A hand grabbed Everleigh's forearm and, by God, she hoped it was someone trying to kidnap her and put her out of her fucking misery.

            Everleigh had had many, many gong show mornings. She'd had to carry a drunk and disorderly passenger out of a plane when they'd emergency landed in Guyana because he was a danger to other passengers on their flight to Chile. The thing was, as astronomically shitty and chaotic that morning had been, she'd take it a thousand times more over the fucking morning she'd had that day.

            "Oh, you have to tell me everything."

            "We didn't sleep together, we just slept together."

            "What in God's name does that mean?" Juno crossed her arms. "Come on, or I'll rat you out to all those cameramen."

            "No, you wouldn't." If she had planned on snitching, Juno wouldn't have brought her around a tight corner where nobody could really see them unless they looked a little too hard. They probably only had a couple minutes.

            "You're right, I wouldn't," Juno said. "Which is why you should spill. I'll never be anonymous source."

            Everleigh drew in a deep—deep—sigh. How in the world was she going to explain half of what had happened the night before to Juno was beyond her. How she was going to explain anything from the night before with the headache that bashed against her skull was even further away from her grasp.

            "We got really drunk. Instead of having some driver pick him up, he just stayed there. Nothing happened. I promise."

            "That's not what the paparazzi are framing it as. Pictures of him leaving your hotel look suspect, Leigh," Juno said. "And you were holding hands at the MARS concert."

            "No," Everleigh said, "he was taking me to our seats. That's different."

            "It doesn't look different."

            "Fuck, I know." Everleigh ran her hands through her bangs that she hadn't bothered to straighten until that moment.

            "You just got photographed on your way to work looking like—like..."

            "You can say it."

            "Well. Not good," Juno said. "Are you sure you won't be sick on the flight?"

            Everleigh shook her head. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

            "What the hell happened?"

            "I'm too competitive for my own good. Especially when it comes to drinking. And we had this stupid fucking paper cups in the hotel room, meant for water, but we opened the mini fridge and there was this nice tequila..."

            "Oh, Leigh."

            "And I might've been a little high."

            "Shit."

            "I think I'm going to be sick."

            "Okay, come on. I'll get you past them." Juno shrugged her jacket off her shoulders and wrapped it around Everleigh, who understood the intention immediately. Everleigh raised her hands so the jacket surrounded her head—all they needed was for her to hold it long enough to make it to the worker changerooms. Everleigh could put there without fear of questions about whether she was pregnant with Maverick's kid that would just make her feel shittier than she already did about how she looked.

            Juno held Everleigh's shoulders as she led her through the airport. Everleigh kept her head down, not making eye contact with anything other than the floor and occasionally, her checkered Vans sneakers. Maybe she should've gone with a pair of trainers, but she hadn't expected to be on the run from people trying to get information that didn't exist from her since the moment she left her hotel. (Yes, it had been stupid for her to offer half her bed to Kingston Maverick.) (But also yes, he was probably just as shittered as her and she would've rather she knew he was okay than dead in a ditch somewhere 'cause he didn't make it back to where he was staying.)

            "Turn right in three, two—" Juno and Everleigh both turned. Juno pushed the door open and stopped as they closed behind her. "You're okay."

            Everleigh peeked out of the jacket and slowly stood to her full height; Juno and Maverick were about the same height, Everleigh had a head over them both. "Thank you."

            "So, I thought you hated Maverick—"

            "Kin—"

            "Kingston, whatever." Juno rolled her eyes. "You didn't even want to talk to him when we were going to Brisbane. Now you're sleeping together."

            "We didn't—"

            "I believe you. Now you're... not having sex but sleeping together because, what? You're frienemies?"

            "I hate that you used that word." Everleigh made a face—whether it was more at Juno or at the way her stomach twisted remained to be seen.

            "What would you call it?"

            "Circumstantial cohorts," Everleigh said, "turned... I don't know, not frienemies."

            "That would be friends."

            "Sure. That."

            "You can admit friendship. Unless there's something... more."

            "There's not."

            "Forgive me," Juno said, holding her hands up in surrender. "Making sure. That man took you to your favourite band's concert on New Year's and you clearly had a good time."

            "Don't remind me of my good time before I'm done puking."

            "That's a big change from Brisbane," Juno said.

            "I didn't have a choice," Everleigh said. "I don't know what kind of shite he pulled but he's not... awful."

            "High praise."

            Everleigh went to mock Juno before her stomach took a fatal turn. Slapping a hand over her mouth, she looked around before spotting the closest washroom. She didn't even care what gender it was meant for, she was through the entry before anything could register. Reaching the sink in the nick of time, Everleigh heaved into the sink.

            Tears threatened to pour from her eyes. Not at the force of the puke itself, no. That was enough, but it wasn't it. Everleigh had convinced herself not to purge after dinner with Maverick the night before. Too much shit they spread across her bed and chowed down on. The fight was on as soon as Maverick's soft breathing had interrupted the silence in the room. She refused to stick her fingers down her throat when Maverick had fallen asleep with his hearing aids in. Nothing would chance her waking him up.

            She'd gotten used to Donny not caring. That she and him were under a don't ask, don't tell contract they both signed nonverbally. Sealed with a kiss, a hookup, and silent morning afters.

            Everleigh wasn't sure how Maverick would've reacted. And she'd terrified him earlier that night. She believed that. Something in her told her that Maverick wasn't lying and she probably wouldn't have let him hug her if she had even the slightest doubt. The thought that he even might go see what was going on was enough to make Everleigh had forced herself to shut her eyes and lay still until she, too, fell asleep.

            That fight seemed so, so moot when she lost her dinner and breakfast in the airport sink in what might've been the men's loo. (Everleigh ventured a gaze to herself in the mirror—yup, she was in the men's, there were too many urinals for it to be the women's or gender neutrals.) Using the back of her shaking hand to wipe at her lip, Everleigh used the shoulder of her shirt to wipe away the tear that snuck out the corner of her eye. She washed her hands quickly, wishing she still had her suitcase to brush her teeth. Cupping her hands, Everleigh took a drink from her makeshift cup. Swished the water around and spat it in the sink; letting the water run away her bile.

            "Are you okay?" a man walked up beside her. A hint of an accent hung in his voice, Everleigh couldn't quite place where. Somewhere in the mid-west if she had to guess. Maybe he was a pilot, maybe a steward. She didn't really care enough to ask.

            "Fine." Everleigh looked at him in the reflection of the mirror.

            "You're sure?"

            "Do I know you?" The man shook his head. Everleigh continued, "Please stop asking me if I'm all right, then."

            He held his hands up. "Women are always so fuckin' defensive. I'm tryin' to help."

            "I didn't ask for it."

            "You asked for it by being in here." He took a step toward her and Everleigh turned and ran out before he could get close enough to do anything.

            Her father always told her to throw the last punch and never the first, but Everleigh came close to losing her patience after the morning she'd had. She definitely heard the man call her a bitch, but didn't give him the satisfaction of turning around.

            Everleigh rushed out of the bathroom and grabbed Juno's wrist, dragging her down the hall to the women's changerooms.

            "What the fuck?"

            "I don't know if I'm paranoid or everyone's crazy but I feel like I have to keep looking over my shoulder and I—" Everleigh collapsed on the bench seat against the wall, tears flooding in her eyes. "I hate today."

            Juno held a stick of gum in her direction. Everleigh took it and unwrapped it, popping it into her mouth. The mint overtook the lingering taste of bile biting the back of her throat. Tears rolled down Everleigh's cheeks.

            "I feel so sick."

            "Of today?"

            Everleigh looked at Juno. Hopeful her expression would answer the question so she didn't have to.

            "Oh, Leigh." Juno sat beside her. "I'm sorry for this. I know it's not what you ever would've wanted from your life."

            Everleigh sniffled. "I don't even know if I'm still drunk or I'm just tired or I need a break or a boyfriend—"

            "That visit with your mom really fucked you up, didn't it?"

            "Do you look in the mirror and hate what you see?" Everleigh asked. Crying a little harder at the thought that she'd finally said it out loud for someone to hear, not simply an endless night sky that would never reply.

            "Do you?" Juno was careful with her words. Afraid they might break Everleigh—that was a silly caution. Everleigh was already shattered into pieces small enough even crazy glue couldn't fix them.

            Everleigh swallowed hard. "Everyday of my life. And now my face is being fuckin' plastered everywhere for everyone."

            Juno looked like she wanted to hug Everleigh. At that point she wouldn't have been opposed but she'd engrained it in Juno's head that she wasn't to be touched.

            "What can I do to help you right now?" Juno asked. "In this moment."

            Everleigh's lip trembled. "Can you help me clean up? Grab a toothbrush from—"

            "Duty free? You've got it. I'll grab some Tylenol too." Juno nodded. "I'll help you fix your makeup after you have something to eat."

            "Thank you."

            "You wait here, I'll be right back."

            "Can we—" Everleigh had been about to ask if she could talk to Juno on the phone while she grabbed what was needed, so she could feel a little less alone, but her phone buzzed in her pocket. Everleigh pulled it out. "Um."

            "You take that." Juno patted Everleigh's knee gently. "I'll be back before you can say hello."

            "I don't say hello—"

            "Before you can bark what to whoever decided to call you," Juno corrected.

            "I don't bark—"

            "Leigh," Juno said. "Answer the phone. And I'll be back before you hang up."

            Everleigh nodded.

            "You're okay if I leave?"

            Everleigh nodded again and shook her phone. "Go for it. I'll pay you back."

            Juno smiled at her for a moment. "I've got this one. Consider it instead of a welcome back to school lunch."

            "Tylenol and a toothbrush? Best welcoming gift ever."

            "I think so."

            Everleigh accepted the phone call. "What?"

            Juno laughed and walked out of the changeroom.

            "Everleigh, I'm so sorry."

            Everleigh leaned her head back against the wall of the changeroom. "Hey, Kingston."

            "I tried to get out the back but they had the entire place surrounded."

            Everleigh ran a hand over her forehead, closed her eyes behind the shade her palm offered. "It's okay."

            "You sound like you've been crying."

            Everleigh cleared her throat away from the phone and did her best to take the tremble away from her voice. "Haven't talked much today. Still in... morning voice mode."

            "Everleigh."

            "It's fine, Kingston." The tear that slid down Everleigh's cheek really sold that. Absolutely.

            "Can you please tell me the truth?"

            "I don't lie," Everleigh croaked.

            "I've got people trying to get the photos removed," Maverick said. "I promise."

            "It's fine."

            "Stop saying it's fine."

            Everleigh's hand shook as she ran it over her mouth. "I don't know what you want me to say other than it's fine."

            "Get angry, I deserve it. You can yell or cuss me out, something—"

            "It's not your fault."

            "I shouldn't have stayed."

            "What would've changed?"

            "I—" Maverick stumbled over his words. "Maybe they wouldn't have seen."

            "Kingston, there were photos of us grabbing takeaway from the restaurant." Everleigh hadn't meant to look. She really hadn't. But there were so many cameras and she had to know what the damage was before she got on her flight. "It's not like they didn't know where you were."

            "I'm sorry."

            "You said that."

            "You didn't accept it."

            "You didn't have to offer it."

            "I did."

            Everleigh wiped a tear with the back of her hand. Eyes aimlessly scanning the rows of lockers in front of her, not focusing on any one in particular. "You can't apologize for doing what you love and having your privacy invaded."

            "I should know better."

            "That's what publicists are for, right?"

            Maverick sighed softly. Not at Everleigh, that much she could tell. Situation, sure. But not at Everleigh. "Can you actually tell me, in these words, that you haven't been crying?"

            "I did, didn't I?"

            "No, you said you hadn't talked that much."

            "It's not the same thing?"

            "You don't have to spare my feelings."

            But she did. Of course she did. Everleigh was a bitch but she wasn't without empathy. Sympathy. Both? Both. She wiped more tears from her cheeks. "I'm fine, Kingston."

            "It's okay if you're not." Maverick paused for a little too long, Everleigh almost blurted out how not okay she was when he spoke again. "I know the first time Rhy was in photos... The first time she got followed to work, followed on a date..." He swallowed hard enough Everleigh could hear it through the phone. "I think damage control is putting it mildly."

            "I'm not your ex-fiancée." Everleigh hadn't meant for her voice to lower so much. For venom to be spat at him, burning through the phone.

            "No, I know—"

            "You don't have to check on me like I am."

            "Everleigh—"

            "Look, I'll call when I land. Or something. And we can talk if you really want to. But right now, I need to go."

            Maverick stayed quiet. "Okay. I'm sorry."

            "Goodbye, Kingston."

            "Bye."

            "That sounded like it went poorly," Juno said, dumping a couple Tylenol into her palm as she rounded the lockers. She held the pills out to Everleigh, makeup bag swinging around her wrist. "Here."

            "Sorry you had to hear that."

            "I'm not the one you were taking your frustration out on."

            Everleigh dropped the Tylenol into her mouth as Juno handed her a bottle of Gatorade that had been tucked under her arm. It was blue, Everleigh's favourite. "I told him it was fine."

            "I don't think you mean that."

            "What am I supposed to say?" Everleigh said. "That I wished it never happened because now I've got thousands of people requesting to follow my Instagram and now there's photos of me on a good night circulating everywhere."

            "It's not his fault."

            "I know it's not his fault."

            "Why's Instagram blowing up?" Juno asked, leaning back against a locker. "You didn't follow him last I heard. Or assumed."

            "He brought me backstage," Everleigh said. "I met the band, Stevie followed me back. And that's cool, like, really cool, and I'm excited, but Christ, that's a lot to wake up to."

            "I bet." Juno pulled a couple protein bars from the back pocket of her jeans. "Here. You need to eat."

            "Thank you." Everleigh opened one of the bars, a chocolate peanut butter one, and took a bite. "I don't regret anything that happened. But... I didn't expect this."

            "You mean you don't want photos of you posted without your consent?" Juno asked. "Shocking."

            Everleigh stared at Juno as she chewed her bite of the protein bar.

            Juno pushed off the lockers and sat down next to Everleigh. She placed the makeup bag beside her on the bench. "Let's fix your makeup while you eat and get you ready for work, cool?"

            Everleigh nodded.

            "Take your mind off everything while you deal with crying babies and businessmen."

            "Great."

            Juno wrapped an arm around Everleigh for a quick half-hug. Everleigh didn't even stop her. "It'll all work out itself out. Hiding out in Winnipeg won't be the worst thing for you."

            "I said I'd call him when I landed."

            Juno shook her head. "We're not talking about him until we get off that flight. Okay?"

            "But—"

            "Only thing we're talking about is what you want me to do with your eyeliner." Juno pulled out a makeup wipe from her bag and gently rubbed it on Everleigh's cheeks. "We'll cross other bridges when we get to them, not scout them out on the map beforehand."