It took her a bit longer to get ready than normal because her ankle was still being a little finicky about pressure and movement. It felt tender, but not like she couldn't put any pressure on it at all.

It was more like she knew that she could walk on it, but that she'd regret it later.

She thought that putting a little bit of pressure might be useful and test the waters, but she knew that if Inuyasha found out she was attempting to walk on it, then she'd probably be forbidden from going or doing anything the whole time they were here. Not to mention that he'd probably make them stay longer and convince her mother to force into bed rest.

She knew that he'd be happy to do it too, the jerk.

Instead, Kagome patiently waited for Inuyasha to carry her downstairs into the kitchen. Her crutches leaned up against the wall near the door, and she sighed.

Now that she was going to school today, she really didn't want to. She was tired of all the looks and the murmurs and rumors surrounding her absences.

She knew that it shouldn't bother her. That the whispers were just that, but she missed feeling like she was part of something here.

Now, the feudal era felt more familiar than this place did.

Even as they ate through their breakfasts—with Inuyasha finishing her plate off, even though he was unhappy about her not finishing her meal—Kagome felt a sense of unease settling through her. She shouldn't, but she did.

Inuyasha pulled her onto his back, using the crutches to support her weight as he leapt and ran over rooftops and towards her school.

"Don't drop down right in front," Kagome told him as they approached the building.

"You're not supposed to walk—!"

"I didn't say drop me a mile off, but I have to at least walk up to the building or else someone is going to get suspicious of the random youkai that just fell out of the sky."

Inuyasha grumbled under his breath and huffed loudly.

"Thank you," she told him, squeezing her arms around his neck, hoping to mollify him just a bit.

He'd insisted on her wearing a sweater when she left, and she was glad that she did. The run over the city was proving colder than she'd thought it would be.

Inuyasha, disagreeing with her request every bit but doing it anyway, dropped down the next building over into a narrow alleyway where no one was really paying attention.

He let her down gently, waiting for her to get her footing before letting her go completely. Reaching out for the crutches, she slid them under her arms, taking the weight off her injured ankle.

Adjusting the straps of her backpack a little, she took a tentative step forward, swinging the crutches with her.

"See? I can totally walk with these."

She looked over her shoulder at Inuyasha, who looked less than enthusiastic about the whole endeavor.

"It would just be easier to let me help you," he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"You wanna walk me to the gates?" She asked him, and his ears flicked. "Oh, that's right, you brought the scarf with you, right?"

"Yes," he groaned, already wrapping it around his head and tying it off at his neck. "Don't see why I have to hide them all the time."

"Because," she said, turning to face him, "I don't want anyone else thinking they're cute and rubbing them."

"Like I'd let anyone else touch them," he muttered, moving up to walk beside her on the sidewalk as they emerged from the alley. It was busy, and Inuyasha made sure to walk on her left side, blocking her from the street.

Once they reached the gate, she paused, looking up at him.

"You'll come find me when school is over, right?"

"Like I'm leaving your ass anywhere," he scoffed. "I'll be up on the roof. Holler when you're ready to go."

"You can go home if you want. I won't be done for hours. Mama can tell you when school is about to end."

"It's fine, Kagome. I'm gonna wait there, so I might as well wait here," he shrugged, "in case you need me or something."

Reaching out, she lightly touched his haori, and his hand closed over her own.

"You okay?"

"I've gone to school all my life. Why does it feel different now?" She looked over at the school building as people passed by her, eyeing Inuyasha and whispering about them.

Inuyasha merely shrugged.

"We changed. They didn't."

Kagome sighed. He was right. She had changed, and it felt like no one else had either.

"You haven't changed."

Inuyasha merely let out a snort of disagreement.

"I've changed plenty," he said. "You want me to walk you in?"

"No," she shook her head, patting his chest and pulling her hand away. "I need to do this on my own."

Inuyasha nodded, seeming to understand what she meant.

She grabbed the crutch, shifting her weight again, and looking at the school building.

It was large, but it had never felt imposing before.

A mass of boys walked behind her, and she felt herself stiffening at their presence, even though they hadn't said or done anything towards her or Inuyasha.

"Hey," he said, drawing her gaze back to him. "You need me, you call."

Kagome nodded, taking a short breath as she turned towards the school, following the mass group of students.

Thankfully, talking to her teacher and handing in her missing assignments took up the majority of the time before class, and Kagome managed to avoid talking to anyone, but she could hear the faint residue of whispers of her return, her appearance, of the boy she'd been standing so close to.

This was starting to feel more and more like a mistake.

She hobbled to her seat, sitting and digging through her backpack for her notebook and pencils.

"Alright class," the teacher started.

"Kagome!" Eri hissed, and Kagome only glanced over at her. The teacher cleared his throat, and Eri slunk away back into the area of her own workspace.

That was better.

Kagome could do this part.

Studying and learning were easy; it was just information that she needed to write down, process, and remember. It was mundane and every day, or it had been, but it wasn't anymore.

The bell for class rang, and Kagome took a breath right before the onslaught of her three friends appeared.

"Where have you been?"

"Who was that at the gate?"

"What happened to your leg?

"Was that your two-timing boyfriend?"

"You were out for a really long time."

"Your mom said you we couldn't visit."

The group rambled until they were a mass of words and sounds with no discernible start or finish. The three of them cornered her in her desk, and she leaned back, trying her best not to panic.

"Well?" Yuka asked her, tilting her head forward.

"Well, what?" Kagome asked, swallowing the hard, dry lump in her throat.

"What happened?"

"I—uh—I sprained my ankle," she said. "I fell."

"You're so clumsy, Kagome."

"I guess it's good that your boyfriend is here to help then," Eri said, leaning forward on her desk. Hands firmly planted on the hard top.

Kagome didn't know what to say to that. Inuyasha was her boyfriend, and Kagome wasn't denying that—to anyone who asked.

But her friends would freak out and squeal and draw more attention if she agreed with Eri.

At the same time, she didn't appreciate her tone and insinuation about the term used.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagome said, staring directly at Eri. Kagome wasn't about to let her speak badly about Inuyasha or suggest that he was being anything less than nice to her. "Inuyasha offered to help at the shrine while I'm recovering, so yeah, it is a good thing that he's here to help me."

Her eyes narrowed at Eri, who at least looked like she might have felt a little bad about what she'd said.

"Did he carry your bags to school for you?" Ayumi asked her.

"Yeah, he's been so helpful and sweet about everything," Kagome answered honestly.

She might've just left out that he also hauled her across the city as well. But that was a Kagome-only secret.

"Is he going to come pick you up after school?" Ayumi asked, hands clasped in front of her and a dreamy look settling on her face. "Because that's so sweet."

Kagome nodded.

"He's going to take me home," she said, and Eri—for whatever reason—looked immensely suspicious.

The teacher walked in, and Kagome breathed out a sigh of relief as her friends all returned to their desks and left her alone.

By the time lunch rolled around, Kagome had managed to get her missing assignments turned in and arranged to retake her missing exams tomorrow after school. It was only two, thankfully, and she still had to study for the two that were tomorrow, and there was one on Friday.

So she was going to be a lot busy for her week home. But then it would be over and she could relax a little over the weekend and then it would be okay.

She just had to endure a little while longer, and then she could relax.

Inuyasha probably wouldn't be thrilled, but at least she wouldn't be on her ankle?

Already seeing her friends heading towards her desk, she honestly wished that she could sneak up to the roof, and have a quiet moment that didn't involve being interrogated by her friends over what label she and Inuyasha were applying to their relationship.

She'd managed to avoid all the other class changes by talking to her teachers, but she couldn't exactly limp off to the roof, even though she really wanted to.

It felt like there was a keen element to her life missing, and it was Inuyasha. She'd been with him almost every day for the majority of the day, and now she missed being able to turn to him and make a comment or feeling his youki reassure her that he was nearby.

"So," Eri said, sliding her chair over to Kagome's desk with Yuka and Ayumi following. "Have you told Hojo?"

"Told Hojo what?"

"That you and the two-timer are back together."

"He's not a two-timer," Kagome explained with a roll of her eyes.

"Well, that's not how you described him before," Yuka pointed out as she took a bite of her lunch.

"I—I didn't understand everything. I was wrong."

Eri didn't seem so convinced.

"Well, at least you understand now."

"Yeah, thanks, Ayumi."

The girl nodded, eating her own lunch.

Eri said nothing, but Kagome could almost see the wheels turning.

"Did you go out with that class 2 guy?" She asked Yuka, who brightened up at the chance to spread her own gossip, and immediately launched into recounting the whole experience.

With some carefully placed questions, Kagome managed to keep them out of her own relationship with Inuyasha.

And then there were only a few minutes left and Kagome excused herself to the bathroom, grabbing her crutches and slipping off into the hallways and away from the interrogations.

It was mostly quiet in the bathroom—there was still some chatter echoing around the tiled space, but it was easy to ignore and tune out.

As she stood in front of the mirror washing her hands, she glanced over at the girl next to her, who was carefully putting her hair in just the right place. Kagome looked at her own reflection.

She was thinner than she remembered, her skin tanned slightly from being out in the sun, but there was nothing obvious that showed how different this Kagome was from the previous iteration.

She didn't even freak out about putting on her uniform this morning.

Kagome smiled at her own fortitude as she dried her hands.

She hadn't even thought twice about it.

For the first time in a very long time, Kagome felt like she was finally healing.

When the bell rang, Kagome began packing up her things, slipping her backpack over her shoulder and grabbing her crutches. Hauling herself upright, she limped over to the elevator and rode it down.

Inuyasha was going to be outside waiting on her, and she was eager to see him for the first time in hours.

Kagome slipped out through the doors, and her eyes scanned the crowd looking for the bright swath of red or silver.

She saw him leaning against the fence, feeling a smile spread across her face. He seemed to see her at the same time and straightened as she hobbled over to him.

Inuyasha walked over, plucking the backpack off her shoulders, allowing her to slip out of the straps before he removed it entirely.

"How'd it go?" He asked.

"I'm wearing my uniform!" She blurted out, grinning up at him. His eyes appraised her, staring at her as he didn't quite seem to grasp the reason for the celebration.

"Are you proud that you kept your clothes on?"

"No!" She laughed as she smacking his arm, eliciting a grin from him as he slipped her backpack over his own shoulder. "I'm wearing it, and I didn't freak out about it this morning!" Her face felt like it was going to split in half from grinning. "I just put it on!"

Inuyasha smiled, and Kagome felt herself melt a little.

"I missed you," she answered, shifting her weight on her crutches. "Did you miss me?"

"What sort of dumb fucking question is that?" He scoffed, cheeks tinted pink.

She smiled up at him, and there was an overwhelming desire to kiss him.

However, she knew that there were several eyes currently watching them, and she refrained.

"Wanna go home?" She asked, and he gave her a short nod.

"You okay to walk for a bit?" He asked, and she nodded. She was perfectly fine walking right next to him. As long as her place was next to him, she was fine.

A/N: Happy Thursday! You get a very long chapter in return for waiting for another chapter for a while. 😬 Just a month. I've been struggling with the future of this fic since I have decided to not abide by my original outline. So just bear with me. I'm just on the struggle bus. One day, my brain will return to normal function.

But I promise that another update is coming for another fic to make the separation more palatable.