Megan sighed, closing the front door to her apartment and kicking her shoes off. She didn't know if anyone else was home yet, but decided to call out a quick 'I'm back' before dragging herself to the living area and collapsing onto the couch. She lay on her back, arm covering her eyes while she tried to unwind from yet another tiring day. Luckily for her, she didn't have many encounters with Gladion, because if she did she'd be in no mood to face anybody. He had this way of draining every single bit of positivity from her, and she wasn't a positive person to begin with. Sigh... Well, at least it was Friday.

Exhausted from the eventful week, Megan began to drift off...

"Megan?"

She shot up "I LIKE TURTLES!"

"...Okay?" The voice chuckled to her right, causing her to peak over the couch to find her older brother giving her a confused smile.

"Oh, hey Luke." She rubbed the back of her neck "Sorry, I didn't know you were home..."

"It's alright, I only came back a little bit before you." He said softly, taking a seat on the other side of the couch "How was college?"

"Blech..." Megan stuck out her tongue, leaning her back against the couch's arm "Though to be fair, they let us work on our assignment for the last hour so it wasn't too crap... How was work?"

Luke hummed "Not as tiring as usual, so that's something."

Megan scanned the side of his face, as he was staring down at his lap to see if he was being truthful. He wasn't. The dark circles under his eyes were more visible than they usually were, and his eyelids drooped every once in awhile which implied he was tired. His hair was a mess, sticking out in all directions, and he reeked of sweat. There was a fresh bruise on his arm, and his back was hunched from exhaustion. Also, he had winced when he bent his knees to sit down. Megan's eyes went soft.

"Luke..." she whispered. She hated how her family worked themselves to the limit every single day, just to have enough for food and rent. They struggle so she can go to college and have a future, and whenever Megan offered to find a job, they all just smile and tell her to focus on her studies. It hurt to see her mother and brother working so damn hard for her, but if she were to get a job and it got in the way of her course, she'd be kicked out without question. Then all that struggle would be for not.

'I have to be strong, for them.'

Megan stood, and began walking towards the kitchen "I'm cooking dinner tonight."

"Sis, you don't have to--"

"Ah!" She held up her finger, silencing the man immediately "I'm. Cooking. Dinner." She repeated in a sterner tone "You're going to relax, you've had a long day."

Luke's frown morphed into a small smile "Can't get anything past you, can I?"

"Nope."

"Well, alright then," He slowly began lying on the couch to rest "Try not to burn the house down while I'm 'relaxing'."

"Oh har har, you're so funny..."

---

A sudden thump from outside Megan's room had woken her up, causing her to sit up in her bed and stare at her door in confusion. She heard a feminine voice mutter a quick 'shit', which confirmed who it was.

"Laura..." Megan groaned silently, throwing off her covers and climbing out of bed. It was pretty cold in her room, as she turned off her radiator to save money, making her hug herself for warmth as she trudged towards the door. She opened it, and peaked through the crack to find a shadow creeping loudly half way down the hall.

"You know sneaking in is supposed to be done quietly, right?"

The figure flinched and turned around, finding Megan leaning against the wall by her room with her arms crossed. They gulped.

"Um... Hey..."

"Hi. Why are you so late home, we were worried about you?"

"The... Club had a few drunks causing havoc, meaning I had to stay late and clean up." Laura explained, glancing off to the side.

"You know you could've ref--"

"I offered to do it because they paid me extra."

"Oh..." Megan's eyes went soft, and she sighed "Have you at least had anything to eat...?"

"No..."

"There's a plate of chicken in the microwave for you. Eat that and then go to bed, you look like shit."

Laura scoffed "Wow, that's nice of you."

Megan snickered, turning back towards her room "Goodnight, Laura. Sweet dreams."

"Yeah, you too-...."

She collapsed.

Megan looked at the girl from over her shoulder, face expressionless. "I knew it..."

The door next to her room opened, revealing a sleepy looking Luke. He yawned, before allowing his eyes to fall upon his passed out sister.

"Ugh, don't tell me she's..."

"Yup," Megan confirmed "She's drunk again."

---

Megan rolled over in her bed, hissing as the light illuminating from her blinds hit her face. It was the weekend, luckily for her, so she was in no rush to get up.

But of course, just as she was about to relax, her phone had to go off.

'Dag nabbit...' She thought to herself, mentally face palming at the irony. She picked up her phone, pulling out the charger in the process and checking the caller's ID. Surprisingly (not) it was Hau. Grumbling, she answered.

"Yeah...?"

"Heeeeey, Megan~!" The cheerful voice of Hau was heard on the other line, making her realise how badly her head hurt.

Curses, drunk Laura. Curses!'

Megan sighed "What do you need, sunshine?"

"How do you know I didn't just want to talk to you?" The boy replied teasingly, causing the blonde-brunette to snort.

"Because I know you."

The other line was silent for a moment "Fair enough..."

"So? Out with it, what do you need me for?" Megan asked, yawning in the process.

"Weeeell.... My mama bought tickets to see a showing for Spirited away with her friends, but they all cancelled out on her."

"Ooooh... That's rough."

"Right? Anyway, there's six tickets in total, and mama gave them to me so I can go with my friends. So... Would you like to go see it?"

Okay, she'd admit it; seeing Spirited away would be pretty great. And since she hadn't had a day out with her squad in forever, this would be a great opportunity to hang out. But hold on, didn't he say there were six tickets? There were only five in the group.

"Sounds alright, but... Who'd get the sixth ticket?"

"Oh! Gladion, of course."

'Nu-uh, screw that!'

"I changed my mind, I'm not going." She told him quickly, causing Hau to let out a loud 'EH?!'

"Why not?" he whined.

"Hau, you're asking me to go to the movies with Gladion. Someone I'd rather not spend time with whatsoever, let alone an afternoon."

"...You really don't like him, do you?"

"Not in the slightest. He's dense as a rock, he gets offended too easily, he's annoying, edgy as fuck, he always ends up where I'm going, and overall is a pain in the ass to be around." Megan listed, running a hand through her messy hair "Plus Natalie told me to stay away from him, so I'm being polite and respecting her wishes."

Hau was silent yet again, which made Megan wonder if he had hung up during her mini rant. But, just as she was pulling her phone away from her ear, he spoke again "I'll pay you~"

Her eyes widened as she pulled her phone back to her ear "You're bribing me now?! Is this even Hau I'm talking to?!"

"Of course it's Hau! Come oooooon, please?"

Megan sighed. Knowing Hau, he'd probably forget about his balance and call her all day to get her to agree. And when he ran out of calls, he'd sprint over to her apartment and bang on the door until she answered. And if that failed, he would even go as far as kicking down the door and dragging her out.

'Curses, childish Hau. Curses!'

"How much you promising me?" She asked, unwilling to argue with her friend anymore. He laughed.

"Who said anything about money~?"

---

So now Megan was outside the cinema with her friends and enemy, arms crossed with a sour expression plastered on her face. Gladion was next to her in the exact same position, which wasn't very surprising as Lillie had literally dragged him by the ear to get him there.

"So... How'd they get you to come?" He asked Megan, though not sounding very interested.

"Bribery..." She answered, not sparing him a glance.

"How much did they give you?"

"It wasn't with money..." She smirked slightly "Sun has a poster with all the members of Skillet's autographs that he got a couple months ago, which he said he'll give to me if I do this. Being a huge fan I couldn't refuse."

Gladion actually perked up at this, and he turned to the girl with a slightly surprised expression "You like Skillet?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"Um, no I just--"

"Hey, guys!" Hau called over to them, making them turn their heads to him "We still have some time before the showing, so can you two go to the store and grab some snacks?"

"Why us?" They asked in sync, clearly unamused.

"Because Megan's getting my Skillet poster after this, and Gladion's the only one who bought his wallet. So yeah, it's gonna be you two." Sun explained smugly.

'Doesn't he know we'd kill one another without question, if given the chance....'

"But... if you don't want to, I can just keep those signatures~" The ravenette continued, smirking in Megan's direction.

"ALRIGHT!" The female yelled a bit too loudly, an irk mark visible on her forehead "I'm goin', so cut the blackmail 'n shit."

Gladion 'hmph'd from beside her and closed his eyes "That still doesn't mean I'm going. I have nothing to lo--" he cut himself off once feeling an intense glare on him, causing him to open one eye. A shiver went up his spine as his sister continued to give him the 'you don't do this you're dead' look. He gulped, grabbing Megan's arm and pulling her in the direction of the store "Okay I'm going..."

---

After watching their friends leave, Sun, Hau, Rose and Lillie turned towards each other with mischievous smirks.

"Operation 'Enemies to friends' is in motion." Rose whispered, holding her fist out in front of her.

"Do you really think it'll work?" Sun asked, trying hard to mask his excitement.

"Well, I mean even if it doesn't, we still have half a year to think of another plan." Lillie shrugged "Besides, those two have more in common than they realise. It's like they were destined to be friends!"