Vienna sat on the floor of her room, folding a large pile of clothes and placing them in a bin. It was Sunday morning, and Vienna, Rosalie, Pepe, and Marshall were clearing Vienna's belongings out of her old dorm and moving them into Rosalie's room. Rosalie had texted Marshall earlier in the morning to let him know what had transpired between Vienna and Joshua. The boy had always been protective over the auburn-haired girl, and naturally, he was absolutely furious with his now-ex-best friend. He and Pepe were quick to help the girls pack and load everything into cars to take over to the opposite side of campus, where the other first year dormitory was.

The dorm room felt eerily quite despite Rosalie humming along to a song playing on Vienna's speaker as she packed a stack of books into another box. It was strange to see the walls so bare, a room once filled with so many pieces of Vienna's life.

"Almost done," Rosalie said gently, glancing over her shoulder at Vienna.

Vienna nodded, her throat tightening. "Yeah. Just a few more things."

The door creaked open, and Marshall stepped in. "I'll take those down when you're finished with them. We can take the rest over later," he said, gesturing to the boxes the girls were filling.

Pepe followed Marshall into the small room, a small, reassuring smile on his face. "You've made good progress."

Vienna forced a smile of her own. "Thanks to you guys."

It was truly thanks to them. The boys had done most of the heavy lifting while the girls packed boxes, occasionally taking breaks when Vienna got a little too emotional.

Marshall ran a hand thorough his curly dark hair. "You don't need to thank us, V. We're not leaving until this is all done."

Before Vienna could reply, voices echoes from down the hallway. Her heart sank, recognizing Joshua's.

"Wait, what's going on here?" Joshua's voice grew closer, disbelief lacing his words.

Vienna froze. Her chest tightened as Rosalie's face paled.

"Oh no," Rosalie whispered, making a beeline toward the door as if to close it.

But before she could, Ivory's voice joined Joshua's. "Is she moving out?"

Marshall's jaw clenched. "Stay here," he muttered before stepping into the hallway.

Pepe hesitated for a moment, his gaze flicking to Vienna. "It's okay," he said softly before stepping out into the hallway.

"I don't like this," said Rosalie, moving closer to her best friend, their knees pressing against each other.

Vienna bit her lip, her heart pounding. She couldn't hear everything clearly, but the muffled voices sent a wave of anxiety washing over her. She reached over and grabbed Rosalie's hand, needing the familiar touch of her friend to remain grounded.

Outside, Joshua's incredulous tone rang out. "I didn't know she was moving out. Why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Why do you think, genius?" Marshall shot back, his voice cold.

Pepe's voice cut through the tension, much more composed than Marshall had been. "Joshua, this isn't your business anymore. You don't have a right to know what Vienna's doing."

Joshua sounded defensive. "I just want to talk to her. That's it."

"You've done enough," Pepe replied evenly, his accent leaning more towards his native Spanish one than English, a telltale sign of his irritation. "She's trying to move on. Don't drag her back into this."

Ivory chimed in, her voice hesitant. "We're not trying to cause trouble. We just didn't know she'd leave so soon."

Pepe's voice hardened, though he remained composed. "You slept with her boyfriend. What did you expect her to do? Stay and pretend nothing happened?"

"You don't get to play the victim here," Marshall added, his tone sharper than Pepe's. "You both made your choices. Now stay out of her life."

"It's not like-" Joshua stammered.

"Enough," Pepe interrupted, his voice quiet, though Vienna could hear the anger simmering behind his words. "You've already hurt her enough. Let her move on without you hovering around, making it harder. If you care about her at all, you'll leave. Now."

There was a long silence before Joshua finally spoke again. "Fine. Just tell her I'm sorry."

Pepe didn't respond immediately, but his voice was softer when he answered. "That's not for me to tell her. She'll decide if she wants to hear it from you someday. Until then, leave her alone."

Footsteps retreated down the hall, and Marshall's voice came through the door as he re-entered the room. "They're gone." His anger was still palpable as he dropped into a chair. "I swear, if I see them again-"

"Mars," Pepe interrupted as he stepped into the room, his gaze immediately falling on Vienna, who still sat on the floor, hand tangled with Rosalie's. "Let it go."

Marshall exhaled sharply, muttering under his breath before leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands.

"I'm sorry you had to hear all that, V," he said quietly. "I'm just so pissed off at them."

"It's fine," said Vienna. But it wasn't fine. The brief altercation was just one more thing setting her off, and she figured she was about one incident away from another episode of tears.

Pepe rested a hand on Vienna's shoulder, crouching by her side. "Are you okay?"

Vienna didn't answer, her hands trembling slightly. Rosalie took that as her cue to give the two some space, quickly busying herself with her box of books.

Pepe's lips pressed into a thin line, and without a word, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Vienna's shoulders. The hug was firm and grounding, his warmth melting some of the tension in her chest.

"Thank you for dealing with it," Vienna murmured against his shoulder. Then she lifted her head to look at Marshall. "Both of you."

Marshall smiled sadly at her. "It's the least we could do," he assured.

Pepe rubbed Vienna's shoulder gently. "Do you need a minute?"

Vienna shook her head and pulled away from him. "Nope, I'm ready to get out of this hell hole," she joked.

Together, the group packed the last of the boxes into Vienna's car and brought them to Rosalie's room, ending one chapter of Vienna's life and beginning a new one.