It was Friday afternoon, and Rose couldn't be happier. Her weekend had officially begun, and she was free to relax. Things were going decent at the hotel; Analiese had agreed to work the weekend shift after Rose bribed her with homemade cheesecake. Rose settled in on the couch and opened the new book she'd purchased from Peter Piper Booksellers. The apartment was quiet, perfect for catching up on reading. Cat was always gone by the time Rose woke up, so she hadn't seen much of her lately. But they had a furry houseguest, Rory's dog Chelsea.

Rose thought the Maltipoo was adorable, but she wondered why Rory had left her with Cat. She had been here since Wednesday, apparently. When Rose had asked about it, Cat just told her that something was going on and she was dog-sitting Chelsea until Matt and Rory came home. Rose was starting to get worried because she knew both Matt and Rory dealt with health issues. She'd called Rory several times, but the younger girl never picked up.

She turned to the next page in her book, escaping into the world of Stephen King's The Outsider. It was kind of funny, reading a horror novel when she'd been plagued by nightmares for the past month. Rose was so immersed in the story that the shrill ringing of her cellphone made her nearly jump out of her skin.

Rose glanced at the name on the screen. "Hello?" She asked, relieved that it was Rory calling and not Allie with another one of her dumb theories. Come to think of it, she hadn't heard from Allie in a while.

"Rose, can you meet me at Crimson Inc.?" Rory whispered. Her voice was so low Rose strained to understand her. It almost sounded like she had been crying.

"Yeah, I'll be right over," Rose said automatically. She tried to think of logical reasons Rory would be at Crimson Inc. in the middle of the day. The few details Cat had given her were vague. Maybe Rory had gone with Matt on an important work trip, and they just got back. "I've been trying to reach you all week. Are you okay?"

"I'll explain when you get here," Rory insisted. "I better go...see you in a few minutes."

Before Rose could ask more questions, the line went dead. She quickly grabbed her purse and left the apartment. Driving through the streets of town, she watched the people going about their everyday routines. Kids and dogs playing at the park, enjoying their last moments of summer fun before school started, shoppers browsing the stores, and families towing their boats out to the lake. It was very peaceful living in a small town.

The bustling scene of town faded as she drove out of the city limits, navigating the winding, tree-lined road toward Crimson Inc. She had only been to the factory once when she came with Rory to pick up Matt after his car broke down last winter. She stopped at the gate and rolled down her window. The guard leered at her. "ID?"

Rose fumbled in her purse for her ID and handed it to the intimidating guard. Rory had told her before that this guy was a real asshole. He looked at the card, then scrutinized her face before recognition dawned in his eyes. He opened the gates and waved her through. Rose drove into the guest parking lot. The place was completely dead. Only a few cars sat near the front entrance. She saw Pamela Witherspoon's silver Lexus and Cat's red Jaguar Convertible.

Rose pulled into a space beside Cat's vehicle and went inside the lobby. The secretary at the front desk was munching on a king-sized chocolate bar. She barely looked up when Rose walked past her. "Rose!" Rory exclaimed. She jumped up from her chair, relief washing over her pale features. "I'm so glad you came."

"We better hope Bane doesn't find out you called her," Cat insisted. Her voice startled Rose, who hadn't noticed her sitting in the corner. She stood up and motioned for the two girls to follow her. Cat ushered them through a door into a small lounge with a table and chairs, television, and coffee machine. "This is for the participants if they don't want to sit in the lobby. We can talk in here."

"Talk about what?" a male's voice growled, and Rose whirled around to see Bane standing in the doorway.

"Rory needs a break from this place, and Rosie would be a good distraction." Cat grinned, pulling the muscular man into a disarming hug. Rose could have sworn she saw a tiny smile break his stern expression as he embraced the blonde.

"Don't call me Rosie," Rose insisted, shoving her friend jokingly. People could say what they wanted about Cat and Bane's relationship, but she had witnessed firsthand how happy they made each other. Sometimes seeing more than she would prefer.

Cat whispered something in Bane's ear and he nodded, smiling slightly. Rose was sure it was some kind of inside joke or inappropriate comment.

"Do what you want, but get Rory back here in one piece. We wouldn't want to traumatize Matt more than he already is." Bane sighed, squeezing Cat's hand tightly.

Cat gave Bane a quick kiss. "I'll see you later."
* * *
Cerberus was sleeping beside Chelsea's kennel when Cat, Rose, and Rory arrived at the penthouse. "I'll make us dinner," Rose offered, walking into the kitchen. While Cat and Rory took the dogs outside for a walk, Rose set a pot of water to boil on the stove and gathered ingredients from the cabinet for spaghetti sauce. By the time they returned, she had prepared a small green salad. She loved cooking but didn't always get the opportunity when she worked ridiculous hours.

"That looks good. I've been eating nothing but cafeteria food all week," Rory said. She tossed a pink ball and Chelsea scampered after it. A persistent knock on the door elicited a low growl from Cerberus, and Rory saw the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.

"Shit," Cat swore, gazing through the peephole. The brunette girl standing outside the door looked like a mess. Surely she didn't know Cat was home.

"Rose, it's me!" Allie yelled.

Cat knew that Allie had a nasty habit of showing up at the apartment uninvited, but she was careful to do it when Cat wasn't around. She took a deep breath and plastered on a smile before opening the door. "Hi Allie, Rose and I have guests over, so you better come back tomorrow," she said through clenched teeth.

Allie stared at Cat in disbelief. Her face turned beet red, and she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Jesse's out shopping for a new car. He got a $5000 bonus from Evermart! I was bored, so I thought I'd drop by..." she trailed off, craning her neck to see around Cat into the apartment. Chelsea chose that moment to run at the door, barking loudly. Cerberus growled dangerously, bearing bright white teeth at the brunette in the doorway.

"Like I said, we're busy. Try back tomorrow," Cat said in a serious tone, attempting to shut the door. Allie stuck her foot in the door and took advantage of Cat's surprise by stepping inside the apartment. Cerberus lunged forward, but with a quick snap of Cat's fingers, he came to an immediate halt. He circled Allie, licking his lips. Chelsea bounced around barking frantically, causing the border collie to get momentarily distracted.

"I've missed you, Rory!" Allie cried out, wrapping her arms around Rory, who was frozen in confusion. Rory couldn't believe Allie's guts just walking into the apartment after being asked to leave. She never quite understood how Allie seemed to have no boundaries.

"Sit down, make yourself at home," Rose mumbled, pulling an extra plate out of the cupboard. She knew once Allie invited herself, there wasn't any use trying to get her to leave.

"You need to leave," Cat insisted, watching as Allie lay casually on their couch. Suddenly, Allie pulled out a lacy black thong, squealing as she tossed it on the ground. A grin spread across Cat's face as she recalled how the thong had gotten lost in the couch to begin with. "You may not want to sit there if just my underwear grosses you out."

"Catherine, you promised to stop doing that on the couch." Rose groaned, draining the spaghetti noodles. She knew her roommate had trouble keeping inappropriate behavior contained to just the bedroom, but after the last time Rose caught Cat and Bane on the couch, Cat swore she would keep it off the furniture. It must have been wishful thinking that Cat would actually control herself.

Cat giggled, reading a text from Legolas on her phone. "I guess I'll try harder next time." She snickered.

"Dinner's ready." Rose sighed, shaking her head. "Who are you texting?"

"Leggy." Cat smiled. The blonde man was always a favorite toy of hers. He always wanted to make grand romantic gestures and never gave up on the possibility he could be with her. Apparently, he wanted her to know she had 'the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen'. He didn't understand why she chose Bane.

"I can't believe he's still in love with you after all these years." Rose laughed, dishing up her food and joining Allie and Rory at the table. "Doesn't he know you're with Bane?"

"Yeah, but he likes to dream." Cat's eyes twinkled. "He's a really good friend."

Rose nodded in agreement. Legolas would do anything for Cat, and that was no exaggeration. She stabbed a meatball with her fork and took a bite. Chewing slowly, she watched Rory wolf down her own food as if it were the best pasta she'd ever tasted. She looked like she had lost weight since Rose saw her last.

"Rory, you never got the chance to tell me what you've been up to all week," Rose said with a sidelong glance at Allie. "You sounded pretty upset on the phone."

"Oh." Rory's face paled. Her eyes flickered up to Allie and then back down to her plate. "Um...Matt's sick."

"Is it the T.V?" Allie gasped through a mouthful of salad, and Rose rolled her eyes. Allie had been convinced for the past eleven years that Matt had some kind of mysterious disease. Matt never talked about it, but Rose always figured it was leukemia or something.

"What the hell is a T.V?" Cat laughed, rolling her eyes at Allie. "Matt is a person, not a television."

"No, the Turtle Virus!" Allie exclaimed; she couldn't believe her friends didn't know about T.V. "It's an STD passed along in some vampire bloodlines."

"Seriously Spring, you are really losing it." Rose sighed, twirling some spaghetti noodles onto her fork. She got sick of Allie's theories, and couldn't believe she was bringing up one of her crazier ones when Rory clearly didn't need to add a crazy theory to her plate.

"Where the hell did you hear about this...Turtle Virus?" Cat tried to keep herself from laughing as she sat down across from Allie at the table. "And how on earth would Matt have contracted it?"

"From Jules, Komazzi's nephew," Allie insisted. "That time he was attacked."

Rory shoved her chair back from the table; the sudden movement caused a glass of milk to tip over, spilling onto the floor. "Honestly, Allison, you are the most insensitive person I've ever known in my life. You don't know anything about Matt or what he's going through, so just keep your big mouth shut!"

Allie's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, Rory, but I'm just worried about him," she said, shrinking in her chair as Rory glared down at her.

"Matt is none of your business," Rory snarled.

"Rory, it's okay." Rose reached up and touched Rory's arm. Few people could elicit a response like this out of Rory, and Allie was one of them. "Allie doesn't know what she's saying, as usual." She fixed Allie with a withering glare before sitting Rory back down, then grabbed a roll of paper towels from the kitchen to wipe up the milk. She understood where Rory was coming from because Allie tested her patience on a daily basis.

"To answer your question, Allison, no, Matt doesn't have a vampire STD," Cat snapped. "All of the treatments he's had over the years have lowered his immune system, and he's been working too hard lately. He caught a massive infection, but the doctor started him on a new round of drugs Wednesday and they should do the trick."

"Wow," Allie murmured. In high school, Matt was always missing classes. He took online courses during the winter of his junior year after spending a month in the hospital fighting pneumonia and other illnesses. He was too weak to go back to school. Their friends thought he had cancer, but Allie knew everything wrong with him stemmed from the T.V. She picked at the last bits of her food and wondered what really happened to make him sick again.

* * *
Cat returned Rory to Crimson Inc. shortly after nine that evening. Komazzi was waiting for them in the lobby. Icelene's chair was empty, so she must have gone home for the night. Komazzi had a small crew of employees working late to catch up on projects they missed, but they were on the upper floors.

"Someone's been asking for you, Rory." Komazzi greeted them with a smile.

"Matt's awake?" Rory asked, her eyes lighting up. It had been five days since she'd heard his voice or had any physical contact. They couldn't take any chances with germs gaining a foothold, Komazzi had explained. She understood that now, but it didn't make the separation easier. She wanted her boyfriend back, with all of his sarcasm and weird quirks. "Does this mean he can come out of isolation?"

"We took him off the sedatives about an hour ago. He's still very weak but I think it's all right for you to stay with him," Komazzi said, leading her toward the door to Lab 6. He glanced over his shoulder at Cat. "You can go home now, Cat. Rory and I will handle things from here."

"Great," Cat said as another text rang out on her phone. Legolas wanted her to come over. She hadn't been to his place in a while, so there was no harm in visiting. Legolas and the other boys rented a house together, and he loved to throw parties on the weekends. She was surprised they hadn't completely destroyed the house with some of the stunts Legolas pulled, but Danny and James kept him in check.

Cat stepped outside into the cool night air, texting Legolas that she was on her way.