Kate sat in her window seat, her forehead resting lightly against the cool glass. Below, thick clouds stretched out endlessly, a soft blanket hiding the land below, like a shield protecting her from the reality she was about to face.

It was a while since she'd been back to Oklahoma, let alone Sapulpa. She knew she'd have to visit her mom at some point, but it wasn't her that she was dreading seeing. Oklahoma was still miles away, but in her mind, she was already there. The familiar anxiety had settled into her chest the moment the plane took off from LaGuardia. Each mile closer to home felt like one step closer to a wound she had never fully allowed to heal.

With a sigh, she straightened in her seat and unlocked her phone, hoping to distract herself from the knot of tension coiling tighter in her stomach. She attempted to swipe mindlessly through her social media, but the poor wifi connection on the plane quickly ruined that plan for her. She glanced at the time - another hour before they landed. An hour left to sit with her thoughts, which had been churning relentlessly since she boarded the plane.

Out of habit, she opened her photo gallery and began scrolling through the memories captured in digital frames. Images of storms - dark, twisting clouds, lightning splitting the sky, and the occasional screen-shot of a weather map for work. But then, mixed between the tornadoes and stormy skies, there were other memories. Brighter ones. 

Ones from before.

Kate paused as her thumb landed on an old photo, one she hadn't seen in years.

It was Riley, clutching a tennis championship trophy that Kate remembered had weighed more than any of them had expected. Her tennis whites were stained with clay, and her hair was wild, strands poking out from her braids and sticking to her forehead in sweaty clumps. But she looked radiant. Vibrant. Alive.

A gleaming medal was hung from her neck, and her spare hand was being clutched by Addy from the ground, steading her best friend as she sat on Javi's shoulders.

Javi, Jeb and Praveen might have been Kate's friends first, but Addy had always been Riley's. They'd shared a dorm during freshman year and the rest had been history. It was Riley who had introduced Addy to Kate, having realised that they were studying the same major only two years apart.

That photo was from the regional championships - the last one Riley had won before everything changed. Kate felt her chest tighten as she stared at the image, her sister's smile beaming out from the screen. God, she had been so proud that day. Everyone had said that Riley was on track for something big... her coaches thought she'd be boosting up the world ranks in no time.

She moved onto the next photo, but found herself returning to that championship snapshot again and again. 

Back then, everything had seemed so simple. Riley had tennis, and Kate had her storms. They had their different worlds, but they had always been each other's biggest supporters. Kate had gone to every one of Riley's matches when she could, cheering her on from the sidelines, her voice raw by the end of each tournament. And Riley had always been there too, sending Kate off on her storm-chasing missions with a smile, occasionally being convinced to tag along for the ride - no matter how much she protested, they could see she enjoyed the thrill.

But that was before.

Kate closed her eyes, feeling the familiar burn of guilt in her throat. Riley's tennis career had been soaring, and then, in an instant, it was over. The EF5 had taken everything. Not just the lives of Kate's friends, not just the research and equipment, but Riley's dreams too.

She swiped to another photo, this one of the two of them together. Riley was sitting on Kate's shoulders, laughing as she clutched her tennis racket like a trophy, her sneakers dangling in the air. Kate remembered how Riley had begged her to take that photo, insisting she needed it for "posterity." Kate had joked about it, complaining about the weight, but she had lifted her sister easily, grinning into the camera.

She stared at her sister's face, searching for some kind of answer in the past, something to tell her how to fix what had been broken. 

But there were no answers there.

____

The drive to Sapulpa felt longer than it should have. Kate stared out of the passenger window as Javi drove the truck down the two-lane road that cut through endless stretches of farmland. Kate hadn't realised that Javi and Riley were on speaking terms - but as he recalled to her that Riley had text him to say she'd give him a week too, Kate had to stop a small smile from forming on her face.

"Are you sure about this?" Javi asked, breaking the silence. His eyes flicked to her, concern etched in his features. "I can drop you off, and pick her up myself."

"I have to see her," Kate said, though her voice lacked conviction. The truth was, she wasn't sure. 

Javi nodded and refocused on the road. He didn't press her, but she could feel the weight of his support hanging in the air between them. He'd always been there, through everything. Even when she pushed him away. Even when she ran.

"She doesn't stay here usually, got a place near that old motel near Stillwater. You know, one of the ones Addy would check herself, well - us,  into?"

Kate wasn't sure she did know. It had been a while, and things were clouded now by how it all had ended.

"Your mom has been out of town for a few nights, so she's been holding the fort down here," Javi continued, but Kate wasn't listening.

The truck rolled to a stop in front of their mother's old farmhouse. The sight of it was a jarring reminder of a life that felt like it belonged to someone else—a different version of Kate. The front porch sagged a little more than she remembered, and the once-bright yellow paint had faded to a dull, weather-beaten hue. But it was still home, in a way.

"Do you want me to come in?" Javi asked, glancing toward the house.

Kate shook her head.

He gave her a soft, understanding smile. "Take your time. I'll be right here."

Kate climbed out of the truck, every step toward the porch heavier than the last. She hadn't prepared for this, not really. How could she? What could she possibly say to Riley after all this time?

The familiar creak of the floorboards greeted her like an old ghost. The smell of the house... dusty wood and something faintly floral? It was the same as she remembered but everything else felt different. Stale. Quiet. She could hear the faint hum of the television from the living room.

"Riley?" Kate called out, her voice catching in her throat.

The TV clicked off, and footsteps echoed from the other room. A second later, Riley appeared in the doorway, her expression unreadable. She looked older, her features sharper, eyes harder. There was a time when they had looked so much alike, but now they seemed like strangers.

"Kate."

It wasn't warm. It wasn't cold either. It was indifferent, and somehow, that hurt the most.

"Hi," Kate managed, feeling suddenly like a child who had done something wrong. She took a step forward, but Riley's stiff posture stopped her in her tracks.

"What are you doing here?" Riley's voice was calm, too calm, as if she had rehearsed this moment a hundred times in her mind. She reached over to pick up a well-worn bag from a nearby chair, stuffing in a worn baseball cap and pulling on a faded denim jacket.

"I came to...," Kate started, her voice trailing off as she searched for the right words - an apology, a promise, a plea for forgiveness? Truth was, she didn't know. All she knew was she had to make things right somehow.

"I ain't got time for this, Kate," Riley's voice cut through Kate's muddled thoughts like a knife through butter. She had picked up her bag - a worn-out satchel that looked heavy with responsibilities - and was halfway out the door by then.

"Riley..." she began but was cut short as Riley held up a hand, stopping her mid-sentence.

"Don't." It was a single word, spoken softly but with a finality that made it clear that no pleas or explanations would be entertained at the moment.

The door slammed shut behind Riley with a finality that left Kate standing alone in their childhood home.

____

Riley sat in the backseat of Javi's fancy new truck as he and Kate chatted about Storm Par's purpose. Her eyes flickered between them for a moment, suppressing an eye roll as she picked up on the tension that had always existed between them - even if Kate had been too caught up in her romance with Jeb to notice it.

Five years, and it was almost like nothing had changed.

Except everything had. The lack of Praveen's laptop being shoved on her lap, the absence of Addy leaning across her to snatch at the chips he'd have opened... no Jeb in the front seat...

She subconsciously rubbed at her shoulder as she shifted uncomfortably. Looking back at the two in the front, she wondered if she'd not been informed of some new storm-chasing uniform. Kate was presentable - in a striped button up with a white turtle neck and her hair pulled neatly back. Heck, Javi was in a shirt and even pants for a change. 

Great, Riley thought. She was going to stick out like a sore thumb in her battered cargos.

"Storms are getting more erratic," Javi continued to explain to Kate, almost forgetting that Riley was in the car with them. "Lots of new housing developments going up, so the developers, they want full-time weather data. So, anytime a new building goes up, I want a Storm Par radar right there letting the people know exactly what the storm's gonna do."

Kate's eyes seemed to light up at the notion.

"I'm telling you, I really feel like we're gonna change the game, Kate."

Riley snorted, unable to contain herself. 

"Change the game?" She repeated incredulously, twisting forward in her seat to fix Javi with a disbelieving look. "Storm chasing ain't no game, Javier."

The sudden silence that fell upon the truck was thick and heavy. Kate turned to look at Riley, surprise etched on her face. For a second, the only sound in the confined space was the steady hum of the engine.

"I just meant..." Javi started to explain, but Riley cut him off.

"Nah. I know what you meant," she shrugged nonchalantly, sinking back into her seat. She looked out of the window, watching as the endless stretch of barren Oklahoma landscape whipped past them.

Kate and Javi exchanged an awkward glance.

"I didn't mean it that way," Javi eventually said after several tense moments had passed. He directed his gaze towards Riley who now appeared disinterested in their conversation, choosing instead to keep her focus on the passing scenery.

"Well," Riley finally broke the silence, turning her head slightly so they could see the edge of a scowl playing on her lips. "Maybe it's time you start thinking about what you're saying then."

Riley could see the bright spark in her sister's eyes - that same spark that she'd seen every time Kate looked at a tornado. A part of her missed that, the passion, the restlessness, the childlike wonder.

But she didn't need another storm chasing phase in her life, she didn't need another disaster waiting to happen. She was here to get Javi out of her hair, and leave her the hell alone. If that meant entertaining this crap for a week, then so be it.

"What?" Javi muttered, noticing that Kate was now staring at him, having stopped focusing her attention on her sulking sister in the back.

"No, it's just, um... business entrepreneur was not how I saw your future," Kate joked, ignoring how Riley clenched her jaw in the rearview mirror. "And we used to feel lucky if we could get you to wear pants."

"Well, that hasn't completely changed."

Riley almost wanted an EF5 to hit them there and then, and take her out of whatever version of hell she'd gotten herself into that involved listening to Javi and Kate unintentionally flirt with each other.

At least Javi had a team. Surely some of them would be easier to talk to.

____

Riley hated them. She could feel the pretentiousness of half of Javi's team as soon as she stepped out the truck. The others - she noticed it as soon as Javi started listening off where they all got their PhDs, and the way their faces scrunched up as Javi didn't tell them where Riley got hers.

They could read between the lines - she didn't have one. And in their eyes, that made her just someone that was here for a ride-along and would be little help to their mission goals.

"Scott, my partner here," Javi continued, introducing them to the taller man that hadn't smiled at them once since they arrived to the gas station. "He went to MIT instead of Muskogee State. But, uh, he makes up for it with his beautiful, amazing personality."

The man fake smiled at the sisters behind his sunglasses, immediately dropping it to show his insincerity. Kate just nodded, not caring much about his frosty first impression. Riley wanted to go back in time and tell herself to never be born - this was going to be the worst week she'd had in a long time.

Riley sighed and scanned the rest of their surrounding. The gas station which had been deserted except for their motley crew was beginning to fill up with others that were following storms the area, yet not a single storm cloud dotted the sky - which she was grateful for, at least. She knew that would be changing soon, or they'd be here for no reason. 

She glanced at Scott again who was already busying himself with some gadget. His manner suggested he had no time for small talk or introductions or anything that didn't involve storm patterns and radar readings.

"Now that everyone's acquainted," He announced, beaming at his equally unresponsive team, "Kate - and Riley - are only giving us a week, but while we have them, ooh, it's gonna be the wildest tornado week you've ever seen, fellas."

"Yeah, and everybody with a ten-dollar weather app knows it," Scott muttered, but the Carter sisters' attention was no longer on them, but the truck that was blaring music and swerving into the parking lot.

Riley had a gut feeling that she knew who that was going to be before he even stepped out.

The truck was an obnoxiously loud, gleaming red number with a large antenna on the back, likely some kind of souped-up mobile radar. Its tires screeched across the tarmac, throwing gravel against the adjacent chain-link fence. The vehicle came to an abrupt stop, just shy of colliding with one of the gas station's old-fashioned pumps. 

A man emerged from the vehicle looking like he'd just stepped off a photo shoot for some high-end fashion magazine rather than a long drive through the rural midwest. His hair was styled in a carefree manner that could only be maintained by frequent mirror checks and high-end pomade. His plaid shirt - tight enough to showcase his physique - appeared to be tailored and bore no sign of a crease. 

Even from a distance, Riley could see his cocky smirk and piercing blue eyes - proving she had been right in her theory.  It was undoubtedly Tyler Owens in all his glory; every bit as irritatingly charming as he'd appeared when he had met her at the rodeo bar only a few nights before.

His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses as he squinted at the sunlight, making it difficult for Riley to read any real emotion there.

"Who are they?" Kate asked, squinting at the man who had just turned his YouTube streaming camera in their direction.

"Chasers out of Arkansas."

"Hillbillies with a YouTube channel."

"Tyler Owens," Riley replied, all three heads turning to face her in surprise. Scott and Javi both looked slightly annoyed that she seemed to be so casual about the man, wondering how the girl who claimed she wanted nothing to do with storm chasing knew about the famous streamer. Kate was just confused full-stop.

"If you feel it, CHASE IT! I SAID - IF YOU FEEL IT..."

"CHASE IT!"

Riley lost all respect for the man in that moment. Watching as his 'fans' gathered around him with cheers, watching his team sell t-shirts and mugs and other assortments with his face on it... yeah, that was an ick.

"Calls himself a tornado wrangler," Javi told Kate, a distinct glare on his face as he noticed Tyler looking in their direction. 

"What does that even mean?"

"This means our world is going to shit."

Riley snorted.

"Your world," she reminded him, her arms crossed as she looked at the sky and noticed the slightly darkening clouds in the distance. "Not mine. Never mine."

Her feet kicked at a rock as Javi and Kate stared at her, unsure how to reply. It was clear that she was regretting her decision to come, and a part of Javi almost wanted to tell her to just go home if this wasn't what she wanted. If she was just going to be bitter and hostile, he kind of wished she'd never have came - but he bit his tongue instead.

"I need air," Riley muttered, neither of the others pointing out that they were literally standing outside as she stomped off to stand by herself for a moment.

From her new vantage point, she watched as Tyler was swallowed by a sea of admirers. She could hear their adulation and his cocky laughter drifting towards her, ruffling the edges of her solitude.

A gust of cool wind swept through, rustling the tall grass around her. It brought with it a familiar sense of anticipation, a latent reminder of the charged silence before a storm. Riley closed her eyes, pushing down the bile that rose in her throat.

Her respite was abruptly interrupted by the crunching sound of boots against gravel. A mild frown creased her forehead, and she opened one eye to see who dared invade her sanctuary. To her surprise and mild annoyance, it was Tyler Owens himself.

He strode up to her, cowboy hat low over his eyes, shielding them from the sun as he cast long shadows in the daylight glow. In his hand, he held two paper cups filled with what appeared to be beer. The bright amber stood out starkly against the dusty landscape.

Even from a distance, Riley felt the stares from Tyler's group of storm-chasers, and Javi's team. 

"Caught you all alone, Rodeo girl," Tyler drawled, his tone smug, his cocky grin firmly in place.

"I chose to be alone," Riley replied icily, her arms crossed over her chest as she maintained her stance.

The wind kicked up a little dust between them. For a moment, the only sound was the chattering of the excited crowd and the rustle and hiss of the wind through the dry grass. Tyler held out one of the cups to her, but she made no move to take it.

"Figured you could use a drink," he said after a moment.

Riley just shrugged. "I'd rather have water."

Tyler's grin didn't falter. 

"Guess it's lucky I brought both then."

He reached around himself, and pulled out a bottle of water from the back pocket of his jeans, holding it out for Riley to take. She was partially disgusted at that - because what kind of weirdo puts a cold bottle of sweating water in their pocket? After a moment's pause where she seemed to debate with herself whether or not to refuse purely out of spite, she grabbed it from him.

"Thanks," she muttered in response, taking a long sip from the bottle. She didn't invite further conversation, instead choosing to gaze out over the horizon as if he wasn't even there.

"So I see you're tagging along with Javi and his crew today," he said, sounding more like he was gloating about some recent victory than making friendly conversation. "Which, you know, is rather interesting considering you never told me you were a storm chaser..."

"Firstly, I'm not a storm chaser, but even if I was that doesn't mean I would want anything to do with your show," she snapped, rounding on him and getting more riled up as he only seemed to smirk wider. "Secondly, we spoke for like... literally less than two minutes."

"And in those two minutes, you managed to keep me intrigued enough to remember you," he said, his smirk unwavering. "Now, isn't that something?"

Riley raised an eyebrow at his statement, her head tilting slightly. "You're making it sound like that's a big deal."

"Well, when you meet as many people as I do, yes, it is."

Where Riley found the arrogance annoying, there was also a part of her that found his nonchalant attitude amusing. She fought back a smile and rolled her eyes instead.

"Look," she started, shifting her weight from one foot to another. "Not to burst your bubble or anything, Tyler, but I'm not here for you. This storm chasing gig isn't my thing."

Tyler took a moment before responding, his gaze trained on Riley's face. For once, his laugh didn't echo through the open field as it always did when surrounded by his fans. It was softer now and distinctly real.

"Then why are you here?" He poked, trying to get under her skin. "I think it takes a unique kind of person to be out in these fields. It's not about the thrill or the fame. It's about feeling something bigger than yourself... about respecting nature's power."

Yet stubborn as ever, Riley couldn't let him have this one.

"Maybe some people are out here for those noble reasons," she retorted, locking eyes with Tyler. "But let's be honest - you're here for the fame."

The moment of connection seemed to shatter as Tyler smirked again.

"Can't argue with that." He tipped his hat, backing away with a grin. "Until next time, Rodeo girl."

Riley watched as he walked back towards the crowd, her heart pounding against her ribs. She let out an exasperated sigh, turning her gaze back to the horizon.

What the hell was she getting herself into?