WHY ARE YOU SO INTERESTED IN JACKSON'S ASS?

☆︎ JUNE, 1999 ☆︎

"Oh, my god. Is this Grammy winner, Indiana Winger, lead singer of The Woodsboro Killers?"

"Shut up! Is this the Sidney Prescott, light of my life and owner of the prettiest smile?"

Indiana could hear Sidney giggle through the phone, which made her smile, knowing that her friend wasn't totally miserable at her cabin. The pair would call each other once a week, at least, to check up and fill each other in on their lives.

Admittedly, Sidney didn't have much to fill Indiana in about. She'd gotten a job at a women's crisis hotline and could work from home, helping people in need without anyone knowing her real name. And she also had a golden retriever named Tate to keep her company and serve as a guard dog.

"Zay is with me, by the way," Indy added, letting her know the phone was on speaker. The pair were laying on Indiana's bed and waiting for a pizza to arrive for lunch.

"Hi, Sid," the boy called, glancing up from his Spider-Man comic book.

"Hey, Zay," she greeted. "So, how's your week going there?"

"Hectic," Indiana groaned while rolling onto her back. She bumped into Isaiah, who elbowed her for crinkling his comic book. "You know how we're gonna shoot that music video? Well, Rod sent us a ton of resumes to look for to choose a director, and they had all these technical terms and experience that I didn't understand."

"Well, did you get Randy to explain it to you?" she asked, knowing he was a pro at that kind of stuff.

"Yeah, but it still didn't help," Isaiah spoke up, a small smile on his lips. "You know how Randy is."

"Fair."

"Anyway, so Jax and I just picked the one with the least amount of experience and convinced the others to agree."

"Why the least experienced?" Sid asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, we're a small band that's growing. I think it'd be really cool to help someone else get their name in the industry. Tons of famous directors are scrambling for the job but they'll have other options even if we didn't pick them," she explained.

"So, who is the lucky director?"

"Some guy named Roman Bridger."

When Sidney spoke next, Indiana could hear the smile in her tone. "Did you pick him because he had the shortest resume or because you think his name is cool?"

"I mean, it is a really cool name, Sid," Indiana said, grinning. Isaiah just rolled his eyes playfully.

"Well, I hope he and his cool name make a really cool video," Sidney said. "Are you guys going back to L.A. to shoot it?"

"Nah," she said, shaking her head even though Sidney couldn't see. "Since Woodsboro is in the name, he thinks it's a good idea to shoot it at home. So, he's coming later this week, and we're gonna meet him for the first time and talk about where we want it to go."

"It'll probably be cheaper to film there," Sidney noted. "But, I mean, do you think he's gonna wanna make it Stab-themed?"

"Doesn't matter. No way are we letting him even if he wants to," she said, scoffing. "I need one thing in my life to not be Stab-centered right now."

Stab 2 had only been out for two weeks and was doing phenomenally at the box office — to no one's surprise. Milton would be green-lighting a third one, no doubt.

Indiana wasn't taking Stab 2 for granted, of course. She knew that The Woodsboro Killers would still be selling Randy's CDs out of the van and certainly wouldn't have an album slated to be released in two weeks with a Grammy-winning song on the radio. But she couldn't wait for the day when she could say their success was just because of them and their talent.

"Well, other than music video history in the making, what else am I missing?" Sidney asked, moving on from the topic of the movie.

"Indy wrote a song about the stranger she disappeared with and spent two days having sex with before the movie premiere," Isaiah said in a flat tone. Indiana hadn't even realized he traded the comic book for her songwriting notebook.

"Isaiah!" Indiana hissed while snatching the notebook from him.

Sidney just laughed in disbelief. "Are you serious? Two days? God, Indy."

"Look, he really knew what he was doing, Sid," she said, defending herself. "And he was a total babe. I'd like to think you'd agree with my decision if you saw him. I'm so serious — a little older, dark curly hair, green eyes, a chest I could smother myself to death in—"

"Ew," Isaiah whined, putting a pillow over his face to try and smother himself.

"At least you had a good time," Sidney said, still laughing. "And you'll have a song to start off your second album."

"We've been signing records and CD covers all week," Isaiah informed her. Indiana nodded in silent agreement, looking at the side of her hand that was stained from Sharpie. "Rod's shipping them out to stores on Saturday, so we have to stop procrastinating finishing them."

Sidney raised an eyebrow that they couldn't see. "And is this phone call a way of procrastinating?"

"No!" Indiana insisted. "Luca is picking up the stack from Jax and Soph that they're working on over at their place right now. Then we'll add ours to that."

"It's still kinda crazy to think people want our autographs," Isaiah said, smiling brightly. To come from a household where his parents barely paid attention to him, and when it was, it was to yell at him, to now be in a band that was growing in popularity every week was amazing to him.

"Well, you guys totally deserve the crazed fans," Sidney told him. "Even if Indy's signature is just a big I followed by scribbles."

"Hey, those scribbles will be worth hundreds one day," Indy said, laughing. "So, are you gonna be able to make it back here for the album release party?"

They heard Sidney take in a breath and hesitate, which basically gave them her answer. "I'm really sorry—"

"No, don't—"

"It's just, the crowds and—"

"Sidney, seriously," Indiana cut her off in a firm tone. "Do not apologize. Don't ever apologize. I knew better than anyone that the last place you want to be is in a crowd. We can come down there one day and have a private album party of our own."

"Still, I'm sorry," Sidney said quietly. "Between this and not coming back for Martha's graduation or even going to any of your small shows—"

"Sidney Elizabeth Prescott," Isaiah cut her off.

"That is not my middle name," she told him, sounding like she was smiling again.

"And Randy so got over you not being at graduation," Indiana reminded her.

"I know. And Martha didn't mind. They're coming this weekend, so I can see her and give her the gift I got for her."

"Ooh, I might ask to hitch a ride just so I can see you in person. It's been forever," Indiana said, twirling her hair.

"You know what the logical solution to that is?" she asked her, laughing a little. "Learn to drive."

Indiana grimaced visibly, not liking the sound of that. "I'd rather just nag Jackson or bat my eyelashes to get other people to drive me. It's worked wonderfully so far."

"Okay, but what about when you turn twenty-one in March? Then you won't have a license to flash to get into bars."

She rolled her eyes at that. "Sid, I'm a rockstar in the making. Getting alcohol will be easy." Then the sound of the doorbell filled the house, so Indy rolled off her bed. "Be back in a sec. Pizza's here."

Isaiah watched as Indiana dashed out of her room with her wallet in hand, then he grabbed the phone. "Sidney, you gotta stop trying to convince her to learn how to drive."

"Why?" she asked, giggling a little.

"Three reasons — one, it makes Jackson feel like a superior friend since he's in charge of transporting her."

"That's so stupid. He's already her best friend whether he drives or not."

"True, but still. And number two — Soph and Randy have a bet that's years in the making on when Indy will finally learn to drive, and I need Sophia to lose."

"Why do you need Soph to lose?"

"Because she's the most insufferable winner in the world, Sidney."

"That is incredibly accurate," Sidney admitted. "Alright, what's reason number three?"

"Since she doesn't drive, she doesn't have an understanding of how much gas costs and how much cars need, so she always overpays when giving cash for gas."

Sidney scoffed in disbelief. "So, you're robbing her?"

He nodded simply. "Yes."

"And a good Christian boy such as yourself has no moral qualms about that?" she asked in a taunting tone.

"Not when the good Christian boy has to pay rent while Indy doesn't," he said flatly. "But seriously, it's mostly the Soph thing."

"Well, how long does Indy need to go without driving for her to lose?"

"Forever."

"Zay, I hate to say it, but those are terrible odds, and Sophia is gonna win eventually."

The younger boy pouted at the empty air. "Well, let me live in denial a little longer."

"Pizza has arrived!" Indiana said loudly while coming into her room while holding the large pizza over her head. Isaiah could see two Cokes leaning halfway out of her sweatpants pockets so they'd have something to drink. "None for you, Sid."

"I think I'll survive," Sidney said, listening as Indy scrambled back on her bed and started tearing into the pizza.

"So," Indy said, not bothering to chew all the way as she spoke. "How's mountain life? How's Tate? Spotted any scary creatures of the night?"

"Do you mean werewolves or, like, raccoons?" Sidney questioned.

"Both, I suppose."

"Well, uh, they're pretty light on the werewolves up here. Hate to disappoint."

"Bummer."

☆︎

"Honestly, Luca," Jackson scoffed, "I can't believe you're wearing a Hawaiian shirt to meet the director. What do you have against making a good first impression?"

"You are literally crushing Indiana right now," Luca shot back flatly.

The band — plus Randy and Martha, who promised to sit silently to the side during the meeting — was in the Winger garage and waiting for Rod to drive up with Roman Bridger. Virginia had work so wouldn't get to meet the man until later. Everyone was anxious to see what kinds of ideas the man had, but Rod gave them a big long lecture about professionalism.

Jackson was sitting on Indiana. Luca looked like a tacky father on vacation. Sophia kept kicking Randy every time he came too close. And Martha stole the Superman comic book Isaiah was flipping through previously.

So, all in all, they weren't being very professional and didn't even notice when Rod stood in the garage door opening with a much younger man by his side. The bandmates just kept bickering and shoving and picking on each other.

"Jax, I swear to god, I will stab you in the fucking ass cheek!" Indiana snapped while trying to push the taller boy off of her. But Jackson just smirked and wiggled his butt, getting more comfortable on her back. Isaiah tried to pull him off, but it was pretty useless, as Jackson was in the best shape of them all.

"I'll draw a Ghostface mask on it to help your aim," Randy chimed in.

Martha then snickered. "Why are you so interested in Jackson's ass?"

"Why are you?" Randy shot back. He at least had the decency to whisper his answer so that Jackson didn't hear from across the garage. But Isaiah and Sophia did as they giggled.

The eighteen-year-old girl's cheeks heated up, and she'd have punched the crap out of Randy if his body wasn't still in shit shape from what happened the year before. Martha was beginning to harbor a small crush on Jackson, which was getting more noticeable by the day.

But who could blame her when he spent the last year picking her up from school and going to her marching band competitions and just being around the charming boy a lot more in general since she and Randy spent their free time over at Indy's house?

Jackson learned he cared about Martha in a similar way, but also in a much subtler way. So subtle that Indiana was the only one to know about it, and that was because she forced it out of Jackson one night. He wasn't going to do anything about his crush though. After all, she was just going out into the world and learning about herself. And he was two years older and about to be incredibly busy with the band, so it wasn't the right time.

While Martha was distracted, Isaiah managed to finally snatch the comic book from her grasp. But then Randy shoved Sophia right into him, and they both fell in a heap on the ground, crushing the copy of Superman beneath them.

Knowing from experience that there wasn't a better way to get everyone's attention, Rod stepped over to the speaker connected to the microphone Indiana used. He turned the knob so that the volume was all the way up. An unbearably loud, screeching feedback sound hit their ears, and all the shouting amongst the young adults ceased as they covered their ears — well, Indiana couldn't because her hands were pinned beneath her.

Once Rod turned the speaker back off, he grinned in annoyance at all of them. "Good morning, children. Ready for the first day of kindergarten?" he asked in a condescending tone.

"Super ready, boss man," Indiana said enthusiastically even though she couldn't see him.

"Jackson, get off her," he ordered.

Jackson grumbled and slid off of Indiana, finally freeing her. She took in a dramatic gasp of air and sat up, hanging off the back of the couch to look at Rod and the stranger. Roman Bridger was a handsome man around Virginia's age with brown hair and some classes framing his face. But that wasn't the most important thing she noticed.

"Oh, my god," Indiana said, her jaw dropping as she observed him. Then she whipped her head to look at Luca, who leaned back a bit, not expecting it. "You're wearing the exact same tacky shirt!"

It was true. Luca and Roman were in the same orange and green Hawaiian print shirt that came from Walmart, and immediately, everyone began snickering about it. Rod rubbed his forehead tiredly, knowing this was a horrible first impression so far.

"Well, I for one think he has immaculate taste and am glad we chose him," Luca said, stomping away from his laughing friends. He smiled politely at Roman and stuck out his hand. "Luca Moreno. Nice to meet you."

"You too," Roman said, managing a smile while shaking his hand. Then his eyes scanned the rest of the garage eagerly as the others finished laughing and began to come over as well.

"I'm Jackson," he introduced himself. Then he nodded to the Meeks siblings. "That's Martha and Randy. Not part of the band — just here for fun."

Both Sophia and Isaiah also introduced themselves with little waves and head nods toward him. Indy was the last to come over, finally getting off the couch.

"That must make you Indiana," Roman said, looking her in the eye with interest.

"The one and only," she said, smiling charmingly at him. "We're really excited to be working with you."

"I can't imagine why," he said bashfully. "I mean, I was shocked when I actually got the call from Rod. You guys are the fastest-growing band on the west coast, and I've got maybe two things on my resume."

"Well, that's why. We want to work with a small director. Maybe you can grow like we are," Luca told him.

"As long as your vision isn't totally lame," Sophia told him, crossing her arms.

"Shall we get this started?" Rod asked, not wanting anyone to say anything to make Roman uncomfortable. "We talked about some great ideas in the car. I think you'll be excited."

So, the group moved back into the garage and away from the door. Martha and Randy did as told, sitting to the side but where they could still listen. Randy was excited to learn about the process of making a music video. Jackson, Sophia, Isaiah, and Luca all crammed onto the couch, and since there wasn't more space, Indiana laid across the top of it, propping her head up in her hand as she laid on her side.

At Virginia's suggestion, they moved some of the chairs from the small dining room into the garage so that Roman and Rod could sit down across from them in those rather than the various beanbag chairs and blow-up plastic furniture.

"Well, after listening to the song a few times through and really grasping what it's about—"

"Let me stop you," Jackson said, cutting him off as nicely as he could. "We aren't interested in a Stab-themed video. It's just not going to happen."

"Oh, god, no," Roman said, rolling his eyes. "Those movies are a cheap money grab — and inconsiderate to the victims given how quickly they made them following the murder sprees."

"Glad you agree," Sophia told him, relaxing a little bit. "Heard they're working on a script for a third movie now."

"Which is stupid. What would they even base it on without a bullshit Gale Weathers book?" Roman asked, rolling his eyes.

Sophia smiled at the man and put a hand to her chest. "Welcome to the family, Roman."

"But," he went on, smiling a little more as he did, "I don't want to completely steer clear of the horror genre. Happening Again is all about going through something horrifying and then thinking you're safe — that it's all over and you can move on with your lives — only to go through it all over again. Not to mention the feelings of fear and anticipation that the instrumentals bring to the surface."

"So what exactly are you thinking? A scary music video?" Randy asked, needing to be a part of the conversation now that his favorite genre was brought up. "Like, a mini-horror film?"

"Are we sure that's a good idea given, well, you know?" Isaiah asked, not sounding convinced yet. He didn't want to draw up bad memories for Indiana, Sophia, and Randy after their near-death experiences.

"We can hear him out," Indy said, appreciating where Isaiah was coming from. Then she looked back at Roman expectantly.

"Not exactly a film. But think of all the iconic horror scenes over the years — the Psycho shower, Leatherface's first kill, the chest scene from Alien, and so many more," Roman listed, clearly getting more excited as he talked about his plan. "We can recreate all of these scenes but instead of being killed, the characters fight back and defeat the bad guy."

"How do you not die after an alien emerges from your chest?" Martha asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Shush," Indy said, waving her hand at Martha while staring at Roman intently, already picturing it in her mind. "Roman, you're a genius."

"Can I be thrown around by a hand like in Evil Dead 2?" Jackson asked, scooting forward a bit.

"Me, personally, I'd like to be the one in the shower," Luca said, grinning cheekily.

"But the most important thing," Indiana said, raising her voice louder. She stared at Roman intently, who nodded for her to continue. "What are your thoughts on Carrie?"

Roman's smile grew, already picturing it in his mind. "Oh, hell yeah."

☆︎

Virginia smelled the Chinese food before she saw Dewey as he entered her house. She'd only been awake for about thirty minutes, having slept during the day in preparation for her night shift. So, Dewey bringing dinner-slash-breakfast was perfect.

"You are my hero," she said, not even getting off the couch as she held her arms out toward him.

Dewey gave her a small smile before handing over the food and joining her in the living room. He pulled the coffee table closer as Virginia began putting all the containers on it.

"I got the extra orange chicken for you to take to work," he told her while grabbing his order of egg rolls.

Virginia leaned in to kiss his cheek before opening her rice. "So, how was work today?" she asked while digging in. Dewey just made a noise of discontent, making her look away from her food and back at him. Virginia hated the frown on his face. "Dew?"

"It wasn't work. It was paperwork," he muttered under his breath.

Dewey received money from the state because of his injuries received during the first Ghostface attacks, and his job at the station would be there when he was finally medically cleared to return to duty. Until then, he came in every other day and helped his fellow officers with the paperwork side of their jobs. But after so long, Dewey was starting to think he'd never be medically cleared.

"Hey, look at me," Virginia said softly while setting her food back down so that she could properly face him. When Dewey didn't look up from his lap, she gently cupped his cheek and turned his head to face her. "Dewey, do you have any idea how lucky you are to be alive right now? You, Soph, Randy? All of you should be dead after what you went through."

"I know I'm lucky, Virginia. But it's just — I'm useless," he said, getting more upset.

"That's not tr—"

"Yes, it is. Sophia's perfectly fine now. Even Randy is taking courses at the college and running around in better shape," he told her. Then he pulled his head out of Virginia's hand and looked down at his own that he still struggled to control sometimes. That, coupled with his limp that slowed him down was disheartening. "But I'm not back to Deputy Dewey. I'm... Desk Worker Dewey. I don't help people or protect them."

"That is not true," Virginia said, managing to not get cut off this time. "You helped stop both Ghostface attacks and find clues to who they were. And—"

"God stabbed both times," he muttered. "Might as well be a knife block."

"Well, I can't be in love with a knife block — there's probably a law against stuff like that and inanimate objects," she told him, shaking her head. "And so what if you got stabbed? All that matters is you're alive and the two bitches who did it to you are dead. You're moving better every day and keeping up with your physical therapy. It may be horribly boring, but doing all that paperwork is just going to help your motor skills."

Dewey looked back at her, his eyes a little lighter. "You love me?"

Virginia rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, it's not like I say it to you once a day or anything."

"I love you too," he said softly, leaning a little closer. "And I'm sorry that I'm not... the same as I was when we first met, ya know? I'm not strong or fast or all that helpful."

"Dew, you get me food and visit me on my breaks and help when something's broken in the house. You care about Indy like she's your family. And you're brave even after everything you've been through. The you that I have now is all I'm ever gonna need," Virginia said softly. Then she smiled and pressed her forehead to his. "As for strong and fast... we both like it when I'm on top anyway."

Despite having been sleeping together on and off for four years, Dewey's cheeks still heated up. He moved his good hand up to cup her jaw, brushing his thumb over her lips. "What time you gotta leave for work?"

She smirked and kissed his thumb, forgetting all about the food on the coffee table. "Not for another hour."

Dewey smiled a real smile and leaned in to kiss her softly. Virginia smiled into it, his mustache tickling a little bit before she deepened the kiss, parting his lips with her tongue. He pulled her closer with a soft touch until she was pressed right up against him.

"Wanna go up—"

"Ew! My fucking eyes!"

Virginia clenched her eyes shut and let out a long breath to control her anger over hearing Jackson interrupt them. Then she looked up and saw the younger boy, along with Martha, in the living room. She and Dewey were starting to think there was some kind of curse that meant someone was always destined to interrupt them in moments of passion.

"Why are you in my house?" Virginia asked, raising an eyebrow as she slid off of Dewey.

"Because you gave him a key," Dewey said quietly, instantly regretting it as Virginia cut her eyes to him.

Jackson just put one index finger to his nose and pointed the other at Dewey, grinning. "Yes, because you gave me a key."

"Jack picked me up from work," Martha told them while dropping her purse by the recliner and leaning on the arm. Despite all four founding members of the band applying to and being denied a job at the local record store, Martha somehow scored the impossible-to-get gig. "Everyone's coming over to talk about the big school scene on Friday."

Ninety percent of the music video had been shot, with Roman using locations like the garage, Cricket's, the police station, and various rooms in everyone's houses. The final and most busy day was going to be filmed in the high school gym.

They were staging a prom, and all Woodsboro students were excited to be extras. The Woodsboro Killers would be playing on the stage when a bucket of blood would slowly drip before dunking on Indiana like in Carrie. Except instead of going on a rampage with psychic powers to kill everyone, everyone would go crazy and party even harder. It wasn't real blood, or even corn syrup as Indy was expecting. Roman explained that in the industry, there was some kind of fake blood they could order by the gallon, and it wasn't nearly as sticky as corn syrup and food dye — and it wouldn't stain her clothes and skin.

Virginia had forgotten about that, admittedly, as soon as Dewey came over. "Isn't Indy supposed to be with you?" she asked while reaching for her food again. Dewey also grabbed his own, knowing they weren't going to go back to what they were doing.

They all noticed the little huff that Jackson let out before replying. "She canceled our plans to hang out with Roman."

Virginia bit back a smirk. "Like in a date way?"

"God, I fucking wish in a date way," he grumbled while dropping into the recliner. "Like in a hangout and become best friends way."

"I'm sensing some jealousy," Dewey commented while chewing his food.

Jackson again huffed, not bothering to hide it. "Well, yeah, I have good reason! She's my best friend, and I've never seen her hit it off so quickly with someone aside from me. There are three ways to get in fast with her — basketball, music, and movies. And yeah, I'm good on the first two, but I just enjoy the movies a regular amount like normal people and not on the deep scale that her and Randy appreciate them."

"But Roman? Not only is he a director directing our music video, but he's a movie fanatic and he also played basketball all through college. That's all three," Jackson ranted. "My job is in jeopardy!"

"Your job as her best friend?" Dewey asked, raising an eyebrow. Jackson just nodded frantically.

"I gave up on talking him down halfway through the car ride," Martha said, rubbing her forehead.

"Jax, she's known Roman for two and a half weeks," Virginia told him. "And you know how easy it is for her to make friends."

"Why weren't you this jealous at Windsor? I mean, she and Cici were joined at the hip," Dewey added.

"And Mickey too, before they started dating," Martha chimed in, picking at her purple nail polish. "And before, ya know, the betrayal and murder."

"One, Cici was her girl best friend. There's a difference between that and a guy best friend," Jackson said, waving his hands around. "And I knew she wanted to fuck Mickey from the moment I saw him sit by her in the quad. There was no need for being upset then. But Roman? He's a threat, and we need to do away with him."

"Right," Virginia laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "Let's just call Rod up and tell him to fire Roman even though he's making what looks like will be a pretty great video at a low cost while having a great working relationship with everyone involved — except for you, I guess."

Jackson's pout made him look like a five-year-old as he crossed his arm. "I hate him."

Martha bit back a grin and put her hand on his shoulder. "You liked him and thought he was cool until this morning."

"Because she canceled our plans," he whined.

"Your plans were to drive her to McDonald's and throw shit off the water tower while blasting the Beastie Boys," Virginia said flatly.

"Yeah, those are fucking plans, Virginia!" he exclaimed. "Now Roman's driving her around and throwing shit off the water tower."

"Roman is a grown man and almost in his thirties," Dewey said, his face scrunched up. "I'm pretty sure he's not interested in throwing stuff off our water tower — which is littering and vandalism, by the way."

"Oh, write me a ticket," Jackson said, rolling his eyes.

Martha then pinched his shoulder, making him squirm. "Get in a better mood, please," she requested. "You're about to recreate the Carrie prom scene. And you got to be Pennywise while Isaiah was Georgie and beat you to death. That was a fun day, and it happened all because of Roman."

"It was fun," he grumbled. Then he sighed. "Fine, I'll not request he be fired, but I'm gonna make sure to mark my territory on Indiana."

Dewey peered at him, setting his food to the side. "Are you... gonna pee on her?"

"Ew," Martha said, shutting her eyes and shaking her head.

"If I have to!" Jackson said dramatically, ignoring how the other three groaned. "Joey did it for Monica on Friends!"

"She's not been stung by a jellyfish — which is a myth, by the way," Virginia told him pointedly. She needed to make sure none of them went around beaches peeing on each other after a jellyfish sting. "Indy is just making Roman feel welcome so long as he's here. You guys are really lucky you ended up with someone so laid back and friendly, especially in the entertainment business. Even Rod is surprised by how well this whole thing is going."

Indiana wasn't the only one getting along with Roman. Randy and Luca took to him just as much, and Isaiah liked spending time with him too. Sophia was indifferent at first, but then she learned his dream wasn't really to make music videos and focus on horror elements. He wanted to direct romantic comedies one day, and she made him swear to call them if he ever needed a song for one.

The very man of the hour — and the object of Jackson's insecurity — then came into the house, his and Indiana's laughter reaching the others before their bodies did.

"Seriously, I can't believe you got so much distance on that nugget before it hit the ground," Indiana was saying.

"I feel very compelled to sneak onto the Warner Brother's lot and climb their water tower, all of a sudden," Roman said, snickering a little as they walked into the living room.

"Well, I've opened your eyes to a whole new hobby — oh, fuck!"

Jackson decided the best way to 'mark his territory' was to tackle Indiana as soon as she was within his sight. Roman barely managed to step to the side as Jackson rammed into her, knocking them both into the wall before falling onto the hardwood floors.

"Oh, my god," Indiana wheezed out, recovering from the hit, her elbow now throbbing. "I hate you. I hate you so goddamn much, Jackson."

Jackson narrowed his eyes while staying on top of her, also ignoring how his knee hurt because of his own actions. "I'm the light of your life, bitch. Say it."

She looked up at him in amusement. "You're the light of my life, you fucking dick," she muttered. "But I'm gonna smash a guitar over your head at the next show to make up for this."

"I can accept that," he said with a bright grin before crawling off of Indiana. He also grabbed her hand to help her stand back up. "But you have to get me a Big Mac and an apple pie."

From the last comment, Indy could tell that he only tackled her for changing their plans last minute, which wasn't cool, but Roman had asked what there was to do around town as it was the one day they weren't working on the video.

"Maybe I just wanted to give you alone time with Martha," she whispered teasingly.

Jackson scoffed and flicked her ear before going back over to the recliner to sit down. Much to Virginia and Dewey's amusement, he did at least greet Roman politely while passing.

"So, is everything ready to go for Friday?" Martha asked Roman while leaning her side against Jackson again once he was seated.

The older man pushed his glasses up before moving to the empty loveseat that Indiana was moving toward as well. "Yup. The stage blood came in a few hours ago, and that's all we were waiting for. I sat with Randy last night and looked over what we have so far — he's a really great editor. It's all gonna come together when we can cut to the slow dripping of blood every now and then. Then the big drop will be during the bridge. It really is gonna be amazing on screen."

"Well, thank you for letting Randy help edit it," Martha told him, smiling sweetly.

"Of course. Randy's a really cool guy."

Indiana pulled a face and met Jackson's eye before the two began snickering.

"Leave him alone," Virginia said, rolling her eyes. "He's not even here to defend himself."

"He's a geek, but I guess you're also a geek, so you'd think he's cool too," Indiana told Roman teasingly.

Roman quintet at her. "Says the one that liked that Phantom Menace movie."

Indiana just crossed her arms — there'd been many a fight between her, Roman, and Randy about the quality of the prequel trilogy of Star Wars that they'd be getting over the next few years. "We aren't doing this again right now. You'll ruin our water tower memories." Roman just put his hands up in defense, still smiling. "You're a geek. Randy's a geek. Nothing wrong with that."

"At least in Randy's defense, he's finally making baby steps with Sid," Dewey said, shrugging.

"Yeah, tiny minuscule baby steps after a whole lifetime of pathetic pining," Martha said, laughing a little. It was so funny to watch her brother try and woo Sidney either over the phone or on one of the rare trips out to her cabin.

"At least he's trying. Besides, after Derek, he doesn't need to go too fast anyway," Virginia reminded them. "Sid needs slow."

"Sid is Sidney, right?" Roman spoke up, glancing between all of them. "Prescott?"

It was quiet for a moment before Indiana nodded. "Yup, that's her."

"But she's not in Woodsboro, right? I figured you'd have her in the video like all your other friends if she was," he said, tilting his head to study Indy's expression carefully.

"Yeah, she had to get out of town. Honestly, I'm surprised we all haven't left," Indy said, not saying any more details about where her friend was living. Being off the grid would be pointless if they started telling people where the grid was. "But I obliterated Billy's stupid ass, and Soph took out Stu, so the town is ours."

"Hence this mega awesome video that's gonna have their ghosts crying in a corner," Jackson said, grinning.

"Oh, that reminds me," Roman told Indiana, moving on from Sidney, sensing he wasn't going to get any further at the time. "You were mentioning maybe working on another video one day. It wasn't one of the songs you mentioned, but we could do something with ghosts and that song You're Not There. If figured since it was about being haunted by your love for that Mickey guy, we could—"

"No," Indiana cut him off, her tone weak as she shook her head.

Roman peered at her questioningly. Up until then, Indiana had been so stoked by every single idea he had, even ones that poked fun at Billy and Stu, and even Nancy's — as Indy liked to describe it — 'decrepit ass.' "How come? It's doing just as well on the charts as Happening Again. It's another single from Stab 2. It makes sense for that to be the next video on the album."

"I'm not making a video for any of the songs about him. Not ever, Roman. I don't care about how smart of a move it would be," she explained. "There's other songs to choose from — the ones about Cici or Tatum, the love song for Derek and Sid, the one me and Soph wrote about seeing a girl so pretty we walked into a glass door like fools."

"It could be so fun to make a video for Pretty Girls, especially with the lack of gay representation out there," Martha chimed in so that it wouldn't just be Indy arguing against anything focused on Mickey. Jackson raised his hand for her to high-five, glad that Randy's sister was just as accepting of Sophia as everyone else was.

"Well, I definitely wouldn't want to go with horror or ghosts for that one," Roman said, not lingering on Mickey. "Maybe something inherently and overwhelmingly sapphic and female, then make it all about the love there. I mean, but you and Sophia would have to really take over since I lack an understanding of that world. Like, what do you think of when it comes to those things?"

Indiana bit the inside of her cheek and grinned sheepishly. "Making my Barbie dolls kiss was inherently sapphic and female to me growing up."

"You could set it in a Barbie Dreamhouse!" Martha exclaimed, leaning forward excitedly. "Oh, and you and Sophia could be Barbies and there'd be all these other girls having fun."

"Well, what would me, Zay, and Luca be in—"

"You're just Kens," Indiana cut him off in a flat tone.

Jackson just stuck his tongue out at her childishly. "Luca would love being a Ken doll."

"Please," Indy said, grinning widely, "he already is one."