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Rosalie woke up to an aching in her calves. She sat up and immediately crumbled, groaning against the vice-like grip God had on her calf muscles. Cursing, she laid as still as possible, but the charley horse continued for another minute before inevitably fading, and leaving Rosalie too paranoid to move again.

    She slumped back down onto her pillow, hand to her forehead. She felt greasy despite the shower she had the night before. It was Sunday, which meant no practice, and nothing else to work on due to her teachers taking it easy on them for Homecoming. It would just be here, Sami, and... their two guests.

    Rosalie let her eyes follow the trail of sunlight stretching over the living room ceiling. All was quiet in the house. She imagined her mother was already up and about—she recalled Tante Bee suggesting something about the gym that morning, and so her mother was probably long gone on her morning out with Tante Bee.

    Rosalie felt warm from her toes to her shoulders, her face exposed to the chill of the autumn morning. She sniffled a little and turned onto her side, facing away from the light and to the couch she was pressed up against.

    She opened her eyes.

    That wasn't the couch.

    Between Rosalie and the couch was Joanna, bundled up in a bright orange sleeping bag with only have of her head peeking out. Her ginger hair was tangled up into a top knot.

    Rosalie forgot to breathe. Her chest tightened and she thought it was because her heart had stopped, but really, it was because she was inadvertently strangling herself. She swallowed down the nerves, eyes drifting up towards the windows. It was all she could do to keep from blushing up a storm. She had only ever fully witnessed Sami and Ray sleeping, and even then she never lingered. She never thought to look twice at them because it felt intrusive.

    But she wanted to see the way Joanna looked with she slept.

    And that was very, very Not Rosalie.

    She flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She felt the blanket beside her shift, and so she looked and trailed her hand along the lump of Khoshekh beside her, tucked away under the covers.

    She lifted her gaze and sighed. Intent on counter the dots of plaster on the ceiling, she wondered if she was turning into a creep. Everything she thought was gross about mushy couples was starting to feel... desired. She liked having Joanna hold her by the shoulders when they were being announced King and Queen. She sort of wanted to dance with Joanna—of course, not with her entire school watching. She had a reputation! She was the varsity soccer captain! She was top of the class, on track for valedictorian!

    She couldn't...

    She shut her eyes and twisted her mouth into a grimace.

    The fucking deal...

    "Oh, fuck the deal," her hormones screamed.

    In the midst of her combustion, Sami was just waking up. He yawned, arms stretched high. He arched his back and rolled up, pushing his blankets down and tugging his feet out. Isaiah was still asleep on the other side of the couch, their feet tangled together on the center cushion. He unloved the blankets and draped them over Isaiah, who barely moved an inch from where he had his face tucked under a paw-printed blanket.

    Rosalie saw Sami sit up and tipped her head back to watch him stretch his arms up. He maneuvered to the edge of the couch and looked down at where Rosalie was watching.

    He nodded his head towards the kitchen. She started to her feet and followed after him, her feet cushioned by fluffy socks along the way. Khoshekh went to Joanna's side then, pulling Rosalie's blankets with him. He curled into a dense, black ball at her side.

    Once through the archway, Rosalie pulled the sliding door shut so that when they spoke, Isaiah and Joanna couldn't hear.

    "How ya feeling, Homecoming Queen?" Sami teased, voice hushed. Rosalie rolled her eyes and shoved him in the shoulder.

    "Shut up," she laughed. She smiled at her feet and covered her cheeks with her hands. "I still don't believe it. It didn't happen."

    "My Snap Story begs to differ," he said.

    "I haven't even looked at it," she confessed. She pulled her phone from her pocket and settled on one of the bar stools. Sami asked if she wanted coffee, to which she agreed to. He started the coffee machine and pulled out two mugs from the cabinet.

    Rosalie pulled up her Snapchat and scrolled through her friend list to find Sami. Their Snap streak was down after his father confiscated his phone—RIP their six month streak. She hesitated at the sight of the number five beside her name for Sami, Speedo Queen, topped with the crown emoji. She couldn't remember what Sami put for her nickname.

    She tucked her knee up to her chest and looked over at where Sami scratched at his chest through the ratty, cutoff shirt he wore to bed. He glanced over at her, dark eyebrows raised high. His dark curls were still bleached blonde, but Rosalie could see his roots showing through—black, like his brows.

    "What?" he said, smile teasing.

    "Nothing. Have I ever told you you look cute?" she said, beaming. She tipped her head back and settled with her hands linked loosely around her knee.

    Sami laughed and said, "No, but you've said I look like Cousin IT before."

    "Shut up! I don't even know what Cousin IT looks like. I just sounded funny at the time," she said. "And I'm serious. You look cute."

    Sami leant over the counter, clasping his hands together. "Is this when you confess you've had a crush on me since we were kids? And now that I'm gay you're like, 'To Hell with it'."

    "Yeah, that's exactly it," she joked, giggling. She cleared her throat and shook her head. "No, actually I find the whole childhood best friends to lovers kind of sketchy. Like, they're practically your siblings at that point."

    "Yeah, incest."

    "Right, but without the whole blood-relation thing. Like, if I had two friends who followed that trope I'd think it was weird as shit," she said. Sami tucked his chin against his hand and hummed in mocking interest. He donned a serious expression as she went on. "Like, you know how siblings are. We've peed in the same toilet at the same time when we were kids."

    "Yeah, that was fun."

    "I'm being serious, Sami. That's weird, isn't it? Like, it's different if you'd just heard me fart a few times."

    "Right, right."

    "Like, if you were straight, I don't think I'd consider dating you. The peeing thing sorta put you on the No Date List," she said.

    "Like how Lennie fucked his chances."

    "Yeah, but Lennie and I didn't pee in the same toilet when we were kids." They both laughed. "But yeah, he's on the No Date List."

    "Who else is on the No Date List?"

    "Isaiah, because he's taken and also gay."

    Sami grinned, and ducked his face down. He twirled his finger around the marble countertop before saying, "Yeah, he is taken, isn't he?"

    Rosalie couldn't help but smile, seeing Sami so flattered by the idea that he and Isaiah were A Thing. She never considered when, exactly, either of them would be in their own relationships, but Sami was already there. And Rosalie... she was halfway there. Or closer than she thought.

    "I wanted to talk to you about that," she said, dropping her voice low. Her whisper had Sami lifting his eyes to meet hers, worried.

    "What, you don't like Isaiah?" he asked, quietly.

    She squinted at him. "What? No, I love him. God, no, he's perfect. You two are fine—unless, you're not into it—"

    "No, I am into it. I am very into it," he corrected. They both let out a breath of relief. "But what were you going to say? Not about Isaiah."

    "Right," she said, leaning forward. She set her phone on the counter and met Sami halfway, and trailed her finger along the band of his Fitbit. "Jamie and I talked... and... I want to know your opinion..."

    "Of...? Jamie? Like, dating material?" Sami said, and the disturbed tone of his voice had Rosalie rolling her eyes.

    "No, not Jamie. Of Joanna," she hissed, voice low. Sami rolled his eyes with a sigh, leaning back from her. "What? What's wrong with that?"

    Sami put his head to the counter and groaned before taking a deep, full-nostril inhale. He straightened and pinned her with an annoyed stare. She looked down at her hands and bunched her shoulders up to her ears.

    "I don't see what's wrong with asking... You already know about the deal," she said off to the side.

    "I get the whole deal thing, Rosie," he said. "But it isn't serious, right? Like, you're straight. Obviously girls are beautiful and all but you... like guys, right?"

    "Well, yeah," she said. "But... I also really like Joanna."

    Sami laughed like she made a joke. Her neck started to heat up, and she wanted to hold her hands to it, but she knew she couldn't contain the heat now swelling to her ears and cheeks. Sami put a hand to his forehead and said, voice tight, "So I come out as gay and suddenly you decide you're a lesbian?"

    "No, that—you coming out had nothing to do with it," she said.

    "Had," he repeated, punctuating it with a jab of his finger on the counter. "Had nothing to do with it. Now the whole school knows. Did you—what? Use me to figure out what the school would think of you being gay?"

    "I'm not gay," she hissed at him. "And I wouldn't use you. I'm not concerned about what everyone else thinks of it. I'm just concerned—"

    "About what people think of Joanna," he finished. She wished he didn't know her so well, even when he was being an ass.

    Her mind halted on that. Why was Sami so bitter about this? He was so excited to find out about her whole deal with Joanna. What changed?

    Maybe he was just acting like that in front of Isaiah, her mind supplied, but she shook that idea out of her head. Sami would never be two-faced like that, right?

    She recalled how Sami had reacted with Blake Miles showed up at the house. She recognized it as fear, and any fear associated with Blake had everything to do with acceptance or not from what Rosalie herself had experienced. Blake had the air of someone she wanted to impress, to be on his good side, and... Sami had been holding Isaiah's hand. Blake's approval of the whole mess was what put Sami into a better mood.

    In the time it took for Rosalie to dissect the last day and a half, Sami went to go pour coffee. His shoulders were tight, and she could see him making faces at the mug as he poured creamer into it.

    "I'm sorry for stealing your spotlight," she said, slumping a little. "I didn't mean it like that. This entire year has been a shitshow."

    "I know," he said. It wasn't enough.

    "I won't... I'll wait until after Regionals. That was the plan anyways," she said. She watched for some cue, that this was what he wanted—a little bit more time to cope with his own transition.

    Sami looked at her, and she raised her eyes hopefully. "Yeah," he said. He cleared his throat, picking up the mugs and moving to the stool beside her. She relax a little. "Besides, I feel like a decision like that takes more than a month."

    "Who even knows if she's serious," Rosalie whispered and scoffed. "Granted, she's only had one girlfriend before. Seems like the longterm type."

    "Longterm? Christ, no. One girlfriend and how many flings," he corrected. He bumped their mugs together. "Cheers."

    Sami downed a few gulps of scalding hot coffee and leant back with a content sigh. He kicked a leg up on the counter and wiggled his toes in front of Rosalie. She smiled and drifted back to the content Sami had just given her. Sure, Joanna made herself out to be committed, but that was just to Rosalie. How she acted played at another matter—Joanna's attention span was nonexistent.

    Though, a nonexistent attention span wouldn't have those grades, she rationalized. But she's never talked about any other girls!

    Her brain churned over it as she sipped at her coffee and frowned at the back of her phone. She could feel her heart humming in her throat as she flipped her phone back over and checked for notifications. Nothing.

    The living room slider door opened then. Rosalie looked back and heard Joanna step over the threshold, a hand over her bun. She looked smaller than usual, swamped in an oversized sweatshirt. Not having any plans post Homecoming meant that Joanna hadn't come to the dance prepared for a slumber party. Rosalie never focused on how short Joanna was until she was looking through her closet for clothes that didn't fit her anymore.

    "Morning," Rosalie said. "How'd you sleep?"

    "Good. Your demon cat woke me up," she said, gesturing to the fact that Khoshekh was flinging himself off the back of the couch. He hurried into the kitchen, chasing after Joanna.

    Joanna skittered away from him, cursing under her breath. Sami laughed and said, "Khoshekh has an affinity for people who open doors."

    "Literally everyone," Joanna said. Khoshekh nuzzled against her ankles before she stepped over him and staggered towards the foyer archway. "I actually have to go soon. I left my clothes in your room."

    "Oh, um, you can just head up there. The door's open," she said. After Joanna was out of view, she muttered, "Not like I have anything terribly damning in there. Except a shitton of photographs."

    "Yeah, but what would a person do with a bunch of polaroids? Not exactly top quality stuff, blow it up on a billboard or whatever," Sami said.

    With the living room door open, it didn't take long for Isaiah to wake and come lumbering into the kitchen completely shirtless. Rosalie swallowed down a mouthful of hot coffee to distract herself from all that.

    "I take it," she started, gesturing to his general physique, "that this is just habit now."

    Isaiah didn't even bother looking down at himself. "Oh, no, it's all intentional."

    He dragged his hand along the back of Rosalie's chair on his way to where Sami sat, back straight, in the stool beside hers. Sami bit his lip as Isaiah held the back of his chair and leant in, toothy grin and all, to rest his smile against Sami's earlobe. "Good morning," he whispered. Rosalie rose her eyebrows at them before turning her attention to the window as she took a sip of her coffee.

    "Morning," Sami said. "How'd you sleep?"

    "Fine. Can I kiss you?" Isaiah asked, as quietly as he could manage, but Rosalie could hear the excitement in his voice.

    Their kiss lasted only a second before Joanna leapt down the stairs at the other side of the kitchen, swinging around the railing with a sweep of her legs. Her hair was down, just as unkempt as it was the night before, the hairspray having done wonders to the volume. She slung her tux coat over one shoulder, the tie undone around her neck.

    Joanna slowed at the sight of Rosalie staring at her, and then Isaiah leaning back from Sami's flushed face. She pointed to herself and Rosalie and said, "Are we next."

    Rosalie groaned. "Joanna..."

    "You know I'm kidding," she said, grinning wide. She tapped a finger near her temple as she walked over to Rosalie's chair. "I lost my piercing in your bathroom. Super cheap, just throw it out, but don't step on it."

    "I'll be sure to step on it," Rosalie said.

    "Fuck off. Did you hear what I said?"

    "Yeah, yeah. Are you hungry? We haven't made anything yet but there's cereal," she asked, tucking her hands between her knees. She probably looked as eager as she felt. Just last night they were King and Queen, and now they both had raccoon eyes and Joanna was already leaving.

    Joanna reached over and leant her hand on the counter, and reached the other across the back of Rosalie's chair. She drummed her fingers as she said, "Lieutenant Spencer and I actually have a gym date. Wanna join? We'll probably get breakfast after."

    "Lieutenant Spencer?" Isaiah repeated, unamused. Joanna dragged her dull eyes over to him.

    Rosalie rolled her eyes. "That's just what she calls her father. He works for the military, right?"

    Joanna saluted her and said, "Yes, sir."

    "That's kinda cool," Sami said.

    "I do kind of have to go to the gym," Rosalie confessed under her breath, suddenly paranoid. She didn't have time to run the morning before, and school fucked up her morning cardio. Cardio in the morning and practice in the evening was a recipe for disaster, so she tended to run on the weekends instead. Though, Homecoming fucked up that regimen.

    Joanna checked her phone and said, "Well, the Lieutenant's T-10 minutes from your front gate."

    "Oh! Yikes, okay, let me get changed," she said, leaping from her seat. She squeezed between Joanna and the stool before spinning away to the foyer archway. Sami looked after her and raised his hands in annoyance.

    "So you're just leaving us here! All alone!" Sami cried.

    "Don't act like you aren't happy about it," she countered, turning back to squint at him from the foyer. Sami threw his head back and groaned, so she took the opportunity to race up the stairs and rifle through her soccer duffle for all her workout gear.

    After dressing, securing her running band with her house keys and phone, Rosalie was down the stairs where Joanna was waiting. She stopped to skid into the kitchen and give both Sami and Isaiah her best warning glare.

    "Don't do anything I wouldn't do in this house," she said. Sami and Isaiah stared at her with wide eyes. "My mom's a stickler. She can smell anxiety, you know."

    "Can she?" Isaiah said, unconvinced.

    Sami nodded quickly. "She says she smells it as easy as you would notice a nervous dog."

    Isaiah scrunched up his nose in disgust. He went to reassure Rosalie that they wouldn't do anything too far out of the limits, but Rosalie was already gone and racing Joanna to the Maple Grove gates.