❪ ﹟TWO  ❫ ࿐ྂ
━━ WOODSBORO COMMUNITY HOSPITAL / CORNER POCKET POOL HALL !

     WHEN THE FIVE get to the hospital, Carina is happy to find that Tara does actually seem to be okay. Physically, at least. She smiles at them all when they walk in, her eyes shining slightly.

Carina doesn't hesitate to bend down and wrap the smaller girl in a light hug. From the way Tara grasps her shoulders, she has a feeling the other girl needs it just as much as she does. When she pulls back, Mindy takes her place.

The room is set up for two people to occupy it, but Tara's currently the only occupant. Because of this, the bed next to her is completely empty. Wes takes a seat on it, and Carina joins him. Mindy and Chad pull the two chairs up towards the bed to sit in, and Amber perches herself on the edge of Tara's bed.

"How are you feeling, Tara?"

"Been better, obviously." The girl shrugs. "But all things considered, I'm okay."

Everyone smiles a little at her, and she reflects the look back at them. Tara's always had to be strong, especially after Sam left. This only proved that.

Mindy starts to say something, but it gets stuck in her throat before it can even begin to form when the door to Tara's room begins to open for a second time that afternoon.

Sam Carpenter has always been pretty, even when she was on a drug bender right before she left Woodsboro. Carina is somewhat glad to find that fact hasn't changed. What has changed is the look in Sam's eyes as she enters the room. For weeks before she ran out, Sam's eyes were clouded and red, the clearest indication of her drug problem. Now, five years later, her eyes are clear. The only thing clouding them over is her own worry.

Everyone stands as Sam and some other boy let themselves in, ready to leave if the two sisters need a moment alone.

The newcomer scans them all slowly, but Sam drops down in front of Tara and places a hand on her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"You came." Tara sounds a mix of both grateful and surprised.

"Of course, I came," she states sincerely.

As if remembering there are other people in the room, Sam turns to gesture at the new guy. "This is my boyfriend, Richie."

Richie, as Sam has introduced him, bends down and walks towards Tara like he wants to be directly in her eye line. "It's so nice to meet you. I'm so sorry if I'm intruding." Carina quirks an eyebrow at the skittish way he speaks but shrugs it off as Sam circles the room to greet them.

"Nice to meet you, too."

She hugs Sam quickly as she makes her way down the row of them, and the other girl smiles at her softly.

Wes and her share similar greetings, and Carina can only barely hear Sam as she thanks, Wes. "Thank you for calling."

"Of course."

Carina chuckles as Sam scrubs a hand at Wes' head. "Look at your hair! I like it." The boy blushes lightly, and she knocks their shoulders together while she smiles at him.

She had gone with Wes to get his hair done after he confided in her about wanting a change of pace. Something to make him feel like Wes, and not just another person. She wasn't sure what his dying his hair blonde did to achieve this goal, but she still supported him no matter what.

"These are Chad and Mindy, the twins. And Carina and Wes." She looks up at Sam and Richie from under her ballcap when she hears her name being mentioned. Sam's waving an arm at them as she makes introductions, and Carina remembers herself enough to wave politely at Richie. "I used to babysit them all."

"Which is always how I like to be introduced."

It's obvious Wes is only trying to break the tension that chokes the room lightly, and Carina adores him for it. So when Amber scoffs, she shoots her a look. Sam blinks like she's seeing Amber for the first time and quickly adds, "And Amber. Hey."

Amber plasters on what seems like a fake smile. "Hi. Nice to see you."

"Hi. I'm- I'm Richie."

Quirking an eyebrow at Richie, Carina laughs awkwardly. "That is what Sam just said." No one acknowledges her.

Instead, Amber smiles fakely once again. "Hi."

Weird. Why did he feel the need to go out of his way and re-introduce himself to Amber, exactly? Maybe he can tell she doesn't do well with being fucked with. For an 18-year-old girl, Amber can be intimidating. But that still doesn't make sense. Usually, people go out of their way to ignore Amber, not the other way around.

"Where's Mom?"

"She's stuck at a conference in London." Sam doesn't look too pleased, so Tara rushes to add on, "She called me earlier."

"Yeah," Amber mumbles. "For all of ten minutes."

If there's one thing she remembers Amber and Sam actually agreeing on, it was making sure to take care of Tara. Always Tara. The two of them only seem to want what's best for her and would do anything to make sure it happens.

So when Tara drew back in on herself at Amber's comment, the dark-haired girl rushes to rectify her mistake. "Uh, look, guys, Tara's really tired. Maybe we should just give her some space." It's obviously not what anyone wants to do. Carina blinks and looks around, taking in the devasted look on Sam's face. She had just gotten here, and here Amber was trying to kick her out.

Turning even more to look at the twins, she catches Chad's eye. They stay like that for a moment, and Carina waits for him to make some kind of decision, some move. It's always been easy to look to Chad for answers, ever since they were kids. He was a natural-born leader. Always seeming to have the answer you needed. It was actually really nice, always knowing that she could depend on Chad to help her out when needed. While she adored her friends, Wes sometimes was just too much of a people-pleaser to give you a straight answer, Mindy didn't seem to always know what was best for people that weren't herself, and Tara was just like Carina in being happy to sit in the shadows and let someone else lead.

That's why when Chad nods at her and says, "Yeah," into the open air, it's almost too easy for her to nod back and echo the word.

As she's ducking to grab her tote off the floor, she hears Tara talking. "Not you, Sam. I want you to stay."

There's definitely no imagining the relief on Sam's face as she mutters "Okay," and walks back towards Tara. It's as if her entire heart is on her sleeve, and Carina hasn't seen the older girl like that in over five years.

Chad, who is hunched over from grabbing his bag, looks back over his shoulder at Carina and Mindy and almost asks, "But the rest..."

"Yeah," Mindy answers at the same time Carina supplies, "Mhmm."

Mindy turns to catch her and Wes' eyes and nods at them, obviously trying to make sure they're getting the same vibe as her and Chad. Wes answers with his own "Yeah" and Carina nods for the utmost time.

It's clear there's a conversation the sisters need to have on their own, and that the rest of them should quickly make themselves scarce. The four friends find themselves in the hallway, and Carina turns to look at them, with the intent of asking what they want to do now, but stops short when she notices Amber isn't with them.

Poking her head back in the door, she sees the other girl lingering next to Tara's bedside despite being the one to originally suggest leaving. Rolling her eyes, she moves to stand with the others again.

"What do we wanna do?"

Amber comes out of the room then, moving with enough purpose that she doesn't realize she's about to run Carina over until she's already knocked her off her feet. Swinging her arms out for some hope of balance, she only just falls short of hitting the floor face-first due to the sudden body in front of hers.

For the second time that day, Carina looks up into the warm brown eyes of Chad Meeks-Martin right after he saves her from falling straight on her face. He's got a big smile on his face, and she tries her best to reflect it instead of letting the floor swallow her up because of embarrassment. Her hat is askew on her head from where it had pushed against Chad's chest, giving her the perfect view of his entire face.

"We've got to stop meeting like this, Care Bear."

The childhood nickname lights up the blush on her cheeks even more than before. The eyes locked with hers are twinkling with teasing, but she can't find it in herself to be mad. Not after he just saved her from what definitely would've been a bad nosebleed. Someone coughs next to them, and Carina panics.

She pulls out of the light embrace she's found herself in, and looks over at Mindy with what she knows has to resemble a deer in headlights. Her best friend looks positively gleeful as she smirks at her. Squiggle?, she mouths while drawing a squiggle in the air with her finger.

Knock it off, she mouths back.

Mindy chuckles loudly and Carina avoids looking at her as the others do, not wanting to be caught having that silent conversation.

"Ignoring whatever that was,"

Carina sends a glare toward Amber's side, something she seemed to be doing a lot more than normal today. "Let's go play pool." Before she even finishes her sentence, the dark-haired girl is making her way for the exit.

"Glad no one else has an opinion." She doesn't mean to say it out loud, but from the way Mindy laughs as she swings an arm over Carina's shoulders, she definitely did. Oh well.

━━━

Carina makes the ride to Corner Pocket in Chad's Jeep once again. Only this time Liv is in the back with her. The three stopped to pick up her from her home, and Chad refused to kick his sister out of her seat for Liv even though the girl had tried to insist.

Carina had to remind Mindy not to look too smug about it.

The ride to Corner Pocket was short, but due to their little pit stop, their group of four was the last to arrive. Meaning the sight to greet them when they walk in is that of Amber and Wes standing around awkwardly. When the two spot the others, they all make their way to an unoccupied pool table and Mindy starts to rack them. They all grab cues, and Wes has only just broken when Liv speaks up.

"So what is she like, the sister?"

"Sam?" Chad smiles, and Carina finds herself smiling along with him. "Sam is so cool."

She can tell Chad is thinking about the Sam they all knew long before she ran from them. The one who would babysit them all in the Meeks-Martin house so they could all hangout while Judy Hicks and Martha Meeks went out on the weekends. Carina had really adored back then Sam because she always let her come over to hang out with her friends even when she didn't have to (her mom never left). Even though it meant taking on another kid to watch with no payment for it, Sam was happy to do it for Carina. That's the Sam she likes to remember best.

"You only say that because she let you wear Pokémon onesies to bed for a year."

"That's true." Chad points to Mindy as he speaks, and Carina laughs under her breath. He turns to look at her where she's across the pool table from him. "That's a true statement."

"No, trust me, Sam is not cool." Amber leans over the end of the table she occupies and starts pouring more of something into her cup from a flask she apparently already had with her. "Her dad left her mom. Walks right out when Tara's eight, Sam's 13. Sam started acting out, getting in trouble with the cops. And then-" Carina looks at Wes in astonishment. Sure, Sam did leave and Amber's not telling lies, but it still feels a little harsh to act like that's all Sam ever was to them. No more than someone who left with no warning, no longer allowed to hold a special place in Carina's heart with her pillow forts and chocolate chip cookie bars.

"On Sam's 18th birthday, she leaves. Ghosts them all."

The dark-haired girl is looking at all of them as she finishes her tangent, acting as if everyone except Liv didn't experience first-hand Sam leaving. Wes looks the slightest bit uncomfortable, and Carina leans on his shoulder in silent support as Amber keeps on.

"Maybe Sam's changed. I just don't want to see Tara hurt again."

"So what, you're protecting Tara from her own... sister now?"

Carina shakes her head at Wes's question. It's obvious he wants to believe that Sam is better and good, but she can also understand Amber's reservations. It's not easy to trust someone when you did it once before and it didn't go well. Sure, she thinks Tara deserves to have Sam back in her life, but it doesn't mean it has to be automatic open arms either. Unfortunately, Wes and Amber seem to sit on two different sides of the ultimatum.

"Well, someone has to."

"Guys," she starts to say, wanting everyone to take a minute, only to get cut off by Wes. "Okay, so no guys are good enough for her and now her family's off-limits, too?"

"Mm, motive. 'If I can't have her, no one can'."

"What?"

Carina can't help but look at Mindy a little incredulously. "Seriously, enough with the accusations at each other!" Wes hurting Tara wouldn't make any sense. Any of them hurting each other wouldn't make any sense, actually. "I love you, Mindy, but please shut up."

The curly-haired girl only blows her a kiss. Carina, attacking purely on instinct, catches it in her right hand and places it on her heart, even as she narrows her eyes at Mindy when she says, "We all know you have a crush on Tara."

Wes tries to shrug it off. "Okay. Come on, Mindy." But everyone at the table knows it does nothing to help him.

"But we're all suspects."

At those words, it's like everyone stops for just a moment. Without really meaning to, Carina finds herself scanning the people around her. Fortunately, or maybe not, they're all doing the same themselves. She really tries to picture it for a minute. Tries to imagine what it would mean if one of her closest friends turned out to be the same person who attacked Tara. Mindy, her first best friend, the keeper of all her favorite inside jokes, and the only person who knows how to help her out of her head. Wes, the only guy she's ever trusted enough to know everything about her. Chad, somehow the only person she knows she can always turn to and depend on, no matter the situation and no questions asked. Amber, who even if they're not as close as the rest, Carina can't fathom doing something to hurt Tara.

She and Chad lock eyes at the same time, and Carina looks away. Part of her doesn't want to see what he thinks of the idea of her being a killer, and she knows if she keeps looking at him, she will. For some odd reason, she's always been able to read Chad just as well as she can Mindy and Wes. It shocked her that she never needed to get as close to him as the others to be able to. The logical part of her knows it's just because he wears his heart on his sleeve, but sometimes it doesn't feel correct. Chad's eyes move past her when she looks away, and she glances back to watch him raise his glass at his sister in acknowledgment.

Her eyes fall on Liv then, taking her in last, her brain supplying nothing but the words: 'Chad's girlfriend' over and over. The two had never talked before she and Chad got together, and they still rarely did now. If it had to be anyone in the room right now, Liv would be her bet.

"Except maybe Liv." But clearly not Mindy's.

Liv smiles sunnily. "Thank you!"

"You're way too boring to be a psycho."

Everyone gets distracted by someone grabbing the attention of their table, so no one but Wes sees the way Carina has to quickly choke back a laugh. She controls her face enough to finally look at who's joined them and catches the tail-end of the sentence from the creepy dude from earlier.

"--sitting at this kids' table?"

"Alright, hey." Silently, she watches as Chad pushes off the pool table and shakes his head. "Listen up, Uglier Michael Myers, it was a summer fling. It meant nothing." Chad doesn't hesitate to get up in his face, and she wishes someone would stop him before he does something stupid.

"Was I talking to you?"

"I don't fucking care who you're talking to!"

"Liv, let's go." Vince points over his shoulder to the exit of the bar. Carina quickly circles the table and puts a hand on Liv's arm in support. The two might not be close, but it doesn't mean she wants Liv to leave with that creep. "You can come too if you really want, sweetheart."

Carina shivers at the comment thrown her way, and she feels Liv place her own hand on top of the one she has on her arm. "Ignore him," she mutters.

Chad moves to block Vince's view of the two girls, temper flaring. "Don't you fucking talk to them!"

Suddenly the two are talking over the other, and Carina can barely make out their words.

"Do something for me--"

"I don't want to hear your fucking voice."

"--shut your fucking mouth."

Then, like something out of nightmare, Carina watches in slow motion as Vince opens a switch blade he pulled from his pocket and points it at Chad. "Better shut the fuck up." Instinctively, she reaches out like she's going to to pull Chad back and away from the glinting blade, but aborts the movement halfway through it.

"Hey!" Oh, thank god, she thinks. "Get out of here or I'm calling the cops."

The call from the bartender seems to bring Vince to enough of his senses, but he still pretends to move towards Chad again like he's playing a game. It makes her sick.

When he doesn't move, Chad flicks his arm out. "Go!"

Vince looks at both her and Liv one last time. He points them out as he speaks, and it makes her shiver once again. "I'll see you both real soon, sweethearts."

"Hey, man, fuck you." Even though he's still defense as hell, Chad is at least backing away from the guy with a knife. Baby steps.

"You kids, too! Let's go!"

Even before the bartender finishes her sentence, the group is moving to collect their things, everyone a little rattled by the interaction.

Chad turns around and asks to no one in particular, "Did you see that shit?"

Which, yeah, they all were there. Carina shakes her head and tries to dislodge the gross feeling in her chest as she once again rounds the pool table. Wes has her tote outstreched in her direction, and she thanks him. She turns to follow Mindy out to the parking lot when Chad stops her with a hand on her arm. "Hey, are you okay?"

She smiles at the concerned look on his face, thankful that her friend cares enough to ask.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. Thank you. I'd really just like to go home and lay down for a little."

Chad nods jerkily, and pats his pockets like he's checking he has his keys. "Yeah, of course." He nods his head back in the direction of the door, but doesn't take his eyes or hand of her. "Let's get you home."

"Thanks, Chad," she sighs in relief. Even with the somewhat gross feeling still lingering in her chest, her smile manages to widen thanks to the boy in front of her.

After giving her one more assessing look, he nods again and lets go of her to walk outside. Carina watches as he slips an arm over Liv's shoulder, trying to move her along with him. While Liv does start walking, her head stays twisted to look over Chad's shoulder with a cold look. Directed right at Carina.

What the hell?

"Carina!" Mindy shouts from where she's holding the door open, effectively knocking the girl out of her own thoughts. "You coming?"

Blinking quickly, she unfreezes from her spot next to the pool table. "Coming!"

NOTE

— this was a lot longer than i planned on it being, but i hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!